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Starsign Staffs: The First Sign
Part 1
Written by Sailor Berchest
If viewed from space, Coruscant looked like a glittering gem with millions of faces reflecting light at millions of angles. Small ships darted around larger ships. Brightly colored ferries took people from the glittering surface to resting behemoths of ships above. It was a shinning, beautiful thing symbolizing promise and hope of a better life for millions of teeming immigrants.
If viewed from the street level, however, Coruscant was a much more bleak place. The buildings were gray and black, unceremoniously splattered with pollutants, mold, and grim from the bustling city life. Most of the population lived underground in makeshift shelters or decaying buildings. Lower levels dripped with toxic-looking slime. There was no promise or hope in the belly of the city-planet.
Suri Rose pushed her hair back from her face, and tried to pretend wind was gently ruffling her long purple hair and the sun was caressing her bare shoulders... instead of a large fan blowing the stench of waste out of an establishment and the glow of a lightpanel.
She forced open her eyes with slight dismay that she was still on Coruscant. The planet's interior was depressing to her with its lack of sunlight and pseudo-rain. More than that, sometimes, was the crushing mass of people who populated the planet. They were everywhere; peeking out from behind cardboard boxes, brushing past her in the streets, smashing windowsills and stealing the livelihoods of other sentients... wait. No.
"Berchest, Uplift Me!" Suri whispered, pushing the words past her perfect red lips. The jingle of her bell was crisp and clear as opposed to her muffled voice, and caught the attention of the pilfering being. As she stepped out of the alley, the thief turned half of its eyes towards her while using two of its three hands to continue to steal. The third was training a blaster on her.
"I am Sailor Berchest, senshi of water and crystals! I'll put and end to your thieving ways, and... eek!" Berchest's bells jiggled frantically as she dodged the blaster bolt. "Stop it this instant or else!"
He fired another round of blaster bolts at her in response.
"Oooo, that does it!" The senshi pressed her eyes closed for a minute, praying she wouldn't get shot. She'd found she had a higher success rate and lower casualty rate with her attacks if she formed an idea of what she wanted instead of just picking one at random.
Throwing her hands upwards, she shouted "Sandcastle Bell!" A rain of orange-red sand fell down to cover the creature, building an elaborate sculpture around him... and a sandy spire on top of his head. "That'll teach you to steal!" she declared, dusting off her gloved hands. "Hmpf!"
The police were already on their way - or so Seiki had told her - so, the senshi took off running, each step ringing pleasantly.
"Sailor Berchest!"
Hearing her senshi name made the girl pause and look back.
"Y'are! Y'are Sailor Berchest!" The woman who had spoken was old and wrinkled, as if she'd seen civilizations rise and fall. She almost looked as if she was part of the city itself - gray, dirty, ancient.
The senshi turned and smiled at her. "Why yes, I'm Sailor Berchest! Senshi of water and crystals!" The woman's accent was unmistakably Berchestian.
"Oh, Nihen, Ah know. You're Sailor Berchest... The Innocent Senshi! Ah am so glad you're back." The woman grabbed the senshi's hand and clutched it to her breast. "Nihen, y'come to protect us again. Ah can die in peace."
Sailor Berchest looked surprised. "I... wha?"
The woman patted her gloved hand. "Oh, dear, don't stress yourself. Y'understand someday. Y'got good help, I hope." She laughed softly. "Make us proud, ok, Nimar?"
As the old woman wandered off, Berchest turned to her invisible companion. "Seiki," she hissed between her teeth, "Was that a crazy old woman, or is there something you're not telling me?"
'Ummm...' Ducking into an ally, the woman concentrated and her senshi outfit was replaced by an equally-revealing miniskirt and halter-top. "I wish you were real so I could strangle you!" Suri stomped her foot. "Seiki, you never tell me anything! The other girls know more about this stuff than I do, and I'm really feeling left out!" Suri put on her best pout.
Seiki shifted uncomfortably. 'There's...nothing.' Suri switched from a pout to a glare.
'Ok, ok! There is one thing.'
The woman perked up, tossing long hair behind her shoulder. "Great. So, what is it? A talking animal like Iri-poodle?"
Seiki shook her head, tossing her pigtails through a brightly lit sign. The blue shadow passed in front of the sign, dimming the lights, then letting them glow brightly again. The effect made Suri smile as she guessed again.
"Mortal enemy?"
Again, Seiki shook her head. 'No, something more... interesting, I guess.' She gestured to a wall. 'I'm not sure we should talk about it here, though. People might... be listening.'
Suri pouted, turning her pretty mouth down at the corners. "Do you promise to tell me?" 'Sure,' the guardian said, smiling. 'I....*promise*.'
Suri's long fingers were laced around a steaming cup of fruit juice. She never had developed a taste for caf or teas - the people on Berchest tended towards caffeinated fruit drinks - instead preferring thick, fruity mixtures. She often made her own - juicing fresh fruits and mixing them.
"So, what's the big Berchii secret?" Suri had expended all of her guesses, ending with "A big furry hat?"
Seiki was seated across from her charge, blending in with the chair. 'Well, you know how you can access the plane Peace?'
Taking a sip, Suri nodded. "Right. Time moves a little slower there, and it gives me a chance to gather my head or to help someone recover before going back into the fray." Her voice took on a singsong quality as she recited what Seiki had told her. In truth, Suri had only jumped to the plane a few times - once with Sailor Axxila, and several times by herself. She'd learned that she didn't have to be in senshi form to jump and used it a few times to disappear.
'Well, there are nine other plains that Berchii senshi have easy access to.'
Suri looked interested. "Really?"
'Really.' Seiki spread her hands. 'Each plane has a guardian from the starsigns. Peace is the plane of the Abyss.'
Each girl bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment before Seiki continued.
'Each of the other planes has a staff. They do different things - one creates pools of water; one can remove impurities from a small area; one can make wooden blocks. Each staff's power is really limited and related to the sign that it's guarded by.'
Suri's eyes had lit up. "Wow! That's so cool! So, how do I get to the staffs? When can I start using them?"
A smile came over Seiki's transparent lips. 'Well... you have to be able to access the plane. To do that, you've got to be stronger. To be stronger, you've got to fight more!' She raised her hand. 'When you've fought enough bad guys, you get to move to the next level!' "That's it?" Suri looked wary, her gray eyes narrowing. "I don't have to do anything else to be able to access these staffs?"
The other girl nodded. 'See, only Berchest senshi can access the planes that are protected by the Starsign guardians.'
Suri held up her hands. "Wait, wait. If only Berchest senshi can access it, then why could I take Aakii into the plane?" She took a sip of the fruit juice and twisted her face as the sourness hit her tongue. "Oooo."
'Well, you can *take* anyone onto the plane that you want.' Seiki sounded frustrated. 'Stop interrupting me if you want to hear the rest.'
The other girl looked embarrassed.
'Good.' Seiki launched back into her explanation. 'Now, you can take anyone you want onto the planes. But only you can use the staffs! They're only for senshi of Berchest.'
Suri nodded and sipped more of the steaming, sour drink. She was listening as hard as she could; this was the first time that she and Seiki had talked about her senshi calling in detail, and she didn't want to miss anything.
Seiki waved her arms around to demonstrate her point. 'You can take other people onto the planes, but if they touch the staffs... the staffs are destroyed.'
Her gray eyes went wide, and Suri clutched her cup.
'...Until you log out and log back in.'
This time, her eyes narrowed, and Suri dared to interrupt again. "Log out? Are you sure you haven't been playing too many hologames?"
Seiki stuck her tongue out. 'I *meant* until you leave the plane and come back. I thought that would be easier to understand.' The girl kept talking, ignoring Suri's laughter. 'If someone unworthy touches the staffs - someone who can't use them - then they are destroyed until you leave and come back. Each staff has different powers.'
As her guardian was quiet for a moment, Suri spoke up again. She waved a long-nailed hand. "So, what staff did you use? Why did the woman call me the Innocent Senshi?"
'That was *my title*, not yours.'
The venom in Seiki's voice frightened Suri a little, so she focused her attention on stirring her cooling juice.
'I used the Innocence Staff. It's under the guardianship of the Hiee, so the staff is made of metal.' Seiki held out her hand and a thin, metallic rod materialized. It was longer than she was tall, and graced at the top with a simple bow. Suri couldn't tell the color because the staff was the same transparent blue as her guardian. 'This isn't the real thing...just a shadow of it.'
Suri nodded in appreciation. "What does it do?"
With a grin, Seiki explained. 'It's very powerful. This staff can remove impurities from an area. The area is about as tall as the staff, and as wide as the staff is tall. So, it makes a cube of protection.'
"Wow," Suri said, looking impressed. "So, to get a staff... how do I get to the planes?"
'You've got to first step into the plane Peace. From there, you can move into any of the other planes, if you have enough power and strength. You'll know whenever you do - the entrance to the plane will appear and you'll feel drawn to it.'
Suri looked excited. "I can't wait!" She stood up, balancing herself on her tall heels. "I think I'm going to go work on Nelia and... mull all of this over."
The Theater was full of noise. A persistent hum indicated that hard drives were functioning; soft clicks and whirrs told that cameras were being activated and scanning; quiet beeps informed the solitary listener that diagnostics were completing in satisfactory ways.
To Suri Rose, it was as close to paradise as she had found on the dirty plaint. Rain was of little comfort to her, as her home was buried beneath levels of metal and grime. Even when she could be on the surface, the rain felt dirty and tainted on her sensitive skin.
So, she sat in the Theater amid loops of cabling and half-repaired electronics and she concentrated. Seiki always described moving into another plane as 'stepping', but Suri had found that she could imagine submerging herself and 'sink' into the plane more easily.
She envisioned water seeping up from the floor, covering the cables and inching up the sides of the computer equipment. Her breathing slowed as the water covered her lap, then her stomach, then her breasts, and worked its way up her neck. Her hair flowed out around her, twisting in eddies created by her gentle breathing. Suri took a final deep breath and the water covered her head.
At first, Suri hadn't been sure why Seiki called the plane Peace. It was featureless and white - an infinite blank room. After the havoc of Coruscant, Suri was beginning to understand.
Suri stood up, and stretched. Her joints snapped and popped as she bent backwards. Her body was in great shape, but years of dancing left its mark. That, and the battles she found herself involved in. She resolved to spend a few hours soaking in a hot tub.
Once in the plane, Suri found it was stable. It took conscious effort to phase in and out of planes, but it took no effort to stay in them.
Suri walked around, examining the plane. There was nothing evident that could be a doorway to another one. No walls that could hold a door, and no features to set one place apart from another. The only things that contrasted against the white were various items that she'd brought into the plane and left. Suri found that anything she left there would stay there. She left things there that she thought she thought might come in handy - a blaster, a med kit, a blanket, a bag of crackers.
Seiki had told her that she needed to be stronger to access the other plains. "Maybe," Suri murmured to herself. "Berchest! Uplift me!"
Transforming within the plane was felt different than transforming in what she considered the 'real world'. It was like electricity coursing over her skin, biting and scratching at her flesh. She didn't particularly like the sensation, but it wasn't completely unpleasant, either.
She opened her eyes, and shook her hair. It always seemed as if it should be wet - as if she'd been swimming - after transforming. It was only in the plane Peace that her hair was actually damp. Sailor Berchest brushed her hair from her face and reseated herself.
Holding her hands out in front of her, Berchest began to concentrate. There were Jedi training exercises that involved concentrating on one technique until it was perfected. She'd read up on them a little after Seiki informed her that she needed to be stronger. Since the senshi were closely connected to the Force like the Jedi, she suspected their training would help her.
Berchest kept her eyes open and stared at the space between her hands. Her attacks could form crystals and water, leading her to believe that if she concentrated hard enough, she could form the items independent of a formal attack. She'd been able to create little bits of water, but crystals had escaped her.
Similar to her earlier experiences with attacks, the senshi formed a picture in her mind. A thick red crystal with sharp edges. Glowing slightly. She kept refining the idea of the crystal in her mind until she could see it before her.
It began to form and she felt a burst of excitement. The crystal solidified in front of her and she could feel its weight resting on her gloved palms. The senshi laughed with delight.
She sat the crystal beside her and wiped sweat from her forehead. The effort expended to create the small crystal was unbelievable. Creating splashes of water was easy, she'd found. But the second half of her 'senshi-ship' was much more difficult.
Standing, she let her senshi outfit dissolve into nothingness, then into her normal clothing. Even shifting back from being Sailor Berchest felt unusual in the plane. Instead of feeling as if she were being unwrapped, Suri felt as if she were coming unraveled. It was disconcerting, but she clenched her teeth and waited for it to end.
"Suri!" Inga shouted up the stairs. "Suri!"
"Coming," the dancer responded. She started down the stairs. "You know, we have comm units for a re..."
Inga shook her head. "Hurry up! Something is trying to take the spaceport apart!" By this time, Suri was within Inga's reach and the Bothan grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. "They are going to scratch my ship!"
It would have been amusing to the dancer, except that the look in Inga's eyes was pure fire. "Let's go," she responded. Suri grabbed her comm card and pressed it between her hands. The card jumped to life as it registered her body temperature and DNA. "Nelia," she addressed the computer system. "Send message to all senshi." She caught her breath before shouting out her message. "Bad guy in the spaceport! Berchest and Bothawui are on the way! Meet us there!"
The two sprinted out the door, passing by the bizarre statues, unruly plants, and thick doors. Their home was beginning to look as if people lived there, but still had an unkempt look about it. Suri found it creepy, but Inga had explained it was necessary for camouflage.
"Should we take public transport, or...?" Suri let the sentence trail off. She wasn't sure what other options the senshi had available, just that the spaceport was too far for running to be practical.
Inga pointed up. "Let's fly. I have a swoop here." She settled herself on the seat of the glorified engine and gestured with her ears. The twitch made her earrings sparkle. "Climb on."
"Can I at least have a helmet? Life insurance? Last will and record?" Suri muttered.
Grinning, the Bothan handed her a circular device. She demonstrated placing it around her neck. Automatically, it formed a shield around her head and face.
Suri put hers on, and wrapped her arms around Inga's waist, burying her face in the other woman's fur. "Kitty!" she squealed happily as Inga revved the engine and shot off down the dark ally.