"Greetings, Lady Korra. Perhaps you can help me."
Korra frowned, looking up at the man who had approached her while she was waiting for Asami to finish haggling with the blacksmith over the quality of the scrap metal from the caravan battle. The man who approached her wore a heavy travel robe of dulled olive, grey, and brown, all of which was scuffed or worn yet still usable, had a large purse was slung over his shoulders, and had a walking stick in hand. His face was wide set, and had shaved around the top of his head but left a ring of his light brown hair intact.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" she asked as she folded her arms.
"Not personally, I merely know you by reputation and a chance sighting. I was one of the itinerant surgeons at King Harlaus' tournaments a few weeks prior. I saw you as one of his guests during that time, and have heard of your exploits since."
"I remember, though it seems you have the advantage, mister?..."
"Jeremus," he answered as he briefly bowed his head.
"Right. So, how can I help you, Jeremus?"
"I shall tell you, but it is a tale of gross iniquity. I warn you in advance lest you are of choleric temperament, and so may find yourself incensed at the injustice done unto me that you do yourself a mischief."
What is he babbling about? Korra wondered as she tilted her head at him. "Well, I'm sure any mischief I do can be easily managed, so why don't you just skip to the story?"
"Very well. I was hired by a merchant of Suno to cure his son after he fell into a coma due to a fall from a faulty balcony. I successfully trepanned the patient's skull to reduce cranial swelling, but the family ignored my advice to treat any ensuing fevers with a tincture of willow bark, resulting in the boy's death."
I'm pretty sure that's aspirin, Korra realized. If I'm right, maybe he's not so full of it after all...
"The father ungratefully chose not to reward me for my efforts and instead charged me with sorcery. Me, a philosopher of nature!"
"I don't suppose you used waterbending, did you?" she offered as Jeremus' expression was hardening. "I've had a few people freak when I use it in healing."
"Indeed, I used it to clean the boy's injuries. Such is the ignorance and ingratitude of mankind, though I suppose your healing skills with bending outpace mine."
"Why do you say that?"
"While at Praven I had learned that you had used such healing abilities, and then saw your earthbending friend's condition prior to and post-treatment, a condition that no mere surgery could accomplish. Given your increasing renown as a woman of bending and action, I understood that you have knowledge that the Galerian-worshipping popinjays would overlook. Regardless, while Count Klargus is uneasy about arresting me I am eager to move on if you would have me."
"If you're looking to learn waterbending, I can teach you," she answered, though she wasn't fully confident in his medical credentials. Then again most Calradians go on about 'humors', so maybe he's just ahead of his time? she wondered before putting the thought aside.
"Indeed, learning such makes this a very serendipitous opportunity," the surgeon continued. "And do not fear about my presence in your battle line: I am a surgeon, not some silk-robed university physician who has never touched a body. You can't learn medicine without touching one anyways."
Still not completely confident, Korra decided, but if he was the real thing this was too good of an opportunity to miss given the distinct lack of hospitals in Calradia. And if he wasn't? Well she could sort that out soon enough.
"Welcome aboard, Jeremus," she said as she offered a hand. "We can do the formal stuff later."
"Of course," he shook. "And do not trouble yourself with offering me a fee for joining your retinue. Learning waterbending will be more than enough so long as I receive a due weekly wage for my services."
"Speaking of pay," Korra said as she noticed Asami walking over with a bag in her hand, "this is my second in command, Asami Sato. Asami, just found a new recruit."
"Really?" Asami asked as she looked at Jeremus. "Alright I'll bite - who did you hire and how much?"
"Training in waterbending is charge enough," Jeremus said. "As I said to your captain I am a natural philosopher by trade, an itinerant surgeon."
Asami pursed her lips briefly. "Alright, and how much are you asking for weekly?"
"How much are you offering?"
"Well if we started you off with everyone else it'd be ten denars a week, but that's grunt pay," Korra explained.
"What're his medical credentials?" Asami asked as tied the bag to her belt and folded her arms. "That's the better question. Did he graduate from a university?"
"No, but given how many of those fools follow Galerian to the letter it really was a blessing in disguise. My art is honed by proper observation of what works and what doesn't, and I can tell you that Galerian's stuff does not work very often."
"If nothing else we can recruit him as a waterbender and he's already figured out a few basics with healing," Korra added. "Unless you've got an objection? He said that he recommended a 'tincture of willow bark' to reduce swelling in a head wound. It sounded like aspirin to me, but..."
Asami frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, it's one of the key parts of it. I'd still ask him some more questions, but a surgeon we don't need is better than one we don't have."
"I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Maybe we could take this inside?"
"Sure."
XXXXX
Later in the day after Jeremus' recruitment had been finalized (Footman rank but doubled pay as a specialist), Korra paused as she stood outside the door to Suno's throne room. It was more than just Klargus and his family present, but also other lords as Suno had become a rally point for the Swadians to amass their army for the next campaign. She had met most of them before, but she still hesitated. The last time most had seen her, she had either fought their king and lost or rejected his offer for mercenary work.
Get over it, she told herself as she walked up to the guard. "I'm here to speak to Count Klargus, if he's available."
"Aye, he's taking visitors," the guard answered as he held his spear and shield tightly. "He also likes to know who's visiting."
"My name's Korra…"
"Oh right, you're that bender lady everyone's talking about… alright you're not carrying any weapons, so you can head in but no funny business. Remember there's guards in there too."
He opened the door, allowing her into the throne room. It's ceiling was relatively low and there was no rise for the throne itself, but the walls had many banners, most of which seemed to be decorative as she didn't recognize any of the imagery on it, though an eagle was persistent in the designs. Several nobles were talking behind arches that seemed to create side chambers of sorts, but few bothered to look towards her.
Ahead however was the person she was planning on talking to - Count Klargus. He wasn't alone though, standing near him was Delinard and another noble she didn't recognize, but had a familial resemblance to Suno's ruler and Korra guessed he was his son.
As she approached the throne she bowed her head. "Count Klargus."
"Lady," he answered as he lowered his head in return and pushed himself up from his throne. "I must say you've been busy since our last encounter. First you spark Graveth into overcommitting his assault into Sarranid territory by stymying a raid at Jamiche, and now building your own warband of a size uncommon for adventurers in such a short time? And saving a caravan from Suno in the process?"
"I figured out what I wanted to do in Calradia, and what I needed to do it," she explained as she folded her arms. "The nobles can't take care of problems like the bandits because you're busy fighting wars - how many has Swadia fought in the last few months?"
"Too many," Delinard answered, taking a step forward without even looking to Klargus for permission. "The Rhodoks may have been bloodied by the Sarranids and forced to peace with only Weyyah to show for it, but Graveth still looks to the north now that we're embroiled with the Khergits, and we've had trouble on our border with the Vaegirs."
"Maybe me and my company can take care of it before it escalates?" Korra offered.
"Perhaps, but King Harlaus plans on meeting King Yaroglek to address such while my brother-in-law leads a campaign against the Khergits," Klargus explained. "However, there is something you can help us with. Our armies will be focused eastward, and the forest bandits that plague our realm have grown increasingly bold and are starting to organize into mockeries of an army."
"Would you be interested in hunting down their lair?" Delinard asked as Suno's ruler nodded to him. "We've put together a bounty of fifteen hundred denars on anyone who can find and destroy it."
"I'll do it, Counts. What can you tell me about it?" They had found the Mountain Bandits by luck; Korra didn't want to rely on that when she had a deadline to pay sixty people.
"Only suggestions to find it," Klargus explained as he sat back down on his throne. "The brigands are called 'Forest Bandits' due to their tendency to use the woods for their lairs as it forces knights to dismount and offers cover. They travel the vales freely, but their hideouts are always in the woods - often very thick woods at that."
Korra nodded. "We'll find it, though if this is just for the lair I may have to take other work to pay my expenses while we're looking."
"So does every freelance warband. We'll give you two months to find it. If you can't find it by then we'll simply have to write it off as you not being able to discover it."
"Okay. Anything else?"
"No," Klargus shook his head.
Korra bowed. "Thank you for your time, Count. I'll send you word as soon as we have something."
XXXXXX
"Better plan than sweeping the woods," Asami agreed as she nodded. Korra had explained what had happened and the two had discussed some potential plans with Lezalit while Mako and Bolin were busy elsewhere and Jinora had gone off to mediate.
"If needed we can always force march to find the outlaws," Lezalit added. "As long as they get paid in the end though, the men will hold. Besides it's not like they'll be able to spend the money while we're on the march."
True, Asami admitted to herself, but I still would rather pay them on time...
"Look at it this way, if we do some other jobs on the way we'll get a better idea of what we're facing before we walk into their homes," Korra retorted as the door to the townhouse they were waiting at opened. Asami glanced over and saw a disheveled man wearing a shirt, vest, and pants that had been thoroughly torn and his shoes - if they were shoes - had been torn apart.
"Oh thank goodness," the man said as he ran over and collapsed onto his knees. All three rose to their feet with Lezalit snarling as he did.
"Who are you that you'd barge into our presence?" the Geroian demanded.
"Robert, sir… I'm sorry to intrude but we need your help, lady."
"Slow down," Korra said as she picked him up. "Start from the beginning. What happened?"
The man nodded, taking a moment to compose himself as they sat back down. "I'm from Ruluns, a village not far from here. A large bandit horde have taken refuge in our village, taking what they want, making us serve them, and doing great evil. And if we breathe a word in protest they kill the person who spoke up! I barely slipped out…"
"So why come to us?" Lezalit demanded. "You have your lord to bother over this."
"Sergeant, let him talk," Korra snapped and the Geroian paused, nodding as he shut his mouth.
"I tried, but he went east to find some glory against the Khergits and the guards didn't let me in to talk to the other Counts. Please, you are a lady of valor who has soldiers at her command. If anyone can help us now, it's you."
"How far is Ruluns?" Asami asked as she glanced to Korra; just by the look on her face Asami knew that Korra was going to go in.
"Only a few hours."
Korra pushed herself back up. "We'll take care of them. Lezalit, Asami, let's get everyone ready to move. If we're quick we can get there before nightfall."
XXXXX
"This is going to hurt," Bolin muttered as he stayed low at the crest of the hill keeping an eye on the bandits in Ruluns who were starting to stir in the early evening.
"But we can cover them," Opal pointed out.
Bolin nodded, his unease of the plan of attack coming back into his mind. They were on a hillcrest to the north, which ran along to the northeast while a small valley ahead along the road made moving into the plateau mounted village center directly problematic. To the east the land rose up around the village center which was cluttered with wooden buildings. A sheer cliff face near what looked like the main storehouses had a few cattle skeletons sliding down the side as if they had been dumped off, and some cows were resting in fenced fields on the western side.
The bandits who had occupied the village - Bolin counted about sixty of them now but there were still probably more waking up inside. Some of the bandits were starting to mount horses, but most were gathering in front of the village center and facing towards where the two were now.
The warband was sorting itself out behind them; Korra and Asami were going to take a smaller group around the east side to try and hit the flank hard while the horsemen would ride out, go west, then run down anyone who scattered after them. Which left everyone else - the bulk of their group - to push up as both a distraction and to try and force the bandits to commit to a fight. A few were sitting the fight out - Jinora and a few who had some severe wounds from the previous day - with their job being to keep a rally point intact for anyone too wounded to go on and they would move it up as they pushed towards the village.
He heard hooves and glanced to his left, towards the east. Riding over the hill were the Khergit riders and most of the airbenders, who fired off air gusts towards the bandits that had gathered. Several arrows, javelins, and thrown rocks came back towards the riders but their drive by attack was too fast and most of the bandits' attacks sailed behind them harmlessly or only hit the horse in the flank. They rode off, pursued by the mounted bandits and a few others too eager to fight.
"That's our cue," Bolin nodded as he heard others running up the hill behind them and Mako opened fire as soon as he crossed the hill crest, other firebenders and the non-bender crossbowmen doing the same. Bolin ran to the left side and put up a rampart for them to hide behind, and Ymira was the first one to get close.
"Forward march!"
"That's Lezalit…" the Rhodok woman muttered as she crouched down in her dress - which had torn vertically up to her knees.
"Yeah," he answered with a shrug as Opal took cover next to him as the Nords and other non-bender spearmen were moving forward in a thin shield wall, with several earth and waterbenders in behind them. The bandits responded to the attacks - some had their clothes set on fire or were slammed into a building by the barrage, but the majority of them realized they were being pushed towards and charged, the downward slope bolstering their momentum.
Of course, the shield wall was going downhill too, if slower. Bolin could hear Lezalit shouting each step forward and they were grudgingly complying… up until one of the earthbenders took a rock to the shoulder from the bandits that had stayed behind to throw stuff.
"Halt!" Lezalit shouted as Bolin and Opal vaulted over the rampart to join the line, "Ready!"
The non-benders drew their javelins, throwing axes, or the odd war dart with their shields held forward. The benders behind them were readying ice spikes from their waterskins or small rocks just over their heads. Bolin kicked one up too.
"THROW!" Lezalit shouted and everyone attacked at once, the barrage ripping into the bandits who returned the favor with what they had. Those with shields took what came their way, and those hidden behind them were fine. The bandit charge was staggered and had some holes, but more were still rushing forward.
"Brace for charge!" Lezalit snapped as Bolin and Opal were running up to rejoin, the airbender sending a few more gusts of wind to try and thin the projectiles coming from the bandits on the high ground.
And as Bolin made it behind the spear wall, Jeremus tending to one of the wounded that had been hurt in the volley exchange, the bandits crashed into it or around it. Some were speared outright against the braced spearmen, others managed to push through the thin formation. Bolin punched one brigand that staggered past in the stomach, then launched him up and another earthbender shot him out of their flank with a rock that was sticking out of the ground.
The light the fireballs were providing halted, but Bolin barely noticed it as more bandits were pushing forward and the flanks were barely holding.
"Opal, right side!" he warned as he ran to the left and kicked the ground between a few of the earthbenders trying to keep back the bandits. One was on the ground and bleeding, the other two were not doing very well now that they had been closed in on and mostly survived by putting up a vertical pillar between them and their attackers… and the pillars were being walked around.
"Jump!" he ordered and brought his foot down, shaking the ground ahead of him and staggering the bandits long enough for the two earthbenders to land and attack again with small jagged rocks shot out of the ground.
Taking point, Bolin drew a line in the dirt and then pushed forward, putting up a small wall of rock spikes that forced the bandits moving on that side to slow down and avoid running through them. Another arrow whizzed past Bolin's ear and hit one someone behind him with a scream, but another shout cut any concern off.
"Bolin! Duck!"
Not even thinking he threw himself down and several fireballs shot overhead, knocking back the bandits. Bolin glanced back and saw Mako running up, the other firebenders and crossbowmen behind him adding their mass to the push, as well as the earthbender from earlier was on the ground with an arrow sticking out of her.
"Mako?! What're you…" he blurted out as he tried to take in all the chaos going on.
"Friendly fire," Mako explained, pointing up to the cliff and as Bolin looked up he saw the commotion: Korra and Asami were busy leading their push with Korra launching one of the bow armed brigands off the cliffside with earthbending and what he assumed was Asami stabbing one through the stomach and pushing him off.
"Push forward, grunts!" Lezalit shouted loudly over the din of the battle, "Keep pushing!"
Bolin glanced at the line and saw that it had gaps that were very recently filled by Mako's group, and he wasn't sure that they were going to be able to take as much without shields of their own.
We really need to rethink our plan of attack, Bolin realized as the left side of the group started to swing into the brawl.
XXXXXX
"Balian, watch out!" Korra warned as the Swadian firebender to her left was about to be hit with a large dart - and it caught him straight in the leg. The man screamed in pain as he collapsed, but before the bandit could move in to finish him off with a hatchet in the off hand, Korra blew him into the wall with a quick air gust.
"They're losing ground!" Asami shouted as she grabbed another bandit's spear and jammed it back into the man's face, then followed up by elbowing him in the throat. "We're almost through!"
"Keep pushing, I've got him!" Korra ordered as she ran over, knocking aside another brigand with a billhook and a satchel of rocks as she ran towards him and took a quick look as the Balian was trying to stop himself from shouting, mouth contorting.
"Easy," Korra ordered as she took a quick glance to make sure she wasn't about to be attacked, then placed her left hand on Balian's wounded leg, held the dart down, and then with her other snapped the shaft off.
"What was that…"
"No time to remove it," she explained as she propped him up against the wall of the large wooden building he had fallen next to. "Come…"
"Avatar!"
Glancing behind her Korra let go of Balain with her left hand and whipped around the water she was about to use to minimize the firebender's injury, hitting one last bandit in the face and staggering him enough that Keiko could run up behind him, throw him to the ground, and stomp on his face.
"Thanks for the warning," Korra answered before she turned back.
"I'll get him, you need to lead."
Korra paused, glancing at the Fire Nation waterbender, but nodded. She was in charge, she had to oversee the whole battle.
Not that there was much left to do as she made her way into the frenzy. The Khergit riders had come back, leaping over the fences of the village center's cow pastures and weaved between the cattle and buildings to do cut down the few bandits still standing, and both attacking groups had managed to push into the village proper. Three bandits tried to break and run but soon found that they were up against a wall. Surrounded, one threw his weapons down as he turned to look at an approaching Korra.
"We surrender we surrender!" he blurted out, the other two following suit.
Korra skidded to a halt, then nodded. "Keep those hands up," she ordered as she grabbed a nearby outstretched arm. "They surrendered, Aleks," she explained.
The Vaegir firebender paused, then nodded. "Yes, Captain."
The evening quickly fell silent as the last few bandits were run down, and now most of the shouting was Jeremus and the other waterbenders trying to get to the wounded and the wounded (or their friends) trying to call for help. Glancing around, the village's northern path had bodies of the dead and injured strewn about - most were bandits, but the number of wounded that she recognized sent a chill up her spine. A few villagers seemed to be poking their heads out of their homes now that the fighting had stopped, but they stayed inside as Korra made her way through.
"How many wounded?" she asked as she found Jeremus finished removing a spear head from an earthbender's leg, the soldier grunting in pain and biting down on his tongue.
"Too early to tell," the surgeon answered as he put his small knife back into its sheathe. "Lucky for this fellow his arteries weren't hit."
"Some comfort," he retorted before clenching his teeth again.
"Relax Elia, you'll be fine," Korra retorted as she took a knee and gave it a look, then nodded to Jeremus. "Call me if he gets worse," she ordered.
"Aye, Captain, but I can stop the bleeding." Jeremus had pulled out some rags from his bag. "This'll hurt, of course."
"No shit!" Elia snarled back as Korra moved on. Before she could check any other injuries however, an old man walked towards her wearing a worn black robe.
"My lady," the elder said as he bowed his head. "Thank you for freeing us, we don't have much to repay you with, but…"
"Don't worry about it," Korra retorted, waving her hand. "We were happy to help."
She heard a loud snort and glanced to the side, seeing Arne shaking his head as he pulled a few coins out of a dead brigand's pocket.
"What?" she asked as she looked at the Nord.
"Nothing, as long as you keep the pay good," he answered, shrugging before walking off and wiping the blood off of his axe.
"Regardless, I'm the villager elder, Luis," the old man explained as she turned back to face him. "Can I ask your name?"
Korra bowed her head. "Korra."
"Wait, you're that bender people have been talking about?" he asked, tilting his head. "That 'Avatar'?"
"How did…"
"Er, some travellers," the elder started as he paused. "Similar to you - actually I'd bet that the leader of the trio is from the same people as you. But they wore some odd black masks and had weird gauntlets with odd bits sticking out. They said they were 'chi blockers'..."
"Did they threaten you?" Korra asked, her mind jumping back to the few that had ran with the Rhodok mountain bandits… has it been months? she suddenly realized.
"No, they were actually quite respectful of the hospitality we gave them. But they had to flee when the bandits came - something about not wanting to endanger us."
Brigands mad at a double cross? she wondered. "Did they say where they were going to go?"
"No, but they went southeast towards Uxkhal. So… what do we owe for our liberation?"
Korra glanced around at the state of the village - some houses were damaged and the few townsfolk bravely making their way out into the village center now that the bandits were gone looked as if they hadn't eaten well lately, a stark contrast to the much better fed freelance soldiers that had saved them.
"Just give us a place to sleep tonight and we're even," she answered. "You've been through too much."
"Thank you," he bowed deeply with a smile on his face. "We won't forget your generosity. You're free to anything the bandits had on their person, of course. It's your victory."
Glancing towards some of her men who were looting the corpses, she knew that it would be out of her hands to stop it. At least we got permission… even if it came second, she mused, but she wondered if they would try to loot something besides the enemy's dead if given the opportunity.
As the elder went to go reassure the townsfolk and Korra went to tend to the wounded, she found quickly that they had come off much worse this time as she found the makeshift triage station, where Asami and Jinora had pulled in another wounded soldier. She counted almost two dozen wounded… and then realized that a few of them had been piled to the side and weren't moving.
"Asami?" she asked as she glanced towards one of the Vaegir waterbenders with a bloodied face and a red hole in his forehead. "What happened to Budislav?"
"He got unlucky when we came in, some of the bandits were hiding inside and one had a bow ready," she explained as Jeremus came in to tend to the newly recovered casualty.
That's Barnaby, she realized as she recognized the Rhodok, sporting a large welt on his head that looked like it came from a club. He wasn't moving save for breathing, and his cleaver nowhere to be seen. Jeremus set to work reducing the welt and Korra looked around. "Who did we lose besides Budislav?"
"Gertrude took an arrow through the chest and whoever pulled it out wasn't able to stabilize her after," Asami continued as she gestured to the pile. "Johan and Harald both got overran, and Jacob's throat was slashed when you went to go help Balian."
Korra nodded slowly as she looked at the dead, a cold pit forming in her stomach. "Thanks… I'll ask the village elder for some ground to bury them, but right now we need to save as many as we can."
Asami nodded. "I'll keep an eye on things while you're doing that."
As Asami moved on and Jinora left the triage station, Korra made her way around and tried to heal those who were in the most need and correcting techniques in the waterbender healers' efforts - and stopping another one from trying to simply pull an arrow out. But as she did so, she couldn't shake the unease of her first casualties as a captain. Could she have done something else to save them - should she have gone with the distraction group instead where almost all of the casualties had come from?
The thought gnawed on her as the night wore on, and images of the naval crew in General Iroh's fleet killed when the Equalists were bombing them in Republic City's harbor flashed back as she had the same feelings: could she have done something differently to save them, or were they just the inevitable casualties of war?
She knew the answer intellectually, but she still wished she could have done more. Especially now that she saw that the bulk of the seriously wounded were from the distraction group.
XXXXXX
"So, how long do you think it'll take for the Vaegirs to march in?"
Ghazan shrugged to Ming-Hua as he and the other brigands that had accompanied them for the raid made it back into the mountainside as night fell. The store of furs and other trade goods was burning behind them and the Vaegir villagers were desperately trying to put it out, but their job was done.
"However long it takes for the outrage to spread," he finally answered as he slid the mail coif off of his head and started to undo the buckles that kept the orange tabard and the mail beneath it from bouncing needlessly. "Probably won't take too long for word to get to Reyvadin, then we see how much restraint this Vaegir king has despite all we've done."
"Depends, they're still fighting the Khanate," Borcha pointed out as he tossed his tabard into his saddle bag. "He might try to sort that out first."
"Why not just kill that Boyar Druli or whoever's in charge of that border castle?" Ming-Hua asked as she nodded to the south. "Probably a much better provocation and it's clearly on the border."
The other brigands muttered uneasily before Borcha cut in. "I scouted that place out, remember? He really beefed up the guard after that Avatar lady slipped in. We're not getting in that easily and er, well, the reason we asked you to stay here was because you're pretty obviously not Swadian…"
The waterbender shrugged, the water she used for arms bulging briefly. "We can always forge some contract and leave it behind."
"Too obvious," Ghazan pointed out as they secured the saddlebags and mounted up. "Besides, if we really want to knock down the Vaegirs we need to kill their king, Yaroglek."
"Well, let me know when we're going to kill one. I wouldn't mind a challenge," Ming-Hua explained as she froze herself onto the saddle as Ghazan sat in front on the reins.
"So, you two were some sorta rebels?" Borcha asked as they started to ride through the side trails.
"The Red Lotus," Ghazan answered as he nodded. "Our goal was to break down the order of nations where we came from, to topple the corrupt governments."
"Your lords were horrible too?"
"In their own ways. We didn't have constant wars like there are here, but there were quite a few places where the bandit problem was worse." He paused, shifting uneasily as he glanced at some of the brigands with them who glared at him.
"Men do what they have to do to put food on the table," the Khergit rustler retorted. "But no, they'd rather put us in gibbets than ask why we're poaching their forests…"
"That's why they need to go down. Otherwise people who should be free are punished just for trying to look after their families." The earthbender shook his head as he finished, glancing back at the bandits. He knew that the goal of bringing down the governments of the world was close to the edge of morality, especially when assassinating the world leaders was a stepping stone to that. He had long since accepted that it was going to be bitter business and spending over a decade in prison did little to make him reconsider, but hurting the people he was supposed to be helping didn't sit well with him. Was working with the outlaws the right path forward?
No, it's the only way to overcome their armies, he reminded himself. For all their faults, Calradia's nobility back up their claims of martial responsibility with skill at arms. They won't step down without a fight. And we need the old man's help to deal with the Avatar, and he needs them to do the fighting.
"So, you ever wonder about the others?" Ming-Hua asked. "How they're doing?"
"Probably still imprisoned and with tightened security after we vanished," he admitted. "Even if the White Lotus figured out why, they'll still want to make sure Zaheer and P'li stay imprisoned. Still, I'm hoping that it allowed them to get out. They deserved better than being locked up."
"What, they didn't kill you?" Borcha asked in surprise. "Didn't you say you tried to kidnap that 'Avatar' or whatever?"
"They took us alive and wanted to interrogate us," he explained. "They knew there were more of us out there, but they wanted to know how many. Eventually they just left us with our meals, a latrine, and our cells."
"I bet they thought we would start to go crazy and start revealing everything," Ming-Hua added as she grit her teeth. "You can only get so used to barely having enough water to drink and having to get it one drip at a time. Especially when you're being suspended over a volcano."
"That's cruel," Borcha shivered. "But at least they didn't kill you when they gave up asking questions, right? I imagine with bending there's some very creative ways to kill someone…"
"Imagining the chance to do a few of those to the guards certainly made sleeping easier," the waterbender agreed. "What?"
"Nothing," Ghazan added as he glanced up. "I know the feeling."
XXXXXXX
"Why are you smiling?" Asami demanded the next morning as she glanced up at Lezalit. "We just buried five of our own."
"Yes, five militia grade soldiers dead, a dozen seriously wounded, and minor injuries for over sixty bandits destroyed," he retorted. "All in all, what we lost was a drop in the bucket and even with the Captain not taking the proffered reward from the villagers or taking prisoners to sell, the salvage we have gained will still fetch more than we paid for those casualties, and the wounded can still fight."
"You can replace a broken spear, you can't just buy a new person off the shelf."
"Not the same person, but you can get someone else to replace them in the battle line by scattering a few denars. If we wanted to, we could recruit quite a few here."
Asami glanced at the others who had attended the funeral service for their deceased comrades - all buried in the graveyard the villagers used for their own dead. Most of the ones who attended were the Nords, but she knew that was in part because the bulk of the Nordic recruits came from the Jayek; they were much more tightly knit that the others.
"Maybe," Asami admitted, "but it feels cold to just replace people as if they weren't individuals."
"I respect that," Lezalit said, catching Asami off guard.
"What?"
"I can respect looking at one's soldiers as individuals and not wanting to put them through an unnecessary bloodbath. But one cannot be a leader of fighting men without being willing to spend them to achieve his objective," the Geroian explained as he rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. "The ruthless geometry of warfare is often understood in the mind, but the heart takes more persuasion. Worthy leaders have the persuasion to accept the loss of soldiers to achieve their goals - what else are soldiers for?"
Asami narrowed her eyes. "There's understanding the reality of war, then there's just being heartless."
"Heartlessness is required," he explained with a shrug. "Give it time, you'll become used to it. Regardless, we also should improve our tactics. Bending seems to be more limited in close quarters compared to the old standby of spear and shield."
"It's probably skill," she pointed out. "Most of them haven't had the full training yet."
"Perhaps, but until then we should extend our skirmishing. Have the benders head out to weaken and harass the foe before we close in with the Nordic foot for the decisive blow."
"Or outfit them for the line. From what Bolin told me it was the lack of shields that hurt most of them."
"Perhaps, but it's something for us to discuss with the Captain. If you'd excuse me, I should go tend to my horse."
Asami nodded and they parted ways as they entered the village center. With the bandits gone the townsfolk were going about their daily business with smiles and laughter. A few of the warband who hadn't attended the service were standing around and talking. Two of them sitting near the door caught her attention: Balian and Svarog.
"Even if that was an easy win, that could've been handled better," the Vaegir waterbender muttered as the two were drinking something. "Standing around listening to that Geroian bark. We should've been moving more, not standing in line."
"Yeah, if they want us to do that we need shields or better hand training," Balian agreed as he acknowledged Asami briefly while she entered the storehouse. "Have us go out and fight them ourselves without having to stay in some stupid formation."
Asami stopped as soon as she was out of sight, leaning against the wall to listen to them.
"Or better yet just let the Nords draw fire. They're too eager to fight anyways, might as well let them eat the arrows for us! Besides, they love their little shield walls!"
"Agreed! Well, least we've still got our share of the plunder, meager as it was."
Frowning, Asami pushed herself off the wall and made her way to where she had slept that night and started to pull out the notes, updating the roster to reflect the casualties and making a note to hold the funds for the fallen in reserve, making sure the small pouches were properly marked. They would need to find a way to return the pay and what personal items the dead weren't buried with and get it to their families.
Marching the whole group around Calradia just to personally deliver condolences is logistically irresponsible, she told herself. Yet she felt it was something due to the dead. Korra had promised them honest work, and they ended up buried far from their homes.
Sighing, she glanced up in time to notice Korra walking over, frowning and looking down.
"Korra?" she asked as the other woman approached. "What's wrong? Besides…"
"That's most of it," Korra admitted as she took a seat nearby. "I feel like I could've done more. Maybe I should've been with the distraction instead."
Asami shook her head. "Then maybe it'd be Balian we buried instead of Gertrude. I know, it's cold but…"
"... it's basically war, yeah." Korra exhaled sharply. "I understand it, I just don't want it to happen."
"Well, what can we learn here?" Asami asked. She knew that Korra needed something to focus on. "What's our next step?"
"Uxkhal - I want to find out more about those chi blockers and we need to find some leads. And maybe dip into the war chest to get some shields; we need to adjust the bending training."
"Shields? You're going to try and get them on the line?"
Korra nodded, the certainty coming back into her tone. "Not immediately, but get them working towards it. Lezalit's right, they shouldn't be running in right now. But Bolin told me about the distraction - some of the bandits pushed right past the shield wall."
"You know they're going to think you're catering to the Nords, right?" Asami asked as she tilted her head. "Balian and Svarog were…"
"I know, that's why I'm going to be joining the next couple weapon drills Lezalit does." Korra nodded to where her gear was. "I've got a shield already, so I might as well use it."
"Just be careful, don't tie yourself to one spot in the fight. You're going to be needed elsewhere."
"And I'll be there, but for now I think we need to sort out the logistics. How much do you think we can do for more outfitting?"
Asami glanced at the lockbox, then shook her head. "If we were going to buy new, I'd say it's a bad idea simply because we barely have enough to pay the wages next week. It's only been a day, but we should be careful. There were a few shields in the bandits' kit, but most of those are old and I wouldn't rely on them."
"Alright; take a look at them and see if any of them are passable. Otherwise, sell it and hopefully we can scrounge up enough to do the outfitting. Until then, I'll just have to take Lezalit's advice on more skirmishing and make sure we do some more one-on-one training when we camp."
XXXXXXX
The trip to Uxkhal took the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon, in part because they had to lug more of the gear on their backs to allow the wounded who couldn't march to ride the horses. Korra had even let a few of the wounded ride Naga, though the polar bear dog made her dislike clear with her tail when they stopped for lunch after crossing the river.
But other than that, they had made it to Uxkhal with plenty of daylight left and Korra didn't have to look far to find what she was looking for. Along with Asami, Mako, and Bolin, the four were carrying the unwanted loot while the rest of the warband waited outside the city until lodging was found or they found work with the city guild master - whichever came first.
And as the four were turning down a side street to move on, they saw three people. All three were wearing the same outfits, black masks with brass breath piping along the face and green tinted eye protection in their hands. There were two men and one woman in the group, and they all stopped talking to each other as the woman got the other's attention and gestured towards them. On their side, Korra quickly lowered the sack she was carrying and prepared to defend herself even if she did not take an active stance, the others following suit and tensing.
"Well," one of the two male chi blockers remarked, a taser gauntlet around his right hand, "I can't say I expected to meet you so soon."
"Why's that?" Korra asked, the Ruluns elder's description seeming apt as she looked at the one who had spoken up.
"Last we heard you were still heading around Calradia," the woman remarked as she folded her arms, two hilts visible on her belt but unlike Amon's lieutenant this woman didn't have a power generator on her back.
"Still are," Asami retorted. "But we just visited your last port of call…"
"Helped them too," Bolin added as he glanced between the three. "Whacked the bandits there something fierce."
The three Equalists glanced at each other and Korra noticed them sagging a bit and the man who hadn't spoke sighed in what seemed to be relief.
"That's good," the first man said as he briefly lowered his head. "Thank you. That was our fault, and it's why we were about to go looking for you."
"Oh really?" Korra asked as she folded her arms. "The way the villagers talked about it, you guys were nothing but polite guests."
"We should probably share names first," the second man with a belt full of bolas added as he glanced around. "I mean, we know who you are, but the only one you've met personally is Chen."
"Huh?" Asami asked as she frowned.
"You shocked me in the chest and kicked me between the legs in front of the police station," the female chi blocker retorted.
"If you're looking for an apology…"
"Not really."
"Anyways," the first man said as looked towards them. "My name's Bayar, and my friend here is Hayato."
"Any names you don't know?" Korra asked as she gestured between them.
"No, we all knew how the Fire Ferrets was two thirds Triads," Chen noted as she stared at Bolin.
"Hey, er, about that…" the earthbender started, fidgeting side to side and running his fingers together.
"And you three are any better?" Mako snapped, stepping in front of his brother and curling his hand into a fist. "If you want to throw kids on the street being suckered in by the Triads, how about all the people who got hurt when you bombed the arena?"
"At least we didn't pretend we were still law abiding citi…"
"Chen, this isn't the time," Bayar snapped as he turned to glare at her. "We've all done things we regret, and he's right about the arena bombing."
"Just want the record straight," she muttered with a shrug and took a half step back.
"So you said you were going to go looking for us," Korra cut in as she looked between them, hoping that was the last near-fight. "Why?"
"Does the name Hundun mean anything to you?"
"Should it?" Mako asked as he tilted his head.
"If you're trying to build some sort of army to hunt bandits, yes. This might take a while to explain, if you'd rather sit down."
"We can talk out here," Asami retorted as she rested a hand on the pommel of her sword.
"Right," Bayar glanced to the others and nodded. "Well, we ended up wandering around a bit after Harmonic Convergence - you know, trying to help out in the villages where we could. See if we couldn't find some use in our lives that didn't mean selling out our skills to the nearest warlord here. Two weeks ago we ran into this old guy."
"Short, really old, nearly skeletal hands, wore a lot of dark red and had a big hat with a red lotus symbol on it," Hayato cut in. "Really creepy too; hunched over like standing straight was out of style and had a hunchback the size of Ba Sing Se."
"He offered us work," Chen elaborated. "Said that he was working to break Calradia's nations, take you down, and create the equality that we fought for. With him speaking as an earthbender."
"We turned him down," Bayar added before any of them could question it, "but more importantly because he was using the bandits and trying to organize them the way Amon press ganged some criminals into the chi blockers. We already worked for one dubiously legal megalomaniac, we're not doing that again. And we had heard about that attack on Uslum by that point…"
"Organized bandits destroying a Vaegir lord's army, I heard that too," Korra nodded. "So what else do you know about this Hundun?"
"Not much more, we dropped smoke and made tracks," Hayato tapped on a few small spheres on his belt with a faint smirk. "Amon was a fake, his training? Not so much."
"So why us then?" Mako asked as he narrowed his eyes. "You've got the training to go after him yourself, don't you?"
"If he was one maniac? Maybe," Bayar admitted, "but he's building an army, and he had too much of an escort. And Chen saw Viper hiding in the group he was with."
"So that's where they went," Bolin muttered. "This Hundun guy must've hired that Vaegir airbender to break them out."
"And he's hunting us," Hayato added. "Those bandits that went for Ruluns were originally supposed to kill us, and we left hoping they'd follow. Hundun wanted us to help train bandits in chi blocking with the other Equalist he recruited, but he's also training his own benders - probably with the Triads."
"He knows the advantage it offers," Korra commented, receiving sharp glares from all three and Asami. "What? It's true here - even Calradian benders don't know how to cope with a trained bender. That's how we saved Jamiche, remember?"
"No, you're right," Asami admitted. "Just… mind the phrasing."
Korra glanced at the ex-Equalists and pursed her lips. "Right, sorry. So you have any proof of all this?"
"None," Bayar admitted, pausing to look between his two friends before taking a slow step forward. "But maybe this'll convince you. You're building an army, Avatar?"
"Yes, why?"
"How would three chi blockers do for your ranks? We've barely made enough to survive with odd jobs and we really don't want to go serve some Calradian lord as hired goons. We were enemies before, but right now we've got more in common than the majority of people we'll meet."
Korra paused, taken aback at the sudden offer. They're not going to like working with us, her gut told her as an immediate reaction. One that seemed only too true as she looked at the others who were glancing at the ground or walls, in both groups.
But at the same time she remembered Tenzin's frustrations with the Republic City Council prior to the reorganization that had Raiko as its first president, and more vividly Tarrlok's acts of direct provocation and punishing non-benders as a whole for the Equalists. Taking a look at Bayar, she made her decision.
"Most of the warband is made up of benders, that's the main selling point I have here: being able to train them and bring back organized bending. I'm trying to treat everyone equally with their skills, but you're going to run into some benders who think they're more important because of their abilities - even though they're just chucking fireballs for the most part."
"We had a hunch we'd have to deal with that," Chen admitted as she grit her teeth. "But we don't have any other options."
"If it's any consolation, when we sorted out a chain of command Korra picked me as her second," Asami pointed out. "And she's trying to keep the egos in check."
"If we weren't ready to deal with opposing viewpoints, we shouldn't have left our homes," Bayar finally said and bowed towards her. "I'm in, Avatar, regardless of the pay or rank. You two?"
"We already talked this over, we're in," Hayato said as he took a step forward.
"Yeah. Better with the Avatar than a madman," Chen added.
Bowing in return, Korra smiled. "Thank you. We can talk about the details later, but right now we need to finish taking care of this scrap."
"You want us to help?" Hayato offered, nodding to the sacks on the ground.
"Nah, it's fine," Korra retorted as she leaned down and picked up the one she had dropped. "If you need to go grab anything personal now's the time; we're camped right outside the city. Just look for the polar bear dog. Oh, and if you get bugged by a man named Lezalit, tell him that you're not formally with us yet and you're waiting for me."
"Who's Lezalit?" Chen asked.
"Geroian drill sergeant, he's been helping with the weapons training and general army stuff," Mako explained as he pulled his sack over his shoulder.
"Real hard guy too, but he's like that to everyone," Bolin added.
"You heading out of the city gate? We can always wait there," Bayar offered.
"Your call," Korra shrugged. "We might be a while though."
"We'll wait."
Half an hour later after Asami finished haggling with the local merchants for fair prices to turn scrap into coin, and Korra had found some work from the local guild master, they met the chi blockers at the gates. All three had travel packs slung over their shoulders, while the guards and some townsfolk were staring at them oddly or muttering about foreigners. A drunk outside the tavern was even looking between them and his frothy mug, repeatedly, but a few others paid them no mind like a merchant bargaining with another one over bags of spices.
"We always stand out," Bolin remarked after they were outside.
"If it was a couple of them dropped in Republic City we'd be staring too," Asami pointed out. "Anyways, everyone's camped just over there by that field."
"Not very well equipped," Bayar remarked as they approached. The soldiers were talking amongst themselves, fixing equipment, practicing with each other, or just taking some time to relax.
"Logistics," Asami explained as she shook her head. "The price for military grade body armor is absurdly high - almost seven hundred to get a decent set of mail."
"Yeah, we got your set from trading in a battered piece we looted and some other loot," Korra added as she recalled the scuffle near Culmarr Castle.
"How well does it work?" Hayato asked. "Seems too weighty."
"It's a pain to wear, but once it's a slugfest it's worth it. Saved my life quite a few times," the ex-CEO explained as they entered the camp and the soldiers were muttering amongst themselves. Naga trotted out of the camp, growling as she saw the chi blockers.
"Relax Naga," Korra warned as she held her hands out, "they're not here to hurt me."
The polar bear dog was still growling as Lezalit walked up past her and saluted.
"Captain, all's in order here."
"At ease, Sergeant," Korra answered as she quickly returned it. "Bayar, Chen, Hayato, this is Lezalit, our drill sergeant."
"So, you're in charge of the non-benders here?" Chen asked as she folded her arms to loot.
"The Captain is in charge of everyone, and the Lieutenant is in charge after that. Us sergeants," he nodded to Bolin and Mako, "plus that little girl instructing the airbenders, are next. Given your uniformity, I take it you three were part of a company in the past and as such as used to discipline."
"The Equalists were more of a militia, but a well drilled one," Bayar explained as others were starting to gather around to look at them. "We'll be fine."
"I see," the Geroian glanced at their equipment. "Interesting kit. So what are you, some form of manhunters? Your gear is not very well suited for war."
"They're chi blockers," Mako explained. "They're specialized in taking down benders and very good at what they do."
Muttering shot through the gathered troops at the revelation.
"Why do she need someone to take us out?" Savrog asked, glancing to Ivan.
"No idea, but we could take 'em," the other Vaegir agreed.
"Hah! Now that's something I want to learn!" Arne cheered, followed quickly by the other Nords.
"The captain trying to say something?" Elia asked as the Rhodok earthbender looked to his right.
"If they're scouts, Khergit riders with airbending have that covered," Mauci added as he patted his horse's side.
"Enough!" Korra cut in. "They came to me looking for work. You know that we need to improve our tactics and I know some of you have complained quite loudly about the melee at Ruluns," she threw a pointed glare towards Svarog and then Balian. "They can teach you some of that skill you need."
"So if they're shield fodder where's the shields?" one of the Swadian firebenders shouted.
"No one here is fodder, Maurice," she snapped back as she turned sharply to stare at him. The man in his white aketon backed down immediately. "And if you want to fight light on your feet, you could learn something from them."
"If the Captain's accepted them, you'll learn to deal with it," Lezalit added before turning back to them. "How will they operate in our battle line?"
Korra glanced to the three. "You know what you can do; what do yo uthink?"
"Probably the guys who run in and out," Bayar answered after putting a hand to his chin for a moment. "We're not really kitted out to stand and fight with those Nords or guys like them."
"Skirmishers it is then," Lezalit stated firmly as the Nords were nodding to each other. "An excellent addition if we're to evolve our tactics."
"Hooray?" Ymira asked uncertainly as she glanced at the two earthbenders next to her who had started rolling their eyes.
"Asami, you want to take these three and go through the details?" Korra asked as she glanced to the side. "I need to make sure we're ready to start chasing down those looters; I'll be over as soon as that's done."
"No problem," Asami answered as she nodded towards where she had left her stuff, and the lockbox with their funds. "Don't take too long, okay?"
"I won't," Korra promised before taking a step forward towards the main body of troops. "Do any gear checks you need to do, we're going to be whacking some yahoos who think that just because the Count's away at war that they can loot their fill. And if any bandits think that the nearby farms make a nice target, we'll kill them too. Once we've sorted this out for Uxkhal, we're going to try to go after the source."
And while they were hunting the bandits in Swadia, she was going to find out everything she could about this 'Hundun'. She believed the ex-Equalists' story, but she still wanted to know more before going out of her way to find this earthbender. Having to lead a warband, Korra realized, meant she didn't have the freedom to waste a few days chasing spirits.
XXXXXX
End Chapter
Author's Notes:
- Apologies for the delay on this chapter. Real life and a few ruts (like how to introduce the chi blockers) slowed progress down.
- Early on I wanted to have some chi blockers running around, but eventually I realized that I could have old enemies be new allies here and there were a lot of interesting angles to play with. Some Equalists joined because of legitimate grievances, and the show unfortunately never addressed them. I don't plan on them being a major plot point, but I feel that it is something that would nicely highlight some of the differences between Calradia and the Avatar setting. Plus, seeing the differing norms and reactions to the ideas.
- Hundun. Yes, I'm using him. It actually came fairly early in planning the story; I wanted Korra to build a reputation but I wasn't sure who to use as a primary antagonist. I mean, Mount and Blade never really had a big antagonist that the players didn't make themselves, and the bandits have no real characters to do that either. But Hundun had something that actually made him work well as an opposing villain: in some ways, his scheme was basically what Korra's doing with her warband: putting together a diverse set of people to achieve goals she can't achieve alone. But how and why they go about it varies heavily. Plus, he was a really cool villain and a worthy final boss for the video game and I felt he had some significantly wasted story potential given the LoK game's short plot.