Search for the Sage: Justice of the Emperor

[Hiro Protagonist]

The last known details on the Prime known as The Humble Sage stated that he had fled towards the Vasty Deep in a cloak of white. Made sense to start his investigation there. Hiro made his way through the bustling streets of Coruscant to Tier 1, and stepped through the gate to the Deeps, emerging in the hot sun and salty air of Costa del Sol. 

Just as he did the first time he entered Coruscant, he paused, stepping away from the gate so as to not block foot traffic, and took in the scenery. It was a surprising mix of tech and quaint, terracotta island buildings. Sun and shade were in equal supply here, and random tourists with bright, loud shirts dotted the entry plaza. Another shining example of Imperial management success. Now to think...

Hiro pulled up his profile on the Sage, and read for a bit. The gate from Coruscant let out right into the heart of the city, but the gate from the Nexus was located more on the outskirts. That would be his first destination. He tried to put himself in the Sage's mind as he walked through the crowds. Fleeing the scene of a crime, dressed in white? He would have stood out. No sense trying to blend into the crowd, he'd stick out like a cigarette in a pack of cigars. Which reminded Hiro. 

He'd been meaning to try some of the local cigars, having gotten a taste for the Sunshine Slims that could be found in convienience stores all over Coruscant. As he entered the more low-tech, dockside region of Costa, he spotted a vendor with rolled brown cylinders on a cheap table, not one hundred feet from the gate. "What's up friend? Lemme get a few of those rollos?" 

The proprietor blinked and gave him a nearly toothless smile. "Sho ting, brudda. How many ya be wantin?" Hiro shrugged. "If I buy five and a holding case, will you tell me if you saw someone that looked like this a while back?" He swiped the air and a 3D model of the Sage fleeing appeared in front of the vendor. The man held his tobacco stained fingers up to his chin and stroked it thoughtfully, while picking out Hiro's purchase and packaging it up. "Coo be, coo be me frenn. I tink I seent him runnin' cross de plaza. He duck into dere, and no come out for long time."

The man pointed down the street to a sign for an inn. The Velvet Dolphin. Hiro nodded, dismissing the hologram and paying for him purchase with Imperial scrip, moremore than the cigars were worth. Igniting one with a flick of his lighter , he puffed deeply on it and sucked in the spicy, flavorful smoke before exhaling a dark cloud over the market and heading towards the inn.

[Hiro Protagonist]

The hacker pushed in the simple wooden door to the Velvet Dolphin and was slightly surprised to see that it was filled with gleaming, armored Stormtroopers. If the Sage had come here, then why was his bounty still up? He would have been immediately arrested, unless something else had happened after his visit. Hiro walked over to the man in officer's clothes and cleared his throat to get his attention. Looking up from his dirty glass of amber brew, the officer sneered and waved with one hand. "Shove off, boy. This isn't a tavern anymore. No sailors allowed, unless you're with the Navy."

-thunk-

The officer froze for a moment, a look of surprise and anger on his features. The hacker had buried one of his tanto in the bar counter, an annoyed look on his own face. "Sir."

The Officer, who's name tag read "Belt", hissed with rage, a vein pulsing on his temple. "What did you say?"

"I said, Sir. As in 'Shove off, Sir.' " Hiro pulled out his EPD badge and stuck it two inches away from Officer Belt's nose. "Agent Hiro Protagonist, and you will address me as such, or I will notify Central Command about the lack of respect their frontier officers show to established Primes." Putting the badge back, he took a seat across the bar from Belt. "Is that clear, Officer Belt?"

It was amusing to see just how quickly the man's posture changed. All the bluster had gone out of his demeanor, replaced with resignation and a hint of boredom as he raised his beer mug to take a long sip. "How can I assist you, Agent Protagonist?" The hacker smirked and withdrew his tanto, repeating the gesture in the air and displaying the hologram of the Sage. "I'm pursuing this man. A fugitive from the Emperor's justice. He was last seen entering this establishment."

Belt grunted and pulled up a datapad, flicking through it. While he looked for the info, Hiro took a second look around the bar. It seemed to have been converted into a barracks break room, numerous trooper and officers playing cards or reading-slash-filing reports. The hacker guessed that the bar had been commandeered by the Empire, most likely as another attempt to keep the borders of Costa del Sol under control. The numerous islands of the Deeps had proven very hard to corral into line, so most of them were left to their own devices, and periodically checked for signs of rebellion.

"Mmm...I didn't see him myself, but I suspect the tavern's previous owner helped hide him. He's probably long gone by now, Agent Protagonist." Officer Belt disguised his glee at being supremely unhelpful with another sip of his beer, while Hiro frowned. "You shouldn't be drinking on duty, Officer."

Belt shrugged. "Might as well. Not much else to do at the moment. We're just a temporary detachment, all the heavy troopers were sent with the diplomatic delegation to Cinnabar Island. Ha! You might check there, they have a wonderful tendency to shelter enemies of the Empire." Nodding, the hacker-ronin brought up his verse map. "Cinnabar...hmm. I see there's a supply ship due to head in that general direction. I could hitch a ride and make the rest of the way on my own."

Officer Belt burped loudly and shrugged. "Don't let me stop you Agent. And please, don't hesitate to ask if you need anything." He grunted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Hiro gave him a satisfied grin.

"Good. I'll be taking the anti-grav compensators you have listed on file in the armory. Good to see that Coruscant's finest still file their reports punctually." Belt began to protest, before Hiro held up a finger. "Ah-ah-ah, Officer. File a requisition for another one if they're that important here. I'll even compensate you."

A short while later, there was a cred chip in the officer's pocket, and two small grey disks strapped around Hiro's ankles. He leapt gracefully across the rooftops towards the docks, the new compensators allowing him to sail through the air like he was on a spacewalk, arriving at the supply ship just as a huge belch of smoke went up from it's stack. The nautically dressed hacker landed on his feet a yard away from the first mate, skipping a little to disperse the extra momentum. "Room for one more?"

[Hiro Protagonist]

Dolphind skipped in the wake of the steamboat, chittering and jumping while the iron hulk chugged into deep waters. High up in the air, Hiro perched on a rickety platform, leaning against the smoke stack. It had been a few days since he boarded, the captain having taken a look at his fancy headwear and declared he could pay for his passage by acting as the lookout. So here he was, sighting ships, islands , and the occasional whale or two.

Puffing on a cigar, the agent of the Empire watched the blue horizon for their final stop, Cinnabar Island. He'd been told it was primarily inhabited by "pokey men" but he wasn't sure if that meant they were slow or dimwitted or whatever. He went on a dataverse browsing spree, and his peals of laughter at the goofy looking creatures sent several sailors looking at their erstwhile spotter, apparently having taken ill with sea madness. 

If the Sage was on Cinnabar Island, then he would stick out even worse than he had in Costa. Hiro was hoping this would make the return trip that much sooner so he could get back home before Madotsuki started to worry. After all, the last time he'd gone out he ended up wrecked on an island for three days, although to her it had been a month. Time was screwy in the Omniverse, and Hiro had long since given up trying to be punctual across verses. Thank Omni for the Dataverse, although that still suffered from the time distortion.

Another few days passed, Hiro having gotten used to the rations of salted beef, watered down rum, and hardtack. He'd taken to sparring with the sailors in his off time, learning how to use the anti-gravs he'd "borrowed" from the garrison in Costa. Soon he was sailing through the air like a character from a wuxia film, attacking from an angle he had had no opportunity to consider before. His combat skills were all the better for it, and they'd been growing since he got to the Omniverse. He was faster now too, faster than he had been when he first discovered his increased speed in that club kitchen fighting for his life.

Back on the stack, Hiro stubbed out the last of the fine cigars he'd bought, sighting a landmass through the haze of the evening. Cinnabar, most likely. In fact, there was a very high chance of it being so, due to the collection of Imperial Navy frigates docked at the port for the diplomatic conference. Taking a deep breath, the hacker bellowed with renewed vigor. "LAAAAAND HOOOOO!"

[Hiro Protagonist]

The ship had docked and the sailors started to unload their cargo down, assisted by brawny, grey Pokemon Hiro's goggles identified as Machokes. So they weren't all silly looking. These guys looked like they could bench press a car. Hiro made a mental note  to keep his head down during his search for the Sage. If he had already made allies of some of the stronger Pokemon, it would be a tougher extraction than he'd hoped.

Speaking of which, Hiro needed to set up his route off this island. Even if the Pokemon and their mysterious leader Mewtwo didn't mind his bounty hunting, he would still need to bring the Sage back to Coruscant. That is, if he came quietly. The hacker-ronin would prefer not to kill his quarry, but a death sentence was little more than a short stay in a hard prison on the Omniverse. Hopefully upon the man's resurrection he would have learned his lesson.

Now, where to start? There was a group of stormtroopers on the dock, guarding the Imperial Destroyer that was docked their, giving the various Pokemon millimg around the dock surly looks. The EPD agent walked up to them and showed his badge. "Evening, troops. I'm here unofficially on bounty business; I assume your outfit is with the diplomatic delegation?" The unit commander nodded, his voice echoing from his helmet mike. "Yes, sir. Ambassador Kellen and his retinue are in the city itself, currently engaged in talks. If you're on bounty business, I advise you try to avoid the central district. Your presence might sour the negotiations...but then again, if Cinnabar is harboring a fugitive, we could use that as leverage." 

The trooper pulled out a datapad and tapped on it a few times. "Here's the ambassador's contact information. You may want to give him a ring if you apprehend your bounty." Hiro heard the "message received" ping inside his goggles, and nodded. "Thank you very much, commander. Good luck." The troopers saluted, and Hiro left the docks, making his way towards Cinnabar Town proper.

It was a nice evening for a walk, even if the citizenry were multicolored creatures that looked more at home in a video game. Very much like Costa del Sol, though. Merchants, newspapers, restaurants, all the trappings of civilization. All that was missing, Hiro mused, was-

-KABOOOOOOMM-
-ZZZZTT-

The sound of a massive explosion split the dusk. "Ah ha. That's more like it." The hacker raised a hand to his goggles and triangulated the source of the noise, along with the plume of black smoke rising into the sky. He quickened his pace, striding purposefully towards the blast center.