An Exotic Adventure

[Nima Tann]

Space, on the way to Freetown, Arkas...

Nima was once again on a ship, passing time until she arrived at her destination. No, dear reader, she was not on a journey to destroy another seven year old supervillain this time, but to visit a friend. That dear friend was [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]. Nima knew that she was having a hard time with her health, heard even that she suffered from short term memory loss recently, but didn't have the chance to visit her, since Contingency happened. But today she intended to change that.

She learned that Sio was recovering on a private island on Arkas. The island was known for its exotic nature, had many beaches and a beautiful ocean. A place of green and blue, which Nima was excited to see. Such a nice change of scenery, one would say, after they were used to see exploding ships, underground bases and all that. One Nima would also benefit from, since their last adventure left many questions unanswered. Their mysterious aid, who was revealed to be the clone of Sio, came to her mind for a second. She wondered if she could talk to Sio about it, but then she decided was a bad idea. She came here to visit after all, not to cause any more headaches.

"Hey Sio,

Just wanted to inform you that I'm coming to visit you today.

See you there!

Nima. "

She pressed the send button, just to be sure if she was available or not.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Firemane had acquired the island some time after liberating Arkas from corsairs and slavers. The inhabitants of the tropical planet tended to be freed slaves, exiles and refugees. They knew which way their bread was buttered and understood that their somewhat eccentric benefactor valued her privacy.


Thus it was a place Siobhan could retreat to when she wanted to be undisturbed and forget the woes of the Galaxy. That was what had drawn her to this habitat again. Rest was something she urgently needed after experiencing a severe health crisis.


Brown eyes stared into the offing, where the cerulean sky met the serene surface of the blue ocean. At this hour, the sun was in its zenith. Its warm rays kissed her tanned skin. On this hot summer day, the water would have been cool yet still pleasant. Sadly, she was not really in a position to go for a swim, for presently she could not move without relying on a wheelchair.


"Mistress," her thoughts were elsewhere and so she did not hear Hestia's soft voice at first. "Lady Mistress...Your Grace." Finally there was a reaction and Siobhan turned her head slightly to face the curvaceous beauty.


"Yes, Hestia?" Siobhan was seated in her beach chair. "What is it?"


"Uh, just a message from Nima Tann. She said she's coming to visit you today," Hestia frowned slightly. "Nima is a former Jedi who's part of the Order of Fire. You two are good friends. She..."


"I know who Nima is, Hestia. I have not forgotten t-that much," Siobhan cut her off sharply.


"I'm sorry, Mistress. I meant no offence," Hestia said apologetically, looking a bit like a puppy who'd been kicked.


"It's alright," Siobhan muttered. "I should have s-snapped at you. Tell her she's welcome to come. Has there been news from HQ?"


"Uh, no, Lady Mistress. Lady Alcori says things are running smoothly on the Board."


"They should be sending their reports to m-me. I do not like being kept in the dark," Siobhan grumbled.


"I'm sure no one intends to do that, Mistress. But you're recovering from a horrible ordeal. We just want you to get better," she ran a hand across Siobhan's shoulder, massaging it gently. "Is there anything I can do, my Lady? Perhaps a massage?"


"Yes...that would be nice," Siobhan said after a pause, sighing softly. "I still want t-transcripts of all Board meetings. Pass that on."

 

[Nima Tann]

Her holocomm beeped shortly afterwards she sent her message, and Nima saw the reply. All set!

Time passed, the shuttle started to descend as they arrived to the planet. Nima watched the view as it became closer and closer each second, thinking that it was as beautiful as she imagined, which put a smile on her face. Such a nice change of scenery indeed.

"We have arrived to Freetown, Arkas." The pilot announced as she prepared for the landing.

And their journey finally ended as the shuttle arrived to the hangar and landed on the pad. Nima and a bunch of passengers moved out. It was a busy day, it seemed. There were a lot of passengers and as many Firemane officers keeping the order. Nima wasn't surprised about the crowd, who wouldn't want to visit a place like this? It didn't help her anxiety though. She moved towards the exit, but was stopped by the Twi'lek in reception.

"Master Tann. Welcome to Freetown. How was your trip?" She asked, smiling. With the sudden attention, she didn't know what was happening at first.

"Uhm... thank you, it was nice. This place has a very nice view." Nima replied, returning the smile.

"We've been informed about your arrival. Your transport awaits outside." She told her, before returning to her business. "Have fun!"

With that, Nima walked towards the exit, and took the transport. Another timeskip later, she found herself on the beach. Thank the Force no one was there, that would be catastrophic for Nima's psychology. Anyway, Nima didn't have a proper beach attire, but she didn't come here with winter clothes so the sun didn't boil her alive. She saw Sio from afar, and one of her servants also was there. She moved towards them with a smile.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Siobhan's Force aura was diminished. She also still looked frail and a bit sickly. But though her body was weak, her mind was still sharp. She spoke haltingly, pausing here and there, whilst her eyes were upon the bright blue ocean ahead of her. Hestia knelt before her Lady and tended towards her aching feet with loving care.


"Aeons ago, there was an ancient empire where victorious conquerors returning home from war enjoyed the honour of a triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeteers, musicians and stage animals from conquered lands, together with carts laden with treasures and captured armaments. The conquerors rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before her like trophies. Sometimes her children robed in white stood with her in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in her ear a warning: Remember you are only mortal."


Only now did she turn slightly to look upon the Twi'lek. "All glory is fleeting, but obscurity is eternal," she muttered to herself. "It is good...to see you, Nima," she breathed in, her chest heaving. "Come closer."

 

[Nima Tann]

As Nima came closer, the more she felt the strong aura of the Sio she knew wasn't there anymore. Her body looked weak, and she was looking towards the endless ocean. Sio started speaking haltingly, not looking at her. Her words... Well, they hit her hard. Her friend, the one who saved her, the one she always thought to be strong... was talking about death. Nima's mood immediately changed as she understood the situation was more complicated than she thought. Before Sio turned to her, she had the chance to come eye-to-eye with Hestia, who was busy massaging her Mistress's feet. In her eyes she could also see the confusion.

Even though she heard she had a short-term memory loss, it seemed Sio remembered her. Nima put up a smile on her face, knowing that the woman wouldn't like if people around her show her pity. It was a difficult thing to do, as she was worried about her. Since Sio knew her, it wouldn't be difficult for her to notice. "It's good to see you too, Sio." She told her, coming closer by her request. She went for a hug carefully, in order not to hurt her, and then talked once again. "I'm sorry I couldn't come any sooner."

"How have you been?" She asked, as she pulled away from the hug.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


"It's fine," Siobhan replied, though it seemed to lack sincerity. Being isolated bothered her more than a little. The hug was moderately awkward. Nima would probably feel how frail Siobhan's body was when she embraced her. Frustration rolled from Lady Kerrigan in waves.


"Tired. Spend of my days asleep or plain inert. Cannot walk. My hands shake when I try to hold a gun. At least I can read, talk properly again and I will finally receive official papers once more." The last remark prompted Hestia to give Nima a long-suffering look. Clearly Siobhan had been insisting on this for quite a while and the servant girl was stuck in the middle because she was at her side a lot.

 

[Nima Tann]

Sio's body was weak, it was clear as day, but her mind didn't want to accept it. Quite the conundrum.

The servant girl's look didn't go unnoticed. Nima could understand why. She very likely tried to persuade her to just focus on her healing, but Sio was a woman who would take whatever she wanted. Work probably would help her psychology, she could understand that also, but still in her condition it wouldn't be the best idea to send her more work. "Sio..." She started, thinking of words to explain her concern.

In the end, she decided to be direct, more words would probably frustrate her more. "Considering your condition and what you have told me, I can say that you are not ready for paperwork. I understand you, I really do, but I ask you to understand my point of view too, it will just be another layer of headache for you, and I don't want you to deal with that just yet. So let's make a deal. I will visit you everyday and check your health, and I promise I will personally make them send you whatever files you want once I'm convinced, okay? Just focus on getting better for now." And it was the time to see if her Persuasion skills were high enough. She wasn't sure if it was going to work, but it didn't mean that she wasn't going to try. Of course, she wasn't a doctor and couldn't know if she was physically ready, but she understood psychology. She had to rely on doctor reports for that.

Hestia nodded as she continued massaging Sio's feet with great care, but in her eyes Nima could see that she wasn't that hopeful.

"So, I'm all yours for the day. What do you want to do?" She asked with a smile, trying to clean the air from the depressive mood. They had a long day ahead of them after all.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Siobhan raised an eyebrow. "Mine all day? Almost makes me want a threesome." Briefly she glanced towards Hestia, who flushed a bit, looking embarrassed. The Lady Kerrigan sighed slightly when the servant girl took one of her toes into her mouth and applied suction to it. But then frustration took over.


"Except I can barely even move. Or touch the Force, for that matter," Siobhan huffed a bit. "What I want is very simple. I want to be able to do things again. Instead of being isolated, with people walking on eggshells around me and t-treating me like an -iinvalid." Her irritation spiked, finding an outlet when a glass of water suddenly shattered into a hundred pieces. Siobhan winced and her hand went to her chest when she felt a stab of pain.

 

[Nima Tann]

Needless to say, Nima shared Hestia's reaction hearing what Sio interpreted from her words, but she was happy that she caught a glance of Sio's old self for a second. Sadly, it didn't last long, as frustration took over her expression once again.

The worst thing was, Nima could understand it, all too well. Before Sio, she was just like this. She was pessimistic, pushed people away and was angry at herself for her weaknesses. That's why it affected her so much to see Sio's frustration and pain. Nima touched her mind, trying to at least give her some comfort after she dropped the glass. Hestia immediately stopped what she was doing and stood up.

"Mistress, are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked with a worried tone, proceeding to examine her hand.

"You know stress is bad for your health, Mistress. You are being overdramatic. We don't treat you like an invalid, we just worry about you because you are family! " She was like a parent scolding her child.

"Please." Nima interrupted, moved towards Sio, and then crouched to have eye contact, taking her shaking hand and squeezing it gently.

"I know things are bad for you right now, and believe me, I can understand your pain. But things will get better. You are the strongest person I have ever known, and I know that you won't let a silly illness get the better of you." She said in a caring tone. "You are family, Sio, and we will do everything we can for you to get better. "

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


The feeling was akin to sharp spikes being driven into her. Pain spiked inside her chest, and she gasped for air. It was almost paralysing in its intensity. The feeling of helplessness and her companions' reaction made her angry.


"I...a-am your Queen. You do not get to s-speak to me like that," she scolded Hestia, but it was a struggle to make her lips form words. Fear gripped her heart, enveloping it in an ice-cold, merciless grip.


Slowly she calmed down a bit. Nima's mental touch helped mitigate the pain. "It hurts. I am weak, and I should not be bloody weak." She was weak, helpless and dependent on others - and she hated every moment of it.

 

[Nima Tann]

Hestia opened her mouth, about to say something, and from her face one could understand that they weren't going to be nice words, but then stopped herself with a sigh, knowing that going ahead with this tone wouldn't help Siobhan. "I'm sorry, Mistress, I was out of line. But I'm not used to seeing you like this." She said, her tone was a lot calmer and caring than before.

"Sio, you are not weak." Nima started, she kept the mental massage to keep her calm. "You've defeated the most notorious Sith and made him run away from you. You've crashed a Star Destroyer. You have defeated a Goddess. A weak person can not do these. Your situation is just another obstacle in your way, and you have the strength to overcome it." One would say some of her achievements were a fruit of teamwork, and that would also work in this context since Sio was trying to push every helping hand away from her.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Siobhan frowned slightly. An expression of puzzlement crossed her features. "Wait, what did you say? When did I crash an SD? That sounds a bit...implausible. I remember fighting Mystra." She winced slightly, as if struck by something. She felt something akin to a mental jolt surge through her as images flashed before her mind. She saw a Star Destroyer falling out of the sky. Of course, she'd had help when she pulled it down, but things were a bit out of context for her.


The image was soon replaced by another one. She saw Kaine Zambrano run away from her after being slammed with a massive telekinetic blast. She stood upon the cliffs as the victor, surrounded by broken bodies. The image was fleeting and gone as soon as it manifested. "I saw it. I defeated Kaine. Always knew I was the better one," she smiled slightly, looking a bit more like her old self.

 

[Nima Tann]

Short term memory loss, Nima. She apologised and started explaining immediately. Kaeshana was... an unfortunate event. Better not explain all the details. Thinking about her words, she started.

"It was on Kaeshana. It suddenly appeared and would cause us problems if it wasn't dealt with. You came up with the idea, and it worked. And it also tried to run." She winked, with a slight smile.

And it seemed she remembered her other example. Kaine Zambrano. Seeing her smile made Nima also smile. "Uh huh. I heard that it was an underwhelming fight." She said, jokingly. "Well, there are a lot of Sith out there who needs a roof treatment. You just need to recover." It was then Nima suddenly came up with an idea.

"Speaking of recovery, why don't we start right now?"

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


"Kaeshana is an irradiated wasteland and of no economic value. I'm baffled by the idea that someone would invade it with Star Destroyers. I guess Sith aren't big on logic." Siobhan commented. Sio, stop lampshading the story arc. Your writer put a lot of work into that Rebellion thread.


She frowned. She wanted to know more of this, but her head hurt. Feeling a painful throbbing in her skull, she rubbed her temples. "Nice to know I got some stuff in the past couple years. Let me guess, once again the Jedi are wasting their time with pointless conclaves and debating whether it's alright to fight Sith?" she asked rhetorically. "I must recover. I can do better than this. I am better than this."

 

[Nima Tann]

How can I save myself from this situation without giving her more details about Kaeshana, Nima thought. Perhaps it was a mistake to mention the name even, but it was too late to talk about how and why. She didn't like to lie, so the best dialogue option Nima could think of was the "..." one. Luckily, Sio didn't ask any specific questions about it anyway.

"This is a galaxy devoid of logic. You know they like to show off their new toys." She answered. You could even face some self proclaimed droid overlords who were all basically children and liked to make you press some buttons to progress. Oh wait, that happened.

Once again, fortunately, the topic changed. She could understand from Sio's voice that the question about the Jedi was rhetorical. It was one of the reasons why Nima wasn't a Jedi anymore, they spent a lot of time talking meanwhile Sith continued slaughtering innocent people. She couldn't understand why that the Jedi, whose whole mission was to protect the innocent from the evil, didn't want to play the part. "Actually, there were quite a lot of conclaves recently. Reports say that they didn't go that well. Jedi still can't decide on what to do." She commented, shaking her head.

And yes, the recovery.

"I know I'm not a doctor, but I have the skills to help you mentally. I have an idea that you will probably enjoy. It involves illusions." She winked. One would notice that Nima wasn't the same shy girl when she was around Siobhan, well, not extremely. There were times Sio could make a comment that turned Nima into a tomato still.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


"I see. I suppose it's a relief to know that some things stay the same, no matter how much time passes. Maybe it's time for the Jedi to end - for good. But that is probably a pipedream since enough always linger around. Like a fungus. The Sith would be doing them a favour if they dropped a bomb on the next conclave," Siobhan commented cynically.


She would have launched a full-scale rant about real and alleged failings of the Jedi Orders of the Galaxy, but what Nima said at the end distracted her. She raised an eyebrow. "Ilusions, huh? What do you have in mind?" She could not help wonder whether she'd introduced Nima to Chesna at some point. The primeval Eldorai could get quite creative.

 

[Nima Tann]

Nima didn't like the Jedi for obvious reasons, that was for sure, and even though she didn't agree wholly with Sio about her last sentence, she couldn't help but wonder what if she was right. "The only time they act is when they get attacked, so you might be right there." She replied, sighing. Admitting that Sith attacking the Jedi might be a good thing was weird for her, but that was the sad reality they were living in right now.

And hearing that Sio was interested in her idea, her eyes shined. Her idea wasn't probably as.. ahem... unique, as Chesna could think of, but still. "You see, imagination is endless, and there are no obstacles in our way. We can go explore the island, have fun at the beach, or go destroy some Sith together, whatever you want to do. Also I can make you feel some... certain emotions." Exhaustion, pain, pleasure... Although they had to be careful with the doses as it affected the body all the same, and could trigger her illness, something was better than nothing, and she hoped that it would help her feel better in the end.

"So, what do you say?" She asked, smiling. Also, Hestia would be welcome to join as well if she wanted.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


Siobhan's views on Jedi had become more and more negative over the years. She'd kept her biases in check when she dealt with Sanctum or Galactic Alliance Jedi, but the scorn she felt for most of them was deeply ingrained. At best, she tolerated them.


Siobhan raised an eyebrow. "You can make your illusions that intricate? My, my, you've come a long way," she looked thoughtful for a moment, staring out into the sky, while blue waves rolled against the beach. "Illusions are no substitute for reality. But I'd like to be able to move my legs again and do things. Let's go hit something."

 

[Nima Tann]

Nima nodded to her response. Since Mystra, she had the opportunity to learn a lot of things about mentalism. Some of her experiences were painful, some were less. "I had plenty of time to improve." She answered, then added after Sio accepted her offer. "In that case..." She then turned to the servant, who she still didn't know the name of.

"Uhm..." She started, trying not to sound too rude.

"Hestia." The servant answered with a smile, as if she knew what she was going to ask. Was that too obvious? Probably.

"Hestia, can you please escort Sio to her bedroom? We'll need somewhere comfortable." After all, they weren't going to move for a while.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Nima Tann"]


"Yes, Mistress," Hestia said demurely. Perhaps she was trying to troll Nima a bit. Or she was just naturally obedient. Like a good servant, she helped Siobhan out of the beach chair into the wheelchair. "Are you comfortable like this, Mistress?" she asked sweetly, stroking the older woman's shoulders.


"Yes, I'm alright. That's...very good," Siobhan said quietly, sighing pleasurably.


"I just want you to be well again, Mistress," as she slowly steered the wheelchair away from the beach, Hestia furrowed her brow in contemplation. "I do not have this...power of yours. But could I join?" she bit her lip, looking equal parts curious and nervous. She was not a fighter, but if it was all make-belief, that might not matter.