"It's been a long two months, he was right, time passes differently here"

"True enough"

"By the way, why do you know Morse code?"

"Okay, two things, first off understand that I was a pre-teen back then and didn't fully understand what I do know about the whole situation back then, also understand that I will be using pseudonyms for everyone's protection"

Twelve years old

Korra was frustrated and just about ready to scream, Prowl had become mute because of his experience almost dying due to a weapon, he had already been recovering for a month but they were no closer to figuring out a way to communicate with him except through notes, which meant Prowl would have to be kept on desk duty once he was physically well enough to join in the battles, and he also would never again be able to do his job as a tactician due to his inability to communicate. At the moment she was doing homework while thinking about Prowl due to the fact that she was struggling with some advanced math concepts and he was the best person to help her out, but because of his being mute it would be way too frustrating to ask him for help on both ends

"Okay I can't do this right now I need to relax because otherwise I am going to hurt myself"

Korra decides to watch some television and stumbles across a series with a deaf character using sign language to communicate

"Sign language...of course that's how he can communicate with us in person!...but what about over the comm system?"

Korra then decides to do some research and comes across information about Morse code, becoming excited she goes to the medbay to confirm something with Ratchet

"Ratchet I need to talk to you real quick"

"What is it Korra?"

"I know you have doctor/patient confidentiality however I really need to know if Prowl's comm system is still functional"

"Korra that is privileged information"

"Ratchet...this is for Prowl's sanity, you know he'll want to be out in the fight once he's well enough"

(Sighs) "I can't deny that, however I still can't give you the answers you want, not without his express permission"

"Fine, then can you at least tell Prowl and the leaders that I have an idea that might work to get Prowl back on full active duty once he's physically cleared that I want to talk to them about?"

"Yes I can do that, now then Prowl will be coming for his daily therapy session soon so I would suggest you leave if you don't want to talk to him now about your idea"

"You're right it's not a good time, besides I have homework I need to deal with"

Two hours later all four of them were in Optimus' office with Korra since they had all agreed to talk to her about her idea in person

"Korra, Ratchet said you have an idea that will get Prowl back on duty once he's physically cleared"

"Yes, I got the idea from both watching a television series and from some online research, I was thinking that Prowl could use sign language when speaking face to face with someone and...if his comm system is still working he can use Morse code over said comm system to communicate his orders"

The four of them look at Korra dumbstruck having not thought about that possibility before

"You know that just might work, but Korra this will be the hardest for you since we can simply use the internet to learn what we need, you will have to learn the long way"

"I know it will take time, but you also know I pick things up faster than most, and I am going to be extremely motivated to do so as well"

"You have a point, very well if Prowl is on board with this we will alert the rest of the troops of what's going on and make sure you start learning sign language and Morse code tomorrow"

Prowl was definitely all for it and over the next six moths Korra learned both sign language and Morse code so as to finally communicate with Prowl properly again without the need for notes. They had frustrating moments of course and discovered a nice surprise one day during battle, Prowl had been hit with a weapon and Mirage was with him covering his back and saw the hit and naturally asked Prowl about his condition forgetting for a moment that Prowl was now mute

"Prowl are you okay?"

Prowl himself while unable to forget about being mute was frustrated by this point at his loss to communicate normally and tried to use his voice and made a high pitched sound which surprised both bots, who also took cover

"Prowl, did you just try and say something?"

Prowl nods and then resorts to his comm system

::-.- . ... / .. / -.. .. -.. -..- / .- - / ..-. .-. ..- ... - .-. .- - . -.. / .- .. - ... / .-.. .- -.-. -.- / - ..-. / -. - .-. - .- .-.. / ... .-. . . -.-. ... -..- / -.. - -. .-. - / -.- -. - .- / .- ... .- - / ... .- .-. .-. . -. . -.. / .- ..- ... - / -. - .- / - ... - ..- -. ...::

"We'll have Ratchet take a look later, first we need to finish the battle"

After the battle Prowl went to Ratchet and explained what had happened and that's when it was discovered that the damage had destroyed his ability to ever speak again, however the replacement voice box was just intact enough to emit pitch noises from it and through that they had an agreement on what sound meant what for him

Present

Korra finished her modified story of how she learned Morse code when suddenly she was given a piece of paper with a message naturally in Morse, but this time it wasn't Prowl who had sent the message but someone in Japan from an EDC base who knew about Korra and her knowledge of Morse code and also the fact that she was close enough to receive the signal

Message

... - ... -..- / ... - ... -..- / . -.. -.-. / -... .- ... . / ..- -. -.. . .-. / .- - - .- -.-. -.- -..- / .- .- .-. .- -. / .. -. / - .-. - ..- -... .-.. . -..- / ... . -. -.. / ... . .-.. .-. / .. - - . -.. .. .- - . .-.. -.-

End message

"Where's the Captain?"

"In his tent"

"Right"

Korra runs to the Captain's tent and interrupts a meeting

"Captain!"

"Korra...you know better"

"Japan is in trouble, they need help immediately, just received the message from an EDC base"

"Show me"

Korra reads the message out loud instead knowing that the rest of the people in the meeting also needed to know what the message said

"SOS, SOS, EDC base under attack, Japan in trouble, send help immediately"

"That's not good, but why not send it to another EDC base and why did you read it out loud?"

"It's in Morse code, as for why it wasn't sent to another base I have no idea"

"Anything concerning you?"

"Besides the two obvious reasons there is, the fact that they resorted to Morse in the first place and the fact that they shouldn't have been able to reach us, which means they used something to boost their power and that would have easily compromised them"

"And the fact that they resorted to Morse code?"

"If they could have they would have used the radio and spoken what was going on and the message would have been in English, that they used Morse means they were trying to keep things as secure in regards to the message as possible, but like I said they must have boosted their power which means the ones who sent the message are busted"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I recognize the sending code, it's used only in an emergency where a message can't be sent over the secured lines of the base"

"So do you have a plan?"

"Yep, however it's complicated due to the situation here"

"How complicated are you talking about?"

"Somehow getting the right reinforcements and then another issue I will explain afterwords"

"More favors?"

"Nope I have something else in mind this time"

"What might that be?"

"Passing this message on and then going from there"

Korra goes to the communication tent and then puts out a call after securing the communication system

"Korra to EDC home base, Korra to EDC home base please respond"

The response she gets is one only she understands but unfortunately is also one that she didn't want this time

"Prowl, get one of the Primes or Galvatron on the line immediately, I have an urgent message to pass on"

Prowl quickly gets Optimus on the line

"What's going on Korra?"

"I have a message to pass on to you guys that unfortunately is only lucky that I am here to know that it needed passed on to you"

"What's the message?"

"It's and I quote 'SOS, SOS, EDC base under attack, Japan in trouble, send help immediately' end quote, you know as well as I do that they shouldn't have used Morse code, plus they busted themselves since it was done through an unsecured radio line, you need to send people over immediately to Japan and hope for the best"

"We will, we'll let you know the outcome once we know ourselves"

"Thanks, Kerenai out"

Korra then ends the connection and sees everyone who had been informed by Korra initially staring at her

"Oh...that's what you meant by not using any favors"

"Exactly, the fact that the message stated that it was an EDC base should have clued you in in the first place"

"Good point"

"So that wasn't complicated at all"

"Oh that wasn't the complicated part, the complicated part is getting this camp prepared for an influx of EDC officers and maybe Japanese refugees and also keeping them out of our business, plus while we have our orders, once the President hears about this that might change which would affect the whole camp depending on what he orders overall"

"Okay, that's complicated"

"Exactly, now then I guess we can start by setting up more tents and clearing more area to grow a bit"

"Getting more supplies from town is a good idea too"

"Maybe...maybe some of the more established soldiers could actually live in town until the Japanese situation gets resolved"

"Either that or they can apply to both the Vietnamese and South Korean governments for temporary refugee status"

"By the way, just how did a message from Japan reach Vietnam?"

"That's a bit complicated that I will not be getting into right now"

"Fine, but you will tell us if it becomes necessary"

"Don't worry I will, now then we all have things to do to prepare for what's coming"

Ultimately there were indeed temporary refugees, but not only in Vietnam and South Korea, China and Taiwan also took in some refugees. Korra's unit was also deployed to Japan despite the fact that they were truly needed in Vietnam still due to the fact that the enemy was that hard for everyone, but in compensation the camp in Vietnam got soldiers from Cybertron and two EDC units from Indonesia. However her unit didn't fare too well and except for Korra was wiped out, and Korra was unconscious and seriously hurt, being medivaced to China first before going to America. After a week in an induced medical coma she finally woke up and asked the question everyone knew she would which the doctor answered due to need

"My unit?"

"I regret to inform you that you're the only survivor of your unit"

"I see, the situation in Japan?"

"Not the greatest, but it's getting there"

"Am I being discharged from the Army?"

"No, somehow you managed to avoid being that seriously injured, but you will be here for a bit still I'm afraid, you broke both your legs, cracked four ribs, somehow you managed to avoid a broken back but it's still badly bruised and also a concussion, I also had you in an induced medical coma for a week because you were initially on the ventilator for severe smoke inhalation and I had to make sure you didn't bruise your lungs as well, somehow you avoided that complication"

(Sighs) "Well I'm stuck for at least another two weeks if not another month, plus I still have healing time at home to deal with"

"Exactly"

Korra ultimately would wind up in the hospital for an entire month, with another three months of healing needed before she was cleared for even light duty but finally she was back on duty. During that time she learned that the situation in Japan was completely resolved while the situation in Vietnam remained the same, but the President was moving his troops around to finally resolve the issue in Vietnam, plus the Vietnamese government had finally also asked for help from the United Nations and several member nations were also sending people over to help Vietnam with their problem, her family stayed out of it for the moment despite it being EDC enemies only because being involved would have made the situation that much worse

"So...soon then in regards to Vietnam"

"Yes, the President wishes that you were able to join in the fight, you deserve it in all honesty but your injuries..."

"I know, I am only just cleared for light duty and will remain such for a while longer yet"

"He did mention an invitation to the White House for a first hand account since this will be watched live"

"Not the same as actually being there, but it will have to do"

A few days later Korra was in the White House and watching the final attack on the enemy live and the fight did cost many lives, but the enemy was finally truly defeated and Vietnam freed from fear of going outside and facing an enemy they were never meant to face on their own

"So what are your thoughts on this?"

"I'm glad I saw this, I regret it cost the amount of lives that it did, but this was needed, for Vietnam, the civilians should never have been forced to deal with this threat for so long"

"And the fact that you weren't there yourself to see it through?"

"I wish things had been different and I could have joined them, but I know that life is what it is and I will be back on full active duty soon enough"

"Kerenai, you've been off duty for four months already and only just got back on light duty"

"I know, but what the doctors don't know is that what seemed serious isn't all that serious for me, you know I heal at a slightly faster rate than most people, plus what no one knows is that I managed to use my powers, even if they were reduced in effectiveness by the enemy they still worked which helps the situation by a lot"

"When's your next appointment?"

"Two weeks from now"

"Let's hope then, by the way once I get medical clearance for you I already have a unit I think you'll fit in well with"

"Like my first unit?

"Hey now part of that was what you were doing for six months to save the country, they didn't exactly understand what you were truly doing even with the press conference"

"You have a point sir"

Two weeks later Korra was told that she wasn't cleared for fully duty yet, but she was definitely closer than when she first got out of the hospital

"Your left leg is what I'm still concerned about Kerenai, your back and everything else has healed pretty well, but that left leg is refusing to heal any further it seems"

"Hm...can I see my scans, I might be able to explain what you are seeing in a way that is understandable for why it is the way it is"

As soon as Korra sees the scans for her left leg she lets out a knowing sigh

"My leg is as good as it's going to get unfortunately, this is what happened to me in Japan, however there was already minor previous damage from an incident when I was fifteen and Japan made the damage more obvious, I can function normally and without pain, it just looks odd in x-rays and other scans"

"Very well, however I am not clearing you quite yet"

"Why not?"

"Your blood counts indicate an infection from something, need to see what the infection is and start you on antibiotics first"

"Infection...but when...oh wait, I know what it might be, I had an accident recently in preparation for full duty and landed in mud, we thought we were okay, guess we were wrong"

"We?"

"The base medic and I since I slightly understand medical information"

"Well, still not sure what type of infection it is so more blood work is needed to see the exact antibiotics needed for this issue"

"Thus another two weeks of off duty"

"Afraid so, just making sure that the antibiotics are working"

Two weeks later and Korra is cleared for full duty and introduced to her new unit, there were minor integration issues initially due to the fact that Korra was still actually grieving the loss of her first unit and her current unit was a bit hesitant on being with someone who might not have fully processed their loss, but otherwise they were fine with working with Korra despite what happened for six months in the interest of her country. Once they talked out their issues with each other they quickly started learning how to work and live together effectively