This will be Korra's first meeting with the Empire. Some of the Imperials will be ones you know, and others rather obscure. Italicized is past tense.
As Korra flew into the strange green portal, she saw Mako jump in after her. As Korra coasted off the ground with her Airbending, Mako landed on his feet, just as the portal closed behind them.
"Korra, are you alright?" Mako asked as he ran up to her.
"I'm fine," she said back as they hugged. Then she looked around and wasn't so sure. It was warm and dry but also windy. In the distance, she saw a collection of strange boulders or mounds. Close by were vast fields of tall, brown grass. "Where are we?" the Avatar asked.
"The Spirit World?" Mako suggested. Then he launched a fireball into the air, confirming he could bend.
"Not if we can still bend," Korra replied, before her eyes shot open in surprise. "That definitely wasn't there before." She pointed to the evening sky. There were two moons above them.
"Where did Zaheer send us?" wondered Mako in amazement. After a second, Korra thought of something.
"The home of Darth Vader?" she suggested. Mako's eyes lit up in surprise at how she would conclude that, so she recounted what she had learned.
"When I was in the spirit world, I didn't just see Zaheer toss Aiwei into the fog," Korra revealed as she used her Metalbent lockpick to get out of the cuffs left after she broke her chains. "He talked to me, trying to get me to join him, or so he claimed. He wound up revealing something interesting."
"Unalaq once understood the necessity of our cause, before he got greedy," Zaheer told her. After a moment, Korra replied.
"So, that's how you got into the South Pole undetected," the young Avatar realized. Then, a thought entered her mind. She didn't want to reveal anything but perhaps Zaheer could reveal something. "If my uncle was in Red Lotus, was the Obsidian Knight, as well?"
"No, but we did bring him here," Zaheer revealed. "One day, a crystal fell from the sky, and the five of us went to investigate. When P'Li picked it up, it opened a strange portal in the sky for a single minute. As the Northern Water Prince, Unalaq sent it to Aang for study. The man the papers dubbed the Obsidian Knight came looking for it. He'd been pulled through the portal we briefly created. Whoever, or whatever, he was, he didn't care for negotiation and killed Unalaq's father, before attempting the same to your uncle."
"Or maybe Unalaq was always evil, got impatient for the crown, and just blamed the scary stranger in the house," Korra suggested.
"No," Zaheer replied firmly. "Unalaq was a good man and faithful friend, before his lust for power corrupted him."
"And tricking my dad into drowning the spirit forest?" Korra asked in disbelief at Zaheer's naivete. "That sounds like usurping his brother's throne. And at odds with destroying the barriers between humans and spirits."
"He was not happy about doing that to your father, or the spirits," Zaheer said with conviction. "Unfortunately, Tonraq was very different than he is now. He was far more traditional than the way you know him. After his exile, he loosened up and started becoming more open to new ideas. We originally planned to be instructors to you that Unalaq would send to teach you, both as an olive branch to his brother and so you could be educated in our ways. But Tonraq's bitterness at Unalaq put an end to that plan. It was only then that we attempted to take you, so that you could be truly educated as opposed to spoon fed the dogma of the White Lotus."
"You mean, my dad was right to mistrust his brother, since you were out to brainwash me," Korra retorted, standing up and walking away. She'd heard enough, not only was Zaheer recklessly trying to destroy the world's governments in an attempt at freedom for all. He was also downright delusional if he thought that Unalaq was ever his friend.
"That...makes sense," Mako replied upon hearing the story. "I did see what looked like a crystal in his hand creating the portal. Stranding you here was his plan all along."
"No, his plan was to poison me, inflicting the pain necessary to drive me into the Avatar state," Korra revealed. "I'm guessing he was going to toss me into the portal afterward, so that I wouldn't kick his ass while dying, and so that no one could help me." Mako was horrified but also unsurprised. Given all that the Equalists did, and how Zaheer took over a hundred people hostage to make Korra surrender, the fact he would try to do such a thing was almost expected.
"So, I guess that we should look for Darth Vader," Mako said, remembering the situation they were in.
"Sounds good, team captain, I see some lights over there," Korra smirked at him, pointing to a series of lights in the distance. As they continued walking in the direction of the lights, Korra stopped and grasped her head. "Whoa, I'm feeling a bit...tired."
"Korra!" Mako exclaimed as he caught her in his arms. Looking to her, she was breathing but had passed out. Terrified out of his mind, he picked her up in his arms and started running as fast as he could toward the lights.
Lieutenant Janek 'Tank' Sunber, nicknamed for his size, was standing on the perimeter of the Imperial forward base on Maridun. The world of jungles and savannahs was far on the edge of the Galactic Empire, and Sunber never believed that, when he went to the Imperial recruiting station, he would wind up here. He'd joined so that he could have a better life than moisture farming on Tatooine, and had excelled at Carida Academy, passing the officer's exam on the first try despite lacking the privileged background of many of his contemporaries. After that, he'd received his first assignment: patrolling the border between Imperial territory on Maridun, and the territory of the natives, the Amanin.
It quickly became clear that this was a low priority world in the Empire. Apart from a few mines, there was nothing of importance to the wider galaxy present on the planet. The Amanin were content to ignore the Imperials, if they didn't cross the border, so there was little chance of anyone distinguishing themselves, in battle or otherwise. Then, Director Orson Krennic of Advanced Research and Development arrived. None of the senior officers present on the planet, much less Sunber, were cleared to know exactly what the man was there for but, whatever the case, it was important enough that they encroach on Amanin territory.
Unfortunately, General Frickett hadn't considered he would need reinforcements to fight the Amanin. He was a pompous, arrogant man, who charged into the field of battle with no heavy vehicles, only APCs and speeder bikes, and was outflanked by the Amanin. Still, Frickett had no way of knowing the Amanin would have so many blasters and powerful explosives at their disposal. Realizing they were about to be overrun, Sunber had ordered his platoon to retreat, even as Frickett demanded they come to save him. Sunber and his platoon realized it was impossible to save their foolish commander, and left the general to his death. Out of seven hundred Imperials that day, only fifty escaped back to friendly lines.
They made their way to the forward operations base, nicknamed Ziering's Drift, where they were met by five hundred other Imperials, soldier and civilian. The Amanin had bombed the main spaceport, cutting off any hope of escape or calling for help. And the highest-ranking Imperial left on the planet was Director Krennic. While the man had served in the Clone Wars, he was an engineer and administrator as opposed to a battlefield commander, so he had focused on fixing the AT-AT they had. In addition, most Imperials had been injured in some way, and with a limited supply of bacta, most of them had to be healed very slowly, leaving only two hundred capable of fighting. On top of all of that, the next supply ship wouldn't arrive for another month, so they couldn't expect reinforcements. All they could do was dig in and prepare for the inevitable onslaught of Amanin.
In addition, most of the officers had been killed or incapacitated. Apart from Sunber, the highest-ranking officer below Krennic was Lieutenant Terrik. Terrik was the opposite of Sunber. He wasn't a volunteer, he was a clone. While cloning soldiers had been drastically scaled back since the end of the Clone Wars, it still happened.
When a senator pointed out that a clone army was akin to slavery, an injustice under the Republic, the emperor rectified this injustice. After clones reached the biological age of eighteen, they would receive a treatment that halted their accelerated aging. Afterward, they would serve as indentured servants to the Empire until they served ten years, at which point they would be allowed to take legal names as opposed to serial numbers and be granted the full privileges of Imperial citizenship.
Terrik had received his emancipation three years early, rumored to be because of some classified mission with Lord Vader himself, but rather than leave the military, he instead pursued an officer's commission. Upon receiving it, he was sent to Maridun to command the meager number of stormtroopers present on the planet. Everyone looked to him for what to do, even Sunber, despite holding the same rank. He remained stoic, and assured them that they would survive, then went patrolling the perimeter to set an example.
Sunber had joined him upon inspecting the perimeter, hoping that he would receive some counsel from the veteran. When they were alone, Terrik told him that they were officers and that Frickett's failing was not setting an example for the men to follow. Frickett hadn't taken the Amanin seriously, so most of the other Imperials didn't. As Sunber pondered what the stormtrooper said, they were interrupted.
"LT Sunber, there is something approaching the perimeter," one of the sentries informed them.
"Shine a light on it!" Sunber ordered as he and Terrik rushed to the perimeter. Upon getting there, the floodlight flashed on and one of the guards shouted "Stop or we will fire!" The figure stopped, and both Sunber and Terrik got a better look. It was a human man holding a woman in his arms, as opposed to an Amanin. He was roughly same age as Sunber, with pale skin, spiky black hair, and golden eyes. He was wearing a light brown tunic and pants with red highlights, looking exhausted and worried. The woman in his arms appeared to be the same age as him but she was unconscious. She wore a light blue, sleeveless vest that clung tightly to her body, dark blue bands around her wrists, brown boots, dark blue pants, and what appeared to be an animal skin wrapped around her waist. Save for two braids, her dark brown hair was long and loose, while her skin was rather tan.
"Please, she needs help!" he asked frantically. Sunber, however, was suspicious. The one time he had spoken with Director Krennic, the white-suited, caped engineer expressed his suspicion that offworld interests had equipped the Amanin. He concluded that, while some of the Amanin's weapons could have been left behind after the brief battle here during the Clone Wars, and others could have been stolen but there was simply too much for it to be completely the case.
"How did you get to Maridun?" demanded the young lieutenant.
"I, I don't know!" the stranger yelled. "Please, she needs help!" After a moment, Terrik spoke up.
"Are you from the world of Elemental Nations?" the stormtrooper asked. After a moment, the man said yes. "Which nation are you from?"
"I'm from the United Republic of Nations, and Korra's from the Southern Water Tribe," the stranger said, to the confusion of the other Imperials. They had no idea what these two were talking about but then, they heard another bombshell. "Are you one of the people stranded there nineteen years ago with Darth Vader? Is he here?" That was completely surprising, as the majority of Imperials on Maridun had never even seen the Sith Lord but had all heard he was someone to be feared and obeyed. This stranger seemed almost hopeful at the prospect of meeting him.
"Lord Vader isn't here," Terrik responded after a moment, pausing as if to think of something. "But I was there with him. Who told you his name?"
"The people he helped, her parents, Tonraq and Senna, now please help us!" the strange man frantically said.
"They can come into the hospital," Terrik ordered. After a moment's hesitation, the guards complied, and the man carried the woman called Korra into the base. As they passed, the Imperials saw just how muscular the two were, especially the woman. They were definitely fighters, the Imperials thought, and they could use all the help possible, provided they knew how to use blasters. As the pair were guided by the stormtrooper, Terrik grabbed a doctor and told him that the unconscious woman was his top priority, at which point he and two medics ferried her into the hospital. Her companion was stopped from following by Terrik. "What is your name?" the stormtrooper asked.
"Mako," he said, clearly worried about the woman.
"Okay, Mako, there is going to be a lot of stuff in there that you won't understand," the stormtrooper commander said with surprising gentleness. "Just like I don't understand your...bending, as it's called, either. But it will help her. I have enough problems without you burning the house down." After Mako nodded and walked inside, Terrik looked over to Sunber and said it was time for him and Krennic to be briefed on the situation. As they walked into the officers' quarters, they saw Krennic awaiting them. He had a noticeable sweat on his brow, having spent much of the day repairing the cannons on the AT-AT. The director was flanked by his guardians, the Death Troopers. These mysterious members of military intelligence were tall, black armored, elite stormtroopers. Their voices were always scrambled by their helmets, so only their squadmates, and their charge thanks to his earpiece, could understand what they were saying.
"I told you to keep any intruder, Amanin or not, outside the base," the director said with a noticeable hint of anger. The Death Troopers were already holding their weapons in a ready position. "Why have you defied my orders?"
"It is impossible for them to be in league with the Amanin," Terrik replied calmly. "In fact, they come from an uncharted world that's yet to achieve even the most primitive of spaceflight."
"Then how did they get here?" demanded an incredulous Krennic.
"Presumably, the way Lord Vader and I came to their world," Terrik said. He then revealed how he gained his emancipation early. A Jedi-hunting mission, where he was just another stormtrooper guarding Darth Vader's shuttle, led to a strange portal that took them to an unknown world. A world where Force-Sensitives were extremely common, except they didn't use it the way the Jedi did. Instead, they 'bent' the elements of nature to their will. The people were divided between the different types of benders, though Mako's homeland of the United Republic had people of all nations.
"Lord Vader attempted to retrieve...our way home discreetly," Terrik continued, reluctant to reveal too much. Krennic understood that, if he was supposed to know, he would have been told by Terrik's superiors. "But a greedy prince decided to kill his father and blame our lord for it. This forced us to fight to retrieve our way home. On our journey, Lord Vader came across something he thought worth investigating. As I accompanied him as a lookout, he found the source: a Waterbender couple taken captive by bandits. He saved them, and their unborn daughter, who is now being looked over by Doctor Rylen."
"I didn't know Lord Vader was so compassionate," Krennic remarked.
"During our fight to make it home," Terrik continued. "I planted numerous explosives to provide a distraction for Lord Vader, and personally killed one of the more powerful Earthbenders in the city I was in, along with many of his allies. This is why I was emancipated so early." After a moment of silence, Sunber and Krennic began to process what Terrik had told them.
"I saw the Jedi on the battlefield many times, before they betrayed us," Krennic said. "They could prove useful, to us right now, and the Empire as a whole. Provided that they listen to real soldiers, unlike the Jedi." At that moment, Sunber felt rather uncomfortable, and it showed to his superior. "Speak your mind, Lieutenant," Krennic ordered.
"Well, sir, there are stories among the officers and enlisted," Sunber stated. "Of strange agents with spinning lightsabers. Of how, when they suspect someone of being Force-sensitive, that person disappears."
"The Inquisitors are subordinate to Lord Vader, and like him, are Force-sensitive, so it's really just recruitment, provided their hearts are aligned with the Empire," Krennic explained. "If the happy couple's parents are friends with him, I'm sure they have nothing to fear. Whatever the case, return to your duties, I will meet with them in the morning." As the two lieutenants walked out to continue their inspections, Sunber asked if Mako could actually burn the hospital down.
"Of course," Terrik replied. "He has gold eyes, black hair, and bits of red on his clothes. He's a Firebender."
"So, if coloration means anything, Korra is a Waterbender," Sunber concluded.
"Probably, given her parents, but she could be something...more," Terrik replied before the two separated on different patrols.
Mako waited anxiously outside the hospital room, spending the next hour waiting. As he sat, he saw many other people in the building. Some had bandages, while others had their arms in slings, and several were missing limbs. All of them looked utterly exhausted but several of them looked at Mako with resentment. He could hardly blame them. Korra, a complete stranger, had received priority over them, for no discernible reason, simply because one of the white-armored soldiers with frowning helmets demanded it. His thoughts were interrupted by the doctor walking out of the room.
"Mako, right?" he asked. Mako nodded and followed the doctor to the outside. "Has Korra been through anything stressful recently?"
"Her life has been nothing but stress in the time I've known her," Mako remarked, thinking of all their adventures together. "If by recent you mean three hours ago, a bunch of anarchists took some friends of ours hostage. They forced her to surrender so they could ritualistically murder her. But she escaped and beat them all up, except for the leader who did something I can't explain. Next thing we know, we're landing in a grassy field and walking towards you."
"Well, now is the time for her to do far less stressful things, especially given her condition," the doctor replied after a moment of silence upon hearing the insane story. At that moment, Mako realized that Korra was unaware of where he'd brought her, and she might panic upon waking up in an unfamiliar surrounding. Not wanting her to wake up, summon the Avatar State, and wreck the building they were in, he pushed past the doctor and into the room where she was laying on a standard bed. The doctor said he wasn't done but Mako cut him off.
"If she awakes and doesn't know I brought her here, everyone in this building is dead," Mako said. "Trust me, you don't want to be around her while she's panicking. Or angry."
"Geez, Mako, you don't have to scare them," said a groggy voice. Mako turned around to see Korra's eyes open and leaned over, kissing her on the forehead as tears flowed from his eyes.
"Miss Korra, I'm Doctor Rylen," the doctor said as Korra sat up. "I need to talk to you about your condition."
"What condition?" Mako asked, wondering if she was sick. Korra grasped his arm and asked him to wait outside. After a few minutes, the Korra walked out and the doctor led them to a private room, and then left them inside.
"What am I to you, Mako?" she asked.
"Korra, what's this about?" he replied confused.
"What am I to you?" she repeated more forcefully. "The Avatar? A partner in crimefighting? Your friend? Your lover? What am I?" After a moment, he spoke.
"I love you Korra, more than anything in the world," he admitted to her and himself. "I finally realized when you surrendered to Zaheer. You are the perfect woman: kind, strong, caring, and I love you for it. And I'm an idiot for not realizing it sooner." He then paused, thinking of their past breakup. "When you got angry at me after I told Raiko of your scheme to drag the Republic into the civil war, I told myself that you were being unreasonable. After a lifetime of uncertainty, I'd finally gotten a steady job with a boss that respected me, and you hadn't cared. I thought that you were just blowing off steam and you'd understand my side of things after you convinced the Fire Nation to help. When Asami started things up again, I didn't know what to do, I was just looking for some stability in my life as Varrick stirred up trouble."
"And now?" Korra asked.
"I was the selfish one," he replied as tears drifted from his eyes. "Your parents were in immediate danger, along with your entire country. And while we didn't know why, we knew Unalaq was torturing the spirits into going berserk. That was certainly more important than whether Raiko would try to make Lin fire me or not. Then, when you came back, you were so relieved to see me that I realized how much I meant to you, and exactly how much I'd hurt you. I love you Korra, and I always will." After a moment, tears came from Korra's eyes.
"When I remembered, I was hurt all over again," she said. "I was too saddened and angry to think straight, so I walked away from you. I tried to tell myself both of us could move on. But I couldn't. Whenever you were in danger, I was afraid of losing you. Right as Ryu arrived, I was about to tell you what I realized: I will always love you, and I can't live without you, either." At that moment, Mako's heart melted and he rushed over and kissed her, to which she tenderly reciprocated. "There is something else I was going to tell you, yesterday," she added. Taking his right hand, she placed it on her belly, which, he could tell, had developed into a soft curve. His eyes flashed open at the revelation.
"Our journey to the South Pole before Harmonic Convergence?" he asked, as that was the last time they were together. She nodded in confirmation. "I...get it, you didn't know what to do. And that's why you didn't help us hunt Aiwei. I take it your dad doesn't know, since he hasn't smashed an ice fist into my face."
"Just Katara, who I checked in with after handling Hundun, Asami, who I told while she was teaching me how to drive, and Kya, who I asked for an exam after the battle at Zaofu," she replied. "Also, we are having twins, according to Dr. Rylen."
"That's wonderful, Korra!" he said happily. "Shall we start considering names? Or should we think of them when we're heading home?"
"Right now, I'm tired," she replied as she yawned. "We can talk about it tomorrow." Seeing the simple mattress on the floor, the two of them curled up on it and quickly fell asleep.
Early the next morning, they awoke to see a what looked like a metallic art fixture: it was extremely tall, with long, thin legs, arms almost as long, and a skull-like head with two eye-like openings atop a swivel mount. Except for a white insignia on its shoulders the couple had briefly seen while walking into the base, it was colored almost completely black save for its exposed joints.
"So, you're awake," it said in a man's voice to the couple's surprise. "You need to follow me to the war council."
"Who-what are you?" Mako asked in bewilderment.
"I am KayBee-2016, a KX security droid built by Arakyd meant to serve as military police and supplemental security at facilities of the Galactic Empire," the construct said. "But since you clearly have no idea what I am talking about, you can think of me as your nanny." After a moment's hesitation, Korra and Mako followed the strange machine out of the hospital to another building, one with a map on a table. In front of them were the two officers Mako had seen last night, a collection of dark armored soldiers in similar armor to the white-armored ones standing in the back, and between them, a middle-aged man in a white uniform, complete with a white cape.
"Ah, our guests are here," the one with a cape said. "Hopefully, they will be help us escape our predicament."
Korra and Mako have finally committed to each other. Mako will never turn on Korra, and she will be more considerate of his perspective. I have been clear before: I regard Makorra as the OTP of the show, followed by Kainora and Baavira. This was always going to be endgame.
Most of the Imperials present are not stormtroopers but army troopers, like the ones Cassian Andor disguised himself as to steal their payroll on Aldhani. At this point, most of them think they are going to die. Terrik is named after the stormtrooper who yelled "Stop that ship, blast them!" His background is one a friend of mine suggested in regards to clones in the Empire. Palpatine didn't help the clones out of kindness but because it helps his own experiments for immortality. I created him to introduce the Imperials to Korra in a desperate situation, since otherwise, they would probably be hostile. She and Mako will teach them to appreciate the Force, in more ways than one.