Psychic Collision [Great]

[Undyne]

Sabrina's Airbike came to a stop just in front of the bike-optimized parking spaces in front of the Imperial Intelligence Department. She pushed the kickstand down and locked the bike to the ground-fixated stand. Though there wasn't any wheel that she could have put a chain around the safety lock she had brought went around all the way and was able to lock the bike in place that way. With her helmet in her hand and her suit unzipped enough that she could move comfortably and display the badge on her shirt under the suit, she walked through to the front doors, authenticated herself to the guard and traversed the lobby. On the other side a worker behind a thick glass panel looked up as she approached and activated the microphone for her to speak to him.

"Hello. I would like to deposit these files", Sabrina said as she produced the folder from her bag and put the badge into the little slider box. "Here's my authentication. The files need to go to the recipient as soon as possible."

"Professor Sabrina, correct?" the worker asked as he looked things over, then opened the slider again. "Please deposit the files and we'll see to that your contact recieves them within the next hour."

"Perfect. Many thanks." She put the entire folder in, since she had digital backups of all the files contained in it by this point, and waited as the worker retrieved it, ran a quick security check for obvious traps, then slid the badge back to Sabrina.

"Here you are. Please be advised that your packet will be thoroughly scanned for security hazards. If you are aware of anything potentially dangerous please let me know now. Failure to do so may result in disciplinary action or your arrest if we find explosives, poison gas etc."

Sabrina held back a laugh as she nodded. "There are no hazardous materials contained to the best of my knowledge."

"Good. Can I help you with anything else today?"

"No, I'll be taking my leave. Thank you for your assistance." She stepped away from the counter and headed right back outside, but past her bike. While she was in Coruscant she might as well spend a little while and get a handful of necessities that weren't offered in Costa del Sol. Maybe a box of chocolates with spaceships imprinted on each piece... something a little more substantial than the sweets offered at every street corner of Costa del Sol.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

"And with that, the scan is complete. Enjoy your stay, Miss...?" A voice asked from behind Kerrigan. Likely, it belonged to one of the troopers she'd begrudgingly allowed to scan her form. At the time, it had seemed amusing - the idea of the zerg's queen walking safely in a terran city, treated as "normal.".
Kerrigan didn't bother to answer the man, didn't even bother to look back.
He, his squad, his laughable attempt at finding familiarity with the queen of blades, didn't matter.

What mattered was that buzzing aura.

Sarah Kerrigan concentrated, as her senses flared to life - senses that couldn't be understood, couldn't be explained, in terms a regular human could ever understand. The senses that had allowed Kerrigan to feel every sensation of hundreds of billions of different zerg on thousands of planets. Senses that let her see the nexuses of Xel'naga power as no mortal could ever see them.
Senses that, now, gave off a very familiar sensation.

Psychic energy.

The queen of blades' strides were quick, walking through the crowded city as she tried to lock in on the pattern that caught her interest. Sarah Kerrigan was once connected to billions upon billions of life forms, seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting all of their sensations in unison, her inhuman intellect allowing her to literally make trillions of decisions in a fraction of a second.
Sarah put tasks like navigating the city and observing baisc social interactions at the minimum power her brain required, and put the rest of that mental energy into finding this psychic nexus now, the power that felt cool and restrained and oh so familiar.

There seemed to be many powers that developed in the Omniverse - that much she'd heard from the little vampire - but Psychic power seemed to be a relative rarity, and Kerrigan knew that to harness it-

No.

The queen of blades smiled. There was no need to be dishonest with herself. She was curious. The power she'd felt was so like a terran telepath, and yet, it felt closer to that of a protoss in refinement. In a place so absent of psionic traffic, the psychic murmurs she followed stuck out like a frog in headlights. It was a power that still developed, a power unique in it's feeling and shape. A potential talent that could grow to be so much more.


The Infested Terran was a little impressed, a little curious, and very interested. Strength like that could be useful, and useful things had only two destinies in Sarah Kerrigan's mind:
They could serve her as a useful asset, or they could serve her as zergling fodder.

With this in mind, queen of blades smiled as she put her primary focus back to her more mundane senses, and the vibrant Blue and green glow of radiant psychic power coalesced into the shape of a frowning teenaged girl with a thin build and brunette hair. Kerrigan was only slightly surprised. This girl seemed like a pretty ordinary girl in terms of basic appearance, but a sixteen year old Sarah Kerrigan could have looked pretty similar with a little hair dye and less military training.

What Sarah was really surprised by was the look the girl gave her. The brunette psion was staring her directly in the eyes, and it wasn't a look of confusion.
Sarah was being sized up, and her gut instincts told her that this girl was able to see her power just as readily as Kerrigan had seen hers.
the Zerg queen's smirk widened even as Sabrina's stare intensified, as though she was trying to pay attention to something she hadn't seen before. Then, finally, the silence was broken.
"...Who are you?" The blue-haired woman asked.

"Sarah Kerrigan." The infested woman replied, as she scanned her uniform for a way to keep this conversation going. the obvious way would be to address the elephant in the room both of them saw, but that would ruin the game for her. She'd let the other woman acknowledge it first. within a nanosecond, her brain had already managed to find a suitable thing to point out.

"I'm interested in joining your little Coruscant defence team. You're a member, right? Or you've gotten very good at stealing badges." Kerrigan said with a joking grin. Part of her wanted to know how she'd respond to it. Part of her wanted to see if she couldn't provoke a fight from this woman, and see what she could make out of her corpse. With base materials like that, Kerrigan was sure she could create a fine new Zerg.

But most of her knew that, for now, she would once again have to resort to diplomacy, or at least her own version of diplomacy. and a good portion of her mind was far more interested in seeing what she could turn someone with an aura like this into without having to resort to infestation.

For now, Kerrigan would do what would suit her best, and make an ally.

[Undyne]

Sabrina hadn't expected her "sightseeing" trip through Coruscant to be interrupted by someone approaching her, other of course than the troopers doing routine checks on people, including those wearing official badges. But with how the strange-looking... was it even a woman? was making a beeline for her and not even bothering to conceal it, she rapidly realized that she wouldn't be having a leisurely trip back to Costa del Sol as she had planned. At least she didn't appear to have any immediate ill intent, Sabrina couldn't see any weapon or a surge of energy indicating an imminent attack. Besides an attacker would approach her in a less obvious way.

At any rate it was a rather curious being. Her physiology was that of a human woman, sure - she had the curvy figure, the female facial features and the slender limbs of one, although her skin was more like that of an insect, with chitin plating forming an exoskeleton of sorts. At least it looked similar to one... she felt oddly reminded of Scyther. Add to that the stilt-like forms on her feet and the skeletal wings on her back and it came at no surprise that she was causing people to turn their heads and stare. Sabrina quietly wondered if it was someone from the Empire R&D department, possibly some experiment seeking out members... her badge displayed that she was working for them after all.

After asking for her name the stranger who introduced herself as Sarah cut straight to the chase, as it seemed. But Coruscant defence team? What sort of name was that even? "Oh, you mean this?" she asked and tapped the badge on her chest without averting her eyes from the woman. This Omniverse was a weird place, she was fine with cutting Sarah some slack for her... unconventional looks, but her behavior was screaming that she had intentions she wasn't letting Sabrina in on. "Actually it's a badge of the Empire Research and Development department - R&D for short. Name's Sabrina, I'm a professor in the team. Couldn't steal one if I wanted, these things have some sort of theft protection and everything on their surface turns into an indistinguishable blob of color if held by someone who's not the owner of it."

She paused for a moment but Sarah just looked at her, visibly awaiting further explanations, so she continued. "I'm not entirely sure if you've got the right person, Miss Kerrigan. If you are interested in joining the military force I can show you to the Empire Peace Division's recruitment center though." She doubted that Sarah would want to become a Stormtrooper... did they even take women in? Maybe. But until she found out why exactly she had approached her of all people, instead of one of the hundreds of Stormtroopers going around everywhere, she would have to play her game along and see where it led. Besides, she was curious herself. She had never seen anything quite like what Sarah was. It might be that wherever she came from looking like this was completely normal, but being used to a world where Pokemon and humans looked distinctly similar (besides the odd one like Mr. Mime or Jynx of course) a being looking both human and nonhuman was something that drew her interest a great deal.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Oh, I'm positive I have the right person.
"You'd be willing to show me around then, Professor?" Sarah asked with a hint of teasing in her voice. "I'll take you up on that offer. By all means... lead the way." Sarah added with just a bit of sarcasm bleeding through. She'd definitely made the woman a little antsy - Sarah was ready for that, of course. Her form was one of terror and beauty at the same time, lethal precision brought to it's finest edge. If the woman wasn't a little cautious, the Infested Terran would have been very interested in just where she had came from.

What was more interesting was the curiosity. Sarah had gained her interest, as expected - it was what she wanted from the younger woman - but she hadn't expected the friendly retort. Sarah was expecting to have to lead the conversation around on her own, but it appeared that something had prompted the girl to participate in earnest. Was it simply a friendlier nature than Sarah had given her credit for? Kerrigan assumed that the girl would be closed off - mostly due to her own experiences with psychics in her own world. In the Koprulu Sector, the most and least powerful people were psychics - It came with Telepathy, Telekinesis, if you were lucky, and a free dog collar for the rest of your life.
But then, if this person really was from another world, maybe there was some sense of decency within it.

Or maybe this little psychic just happened to be able to force some decency by the time others learned of the abilities at her disposal.

Sarah smiled. The Psionic Researcher seemed intrigued, if a little off-put by Sarah's attitude. Sarah was perfectly capable of working with that. "I'm pretty new to this little dimension. Why don't you tell me a little more about your position, as we walk?" Sarah asked, noting the surprise etched on the woman's face. "You seem like you have a story or two to tell, don't you?" Sarah asked with a confident look, as the girl finally seemed to nod. 
"If you'd like me to show you the way-"
"By all means." Sarah cut her off.
"Then come along." The psychic master finished, hitting a button to activate what looked like a futuristic cross-walk. 
Sarah had to hold back a laugh, as she walked across the metallic road. The Queen of Blades had never expected she'd ever again engage in normal conversation.

[Undyne]

Sabrina was rather surprised at how Sarah was not addressing the elephant in the room whatsoever. Even if she originated from a world where everyone looked like her in some way, shape or form, surely she would have noticed that Coruscant's population on the topmost tier was made up entirely out of humans? Yet she had made not the slightest remark. And with the conversation taking a different direction, she wasn't going to change the subject so abruptly. But, she couldn't let her guard down. This woman was out for more than she was letting in on.

Though a little annoyed at being cut off she crossed over the street with Sarah in tow and checked one of the Tier 1 maps to find the best way. Having only been once to the recruitment center, and by taxi rather than on foot, meant that she was unfamiliar with the way, and she didn't know Coruscant's layout unlike those who had lived here for years. "This way", she eventually pointed out and turned a corner on a large junction. Sure they could just take one of the public transports or request a lift from the military vehicles passing by, but that would have cut their time short. Sabrina wanted to learn about Sarah as well, even though right now if she was to play along she would have to talk about herself.

"I've been here for only about a month actually. Most of that, I've worked for the Empire. I happen to be from a place that the Empire refers to as the 'Pokemon World', named after the creatures that inhabit the land, and it appears that a few of these creatures are living here, in the Omniverse, as well. Some of them are causing trouble for the civilians and military of the Empire, and as I am from the same world and have an amount of knowledge and experience with these Pokemon, I have been assigned to do some work on that subject. The details of that are... bland, though. Unless desk jobs fascinate you that is." She gave Sarah no time to interrupt and say that they did, because that was getting into classified territory. "My Professorate was given to me when I provided proof of my experience in the field, so that I could work in the department. But it's a job that could be a lot more fun and action-filled. This way." Another turn into a slightly smaller road, with "only" two lanes in either direction.

"What about-" began Sarah, but Sabrina cut her off as if she hadn't heard her.

"But, enough about me! I'm sorry for asking so boldly, but you're not human, are you? I'd love to hear a bit about you, after going on about myself for as long as I did. About you and the world you originate from. Even the Pokemon in my world were... hmm, how to word it."

"They weren't as humanlike as me?" Sarah suggested.

"Yes, exactly. The vast majority are feral beasts who provide milk and wool, or oversized insects like wasps and butterflies. The few that have an even remotely human shape have features that differentiate them clearly from us, and none are able to speak the human language with their tongues. Telepathy, that's a different story, but I can see you moving your lips."

"Quite. I've been using my voice all this time."

Sabrina nodded. "Had you been using telepathy I would have felt that, probably. Some Pokemon relaid their thoughts to me that way in the past so I have a grasp for it. So yes... I'm pretty sure that you are not a Pokemon, at least not one similar to anything that has been discovered up to this day, and seeing how the people I met all speak of different worlds that usually sound nothing alike, I doubt that you originate from the Pokemon World."

Why was she backing up her theories with that much argumentation? Because she wanted Sarah to tell her some details, by dishing out a lot herself. She was genuinely curious, but if she wanted to get information she had to give up some in return. Besides, all the info she'd handed out had been common knowledge that Sarah could have gotten in any Coruscant Library if she researched "Pokemon" a bit, or asked someone who'd been brought here from it.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

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.

[Undyne]

Sabrina was conflicted, she eyed Sarah for a few seconds without a word and only taking slowed steps as her mind raced behind her eyes.

Kerrigan was letting in on a lot, she was turning her gamble right around on her - by providing more information than she had, and essentially saying "now it's your turn". Her insectoid physique made her seem much more brute than she really was - scheming and subtle, and someone who was used to being powerful. Whatever she was, she was not human - or Terran, as she seemed to refer to non-Earth humans. But which one might she be then? Protoss, or Zerg? She had talked about the Zerg much more... extensively, in more detail and in a more emotional way, almost. As if she liked them. She had described the Protoss much more neutrally. On the other hand, that may just be an elaborate trick to make Sabrina think exactly what she wanted her to. Someone like this would have made a great admin in Team Rocket, had she been there - personality wise that is, the looks not so much. Possibly even Giovanni's right hand. In this world, she was not so sure, and that was assuming that Giovanni was around here. She had read vague reports of a figure that matched his description, but lacking any truly distinct features meant that identifying the leader of Team Rocket among unimaginable numbers of people by pure eyewitness description was an impossibility. But her thoughts were drifting off.

"I must say, that is a lot of information to digest", she openly admitted as they walked down a staircase to pass through a tunnel leading them underneath a 16-lane mega-road, one of the pulsing arteries of Coruscant. A squad of Stormtroopers met them halfway through and the leader acknowledged Sabrina with a brief nod, which she returned. Might as well... Sarah knew by now what her position was, and it couldn't hurt to prove she wasn't a fake with a little theatric display. "The humans in my world were able to send people to the moon around fifty years ago, counting from the point in time when I was brought here. We had satellites and a few other advancements, but every launch is a lengthy process. In the way of space travel your Terrans were way ahead of us. I can't imagine what it must be like to casually send prisoners off in a shuttle to get rid of them.

Anycase, about me... I'll have to actually take another excourse before I can tell you about myself. You may have the same tech developed in your world, or it may be specific to Pokemon." She reqached under the skirt piece of her dress and detached one of the empty standard Pokeballs from her reserve - the ones red at the top and white on the bottom. A press to the button in the middle turned it from ping-pong-ball to orange size, and she held it out to Sarah. "Here, have this as a little gift. I promise you it's not dangerous."

Sarah took the ball and turned it in her hand, studying it. "What is it?"

"They're called Pokeballs. A device used to... well, store Pokemon inside of. While the technology is centuries, even maybe millenia old, only in more recent years have we gotten these metallic ones. In either case, it was discovered that Pokemon can be compressed into a state of energy with next to no mass, but which preserves their being. Held in stasis, as you described it. It allows humans to tame wild Pokemon by placing them into one such Pokeball, then release them when they are needed."

"Interesting. But I imagine that they are used for more than to transport livestock around conveniently."

"Of course not. Although some people do that... the most well-known use for that is for Pokemon battles. People challenge each other based on a set of rules and regulations and have their Pokemon battle one another until they faint, until one so-called trainer runs out, maximum of six Pokemon. Not everyone respects the rules of course, but a surprising amount of people do. And seeing how unlike how Terrans may be in your home world, humans in mine have no supernatural powers and are... pretty helpless without Pokemon, even people like police officiers have a team at hand. I won't bore you with too many details, but there's the so-called Pokemon League challenge in the regions for trainers, which has them compete in a number of "Gyms" against selected trainers to prove their skill as a trainer and earn the right to challenge the Pokemon League, the most powerful trainers in the world, over the title of Champion. Any trainer worth their salt takes the League Challenge on sooner or later. Me, I was Sabrina, Gym Leader of Saffron City and known as the Master of Psychic Pokemon, though that title doesn't mean much in this place."

"Let's go back for just a second... how do these Pokeballs work?" Sarah asked as Sabrina took a moment to consider what to speak of next. Really she could tell Sarah a lot. There was only one subject to dodge, and she could skirt around it without too much difficulty. Sarah had no way of knowing of Team Rocket, and Sabrina had averted suspicion from Officier Jennys who were specifically set on investigating the group several times before.

"Oh! Of course, let me see here..." She reached for one of her Pokeballs again, then froze for a moment. Arcanine's and Slowbro's Pokeballs both had the characteristic red R on them. How would she explain that? She grabbed Arcanine's while thinking up something on the fly, and showed Sarah the Pokeball. "This one holds a Pokemon that I captured before. Don't mind the color difference, it's a paint job - though there are different types of Pokeballs, which goes a bit beyond the scope of this conversation. R stands for Ripper, I nicknamed the Pokemon inside it that way." She carefully checked that there was nobody closeby who could get hurt, then tossed the ball before them, watched it release Arcanine, and caught the now empty sphere in her hand again. Arcanine on the other hand materialized out of the white energy burst and sat before them. Sarah would have no way of knowing that its mildly darkened fur and the cold eyes were the result of a Dark Ball, not what a regular Arcanine looked like, had she not been to Cinnabar before. And if she had, she would know way more about Pokemon.

"Meet Ripper, the Arcanine. This one isn't a psychic type, but I've not had the opportunity yet to catch myself a few proper ones, so it's a placeholder until then. To catch a Pokemon, you throw the ball at them once they are a little weakened, and hope that their strength isn't sufficient to escape before the locking mechanisms tune to it. Once it's caught you can release and return it at any time." She fired a red beam from the Pokeball's tip at Arcanine, who turned into red energy at its touch and was sucked up. Sabrina placed it back, noting Sarah's interested look. So this wasn't technology that existed in her home world, huh.

"Back to me, in any case. I was born in a small town near Saffron City and discovered my dormant ESP powers when I bent a spoon as a kid. I never got much further than that, really. It let me establish a bond to Pokemon, specifically psychic ones, much stronger than a regular trainer bonds with their Pokemon, which was what ended up earning me a spot in Saffron City, as the Gym Leader. The nice thing about it is that though the League is a private insitution even the government acknowledges it and the Gym Leaders are both prominent figures in their respective cities and valued researchers in Pokemon sciences for the types of Pokemon that they are attuned to - to briefly detail it, there are various "types" that Pokemon are categorized into, each with advantages over some types and disadvantages to others. Arcanine for instance is a Fire-type, he would thus be weak to water but powerful against plants. Gyms are provided some funding that goes into research - Psychic Pokemon, in my case. We worked together with a number of leading scientists and made all sorts of advances. It was quite fun... until I got brought here anyway."She sighed and shrugged. "That about sums up my life. After I came to the Omniverse, you know what happened. Turns out that here my psychic powers are amplified to the levels of a Pokemon, too - an odd experience to be able to wield the same level of powers I could only indirectly command before, by ordering my Pokemon to. Now I search for other people from the Pokemon World, and perhaps some day I will bring the Pokemon Gyms back." She reached into her upper garment and pulled out one of the Marsh Badges, just like the one she had given to Amber a month ago. "I'm even giving these out to people who can defeat me, but right now they're little more than bragging rights sadly." She put it back, but not without noting that Sarah was eyeing the badge with visible interest. Had she just given her an excuse to request a battle?

"My life was a pretty straight line without many twists and turns, so I apologize if you were hoping for something more juicy. The best I could offer are a few anecdotes of my life as a Gym Leader, but most of them are probably going to be boring to someone who only knows hearsay about Pokemon. If you have no further questions, I'd love to hear a bit about you now."

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Sarah smiled with a face that seemed far more genuine than it truly was. This girl was able to play the game well… and from the pause in her stride just a little while ago, she’d started to realize who she was playing with.

Sarah idly bounced the poke-ball in their hand, as they strode past meaningless street after meaningless street. Part of her wanted to take up the offer that Sabrina had so casually thrown out earlier - an invitation to battle, to fight. Still, Sarah was no fool - whoever this prime was, she’d been around significantly longer than Sarah. She’d had time to get used to the rules, and time to accumulate power. The Queen of Blades generally shied away from getting into a fight when the deck wasn’t stacked in her favor.
For now, the Pokemon Master could keep her little Marsh Badge.

Still, Sarah had to admit she was impressed with Sabrina - even if she could see a few little cracks in the edges of her story.
Really, the fact that Kerrigan couldn’t see the full story behind it gave every hint of credit to the woman. The only thing stopping her story about being a mild-mannered researcher - other than her own body language hinting at something just a little more vicious, even if those moments that Sarah caught were fleeting and quickly fixed - was the Arcanine.

The Queen of Blades still had Zerg DNA floating through her veins, and as soon as the flame-colored canine appeared from its capsule, her instincts immediately urged her to study every facet of the creature, all obvious weak-points, it’s similarities to similar species in the swarm, it’s body language… and for Kerrigan, it’s psychic feeling.

Yet as Kerrigan checked the creature’s mind, she immediately felt something that Sabrina hadn’t told her of. Within the mind and it’s surface thoughts, most were of loyalty, a need for orders, and an utter lack of any personal goals or forethought. It’s thoughts were curiously slow, and in the end, while the simple dog’s thoughts were far too unformed to even form true voice, Kerrigan was very familiar with this subdued, stitched-together psyche.
Neural Resocialization.
Kerrigan had no idea if Sabrina had done the grunt work of brainwashing the pokemon herself, or if she’d simply obtained it from someone, but she was also apparently unbothered by it. Given her psychic nature left her unable to be truly unaware... at least not with her own canny nature to account for.
Straight line my ass.

Still, Sabrina hadn’t caught on to the fact that Kerrigan had telepathy of her own… though she wasn’t so foolish as to push her luck by reading the other prime’s mind herself. She’d played a decent hand… she just didn’t know who she was truly speaking to.

Sarah smiled broadly at that moment, now, when asked who she was. She’d feign a win to the woman… and she’d find out just where her moral compass truly sat. By the end of Kerrigan’s words, she’d know, one way or the other, just what lay within the heart of the pokemon gym leader.
After all, she’d earned a little honesty for entertaining the leader of the swarm.

“Well, why not? Ir is the first time anyone has ever asked me who I am.” Sarah responded.

Usually, all they ask is… “Why?”

“Once, I was a human… much like yourself. Just like you, I found my own talent for Psychic abilities at a young age - a little… outburst of telekinesis.” Kerrigan stated. Once, she’d thought of that as a traumatic memory.

Her head came apart Her head came apart!

Now, it was simply her first kill, and she couldn’t resist smiling a little as she continued to speak. “Humans are just as fragile in my universe as yours, with a few exceptions.” Sarah said. “Those who are able to access psychic power, though - those are more common. In the Koprulu sector, the ruling government takes every psychic child they can find, and enlists them in the ghost program - once they’re done with you, you become an emotionless assassin that kills when you’re told to. I wasn’t an exception” Kerrigan continued, thinking back.

Not an exception. Just exceptional.

“Eventually, someone found me. Restored my mind.” Kerrigan continued. “Right as the zerg began to pop up all over the Koprulu. As a psychic, I was useful because of the Zerg’s search for psionic power. They sought to fight the protoss - absorb their genetics and add them to the fold. To do that, they needed psionic powers of their own.” Kerrigan paused for a moment, drinking in the look of interest in Sabrina’s face. Not disgust. Not horror. Her expression seemed to say she was taking notes.

“The terrans didn’t know that, of course, but they knew that the zerg were drawn to psychic energy. So they developed an emitter - a way to boost the signal that telepathic wavelengths sent out. It allowed them to draw the zerg to a world, and when they got there, they’d infest the planet, eating every life-form on the planet, and the Confederacy - our valiant government - saw this as a genius way to wipe out any planets that dissented against them.” Kerrigan stated.

“As the man who freed me wanted to rebel against this confederacy, he instead saw these tools as a way to destroy them. So I helped steal the emitters, brought one to their capital planet, drew the swarm to lay waste to the world… and was promptly abandoned to rot.”
At this point, Sabrina’s eyes lit up, and it seemed that she’d actually managed to surprise her for once with a part of her story. Perhaps it was due to the easily-seen foolishness of the act. Perhaps she didn’t expect

“I knew too much. Arcturus needed to be blameless.” Sarah continued, absentmindedly noting her slip of the man’s name. “So he left me to die amongst the zerg. Instead…”
Sarah grinned, her breath catching as she remembered that beautiful moment, where she’d emerged from the Chrysalis.

“Instead, I was transformed. Enhanced. I went from a human with psychic powers, to the perfect fusion of human and zerg DNA. Something more than either race.” Kerrigan finished. “My psychic abilities, my physical body, everything was brought to an unmatched height - all for the purpose of serving the Zerg leader - the Overmind. Until he went from ultimate hive-mind of the swarm to a rotting mound of flesh and brain matter.”

At this point, Sarah stopped, noticing the expression on Sabrina’s face. There seemed to be a shifting tide of emotions. Satisfaction, caution, curiosity, confusion - Sarah simply breathed in, though in truth, as a zerg she didn’t need to, and continued her story.

“After the great Overmind was killed, there was no one left to rule the swarm… except for myself. And so, I took power over the trillions of zerg that swarmed across the Koprulu sector.”

“...And what did you do with this swarm?” Sabrina asked with a tone of urgency.

Sarah smirked at the woman for a moment, and for just a brief moment, the predator behind the sarcastic visage was there before her. Sarah wondered what her reaction would be. For most, she imagined she’d be seen as a threat, for moral reasons, or simply pragmatic survival instinct. She could have always misjudged Sabrina, after all - this could be the push that drove the girl to run away, or report her as a danger to the omni-present stormtroopers that walked these streets.
But Kerrigan rarely misjudged, and she was certain Sabrina had few scruples. What mattered to the girl before her, she was quite certain, was power, control, evolution.
They were two sides of the same coin. Partnership with a woman like this would be easy.

“I became the Queen of Blades.”

[Undyne]

"You became the Queen of Blades", Sabrina bluntly repeated Sarah's last sentence. She did not like at all how Sarah had smiled just then, but now it became clear as to why. A being who’s able to control trillions of individuals? Planets worth of... no, probably way more, probably hundreds if not thousands of planets worth of beings. The sheer thought made her head spin. To wield such power, it had to be thrilling; an experience like no other. She wondered how anyone could have the brainpower to process enough thoughts at once to control such an army. In either case, someone wielding power at such magnitude - or having wielded it, anyway - had to be a being who thought beyond petty worldly matters. A mortal deity.
 
Sabrina fell silent for a prolonged period of time and Sarah didn't see any reason to break the silence, at least she didn't follow up on her last statement. Sabrina took that time to force herself a step back, to collect her thoughts. The pieces were coming together with this revelation like an intricate puzzle. So Sarah was a zerg-human hybrid... that explained why she looked like she was infected by some sort of insectoid mutation and at the same time had human shape. And the zerg, they were the ones that she had earlier described as... what was it again? Evolving adaptable beings who absorbed the DNA of things around them to evolve? And... hive-mind. Right. That had to be how Sarah was able to control them. Hive minds had hive queens... except that usually it was a few hundreds to thousands of bees per queen. Not trillions. And they searched for psychic power, which Sarah had brought to the table.
 
Was that why she had approached her? Had she sensed the psychic power in her? Sabrina put that thought aside for right now and pursued the train of thought.
 
Why had the zerg made her the hive queen, of all people? Surely she couldn't have been the only one that they had gotten their hands on. Sarah must have offered something to them that nobody else did. Maybe she was particularly powerful, or easily mutated? She certainly DID seem to enjoy her shape and when talking about the bad turns in her story she spoke with a hint of bitterness against this Arcturus guy. Well, that was to be expected. But the rest? There was an undertone in her voice that ran a chill down her spine. Sarah had not disliked being turned into who she was. Had she been brainwashed, somehow turned? Or was she offering up a big lie, with a little sob story about enslaving people with psychic powers and being betrayed by her allies weaved into it, to make it more believable? She had already known to be weary of Sarah, but now Sabrina realized to what extent this held true.
 
Of course it could be that Sarah had indeed gone from being a living tool for some totalitarian government to being a rebel and then being left to die with the secrets in her head, only to be elevated into some sort of super-hybrid as she put it. That she was telling her the truth. It could also be that she was hiding a few details.
 
Had she been taken against her will, really? Then why did she sound like she was so thoroughly enjoying her power? Of course, just about everyone loved having power and control over armies at their fingertips, but this just sounded a little TOO good to be true. Like a little too much had fallen into place. What if she had gone to the zerg on her own will? Or had created herself by combining Zerg DNA with her own in order to evolve to what she was now?
 
When she returned to the here and now she noticed that Sarah was looking at her with an amused face. “You were spaced out for a while there, did you realize that?” she asked. It was a rhetoric question, but Sabrina nonetheless blushed a bit.
 
“I’m sorry. Your explanations took me a little while to put together, it’s a lot to take in. And it rouses a lot of questions.”
 
“And what might those be?”
 
Sabrina took a breath and turned a corner. They were coming close to their destination, though that was meaningless. A façade that Sarah had erected to get into a conversation with her and that Sabrina had held up for the same excuse. They kept playing the game when knowing exactly that it wasn’t about that anymore.
 
“You keep speaking of both ‘psychic’ power and ‘psionic’ power. I recognize the first word of course, but not the second one. What does it mean? Are they the same thing, with synonymous names? No, wait, don’t answer that yet. I have more…” She collected her thoughts for a moment, then spoke on:
 
“’The Queen of Blades’, how did you come to pick that name of all things? The most bladelike thing I see on you would be your skeletal wings or possibly your fingernails.
 
You said that the Overmind was… killed, didn’t you? That that was what allowed you to take over the zerg swarm. How was it killed, how did it happen?
 
Why was it you who got ‘picked’ to be… zergified, transformed, whatever it is you underwent? Surely you were not the only psychic adept that the zerg got their hands on? Or even the Protoss, who you said had psychic power of their own – could they not have… infected them somehow, to extract their psychic powers, without completely assimilating them, if they have such great powers?
 
And lastly… what did you use the zerg for, after you became their leader? Did you use them for anything?” She had a bad feeling about how Sarah would answer this last question, and judging by the still amused face she was making the multitude of questions were entertaining her.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

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.

[Undyne]

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.”

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Sarah nodded, thinking to herself about what she was seeing from Sabrina… the real Sabrina, now. She was pleased with what she saw, even if what she saw had it’s flaws. If Remilia had reminded her of Arcturus, Sabrina reminded her more of Admiral Stukov - ruthless, to the point, and always looking for the long-term, while keeping a close eye on those near him.


Of course, just like Stukov, Sabrina tended to make many assumptions at first glance. A flaw, perhaps, but one Kerrigan didn’t feel like alerting the psychic pokemon master too. So when She warned about a “rapidly spreading swarm of zerg” alerting the emperor, Kerrigan simply acknowledged the idea - if Sabrina wasn’t aware of just how fine a control Kerrigan had over her zerg, that wasn’t a bad advantage to keep. She’d leave Sabrina to her assumptions.


Instead, she listened intently to her ally - and she had to admit, as an information source, Sabrina wasn’t bad - though as she kept talking, Sarah’s frustration grew. Minute after minute ticked by, and yet there was still so much information to obtain - what she wouldn’t give to be able to recreate the zerg Hive-mind, right now. Things that should have taken atto-seconds were now taking minutes from the zerg queen’s time.


Her stoicism was also admirable - Kerrigan noted the diplomatic tongue the woman had, and the utter confidence in every word. This, here, was something near to a true sociopath - and one that had done quite well for herself. She’d gained a lot of information about this world, and was able to give useful information almost exclusively. Kerrigan’s mind was already wrapping around the key points, making plans, noting what she’d have to avoid, and figuring out what she needed to concentrate on -- suppressing a quiet chuckle at Sabrina’s evaluation of her power.

Her psychic strength may have fallen, as had her physical strength and reflexes, but that had never been what made Sarah Kerrigan the terror of the galaxy. The key to that was her intellect, and Omni hadn’t managed or hadn’t cared to limit that strength from Sarah. Turning away with a smile, Sarah held up a hand, Concentrating on the Flow of Omnilium as she mentally noted the small device on Sabrina’ hip. Concentrating, it wasn’t long before a flesh-covered variant of her own was created. “That will be all for now, then, Sabrina. Do let me know if I can be of any help to you in the future, and I will do the same. For now, I think I’ll put the information you gave me to good use. Oh - I’ll ask for one little favor before I go.” Sarah added, pretending to have just remembered something she’d meant to ask regardless.

“What is that?” Sabrina asked, raising an eyebrow. Kerrigan grinned. “If you’ve access to the reports in the pale moors… I’d appreciate it if I was mentioned in a positive light in them. I’ve no idea of your clearance, but if you could change a fact here or there, maybe convince some flunkie there to impress you with a few word changes… let’s just say I’d appreciate it.” Sarah said with a smirk, placing one hand on her hip. “Well, either way, I’ve been here too long. I take my leave.” The queen of blades stated with a grin, before walking away, seeming to flicker in and out of vision as she moved down the streets with lightning speed, heading towards Coruscant's entrance.

The pale moors, hmm?
A perfect place for her first hive cluster.

[Undyne]

"What is it?" asked Sabrina as she tugged the Communicator out from the holster in her belt and exchanged their respective contact data with Sarah's newly created device. Because this was a process that the Communicator she had could achieve without Sarah needing to dictate the number to her she was able to listen to Sarah's request. A beep from the device indicated that they were updated.

"Hmm, well... I don't have personal clearance as I was assigned to the Vasty Deep instead, but I could probably have a talk with some of the researchers who are in contact with the outpost. I can't make any promises just yet but I'll do what I can." She put the Communicator back and grinned at Sarah. "I wouldn't want to hold you up any longer than necessary. Be careful out there, and... good luck."

When Kerrigan was out of sight Sabrina felt a mild disappointment, realizing in retrospect that Kerrigan had kept quiet about a number of issues whose answers would have interested her. She was even more silver-tongued than she had given her credit for... but then again, skill with words was always a factor that most, if not all leaders needed to some extent. A leader reigning with power was a tyrant destined to fall eventually, but someone leading with words had the potential to last much longer on the throne. She was curious to see what would become of Sarah, really... the Pale Moors were an unforgiving place but the marshlands were stuffed with insect and microorganism life, which was in a constant state of fast evolution. An arms race of nature where millions of species fought for supremacy. If what Sarah had told her was true, that place would be the ideal grounds for the Zerg to develop, without becoming a problem to the Empire. Quite the opposite, she might even take out the Kingdom's outpost, or Dracula... of course that was placing very high hopes for the relatively fresh Prime, but maybe? There was always a possibility.

"Now look at that... you didn't even sign up at the recruitment center", she mumbled under her breath as she noticed that they had been standing near the building for the last few minutes. Then again it probably was better this way. The Empire had next to no data on her and would probably not keep a big record if she only visited Coruscant, talked to some people, then left again. If she'd signed up they would have a lot more dirt on her.

An incoming call pulled her out of her thought process. The Navy again? Oh, that must be about the results she had sent in... she flagged down a taxi and told it to head for the Vasty Deep gate while on the phone. They were pretty fast working...

Well then, it was time to return home.