06-17-2015, 11:43 PM
Over the next hour or so, Athena prodded enough to get quite a solid debriefing about the world she had been dropped in. Once she had finished interrogating the leader of the armored soldiers (apparently known as "storm troopers"), she no longer felt quite so helpless and paranoid. On the other hand, she still hadn't put her weapon away completely, and any questions posed by the storm trooper about her identity or past were deflected with varying degrees of bluntness. In fact, she could only imagine that, if anything, he felt slightly less comfortable around her than he had when he first approached her. It didn't really matter to her much, though. Once she was in this Coruscant world, she would be all too happy to leave them alone entirely. She now knew enough to get by: Coruscant had seven tiers, with the first being the most thriving (she suspected that the lower ones were less than beautiful, but she couldn't get her storm trooper "friend" to admit as such) and the central area of government; other gates existed in the Nexus along with the Coruscant gateway, each leading to one of eight different worlds; and there were some differences between a "Prime," a being chosen directly by Omni, and a "Secondary," a mortal summoned by a Prime or born of natural causes. This fact intrigued her, and she pushed into it extensively: apparently, most of the realms' inhabitants were normal secondaries, but she was not among them. She was "special."
However, just as she was beginning to feel rather good about her lot in this world, the storm trooper brought up banishment. Athena quickly concluded that it was worth avoiding. Luckily, it didn't seem to be a common occurrence, but the very possibility of being pushed into a world ruled by some demonic uber-powerful entity made her hesitant to take another step. She had to keep moving, though. Towards escape from this world entirely. If death didn't offer a way out, then she'd have to get creative in completing that eventual objective. First, though, to see Coruscant.
About thirty minutes after Athena had joined up with the storm troopers, a message came in through some sort of communicator held by the leader. That reminded her - whatever happened to her Muse? She looked down at her left arm. It wasn't there. Not much of a surprise. After all, her weapons hadn't been present either. She would simply have to summon it. Just as she was about to begin the process, though, the leader exchanged more rapid messages through the communicator and then relayed to Athena and the group that soldiers from "Camelot" were approaching. This, as far as she could immediately gather, was not a desired development, and the whole troop about doubled their pace. According to the leader, fortunately, the soldiers wouldn't reach them before they could travel through the gate.
Athena asked for information about this Camelot. If Coruscant was the image of perfection to these people, she was curious to know what they considered its antithesis. She gathered some knowledge about the Kingdom, but she had suspicions that it was heavily biased. She would have to find out on her own sometime. All they told her about it was that it functioned "differently" - there was hardly any advanced technology to be found; there were several races that all seemed to despise one another, with constant tribal raids on villages of innocents; and the king, named Aragorn, cared little for his people (although when she asked for examples of his behavior, they tended to avoid answering). She didn't want to seem like an enemy or spy, so she gave up questioning about it after a while.
Soon after, they arrived at the Gate. Athena sensed it before the storm trooper announced their arrival - it emitted enough power that she had no problem picking up signals from it once she was within range. It was gigantic, and made of a smooth metallic solid. Two humans - also storm troopers, a man and a woman - flanked the gate, and raised a hand each in greeting to Athena and the unit she was traveling with. The leader responded with a similar salute, and then stated to the Soul of Mind, "We have reached the Coruscant gate." Obviously, Athena thought, but then realized that he was mistaken in his perception of her - he thought she couldn't see. Which was literally accurate, but "blind" was a misleading term to use. She simply knew what was around her, as clearly as if streams of reflected light were being absorbed by her eyes, as long as the objects were close enough. However, she decided, it might be prudent to keep that to myself for now. Things may proceed more in my favor if they underestimate me.
"This way," offered the storm trooper, and then disappeared into the portal. Athena wondered fleetingly how similar the experience would be to passing through a white hole - the closest experience she had undergone to using one of these - and then stepped forward into blankness.
However, just as she was beginning to feel rather good about her lot in this world, the storm trooper brought up banishment. Athena quickly concluded that it was worth avoiding. Luckily, it didn't seem to be a common occurrence, but the very possibility of being pushed into a world ruled by some demonic uber-powerful entity made her hesitant to take another step. She had to keep moving, though. Towards escape from this world entirely. If death didn't offer a way out, then she'd have to get creative in completing that eventual objective. First, though, to see Coruscant.
About thirty minutes after Athena had joined up with the storm troopers, a message came in through some sort of communicator held by the leader. That reminded her - whatever happened to her Muse? She looked down at her left arm. It wasn't there. Not much of a surprise. After all, her weapons hadn't been present either. She would simply have to summon it. Just as she was about to begin the process, though, the leader exchanged more rapid messages through the communicator and then relayed to Athena and the group that soldiers from "Camelot" were approaching. This, as far as she could immediately gather, was not a desired development, and the whole troop about doubled their pace. According to the leader, fortunately, the soldiers wouldn't reach them before they could travel through the gate.
Athena asked for information about this Camelot. If Coruscant was the image of perfection to these people, she was curious to know what they considered its antithesis. She gathered some knowledge about the Kingdom, but she had suspicions that it was heavily biased. She would have to find out on her own sometime. All they told her about it was that it functioned "differently" - there was hardly any advanced technology to be found; there were several races that all seemed to despise one another, with constant tribal raids on villages of innocents; and the king, named Aragorn, cared little for his people (although when she asked for examples of his behavior, they tended to avoid answering). She didn't want to seem like an enemy or spy, so she gave up questioning about it after a while.
Soon after, they arrived at the Gate. Athena sensed it before the storm trooper announced their arrival - it emitted enough power that she had no problem picking up signals from it once she was within range. It was gigantic, and made of a smooth metallic solid. Two humans - also storm troopers, a man and a woman - flanked the gate, and raised a hand each in greeting to Athena and the unit she was traveling with. The leader responded with a similar salute, and then stated to the Soul of Mind, "We have reached the Coruscant gate." Obviously, Athena thought, but then realized that he was mistaken in his perception of her - he thought she couldn't see. Which was literally accurate, but "blind" was a misleading term to use. She simply knew what was around her, as clearly as if streams of reflected light were being absorbed by her eyes, as long as the objects were close enough. However, she decided, it might be prudent to keep that to myself for now. Things may proceed more in my favor if they underestimate me.
"This way," offered the storm trooper, and then disappeared into the portal. Athena wondered fleetingly how similar the experience would be to passing through a white hole - the closest experience she had undergone to using one of these - and then stepped forward into blankness.
![[Image: 2WaRJHm.png]](http://i.imgur.com/2WaRJHm.png)