09-17-2013, 05:25 AM
Coruscant, it turned out, wasn’t too different from what Samus was used to. At least, from what she’d seen of it so far. The bright lights faded during the day, but lit it up at night. In the daytime, you could see the streets and buildings clearly. But at night you saw the people clearly. Night time is when things got interesting.
It was dusk now, and the streets were beginning to light up, taking on the hard outlines and vivid colours that would define it once the sun went down. Samus had yet to see the lower tiers, but she expected them to be much the same – only all day round. The military presence was heavy up here, and what little crime she’d seen had been stamped out almost instantly. Even seeking the dark spots as she did, she’d gotten little trouble. That was strange, as a young and – she knew it – attractive woman. Almost more worrying than the opposite. There was something strange about this city. Something almost intangible. But she’d learned a lot in a week.
She’d had a chance to glimpse the Emperor’s supreme guard, once, when she’d returned to the inner districts without her power suit on. If the storm troopers had oppressive attire, these guys put them to shame. They towered above her at almost eight feet tall, clad in power armor that was nearly as wide as it was tall. Some of them bore chainsaws attached to their guns, others with what looked like flamethrowers. ‘Space Marines’, they’d been called in their homeworld. She knew this thanks to the Dataverse, the Omniverse’s version of an inter or extra-net. It hadn’t taken her very long to upgrade her suit with mobile access to this ‘dataverse’. She wondered whether it was a true verse in the sense of the Nexus or Coruscant. The Dataverse itself offered mixed results to that particular query. It was possible, it seemed, to enter it like any other verse, but unlike any other verse its contents were accessible, remotely. It seemed to follow different rules to the other verses. Then again, was there any consistency to the Omniverse? That question also left Samus with mixed results.
She’d had ample time, now, to consider her situation and her goals in this place. It was difficult, though, to make any decisions without information. In that respect, Samus felt as though she was an infant still making her first teetering steps towards adulthood. Given that, her only goal right now could be to continue gaining knowledge. Coruscant certainly seemed like the best place to do it. Though, now she could access the Dataverse from anywhere, her options had been freed up somewhat.
But the bounty hunter felt impatient. As often happened, she felt like she could be doing more, if only she could figure out how. She knew from experience that she was probably right. She also knew that rushing her advance could lead to disaster. So she resolved to take the smart approach; keep gathering information, and keep an eye out for opportunities.
As it so happened, one found her. A message to her Dataverse inbox, which had lain starkly blank of anything interesting … until now. Words from the Judge. Apparently next week there was to be a celebration of the Empire. Samus snorted; one of her genuine, rarely-seen smiles catching her off guard for reasons she didn’t immediately know. It wasn’t that the premise was silly. Celebrating the anniversary of the nation’s founding? It made sense. Maybe it was because, from what she’d seen of the city officials so far, a true ‘celebration’ seemed hilariously out-of-place. As she listened to Dredd’s speech, she pictured him grinning widely and waving to a cheering crowd. That was enough to send her into stitches. She composed herself, feeling a little embarrassed in the middle of the street, clad in her full gear. Isolation had to be getting to her. It had never done before, but then …
She took a deep breath and focused back on the message. Potential threats. A chance to prove herself to the Empire. Vague threats from Dredd himself. It seemed as routine and boring a mission as they could get. But they all mostly were, right up until they weren’t.
Samus looked up at the sky. A promising mission. She’d do it. But in the meantime, the night was young.
It was dusk now, and the streets were beginning to light up, taking on the hard outlines and vivid colours that would define it once the sun went down. Samus had yet to see the lower tiers, but she expected them to be much the same – only all day round. The military presence was heavy up here, and what little crime she’d seen had been stamped out almost instantly. Even seeking the dark spots as she did, she’d gotten little trouble. That was strange, as a young and – she knew it – attractive woman. Almost more worrying than the opposite. There was something strange about this city. Something almost intangible. But she’d learned a lot in a week.
She’d had a chance to glimpse the Emperor’s supreme guard, once, when she’d returned to the inner districts without her power suit on. If the storm troopers had oppressive attire, these guys put them to shame. They towered above her at almost eight feet tall, clad in power armor that was nearly as wide as it was tall. Some of them bore chainsaws attached to their guns, others with what looked like flamethrowers. ‘Space Marines’, they’d been called in their homeworld. She knew this thanks to the Dataverse, the Omniverse’s version of an inter or extra-net. It hadn’t taken her very long to upgrade her suit with mobile access to this ‘dataverse’. She wondered whether it was a true verse in the sense of the Nexus or Coruscant. The Dataverse itself offered mixed results to that particular query. It was possible, it seemed, to enter it like any other verse, but unlike any other verse its contents were accessible, remotely. It seemed to follow different rules to the other verses. Then again, was there any consistency to the Omniverse? That question also left Samus with mixed results.
She’d had ample time, now, to consider her situation and her goals in this place. It was difficult, though, to make any decisions without information. In that respect, Samus felt as though she was an infant still making her first teetering steps towards adulthood. Given that, her only goal right now could be to continue gaining knowledge. Coruscant certainly seemed like the best place to do it. Though, now she could access the Dataverse from anywhere, her options had been freed up somewhat.
But the bounty hunter felt impatient. As often happened, she felt like she could be doing more, if only she could figure out how. She knew from experience that she was probably right. She also knew that rushing her advance could lead to disaster. So she resolved to take the smart approach; keep gathering information, and keep an eye out for opportunities.
As it so happened, one found her. A message to her Dataverse inbox, which had lain starkly blank of anything interesting … until now. Words from the Judge. Apparently next week there was to be a celebration of the Empire. Samus snorted; one of her genuine, rarely-seen smiles catching her off guard for reasons she didn’t immediately know. It wasn’t that the premise was silly. Celebrating the anniversary of the nation’s founding? It made sense. Maybe it was because, from what she’d seen of the city officials so far, a true ‘celebration’ seemed hilariously out-of-place. As she listened to Dredd’s speech, she pictured him grinning widely and waving to a cheering crowd. That was enough to send her into stitches. She composed herself, feeling a little embarrassed in the middle of the street, clad in her full gear. Isolation had to be getting to her. It had never done before, but then …
She took a deep breath and focused back on the message. Potential threats. A chance to prove herself to the Empire. Vague threats from Dredd himself. It seemed as routine and boring a mission as they could get. But they all mostly were, right up until they weren’t.
Samus looked up at the sky. A promising mission. She’d do it. But in the meantime, the night was young.
![[Image: 0bwAI3j.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0bwAI3j.jpg)