Responses to Reviews:

RonaldM40196867: Sky-bison are useful and cute. It's probably them.

TORONTOSUN: Thanks!

Zigzagdoublezee: I'm sure they have to be pretty capable of moving quickly when they want to.

Sharpe: Are they reinforcements though? The United Republic never sent any envoys north and so we don't know whose side these new ships are on, at least for the moment...

As Always, Please Review!

Bolin

The lava bender pushed his disk of spinning magma through the armour that protected the last of the Colossus' turrets, and then dived clear as a blast of water rushed in through the gap to render it useless. The muffled sounds of shouting and spluttering came from inside, and then a relative silence.

Bolin and Korra stood over the breach and listened for a moment, but both knew that they didn't have long. The Avatar turned to him.

"Go and help the others," she said.

"What about you?" Bolin asked.

Korra merely pointed up, and Bolin followed her gaze to the top of the superstructure; to the bridge, where Kuvira was probably waiting for her.

He sighed.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"I have to do this," Korra told him. "Besides, It's not like these spirit lasers can stop me any more, is it?"

"Alright," Bolin nodded after a moment. "Good luck!"

"Hopefully I don't need it!" Korra replied. "I'm the Avatar. She needs good luck."

Bolin gave her a hug, and then turned to go.

"Bolin?"

He turned back.

"Look after them, you know what they're like."

He smiled.

"I'll try!"

And then Korra was running away, towards the bow of the ship and her confrontation with the Great Uniter. Bolin watched her go for a moment and then turned back to where a hatchway led below decks. He concentrated, and pulled the magma back through the breach in the turret, solidifying it, and turning it back into the boulder it had been before. Then he positioned it over the hatchway and brought it down with considerable force.

The rock slammed downwards, smashing through the hatch and plunging down. Fortunately, nobody had been on the ladder beneath it and so it impacted harmlessly on the deck below. Bolin followed it down and began to run down a corridor.

Nobody seemed to challenge him as he made his way down, bringing the boulder with him; the few people he did see were haring around in a blind panic, and most people were at their action stations rather than in corridors. He looked around for a sign that would take him to the engine rooms, but saw none.

He groaned.

"Mako?" He called, more in hope than expectation. "Princess?"

There was no response. He could see nobody else in the corridor with him, but there was a flash of movement in one of the doors up ahead.

"Hello?" Bolin called. He carefully advanced towards it. With a motion of his hand the boulder wrenched itself free and began rolling slowly down the corridor behind him. Eventually, he reached the door, pausing to step out of the way before pushing it open.

There was a yell and a man came charging out of the doorway, holding some kind of weapon over his head as he brought it down where Bolin would have been if he had just opened the door the usual way.

Instead, the broom, for that is what it was, jabbed at thin air, and the man only had a moment to look confused before Bolin punched him. He fell to the ground, clutching his nose. That was when Bolin recognised him.

"Baatar?"

The engineer scowled at him through his hands.

"Traitor," he spat.

"No, I'm Bolin," Bolin told him facetiously. "I can't believe you've forgotten my name so soon!"

"I know... who you are," Baatar managed. "And I know what you did. You betrayed Kuvira. You betrayed us."

"She lied to me," Bolin told him. "She attacked the Beifongs and told me they had been held hostage by terrorists. My girlfriend is a Beifong- You're a Beifong! Was I supposed to do nothing? Why were you OK with it?"

The engineer leaned against the wall of the corridor and groaned.

"Do you think so little of me that you think I would have been alright with it if I knew?" He said. "Of course I know they're my family. I was furious when I found out! I confronted her. But she told me what she told you. And..."

He trailed off.

"And?" Bolin prompted.

"And she had mum," Baatar finished. "Mum confirmed her version of events. What was I supposed to do then but believe her? What did she do to her?"

Bolin put a hand on the man's shoulder as he weighed up what to tell her. Finally, he decided he had no choice.

"Mind control," he said. "She does it to political prisoners."

Baatar now looked very guilty.

"I guessed," he confessed. "I thought it would be something like that. But why would she do it?"

"I don't know," Bolin replied gloomily. "Power? To make sure you wouldn't cause a fuss? To stop you from leaving her?"

Baatar didn't say anything for a while. Finally, he spoke.

"It didn't work then," he said. "We had an argument. Just before you came."

Bolin seized his opportunity. "Then help me!" He said. "You know what she is. Help us stop her! Put this right!"

But his inspirational speech fell on deaf ears. Baatar didn't even look up at him.

He leaned his head back up against the wall.

"I don't know what to think," Baatar almost whispered. "I know she's going too far, I know that now. I think I might have gone too far as well. But..."

He fished around for words, looking pained.

"After everything she's done to me, I shouldn't love her any more," he said. "But it's scary... I think I do. What can I do?"

Bolin looked down at the man and suddenly registered how tired he looked. A great sense of pity washed over him. Baatar loved the wrong person, and he loved her too deeply to just snap out of it. If Kuvira had worried about driving him away, she would need to do a lot more to make it happen. He realised that there was little he could do to help him, but considering what was about to happen if their boarding party succeeded he should probably warn him.

"Baatar," he knelt down next to the man urgently. "You need to get off the ship now."

"Do I?" Baatar looked up at him. "What for?"

"... reasons," Bolin told him evasively. "Good reasons. Just make sure you're out of here in the next... I don't know, five minutes or so?"

Then he stood up and walked away, hoping that the lovesick fool behind him would pay attention to his warning and be long gone before his affections quite literally blew up in his face.

There was nothing to be done for him now though. He had a ship to help destroy.