Happy Eurovision Day! As I write this, the Eurovision Song Contest is today.
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Suyin
Suyin Beifong stood next to her sister on top of the outermost barricades, and watched in horror as an invading army marched in lockstep towards her home.
She had built this place up for years, had created a home for herself here, had built a family and a community here, and now it was all at risk of crumbling down.
Still, if this was to be the end of Zaofu, Suyin determined that it would not be the end of her Metal Clan. And Kuvira was not the only one with tricks up her sleeve.
She watched as a bolt of blue lightning streaked out of the sky and struck in the middle of the closest formation, throwing the men outwards like rag dolls. The thunderclap reached her a second later, reverberating around the city for a few seconds before fading into nothing as the sound of marching soldiers overtook it. A moment later, a second thunderbolt fell among the invading army, followed by another, each one causing devastation. Suyin did not dare look up and take her eyes off the invaders, but she knew that was Mako and his friends putting their abilities to good use.
Lightning shattered another of Kuvira's columns, sending men staggering away dazed and wounded. Suyin wanted to look away, wanted to avert her gaze from the terrible work being done in front of her, but she knew the men from the power plant were doing this for her and her people, and she could not afford to let Kuvira do something tricksy and catch her off guard.
Beside her, Lin watched, standing stock still.
More thunderbolts continued to fall among the invaders, but more of them were beginning to push forwards. Behind them, there was a loud popping sound as one of Kuvira's air cannon fired, aiming at the airships in an attempt to silence the lightning. It fell short, landing inside the city and exploding.
Suyin wanted to check whether it had hit the evacuating civilians, but knew that she could not leave her post yet. Another flash, much closer now, brought her back to the present as another cannon round was detonated by lightning in mid-air. There was shouting at the outer perimeter as the first hand-to-hand combat flared up, with leading units of Kuvira's army reaching the walls. There was a scraping noise as one of Lin's United Republic police volunteers tore a piece off one of the buildings, used it to fashion body armour for himself, and then threw himself into the fray.
Ordinarily Suyin might have been annoyed, but she couldn't really complain now.
The fighting on the perimeter seemed confused, and Suyin could not really see what was going on. A pair of her security forces ran past her, making their way towards where the fighting seemed thickest. A lightning bolt crashed down behind the invaders, and for a second their silhouettes were illuminated in a brilliant blue, before the force knocked many of them down. A lone figure in green scrambled to his feet, found a discarded banner, slightly singed from a lightning strike, and waved it to attract others. A few more of Kuvira's men rallied to him, and they charged with a yell towards the walls. At a shouted order, they extended their hands and fired bands of metal towards the defenders, latching around any limb they could find and dragging them into the air; with a shout of alarm, both sisters rushed forward to help them, but the attackers got there first and the ferocity of their charge punched a hole in the defence, through which more of Kuvira's men began to pour. At this kind of range, they were too close to the defenders for the lightningbenders up above to risk taking a shot at them, and so they were able to consolidate their position fairly easily.
Lin grabbed her sister's arm.
"We have to fall back!"
"But my men-"
"Will fall back too! We don't have enough to try to hold every inch of the city!"
Suyin saw her sister's point, and returned to her place at the barricade, where they found someone else waiting for them.
Avatar Korra crouched next to the other soldiers, and waved at them when they appeared next to her.
"What's going on with the evacuation?" Lin demanded.
"We've got a lot of them up," Korra told her cheerfully. "Maybe about a quarter?"
"That's good," Suyin nodded approvingly. "We're working fast."
"Not fast enough," Lin warned. Suyin turned to find a column of Kuvira's soldiers approaching the barricade at a run.
"Here we go," Korra murmured, and then gave a battle cry and charged. She spread her arms in front of her, and a hurricane split the enemy formation up, throwing the men away to either side. A few managed to hold their ground using earthbending to anchor themselves, but a further flick of the Avatar's wrist sent a jet of flame racing towards them that forced them to duck and cover. Lin and Suyin rushed forwards to support her, just as more soldiers appeared to reinforce their comrades. The three metalbenders stopped, formed a line, and with a motion the building at the end of the street began to buckle and groan. It ripped itself free of its foundations and launched itself at the men, who were forced to retreat with a house flying at their faces.
One of the soldiers drew a sword and came flying towards Lin with it held aloft over his head; Suyin noticed and stopped the metal blade with a wave of her arm. The man carried on, and ended up tumbling to a stop at Lin's feet. He realised what had happened and lunged at her, sending the two of them sprawling to the floor just as more soldiers appeared. In an instant, Korra was there, as a pillar of earth sent the man flying off Lin and through the window of a nearby building with a crash.
Suyin winced, but no sooner had she than the group of men advancing on her parted. A lone figure advanced towards them, as all but a few men melted away into the surrounding streets.
Lin struggled to her feet and looked warily at the new arrival, just as Korra froze and her eyes went wide.
A metal strip appeared in Kuvira's hand as she stalked towards the three of them, a predatory look in her eyes. Suyin took a bending stance as her former ward advanced.
"And just where," the Great Uniter called, "do you think you're going?"