Darth Vader stared at Bumi and the three others with him. They were all fully aware of how dangerous the Sith Lord was in a fight, and how, unlike every other time, this was his domain. All of them were noticeably more hesitant than before to fight him but all of them still appeared willing. Vader, however, could tell they were bothered by their situation.
"Now you know the domain of hyperspace," the Sith Lord noted. "You are no longer under the gaze of either a sun or a moon. Korra and Mako only learned how to overcome this when I opened them to the Force." Kya, Katara, and Zuko couldn't hide how, at the moment, they couldn't bend at all. Bumi, being an Airbender, still could, but he knew better than anyone Vader was too powerful to fight alone.
"Is that why you took over this mission?" Katara asked her husband's killer. "To lord over us how your version of bending is more powerful? I ran into a warden like that, long ago."
"No, I took it over because Mako would be of greater use with Korra," the Sith stated. "And because learning how Cad Bane became a Bender is a task given by the Emperor himself. Still, I was curious over which was more important: your pride or your family."
"My children are more important than revenge," Bumi stated proudly. "But if you expect us to trust you, you are truly insane."
"I promised Korra and her parents that my men and I would do everything in our power to keep the four of you alive," Vader claimed. "I haven't lied to them before, and I won't start now." At that moment, Zuko saw more of that cunning side Darth Vader clearly had. If they succeeded in rescuing Iroh and Mizuki, Vader would reinforce his growing image as a benevolent protector and trusted friend of Avatar Korra. If any of them were lost, he could say it was because they didn't follow his orders. "Besides, if I am correct, you will need a Master in the ways of the Force to rescue them," the Obsidian Knight continued.
"And why is that?" asked Kya confrontationally. At that moment, she flew forward and stopped just in front of Vader, held in place with his power.
"As technology has advanced, slavery and it's tools have become more refined," explained Vader, indifferent to the hostility of her and her family. "One of those tools is a tiny implant, inserted right here," his gloved index finger poked her forehead. "A surgeon slices off the skin, cuts an opening in the skull, and plants it on top of the brain. The skull segment is reattached, and the bone is covered with synthetic flesh which gradually melds with the actual skin. Not even a scar is left behind."
"That doesn't sound like a tracking device," Kya concluded nervously, worried for her niece and nephew upon hearing Vader's claim.
"You catch on quick," Vader stated. "If a slave starts going out of bounds, an alarm will get increasingly loud inside his skull. If he persists in breaking his boundaries, the implant will explode. Fortunately, I have become quite skilled at precise uses of the Force." At that moment, Kya felt a slight sting inside her nose, at which point Vader released her from being frozen in place. She touched her nose and realized she was now bleeding slightly from it. Grabbing a handkerchief, she pressed it to her nose as her mother glared at Vader.
"I see you still like hurting people to make your point," Zuko noted, reminded of his own tragedy. "Even when that person is helpless against you."
"Your son raised his swords against me," Vader bluntly reminded them. "I warned him what would happen if he attacked."
"As if that makes killing him alright," Bumi stated. "And in hurting our family as much as you did. As well as all the pain you inflicted on others."
"You don't know what pain is!" Vader snapped, his anger making it through his mask's filter.
"We might not have been burnt like you, but it's safe to assume that you don't know anything about losing a kid, or even a wi-"Bumi fell to the floor gasping for air while the other three were pinned against the wall, completely helpless to do anything. After a moment, Vader released the quartet, with Bumi gasping for Air.
"Like I said, I made a promise to Korra you would survive," the Sith Lord said. "Right now, there are two ways that can happen: the first is that I keep you imprisoned until the second I need you. The second is that you follow my orders in regard to retrieving your son and daughter. The second possibility is what I would prefer, but if not, I will have to keep you frozen in carbonite." Bumi and Kya remembered how Vader had done that to them before, leaving them both blind for two hours after being thawed. In addition, as much as the four of them hated it, they knew Vader was in control and their only hope to retrieve Bumi's children.
"Fine," Katara said. "As hard as it is, we'll have to follow your orders. My grandchildren are more important than my pride."
"Good," Vader stated. "Aphra and the Bounty Hunters will be back, shortly, to brief you on where we are going and the threats we might face." As he left the room, Katara reflected how he was terrifying in a unique way: one moment he could be utterly cold, the next he could turn ballistic in anger. Perhaps it was fitting for a man that was half-machine. Shortly afterward, Aphra, Bossk, and Boba all returned.
"Well, now that's out of the way, here's some chocolate!" Aphra cheerfully stated. "I figured you'd need something while learning about Bane, his goons, and where we are going." As Bumi and his sister stared in awe at her attitude, Zuko and Katara were reminded of another cheerfully friendly minion of a serious and threatening overlord.
"I was surprised as well, but honestly, he is the perfect choice as mission commander," Korra told Tenzin and Lin after explaining how Darth Vader had replaced Mako as leader, right after the ship had taken off.
"I'm not sure Bumi and the others will feel that way," Lin noted.
"This has the greatest chance of success," Mako claimed. "And whatever he thinks of them, Vader isn't a liar. He promised they would survive, so they will."
"I hope you are right," Tenzin said, accepting this couldn't be changed. "But you aren't making things easier with Izumi." At that moment, Asami arrived and called to Lin, as President Raiko wanted the two of them and her father Hiroshi to fly back with him to Republic City.
"He knows you need to get Agent Kallus and the rest of your security detail in place," Asami said to Tenzin. "Still, he wants to meet with you soon. Though, he doesn't want your security detail, present."
"Well, his wants aren't the most important thing in the world," Korra stated. "I'll see you soon, Asami." The two young women hugged, before the Avatar hugged Tenzin, and then Lin.
"I guess I should get to the Western Air Temple as soon as I can," the Airbending master said. "For this, I think it's best if I take a ride in one of those ships instead of on Oogi. And I should get to know the people who will be protecting me and the others."
"Thank you, Tenzin," Korra smiled. "Vader told me that you'd be able to talk to your siblings and mother once a day while they are traveling with him. Kallus will be able to show you how to use the holoprojector."
"That's good to know," her old teacher replied. "What will you be doing, right now?"
"I'll be seeing how my cousins have reacted to the new situation," she answered. She turned around to see Mako, her husband kissed her cheek, and said he'd be along shortly. As she walked away, Mako looked at Lin. Tenzin said goodbye, and walked off, leaving the Republic City Police Chief and her favorite detective alone.
"You were never removed from the department's listing," Lin said. "If you want, you can return to work."
"I don't think the rest of the department wants me back," the Firebender replied, before bringing up a newspaper article on his datapad. Looking closer, Lin frowned at the headline: two months after he and Korra disappeared, she went to a drunken party that was barreling out of control. When she found several officers inside, getting utterly smashed in uniform, she'd been angry. When she saw the banner 'Officer Mako and Avatar Korra memorial wake' as if they were dead as opposed to missing, Lin had been enraged. She locked them in the drunk tank and played loud music next to them for an hour as punishment.
"Several of those officers were fired, some were reassigned, and others were suspended," Lin said.
"I doubt they were the only ones happy we were gone," Mako said. "Pretty much everyone thought of me as your pet, or just a bedmate for Korra. I'm sure more are angry I dared to accept Darth Vader's help rather than die on an alien world."
"They might have been surprised, but I doubt many are truly angry, given the circumstances," Lin reassured him. "You are still an officer of the Republic City police. And I will make sure they remember that."
"Thank you, but I'd like to test the waters before getting back in," Mako told the woman he looked up to as a mother. "The thing is, I'm also worried about Raiko."
"Why are you worried about the president?" asked Lin.
"He hates the very idea of the Avatar," intruded Korra, as she rifled through the backpack she'd left with Mako. "I forgot something, I'll catch up with Eska and Desna later. Anyway, Raiko hates how there is someone more powerful than him, which is why he keeps doing everything I tell him NOT to do, no matter how much it hurts everyone. Do you really think he'll accept there are MORE powerful people he doesn't control?"
"His shortcomings notwithstanding, I doubt he wants to start a war with the Empire, especially since he pardoned Vader for all he did in URN territory," Lin replied.
"And he now looks like a wimp, which means he'll be plotting to show how tough he is down the line," the Avatar noted. "He'll probably try to figure out how offworld technology works from the junk left over from the battle. Then, he'll think he's capable of challenging the dominant power in the known universe."
"Even if he does, the council won't let him," Lin claimed, though she herself was worried by that possibility. "We have separation of powers, after all."
"Most of the councilors don't see beyond the world they know," Korra concluded. "I think that they will see the Empire as no different than a peacekeeping action against some regional warlord, just with better technology." She then looked to Lin. "Only a war with the Empire would have the URN as the regional warlord who is easily quelled by the greater civilization."
"I know," Lin accepted. "I can only hope the two of you are wrong. But I need to get to my flight." She hugged Mako and Korra again before departing, while Mako accompanied his wife to the Northern Water Tribe residence. It was time to have a talk with Eska and Desna.
As Tenzin and his family touched down at the Western Air Temple, he saw the Stormtroopers rush out, with Sabine Wren leading the way on her jetpack. She flew through the temple structure quickly, followed by Jumptroopers, scanning for explosives that might have been place. After five minutes, Sabine and the other jetpack-mounted Imperials confirmed they weren't any traps. At which point, Tenzin, his family, and the rest of the Airbenders moved onto the site. As the Imperials set up scouting stations, the Airbenders asked how they could help, to which they were directed to where a holoprojector had been set up.
"Hi, guys," Korra said on the recording. "So, I made this so you can learn more about the technology that will protect you." She proceeded to explain how the tall antennas were sensors meant to scan for unauthorized visitors, both in shape and in speed. Tenzin had heard of such a technology from Asami, she called it radar. The small boxes the Imperials were setting up were shield generators, which could be activated at a moment's notice to stop anything from a rocket to a laser blast. Meelo offered to carry boxes for a Stormtrooper, who thanked the preteen boy for the assistance. The box was much heavier than he was used to, and he almost dropped it before Kai picked it up for him. A green-skinned alien woman with two tails coming out of her head, Tenzin thought she was named Hera and that her species was called Twi'lek, slipped and fell off the edge of the cliff. But thankfully, Jinora had created a miniature tornado under her and used it to levitate Hera back up. She was pulled back over the side by another Imperial named Kanan, who held Hera less like a colleague and more like a wife. Hera thanked the young Airbender for saving her, and Jinora smiled back.
After the work was over, Kanan invited several of the Imperials to dinner. They graciously accepted on the condition they could be rotated, as per their shifts. Across from Tenzin and his family at the table were Kanan, Hera, Ezra, and Sabine, with that droid called Chopper close by.
"So, Sabine, I think you said your father was one thing, but that now he was another," Pema asked the young woman who wore armor almost all the time, with her helmet at her side. "And you dress the same way as that man Boba. Could you explain that better?" After a moment, Sabine replied.
"That question is more complicated than you think," the golden-skinned teenager replied. "Biologically, my father, Alrich, is a Mirialan. Mirial is a mostly frozen world settled by Humans long ago. To survive the constantly shifting glaciers, my ancestors became rather flexible and agile, beyond the Human norm. A side effect was that they also got green or gold skin. And for some reason they also like tattooing their faces."
"You don't know why?" a surprised Jinora asked.
"My dad barely remembers Mirial or his parents," Sabine explained. "One day, he and his parents were moving somewhere for work, and their ship had a problem. They died, and he was left drifting in an escape pod. He was found by some Mandalorians who adopted him. Eventually, he met my mother, Ursa Wren, and now they're married." She could tell they were curious about what Mandalorians were, so she continued. "Before you ask, Mandalorians are not a species, they are a culture, though most Mandalorians today are Human."
"Who were the first Mandalorians?" Meelo asked the volcanic-haired beauty he had a crush on.
"They were called the Taung," she answered. "An extremely long time ago, they traveled to a new world under the reign of a king named Mandalore. After his death, they named their new home after him, as well as themselves. But the Taung died out almost four thousand years ago. They had managed to pass on their teachings, however, to their adopted children, as well as adults who had gained their respect and petitioned for clan membership."
"Your people do that?" asked Pema, reminded of her own background as an Air Acolyte.
"It isn't as common now, but it's hardly rare," Sabine answered. "Every Mandalorian alive is either a Foundling or descended from one."
"So, err, does marriage help an outsider become a Foundling?" Ezra Bridger asked, his cheeks red with nervousness.
"It's a bit soon to be asking that," Sabine smiled back, kissing his cheek, to the annoyance of both Ikki and Meelo. "But usually, it's easier to become a Foundling before proposing." Tenzin smirked at the sight, both in relief that one of his daughter's crushes probably wouldn't reciprocate, and because he liked both these new Benders Korra and Mako had trained. A question nagged at the back of his mind, however.
"Is armor part of your culture?" he asked.
"As much as Arrow tattoos and orange robes are for yours," Sabine answered. "This armor is made of Beskar, the strongest metal there is. Not even a lightsaber can slice through it."
"What else is important in your culture?" Ikki asked.
"Improving yourself, by challenging yourself," Sabine answered. "That is how you pray to Kad Harangir, god of growth and change. And fight the influence of Arasuum, the god of sloth and stagnation. Indolence is the enemy of all real Mandalorians."
"Alright," Tenzin said. "Is Boba Fett a real Mandalorian? I noticed how the two of you had a problem at the wedding."
"I don't have a problem with Fett," Sabine answered. "He's just learned to be wary of other Mandalorians. His father, Jango, was a foundling with plenty of controversy around him. But that's not a problem for Boba. The problem is that he's not Jango's son in the way you think of." As Sabine explained what cloning was, Jinora spoke up.
"So, Boba is a clone of Jango raised by Jango," she noted, half intrigued, half horrified by the idea of cloning.
"Yeah," Sabine confirmed. "Boba Fett is, by Mandalorian law, a Mandalorian. But not every Mandalorian agrees with that, given his origin."
"What does Boba think?" asked Tenzin.
"Boba doesn't talk much about himself, so no one is entirely sure," Ezra explained.
"The only way I could be sure would be if I challenged him to a Taung Blood Duel," Sabine said. "But I don't want to kill him, which is the only way I would survive if he accepted, proving he cares about our people's ideals and honor codes." Just then, the new shift started, and Sabine stood up. She and Ezra kissed before she put her helmet back on and they went to their respective posts.
"I admit, I didn't think Sabine was from such a warlike people," Tenzin said to his family. "Given what else she has said, I get the feeling that sloth is often conflated with peaceful behavior by the Mandalorians, and that growth is seen as a result of war. Still, she isn't a simple brute in love with slaughter."
"I doubt the Mandalorians would be a successful people if they were, Dad," Jinora noted. "Still, I think we can trust her. Even if some of her people's ideas are...questionable." At that moment, a new group of Imperials came in, including Jonah, Koko, and Agent Kallus. What stories did Kallus have for them?
As Bumi and his family looked over the listing of alien species' they would likely encounter, they were confused.
"Uh, the only thing on this listing is whether these nonhuman races are safe to eat," Katara noted.
"Oops, wrong listing," Aphra said with a chuckle. "Yeah, you can't always have what you'd prefer to eat, so it's best to know what you can eat."
"But these species are all intelligent," Zuko replied.
"So?" asked Bossk. "They are a different race, which means you can eat them without being a cannibal."
"So, can Trandoshans eat humans?" asked Kya nervously.
"Technically," the jumpsuit wearing lizard answered. "But they taste terrible and leave you with bad gas for a week. It's much healthier to eat Nimbanel, or Kowakian Monkey Lizard."
"Well, that's a comfort," Bumi said. "Why don't you guys just explain more about these races?"
"Okay," Aphra said. "The Duros are from Duro, a rich and powerful world where everyone lives in space stations given how poisoned the planet is, now, which is why you shouldn't eat them. They have a long, honorable history as space explorers, even getting their own subspecies like the Zeltrons are to the rest of humanity. A Duros is no more likely to be bad than a human."
"Why was the planet poisoned?" asked Kya.
"First was a lot of industrialization over the course of a few thousand years," Boba said. "Then, during the Clone Wars, the Separatists attacked the planet. After destroying two space cities, they destroyed pretty much every building on the surface, letting lose all industrial runoff and other assorted poisons that had been contained until then. The Duros had to turn a whole space station into a giant farm to feed themselves."
"As for the other races, well, I'm going to be generous and say they are a mixed bag," Bossk added. "The Gammoreans, who actually taste good enough to enjoy eating, are a primitive tribal society, constantly fighting each other. And when I say primitive, I mean 'yet to invent steampower.' The only way for a Gammorean to get offworld is to be recruited to fight for someone. They make their armor out of garbage left on the battlefield, and they like swinging their axes more than firing blasters. They are too shortsighted to use blasters effectively, literally. If you run into a Gammorean outside Gamorr, he'll be a thug for someone else."
"Why would anyone want a bunch of nearsighted mercenaries?" a puzzled Zuko asked.
"Because they are so stupid, they can't even be bribed most of the time," Aphra answered. "Seriously, there was this one time I saw a bunch of Gammoreans brought in to serve a Hutt, and their captain didn't want to accept the job because he saw the Hutt as weak for sending someone else to recruit them. And the only way the Hutt could hire them was if he fought them all at once, which he only agreed to if they were blindfolded. He sat back as some of his other thugs beat them up, and the Gammoreans didn't even consider they might have been tricked. Those are the only sort of Gammoreans you'll see outside their homeworld, and the only reason you go to Gamorr is to hire Gammoreans. Or to eat them."
"What about those green-skinned horned guys?" asked Katara.
"They are Nikto, while the red-skinned horned guys are also Nikto, just from a different part of their homeworld," Aphra explained. She went on to say that the dog-faced ones were called Klatooinians, and that they came from the same part of space as the Nikto. "Nikto are almost as tasty as Gammoreans, but not quite, while Klatooinians are indigestible. Both have been owned by the Hutts longer than anyone can remember. And since it's very hard to visit Kintan or Klatooine, many of them don't even question their lot in life. Since these guys usually serve as soldiers and thugs for their Hutt masters, they are treated a bit better than the other slaves."
"There have to be Nikto and Klatooinians unhappy with their lot in life," Kya reasoned, unbelieving that they were utterly content with their lives as Hutt slaves.
"Of course, but then there is a problem," Boba answered. "One, if they respected the law, they wouldn't have fled Hutt servitude. Second, all they know how to be is thuggish brutes, as that's all their masters wanted from them. As such, even if they do flee to a new place, they will almost always be some type of outlaw. And will teach their children to be outlaws, since that's all they know. There are exceptions but they are rare."
"Then there are the Rodians," Aphra began. "They are from, big shock, Rodia, a swampy world filled with dangerous animals."
"The pheromones which hide them from predators is why they smell so bad," Bossk noted. "Though Hutts think it's delicious, which is why there is a market to grind up dead Rodians into whiskey. But it's only safe for Hutts to drink."
"Okay, are you just sizing up everyone you meet for dinner?" Katara asked in disbelief.
"Not everyone," Bossk nervously claimed. "The Rodians survived by hunting those that hunted them. When that got boring, they started fighting each other."
"Not nearly as much now as they once did, but wars between their cities, hidden under domes of transparent metal, still happen," Aphra clarified.
"Transparent metal?" Kya asked.
"It's more common than you think," Aphra answered. "If we used glass for our ship's windows, they'd have to be at least six inches thick and no more than nine inches across. Similarly, glass is too fragile for domed cities, too. As for Rodians in the galaxy, well, they fall into four categories: members of their Hunters guild, theatre troupes, politicians on state business, and outcasts."
"Why are they outcasts?" Zuko asked, remembering his own time as one to the Fire Nation.
"They lost a war and either fled or got sold to off-worlders as slaves, or they fled on their own for whatever reason, making them outlaws by default," Boba answered. "The Rodian government doesn't want the galaxy to see anyone except the best of their species. The best being their hunters and actors. There was a guy named Farr who wanted to change that, but during the Clone Wars, he was poisoned by a disgruntled secretary, and the new rulers of Rodia didn't care for his new ideas."
"What are these Rodian exiles like?" asked Katara.
"As prone to good or evil as any human," Aphra answered. "But they are rather distrustful, as the Hunters guild frequently sends its members to kill them for being a disgraceful representation of their species, by the standards of their homeworld. Depending on the exile and the clan, they might hire outside help."
"Honestly, the hunters themselves tend to be rather unimpressive," Fett continued. "They get showered with praise on their homeworld for hunting beasts and terrified exiles, and most of them think they can handle whatever they encounter, when they are really just demented bullies. Makes it rather satisfying to deprive them of this notion when you gun them down."
"That's nothing," Bossk continued. "There is this Rodian exile living on Tatooine, who believes all the hype around his species, and throws his weight around like some big shot bounty hunter when in truth he's just a clumsy thug. It's pretty impressive Jabba hasn't ground him into whiskey yet." After a moment, a beep arose on the datapad, revealing they had thirty minutes until emerging from Hyperspace, and that it was time to get ready for their destination, Polis Massa.
Mizuki and her fellow escapee, a Nonbending farmer named Cheng, emerged from the escape pod, and found themselves in the middle of the desert. There was nothing but sand in all directions. Thankfully, it was the late afternoon, and the heat wasn't unbearable. They started walking to the east, thinking they would eventually find someone. After some time, they saw what looked like a caravan of people, riding large furry animals.
"Well, they don't look like they can fly in spaceships," Cheng said. "Maybe they will be friendlier, your highness."
"Hopefully," Mizuki said. As they approached, one of the riders turned toward them. Looking closer, the Fire Princess could see they were completely covered in brown robes, and their masks had a strange opening where the mouth would be, with a pair of narrow metallic goggles where the eyes would be. As soon as the rider saw them, he started yelling and roaring, waving what looked like a spear with a club on the end in the air. The others started doing the same, and one of them took out a longer weapon slung across his back, and a tiny blast erupted, completely missing Mizuki. Before the rest could attack, the Fire Princess bent a great wall of flame in front of herself and Cheng. She could see the cloaked riders and their beasts were frightened, allowing her and Cheng to run in another direction.
"Okay, they aren't friendly, but since we don't know anything about them, I don't think these desert nomads deserve to die," Mizuki told Cheng. In times like this, she remembered what her father and grandfather taught her: never be afraid to fight, but don't be eager for blood. A short time after continuing, they saw a strange cloud getting closer, as if an animal was running toward them. As it approached, they heard a humming sound, and saw what looked like a car, except it didn't have wheels and was floating in the air. As it stopped, they could see that both occupants were human. The one that stepped out toward them was an older teen with black hair and a small mustache, the other was a boy who looked the same age as Mizuki, who wore a white tunic and had golden hair.
"You're pretty far out here, did your ship go down or something?" the older boy asked.
"Who are you, where are we?" Cheng asked them, somewhat paranoid. "Who are those howling cloaked people with giant furry mounts and speared clubs?"
"One thing at a time," he said. "Well, you are on Tatooine, an endless desert on the edge of civilized space. Those howling guys with clubbed spears are the Sand People, the less-than-friendly natives. As for us-""Biggs, look out, Womp Rat!" the younger boy yelled, to which the older boy (his brother perhaps? thought the Fire Nationals) tackled Mizuki and Cheng before a giant rodent, almost six feet long, leapt at them with its bared teeth. Before it could recover, the driver had picked up a long weapon and fired a blast out of it, killing the Womp Rat as it was called.
"Look, it might be best if the two of you come with me, and my student driver, in our landspeeder, before even the Jawas come after us," the mustached man offered. Knowing they didn't have any better options, Mizuki and Cheng go in the 'speeder' and buckled in, with the mustached man taking the controls while the younger boy moved over.
"My name is Mizuki, this is Cheng," she said. The boy smiled, before averting his eyes. She realized there was a tear in her shirt's right side and covered it with her hand. "It's a long story, but suffice to say, we are completely new to this."
"Okay," the friendly boy said. "This is my friend Biggs Darklighter, and I am Luke Skywalker."
Those of you paying attention would have seen this coming. Many of Mako's colleagues in the department seemed to hate him for no fault of his own, so I figured some would celebrate his disappearance, along with Korra's. Given how much Raiko obstructs Korra and her friends, it makes sense Korra would come to these conclusions about him. As a fan of Generation Tech, I decided to pay tribute to Allen by listing what aliens are safe to eat. Fans of Avatar will spot the references to the first series. All those fun facts about the alien races I listed are canon. I initially thought Sabine was half-Mirialan, so I used the backstory I thought would be the case. I decided to incorporate Luke in my story awhile ago.
Next chapter, Mizuki and Luke wind up in trouble, leaving only a desert hermit to save them. Korra and Mako confront Unalaq's children, before going on a private mission. Tenzin and his family learn more of Coruscant and the Empire from Agent Kallus. And Vader and Bumi make a discovery on Polis Massa. As always, please read and review.