Opal and Bolin had just landed on Kor Besadi. It was still morning on this side of the planet. Vader pointed them to the north, telling them to proceed first to their friends in the clearing. As they approached, they saw Baatar standing in front. Opal called out to her brother, who turned to see her as she ran up and hugged him. Kuvira soon appeared, having been standing a bit further north, looking for danger. She also hugged Opal in relief the younger woman was still alive.
"How are you okay?" a relieved Baatar asked his sister.
"Bolin loves me, that gave him the strength to keep us alive," she said. Bolin just smiled nervously from behind her. "And Korra and Mako found us shortly after." At that, both Kuvira and Baatar's eyes shot open in shock.
"Korra's here?" asked Kuvira, surprised that the Avatar was there to help them.
"Well, no, she and Mako are busy with something else, but their benefactor is here," Bolin said sheepishly.
"Their...benefactor?" asked Baatar. That is when they heard a faint, mechanical rhythm in the distance.
"Remember how I hoped they would meet Darth Vader?" Bolin asked nervously. "Well, my hope came true." At that Vader emerged from the forest, followed by his entourage of stormtroopers and an alien woman. Both Kuvira and Baatar were surprised but while there was a hint of fear on the engineer's face, Kuvira seemed fascinated. Hoping to break the tension, Opal looked for something to mention, and was quickly embarrassed to find it.
"Uh, Baatar?" she started. "Your belt's unfastened. And Kuvira, your shirt's unbuttoned." At that, her brother and adoptive sister's faces both flashed with embarrassment and quickly fastened their clothes. Upon doing so, Kuvira Metalbent a small wire to fasten her hair before looking toward the dark armored figure.
"Thank you for your aid, Lord Vader," Kuvira stated respectfully. "Our allies are still in danger, may you help us assist them before returning to your ship?"
"We are not taking my ship," Vader stated. "We are taking the ship belonging to the Hutts to leave this world. After that, we are rendezvousing with Korra and Mako, who will be completing their own mission." After pausing for a moment, he looked in another direction. "Your allies are close by, but so are the hunters. I will deal with them while you retrieve them." Upon following the Sith Lord, he pointed them in the direction of their allies while he moved toward the approaching skiffs hunting the escapees. As Kuvira and Baatar announced themselves to the eighteen escapees, Varrick stepped forward. Several were still holding the blasters taken from the guards they'd killed but didn't know how to use them effectively.
"Oh, uh, hi boss," he said in his usual snarky tone, presumably to take his mind off the situation. "We lost Guan and three others. Uh, has Mira found a ship to fly us home, yet?"
"She's dead, sadly," Kuvira regretfully stated. "But we have another way home." At that, Bolin stepped came into view and Varrick ran forward, tears in his eyes.
"I love you, big guy!" he yelled, hugging him to Bolin's discomfort. "I knew you were alive." He then saw the one alien in Vader's party standing alongside Opal. She was accompanied by a rolling, beeping machine whose cylindrical top was colored black. It had three small protrusions on it. To the group of humans who had only seen Hutts and their servants, she looked attractive. "Well, hello, who are you?"
"Lieutenant Hera Komad," the green woman with head tails stated, clearly disinterested in Varrick. Though, Varrick wasn't as flirtatious with her as he usually was with a beautiful woman. He was thinking of his assistant, Zhu Li, who he realized meant more to him than a simple secretary. "I was aboard the ship that rescued Bolin and Opal, and while Mako and Korra-""Wait, the Avatar is here!?" one of the lower-ranking soldiers interrupted.
"No, she is busy liberating a slave-operated mine run by this Hutt Clan," Hera stated. Upon hearing that, Varrick's eyes shot open.
"This mine, is it called Illusia? Elesia?" Varrick asked frantically as he tried to remember the name their captor taunted them with.
"It's pronounced Ylesia," Hera confirmed. At that, Varrick yelled Zhu Li was saved. Bolin and Opal were confused before it was briefly explained she had been abducted there as opposed to returning to the Southern Water Tribe. "While Korra and Mako deal with Ylesia, we will help you steal their ship and escape this planet. Lord Vader will be along shortly."
"Vader?" asked Varrick. "That name sounds a little familiar."
"I told you that you could never ask about him," Bolin stated, a bit annoyed with his old employer.
"I did?" Varrick replied. "I thought his name was Dark Murder." After being corrected to Darth Vader, a large explosion rang out nearby, startling everyone except Hera.
"That would be Lord Vader now," she said, sounding resigned. "He just handled the hunters looking for you, here."
"Wait a second, if Vader's a spaceman, how did you know his name?" Varrick quickly asked before turning to Baatar, remembering when he first heard the name. "And how did you know Korra and Mako might meet him? And why did your mom throw a temper tantrum when you suggested it could happen?"
"Because Lord Vader has come to our world, before," Kuvira stated. "He is a friend of Chief Tonraq and an enemy of Unalaq." At that, the sound of mechanical breathing got closer, as well as the thumping of heavy boots. Everyone looked toward the sound, and eyes went open in shock as Vader emerged from the forest, followed by his stormtroopers. While none of them had been present in the North Pole or Republic City, all of them had heard the story of the Obsidian Knight, and seen pictures of his mask, sometimes accompanied with illustrations of his white-armored followers.
"Hey, it's cool, guys," Bolin said, trying to reassure them. "Darth was just minding his own business when Unalaq started playing with a magic crystal and dragged him to our planet. He went to Chief Arlaq to ask for his way home back, but Unalaq wanted to be chief, so he killed his dad and said Darth did it. Everything he did after on his quest to get him and his friends' home was just defending himself while he looked for the crystal, since Unalaq made it impossible to ask for help. Except for saving Tonraq and Senna from a gang of kidnappers, that was just him being nice." As Varrick and Kuvira's other subordinates stood in silence upon hearing Bolin's crazy story, Hera stared at Bolin in disbelief. After processing the story, Varrick spoke up.
"Well...I always knew Unalaq was rotten, so, nice to meet you, Mr. Vader!" he said a bit forced.
"Lord Vader," the Sith corrected before turning to face the inventor. "Korra and Mako care for you all, and I care for them. My subordinates and I will be guiding you through the palace you escaped, to commandeer the ship that brought you here. As none of you are familiar with this technology, and especially not how to operate any spacecraft, my team and Lieutenant Komad MUST survive. They and I are your only way off this planet, as well as back to your homeworld. If any of you turn on me, or any of my men, I will kill you." Several of the lower-ranking Earthbenders seemed hesitant to follow the Obsidian Knight but like the others, they were afraid. Afraid of him, afraid of the Hutts, and especially afraid of dying there. All of them understood that there was no way out without Vader's aid, and now, they were hearing how he was innocent? And that the Avatar herself sent him to rescue them? On top of that, none of their four leaders, or even the Airbender with them, challenged his claims of friendship. All of them reluctantly acceded to following the most infamous murderer in their world's history.
Finding a stop for the hover tram, they waited for the train to arrive. As it arrived, Vader yanked the guards standing on the edge of the train out and cleaved them in half. Opal saw several others and blasted them off the platform into the forest below. The crew tried to start the engine up but with a motion of Vader's hand, the engineers were frozen in place. He then clenched his fist and they began choking, rapidly falling to the floor as they died. Everyone from the world of bending was unnerved by the sight of such power and resolved not to antagonize him. As they boarded behind the stormtroopers and the pilot, none of the benders realized that Kuvira wasn't scared of Vader but intrigued. She'd always been attracted to powerful bending, and she knew from the holocron she could learn this type from him. After they sped back into the palace, Vader emerged from the train first, to the horror of every guard present. One of them started to say something but Vader reached out his left hand and the scaled being with antenna went flying toward him, impaling the alien on Vader's energy sword.
"None of you will survive," Vader boasted to the other thugs. At that, they opened fire, but Vader's sword moved so fast that it deflected every shot close to him, frequently back into its sender. The stormtroopers behind him fired at the guards, as well, expertly dropping the ones they targeted. Hera shot several with her pistol. The machine Hera called Chopper flew over to a small opening in the wall and inserted a metallic device, turning it a few times, and disabling the alarm. One Hutt was present, trying to move away but Vader leaped over the slug-like creature, landing in front of him. With a diagonal slash, he split the Hutt in half. After the area was secured, Vader turned to the stormtrooper with the shoulder pauldron.
"Captain Jir, do whatever is necessary to obtain the ship and protect our allies," he ordered. After a moment's hesitation, the stormtrooper spoke up and said that he thought it unwise to bother with taunting Aruk, as the armored soldier put it. "You have your orders, Captain. I will not make it back here in time, so you will have to pick me up."
"Yes, my lord," Jir affirmed as Vader strode back to the train.
"Um, what are you doing?" asked Bolin.
"Ensuring that what happened to you never happens to anyone else," Vader stated as he boarded the train and jetted off in it. As the stormtroopers and the pilot regrouped with Kuvira and the other sixteen elementals, the machine they called an astromech droid projected a holographic map in front of them.
"This is the hanger," Hera pointed out, before pointing to another area. "And this is where the other people Aruk is holding captive are being held. We will make our way through the prison to free them, and then we shall proceed to the hanger. Chopper here," she said, looking to the droid, "will override the various locks we are faced with, including on the ship itself."
"In addition, I will be taking five of our men here," Captain Jir said, pointing to another part of the palace. "That is where Aruk and the other Hutts will be, and Lord Vader has ordered that I deal with them."
"It'll hardly be necessary, sir," Hera said with an edge to her voice. "None of them will escape what is coming."
"You have your orders, Lieutenant Komad, and I have mine," Jir replied. "Besides, Aruk has the override key to the cells, making our extraction of the prisoners quicker and easier." And with that, they proceeded down the hall. Kuvira went to help Jir with his mission, and Baatar followed her. Opal and Bolin were a bit surprised but Baatar said that helping Vader's own mission was a good way to show gratitude. As Bolin and Opal followed Hera and her squad to the hanger with Varrick and the others, Hera came up with a plan to take the hanger. The Earthbenders would sink the ground beneath the feet of about a dozen guards and then focus on creating cover while the stormtroopers fired on the thugs. As they prepared to attack, one of the stormtroopers readied a rocket launcher to destroy the one fighter in the hanger.
"Now!" shouted Hera, firing on one of the guards with a pistol while Bolin and the other benders did their part. Almost a dozen guards were sunk into the ground by the Earthbenders while the stormtroopers shot the other thugs. The pig men, Bolin heard they were called Gammoreans, picked up their axes and charged but Opal knocked them off their feet with an Airbending blast. At that moment, a stormtrooper shouted 'Nexu!' as a giant feline creature charged forth. It hit Opal with a slash, cutting her left leg as she tried to speed away, and knocking her to the ground. Bolin instinctively ripped open the ground, and finally Lavabent. He covered the Nexu with magma, burning it.
"Wow, I guess love does conquer all," joked Varrick, hiding behind a crate. As Varrick helped Opal up, Hera and the droid called Chopper went inside the ship that had taken the captives there. The stormtrooper sergeant and two others went inside with her, the sergeant into the cockpit with her and the pair sweeping the ship for anyone who might be on board. The other two stormtroopers watched for enemy reinforcements. After Bolin fashioned a tourniquet from one of the dead guards, he wrapped it around her leg, and then he blanketed the other ships with lava so they couldn't be followed.
Kuvira followed Jir and his squad toward the Hutt throne room, where Aruk and two dozen other Hutts were gathered. Aruk had the override key to the cells around his neck. As the stormtroopers set up their attack, Baatar attempted to grasp the key with the Force. After a moment, it flew off Aruk, to the Hutt's surprise, at which point the stormtroopers opened fire on the various other Hutts. The sluglike beings screamed in pain as they were peppered with blaster fire. The various guards were also killed rather quickly. One Stormtrooper tossed a grenade into the open mouth of one Hutt, blowing it apart and coating the others in slime. As the remaining Hutts dropped dead, Jir shot the communications device next to Aruk's throne as he and his squad approached, with Baatar stuffing the key in his pocket.
"What treachery is this?!" exclaimed Aruk. "We pay our taxes to the Empire, and that is worth far more than any outrage at what we do here, outside your domain."
"Promises are very important, as well, and my lord is upholding a promise he made twenty-five years ago," Jir retorted as he tossed a small holoprojector in front Aruk. An image of Darth Vader and a woman in a white uniform appeared.
"My name is Oniye Namada, and when I escaped Ylesia, I told you one day I'd return to destroy your mines completely," the woman stated.
"And I promised you that I would destroy your entire clan, Besadi filth," Vader stated, as a look of shock appeared on Aruk's face. "That day has come. As this message plays, Ylesia's slaves are being liberated as the planet is turned into an inferno. And soon, Kor Besadi itself will suffer the same fate. Today, your clan dies." Aruk was stunned to silence by this revelation, while Baatar wondered how Vader could follow through on his threat.
"My son will avenge us and lead us to greater heights!" Aruk yelled, smashing a button next to him, opening a trapdoor beneath Baatar, sending him falling under a grate. At that, Kuvira Metalbent an electrical cable overhead and dropped it on Aruk, charbroiling him in an instant. Ripping the floor open, she charged down to get Baatar. At that moment, the Rancor emerged from the corner. Its focus shifted from Baatar toward her and roared. It stomped the floor, knocking her off her feet with the impact as it reached for her. Baatar grabbed a jagged rock and hit the monster's left foot with it. The Rancor roared in pain before knocking Baatar backward. A piece of sharp debris fell on his right elbow, and a burst of blood came out as Baatar screamed in pain.
Kuvira retaliated with her own Earthbending attack, sinking the feet of the Rancor. Bending other sharp pieces of metal debris, she stabbed one through the monster's right hand, pinning it to the floor. As it's left hand swatted at her, she Metalbent another piece into the side of the Rancor where there was a gap in its armor. As it was pinned in place for the moment, she focused and unleashed a barrage of lightning into it, greatly weakening the beast and, as it roared in pain, Metalbent a spear through the roof of its mouth and into the brain, finally killing it. She then rushed over to Baatar, whose arm had been severed entirely. As Jir lowered a cable down to them, she grasped the man she loved and ascended. Two of the stormtroopers took the key and ran to the cell block to release the prisoners, while another began treating Baatar's injury.
As Kuvira, Baatar, the other prisoners, and the rest of the stormtroopers got on the Hutt ship, they took off.
"Komad, proceed to the power station," ordered Jir.
"Acknowledged, sir, we're headed that way," Hera replied with a hint of annoyance. "Sergeant Carrick would have been of better use helping you with the prisoners. He isn't doing anything here, much less helping me."
"He is helping you," Jir retorted, to Bolin's surprise. "He's reminding you that either Lord Vader comes home or no one comes home. We will not abandon the Executor."
As Vader rode the train alone, he thought how it would have been more satisfying if he could have seen Aruk's shock personally but he had his part to play in this mission. Activating his comlink, he contacted Commander Piett.
"Are you in position, Commander?" he inquired.
"Yes, my lord, we are ready to destroy the space port and the secondary power facility on your command," Piett confirmed.
"Proceed," Vader ordered. The spaceport on the night side of the planet had received a fake message saying that outside communications were down temporarily, as opposed to destroyed by the Summa-Verminoth. Gardulla the Younger, being far less intelligent than her mother, had accepted the explanation. At this point, his forces would likely have eliminated Aruk and half the Besadi clan, while Piett would soon deal with Gardulla and the other half. In addition to destroying their only way offworld, Piett would bomb a reactor. The explosion itself would be enough to destroy everything within fifty square miles, and the toxins released would poison half the planet. It was up to Vader to handle the other half.
As the train approached its destination, a geothermal power plant, Vader sped it up and sent it crashing into the station, leaping out at the last moment. The various guards were dazed by the explosive collision and Vader easily cut through them, all while holding a simple toolbox in his left hand. As he proceeded down the hallway to the control room, he force-choked the various unarmed workers while deflecting the odd blaster shot back at its sender. Upon reaching the control room, he quickly killed the people within and sealed the door behind him.
With no enemies in sight, Vader opened the toolbox and opened the access point to the reactor control. Working quickly, he overrode the built-in safety features and began a process that would destroy the geothermal power plant. More importantly, it would reawaken the giant volcano beneath it and blanket much of the surface in smoke and lava. That, combined with the destroyed reactor, would devastate Kor Besadi, hiding Imperial involvement. Vader knew that Aruk's son, Durga, was on Nar Shaddaa but he'd think the Deslijic clan, the Besadi's greatest rivals, were behind it. The resulting feud between clans would be rather short, given all the losses the Besadi had suffered here and at Ylesia.
As Vader made his way to the roof, he saw the Hutt vessel his forces had commandeered appear with one of its doors opening. Leaping inside it, the ship quickly withdrew and outran the gargantuan explosion that obliterated everything within a hundred miles. Seeing that Baatar had lost an arm, he made a note to have him fitted with a new one.
"Uh, Lord Vader, sir, what just happened?" asked Bolin.
"The end of the Besadi clan," Vader stated. "The only people who died here were the crime lords of one of the five Kajidics and their vicious minions."
"Was it really...necessary to wreck their whole planet?" asked Opal, somewhat reserved. Kuvira was surprised her adoptive sister would feel that way. While Opal had always been compassionate and friendly, the Hutts had only hurt her and threatened the people she loved.
"The Empire doesn't wish to fight an open war with the Hutt domain at this time," Captain Jir said. "So, either we could take no mission at all and the Hutts could continue their hedonistic, degenerate pleasures funded by slave-operated mines, or we could stop it while destroying anything that would reveal the truth, as well as anyone."
"Well, as long as we are safe, screw the slug people!" shouted Varrick, trying to lighten the mood. "Three cheers for Darth Vader, hip hip, hooray!" he continued, joined by Kuvira's other followers. After emerging from hyperspace, they docked at a large space station where the freighter sent to Ylesia had docked to unload the rescued slaves. As Varrick worried, wondering how he could apologize to Zhu Li for chasing her away, Vader looked at Kuvira and Baatar. They had the drive and skill to make for good apprentices and were even more willing to do what was needed than Korra and Mako. In addition, they both had a sense of loyalty that made it unlikely they would turn on their allies. Opal and Bolin didn't have the same ruthlessness but possessed the same loyalty. Perhaps expanding the Empire's reach to Elementia would be easier than originally thought.
After landing on the station, Korra had been there to greet the people who'd been rescued from Kor Besadi, reassuring them that Vader was a friend. After pointing Varrick toward Zhu Li, she turned to Bolin and the Beifong siblings. She introduced Baatar to Doctor Raylen, who would fit him with a prosthetic arm. As Kuvira and her adoptive siblings followed him to the medbay, Korra took Bolin with her into a private room. Inside were KayBee and Mako, standing in front of something.
"I wish you and the others could have been there six months ago," Korra said to Bolin as she and Mako each picked something up from behind the droid. "At least you can meet your niece and nephew, Saria and Harou, now." At that, Bolin burst into tears out of joy and congratulated his brother and Korra. Korra and Mako smiled as Bolin held each of their children one at a time and promised to be an awesome uncle.
Meanwhile, after Baatar was fitted with what his prosthetic arm would be attached to, Kuvira was left alone with Baatar and Opal. "This whole experience reminds me of something I went through, shortly before I came to Zaofu," she said to her boyfriend and his sister.
"How is that?" Opal asked in genuine interest.
"My parents were losers, who either gambled or drank our money away," Kuvira began. "I hated them for how little they did for me, and whenever I threw a tantrum, I broke something. They would either lock me in the closet or punch me in the face when I did so, until the last time."
"The last time?" asked Baatar, shocked to hear this. He knew that Kuvira's parents had been cruel in some way but this was the first time his girlfriend had opened up about it.
"They had forgotten to buy a dinner and were instead huddled around the radio to hear the results of whatever they had bet on, the track, an Earthbending match, I don't remember," she continued. "When I asked what we were eating, he told me to get a beer out of the refrigerator. I had no interest in vomiting all night like I had last week, so I broke the radio. They grabbed me and yelled at how I was more trouble than I was worth. While my mother held me in place, my father grabbed a hammer and...pulled my arm out across the table." She paused at reliving this unpleasant memory. "I saw a pen on the floor with the point out. Suddenly, I could feel the metal and sent it flying into his thigh. After discovering I was a Metalbender, they sold me to the Dai Li a few days later. I escaped because they didn't have platinum restraints small enough for an eight-year-old."
"Why didn't you ever tell us that, or Mom?" asked Opal, shocked to hear of how she first became a Metalbender. "I would never have been as rude as I was if I knew that."
"I couldn't bring myself to talk about this to anyone, until now," Kuvira told her sister. "Also, there were times where it felt like Suyin didn't appreciate me enough or realize what I needed. But at first, I didn't want to complain about it after what I'd gone through before. And when I got older, I started to think that, if she learned what I went through, she'd assume she was already doing enough simply by not acting like they had." Opal was about to open her mouth but then she remembered how her mother frequently seemed insensitive to Kuvira, Baatar, and Aunt Lin on several occasions. Having spent significant time away from Zaofu, she'd learned how other people felt about her mother.
"As for how it feels like what happened now," Kuvira continued. "Metalbending gave me power. Power gave me protection even as it made me a target. The Hutts came for us because they wanted to see our power but we weren't strong enough to beat them. Vader and his Empire are."
"What are you saying?" Opal asked.
"Right now, I think we should hear what Lord Vader has to say, as well as what Korra thinks we should do against this new danger our world faces," Kuvira answered. Shortly afterward, one of the stormtroopers came into the room and said that Vader and Korra were awaiting them and that there was much to discuss.
"Uh, who are you, Mr. Skeletal-Robot Man?" asked Bolin before following Korra and Mako.
"I am KB-2016, a KX-class security droid built by Araykd for military policing and direct action by the Galactic Empire," the droid answered. "In addition, as Korra and Mako are frequently absent on missions, I am the nanny."
"Well, I think I'll be sharing that duty with you, as well," Bolin replied grinning.
"Unlikely, everything I have heard about you is that you are class-z nanny material, which makes you hopelessly unsuited for childcare," the droid replied. "If you were left in charge, I would have to execute you for the children's own safety."
"Ha ha hah, you droids have a great since of humor," Bolin laughed, before pausing. "That was a joke, right?" At which point Mako grabbed his brother's collar and dragged him along to the meeting. "Right?" Bolin asked again before the droid turned around. As they came into the meeting room, Kuvira, Opal, Baatar, and Korra were already sitting down, with Vader standing at the head of the table. "Well, Lord Vader sir, this has been an...exciting experience out in space but we are ready to go home now," Bolin began. "Feel free to drop in anytime but give us some time to explain how you're actually a good guy, first. And it might take even longer to convince people."
"As much as I would love to go home, Bolin, there is more to discuss," Korra said. "The Besadi are not the only Hutt clan out there, and the Hutts are not the only ones who have the ability to attack our world."
"And as we saw, we don't have the ability to defend against it," Kuvira added. "Or are we incorrect, Korra?"
"If anything, you were lucky," the avatar replied. "The equivalent of fighter planes out here are far faster than anything back home, and better protected while packing a bigger punch. As for larger ships, not only are they bigger than most airships, or even some battleships in the United Forces and other nations, they have even stronger weapons. A laser blast from a single TIE Fighter like that," Korra pointed toward one some distance away from them, "would be enough to destroy a biplane in one hit. If it has proton torpedoes to fire or proton bombs to drop, the explosion will probably be enough to blow a UF battleship into a thousand pieces. As for the laser cannons mounted on a capital ship, well, depending on the size of the cannon, the blast might be enough to level a single building, or it might engulf an area the size of Zaofu in a giant fireball, again with a single shot." After her friends processed that information, Korra continued. "Oh, and not only can a bomber fly higher and faster than any aircraft we might have, most capital ships don't even have to enter the atmosphere," Korra added. "Hence why there's a tactic called Orbital Bombardment. Which means that no one down below can retaliate or even defend against it. As far as I know, not even the Avatar can do so, and I don't want to learn otherwise."
"But military equipment like that, surely it's kept locked up, right?" asked Bolin.
"Not as well as it should be," Vader spoke. "Whenever an empire, large or small, falls, the same thing happens: scavengers grab what they can. Warehouses filled with weapons and ships at naval yards that were once guarded are now easily stolen, frequently by the guards left without a job. In addition, there are numerous vessels lost in battle, to hazards of space, or malfunction. Scavengers can easily strip these wrecks of their weapons to fit on other ships. Depending on the resources and what they hope to achieve, they might even repair the wrecked warship."
"As a result of that, and how vast the shipping lanes the Imperial Navy must patrol," Mako added, "numerous merchant ships are given the opportunity to hire escorts or equip similar weapons on their own ships. In addition to the risk of these ships beings stolen or scavenged from, just like those warships, there have been several cases where a buyer of such a ship turned out to be an intermediary for pirates, terrorists, or some other criminal group."
"So, you're saying the risk is there, and we need the Empire's help to protect our world," Bolin summed up.
"Exactly," Korra said. After a moment, Baatar agreed, then Kuvira, Opal, and finally Bolin.
"It'll be hard to get the nations to agree to accepting this help," Bolin said.
"Which is why we are doing it in secret," Korra stated. "The Empire will help Kuvira set up the infrastructure necessary across the Earth Nation, and I will go to my father in the south pole alongside Lord Vader. I think Dad will appreciate all we have to say. Also, there is something Lord Vader told Mako and myself, right before this mission."
"The crystal that brought Korra here, it leads to a specific time and place," Vader explained. "From what I can determine, when Zaheer broke it, he made the connection far more unstable. Your friends tried to reactivate it and it sent them to me. Both groups engulfed in it were sent to places I was close to, three and two years ago, respectively." Bolin and Opal were shocked, right before they left, they heard that Tenzin was attempting to access the crystal Zaheer had broken.
"What groups were they?" asked Opal, nervously.
"The first was Tenzin, his siblings, Lin Beifong, and General Iroh," Vader stated. "The second was Tenzin's three eldest children, alongside the Airbender Kai and Asami Sato. The first group was too angry to be reasoned with and I was forced to subdue them for some time. The second was far more reasonable, and I sent them home with the first, as this was before Korra and Mako came to the world of Maridun. Hopefully, Tenzin and the others will understand I am not the monster they think I am."
"What did you did you do to them and Aunt Lin?" asked Opal with an edge to her voice.
"Surface level lightsaber cuts, and a broken prosthetic leg," Vader answered. "Easily recovered from, especially as I helped them and their children return home. Still, I wouldn't trust them to accept my generosity, as it's been so soon since our last fight. From their perspective." With that, they boarded Korra's space yacht and began their voyage for home, even as, at that very moment, Tenzin prepared to go on the journey Vader had described.
Hope you all like that chapter. The damage done to Kor Besadi is akin to a giant Chernobyl-esque disaster on one side of the planet, and Yellowstone erupting on the other. I thought that, given Kuvira's behavior in both the show and this fic, she would crave the protection power gives the way an abused child does.
Korra, having learned about the wider galaxy, has concluded that the only way to protect Elementia is to have the Empire there. Kuvira is interested in the Empire and learning from Vader, so she goes along with it. Bolin and Opal don't see any other alternatives and if the Avatar herself is saying it, they believe it. In addition to the bad blood Vader has caused, Korra has come to resent how Tenzin and others, especially Raiko, don't respect her judgement, so she's decided to work around them.
Next chapter, we see the results of trying to access the crystal, Korra returns home, and the Empire begins establishing itself on Elementia.