An Age of Iron (Siobhan)

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina glanced to Tempest. For several long minutes the redhead remained silent. She had heard Tempest clearly. Just in her mind she needed to think through what this really meant to her, and what it would require. She couldn't be running away, or hiding in fear from the powers she had. It was as much a part of her as breathing, and she was going to have to accept and learn to deal with it in a new light. Especially with what had come to light this evening.

"I understand." The girl finally said. "I can't keep doing what I have been, I know that. Can't keep behaving as I have been. I'll do what I have to, what is needed, there isn't really any other option with this path. A whole lot has to change, I know."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]

Tegaea held her wife close, gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“You’ll take care of her, I know. Remember though that if she’s down for this absurd adventure she can’t solely rely on you to win her battles. She has to learn to fight for herself.”

An idea seemed to come to Tegaea.
“Perhaps it might be wise to send her and Tempest to one of the forts on the Xioquo border for a while? She’ll have to get back into a stricter life, learn how things work in the military. Maybe a dose of army life and some boot camp will knock some sense into her. At the least it will get her ready for the battle.”

She frowned. “Sigma is a long way away. It's going to be hard, though not impossible, to support her once she's in power. We'll likely have to train the natives to carry the load, like on Tygara.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

((I suggest leaving Sigma's location undefined for now till Krissy says something on it, since it's her planet ))
[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"], [member="Tegaea Alcori"]


"I'm not putting my daughter on the throne and then just ditching her. If this mad quest gets launched, I'll be staying as Sigma for as long as needed. The Eldorai, Firemane and the latest 'Coalition of the Willing' will just have to do without me for a bit. She's our daughter. We'll build a Sigmanese army for her," she said very firmly.


Firemane's troops were equipped for police actions, raids and fast strikes of the shock and awe variety, along with protecting the company's property, but they were not numerous enough to control an entire planet. Some megacorporations maintained fleets large enough to launch invasions against galactic powers on their own, but this seemed very uneconomical to Siobhan. But they had lots of experiences in recruiting sepoys.


She frowned slightly. "Giving her a dose of military life is a good idea. I've had no problem sending Aba and Nato into combat, it's time for Galina to learn as well. I love her, but she's been too sheltered. She needs to see action herself and find out what military life is like. Otherwise the rebels won't take her seriously because she hasn't earned it. As much as I loathe the woman, maybe we should ask Taldir to give her some instruction on cryomancy. I suppose I'll have to bribe Coryth to ask her." The thought of being indebted to the dour, thoroughly dull Eldorai left a foul taste in Sio's mouth, but it was a bitter pill she'd swallow.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]

“Kaida’s just the sort of dour drill-sergeant she needs to get her trained up for practical situations. In the morning I’ll start getting things organised. When we learn what opposition we will be facing I can determine what naval forces we’ll need. I suspect it will be mainly carriers, since we’re not going to be doing much in the way of orbital bombardments.”

“Come on, let’s go inside, it’s chilly. I don’t want to face Hans or Galina again tonight. We can deal with it in the morning.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]


Siobhan still didn't like the idea of Galina being trained by the annoying elf, but nodded. "Ok, love. We'll get through this as a family," Siobhan spoke feelingly, giving her wife a hug and a kiss. "I'll go say good night to Galina, then join you. Sure I can make you...forget about this drama."

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina had moved to the living room, and the letter from her biological mother lay beside her. A part of her wondered if she'd known all along who she was, how different things might be. Then again they still might have followed the same path to this point. The holo wasn't on, and not even a book in the young woman's hands. No, there was too much to occupy her mind already without extra distractions. It still was more of a shock than she cared to admit to.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Tegaea cheered up at that offer. Crochet was always a good stress relief for her.
And so she went up to bed, soon to be joined by Siobhan.

The next morning Tegaea had almost forgotten her anger at the whole incident, but as she came down to breakfast she saw Hans was still around and it came back to her.
Still, now she had a solution to the problem she was a bit happier about it.

“Good morning, Galina, Hans.” She gave her daughter a kiss and a hug to show her that there were no hard feelings.
“No change of heart overnight?” she asked just a little too hopefully.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]


Verily, crochet was a most stress-free pursuit. Embracing your love for the Goddess Ardarvia and worshipping her had the effect of clearing your mind. And so Siobhan was in a better mood when she finally arrived at breakfast, wearing a lovely kimono-style robe.. After presumably spending far too much time in the bathroom and using lots of hot water.


"Good morning everyone," she said brightly. "Did you sleep well, angel?" she gave Galina a hug and a kiss, then sat down. Pretty servant girls were quick to serve breakfast, which meant she got to savour delicious Atrisian tea.

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Seeing Tegaea come into the dining room, drew a sigh from the young woman. She had little doubt that today would be unpleasant in some way or another. There was still some tension in the air, or at least Galina thought so. "No, I haven't." She said firmly, before returning the hug from Tegs.

Galina shrugged slightly in response to Siobhan. "Not really, but it's fine. Just a lot to think about." Reaching up, she gently squeezed Sio in return and quickly returned to her breakfast.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]

Tegaea sat down at the table whilst the maidens served them.
“I believe Mirien will be able to debrief Hans today. We will be beginning our scans of the planet. We’ll need the latest astrogation charts of the surrounding system.”

She looked at Siobhan. “I’ve got a meeting planned with Destiny to plan out what we can potentially allocate to the operation.”
Destiny, yet another member of the ‘Dahomian Clique’ was their logistics officer.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"], [member="Tegaea Alcori"]


Underneath the table, Siobhan gave Tegaea's hand a soft squeeze. She was quite fond of Destiny - and of Dahomians in general. Hence it was no coincidence that Firemane hired so many. As they say, once you go black you never go back.


"Tegs and I have talked and we think it's best to intensify your training, in the light of what lies ahead. So we'll be sending you to one of the Firemane forts near the Xioquo border to give you a dose of military life, drills, tactics and such. Tempest will be with you and we'll ask her...friend Kaida Taldir to help out with cryomancy training."

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Hans nodded to Tegaea, "Of course. I'll see to it you have them by week's end."

The young redhead looked to Siobhan. Her brow knitted together for a moment as she considered it. The reasoning and logic behind it, Galina understood. It was a bit outside her comfort zone, but admittedly she was going to have to step way beyond what was comfortable if she was to help her homeworld at all.

"Okay, mum." She said softly, "I know it's needed." At least she wasn't resisting at all this new idea of training in this particular manner. A few months ago she'd have fought tooth and nail against it. Back then she naively didn't see much purpose to her training. And well being away from home did worry her a little, but Tempest would be there. Which gave the young redhead a measure of security and safety.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

“Great! Well, now that’s sorted out, let’s eat.”
Breakfast was always a good distraction. It meant that Siobhan wouldn’t be tempted to add a comment about Kaida too. Kaida rarely entered Tegaea’s thoughts and she had little, if any opinion on her other than she was a good soldier and an ally.

Tegaea’s mind was not really on the food though and she absently picked at it rather than focusing. She stared out the window, many thoughts and details passing through. Expeditions required so much organisation after all.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]


"Firemane has strong forces, but it won't be able to conquer an entire planet on its own. Certainly not permanently maintain boots on the ground. We'll need the cooperation of the rebels...and to train a native army," Siobhan said. Firemane had experience at getting sepoys to do the work for them.


"The war will have to be led under one command." The implication that she would expect to run the campaign herself was clear. As a rule, Siobhan had a low opinion of most rebel partisan forces. Far too often did the plucky rebels turn on their benefactors after being 'liberated'. She frowned. "You're a Forcer, Galina, and mages have been running Sigma into the ground for centuries. Expect resentment from the locals. They're not gonna welcome us with hugs and flowers."

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina glanced between her mothers and Hans, before returning to her food, taking a few more bites. For a change Galina felt completely out of her depth. It might have been starting to dawn on her that she had absolutely no clue how any of this was to work, and begining to understand she had no experience to help her along the way. She would have no other alternative but to rely on her parents to know what was required, needed and would have to be done.

The redhead gave a small nod, to Siobhan still continuing to eat for a moment or two more. Then Sio mentioned her abilities. "I know, mum. That I haven't forgotten. I don't expect a warm fuzzy welcome at all. I don't expect anything of the sort. I remember too well how much they hated Forcers. I can't escape that. It's part of why I've been so damn scared of having this. I do remember what it was was there. Perhaps a little too well." Galina gave a shrug, trying to push the thoughts away.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Tegaea Alcori"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

When breakfast ended Tegaea headed to her meeting with Destiny. It always sounded so dramatic when she said that too!

Destiny, along with several other aides and staff were waiting for her when she entered the room. Destiny’s salute was the most crisp of them all. The woman was extremely disciplined, ordered, logical. It came in handy.

“Lady Alcori, I hope you understand that without knowing the exact intelligence, I cannot properly prepare. However, based on your estimates and our current usage of forces, we can easily allocate one brigade of troops with supporting forces to this operation without impacting our other activities. We also have available a strong force of military vessels, approximately 1100 metres which can be allocated. If we need anything more than this we will need to divert from our existing operations.”
“Thank you, Captain. I have Colonel Valdier looking into the intelligence, but I want you to prepare a stockpile of blasters, supplies and other equipment for potential allies. The weapons can be of older styles; no bolters, and the same with the other equipment.”
“I will assemble what I can, ma’am.”
“Good. I hope that Siobhan has had success on her side too.”