Mount & Bending

by Luke Danger

As Harmonic Convergence came to a close, it seemed that things would be right again. But for Korra and her friends, it became the start of a new adventure in a strange land. This is Calradia, a land of war with six kingdoms locked in brutal struggles for dominance. Unable to return home, Korra must find a new path in a vicious world, and find what she wants to accomplish here.

15. Boot Camp

"So how're the recruits doing?"

"So far so good," Korra admitted as she looked over Asami's supply report one last time. "Lezalit has been focusing on keeping them in formation during the march - getting them to work together, getting them used to responding to orders, that kind of thing."

"That's one way to do it. Better than the corporate trust exercises. Because why wouldn't you catch someone who's falling right into you?"

"Maybe," Korra shrugged as she folded up the report and handed it back to Asami. "Anyways, they should be done with the route marching by now. You were going to join the weapons training?"

"Might as well," Asami admitted as she glanced towards where her sword was. "Besides, Naga can easily keep watch here."

Korra nodded. The polar bear dog had been taking the time in one place to relax and run free near the camp - especially since she was able to take off the saddle and the supplies she had to carry while they were marching. Still, they were going to be training near and around the camp just in case, especially since they were able to pitch camp very close to the actual training fields.

"So how much longer before Lezalit gets back?" Bolin asked as he walked over. "Lunch is ready and with how much we made it won't stay warm for long."

"They should be back…" Korra stopped as she glanced past the earthbender and saw a large group of people moving towards them in a column with Lezalit standing just outside the formation. "There they are."

Waiting at the camp's perimeter, she could see that many of the recruits were tired, using their spears (if they had them) as walking sticks or hunched over, but they were still moving as Lezalit continued to bark at them. Gotta wonder how his voice isn't even more hoarse than it is, Korra wondered as she remembered how much he had done when she had marched with them before Asami had grabbed her to go over their stores and finances.

As they reached the perimeter of the camp, Lezalit raised a hand.

"Halt! Present arms!" the Geroian shouted.

"At ease," Korra ordered before they got through all the way. "How're you all feeling after the first morning?"

She heard grumbling, a couple okays, and she saw Ymira bending over, putting her hands on her knees as she was clearly out of breath, spitting into the ground and coughing.

"They're fine, Captain," Lezalit explained. "A few fell behind, but they should be back in camp shortly if they'll be decent soldiers."

Korra shot straight. "Sergeant, I left you half an hour ago. Are you telling me you left people behind and didn't leave someone with them?"

"They will either shape up or fall behind - we cannot wait for those who cannot keep pace. A rout starts at the weakest link, and at some point we must simply remove the link entirely. If they can get here, they prove themselves stronger than they seemed."

Korra bit her tongue before she responded - I can't undermine his authority if he's going to do what I paid him for, she reminded herself as she glanced at the men and women in formation. This is something to do in private, she decided.

"Fine. Sergeant, I'll talk to you later. For now… everyone, go get some lunch, you've earned it. I'll make sure everyone else gets back."

"They should be along the road, Captain," Lezalit explained as he waved his hand and the tired would-be soldiers made their way into the camp. "It's Footmen Ivan, Lydia, Raynold, and Gertrude."

Korra nodded, gesturing for him to head into camp before she started to jog along the path. She didn't make it far along the road before she spotted Jinora coming in with her glider staff.

"I know, Lezalit," Korra said before the airbender could speak up. "I'll deal with him later, but right now I want to get everyone back safely."

"That's why I came. You need someone who can head back to camp quickly if someone needs… over there by the hillside!"

She saw it: Raynold, one of the non-benders with his spear and shield dropped behind him as he was against the hillside and a bit further back was Lydia, the Vaegir waterbender lying face down but breathing.

"Captain?" Raynold asked as he looked up from rubbing his ankle.

"I know, Lezalit," Korra explained as she crouched next to him and started to waterbend, holding the liquid in front of her. "This won't actually make you less tired but it should relieve a bit of the pain."

"Sorry, Captain, wasn't being tired. I think I sprained my ankle on a rock and…"

She glanced down at it and saw he had removed his ankle boots and there was a small bump on the ankle. "Was it just Ivan, Lydia, and Gertrude who fell behind?"

"Aye, Captain."

Korra nodded, focusing as she held the water over the ankle, then after a few moments put the water back. It was a very mild sprain, and one that she suspected was more annoying than debilitating. She'd need more time to check but that was something she suspected anyone who had some basic skill with injuries could figure out.

"Okay, you should be able to get back to camp with that," she said as she stood and pulled the Swadian to his feet. Carefully, he took a step, winced, then nodded.

"Aye captain, I'll get back."

Picking up his spear and shield, she sent him off as he made his way slowly. Korra shook her head as she made her way to Lydia. I don't want to deal with this every day, she decided as she helped the Vaegir waterbender to her feet again.

XXXXXX

"Hey, Opal, you okay?"

"I'm fine, just tired and having a new appreciation for my mom being persistent about staying in shape."

Bolin sighed. "Good, some of those guys weren't looking healthy."

The new airbender nodded. "Yes, Lezalit is very harsh. I wanted to stay behind to grab some, but he threatened to hit anyone who broke formation willingly."

"Wait, with his beat stick?"

She nodded.

Bolin cracked his knuckles. "That's it I'm going to talk to him…"

"Easy, Bolin," another voice cut in and the two glanced to see Asami walking over. "Let Korra handle it."

"Yeah but how long until she's back?" Bolin asked as he looked towards the dirt path. "It could be over an hour and we're starting up the rest of the training then."

"I'll be with Lezalit so I can rein him in," the ex-CEO said as she sat down next to them. "Jinora went with Korra too."

"So there goes air and water."

The three glanced over at the fourth voice as Leverage plopped himself down near them, putting his warbow next to him and his quiver bouncing as he hit the ground. "Seriously, that Geroian's got a polearm up his ass. And what was with that beat stick of his?"

"You realize you're talking to your commanding officers, right?" Asami warned, her tone shifting suddenly and Bolin raised an eyebrow.

The Vaegir paused for a moment, then gave a quick salute. "Aye, Lieutenant, Sergeant. But my point stands."

"Just know when to gripe - it's fine right now, but don't gripe at him when he's trying to train you. And hasn't he been trying to pull you for archery training?"

"Yeah, that's about all he likes me for."

Bolin glanced at Opal, the airbender pausing before speaking up. "He's a soldier, and he's supposed to drill other soldiers. Discipline's part of the package. But leaving people behind? That's where he's going too far."

"Yeah, you're not supposed to kill the trainees," Bolin muttered.

"No, you're not," Asami confirmed. "Anyways, leave Lezalit to me or K- the captain, alright?"

"Fine," Leverage grumbled. "But if he starts beating someone I'm putting a bodkin through his butt, alright?"

"No you're not," Asami warned as she leaned forward. "You take it to the captain or myself. We're not shooting anyone besides bandits."

He shrugged. "Alright, I won't shoot him. Well, least the captain marched with us…"

"Is she going to do that all the time?" Opal asked.

"Probably," Bolin said as he saw Naga walking through the center of the camp. "If only to… oh look there she is!"

Asami rose. "Right, I'll tell her what you told me. But when Lezalit's training you ask how high when he tells you to jump, got it?"

XXXXX

After handing off the worn out trainees to Mako, Jinora, Asami, and Ymira to get checked medically, Korra found Lezalit and led him to her corner of the camp.

"Alright Sergeant, I want to know why you think leaving behind collapsing recruits is a good idea," Korra demanded as she turned to face him. "I promised to give you the room you needed, but I also said I didn't want wrecks."

"Growing pains, Captain. It sometimes happens with recruits who are not as used to long and hard physical labor or who cannot maintain discipline very well. Respectively, the non-farmhand women like Ymira or our Vaegir recruits."

"Raynold's Swadian."

"Aye, but he was merely injured, I saw the genuine fall and he made it back to camp. A good building experience for him - in battle the enemy won't give our wounded the luxury of a time out to be pulled clear."

Korra shook her head. "Maybe, but we need to sort this out because if people are dropping every march we're going to break some of them beyond fixing, and we haven't even gotten to the weapons."

"No sharp weapons will be used aside from demonstration purposes, and those will be at some distance in the event of accidents. I won't make any promises of them coming out without welts and bruises."

"I'm not asking that they come out unscathed, I'm asking that they're not turned to nervous wrecks. Now since I'm going to be training the waterbenders in healing, I think we can compromise."

The Geroian scowled before he paused and folded his arms. "I'm listening, Captain."

"You want to keep a high pace - fair enough, but sometimes we're going to have people who just get hurt or just get worn out from too much hard marching. Not everyone's been raised from childhood to be soldiers."

"Aye, even in Calradia that's true."

"And since the waterbenders are going to be the main healers, why not put them in positions on the formation where they can drop out as well and help anyone who falls? They get some experience with healing that they'll need, and I can bring Naga or we can have a few horses around to catch them up and get them back into the formation once they're moving - they don't need to be completely healed, just good enough to finish the drill."

"Hmmm. I can't say I like the idea of such exemptions - if the men know they'll get a free ride they'll fake it."

"Healing does triage too and it's hard to fake an injury for long. But if we badly injure them now it'll take even longer to train them than if we caught them and kept them going."

The Geroian rubbed his chin for a moment, then nodded. "Aye, I can accept this. I'll pick up the pace on our specific marching formation and let those who fall behind get treated. But I expect fakers to be punished."

"I'll take care of that. Now, you've got some weapon training to start and I've got benders to train."

"Indeed. When we have some free time, I'd certainly like to attend some of them. But until then you hired me for a job and I'll do it."

Korra wasn't sure she was comfortable with the Geroian's interests in bending, but suppressed the concerns. He's going to see plenty anyways.

XXXXXX

Taking a deep breath as she stood before the group near a pond near the camp, Korra looked up from across it where the waterbenders were sitting around looking up at her. Most of them were rubbing their feet or legs, particularly the few who had been completely torn out from the march. The one who stood in contrast was Keiko, who was watching her closely as Korra hesitated.

With nothing else to do but take the plunge, Korra stepped forward and stepped into the long and narrow pond. They were still not paying much attention, so Korra moved her arms around her until a spout was forming around her waist and she lifted herself up enough. Immediately the recruits stopped lazing about and straightened up to look at her, many of them muttering amongst themselves or staring slack jawed at what they were seeing.

"You've had a hard march, but now it's time to start what you came here to do: learning how to waterbend," she started as she guided herself forward and once on solid ground sent the water back into the pond with a splash.

"That was master level bending, by which point you'll be swiftly changing water between its states and forms. Before that though, you have to focus on far more fundamental things. The push and pull of the tides - you need to retrace how waterbenders learned in the first place."

A hand shot up.

"Ivan?"

"Where did they learn that from? I mean, just staring at the ocean?"

"Sort of," Korra explained as she folded her arms. "You've all seen the moon crest on my body armor by now, right? There's a reason why the Water Tribes adopted that as one of our symbols: it was observing the moon's push and pull on the tides that allowed the waterbenders to really harness their abilities."

"I'm not sure if it's the same here in Calradia," she added as some of the recruits were giving each other looks that left her wondering if they thought she was speaking crazy talk, "but the important part is the push and pull - the flow of energy. You've all gotten a decent hang of being able to handle your flow of chi with what you were shown on the march, but now that we have the time you need to master that."

Taking a step back, she gestured for them all to stand and approach the pond. "And here's where you can; pick a spot, then try to control the water so it goes back and forth. You're not going for size, you're getting a feel for the basics. Once you understand that, you can control it, whether it's freezing the water, directing it, or even using it as a catalyst to work with someone else's chi - as some of you have already felt first hand."

All eyes fell on Ivan and Lydia, who shrugged before they all made their way to the pond, found a spot, and started working at it. Korra walked between them to correct their form, but she found a constant problem.

"It just doesn't stay!" Lydia growled as her tides kept splashing one way and the only water that slid back was the stuff that had landed on the other end of the shoreline.

"You're putting too much power into it," Korra explained, gesturing for her to take a step to the side and then moved as slowly and gently as she could. "Don't force it. Power is never going to be your strength. You have to adjust to what you come up against, and you can't stick to one method. Try different ones, see what works."

The Vaegir nodded slowly and tried again, much slower this time and the a small wave started to go back and forth.

"There you go!" Korra smiled, "that's it, just like that."

"Thanks."

Giving her a pat on the back, Korra moved on, passing Keiko who was definitely among the best of the group. Wonder if it's because she learned the theory already, or she's just a natural waterbender? she wondered as she gave the woman a nod.

"Captain, a question," the burliest of the waterbenders asked, his voice deep enough Korra suspected he could shake the ground if he wanted.

"What is it Svarog?"

"You said that the reason for the moon pattern was because your people learned from it. What about the wolf helmet?"

"Bit off topic, but if you keep practicing I can explain."

The Vaegir man nodded and kept going, getting a very small wave moving back and forth.

"Okay I think you can do it a little harder if you think you've got the control."

He nodded, moving with a little more speed and force and the wave increased to about the size Korra had hoped for.

"There you go… and the wolf helmet? Well, wolves hunt as a pack, and that's how soldiers fight to protect their homes - together. Plus imagine a bunch of burly men wearing those coming at you."

"Hah! Yeah, nothing scares the crap out of Swadian levies like a bunch of Vaegirs charging them."

Korra shrugged. "Yeah, well maybe they'll call you 'Svarog the Mighty' if you keep practicing."

He laughed as Korra moved on. They were doing well, but her reservations of how fast they'd be combat ready lingered in her mind as she had to stop and correct techniques or push them to be bolder.

XXXXX

"The spear," Lezalit started as he held up one of the training ones which replaced the metal tip with a bunch of rounded up rags. "One of the most fundamental weapons you maggots will ever see and quite possibly the only one some of you will use. It has reach, it has speed, and it's cheap, so even you lot can afford them."

Asami folded her arms as the Geroian moved the spear as if parrying invisible attacks.

"This is the fundamental weapon you will use in formation, just as the Phalangites of the Calradic Empire of old did along with a shield, and just as almost every culture does in the modern day."

"What about those of us who aren't armed with spears?" Ymira asked.

Lezalit paused and turned fast enough to startle Asami, and the metal armored man marched over and stood over Ymira, looking her down. "Speak when spoken to, Footman," he snarled as the young woman's eyes went wide as she bent backwards trying to stay back from his face. Then he hooked his leg between hers and tripped her.

What was that for? Asami wondered as she stared at the Geroian. It's an honest question...

"Now then," Lezalit continued as he walked past them, "I've set up a dummy for you to practice on, but first we will go over several simple positions. First, the ready position." He turned to the side and lowered the spear, holding it at a slight angle over horizontal. "If you do not have a shield, this is how you hold it. If you do, this is your ready position." He released his left hand and held the left arm out as if he had a shield and then shifted his right hand a bit further up and again held it level just below his ribcage.

"Grab spears and assume the ready position, maggots! And for the sake of your inbred mums spread out so you don't poke each other!"

There was a scramble as everyone hurried over to grab the stack of training spears as Lezalit held his vertical, back end of the spear against the ground as his left fell onto his club. Asami grabbed one of the spears and once she had some space gave it a few low swings to get a feel for the weight before holding it in the ready position. Lezalit made his way through, correcting the forms before he stood in front of them again.

"Now, you will thrust forward and then back. Footman Barnaby, you are familiar with polearm usage. Demonstrate."

"Aye sir!" the ex-Pikeman answered, quickly thrusting forward and then pulling the spear back into the ready position.

"Good form… for a pike, but acceptable for a spear. Now, the rest of you…"

The drills took some time and while Asami picked it up quickly, she knew most of it was because it was similar to the bo staves used in her self defense training. Others were not so fortunate, particularly the ones who were slower. At one point she saw Lezalit draw his club and strike at Raynold as the Swadian didn't quite go back to the ready position each time.

Drill is monotonous, not that it takes an engineer to figure that out, she decided as Lezalit finally had enough of that drill and moved them on to doing it overhead. Yet Asami knew she needed the training - if she had to take a spot in the formation, she had to know how rather than trying to improvise.

XXXXXXX

"So that 'Avatar' is building an army? We'll deal with her the same way we'll deal with our other enemies."

Ghazan sighed as he looked at the bald man with a black handlebar mustache. "You're not listening to me, 'Baron'," he put as much disrespect into the title as he could, "the Avatar is a massive threat to your Brethren of the Woods, particularly now that she's building an army to support her."

The dark skinned baron snorted. "You said yourself she's from a mere tribe - as base a birth I've ever heard."

"Daughter of the guy who was supposed to be chief," Ming-Hua pointed out as she leaned forward, her watery arms bulging slightly from the pressure. "And even the South was a lot more advanced than this dungheap."

"And she's got that Sato woman with her, right?" Viper asked as the Triad was cleaning his teeth with a toothpick he had carved for himself. "Give that woman a chance and she'll build all sorts of crazy stuff to use."

"Yeah, I don't wanna face a Mecha Tank…" Ping agreed.

"What the heck's a Mecha Tank?" Borcha asked as he turned to look at Ping.

"Big metal monster made of platinum," Viper elaborated. "Pretty tough to take on even for benders. Even if she didn't make it out of platinum she knows how to make steel that'll rival anything your dinky little spears and arrows can do."

"I don't think we have to worry about tanks," Ghazan cut in as he shook his head. "Calradia's no where near that level of industrialization - she'd have to hand make every piece and get the fuel by hand. Not easy. The real threat is the Avatar."

"Can't we just slit her throat?" Klethi asked, the red headed Vaegir sharpening a knife as she sat on a rock nearby. "Do it dead in the night, and we won't have her as a threat. If you didn't want Bracha alive I'd of happily done that to him."

"No," a cold voice cut in and everyone turned towards the old man who was leading the group, sitting on a root that came out of the ground next to the tree they sat under. "The Avatar is to be spared. I need her alive for my… plans."

Ghazan shook his head as he looked at the man in dark red robes, the symbol of the Red Lotus proudly visible on his long hat. His unease with the old man rose again. "And if we want to deal with the Avatar we need to do it properly," Ghazan added, "when she's in the Avatar State."

"Hahaha screw that with a rusty exhaust pipe!" Viper snorted. "I saw what she did to that giant man-spirit thing at Republic City. I ain't facing that if you put a cannon to my head!"

"Keep training these bandit benders and you will never face her," the old man continued as he leaned forward on his walking stick. "No, the Avatar must not be killed until I am finished with her. But you are correct, Ghazan: she is a threat to our plans. If anyone brought over by Harmonic Convergence can threaten us, it will be her and those who follow her."

"So what do we do?" Ming-Hua asked. "Kidnap her so you can do whatever it is you want with her chi?"

"No, I need more time to prepare the extraction and I cannot do that if she is free to chase us down. We need something to draw her attention for a few weeks, to pin her down so even if she feels the spiritual feedback she can't just follow it."

"Well, there's the Swadian bandit gangs," Rolf offered. "Their numbers were bolstered by the few that survived her purge in the mountains and they're not very loyal to us anyways. We just need to give her something to lead her there. Spread some more rumors, organize a few more raids..."

"Send some of the suckers we don't want to the Swadians too," Viper offered. "We've got some guys who're sizing us up to take over. Send them out there, let 'em fight the Avatar and they'll either break her guys and she has to pick up the pieces, or we get to see just what she has in her corner."

"Let's be honest though," Ping flicked a ball of earwax away as he cut in, "the guys we send are dead. Even if she doesn't kill them, the nobles will."

Ghazan's gut tightened. He hated the idea of sending their own people to certain doom, but as he shook his head he knew that they needed something to break the local authority. And it's better that bandits pay the price for liberty than those who just want to have their families free, he decided. "Since this is a suicide mission, I'm guessing you don't want us to go?"

"No, I have something else in mind," the old man said as he tapped his nearly skeletal fingers on his cane. "We need chaos to obscure our goals. Kings and lords always look to active conflict. That gives us a smokescreen we need, but we need to provide sparks that work at our pace."

"And Calradia already has a tendency towards that," Ming-Hua muttered. "We just need to give them some more excuses."

"Yes. The Swadians and Khergits are already at each other's throats, but if we add the Vaegirs into the conflict it will grow more chaotic. And even if the eastern Calradians agree to peace with their present stalemate, their actions will weaken the standing armies of all sides for when the time is right."

"I'll supply you with some Swadian deserters who stole some extra gear and some stuff we looted," Rolf said as he looked to Ghazan. "I suspect that you'll want to look like a mercenary in service of Swadia."

He nodded. Just need to keep them from going rampant on the people we're trying to free.

XXXXXXX

"That's it, redirect his attack!" Korra shouted as the bending drill was going on. Ivan moved with the momentum of an attack from one of the Swadian firebender recruits and followed up with his own. The firebender grunted as he hit the ground.

Mako winced. "Balian, watch how hard you're doing it. Fire's the element of power but it takes a lot out of you. Keep it calm, controlled, and don't let your frustration into your bending!"

"Right," the Swadian muttered as he pushed himself up. "Let's have another go, Ivan!"

Mako sighed as the two went at it again while Korra looked towards the others - the fire and waterbenders were doing a joint drill as sparring with each other only went so far and they needed to know how to deal with other benders. They were still mostly limited to chucking their element at each other, but a few were doing some more complicated techniques like Keiko intercepting attacks entirely.

"Not bad for a few days of training," Korra said as she looked at her ex-boyfriend.

"Yeah, I wouldn't pit them against a rookie pro-bender yet."

"Maybe, but if they keep it up I think they'll be ready for the bandits. Plus who's going to be expecting combat ready benders?"

"I dunno… hey! Watch the headshots, you're sparring not fighting!" Mako shouted at an overly rambunctious pair before shaking his head. "Yeah, I dunno Korra. You sure we can't take another week?"

"You heard Asami," Korra said as she glanced back towards where their camp was - and where Bolin was trying to get the earthbenders to perform their bending without as much ground contact as traditional earthbending which their Rhodok recruits were quickly picking up.

"I know, it'll be pushing it. Still, we could've just not hired those Nords. They took most of the extra gear anyways."

He's right, she realized before shaking her head. "Maybe, but Lezalit's a bit of a waste without a bunch of non-benders who need weapon training. I know a lot of the benders are getting some training with him too, but not enough to justify his cost."

Mako shrugged. "True. So, has Lezalit threatened to quit over the regular healing?"

"He makes Lin look soft but he actually approves of it - it lets him be a little harder on them since he has that safety net and so far only the people who've actually collapsed have dropped."

"Considering how much you paid him those guys better be able to handle themselves - that wasn't a small chunk of our budget."

"Considering the equipment he came with is worth a few thousand denars? We got more than our money's worth," another voice cut in and the two benders turned to see Asami walking up, ledger in hand.

"Hey Asami - Lezalit finish his drill?"

"The weapons training part, yeah. He's getting another route march together for the non-benders, but that wasn't what I came to talk to you about."

Korra nodded. "You want to know if I had a plan now, don't you?"

"We need the money, Korra. Once these guys are being paid weekly we'll probably need at least a thousand a week to pay everyone and keep us all fed. That money isn't found lying around."

"I know. I'm planning on heading down towards Swadia; those herdsmen from Tosdhar who tried to sell us some cows said that there's a lot of bandits poking around their forests, especially now that the kingdom's attention is focused towards Khergit raiders coming down from the steppes. Delinard might be interested in hiring us the same way Matheas did..."

"Even if we got a payout like that a week, we still have to stay busy and be economical with our jobs. That and try to get some good shares of the loot…"

Hard to believe we're going to have to be scavengers, Korra thought as the point sunk in. The gear they had kept from the Sarranids had helped keep some of their costs down - they still had over a thousand denars left in the war chest and each of the original team had about two hundred for personal money - but Korra knew that Asami was right: it wasn't going to last and she had already heard grumbling about not having certain weekly wages even as trainees - especially as they were starting to become proficient as combatants and were feeling like they could tear up a bandit.

Shaking her head, Korra glanced towards the trainees. "I'll keep it in mind, Asami… and thanks."

"For what?"

"Helping me organize all this. I'd probably be in debt right now if you weren't keeping a lid on the costs."

"No problem."

XXXXXX

"So how's your airbending training going?" Bolin asked later that evening.

"So far so good," Opal admitted as she was poking through her dinner. "We're going to start some sparring tomorrow."

"More bruises for the waterbenders, huh?"

"Probably not unless someone gets propelled into a random rock."

"Don't worry we're sticking to the south," Bolin retorted as Pabu crawled up his back. "Gah - Pabu, I already fed you!"

The fire ferret squeaked.

"Fine, you can have the leftovers…" Bolin put his plate down - the food was to mostly crumbs and some bits of bread - and Pabu started munching his way through it. "So, Jinora having any problems with the other recruits?"

"Not a lot," Opal explained, glancing towards Mauci and some of the other Khergits who were bringing their horses back from grazing. "Though I think the Khergits really want to integrate airbending with their riding."

"Seems a bit redundant with glider staves."

Opal shrugged. "To be fair does Asami even know how to make one?"

"She probably could," a young girl's voice cut in as the two turned to see Jinora sitting down nearby. "Though she'd have to take apart mine and… well, I'm not sure if I want her to."

"Fair enough," Bolin admitted as the last of the trainees settled down, some of them nearby while others went towards other corners of the camp.

"They're still too eager," Jinora muttered suddenly, startling Opal as she finished her food.

"Really?" Bolin asked as he started scratching Pabu's neck. "These guys have been great! They really want to learn how to bend and they're putting in the work to do it! Lot more than I did..."

"But they want to use it for violence," the young Air Nomad continued. "Opal, you heard Mauci asking about how to kill with airbending."

"I did," she admitted.

"What's with the pacifism anyways?"

"As I told you, Mauci, the Air Nomads shun violence and for good reason," Jinora turned to look at the man who had joined into their conversation, "Look at Calradia - that's what violence gets you."

Taking another bite, the former nomad shrugged. "Maybe, but there's always going to be someone who's happy to kill you to get what he wants. Then you need to be able to fight."

"Self defense is one thing," Jinora admitted, "and I've got no problem with that. But why stand and fight when you can leave?"

"Oh sure, we can go hide in a castle for a while, but then the food runs out…" one of the nearby Rhodoks retorted as he was cleaning his crossbow's shaft.

"Yeah, how'd the Air Nomads avoid that?" Mauci asked, blinking as if he suddenly had a realization. "I mean, if you're hiding away how do you get food?"

"We made everything we needed. We didn't need to go out and raid our neighbors for food and we didn't need the wealth anyways."

"Yeah, and I bet those temples you talked about were prime targets."

"Not a lot of people could get there," Opal cut in. "They were located at the tops of mountains and the only ways in by foot were thin."

"Easily defended," one of the nearby Rhodoks added.

"Exactly, Elia," Bolin said as he nodded to the earthbender. "I've only seen the pictures, but Jinora's family and the other Air Nomad acolytes at Republic City were also pretty safe from the troubles on the street with the island in the bay they lived on."

"Must be nice," the Calradian earthbender grumbled as he starting munching on an apple, "being able to run off, hide, and not have to worry about armed people wanting to pillage, rape, and burn you."

"Y'know if we didn't have bastards like that, we could probably settle down and focus on living decent lives," Mauci remarked.

"Stopping the constant wars would be a first step," Jinora pointed out.

"Good luck with that," another voice cut in and they turned to see Lezalit walking by. "At ease," he said as the non-sergeants snapped up to attention. "But while the sergeant is correct in that it is a first step, achieving such is impossible under present circumstances."

"Why's that?" Opal asked as she sat back down.

"Simple reason: everyone wants the biggest share of Calradia's land and the resources that goes with it. The kingdoms might be sustainable as they are, but they still want more."

"And that's the problem, the lords aren't happy with what they have." Jinora shook her head. "I understand the need for self defense, but wars for the sake of more power? It's a waste of lives, on every side."

Opal paused, looking between them as the Calradians were nodding along. "We can at least make sure there's fewer bandits around, right?" the new airbender asked.

"Yep, getting the stuff the nobles miss," Bolin agreed as he smiled. "It's why you all joined, right?"

Jinora shook her head. "Maybe. But bending is more than just another way of killing someone. Limiting it to that is disrespecting the entire art."

"Well if Calradia's wars ever end, I wouldn't mind turning earthbending towards construction," Elia said, staring to the southwest.

XXXXX

Korra glanced up from the report Lezalit had written about training progress, her half empty waterskin lying nearby as she was leaning against Naga. "Ymira, what's the problem?"

"It's Lezalit," the young woman said as she slowly approached where Korra slept. "Are you sure he's the best choice for a drill sergeant?"

"First it's 'Sergeant Lezalit', make you you address him right. Second..." Korra paused as she folded the report and pushed herself off of the sleeping polar bear dog. "He does a few things I wouldn't, but combat training isn't easy and he knows what he's doing. If you aren't prepared, there's a lot of ways you can die horribly."

Ymira raised an eyebrow as Korra stood. Glancing around, Korra saw her bow and the quiver of arrows lying nearby and reached for it, sliding an arrow out.

"Let's start with the basics," she said as she pointed the tip towards her stomach despite not having her armor on. "Getting stabbed, slashed, shot with arrows, and so on." She put the arrow down and created a small flame in her palm, "Then there's bending. It does a lot of horrible things – fire can burn your face, searing it to a burnt red. If you survive. If not there's good odds you'll be a pile of ash."

She shifted her foot and a small rock came out of the ground as she extinguished the flame. "Earthbending is very gruesome – I've crushed more than a few people's heads with boulders since I arrived in Calradia. Airbending doesn't seem lethal, but falling to your death is a bad way to go. I've fallen a few times and had to be saved."

"You've fallen to your death?" Ymira asked, raising an eyebrow. "But aren't you skilled enough to avoid that?"

"Sometimes skill doesn't matter," she retorted as she remembered how her skills had won her duel with Amon's lieutenant, but that was not enough to save her from the glass cracking beneath her. "Part of combat training is to get you to hold the line - you could be the best soldier around but if the guy next you do cuts and runs you'll end up dying even though it's his fault."

"I know that military life isn't a nursery, and that we risk death, but it's the way L- ahem, Sergeant Lezalit talking about flogging and hanging us."

Korra straightened up as she realized this was more than just a young woman way over her head. "He's been threatening to hang people?"

"He talks about how the Geroians use that to keep order far too fondly when we eat," the Rhodok woman continued as she folded her arms, "and if given the chance I know he would do the same to one of us if he thought it would get the rest to shape up faster."

"I see," Korra said as she looked around. "I'll have a word to him, but he's still your drill sergeant and if he asks you to jump you ask how many times. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. If he does threaten to flog someone for not doing well enough though tell him to talk to me: handing out punishments is my job as the commanding officer, not his."

"Of course." Ymira bowed. "Thank you for hearing me out, Captain."

"You're welcome," Korra answered as she smiled faintly. "Now, you might want to get some sleep. Lezalit's been running you hard and you need it."

Ymira bowed again and left, and as she sat down Korra rubbed her forehead. Complaints like this were very common. She knew that there would be some whining - she had plenty of pent up feelings about the White Lotus instructors after all - but she also knew that Lezalit was something else. One of the recruits had faked a fall earlier that day and while Lezalit had deferred to her punishment - making him do another two laps around the camp in full kit and then extra latrine duty - but she knew that the Geroian was eager to draw blood for the 'sacrilege of discipline' the faked fall had been.

If I gave him free reign there'd be a mutiny, she decided as she leaned back, almost falling as Naga suddenly shifted in her sleep.

XXXXXXX

"Playing games, Bolin?" Korra asked the next morning as she found the earthbenders chucking rocks from a large line in the dirt.

"Why not?" the earthbender retorted as Gertrude grunted as she lifted her boulder up and shot it into the distance, landing short of the others.

"Just a bit surprised," she finally admitted. "Wasn't exactly how I expected them to learn. Sparring, sure, but a flat out game?"

"You gotta put a little spring in it. Besides they've got Mister Beatstick to keep them rigid."

"True," she admitted as the next earthbender moved up and launched his boulder forward. "Huh, I think that one's managed to pick up your quick style."

"Yeah, it took a while but I think they're getting it. We started tossing balled up rags, guy who got hit the least got some extra food."

"And they're able to put up barriers?"

"Easily. They're not big, but if we're doing that rampart and pike trick? More than enough."

Nodding, Korra glanced towards where Lezalit was doing his weapon drills. "I should probably see how Lezalit's doing - Asami's doing another supply check so she's not there if he goes too far, and I need to talk to him anyways."

"No problem. Soon as this is over we're doing some more sparring."

"Have someone get me the moment there's any serious injuries," she ordered as she climbed onto Naga's back and the two made their way over to where the non-benders were doing their training.

As the two crossed over the hill, she saw the drill in progress and was reminded a lot of Bunduk's drill at Jelkala's drill yard. The spearmen were moving forward slowly as a two man deep block, stabbing their way through the various dummies and rolling over them as the crossbowmen were on the flank firing their bolts at targets in the distance. All with Lezalit barking at them to move forward ten paces, to hold, to move back ten paces, to move forward twenty, and Korra wasn't sure if there was a specific rhyme or reason for the movement.

They are locking step though, she decided as she approached Lezalit and dismounted, the polar bear dog sitting down but keeping her head up as she watched.

"Forward march, maggots!" Lezalit barked, "All the way to the end! Crossbows drop in behind, ceasefire!"

"Aye!" the recruits shouted in near-unison as, with some shakiness from the crossbows trying to get back with interrupted reloading, they moved forward towards the end of the field.

Nodding to himself, Lezalit turned and saluted. "Captain. Here to inspect your troops?"

"Just checking in," Korra answered. "They're looking tight."

"The spearmen are," he agreed. "And the crossbows aren't doing too bad either, but I've got some problems with Ymira."

"Define problems," she asked as she looked towards the Rhodok woman whose dress had become more and more torn over the week, primarily around the feet.

"During dinner last night I was discussing with Footman Barnaby about how Rhodok and Geroian discipline compare - both our cultures make extensive and critical use of tight and complex formations in battle. I had expressed the benefits of liberal usage of the lash in Geroian discipline, along with the occasional noose to deal with troublemakers disrupting the ability of the formation to hold firm in battle."

Biting down a groan, Korra looked at the formation as they tore into the last of the dummies. "They seem to be holding pretty well."

"Aye, but we'll see if they hold after being attacked. Men must have a healthy fear of their commanders, otherwise they are more likely to rout if they think that such will allow them to live."

"And how does this lead to Ymira being a problem? She only complained to me in private."

"She complained, did she?" the Geroian folded his arms. "And what did you tell her?"

"Only to direct you to me if you started flogging people since handing out punishments besides simply correcting forms is my job as the commanding officer."

"Good, sticking to the doctrine laid out will help keep them in line. Still, she chose to admonish me for this in front of the men."

"And Barnaby didn't disagree?" she folded her arms.

"He did, but we were in a discussion off duty and he did not challenge my integrity in the argument. In the end we agreed to disagree on the level of discipline required or the ideal armaments for formation combat."

"So what exactly was wrong with Ymira's admonishment, did she call you names or was it just because she wasn't part of the conversation?"

"Disrespect and the latter, Captain."

Korra sighed. "Alright, I already told her to show due respect, I'll remind people to maintain it with officers who aren't okay with being more relaxed during our off time."

Lezalit grumbled, but nodded. "Very well, Captain. But I must insist that those of rank be clearly above the footmen in order to ensure that they understand the chain of command."

"If they still ask how high when I tell them to jump, I'm okay with them approaching me when we're having dinner. If not, then we start drawing some hard lines."

"Aye, Captain. Also, I'd advise you ensure that Sergeant Jinora is actually teaching her airbenders. I'm aware that they've spent time 'meditating' or some such nonsense."

"You promised to leave airbending training to the expert, Sergeant, but I'll check."

Lezalit saluted. "Very good, Captain. If you have nothing else, I need to prepare these maggots for the full drill later today. We need to at least spend a day working on full unit cohesion to ensure that all the parts fit together."

"Go ahead."

XXXXXXX

"Ugh, I hope the sergeant shuts his trap once we're hunting bandits."

"I know what you mean," Asami agreed as she looked at the Swadian spearman who was rubbing his sore legs, his lunch on a nearby log.

"Yeah, just one more day of this. So why's the captain not with us for the weapon training?"

"She is, Raynold," Ymira pointed out as she leaned in as she was applying some poultice to cuts she had sustained in the last drill from a crossbow mishap. "The waterbenders are never far when we're training. I can't be sure but I always feel a lot better after getting the bruises healed."

He shrugged. "Yeah, that stuff hits the spot. But she's not going to be standing in the line with us in battle. She'll probably be leading the benders in to snatch the victory like the knights always do while we're taking arrows for her."

Asami shook her head. "She puts herself where she's needed. You hear about what she did at Jamiche?"

"Yeah, smacked a Sarranid Emir around."

"Right, but she shifted to where she was needed. When the line needed cover against the Sarranid's archers and skirmishers she covered the pikemen with earthen ramparts and air gusts. When the light cavalry like our Khergit friends went in for the crossbows she ran up there and protected them. And when the full charge came she covered the same crossbowmen and brought down the ramparts so the pikemen could attack."

"Wow, she really busied herself didn't she?" the Swadian asked as he tore off another piece of his bread.

"She's able to," Asami admitted as she took a drink.

"So how come the rumors never mention you?" Ymira asked. "They always talk about benders, but you're a capable fighter in your own right. You beat Lezalit in a sparring match yesterday."

She paused as she was about to lower the waterskin. They never to say it's 'a woman named Korra, a few benders, and another fighting woman', Asami mused as she considered the surprise in too many of the recruits when they found out she wasn't a bender. Were the Equalists right about a pro-bending bias in the world?

She shook the thought aside and looked at the Rhodok woman. "No, but which is easier to remember: a woman bending four elements, a few benders, and a non-bender woman, or a woman bending four elements and a couple benders? It's a detail that rumors are too vague for."

"Fair enough," Ymira admitted. "Hopefully we'll prove our valor enough that it changes."

Raynold snorted. "Fat chance. Knights want the glory for themselves, it's the whole point of wearing heraldry besides saying 'I'm a nobleman, I get special treatment' when they get captured. I bet the benders heading off for their specialized training will think the same way."

"Can't change that," Asami shrugged. "But Korra's not going to ignore it and she won't leave us to take a charge. If anything she'll be having the earthbenders do that. I doubt those Swadian Knights could handle a sudden rock wall in the way."

Raynold shrugged. "Well, it'll be interesting to see just how far we end up going. War can be pretty profitable, you know…"

Asami snorted. "Only if you're the one selling the weapons and live far from it. I'd call being left in the mud 'diminishing returns'."

XXXXXX

"I still think we could have spent a bit more time."

"Maybe," Korra admitted as she looked to Lezalit as the company was assembling, "but you yourself said they're able to fight together, and they know it too. We can't hold them back anymore without pay."

"Bandits or militia, sure. But anything beyond that I'm not confident with, at least not yet."

"To be fair that's most of what we're going to be fighting," Asami added as she held the lockbox with the rest of the initial payment under her arm. "So, you going to give them a little speech before we hand out the pay?"

"Might as well," Korra admitted as she glanced towards where everyone was gathering. Earthbending herself a small podium so the people in the back could see her, they stopped talking amongst themselves and turned to look at her.

"Over the last week you've worked hard, and it's paid off. I'm proud of you - some of you have done in a week what usually takes two or even a month. You've shown what applying yourself can do, and you've earned what was promised."

"Once you all get the rest of your initial pay and we eat, we'll be heading towards Suno and we'll see what we can find on the way. The hard work doesn't end here - even masters of bending have to keep practicing - but you've done more than I had any right to expect. Well done, all of you."

As they started cheering or congratulating themselves, Korra brought the podium back into the earth and took her seat next to Asami as a line started to form, made of recruits eager to receive the rest of the promised initial pay.

"Always good to give them a little encouragement," Lezalit remarked as the line was forming, "just don't overdo it."

Korra shrugged. "Hey, they really did earn it there. Bending training takes time, and while they're still mostly chucking their element they're doing it with finesse."

"You going to help me hand out the pay Korra, or am I doing it myself?" Asami asked as she glared.

"Right," she sat down and looked up at the Nord spearman in front of her. "Name?"

"Arne Anneson," he answered as he folded his arms.

"Right… Anneson… recruit…" Korra reached into the lockbox, grabbed a handful of coins, and started to count them out as he held his hand open. "One… two… three… four… five. Alright, there's the rest of your initial pay. Next week you'll get ten since you're not a recruit anymore, and it's going to be weekly."

"Aye, thank you."

"You're welcome. Next?"

About an hour, everyone had been paid and Asami sealed the lockbox, turning the key and tucking it under her arm.

"How long are we giving for lunch, Captain?"

"Half an hour to an hour," Korra explained, turning to face Lezalit. "How long do you think it'll take us to make it to Suno?"

"Not tonight, even with a forced march. But we can easily get to Suno by noon tomorrow, assuming we don't run into trouble and get up at an early hour."

"Sounds good, though depending on what it is trouble might actually be good for us."

Lezalit nodded. "Aye, you'd be surprised how much you can fetch selling criminals to ransom brokers or the salt mines."

"You know I'm not a slaver," she glared at him. "At most we'll collect bounties put up by the guilds on outlaws and hand them over to the authorities."

"Very well Captain, but it is the loss of an extremely lucrative source of income that you do not have to share."

"Noted. Anyways, go get your lunch Sergeant, I need to deal with a few things before we get going."

Lezalit saluted, then walked away.

XXXXX

"Mako? What is it?" Korra asked as the sun was just starting to set. He had gone ahead with three of the Khergit riders to scout out their path and find good camping spots.

"Bandits," the firebender explained as he and the others slowed their horses to keep pace with the moving company. "Looked like a couple groups that hit the same caravan. About eighty guys, tops. They've got the survivors tied up on a wagon and they're squabbling over the shares."

"What kind of gear?" she asked.

"Bows, staves, spears, axes, nothing more than we have."

Nodding, Korra glanced to the others as they were still marching, then back towards where Mako had come from. Riding to the front, Korra turned and the formation halted with some stumbling and a few people bumping into each other.

"Alright everyone, we're going to make a quick detour!" she called once she was sure they had their attention. "There's a caravan nearby that's been raided by a lot of bandits. So we're going to go clear them out. Just follow me, when we get closer we'll organize the attack."

As the news set in, Lezalit rode up on his horse and turned to look at her. "What's your plan of attack, Captain?" he asked.

"Attack," Korra answered as she put a hand on her chin. "At Jamiche we hit a bunch of conscripts hard with what they probably hadn't seen before. And they at least had some basic drill. These bandits might not; if we hit hard and fast we might be able to disorganize them enough for us to tear them up."

The Geroian smiled. "Good. If the bandits rout, we can run them down. A task I always enjoy."

"You have some weird ideas about fun," Mako retorted as Korra started considering how to deploy them when they got there.

As they closed in Korra and Lezalit quickly organized the group behind a hill near the caravan - most of the Khergit airbenders dismounted to support the infantry against the inevitable hail storm of projectiles that would come in. The three non-bender Khergits and a few of the airbending ones formed up near where the horses and their supplies were being tied down or left, both to guard it and to stay out of sight until called. In the center of the formation was a dismounted Lezalit with the non-benders, while the benders formed the wings with earthbenders in front, air and firebenders behind, and waterbenders in the back to respond to any wounded.

Korra positioned herself and Mako on the right sight of the formation while Bolin, Jinora, and Asami were on the left. Still with the group, but spread out to support them and hopefully envelop the bandits. Nodding to herself as she saw they were ready, Korra turned and nodded. "Move out!" she barked.

"Forward, thirty paces!" Lezalit screamed in response and they advanced up the hill.

Cresting the hill, they saw that as expected the bandits were already organizing themselves to defend, but even though they were all forming relatively close together, there were still a few distinct groups. "They're not unified," Mako warned as they saw what they faced.

"Good," Korra retorted as she saw the raiders raising their bows. "Incoming! Earthbenders: ramparts, NOW!"

As the order echoed and she heard several affirmatives, Korra crouched down and brought up an earthen barrier to shield herself, Mako, and a few of the others who dove into cover near her. Glancing to her left as she did, she saw the smaller ramparts that the earthbenders were making backed with the airbenders firing off several gusts of wind into the air and the non-benders raising their shields to cover what the ramparts didn't. The arrows that weren't blown off course harmlessly dinged off of the ramparts and shields, and she could hear the bandits' reactions.

"What the?!"

"Forget bows close in on them!"

"C'mon don't let them get all the loot! Charge!"

"Where'd they get these benders?!"

"FIRE!" Korra ordered, lowering the rampart and as soon as it dropped Mako went on the attack, firing a fusillade of fireballs that acted as the lead in for everyone else to strike. More fireballs, chunks of rampart being launched rather than lowered, directed air gusts, and the odd stream of water frozen solid or normal projectile followed, going for the masses of bandits.

As she attacked herself, Korra saw several bandits skidding to a halt or even falling over as they tried to throw themselves to the ground at the sudden volley, others taking a hit and having their weapons broken or even falling on the business end of another bandit's weapon, and a few trying to scramble back onto their feet in the other direction. The bandit momentum had staggered even if their loose formation had spared them the worst casualties, and as she glanced at the men around her she could feel who had the upper hand.

"Haha that's right!" Balian shouted as he fired off another pair of fireballs.

"They're scared!" Gertrude retorted.

"Orders?" Mako asked as he glanced over quickly.

"Drive them away from the caravan, charge!" Korra shouted.

"Shield Wall, advance!" Lezalit barked over the eager cries as the benders started to run forward, attacking with their element as they went while the non-benders in Lezalit's shield wall moved forward more slowly to maintain their formation.

Korra sprang forward, spearheading her side as she saw Asami and Bolin on the other side taking the lead while Jinora had gone for the sky and was diving towards where the caravaneers were imprisoned. As Korra launched a chunk of the ground at a bandit and from the impact likely cracked his skull, the bandits seemed to be getting the message.

"Who are these freaks!?"

"I didn't flee serfdom to die here!"

"Come on we can - my legs!"

"RUN!"

"They've got a shield wall coming up too!"

"I'm outta here!"

"SAVE YOURSELVES!"

Not all of them ran, and those who stood quickly took advantage of the fact that the benders had broken formation to engage in single combat and did so by running ahead of the support they could have had. While still overwhelmed, the brigands got their licks in back against the group such as an earthbender catching a spiked club to the leg.

As she knocked the club in that man's hands away and punting him away with an air blast, Korra dropped to a knee next to the wounded soldier. "Need a waterbender over here!" she ordered and glanced up to see Keiko running over, a splatter of blood on her armor.

"I've got him, Captain."

"Keep him stable," she ordered before turning to join what had now turned into a chase as the bandits were fleeing and their light cavalry was now galloping from behind to run down the stragglers. But even with the fighting still raging, a smile crept onto her face. They were taking on a bandit group large enough that it probably would be something that professional soldiers would have to be called on to deal with…

… and they were beating with with a militia grade force fresh from training. And while she knew they had wounded, there were far more bandits on the ground than anyone from her warband.

Should've started earlier, she thought as she whipped a stream of water from her waterskin to catch one of the last bandits still fleeing and pulled him in close so she could knock him out.

XXXXXX

The dust had settled quickly after the bandits were ran down, and they had set to work policing the remaining weapons, freeing the captured caravaneers held separately, and getting the wounded treated at a makeshift triage station. None of their fighters had died despite a large number of them receiving wounds. Many of them had been hurt, but the waterbending healing kept most of them minor and only a few would have to avoid combat for a day or so while they recovered.

Though as he looked towards where the Nord soldiers were lining up the dead bandits into rows at Korra's order, Bolin felt his stomach churning. He hadn't expected them to kill that many bandits in one go - sure, a couple always seemed to end up dead when they were doing it on their own, but they were aiming to subdue. Now they seemed to be aiming for the kill, or at least the benders they had trained.

Was that what I taught them? he wondered as he turned away from the rows. They weren't going to be buried for some time. The plan may have been to bury them the other side of the hill they had come from, but there was something else that needed to get sorted out first.

With the last of the dead sorted out and stripped of useful gear, the warband was starting to crowd around a pile that was formed nearby with assorted weapons, headgear, armor bits, and trinkets they had collected from the bandits.

"I need some extra arrows and that's a decent set!"

"That jerkin would fit me nicely!"

"Oooh that's a nice axe!"

"Bet that scrap'll sell decently!"

"I bet my wife would like that goblet…"

"Hey, why're we giving the non-benders a share?" Balian asked as he looked at Arne. "I mean, what did you guys actually do, you didn't even throw your javelins! If these fights go like this you don't need that billhook!"

The Nord snarled, right hand dropping to his holstered hand axe. "If you're man enough to face me in informal single combat - without your bending - then maybe you can earn it."

"Enough!" Korra shouted, stomping the ground with her foot and shaking the area just enough to get everyone's attention. "The bandits broke, and yes it was the benders that broke them, but everyone who's standing here did their part and followed their orders. They get their fair share, I made our guidelines on looting quite clear when we started marching!"

There was some grumbling, but eventually everyone stood down and Asami took over in handing out the shares - including the coins that had been looted off of the bandits and handed to her to divide between them all since she was better at math than most of them.

"This is going to be a problem."

"Yeah, it is," Bolin agreed as he looked to his left where Opal had walked up. "So, you going for a share?"

"Just the coins we're splitting; I might need the spending money. Though what Balian said is basically what got the Equalists going…"

"Yeah… probably should talk to Korra about it if Jinora hasn't already. She still around, or she making another complaint?"

"She said she was going to go find Furry-Foot; you know how the spirit doesn't like the noise."

He nodded as he saw one of the Khergits eagerly taking a full quiver from the pile and strapping it onto the saddle of his horse. Splitting the gear didn't take long as eventually they were down to scraps that no one wanted, and in that case they were just going to sell it and split the money based on who hadn't gotten a proper share of the workable loot. Bolin did find himself a hood to go under his helmet though - it wasn't going to stay nice out for long and the pro-bending helmet wasn't very good at keeping him dry.

Heading over to talk to Korra, he found her talking to Mako while she was petting Naga, the polar bear dog lying next to her.

"At least they're confident, even if it it's cocky," Korra was saying as the ex-RCPD officer was checking a dent in his helmet.

"Maybe, but that's going to become a problem," the firebender answered as he shook his head.

"Yeah, egos to keep in check. Still, starting to wonder if we should've done this earlier. Bending really is a game changer in Calradia. We just wasted a group that takes professionals to hunt down. I mean we would've had to recruit fewer people if we did it earlier, but if benders with only basics are this much of a threat in Calradia we probably could've done a lot by now."

Mako snorted. "Would a group of Earth Kingdom conscripts turn and run after a volley or two? Probably not; this kind of stuff is normal there. For those bandits? They might as well have been seeing the Avatar State in action. And let me tell you, that's a scary sight even with what… er, what happened after."

Korra stopped, frowning for a moment as the two looked away from each other, then Korra looked up and saw him. "Hey Bolin. New hood?"

"Yeah, though I need to wash it first. Still has the back alley stench."

"Probably a good idea. Least they didn't strip them all naked… I was half expecting that."

"Yeah…" Mako uneasily added as he rubbed his head, "I don't think anyone wants to wear something someone's bled all over…"

"Yeah, about that… you sure we're doing this right?" Bolin asked as he glanced side to side, fidgeting as he tried to put it right. "I mean, we killed a lot of guys, more than we usually do…"

"Ugh, you too?" Korra groaned. "Don't tell me Jinora's been harping about it behind my back too."

"What? No no no, it's just well we usually don't kill this many guys in a fight…" he hastily added, putting his hands in front of him.

Korra blinked, then shook her head. "Sorry, just gets a little annoying sometimes when Jinora's questioning if we're doing the right thing. I'm guessing you're worried about the rules of engagement?"

"Yeah; I think it's just the Calradians are going for the kill rather than subduing them. I'm just wondering if there was a disconnect when you laid out our ground rules..."

"The exact wording was to 'neutralize'," Mako pointed out. "But I think it's more of a question of do we want to try and reign them in a bit more, or just accept it?"

"If it was Republic City, the Fire Nation, or back home in the South I'd probably try, but that's more because our prisons were actually decent. Here?" Korra glanced towards Suno, then towards where the bandits they had captured were being restrained. "Well, we've seen the insides of one. Not pretty."

"Yeah, I guess," Bolin admitted as he knew Korra had a good point. "I dunno, maybe I'm just wondering if I made a mistake training them given how many bandits got flat out crushed. And then there's what Balian said to Arne…"

"That's going to be a problem," Korra agreed as she looked towards where some of the men were trying on their new pieces of kit that they had looted. "I'll try to keep a lid on it, but I can't disagree with the sentiment behind it."

"Wait what?" Bolin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Benders being such an advantage," she added hastily, putting her hands up as Naga growled softly. "They've got a reason to be proud about what they just pulled."

"True. So, Jinora complain about the caravan master's offer?"

"Since he was the one who offered and we actually have some serious expenses now? Not really."

"Didn't she also turn down the pay this morning? Something about not needing it with her split of what we had so far?" Mako added as he gave up trying to fix the dent.

"She did," Korra confirmed. "Anyways, I should probably make sure that they don't just dump the bodies in haphazardly and actually line them up."

"You want any help?" Bolin asked.

"Nah, you've done it enough. I was going to have a few of the earthbenders do it, it's their turn."

"You know we've been doing a lot," he pointed out. "The camp plan, burying, field fortifications, and fighting? Something to consider, if they're doing all of it they're probably going to want a bigger pay."

Korra paused. "Good point. Should be able to get a few shovels from the caravan…"

"There's a reason why most of RCPD leaves the wet work to the morgue," Mako added.

XXXXXXXX

End Chapter

- I don't plan on redoing a training arc every time some new guys join, but I did want to at least show some of the growing pains for Korra adopting a warband and show some samples of the training. But really eventually it breaks down into repetition, as Asami noted, so I tried to jump around a bit and show how they were all coming together.

- Every army begins somewhere, and boot camp is where many soldiers can be made without breaking them. Training isn't just beat them senseless until they get better, but push them to their limit, just a little past it, then back the hell off before they snap. It's like strain hardening a piece of carbon-steel: you put it past the elastic region (where after the strain is removed it goes back to normal) into the plastic region (where the molecular structure will no longer return to the original state), but you don't go past the ultimate strength where you start to deform the piece and if you keep going you'll cause necking (stretch out the middle) and eventually break it. And well, broken recruits are useless as soldiers.

- With the larger scale fighting, it is going to be hard to do the details as I have. So chances are a lot of the 'wandering to find fights' I'll gloss over or just give an example or two the way I did with the mountain bandit sweeping. Just with some battlegroup on battlegroup action instead. Sure it might be fun to play it, but reading about it is another story. Part of why I skipped a good chunk of the training and focused more on reactions to stuff going on in relation to it. Likewise I'm not going to do a big post-battle every time there's a fight, but I did want to at least once show the post-battle clean up that the game abridges.