[AN] Oh my God, it's been awhile. Sorry for the delay, Life Happened(tm), but don't worry, this work will never be abandoned...

Chapter Text

Bolin sits before us, utterly unrepentant, a poorly hidden grin on his face. The googles Raava designed for him are in place, and I can see faint flashes of light reflecting on his eyeballs.

My mouth opens and closes several times, then I whirl to face Asami.

"You!"

"Me?" Her face shows her shock at my accusatory tone.

"Your, your—" I sputter. "Your daughter lied!" I growled.

She stares at me. "My daughter?"

"Raava!" I yell.

Asami goes rigid in shock.

There is a noticeable pause, then the AI's voice sounds around us, a bit quieter than usual. "Yes, Colonel?"

My angry gaze holds Asami's confused one before I tear it away and stalk over to the nearby comm speaker, slamming my fist against it in my fury. "Did you, or did you not, claim that Bolin was out for a walk?" I demand. "Was he in fact already on my ship?"

There is another notable pause. "I cannot confirm or deny Lieutenant Bolin's location at the time you spoke to me," Raava finally admits, her digital voice seemingly subdued, maybe even sheepish.

I mentally shake my head at this; how the hell can an AI feel sheepish?

Asami's expression switches between wonder and outrage, and her eyes flicker between the smiling Bolin and the comm speaker.

"This," she pauses, then shakes her head. "This is unexpected, to say the least."

My jaw drops. "Unexpected? Unexpected? Raava!" I thump my fist against the wall again, my ire at the AI flaring. "In what aspect of your precious research did you find it a good idea to bring a medical patient with brain damage on a military mission?"

There's a pause, and I pretend to not notice the looks being exchanged by the rest of the crew.

"Hey, Cap," says Bolin, his voice easy, playful. "It's cool. I'm just along for the ride. You won't even know I'm here."

I turn and glare at him incredulously. "Not even know—" I throw my hands up in the air. "Point proved." My eyes narrow as I see more than hear Bolin mutter under his breath, and his hand curls slightly, a hand I now notice is wearing what appears to be a thin glove, with cable leads running up his arm before disappearing under his shirt. I step closer, peering carefully. The leads emerge from underneath his collar and connect to the back of his goggles.

"What is that?" I demand.

Asami steps closer and squints, but as she opens her mouth to speak, Kuvira interrupts. "Can we put this on hold? We should get planetside before any other surprises hit us."

I take a deep breath then nod. "Everybody to stations. Bolin," I scowl at his eager expression. "With me, but only because I need you strapped in for re-entry."

He fails to acknowledge, or probably even notice, my irritation.

"Awesome!"

—

The landing coordinates turn out to be a cracked launch pad near the remains of buildings lying silent and still amidst a smoky haze. A hapazard circle of bonfires our target. Just outside the target zone a small ground transport squats amidst the rubble. Seeing this Kuvira groans.

"You'd think they'd take better cover than that, for fuck's sake. They're sitting ducks right now."

I nod absently, scanning our surroundings as the Valkyrie sinks onto its landing gear with a groan. Above us Jinora and Opal continue to circle in their fighters, covering us until we're secure. "Gun Two, you copy?"

"Read you loud, Avatar." Wing responds immediately.

"Stay on the gun and be ready to unload hell." Gun Two has a better line of sight when we're on the ground and I'm not taking any chance. "Wei, get down to the armory and get us some gear for a little walk."

"Copy that, Skip."

I haul myself out of my chair and point at Bolin. "You will stay here with Asami while we secure the drop zone."

Both he and Asami start to protest but I ignore them as I turn to Asami. "Be ready to launch the ship quickly if things go pear-shaped. We may need to leave in a hurry." I grab her hand and squeeze. "Please."

At this Asami bites her lip, but nods, clearly still reluctant. "I'll be ready."

I give her knuckles a quick kiss in thanks. Then I glare at the comm again. "Raava!"

"Yes, Colonel."

To my relief her voice is back to its normal, coolly competent, self.

"Please assist Doctor Sato in readying the ship for a fast departure, and keep scanning for any possible hostile. And Raava," I pause, giving Bolin another hard look. "If you let anything happen to either of these two I swear I will take the biggest magnet I can find to your core memory."

"Cap!"

"Korra!"

There's a pause, but then Raava replies, her voice sounding almost amused.

"Read you loud, Avatar."

I laugh and close the hatch on Asami's splutter.

—

Kuvira's hands rest on the pommels of her guns, still holstered around her waist. I've got my own blaster gripped loosely in one hand, the barrel resting against my shoulder. Behind us Wei is bedecked with a large assortment of guns and projectiles and he holds a huge range gun at the ready.

Kuvira eyes him with mild disdain. "You really need to hump all that shit?"

He scoffs in reply. "Do you think I'm allowed to play with this many toys at home? Let me have my fun."

I roll my eyes. "Stay focused, people."

"Colonel Korra, there are life signs approaching from the south-east," Raava reports via the ship's speaker system.

Our eyes all snap left and we spot the dust trail indicating another approaching vehicle. The first vehicle we saw was apparently either a decoy or abandoned in the wake of the attack.

Wei slides himself into position, the big gun resting against one of the Valkyrie's support struts. Kuvira and I wait for the vehicle to approach, watching for any sign of hostility.

Instead we see a land transport skid to a halt and an assortment of Space Corp uniforms and civilian gear tumble out to greet us. Kuvira looks over them clinically.

"You guys look like shit."

The man in the lead glares at her. "You try looking good when your base is burning down around you. Doesn't leave time for makeup and curlers." He adds, almost as an afterthought, "Asshole."

She grins tightly. "Yeah, okay fair." She reaches one hand out. "Kuvira. My friends call me Boss." She jerks one thumb over her shoulder. "That's my CO. You can call her Asshole, too." She winces as I smack her hard on the back of her head. "Ow."

I ignore her grumble and hold my hand out to the man. "Colonel Korra. That's Sergeant Wei over there taking a bead on you."

The guy glances over as Wei waves casually. "Well, can't say I blame you. If you look close you'll see our guy returning the favor from the back of the transport."

A hand pops through the window and flashes a thumbs up sign. The barest glint of a blaster barrel is visible.

Kuvira bursts out laughing as I roll my eyes.

"Anyway, now that the most important part of the introductions are over, I'm Foster. At the moment I'm in charge of what's left of Daedalus Base, but only because nobody else wanted to do it." He shrugs. "Under normal circumstances I'm Head of Facilities. Keep the toilets working and all that shit." He pauses. "No pun intended."

Kuvira chokes back a laugh.

"How many total survivors?" I ask, ignoring my second's mirth.

He sighs heavily, and rubs his face. "Minus the handful of wounded we've got holed up in our sick bay, and one of my engineers who's on watch, you're looking at 'em."

"DAEDALUS BASE HAD A FULL COMPLEMENT OF FIFTY SPACE CORPS PERSONNEL AND ONE HUNDRED FIFTY SCIENTISTS AND SUPPORT STAFF," Raava reports to my prosthetic eye. She seems to have calculated that saying that fact out loud wouldn't be a good idea, impressing me with her ever evolving understanding of human nature.

"Fuck," I swear under my breath. I mentally brace myself and look back at Foster, noticing his stoic expression and giving him an understanding nod. "Care to give us the five cent tour?"