Chapter 30: The Ember Spy
As Korra stepped back, she nodded slightly once she caught President Raiko's eye. Making sure to first remind Iroh II and Wu to not react to the information too strongly, Korra gave them a fuller - but not complete - account. When she removed her hand from Wu's large forehead, as he was last, he said, crossing his arms tightly, "Awww, what rotten luck. I finally get the chance to sing as a career, and now the world might end! This sucks." As he pouted, the Beifong family - including Kuvira - erupted into laughter, Opal saying, "While I have confidence in Korra, I don't like the 'Sudden Death' option either. It's no fair - Korra and Asami have been together four days and Asami's already pregnant, and I haven't even groped Bolin yet!" Korra and Mako laughed as his brother fell to the floor yet again. Korra asked everyone else to put their feet on the floor, except Bolin, who was already down, flashed her eyes, then used the Avatar State to make sure everyone knew the punishment plan for Kuvira, making very sure to not "hit" the spy. Then, Korra asked loudly, "Are we all in agreement on Kuvira's sentencing?" Seeing everyone bob their heads in agreement, even Meelo joining in and Bolin letting out a weak "Uhuh", Korra said, "Now, to another important item of business."
Now, it was time to enact her little plan. Before she could even speak, she could feel Raava was very excited, and Korra thought this little trick might win Avatar Kyoshi over. Korra said, after Bolin was seated again, "As you all know, Kuvira used vines from the Great Banyan tree to power her weapons once her access to Republic City vines was cut off. I have sensed somehow that the damage done to the tree has been reversed, but this is not all a good thing. If any of Kuvira's stragglers get their hands on spirit vines again, we could be in big trouble. To my knowledge, there aren't any stockpiles of spirit vines left." Seeing she had the spy's full attention, she told a decidedly white colored lie, adding, "From what I could sense of the Great Banyan tree, it had a great amount of energy infused into it. If anyone tries to cut it, it will likely fight back more strongly now, but I fear it could still be overpowered by a large group of elite metalbenders. If they manage to cut the more powerful vines… they might just be able to make a bomb powerful enough to wipe cities off the map. Think center of Republic City, but going for miles instead."
She was barely able to resist giving an evil laugh, seeing the spy's reaction. She even heard a little tinny voice coming from his ear - so Jinshu Kuangmai had managed to get his hands on some fairly good equipment then. Remembering what Toph had said about her son, Korra realized with a start that there was a reason this spy was so bad - he was disposable! Putting this together with the tinny voice, Korra's eyes widened - there was probably a listening wire in the room!
Apparently, the spy had seen her eyes, as his own widened and he used earthbending and metalbending to smash through the wall behind him. As Korra's eyes began to glow and she stepped back to avoid upending the table, Zuko said, "Oh, rats! I finally finish renovating this house and expanding it, and the spy goes through the wall!" She could hear Katara yell once she was outside, "Stop him! Use your bloodbending, Korra - it's the only way!" Korra had to run a distance away from the house before using her flame jets to avoid burning Zuko's retreat. She carefully took off her formal dress to reveal her normal clothes beneath as she did so, making sure to toss it far from her current position - she'd need to be able to move well to catch the spy, and didn't want to burn the dress Asami loved so much. Her initial delay and change of clothes let the spy escape a fair distance using a move Bolin had told her about - "earthwalking". Already glowing eyes flashing, she struck her foot against the ground, trying to see where the spy was fleeing. She noticed he was slower than Bolin, but was making a beeline for the other end of the island. Using her firebending to propel herself rapidly, she caught up quickly, surprising him by saying "Game's up!" as he earthwalked, sending him tumbling.
He recovered quickly and whipped out what looked like a medicine pill, saying, "I may not have gotten much, but you won't 'infobend' me! I'll be too DEAD! Glory to Jinshu Kuangmai!" Time slowed as he began to put his hand closer and closer to his mouth, but Korra just smirked and began to halt his movements with Avatar State bloodbending, making him flick the capsule away. Seeing the panicked look of his face, Korra said, "I'm afraid you won't be taking your medicine today, spy. I'm going to bring you back to Zuko's house now - someone there can help me pry your little secrets. And don't even bother trying to send reinforcements, Jinshu Kuangmai - I know about the little earpiece and the listening wire." Relaxing her bending grip on his head, his features started moving again. Given the expression on the spy's face, he must have just gotten an earful from his boss, as he looked slightly distraught, saying, "He told me I'm disposable and dead to him anyways for my failure. But I don't care - he's right! The Earth Empire must prevail!" After he spat in Korra's face, she vaguely considered following through with her impulse from earlier, turn his insides to mush, but decided not to.
Once she had bloodbent him back to the house, she noticed plenty of people were staring at her in disbelief. Korra yelled out, "Mai, I need your help! Give this rat a paralyzing dose - I need him conscious!" The spy screamed, "Wait, NO! No no no!" Not wanting to hear whatever drivel he had to say, Korra clamped his mouth shut, Tenzin saying, "I guess that part of the training did come in handy after all." As she told everyone about the spy's words, Mai said, "Want me to give him something to permanently knock him out after? It sounds like he's quite the zealot, and given his bending abilities, it doesn't sound like he'd be an easy prisoner."
Korra sighed, still focusing on maintaining her hold, "I'm sure I will figure something out. Just go ahead and paralyze him so I can get started." One "Ffft" later, and the spy's body was so rigid Korra was afraid she'd kill him if she continued bloodbending. She laid him on the ground gently. She had no smile on her face as his eyes looked at her in terror while Korra placed her hand on his forehead.
After finding out where the spy's microphone was located and crushing it, the first major thing she found out when she resumed infobending was the location of the listening wire. The spy had hidden it on a potted plant's strong stem out of sight and out of detection by earthsense. Figuring Kuvira would enjoy destroying it, Korra again stopped temporarily and told her the location of the listening wire. Kuvira came back out, holding the medium-sized microphone and large battery in her hands, saying to the microphone, "I guess you figured we were going to be talking a long time, didn't you, Jinshu Kuangmai? You should just give up, and stop fighting your conscience, if you have one. I did, and it's the best thing I've ever done! I feel so much lighter - Mother Suyin considers me her daughter now." After a little bit, Korra heard loud tinny cursing from the spy's right ear, and everyone began laughing, making the curses even worse. Meelo said, no longer sitting on Bumi's shoulders, "See, mom? THOSE are the words I want to learn!" Remembering what he had been told about Jinshu Kuangmai, Meelo said as he returned to Bumi's shoulders, "I may be a nine year old airbender who designs weapons, but your blood-iron bending is just sick!" A short time later, more cursing, though Korra managed to hear the low words, "What weapons, TELL ME! Do your job, you fool! I don't care if you're paralyzed." Korra laughed, saying, "I think Meelo has something else to say to you," and after she told Meelo what she overheard, he puffed out his chest, saying, "I'm not gonna tell you, Jinshu Kuangmai! And I'm not gonna call you Mister either - only good people get that honor!" Zuko snickered after the word "honor", and as Korra turned to look at him, she noticed Uncle Iroh was crying.
Uncle Iroh yelled, pointing at Korra, "Can't you just end this already? It's not nice to toy with people, even if they are your enemies. And I don't think you should kill this spy, either - we can always make him a wooden prison like Kuvira and Baatar Jr. were in." Thinking for a moment, Uncle Iroh continued, "Though, I don't see why Baatar Jr. needed a wooden cage - he's no bender." When Uncle Iroh finished, Korra removed the earpiece from the spy's ear so everyone could hear. A voice that sent chills down her spine said clearly, "Whoever you are, I need none of your sympathy or pathetic mercy. That spy is a failure, and deserves death, as he knows." As Uncle Iroh's face filled with sadness, Jinshu Kuangmai continued, "You should have heard about my special talent, and if we ever meet, I'll be sure to choke you real nice and slow - I love making weaklings suffer. Ah, the fear in their eyes…" Uncle Iroh let out a loud, sad grunt, saying, "Whoever you are, you must have a lot of hurt inside you. My other nephew, Princess Azula, was like that. She never trusted anyone, and eventually, she went insane." The earpiece howled in a sound more bone-chilling than Vaatu's voice, "You know NOTHING about true power, old man! Azula was a genius! When I choke the life from Avatar Korra, bloodbending or not, then we'll see who's crazy! NNNNGUUYYYAAAHH!" With that final grunt, a static sound came from the earpiece - apparently, Jinshu Kuangmai didn't want to talk anymore.
As Uncle Iroh just shook his head sadly and Kuvira crushed the listening wire, making sure to not spill the battery's juice on anyone, Korra distracted herself by infobending the spy again. The next thing she found out required immediate attention - there was a relay boat nearby, and she could somehow sense she knew one of its passengers! After a short explanation, she ran to an outcrop of rock and used flame jets to soar into the sky, and she spotted the large boat immediately. It was disguised to look like a fishing boat, but it had a fairly large radio tower on its deck, and she assumed it must have been metalbent together on the deck. Apparently, it had defenders, as she had to dodge incoming metal projectiles and what she could have sworn was a small blast of energy that brought back bad memories. Not wanting to hurt or drown anyone, she used her bloodbending to black out the hostile soldiers, remembering what Kuvira had done to the guard outside her cell with the necklace. She then encased each their bodies in a ring of ice so if they woke up they wouldn't be able to bend metal. She had sensed one figure cowering by the radio tower who she felt no need to bloodbend - she recognized him quickly. Or rather, his trembling voice - his appearance took longer to register. He was a wreck.
The figure ran over, apparently very glad someone had come to his rescue. Korra said, "It's okay, Shiro Shinobi - all those soldiers will be out for quite a while, and they won't break out of that ice easy. Why are you here?" Shiro Shinobi began sobbing even harder, saying, "My family and I were kidnapped a day after the battle in Republic City from our tents, and we were taken to Zaofu by rail, where this horrible man said he'd choke my family to death if I didn't help him with his radios. He wasn't right, Korra - I have read of Azula, and he reminded me of her a lot." Taking a deep breath, Shiro Shinobi continued, "There's a lot I need to tell you - some of the people who were handling us were careless, and we saw things we shouldn't have." The same voice she had heard earlier that chilled her to the bone boomed from a loudspeaker on the deck, saying, "I know I said I'd kill your family if you failed, Shiro Shinobi, but now we have a new 'deal'! Take the pill I gave you, or your family dies!"
Shiro Shinobi looked like he seriously considered it for a minute, panicking Korra back into the Avatar State - she wanted to be able to stop him if need be. Shiro Shinobi instead took out a receiver from his tattered trademark vest, slamming it onto the deck and then spitting next to it. Before Jinshu Kuangmai could react, he yelled, "I talked about this with my wife, if either one of us should be threatened with death. She said not to do anything like your order! I don't know who you are, but you certainly don't understand love! I'm not helping you and your horrible plans anymore!" Jinshu Kuangmai said, with anticipation in his voice, "Very well - I see you have made your decision. I look forward to their looks of terror and their final gasps." Before smashing the receiver, Shiro Shinobi said, "My wife will still try and spit in your face, even with that horrible talent of yours! Scumbag!" The crunch satisfied Korra deeply - she was pretty sure she was going to kill Jinshu Kuangmai when she got the chance.
Shiro Shinobi collapsed to the deck, weeping profusely. Korra said, "I will leave this ship alone after we take a little look around. I'll bend a warning into the metal deck." Korra pointed at what appeared to be a solitary "small" spirit cannon on the prow of the boat, saying, "I get the feeling that's what shot at me on the way in. Is that one of the things you saw? In… wait. Zaofu?!" Shiro Shinobi looked up, with steely eyes, saying, "Yes. Apparently, Kuvira had developed smaller spirit weapons but did not feel comfortable using them in the battle four days ago. I read the text on one inside Zaofu and it said, 'WARNING: Prototype. Not for battle use.' Shiro Shinobi shook his head, continuing, "Speaking of Zaofu - the soldiers following Jinshu Kuangmai were making preparations for some massive earthbending project, given the lines they were creating around the former domes of Zaofu. They even diverted the rivers, to some unseen location, apparently in the mountains. There were at least a thousand soldiers there in elite metalbending armor. But, the thing is - there were no building materials. As I left on the train again, I noticed that central Zaofu looked… lower somehow, as well as the other five lotuses. Well, they aren't lotuses any more… It was like they were gradually sinking Su's city into the earth, to make the central lotus and its five sisters into an underground stronghold." Suddenly remembering another detail, Shiro Shinobi added, "That might explain the massive thin sheets of shiny metal lying around. If they somehow were able to surround the sunken portions of the city with platinum, not even the best earthbender could detect them."
Realizing that what Shiro Shinobi had to say was very important, Korra bent her warning to Jinshu Kuangmai onto the deck - basically, that he was as good as dead if she got her hands on him - and then formed an iceboard like she had earlier with Asami. Both were silent as they returned to Zuko's property.
After everyone was seated at the table again and the spy gagged and bound to a wooden chair out of earshot, the silence that Shiro Shinobi's downcast presence caused finally proved to be too much for President Raiko. He asked, "Why does Shiro Shinobi look so crushed, and why is he here, Korra? He looks like someone just killed his family or something! Are you all right?" Shiro Shinobi wailed, "You're right, President Raiko - that evil scumbag Jinshu Kuangmai did just kill my family!" As everyone stared and some wept, Shiro Shinobi explained what had happened to him over the past days, finishing with Korra's warning to Jinshu Kuangmai on the boat's deck. When he finished, Su was weeping bitterly, saying, "Your family… My city… that's just awful! Did you manage to see if the civilians were safe, away from Zaofu? That man is a monster… your whole family, asphyxiated!" Shiro Shinobi took a deep breath, saying, "I believe that all nonbender civilians had been taken somewhere else, benders forced to help. I did see a suspicious looking 'crack' in a nearby mountain's foot - maybe that's where they are. Now that I think about it, that's where the water was diverted to as well - that horrible man must have made a secondary hideout, deep inside the mountains." Having heard the story a second time, Korra said sadly, "It sounds like whatever Jinshu Kuangmai has planned for Zaofu, it's pretty serious. If what Shiro Shinobi said about the number of elite metalbenders is true, once we win against Jinshu Kuangmai, it will take me a long time to get Zaofu back above the surface, even with help." Kuvira finally managed to wipe the glare off her face, saying, "It's a good thing I never promoted Jinshu Kuangmai past third in command - given his behavior, it probably wouldn't have been long before I had a mysterious death. And what he's done to Shiro Shinobi's family, and my adoptive home… it just sickens me."
Meelo said loudly, jumping up onto the table and somehow managing to not break any dishes, "I know one thing we can do to stop Jinshu Kuangmai - kill him! And yesterday, I helped Asami, Kuvira, Zhu Li and Varrick come up with some good ways to do so!" Asami took this as her cue to move aside the plates in front of her, but before she could whisk out the blueprints, Head Cook Zhao said loudly, "Staff, please clear the table - it looks like. Wait. What are you doing, Avatar Korra?" Korra had entered the Avatar State and was using it to clear the table, saying, "Helping out!" Knowing full well that for the next part of the meeting she wouldn't be of much help, Korra slowly walked to a corner of the room, and fell asleep curled up from cumulative exhaustion.
When she woke back up, she saw Asami's face in front of her, Korra's fancy dress in hand. She made to grab for Asami and kiss her love on the lips, but Asami said, "Not right now. We aren't done just yet. As we talked, we realized that a lot of what we need depends on you, Korra - you have to retrieve most of the tuber-vines, you're the one who needs to bend up the ore from around Ember Island, and I'd like it if you would provide design input as well." Still sleepy, Korra groaned as Asami picked her upper body off the floor, saying, "Without your input, we never would have been able to get the armblade design finalized yesterday. Come on - I'll get you some leftovers. There was plenty of meat."
Once Korra had eaten and drank plenty of tea, she actually felt like a human again and not some wispy, sleepy spirit. The large table now clear, Meelo was sitting in the middle with a long stick, pointing to all the blueprints that Korra recognized from yesterday, as well as some new ones. Given how Meelo avoided these, they must have been someone else's idea and he was just the artist. Pointing at the one nearest to her that was new, Korra asked, "What's this thing? It looks like a tank, but not any that I've ever seen. Where are the firing ports for the benders?"
Bumi grinned broadly at the same time that Asami said, "Bumi and I created that. You might recognize the lines from yesterday as spiritwire, but given how your finger is lingering over the scales, you don't know what those are." Bumi said, pointing to the overall shape of the tank, "I was the one who came up with this shape, using inspiration from different bending arts. The overall form is much sleeker than old tanks, increasing speed. Drag will be a consideration, if we use tuber-vines to power it." Before Korra could object, Bumi continued, "I know you said there were only 30 tuber-vines in existence, but this is just an idea at the moment. I don't think we're going to be using the land vehicles against Long Yumao, and we'll be busy constructing the aircraft carrier, the Flying Hogmonkeys, the Ferocious Lemurs and retrofitting the battleships as is." Korra said, pointing to the scales again, "So this tank is designed with fighting Jinshu Kuangmai in mind. What are these scales made out of?"
Asami looked down to the table sheepishly, as though that had been her main contribution to the idea. Asami said, looking up now with a frown, "Originally, they were just iron, and the hull beneath was coated in platinum. I don't think there's enough platinum in that mineral vein to coat all the tanks and scales with it." Given that Firelord Izumi did not interrupt, she must have already been told of the massive vein's existence. Korra said gently, "I still think the scales are a good idea, but not against a bunch of mad, zealous metalbenders. Maybe we'll find another use for them." Korra pointed to the tank's main gun, saying, "I assume this weapon here is similar to the spirit cannons underneath the Flying Hogmonkey's wings?" Meelo shook his head enthusiastically, and Korra asked, "Then what's this thing on top of the tank's turret? The turret, I may add, looks very odd - more like a really angular box than anything." Bumi pointed to the odd form, saying, "That's where the airbending inspiration, as well as waterbending, comes in. Any physical attack made against it should bounce or ping off due to the angles, doing no damage." Zhu Li said, "The gun on top is something Varrick came up with. It shoots a smaller projectile than the Varrick gun on the Flying Hogmonkey and uses a spring mechanism to self-reload and eject something he called a 'shell'." Zhu Li laughed, saying, "Varrick always has had such an imaginative mind - I haven't even gotten a chance to make the first batch of Lipowder, much less test it, and he's already thinking of ways to use it." Varrick said, pointing to an odd large 'shell' below the tank, saying, "Spirit energy isn't the only thing this tank can shoot. That shell contains a large amount of the same compound I used to attack Asami's shipments, back before my change of heart." Asami stuck her tongue out at Varrick slightly, making him laugh. Varrick finished, saying, "It explodes on contact, much like the Meesiles. I figure this thing needs a secondary weapon in case Jinshu Kuangmai comes up with a spirit weapon deterrent of his own. I figure I might be able to make a solid version of the shell as well, for armor piercing."
Before Varrick could finish picking up another schematic - apparently he wasn't done talking, as usual - Korra asked, "How are we going to produce the aircraft and aircraft carrier fast enough for them to make a difference? Republic City was gutted pretty badly by the blast, and as such I don't think the URN is going to be doing much manufacturing soon." To Korra's surprise, Bolin raised his hand, putting it back down again when he saw Korra looking, and said, "Firelord Izumi suggested that she could help manufacture the planes, so I added that metalbenders could help. Avatar State metalbending could be a huge timesaver on the aircraft carrier. Also, there's no platinum in the planes, and if we can get even a small number of metalbenders loyal to Kuvira and not Jinshu Kuangmai to join us, they should be good help." Kuvira said after coughing, pointing to herself, "There were plenty of naïve idealists in the army, just wanting to help their country like Bolin did. Once they see that Jinshu Kuangmai is in charge, they will likely leave." Seeing more than just a few people were giving her odd looks, Kuvira finished, "I may not have been the nicest person myself until recently, but Jinshu Kuangmai makes no effort to hide his malice. I just hope he doesn't catch any running off - death by choking is no fun. I've seen his little trick in full action before."
Looking glad to see an opening in the conversation again, Varrick pulled two blueprints closer to Korra. One had a body and turret that resembled the unnamed tank, except the weapons were pointing upwards, and the other had the same body as the tank but a very different weapon and no turret. Pointing to the first, Varrick said, "This vehicle is more specialized than the tank - its role is anti-aircraft duties. Given that we have no idea what Jinshu Kua - ugh, I'm sick of saying that horrible name, especially given it means 'Metal Veins'! I'm just going to call his army the Metal Vein Army." Before he could continue, multiple people nodded their heads in agreement, Kuvira adding emphatically, "Sounds like a good idea to me. Every time you say his name, I see his face… Those cold, dead eyes…" She shuddered slightly as Varrick continued, "Given we have no idea what the Metal Vein Army is going to look like tomorrow, especially with what Shiro Shinobi told us about smaller spirit weapons, we need to be prepared. Anything we've designed so far could take down the slow moving war balloons, but this anti-aircraft vehicle is designed for faster targets." Varrick pointed at a long, four-rod arrangement in the lower center of the skyward facing turret, saying, "This is a VarriMag gun. I want these to be able to hit both air and land targets. The four smaller guns above it are scaled down versions of the tank's main gun. They can be fired in a pattern, continuously, or in bursts. This vehicle is also driven by tuber-vine energy, and is a concept only." Seeing Korra point at the six holes she recognized as a Varrick gun, Varrick finished, "And my namesake gun is on the side, using an ammunition belt stored in a drum to feed it."
Mako leaned over, pointing at all these different guns, saying, "What's to prevent someone from bending these into scrap? You could coat the outside of the guns with platinum, but that would be expensive." Asami let out a small "Hmm", and as Korra turned to face her, she saw Asami was getting out her electroglove. Mako said at the same time Asami did, "Electricity!" Mako said as Asami admired the glove idly, "It might not help against really good metalbenders, but you could put an electrical current over the hull and turret to discourage physical contact. You could probably even do it through the spiritwires." Korra had an interesting thought, and finally let Raava out, careful to put her in a seat and not on top of the blueprints. Korra asked a pleasantly surprised Raava, "Do you think that the spiritwires could be configured so that they could discern friend or foe, and help serve as close in, uh, protection? Like the Great Banyan tree's new ability." Raava shook her head, just making those who had not seen her new form before stare deeper, saying, "I'm afraid not. That relied heavily on the energy of the tree itself, so it wouldn't work with just a tuber-vine."
Seeing the odd looks, Raava got out of her seat and grew to twice Korra's size, accidentally knocking a potted plant over in the process. Not missing a beat, she said, "I am Raava. The little girl you just saw was my new 'human-y' form. I know you were all informed of my changing nature, but," she continued, now in her smaller form, "I can see you were surprised by this. I do not wish to interrupt, so I am going back into Korra now." Korra's mouth was wide open when she felt Raava return, and she said, "Looks like she's actually learning some manners! Maybe I won't make such a horrible mother after all." Korra could hear Raava laughing in her head along with everyone else and herself.
Varrick said, pointing to the other vehicle with what Korra knew must have been a sizeable VarriMag gun in place of a turret, "This vehicle is kinetic only, no spirit weaponry. It is intended for direct fire support - the gun packs a nasty wallop! Its main weapon, obviously, is a VarriMag gun, and it needs tuber-vine power to shoot the metal projectile with sufficient force. Even if the Metal Vein Army has platinum-coated vehicles with some sort of protection against spirit energy, the kinetic force alone should destroy or punch a hole in all but the toughest targets."
Meelo picked up and displayed his schematic of the battleship excitedly, saying "Iroh II helped me with the design a bit - he has firsthand experience with aircraft and ships," prompting a laugh from all four Fire Nation family members present as well as President Raiko. It looked much as Korra had imagined it would - Meelo was a master artist. As Meelo trotted out his aircraft designs once more, satisfied everyone liked the battleship, Shiro Shinobi interrupted when Meelo was showing the Ferocious Lemur. He looked slightly confused, saying, "This plane looks a lot different than what you called a Flying Hogmonkey. Where did you get its shape? I swear I've seen something like it before, but I'm not exactly sure what." Meelo looked like he was going to yell at Shiro Shinobi at first, but he shut his slightly open mouth, took a deep breath, and said, "Its shape was inspired by the new airbender suits. It was Bumi's idea, but I added the two vertical 'tail fins' and moved the two engines to the back in between the tail fins." Meelo, now smiling, finished, "Given where you're pointing, Mister Shiro Shinobi, you noticed the condenser ring at the end of the engines. It's there for finer thrust and direction control - it can move, sending the spirit energy pulse up or down." Shiro Shinobi looked slightly embarrassed, apparently remembering the airbending suits. Pointing his finger at a Meesile, he said, "Wait. On the guidance of these weapons. Have you considered using radio control? An airbender could accompany the plane and use their arms to control the bomb or missile somehow, like a remote control toy." Tenzin said dryly, "While that would be a good idea if there were lots of airbenders, there currently are not that many. Many of us may be more willing to go to war, given the price for failure if we don't, but we're still too few." Shiro Shinobi scratched his head, saying, "Wait - what? I know your son is designing weapons, but I am not sure I understand what is going on. Airbenders other than Zaheer willing to kill? Price if you don't go to war? I've been cooped up by that psycho for the past few days. Is there something big I'm going to need to announce? I don't like the looks I'm getting right now."
Taking a big sigh, Korra said, "Well, you already know about Jinshu Kuangmai obviously, so I suppose letting you in won't hurt. Plus, you will have something big to announce tomorrow. Given you just lost your family, I'm not going to insult you by reading you. Just stay still." Korra could see, then feel Shiro Shinobi's confusion, and once she was done, he said, "I thought things couldn't get much worse than Vaatu and Harmonic Convergence. I guess I was wrong. Say, Korra - you saved my life. As a repayment, as small as it is, I am willing to throw my support behind your relationship with Asami and the decision on marriage by the world leaders." Varrick walked over, seemingly having gotten an idea from what Shiro Shinobi had said, saying, "I've had an idea for a while - Avatar interviews! With the new SpectroMover camera, if you project out and talk to your past lives, Korra, they should show up on film." Korra asked hesitantly, "What does this have to do with what Shiro Shinobi said, again?" Varrick said, with a gleam in his eye, "I remember your talk with Avatar Wan and Avatar Garkan from the 'party', and I think we could exchange favors. You interview the last five Avatars and give me rights to the films, and I'll let you use my camera to interview Avatar Garkan, as well as the sob stories you haven't heard yet. Their stories would be useful in winning over people, as 'Uncle' Iroh suggested." Zhu Li got up and said, "Varrick, that doesn't sound like a very fair deal - We'd make a lot of money off the last five Avatar's interviews, and Korra would get not a single yuan. Plus, I don't think Avatar Kyoshi would be on board with this, given her… relationship with Korra."
Varrick pointed in the direction of the kitchen, saying, "If I go through with my deal with Admi - I mean, Head Cook Zhao, I'm going to need money! Quite a bit of it." Zhu Li said in an angrier voice, "Oh, so it's okay to exploit Korra and Asami, but not some guy you just met today? Screw the money, we have rules! Such as 'Don't exploit people like Varrick did Bolin.'" Asami, Korra and Bolin began laughing wildly as Varrick's face turned beet purple just like it had earlier on the boat. Bolin added, "You may have gotten a lot of the profits off Nuktuk, but at least I got to hang out with Ginger!" Bolin was knocked back into a wall by a blast of air, Opal saying with a false curiosity, "What was that, Bolin? Something about getting to hang out with herbs?" Bolin stood up and shook his head violently up and down, saying, "Yes ma'am. I loved hanging out with the ginger spice on the set. It tasted great in my food. Mmm-mmm good." Varrick burst into laughter, pointing at himself and then Bolin, then at Zhu Li and Opal, finally saying, "I guess you and I have something BIG in common!" This remark earned them both light slaps, Opal adding, "At least Bolin knows it," Zhu Li snickering lightly.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Korra asked Varrick, "How about we split the money inversely - you get 60% from the five Avatar interviews, and Asami and I get 60% from the other ones, which will include biographies - maybe more than one - about my own life and Asami's, what they cover depending on when they are made. For the last two series, you will provide good, accurate actors, at no cost to us." Given Varrick's expression, Korra must have made a good deal, given how he was standing idle, saying, "Dang Zhu Li." After mumbling, "Aang, Roku and Kyoshi will sell like hotcakes," Varrick extended a hand and said, "You've got a deal. Now let's finish this conference."
As Korra shook his hand, she could tell his heart was not racing as it might have been had his reaction just been a show to get her agreement. Korra let out a sigh, saying, "And now, back to the business of war. Every world leader here has been shown what will happen if they don't do their part to ensure Jinshu Kuangmai doesn't take over the northern Earth Kingd - I mean, United Earth Republic." Shaking her head slightly and taking a deep breath, Korra said, "Team Avatar is going to be spread thin, and I'm not really quite sure what the first moves in the Spirit Civil War should be, but I have already asked Eska and Desna to ask Yue for help. If any of you know friendly or neutral spirits who might have sympathy for humanity, especially powerful ones, please ask them for help. Do so cautiously, however - there is no telling who Long Yumao has converted and who he has not. I can see your look Katara, but no - don't plead for the help of spirits who are tied to a place like the Painted Lady, or even Hei-Bai, unless they want to help." Seeing Firelord Izumi's look, Korra added, "We can go to the Fire Nation for the special address tomorrow. Shiro Shinobi, see if you can contact the world press with Varrick and Zhu Li's help - I am going to need to give a press conference before the speech at the Fire Nation's capital. Tell them to come to Ember Island, then the capital, if they wish." Firelord Izumi added, "Tell them to not bug my daughter if she doesn't decide to come to the speech, or else they'll have access to future events in the Fire Nation revoked!"
Remembering she was on a tropical island, Korra said, "I didn't come all the way out here to just talk, and have no fun - we're on the legendary Ember Island! Unless anyone has an objection with what I just said, I'm going to go surfing with Asami."
No one had any objections. Korra grabbed Asami, knowing full well that tomorrow would likely be very stressful, especially the press conference. She would need to relish this time, and when she told Asami as much, Asami replied, "Like you don't relish every moment with me anyways. Now let's find some skimpy swimsuits and go surfing." As they changed, Korra admired Asami's pale, beautiful body, prompting Asami to say, "I remember that bubble you made under the sea with Katara - maybe you could make an ice bubble like Aang made." Asami fished in her belongings, pulling out a familiar form that made Korra very excited. Smiling, Asami said sultrily, "We can have some fun - I know you love the cold and the thingies."
Once Korra tired of surfing with Asami, she chose an isolated, shallow spot near the shore. Korra made the ice ball's wall thick enough so she couldn't see out or, importantly, hear anything. With a giggle, she bent the characters for "Keep Out" onto its visible surface and proceeded to have fun in the "sun".