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Kuvira
Kuvira, flanked by two soldiers, stepped forward into the open and hoisted an enormous white banner into the air.
Her childhood home stood before her, the gigantic metal dome tightly shut, as it had been ever since she had arrived and set her army to encircling the place.
The Great Uniter took a moment to reflect on the irony of the situation. Once she had been a security guard here, the woman tasked with the defence of the city against any who might threaten it. Now she was the one doing the threatening.
"It's good to be home, don't you think?" She asked sardonically, to nobody in particular. Behind her, the two guards exchanged looks.
She took a few more steps forward, firmly out into the no-man's-land between the walls of the metalbender city and her own army's trenches. As her force was mainly earthbenders, it had been the work of minutes to construct an extensive network of trenches, artillery positions and earthworks, all pointing straight at the heart of the city. However, she knew her air- cannons lacked the power to pierce the dome, which meant until they opened it for some reason her artillery was useless. It was going to have to be a waiting game, which was unacceptable to Kuvira- there were other hotbeds of rebellion further to the south who needed dealing with urgently.
By now the three of them were deep into no-man's-land, standing in an entirely flat and open area. Anyone on the wall would have a clear view of them, and the flag fluttering in the breeze above their heads.
Nothing happened for a minute. Kuvira resisted the urge to yawn. The Great Uniter does not yawn! She told herself sternly, standing up a little bit straighter and fixing her gaze straight ahead.
Another minute passed. And then another, and another. Kuvira was about to throw down her flag and return to her lines in disgust when a little door in the side of the dome opened, and Suyin Beifong walked towards her. A look of disappointment graced the older woman's face.
"Suyin!" Kuvira greeted her, putting on a facade of warmth. "It's so nice to be back!"
The two women faced each other, stood a few paces apart. The elder looked at Kuvira with a guarded expression on her face.
"What is the meaning of this?" Suyin demanded, looking around. "If you wanted a homecoming so badly, bringing an army was unnecessary."
"Sadly it is all too necessary," Kuvira said piously.
"Why?" Suyin asked.
"Do you know what happened after you left Ba Sing Se?" Kuvira questioned her.
"Is that what this is about?"
"Yes or no? It's a simple question," Kuvira pressed.
"Look, all I know is that I haven't heard from my representative in the city for a suspiciously long time. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"Of course," Kuvira said. "She said treasonous things, so I arrested her. I am here to make sure those seditious thoughts are not widespread here."
"Kuvira, we're your family!" Suyin told her frustratedly. "Where has all this suspicion come from?"
"I just overthrew a system that has ruled for millennia," Kuvira said. "One can never be too careful about rogue monarchist elements. And I fought the Avatar, people tend not to like that either."
"Yes, that." Suyin sighed. "Careful. Is that what you're calling it?"
"What would you call it?" Kuvira challenged.
Suyin paused for a moment.
"Paranoid," she decided. Kuvira bristled at that.
"How dare you," she snarled. But Suyin did not back down.
"Well you have turned up to your childhood home with an army just because the ambassador hurt your feelings, Kuvira."
"It was sedition!"
"It was an overreaction! You can't just throw anyone who disagrees with you in prison!"
Kuvira drew herself up to her full height at that and jabbed a finger at Suyin.
"That's not what I'm doing! I want to protect this nation, from itself above all! That means keeping them in line, for their own good!"
Kuvira stopped, breathing heavily. There was a moment of silence.
"You don't believe that," Suyin replied, shocked. "Please tell me you don't believe that."
"I don't have to justify myself to you," Kuvira stated firmly.
Suyin looked at her sadly.
"Then this meeting is over. Goodbye, Kuvira."
And she turned and walked away.
"Suyin?" Kuvira called. "Suyin! You get back here right now!"
But the older woman did not look back.
Deciding to cut her losses, Kuvira returned the way she had come rather than continue shouting and appear weak in the eyes of her men. A cold fury bubbled in her heart at the silent insult. She would get inside that city, whatever it took. And then any traitors inside would rue the day they opposed her.
"Bring me Varrick!" She demanded.
The Water Tribesman stumbled slightly as he entered Kuvira's office on board the train, which had come to a stop just out of sight of the city. Behind him, Zhu Li followed silently, carrying a pile of papers tucked under one arm.
"Ah, Varrick!" Kuvira called genially, leaning back in her chair. "How are you getting on with your research?"
"Fine," the man said warily. "Since my test bed was destroyed, I've had to make another one but we're about back to where we were."
"Excellent, excellent. Come to think of it, that's what I wanted to speak to you about."
She leaned forward in her chair.
"Your weapon was a game-changer!" She said enthusiastically.
"It wasn't a weapon!" Varrick replied indignantly, but Kuvira just waved his objections away.
"We turned it into one," she said. "And what a weapon it was. An entire mountain vaporised in an instant!"
Varrick looked uncomfortable at that, but Kuvira did not notice.
"It was great, and I applaud your ingenuity, but it can be better. The way it is now, it has too much of a risk of friendly fire and has to be placed directly underneath the target. Defenders could find and disable it while our miners are retreating."
Varrick did not say anything.
"What if we could give the blast a direction?" Kuvira mused. "Put the spirit vines in some kind of barrel like an air cannon, point it towards the target, and just hit that target?"
Varrick looked pained, but Zhu Li spoke up first.
"No!" She said.
"What?" Both of them looked at her in surprise.
"It's immoral!" She said. "We made this to provide clean energy, not make a weapon!"
"Well then, you're just going to have to change direction, aren't you?" Kuvira sighed.
"No, she's right!" Varrick insisted. "This is a weapon too big for even me, and that means you know it's big! I refuse to work on it any more!"
"I'm sorry, there appears to have been some terrible confusion," Kuvira said in mock surprise. "You appear to have misinterpreted this as a request and not an order!"
"I interpreted it just fine," Varrick replied. "And the answer's still no!"
"And do you have anything else to say for yourself?"
"Just one," Varrick replied. "Zhu Li, do the thing!"
And Zhu Li threw her papers into the nearest bin before pulling out a match and setting them on fire. Kuvira just sighed again and watched them burn as the inventor turned back to her triumphantly.
"Say goodbye to all my research!" He told her. "You'll never get another bomb without it!"
"Have you quite finished?" Kuvira asked.
Varrick frowned. "You should be sadder."
"Possibly," Kuvira agreed. "But while you are a genius, you're not irreplaceable. And you're not as subtle as you think you are."
Varrick looked offended.
"I am many things, but I am never knowingly subtle."
She pushed a button under her desk.
"You see, I had a feeling you might say that. So I had Baatar copy your research and I've had people, reliable people, working on that project for a while now."
"But that's intellectual theft!"
"No, it's intellectual finders-keepers," Kuvira waved a hand. "You yourself said you didn't want any part of it, so you have what you wanted: a clean conscience."
"This isn't about my conscience! That weapon shouldn't exist!"
"Shouldn't it?" Kuvira asked. "This weapon will prevent any other nation from ever threatening us again!"
"Until the other nations build their own," Varrick countered. "What then?"
Kuvira shrugged.
"We'll win."
"You can't know that. And a lot of people will die."
Kuvira burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, are you lecturing me? When did you develop a conscience? You were all too willing to kill hundreds of water tribesmen to line your own pockets!"
Varrick paused.
"That was different! That was business! I'm all for making money, but if you destroy everything there'll be no money to make!" Varrick slammed his hands down on the table. "There are weapons and then there are weapons."
"This isn't about the money," Kuvira replied coldly. "It never has been."
"Yeah, yeah, this is about reuniting the Earth Kingdom, you've said it many times," Varrick said. "But you can't reunite it if you've destroyed it!"
"How dare you," Kuvira stood up. "I will save this nation, not destroy it, and your weapon will help me do it. But if you won't..."
She let the threat hang in the air for a moment. Varrick looked back at her.
Finally he spoke.
"Kuvira, I resign."
He tore the metal shoulder pads off his uniform and they fell with a thud onto the floor of the train carriage.
"So be it," Kuvira said. The door burst open, and suddenly a squad of soldiers was standing there.
"What is it you're always saying?" Kuvira asked rhetorically. "Oh yes, that's it."
She pointed at Varrick and Zhu Li.
"Men, do the thing!"
Immediately, the soldiers moved forward and grabbed them, manhandling them towards the door.
"Wait, Kuvira, that's my line! Whats the thing?" Varrick asked as he was bundled away. "Tell me what's the thing!"
His last question trailed off as he was dragged away down the corridor. Kuvira sat down, telling herself that she could not afford to tolerate dissenters within her own ranks. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, taking advantage of the privacy of her own office.
And then the door burst open.
"What?" Kuvira asked, launching herself forward in her chair.
A junior officer stood there, panting.
"Airships spotted!" He gasped.
"What?"
"Six airships are approaching the city from the north!" He told her. Then he hesitated.
"Go on..." Kuvira prompted. The man hesitated, and then spoke again.
"They're wearing United Republic insignia."