Since Jin had returned from Ba Sing Se to Republic City, he had been busier than ever. Not only was he making up for lost time with Asami and Kyoshi, but he was also preparing to take over the Earth Kingdom throne as flawlessly as possible.
In his plans, he had intended to wait for Zaheer of the Red Lotus to finish off the Queen, but after seeing the state of the capital, the losses from letting that happen and then waiting for Kuvira to take command—only to later have to deal with Kuvira—weren't worth it.
That wasn't going to happen. Too much money lost.
He was going to have to move up his plans—and fortunately, he had someone who could help him tremendously.
…
Retsu was sweating, but also thrilled.
Following Amon back then had been child's play compared to what her new boss was setting in motion. For once, she was witnessing things from Jin Beifong's shoulders—and she realized the school history books had severely underestimated this man's abilities.
Jin had been reestablishing connections, and the results came in the form of dozens of letters constantly entering and leaving the mansion—enough to terrify anyone who so much as read a single name on the envelopes.
How charismatic had he been seventy years ago, for old acquaintances and former subordinates to now order their descendants to support him?
The public recognition Jin "needed" (which wasn't strictly necessary, but would greatly speed things up and prevent many annoying problems) came down to the following:
Tenzin, representing the Air Nomads.
That one was easy—especially since Tenzin already owed him a huge favor for saving Pema and Jinora, and unlike the Queen, Jin had no intention of kidnapping airbenders who appeared in his kingdom. If they wanted to leave voluntarily, fine. He still remembered that many people, even after the Harmonic Convergence, simply wanted to live their lives in peace.
Izumi, the current Fire Lord and granddaughter of Ozai.
In some ways, she was the hardest to secure—relatively speaking. Despite his past relationship with her family decades ago, she might question the situation due to lack of information. Even so, she was cautious about military or aggressive actions, being deeply aware of her nation's past. So, as long as she didn't do something stupid like supporting Wu's claim to the throne for a "fair dispute," getting a statement from her wouldn't be difficult.
Then there were the Northern and Southern Water Tribes—who, honestly, if it weren't for their connection to Korra, Jin wouldn't care much about.
After all, Korra's father and uncle were the current leaders of both tribes. And considering that her brother had once hired barbarians to trick Korra's father and seize the chieftainship while exiling the original heir…
Maybe he could use that to his advantage?
Seventy years ago, his only connection had been with the Northern Tribe—because of Yue, a bit of trade for his business, and his occasional visits to the Spirit Oasis of Tui and La.
Back then, they had no global influence—and honestly, if it weren't for fish exports and a massive underground fuel deposit, both tribes would still be just as irrelevant to the rest of the world.
Just look at the series: when the two tribes went to war, the world basically adopted a wait-and-see stance. Tenzin knew nothing because he was on vacation with his family; Izumi refused to stir up more conflict; and Republic City's first president just wanted to make sure the Water Tribe immigrants in the city didn't start causing trouble.
Then Varrick tried to escalate the war, kidnap the president, and all that…
Korra's uncle was currently running the Northern Tribe—and the villain of the next arc—while, although Jin was sure he could convince Korra to reunite with her father… that would mean going to the Southern Water Tribe and meeting Katara.
That would be hellishly awkward.
"Hi Katara, long time no see! Don't worry about Aang, I made sure he paid the price for eternity, together with his little conspirator, in the worst place possible in both worlds for what he did to me and my loved ones."
Yeah, that wasn't happening.
And naturally, if Korra as the Avatar gave her "seal of approval," it would be the cherry on top.
But there were a lot of factors to consider if he interfered with Unalaq's plot—because that would mean the Harmonic Convergence wouldn't happen.
Without the Harmonic Convergence, there wouldn't be a new generation of airbenders.
Wait—that didn't really bother him much; he'd help Opal become an airbender her own way anyway, and Kai wouldn't get anywhere near Jinora.
There also wouldn't be any spirits or spirit vines to use as energy batteries—so, no giant robot with a shoulder cannon capable of blowing up mountaintops.
Better to keep Varrick far away from the spirit vines.
His real concern was: if Jin prevented Unalaq from becoming the Dark Avatar…
What would happen to Pavi and her twin?
But if he didn't, Jinora would end up being used as a hostage by Unalaq!
Oh, wait—didn't Raava's beating from the Dark Avatar sever all of Korra's past life connections?
That… included Kyoshi's existence!
The thought made Jin's chi flare violently for a second before he forced it to calm down.
…
"All right, that clears everything up completely," he nodded. "Full support for Korra in kicking the Northerners out of the South to earn her and her father's approval for my coronation. Take Unalaq's place as Korra's spiritual mentor to stop him from tricking her into opening the portals, maybe prevent Bolin from marrying Eska (if there's time, but not essential), and Unalaq will suffer an Ozai-style 'accident'—possibly disguised as a slip on some ice stairs—before the Winter Solstice is over."
Also, he had to write a note to Wan Shi Tong—if that owl caused trouble for the young airbender, he'd pluck its feathers and make himself a pillow!
As for whether Desna or Eska would support his rise to the throne after Unalaq's "accident" and their people's expulsion…
Well, you can't please everyone!
What were they going to do?
Send an army of otter-penguins to threaten him?
Please—Varrick was a bigger threat than a pair of emotionally unstable twins. Yeah, he'd have to come up with something for that guy…