I Walk One Path

[Qae Shena]

Qae had never been to Kaeshana (even if, as he later reflected, the first syllable sounded exactly like his name - perhaps a name change was in order for the planet). To be fair, he had precisely one reason to come here, and that was a good reason. Now that his extra-galactic journey was finally done, where he had learned more, unlocked even deeper secrets, and ultimately shaped himself into a new person just to survive in the harsh realities of the Galaxy once everything had come crashing down, he could finally come back and meet up with the people he'd left behind.

His first stop? The wonderfully destructive [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"].

Kaeshana was a planet in the Core that, apparnetly, Siobhan was a key player in; he didn't know the specifics and he didn't much care for politics, as anyone who ever knew him would tell you very gladly. In the meantime, he intended to go there, say hi, catch up, then get back on his quest of finding a few very specific people and giving them a piece of his mind. And getting laid again. That was in the plan.

The Sky Dancer II made planetfall on Kaeshana, where Qae had paid for a landing pad and delved into the Force in the meantime, where he could try and find her. Well, she was here, that was a start, but the Force was so alive here that pinpointing her was a bit of trouble. Interesting to know, at least - the living Force was ever shifting, constantly in motion here. This planet had potential.

So, he did the smart thing, and got out his datapad - and sent her a damn message on what was by now an outdated channel, but one she might have still.

Siobhan. I'm on Kaeshana to say hello. Where are you?

- Qae

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


BANG BANG BANG


As it happened Siobhan Kerrigan was at Firemane Headquarters, or rather she was at present attending to the shooting range in the basement level of the aforementioned building. There was a time when you needed to blow off steam after a stressful and in most cases rather boring day at the office attending meeting sand and working through a mountain of paperwork. Well, this one thinks she probably could not complain that much about stress, but whatever.


One form of release consisted of visiting the aforementioned shooting range, grabbing a Cylix Bolt Pistol and blasting away at targets with reckless abandon. The Cylix, named after a dangerous predator that prowled across the plains of Dahomey, was bloody heavy, had a low magazine capacity and recoil was a queen, but it was very heavy hitting, the firing the powerful Anti-Personnel Explosive Boltgun Ammunition, or APE for short. The rounds could easily penetrate any armour below class seven and unarmoured targets were quite literally torn apart. It was also useful as a club. Besides, it looked fething badass and produced a nice bang, so it was just the thing she needed, even if her legs still protested most annoyingly at her standing.


Yes, she had suffered heavier hits during the Second Battle of Gehenna than she would like to admit. One of the reasons why she was semi-retired now when it came to combat operations. Anyhow, for a moment she would forget paperwork and briefings about Firemane operations, and just tear targets apart with rounds.


BANG BANG


She pointed the oversized hand cannon at things, pulled the trigger, things died with a bang. Another magazine expended she put down the pistol and wiped some beads of sweat from her brow. At this point she noticed that her comm was ringing. This struck her as a bit odd since she was not expecting messages, though perhaps Chesna was calling her. Or even Galina - or rather [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]! The name alone gave her all sorts of mushy feelings that she had never thought she would experience. Regardless she quickly walked over to the comm she had left on the table. Or rather limped, since she had yet to get rid of the annoying cane.


As she reached for her comm she frowned. The message had come on what by now was an outdated channel she had wanted to delete, but never gotten around to. Her surprise increased when she read the message and saw who had sent it. Apparently her Nautolan buddy was back! She had not seen him since Terminus, which had been...a long time ago. A couple years actually, at least based on this writer's internal timeline. Back then she had still been a mere Omega Pyre Colonel, on a mission to exterminate the Bando Gora. They had faced an entire city driven to madness by the foul magicks of a Chaos Sorcerer and a Mad God, almost succumbing to his vile influence themselves before the menace was beaten. Anyhow, Qae would soon get a response. When one thought about it, he should like Kaeshana. After all, most of the planet was a massive ocean...which was inhabited by aggressive sea monsters.


Qae, old buddy, how you been? Haven't seen you in ages. I'm at Firemane Headquarters. Bit outside of town, coordinates attached.
- Sio

 

[Qae Shena]

On my way. See you soon.

Well, that was that. The datapad was returned to whence it came and the Nautolan knew he'd be able to get to see Siobhan soon enough. The Nautolan was very happy with the fact that this planet was very aquatic - maybe he'd need to buy a temple here, instead of his one on Teth. Or find a little underwater cave and love on it a bunch. Maybe both at the same time? After all, this place was a little slice of heaven compared to wandering the Galaxy. Maybe he could find a home, settle down-

Nope. Stop that right there. This is Qae Shena, ladies and gents. He's wandered so long that he doesn't know how to do anything else. But by Yun-Yuuzhan, he was so tired.

Nevertheless, Qae would see Siobhan soon. How long was it? Terminus? Maramere? He didn't even know any more; events so long ago blurred inhis mind. The effects of voxyn bites, the effect of being so long removed from the Galaxy... everything was just crazy now.

When he got to Firemane, the place was certianly impressive. This was her business. Once he had owned one; no longer. He just kept his cash in the bank and was looking for a way to invest. Buying a new ship was on the list somewhere, probably. Then investing in a business, letting his money grow, and living on the interest. No need to work - even a one percent interest per annum was enough for him to live off. Whatever. Not like anyone in this Galaxy cared about such stupid technical drivel.

So he walked in, and looked for the receptionist.

"Hi. Here to see Siobhan Kerrigan. No appointment, but she's expecting me."

Probs weird for a fish to be walkin' in and saying something like that, but hey, fishes gonna fish.

Or whatever.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Now this one totally wants to see Qae go diving in search of underwater treasures and fight Behemoths. This one feels sorry for the Behemoths if such a confrontation were to happen. Qae Punch!


Anyhow, there was a pretty Eldorai receptionist on duty when Qae arrived. Come to think of it, unknown people walking and demanding to meet Siobhan Kerrigan was not that rare, though he was probably the first fish among them. Nor did he look like an awe-struck fangirl who wanted an autogram! In any case , after giving him a one-over the space elf commed Siobhan like a good minion. "Lady Kerrigan, there's a Nautolan here to see you. He claims you're expecting him." The receptionist was as motivated as you can expect someone who has to sit behind a desk for hours on end and receive people walking in.


"Qae. He is expected. Send him up, Kaylaa," Siobhan responded before cutting the connection.


"Lady Kerrigan will receive you in her office. Sergeant Solveig, please show him up," the secretary said, gesturing to a tough looking, rather muscular blonde in uniform. She seemed the strong amazonian type. No surprise since a certain Tegaea Alcori had once been the sort.


"Follow me," the Sergeant said and within a few moments they would have entered a turbolift, which would then take them to wherever Siobhan's office was. Presumably it was quite close to the top of the building because for some reason that's where you had to be if you were, well, on top. Despite the fact that this was terribly impractical if you had to escape. Like if all the droids of the Galaxy suddenly decided to follow an omnicidal AI called OMNI and wipe out all organic life. Well, as a matter of fact there were not that many droids on Kaeshana because the Eldorai were prejudiced. Moreover, Siobhan could fly, so that might render the point moot.


Anyhow, since the turbolift was less crappy than the one on the first Normandy, after a short interval they have reached the right level and then the Sergeant would escort Qae to the office. After all, there were plenty of those around here, though presumably Sio had the biggest next to Tegaea's. Anyhow, after having fun blowing targets up Siobhan had been forced to deal with paperwork again. We can easily presume that this was not particularly interesting for her, though the mountain of reports and datapads showed no desire to leave her desk, which also had two holopics standing on it, one of [member="Tegaea Alcori"] and the other of [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"], Sio's adorable wild girl she had found on an abandoned island in the arctic of Kaeshana and adopted.


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Siobhan was a mother now. Who would have thought? Woe to any boy or girl who broke her little Galina's heart. For they may have...broken her heart for the last time. Anyhow, lame puns aside Siobhan seemed quite happy to see him and arose from her plushy leather chair. As for attire, she was wearing a shiny skirtsuit, which undoubtedly gave a nice view of her toned legs. "Thank you, Freya. Qae, it's good to see you. Bit of a surprise. How you been? What brings you to Kaeshana? Please have a seat," she gestured to one of the chairs.

 

[Qae Shena]

Everything was explained so well that we'll not do it again. Instead, Qae came out of the turbolift to see the beautiful Kerrigan, standing there looking like a businesswoman instead of a soldier. It was certainly different. Definitely something that he'd never expected to happen. Sio wasn't the business kind, normally.

"Lady Kerrigan, is it now?" Qae asked first, with a grin. "I didn't think you were so important, but times change. It's great to see you again."

Taking his seat, the Nautolan looked at the woman across from her, taking the measure of the changes. There was a girl's holo in a spot of honour with her wife, which... well, that was different. Certainly different. Motherly instincts did not match Siobhan Kerrigan, one of the Galaxy's most skilled murderers. Neither did flying a desk or doing paperwork for hours on end.

Times really did change.

"I'm doing okay," the monk finally admitted, stretching his legs a little. "Finding my feet again and not sure where I want to land. The Galaxy's even deeper in war now that more powers are springing up. I've heard nasty things all across the place. Corporate funding of warfare. More war - more death - more chances for Sith and Jedi and every son of a queen in between to wreck everything for someone else. It's not an easy thing. You run into someone who can destroy a planet every day now, it seems. I still feel very out of it."


He offered her a wry grin. "You know what, no. I know enough about me - I'm still a Vonged Je'daii monk who can punch holes in durasteel without a home. There's nothing to me. Tell me about all of this. The company. The future. That girl. You've got more stories than I do."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


"Yeah, it's chaos, war and more war outside there. Jedi beat the Empire, then the Sith popped up again in the core and somehow took Coruscant. Since then it's been a big galactic murder fest. Gets depressing when you spend too much time thinking about it," she sat down in her chair, crossing one of her long, toned legs over the other.

Unlike in the past Siobhan did not feel much of a desire to get involved again. Things had changed since Alderaan and the Second Battle of Gehenna. Perhaps she was being selfish, given what was at stake and how much blood had been shed, but she felt like she had done her part. Moreover, she had a kid to look after now. A kid who had already been orphaned once. Paperwork was still sodding boring though.


"A Vonged Je'daii? You'll have to tell me about how that happened! Word of advice, stay away from Alderaan. Vong Central isn't remotely friendly. As for me, well, Tegs and I ruled OP for a while and crushed the Bando Gora. We started Firemane after Tegs had to step down because of a...Sith attempt on her life. I made the queen who hurt her pay," there was a flicker of something on Siobhan's face. The memory was still very painful. Not the least because she rightly felt a high degree of guilt for it, but then she composed herself.


"We have close relations with the Eldorai, so set up shop on Kaeshana. We help them modernise the planet so they don't get pushed around, manufacture arms, provide mercs and pursue mining, that sort of thing. Just conquered the Bando Gora homeworld a second time and killed the last monsters. It's being terraformed into less of a hellhole. Tegs is CEO, I'm VP."


Eyes travelled across her desk to look at the holopic of Galina, an expression of fondness crossing her features. "That's Galina. Our little girl. I found her on an abandoned island in Kaeshana's arctic. Poor girl lost her parents and had to fend for herself for years. We adopted her. She's a sweetheart. I'm trying to give her a real home after the hell she went through." There was a tone of genuine affection in her voice when she spoke of 'her little girl'. Siobhan becoming a mother was probably the last thing anyone - including she - had expected, but she clearly cared deeply for the little wildling.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Oh, you kids," Qae said with a resigned sigh. People really couldn't keep it in their pants. He had always warned caution about getting involved in the great Galactic war, and for good reason; the loss of life was getting catastrophic to the point that even the Empire and Republic were suffering crippling losses. This waqs just getting out of hand. One more reason that Qae Shena, with all his incredible powers and mastery of the martial arts, would never join the war. He was a weapon now, one with the capability to destroy far more than just a drunken fool that attacked him. No. He had to be something different.

Then it got interesting.

"Alderaan? I highly doubt it's anything as good as Zonama Sekot," Qae said with a smirk. Nothing could beat the original. "Sekot's a sentient seed-world. I grew most of my biots there, until I gave them a room on my ship. But, whatever. Being an honourary Yuuzhan Vong for being able to beat the snot out of their best warriors and studying their religion and language is, well - it's interesting."

Never mind the clan tattoo on his shoulder blade, of Domain Bal. Qae, a Vong? Most wouldn't have believed it - but his Master did, that was for sure. She'd seen it first-hand. She'd fought him, and she had declared him a Master of the Force for his efforts. That had been an eternity ago, almost.

He stopped and thought for a moment, listening to Siobhan talk. He could see the difference between the Butcher and the Businesswoman, the one who had destroyed so much with her telekinetic prowess doing something better with her life other than annihilation.

"You know what, I'm proud of you. You're settling down, murdering way less people, and trying to be a force of good in the Galaxy. I mean, you adopted a kid with Tegs. That's sweet of you." Qae wasn't even lying - he reclined back slightly in his seat, folding his hands behind his head-tresses, and offered her a real smile. "It's a nice change. I think it suits you. But what about Omega? What do you two do with them now?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Siobhan seemed surprised, then amused and chuckled. It was genuine laughter. She seemed touched by his words. "Haha. Not sure whether force of good is valid. That's more Tegs than me, but thanks. I try!"


Her expression turned more serious when he brought up Omega. To put it diplomatically, she was very disillusioned when it came to them. "We don't do much with Omega these days. Guess this sounds terribly bitter of me, but frankly for a long time after we stepped down they seemed bent on acting like we'd never existed, let alone had any role."


"Got some acknowledgement when Cira suddenly returned. I helped them fight the CIS at Druckenwell and I tried to stop a shipyard from falling on the planet when the Feds dropped it out of spite. But I'm in no mood to charge into battle for them anymore. Far as I'm concerned, the Lord Protector's a blustering fool with an inflated sense of his own importance. Led OP into a disaster when he tried to take Coruscant, many died. If called we'd provide aid, Kaeshana's a member state, but we're trying to be self-reliant. I'm still friends with HK-36, but that's it really. I just want go about my business in peace and be there for my family."



A pretty Eldorai secretary entered the room and brought refreshments. There would be a selection of drinks for both of them. Siobhan took a glass of water and had a sip, with her eyes briefly looking over the holopics of Tegaea and Galina. "But that's enough about me. What are your plans now that you're back? Going back to wandering the Galaxy? And, come to think of it, are you down for providing some training? Never got around to asking you after Terminus."

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"You're still making the effort too. That's what counts," Qae said by way of explanantion.

When drinks were brought up, Qae grabbed a glass of muja juice, something he hadn't had in a long time. Really, he hadn't had a lot of things, but whatever. Not the point. Qae Shena was a man of simple tastes.

He listened to the fiery woman talk about things, and understood. War was a hellish thing - it was why he never fought it. He wasn't ready for that. He'd lost everything and everyone already, had to rebuild from the scattered pieces. This place was miserable.

Sometimes he wasn't sure he should have come back.

"My plans... well, let's be real, everything I know and love, and basically everyone, is gone, or missing," he said, shrugging his shoulders in grim resolution. "My fleet is gone, its members scattered to the wind. What's left of the Silent Conclave now did the one thing we all swore not to do, on their own little world. Someone is trying to take Teth over. I can't find my Master. I don't have a partner or spouse, or a student. Which leaves me with what, precisely? My ship and myself. I don't have anywhere I can go."

He leaned back in his seat, the muja juice in his hand coming to his lips for a moment. "I'm a wanderer. I always have been. At this point it's all I've got left inm my life, Siobhan. That sounds pretty damn grim, but it's also true."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


"I understand. I'm sorry." This writer is presuming that the name Silent Conclave would probably not ring any bells with Siobhan since no one had told her about it. So she would not know that the Levantine Sanctum suddenly coming into being was the result of the aforementioned Conclave deciding to go major and claim a spot on the map. These days they characterised themselves as Space Hippies...who were somehow ruling planets. If this sounds confusing to the gentle reader, then they're not alone, for Siobhan did not understand it either!



"If you get the urge to settle down or just take a break from wandering, you'd always be welcome on Kaeshana. We try to stay out of stuff that's not our business and teachers with your skills would be appreciated. Besides, the planet's very aquatic. Just don't punch out all the Behemoths swimming in the ocean if you go scuba diving for an underwate cave," Siobhan joked lamely, though the offer was genuine.


She took another sip of her drink before speaking up again. "Speaking of students, would you be open to provide me some training? I recall from Terminus that you're...very good at mental defences. What with going up against the psychic onslaught of a Mad God and all that. Long story cut short, a Sith Lord tried to flash wipe my mind on Alderaan during the Republic's last offensive. I got out, but a couple years' worth of memories were wiped, though I got most restored. And there's an ancient Sith Master I really need to kill who's very good at mentalism. Bottom line, it's something I'm lacking in. And if I remember correctly, you're proficient in tutaminis."

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"You'd put my wandering aloof ass in a school teaching your little kids to water shape, Sio, and I know it," Qae said, chuckling. "I'm pretty sure I'm too peace-living to fit in here on Kaeshana with a planet that is clearly influenced by two of the Galaxy's best murderbitches."

Only mostly true, but hey, whatever. Still mostly true.

...there's probably worse out there somewhere.

Anyway, there was talk there of teaching her, and that was a little more to his liking. Qae was better teaching individual students, making sure their progress was correct and on the right path - and, just like his own, maximised. "Interesting," he mused, taking another sip of his muja juice. She wanted to train him. Well, he did owe her for that help on telekinesis. And she was a good friend.

"I wouldn't call myself great at either of them. Proficient, sure, and I can probably give you one or two pointers, but sure. I can help out no problem. My tutaminis is better than it was before, at the very least. Doesn't take a moron to work out that fighting blasters and lightsabers without a saber yourself requires some good Force powers."

That was something Siobhan probably would have noticed now that he mentioned it - there was no lightsaber on his belt. Come to think of it, his leather bracers were gone too - he just had those giant, misshapen scars on his forearms, both equal in length, like two small snakes were sewn into his skin. Almost perfectly accurate there, actually.

"Problem is, I can't do mind attacks to teach you the mental aspects. Got a way to attack yourself in the mind? Tutaminis, well, you've got blasters all around the place, that's no problem."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


This one still likes the idea of little [member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"] having an 'Uncle Qae'. It would be so adorable! Besides, Coryth was totally peaceful and stuff, unless you pissed her off. Surely he could get on with her. Anyhow now that the Vonged Nautolan Water Shaper mentioned it, Siobhan did notice that he no longer carried a lightsabre and his leather bracers were gone as well. If she had paid more attention, she would have noticed that fact before, but she was inherently self-centred!


"Ok. Thanks. Blasters I got plenty. I can't exactly attack my own mind though. Zero skill points in mentalism and all that. I don't exactly have something available to mentally attack myself...unless you're talking a Sithy holocron whose gatekeeper would probably love to mind rape me...and, well, I'm not that eager to have a darklord trying to get into my head that soon," she joked lamely. Suffice to say being possessed by Shadow and the battle on Alderaan had left her a bit shell-shocked in that regard.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Ideally we're going to stop said Dark Lord getting inside your head," the Nautolan replied with more than a grin on his face now. Yeah, that'll do. He knew what he wanted and it was going to be interesting. It was probably best that he didn't shoot her wiht a blaster, but got someone else to.

Man, when you look objectively at Qae, he's pretty damn useless for most stuff. What a shame.

"Anyway, let's go somewhere more comfortable and get on this. It's not conducive to having your mind invaded in an office with breakable stuff. Or being shot. Either one is pretty terrible, really."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


"True! There's a training area in the basement, I'll take you there and get the stuff we needed," Siobhan responded, then looked down at her elegant business suit and skirt. "And change into something more fitting and less girly," she joked with a smile.



The aforementioned training area also had plenty of droids used for training purposes. So they could be ordered to shoot at Sio, meaning Qae would not have to try playing with a blaster. Anyhow, with that out of the way Siobhan got up and led him towards the turbolift again, which would then descend down from what was almost the top of the building and after an indeterminate amount of time had passed the lift doors would open again and they would find themselves in the basement.


The training section of the building was very vast, though that was no surprise since Firemane was also a PMC. Here the mercenaries stationed directly at headquarters could train, on the shooting ranges, against droids and spar against each othere. There was also an extensive meditation area and training areas geared towards force-users, since Firemane had a small but noticeable forcer presence, such as [member="Mirien Valdier"], Coryth Elaris and Tempest.


Siobhan was toying with the idea of establishing a formal force-user branch for the company. Naturally she would want to head it. This was not at all indicative of a rather big ego. Anyhow, she would guide Qae to a large but empty training hall, the one she tended to use. Obviously the weapons rack was rather extensive and a few blasters had already been put on a table and training droids could be found in an adjacent room.


"Right, there we are, I'll be back in a moment," she said and then departed the training room for a couple moments. A few minutes later she returned, now wearing tight-fitting training clothes and carrying a holocron that predictably pulsed with dark power and felt evil and stuff. Just the sort of thing artefacts of evil and maliciousness do. "Ok, with what do we start?"

 

[Qae Shena]

Time skip forward some with Fish Cam, because really, I'm not drawing this out for word count and repeating the above. Screw that. I ramble enough.

"This place is great, Sio," Qae said offhand, looking around and grinning. "A couple more training droids and you'd be set. Hey, I do have a couple Echani droids on hand-" eight EMBU units, gifts from Spencer many moons ago- "but by the looks of it you don't need it."

Qae preferred his 8v1 sparring sessions, after all.

"So let's start with tutaminis, I think," Qae said, not revealing the reason to her: if she got shoit a few times, she'd be distracted, maybe a little in pain. This meant that she'd have to work harder on the mental defences, which was exactly how he had trained long ago. Damn Spencer. She attacked him right in the feels so many times it wasn't funny.

Conjuring a blaster to him, the most idiot-proof-looking one, he looked it over. "Heads up. I have not fired a blaster maybe... once in my life," Qae said, looking honest. He never did it. He had a glowbat, or his fists, and they served him well enough. Aside from the Je'daii and the Fleet and the Vong, he had been a Jedi for a while a long time ago. Ever since then he was a saber-wielding crazy. And even before then, as a bartender, he'd never needed to. He was very much a terrible shot.

He looked quizzically at the weapon. "Looks simple enough, anyway. So here's the deal: everything is energy, in one way or another. Blasters, water shaped Force stuff, Force Lightning, whatever. You need to understand the energy coming in, sync your spirit to it, and then absorb it by making it a part of you, or deflecting it away in the same fashion. Depends how much power there is and what you want to do with it."

This was a power he'd taken right from Ashin's mind - it was, in fact, his first time teaching it. "Have you got any tutaminis experience?"

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


One wondered whether Siobhan would still be able to look at anything that was pink by the time the training session was over. Anyhow, whilst Qae did not divulge the reason for starting with tutaminis, it was easy enough for Siobhan to deduce. She knew from experience that mental defences required lots of concentration, focus and effort. That would be more difficult to achieve after she had been shot a few times.



Not that she minded. After all, her own training methods tended to owe much to the school of hard knocks, as [member="Coryth Elaris"] and [member="Tempest"] could attest to. So Siobhan gave him a nod. "You can have the droids shoot at me. Here's the remote control," at that she tossed the remote device thingie that apparently controlled them over to Qae.


At a click remote droids would show up in the room, likewise there were a couple battle droids Qae could direct to shoot at er. She did not have EMBUs, though she had a few automatons that looked suspiciously like MagnaGuards, though they were actually trophies from the Bando Gora War. Maybe the Bando Gora had committed plagiarism...or bought actual MagnaGuards at discount prices because seriously, those things are fething ancient.


She listened to him describing the basics of tutaminis, then nodded. "Understood. I don't have any prior tutaminis experience myself. When it comes to defence, I've mostly relied on heavy armour and conjuring up a telekinetic shield, force barrier and so on. Just know about tutaminis theoretically."

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"TK shields and force barriers are fairly similar," Qae responded, pondering. "Especially the barriers. One of the most advanced versions of tutaminis is Force Protection, that is basically a mega-shield. If you have experience with that, we can work backwards from there."

With a droid controller in hand - and now a blaster in the droid's hand - this meant that Qae could get to shooting Siobhan, preferably not in the face because Reasons. These droids looked oddly familiar. Not because they were MagnaGuards - psh, they're old and he's not one for old tech that isn't Je'daii - but because he'd probably seen one fighting the Bando Gora. Maybe once or twice, anyway. They weren't his favourite enemies.

"Right, so, brace yourself. Sink into the Force and contemplate all the ways you can take in control of the natural flow of energy. I don't know how to express this without sounding like either a crazy person or a martial arts fanatic, so here goes - every action you take, with or without the Force, is linked to the flow of your internal energy. I want you to take control of that flow and be able to control what enters and exits that flow. When the blasters come in, bring it in. Absorb that energy into your being."

He paused, controller poised, thumb over the controls. He was going to wait for her to be ready for this before he hit the trigger. This was now up to her.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


These days, you could get MagnaGuard knockoffs for discount prices on Tatooine. Well, at least this writer thinks so because it sounds terribly amusing to them.


"I have some familiarity with it, yeah. [member="Phylis Alince"] gave me some training on barriers. Kept from getting fried in an explosion when a space station I was on blew up," Siobhan said dryly. She did not mention the part that she had gotten spaced and for all her 'superpowers' would have died if Tempest had not tractor-beamed her to a ship. And even then she had been in a coma and would have perished anyway if her wife had not gathered a team of expert healers to save her and repair her broken body.


She gave Qae a nod as he spoke, pondering his words. It was a bit of a difference compared to her usual methods. She was used to throwing up a force barrier that basically created a telekinetic sphere of denial, meant to resist incoming blows and make say blaster bolts bounce off her, rather than trying to absorb energy. However, she did as Qae had told her and sunk into the Force, emptying her mind as she sought to blot out everything around her and achieve a state of immersion. Meditation had been something Siobhan had often struggled with, though she had gotten better over the years, even though she still tended to be terribly impatient!


Describing the Force was often a difficult matter - especially for this writer! - but one might compare it to a vast river with several different streams and currents, if one wanted to indulge in admittedy somewhat simplistic metaphor. This river she perceived and one might liken the streams to the flow of internal energy the Nautolan Water-Shaper Echani Martial Arts Sensei had spoken of. Concentration was clearly visible upon her features as she sought to reach out and take control of that flow. In the past Sio's grip would have been insistent and probably terribly crude. Indeed, in the heart of battle it often still was, but over the years she had learned a certain degree of patience. So she sought to insistently guide that flow rather than crudely gripping it and direct it.


"I'm ready," she said finally after presumably a number of minutes had passed.

 

[Qae Shena]

Super Shapper Puppy can't go Super Mode here, sadly. Instead, he went into Teacher Mode, which meant that he was going to give her rolling feedback as she tried to concentrate, giving her helpful tips and advice as to how to master the use of Qae-fu. Or whatever we're gonna call it. Actually, y'know what, that's a damn good name anyway.

"All things are energy, we teach even the worst Jedi and Sith that one. You're energy, too. The Force, all life, runs through the channels of energy. The entire universe is just one big flow. You're already in it - accept the fact, release your mind. Let your energy flow into the Galaxy, let the Galaxy flow back into you."

Because talking to most people required him to call it the Force to not get weird looks. Je'daii habit.

When she was finally ready, Qae nodded. "Let's do it. Remember - release your energy, match, then draw it in."

One battle droid whirred and turned as Qae depressed the control, levelling its blaster for Siobhan's midsection. Pulling the trigger, it unleashed a crimson bolt, normally looking to kill the Firemane Master.

Qae kind of hoped he'd done a good enough job explaining this karking thing to her, because he was no healer.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


This writer totally approves of Qae-fu! Let's go Qae-fu fighting! This writer's lame attempts at trying to be funny aside, Siobhan braced herself and tried to do as instructed when the battle droid whirred nd turned around, pulling the trigger of its blaster to unleash a laser bolt aiming straight for her midsection. Siobhan did not excel in precognition and droids were hard to sense anyway, but she been in enough battles to see the motion coming as the machine spun and levelled its gun at her.


Even 'force gods' were not invincible. Sio's normal tactic in such a situation would be to either seek to dodge the round with Force-enhanced speed or to throw up a telekinetic barrier, a magical zone of denial that should make the round bounce back. Assuming she was not wearing her beskar'gam, which would keep the bolt from killing her anyway. However, she was not wearing any armour and this was about her learning a new skill rather than trying old tricks.


She braced herself as the crimson bolt streaked through the air towards her, despite the urge to fall back on her usual methods. In doing so she sought to focus upon the energy alone. As Qae had said, all things were energy. She focused upon her own flow of internal energy and sought to harness it, then direct it outward as she released it. A blaster bolt generated heat...a lot of it. A principle of tutaminis was that a force-user could draw such harmful energy into themselves and diffuse it, perhaps even channel it for their own energy by syncing it.


At least that was the theory. Siobhan had always subscribed to the idea of the school of hard knocks. So as a consequence she received a hard knock. Or rather she experienced a searing, painful burn when the blaster bolt hit her. She bit down hard on her tongue as the painful, burning sensation spread through her like wild fires, but her efforts were not wholly in vain as her energy linked with the heat unleashed by the blaster bolt, drawing it inside her and absorbing it, which produced a weird glow, though she struggled to keep her balance as she stumbled.