The Avatar's attack left much of the Dragon Empire troops disorganized and in disarray, many of the front and middle lines either disoriented, injured, or worse. The United Republic swarmed through the first several waves with ease. In spite of their superior numbers, the Dragon Empire were caught out of formation, in no position to fight back against the far more organized and disciplined United Forces. General Iroh led the charge, cutting a gaping swath deep into imperial ranks. The Dragon Empire fell back on the defense, desperate and futile.

Avan was the first to properly recover and reorganize his men. The Dai Li gathered around him and fell into tight formation, attacking in unison. With their skill, combined with Avan's raw power, they pushed back an advancing line of United Forces with a barrage of stone projectiles. Overwhelming and relentless, nearly turning the tide of battle on their own. Any hope they had of that vanished with a massive plume of lava erupting towards them. The Dai Li scattered with panicked shouts, lunging away from the molten earth to safety. The lava followed them, spreading wider and forcing them farther apart.

"You guys seriously need to back off!" Bolin exclaimed, bending the lava into a towering pillar. "I have had just about enough of you creepy jerks!"

He let the mass drop straight down again, causing tiny blobs of molten earth to spray in all directions. The nearest Dai Li agents reeled back in agony as tiny drops of lava splashed upon them, burning through their clothes and searing their skin. They screamed, rolling across the ground in desperate attempt to clear themselves of the scorching substance. Avan watched them with a scowl, and shifted his focus towards the lavabender.

"You don't know who you're dealing with, kid," said the Dai Li commander, as he lifted several massive boulders into the air to hover around himself. "Let's see how your lava handles me!"

As he spun the boulders in preparation to attack, a metal cable latched around his ankle. The cable yanked backwards and swung him off his feet, causing him to lose control over the boulders. At the zenith of the cable's arch, it released his ankle and tossed him skyward. He shifted himself in midair, maintained focus as he fell back to earth, and managed to bend a flat slab of stone upward to catch himself. As he descended to the ground, he glared towards his attacker

"You..." he muttered. "You think you can match me?"

Kuvira smirked at him, and reeled the cable back beneath her bracer. "Trust me, Avan. This isn't going to be much of a match."

A flurry of metal strips erupted from her bracers. Avan raised his arms, ready to bend them away. When they came into range, he swiped at them with focused intent. Nothing happened. His eyes widened, as the strips wrapped around his wrists and ankles. More followed, latching over his eyes, his arms, even around his waist. He tugged at them, desperate to rip them free. They remained firmly in place.

"Platinum?" he uttered, with a rising grunt of panic. "You can bend platinum too?"

"That's right," Kuvira stated, with another smirk. "You're talking to the world's first platinumbender, although I'm guessing you already ran into Toph. I taught her that."

With a simple swipe of her arms, Kuvira spun him into the distance across the battlefield, making sure to bend the metal strips so his arms and legs were bound. Once Avan was taken care of, she regrouped with Bolin and called out another set of metal strips into the air.

"Let's show these Dai Li how real earthbenders fight," she said.

"You got it!" Bolin flashed a grin and punched the ground, releasing another lava wave towards the group of Dai Li agents. Once again they scattered, screaming and ducking for cover.


Near the front line of the United Forces, Iroh and Izumi stood side by side, attacking the enemy in unison. Together, they led the charge in driving back the Dragon Empire across the field, pushing deeper into enemy ranks. The front lines of imperial troops abandoned defense altogether, instead turning to retreat. The United Forces only pushed harder. Iroh ducked below an incoming boulder, and countered with a pair of fire blasts, sending a pair of imperial soldiers scattering.

"We're winning," he said, with a disbelieving laugh. He swept a quick look around the battlefield, noting that the Dragon Empire was suffering far more losses than his own troops. "If Korra can just take down those airships, Yula's forces are finished."

Izumi took a step back and swiped a wave of fire through the air, knocking away a stone projectile. "I don't think we'll need to worry about that. She is the Avatar."

"Yeah," he said, glancing back towards the city. "She is."


Korra stood atop one of the tallest buildings of Republic City, watching the airships drift across the skyline. Bomb after bomb, falling into the city below. So many buildings gone, so many homes destroyed. Sheer, senseless destruction. Nearly all of downtown had been reduced to rubble, while half the Spirit Wilds burned. A furious spark of rage ignited in her chest. If she didn't stop them now, they would raze the entire city to the ground.

And stop them she would.

A raging cyclone lifted her into the air above the building, her eyes sparking with a bright white glow as the energy of Raava fueled her into the Avatar State. With a firm thrust of her arms, she ripped the top half of the building free and trailed it behind her, racing towards the nearest airship. A furious, echoing shout boomed out her throat, as she pushed her arms forward. The chunk of building collided with the back end of the vessel, rupturing the engines with a cacophonous explosion. The airship briefly spun around in a desperate attempt to stabilize itself, but lost control soon after, as it plummeted to the streets below. When it struck the ground, another rapid series of explosions rippled through its hull. The remaining bombs onboard, no doubt.

With the first airship down, Korra moved on to the second. Same as with the first, she knocked it clean out of the sky with a projectile building. This time, she guided the massive structure gently to the ground to prevent the onboard bombs from detonating. No need to cause anymore unnecessary destruction. From there, she propelled herself towards the third airship, and the fourth, and beyond. A dozen ships in all, and none of them put up any resistance. They were slow, bulky, unequipped for aerial combat. These were bombers, built for the sole purpose of doing exactly that: bombing. Against a rampaging Avatar, they were helpless.

Within ten minutes, Korra put an end to the airship fleet attacking Republic City. After she set the final vessel onto the ground, she allowed the light to fade from her eyes and came out of the Avatar State. Good, job done. Time to get back to the others. She made it three steps before a sharp flare of pain stabbed through the center of her chest. Stabbed through her heart. Spirits, no, she knew that pain. Her heart hadn't given her any major problems since Katara healed it a year ago. As far as she knew, she had fully recovered. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Here she was, brought down to her knees with a second flaring jolt. Wishful, foolish thinking.

"Damn it, not now," she muttered, clutching a hand to her chest. "Not now."

The pain gradually filtered away, fading enough so she could return to her feet. Not completely. With every breath, a sharp stab cut deep at the center of her chest. Couldn't let it slow her down. Keep moving. Suck it up, and keep going. Keep fighting. With a deep groan, she stumbled down the street, towards the center of Republic City. Before she returned to the front lines, she needed to be sure of something.

Korra froze when she rounded the street. She stared, blinking at the massive pile of rubble before her. Rubble where City Hall should have been. This rubble... was City Hall. All that remained of it. The building had been leveled, torn apart by the imperial bombers. The pain in her chest ruptured, pushing her into a sprint towards the heap of steel and concrete.

"Asami! Mako!" she called, throwing herself atop the rubble. With another worried shout, she began digging.

Please be alright. Spirits, please, let them be alright.


"Empress!" Captain Han ran to the main bridge of the airship, panic stricken across his face. "The United Forces are pushing our troops back! Your Army is retreating!"

Yula gazed out the windshield of her flagship, eyes narrowed into a deep glare. Exactly as Han described, her Army fell back at the behest of enemy troops. Bit by bit, they were losing ground. Her gaze shifted towards the Republic City skyline. The empty skyline. So, the Avatar had destroyed her remaining airships. The only good news she had received was that her Navy had finally broken into Yue Bay and now converged on the city's shores. Not that that would matter, if she didn't do something to turn things around. If her main forces retreated, so too would her Navy, which had already suffered heavy losses of their own.

She could still lose this battle.

"So, those fools think they can actually win?" she said, retaining a calm demeanor. She turned to Captain Han, her hands clasped behind her back. "Open the lower walkways. I think it's about time I end this."

"Yes, right away," he replied, with a quick salute.

Captain Han ran for the controls and hit a small red switch. A doorway opened in the bottom level of the airship, exiting outside onto a series of catwalks attached to the underbelly of the vessel. Yula leaped down from the main bridge and marched through the open doorway. A sudden rush of wind stumbled her off balance. She steadied herself with a firm hold on the railings and made her way along the catwalk towards the prominent platform that extended outward at the head of the ship. With nothing below her but open air and the battlefield beyond, she stood at the very edge and prepared herself with a deep, heavy breath.

As soon as the flagship floated over the United Forces, Yula extended both arms forward. A scorching bead of flame sparked in the center of her palms, charging with a raging screech. The bead ruptured, exploding outward in a monstrous, cataclysmic stream. Flames met the ground with a violent eruption, carving a burning swath through the center of the United Forces. She guided the stream forward, nothing but scorched earth and incinerated bodies left in her wake. Screams of terror erupted from the troops below. Nowhere for them to go. Nowhere to hide. No escape.

Yula guided the flames back and forth, further dividing enemy troops. With each sweeping pass, hundreds more United Forces soldiers fell, little more than smoldering cinders beneath the unparalleled might of her firebending. The screams grew more frantic, desperate and terrified as the United Forces scrambled across the battlefield in haphazard, broken formations. During that time, the Dragon Empire reorganized itself and pushed back at the front lines. A delighted grin carved across Yula's face. With flames behind them and imperial troops to the front of them, the bulk of the United Forces Army was now trapped. Trapped, and at her mercy.


"Take cover!" Kuvira shouted.

Exploding shards of burning earth rained overhead, forcing her to shield herself with an earthen wall. Iroh and Izumi took cover next to her, while Bolin reinforced the wall with an additional layer of stone. As the hellish stream of fire swept by them, Kuvira peered over the top of the wall. Nothing but towering flames and torched bodies of fallen soldiers everywhere she looked. Handfuls of troops scattered, doing what little they could to protect themselves or avoid the destruction, but a large portion of the United Forces had already been decimated.

"What do we do?" Bolin questioned. "Yula's destroying us! We can't keep fighting like this!"

"She's killing us all..." Iroh stared wide-eyed at his swiftly falling army, a look of shell-shock frozen across his face. His voice cracked out in a hoarse whisper, barely audible over the pandemonium.

"We have to surrender!" Izumi insisted, as she tilted her gaze towards the airship above them. "Before she incinerates every last man and woman on this battlefield!"

"Does she really look like she's about to take prisoners?" Kuvira countered. A portion of their wall exploded into dust, and she hurried to reinforce it. "She's bent on destroying us, whatever the cost!"

"Uhhh, guys, it's coming back!" Bolin yelled, pointing at the sweeping jet of fire. This time, its path turned straight towards them.

"Everyone down!" Kuvira shouted. "Bolin, let's go!"

Bolin followed the command, joining himself next to the other three. Both he and Kuvira planted their hands against the ground and broke the earth free beneath them. With a simple flip, they tumbled upside down, burying themselves beneath the surface seconds before Yula's flames scorched across the land above them.


"Asami! Mako!" Korra lifted an enormous slab of concrete and tossed it aside. She dug farther, bending out entire piles of rubble at a time. "Anybody!"

The more she cleared out, the more her chest pulsed, twisting with tight, painful knots. She'd already removed half the debris from City Hall, but still no sign of anyone. No survivors. No bodies. Maybe they hadn't been in City Hall at all. Maybe they had gone somewhere else. Maybe...

Maybe they were buried deeper, beneath hundreds of tons of rubble. Maybe they were already dead. Maybe she was too late.

No. No, couldn't think like that. Had to focus, had to keep digging.

A steady hum interrupted her search. Quiet, at first, gradually growing into a loud buzzing. Korra paused and looked up at the sky with a curious stare. Sounded like... buzzard wasps? No, more mechanical. An engine of some kind. A lot of engines. Almost like...

"No..."

Her brow lifted with horror as the planes soared into view. Dragon Empire planes, faster and far more maneuverable than the airships she'd previously taken out. Repeated explosions ripped through the city, as each plane dropped a series of bombs onto the buildings below. They were smaller than the airships, wouldn't be able to carry nearly as much, but there were so many. Too many. If she didn't stop them now...

Another sharp twinge stabbed at the center of her chest, and she glanced back to the remains of City Hall. She needed to keep searching for her friends, but she'd never get the chance as long as these planes were assaulting the city. Turning a furious gaze to the sky, Korra's eyes erupted with a bright white glow. She lifted upward atop a whirling cyclone, a veritable storm of concrete rubble rising with her, hovering and spinning around her body. As soon as she was above the buildings, she settled her attention on the nearest plane and fired a rapid succession of stone projectiles. They tore through the tail end of the plane and snapped it in two, forcing the pilot to eject. A second plane flew by, and Korra directed another attack at it. Concrete tore clean through one of its wings, causing the aircraft to spiral out of control.

Ten, fifteen, twenty... Thirty planes in total, at least. Had to work fast. As soon as she destroyed one plane, she moved on to the next. These planes might be faster than the previous airships, but they were still no match for the rage of a pissed off Avatar. One by one they fell. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, on and on. Explosions in the city settled and faded completely, as the remaining pilots gave up bombing the city and instead turned their attention to the Avatar herself. Good, let them come. Let them try to stop her.

Firebending pilots released blasts of flames, as they made repeated passes near her. Useless. Korra swatted away the fireballs with ease, countering with rapid shots of concrete projectiles. Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six. Only a few more planes now. Even as they began to retreat, she chased after them, throwing chunk after chunk of debris through the air. One of the four remaining planes went down, then a second, then a third, and finally...

Got it.

The final plane ruptured, half of its wing tearing away with a thick billow of smoke trailing behind it. Korra watched it sputter through the air, as she set herself down on the rooftop of a nearby building. The glow faded from her eyes, and the stabbing pain returned. Deep, fierce, paralyzing, ripping clean through the center of her chest. She stumbled, clutching a hand over her heart. Spirits, so much pain. As though her heart were trying to tear itself in two. No more Avatar State for a while, not unless she wanted to risk serious internal damage to herself. The United Forces would have to hold back the enemy without her. In the meantime, she had to get back to City Hall, find her friends, and—

The growing hum of an engine snapped her out of her thoughts. Korra blinked a gaze back into the sky to see the final plane she'd struck. The one missing half its wing, its engine belching plumes of dark smoke behind it, not yet fallen out of the sky. It flew straight towards her, no intention on stopping. Panic lifted in her chest, instinct forcing her to turn and leap away from the top of the building. She made it two steps before another knot of pain ripped through her chest. She stumbled, falling to a knee.

That single misstep was all it took. Before she could make another attempt to retreat, the pilot ejected and allowed the aircraft to glide like a rocket towards the top of the building. Korra fell backwards, throwing her arms up in desperation. The rooftop tore upwards, forming a makeshift defensive wall in front of her. Not enough. The resulting explosion tore her wall to pieces. Korra launched out of control through the air, bits of burning rubble raining around her, the entire world a blur of smoke and fire.


Anraq heaved out a groan as he dragged himself onto shore, pulling the twins behind him. His chest throbbed, shooting webs of dull pain through his muscles. He coughed. A mist of crimson burst from his throat, followed by a disgruntled groan. Yeah, that was great. Just what he needed right now. Apparently, getting hit with several explosive shockwaves was bad for you. Who knew?

Once he had the twins safely onto shore, he flipped them over onto their backs. Neither were breathing. Okay, not a problem. Focus and heal them. With a deep breath, he hovered his hands over both their chests. Water in their lungs, easy enough to rectify. Pulling his arms back through the air, he called the water out of their throats and scattered it across the wet sand. As soon as the sea water was free from her lungs, Eska coughed and sputtered, pushing herself up to her elbows.

"What happened?" she asked, turning an exhausted stare towards him. "I remember an explosion, and then nothing."

"You and your brother passed out," he said, falling forward onto his hands and knees. "I was able to pull you both back to shore, but our Navy didn't survive. The Water Tribes have been defeated."

"I see we greatly underestimated Yula's military capabilities," Eska muttered. "We should have been better prepared."

"Yeah, well, little late for that now. We just have to hope the others are having better luck than we are."

Eska's attention shifted to her brother. "Will he be okay?"

Anraq nodded, sucking in a deep breath of air. "Should be. I got the water out of his lungs. He's probably just unconscious still. Give me a second to catch my breath, and I'll check his vitals."

"He... he isn't breathing."

Anraq snapped his gaze towards Desna. "What?"

Eska's eyes expanded, wild with concern. "He is not breathing!"

The desperate panic in Eska's voice spurred Anraq into action, ignoring the growing pain in his chest. He crawled next to Desna and called a bubble of water to his hand. He concentrated, causing the water to glow as he pressed his hand to Desna's chest.

"What is wrong with him?" Eska asked.

"I don't... wait." Anraq furrowed his brow, gradually discerning the problem. "His heart isn't beating, but I don't know why."

"Can you heal him?" Eska's tone was urgent, fearful, shaking with an uncharacteristic display of emotion.

Anraq swallowed, forcing down the knot in his throat. No, he couldn't heal Desna. Not as long as he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Desna's heart had suffered no physical damage, but still it wasn't beating. Water healing couldn't make the organ spontaneously start pumping again. He needed to know what to fix. A frustrated groan huffed out his throat, as he tossed his water aside. Screw it. If he couldn't heal with his bending, he'd do it another way.

"Not like this," he said, as he placed his hands against Desna's chest.

While he had been trained primarily in the waterbending style of healing, he also had experience with traditional medical treatments. He gave a series of firm thrusts against Desna's chest, thirty in all. After the final pump, he pinched Desna's nose shut, tilted his head back, and pressed their lips together with a firm puff of air. He repeated this process several times, never stopping, never slowing. No way on earth was he about to let one of the Northern Chieftains die on his watch. Not while he could still do something about it.

"Wake up, Desna," Eska uttered, in a pale, hoarse whisper. She held her brother's hand tight, linking their fingers together. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she did nothing to wipe them away.

After the fifth series of chest pumps and assisting breaths, a harsh cough surged from Desna's mouth. Anraq pulled their lips apart and huffed out a relieved sigh, allowing himself to fall back against his hands in the sand. Eska immediately lunged forward and wrapped her arms tight around her brother. Desna coughed several more times, soon finding the strength to sit upright and return the embrace.

"You are alright," Eska said, with a deep, pleasant breath.

"Yes, I am fine," he replied, sinking into his sister's hug. He shifted his focus towards Anraq. "I thank you for saving my life. Again."

Anraq waved off the comment. "Don't mention it."

"Very well," Desna replied, with a single nod. He licked his tongue around his lips and hummed out a thoughtful breath. "I must say, your lips taste much saltier than I remember."

"Uhh..." Anraq cleared his throat, looking away in embarrassment. "Pretty sure that's... you know, because we were just in the ocean."

"Ah, yes, I suppose that is possible," Desna said. "Perhaps I could test them again to be sure?"

Anraq uttered a nervous laugh, frantically waved his hands in front of himself. "Heh, okay, I appreciate the offer, but I'm taken, remember?"

Desna gave a small sigh of disappointment. "Ah, yes. Azula. That is a shame."

"In any case, we should try to regroup with Chief Tonraq," Anraq said, as he stumbled back to his feet. "Or at least search the water for survivors. Or something."

Eska nodded. "I agree."

A harsh voice interrupted them from farther along the shore. "You three aren't going anywhere."

Anraq jolted at the sound of the voice. He spun around, shifting into a defensive stance. Near the shoreline, a large platoon of Dragon Empire troops stood in waiting. He turned again, looking for an escape route. Another squad of soldiers appeared, cutting off their path. Dawning revelation lifted into his gaze. During the time he'd been saving Desna, the enemy's battleships had entered Yue Bay and anchored off shore. Now, the imperial troops were making landfall to invade the city.

"Don't even think about resisting," said one of the soldiers.

A team of thirty soldiers surrounded the three waterbenders, while additional troops hung back on standby in case they caused any trouble. There would be no trouble. Eska and Desna gave each other a simple look, and lifted their hands up above their heads in surrender. Anraq's resolve evaporated. What could they do? Fight? They'd be slaughtered. No, there was only one play they could make here, and the twins had already figured it out. Plopping himself back down in the sand, Anraq hung his head and lifted his arms.

They were Dragon Empire prisoners now.


Azula heaved a deep groan, blinking her eyes open as she sat upright. Dull pain throbbed in the back of her skull. What on earth had happened? She squinted her eyes shut, concentrated. Memories flooded back to her. Those cursed Dai Li had knocked Druk out of the sky, and her with him. She'd fallen, hit her head, and after that... nothing. Must have been unconscious since then. Probably a concussion. No time to let that slow her down.

With a pained grumble, she stumbled to her feet and looked around the battlefield. Light and colors filtered into her vision, bright and hazy. She blinked the haze away, doing her best to comprehend what she was seeing. The United Forces scrambled in pandemonium, quite literally under fire from the Dragon Empire flagship. A massive jet of flames scorched the earth below, and anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in its wake. Screams ripped across the battlefield, desperate and horrified. They weren't just losing. They were being slaughtered.

Azula focused on the source of the flames—Yula, standing on a platform at the flagship's underbelly. Her blood boiled at the mere sight of the woman, jolting a sense of urgency through her muscles. She spun around and swiveled her gaze back and forth across the field. A glint of red scales caught her attention, and she sprinted forward.

"Druk! Get up!" Azula stopped at the dragon's side and pushed against his head, attempting to stir him. "We need to attack! Right now!"

A deep grumble surged from Druk's throat. He eased his eyes open, quivered, and slowly, agonizingly began to sit upright. Another grumble, as he wobbled atop his legs. No mistaking how much pain he was in. His head hung low, eyes drooping with exhaustion, barely open.

"Now is not the time to be lazy!" Azula scolded, as she climbed atop the dragon's head. "You know the woman who killed Zuko, right? Well she's right over there! Get her!"

Druk's eyes snapped open wide. He opened his jaws, bellowed a deafening roar, and took to the skies, his pain long forgotten. Azula hung on tight. No need to guide him. Druk focused a glare of intent on the airship and soared towards it at top speed, vanishing the distance between them in seconds. Both dragon and rider attack, Druk with a mouthful of flames and Azula with a bolt of lightning.

Yula's attention shifted, eyebrows lifting high as she noticed the incoming attack. With a panicked shout, she ceased her own flames and threw herself backwards across the walkway. The platform she'd been standing on seconds before exploded in a violent display of fire and electricity. She immediately scrambled back to her feet and broke into a run. Druk's jaws clamped shut on the empty air behind her.

"Why are you running, Yula?" Azula called, as Druk released another jet of fire against the side of the airship. "Come on, Dragon Empress! Show me how strong you are!"

Yula sprinted forward, sliding low along the walkway towards the other side of the ship. Dragon's fire consumed the air behind her, rupturing that side of the catwalks into twisted metal scraps. She pressed herself up against the railing, heaving in deep breaths as she watched and waited. Azula and her dragon swooped around the other side of the flagship, reappearing moments later.

"You killed my brother!" Azula's tone quaked with pure, unbridled rage. Her heart pounded, coiling numb, twisting vines into her throat, where they knotted into choked breaths.

"Yes, I did!" Yula replied, curling a smirk onto her face. "He was nothing but a feeble, pretentious, fool of an old man, and if he were here now I'd kill him again!"

Azula's rage exploded, searing her nerves with uncontrolled fury. "Well here's the part where I kill you!"

Druk opened his jaws wide and unleashed another stream of fire. Yula held her ground, shifting into a bending stance. With a sweep of her arms, she guided the dragon's fire away from herself towards the rear of the airship. Engines detonated, ripping a thunderous explosion through the air. Druk recoiled with a droning howl, as the shockwave shunted him backwards in a spiraling corkscrew.

Azula launched from her perch atop the dragon. Colors and sounds swirled around her, little more than a thick fog drowning her senses. Her body fell limp, eyes rolling into the back of her head. What was happening? Why couldn't she move? Wake up, damn it. Shake out of it, and wake up! Wind howled against her face. A panicked breath bubbled into her throat, and her eyes snapped open. The ground rushed up at her. Seconds before impact. Seconds away from death.

With a desperate lurch, she flipped herself around in midair and poured chi through her body. Concussive jets of flame erupted from her palms and feet, propelling her forward in a rising arc. She soared through the sky, a streaking blue missile rapidly gathering speed. She spiraled momentarily. Desperate, panicked, barely in control. She steadied herself with a deep breath. A second breath, and she grasped control. Her path straightened, ascended. The world tunneled around her vision, focused on a single point.

Yula's flagship raced towards her. She would not be beaten so easily. She would not let that cursed woman best her again! Blue flames trailed behind her like a streaking comet as she soared into range. Yula's attention snapped towards her, shock igniting across her face. That's right. Be afraid. Azula slowed her flight long enough to blast a pair of fireballs at the side of the airship. Yula dispersed them with a whirl of her arms, but by the time she shifted to counter, Azula had already darted out of sight.

Azula raced towards the other side of the ship, carving a deep lash of flames into the hull. Explosions ripped through the aircraft. Metal ruptured, smoke billowed. Azula kept going. She continued her assault near the front of the ship and ascended higher, up over the top. Her flames dissipated, allowing her to land on the roof of the vessel. Time to take this thing down.

With a deep, controlled breath, she thrust her fingers forward and lashed out a pair of burning flame whips. Fire carved into the roof of the airship with searing expulsions of heat. Metal glowed red, melted through, and soon began to rupture. The entire flagship quaked with a violent lurch, as it gradually lost altitude in the sky. Wouldn't be long now until this thing crashed.

A flash of orange ignited in her gaze. Yula soared over the side of the roof with a furious shout, casting a blast of fire towards her. Azula darted across the crumbling vessel. Flames exploded, lifted her from her feet. She maintained balance, flipping backwards into a defensive stance.

"You insufferable cretin!" The Dragon Empress landed atop the roof, steadying her stance against the shuddering vessel. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!"

Azula's glare focused, narrowed. "As if I'd ever give you that chance."

"How about I take it right now?"

Yula lunged forward, releasing a towering arc of fire across the airship. Azula rolled away, kept her distance. Couldn't go toe-to-toe with that level of power. Had to keep moving, had to get in close. Yula had power, but she lacked control. Lacked skill. Certainly not the skill of a prodigy. Another blast of fire belched forward. Azula leaped upward, igniting flames again from her hands and feet to soar skyward. With a shift of her arms, she darted straight at the Dragon Empress, wind rushing around her.

Yula stepped backward and thrust her palm forward. Flames ignited. Azula shifted her arms, pointed her flames sideways. She lurched away with a sharp change in direction. Yula's fire scorched next to her, leaving her untouched. Another shift in her positioning, and she continued her streaking path forward. Yula spun towards her and repositioned her stance again. Too slow this time.

Azula crashed in front of her with an explosive burst of blue flames. Yula screamed, spinning head over heels across the front end of the airship. Her fingers clawed at the crumbling metal beneath her, desperate to hold on as she slid back over the edge, legs dangling over open air. Panic flashed into her widened eyes.

"Help!" she shrieked, with a shrill crack in her tone. Metal paneling beneath her grasp tore free, causing her to slip further. She made a desperate reach with her arm to regain hold. "Help me!"

Azula's gaze narrowed. "Help you? Why on earth would I do that?"

"I—I'm sorry! Please! Have mercy!"

"No, Yula." Rising fury surged through her, scorching into her throat with the acrid taste of bile. Electricity sparked into her fingertips. Thrusting her fingers forward, she poured as much chi as she could muster down her arm, every ounce of rage and grief exploding outward in a searing, sizzling bolt. "You don't get mercy!"

Yula's expression shifted, a grin carving across her face. She let go of the airship, thrust her hands back, and blasted herself forward with a quick thrust of flames. Lightning streaked towards her at the same moment she landed. Reaching her own arms forward, she caught the lightning and channeled it back through her body.

"You just... don't... learn!" With a simple shift of her body, Yula aimed her other arm forward and guided the lightning out through her fingertips, directly back from where it came.

Azula stared in stunned panic, still caught in the follow-through of her release. Not enough distance between them. Not enough time to get out of the way. Nowhere to go. How? How had Yula outplayed her again? Lightning redirected square into her gut and lifted her off her feet. Numbness spread through her, a rush of pins and needles from her fingertips down to her toes.

Then, she was falling. Wind whipped at her face. The world rushed by her. The airship above grew farther and farther away. The last thing she saw before darkness blotched across her vision was a shadowed figure swooping towards her. The world continued racing by, but she was no longer falling. Flying now. Soaring. The sounds of battle drifted away, faded into silence. Her own thoughts disappeared. Darkness spread farther, drowning her senses. Her body went limp. After that... there was nothing.


Yula watched with a scowl, as the form of a great red dragon snatched Azula out of the sky. Within seconds, both figures disappeared over the mountains, far out of range. No matter. Even if Azula did survive the lightning, she couldn't hide. Sooner or later, Yula would find her and finish the job. Another explosion tore through the airship's engines. She steadied herself and leaped over the side of the vessel, propelling herself down towards the catwalks with a burst of fire.

"Captain Han!" she called, as she made her way through the doorway into the lower deck. "Prepare to make an emergency landing on the battlefield!"

While she might not be able to scorch the earth from above anymore, she had already done her damage. The United Forces were in shambles, vastly outnumbered by her own Army. Time to end this battle once and for all.


Piles of stone and concrete quivered, lifting out of the way. With one final push, rubble exploded upward to clear a path. Huan stumbled out of the pile with a cough, nearly tripping over his own two feet as he climbed onto a concrete slab. When he found his balance, he turned back to the hole and reached a hand downward. Asami grasped his arm and pulled herself upright, followed by Mako. Together, they lifted the still-unconscious Shayu, while Baatar Sr. brought up the rear.

"I am never doing anything like this again," Huan muttered, as he shook his green robe free of dust.

"I'm just glad you're an earthbender," Mako said, standing upright atop the rubble pile. "That was some quick thinking. We'd have been crushed if not for you."

Asami nodded. "Yes, thank you. We owe you our lives."

"I'm proud of you, Son," Baatar said, with a smile.

"Well, of course," Huan stated, with an insistent tone. "Just because I'm an artist doesn't mean I'm less capable. Bending in and of itself is an art form, after all."

Mako swept a long look across the destroyed plaza. Mountains of rubble littered the area around them, all that remained of numerous collapsed buildings. "They... destroyed almost everything."

Asami joined him, dawning horror creeping into her gaze. "I don't believe this. Republic City is in ruin. It's just... gone. Why would anyone do this?"

"If I learned anything from Zaofu," Baatar said, "it's that this Yula woman will stop at nothing to get what she wants. Even if that means reducing a city to rubble."

Mako lowered his gaze from the ruined buildings towards the ground, further examining the damage. A familiar blue armband caught his eye, half-buried beneath a slab of concrete. He blinked, focused on it. Recognition struck him like a train, pushing him forward in a panicked scramble across the debris. "Korra!"

He dropped to his knees and started digging, struggling to budge the heavier chunks of concrete. Huan joined him a moment later, and cast aside the debris with a simple gesture of his arms. When the rubble cleared, they found Korra lying beneath it, sprawled out motionless with her eyes closed.

"What happened?" Asami questioned, with a tremble in her tone. "I thought Korra was going to help General Iroh! What's she doing here?"

"I don't know!" Mako pressed a pair of fingers to Korra's neck and concentrated. A possible pulse thumped against his touch, but his own nerves flared so hot he couldn't be sure. "She needs medical attention! Or... or something!"

"I know basic first aid," Baatar said, hurrying to Korra's side. "Maybe I can help."

Before he had the chance, a voice echoed across the plaza. "Halt right there!"

The group spun around, coming face-to-face with several squadrons of imperial soldiers. Mako fell back on the defensive, igniting a fiery dagger into his grasp as the enemy troops surrounded them. His initial spark of defiance extinguished seconds later, and he let the flame disperse. Too many. Far, far too many. He'd only get them all killed.

"Come quietly and nobody needs to get hurt," one of the soldiers declared. "You are now all prisoners of the Dragon Empire."


Kuvira coughed out a harsh groan as she reemerged from below ground. She crawled her way out of the hole, followed soon by Iroh and Izumi, with Bolin bringing up the rear. The four of them sprang back to their feet, ready to continue fighting. Ready to continue the battle. The scene that greeted them expunged any remaining hope or determination they might have otherwise had.

What remained of the United Forces had been surrounded by Dragon Empire troops, all of them sitting in huddled silence. Broken. Defeated. No longer fighting back, having long since surrendered as prisoners of war. Kuvira and her team remained the only individuals yet to be corralled and taken captive. Now that they had emerged into the open, attention shifted towards them. Imperial troops moved in formation to surround them, readying themselves for any resistance.

"Well, well, look at who we have here." A horrifyingly familiar woman strolled through the line of soldiers, approaching the group. "You're just in time to surrender yourselves along with the rest of your Army."

"Yula..." Kuvira muttered, with a growling defiance in her tone.

"That is my name," the Dragon Empress replied, carving a vindictive smirk across her face. "As you can see, I've defeated you. Your Army is in shambles, your Navy has been obliterated, I've captured your friends, the other world leaders, even the Avatar, and Republic City is little more than ruins now. I've won. Surrender."

Kuvira's arms twitched, on the verge of retaliation. General Iroh stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder. He shook his head, dropped to his knees, and raised his arms into the air. Izumi did the same, joining her son on the ground. Bolin turned a hesitant glance towards her, but he too fell to his knees with his arms raised. Kuvira watched the three of them, swallowing a choked knot in her throat before turning her attention back to Yula. Any lingering resolve wavered in a horrible spark of understanding. No other options left. She either surrendered, or they all died. Bowing her head, she raised her arms into the air and dropped to her knees.

"The resistance is crushed!" Yula announced, looking out at her troops. She held a triumphant fist up into the air and spread a wide grin across her face. "The Dragon Empire is victorious!"

The cheers that followed were deafening.