Responses to Reviews:

Zigzagdoublezee: Korra's very good at punching things, but not every problem can be solved that way. She can't punch the South into supporting the Republic.

Dal222: Judging from the reviews I've got, hating Raiko is not an uncommon opinion.

RonaldM40196867: I think that's for every viewer to decide for themselves.

As Always, Please Review!

Kuvira

The garrison of Omashu had been disarmed, and then shipped off to be dispersed around the country, where each would have a thousand loyal men looking over their shoulder. A new, loyal force had been installed in their place.

The King was gone; Bayu had been shipped off to a new prison camp on the other side of the Empire, and a governor had been installed in his place. He had protested his innocence and begged Kuvira to look after his people the entire way to the prison train. Her secret police had been sent in to comb the population for any signs of dissent. Any who fell foul of them were to follow their King.

Lastly, Kuvira had set her mind to ensuring that something like this could never happen again. Omashu's ancient walls had been torn down and flung into the moat, which had then been filled in on top of them. The city of Omashu was now, to all intents and purposes, utterly defenceless.

All in all, it hadn't been a bad day's work, Kuvira reflected, as her train raced towards the coast. Her job was now half complete. Zaofu was hers. Omashu had been subjugated. Their leaders were in her power. Yes, the population of Zaofu had escaped, but if they had gone where she thought they had gone, she would be catching up to them soon enough. She had even beaten the Avatar in single combat twice now, only being thwarted both times thanks to Asami's hidden elecroglove and then Bolin's betrayal. They would not thwart her a third time. Not least because Chao would hopefully get Bolin, but also because this time, she had her spirit cannon. The spirits themselves now marched into battle in her name, and it felt good.

She had ordered seven more of them as soon as Omashu's walls had crumbled, and they were to be delivered to the coast, the same place she was going, with enough ammunition to keep them firing for several hours. Fortunately, the actual barrels didn't take that long to make, so they would be ready relatively quickly.

In the meantime, she sat and looked out of the window, watching the landscape speeding past. Soon this would all be over. She stood up and walked around the desk, until she was staring at the map of the continent that hung above her head. With a wave of her hand, the piece representing Omashu lifted itself up and clicked into its proper place. Now, only two pieces remained on the desk, one very small one and one rather big one. First, an example had to be made. Then, she would go for the grand prize.

There was a knock on the door. A radio operator stuck his head in.

"Word from Zaofu, Ma'am!" He barked. "Bolin and his airbender friend have been there. And..."

He paused.

"And?" Kuvira prompted.

"And Toph Beifong was sighted there too."

Ah. That was a bit more troubling. Toph Beifong was an old companion of Avatar Aang's. She had fought with him, trained him, led the Republic City police for many years. She had a reputation as one of the greatest earthbenders of all time, and if she had come out of hiding to get her daughters back (as Kuvira assumed she had) that could be very bad news indeed.

"Send a message to the Guard," she replied. "Inform them of Toph's presence, but do not make any further alterations to the plan."

"Yes Ma'am!" The operator nodded and left quickly. Kuvira liked that one, he was enthusiastic, not to mention competent.

Still, getting back to the matter at hand, Kuvira was sure that Toph, while she could be a nasty surprise if allowed, would be essentially unimportant. Powerful and feared she may have been, but she was also in her mid-eighties. Age would have slowed her down just as much as any other person.

For a moment, Kuvira thought about King Bayu of Omashu's illustrious ancestor, King Bumi. That man had lived for well over a century and still been immensely powerful. But King Bumi had not been living in a swamp. Kuvira did not know much about the health benefits of swamps, but she doubted there were many.

Still, Kuvira had faith in Chao and his men. She had created the Imperial Guard to be the best of the best, the finest soldiers in the army for the deadliest missions. They could surely handle an octogenarian Toph Beifong.

But they had their job to do, and Kuvira had hers. She sat down at the desk again, and began looking through some papers she found there.

There were a couple of lists of names; she gave them a quick look over, signed them, and tossed them to one side. There were procurement orders for more platinum, which would have to be purchased from wherever it could be found. Kuvira knew the cost would be eye watering, but signed it anyway. Then there were reports from all across the empire. Apparently sandbenders had been causing trouble in the Si Wong desert again, and vanishing into the desolate wastes before Kuvira's army could respond. Perhaps she would have to pay them a visit too, but after she had taken Republic City.

Maybe she could even take them from the desert and put them somewhere else where they might be less trouble. That could save her a lot of trouble in the future.

"We're here!"

Suddenly Bataar was in the room with her.

"I can see it!" He cried. "It's nearly finished! It's magnificent!"

"Great!" Kuvira replied. She hadn't made the jobs of her engineers very easy, she knew. There had been several last minute alterations. But if they had done it properly, she would see to it that they were properly rewarded.

Out of the window, the sea was at last visible in the distance, a line of blue on the horizon that stuck out between the land and sky. Seeing it filled Kuvira with some excitement, knowing that their journey was almost at an end.

But what brought her more excitement was just visible in the distance. A huge mess of scaffolding had been erected there, and workmen swarmed all over an enormous sleek grey shape in the middle of it all. This was it, she thought. This was her crowning achievement, the thing that would bring security to the Earth Empire, death to her enemies, and victory in any future wars. The train raced closer, and she could begin to make out that sections of the flanks of the grey object were shinier than the rest, areas where thick platinum armour plates adorned it. Next to it, hanging from a crane, was an enormous silver cannon barrel that was being lowered towards the top of the machine.

And the Great Uniter smiled. It was indeed magnificent.