[AN] Was great to see some reviews, looking forward to what y'all think of this next bit (especially you, 'Roar!)

As for the guest with all the thoughts on the last chapter, hope to keep you entertained!

:)

"Officer on the deck!"

Spines snap straight everywhere as Admiral Izumi entered the hanger. I look up from where I'm outlining the day's mission to the space core student pilots, surprised to see my favorite flag officer. I glance over at my second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Kuvira, aka 'Boss Bitch' but she merely rolls her eyes and shrugs.

"At ease, pilots," Izumi says calmly, and the whole hanger visibly relaxes as she looks over at me. "Colonel, a word please." She glances at Kuvira. "You may as well come to, otherwise I'll have to report you for your shameless eavesdropping."

Kuvira huffed irritably, but still hustled over to follow us into my office, a small haven overlooking the bustle of the hanger. I notice Izumi gaze at the bottom of the file cabinet where she knows I keep a bottle of emergency whiskey. I smirk as I pull it out, along with three small glasses.

"This can't possibly be good news," Kuvira comments as she deftly snags the first pour.

The old admiral ignores her as she picks up her own glass. I finish my own pour and hold it up as Izumi raises hers in a toast.

"To old comrades."

"May they ever fly in calm space," we echo.

The whisky burns its familiar comfort in my throat, but I know it's not just nostalgia that brings the head of the United Forces high command to see us today.

I place my now empty glass back on my desk and lean back in my chair, waiting.

To my surprise and no small frustration Izumi doesn't appear to be in a hurry to get to the point. "It doesn't seem that long ago when you two were among those down there, hoping for a chance to fly."

"I think Iroh's record for the obstacle course still stands." Kuvira comments sourly.

I guffaw. "A fact for which you will forever be bitter."

"Son of a bitch re-ran it right before graduation, just so I wouldn't have time to beat him!"

I cough loudly and she bites her lip.

"Sorry, Admiral."

Izumi purses her lip. "Well technically, that's not inaccurate. He was my son, and I am a bitch."

"My favorite part about you." Kuvira assures her.

Izumi allows herself a small smile, then the smile fades and she looks out over the bustling hanger with a pensive expression. We sat in silence as she gathered her thoughts. Finally, she said, "I had hoped to live out my days in peace. With the collapse of the Fire System's military dictatorship and the new Planetary Peace Treaty signed, I thought—" She shakes her head. "A fool's dream, I suppose."

"Admiral?" I stare at her as my stomach starts to churn.

She finally meets my gaze. "We received word that a scientific expedition into the outer Zeta quadrant had missed several scheduled checkins. Just to be on the safe side we sent a recon ship out to have a look." She closed her eyes. "Almost the entire expedition was killed, executed. Most of the surveillance equipment was missing, as was their ship."

"Almost?" Kuvira growled.

"The man who funded the expedition and the expedition pilot are both unaccounted for."

I cock my head at Izumi's pained expression. "Do we know who they are?"

"The pilot is a man named Hotah. Upon further investigation we discovered he has an extensive criminal record, and would not normally be offered a position on such an expedition. However, he came with the ship provided by the expedition's backer. A man, I'm sorry to say, Colonel, you know all to well."

I blink as she continues.

"Your uncle, Unalaq."

Kuvira's jaw drops. "I thought he was stuck on one of the prison planets for life?"

"He was supposed to be," I growl. "How the hell was he able to get back here?"

My uncle has been the bane of my family for my entire life. My father's younger brother, he rebelled against anything and everything the family stood for — honor, loyalty, generosity — my uncle spat on it in favor of greed and eventually power. Over time he had turned his youthful street gang into a criminal empire that ran rampant for years until he was finally caught and imprisoned.

Izumi shrugs. "We're still investigating this. The governor-warden has been taken into custody while his financials are checked, but it wouldn't be the first time someone bribed themselves into freedom. From what we can tell he's been out at for several years at least."

I growled in disgust.

"And before you ask," Izumi raises her hand. "This wasn't a university expedition, which obviously would have conducted background checks. This was a private one done in support of a Takeshi Ito."

"I've heard of that guy," Kuvira interjects. "He's the one who goes looking for aliens and all that noise right? He never actually finds anything."

Izumi smiles grimly. "Indeed, though it may be he was on to more than he realized this time. The recon ship tracked the expedition's ship to a nearby planet, and reported back that there seemed to be an enormous complex there, of uncertain origin. However, not long after that, they too went dark. We've received no word since."

I drum my fingers on my desk. "What do we know about those planets they were investigating?"

Izumi looks over her shoulder at the closed door, then turns back, her eyes steely. "It took a bit of digging through some extremely classified documents, but apparently that system was the location of a top-secret military base of the old Galactic Empire."

"Fuck," Kuvira breathes. "Those assholes drove every planetary system into abject poverty just so they could make crazy ass weapons."

"Exactly." Izumi sighs again. "At this point our best guess is that Unalaq used Ito as a front to find the old Empire weapons stashes."

My stomach drops further. "He wouldn't need that just to restore his criminal enterprises," I whisper.

Izumi's eyes are sad as she watches me put it together.

"He's coming for revenge."

She nods. "That is also our conclusion."

I have never seen her look old until this moment, but looking at her now I can see the weariness in her face, the careworn slant to her eyes. She has given her whole life in service to the United Federation and that burden weighs heavily on her.

She takes a deep breath. "As much as it pains me to do this, I'm reactivating the Fire Ferrets. I need my very best working on this, and I'm pretty sure our," she hesitates, "our special friend can also be very helpful."

I nod, slowly. If Izumi is reactivating my old squadron, it means she also wants Asami, and Raava. It's the first time she's ever asked for something like this from either of them; since our crazy mission to save the world from psychotic mind controlled zombies they've been focused on improving the medical treatments for wounded soldiers, the development for which accidentally caused Raava to be "born" in the first place. This request to divert Asami's (and Raava's) research more than anything else confirms how serious Izumi feels the threat to be.

"Have any plans tonight, Admiral?"

She tilts her head at me. "Nothing that I recall. What do you have in mind?"

"Sounds like it's time for a reunion dinner at our place. No offense to the team you've got at headquarters, but Asami's got better security."

Izumi's lips quirk but she manages to suppress a smile. "Duly noted, Colonel. I'll leave it to you to make arrangements."

She stands, and Kuvira and I are instantly up and saluting. She returns with a lazy snap of her own. "Until this evening, then."

As the door closes behind her I flop back down on my chair. "Well, shit."

Kuvira smirks at me. "Look at it this way, Avatar," she says mockingly, exaggerating my callsign. "A nice, nasty mission will be good for you. You're starting to get fat."

"Just for that you get to make all the phone calls," I retort. "Asshole."

She blows kisses at me and gets up to leave.

I call out to her as she heads to the door. "Also, Asami likes my abs just fine. Just this morning she was licking her way down—"

"LA-LA-LA I'M NOT LISTENING!"

The door slams shut behind her and I burst out laughing. Despite the fear eating at my gut I can't help but feel a certain joy. My gaze falls on a framed picture on my desk. It's from the day I made commander of a new fighter squadron, and I'm sideways with Jinora, Opal, and Kuvira holding my legs and Iroh, Mako, and Bolin holding up my chest and arms. I run my fingers over the boys, all lost from us now — two to the perils of space and one to the mental ravages of the aftermath. The picture next to it shows Kuvira, Opal, and Jinora as well the newcomers at my investiture party for being named head of the Space Fighter Corps training battalion: Saikhan and the twins, Wing and Wei. Behind them looms Bumi, the old warrior's burly arms folded across his broad chest but his grin wide and mischievous as usual. Seated in front of them all, I'm lounging on a stool with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and on my lap, her legs crossed elegantly despite her precarious position, was my beautiful genius girlfriend Doctor Asami Sato.

"So much for our quiet retirement," I mutter as I run one thumb across her face. "Time to save the world again."