Korra had always prided herself on being able to extricate herself from virtually any predicament.
She had a knack for working herself free from a bind, and a natural talent for finding the outs in any situation. So she wasn't surprised when, after less than ten minutes, she managed to stumble across the prison's main landing bay.
It was much larger than the secondary entrance that she, Raven, and just a small contingent of the mercenaries who had helped transport Valeska over had arrived at. The alarms that had been all but deafening inside the cramped corridors were merely thunderous here in the massive chamber.
Korra was perched atop a large metal balcony overlooking the room. Below she could see four vessels, spaced about ten metres apart. All of them appeared to be unguarded. As she studied her options, she realised that these were the ships which Kay and Alara, as well as the rest of the mercenaries had arrived here with.
Just like a buffet: plenty to choose from, she thought to herself.
Two of the ships were standard, run-of-the-mill passenger shuttles, their hulls weathered and dented. She quickly dismissed them as unworthy of stealing. The third was the largest of the group, and appeared to be in mint condition. And then, when she saw the fourth vessel she chuckled to herself. "We have a winner."
The smallest of the lot, the ship was sleek and stylish, with red trim and a black hull. "Now what better than to steal Alara Kitarn's ship," she muttered to herself, half under her breath. "Perhaps if I get lucky, she'll also show up and then I'll finally get to look into her dying eyes as I strangle her."
To Korra's annoyance, Raven had already departed the system, leaving her stranded and to fend for herself. Fearful of Valeska's power, and fearful that the Sith warrioress would come after her since she'd been the one who'd orchestrated her capture in the first place, the moment Korra had freed her she thought it best not to stick around. All the while having been the one who liberated Valeska, Raven was confident that the Sith warrioress would spare her friend. But despite her friend's assurances, Korra still had her doubts. After all Valeska was a Sith, and the Sith were ruthless.
Hence her eagerness to escape.
Korra made her way down the staircase and across the hangar, a lightsaber she'd taken from Kay's collection that the Jedi wasn't aware she'd taken clutched in her right hand. When she reached her chosen shuttle, she let out a low whistle of appreciation and reached up to stroke the smooth, dark hull.
"Look but don't touch," a soft female voice whispered in her ear.
Korra snapped her hand back and whirled around, her lightsaber springing to life as she slashed at the empty air behind her.
Just out of range of her attack stood Alara Kitarn. Korra had never considered Alara a worthy opponent. In fact she'd always considered her the dumbest of the dumbest. But the Alara that stood before her now, there seemed to be something unsettling about her. Korra wasn't normally one to shy away from a fight, not if she thought she could win. Could she have been wrong all these years to think little of Alara? The likes of her shouldn't have been able to sneak up on her, yet Korra hadn't felt her presence until she'd spoken.
"Nice ship," she said, extinguishing her lightsaber and letting her hand fall casually to her side. "You know Alara, since you won't be needing it anymore, I'm going to take it and claim it as mine."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth Korra pounced toward Alara, her reignited lightsaber carving a deadly figure eight pattern meant to disembowel her unsuspecting foe even as Alara answered her question.
Alara wasn't fooled. Instead of replying to her query, she took a quick step back and to the side, nimbly avoiding Korra's attack.
"Too slow," Alara admonished.
The two adversaries turned to face each other again, and Korra paused to consider the situation. She'd always wanted to kill Alara, but hadn't been able to because had she tried to, Kay would have either stopped her, or possibly tried to stop her and failed, either outcome would have ended any chance for Korra to kill the latter. Now it seemed, that Alara was a lot more talented than she'd made out to be; killing her wasn't going to be as easy as she'd thought. And to cap it off, Alara was clearly armed with blades and blasters.
"Were you responsible for freeing Valeska?" Alara shouted.
"Yes I'm responsible for allowing Valeska to escape," Korra explained. "I kinda figured if I'm not strong enough to kill Kay, then why not let someone else who can do it."
"You treacherous piece of scum." Alara shot back. "I should have—"
"You showing up here," Korra interrupted, "is an absolute bonus. For years I've dreamt of wanting to strangle you with my bare hands, and then cutting off your head to keep as a trophy," she confessed.
"What a twisted mind you have," Alara replied, before adding, "That's one of Kay's lightsabers. Do you even know how to use it?"
"No shit, Sherlock," she said, trying to project an air of noble self-importance into her voice. "I took it and dumb Kay has no idea. She trusts me because you know, I'm her trusted and loyal friend. And as for using it? What's there to it? Just slash and stab, right?"
"There's more to it than that," Alara snapped.
Korra's mouth curled into a smirk, but anger flashed in her eyes. "Not when your opponent is as weak as you," she said, her demeanour hostile and mocking. "I only ever allowed you to live because of Kay. But she's no longer a barrier so you're dead."
"You underestimate me," Alara retorted hotly.
Korra sliced the air half a dozen times with her lightsaber. She spun around, the humming blade dancing and twirling, before ending the demonstration with a back flip.
Alara was obviously unimpressed by her display of martial prowess, and Korra realised she wasn't going to intimidate her like she had done so many times in the past.
"Speaking of Kay, now that she knows your true colours, I no longer need to hold back." A pair of short vibroblades appeared in Alara's hands. She lunged in with her twin blades, and Korra staggered awkwardly out of the way, barely avoiding her attack. She moved faster than any opponent she had ever faced. Clearly she'd underestimated her.
Korra ducked her head and darted under the nose of the black-and-red shuttle to the far side. She couldn't see Alara anymore, but by concentrating she was just barely able to sense her effort made her head spin; it was like trying to see with mud in her eyes. Alara was stalking her slowly, cautiously creeping around the tail end of the ship, however, Alara's ability to actually use the Force was extremely limited, hence why she was operating on instinct rather than using the Force. She had never been taught the most basic skills— like how to sense the location of opponents even when they were out of sight.
Korra turned and made a dash for one of the other vessels, reaching her new hiding place just before Alara emerged from behind the black shuttle's thrusters. Crouching down to peer beneath the belly of the ship she was using for cover, she could see Alara turning her head from side to side, trying to figure out where she had gone.
"Now I am the hunter," Alara called out, her lips curling into a feral smile. "And you are the hunted."
Incredibly, Korra's demeanour had gone from confident to cowardly the instant she'd realised that Alara was no pushover. Even with the lightsaber in her hand, the assassin suddenly refused to stand and fight. She ducked and ran back and forth between the hulls of the ships, moving from one hiding place to another, always a step ahead of Alara.
Alara could have sheathed her vibroblades and drawn the twin blasters holstered on the sides of her belt, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Her adversary was too quick for her to ever get a clear shot, and even if she did she'd probably just slap the bolt away with her lightsaber.
She caught a glimpse of Korra darting across the aisle between her shuttle and the one parked beside it. She didn't chase her, though: she turned and ran behind her own shuttle, taking a path parallel to hers in the hope of cutting her off.
Chewing the ground up with long, effortless strides Alara raced around the side of the ship, hoping to flank her unsuspecting opponent. Instead she came within a centimetre of being decapitated as Korra's lightsaber came hurtling through the air toward her.
Alara let herself collapse to the ground, falling awkwardly back and to the side as her legs shot out from under her. The manoeuvre was ungainly, but it saved her life. The deadly energy blade whistled by her ear before circling back on a tight arc and returning to her opponent's hand.
Alara quickly scrambled back to her feet, vibroblades ready, but her opponent didn't press her advantage; she disappeared again, vanishing around the nose of the ship. But she had nearly died, realising that Korra had drawn on the Force. Although her ability to do so seemed extremely limited, it didn't help that her opponent was also cunning; she had wanted Alara to see her, knowing she'd double around to try and cut her off.
Alara had gotten a tad too cocky herself and in turn underestimated Korra, and she had manipulated her goading her into a careless mistake. Korra had set a trap and she had walked right into it. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Korra crouched down behind one of the ships, gasping for breath. To some extent she had been able to tap into her very limited ability to draw on the Force, but the effort had left her exhausted.
Korra frowned at the memory of how close she had come to ending this battle, even as she forced herself to get up and get moving again. She couldn't stay in one place for more than a few seconds, not unless she wanted to end up dead. She knew Alara would be more careful now; she'd missed her best chance.
"I may have underestimated your ability to fight, but you're still not all that intelligent," Korra called out from somewhere on the other side of the hangar.
"Oh, how so?" Alara shouted back, slowly heading in the direction of Korra's voice. It sounded like she was near one of the shuttles on the far side of the room. "Clearly I'm more intelligent than you."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Korra answered as Alara stepped from behind one of the ships, giving her a clear view of the woman she had been chasing.
Korra was leaning casually against the side of one of the shuttles, near the thrusters at the rear. She glanced toward Alara but made no attempt to hide. Instead she just stood there, holding her lightsaber casually at her side.
Wary of walking into another trap, Alara began a cautious approach. As she took her first step, the blonde haired woman pulled her arm back and brought her lightsaber down hard against the shuttle's hull. There was a shower of sparks, and the blade bit a full centimetre into the ship's reinforced exterior plating.
Korra pulled her arm back and struck again, hitting precisely the same spot, the glowing blade carving even deeper this time. It was only on the third blow that Alara realised what she was doing.
The third chop brought the lightsaber deep enough to sever one of the shuttle's fuel lines. Korra flung herself backward and Alara threw herself to the floor as a stray spark ignited the flammable liquid. Hundreds of tiny metal shards that had once been a fuel cell were sent hurtling through the air. The shuttle bucked once, its tail leaping a full metre off the ground from the force of the blast. A thick cloud of greasy black smoke curled up from the gash the lightsaber had left in the hull.
"Amazing weapons, aren't they?" Korra noted as Alara picked herself up from the ground. "Cut through almost anything."
Korra's face was cut and scraped from flying debris. Before Alara could reply, she had ducked around the corner of the shuttle, disappearing from sight once again.
A few seconds later Alara heard the unmistakable sound of the lightsaber shearing through metal yet again from the far side of the hangar.
She broke into a run, heading in the direction of the noise. She was only halfway there when another explosion knocked her to the ground. When she got back to her feet she saw that a second shuttle had been disabled, by which time Korra had scooted over to a third shuttle. She had disappeared around the far side of the vessel, and was quick to fumble with the access panel as she sliced the security system. Alara heard the unmistakable whoosh of the boarding ramp descending, and a few seconds later Korra reappeared, visible in the cockpit viewport.
Alara simply watched, knowing there was nothing she could do. Unlike a lightsaber, neither her vibroblades nor her blasters were capable of inflicting any serious damage on the hull of a shuttle.
The shuttle engines roared to life as it rose up and turned to face the exit, hovering for an instant just below the chamber's high ceiling. She could clearly see the blonde haired woman inside the cockpit. Korra waved to her and flashed a self-satisfied smile, and then the thrusters kicked in and the ship swooped away, flying out of the hangar and disappearing into the night sky.