11-26-2016, 12:48 PM
Sarah smiled. The Pokemon master was wary. She had every reason to be. But she also hadn’t shrank back. Some part of Sabrina knew who Sarah was, even if she hadn’t put it to fact.
The real question, Sarah supposed, was how much Sabrina cared.
“My, my, suddenly you do have quite the cavalcade of questions. You won’t mind if I answer them in a different order, will you? It’ll make it much easier to tell the story.” Kerrigan responded. It wasn’t really a question, though she noticed that Sabrina nodded all the same.
“Let’s start with the first one - Why did the zerg decide to choose myself?” Sarah said with a hint of a grin.
“I didn’t really explain much of myself before my infestation - to me, that’s one lifetime, as compared to a billion.” Kerrigan responded. “But as Terrans are concerned, there’s a certain scale we use to determine how much psionic energy one can use. A scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. I was given the classification of Psi Index 10… After they re-adjusted the scale to account for humans with my level of power.” Kerrigan responded. “A human between 1 and 2 normally doesn’t have any powers at all. Between 2 and 5, they can sense the presence of other psychics - this is what the government used to find us.” Kerrigan explained.
“Most psychics fell between 5 and 7 - Capable of a little telepathy here and there, Between 8 and 10, the capacity to use telekinesis appeared. Besides me, there was really only ever one other PI 10. When she first discovered that little fact, she did it by blowing up her family home, killing three hundred people, and ripping a roof that was made to stop a nuclear bomb into twisted metal.” Kerrigan continued. “Many protoss are more powerful than that, of course, but Protoss genetics are… complex, and they shielded their minds from infestation with a communal mind-link they called the Khala.” She added, thinking back to that annoyance. It made it very difficult to deal with the bastards when they had a shared field of vision. She was lucky so many of them were confident enough to go off on their own, or close off their thoughts.
“A way for them to share their thoughts, feelings, their very selves with one another. None would willingly give themselves over to the overmind, and their genetics were… difficult to replicate. So in order to crush their species in combat, and then finish some genetic plan he had for the race, The Overmind turned to the latent psionic potential in Terrans. In our case, we only ever developed psychic power due to some mutations we gained in stasis, on the way to the Koprulu Sector, so our potential was fresh, only a few decades old. Growing. Ripe for assimilation into the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
“Of course, I always had some natural affinity for controlling the swarm, even if it was never truly… quantified. When I’d first met Arcturus, I’d been put into experiments to control these things with my terran psionics. After being given a lot of drugs and promised a quick death after experiments ceased, that. My memory doesn’t extend to the “why” of that. Neural limiters tend to kill the memory quickly.” Sarah responded, a slight hint of wonder as she realized that, really, she didn’t remember that bit of knowledge.
It didn’t matter. Sarah Kerrigan the ghost had only ever existed to become The Queen of Blades in the first place.
“Turns out I had quite the natural affinity for controlling them, even if it was only one or two at a time. And all of that was amplified far beyond any terran or protoss power as I became queen of the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
Sabrina, so far, simply nodded at each explanation, her eyes dancing with something unreadable. The infested terran was happy with this. What she’d definitely accomplished was occupying Sabrina’s thoughts. No matter the outcome of this little venture, she could work with that.
“As for what happened to the Overmind… now we’re getting into History. The Overmind had it’s own commanders, called cerebrates - pieces of it’s mind, replicated into new beings, that helped direct the numerous broods of the swarm. One of them was killed by a special sort of protoss.” Kerrigan continued, wincing involuntarily - she’d felt the same stinging pain the rest of the swarm had when the cerebrate had killed Zasz. “It helped throw the swarm in disarray, but also caused them to touch minds, revealing the protoss home-world. The overmind sought to conquer it, even if psychic potential hadn’t been added to the swarm fully, and I was only just reborn.” Kerrigan commented, anger seeping into her voice. She was happy the overmind was dead, but some part of her wanted to have tested herself against Aiur personally, wipe out the miserable firstborn herself, and --
Focus.
“For a while, it went well. Due to what you could call a cultural clash, the protoss spent as much time killing their own brethren as they did the zerg. Holding on to fading principles even as extinction beckoned. But one protoss - One I’d fought personally, Tassadar - sacrificed himself, in the end. He mastered a new power, and used it to destroy the overmind at the cost of himself.” Sarah responded. “So died the master of the swarm, and for a long time his minions did grow feral… but I also grew free.” She explained. “Until the point he expired, I was slave to his whim, his desires becoming my own - just like all Zerg. Genetically and psychically, I was linked to him. Once he died, I was able to assert myself once again.” Sarah explained.
“And that, I think, leads me to your most important question. “‘What did I do, after I became the leader?’ right?” Sarah asked. “Let me go back a bit first, though - When I first regained my will, I had the mental ability to control roughly half of the swarm. With one exception, the surviving cerebrates rebelled against that idea - Trying to bring me under their psychic thumb, and then trying to create a new overmind.” Sarah explained. Of course, the one that didn’t was also under constant threat of extermination, so that probably had something to do with it. “So I cut a few deals with the protoss, helped rid the planet of Shakuras - I’ll explain that later, if you wish - of their swarms, in exchange for killing off the new overmind.” Kerrigan explained. “At that point, I had majority control over the zerg, though some hold-outs existed.”
Kerrigan let out a twinge of irritation, as she realized just how insufferably long this retelling was. “The remainder of cerebrates created a second overmind, just as a new force entered the Koprulu - The United Earth Directorate. After not hearing from the colonists for a couple hundred years, something tipped them off humans had built a separate civilization. In their opinion, once they learned the larger story, that humans, protoss, and Zerg should all bow to them. Using a device to control the new overmind, and crippling the terrans, they almost succeeded, establishing a new government beholden to their leaders back on their communist home.” Sarah grimaced at the thought, and she had to admit, she truly, truly disliked everything about the UED. Between the self-righteous patriotism, their attempt to create a totalitarian state, and their arrogant belief that the universe simply belonged to them, she’d actually found the only terran society less fit to rule an empire than Arcturus mengsk
Luckily, I’d learned to shield myself from the Overmind’s commands… for a time. Eventually, the Terrans of the Koprulu sector, surviving protoss, and the tattered remnants of my broods entered a desperate alliance.” Kerrigan explained. “I won’t bore you with the details, but we shattered the UED’s Psi disruptor and killed off the new Overmind.” Kerrigan explained. Whatever else, she had respect for the terrans and protoss that fought alongside her, then, even if it warred with her hatred. All of them played their part perfectly, followed Kerrigan's plans to the letter, and executed the perfect plan to completely crush the UED - all with a fraction of the advantage, resources, or manpower. What good little pawns they'd been.
“Of course, after the UED’d been sent packing, there remained the question… What to do with the Zerg, and their new leader? The Protoss still remembered the scars the Zerg had left on their planet, and the Terrans? Despite the fact I’d saved him and his precious little empire he'd built off of all I'd done for him, Arcturus still feared me. After you’ve abandoned your lieutenant to die, they’re not really supposed to come back, after all.”
Kerrigan grinned as she continued.
“In the end, the choice for them was simple. Mine was even simpler. They sent all their little soldiers, machines and space ships, and all of them were consumed by the might of the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
“I crippled their fleets, destroyed their armies… and then withdrew.”
Sabrina’s nose wrinkled at that one, as her face lit up in surprise. “...Withdrew?”
Kerrigan nodded. “I don’t mind killing those who betrayed me so dearly, but truthfully? I didn’t see much of a point to committing genocide. So I let them retreat. Besides, my senses had picked up on something - well, something else - collecting itself within the depths of space.”
Kerrigan grinned at the statement. In truth, she mostly just wanted to enjoy watching them suffer, as she waited for the end-game to coalesce. Whatever else Sarah wanted, she hardly wanted things to be less than interesting. “I let my enemies live among the damage they’d accumulated. They weren’t a threat to me anymore.” Kerrigan stated. “No Terran or Protoss possibly could be. So, we left, and I set to work improving the swarm, and cementing them as the dominant power in the Koprulu sector
. And then… a white, glowing god appears and brings me here. If this were a story, I’d imagine that would be called an “Anti-climax.”. Sarah said, still seemingly normal. For some, discussing the deaths of billions would be hard. For others…? It was just another day.
“And now? I”m just enjoying the first day since childhood where no one has expressed the desire to end my existence.” Kerrigan finished, looking Sabrina straight in the face. The girl’s face was unreadable, and whatever else, she was definitely affected by the story. Exactly how? That wasn’t so easy to read.
On her part, Sarah just smiled at that. “So, congratulations. You’re the first human I’ve ever told this whole, long story too. I hope that my gesture of goodwill isn’t wasted on you.” Sarah states. “Oh, and - don’t worry.” She adds immediately after. “You and your empire aren’t planned to be added to the body-count. Far from it…” At this point, Sarah walked just a little closer, and Sabrina’s eyes widened just a little. They were both monsters, but it was apparent Sabrina was still a developing one, at least to Sarah’s vision.
There was apprehension, there, but not just of Sarah Kerrigan herself. No, it was what she represented. “I think we could have quite the partnership, you and I.” Sarah stated, coming to a stop in front of the empire’s department. “This doesn’t seem like the place that’s the most comfortable, without allies. Certainly, it wouldn’t feel secure without them. And you seem… quite the pragmatic type. At least, if ‘Ripper’ was anything to judge by.” Sarah stated, and Sabrina’s eyes widened in actual surprise to this statement. “I can tell we’d accomplish a lot if we worked together, and you seem like the type who still has another question or fifty.” The Queen of Blades held up a hand, offering the classical gesture of friendship. No more words were necessary - at least, not at this point. Instead, she'd just wait to see just what fate the Pokemon Gym Leader was going to seal for herself.
The real question, Sarah supposed, was how much Sabrina cared.
“My, my, suddenly you do have quite the cavalcade of questions. You won’t mind if I answer them in a different order, will you? It’ll make it much easier to tell the story.” Kerrigan responded. It wasn’t really a question, though she noticed that Sabrina nodded all the same.
“Let’s start with the first one - Why did the zerg decide to choose myself?” Sarah said with a hint of a grin.
“I didn’t really explain much of myself before my infestation - to me, that’s one lifetime, as compared to a billion.” Kerrigan responded. “But as Terrans are concerned, there’s a certain scale we use to determine how much psionic energy one can use. A scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. I was given the classification of Psi Index 10… After they re-adjusted the scale to account for humans with my level of power.” Kerrigan responded. “A human between 1 and 2 normally doesn’t have any powers at all. Between 2 and 5, they can sense the presence of other psychics - this is what the government used to find us.” Kerrigan explained.
“Most psychics fell between 5 and 7 - Capable of a little telepathy here and there, Between 8 and 10, the capacity to use telekinesis appeared. Besides me, there was really only ever one other PI 10. When she first discovered that little fact, she did it by blowing up her family home, killing three hundred people, and ripping a roof that was made to stop a nuclear bomb into twisted metal.” Kerrigan continued. “Many protoss are more powerful than that, of course, but Protoss genetics are… complex, and they shielded their minds from infestation with a communal mind-link they called the Khala.” She added, thinking back to that annoyance. It made it very difficult to deal with the bastards when they had a shared field of vision. She was lucky so many of them were confident enough to go off on their own, or close off their thoughts.
“A way for them to share their thoughts, feelings, their very selves with one another. None would willingly give themselves over to the overmind, and their genetics were… difficult to replicate. So in order to crush their species in combat, and then finish some genetic plan he had for the race, The Overmind turned to the latent psionic potential in Terrans. In our case, we only ever developed psychic power due to some mutations we gained in stasis, on the way to the Koprulu Sector, so our potential was fresh, only a few decades old. Growing. Ripe for assimilation into the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
“Of course, I always had some natural affinity for controlling the swarm, even if it was never truly… quantified. When I’d first met Arcturus, I’d been put into experiments to control these things with my terran psionics. After being given a lot of drugs and promised a quick death after experiments ceased, that. My memory doesn’t extend to the “why” of that. Neural limiters tend to kill the memory quickly.” Sarah responded, a slight hint of wonder as she realized that, really, she didn’t remember that bit of knowledge.
It didn’t matter. Sarah Kerrigan the ghost had only ever existed to become The Queen of Blades in the first place.
“Turns out I had quite the natural affinity for controlling them, even if it was only one or two at a time. And all of that was amplified far beyond any terran or protoss power as I became queen of the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
Sabrina, so far, simply nodded at each explanation, her eyes dancing with something unreadable. The infested terran was happy with this. What she’d definitely accomplished was occupying Sabrina’s thoughts. No matter the outcome of this little venture, she could work with that.
“As for what happened to the Overmind… now we’re getting into History. The Overmind had it’s own commanders, called cerebrates - pieces of it’s mind, replicated into new beings, that helped direct the numerous broods of the swarm. One of them was killed by a special sort of protoss.” Kerrigan continued, wincing involuntarily - she’d felt the same stinging pain the rest of the swarm had when the cerebrate had killed Zasz. “It helped throw the swarm in disarray, but also caused them to touch minds, revealing the protoss home-world. The overmind sought to conquer it, even if psychic potential hadn’t been added to the swarm fully, and I was only just reborn.” Kerrigan commented, anger seeping into her voice. She was happy the overmind was dead, but some part of her wanted to have tested herself against Aiur personally, wipe out the miserable firstborn herself, and --
Focus.
“For a while, it went well. Due to what you could call a cultural clash, the protoss spent as much time killing their own brethren as they did the zerg. Holding on to fading principles even as extinction beckoned. But one protoss - One I’d fought personally, Tassadar - sacrificed himself, in the end. He mastered a new power, and used it to destroy the overmind at the cost of himself.” Sarah responded. “So died the master of the swarm, and for a long time his minions did grow feral… but I also grew free.” She explained. “Until the point he expired, I was slave to his whim, his desires becoming my own - just like all Zerg. Genetically and psychically, I was linked to him. Once he died, I was able to assert myself once again.” Sarah explained.
“And that, I think, leads me to your most important question. “‘What did I do, after I became the leader?’ right?” Sarah asked. “Let me go back a bit first, though - When I first regained my will, I had the mental ability to control roughly half of the swarm. With one exception, the surviving cerebrates rebelled against that idea - Trying to bring me under their psychic thumb, and then trying to create a new overmind.” Sarah explained. Of course, the one that didn’t was also under constant threat of extermination, so that probably had something to do with it. “So I cut a few deals with the protoss, helped rid the planet of Shakuras - I’ll explain that later, if you wish - of their swarms, in exchange for killing off the new overmind.” Kerrigan explained. “At that point, I had majority control over the zerg, though some hold-outs existed.”
Kerrigan let out a twinge of irritation, as she realized just how insufferably long this retelling was. “The remainder of cerebrates created a second overmind, just as a new force entered the Koprulu - The United Earth Directorate. After not hearing from the colonists for a couple hundred years, something tipped them off humans had built a separate civilization. In their opinion, once they learned the larger story, that humans, protoss, and Zerg should all bow to them. Using a device to control the new overmind, and crippling the terrans, they almost succeeded, establishing a new government beholden to their leaders back on their communist home.” Sarah grimaced at the thought, and she had to admit, she truly, truly disliked everything about the UED. Between the self-righteous patriotism, their attempt to create a totalitarian state, and their arrogant belief that the universe simply belonged to them, she’d actually found the only terran society less fit to rule an empire than Arcturus mengsk
Luckily, I’d learned to shield myself from the Overmind’s commands… for a time. Eventually, the Terrans of the Koprulu sector, surviving protoss, and the tattered remnants of my broods entered a desperate alliance.” Kerrigan explained. “I won’t bore you with the details, but we shattered the UED’s Psi disruptor and killed off the new Overmind.” Kerrigan explained. Whatever else, she had respect for the terrans and protoss that fought alongside her, then, even if it warred with her hatred. All of them played their part perfectly, followed Kerrigan's plans to the letter, and executed the perfect plan to completely crush the UED - all with a fraction of the advantage, resources, or manpower. What good little pawns they'd been.
“Of course, after the UED’d been sent packing, there remained the question… What to do with the Zerg, and their new leader? The Protoss still remembered the scars the Zerg had left on their planet, and the Terrans? Despite the fact I’d saved him and his precious little empire he'd built off of all I'd done for him, Arcturus still feared me. After you’ve abandoned your lieutenant to die, they’re not really supposed to come back, after all.”
Kerrigan grinned as she continued.
“In the end, the choice for them was simple. Mine was even simpler. They sent all their little soldiers, machines and space ships, and all of them were consumed by the might of the swarm.” Kerrigan explained.
“I crippled their fleets, destroyed their armies… and then withdrew.”
Sabrina’s nose wrinkled at that one, as her face lit up in surprise. “...Withdrew?”
Kerrigan nodded. “I don’t mind killing those who betrayed me so dearly, but truthfully? I didn’t see much of a point to committing genocide. So I let them retreat. Besides, my senses had picked up on something - well, something else - collecting itself within the depths of space.”
Kerrigan grinned at the statement. In truth, she mostly just wanted to enjoy watching them suffer, as she waited for the end-game to coalesce. Whatever else Sarah wanted, she hardly wanted things to be less than interesting. “I let my enemies live among the damage they’d accumulated. They weren’t a threat to me anymore.” Kerrigan stated. “No Terran or Protoss possibly could be. So, we left, and I set to work improving the swarm, and cementing them as the dominant power in the Koprulu sector
. And then… a white, glowing god appears and brings me here. If this were a story, I’d imagine that would be called an “Anti-climax.”. Sarah said, still seemingly normal. For some, discussing the deaths of billions would be hard. For others…? It was just another day.
“And now? I”m just enjoying the first day since childhood where no one has expressed the desire to end my existence.” Kerrigan finished, looking Sabrina straight in the face. The girl’s face was unreadable, and whatever else, she was definitely affected by the story. Exactly how? That wasn’t so easy to read.
On her part, Sarah just smiled at that. “So, congratulations. You’re the first human I’ve ever told this whole, long story too. I hope that my gesture of goodwill isn’t wasted on you.” Sarah states. “Oh, and - don’t worry.” She adds immediately after. “You and your empire aren’t planned to be added to the body-count. Far from it…” At this point, Sarah walked just a little closer, and Sabrina’s eyes widened just a little. They were both monsters, but it was apparent Sabrina was still a developing one, at least to Sarah’s vision.
There was apprehension, there, but not just of Sarah Kerrigan herself. No, it was what she represented. “I think we could have quite the partnership, you and I.” Sarah stated, coming to a stop in front of the empire’s department. “This doesn’t seem like the place that’s the most comfortable, without allies. Certainly, it wouldn’t feel secure without them. And you seem… quite the pragmatic type. At least, if ‘Ripper’ was anything to judge by.” Sarah stated, and Sabrina’s eyes widened in actual surprise to this statement. “I can tell we’d accomplish a lot if we worked together, and you seem like the type who still has another question or fifty.” The Queen of Blades held up a hand, offering the classical gesture of friendship. No more words were necessary - at least, not at this point. Instead, she'd just wait to see just what fate the Pokemon Gym Leader was going to seal for herself.