As Vader's shuttle made its way to Republic City, he listened to the intercepted radio reports. Everyone was rather thrilled at the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Avatar's victory over Fire Lord Ozai. While there were rumors of something occurring in the North Pole, no one knew what to make of them yet.
"My lord, we will be arriving at Republic City momentarily," Oniye Namada confirmed. "Is there anything we can do to help in your mission?"
"Monitor the communications for now," Vader said. "If it gets loud, do whatever you deem necessary to stop enemy reinforcements. If these reports are accurate, these master benders will be enough of a challenge."
"Understood, my lord," General Appo confirmed.
At the party, Aang and Sokka had just gotten on an airship that would take them to the Northern Water Tribe. Normally, they would have taken Appa but in addition to the sky bison feeling his age, Aang was also worried about the crystal he'd just received from the Northern Water Tribe. Appa had reacted negatively to it, so Aang didn't' want to take the chance of it harming his oldest friend.
Sokka was coming along because he'd realized that, in his own grief at Suki's death, he had neglected their own daughter, who'd just sent them a story of a terrible monster attacking the Northern Water Tribe. Another reason why Malina had been distant with her father recently was because of the revelation that Suyin Bei Fong was her half-sister. Sokka had been a fatherly presence in Su's life for many years, even before learning he was her father, just like he had been with her half-sister Lin, so it wasn't that great a surprise that speculation over one of the girls' fathers was true. Suki had been rather disappointed that, in a moment of weakness, her husband and one of her best friends spent a single night together. But she still loved Sokka, and they were about to move back in together at the time of her murder. Sokka had seen how Aang was trying to reconnect with his two oldest children, and now he was planning to do the same.
"So, how are things with Su?" Aang asked his brother-in-law as they boarded the airship.
"She's doing well," Sokka answered. "She and Baatar's son just turned a year old. They named him Baatar Junior, and he already looks like his dad. Zaofu is being built at a rapid pace, and Su has already started her first Metalbending class. Toph and I invited her, but Lin didn't, and Suyin doesn't want trouble." Aang nodded sadly, in her reckless youth, lashing out to be noticed by her workaholic mother, Su had cut her sister during an argument gone too far, giving Lin her signature scar. Su had done several more irresponsible things before meeting Baatar, a petty thief who dreamed of being an architect. He was stunned that she would be so reckless, even though she had all the things he wanted growing up. Thankfully, Su had matured after falling in love with him, but she and her sister were both too proud to admit fault, keeping her and Lin locked in a feud. Su had gone as far as to say that she wouldn't return to Republic City unless Lin explicitly invited her.
"I was hoping they would have buried the hatchet by now," Aang remarked. "What about Malina?"
"Much better," Sokka said. "I was there for Eska and Desna's birth. The only reason she isn't headed to Air Temple Island with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors is because she doesn't want to travel away from them. My main problem is Unalaq."
"What about him?" the Avatar asked.
"He reminds me of Jet, except worse," Sokka explained. "Jet knew how to flatter and flirt to get Katara to help him but when he looked at her, I did see the warmth of love within. I never saw such warmth in Unalaq's own eyes. Also, a charming but reserved younger prince who replaces his friendlier big brother as heir after the brother is disgraced on the battlefield? Sounds far too familiar to be funny." Aang nodded at that, though, while he didn't know Unalaq that well, he had to admit what he did know made him eerily similar to Ozai.
Back at the party, Tenzin had just bumped into Lin, who was sitting down next to his sister, Kya. He and Lin had once dated but things had ended somewhat poorly between them. The ignorant would say that they couldn't work because their respective elements were opposites. In truth, it was because Lin was too obsessed with her career as a Metalbender police officer to give any thoughts as to a family, while Tenzin had grown up with the belief it was all up to him to revive his father's race. Unsurprisingly, this wasn't conducive to a lasting romance. Still, Lin was rather bitter about it, and had frequently harassed Tenzin's wife, the Air Acolyte Pema.
"So, are you enjoying the party?" asked Tenzin.
"As much as can be expected," Lin answered. Kya was sitting cross-legged, meditating and trying to connect with the world, like she often did, when all the sudden, her face frowned and her eyes shot open in a panic, knocking over her drink.
"Are you okay?" Tenzin asked his sister.
"There's something bad in Dad's dojo," she said. "The aura I felt was like a blazing fire wreathed in shadow." Tenzin and Lin looked where Kya had pointed. It was the dojo where their parents had often practiced bending with them, and in Bumi's case, Sword fighting with their uncle. It also had a private study filled with bending scrolls, many of which Aang and the White Lotus had been transcribing onto records, recognizing the changing times.
"It's nothing," Tenzin replied.
"It's not nothing, we need to see what's in there," Kya insisted. After some hesitation, Tenzin and Lin agreed and started walking over to the building with her.
"Guys, where are you going?" asked a familiar voice. It was Lee, Zuko's son and another old friend of theirs growing up.
"There is something strange in there," Kya said. "We're going to check it out."
"Well, I'm coming along," he smiled, picking up the dual Dao swords he had practiced with for so long. As they entered the building, they saw several old memories of theirs: in one corner, were the practice swords that Bumi had used for so many years. In another, the obstacle course where Tenzin's father had taught him how to master Airbending. As they reached the stairs and walked up, they heard a strange sound that was vaguely reminiscent of someone breathing. As Lin stepped onto the floor, her eyes shot open in alarm.
"There is someone with one or more metal legs in that room ahead of us," she pointed to the end of the hallway. As they moved closer, they heard someone speaking.
"Where is the crystal from the Northern Water Tribe?" a deep voice demanded. "What have you done with it?"
"The Avatar took it in his knapsack," another voice strained to answer. "He received a letter from the North. He, went to investigate."
"How unfortunate, I just left the North pole," the voice continued as the sound of bones snapping echoed out of the door. The four childhood friends threw the door open and saw a downright terrifying armored figure holding a White Lotus sentry with his outstretched left arm, lifting the man off the ground by the throat. Soon, the sound of bones breaking stopped, and the sentry's arms fell from his throat, trying to free himself, to the sides as his neck broke, and the figure discarded him with a casual throw to the side. Looking at him closer, Tenzin saw he looked vaguely like the drawing his cousin Malina had sent. Before anyone could react, Lee went flying forward, his swords falling to his side, and into this strange man's hand, quickly becoming grasped by the throat. "What I want is not here," the figure stated. "I am leaving now, and retrieving what is mine. Don't make me kill you on the way out."
"No way," Lin retorted, adopting a fighting stance. "You should surrender. You can't defeat us all."
"Of course, I can," the armored man retorted, and with a flick of his wrist, slammed the doors behind the trio shut, and tossed Lee at them, knocking down Lin. He quickly crossed the room, and as Kya prepared to Waterbend, he outstretched his arm and she felt pinned in place. At first, she thought he was Bloodbending her but then she realized the force was coming from outside her body as opposed to within. Either way, she couldn't move as the dark figure approached.
Tenzin charged forward and tried to Airbend him away, but he just weathered the gust of wind. Then, a vase close by flew up from its spot on the floor and hit Tenzin in the back, knocking him forward as it shattered. A wooden beam above them also gave way and collapsed, trapping the other three beneath it. Seeing the terrifying warrior was almost in front of him, Tenzin pulled out his staff but the strange bender in obsidian-colored armor outstretched his right hand, and the staff flew out of Tenzin's grip, into the hand of the dark warrior.
"An ineffective weapon," the caped adversary remarked. "I will improve it." He then broke the staff in half before whacking Tenzin on the side of the head with one end of the broken staff, knocking him unconscious. He then walked forward and, as Lee tried to stand up, the warrior stabbed him in the stomach with one broken end and hit him over the head with the other with enough force to shatter that half of the staff. Lin, realizing the monster's feet were right in front of her, tried to Metalbend them. When it initially didn't work, she grabbed them outright, and tried again. It still failed. "I am beyond your limited magic," the dark figure said before kicking Lin in the face and into unconsciousness. At that moment, Kya realized none of them had tried to alert the others. She opened her mouth to scream but her voice failed to call out as the terrifying figure above her motioned his hand, making it look like his fist was wrapped around an invisible throat, just as she felt like an invisible hand was wrapped around her throat. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, a water whip struck the man before her and the grip ceased, allowing her to breathe.
"Get away from my children!" Katara yelled. As Kya stumbled to her feet, the adversary in front of her sent a wave of energy into her, knocking her all the way down the hallway into her mother. After colliding, Kya heard a chirp like a radio.
"My cover is blown," the dark warrior said. "Begin the contingency."
"Yes, my lord," a voice on the radio replied.
At that moment, hearing their master's command, the various Imperials, including the 501st detachment assigned to the shuttle, began the contingency plan in case Vader was discovered. First, they set off the explosive charges they had planted at two of the main power plants, then they did the same at the various radio towers to cripple the response as the city plunged into darkness. As panic began to spread, the Stormtroopers, hiding on rooftops so the Metalbenders would have a harder time seeing them with the seismic sense that made their advanced Earthbending possible, turned on their night vision sensors. As the various Metalbending police on the ground tried to figure out what was happening, the Stormtroopers opened fire. One after another, the Metalbenders fell to the red bolts that punctured their armor. On the ground, two pairs of Scout Troopers raced through the city, shooting both police cars and patrolmen walking their beat. They would often toss grenades at their various targets, blowing them up. Soon, with the city in sufficient chaos, they made their way to the city park to rapidly enter their landed shuttle. After the four Scout Troopers were inside, it lifted off again and made its way to pick up the other Imperials. All that was left was to wait for their master to handle his adversaries on Air Temple Island.
Back at the party, Katara had gotten suspicious at how her daughter, younger son, and two of their friends had gone into their father's study and had yet to come out. Going in to investigate, she heard strange sounds coming from the top floor and charged up the stairs. Throwing the door open, she saw a scene eerily similar to one from her childhood: A dark figure with a splash of red on his helmet standing in front of someone she loved in a very threatening position. Except, unlike with Yon Rha and her mother, Katara could do something about it. She water bent a long whip and sent it flying into the figure.
"Get away from my children!" she yelled. Kya then levitated into the air and went flying into her mother, even though she was almost twenty feet away. She heard the dark figure speak into a radio with a deep voice, and another voice on the other end but she couldn't make out what was said. The figure moved forward past the unconscious trio in front of him. All while the sound of explosions began to echo in the distance.
"I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," the figure said in an intimidating voice. "Unfortunately, you have made it necessary." Kya tried to Waterbend at him to protect her mother, but the figure knocked her aside with one of his fists, sending her crashing into the wall and knocking her unconscious. Katara began to Waterbend, but a red beam shot out of something in the figure's right hand, cutting her across the knee. It felt like she was being burned as well as cut and the pain was enough to send her falling to her side. She then felt a massive impact in her chest, sending her flying backward, through a window and onto the courtyard below, crashing onto a table Toph was sitting at.
As everyone was shocked by the sight, they began to hear a strange, breathing sound, alongside loud thuds of heavy boots falling. A figure dropped out of the window, sending a wave of energy everywhere and Toph into the air. Then, he motioned his hand, and another wave of energy impacted her, sending the police chief flying into the distance onto open water. As everyone looked up, King Kuei grabbed a chair to hit the figure with but was knocked back by a similar burst of energy. The armored monster then flicked his wrist and the king's head rapidly snapped to the side, breaking his neck. The two Dai Li agents and four Royal Earth Benders tried to Earthbend, with one of the Dai Li shooting off his rock gloves, only for the obsidian giant to move with incredible speed, a red blade shooting out of what looked like a sword hilt, blocking the attacks without breaking his stride. The giant then slashed his sword through the Dai Li as if it was nothing, chopping one in half and beheading the second. One of the Earth bending royal guards was knocked back, crashing into the second, and the figure stabbed his red blade through both. Of the last two Royal Earthbenders, one was cut in half diagonally and the second was knocked onto his back before the giant's boot stomped on his throat. At that moment Fire Lord Zuko got back up alongside his daughter, Princess Izumi. Bumi stood up as well and looked at his mother-in-law and twelve-year-old son.
"Iroh, take your grandma back to the royal barge," he said to his son. "Don't come out until me, mom, or grandpa come get you."
"What about you, Dad?" the boy asked, wondering what his nonbender father could do to fight this strange adversary.
"I'm going to get your aunt and uncles, then help Gran-Gran," he told his son. Bumi then charged off as Metalbender cops and Royal Firebenders charged forth to help the Fire Lord and his daughter against this terrible foe. Bumi charged into the dojo he spent so much time in during his youth. Running upstairs, he found his brother-in-law bleeding from the head and stomach after having been hit with a hard object and stabbed by what appeared to be a piece of Tenzin's staff. Checking Lee's pulse, he found none. Lin was also unconscious but breathing. Looking over to his brother and sister, he found them alive. Kya and Tenzin quickly woke up.
"Bumi?" asked Kya.
"I'm here, sis," he said. Tenzin tried to get up but quickly fell to the floor in pain. "Easy, you two can't move yet. Kya, you have a couple of broken ribs, and Tenzin, you need that bump on your head checked."
"What about Mom?" Kya asked.
"She's fine," he quickly lied. In truth, she was unconscious in the courtyard, but she wouldn't want her children to endanger themselves when they were hurt as well. "She's fighting that guy right now, she needs you to stay here and fix yourselves up along with Lin."
"What about Lee?" Tenzin asked with concern. Then, the two saw their brother's sad face and understood. As he ran off, Bumi pondered what to do. His parents told him of his namesake, his father's oldest friend, King Bumi of Omashu, the one person who lived through the entirety of the hundred-year war. His father called his oldest friend a mad genius and powerful Earthbender. While Bumi himself wasn't a bender of any sort, he had certainly become quite the wild man, known for his humor among the Republic Forces, and he knew how to plan, which was why he had done so well in the Republic military. Hopefully, he could find something to even the playing field against this terrible foe. That is when he came across the special sword his uncle used. It was made from a meteorite, and for some reason, Bumi thought it was just what he needed.
Vader sidestepped the metal cables the police fired at him, slicing them to pieces with his lightsaber. He then used the Force to drop a tree atop two of them, crushing them beneath it. The Royal Firebenders attacked as well, but the Force protected him from their flames. He reached out with the Force to toss a boat moored at the dock and smashed it into them as if they were simple bowling pins. The Fire Princess sent a bolt of lightning his way, and he blocked it with his lightsaber until it dissipated into nothing. Her father swung a sword at him, but Vader blocked it with his own and the lightsaber broke the conventional sword upon impact. The Fire Lord narrowly dodged the next swing Vader made and began lobbing fire balls from a distance. Vader had trouble dodging that many, but his armor and the Force let him take the flames. He sent forth another blast of the Force, knocking Zuko onto his back before backhanding Izumi. He was about to cut her down with his lightsaber when Bumi arrived with a strange black sword, blocking his strike, and his lightsaber didn't cut through it like with everything else. Right then, a massive fireball hit Vader in the side, sending him flying as he groaned in pain. As Zuko flew over to his daughter, Bumi pointed the sword at Vader.
"Most impressive," Vader said. "But you don't know the power of the dark side." Then he made a motion with his hand and several large stones went crashing toward his adversaries. Izumi Firebent to stop the one headed for her but one of the pieces hit her husband, knocking him into the sea. Zuko, who had dodged his own boulder, grabbed the sword and charged. Vader expertly parried Zuko's strikes, just as the Fire Lord parried Vader's strikes.
"I'm okay!" Bumi yelled to his wife as he swam back to shore. "Focus on him!" As Vader and Zuko were in a sword lock, Izumi charged to the left and shot a bolt of lightning at the dark figure. He stretched out his right hand and caught the lightning bolt in his palm but rather than channeling it out through his left hand, he sent it flying backward at Izumi. She narrowly dodged it, but the blast still sent her flying. Zuko was momentarily distracted by his daughter's plight, and Vader knocked the sword out of Zuko's hand and sliced off the Fire Lord's left leg, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.
"The crystal isn't here, we must move north to retrieve it," the dark warrior said into some sort of radio as he walked away, and a strange flying machine hovered above them. Something opened on the underside of the craft, and the dark warrior leaped an impossible distance into the air and onto the platform the ship had lowered. The platform soon retracted, and the craft sped away into the night sky, leaving a streak of blue flames that soon vanished as well. As Bumi made his way to shore, he saw his mother get up and limp forward to help the injured. That is when he ran to check on his wife. As he helped Izumi to her feet, he realized that the dark warrior had mentioned he was after a crystal. His father had a strange crystal in his knapsack when he and Sokka had gone north. And this mysterious figure was headed north as well.
Hope you all enjoyed the action. Since Zuko is the only one who is both a mage and a swordsman, I had him do the best against Vader. It's also my headcannon that Su is Sokka's daughter from a one-night stand, and since we know nothing about Unalaq's wife other than her name, I figured I would make her a Kyoshi Warrior. I believe the main reason the Dai Li are still around because, as the Earth Kingdom was rebuilding, it proved impossible to simply replace them. As for where Appa is, you'll learn next update.