11-22-2016, 10:28 AM
Kerrigan was satisfied with the turn of events she was seeing. In particular, the ally that seemed easier and easier to ensnare every moment.
It was obvious that the pokemon trainer was cautious, and that she wasn't planning to yield her own position in the game. Her little interruption made that clear, and some small part of Sarah wanted to make the young trainer bleed and sputter for air from the shredded cartilage where her throat used to be for cutting off the queen of blades.
But that aggressive, bull-headed part of Sarah was only a small part, and it did not lead the infested Terran's psyche. For a human, this might have been betrayed in some movement or errant twitch, but zerg biology was efficient, and Sarah's body moved only in the way Sarah intended it to.
Besides - the far larger part of Sarah's psyche was simply interested in the challenge the younger girl presented. Kerrigan was the queen of blades, the ruler of the universe, and she'd reveled in that fact - but what was far more important was how she did it. Outsmarting Mengsk, Raynor, and even those foolish protoss who once talked down to her as a child. Kerrigan desired challenge, stimulation, intellectual food for thought for a being that had ascended past the scheming of any zerg, terran, or protoss.
For now, Sabrina was doing an impressive job - for a human.
In the present, Sarah responded only a slight fraction of a second after Sabrina's last comment with a smile. "Curious? Well... I suppose I should tell you my "world" didn't have any attachment to me. Unlike in your world, my civilization figured out space travel a few hundred years ago."
Sabrina blinked at that, only the slightest bit surprised. This hadn't been the first she'd heard of space-faring civilization, apparently.
"In the portion of the galaxy I was from, there aren't any pokemon. Most wildlife is far from intelligent. The Koprulu sector is inhabited primarily by Terrans. The humans there split off from earth a long time ago, as a group of prisoners that were sent off to found a new colony elsewhere - a way to get them out of the earth-based government's hair. By a twist of fate, they were set off-course and held in stasis for 200 years, instead of 20, and in a new portion of the galaxy." Sarah explained, slightly boring herself already.
"For a long time, they didn't encounter much - some beetle-like creatures they learned to tame, a few other miscellaneous non-sentient creatures - nothing important. Of course... That was on purpose."
Sarah continued.
"The humans that lived there were unwittingly under the thumb of an ancient race known as the protoss. Each one was intelligent, with their warriors having the psychic energy to rip apart a city block by blinking. Their race styled themselves the greatest in the universe, and guided and observed what they considered as lesser races from a distance."
a bit of derision managed to catch in Kerrigan's voice at that last comment. She forgot to mention they were pompous, self-righteous, and narrow-minded, but it was information as insignificant as the protoss themselves had become. Sabrina, whether or not she had caught it, seemed very interested in the comment about their psychic warriors.
"Eventually, they decided to make first contact... by taking their golden fleet and burning a human-held planet into a planet-sized smoking coal." Sarah continued, smiling slightly at the much larger look of surprise on Sabrina's face. For someone who'd only ever lived on a planet, the idea of one being utterly destroyed was probably quite... awe-inspiring. In all fairness, it was awe-inspiring to the inhabitants of the Koprulu sector, too, when it happened. To Sabrina's credit though, she did not gape or appear overwhelmed - instead, she was even more curious. The idea of such power did not horrify the woman, it just happened to entice her.
Sarah Kerrigan found herself liking this corrupt little woman.
"The Protoss follow a concept of "Greater good", you see - so sacrificing a few hundred thousand humans to kill a greater threat seemed quite expedient to them." Sarah continued, waiting just a heart-beat to continue. "The Zerg. The most numerous, powerful race in the sector. A hive-minded, sentient race that sought to improve itself by absorbing the DNA of everything around them, allowing them to create new forms, new variations of themselves. A constantly evolving hive-mind of monsters... and thus, the most adaptable, powerful, and intelligent beings in the sector. A collection of purpose-built nightmares that devoured everything in their path and used their best traits to enhance their own biology ." The Queen of Blades explained with a grin, laughing to herself at the slight exaggeration she'd added there.
In truth, the epitome of all of those traits was neither Zerg, Protoss, or Terran, but the Queen of Blades herself.
At this point, Sabrina finally interrupted, as Kerrigan expected. "And which are you?" the psychic master asked, her curiosity rising at these revelations.
Kerrigan gave her a lopsided smirk. "...Who knows?" Kerrigan taunted, and she saw a bit of frustration appear in response on Sabrina's face. Not giving Sabrina a chance to interrupt, she quickly continued. "I've told you quite a bit about my world, and you've told me quite a bit about your world, but you have been pretty tight-lipped about yourself." the queen of blades added, waiting for a moment to continue her story. "I know you're a researcher in this world, and you've let slip that you know just a little bit about psychic power, but that tells me only so much about you. So I'll make a deal with you. Tell me a little more about Sabrina, and I'll tell you a little more about Sarah Kerrigan." the queen added.
In truth, she had planned this conversation out in order to test Sabrina's morals, and what she might think about Kerrigan. It was becoming clearly apparent that the girl she spoke to was far more morally grey than her appearance might suggest. She was more interested in what Sarah had to offer her than who she was, and her passion to become more than she was impressed Kerrigan. Should she gain Sabrina's partnership, it would be one based on selfish need, and a mutual desire for power. Which meant that it was the type of relationship that would actually last. So it wasn't actually necessary for her to stall and learn more about Sabrina.
But even as Sabrina had become more curious about The Queen of Blades, Sarah realized she was becoming quite curious about this psychic from another world herself. The woman was very interesting for a Terran - in fact, Sarah was quite impressed that someone other than her could grow to have so much presence, coming from such a pitiful race - Other than herself, of course.
Kerrigan found herself wanting to know more about this researcher, this psychic. And The Queen of the Koprulu Sector always got what she desired. The only variable was how long it would take her.
It was obvious that the pokemon trainer was cautious, and that she wasn't planning to yield her own position in the game. Her little interruption made that clear, and some small part of Sarah wanted to make the young trainer bleed and sputter for air from the shredded cartilage where her throat used to be for cutting off the queen of blades.
But that aggressive, bull-headed part of Sarah was only a small part, and it did not lead the infested Terran's psyche. For a human, this might have been betrayed in some movement or errant twitch, but zerg biology was efficient, and Sarah's body moved only in the way Sarah intended it to.
Besides - the far larger part of Sarah's psyche was simply interested in the challenge the younger girl presented. Kerrigan was the queen of blades, the ruler of the universe, and she'd reveled in that fact - but what was far more important was how she did it. Outsmarting Mengsk, Raynor, and even those foolish protoss who once talked down to her as a child. Kerrigan desired challenge, stimulation, intellectual food for thought for a being that had ascended past the scheming of any zerg, terran, or protoss.
For now, Sabrina was doing an impressive job - for a human.
In the present, Sarah responded only a slight fraction of a second after Sabrina's last comment with a smile. "Curious? Well... I suppose I should tell you my "world" didn't have any attachment to me. Unlike in your world, my civilization figured out space travel a few hundred years ago."
Sabrina blinked at that, only the slightest bit surprised. This hadn't been the first she'd heard of space-faring civilization, apparently.
"In the portion of the galaxy I was from, there aren't any pokemon. Most wildlife is far from intelligent. The Koprulu sector is inhabited primarily by Terrans. The humans there split off from earth a long time ago, as a group of prisoners that were sent off to found a new colony elsewhere - a way to get them out of the earth-based government's hair. By a twist of fate, they were set off-course and held in stasis for 200 years, instead of 20, and in a new portion of the galaxy." Sarah explained, slightly boring herself already.
"For a long time, they didn't encounter much - some beetle-like creatures they learned to tame, a few other miscellaneous non-sentient creatures - nothing important. Of course... That was on purpose."
Sarah continued.
"The humans that lived there were unwittingly under the thumb of an ancient race known as the protoss. Each one was intelligent, with their warriors having the psychic energy to rip apart a city block by blinking. Their race styled themselves the greatest in the universe, and guided and observed what they considered as lesser races from a distance."
a bit of derision managed to catch in Kerrigan's voice at that last comment. She forgot to mention they were pompous, self-righteous, and narrow-minded, but it was information as insignificant as the protoss themselves had become. Sabrina, whether or not she had caught it, seemed very interested in the comment about their psychic warriors.
"Eventually, they decided to make first contact... by taking their golden fleet and burning a human-held planet into a planet-sized smoking coal." Sarah continued, smiling slightly at the much larger look of surprise on Sabrina's face. For someone who'd only ever lived on a planet, the idea of one being utterly destroyed was probably quite... awe-inspiring. In all fairness, it was awe-inspiring to the inhabitants of the Koprulu sector, too, when it happened. To Sabrina's credit though, she did not gape or appear overwhelmed - instead, she was even more curious. The idea of such power did not horrify the woman, it just happened to entice her.
Sarah Kerrigan found herself liking this corrupt little woman.
"The Protoss follow a concept of "Greater good", you see - so sacrificing a few hundred thousand humans to kill a greater threat seemed quite expedient to them." Sarah continued, waiting just a heart-beat to continue. "The Zerg. The most numerous, powerful race in the sector. A hive-minded, sentient race that sought to improve itself by absorbing the DNA of everything around them, allowing them to create new forms, new variations of themselves. A constantly evolving hive-mind of monsters... and thus, the most adaptable, powerful, and intelligent beings in the sector. A collection of purpose-built nightmares that devoured everything in their path and used their best traits to enhance their own biology ." The Queen of Blades explained with a grin, laughing to herself at the slight exaggeration she'd added there.
In truth, the epitome of all of those traits was neither Zerg, Protoss, or Terran, but the Queen of Blades herself.
At this point, Sabrina finally interrupted, as Kerrigan expected. "And which are you?" the psychic master asked, her curiosity rising at these revelations.
Kerrigan gave her a lopsided smirk. "...Who knows?" Kerrigan taunted, and she saw a bit of frustration appear in response on Sabrina's face. Not giving Sabrina a chance to interrupt, she quickly continued. "I've told you quite a bit about my world, and you've told me quite a bit about your world, but you have been pretty tight-lipped about yourself." the queen of blades added, waiting for a moment to continue her story. "I know you're a researcher in this world, and you've let slip that you know just a little bit about psychic power, but that tells me only so much about you. So I'll make a deal with you. Tell me a little more about Sabrina, and I'll tell you a little more about Sarah Kerrigan." the queen added.
In truth, she had planned this conversation out in order to test Sabrina's morals, and what she might think about Kerrigan. It was becoming clearly apparent that the girl she spoke to was far more morally grey than her appearance might suggest. She was more interested in what Sarah had to offer her than who she was, and her passion to become more than she was impressed Kerrigan. Should she gain Sabrina's partnership, it would be one based on selfish need, and a mutual desire for power. Which meant that it was the type of relationship that would actually last. So it wasn't actually necessary for her to stall and learn more about Sabrina.
But even as Sabrina had become more curious about The Queen of Blades, Sarah realized she was becoming quite curious about this psychic from another world herself. The woman was very interesting for a Terran - in fact, Sarah was quite impressed that someone other than her could grow to have so much presence, coming from such a pitiful race - Other than herself, of course.
Kerrigan found herself wanting to know more about this researcher, this psychic. And The Queen of the Koprulu Sector always got what she desired. The only variable was how long it would take her.