Not Your Hero

Chapter 12

"We've devised a plan," Korra announced to the boys as they were two hours away from Ba Sing Se. Mako and Bolin looked up expectantly. "Asami and I are going to quit USOF. We're going to take down Amon and the Saviors on our own."

"We figured you'd say something like that." Bolin explained.

Mako nodded. "We've decided to stay in USOF. Bo and I lost our families when we were young, the Academy was our only home. We can't just abandon USOF. But we could keep in contact, and we can try to help you from inside the compound. I know our ranks don't amount to much, but we'll try our best to help you."

Korra looked at her team. They really were great friends, friends who'd risk their livelihoods to help each other and to finish a mission. True, besides her the other three were all inexperienced, but they made a much better team than she would ever want from any USOF officer. "Don't worry, Mako. I've already put forward a request for both you and your brother's promotion. I believe you'll both be promoted to the rank of Corporal, at least." Korra looked at the two boys sincerely. "I'm not doing this because of the mission. Both of you have been incredible in this mission. You were willing to charge into enemy territory once we found out they were there. I can't ask more of a teammate. Hopefully, after this whole ordeal is over, we could be normal friends and maybe get a chance to drink some tea at the Jasmine Dragon.

The four of them smiled. Maybe there was going to be something good out of this mission after all.

--

"Did I ever tell you how good you look in full combat gear?" Asami asked.

Korra chuckled. "You just did, but you could definitely mention it more." It was true: Korra did look pretty intimidating wearing full armor with her weapons of choice clasped onto her belt. This was a bit different from the gear Korra wore to storm Republic City Government, which was laced with metal alloys to prevent injuries. Her current outfit was more stylish, including a long blue vest that had curled blue rims over slightly baggy dark brown pants. Korra's belt was concealed under the vest, but her sword sheath was still evident. She'd kept the sword she took from the Republic City Compound--it was too much of a waste to be gathering dust at the armory. Her 12mm pistol was also clipped securely to her belt, with the safety on. And of course, Korra's two dadaos were fastened to her back. They were specially made for fast-paced combat, with their light and narrow blades, dashed with blue to go with Korra's usual choice of color.

They'd decided that it was best to go into the compound armed and looking a bit more intimidating than usual, should their resignation go wrong. Korra knew there'd been talk about promoting her after this mission, for she was already an experienced captain and was already taking on some senior roles. After today she'd never become Colonel Korra, or perhaps even better, General Korra. Yet the captain knew that she couldn't stand staying in USOF anymore, not after this mission. She only needed to hand her resignation to Colonel Bataar and say goodbye to Kuvira.

"You boys ready to go home?" Asami spoke up again. Bolin and Mako nodded. They were wearing their dark blue private uniforms. Korra smiled at the sight. She bare wore those uniforms since she was promoted to Captain. As a high-ranking officer, she had more freedom when it came to clothes, so Korra wore her ocean-blue vests and robes more. Of course, that still meant she had to wear those uniforms often as regulations aren't to be ignored.

"Ready?" Korra looked at Asami, kissing her on the cheek. This sort of affection was still new to both of them after their confession a few hours ago, but Korra was determined to get used to it. Her girlfriend nodded. After deciding to resign, they'd both drafted a resignation letter to hand to the colonel. Asami did more of the writing since she was more experienced in this kind of business, while Korra made sure her signature at the bottom of the formally printed out page was stylish and smooth.

"Wait, so are you two an item now, or...?" Bolin asked, obviously confused by the display of affection. Mako groaned, reminding his brother not to ask such blatant questions.

Asami just laughed, saying that it's fine. "And yes, Bo, Korra's my girlfriends now." Hearing Asami refer to herself as her girlfriend made Korra balloon in happiness. She beamed. Korra would never get tired of this.

--

"Why, Korra? I don't understand. Is there a part of the organization that's been slipping? If so, I'm sure the generals or I would be happy to fix it." Colonel Bataar was astounded that one of his top officers was resigning.

Korra softly shook her head. "This is more of a personal crisis than something in the organization, I'd say. Asami helped me realize that being a captain at USOF just isn't something I'd want to do for the rest of my life, even if I get promoted. So we have decided to try to figure out our own paths." Korra decided to leave out the part about finding out General Tenzin, the person who'd been a mentor and a father-like figure to her ever since she graduated from Raava Academy. She'd just come to realize how seeing Tenzin supporting the Saviors hurt more than she let on.

But Bataar would hear nothing of it. "But you're a top officer, Korra! I just put forward a request for your promotion, and you could be promoted to colonel in just a few weeks. You're still the youngest officer here, we all thought you were going to succeed and become the leading general. Do you have any idea how much faith Tenzin has in you? He was the one behind your promotion to captain despite the fact that you just became of age. He's on a mission right now, but he's going to be devastated to hear that you're leaving. At least tell him yourself?" The mention of Tenzin lodged another painful stab in Korra's heart. "Sorry, Colonel. But we're leaving and that's that. When Tenzin comes back, please tell him that I truly appreciate him being there to support me when I was a young rookie. But I must resign. Do you accept our resignation?" Korra asked, with a bit more force than intended. She really didn't want to spend more time here, she needed out.

Bataar nodded and allowed them to go. He was always good friends with Korra, and Asami said that Bataar was a good engineer as well. They'd worked together on quite a lot of projects. The colonel had even allowed Korra to keep her weapons, knowing that it really didn't matter to the compound if they were running on one less blade.

Once outside, Asami kissed Korra's cheek, with that area soon burning up in a blush. "I've got to go say bye to Kuvira, and you've probably got to take care of some things as well?" Asami nodded, and Korra headed to the officers' quarters. She knew she'd find Kuvira there, having checked the week's schedule.