Korra and Mako listened to the briefing in the depths of the Mustafar fortress. They'd both been surprised that Mustafar was a world covered in lava and ash. When asked why he lived there, Darth Vader stated it was a good place for him to meditate on his power. Now, however, he'd planned a daring raid into the heart of Hutt Space. Part of their education on the galaxy was an explanation on the Hutts, the premier crime lords of the galaxy. Long ago, the Hutts were conquerors who enslaved many worlds. After a civil war destroyed their homeworld, they changed their outlook: instead of trying to conquer the galaxy, they would try to buy control of it through the shadows. The Hutts didn't care if the business they enriched themselves through was legal or not. But they were more than just crime lords. They were an independent nation comprised of hundreds of worlds their ancestors had conquered before the civil war, giving them far greater freedom than any other crime syndicate in history. That was in addition to the worlds they unofficially controlled, like Tatooine. Law under the Hutts was either a way to control their slaves, or simply a pragmatic tradition to be followed.
On top of that, since they survived the destruction of their homeworld, the Hutts had concluded their gods were dead and that they were now gods themselves. And within their space, they acted like it, with all the races and people living there being either their servants or their playthings. To help enforce their rule, they had hired thugs, raised droid armies, and brought the Siklaata Triad under their control. They were a trio of races, the Nikto, Klatoonians, and Vodrans, who'd been enslaved by treaty long ago to serve as soldiers of the Hutts. They were among the most vicious and dangerous of the Hutts' minions. Perhaps it was because they couldn't comprehend life free of the Hutts, or perhaps because whipping other slaves distracted them from their own plight. Regardless, no one had invaded Hutt Space for thousands of years, given how many losses would be sustained. But Darth Vader wasn't out to invade Hutt Space, he was here to hurt it from within.
"This is the planet Ylesia," Assistant Director Namada, his ISB liaison, explained in the briefing. "Outside of Kessel, it's one of the biggest spice mines in the galaxy, owned and run by the Besadi clan. They have an interesting way of controlling their slaves." She paused, showing a picture of what looked like a rhinoceros with a pair of thin arms sticking out of its chest. "This is a T'Landa Til, the main inhabitants of Ylesia and a distant cousin of the Hutt species. They are just as greedy as the Hutts, if still subservient. They are also extremely effective overseers."
"It doesn't look like they could hold whips very well," Mako noted.
"They have a different way of controlling their slaves," Namada explained. "Male T'Landa Til give out an interesting mating call that, for other species, stimulates the pleasure parts of the brain. It has a narcotic effect, so the workers in the spice mines are addicted to working there. In ages past, the T'Landa Til pretended to be priests who spread the gospel across the stars and lured people to Ylesia, including me, saying that working there was a holy rite. Thankfully, this scam was exposed and I was rescued shortly before the clone wars, by the last good Jedi," Namada tilted her head slightly toward Vader, "who didn't care about accommodating the Hutts like the spineless senate did. So now they get slaves the old-fashioned way. We have three objectives on this mission: the first is to rescue what captives have been here for less than a year. Second, to destroy the mines permanently. And third, and the most important, hide the Empire's involvement."
"Got it, how do we do so?" Korra asked. "And why only the ones who've been there for less than a year."
"We're only taking the ones who've been here for less than a year because any longer and the slaves are hopelessly dependent on the 'exultation' the mating call, dubbed Exultation," Namada explained. "I saw them fight back against the people that came to rescue us. Of course, most of them were dying from exhaustion and starvation, anyway, so there might not be much to save, regardless."
"How will we know which are new arrivals, then?" asked Mako, rather disturbed by the story. "And how do we guard against exultation? And even if Director Namada has been here before, how do we have so much current information?"
"Most of the team will put on earpieces that will filter it out," Vader stated. "But as masters of the Force, you can resist without it. As for the new arrivals, they will be the most guarded, as they've yet to succumb to exultation fully. As for how we know so much now, we have an infiltrator, renegade archeologist and smuggler, Dr. Chelli Lona Aphra, stopping by on the planet to pick up some spice. But there is something even more important we must achieve: to stop the Hutts from rebuilding the operation, as well as to stop any embarrassment to the Empire, we cannot simply destroy the mines, like when Namada was rescued. We must destroy the planet." That was genuinely shocking to Korra and Mako. They were going to destroy Ylesia itself?
"Isn't destroying the planet a bit...much?" asked Korra.
"Apart from the slaves, there are three types of people on Ylesia," Namada explained. "The T'Landa Til overseers, accompanied by the next generation to learn how to control the slaves here and on the other worlds they live on. A few Hutts who nominally rule the planet from their palace. And the various thugs who guard the ships off world and the newly arrived slaves. In short, the galaxy can do without them."
"Still, how do we destroy a whole planet?" Mako asked.
"A single star destroyer has the firepower to eliminate much of a world's surface in only a day, provided its unshielded," Director Krennic explained. He'd be joining the Avatar and her boyfriend, along with many more of their students. "We are working on a way to quickly overcome such shields but that is neither here nor there. Instead, you shall be going to each of the mines and planting one of these," he showed a large bomb on a hologram, "at the bottom. They are rigged to go off simultaneously, and they are extremely powerful. It will overstress the planet's core, setting all of Ylesia's three continents aflame, with the various islands between them collapsing into the sea or being obliterated by tidal waves. Then, the core will shatter, as will the rest of the planet."
"How many will die?" asked Korra, still rather uncomfortable with the plan.
"We will be rescuing somewhere in the realm of five hundred thousand slaves," Vader replied. "There are about two million slaves too addicted to be saved. And one million of their masters and guards. If you have any qualms about this mission, now is the time to state them." After a moment, Korra and Mako spoke up.
"You said that being Executor meant having to do hard things, even cruel things," Korra stated. "It took me a while to realize it but so is being the Avatar."
"I agree, if we are to save these people, killing all their masters will be necessary," Mako replied.
"Good," Vader stated, before continuing the briefing. "There is one giant mine per continent, and only three smaller mines on the various islands. There will be six teams to liberate the slaves, which will plant the bombs as well. Mako will go to Mine One, you will go to Mine Three, which also has the main spaceport you must destroy to prevent escape. Krennic will head for Mine Two, because he's determined to showcase his Firebending on the battlefield. As that is where the main communications with the wider galaxy is, Koko Partagaz and Jonah Martin will be accompanying him to handle it. Colonel Veers will be handling the fourth mine alongside Wren and Kallus. The fifth mine will be handled by the five-man stormtrooper squad you've each given an element, save their pilot."
"What about the sixth?" Mako asked.
"I will be handling that, alongside Oniye," General Appo said standing next to Namada, holding his wife's hand. "Vader's Fist can use some practice. It has the personal home of Teroenza and the other rulers, as well."
"I'm going down there to give him a personal message," Namada said. "I want him to know just how far I've come before he dies along with all he ever worked for."
"What about you, Lord Vader?" Korra asked.
"I will remain above in the super freighter I have acquired for this mission," Vader explained. "Captain Corsin will be handling the ship and the accommodations we are preparing for the people we're rescuing. If there are any problems down below, I will act as your backup."
As their commandeered freighter headed for Ylesia, Mako and Korra started learning more of telepathy from Vader. It was the only way for them to resist Exultation without technological assistance.
"Can we talk to our friends or my parents on Elementia with it?" Korra asked.
"Perhaps you can sense them from far away," Vader answered. "To communicate with them over such a great distance, however, is impossible for all but the greatest of telepaths. Still, I'm sure you could at least sense them." At that, Mako and Korra meditated for some time. Korra could feel her parents, who were sad but resolute. She could feel Tenzin and his family, who missed her as well while possessing similar determination. Mako, however, exclaimed his brother's name before his eyes shot open in alarm.
"Bolin's in trouble," he said. "But, somehow, it doesn't feel like he's at home but out here." At that remark, Vader walked out of the room and told them to continue meditation. A couple minutes later, he returned.
"I just spoke with the scout ship that's believed to have found your homeworld," Vader stated. "A Hutt ship briefly stopped on the planet." That news shocked them upon hearing it.
"Where's the ship now?" Mako asked with noticeable urgency.
"The scout is now shadowing the Hutt vessel, on my orders," Vader said. "Corsin is now adjusting our course for interception." As they waited in the comm room, they heard that the Hutt vessel had stopped.
"Aruk's vessel has just stopped," the scout reported.
"How do you know it belongs to Aruk?" Korra asked.
"It has the Besadi insignia, personalized for the leader," the scout reported. "Wait, that's strange."
"What?" Mako asked.
"They appear to have spaced two people from different airlocks," the scout answered. "They're in space suits but now the ship is leaving. What are your orders, my lord?"
"Follow that ship," Vader commanded. "We will retrieve who's been ejected." After their freighter came to a stop at the designated coordinates, Vader went to an airlock to telekinetically pull the two people in space suits onto the ship. As the airlock stabilized after they were pulled in, Mako and Korra looked inside, and saw that it was Bolin and Opal.
"Hey bro," Mako said to his brother with a smile. Bolin burst into tears and ran forward, hugging his brother and Korra, saying how happy he was to see them. Opal also smiled at the sight of the Avatar and her boyfriend.
"It's good to see you, Bolin," Korra said with a smile. "You too, Opal. So, I'm sure you have plenty of questions."
"Not as many as you'd think," Opal replied, looking over to the Sith Lord who'd strode back toward the bridge. At that, Bolin spoke up.
"After he tossed you into the portal, Zaheer ranted about how Unalaq was his pal, how they dragged the Obsidian Knight to the world, and how he had a second crystal that could make a portal," the Earthbender explained. "I...kind of lost my mind there, and refused to give him the last laugh. So, I blurted out the story your mom told us to him. In front of Tenzin, Jinora, Lin, Kai, Opal, Asami, and Kuvira. Things got a bit tense between Tenzin and your dad after that, which meant Kya, Bumi, Ikki, Meelo, Pema, Baatar Jr, and Suyin found out too. On the plus side, we've all been very good at keeping the secret, even Ikki and Meelo."
"Well, that changes how I'm going to break the news to them," Korra said, before her face shifted. "How is everyone? And how did you wind up in space?"
"Tenzin and the Airbenders are going on humanitarian missions around the world, in some new suits Asami made for them," Bolin said, gesturing to Opal's red suit. "I heard they tried to do a spirit connection to talk to you, but it went wrong and now Jinora and Kai are afraid to try again. Your mom and dad miss you but they believe in you and how you can come home. As for me, well, Kuvira and Baatar started up an army to put the Earth Kingdom back together, and I joined it along with Varrick. Zhu Li stuck around but she got tired of being unappreciated, so she went back to the south a few days ago."
"The thing is, Kuvira and Baatar didn't ask for our parents' approval when they started their quest," Opal added. "Mom didn't think anyone except you could do so, and both sides lost their tempers. Yesterday, I went to their camp to, if not dissuade them from it, try to get them to at least listen to Mom. Then we were abducted by aliens, who decided to toss me out the airlock with less air than Bolin. If he hadn't shared his oxygen, and you have been in the area, we'd be dead."
"You should thank Lord Vader, for that," Mako said. "He's been teaching us new types of bending, or, as he calls it, ways to use the Force. In addition, one of the scout ships the Empire-" "Empire?" a nervous Bolin asked.
"That's what his government is called, the Galactic Empire," Mako stated.
"I'd think that Empire sounds a bit aggressive to name yourself but okay," Bolin said. "Please continue."
"One of the ships the Empire sent to try to find our world saw the ship that took you," Mako continued. "We've been helping the Empire like they helped us, and Lord Vader has us on a special mission. Into the area the ship that took you is going."
"Wonderful," Opal said. "They have Kuvira, Baatar, Varrick, and many others as captives. We need to rescue them." After joining Korra and Mako in the ready room, they were informed exactly who the Hutts were, and what the mission they were on was.
"So, we'll have to rescue them before the rhino people brainwash them, right?" asked Bolin.
"No," intruded Vader. "They are not being taken to Ylesia. They are being taken to Kor Besadi, the clan's stronghold and ancestral estate."
"Alright, we'll stop there after Ylesia," Bolin stated.
"No, once Ylesia is destroyed, an alarm will go off across Hutt Space, and we will have a limited window to escape," Korra explained. "We'd have to rescue them at the same time but we don't have the means to do so."
"Korra, these are your friends, and my family," Opal said. "We can't just-""I will do it," Vader interrupted. "Opal and Bolin will join me and the stormtroopers I will be taking along. I will ensure there are no witnesses while they go down to the planet to rescue your friends."
"Thank you, Master," Korra said.
After Bolin, Opal, and the Twi'lek pilot (Korra heard her name was Hera) accompanied Vader aboard the scout ship, a modified Gozanti class armed freighter, Korra and Mako assembled their subordinates. Both of them had been promoted to colonel and would be in command. They looked over the transport pilots who'd be ferrying the liberated slaves back to the super freighter, and all was well. Then, they looked over the extraction teams. Each would have the best benders in their field, accompanied by a squad from Vader's Fist, the top stormtrooper legion in the galaxy.
On Mako's team was Ezra Bridger, an Earthbender. Flying his extraction ship would be Lieutenant Kanan Jarrus, a cargo pilot just like his girlfriend, Ensign Hera Komad. He'd become something of a fatherly presence in the life of Ezra and his crush, Sabine Wren. Captain Turr Phennir would be flying Korra's extraction shuttle, which would have a normal complement of stormtroopers as opposed to any benders. The next team would be led by Firebender Director Krennic and be accompanied by his Death Trooper squad, alongside Waterbender Koko Partagaz and Firebender Jonah Martin.
The fourth team would be led by Earthbender Colonel Max Veers and Airbender ISB Agent Alexander Kallus, accompanied by the Firebender Sabine Wren. The fifth target would be assaulted by the 'Elemental Hand' as the five-man stormtrooper team called themselves. Their leader, Sergeant LaRone, was an Earthbender, Private Marcross was a Waterbender, Private Brightwater was a Airbender, Corporal Grave was a Firebender, and Corporal Quiller was the pilot of their modified Suwantek-class TL-1800, the Elemental Fist. They had done well in combined-bending exercises, so Korra ordered they be sent to handle things on their own.
The sixth and final team would be led by General Appo and his wife, Deputy Director Namada. In addition to being a test for their Waterbender son, Rene, it was also vengeance for his mother on the people who once enslaved her. After the teams accomplished their assignments, large transports would land to deposit the explosives and extract the slaves who could still be saved.
As they reached the system, Veers's team went first. Sabine jumped out of the transport first, the Mandalorian in her armor painted black and red falling toward the main barracks of the guards. She'd have preferred a jetpack but her Firebending allowed her to guide herself down gently. As she landed on the roof, she gunned down the guards with her twin WESTAR pistols, and then tossed a shaped charge down the barracks chimney. She jumped off the roof as it detonated and kicked a fireblast into a Gamorrean below her, knocking him down.
"I've handled the barracks," she said into her comlink. Nearby, Colonel Veers landed inside an Earthbent shield around himself, rocking the surface and sending everyone around him flying. Agent Kallus Airbent himself up from the ground before landing and rapidly shot the thugs with his blaster. That is when the security leader, a Lasat, fired upon him, forcing him to evade.
"Leave him, he's mine!" the ISB agent yelled. Charging forward, he knocked the mercenary off his feet with an Airbent blast. Grabbing the Bo-Rifle knocked out of the Lasat's hands, he extended it into the staff configuration. "Remember me from Onderon?" he asked before stabbing the Lasat in the chest with the electrified end of it. After the Lasat's screams ended with his life, Kallus saw several Gamorreans charging his way with their axes. Swinging his staff their way, he sent the porcine beings flying with his Airbending, at which Sabine shot them with her blasters in midair. Seeing the cage where the new arrivals would be, the three charged forward, hoping the other teams were doing as well.
Mako saw that Ezra was having a bit of trouble landing, so he jetted over to the younger Earthbender and grabbed hold of him. Using his Firebending, he was able to land them both safely. Ezra quickly Earthbent a wall in front of them while Mako unslung his sniper rife. Quickly and efficiently, he started shooting one thug after the next. Seeing a skiff loaded with reinforcements, he cast a bolt of lightning, blowing the vehicle apart. Ezra encased himself in rock and blasted across the battlefield, knocking one adversary down after the next and shooting several with his pistol. For a moment, it felt to Mako like he was back in the probending arena with Bolin. Hopefully, now that they'd found their way home, the Fire Ferrets would be able to return as well. As they made their way to the holding area for the newer slaves, they came across a T'Landa Til leading a group of older slaves. Upon their master's command, the broken-down and starved charged at Mako and Ezra.
Mako killed the T'Landa Til with a precise blaster shot as Ezra handled the rest of the broken slaves but one got close enough to tackle Mako. He had a look of pure anger in his eyes as he tried to swing his pickaxe down on the Firebender but he was shot in the side by Ezra. Helping his superior up, Ezra's eyes went wide in shock as he looked at the dead man he'd just shot.
"Dad?" he asked.
As Director Krennic landed outside the communications tower, he thought of how, if not for Tarkin's meddling, the Death Star would have been finished by now and this mission unnecessary. Still, it was gratifying to put his Firebending to the test. Seeing a dozen Gamorreans, he hit many of them with his fire blasts while his Death Troopers focused on the ranged fighters. Jonah and Koko both raced to the tower with their bending. Smashing the door down with Jonah's Firebending, Koko Waterbent a razor-sharp ice disc and tossed it at the technicians within, cutting them apart. As Jonah hit the remaining personnel within with his Firebending, his girlfriend found a terminal and sliced into it, ensuring that the wider Hutt Space wouldn't learn of this incursion. After she was finished, he kissed her passionately, the first time he had kissed her instead of her kissing him.
Sergeant Daric LaRone was the first of the five-man squad nicknamed the 'Elemental Hand' to jump out of their ship, the Elemental Fist. LaRone landed with the help of a Jetpack before smashing into the ground with his Earthbending, sending a dozen Klatooinian henchmen flying. Karla Brightwater was the next out, the Scout Trooper using her Airbending to boost her speeder bike over a convoy of speeder trucks to drop grenades on them, killing the thugs within. As she returned to ground level, Brightwater opened fire with her bike-mounted blaster cannon, hitting many swoop bikes before knocking two more over with an Airbending blast.
Meanwhile, Sasha Marcross, in her Shoretrooper armor, Waterbent a slide down to the ground, firing on her targets as she descended. Waterbending an ice shield around herself, the blaster shots fired at her failed to slow Marcross down. Grave slowed his descent to the ground with his own Firebending, and then started picking off his targets with his sniper rifle upon landing. Joak Quiller, their pilot, began strafing targets on the ground and shot down a small freighter a group of thugs had attempted to launch for air support.
Korra expertly landed close to her own target, and her eyes glowed with the Avatar state as she obliterated the enemies before her. Holding one lightsaber in each hand, she reflected numerous blaster shots back at their senders, killing them. Charging into the holding area for new slaves, she saw a T'Landa Til and slid under him, slicing his head off as she blasted herself upward with Airbending.
"Great work, Avatar!" a voice yelled from within the crowd. It came from a young woman in a white shirt with black pants. "I've been waiting for pickup ever since the Hutts decided to withhold payment. Your arrival is a real boon to these guys. I'm Dr. Aphra by the way." Korra looked over, and saw a large number of people, many of whom were wearing Earth Kingdom colors, and at the forefront was a bespectacled young woman that Korra had met before.
"Thank you for coming here, Avatar Korra," said Zhu Li Moon. Korra was then tackled out of the way of a blaster shot by Aphra, who was hit instead. Korra Waterbent a spike and impaled the Nikto shooter with it. As Zhu Li rushed forward to help the archeologist, Korra bent water to her and began healing Aphra's wound.
"You're here?" Korra asked.
"I finally had enough of Varrick's unappreciation, so I decided to go home," Zhu Li said. "Then I'm abducted by aliens, along with a bunch of nonbender refugees. We'd been here for a couple weeks when she got thrown in. She told us about how you joined her boss, Darth Vader or something, to help the galaxy."
"And you believed her?" Korra asked.
"Not at first," one of the other captives said. "We thought she was trying to save herself but she knew a lot of stuff about you, and your boyfriend. Glad to see that it's true."
After destroying the various ways to signal or travel off of Ylesia, the remaining thugs and Hutts either hid deep in the jungle, or barricaded themselves inside the mines along with the slaves to broken to ever be freed. As the liberated captives at the various sites piled onto the transports, Krennic looked at the detonator. Appo and Namada had returned with their son, as Teroenza hadn't been on the planet, only his wife and children, who they settled for killing instead. Thankfully, Teroenza's family was as cruel as him, so Korra and Mako had no problem with it.
"Take a good look, my friends," Krennic said to everyone on the freighter that would lead them away. "You are the last who will ever see Ylesia." After a few moments, he pressed the button on his detonator. Great flashes of red and orange erupted across the planet, with debris being tossed into the atmosphere and even low orbit. This was a sight he would see again when the Death Star was completed. As the flames spread, a gargantuan eruption from the center of the world shattered half the planet, with the second half quickly breaking apart as well.
Korra saw most of the crew and soldiers cheer, alongside the liberated slaves. It was the final end of the Ylesian spice mines and releasing the remaining slaves from their torment. Ezra, however, was crying at what he'd been forced to do to his father, and now was being comforted by Sabine and Kanan, who had become a fatherly presence for both of them.
"Is Varrick alright?" asked Zhu Li, intruding on Korra's thoughts. She said she was sick of Varrick's attitude but as soon as she learned that he'd been abducted to a different destination, Zhu Li had almost panicked. Korra could tell that the secretary, whose glasses had been severely cracked during her imprisonment, cared for her boss more than she wanted to admit.
"Lord Vader himself is going with Bolin and Opal to rescue them, they will be fine," Korra assured her. "Kuvira can keep him alive until then. At this point, they should be on their way to the rendezvous." She also decided that now was the time to reveal the truth and had the various slaves taken from Elementia assemble in one room. "It has been too long since Mako or I have seen our own people. It is refreshing to see you all. While we made our way in this new galaxy, we had only one friend that my parents told me I could trust."
"Wait, Chief Tonraq knows about aliens?" asked one of the men in Water Tribe clothes. He was part of Varrick's company, like Zhu Li.
"No, this man came to our world long ago by accident, and was framed for a terrible crime," Mako explained. "Still, the man named Darth Vader chose to save Tonraq and his wife from certain death before going on to find his way home."
"But while none of you know his name, you all know his moniker," Korra said. She then activated a holoprojector, revealing her benefactor. Everyone, even the normally stoic Zhu Li, gasped in shock. "The Obsidian Knight."
I incorporated several things about Hutt Space from the EU, here, like Ylesia and the role of the T'Landa Til. So, Dr. Aphra has joined the crew, and is now an Airbender. Bolin is so overjoyed to have his brother and best friend back, that he doesn't care about how scary the Empire is. I hope you all enjoyed the display of the Imperial Bender Corps, as it will come to be known.
Ezra's dad being here, Senator Trayviss has been selling several of the dissidents he's been tricking to the Hutts, as opposed to handing them off to the ISB. Ezra won't learn this for a while but at this point, the undercover Kanan and Hera are making inroads into recruiting him and Sabine. They haven't had the opportunity to approach Korra and Mako but they will try with the other benders, now.
I knew that Waterbenders would be Shoretroopers, Earthbenders and Firebenders would either be standard Stormtroopers or Jumptroopers, and Scout Troopers would be Airbenders.
Next chapter, Kuvira and Baatar face the deadly games of Aruk the Hutt. And Bolin and Opal get to speak with the Dark Lord before they rescue their friends.