Asami had found her wife in what was left of a Red Lotus airship, the Avatar standing proudly on the wreckage. Korra was starting to make a habit of that, but at least she didn't wreck her airships. Blowing the engines not withstanding, but that had been for a good cause.
Their airship had been hastily repaired and one of Asami's new prototype engines bolted on the stern. With that added speed she didn't think they could be outrun this time. But the Red Lotus airships were equipped with similar engines. Perplexion had turned to fury after speaking with Jia on the phone and learning that Ai Li had betrayed her. She'd considered the woman a friend. They'd spent so many late nights brainstorming ideas and the whole time, the whole time, Ai Li had been using that knowledge to hurt people. Asami would have to process that later. There was another revelation that required her attention.
Korra held up her hands. "The President is Red Lotus? I can't believe this." She dropped them back down, and started to pace. "Okay, so the radio is clear, we just need to get people to realize who the real enemy is."
"Yeah. That's not the only thing though." Kai ran his hands over the top of his shaved head. "She was talking about bombs in Harbor City. And that they killed someone in the Northern Water Tribe."
"Uh, maybe there's some news?" Bolin turned the radio on and started to dial through the channels.
"Chaos in Republic City! Red Lotus tanks have taken the downtown district, capturing benders and non-benders alike! We will have-" Click.
"-Harbor City this afternoon. Casualty numbers are still coming in and Chief Tonraq is reported missing but authorities have assured us that they have not given up the search. Reports from Zaofu and Ba Sing Se paint a similar grim picture as Red Lotus airships lay siege to both-" Click. "-ef Desna of the Northern Watertribe is reported dead after an attempt on his and Chief Esna's life. Chief Esna suffered undisclosed injuries in the same bombing that killed her brother and has sworn vengeance on those responsible. The Red Lotus claims responsibility for all of these attacks but no demands have been-"
Mako clicked the radio off. He looked at Korra, who stood at the center of the Airship's control deck, a stunned expression on her face. Her father was missing. Her mother could be dead. Her cousin was dead. Granted she'd had her issues with him but he was still family. Korra glanced at Mako, heat radiating off of her body in angry waves. "If something happened to my dad I don't..."
"We don't know anything for sure," Asami murmured. She placed her hands on Korra's shoulders and squeezed until Korra's anger started to abate. "Worry about it when we have information to worry about."
"This isn't just their anarchy business. This is personal. They know he's family, they know my cousins are family. They want to unbalance me." She realized she sounded unbalanced. She wanted to go into the Avatar State and unleash her full power on all of them. But she wasn't in danger, and the Avatar State wasn't something to be abused.
"We're here for you, Korra." Bolin put his hand over Asami's on Korra's back. Mako put his hand over Bolin's and nodded at Korra.
"Thanks guys." Korra forced a smile on her face for the briefest of instances, before settling into a determined expression. "Okay. First things first. We retake our city and send the Red Lotus running off with their tail between their legs."
Jinora rubbed her chin in a manner strikingly similar to her father. "Tuyin said something about automatons."
"When I took down that airship, there were only three people on it. It seemed like a small number but I figured they'd already dropped their mecha tanks and soldiers and didn't need a full crew."
"Automatons would explain why they're able to attack so many places at once," Asami said. She walked over to the airship controls. "And most reports seemed to indicate there are only a few soldiers, but a lot of tanks."
Bolin scratched his head. "But how would they even work? I mean in Nuktuk versus the Robotic Plague we were able to use some Mover Magic to make the machines look like they moved on their own but they still required people hidden inside them."
Asami smiled at him, though her expression was tense. "Find me one and give me some time with it. I have some ideas on power sources but nothing solid. I'll bet anything they're using radio signals and obviously they have to be communicating somehow. Wherever the leaders are they'd have to be close to coordinate so many airships, even without automatons. Maybe some kind of command ship."
"Well there's that big airship that's camped out Downtown," Kai suggested, peering out the window. "It's twice as big as the others. Bigger than this ship, even."
"Asami. Lets do this." Korra cracked her knuckles as her wife nodded and turned the airship towards the Red Lotus command ship. She pushed the engines to near max, and double-checked the controls for the prototype on the stern. She wanted full control of the engine when she'd need it. As they got closer, the true size of it became more and more apparent. It was at least twice the size of Korra's airship, and ringed with a dozen metallic tubes. Korra reached out, closing her eyes. Whatever they were, they were platinum. There had been similar constructs on the airship she'd downed.
"What's the plan?" Bolin asked.
Korra opened her eyes again and looked at her friends. They were her family as much as her parents were, and she was proud to have them at her back. "We jump ship. Kai, I need you and Jinora to stay here and guard our escape. The rest of us will keep them busy while Asami hot wires the command ship. Once we've got control, maybe we'll get some answers. Maybe we can even stop this invasion."
"I'm glad you think I can hot wire an airship under pressure," Asami said. She folded her arms and gave Korra a smug smirk.
"I know all our strengths." She nodded at Asami.
"We're getting closer," Mako warned.
The command ship was turning in the air, angling itself at a forty-degree angle to the Avatar's airship and displaying its entire side to them. They were close enough that Korra could make out figures on deck. She counted six people, and readied herself to airbend across to the other ship. Poofs of smoke appeared at the ends of three of the tubes. Thunder rumbled seconds later, and then heavy metal balls slammed into their airship, rocking it violently. Kai caught himself from falling on his face with a burst of air, and Asami's grip on the wheel tightened as she was nearly knocked over.
More puffs of smoke and rumbles of thunder, and a fourth ball sheared off one of the airship's stabilizers. For several tense seconds afterwards, there was nothing but the rattling of the airship as Asami fought to keep it in the air. Bolin lifted his head from where he'd dove for cover just every tube facing them thundered at once. Korra rushed forward, grabbing Asami and pushing her behind her. Glass cut at her cheek as the heavy projectiles crashed through the windows. The groaning and clanging of metal rang in her ears as the ship shook from the salvo. Korra checked back on the others and then looked up in time to see another dozen projectiles arcing towards them. She tried to bend them away but one still hit and the ship started to tilt to port.
Mako's voice rose over the sound of creaking metal and hissing air. "We're losing altitude!"
Pulling herself to her feet, Asami looked around at the state of her airship, a sad, determined expression on her face. Fire raged on a deck covered in debris and thick black smoke billowed into the air. There was no way this airship could take much more and still stay aloft. She glanced at Korra, then turned to the controls. "I'll get us there. We're not going to be able to stop, but I'll get us there." Asami pressed three buttons, and then she punched the throttle.
The ship strained and shuddered as it picked up speed, the new engine roaring like a dragon. Jinora gripped a railing tightly as the other airship loomed in front of them. More and more projectiles were fired at them, but they were moving so fast that nothing short of a collision or the ground would stop them.
"Jinora! Kai! Take Mako and Bolin and get out of here!"
At Korra's shout, Kai rushed forward, sweeping Bolin off of his feet and jumping through the shattered remains of the windows. Jinora was right behind him with Mako clinging to her back.
"Wait for it." Gritting her teeth, Asami struggled to keep the airship steady as more and more salvos slammed into it. An entire engine blew off and wind howled from a massive hull breach. Korra bent away as many of the projectiles as she could, but there wasn't much left to save.
"Asami, we need to get out of here!"
"Ten more seconds!" Asami locked the throttle in place, and pulled back on the wheel to try to regain altitude.
"No! We're going now!" Throwing Asami over her shoulder, Korra launched herself from the airship. It's bow collided with the other airship's starboard side, just aft of and below the control room. Metal screamed against metal and explosions shook both airships as Korra and Asami's airship cut the Red Lotus ship in half. The sky was bathed in red light as both ships became consumed in fire. The shock wave from a final massive explosion knocked Asami from Korra's grasp and both women plummeted towards the ground.
Korra grasped for Asami's wrist with one hand, forming a cushion of air on the ground with the other. Through it all, Asami's eyes remained locked on Korra's. Their descent slowed, and then stopped. Korra let go of Asami, then landed heavily next to her, kneeling on the ground. "Remind me to never fly again."
"Korra!" Asami brought a hand to her mouth, and touched gingerly at a bloody streak in Korra's side. "You're hurt."
She looked down at it, grimacing as the pain started to register. "I'll need some water and a safe place to heal. Can you help me up? I don't think I can stand on my own right now."
As Asami reached to help Korra up, an impact knocked her off of her feet. She landed hard on her tailbone. Registering an attack seconds before it came, she rolled to the side and sprang up, narrowly avoiding a foot to the face.
Amaya stood between her and Korra, and her wife looked dazed. Asami lifted her fists, her glove crackling as the shadow bender angrily stared her down.
Fire scorched past Amaya and she pivoted on her heel as Mako unleashed a flurry of attacks. She countered the first few before she was distracted by an attack from Bolin. The brothers timed their attacks to keep Amaya off balance - when there wasn't fire headed her way she was forced to dodge or deflect a chunk of earth.
Her tattoos glowed like rubies and she brought her foot down on the ground. Rock shot up behind Mako and slammed into his back. Amaya swung her fists around and propelled Mako on the slab of rock right into Bolin. Digging in her heels, Asami prepared to defend herself. She kept her eyes on Amaya's, not daring to look at Korra less she alert Amaya to her wife's condition.
Mako pushed himself to his feet, then helped his brother up. The two moved between Amaya and Korra.
"Give up," Amaya ordered. Asami's shadow undulated and she lept back, narrowly avoiding being impaled by a tendril. She dodged more strikes, all to the sound of Amaya laughing. From the alarmed shriek Bolin made, Asami guessed that he and Mako were in the same kind of trouble.
She darted under twin burst of fire and shadow, rolling to position herself between Korra and their enemy. Bolin stepped to her left and in front of her, and Mako took the lead at their right. Behind them, Korra groaned. A breeze signaled the arrival of Kai and Jinora. Without looking back, Asami whispered. "Get her out of here. No matter what happens, no matter what you see or hear, you get Korra to safety."
"We will," Jinora promised.
"Running away won't save her for long." Amaya lifted her chin, and held one hand palm up. "I will finish what was started long ago."
"I don't get you," Mako replied, refusing to fall for her bait. "What's your endgame? Do you really believe the world would be better off without it's leaders? Without an Avatar?"
"Someone else would just come in and take over." Bolin kept his stance light, ready to move away from whatever attack might come. "Then you'd be fighting them. Take them out, and you'd fight someone else. When would you even have time to sleep?"
Amaya narrowed her eyes. "The Red Lotus gave me a place to belong. They showed me the world. Look around you. It this how we're supposed to live? People in poverty, a legacy of colonization and this constant undercurrent of conflict between those who were born with power and those who were not. Messing with the spirits, spirit portals, these are all things we never should have been allowed to do. We will return the world to the way it once was. Balance cannot be achieved without removing the one thing that keeps the world out of balance. Liberty cannot be achieved without giving every person an equal footing!"
Asami clenched her fists, her stomach sinking. "And what footing is that?"
Launching herself at the trio, Amaya swung her foot out in a wide arc, trailing fire between them. She burst through the flames, her foot connecting with Asami's jaw and sending her sprawling on the ground. Amaya landed, twisting her body around and slamming her palms into the ground. The pavement beneath Bolin's feet liquidized, but he had already jumped out of the way.
Mako and Amaya exchanged a furious set of blows with both fists and flame. Asami jumped to her feet and charged in, dropping down and sweeping Amaya's feet out from under her. Bolin lept over Asami, a gigantic slab of earth suspended over his head. He slammed it down, but Amaya was faster. She shoved the slab back at Bolin, pulling another slab up behind him. With one last push, she crashed Bolin into the second slab and dropped the first one on top of him.
With one bending brother out of the way, Amaya could concentrate her full fury on the other. Huge whips and walls of flame made it difficult for Asami to breath. She pulled back, searching for an opening or some way for her to help Mako. In her pouch was a small collection of gadgets. She didn't want to risk the electric orbs, not with Mako so close to Amaya, but she had a few other tricks up her sleeve. She'd developed a four pointed throwing star. A simple press to complete a circuit and it sparked. She peered over a fallen wall, and threw it at Amaya. It struck her in the shoulder and the electric charge rippled through her. The shadow bender dropped to one knee, her clothing smoking. Mako approached cautiously, and his shadow behind him rippled.
"Mako!" Asami's warning came too late. Amaya manipulated the shadows, bending them around Mako and thrusting him into the ground. Asami fumbled for her flash bombs, hoping to eliminate any shadows that could be a danger for her. Something wrapped around her leg and she was thrown into the air. It yanked her back towards the ground and the world went black.
"She's heavier than I thought she'd be," Kai said. He had Korra's right arm around his shoulder and Jinora had her left side.
"She's dead weight, that makes it worse. Bolin is heavier."
"I guess, but I was working on adrenaline then." He grinned at his girlfriend and shifted Korra's weight around on his shoulder. "And she's got more muscle mass."
"This is a good spot." Jinora pointed towards a building that looked like it had been bombed out. "I'll stay with Korra, you find her some water."
Her boyfriend nodded, and once they had Korra settled, he took off. Where in this mess he was going to even find any water, he wasn't sure, but there was enough burst pipes that it shouldn't take too long.
Korra groaned as consciousness returned. Her side protested any movement and she could still feel a piece of metal sticking from her skin. She tried to sit up, but Jinora made her lay still. She tried to look around anyway. She never was the best patient. "Where's Asami? Where are the others?"
"They're holding Amaya off. Kai is trying to locate some water for you. Stay still!"
"No.." Korra tried to sit up again. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused past the pain. She could see it clearly now. The shadowy figure that stood over Asami's body in her nightmares. From that first night years ago, and several times a year since. She's always feared it was a premonition. In the haze of her vision as she'd been carried away, she'd seen the shadows slip away from Asami's killer. "No you don't understand. I just realized it. My nightmares. It's a vision. Amaya is the one that kills Asami!"