After reconvening the next morning, the Beifong family pooled their information alongside Eska, her mother, and Bolin. "Nothing surprises me about my father anymore," Eska plainly stated. "When Desna was injured while we were assisting his attempt to open the Northern Portal, Father told me to leave him, and of course, he tried to kill us for arguing against merging with Vaatu."
"Regardless of the truth about your father, it doesn't justify what Vader did," Malina told her daughter. "Maybe he needed to fight his way out after Unalaq told his lies, but there is no justification for what he did in Republic City or the Wulong Forest."
"No, but he does have a plausible excuse for why he went the way he did," Lin added. "After he met Tenzin's kids and their two friends, he told them how, at the time, he needed to make regular trips to a tank filled with healing chemicals to stay alive. Which would mean he was racing against the clock the whole time he was on our planet. And still found the time to help two people in need. There is no way to prove or disprove it, but I'm guessing that Korra and Mako believe his claims, and like a good little brother, Bolin followed Mako's lead." Realizing people were staring at him, Bolin shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, Mako and Korra trust him, and I trust them, so I suppose even if your...adventure through the crystal was a bit harrowing, chief," Bolin answered Lin. "I know it sent you back in time, and that it sent Jinora and Kai to some pirate who kept flirting with Kai despite his discomfort. How is he doing, anyway?"
"He's talking over his experiences with a doctor who tries to help people with their nightmares," Lin answered. "He and Jinora are giving Vader the benefit of the doubt because he saved them. Asami is doing so because she can't see another way for Mako and Korra to come back. But there is something you should know before you form an opinion on him." Pausing for a moment, she looked into Bolin's eyes. "On that jungle world where we encountered him, Tenzin felt a headache and Vader immediately stated things he couldn't possibly know. When I woke up in his freezing chamber, I soon felt a headache and again, Vader again stated things he couldn't possibly know on his own."
"So, he can read minds as well as crush things with his mind?" asked Toph. "That's...worrying."
"Yeah, I know that," Bolin answered. "It's how he...retrieved the information from Zaheer and his gang, which is how so many cops around the world are unearthing and catching Red Lotus infiltrators."
"Wait, Korra captured Zaheer and his friends, again?" asked Suyin. "Why didn't Zaheer say anything after he was handed off to the White Lotus?"
"Technically, it was Korra's star students who defeated Zaheer," Opal told her mother. "As for why he's silent now, I guess Zaheer can't handle how he was tricked by Unalaq the entire time, and how his dream of a lawless paradise will never come true." Silence permeated the room for a moment, and Lin spoke again.
"Does that magical crystal which taught Yakone daytime Bloodbending and Ghazan Lavabending even exist?" Lin asked with an edge to her voice. "Is Aphra even an archeologist? Because either the two of you have been making crap up the whole time or you've been hiding important information from those that need it."
"The Holocron is real," Bolin confirmed. "It taught Kuvira how to shoot lightning out of her fingers and Baatar Jr to 'use the Force' as it's called. It taught me how to Lavabend, as well. There were times I thought we should give it to the White Lotus and Tenzin, but if we did, Opal would have died before Vader even reached us, so Kuvira made the right call." Deciding to distract everyone's increasing ire toward her boyfriend, Opal spoke up.
"Aphra is an archeologist," Opal confirmed. "She's also the informant for the slave colony raid. She got caught and addicted to the rhino people's 'Exultation' as their addictive singing is called." Pausing for a moment, she continued. "Aphra became an Airbender when Korra healed an injury she had, and she's with Tenzin for the same reason Raylen is here: to sound an alarm for something he can't handle."
"Maybe it could be handled if you had told everyone about it," Toph stated to her granddaughter and Bolin.
"Well, Korra and Mako don't think you can handle the dangers out in the wider galaxy, without the Empire's help," Bolin answered. "And they didn't think you'd accept the help even if they came and told you how it was necessary." Lin thought for a moment. She wanted to say she trusted Korra and would listen to what she had to say but even when Korra argued for more familiar things, Lin, Tenzin, and the other leaders tended to disagree.
"You're ignoring how he might be reading their minds to better figure out how to trick them," Lin stated.
"Korra and Mako have been out there for over a year and made a bunch of friends outside of Vader," Bolin said. "I think they have a better idea of what's out there than any of us."
"Yeah, well, there's another thing you seem to be ignoring," Wei noted. "Maybe Vader needs to wear that suit to stay alive. Maybe he can't help it if it makes simple breathing scary, but there is no reason the rest of the suit must be as scary as it is, colored all black with a helmet sculpted with an angry brow."
"Yeah, I was a bit creeped out by that as well," Bolin admitted. "Then it turned out he'd been helping Mako and Korra for a whole year. Then he decided to take time out of his slave rescue mission to get rescue Opal and I while we were adrift in space before personally going with us to get Kuvira, Baatar Jr, Varrick, and a bunch of others from the Hutts."
"The slug men who want to grind you into cheesecake?" asked Toph. "Of course, I'm more interested in this Empire he's part of. I suppose that those walking bunkers and screaming black planes I heard about wrecking a royalist stronghold were from that Empire?"
"Yeah, but if you really want to learn more about the Empire, you could ask the doctor, since he's an actual Imperial," Bolin replied, dodging the question. "As for Vader's position in it, well, everything I've heard is that only the emperor is above him in rank. As for how he acts in protecting the Empire and helping others, he described himself as practical but that others see it as villainous."
"Why is that?" asked Suyin, who'd largely been quiet until that point.
"Ylesia, the planet with the slave mines where Zhu Li Moon and Dr. Aphra were, is a Hutt world," Opal said.
"Yeah, you mentioned how the slug men and the rhino people with addictive singing were in charge," Wing remembered.
"The Hutts are not just a crime syndicate, they are their own, independent nation," Bolin explained. "There is no difference between their government and their syndicate, not that they pretend there is. But while they must be somewhat discreet outside their borders, they can do whatever they want within. Ylesia was within their borders. As was Kor Besadi, the vacation home for the clan that controlled Ylesia, where Kuvira was pitted against starved beasts." Lin noticed how Bolin talked of the planets in past tense but said nothing.
"Your point?" asked Toph.
"Vader was taking Korra and Mako to rescue a bunch of slaves from Ylesia, and as soon as he heard of our own troubles, he volunteered to help the two of us go to Kor Besadi and fly Kuvira, Baatar, and the others home, despite how it made things harder for himself," Opal explained. "But he wasn't interested in causing a war or diplomatic incident, so he decided to hide what we'd done."
"How could he do that?" Lin asked, suspecting the answer.
"On Ylesia, his forces planted a bunch of giant bombs at the bottom of the mines they'd rescued the slaves from," Bolin answered nervously. "On Kor Besadi, he had his ship bomb a power plant while he blew up another, waking up a giant volcano. Kor Besadi was blanketed in volcanic ash and toxic fumes as well as severe earthquakes, while Ylesia's molten core was aggravated to the point the planet shattered."
"So, you are saying Vader is capable of destroying entire planets?" a quiet but nervous Eska asked, while everyone else looked horrified. "That is especially worrying, but I am more surprised at how okay the two of you seem to be with that."
"The only people there were Hutts, their thugs, and slaves Vader sent Korra to liberate," Opal stated somewhat hesitantly.
"You really believe that?" her mother asked in a concerned tone.
"Everyone we rescued does, along with Korra and Mako," Opal answered. "It was also about hurting the Besadi Hutt clan and destroying the Ylesian mines completely, ensuring there would be no more people addicted to the T'Landa Til's perverted singing as they were worked to death. Given what Zhu Li and Vader's underling, Director Namada, have related regarding 'Exultation' as it's called, I'd say that's a good thing."
"Great, not only can he strangle me through a phone call and overwhelm the Avatar and a whole tribe of Waterbenders during a full moon, but he can also convince people that mass slaughter is a good thing," Toph remarked. "As if he wasn't scary enough. So, Kuvira and Junior's army has just accepted the help of the man who killed the last good king of our country?" Noticing Bolin's confusion, Eska spoke up.
"King Kuei II was on Air Temple Island the day Vader came," the Waterbender explained. "He was generally seen as a reformer determined to help his kingdom, and the fact he had gone to Republic City was an example of how he'd given up the claim the URN should be returned to the Earth Kingdom."
"And then Vader crashed the party," Malina added. "Kuei tried to help, and Vader wringed his neck as if it was nothing. Hou-Ting declared herself queen shortly afterward, and Kuei's proper heirs left Ba Sing Se because they were afraid of what would happen if they didn't."
"Honestly, most of my colleagues in the EUA hate the monarchy," Bolin said after processing that information. "They don't seem too bothered by what Vader did that day. Even if they did, their leaders, a bunch of people saved from the Hutts, and the Avatar herself have all shown up and talked about how Vader is our friend. They're past the point of caring for some dead guy who wore the crown twenty years ago. Also, I realized that Vader was far from the scariest thing out in space."
"Those slug men are no match for us now that we know about them," Toph stated.
"I wouldn't be sure of that, but that's not what he meant," Opal told her grandmother. "The Hutt's minions thought it would be hilarious to inflict a horrible death. So, they tossed Bolin out one airlock and me out the opposite direction."
"I understand-""No, you don't, Aunt Malina," Opal cut off her aunt. "This isn't like being adrift at sea. Space has NOTHING within it."
"What do you mean by 'nothing'?" Suyin asked her daughter. Pausing for a moment to think of a way they could understand, Opal spoke.
"Imagine you need to go into a dangerous area and the air is poisonous, so toxic that you need to cover your skin so the gas doesn't seep into it," the young Airbender explained. "That's in addition to wearing a helmet with its own air supply so you can breathe."
"Is that what space is like?" her father asked in a worried tone.
"You need to wear such a suit, because there is nothing around you," Opal explained. "No air to breathe, or even to bend. You might see an asteroid or a comet with some ice or rock, but it will almost certainly be too far away to bend. The only air you have is what's in your suit. If your helmet is shattered, you will suffocate. If your suit is torn, you will hear a hissing sound and feel cold at the hole, as space is so cold that you're liable to get frostbite. Since there is no inertia in space, you will spin endlessly in that direction until you physically collide with something," she continued, uncomfortable at remembering being tossed out an airlock. "If you are caught in a planet's gravity, you will not impact the surface. The friction from the atmosphere will make you burst into flames, and when you pass through the first layer, your ashes will be scattered across the planet by the winds."
"The gangsters who abducted us, they put me in one suit and Opal in another suit," Bolin added, somewhat uncomfortably. "They gave us radios so I could listen to her choke to death since she had a smaller oxygen tank than me. We were sent flying in opposite directions, but I remembered something the Holocron taught me."
"The Holocron is that magic crystal that taught Kuvira how to shoot lightning?" asked Wei, as disturbed by the story as the rest of his family.
"Yeah," Bolin confirmed. "It said I needed passion to use the Force. I managed to pull Opal close enough to connect my oxygen tank to her before she passed out. We then drifted in space for a bit before Vader yanked us onto his ship." After hearing the story, Suyin thanked her daughter's boyfriend.
"You really do love each other," Baatar Sr remarked to his daughter and her boyfriend. "I just wish the realization wasn't in as harrowing circumstances, but at least you're safe now."
"No, Dad, we're not," Opal stated. "The entire world is in the same position, nonstop. The whole planet is spinning unstoppably, and there is no way to affect anything outside our own atmosphere. But the other people of the wider galaxy CAN affect what goes on outside their own planets. That is why no one in the EUA has a problem working with the Empire. There is no way to protect ourselves against the threats out there, so they've befriended those who can help us." Pausing for a moment, Toph noted that was just what Vader said.
"What Korra and Mako say, as well," Bolin noted. "And you're only validating their belief no one would listen to their warnings, ending in disaster."
"And how are they the experts?" Toph asked incredulously.
"They've been out in the wider galaxy for a whole year, studying it, and learning from the people who live there," Opal answered.
"If the threat is so dangerous, they should tell everyone about it," Toph remarked.
"That's what Korra did when we learned Unalaq's true scheme, imploring the involvement of the United Forces in the Water Tribe Civil War," Bolin answered. "Unlike most of the time where they doubted her or said Korra had to take it slow, Tenzin and Lin immediately agreed to her suggestion. Raiko ignored her anyway and ordered the United Forces to stay put. As a result, we had a much harder time fighting through Unalaq's army, he captured Jinora just in time for Convergence to begin, and Korra opened the portal to save her. As a result, Unalaq merged with Vaatu, almost killed Korra, severed her connection to the past Avatars, and came incredibly close to complete victory."
"So, you're saying that this work is secret so that no one can delay it until it's too late to help," Suyin said.
"And it is on the verge of completion, now," Bolin said, tucking in his uniform. "Duty calls, and I need to be there until Kuvira and Baatar return." He left the room. Before leaving to fly Bolin back to his post, Opal turned to her mother.
"You've barely said anything, Mom," she noted. "Don't you have anything to say?"
"I'm relieved you and your siblings are okay," Su told her daughter. "I am happy that Korra and Mako are back, as well. But I wonder about this Empire they've befriended. And what their 'help' for our planet entails. I'm also concerned about what your brother and sister are doing with Vader."
"And Vader might not be as benevolent as they think," Lin added.
"Well, if you do have concerns, I have some advice for you," Opal told her parents. "Mom, Dad, if you want to bring up your concerns to Kuvira and Baatar, you need to reach out and listen to what they have to say. Otherwise, you won't get anywhere with them." Turning to Malina, Opal spoke again. "Vader gave Mako and Korra a home, a safe place to put their children, a position of authority and respect teaching the new Benders Korra made among the Imperials, and he taught them how to 'use the Force' as he calls it, along with giving them lightsabers he taught them how to use," Opal explained.
"It sounds like he was manipulating them by pampering them with gifts," Toph remarked. "Also, children?"
"Yeah, they had twins while on another planet," Opal explained. "The point is that, at this point, neither of them will be swayed by stories of his rampage the first time he was here, or by listing off the people Vader killed." Malina clinched her fist at that remark, remembering how Vader killed her father and beloved uncle.
"Which means she needs to learn about horrible things he did elsewhere to make them listen to reason," Toph remarked. "I suppose we'll have to ask the Imperials to fly us to another planet to find something they don't want us to know. Thank you for clarifying how it's impossible to convince Korra and her boyfriend that Vader is evil." As Opal left, Lin said she would inform Tenzin about who Aphra was in two days, and how if she was wise, Opal would tell Tenzin herself first. After his sister flew off in her bison, Wing noted it was time for his leg therapy.
"Guess it's as good a time as any to start asking the doc about the Empire," Wing noted. "Should make for interesting conversation during power disc practice."
Vader's apostles stood together in front of a viewport on the Devastator, which had just entered the Geonosis system. Ever since the end of the Clone Wars, the Geonosians had been confined to their homeworld and access to the planet had been restricted. All the offworld colonies, always set up for building battle droids by enslaving the locals, had been destroyed, and any Geonosian found offworld was to be killed on sight. Not that many people needed encouragement to kill the insectoid species, especially after the revelation that the parasites linking them to a hive mind could possess non Geonosians. That, along with their bloodthirsty behavior and penchant for forcing outsiders to fight in gladiator games, made them a universally reviled race.
As they came out of hyperspace, the four saw a bizarre sight. It was a giant, ball-like structure, so big it could be mistaken for a moon at a distance. As the star destroyer came closer, Korra saw a giant hole on the top half of the construction. Kuvira thought it was strange as there didn't appear to be any other such gaps, apart from an equatorial ring ships were landing in and leaving continuously. Just then, Darth Vader and Director Krennic came into the room.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Krennic.
"It's certainly an impressive construction," Kuvira replied. "Though I wonder why there is such a giant gap inside it."
"This is why I was on Maridun when Korra and Mako came," the director continued. "I thought there was ore there ideal for this project. Of course, it was hardly a wasted trip."
"What is that thing, exactly?" Mako asked. After a moment, the director spoke.
"I think it's best to start from the beginning," Krennic said. "During the war, after the second battle of Geonosis, we found the beginnings of that vessel's construction. The Geonosians had developed a gargantuan, mobile battle platform and were beginning to build it. We commandeered it but rather than reveal it, we decided to continue the construction, in case the Separatists tried to do so again. Officially, it is called the Deep-Space Mobile Battle Platform. But we prefer the grander title of the Death Star."
"Okay, but what does it do?" asked Baatar, who had a suspicion of its capabilities.
"In addition to acting as a mobile spacedock for the navy, the gap you see will one day be filled by the superlaser dish," Krennic explained. "It will be able to target anything bigger than a Gozanti, and destroy that ship in a single shot. Any planetary shield it faces, the Death Star will overwhelm. At low power, it will annihilate whatever continent it targets. At a higher setting, it will destroy the entire planet in question." At that moment, Vader's four apostles' eyes opened in shock.
"What?" asked Korra.
"Why would such a thing be built?" Mako asked.
"The Separatists might have been able to initially outnumber us with their mass-produced droid armies, but even at its weakest, the Republic was stronger than them," Vader stated. "Their only hope of victory was to intimidate the Republic into giving up before its full might was brought to bear. To do this, they combined every war crime imaginable with various superweapon projects, each more grandiose than the last." Korra heard a hint of contempt in Vader's voice, implying he felt that way for the Death Star itself.
"As for why we have kept building it, there are several reasons," Krennic continued. "We have learned of several threats lurking in the Unknown Regions. In addition, there are some worlds quarantined for dangerous diseases, so we plan to destroy these worlds and the pathogens contained there. And of course, there are some worlds that would be far too costly to take in battle."
"So, they have to be destroyed?" asked Mako.
"I think most will surrender after the superlaser disables their planet's shields," Krennic said. "If that doesn't work, I'm sure an underpowered shot to one location on their world will convince them. Perhaps a more targeted bombardment by one of the escort star destroyers will be enough to persuade them. I doubt that we would need to destroy an entire enemy planet. The rest of the time, we would be breaking apart uninhabitable worlds so that asteroid miners would have an easier time gaining the ore within."
"Perhaps one world would need to be destroyed to intimidate others," Kuvira concluded. "Destroying every world that opposes us is sheer insanity."
"Of course, we have other options," Korra agreed. "Such as the Imperial Bender Corps we've been building. This is just a last resort."
"Indeed," Krennic confirmed. "The Death Star is almost ready for travel. The insides are nearly finished. All that is left is the superlaser dish being built elsewhere, and the firing chamber it shall fit into. Lord Vader and I have argued to the emperor that Elementia is where its construction should be completed."
"We'd never go unguarded," Mako remarked. "It'd be hard for any pirate to sneak up and make a raid past that and the ships protecting it."
"It'll also serve another purpose," Korra remarked. "Raiko pretended that what happened outside the URN didn't affect it. He'll try to convince everyone of the same thing when we inform the world of the wider galaxy. The sight of a giant, artificial moon being built in the sky will free everyone of such delusions."
"It'll also demonstrate to my aunt, and others like her, that the Empire is the ultimate power in the universe," Baatar added. "That should make her less inclined to pick a fight with Lord Vader."
"The Force can do worse than destroy planets," Vader said. "But it never hurts to show more tangible power." After Krennic left the room, Vader stayed behind. "I heard about how Bolin and Opal were summoned to Zaofu," he stated to Kuvira and Baatar. "I knew they would reveal everything, so I contacted your family via Dr. Raylen before they could. I told them the truth, that you had become my apprentices, and informed your aunt that it was her husband's fault I had to do what I did. Your grandmother was as stubborn and arrogant as ever, so I demonstrated the Force transcends distance." Turning to Korra, he added, "Your cousin Eska now understands the situation. No doubt she is headed back to the North Pole to inform her brother of the truth."
"How did Mom and Dad react?" asked Baatar, somewhat nervously.
"Your mother is still averse to admitting she was wrong on something, so your father thanked me on their behalf," Vader stated, before turning to Korra. "It is time to make your return official, and usher Elementia into the Empire."
"Indeed, master," Korra affirmed. As they flew back on the Platinum Bender, Baatar approached Vader with an idea.
"The spirit energy cannon is almost ready, my lord," he began. "I believe I have found the perfect place to mount it: the Super Star Destroyer almost completed above Fondor." He'd learned of Korra and Mako's mission, and how Admiral Griff's project was almost completed.
"I will requisition the ship," Vader told his apprentice. "You will be able to build your spirit energy weapon into it." Shifting his gaze to Kuvira, Vader noticed she had something on her mind.
"Well, master, I am thinking of my battle with Shaak Ti," she answered. "She was a formidable opponent, and a worthy test. But she said many things that...stuck with me."
"I am aware," Vader replied, before summoning all four of his apostles in front of him. "Before I became Darth Vader, my name was Anakin Skywalker, and I was a Jedi Knight." That revelation surprised his students. They knew that, as a Sith Lord, he was given the name Darth Vader to symbolize how he had become something more than who he was, and several of their adversaries had referred to him by the names of Anakin and Skywalker, but none of them suspected he was a Jedi. "Like so many others, I was raised with tales of Jedi greatness, before joining later than most," he said. "This was a blessing, as it made me harder to indoctrinate."
"Why did you join later than usual?" asked Mako.
"I was a slave on a world under Hutt control," Vader answered. "The Jedi were too afraid to challenge the status quo, so they never went on a slave raid like we have. When I was nine, I helped a stranger out of his predicament. He arranged for my freedom and did everything he could to bring me into the Jedi Order, for he was a Jedi himself." Vader went on to say how that Jedi, named Qui-Gon Jinn, was killed shortly afterward, and that he was shortly afterward made an apprentice. "They thought I was prophesized to solve all their problems, but as I came in older than normal, they had a harder time brainwashing me," Vader continued. "Gradually, I came to see the problems and failings of the Jedi, but that, is a story for another time."
"Well, I guess we know why you hate slavery so much," Korra remarked. "And I suppose you know the dangers and corruption of the Jedi better than anyone." As they flew closer to Elementia, the holocom started beeping.
At the Southern Air Temple, Tenzin smiled as he observed his students. All of them, even the newcomers like Aphra, were progressing admirably. The young archeologist still had mixed feelings about the Air Nation. On one hand, she did like Airbending but on the other hand, she was a little vocal in what she thought was wrong or at least bizarre.
"I'm a little surprised that Airbenders still have arrow tattoos across their bodies," she said. "Makes it very hard to hide."
"Good guys don't need to hide, Miss Aphra," one of the White Lotus sentries said. He'd been rather suspicious of Aphra ever since she arrived.
"Except for when they do," Aphra says. "Such as when, say, a bloodthirsty Fire Lord kickstarts a war by trying to kill every Airbender in the world. It's pretty hard to avoid a genocidal maniac when you have blue arrows tattooed on your forehead, hands, and feet. And it's Doctor Aphra, remember?" She had kept her doctorate from Ba Sing Se university with her.
"That is the curse of hindsight," Tenzin stated. "It is true that my parents and their friends had to hide who they were on several occasions. And my father's arrows made it hard to hide, especially in the Fire Nation, but they are part of being an Air Nomad."
"And hating needles is a part of who I am," Aphra said. "If I do stick with you, I'll let my mastery speak for itself."
"So, you have no respect for traditions at all," the White Lotus sentry, named Shang, growled. Ever since Aphra had come, he had been unpleasant to her, and she had continuously disrespected him in turn.
"Some traditions deserve to be discontinued and forgotten," Aphra retorted. "Such as a useless fraternity that can't protect its charges or keep its prisoners in jail."
"Okay, I think we need a break," Jinora interrupted them. "Aphra, you should be more respectful to the White Lotus. Guardsmen Shang, you shouldn't needle our students." After the argument was broken up, Jinora's mother went to her.
"Shang can be a bit hard to get along with, but he's only doing his job to protect us," Pema told her daughter.
"By repeatedly disrespecting our students?" asked Jinora. "That doesn't make them inclined to learn or stick with us."
"No, but he's more concerned about an infiltrator," Pema explained. "Zaheer tried once before, another Red Lotus might try again."
"We don't have to worry about the Red Lotus," Kai said, picking up the scroll on meditation he was supposed to be studying. "Zaheer got caught again, and this time, the whole RLO is going down with him." When Zaheer was caught again, he was captured along with the communication protocols for the secret society of anarchists. Within two weeks, virtually the entire terrorist group had been identified and swiftly arrested across the world. Most of them were now imprisoned either at the Boiling Rock or on their way there. The new Air Nation had celebrated the news when it had been confirmed.
"Perhaps," Pema acknowledged. "But there could be others. With the damage the riots did to Ba Sing Se university, it's impossible to determine if that doctorate in her room is real. And we've heard nothing about that village she was supposedly born in."
"Recordkeeping isn't a thing in most of the Earth Kingdom," Kai said to his girlfriend's mother. "Not for the average Earther. I doubt I even have a birth certificate. Even if I did, well, let me tell you a story: it was about a year before I became an Airbender. This rich guy in town had just died. I was a bit surprised, because he spent a lot on his medicine, doctors, and other stuff. Then, I learned why, and it made too much sense: his doctor had lost his records and gave him some heparin in place of his usual meds. The rich guy was allergic, which meant that he choked barfing it back up in bed. If some rich guy's paperwork can be lost so easily, how easy is it for everyone else? Assuming they have any to begin with."
"Mom, Shang isn't just distrusting Aphra, he's distrusting Opal," Jinora said to her mother. "She rescued Aphra from a slave mine. Do you think Opal is making that up?"
"Of course not," Pema told her daughter as she nursed Rohan. "I'm sure Aphra was in that position, along with those others Opal, Bolin, and Kuvira rescued. I'm just not sure if she's telling the whole truth. I considered becoming an archeologist before I met your father. I still try to follow the exploits of others who did from time to time. And I've never heard of anyone named Aphra before."
"I wonder how many of those are real archeologists," Aphra said as she dropped off the scroll she'd finished with.
"Real archeologists?" asked Pema.
"Most of those who graduate from Ba Sing Se U aren't actually archeologists," the younger woman said.
"Truly?" Pema skeptically. "I find that hard to believe."
"One thing I've learned is that archeology is about facts, not truth," Aphra said. "Truth is just another word for opinion. When the queen or her cohorts sent my contemporaries out to find 'the truth' they were actually looking for something that would supposedly prove whatever they were claiming. Usually, this was about proving some notion of past glory. Such as, say, finding an ancient cup with an Earth Kingdom symbol on it outside the Western Air Temple to justify the claim Hou-Ting was the rightful ruler of that patch of land."
"So, you're saying the job of the other archeologists was to validate whatever lies your rulers made for political purposes," Tenzin said as he entered the room. "Such things have happened before, and it wouldn't be out of character for the late queen to do so. But I'm a little unsure as to how you made your living, without validating such lies."
"I mostly sold my finds to private collectors or to foreign museums," Aphra answered. "At an arm's length, since they didn't want to be caught acquiring such relics without the queen's approval, which they'd never get." She left the room to rest in her own quarters. Tenzin wondered how his mother and sister were doing, back in the South Pole. They had returned to teaching Waterbending, especially healing, down south. Katara had also decided to speak with her old student Senna and her husband about their connection to the man who killed her husband and brother.
Sometime after everyone went to bed, a massive explosion woke everyone up. Tenzin rushed out of bed to his children's room. Most of them were okay but Rohan was bleeding from his left ear. As everyone stumbled out of their quarters, the White Lotus and the more skilled Airbenders readied themselves. All of the sudden, a loud bang rang out and a red bolt as fast as lightning hit Tenzin's right knee, sending him sprawling to the ground in pain. More loud bangs and red bolts flew out, hitting one White Lotus member after another. Looking to the left, they saw a figure in a black longcoat with a large black hat holding two strange devices in his hands, letting out a loud bang with each red bolt fired from them. One of the Firebenders counterattacked, but the figure jumped off the cliff, firing as he did so. One of White Lotus looked over, and a cable lassoed around his neck and pulled him over. The figure flew back upward with some sort of rockets attached to his boots, the cable retracting into some sort of gauntlet. One gauntlet fired something, binding Jinora's hands, while the other snared the cable around her feet and yanked her over the edge. Kai, who was closest to her, rushed forward with a White Lotus sentry backing him up. The right gauntlet unleashed a barrage of flame, engulfing the sentry as Aphra pushed Kai out of the way.
Jinora was doing her best to Airbend herself back up, but it was hard with both hands tied. Just as she was about to fall from exhaustion, Kai grabbed her and pulled her back over the edge. Her sister and brother rushed toward her, but the mysterious figure jetted forward and kicked Meelo in the face, firing on Ikki and forcing her to dive for cover. Daw rushed to help but the assailant shot him in the heart. Noticing a fuel tank close to Jinora, Kai, and Aphra, the attacker shot it. Kai bent an Air shield to protect himself, Aphra, and Jinora, but they were sent flying by the blast, to which Aphra dove after them. The attacker tossed something into the crowd of Airbenders, unleashing some sort of electrical discharge, knocking all of them unconscious.
When Tenzin awoke, Acolyte Ryu had wrapped a bandage around his leg, and Pema was tending to Rohan's injured ear. Tenzin tried to get up but immediately collapsed in pain from his injured leg.
"Where-where are the children?!" he asked his wife frantically.
"Meelo and Ikki ran to let the bison out before the fire reached their stable, I don't know where Jinora is," a worried Pema answered. As Tenzin looked around, he saw they were chained to the floor and surrounded by some sort of red field of energy. Ryu pointed to a sight none of them expected to see. Meelo was bound and gagged and being dragged by Otaku, one of the most dedicated and enthusiastic of the new Airbenders. After he was tossed inside, Sentry Shang looked at Otaku with contempt.
"I never thought you might be a traitor," he snarled. After a moment, another possibility entered Tenzin's mind.
"I don't think Otaku has betrayed us," the Airbending master said as he looked to the bizarre energy cage they were inside. "I think that he was replaced, or mind controlled by a space alien." As everyone looked to Tenzin in shock at how he would say something so ridiculous, Otaku spoke.
"And here I was wondering how to explain everything to you," he said, pulling something off. All of the sudden, Otaku and his clothes disappeared. In his place was the same, longcoat-wearing attacker, with his two weapons hanging from his belt. Now that he was much closer, and without his hat, they could see his appearance clearer. His head was completely lacking hair, a nose, and discernible lips. His skin was blue, and his eyes were completely red. Then, he pulled a pair of hoses from his backpack and implanted them into his cheeks.
"Here you are, Mr. Bane," a small robot with rockets on his feet zipped up, handing the blue man his hat.
"Go back to the ship, Todo," Bane told the machine. "We'll be leaving shortly. Durga's men can handle them, now." Noticing how everyone except Tenzin and his son Meelo were baffled by him, Bane looked over to them.
"What did you do to Otaku?" Tenzin demanded.
"He's a pile of ash scattered across the whole planet," Bane stated in a deep, scratchy voice. "Given the attitude of most of these idiots, I'm surprised you knew I'm from another world."
"We wound up on another world looking for some friends," Meelo spoke up. "We didn't find them, but we did go for a ride in a spaceship and run into some other aliens."
"You know, that's a rude word to say, so here's a lesson about saying 'alien'" Bane stated, before stomping as hard as he could on Meelo's right ankle, causing him to scream in pain while both Tenzin and Pema tried to rush to their son's aid.
"Dammit, he didn't mean anything by it!" Shang yelled. "We've never seen your race before, so all we can call you is an alien, Mr. Bane!"
"That was more respectful, but you didn't learn the lesson, so here's another," Bane replied. The blue-skinned assailant started moving his arms in a bending motion, airbending a sphere around Shang's head. Shang soon began to cough, and then, Bane ripped the air out of Shang's body as he collapsed to the ground, dead. "Any more complaints?" After a moment of everyone shaking their heads out of fear, Bane turned back to Tenzin. "Were those friends named Korra and Mako?" This surprised Tenzin and Meelo, how could this guy know that? "I take that's a 'yes'" Bane stated. "You were her teacher, and you forgot to teach her the most important lesson: avoid sticking your nose in what doesn't concern you."
"And what are you doing here?!" an angered Pema yelled. "You've gone to a world that doesn't know you even exist, murdered numerous people, and imprisoned others who have done nothing to you!" At that moment, more aliens appeared, holding their own weapons. Some looked like green pigs holding axes, others looked like shaved dogs who were holding similar weapons as Bane. And some had light green, scaled skin with bug like eyes and antenna on their heads, also holding weapons akin to Bane's.
"Korra and Mako didn't like how these gentlemen and their employers made money and spent their free time, so they destroyed what these guys loved, including their families," Bane stated. "They think it's fair that the Avatar and her lover lose what they love, and you're a good place to start. Of course, I'm just here for the money."
"The money?" Ryu asked incredulously. "That's why you've done what you've done?"
"Yeah, as long as I get paid, my employers reasons make no difference to me," Bane smirked, before shooting Ryu in the stomach. As everyone was horrified by what Bane had done, the blue-skinned alien turned to Tenzin. "Thank you for teaching me how to Airbend but I know the secret to it that you refuse to acknowledge: look out for yourself. All else, is a weakness." He then shot Ryu again, killing him. Bane stormed out as the other aliens took position around the cage. He and Todo took off in their ship, jetting in the direction of where Ikki was flying one of the bison. She wouldn't reach a place to call for help if Bane could help it.
Aphra had narrowly managed to grab the three kids and propel themselves to safety after being blasted off the mountain. Seeing a bison fly past with Ikki on top, Aphra saw a tracer blinking on the saddle. As Aphra hid Jinora and Kai under the trees, she soon saw a starfighter fly off after the bison. After checking to make sure the two kids were alright, placing a bacta patch on Jinora's shoulder and one on Kai's head, she held up her bracelet. She'd claimed it belonged to her mother so that she could keep it with her, but it was actually a hidden comlink for her to call for help in case something too much for the Airbenders to handle came for them.
"Code twelve, code twelve!" she yelled into it. "Command, do you copy?!"
"Loud and clear, Aphra, what's going on?" the officer on the other end answered.
"The Besadis have taken most of the principals hostage, all the secondaries have been killed or captured as well," Aphra reported, having seen two ships with the Besadi insignia. "I have two of the principals with me, and one has escaped on her bison but a starfighter is pursuing her."
"Copy, the rescue team is on its way, and we'll send another to pick up the runaway," the officer calmly stated. Aphra then turned to Jinora and Kai, who were beginning to wake up. She had to explain a lot before the rescue team arrived.
Suyin doesn't know what to think of Vader. On one hand, he killed her father and many others, on the other, he saved her children for seemingly no reason. Malina and Toph are utterly hateful to Vader but they are afraid of fighting him directly. Eska just knows the stories she heard of him growing up, and how her father treated his own family. Su's kids are intimidated by the Obsidian Knight they've heard horror stories of but their own sister is giving him the benefit of the doubt, in addition to how one of his minions is helping Wing walk again. Baatar Sr doesn't know what to think of the man who killed Avatar Aang. Lin is secretly impressed Vader would risk a diplomatic incident to hurt a crime syndicate. All of them are afraid of how he is part of an 'Empire.'
Credit to Spacedock on YouTube for coining the term 'Mobile Platform.' Something can't be stationary and mobile but across sci-fi there are many starships with the characteristics of space stations, the Death Star being the most famous. Vader's four apostles believe the Death Star would be a last resort as opposed to the solution for everything. Krennic originally thought it would solve every problem the Empire would face but learning Firebending as led him to realize there are better solutions to specific problems. All the apostles have heard snippets about Anakin Skywalker, so Vader has decided to clue them in, partially to reinforce their trust and partly to vent his own frustrations.
Bane was using an improved version of the holographic disguise his partner used in Holocron Heist. Korra did not give Cad Bane Airbending, and that is all I will say for now. Next chapter, stormtroopers to the rescue at the Southern Air Temple, Ezra and Jonah rescue Ikki, Durga the Hutt begins his attack on Elementia, and Enfys Nest attacks the Boiling Rock.