Wing sat in the lobby of the doctor's office as the uncle he just learned of was taken in for examination. Tachibana's face was red with fever and he was barely conscious, asking his son where he was. "You're safe, we're with friends, Papa," Kanda said. "They'll help you get better."

"Where...where are the white monsters?" he asked.

"We're safe from them, don't worry," Kanda said. "You'll get better if you rest and let our friends help you." Baatar Sr was standing outside the room. He hadn't seen his brother in over twenty-five years, and he wasn't sure he actually wanted to. Instead, he focused on helping his nieces find their way, assuring them their father would be fine. Suyin was a great help in doing so, as these girls missed their mother and Suyin knew how to fill in.

"Will he be alright?" asked Kanda.

"Your dad is getting the best care he's ever had in his life," Baatar said to his nephew. "Nothing comes close to this quality of care in the desert." Wing could detect his father's bitterness over his past. Before Kanda could take offense, Suyin interceded and asked him what they'd been through.

"It was an ordinary day, just a couple months ago," Kanda began. "A giant grey dagger appeared in the sky, with screaming black things flying beside them. The EUA moved in from all directions, accompanied by four-legged mechanical beasts as tall as that...radio tower in the center of this city."

"What do you think EUA stands for?" a curious Wei asked, wondering how ignorant the Sandbenders were of the world outside their desert.

"Uh...Earth Unity Association?" Kanda said.

"Earth Unification Army," Wing clarified, surprised at just how ignorant the Si Wong tribes were.

"Well, somehow, they could see our camps in the night, and attacked from the air," Kanda continued. "Our tents were set aflame, and they dropped strange containers. They released clouds of mist that made people cry, then their soldiers came with masks on their faces, capturing anyone they could. We fled to the Redoubt." Apart from Baatar Sr, none of the family knew what that was.

"The Redoubt is a huge rock that sits atop a massive cavern, which many tunnels running under the sand dunes link to," he said bitterly. "Or is supposed to be, as I never got to see it, nor was I even shown an entrance to one of the tunnels. There were plenty of times when going there would be a good thing for my family, but we never did."

"It is where our people go when attacked by a foreign enemy," Kanda explained, surprised his uncle would be so bitter. "When there are feuds between tribes, the feud must be settled, not ignored. The Redoubt isn't fit to be a permanent home, only a place to go when there is no other option."

"Then why aren't you there?" Wing asked.

"The flying dagger flew above it, and a great hole was torn into the ground, by a beam of green fire sent from the dagger," he answered. "Like worker drones from a nest, the flying black things attacked every tunnel entrance, even ones our tribe didn't know of." Baatar flinched at the mention of 'their tribe' as he hadn't thought of himself as a Si Wong Tribesman, much less a Nabazov as his particular tribes was called, for years. "We tried to head west but we encountered those walking machines, demanding we surrender," he continued. "The ones who attacked were hit by red bolts fired from their tusks, so we ran. We encountered the Hami tribe and tried to head south. That is when he came in the night."

"Who?" asked Suyin.

"An armored figure, completely black, whose every breath echoed in all directions, with a red sword that cut through all it touched," Kanda said, clearly traumatized. "He overpowered our warriors, on his own, and chopped the Hami chieftain in half. He outstretched his hand, and the Nabazov chieftain choked. His white-armored minions charged in and fired upon us, hitting my father's shoulder and making him fall in pain."

"Where's your mom?" asked Wing, paying more attention now, while the rest of the family was stunned by the story of Darth Vader's attack on the Si Wong Tribes.

"She was with us as we went into the forest south of our home," he began. "When we made it into the trees, only half of the Nabazov tribe was still with us. None of the Hami had made it out. We came to a town, and that is when we learned how far the EUA's reach extended. There were posters everywhere of that woman who leads them. The one with big eyebrows and a mole under her eye. I think her name is Kuvara?"

"Kuvira," corrected Baatar, remembering how he was borderline illiterate himself for much of his life given the nonexistent education system in the Si Wong desert.

"We continued toward the border of the...Unified National Republic I think it's called?" Kanda continued. "Then we were ambushed in the night, and Mama's group was separated from us. I don't know where they are! Papa fainted the next day, and I didn't know what to do. I was scavenging outside a town a few days ago, when I overheard some people. They mentioned how Zaofu was close by and one said a man named Baatar came from there. Strangely, they thought you had gone through some new form of healing that allowed you to see without your glasses. I didn't have any other options, so I went here, hoping to find the uncle my father said abandoned the desert in his youth."

"Well, thankfully you did," Baatar said, keeping his expression neutral. He and the rest of the family knew that the man Kanda overheard was talking about Baatar Jr but kept that to themselves. Shortly afterward, the doctor looking over Tachibana walked out of the room.

"Your father will be fine," he told Kanda. "It was a combination of no sleep and an untreated burn. He'll be back up by tomorrow. Now, I think it's best if I look you over." After a moment, Kanda went with the doctor to be checked out, at which point the Beifong family looked at each other.

"How could this be happening?" asked Huan, actually sounding fairly emotional as opposed to stoic as he usually was. "A whole subset of our nation is being persecuted and no one has heard anything about it."

"The Sandbenders hold themselves separate from the rest of the Earthbending peoples, let alone any other nation," Baatar told his family. "They fight each other over water and food but are willing to compromise if need be. But only among themselves, everyone else is fair game to be robbed, extorted, or murdered. Outsiders live apart from the desert, so they have no right to it, in the words of my mother."

"You ever see that attitude in action?" Wing asked his father.

"The first time was when I was nine, when Tachibana and I had to hold a man's hand open while our father tore out the nail to his right index," Baatar Sr replied, rubbing his head at the unpleasant memory, shocking even his wife. "He'd tried to get around the water toll by bringing a knapsack he'd already filled rather than go to a local well."

"So, you think Kanda is lying?" asked Wei.

"I think he was raised to think it was okay to rob outsiders, and is therefore confused they've fought back," the family patriarch answered. "I'm a little surprised Kuvira and your brother didn't come to us, first, before trying to stop this raiding. As for where Kanda's mother and the rest of his siblings are, we'll ask Kuvira about them next time we see her." As he got up to leave, Huan grabbed his father's wrist.

"What happened with you and your brother?" he asked. "Why are you so willing to disregard his suffering? Why are you so okay with how your own people have been imprisoned en masse? All you ever say of the Si Wong Desert is 'it's a bad place, never go there' pretty much." After a moment, Baatar Sr took a breath and realized it was time to elaborate on his past.

"As a Nonbender, my parents always looked down on me," he began. "When I developed vision problems, they were even more disdainful. Tachibana was the only one who ever cared for me. He saw my talent for building houses, and he helped me find my way in the desert. But he was desperate to earn our parents' approval, which they often withheld because he focused on a 'cripple' like me. As such, he came to be rather proactive in attacking outsiders moving through our lands. He never intervened when our parents 'disciplined' me, either for questioning them, or for focusing on architecture as opposed to maintaining our Sand Sails, the only job I could actually do in our tribe. I desired to go to the Redoubt and find a way to strengthen the tunnels, but our mother said it was only for the worthy, which I'd never be."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Suyin told her husband. He'd never said much of his past in the Si Wong desert, even to her.

"Tachibana thought I'd gain greater acceptance by building new Sand Sails, so I did, but our elders weren't interested in something designed by a Nonbender," Baatar Sr continued. "He tried to stand up for me, until they said their favorite thing: Respect Your Elders, and he was quiet. Whenever I made a suggestion, they said I should do what they said because they were older than me. It didn't matter if it was a new way to get water, build a better Sand Sail, or avoid a costly battle with outsiders traversing our land. One day, when I was fifteen, I was with my parents, handling a Sand Sail. I thought it needed maintenance before we headed out, which they ignored me on. Unsurprisingly, it broke, and we spent the next two hours fixing it far from any water. They again neglected to appreciate me when I fixed it, and I finally lost my temper after years of this. I called them out on how they'd mistreated me, ignored everything I said, and just repeated 'respect your elders' rather than answer my questions. My mother pushed me off the sail and I twisted my ankle in the fall. They said this was on me for not respecting them and left me there. I don't know how long I crawled under the evening sky until I reached that river just over the southern dunes," he stopped to look at his wife. "Where this angel had just finished bathing and rushed to my aid as I passed out."

"So, that's how you wound up in that predicament," Su realized, remembering how, when he came to, he said he had no one when she asked him how to find his family.

"So, you think that Tachibana's become the same control freak your parents were?" asked Wing, shocked alongside his siblings at their father's story.

"I'm hoping he didn't," Baatar answered. "Now you know why I'm rarely upset when any of you do your own thing or complain. Even if Tachi is the same brother I remember, I'm sure there are more Sandbenders like our parents. Only now, technology makes it possible to stop their marauding ways and put an end to this behavior."

"So, you think the Sandbenders brought this on themselves?" asked Huan. "That Kuvira and Baatar are justified in asking Vader to crush them under his boot?"

"We don't know what that entails, so let's hold off judgement until we can ask them," the patriarch said to his family. "Besides, your brother will soon be back from his training mission to outer space, so we can catch up with him and your sisters." The whole family felt a sense of dread over them, as they were almost afraid of what the Empire might have done to the Sandbenders.

Mako and Korra got up at Asami's mansion and went to their children, who'd thankfully slept soundly that night. At breakfast, Korra talked with Asami about what aspects of space travel she'd educate the engineers on next, when an unexpected visitor came. "Tenzin, what are you doing here?" asked Korra.

"Well, I was a bit curious to see more of these flying machines you keep teaching our people about," her Airbending teacher said. "There were a few other things but that can wait."

"Well, pull up a seat, there's enough waffles for you," Asami said. Breakfast was rather pleasant, with Tenzin listening to Korra explain hyperspace to him. As they finished eating, Tenzin stood up with that look in his eye that he needed to speak to them about a serious matter.

"I'm due back at Police HQ," Mako said. "In fact, I'll have to be going right about now."

"Well, I'm sure Lin will say what I have to say to Korra, then," the Airbending master said as the Firebender got on his motorcycle.

"I'll meet the team, now," Asami said, leaving Korra alone with Tenzin.

"I know that look," Korra said to Tenzin. "You are disappointed, angry, or otherwise frustrated with something and think I'm at fault."

"We received a complaint from the Fire Nation's government," Tenzin revealed, having met the Fire Nation Ambassador yesterday.

"As I recall, my friends and I broke no laws," Korra added, guessing at what it was about. "Their no weapons in public rule didn't mention lightsabers or blasters, as Jonah noted. If the letter of the law is followed, there is no crime. Also, as a rule, you shouldn't trust someone who wants you to disarm."

"Yes, Mayor Shoji mentioned your friend used that as a loophole," Tenzin said. "He also mentioned how Kuvira embraced the ideal of might makes right. I understand why you support her, but it's still concerning."

"That old guy a friend of yours?" Korra asked.

"My father went undercover in a Fire Nation middle school, once," Tenzin revealed. "Shoji was one of the first classmates he got to question the way he was taught to think."

"I thought he looked old enough," Korra replied, before guessing what else Tenzin would mention. "He needs to learn to take a joke, like Krennic was doing when he challenged the sheriff to an Agni Kai. As for Sabine, her opinion on why it was banned is just how it looked from a Mandalorian perspective. I managed to correct her, afterward."

"A challenge you sanctioned," Tenzin said. "I know you meant it as a joke but that's not how it looked to them. None of that was why the ambassador was angry, however, not even the Agni Kai stuff. He was angry because Darth Vader maimed the sheriff, while you threatened everyone else with the same fate."

"That fool picked a fight with someone he could never defeat," Korra answered. "He should have been like those deputies who backed down, who understood their badges didn't make them invincible. He's learned that lesson, now."

"At the cost of his hands," Tenzin reminded her.

"Unfortunate, but necessary," Korra claimed. "I'd seen his type before, a fanatic without fear who doesn't stop until either he's dead or too injured to continue the fight, no matter how pointless it is or how out of his league he is."

"I've run into that sort, as well, I just hope you are right, since that injury will be with him the rest of his life," Tenzin said. "Then there was what the White Lotus and the Sun Warriors had to say of the meeting."

"That we were rude and so on?" Korra asked rhetorically. "One of the things I like about the Empire is that they don't waste time with frivolous courtesy and formality. We tried that in Ba Sing Se, and the Earth Queen sent us to do her grocery shopping while doing the exact opposite of what we came to ask her for. I wasn't going to grovel to these people, either."

"I know," Tenzin said, remembering how they'd had to rescue Kai and the other new Airbenders from the queen's prison. "I don't agree with this method of diplomacy, but I understand it's appeal. As for threatening the dragons, I know there needs to be consequences to the failure of negotiations or breaking of agreements. And if worse does come to worse, there is that cloning technology I keep hearing of. It's not ideal but things rarely are. As for your refusal to meet this claimant to the throne, I'm not surprised, and I'm also skeptical of his legitimacy."

"Yeah, he'll go back to whatever hole he was hiding in before long," Korra said.

"I'm more concerned over your threat to the White Lotus," Tenzin said. "We explained to you that it's not one organization, but an international fraternity of scholars. What one chapter does isn't exactly reflective of the rest. But they reported how you said you'd treat them the same as that Dai Li-Esque organization the Imperials destroyed for betraying them, if one White Lotus lodge betrayed you. The Jedi, I think they are called?"

"I was rather angry when I made that threat, since they'd made me think of something I saw in outer space," Korra revealed.

"What was it?" asked her old mentor.

"A film, as we'd call it," Korra surprised him. "It's about a boy with an extremely controlling mother who gives him a bunch of rules, demanding he follow them no matter what, while he gets increasingly fed up. One day, he notices the lights in their house are dimmer than normal. But his mother says they are the same as they've always been. Eventually, a friend comes over and confirms that it's darker than normal, because the mother is dimming them. She's saying it's bright when it's not to make her son doubt himself, allowing her to more easily control him."

"What made you think of that during your meeting?" asked Tenzin.

"The White Lotus hates how I'm not as easily controlled, now, after a lifetime of imposing rules on me," Korra said. "They said I was disregarding their teaching techniques in favor of others because I was impatient and said I'd have learned how to connect to the spirit world if I stuck with your lessons."

"So, they were 'dimming the lights' by denying I admitted that I couldn't teach you what you needed?" realized Tenzin.

"Pretty much," Korra answered. Tenzin suspected that wasn't exactly what they said but also understood that is how it would have looked to Korra. "But my promise to you is still in place. If only one lodge betrays me, I will consider it a one-off as opposed to a betrayal from the whole organization."

"That's a relief," Tenzin replied. "Next time you meet with them, however, I want to be present."

"Of course," Korra replied, then she got an idea to tease Tenzin with. "So, I paid a visit to the Air Temple on the way back. I think Kai's going to propose at Jinora's birthday, next month."

"What!?" a flustered Tenzin asked upon hearing about his daughter's boyfriend. "That's ridiculous, he and Jinora are only sixteen!"

"Oh, I think he will, or she will for that matter," Korra told Tenzin. Tenzin started muttering under his breath, before he tripped on something and hit his head. "Let me look at it," Korra said, bending some water to heal the bump her old teacher had gotten on his forehead. At that moment, Tenzin started laughing.

"You're very funny, Korra," he said. "You always know how to make me tear at my beard and rant in frustration. But for my sake, please don't make such jokes about Jinora again."

"Don't worry, I won't," Korra smiled as she healed his bump.

Bumi and Kya looked out the window of the Hound's Tooth as they came close to Coruscant. Like Nar Shaddaa, the entire surface was covered in cityscape. Unlike Nar Shaddaa, this was a whole planet as opposed to just a moon, and there were about ten times as many ships flying to or from it as the other Ecumenopolis. "So, what will happen to Srinivasa when we get there?" Kya asked Bossk, looking at the Togruta child asleep in one of the chairs.

"That depends on whether they have found any family of his," the Trandoshan answered.

"Why wouldn't they?" asked Bumi. "His family had to have signed some paperwork to get on that voyage, right?"

"Yes, if they were passengers," Bossk replied. "Based on where we found him, close to the cargo bay, I'm pretty sure his family were stowaways, though."

"What, why?" asked Kya.

"The clothes he was wearing when we found him looked a little too ratty to belong to a kid whose family could afford a pleasure cruise," Bossk said. "And the Acheron wasn't a ship that lower-class people could take to go to some job elsewhere. It was exclusively a space liner."

"Given how he was running from Rakghouls, it's unsurprising his clothes were in poor condition," Kya said, though Bossk still looked skeptical. "But if you are right, what does that mean?"

"That his family had no documents," Bossk said. "Which means there is no easy way to find out where he belongs. Since he is the only survivor of his family, as well, finding that out will be even harder. He'll be placed in a UPCC."

"A what?" Kya asked, suddenly worried.

"Unknown People Containment Center," Bossk said sympathetically. "Its basically a jail for people caught travelling illegally. The detainees stay there until either their place of origin is found and they are sent back, or after they win an appeal made to the travelling authorities."

"How...how long are they usually kept there?" asked Kya hesitantly, worried about how the conditions would affect a lone ten-year-old.

"I'm afraid that depends on each case," Bossk answered, hesitant to tell them of the stories coming from migrant detention. At that moment, TC-14 walked up and informed them they had been granted permission to land. As they approached, Kya roused Srinivasa from his sleep. Kya promised that she'd be there for him, and he thanked her in his improving Basic.

"Remember, you should watch your step, here," Bossk said.

"Yeah, I remember Nar Shaddaa," Bumi said, thinking of the other city world they'd been to. "We'll fall for hours and still hit a different building instead of the actual ground, we're so high up."

"No, this part of Coruscant is too built up to easily trip and fall like that," Bossk said. "Instead, we'll be running into plenty of police, lawyers, politicians, and bureaucrats trying to take advantage of us." As they departed, they were met by a guide who took them to the apartment they'd be staying at. Bossk let them go on ahead, as he made sure the ship was secure. Bumi and Kya took in the sights around them as their speeder was driven to where they'd be staying. Coruscant was far brighter and cleaner than Nar Shaddaa, fitting for the capitol of the civilized galaxy. As they made it to the apartment, Kya asked the chauffeur about Srinivasa's status.

"I don't know, I'm just a driver," he said. As they tried to figure out how everything in the apartment worked, they heard knocking on the door. Bumi answered it, and saw a blue-eyed, square-jawed man around thirty years old at the door.

"Hello, welcome to Coruscant," the man said.

"Glad to be here, who are you?" asked Bumi.

"I am an investigator," he said with an undercurrent of impatience. "I think you can help me."

"With what, exactly?" Bumi questioned, increasingly suspicious of this man who'd yet to say either his job or his name.

"A man named Cassian Andor has falsified certificates of the equipment he's been selling," he claimed, immediately gaining Bumi and Kya's suspicion. "As a member of the Bureau of Standards, I need to chase down such con men."

"So that's the latest agency you've joined," a voice interrupted the conversation. Looking to the right, Bumi and the man saw Bossk coming up. The man was shocked to see the Trandoshan bounty hunter, to Kya's surprise. "Bumi, Kya, let me introduce erstwhile CSF rookie, former corporate stooge and all around screwup, Syril Karn. Don't worry, 'Inspector' I've made sure to educate them all about you." So, this was the foolish policeman who'd destroyed his own department chasing Cassian Andor? It looked like he hadn't accepted the hunt was over.

"What are you doing here?" Karn demanded indignantly.

"That's not really your concern, given how you're no longer law enforcement in any form," Bossk retorted before turning to the Bender siblings. "The Bureau of Standards keeps a list of certificates on specialized pieces of equipment. If they see something suspicious, they report it up the chain of command and let others deal with it. They don't have investigators or agents capable of arresting anyone. Even if they did, Karn wouldn't be one, given how he's on every agency's blacklist after he was fired from the CSF. Not that they'd want to hire the guy who sank his last employer's police department." As Bossk went inside the apartment, Bumi began closing the door, but Karn put his foot in the path.

"I need to find Andor, to clear my name," Karn stated.

"I can't help you," Bumi said.

"Andor is a murderer, you might be my last chance to catch him," Karn continued, ignoring what the Bender had said.

"I saw some security guards in the lobby," Kya intruded. "Do I need to call them for you to leave?"

"Andor is a cop killer who needs to be brought to justice, just like your Trando minion," Karn droned on, ignoring her. Bossk called the lobby and soon, the security guards dragged him out.

"Well, he's as stubborn and dumb as you made him out to be," Bumi said to Bossk. "He's lost his law enforcement career, and he's still chasing the fugitive he couldn't handle."

"The next time he accosts you, and he will, complain to some of the Imperial bigwigs," Bossk suggested. "After that, you'll never have to worry about him again."

"Uh, why not?" asked Kya.

"He'll lose this job just like he has all the others," Bossk said. "After that, he'll complete his downward spiral with booze, maybe some drugs, picking fights he can't handle, and finally prison or death. I've seen his type enough times to know that's where he's headed." Upon hearing that, Kya became rather hesitant to do as Bossk suggested, while Bumi thought that Karn's fall to that level might be inevitable. Regardless, they decided to learn their way around the apartment, and how to use it, before the first Acheron hearing began tomorrow.

I thought it was time I expanded on Baatar Sr's background. I hope you like how Kanda described his experiences while having no idea what happened. Respect your elders has become the favorite catchphrase of narcissists who last long enough, especially if they become parents. I also figured that some injuries and conditions were even harder to live with, in a Sandbender tribe, and that many would be looked down upon for it.

I needed to showcase Tenzin's response to the meeting a few chapters ago. Korra saw the White Lotus as trying to gaslight her when they said Tenzin's instruction would have worked when he admitted they wouldn't. Of course, as Korra wasn't joking when she told Tenzin her suspicions, the others weren't really joking either. As for that comment regarding the Fire Nation sheriff, it makes me think of the Sly Stallone film Cop Town, he's the sheriff of a NJ shore community with a bunch of NYPD officers living there. Most of them are bullies and all are corrupt in some way. In one scene, we see an officer on the job, where he's beat up by Method Man whose content to leave him there. But he's too proud to let him go, even though he could just give a description to the other officers, and attacks when this guy's back is turned. Method Man tosses him off a roof at that point, resulting in his death. The sheriff who picked a fight with Vader was more motivated by wounded pride than anything else, and Vader knew he'd only stop when he was forced to stop.

A UPCC is an original creation but it's basically an ICE detention center. The threat of it will loom over Srinivasa and his caretakers for a while. Karn hasn't accepted that he's no longer a policeman, nor is he cut out to be one. He heard they encountered Cassian on that ghost ship, so he went to them at the first opportunity. He's still angry Bossk got the better of him, as well. Since the Bureau of Standards wasn't really elaborated beyond 'mind-numbingly boring cubicles' I took some inspiration from a line Dedra used when questioning Karn.