Welcome to Gaia! ::

“This is the Rift, within the Rift lies the ruins of the once great Capitol of Earth, not one you will find in the history books I fear, it once housed Prince Endymion, who fell in love with the Moon Princess, Sailor Moon. When some of the Prince’s knights dared argue his ill chosen infatuation, which would have given the b***h a hand in rule over our world things turned, ugly.” He lead you downward explaining the wall of shadows, why not to lead a senshi here even if they were on the side of chaos lest they be drawn in, pointing out various windows in the ruined castle below the floating stones that graced the stormy sunset ‘sky’ as well.

“Youma, he said drawing you towards the Arena to show you within, were once people as well, they have lost –everything, their memories, their emotions, more than I can put into words. They hunger for the energy you will seek in your nightly patrols, but most of all they want to consume star seeds, star seeds are what allowed me to draw you into uniform, I introduced the source of our power to your star seed and now you share in that strength.” He nodded. Promotion will always hurt, but remember this, with pain comes clarity, with each rank you gain you will better understand our purpose. Doubts will be pushed away and strength will remain.” He nodded and led you onward through rows of stone figures that looked eerily real.

“As for what General Kings do, I’ll explain it this way, there are four ranks, the first three are Lieutenants like yourself, they report to Captains or Generals, Captains report to Generals, and Generals report either to Queen Beryl or… The General Kings and Queens. We in turn, the few of us, report to Metallia, or to Beryl depending.” There was a slight odd look when he mentioned the queen’s name but nothing further.

“We, serve to organize the Generals and give instructions, we plan strikes and send out those best suited to complete an action. We are the only ones strong enough to bring a senshi into our fold, and we promote those who have earned it.” He nodded and waited to hear the next question.

“They will try and stop you from fulfilling your duties for one.” He replied after a moment’s consideration. “We in turn, try and stop them from killing us, or becoming organized enough to take over the world. It’s a struggle, both sides want control, neither will be content until the other is eliminated or subdued, in short it’s a war.”

He watched your face for a moment before nodding and saying softly “Follow me to the War Room, I will show you what I have gathered on some of them, what others have as well. These days, I compile as much as I gather in person, observation is an asset, but so is strength. You will need to find your path and hone your skills to a daggers edge, but that will come with time Aurostbite.” He said with a soft assurance in his voice, almost understanding though his eyes were pale and strange all the same.

“The rightness of our cause I’m afraid does not guarantee our victory, the senshi are like a plague, for every one we strike down at least two rise in their place like some Hydra.”

The halls were old, astrological signs of earth scratched out by talons that must have been enormous, varied and plentiful. Signs of wealth long since stripped away by looters or time, the door he took you too was likewise scared but old and heavy, Thick wood, once ornamented but now utilitarian by merit of time. He pushed it open with ease and welcomed you within. A great old table sat in the center of the room, small painted figured littered the desk over maps, papers with rough sketches and longer descriptions of people and places were stacked in piles, he plucked one up and handed it to you.

“Information sheets on Senshi.” He said with a small nod. It listed eye color, hair color, style, a detailed description of the uniform, excerpts on the power they had been seen to use, even locations where they had been seen previously. “A first encounter may go poorly, because you may not have read their sheet, but once you have seen them come here, so you will be better prepared to meet them again. This is our advantage, slim though it may be. It’s likely that they have something similar, they would be fools not to, but I hope to make sure ours is better.”

“They have magic, and that’s an advantage to them, but we are stronger, that’s our advantage, we’re also organized, which makes up to a degree for our lack of numbers by comparison. We discipline, that too is to our advantage, never loose faith, we will defeat them I’m sure of it.”

“You will work with them more as you reach the rank of Captain.” He said with an odd curt tone for a moment. “If you have a personal Youma, then your relationship with that youma may vary, they can be foolish, obedient, wise, troublesome, they are as varied as the people that they were at one time.” He nodded slightly at the thought but his eyes grew for a moment distant. Something dark and quiet that lingered like a fresh wound but it was pushed aside unspoken.

“If you encounter a Senshi and feel you can not find their information, I can, so please if you use one of these papers return it to where it came from. Until such time that I move more filing cabinets down here and they are –not- mangled by an errant someone or something then this is the best I can offer short of my own mind.”

A pause, studious at that as he considered the offer and the source of it before he nodded, far more gently than the slight snap at the idea of controlling the youma, while it was necessary it had still become a strange and touchy spot with him that even as a General-King he would need to work out.

“Noted, and I appreciate the offer, if you need further information please, seek me out, if you ask for directions to the war room there should always be someone willing to guide you there with little trouble.”

He waved a hand to encompass the room in which they stood, after all, he could hardly expect anyone to memorize the route on the first trip there, but at the same time he suspected the young man would be one of those to find it a sort of ‘home away from home’, a treasure trove.

“I’m not going to tear your head off Lieutenant.” He said with a low tone of soft amusement in his voice. “You don’t need to thank me, respect goes both ways. You give superiors respect, and most will respect you in turn.” He nodded after a moment at his own assessment.

“You should know that the Youma were once human.” He added with a hesitation that said he couldn’t recall if he had covered that topic yet or not. There were too many new faces and no assurance that he wasn’t remembering the wrong conversation. There was no excuse for it; he needed to be mindful of his duties here first and foremost.

“They loose a great deal when they become that, more than can be said in casual instruction, some are more simple minded than others but you should give them respect of their own. They aren’t human any longer but they have pride, for better or worse.”

“In the ‘right’ circumstances I’m afraid you could.” He replied honestly. “But I very much doubt it will come to that, so don’t worry.” He rested a hand briefly, and tentatively on the Lieutenant’s shoulder. “They are on our side, but they will also kill you if you’re not careful. Be cautious whenever you are in the rift; never bring a star seed here unless you are prepared to surrender it to them. Don’t push too deep unless you are ready to fight, they will test you. Not all of them have anything like a human mind left. It’s another kind of respect to have for them, like a wild animal.”