As the starship started hurtling toward Elementia, Kuvira raced across the bridge, following Vader's instructions, pushing buttons and pulling levers. They couldn't stop the ship from crashing, but they could stop it from hitting Republic City. As they were racing to save the URN capitol, their comlinks beeped.
"Lord Vader, we are mopping up the last of the enemy craft, now," Captain Corsin reported. "We are standing by to assist your evacuation."
"That isn't an option, Captain," Vader stated. "Look for any enemy ships retreating and destroy those that you can."
"Yes, my lord," Corsin replied. As the Providence began hurtling through the atmosphere, the ship began to heat up from reentry. As things got increasingly hot on the bridge, Vader ordered Kuvira to shield them.
"Yes, master," she answered, Metalbending a great sphere around them. Soon, an explosion rocked the bridge, sending both flying out of the ship as it passed into the atmosphere. Discarding the shield, Kuvira and Vader saw the burning Besadi flagship flying past them like a meteor as the Sith Lord and his apprentice drifted further to the north. Thankfully, it overshot Republic City and crashed on the other side of the mountains. The explosion was truly massive, leaving a giant burning crater in its wake. Kuvira was as exhilarated as she was terrified. On one hand, she had never felt such a rush of air as she was flying but on the other hand, she had no control over what was happening at all and seemed likely to smash into the surface with a hard splat. She couldn't talk to Vader with all the wind rushing in her ears, and he was drifting further away. Hearing something, Kuvira saw a biplane approaching. Deploying her Metalbending cables, she grabbed it quickly, slowing her descent toward a river, but the force of descent was still too much, and the two wings were ripped off, sending her crashing into the water. Kuvira quickly resurfaced and tossed off her broken helmet as she got onto the shore. She saw she was at an airfield, and the plane which had broken her descent had crashed and burst into flames.
"Who the hell are you?!" a man in a URN uniform yelled at her. "Aliens have appeared out of nowhere, and you're joyriding in the sky!" Before Kuvira could respond, a loud crash emanated from a nearby hanger, as something had just crashed through the roof. Then, the hanger doors were knocked off their hinges as the people outside ran backward. Through the smoke echoed a menacing sound of mechanical breathing, and as it cleared, Darth Vader stepped into view. Turning to a small squad in front of him, he spoke.
"If you attack me, you will die," he threatened. Many of the soldiers, recognizing the Obsidian Knight, ran away at the command, even as their commanders demanded they stay at their posts. Some of the soldiers stayed when they heard they'd be prosecuted for desertion, at which point the commanders ordered their subordinates to the Mechs.
"Kuvira, I will join you when I'm able," he told his apprentice. "Korra and Mako will need your help." Kuvira nodded in understanding and charged to a biplane on the tarmac. Ripping the pilot out with her Metalbending, she jumped into the pilot seat and took off. Meanwhile, Vader drew his lightsaber and ripped the general in front of him close, chopping the officer in half down the middle. Seeing a Mech, he lifted it up in the air and crushed it, tossing it into a biplane on the tarmac. Deflecting a shock bola fired by one of the Mechs, Vader jumped on top of it and stabbed his lightsaber through the viewport, killing the pilot. Slashing its fuel tank, Vader sent it flying toward a squad of Republican soldiers, engulfing them in a fireball.
Vader called on his rage and gripped every ground soldier still attacking using the Force. Vader sent one of the officers flying into a biplane trying to drop a bomb on him, an explosion of blood resulting from impacting the propeller. As the plane crashed into its wingman and exploded, Vader crushed the throats of the rest of his opponents using the Force. Seeing the last Mech on the tarmac, Vader gripped it and sent it flying into an airship hanger. The resulting impact caused a massive explosion which destroyed both the hanger and the one next to it. His victory achieved, Vader strode toward an Airship filled with the soldiers wise enough to run. Just as it lifted off, Vader leapt into the cockpit, staring the crew down.
"Take me to Republic City," Vader commanded the crew. Seeing the radio operator, he sent the machine flying into the wall and smashing it to pieces. "If you defy me whatsoever, I will kill you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," the entire crew replied, too terrified of him to refuse.
When Baatar learned that the Besadi flagship was falling, he had jumped back into his shuttle. He might not be able to stop the ship from crashing, but he could give Kuvira and Vader a way off the doomed ship, and then take them and the stormtrooper squad on his shuttle to Republic City to help Korra and Mako. That is when he was contacted by Captain Corsin. The squad in question was led by a man named LaRone and had been dubbed the 'Elemental Fist' for how skilled four of the five stormtroopers were in different elements.
"Colonel, Lord Vader has ordered that we not interfere," the star destroyer captain revealed. "The ship is going too fast for you to dock with, anyway. And we have a bigger problem."
"What problem could be bigger than losing Kuvira and Lord Vader?!" he exclaimed. Before Corsin could explain, another star destroyer came out of hyperspace. A new channel opened, and the hologram shocked both Baatar and Corsin at who the commander was.
"This is the ISD Executrix, what is the situation?" asked Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. Baatar and Kuvira had never met the man before, but they had been told much of him. According to Vader, Tarkin was a gifted strategist who occasionally forgot there were less costly paths to victory, and that, since he was willing to die for the Empire, he expected everyone else to be willing to do so. Less complimentary were Korra and Mako. They painted a picture of a man who didn't properly appreciate the Force, let alone the Bending native to Elementia. That was in addition to how Tarkin almost caused Mako's death by ordering the destruction of a terrorist ship he'd boarded.
"Sir, in addition to the Hutt forces, offworld Rebels are here, attempting to rescue imprisoned terrorists at the prison called the Boiling Rock," Corsin reported. "No doubt to recruit some Benders into their own ranks." Tarkin looked at the intelligence reports for Elementia that a man of his rank was privilege to.
"The area surrounding the Boiling Rock, it is the headquarters and primary training center for the reactionary movement called the Order Of The White Lotus, isn't it?" Tarkin asked.
"That isn't quite how I would describe them, sir, but yes, it is their headquarters," Baatar confirmed.
"I thought so," Tarkin stated. "Captain Corsin, focus on destroying any ships that manage to escape." The Grand Moff turned to an officer at his side. "Captain Darcc, move us into bombardment position. Target this volcano, here. That should handle the White Lotus before they can interfere in the future."
"Yes, sir," the Imperial officers confirmed. Baatar was about to protest at the disregard for the innocent in the area that would be bombarded but Corsin gave him a look conveying how there was no way to stop this. Realizing he'd done all he could, Baatar ordered his shuttle to take him to Republic City.
A loud sound awoke Zaheer in the middle of the night. As he awoke, he Airbent upward in a panic but was knocked backward by the chains tethering him to the floor. After hearing several loud noises, an explosion blew his cell door off its hinges. Storming into the room was the young woman called Enfys Nest, wearing her strange helmet. The White Lotus guards charged but she quickly knocked them back with her staff. Nest wrapped her staff around one's neck and twisted, breaking the guard's neck, before pulling a blaster pistol and shooting the second before he could get back up.
"I was starting to wonder if I had imagined your visit," Zaheer stated. After Darth Vader had tortured him to weaken his mental defenses, enabling his mind to be read, Zaheer had felt downright broken afterward. Such a feeling had only worsened both with his solitary confinement and how the entire Red Lotus Order had been revealed and the majority being sent here.
"I am here, now, and I need your help," she stated. "The other revolutionaries here don't know who I am, so I will need your help to get them to listen."
"Get them to trust you, you mean," Zaheer corrected, sounding suspicious.
"You'll never get anywhere if you don't trust me," Nest replied.
"I trusted Unalaq, and he sent me into a trap to help his own plan, which is incompatible with my aims," the Red Lotus leader replied. "But without you, I wouldn't be getting out of here to continue the fight, so I will do so. For now." He followed her into the main part of the prison, and saw several Red Lotus members, alongside captured Equalists.
"Zaheer, what is going on?" one of the Red Lotus chapter leaders asked.
"These are allies of ours, and their enemies are our enemies," Zaheer answered. "As well as enemies to Equality, as well."
"I doubt that, you dirty Bender!" one of the Equalists retorted. Zaheer was about to explain what was going on, when one of Nest's underlings, a non-human, charged in. As the audience was stunned at the sight of a clearly alien being, it spoke in an unknown language quickly, and Enfys looked rather disturbed.
"I'll be happy to continue this conversation, later, but right now, one of the Empire's star destroyers is approaching bombardment range," Nest stated, with only Zaheer understanding what it meant. "If we do not leave in five minutes, we will die." At that, Zaheer got his fellow Red Lotus members to follow him. The Equalists were far more hesitant, so they were dragged to the enormous spaceships outside, somewhat reluctantly. Hopefully, they would be more reasonable after escaping. As they made their way through the wreckage of the main White Lotus base, ravaged by Nest's sabotage, Zaheer briefly wondered why they were only going onto one of the ships as opposed to both, but quickly realized one of them was a decoy. Hopefully, it would be enough to save them.
As Kuvira flew her commandeered plane to Republic City, she saw much of it aflame. Much of the city had been abandoned in response to the spirit vine infestation, so many people had left at least until new buildings could be erected. Such a construction effort would take an exceptionally long time, and that was before the Besadis went on a rampage to avenge Korra and Vader's actions against them. All of the sudden, she saw a bright green flare striking in the distance, somewhere over the horizon. Was the Devastator hitting the enemy ships on the ground before they could take off? That train of thought was interrupted by a massive roar and plume of smoke. Kuvira thought it looked like a Volcanic eruption when she felt something hit her plane. Looking at the engine, she saw it aflame and that blaster shots were peppering the sky.
"Damn," she cursed herself for letting herself get distracted. She got the plane closer to the ground before bailing out. As it exploded behind her, she Metalbent her cables to grab onto the closest building. Swinging to shore, she landed behind the squad of thugs and wrapped them together in her cables. Noticing one of them had a grenade belt, she ripped the pins off using the Force, running further into the city as the thugs fumbled about attempting to escape the explosion. Noticing more thugs, she Metalbent herself a shield, deflecting blaster shots as she sent out flechettes to cut the thugs apart. Her pace was interrupted by a great roar.
"The Gorog's still alive!" a Weaquay exclaimed in terror. Kuvira saw the giant beast before her. As it climbed back up on its long arms and short legs, much like an ape, Kuvira saw this animal had no biceps in its arms. More puzzling, however, was a massive hole in the right side of its chest. It was bloody and clearly a wound. If it was a human, Kuvira would have thought its heart had been torn out, but the monster was still kicking. As it roared, it grabbed Kuvira in its left hand, moving her toward its mouth. Kuvira blasted its face with Force Lightning, causing it to drop her. She used her seismic sense and saw that the Gorog had a second heart on the left side of its chest. At that moment, she had a plan.
Luring it out onto open ground, Kuvira reached out with the Force and, using her Earthbending, sank the beast into the ground up to its waist. Metalbending the wrecked ships, lampposts, trains, and cars around her, she fashioned a spearhead around herself and propelled herself into the air, Metalbending cables to catapult herself at the Gorog's second heart. Kuvira tore through the beast and came out the other side, discarding the bloody metal around her as the monster collapsed dead. As she caught her breath, she heard something. Looking up, she saw Baatar's shuttle as he leapt down to the ground.
"I know, I'm an idiot who should have gone back to base," he said. "But Bolin can command just as well, and I can help you, here."
"I understand, Baatar," Kuvira replied to her boyfriend. After commanding the Stormtroopers to stay out of sight along with their shuttle, she and Baatar headed toward where they sensed Korra and Mako.
After the ship had crashed beyond the mountains, Korra, using the Avatar state, Earthbent a massive shield around herself and the people she and her friends had rescued. They saw the first flaming debris flying toward them just as Korra closed the dome she'd erected. For what seemed like an eternity, they heard loud noises beyond, and then, all was quiet. At that moment, Korra collapsed in exhaustion, but Mako and Asami caught her before she hit the floor. As the Avatar stood back up, Korra turned to the crowd of people she'd saved.
"Avatar Korra it's good to see you again on this trying day," Shiro Shinobi shouted into his microphone as he came up to her. "I'm sure I speak for the entire world when I ask where you and Detective Mako have been, as well as what you know of these visitors from outer space. Do you have any comment?"
"That I don't think there are any radio towers left for you to transmit, and the dome would stop the signal regardless," Mako answered the reporter. "Now if you'll excuse us, we need to speak to the people we love." He then looked to Captain Avarik and the Death Trooper squad, whose helmet lights illuminated much of the room. "In private." And with that, Corporal Callixte dragged the sports announcer away as Director Krennic brought Mako's grandmother Yin and her family to them. Avarik and his squad had also dropped a series of glowsticks onto the ground, shining green light across the inside of the dome.
"It is wonderful to see you all again," Mako said, to which his entire family hugged him in relief.
"It is a true relief to see you as well," Yin smiled back at him. "So, have you made an honest woman out of Korra yet?"
"Actually, that reminds me," Mako said before turning to Korra. "Korra, close your eyes for a moment." She obliged as Mako pulled something out of his pocket and wrapped it around her neck. Yin and her family, along with Asami, gasped in awe: it was a betrothal necklace, one side of the pendent blue with the water symbol, the other side gold with the fire symbol. "I'd been working on it for two weeks to get the light pattern right," he sheepishly admitted as Korra smiled lovingly at him. "I love you, and Harou and Saria. Korra, will you marry me?" Korra pulled him close and kissed him passionately at that question.
"Of course I will," the Avatar smiled at him after breaking the kiss. At that moment, Yin, the rest of Mako's family, and Asami cheered, especially when they realized Harou and Saria were the young couple's children. After they quieted down, Korra decided to explain more about the situation.
"So, those people are called 'Hutts'?" asked Asami.
"They are minions of the Hutts," Korra answered. "Unless you saw a five-to-seven-hundred-pound slug thing among them. That is a Hutt."
"So, um, could you tell us about your friends?" Mako's cousin Tu asked. "Not that we don't appreciate their protection, but they seem a bit...scary." He then looked over to Krennic and the Death Trooper squad. They were standing in front of Desna, President Raiko, and Shinobi at the front of the crowd of five hundred that had been saved as a result of Korra and Mako's actions. Raiko and Desna were trying to explain they needed to speak to Korra, but Krennic looked both smug at how he could deny their request while Avarik and his squad stayed stoic and threatening through their armor.
"Orson Krennic and others like him are soldiers of the Galactic Empire," Korra explained. "The largest and most powerful state in the known galaxy."
"Wait, that reminds me," Yin said as she remembered something. "Mako, did you find good Prince Wu while you were rescuing the other leaders?" After a moment of silence, Mako replied.
"I'm afraid, no one will ever see Prince Wu again," Mako answered gently, knowing how much his grandmother revered the old monarchy of the Earth Nation. "One of our foes hit him with a weapon that disintegrated him."
"Oh, no, this day has gotten even darker!" Yin exclaimed in despair. "How will the Kingdom be rebuilt? How will you guide Bolin back to the right path?"
"Um, right path?" Korra asked in bemusement.
"Bolin has joined a woman named Kuvira and her private army to take over the Earth Kingdom," Mako's uncle Chow explained. "Many people, including Grandma, are wary of this."
"Change can be scary but it's also necessary," Korra replied.
"Sometimes," Asami intruded. "What can you tell us about this 'Empire'?"
"That it is what is needed for the future," Korra stated. "Darth Vader taught us that."
"Darth Vader?" asked Chow.
"He is the Executor of the Galactic Empire, second only to the Emperor himself," Mako stated. "He is a brilliant man and a genius in many fields."
"Will we get to meet him?" a rather wary Asami asked, knowing what was coming.
"I think you will all get to meet him before the day is done," Mako answered.
"Hello?!" yelled Tahno from behind the wall of Death Troopers. "I appreciate how you are reuniting with your family, Mako, but if it's not too much to ask, could we get out of this giant dome now?"
"The flames outside are too hot to be easily extinguished," Korra shouted back. "If I let the dome down, we'd lose most of our oxygen before I could douse it."
"Well, perhaps we could talk about this invasion and what this means for our world, then?" intruded President Raiko.
"This wasn't an invasion, Mr. Raiko," Korra replied, deliberately neglecting to use his title. "This was a temper tantrum thrown by a bully who lost everything." Raiko was about to shout something back at the disrespect she displayed but Avarik stepped in front of him with a growl. Krennic told his guard captain to calm down, lest they offend the Metalbender police present, even if they were too exhausted or injured to adequately fight, the reason why they hadn't torn down the dome. But he didn't scold Avarik for his hostility to President Raiko.
"I know Raiko's been a jerk, but you could be a bit more polite to the leader of the United Republic," Asami remarked to Korra.
"Raiko's been nothing but trouble for me in all the time I've known him," the Avatar replied. "Until he realizes he needs to follow my lead, he is just an obstacle to be bypassed." Pausing for a moment, Korra's face shifted. "Wait, I sense that it has cooled down outside," Korra stated. She used the Avatar State to remove the dome that had protected them from the ship's debris and resulting firestorm. Looking around them, the assembled crowd saw the devastation. While the mountains had shielded them from the firestorm of the crashed ship, the debris, as well as the battle itself, had left much of Republic City in ruins.
"Ho-how can we recover from this?" a shocked Poppy Raiko asked in horror at the sight.
"We are alive, and much of the city's population was elsewhere due to the expansion project," Mako stated calmly. "This is nothing we can't recover from."
"Easy for you to say, you haven't been here!" yelled Shaozu of the Wolfbats.
"I am starting to think that you helped cause this, Avatar Korra," President Raiko stated with a stern look, staring a Korra as if she was a troublesome student and he was a teacher.
"I see that you haven't changed at all," Korra replied to the president. "Everything is my fault, according to you."
"You haven't done much to quell that belief," he stated. "You said this was a bully who lost everything. What did you mean by that?"
"The Hutts like to enslave people for profit and amusement," a voice intruded. Looking to the source, the crowd saw Kuvira in what looked like an armored pilot's suit. By her side was Baatar in his usual officer's uniform. "The Besadi clan specifically had already set its sights on our world and abducted us along with many others. Thankfully, Korra, Mako, and their friends rescued us from being fed to beasts in gladiator games or worked to death in mines."
"As is our right!" yelled a new voice. It came from what Korra, Mako, Kuvira, and Baatar knew was called a T'Landa T'Il but everyone else just stared in awe at this bizarre Rhino person. Some of them that this was a Hutt, having not heard the description of the species, and how this being was accompanied by a massive number of the alien thugs they had already seen. They also had the last of the battle beasts by their side. "Slavery has always built civilization and fools like you defy this truth! If you had accepted it, you wouldn't ha-" he was interrupted when a damaged building fell to the side on top of his column. The Death Trooper's switched on their infrared and, with the help of the Elemental Fist on the other side, quickly eliminated their remaining adversaries. Krennic cornered the T'Landa T'Il, breaking the microphone attached to the being's injured throat while the Death Troopers surrounded the Besadi commander.
"Sorry, I'm allergic to crap like that," Baatar said, regaining the attention of the crowd.
"You did that?" a shocked Chow asked, recognizing him. "But you aren't a Bender."
"Lord Vader has broadened my horizons, and taught me to use this power," he proudly declared.
"Well, in any event, you are not welcome here, given your actions in the Earth Kingdom, and you must leave at once!" exclaimed President Raiko.
"Don't make threats you can't enforce," an unimpressed Kuvira stated. "Besides, the only reason I am here is because Lord Vader and I were making sure that ship crashed beyond the mountains as opposed to on top of the city."
"Wait, if you were abducted before, that would mean the two of you were rescued by the Avatar and Detective Mako some time ago," realized Deputy Chief Saikhan, looking to Korra and Mako. "Which means you could have warned us of what was coming earlier!"
"And been utterly ignored and disrespected, just like we've always been," an indignant Korra retorted. "You would have disregarded everything Mako and I would have had to say, undermined our efforts to prepare for this, and when the disaster struck just as predicted, you and Raiko would have blamed us to dodge responsibility just like you always have before!"
"So, you are saying that all of this is my fault for being skeptical of you in the past?!" Raiko asked.
"There is one law that every ruler on this planet must follow: obey the Avatar," Korra stated. "Anyone who opposes the Avatar is wrong and deserves whatever happens to them as a result."
"Oh this is horrible!" Shiro Shinobi intruded. "I can't find any radio signals. Wait, I just did get one, huzzah!" He then started yelling rapidly into his microphone about the situation, as excited and sensational as he was in the arena. He then approached Korra and Mako. "So, Avatar Korra, it is wonderful to have you back. I take it that you and Detective Mako will wed in the South Pole, soon?"
"Yes," Mako answered calmly.
"Well, that just brightens my day!" Shinobi continued before turning back to Korra. "So, do you have any important things to tell the world about what is coming?" At that moment, an airship with United Forces insignia approached and began descending, with Korra and the others trained in the Force sensing who was inside.
"Actually, yes, I do have something important to say," Korra replied. "Desna, I need to talk to you." Desna had been rather stoic to this point, focusing on healing his bruised head as opposed to anything else, but a creeping feeling began to emerge in him after he walked up. "Desna, did your father love you?"
"I'm not sure what this has to do with-""Did your father love you?" Korra repeated. "Did he love your sister? Your mother? Did he love the Spirits? Did he love anything at all?"
"No," Desna admitted bitterly, still stung by the reminder of how his father was a truly horrible person. "He said he did, but it was all lies."
"Then, I suppose we can't trust anything he said," Korra continued.
"I suppose so, but I'm not sure what this has to do with the present situation," Desna replied, puzzled as to why his cousin would bring this up.
"My parents learned they couldn't trust Unalaq shortly before I was born," Korra explained. "When they were taken captive by some kidnappers looking for a quick fortune, a man rescued them. That man was Darth Vader."
"Wait," Saikhan spoke up. "You just said Darth Vader was the alien you had befriended. How could he have met your parents?"
"Unalaq tried to use something he didn't understand to his advantage," Korra continued as the airship continued descending. "As a result, Vader came here and was the first person to see Unalaq's true nature. Specifically, how Unalaq murdered our grandfather, Chieftain Arlaq, when he was afraid my father's exile would end." That statement shocked most of the crowd, who were still baffled to hear of aliens having come to their world before. Desna was surprised, not at Korra's conclusion that Unalaq killed his own father, he'd stopped being surprised at any of the horrible things his father did, but at why Korra would reveal this specifically of her alien benefactor.
"Well, this is a surprising revelation, folks, the mystery to an old murder has been re-" Shinobi uncharacteristically stopped, and had a look of puzzlement on his face, as if he'd remembered something long forgotten. "Umm, Avatar Korra, how did Darth Vader come to learn of this crime?" He was noticeably more hesitant than before in asking this.
"Because Unalaq needed a scapegoat and being alone on a strange new world looking for help, Vader was the only stranger present," Korra explained. "A stranger is the easiest to frame for murder."
"Wait," Shinobi said as the airship hovered twenty feet above the ground. "If Darth Vader was the man accused of killing Chieftain Arlaq... then that means-" the doors of the airship dropped, cutting off Shinobi's terrified words. A heavy slam rang out from the blacked-out cargo bay, and it was then joined by a strange rhythm as heavy footsteps sounded out. Shinobi started shaking in abject terror as the sound of mechanical breathing came out of the airship. Most of the other people in the crowd didn't recognize the sound, but they all recognized the silhouette of the Obsidian Knight. If there was any doubt as to who it was, it vanished when the threatening figure dropped down to the ground, his distinctive helmet and armor clear for all to see. As well, his distinctive white-armored soldiers emerged from over the hill, Krennic and his squad standing to the side thirty yards away. Before anyone could do or say anything, the Avatar spoke.
"Welcome, Lord Vader, we've been expecting you," Korra said to the shock of everyone in the crowd save Asami Sato.
Next time, Korra reunites with Tenzin, the Beifong family learns more of the galaxy from Dr. Raylen, Lin resolves her issues with her mother, and the Empire arrives in force.