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Korra

The small force of airships that Asami had cobbled together streamed over the top of Kuvira's siege lines, casting great shadows that plunged large areas of the field into darkness as they took up a formation that resembled a large ring above the centre of the city. The various outlying areas of the city with their smaller domes had already been isolated, some overrun, and only the centre remained.

Korra sat in the cockpit of the lead airship with Asami and Lin, and took a deep breath at the sight of Kuvira's army.

"No turning back now," she said to nobody in particular. Asami smiled easily at her, and Korra knew that she was trying to hold in her own nerves.

"Good luck!" She replied. "I'll just be here if you need me."

Then she stood up, and Lin followed her as they made their way down to the bomb bay. Several volunteers from the Republic City police force stood aside to let them past.

Lin pulled a lever and the bomb doors opened, light streaming into the space as a small metal platform was hung above the void. The two of them stepped onto it, and then they were being lowered down towards the city. There was a moment in which nothing happened, and then a small hatch was opened in the roof and they were lowered through, being immediately plunged into darkness again.

Beneath the dome, the city of Xaofu was very dimly lit, the only light coming from electric lights that guided people who hurried through the streets. The platform reached the ground and the two of them stepped off, just in time for a member of the Xaofu security service to approach them.

"Avatar!" He bowed deeply. "And Lin! It's good to see you."

"Do you know why they're here?" Lin demanded. But the man just shrugged.

"Who knows?"

Lin sighed.

"Alright then, where's my sister?"

The man just shrugged. Lin frowned, and turned away. A crowd of people had begun to form around them, as people recognised that the Avatar and their leader's sister were there, and that this could mean that the hour of Xaofu's salvation was close at hand.

"Aunt!"

The new voice belonged to Huan, Suyin's artsy son, who pushed his way through the crowd to get to them. His normally unkempt hair was even more wild, as it looked like he had not had a chance to properly get ready, and he was dressed in the uniform and armour of a member of the Security Service. Clearly, it was all hands on deck.

"Suyin will be happy to see you," he told them. "Kuvira's attacked us for some reason!"

"Do you know how many men she has?" Lin asked.

"No," Huan replied. "But more than us. Kuvira took most of our men when she left Xaofu three years ago, and now we have maybe a hundred men left?"

"A hundred?" Korra was horrified.

"A hundred," a new voice confirmed. "Against a few thousand. The only thing really protecting us right now is this dome."

They turned to find Suyin approaching, flanked by Wing and Wei.

"It's good to see you," she told them. "And I thank you for coming to help us."

"It's not just us!" Lin said. "We've brought friends of our own."

She thought for a second, and then hugged Suyin, who froze for a moment, surprised. Then she melted into the hug as well.

"What happened?"

"I don't know," Suyin replied. "Kuvira appears to have gone mad!"

"Mad?" Korra repeated.

"I don't know how else to explain it!" Suyin told her.

"She was kind and quiet and dutiful, and fiercely loyal to this city! And now she's attacking us with an army?"

She looked to be on the verge of tears at the betrayal.

"And what about Baatar?" She demanded. "He's my son! Is he encouraging this? If not, why hasn't he stopped it?"

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Lin murmured. Suyin stared at her for a moment.

Korra decided to try to improve the mood a bit.

"Asami and Mako are here, as well as volunteers from the Republic City police and power plant," she supplied, putting on a grin.

"Power plant?" Suyin frowned. "What use are they going to be?"

"They're lightning-benders," Korra replied. "And they're on airships."

"How many airships?"

"Six."

Suyin frowned.

"Even with your friends, that's not a lot of help," she said. "I appreciate it, of course!"

She hesitated.

"But even so, we can't win," she said. "Not against these odds. Even if we just hide behind our dome, Kuvira will starve us out. We'll run out of food, and be forced to surrender to her. And that's assuming she doesn't know about some secret way into the city."

"Why would she do this?" Lin asked. "She was a security guard here."

"Power has made her paranoid. One of my delegates criticised her, so she thinks we've all turned against her. Which, I suppose, we have now."

"Because she attacked us!" Huan interjected.

"Yes, that was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy," Suyin sighed. "This is a losing battle and I have civilians to think about."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Korra asked.

Suyin hesitated again.

"We evacuate," she said. "This is my home, but the city itself is less important than the people. We have to get them out."

Immediately, several shouts came from the crowd, as people who wished to stand and fight made their voices heard. Suyin looked around defiantly.

"We can't win!" She said. "And even if we do, Kuvira will just return with an even bigger army, or just use one of those bombs to blow us all up before we even know what's happening! It is my duty to keep you all safe, and that is what I am doing!"

"And

"Will they all fit in the airships?" Korra wondered, looking up at the thin shaft of sunlight coming through the hatch in the dome. Suyin made a face.

"I don't know," was her only reply. "But we need to try. If Kuvira's vanishing her political opponents, who knows what she'll try to do to these people if she wins."

She shuddered.

"Are those the biggest platforms you've got?"

She gestured to the one that Korra and Lin had arrived on.

Lin nodded.

"But we do have a lot of them!"

"Still, it'll take too long," Suyin mused, beginning to pace. Too many people, not enough access hatches in the dome. Unless..."

She tailed off, clearly not liking the solution she had come up with.

"Unless you open the dome," Korra guessed.

"What?" Wei or Wing demanded. "If we do that, they'll attack! Kuvira won't want us to slip through her fingers!"

"I know," Suyin sighed. "But if they attack, our security services will have to hold them off for long enough for the people to get out of here."

"They're police, not soldiers!" The other brother protested.

"I know, I know," Suyin retorted. "But what other choice do we have? Surrender? And if we just try evacuating without opening it, it will take forever and Kuvira will try to bring down the airships! Then we'll all be stuck here!"

The others fell into a momentary silence, contemplating that possibility.

"Then we fight," Suyin said louder. "Only for a while. And then we go and reestablish the metal clan somewhere no dictator can ever touch us again!"

She did not specify where that might be, and nobody cheered. Some looked scared at the prospect of a battle, while others looked grimly determined.

Korra closed her eyes and tried to steady her nerves. This would be her first major battle since the last fight with the Red Lotus- fighting Kuvira and then escaping in the Satomobile in Ba Sing Se had been one thing, this would be taking on an entire army! She wasn't sure if she could do this, it was too soon. An image of herself with glowing eyes and unkempt hair flashed in front of her, and she nearly cried out- but then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and opened her eyes to find Suyin looking at her kindly.

"Thank you for coming," she said warmly. "Whatever happens, I want you to know how grateful we all are for your help."

Despite everything, Korra smiled and nodded, remembering why she so willingly put herself through it all. The citizens of Xaofu needed her, and she was the Avatar.

There was a job to do, and Korra would see it done no matter what.