11-28-2016, 12:03 PM
Sabrina eyed Sarah for a bit before reaching out to take her hand and give it a light squeeze. „I always have questions, really. I didn’t become what I am today because I saw the world as it appeared to be. We may be able to work together, Sarah Kerrigan, and I would find a mutually beneficial partnership to be great... but I must warn you: my loyalty at this time is with the Empire. As such if you were to cause trouble I would be expected to step in, and I don’t enjoy fighting – especially not with a promising individual such as yourself. If you came to Coruscant only to familiarize yourself with the world around here, I can aid you. But I would not advise that you stay here if you plan on doing anything large-scale. Allow me to explain…“ She side-stepped the question about ‘Ripper’. Sarah was making it obvious that she knew something was up, not just suspecting it, and there was no point in denying it. On the other hand, why would she explain herself? She had no reason to, nor did she have to justify herself to Sarah.
She walked over towards a flickering screen displaying a large map of Coruscant and waved to Sarah to come closer. „Here, take a look. We are at Tier 1, the topmost, most... clean tier. It is well-monitored, patrolled by Stormtroopers – the people in white armour – and with surveillance cameras everywhere. But as we go down, that monitoring, that peacekeeping presence decreases. The lowest tiers, six to seven, are the opposite of up here – it’s a ghetto, garbage dump and sewage outlet combined. The eye of the Emperor does not reach down there, nor does the long arm of the law – for the most part. But you’ll find that crime is flourishing down there like nowhere else. It’s a place of anarchy, and though a few groups have managed to establish themselves down there most go under pretty quickly. The thing is: the Empire can and will send people down there if things threaten to get out of hand, and something as threatening as a rapidly spreading group of essence-assimilating aliens is going to grab their attention pretty quickly.” When noticing Kerrigan’s facial expression shifting, Sabrina added: “I don’t mean to threaten you. I am merely explaining based on precedent. And powerful as you may have been where you come from, here in the Omniverse… well, if you haven’t noticed already, your powers are severely impacted. Given years, maybe decades, you can grow back to the level you used to be at, and even beyond. But at the beginning, you can lose to anyone. Palpatine has years on you, thus my money is on him. Hope you don’t take that personally.”
She dragged her finger over the screen and zoomed in on Tier 1. “Of course, you won’t find any place where you can freely expand without anyone noticing or caring anywhere in the Omniverse. But choosing to set yourself up right under the nose of one of the most powerful individuals in the entire Omniverse and his legions of loyal combatants is just asking for trouble.”
“You sound like you have a better idea.”
Sabrina pointed at the portal on Tier 1 leading out of Coruscant and back to the Nexus. “Here. You probably came in this way. I would advise that you take the same route back out and head towards one of the other verses. Namely the Pale Moors... as the name implies, it’s a swampy land of decay and disease, ruled by a powerful vampire named Dracula. It would be the best location to set yourself up because this Dracula is... a little laxer than the Emperor, and not quite as powerful. Of course, seeing how he is able to maintain control an entire verse by himself you shouldn’t take him easy either. But it’s a place that I believe would be a better fit.”
“What are the remaining options?” asked Sarah. She had noted that Sabrina knew a fair amount and was collecting info. Seeing how none of it was going to negatively impact her or cause trouble for the Empire, Sabrina was happy to oblige.
“Well, let’s just go through the eight verses in order. It’s a quick rundown, mind you, and I don’t know everything. We are in Coruscant, as you have heard, one of the three verses controlled by the God-Emperor Palpatine. He is the second most powerful Prime in the Omniverse, and the leader of the Empire, the second strongest faction – I’ll get to the strongest one soon. Coruscant is a city-verse spanning the entire area, and pretty enormous. We don’t have exact statistics but there are probably several dozens of millions of inhabitants. In terms of sheer population, it’s the largest verse.
Coruscant also has a foothold in the Vasty Deep and the Endless Dunes. The Deeps are an enormous ocean with numerous islands, with the dominant factions being the Imperial Navy serving the Empire, and Cinnabar to some extent, an island far off the coast that’s inhabited by Pokemon and outcasts from the Empire and other factions. They’re led by a Prime called Mewtwo, who’s a very powerful psychic Pokemon and a thorn in the Empire’s side. I myself am stationed in Costa del Sol, the place that you would arrive at if you stepped through the gate. There’s one right here, too.” She pointed it out on the map they were standing in front of. “Then we have the Endless Dunes, which as the name implies is a desert. It has a relatively low population count and only one imperial outpost - Carrefore. Beyond the civilized towns there is next to no law, it’s a place where everyone battles for their own sake. There’s very little to own here, so most Primes don’t even bother, although there’s one Prime called Ganondorf who apparently established himself there.
Next up is Camelot... the third strongest faction, the Kingdom, resides here, led by King Aragorn. The Empire and the Kingdom are not very friendly with one another, but it’s mostly a cold war.”
“I’m aware, I heard of that. Tell me more about Camelot.”
“Well, in terms of technology it’s medieval, but it has powerful magic which compensates for their lack of modern weaponry. The density of the population is nowhere near as high as Coruscant; Camelot is more of a widely open landscape with towns everywhere as well as two cities – Dalaran and Minas Tirith. While the presence of armed forces isn’t so prominent here, I wouldn’t advise to go there because you are visibly not a normal human, and Camelot... they dislike non-humans.
Anyway, like Coruscant Camelot has a presence in two other verses – the Pale Moors, which I mentioned, and the Tangled Green, a forest slash jungle verse. In the Moors their presence is relatively minor due to the vampire Dracula but it speaks for itself that they are able to maintain a foothold in a land where the very environment opposes colonization. However, they must maintain a presence there to keep Dracula in check, and alert Aragorn should he try the unthinkable.”
“And what would the ‘unthinkable’ be?”
“Dracula is the servant of a Prime who is... horrendously powerful; more powerful than Palpatine and Aragorn combined. His name is Diablo, the Prime Evil. From what the imperial records hold he is the devil himself where he originates from. In any case, Diablo was locked away into a verse of his own years ago, and the only access to that verse is the Black Gate, an enormous closed gate in the Pale Moors. It may be possible to open it, given sufficient power, but to do so would unleash a calamity unlike any other upon the Omniverse. Palpatine, Aragorn and just about every Prime in their right mind would ally in order to prevent the Black Gate from opening, because if Diablo were to be freed from his prison he would have the potential to wipe out the entire world. In any case, should Dracula ever make a serious attempt at opening the Black Gate, the garrison would hold him up and warn the Kingdom and Empire so that they can stop him.”
Sarah nodded. Sabrina cleared her throat. “But like said, it’s ‘unthinkable’ at this point. Nobody is known to have the power to open the Black Gate. So as I was saying, there’s the Tangled Green as well... which has one of the higher densities of Primes and factions. We have the Kingdom’s outpost, the Hidden Ninja village, Ambrosia and... I’m probably missing some. While it’s one of the friendlier verses at first glance it has a fair amount of clashes between the people who live there.
The last of the eight main verses are the two verses that neither the Empire nor the Kingdom has a foothold in: The Ashen Steppes and the Frozen Fields. As the names say, the Ashen Steppes is a burned, scarred volcanic region where flames and molten rock pour out from the ground and the Frozen Fields are a massive frozen landscape with deep snow and deadly ice everywhere. Both are... pretty dangerous verses, possibly the most dangerous in terms of the environment, but they both have a few Primes and even factions who have established a foothold, like the Gorons in the Ashen Steppes and the Trolls in the Frozen Fields.
There’s also the Underverse, Diablo’s domain, which the Empire knows little about. It’s a hellish landscape inhabited by demons, each of which is more powerful than most Primes, and reigned over by Diablo. It essentially lies on the other side of the Black Gate and is inaccessible by regular means, though there are so-called Banishment Circles which allow you to send someone to the Underverse. Only one documented case exists of someone escaping the Underverse, a Prime who works for the Empire.”
“So it’s possible to leave the Underverse? Then why did Diablo not escape it yet?”
“That I don’t know how to answer... I’ve been wondering about the answer to that question myself, ever since I read the official records on the subject. And I can’t give you further details, unfortunately – it’s classified Intel, to protect the individual who made it out, so even if I had a higher security clearance for that subject I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you. Either case, what you need to know boils down to this: the Underverse is a sort of prison for Primes who took it one step too far, or who fell to the sadistic nature of someone who enjoys banishing their defeated opponents. It’s also the single largest verse there is, larger even than the Vasty Deep or Coruscant.”
Sabrina stepped back from the display. “What I can do, and would do happily, is to aid you in a way that does not cause me any trouble with the Empire. Of course I can’t keep you from whatever you intend to do, nor would I try to, but we can keep in touch if you have a Communicator. If not we walked by about a dozen shops that sell them, and they’re more than affordable for what they offer. Coruscant and the Vasty Deep are much more interconnected than say, the Ashen Steppes, meaning that I could send information your way, bounties for Primes who have gone up against the Empire and whatever else you need. In exchange you can aid me by keeping me updated on the events of the Pale Moors… being stationed in the Deeps I don’t have as much access to reports of that place as I would like, and frankly I don’t trust the ones in that outpost very much. There would be plenty of room for improving our relationship if it proves to work for the both of us, and it would not hinder your progress nor get me kicked from my position. If you have a better idea though, I’m happy to listen to you.”
She walked over towards a flickering screen displaying a large map of Coruscant and waved to Sarah to come closer. „Here, take a look. We are at Tier 1, the topmost, most... clean tier. It is well-monitored, patrolled by Stormtroopers – the people in white armour – and with surveillance cameras everywhere. But as we go down, that monitoring, that peacekeeping presence decreases. The lowest tiers, six to seven, are the opposite of up here – it’s a ghetto, garbage dump and sewage outlet combined. The eye of the Emperor does not reach down there, nor does the long arm of the law – for the most part. But you’ll find that crime is flourishing down there like nowhere else. It’s a place of anarchy, and though a few groups have managed to establish themselves down there most go under pretty quickly. The thing is: the Empire can and will send people down there if things threaten to get out of hand, and something as threatening as a rapidly spreading group of essence-assimilating aliens is going to grab their attention pretty quickly.” When noticing Kerrigan’s facial expression shifting, Sabrina added: “I don’t mean to threaten you. I am merely explaining based on precedent. And powerful as you may have been where you come from, here in the Omniverse… well, if you haven’t noticed already, your powers are severely impacted. Given years, maybe decades, you can grow back to the level you used to be at, and even beyond. But at the beginning, you can lose to anyone. Palpatine has years on you, thus my money is on him. Hope you don’t take that personally.”
She dragged her finger over the screen and zoomed in on Tier 1. “Of course, you won’t find any place where you can freely expand without anyone noticing or caring anywhere in the Omniverse. But choosing to set yourself up right under the nose of one of the most powerful individuals in the entire Omniverse and his legions of loyal combatants is just asking for trouble.”
“You sound like you have a better idea.”
Sabrina pointed at the portal on Tier 1 leading out of Coruscant and back to the Nexus. “Here. You probably came in this way. I would advise that you take the same route back out and head towards one of the other verses. Namely the Pale Moors... as the name implies, it’s a swampy land of decay and disease, ruled by a powerful vampire named Dracula. It would be the best location to set yourself up because this Dracula is... a little laxer than the Emperor, and not quite as powerful. Of course, seeing how he is able to maintain control an entire verse by himself you shouldn’t take him easy either. But it’s a place that I believe would be a better fit.”
“What are the remaining options?” asked Sarah. She had noted that Sabrina knew a fair amount and was collecting info. Seeing how none of it was going to negatively impact her or cause trouble for the Empire, Sabrina was happy to oblige.
“Well, let’s just go through the eight verses in order. It’s a quick rundown, mind you, and I don’t know everything. We are in Coruscant, as you have heard, one of the three verses controlled by the God-Emperor Palpatine. He is the second most powerful Prime in the Omniverse, and the leader of the Empire, the second strongest faction – I’ll get to the strongest one soon. Coruscant is a city-verse spanning the entire area, and pretty enormous. We don’t have exact statistics but there are probably several dozens of millions of inhabitants. In terms of sheer population, it’s the largest verse.
Coruscant also has a foothold in the Vasty Deep and the Endless Dunes. The Deeps are an enormous ocean with numerous islands, with the dominant factions being the Imperial Navy serving the Empire, and Cinnabar to some extent, an island far off the coast that’s inhabited by Pokemon and outcasts from the Empire and other factions. They’re led by a Prime called Mewtwo, who’s a very powerful psychic Pokemon and a thorn in the Empire’s side. I myself am stationed in Costa del Sol, the place that you would arrive at if you stepped through the gate. There’s one right here, too.” She pointed it out on the map they were standing in front of. “Then we have the Endless Dunes, which as the name implies is a desert. It has a relatively low population count and only one imperial outpost - Carrefore. Beyond the civilized towns there is next to no law, it’s a place where everyone battles for their own sake. There’s very little to own here, so most Primes don’t even bother, although there’s one Prime called Ganondorf who apparently established himself there.
Next up is Camelot... the third strongest faction, the Kingdom, resides here, led by King Aragorn. The Empire and the Kingdom are not very friendly with one another, but it’s mostly a cold war.”
“I’m aware, I heard of that. Tell me more about Camelot.”
“Well, in terms of technology it’s medieval, but it has powerful magic which compensates for their lack of modern weaponry. The density of the population is nowhere near as high as Coruscant; Camelot is more of a widely open landscape with towns everywhere as well as two cities – Dalaran and Minas Tirith. While the presence of armed forces isn’t so prominent here, I wouldn’t advise to go there because you are visibly not a normal human, and Camelot... they dislike non-humans.
Anyway, like Coruscant Camelot has a presence in two other verses – the Pale Moors, which I mentioned, and the Tangled Green, a forest slash jungle verse. In the Moors their presence is relatively minor due to the vampire Dracula but it speaks for itself that they are able to maintain a foothold in a land where the very environment opposes colonization. However, they must maintain a presence there to keep Dracula in check, and alert Aragorn should he try the unthinkable.”
“And what would the ‘unthinkable’ be?”
“Dracula is the servant of a Prime who is... horrendously powerful; more powerful than Palpatine and Aragorn combined. His name is Diablo, the Prime Evil. From what the imperial records hold he is the devil himself where he originates from. In any case, Diablo was locked away into a verse of his own years ago, and the only access to that verse is the Black Gate, an enormous closed gate in the Pale Moors. It may be possible to open it, given sufficient power, but to do so would unleash a calamity unlike any other upon the Omniverse. Palpatine, Aragorn and just about every Prime in their right mind would ally in order to prevent the Black Gate from opening, because if Diablo were to be freed from his prison he would have the potential to wipe out the entire world. In any case, should Dracula ever make a serious attempt at opening the Black Gate, the garrison would hold him up and warn the Kingdom and Empire so that they can stop him.”
Sarah nodded. Sabrina cleared her throat. “But like said, it’s ‘unthinkable’ at this point. Nobody is known to have the power to open the Black Gate. So as I was saying, there’s the Tangled Green as well... which has one of the higher densities of Primes and factions. We have the Kingdom’s outpost, the Hidden Ninja village, Ambrosia and... I’m probably missing some. While it’s one of the friendlier verses at first glance it has a fair amount of clashes between the people who live there.
The last of the eight main verses are the two verses that neither the Empire nor the Kingdom has a foothold in: The Ashen Steppes and the Frozen Fields. As the names say, the Ashen Steppes is a burned, scarred volcanic region where flames and molten rock pour out from the ground and the Frozen Fields are a massive frozen landscape with deep snow and deadly ice everywhere. Both are... pretty dangerous verses, possibly the most dangerous in terms of the environment, but they both have a few Primes and even factions who have established a foothold, like the Gorons in the Ashen Steppes and the Trolls in the Frozen Fields.
There’s also the Underverse, Diablo’s domain, which the Empire knows little about. It’s a hellish landscape inhabited by demons, each of which is more powerful than most Primes, and reigned over by Diablo. It essentially lies on the other side of the Black Gate and is inaccessible by regular means, though there are so-called Banishment Circles which allow you to send someone to the Underverse. Only one documented case exists of someone escaping the Underverse, a Prime who works for the Empire.”
“So it’s possible to leave the Underverse? Then why did Diablo not escape it yet?”
“That I don’t know how to answer... I’ve been wondering about the answer to that question myself, ever since I read the official records on the subject. And I can’t give you further details, unfortunately – it’s classified Intel, to protect the individual who made it out, so even if I had a higher security clearance for that subject I wouldn’t be allowed to tell you. Either case, what you need to know boils down to this: the Underverse is a sort of prison for Primes who took it one step too far, or who fell to the sadistic nature of someone who enjoys banishing their defeated opponents. It’s also the single largest verse there is, larger even than the Vasty Deep or Coruscant.”
Sabrina stepped back from the display. “What I can do, and would do happily, is to aid you in a way that does not cause me any trouble with the Empire. Of course I can’t keep you from whatever you intend to do, nor would I try to, but we can keep in touch if you have a Communicator. If not we walked by about a dozen shops that sell them, and they’re more than affordable for what they offer. Coruscant and the Vasty Deep are much more interconnected than say, the Ashen Steppes, meaning that I could send information your way, bounties for Primes who have gone up against the Empire and whatever else you need. In exchange you can aid me by keeping me updated on the events of the Pale Moors… being stationed in the Deeps I don’t have as much access to reports of that place as I would like, and frankly I don’t trust the ones in that outpost very much. There would be plenty of room for improving our relationship if it proves to work for the both of us, and it would not hinder your progress nor get me kicked from my position. If you have a better idea though, I’m happy to listen to you.”
"(Note to self: insert quote & picture once I find stuff)"
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