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Seraphiel took a deep breath, taking in the stale air of the enclosed level of Coruscant. In addition to sweat, blood, and other secretions, she could smell the stench of corruption, desperation, and fear. You didn't need to go down more than a dozen levels from the glittering surface of the capitol world of the Republic to realize the glitz and glamor was nothing but a façade. A simple scratch at the surface, and you could find the rotten corrupted heart of a system that functioned mostly on inertia and disinterest.
The Jedi and the Republic were theoretically the ‘good guys’ of this universe, but she’d never thought that to be true. She had known better when she’d been transported to the universe originally, and every minute she spent there only reinforced that thought. This universe had been one of those where she had openly rebelled against the mission given to her by Father. One of the first. Not the first, as the first rebellion had been a small one. No, this rebellion had been a larger one, and one where she’d directly fought against her mission, instead of just letting her mission fail by lack of action on her part.
She still wasn't sure if the result had been better. There were no real good guys in this universe. The Republic still stood, and it wasn't any better than before. Then again, a very long time had passed since her visit here. Any changes she'd caused likely had been lost in the rapids of time a long time ago. That was the problem with heroes and heroic sacrifices. They might buy time and save people in the short term, but in the longer term, those sacrifices were either forgotten or twisted to serve less noble purposes. Time caused even the greatest heroes to be forgotten, and that was without anyone actively working towards those nefarious goals. Unless the garden was regularly watered with the blood of new heroes, all the gains would be lost. It was enough to make anyone feel jaded.
"You seem glum," Kaede commented.
"I hate this place," Seraphiel replied with passion.
Kaede glanced at their less-than-glamorous and cramped surroundings. "Not one of my favorite ambiances either, but I've seen much worse." Kaede, just like Seraphiel, was dressed in non-descript clothing to blend in, although the Ninja did a much better job. No manner of clothing was enough to hide Seraphiel's Charisma.
She shook her head. “I didn’t mean this alley, although this isn’t pleasant either. I mean the whole galaxy.”
Kaede tilted her head a bit in confusion. “Again, I feel it necessary to point out, I’ve seen worse.”
“Oh, so have I. Much worse. It’s not that. Most of those that are worse are honest about it though. They don’t try to hide their depravity and degeneracy. This place does, but doesn’t do a very good job of it. It's like they're hypocrites, but not even very good ones." She tried to explain her nebulous dislike of the place. “The supposed guardians of peace do nothing against things like slavery and corruption, even in their metaphorical backyard.”
Their discussion was interrupted by a thug of some sort being thrown through the holographic window of the establishment they were standing in front of. The man rolled a few times before slumping against the wall on the opposite side of the alley. "Seems Shepard and Wrex are conducting some aggressive negotiations," Kaede commented idly.
“Eh. They still haven’t shot anyone.” Seraphiel shrugged her shoulders in dismissal, just as another thug was thrown through the same window. “They’re still soft-selling things if they’re not shooting anyone.”
As if to confirm her words, no more people were tossed through the window. "Where were we? Ah, right, the hypocrisy of this place."
“You have some history with the place I take it?” Kaede commented with a quirk of her lips.
“More than I care to remember. Not one of my longer visits, but not a short one either. When it became obvious I wasn’t going to abide by Father’s will, I think he wanted to give me enough time to change my mind. Or see the results of my actions. I’m not entirely sure. Either way, the place sucks.” Seraphiel ranted a bit.
To both of their relief, Shepard and Wrex came out the doors, followed by Shen-Zoo. “That was quite exciting! Do you think that counts as a bar fight? I’ve heard so much about bar fights.” The Dragon seemed to be coming out of her shell the more time she spent with them.
"Not really much of a fight," Wrex muttered. "They didn't put up enough resistance for it to be called a fight.”
“Ooh, do you think we could arrange a proper bar fight then? I should like to see one.” Shen-Zoo asked in a chipper tone.
“We’re certainly in a good place for one.” Shepard laughed. “And the locals are nervous enough that it shouldn’t be too hard to get one started.”
“Speaking of, any news?” Seraphiel asked. They were here for a reason.
“My source was feeling a little jumpy. For a reason as it appeared, but not the reason he expected.” Shepard gestured vaguely at the two thugs. “Someone really was after him, just for different reasons.”
“He did cough up the information once we pointed out his error. And made a couple threats of our own.” Wrex added happily. Even if it was a shitty fight, it still put a smile on his face. “Not very reliable, but it’s something.”
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“It still needs to be confirmed, but according to him, the gateway we were re-routed to is really only known by the so-called Grey Jedi," Shepard explained.
“Huh. Don’t remember pissing off any of those lately.” Seraphiel stated.
“Me neither. Though my source did also mention that we were not the only ones attacked, so it seems it might not have been personal.” Shepard added. “Makes a twisted kind of sense. If you’re planning on invading Coruscant, it would help if there aren’t too many Champions from other gods present. Even if they failed, it would still be a loss of reputation for the Jedi and Republic. Especially if the event is canceled as currently seems likely.”
“It makes just enough sense to be plausible, but also weak enough that it could be a misdirection.” Kaede pointed out.
Seraphiel made a sound in her throat. “Playing games is what the people of this galaxy are good at.”
Shepard lifted an eyebrow at her. “You seem chipper.” She commented.
“She’s been griping about the whole galaxy the entire time you were inside.” Kaede laughed.
"Not the entire time," Seraphiel said defensively. "Just the last minute or so."
“So, most of the time you were inside.” Kaede amended magnanimously.
“Bite me.” Seraphiel smiled at Kaede despite her words.
“You’d just enjoy it.” Kaede sniffed.
“She’s got you there.” Wrex piled on.
“Let’s get out of here before we draw even more attention than we already are.” Shepard decided to get them back on track.
As they walked towards the speeder they’d ‘requisitioned’ Seraphiel brought up another topic. They had multiple reasons for coming here after all. “Any more info on the other two sides in the ongoing war?”
“Yes. It seems the Jedi aren’t entirely wrong. My sources imply that there really are Sith among the Eternal Empire, though they are somewhat mistaken as the Separatist truly seems to be supported by Grey Jedi. From what I can tell, the former has been conquering systems for the last three months, while the latter joined with the Separatists recently because they believe in the cause. Apparently, the Separatists have legitimate grievances. It also helps that the Separatists are led by a rather major and popular Grey Jedi.” Shepard explained.
“Who?” Kaede asked. She’d been partly responsible for sourcing this information after all.
“Some Count from Serenno named Dooku. A slightly older gentleman, who used to be a Jedi and got…well, I suppose disillusioned would be the correct term. There have been more and more Jedi jumping ship lately anyway, and the whole Separatist issue seems to have escalated that. The Jedi aren't really happy with things as they are either. As Seraphiel so eloquently explained yesterday, the Republic is a rotting corrupted carcass, and there are both those who want to distance themselves and vultures who want to fight for what’s left. The Hutts are also making moves to get their grubby little hands on some of the systems neighboring theirs while the Republic is busy elsewhere.” Shepard revealed.
"Doesn't help that until a year ago, the Republic had demilitarized. It wasn't until the Eternal Empire started making moves that they started building actual warships. You don't exactly re-start a military-industrial complex in a year, so that's one of the reasons the Republic is getting fucked by both the Separatists and the Eternals." Wrex pointed out. "Which is just another reason why we too should upgrade our ship. Maybe build a bigger one."
Their discussion was cut short as they all noticed some of the local people surrounding them. They were all sharp enough to have noted the weird way they were being looked at and had seen the warning signs, but they hadn’t thought the locals were actually this stupid. “Seriously?” Seraphiel asked incredulously as a handful of the local thugs blocked off the route they were walking. Combined with those surrounding them, there were maybe a couple dozen of them.
Their levels mostly ranged just above and under a hundred. Seraphiel noted that her [Gift of Knowledge] told her they fell under the large umbrella of [Criminal] Classes, even though the Class names were likely different, like Thug or Bandit or Murderer. That’s what happened when a person didn’t get any formal training and fell into a life of crime. Interestingly, there were rather powerful [Criminal] Classes, though they usually didn’t start out that way. Still, their Skills were usually rather applicable to their chosen type of crime, and many of them had some level of stealth Skills. Some were equipped with blasters, though most had blades or even pieces from a pipe.
"I don't think they could hurt us even if we let them try," Shepard muttered.
The lead thug pointed at Seraphiel and spoke. "Leave the pretty one and all your valuables and the rest of you can leave in one piece."
"I take that back," Shepard growled. "I'm slightly hurt as a woman that they only wanted Sephy, and I’m not even considered pretty.”
Wrex stepped forward. “You know, even on a scale of stupid fights to pick, this is one of the most stupid I’ve ever seen.” He said playfully to the thugs.
“Big words for someone who’s surrounded. And outnumbered.” The lead thug said with confidence born of ignorance. “And what the fuck kind of ugly thing are you supposed to be?”
“Ugly?” Wrex asked, sounding hurt, faking it of course.
“Don’t worry Wrex, you’re a pretty little butterfly to us," Shen-Zoo called out, causing the others to snigger.
“Oi! Don’t ignore us!” One of the thugs called out.
“It’s kinda hard not to. Do none of you have identification Skills?” Wrex asked. “I mean the lowest level among us, and note that I didn’t say the weakest, is like six hundred levels above you.”
"Don't bother Wrex. Stupidity is genetic in this galaxy." Seraphiel called out.
“Thems fighting words!” One of the thugs behind them called out.
Just as the thugs were moving to attack, two from behind them were yanked off by shadowy tentacles, while another group of three was rushed by an insectoid-looking creature in black carapace. Another one of the insectoids bowled over the thugs in the front and leaped towards Wrex.
Wrex didn't seem too phased and fired his shotgun, the one that shot blasts of psionic power and not normal shotgun shells, at the creature, which didn't seem to have any effect. On the other hand, the creature seemed to bounce off of Wrex's armor, neither of them causing any damage. The same could not be said of the thugs who most definitely were not immune to the other insectoid, or the tentacle creature that seemed like a nightmarish mix between a plant and an octopus.
"Huh." Wrex made a sound, looking at his ineffective shotgun, before sending a biotic wave of force at the insect, which did toss it back a bit but didn't seem to harm it. On the other hand, the thugs that had been behind the creature got thrown against nearby walls and crushed by the wave of force. "Huh," Wrex repeated.
Shen-Zoo sent a beam of magical light at the insectoid creature, which seemed to completely annihilate the thing. “Magic seems effective.” She commented cheerily, before doing the same to the other two monsters.
“What the heck were those things?” Shepard asked, clearly weirded out as the remaining thugs ran for their lives. “They looked…sort of like some sick imaginary nightmares.”
“Well…” Seraphiel said hesitantly, while frowning a bit. “They might be exactly that. They remind me of something I’ve seen before, but they really, really shouldn’t be here.”
“What are they?” Shepard asked. “And why did Wrex’s attacks do nothing to them.”
“If my guess is correct, they should be called Monstrum. Very unimaginative, I know. They're basically the solidified form of a certain kind of miasma, formed of negative emotions. They should only appear in high-magic areas, and as magical constructs of a very particular kind, they are only affected by magic. Or magical weapons." She explained. "But I repeat; they really, really shouldn't be here."
“You’ve obviously run into them before.” Kaede pointed out.
"Once. On a very minor version of Earth." She revealed. “Not a very happy place that.”
"I'm less interested in their origin, and more worried about the fact that I couldn't hurt them," Wrex grumbled. "I don't like fighting things I can't hurt, even if they're too weeny to hurt me as well."
“That shouldn’t be much of a problem. I can quickly whip up some basic magical weapons to use. If they really are Monstrum, they shouldn’t be much of a threat if you have a magical way to attack them.” She assured them. “Luckily, almost all members of our group already have that covered. Only you two should have any issues with that.”
“I think the question is, are there more?” Kaede asked.
“Unless those three were smuggled here somehow, likely yes. A lot more. A place like Coruscant would offer countless hiding and breeding places for them. The lower levels could be teeming with them for all we know. And it’s not like this place is crawling with mages. We could have a proper infestation on our hands.” Seraphiel warned.