"Absolutely not. This is my home, not a hotel. There's plenty of those in the city, go take him to one of them." Asami's arms were folded as she frowned at the general asking her to shelter a stranger in her home and on her driveway no less.
Iroh turned his head to one side towards the car that the Avatar was hiding in before clearing his throat. "I can understand your reluctance for your mansion to be used as a safe house but this is a matter of the utmost importance. If you won't cooperate then I have full legal authority to commandeer your mansion due to matters of national security."
"Matters of national security." Asami repeated his last words in in the flattest, most neutral tone he had ever heard. "I don't believe you. Only the president's office can issue those warrants and he would never give something like that to you General Iroh. Even lying about having one of those is something that could get you in trouble and I have the best lawyers in the city on retainer. One phone call and you'll get swamped in so much red tape that you won't be able to retire for years. Who is this and why is he so important?" She pointed at the man who had accompanied Iroh here.
The general sighed and rubbed his eyes before giving up the bluff. "Okay okay you're right, I made that up. I can't make you do this, I can only ask for your help. His name is Chou and he's a technician that used to work for Varrick. Their last project together was when Varrick was developing spirit energy and I don't need to tell you what happened with that."
Asami began to frown as she looked at Chou. "Spirit energy? But all of Varrick's work and notes were destroyed. No one knows how to reproduce it except for him and Zhu Li."
Iroh started to answer but Chou stepped forward interjecting himself into the conversation. "I'm afraid that's no longer the case Miss Sato. I've never really understood Varrick's theories on spirit energy but I knew enough to build the capsules he stored the vines in. And my notes weren't destroyed, I took them with me when I ran away after learning what Kuvira planned to do with them."
"You ran? Where to?" asked Asami.
"I was offered sanctuary by a house in the Fire Nation in exchange for my notes. It's a decision I wish I could take back but I was desperate to get away from Kuvira." Chou kept talking after that, something about a convention, but Asami wasn't listening anymore.
A house from the Fire Nation was in pursuit of spirit energy. Something clicked in her head and all the pieces began to coalesce together forming a picture that she had been unable to see until now. Everything that had happened to her and Korra since arriving in the Fire Nation suddenly began to make sense.
"Hello? Miss Sato?"
Asami's moment of clarity was broken by the technician's voice forcing itself into her internal reverie. Using her mansion to hide him hadn't been her choice but now that she knew what the stakes were... "Sorry, I got a little distracted. Speak to my butler and he'll take you to the panic room." She gestured towards the doorway where her butler was watching them from a distance in the event that he might be needed for anything. Chou scurried away but not without an apprehensive look behind him towards Republic City.
Her eyes followed him as he spoke to the butler and the two of them headed inside her mansion. Once they were out of sight her gaze swung back to the man still here with her. Iroh had been a member of the United Republic's military for two decades and one of its most celebrated generals but now the only thing she could see was the Crown Prince of a particular nation.
"That's what all of this is about. Houses still loyal to Ozai and his predecessors are trying to get their hands on spirit energy weapons. Do you know what's going to happen if they succeed?" asked Asami, an incredulous expression on her face.
"It'll mean war, a very bloody war. Too many people grew up hearing stories of the atrocities the Fire Nation committed for the other nations to stand by and let us develop spirit energy weapons. But my mother and I have no intentions of letting things get that far."
"And how exactly do you plan on stopping them?" asked Asami. "Because it sounds like you've known this whole time and haven't done anything yet. Do you even know what house is responsible?"
Iroh merely shook his head, seemingly bemused by her questions and the not so disguised criticism of their efforts. "Yes we know what house is behind all of this but we can't openly move against them. It's a small house, quite new in fact, but if my mother attacked them then the other houses would unite against us and my mother would be usurped, if not killed outright. We've hardly been idle however and things are proceeding reasonably well though we've had a setback here or there."
She reached up to rub her temples with both hands hoping to ease the headache that she had just developed. "That's why you invited me to the Fire Nation. That woman got all the contracts by promising spirit energy weapons to Ozai's supporters but she didn't just want to give them away because that would take away her leverage. So you had to get them out of her hands to try and undermine her position. That night before we left, Korra and I went to go see a play, we were barely gone half an hour. When we got back to the villa your mother was already there and it had been completely trashed. She did that didn't she? So that she had an excuse to give me the contracts. One nobody could argue with because the Avatar was involved and it was a matter of face for the Fire Nation. "
The prince clasped his hands behind him and the faintest shadow of a grin was present before vanishing behind that stoicism he normally wore on his face. "Some very interesting ideas Miss Sato. I can't say whether they are true or not but I would be curious to see what else you may have deduced from Chou's little revelation."
What else she might have figured out... clearly he was hinting at something here, the question was what. Spirit energy. Infrastructure contracts. Korra's dinner with Iroh. A seminar on how to fight metalbenders... now that Kuvira's army had been disbanded there were only two places with a significant group of people who could bend metal. Zaofu and... "They're going to attack Republic City once they have the weapons. Why?"
Iroh gave her an appraising look. "Well that's an interesting question. I'm not saying that they will attack the city of course but it would be a smart tactical decision. Republic City's location is an ideal staging point if your goal is to take over the Earth Kingdom. It has one of the world's largest harbors and it can easily accommodate the transport of troops and supplies. Not to mention it has an abundance of spirit vines to power spirit energy weapons. Of course this is all hypothetical and I'm certainly not privy to any plans regarding an attack on Republic City or anywhere else."
Asami looked to the west, the same direction as Chou had, for a moment. The Fire Nation was hundreds of kilometers away but it still felt like she could see their shadow reaching towards from her beyond the horizon. "Republic City barely survived that giant mech of Kuvira's. Another one of those and the United Republic would fall."
His eyes flicked away for a moment and Asami followed his gaze to see he was sneaking a peek at the car he and Chou had arrived in. Iroh had been driving the vehicle but Chou had been in the back seat. If there was still someone in there then they likely had been in the front passenger side and were keeping out of sight for some reason. "I mean no offense Asami, you're a brilliant engineer, but military strategy isn't one of your areas of expertise however it is mine. Building oversized... constructs I suppose is the right word now is a trait of the Earth Kingdom's military. The walls of Ba Sing Se, the chasm surrounding Omashu, the domes of Zaofu, Kuvira's mech and that energy weapon of hers are all examples of that philosophy. The emphasis on size isn't entirely without merit but they adhere to it so strongly that it makes them inflexible more often than not. The Fire Nation on the other hand believes very strongly in flexibility, in being able to adapt to whatever your opponents throw at you. We, or I should say they since I'm not part of the house in question, wouldn't build a giant weapon like Kuvira did. They would focus on creating a variety of weapons that be used for different purposes. Cannons that could be mounted on tanks or battleships, perhaps even versions small enough to replace the spears that our regular infantry carries."
"But if the weapons are smaller they wouldn't be able to do as much damage. One shot from Kuvira's weapon was enough to destroy battleships or demolish entire buildings." Asami pointed out.
"That's a fair point but you haven't thought it through yet. Kuvira's weapon was extremely powerful but it was a blunt instrument lacking in finesse. It could destroy large targets easily enough but it wasn't very good at dealing with smaller, faster opponents like Korra or the Airbenders. That wouldn't be true in this case. Instead of one large and very obvious target to focus on you'd be dealing with an entire army equipped with spirit energy weapons. Of course this is all hypothetical, I don't actually have any knowledge of what their plans are but that's what I would be doing in their place."
Asami pursed her lips as she shook her head. "I don't think you're giving Kuvira's mech enough credit. I was there with the rest of them during the battle and it took everything we had to destroy the mech. And even after the mech was gone the cannon still packed enough punch to create a new Spirit Portal."
Iroh raised his hand to his chin as he considered the matter. "I watched the battle for as long as I could but it didn't take long for the mech to disappear among the buildings downtown. How the battle played out I can only guess at. I suppose I am underestimating Kuvira's creation but I still feel the Fire Nation would be more effective with spirit energy weapons though I have to plead guilty to being biased towards my home on the matter. But we've wasted enough time on speculation out here while Chou is unguarded inside."
She wasn't going to let him end this particularly illuminating conversation, at least not while she still had some unanswered questions. "Why you? You being assigned to guard Chou means this had to come from up on high, maybe Raiko himself. Why would they assign you of all people to this mission? You're the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation and it's a house from your nation that's developing spirit energy weapons. What is going on here? Having you guard Chou is a huge conflict of interest. There isn't a single person in the United Republic who would benefit more from his dying or disappearing than you."
"There's going to be a convention a little over a week from now. It hasn't been formally announced yet but the leaders of every nation plus representatives from the Earth Kingdom will be in attendance. The purpose is to discuss and ratify an international treaty banning spirit energy technology. It's almost a charade since no one is foolish enough to publicly oppose it but they'll have to spend time haggling out the punishments for rule breakers. President Raiko has a surprise planned however. Chou is scheduled to make an announcement that there's a house in the Fire Nation currently developing spirit energy weapons. I'm sure you can figure out what the fallout from that will be."'
Asami hadn't voted for Raiko during the United Republic's first election and he had done little to sway her dislike of his political stances since then. However she had never imagined he would try something like this. "You can't be serious. Is he trying to start a war? There's no way the other nations will stand by and let that happen. Everyone will start mobilizing their armies the second they get their hands on a phone. What is he thinking?"
Iroh shrugged and stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat. "The next election will be happening in a few month and Raiko's term as president has gone poorly overall. Too many disasters and setbacks for him to have good odds of holding onto his office. This is his last chance to make an impact and hopefully sway voters back onto his side before the campaigns begin."
"That doesn't answer the question of why you General Iroh. Surely Raiko has people without any stake in this business that could guard him." She pointed out.
"Because it means I'll be in the room when it happens. The United Republic sees me as one of their generals but after this public opinion will turn against me since I'm the Fire Lord's son. Word is already starting to get around that I intend to retire and that will look bad in combination with this. But it's pretty much what we expected to happen. Anyways I think we've left Chou alone for long enough. Do you mind if I go inside now? I do need to know where this panic room of yours is however."
Asami nodded slowly as her eyes meandered away to the car and its tinted windows. "My butler will find you once you're inside." Iroh bowed somewhat and took off leaving Asami behind.
This conversation had answered some of the questions that had been brewing since her trip but she could still that he was still holding things back. But what or why Asami wasn't uncertain of and she wasn't sure that she actually wanted to know right now. That was a problem for another time however and now she had to deal with a more important one right now. Asami walked over to the car and pulled the passenger door open to the surprise of the person sitting inside. "Hello Korra, I think we need to talk."
