As Lin led her mother into the hospital room, being brought up to speed on what had happened, Korra and Mako activated a holoprojector. It displayed an image of Cad Bane, frightening the various Airbenders who'd just encountered him and narrowly survived. On the left was a summary of his career, written in the Elemental alphabet, which Bumi immediately focused on. It painted the Duros bounty hunter as a ruthless, casually sadistic man who loved nothing except thrills and money.
"There is nothing here on why he's an Airbender!" a frantic Bumi said.
"I've never met Bane, and bending the elements is unknown outside our planet," Korra answered. "I don't know how he could have gained the power." She then looked to Tenzin and his children. "Bane was disguised as Otaku, right?" After her question was confirmed, Korra asked when they thought the new Airbender had been murdered and replaced, so she would have a better idea of when Bane started learning his power. After a moment of thinking, Ikki remembered something.
"It was almost seven months after you and Mako vanished," the hyperactive Airbender said. "Jinora got in trouble trying to connect with your spirit, and Kai went in after her despite barely knowing how to do so. Otaku reacted as if he never expected Kai to endanger himself for her."
"Okay, so that means Bane has at least a year's worth of Airbender training," Mako concluded. He then picked up a datapad and turned to Bumi. "Can you describe the alien thugs that were in league with Bane?" As Mako heard the description, he realized that several were just red and green Nikto, alongside Klatooinians, a few Gammoreans, and a Rodian.
"I'm afraid that those types of nonhumans are rather common in the wider galaxy, especially as criminals," Mako said.
"What about that tracking device those white-armored guys put on it?" a frantic Bumi asked.
"The ship is still in hyperspace," a new voice explained, walking into the room. It was Director Namada, who was looking at her own datapad. "The signal will resume as soon as they return to realspace. In addition, we know the general direction they are heading." While most of the people present were baffled by the terminology Namada had used, Bumi thought that he'd met Namada before, or at least heard her voice. After a moment, his eyes shot open in recognition, as he heard her voice shortly after Vader killed his father, but he said nothing, remembering the Galactic Empire was needed to get his children back.
"Korra, I know I haven't been as active in recent crises as I should have been," Katara said to her old apprentice. "But after you and so many others almost died because of Zaheer's ultimatum, I can't sit on the sidelines any longer. I will accompany you and Bumi into space to get my grandchildren back." As his mother said that, however, Tenzin noticed Korra looked a little hesitant, while Namada seemed rather displeased.
"It looks like you don't like that idea, Korra," the Airbending master noted.
"I haven't even begun to explain how space travel works, and the dangers of it," the Avatar began, looking rather nervous.
"We'll follow your lead!" affirmed Bumi, standing up as he fastened his Airbending suit. "I get that this is uncharted territory for us. You are our world's only expert on it."
"It's not only that," Mako stated. "It's how, throughout our adventures, whenever Korra or I say something is up or has to be done, we are almost always met with the same response: we're told we are mistaken, don't know anything, or to be quiet while the grownups are talking. In short, we are ignored because we are 'too young' and disaster strikes." Tenzin and Lin were about speak up, but then they remembered several instances of that very thing happening: Korra insisting Hiroshi was an Equalist, and Mako suspecting the Southern Water Tribe fraternity bombing was the act of Varrick, not the Northern Water Tribals, for instance. Normally, Lin and Tenzin would have noted how they were often too eager to listen but, in this situation, they really were the best experts.
"I wouldn't doubt you on a field you know far more about than I, especially with Iroh and Mizuki at stake," Bumi frantically insisted.
"Many people have outright refused to listen to me in other dangerous situations," Korra stated, glaring at Lin and Tenzin. "Also, let me make something clear: during spaceflight, you must do everything you are told EXACTLY the way you are told, as fast as possible. Otherwise, it is entirely possible you will die or the whole ship will be destroyed along with everyone onboard. It doesn't matter how strange it sounds or if the order comes from Mako, Aphra, a regular crewman, Stormtrooper, or Darth Vader himself."
"Okay, you made your point, no need to be overdramatic," Kya said, before Izumi noticed how Korra referred to her husband as opposed to herself.
"It sounds like you don't want to come, yourself," the Fire Lord noted.
"I do want to go out and rescue Iroh and his sister personally," Korra said, looking at Izumi. "Just as I'm sure you want to go out and rescue your children personally. And that Tenzin wants to rescue his niece and nephew. Will the two of you be coming?" After a moment, the others realized what Korra was saying.
"Izumi has the Fire Nation to lead!" Bumi exclaimed. "Tenzin needs to focus on the Air Nomad restoration while serving in the URN council!"
"And as Avatar, I have an entire planet to look after," Korra stated. "One that has just now been exposed to the wider galaxy and all that comes with that exposure."
"The world got along fine without you for a year, it can get along without you for a litt-"Toph was cut off when Korra froze the elder Earthbender's mouth shut.
"I keep hearing about how the Avatar's time is done, how no one needs me, and how I should just give up," Korra stated. "I proved everyone who claimed it wrong. And someone has to make sure the fools and reactionaries don't pick a fight with the Empire." She then defrosted the ice around Toph's mouth. Toph looked to Korra with hostility, which the Avatar was indifferent to, while everyone else looked with concern and surprise. "Whenever the Avatar is absent, bad things happen," Korra declared.
"I know as much about the wider galaxy as Korra, so I'll be leading the mission," Mako said. "Is anyone here ready to follow my orders on this mission?" Lin wanted to come but she understood she had to get back to Republic City as soon as possible. Zuko turned to his daughter, and promised he would bring her children back. As Bumi, Katara, and Zuko joined, Toph stepped forward before stopping herself.
"I never had to go anywhere shoes were a necessity," Toph said. "And if I can't see outside a zeppelin in the air, I can't see outside a spaceship in the void." Korra was impressed that the proud old Earthbender would admit she'd be utterly useless in this situation. "I would be truly blind in this situation," Toph admitted. "I think I'll be more help here, with Lin and Su." Katara agreed, at which point Kya stepped forward.
"We will be the bane of this Bane's existence," she proclaimed. As the Bumi, Katara, Kya, and Zuko said goodbye to their family, Izumi hugged her husband. Bumi promised to get their children back along with everyone else. As Zuko hugged his daughter, Namada had an idea and left the room.
"It is me, My Lord," she informed her master through her comlink. "I have an idea I think you will like."
Mizuki and her brother Iroh were chained in electrified cages as were all the Airbenders, White Lotus members, and Fire Nationals who'd been abducted by the blue-skinned alien and his minions. Most of the cages had five people but some larger had around a dozen. The Princess and her older brother were the only people on the whole ship who had any idea of what had happened, and for much of the journey, Iroh had been unconscious with Mizuki trying to wake him. The other captives were scared out of their minds, having fled the volcanic eruption to a safe haven or living at said haven. Then, out of nowhere, a collection of strange looking beings with bizarre weapons had attacked, some disguised as humans, and taken them onto a strange vessel. They'd traveled for hours, until they felt the craft land, and were dragged out.
When they emerged, the situation got even stranger. They appeared to be inside some sort of underground building, but they felt strangely lighter, as if they had all lost a massive amount of weight. When they were taken to a hanger, Iroh had seen out a window, perceiving a rocky land covered with gray dust. It was very bright, indicating the sun was shining, but he could also see the sky in the distance, pitch black with stars visible. One of the red-skinned, horned goons spoke to the blue-skinned, red-eyed leader.
"Good that the T'Surr have gotten here, on time," the blue-skinned man stated. At that moment, one of the Airbenders had a revelation.
"Spirits, these people are aliens and they've taken us to another planet!" he yelled. He Airbent a gust of wind at a green-skinned one with bug-like eyes, dual antenna on his head, and suckers at the tip of his fingers, blowing the alien backward before the leader pressed a button, and electricity shocked through the whole cage, forcing the occupants to the floor.
"I was wondering when you would see the obvious," the longcoat-wearing man stated. He then dragged the hapless Airbender out and sent him flying with his own Airbending blast into a doorway. He shut the door on their side before pressing a button, opening the outer door and sucking the man within backward. The captive ran back and made several Airbending moves, but nothing happened, and his eyes began turning red. "There's no air to bend in a vacuum, much less breathe," the blue being stated in his scratchy voice, before turning to the other captives. "So, there are many people who fear benders out in the galaxy. There is an entrepreneur on T'Surr who has decided to open an arena where people can test themselves against your kind. And he hired me to retrieve specimens. Ahh, here he is now."
After the red eyed murderer had been paid by his client, the various cages were loaded onto a new ship, belonging to the race called the T'Surr. As they were taken into the new ship, Mizuki got a good look at the new alien race. The T'Surr were downright massive, each at least 6'4, and extremely muscular. They had blue skin, four red eyes from left to right, a strange bony brow sculpted backward, huge three-fingered hands, and a pair of tiny crab-like arms. One of them pinched the ears of a captive with his claws so hard blood was drawn.
"You will learn that we are the masters, and you are the slaves!" one of the T'Surr boasted, pressing a button that electrified several people. Iroh and his sister tried to be strong for their people, but both of them were terrified. Their father had been badly injured, perhaps killed, their abductor claimed to have killed their Uncle Tenzin and his whole family, they had no way out, and unknown to the rest of the captives, the Obsidian Knight had returned, with Avatar Korra at his side. Mizuki couldn't bring herself to reveal to that Korra had also effectively kidnapped their mother.
As the journey progressed, several cages were taken into a room, from which screams and buzzing sounds soon followed. Eventually, Iroh and Mizuki's cage was brought into this room, and they saw what looked like a surgical bed with a robot by its side. The first person in their cage was dragged out and injected with something, knocking him unconscious. At that moment, the robot started spinning a tiny buzzsaw and cut away a piece of his forehead. With the brain partially exposed, it inserted a piece of metal inside. It then put the skull's missing segment back on, blasted some sort of tiny light over the cut, and attached a flap resembling skin over the exposed skull before pushing him away. Iroh and Mizuki didn't know what was happening but they knew it had to be bad. As everyone else looked in horror, some screaming in terror, Iroh prepared to strike. As the guard opened the cage, he shot out a bolt of lightning, shorting out his and everyone else's cuffs in the cage, and hitting the alien brute square in the face.
"Come on!" he yelled, with the other captives following him. They rushed out, but they had no idea of where to go. Soon, more T'Surr appeared and began firing their weapons, knocking one escapee to the floor unconscious. Iroh yelled for his sister to run, pushing her through a doorway before slamming it shut on her and the man who'd already made it through. She saw him go down, and after a moment's hesitation, she ran.
"We can't get out of here!" the man with her said. Just then, she felt sure that she knew the way, and dragged him behind her. They came across a door, and she pushed a button close to it. Inside, she saw a pod with room for three, and pushed the man into the craft. Jumping in, she narrowly avoided the blue waves of energy fired her way before pushing another button. The pod slammed shut, and rockets fired them away. Noticing a pair of seats, Mizuki and her new ally strapped themselves into them.
"We really are in space, aren't we your highness?" the farmer who'd simply fled the volcanic eruption stated in disbelief.
"I guess so," Mizuki replied as they looked out the window directly in front of them. They appeared to be drifting toward a nearby planet. It was yellow with patches of brown, and in the distance, there appeared to be two suns bearing their light down on it. Wherever they were, they could only hope they would find someone friendlier in their most desperate hour.
As Baatar talked with their parents, Wei and his brothers looked to Kuvira, trying to think of something to talk about.
"So, there are whole planets covered by cityscape?" he asked her.
"The term is Ecumenopolis," Kuvira told her adoptive brothers. "Most of the time, even the oceans have been covered over. After it's built up enough, it's basically impossible for sunlight to reach the actual surface of the planet. Instead of trees, they have machines to clean the air and water."
"Where do they get their food?" asked Wing.
"It's usually grown on another world and shipped there," his sister answered him. "Dr. Raylen could tell you more, since his homeworld is such a planet." She then paused in remembrance, and then regret. "Although, he might not like talking about it." She then turned back to Wing and asked if he was back to playing power disc.
"It takes a bit of getting used to on these new legs," he smiled to her. "Still, I'm getting there. Thanks for arranging the doc's introduction." At that moment, Huan spoke up.
"So, the first time we saw Darth Vader's 'hologram' as I hear it's called, he casually mentioned how he sent you and Baatar into danger as part of a test," the sculptor stated. "He said how if you failed, you would die. How do you feel about taking orders from someone who threatens to kill you for failing?"
"Vader wasn't going to kill us," Kuvira clarified. "He was saying that, if we failed, it would be because we died. Also, we succeeded."
"There was also how the tests apparently involved killing someone," Huan persisted.
"A Jedi fugitive," Kuvira explained. "The Jedi Order were a lot like the Dai Li, except that, when they tried to usurp the ruler they were supposed to serve, the entire organization was punished as opposed to a single leader. The remaining Jedi fled into the unknown and have been trying to rebuild from the shadows while empowering every terrorist organization that fits their reactionary goals. Or at least the one I met. She'd even kidnapped a bunch of little kids to indoctrinate and made sure her minions escaped with them." Even Huan was taken aback by that, remembering how Kuvira had narrowly avoided a similar fate at the hands of the Dai Li. "As for the one Baatar was sent after, he was a crazy old man hiding in a junkyard, attacking everyone who came near the house he made out of garbage," Kuvira continued. "Vader's teaching methods are a little strange, but they are effective."
"Well, it seems like he's also good at being scary," Wei commented. "I get he needs that suit to breathe but there's no reason his voice should be that menacing. Or is that actually how he sounds?"
"No," Kuvira answered. "He sounds like this..." she then moved her mouth, but no one could hear what she was saying, she was so quiet. "It turns out that getting burnt by volcanic ash is extremely painful. Which means that you scream, sucking in a bunch of super-hot air and likely toxic gasses into your throat and lungs, burning them from the inside out. Afterward, it turns out you don't have much of a voice left, which means you need a vocal amplifier to be louder than a tiny whisper."
"And he survived this how?" Huan asked skeptically, while the twins sounded horrified at the description.
"Because he is strong in the Force, and he refused to die, keeping him alive until his friends got him to a hospital," Kuvira answered plainly. "I'd say it's about as possible as Magmabending and daytime Bloodbending, hard but by no means impossible." Just then, she saw an update from her datapad, giving her a look of surprise.
"What is it?" Wing asked her.
"It appears that Iroh's father, aunt, grandfather, and grandmother will be joining the mission to get him and his sister back, along with all the others," the Metalbender general remarked. "All of them are skilled benders, to be sure, but utterly ignorant of the wider galaxy. And space travel in general. I suppose they could be of some help on the alien world." Another update came in, this time she smiled. "I am to begin training a group of soldiers among the EUA for offworld operations," Kuvira added. "Alongside Korra and Mako."
"Wait," Wei asked in confusion. "If both of them are going to be here, who will be commanding the mission to get the Fire Prince and Princess back?"
"The ideal commander," Kuvira stated confidently.
As Bumi, his mother, father-in-law, and sister waited for the ship to arrive, they looked over the information available on both their enemies and space travel. He saw how, if someone was sent flying off into space without a protective suit, their blood vessels and lungs might explode upon the sudden change in air pressure, and anyone who didn't die immediately would suffocate.
"Listen to this," Zuko said. "The sun's light is unfiltered in outer space. In the light, it is extremely hot and likely to burn you if your suit isn't properly shielded. In the shade, it is freezing and just as hazardous."
"I'm more interested in 'lightspeed,'" Kya noted. "Apparently, if you go any slower, the journey between worlds will take so long you'd have to freeze yourself to make it to the end. Now, most spaceships go extremely fast to enter a place called 'hyperspace' where you travel greater distance than in 'realspace' as it's called. And navigation is so complicated it requires a machine called a 'computer' in order to find a safe route."
"I came across a computer once," Bumi mentioned. "It was supposed to keep ship registries, military and civilian. The machine was as big as a train car and needed a giant fan to keep it from bursting into flames from all the heat."
"Well, hopefully this computer will be more reliable," Katara noted to her son, nervous at how they'd be reliant on technology they only just learned the existence of. "According to this, a hyperspace collision is always fatal." At that moment, the ship that would be taking them landed. According to the datapads they had been given to brief them, it was a CR92 Corellian Corvette. The ship was approximately three and a half train cars long, with a massive engine block in the back, four engines on top and bottom with three in the middle. The next third of the ship was somewhat box-like, with one turret on top and one on each side, with some sort of large door on the underside. Directly in front of the 'box' was what looked like a communication dish, on top of a long tube-like neck. Towards the end of the 'neck' were a pair of identical turrets, one on, another on the bottom. At the very front of the ship was a barrel-like 'head' with a viewport. A ramp lowered beneath what was clearly the bridge.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" piped up a new voice. Bumi turned and saw Dr. Aphra, the Airbender Korra had created before sending to infiltrate Tenzin's school to keep an eye out for trouble. Alongside her was the lizard-man Bossk, and the man in green armor named Boba Fett. "Time for a space adventure!"
"Normally I'd be enthusiastic about such an exploration," Kya said. "But under the circumstances, I'm just hoping my niece and nephew are alright, along with everyone else that was taken." As they entered the ship, they entered a room with a large table and a series of harnesses. As Bossk, Fett, and Aphra sat down, the four Benders tried to fasten in. Zuko and Bumi did so with ease while Kya and Katara needed help from the trio across from them.
"Thank you," Katara said. "Though, I'm wondering why you are coming along." At that moment, the ship lifted off. Zuko clung to his seat tight as he felt them fly out of the atmosphere. As Bossk and the other two stood up after the acceleration ended, they realized it was okay to do so and took off their harnesses. Aphra pressed a button on the wall, at which point a metal shutter lifted and revealed a window apart from them. Looking down on their planet was a new sensation for Bumi and Zuko, and while it wasn't the first time they'd done so, Katara and Kya still marveled at it.
"I never thought I'd see this view," Zuko admitted, looking down on the archipelago that was the Fire Nation. Bumi noticed a small but still noticeable cloud of volcanic ash in the north. Katara looked at the armada of Imperial ships, large and small, around them. At that moment, a small alarm buzzed, and Boba looked to them.
"Grab onto something, we're about to make the jump to hyperspace," the armored warrior commanded. As they did so, they saw the stars blur together as they accelerated. After a moment, they adjusted to the new momentum and no longer had to grip anything.
"That happens every time a ship enters hyperspace?" asked Kya. The trio nodded, at which point Katara again asked why they were there.
"Well, to be honest, the only reason you are here is to reassure your grandkids that we've come to save them," Aphra answered the Waterbending master. "All of you would really stick out and be terrible at going forth and gathering information, so that's why we are here." After a moment, Zuko looked a little skeptical.
"I don't know much of the wider galaxy, but the three of you don't strike me as particularly normal," the former Fire Lord said.
"We aren't but we look the part," Bossk said in his reptilian voice. "There are many Trandoshan bounty hunters, mercenaries, and assorted rogues in the wider galaxy. Aphra is very good at blending into the sort of crowd which might know something. And while his armor sticks out, Boba has a common face." Despite being masked, Boba seemed a little amused at his partner's comment but said nothing.
"Okay, but can't Mako do this, as well?" asked Kya. Aphra looked a little nervous at that, scratching her head.
"Mako wanted to come, but it was decided that he'd be better off supporting his wife while she changes your world," Aphra said, with Bossk suppressing a laugh.
"I thought it was to keep him from skipping his turn on diaper changing," the Trandoshan remarked.
"They have KayBee for that," the woman remarked.
"Alright, so who is commanding this mission?" asked Katara. At that moment, a familiar sound started to penetrate the door into the room. The door opened and behind it was Darth Vader, his mechanical breathing filling the room as he stepped inside.
"Ah, uh, Lord Vader, we were just speaking of you," Aphra said with more admiration than fear. "So, boss, what are your orders?"
"The three of you are to study our destination, we will arrive in two hours," the Obsidian Knight ordered, before turning to the quartet of Benders he'd fought repeatedly. "I have some matters to discuss with our guests."
So, I have never actually described what Mizuki looks like. Imagine her looking like a fifteen-year-old Hinata Hyuuga with golden eyes. Korra does want to rescue Iroh but she doesn't trust the White Lotus and others to behave with the Imperials while she's away. Mako wanted to go but was overruled by Vader.
The T'Surr are a rather obscure race of drug dealers and slavers from a couple comics I like. The CR92 is a militarized modification of Leia's blockade runner. I'm sure the ones paying attention spotted some details in Mizuki's segment. The surgery is what I imagine the insertion of those explosives which kept Anakin and Shmi from escaping in TPM would look like.
Darth Vader took command both to learn why Cad Bane is an Airbender and to force Aang's family into accepting him. Next chapter, Mizuki meets a familiar face who is brought into her predicament, Vader discovers a secret, and the Bender quartet gain greater understanding of him.