Note: italics indicates flashback.
"Captain, I've been hit!"
Captain of the Zaofu guards, Kuvira sprinted towards the voice. A chill ran down her spine. It sounded like Lei, her youngest recruit. She had pleaded with him back at Zaofu to stay with Suyin and to join them when he was older and stronger but the kid wouldn't take a no for an answer. The boy was determined to do something for his nation, refusing to stand idle while many of his fellow guards served.
The campaign to stabilize Ba Sing Se had been an uphill struggle the higher they moved. It was ironic considering that the lower rings were the ones most affected by the Queen's tyranny but the upper ring had turned into no man's land. Anybody that could muster a shred of strength was staking a claim over the centers of administrative, military and economic power. A group of defectors of the Earth Kingdom's military and the Dai Li decided to lay a claim on the National Bank and now they were fiercely refusing to surrender it to her forces. Most of the riches of the Royal Palace had been plundered. The armories had been wiped clean and national treasures were now well on their way to be sold in black markets but the National Bank hadn't been looted yet. It wasn't lack of haste from the plunderers but rather due to the complex logistics of transporting what was held in its vaults due to the Earth Kingdom's quaint currency policy. It was almost comical that a country that boasted of airships and satomobiles as signs of progress still held on to managing money in coin currency instead of paper, and for the looters it had become quite the inconvenience. Her forces had arrived just in time to stop this at the behest of Zaofu's wealthy defectors to the stabilizing cause. Their rationale was that after such a disastrous collapse, the nation would require every single yuan for the reconstruction effort and it was imperative they recovered the bank and its treasures. Their argument was correct and she understood it but it was proving to be costly in lives. Her guards' lives.
When she reached Lei, he was clutching his neck. That's when she noticed that the green of his uniform was stained almost completely in bright red blood. This had been the handiwork of a master earthbender that favored finesse over brute force. A deadly finesse as life escaped from her young guard's neck from a narrow puncture wound that belittled the fact that the rock projectile had pierced the artery in one shot. Kuvira held his head while clutching his free hand. It should be over soon. The captain felt the youth's strength faltering as his grip began loosening and his eyes could no longer focus on her.
"Captain, don't let them win…you must….promise you will stop them…" he drawled weakly.
"I will. I promise you" Kuvira replied steeling her voice.
Her reassurance given, the boy nodded and closed his eyes. He finally allowed himself to rest. The captain searched for the id tags tied by a cord underneath his uniform and ripped one off. The stained disc left red trails on her fingers. Kuvira cursed bitterly under her breath and rallied her guards into a fierce offensive. They will show these lowly rock tossers what metalbenders could truly do. For Lei. For the cause.
It felt like a lifetime ago. Lei, the Ba Sing Se campaign. Their resounding victory. The overwhelming pride in having proved everyone wrong against all odds. That had been just the beginning. Kuvira's ambitions were tall but so were the odds against her and she had the determination and the combined talent of amazing people that shared the same dream. But when the dream soured, it was up to her to take the fall. Perhaps it was that even in victory, in success, she had been in truth, alone.
The door opened. At last her permanent cell was ready. She braced herself for the incoming round of blocks that mercifully had been more precise and less punishing during the past weeks. Probably the disclosure of Earth Empire secrets was finally bearing fruit and her cooperation was deemed indeed genuine.
"On your feet. You're going to your new home Kuvira," the gruff voice of Chief Beifong startled her.
"Chief?" she rose to face the detective. "Am I so valuable that I require the visit of Republic City's esteemed Chief of Police?"
Lin Beifong appraised her through narrow eyes. "Let's just say your new cell withstood the rigors of my testing. It is more humane but you won't be able to bend a thing inside."
"I appreciate that you are taking time out of your busy schedule to honor me with a visit," Kuvira extended her arms in front of her body exposing her bruised wrists.
"Spare me the courtesies." Lin noticed the gesture. She couldn't help the momentary wince that broke her usual impassable countenance. "That won't be necessary. Should you attempt any foul play, you know I won't hesitate to do what's needed." There was a chilling emphasis on the last words, Kuvira noticed.
A guard opened the cell. Two heavily armed police officers augmented the prison guard detail used to escort her. Chief Beifong stood close behind her. It felt strange. Being in full capacity of her body, her wrists almost missed the weight of the metallic bracelets. She felt almost whole again. The long corridor twisted into a corner, narrowing the further they went. They stepped inside a sturdy lift and began a downwards trajectory that took them deeper into the bowels of the prison complex. The lift stopped with a loud clatter and they walked until they reached her new cell. A guard opened the door and the chief of police escorted the metalbender inside.
"I see some platinum was spared from Zaofu's reconstruction to build this. I'm impressed," Kuvira commented as she visually inspected what was to be her new home for the next decades or so.
"It wasn't easy designing something to contain skilled metalbenders which unfortunately for us, your army certainly didn't lack. It has been a challenge due the materials shortage and the reconstruction effort but Ms. Sato came with a clever solution in the end. Yours had priority number one of course but many will follow."
The cell wasn't much larger than the one she spent her nights before but it looked more pleasant, or at least as pleasant as a prison cell for a maximum security prisoner could be. Nary a speck of earth or bendable metal could be seen by the naked eye, not even on the sink or the toilet and she doubted one would be found at a closer inspection.
"I bet she did. I would probably have fared better if I had requested her services rather than Varrick's."
"If it means Asami wouldn't have hesitated to call you up on your crap long before you had the chance to develop any funny ideas, then yes she would have," Lin replied with a severe expression on her face.
Kuvira offered a soft smile as reply. Apparently, Varrick was still a sore subject for the chief and she couldn't blame her for it. The man had managed to go from escaped prisoner to war hero in a three year span but he'd managed to elude her justice.
"I meant her inventions," the metalbender replied. "But probably she would have done so as you say. You can tell Ms. Sato that I appreciate the fact that she was able to suppress her personal feelings towards me when designing this place and I'm not being sarcastic."
"I will try to pass on the message but I seriously doubt she'll be interested in receiving it," Lin countered coldly.
"I understand."
The Chief moved beside a sturdy wooden table on a corner of the cell. "Your personal belongings have already been moved here. On the table there's writing material, some books and letters addressed to you. If you have any requests you may write them down." Lin made a gesture to show the prisoner the writing supplies that were granted as reward for good conduct and collaboration.
"I guess a garden with a koi fish pond is out of the question." Even in defeat and captivity Kuvira still found her way with words, something that Chief Beifong did not fail to notice by the particular way her eyebrows knitted together.
"I'll be on my way now. We're following up closely on the leads you've given us so you'll probably see me more often. You should continue collaborating as you have done so far. Privileges can be added to your incarceration depending on your behavior."
"My war is over Lin. I don't have anything else to do but to help my nation in any way that's available to me." The Chief of police nodded.
"Lin…"
Chief Beifong turned around halfway through the door. "Yes?"
"How's Suyin?" the former captain asked tentatively.
"I think you should ask her yourself." And with that the Republic City Chief of Police was gone as Kuvira began her stay in a new prison cell and with a most difficult task assigned, one that she thought could take her whole sentence to accomplish.
