Author's note: This is the rewrite of series 4 that I had been talking about. I had been intending to publish it all in one go, but then I thought I had lost the drafts because it kept crashing when I tried to open them. Now there's not long until I lose them to the time limit, so I'm publishing them now so I keep hold of them.

Kuvira

As she so often did, Kuvira sat and studied the map of the Earth Kingdom hung up on her wall as the train raced north.

Most of it was filled in by now; the area around Ba Sing Se had been the first, followed by the land up to the border with the United Republic. Zaofu and Omashu had submitted peacefully, and now all that was left were a few provinces in the south- the last stronghold of the pretender King.

Kuvira sighed. Dealing with warlords was one thing, but having to fight a succession war on top of that had not been easy.

If only that man had not been convinced that his blood gave him some right to power. This could have been over by now.

She was interrupted by a knock on the door, and with a wave of her hand it flew open to reveal Bolin, the Avatar's former companion.

"Hey, boss," he said. Formality had never been his strong suit, but Kuvira decided to let it go. What he lacked in formality, he more than made up for in loyalty after all.

"What can I do for you?" She replied.

"I was just wondering if I could have some time off once we arrive," Bolin told her, "only my brother is in the city, and my girlfriend- Opal, have you met her? You'd like her. You'd probably like Mako too, although he can be grum-"

"Yes, you may," Kuvira interrupted him.

"Yes!" Bolin fistpumped.

"Go on, enjoy it," Kuvira told him. "You've given me years of loyal service after all."

Bolin made to leave, but then turned back to her with a frown on his face.

"Oh yeah, Bataar wanted me to tell you that bandits have been spotted ahead."

Couldn't you have led with that? Kuvira thought irritably, but she did not say that.

"An ambush?" She said instead.

"Maybe," Bolin replied.

Kuvira took one last look at her map and then stood up, cracking her knuckles as she moved towards the door. "Excellent, I could do with the practice. Especially being away from the front."

"We won't be gone very long," Bolin pointed out.

"True, but I may as well since we're here. Besides, every bandit group destroyed is one less problem."

With that, Kuvira turned and left the room with Bolin trailing behind her. As she moved towards the front of the train, she was met by Baatar. Her fiancé looked very handsome in his uniform, she had to say, but she shook her head at the thought. She had bigger problems.

"Kuvira!" He ran towards her.

"I hear we have bandit problems," Kuvira told him. When he nodded, she set her jaw.

"Stop the train."

A small smile came over Bataar's face.

"With pleasure," he told her, moving over and hitting a button on the wall. As the train began to slow, Kuvira walked to the door and opened it, swinging out onto the side of the train and climbing up on to the roof.

As the train came to a stop and the noise died away, she tilted her head and listened. The sudden silence was disconcerting, but she could not hear anything except the birds- wait.

Kuvira whipped around and thrust her arms out. A band of metal detached itself from her wrist and flew towards a man who had appeared and was charging the train, wrapping itself around his ankles as he went down hard. His cry of pain was drowned out by a much larger cry, a battle cry, as his companions came out from cover and rushed the train.

Kuvira gave a small smile.

And then she got to work.

Her arms moved like a whirlwind, throwing out more metal projectiles towards her opponents. Kuvira didn't even stop to watch the metal hit its target before the next one was on its way. One bandit went down with a metal strip around her knees, while another had the metal clamp around his eyes; blinded, the man proceeded to run face first into a rock. His companions continued to throw themselves at her in the same old way, and Kuvira defeated them in the same old way.

There was a wet sound behind her, and she turned to see a great wave of lava rush up the opposite hillside; in the process routing another few bandits who decided that running towards lava might not be the greatest idea. Some metal bands soon prevented them from running away from it either, but soon enough it had cooled.

And then, as quickly as that, the fight was over. At her command, Kuvira's men jumped from the train and secured her new prisoners, dragging them in handcuffs to positions with their hands on the tracks.

Kuvira stepped in front of them.

"Believe me, I know what it's like to be desperate," she said. "To feel like you have no choice to break the law. But you do have a choice. Even now, I consolidate my power across the country and as I do I bring stability and peace back- and food, if it is necessary."

One of the men opened his mouth but never got the chance to speak before he was gagged with a high speed metal shard.

"Silence, Bandit! I hadn't finished! So I offer you a choice, anyway. Return to your homes, or a village under my control. Give up your lawless ways. You will be fed. Your families will be fed. I will chalk this... incident, up to simple desperation and will take no further action against you. We all can get on with our lives."

She gave it a moment for dramatic effect.

"Or there is the other option..."

Nobody spoke.

"I could leave you here when I tell my train to move off again. It would be so easy for such an oversight to occur, believe me. These machines can be so dangerous. The outcome for you will be the loss of both your hands. I, meanwhile, would have to fill out some paperwork. Choose wisely, my friends."

In the event, it was a very easy choice for the bandits, and Kuvira was glad for it; she hated the paperwork. Guards were left behind to escort the bandits to their new home, and the train moved off again. Kuvira sighed and returned to her office, and inspected the map again. Only a few provinces more, and her task would be over.

But what then?

She was interrupted by Bataar knocking on the door.

"Nice job out there," he told her. "I'm not surprised though."

Kuvira checked the door was shut, and then hugged him, bringing them nose to nose. "And why not?"

"I saw what you could do at Xaofu. I would not like to get on the wrong side of you."

"You could never get on the wrong side of me," Kuvira assured him.

"And I am very glad to hear it."

The two of them stayed there, in their comfortable embrace, for a few minutes before Bataar seemed to remember why he had come.

"There's been news from the coast."

Kuvira feigned a hurt expression. "And there I was thinking you'd just come for my company."

She saw Bataar smirk.

"Why do you think I delivered the message myself?"

Kuvira leaned into him again. "A fair point. What's this message then?"

"They say that Plan G is nearly complete."

"Excellent," she replied.

The two of them stood together for a few more minutes, gently swaying with the motion of the train as it raced north towards Republic City.