Chapter 31: In the Bay of Broken Angels…

Man, I've gotta say, it's a little weird talking into this little recorder thing still. But I still haven't fully got the whole writing thing down. So, here we are.

A lot's gone on since I got down my whole life's story spiel into this thing. We're here in Burbank again, and… with what Ymris' said about the Scion Revival, I can't help but keep and eye out at the city. It's a familiar feeling, what with the old life of a police commissioner. But now, it's not just street thugs and a few gangs. Now, there's a chance that I might get pushed to my limits. That everyone else might have to be as well.

We've got to do something about it, sooner or later. And as much as that gets my blood pumping for a good fight, it leaves me more than a little uneasy.

- From the personal journal of Security Chief Toph Beifong

Burbank, New Pacifica, April 3rd, 2028

Eleanor took a weary seat in the break room of the drydock that currently housed the Wunder, and began to dig into her lunch.

They'd needed a few days just to get the parts that would go into making Unit-02 whole again unpacked from the ship, and now, they had a dilemma in front of them. What would they do while waiting for the proper amount of LCL to make the process work? It would still take the better part of two days just to get enough to start.

Eleanor regarded the two women across from her at the table. Toph sipped at a soda, pausing every so often before finally looking over at Ymris. "Did you ever get used to the… what's the word… bubbliness of sodas?"

Ymris blinked, then chuckled as she shook her head. "No, not really. It's still a rather unique experience for me."

"The joys of carbonization," Eleanor said with a slight smile. The smile vanished as she leaned forward. "So, you guys didn't just call me here to eat with you and chat, I don't think."

Ymris shook her head. "No. I know where an enclave of Scions is here in Burbank. I told Toph before the Paris mission, but we weren't exactly in a position to do anything about it then."

"So, now we get to go in and bust some heads, tell the kids to behave, and look a little harder at the truth," Toph replied, clearly satisfied even as Ymris sighed and rolled her eyes.

"And how can me and mine help with that?" Eleanor asked. "We're largely in the business of giant robots. As much as I trust that the kids can throw down if they need to, I don't want to risk having them out of action or tied up if NERV tries something. Or the Scions try something big."

"Fair point." Toph shrugged. "But you've got all my friends too. Some of them have been dying for the chance to stretch their legs again after so long undercover." Toph grinned, the idea clearly appealing to her.

"Let's not just barge in blazing with indignation," Ymris said, putting a hand on Toph's shoulder. "Many of these people are just those looking for some hope. That they found it here doesn't mean they can't find it elsewhere."

Toph nodded. "I mean, obviously. It wouldn't surprise me if we need to kick some ass, though."

Ymris sighed. "We'll need to find them first. They're likely spread out all across the city. Then, I want a chance to convince whoever I can to come with us peacefully."

"I think," Eleanor interjected, "I have a place where we can start. Daniel found a meeting space when we were here shopping for the dinner."

Ymris looked over at her. "Did he tell you where it was?"

"South of Henry's Hall of Music, right by Reunion Street." Eleanor pulled from Daniel's memories that he'd shared, the sense of place still keen in her mind.

Ymris nodded, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "I see. It won't be the only one, though. Most covert congregations had several different sites scattered around any given point. At least, that's what I recall from Tavis' research and Receptorist Jameson's teachings."

"Then we start there," Toph said. "As long as it isn't too much of a cell-based structure, we'll be able to find everyone and warn them. Easy work."

"We'll see." Ymris looked over at Eleanor. "We have about 2 weeks before we use the requisite LCL that your Kensuke said Unit-02 needs to be completely repaired. After that, it's another week to get Unit-02 and Unit-08 up to snuff then, well, it's a matter of lifting off and stopping the end of the world."

"No pressure," Toph said sarcastically.

"I'm guessing you know what that might look like." Ymris continued, her expression somewhat guarded.

Eleanor nodded. "That we do. Would you like to take a look in the meantime?"

Ymris nodded in turn. "I certainly wouldn't mind it. I'm tired of being lost in the dark so much."

"And I guess a peek at the future would be interesting." Toph shrugged. "What kind of book is it? And does it have any pictures?"

"Well," Eleanor replied, smiling slightly at the utter seriousness of Toph's question, "it's a movie. And I'm sure we'll have some time to watch the most pertinent one in a little while."

"Now," Eleanor continued as she stood, "I think I want to take a walk around the city. I'm looking forward to getting to see the place a little more."

"It's a nice place, all things considered," Ymris said as she joined Eleanor. "I haven't explored much, but I'm up to see what I can find."

. . .

The sun over Burbank was bright, and few clouds were in the sky. It was a prime time for the rooftop gardens and greenhouses, pillars of verdancy in a sea of concrete and steel that Katara ogled at, and Aang with her as they walked with Toph, Eleanor, and Ymris through the streets of the city.

"Amazing…" Katara said. "I didn't think plants would be so inclined to grow in such tight spaces. It's almost magical, seeing all that green concentrated in a single building."

"You'd be surprised then," Eleanor replied with a smile. "There are plenty of cities that have sights like this across Reality. I should sit down and tell you about when I got to cross the Planar Exclusion Zone into a city called Ghirapur. Their greenhouses were huge."

Aang frowned slightly. "Why are there exclusion zones? It seems a shame to not let someone or something see Reality."

Eleanor puffed her cheeks as she sighed. "Well, the zones are mostly there to keep especially dangerous things contained. In terms of the Planar Zone, that's… let's see… magical elder dragons bent on ruling with an iron claw, eldritch beings that warp reality around them, and a collection of biomechanical beings that want to assimilate all life."

It was a somewhat sober pause before Eleanor continued. "That's mostly why the Zone's there. But that World Engine in particular has plenty of heroes to defend themselves against such dangers."

"Heroism is a natural tendency in most places in Reality, I've found," Ymris said quietly. "It's an admirable thing to see."

"Especially when you're on the hero team," Toph said with a slight grin as she gently slapped Ymris on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it. But if you do, talk to Zuko. He's got some experience dealing with this whole changing sides thing."

"Good to know," Ymris replied. "Then maybe he can help me convince some people that I couldn't when I get a feel for the general attitude here."

"Looks like we're about to find that out," Eleanor said, pointing at a wall of graffiti. Hidden cleverly within the 'O' of a word that none of them could fully make out, was a pair of upturned hands cupping an arrow that pointed down an alleyway.

"I'll go in first," Ymris said, stepping forward. "I know the motions you have to go through going into one of these. If I don't give some sort of signal after 5 minutes, come in after me."

With that, Ymris took a deep breath before striding forward into the darkened alleyway. Eleanor threw out a link to her soul before she disappeared from sight, leaning against the wall as she peered through Ymris' eyes. She felt the reassurance Ymris felt of having someone watching her back, and smiled slightly as she watched.

The alleyway was almost pitch black, but Eleanor sensed little in the way of Pneumaic adjustment as Ymris' eyes made the darkness into a grey day, images losing almost all their color as she followed the other markers toward the meeting space.

It was a door that greeted her last, one that she found was unlocked after checking for noise and not hearing a sound. As she entered, she found an empty room, a few tables and chairs situated in front of a raised pulpit.

"Empty," Ymris whispered to herself. Then, a hand went up for a moment to one of her elfen ears, pointed and far more prominent than most human ears, before she shook her head.

She said nothing more as she went over to a corner, a nearly invisible glass marble forming in her hand as she pressed it against the corner of the ceiling before she exited the meeting room. Eleanor was sure that there was some sort of idea brewing as she dropped the connection, the world around her returning to view.

Soon enough, Ymris stepped out of the alleyway, brow furrowed in thought as she began to walk past them. "We must have missed them. Either they haven't come yet, or they just recently left."

"Are we sure that you missing them is a… bad thing?" Toph asked as they all followed. "I mean, you've probably gotten on their leaders' bad side. They might have orders to look out for you and turn you in."

"That's entirely possible." Ymris paused for a moment. "However, there are good people there. People who don't know what their efforts are leading to. More likely than not, there are technicians and maintenance workers working on one of those Herald Units. If we can get someone like that on the inside…"

"It certainly sounds like you think it's worth the risk of going in, at least," Aang said soberly.

"Once I have something to disguise my ears, possibly. As it is, I probably stand out just a little too much right now." Ymris glanced up and down the street, and Eleanor, along with everyone else she was sure, couldn't help but feel a creeping sense of paranoia.

Any of the people that they passed could be a secret part of the Scion cause. It was the part of undercover work that she always hated.

"Anyway," Ymris said after a moment, "as I'm sure Eleanor saw, I've put a spy marble in the room. It shouldn't be detected any time soon, so we'll be able to keep tabs on them and learn the extent of the network here."

"All without sending anyone in to be at risk." Toph shook her head in wonderment. "What I would have given for something like that in my police chief days."

"Well," Katara interjected, "I'm sure that the others being in position to keep an eye on things like we discussed will help matters."

"They know who to keep an eye out for. As well as trailing them to see where they might go." Ymris said assuredly. "I'm sure Toph made sure of that."

"Well, besides making sure that Zuko has a pair of binoculars in an apartment building not too far from here, everyone's been brought up to speed on how to tail someone without sticking out like a sore thumb. Helps that Mako was on the force and got some training too."

Eleanor took a quiet breath and nodded. "Well, all it seems we have left to do is wait."

. . .

The Next Day

Ymris Joranna sat in her cabin aboard the Wunder, thankfully alone, and studied what the spy marble had gathered intently in a circular pane of cloudy glass. It was, unsurprisingly, not a small congregation, the seats filled as a man, likely from Matsushiro, led them in a sermon that he'd likely gotten from Tavis himself.

Young and old, men and women, it was a mixed group. They chatted to each other about their days, what their work was, what their hopes were for when Tavis cleansed the world. But they also spoke of people who went to other gathering places. Already, she'd heard mention of at least two other meeting sites, and the number of Revival followers in the city coming to be upwards of a thousand, from all walks of life. She even recognized several KREDIT members.

She sighed quietly, pinching the bridge of her nose. It irked her, how she still felt so lost. She was leading people away from danger, yes. But leading them to… what? She didn't fully know, beyond simply arraying the people who followed her against Tavis. And what kind of hope was that, compared to the surety of Tavis' cause?

She was shaken from her thoughts as she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said as she made the glass disappear.

The door opened to reveal Juro Watanabe, taking off a cap as he entered. Ymris pulled over a spare chair she had in her room. "Please take a seat, Juro. What can I help you with?"

"Well, it doesn't really have anything to do with your duties as head or Evangelion maintenance." Juro sighed quietly. "I'm here somewhat on behalf of the others that followed you away, much as they likely won't admit it to themselves."

"You're looking for some direction," Ymris said wearily, a quiet sigh escaping her as she leaned on the small table that she used for a desk. "I can't say that I blame you. I just don't know if I can help you with that. I'm… a little lost myself."

She understood the sadness and sympathy in Juro's eyes. The sympathy at least was common enough for the rather kind, sensitive man. What surprised her, however, what the flicker of hope in the man's expression. "Well…" he began. "I'm assuming that for something as big as I've been told the Scions of Unity were, surely there was something good to be taught before Tavis'... terror."

Ymris wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case. Veneration of the Guides was an old practice in Reality, from what she could remember of Receptorist Jameson's teachings. But 14 years of hearing only Tavis' point of view here on this Echo, and more than a little time swayed by Tavis' ideals before that, took its toll.

She cursed herself for listening so infrequently to Jameson when he spoke. But maybe… what little she had could help them. "There is some that I remember, yes. And you'd be surprised how much of what Tavis taught is at least somewhat correct."

"Can you tell me a little? Are there other Guides we could perhaps turn to that could help us?"

"Well, there isn't a way that I know of to contact the Guides. Receptorist Jameson, the man that taught Tavis and me, made a point of saying that trying to make direct contact with the Guides was a sacred experience, only for those that had prepared themselves accordingly. And after the war… he had a high standard for who might be ready."

It was silent for a moment before Juro smiled slightly. "Well, I'd think that, whatever Mr. Jameson's standards were, you're starting to come close to them."

Ymris returned the smile. "Thank you." the smile disappeared. "But even if I were worthy… there isn't really an easy way to contact any of the others."

"Why's that?"

Ymris found herself doubting the truth of what she was about to say. Everything that Tavis had told her had such a shadow cast over it. And yet, it was the information that she had to give. "According to Tavis," she stressed, "long before the war, and any of us joined the Scions, centuries by the reckoning of the Worldsea, those jealous of the progress that the Guides and their Scions were making in beginning to unite Reality broke apart their work and sealed the Guides into a pocket realm attached to the Mental Realm. Only the Guide of War was able to escape and eventually rally the Scions into retaliating."

"I see." Juro cupped his chin thoughtfully. "And I'm guessing Mr. Jameson might have said differently?"

"He didn't talk much about the war or what came before," Ymris admitted. "He was a soldier in it before he became a Receptorist. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd been next to the Hollow Saint of War at one point."

"All he really said about it when someone asked…" Ymris said after a moment's silence, "was that there was a great betrayal that led to the start of preparations for the war."

Juro hummed quietly. "I wonder…"

It was silent as they pondered the implications such clashing statements produced, then Ymris shook her head. "Unfortunately, we have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment."

She regarded Juro, the former intelligence officer, for a moment. "And I'm thinking that your former line of work might help us out quite a bit."

"And what would you need an ex-spy for?" Juro asked, brow raised ever so slightly.

"To help figure out how to mess with Tavis' plans." Ymris leaned forward slightly. "There's more than a few meeting places here, and more likely than not, there's a way to get to the Evas that he's commandeered. If we can disable even one of them, it could set his plans back just far enough to make it count."

Juro nodded slightly. "I see. I didn't do quite as much fieldwork as I'm sure you might be hoping during the wars. But… I think I can make it work."

"Can you do it while giving some rookies a training run as well?"

Juro smiled warmly. "As I'm sure you're aware, Ms. Ymris, those skilled few who do not do should oftentimes teach. And I spent plenty of time teaching."

Ymris smiled in turn. "Good. You'll have some help. Eleanor's fairly proficient at putting on a face, at the very least. And you've got at least one who was at least somewhat versed in running undercover work."

Juro nodded slowly. "I see. Do any of these rookies, besides Eleanor of course, have any Interfacing or other special abilities? I'd hate to run into an Interfacer and not have a solution."

Ymris was silent for a moment as she considered Kauri. And Aaminata. Could she convince them? They hadn't been around Tavis for nearly as long as she had. Perhaps there was still some hope to persuade them.

She shook herself from her musing. "Yes. All of them, to one extent or another, have power available to them, if not in something resembling Interfacing, then in technology that could help them stand up to such."

"Good, good." Juro paused for a moment. "I still want to meet them, get a feel for what needs to be done on my part."

Ymris nodded. "That can be arranged easily enough. They're all here on the Wunder."

"Excellent. I'm looking forward to it."

"For now, at the very least."

Juro chuckled. "That's how it always begins, isn't it?"

. . .

Eleanor sat patiently in the otherwise utterly empty mess hall, sure that Ymris had kept them waiting this long for a reason. The rest of the group that she was with was taking that same wait with… various responses.

"Ah!" Korra said as her arm yielded, once again, to Toph's strength. "Come on. Surely you're doing something. Do I still have some metal on me somewhere?"

Toph smiled smugly as she crossed her arms, Sokka taking a few dollars from both Mako and Bolin as Suki shook her head slightly at the exchange. "Nope. I've just been that strong. At least in my prime. And besides, twinkle toes, I don't even have the Avatar state to fall back on."

"Oh, please." Korra rolled her eyes. "I'm not that bad. Besides, I'm not even the Avatar anymore."

She leaned over, looking at Aang and Katara, who sat next to each other as they watched the contest with distantly amused expressions. "Aang, can you back me up here? You can't go all glowy anymore, right?"

"Like she said, Toph's just that strong," Aang said with a shrug. "You just need to ask Sokka about it. He's been trying to beat her for…"

A somewhat concerned expression flickered over his usual serenity. "Decades now, I guess?"

Sokka rolled his eyes as he sighed heavily. "I beat her, guys. Has it really been long enough that no one remembers?"

"I remember that you did it, dear." Suki piped up as she patted her husband's shoulder. "It might have only been once, but you did do it."

As Sokka deflated from the scattered chuckles, Toph nodded. "Come on guys, give him some credit. The fact that he managed to beat me at all was awesome enough."

Before anyone could reply, the door to the mess hall slid open, and Ymris, accompanied by another man who Eleanor had seen on the engineering team, stepped in, coming to a stop in front of them and regarding them as the room fell silent.

"Well, Juro," Ymris said as she looked over at the man, "this is who I've got for you."

Juro nodded, smiling slightly as his gaze fell on Eleanor. "Mrs. Theisman. It's a pleasure to see you again. I look forward to working with you more fully."

Eleanor arched a brow slightly even as she smiled. What was Ymris about to ask them?

She wouldn't have to wait long in any case. "For those of you unfamiliar with him," Ymris began, "this is Juro Watanabe. Right now, he serves as my right-hand man managing the usual repairs of the Evangelions, but what's important at the moment is that he served as an intelligence specialist for the JSSDF for the better part of a decade and a half."

"So…" Mako said slowly as he sat a little straighter, along with the rest of the benders and friends. "Does that mean we're doing spy work?"

"Of a sort," Juro said. "One of our main tasks is discerning the location of the Herald Units that the Scions under Mr. Farhaven's control. And our best shot at that is infiltrating one of the storage facilities that's hiding them."

"And how are we going to do that?" Mai asked levelly, brow arched. "Or, actually, who are we going to talk to in order to do that?"

"Well, that's where you come in," Juro said. "Your work is going to be on the streets, talking to those people that are connected to the Scions so that we can get to those people that are perhaps the most important here."

Ymris and Juro took a seat at one of the tables, beckoning the group over as Ymris created, then set down a cloudy glass sphere on the table. The sphere lit up with Pneumaic white light, projecting from the sphere into two incredibly realistic faces that floated a little above the sphere. Faces Eleanor had seen before.

"These are the two people that are most likely in charge of Scion operations around here." Ymris began. "This is Kauri Huru'apeki, and this is Aaminata. Both are at the same level I once was in Tavis' inner circle."

"So, close to him," Korra said bluntly.

"Yes. They are his lieutenants, in a sense. But they are also mostly sensible people, who have goals and dreams of their own that have been swallowed up by Tavis'. If I can get a chance to talk with them, give them my experiences with this world and its people… I could at least try and convince them to help us and, by extension, those people that still follow Tavis through them."

"I'm assuming that's the other main goal of our little mission?" Asami asked. "Save who we can by showing them the truth?"

Juro nodded. "Yes. In addition to acting as a positive information campaign, we deprive our enemy of the most important resources of all; manpower and brainpower. As much magic or Interfacing or whatever he has, Mr. Farhaven's still going to need people to maintain the Evas he has in one way or another."

It was silent for a moment as they considered the possibility, the near hope, that the Herald Units being even somewhat combat ineffective might be. Then, Zuko cleared his throat. "As sure as I am this sort of plan may work - I mean, I know these people you're asking after all- I have some doubts concerning my role in all this. I don't necessarily blend into a crowd, you know."

Juro nodded as Eleanor regarded the bright red welt that was all that seemingly remained of the hideous scar that had been one of Zuko's defining features. "That's true, and it's the mark of a wise man to know what his shortcomings are, especially in this line of work. But we have not only technology but Interfacing on our side."

He looked over at Ymris, who nodded. "I have several little marbles here that should go in any meeting rooms that we find. Zuko will be able to stay with me for the moment and act as a monitor for those areas."

"You're not going out?" Toph asked. "Why not? If it all starts coming apart, we could use you."

"Right now, I'm too easily recognizable, and there's a chance that everything falls apart if I talk to anyone before Kauri and Aaminata."

Bolin, mostly silent to this point, took a deep breath. "Man. All of this in… what, three weeks? A month?"

"That's my primary concern as well." Juro sighed as he leaned on the table. "These sorts of missions, campaigns really, usually take multiple months. Years even. We've got a fraction of the time, and unfortunately, a fraction of the training."

"Which is why we're here, I'd assume," Suki asked. "You're here to train us."

"As much as one can in so short a time." Juro scanned the dozen or so people that he would have to work with. "The training is going to be on the fly, and I'm going to need the help of those of you with previous experience. Above all, you must be absolutely certain of yourselves and the masks you create."

Juro once again looked around at the company. "Do you think you're ready?"

"I mean," Korra began with a shrug, "we've all got multiple times of saving the world in one way or another under our belts."

Aang nodded. "And learning quickly on the job is something none of us are strangers to. I think we're ready."

Juro smiled slightly. "Good. Because your training starts now. Buckle up, rookies. Because I'm about to give you the basics… then the people who are your marks."

Eleanor smiled slightly as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table as Juro laid out the basics, two lower-level members of KREDIT who Ymris had confirmed as members of the Revival, as she called it, floated in the center of the group.

'It's been a while since I've gotten to do some spycraft.' Eleanor mused. 'I'll need to brush up quick.'