The wave came to a sudden halt just inches before reaching the rim of the ship, then, frozen into ice. Korra bit her cheek as her eyes fixed on a middle-aged woman in blue, the waterbender was wearing traditional Southern Water Tribe garment. The Avatar tried her best to avoid fighting her own people, however, the reality keeps disappointing her.
"Who are you?" Korra stared at the woman, whose appearance vaguely resembled that of Katara's, "are you going to fight your own people for the invaders of our homeland?"
"My name is Kya, daughter of Master Katara," the waterbender's voice was as calm as her expression. Korra couldn't find any cue to recognize the woman's emotion, "you are just like your mother", she thought.
"And I didn't come here to fight on the behalf of anyone but as Avatar Aang's descendent." Kya continued.
"That makes no sense," The Avatar was utterly speechless for a moment as she failed to find any rationale in the waterbender's answers. Her expression became funny at an attempt to swallow the information, "you are practically fighting your father's reincarnation."
"Because we still have faith in you," the Kya responded, "You are lost, but you are our father's successor. You have the power to stop all of these."
Her speech was a poor imitation of Korra's conversation with Katara. It was the most insincere words she had ever heard, and disgust was clearly written in her face. "You mean surrendering myself and the only person I trust to the very people who invaded my homeland?" her glare was terrifying, "never." Korra slammed her fists onto the deck, splitting the titanium floor from the middle.
The deck controrted like a wave, only to be stopped a few feet away from reaching the waterbender. The Avatar felt a powerful grip taking control over the element, but it was no regular metalbending. Instead of manipulating the residual amount of earth in the substance, which is the conventional practice of the discipline, the person was directly bending the metal itself the same way as bending an element. This technique made the grip stronger than any other earthbender could possibly achieve, and Korra knew exactly who is capable to do so: Kuvira The Platinum Bender.
Korra turned her head to the direction of her nemesis, the Platinum Bender had already sliced the titanium into spear-like segments. The Avatar evaded the deadly projectiles raining down on her, like a leaf in the wind, and countered with gusts of compressed air. Kya mustered a large amount of water from the sea, blocking the Avatar's onslaught.
"Rescue the Commander, we will cover you!" Great Uniter Suyin apprised her sister about her plan while launching shards of metal towards Korra. Ghazan took out a few pieces of rocks that he always carries in his pocket, melting and rotating them towards each other, creating a disc of lava. Ming Hua collaborated with Kya, throwing whips of water with ice blades on the tips. Their effort was not in vain, as their attacks kept the Avatar occupied.
"I will come with you." Zaheer spoke to Lin, who responded with a nod. The duo started to approach to the radioroom, located behind the Avatar, from their left. Korra discovered their intention, as she made a serious attempt to stop their advance: after the jets of fire failed to stop the duo, she raised a wall of scorching flame around the radioroom's entrance. However, the Avatar's actions came with consequences, since she had put much of her attention on her behind, she was vulnerable to the attack at the front. Korra barely avoided the spinning disc of lava aiming at her head, only finding her left foot got trapped in ice. As she melted the ice to free her foot, a piece of metal fragment pierced into her right arm.
"Spirits!" The Avatar cursed as she inspected her wound: the splinter penetrated her arm from the middle. Korra might not be able to bloodbend since there was no full moon, but she could still sense the blood inside her body: the fragment was between the biceps and triceps, less than an inch away from the artery. She knew she couldn't afford using her hand, for any lateral movement risks cutting the artery; her only option was to metalbend the splinter out of her arm. And that, she thought, should be easy, she had done a dozen times before. Korra concentrated on the piece of metal, aiming to find the trace amount of earth particles in it, and yet, she found none. Her blood ran cold as she realized the grimness of this situation, "it's Platinum…" she whispered. Nevertheless, she had leverage: as her signature white flame still surrounds the radioroom.
However, Korra was not the person who gives up; she had the entire United Republics on her back, and a powerful, sinister spirit to stop. She knew she must end the war she had started and convince everyone that Koh is coming for them. "This fight is useless," Korra spoke, she was breathing heavily due to the pain, yet she still managed to keep her voice steady, "I told you Koh The Face Stealer is coming to take all our faces away, it will only make you even worse prepared if you take me down right now." she added, "if you don't trust me, trust Jinora." Her voice was the furthest from pleading,
Lin secretly slid up the metal soles of her boots, detecting for the slightest change of rhythm in Korra's heartbeat: but there was none. The Avatar was not lying.
"I believe in you, Avatar," it was Tenzin who first responded, "but for other to trust you, too, you have to first release Commander Guan." Korra realized that the airbending master and his daughter did not enter the fight from the beginning to the end. She was undoubtfully surprised given the fact that she had planned a purge against him and captured his daughter.
"I give you my highest respect for trusting me and my apology for what I had done to you and your family, Master Tenzin." Korra nodded solemnly to the middle-aged man, "but I can't release the hostage," she scanned the Beifongs, "he is the only leverage I possess to ensure the United Republic's sovereignty and my personal safety."
"All I need to know is that you are a war criminal and you're a threat to world peace," Lin replied coldly. Even though Korra passed her lie detection, she remained skeptical to the significance of spiritual matters.
"I don't deny it."
Lin was staggered how straight forward the Avatar was with her deeds, it was light and day comparing to the way she used talk as a Triad Boss.
"However," Korra glanced her arm, the blood on her wound was dripping onto the floor; her right arm was covered in crimson, yet she continued nonetheless, "it will be a stupid move to put me on trial at this moment, if you still want to have a face." The Avatar fixed her glare onto the horizon, "withdraw all your troops from United Republic region, radio President Asami and sign the peace treaty on this ship. I will release your Naval Commander once I receive the reports from the United Forces."
"And having us wiped out by your troops?" Suyin retaliated, "no, we're not leaving without you."
"Here comes the last part of our deal," the Avatar spoke indifferently, "Once I release the Commander, I will stay on this ship and you can use me as a hostage on your way back to the Earth Republic. And I will not fight back" Seeing Suyin unconvinced, Korra smiled bitterly, "I have a piece of Platinum stuck in my arm, barely avoiding the artery," she pointed to Kuvira, her voice rather sarcastic, but no one could figure out her emotions from the tone, "if I try something funny, she could end me at any time."