I Walk One Path

[Qae Shena]

Well, it half-worked. Qae could go with that.

"Again," he said suddenly, as if he had turned the training switch on. For those who knew Qae, there was no such thing as 'mercy' in his training methods (as more than one sentient being would attest to - especially a new one who didn't have a name yet). Tracyn had learned the hard way, fighting Qae in a nearly lethal duel. Aston Jacobs had learned by fighting. Quinn had learned by almost drowning how to shape water. Qae himself had learned under the most brutal training regimen a non-Sith had likely ever had to endure.

He held the remote, intent on firing - bolt, after bolt, after bolt. Siobhan would get breaks between them, of course, but the dispassionate look in his eyes bespoke someone who was analysing the very last minutiae of the fiery one's movements. He was even in the Force to study its flows.

Everything was up for knowledge here and she would learn.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Siobhan was no stranger to merciless training regimens. After all, she had been trained by Adril Tythorin, whose training style could best be described as abrasive, though that did not stop Siobhan from still hero-worshipping the woman. Besides, she knew all about how [member="Mirien Valdier"] had trained her Inquisitors due to shared memories. That could best be described as training from hell.



So she did not waste time, made no silly comments but focused purely upon the onslaught of blaster bolts she was facing. Anything else would have been unacceptable because getting shot by a red-hot, crimson bolt would have ended rather badly for her. See, force god or no force god, getting kneecapped or shot in the abdomen is nasty! One may recall just most of the Jedi Masters of the late Old Republic ended during Order 66...Like Ki-Adi Mundi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY2VFitg3Gs​

So, yeah, kiddies, don't try this sort of thing at home! Siobhan would get no reprieve or time for a break, nor would she ask for one. Instead she gave her mind purely to the Living Force, living in the moment, and focused upon it and the flow of energy. Her own internal energy and that of the blaster bolts shooting towards her. One came for her organic leg, a particularly sensitive area given the beating it had taken on Gehenna, but this time Siobhan was better prepared. As they say, any bruise or burn suffered in training is a lesson. It might mean one less limb lost in actual live combat. There was a bright glow as her own energy was releasd, synced with the heat unleashed by the blaster bolt and she managed to diffuse the energy blast, even absorb some of it into her own. She shook slightly under the exertion, for she was new to this and so it was an effort for her, but allowed herself a thin smile.


However, there was no time for triumphalism as another blaster bolt came shooting towards her. After all, it would not do to give her a break! This time she tried to be more proactive and actually brought forth the open palm of her hand to catch the bolt in its track. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead and concentration was etched over her features, but the blast was diffused as she released the energy she had gained. But then another bolt was incoming and shot her in the back of her shoulder as one of the remotes had used her distraction to come at her from behind. She had managed to refocus to deal with the attack, but not fast enough to fully protect herself and so she felt a stinging, searing pain shoot through her body. Another bolt narrowly missed her, the next was absorbed. And so it went on and on. Bolts came for her and Siobhan sought to meet them. Bit by bit she was getting better, her energies were becoming more attuned to the exertion.


Release your energy. Match. Then draw it in. So she did. As Qae had said, all things were energy. She was energy as well. The Force and all life ran through channels of energy. However, with every attack met, every incoming blast of energy matched and absorbed, she was becoming more weary and strained, though she kept going on and on.

 

[Qae Shena]

There we go. Qae cracked a broad smile as he watched bolt after bolt get absorbed into Siobhan's totally hot form. It wasn't a shock that he was proud of her and the achievement she was making; tutaminis hadn't been trained the normal way for him, by Ashin. He had learned by having it implanted into his mind. There wasn't much to learn beyond the necessity of training it- and, with her, he had, after a hell of a brutal beatdown- and Qae had now passed on the basics of this knowledge to his next student. It was strange, training a fellow master of the Force. He understood its necessity, however. This was training to be strong enough to be an immovable force.

He looked to the holocron sitting nearby, glancing at it with dark eyes.

With a flick of his hand, he opened Pandora's Box.

The psychic scream ripped out through the training room, suddenly flooding it with the waves of Tzeentchian power (I played Deathwatch today, sue me) - the mental onslaught came fast and hard like it had on Terminus. It was an utter repeat of the situation they had faced there. Qae took a meditative seat, repelling it without a second thought; he had felt this before and endured. He had trained for superiority. Siobhan had not.

Imagine your mind as a bubble of energy, Qae told her.

Protect your bubble with your life. Treat even your mind as energy. You'll find these aren't so different.

If she could even hear him behind the banshee's wail.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


The strain was becoming ever greater as Siobhan exerted herself to have blaster bolt after blaster bolt get absorbed by her absolutely hot form. At this stage maybe this writer should make an incredibly lame pun about it getting rather hot in there, what with all the heat from kill bolts being absorbed into it and eaten up. Yes, incredibly lame pun. Siobhan would have allowed herself a thin smile, but there was no time for that. However, she felt a stab of pride. Bit by bit, she was learning and becoming more successful, no longer frantically pouring more and more energy into the effort to harness the power of tutaminis, but trusting the Force and letting it guide her. One could say that she had come a long way from being a simple berserker.


However, her moment of triumph did not last long. Qae had calculated correctly that the effort would weaken her. While many blaster bolts had been diffused, at least partially, it was also true that she was in pain. Now by now Siobhan was very good at controlling and to an extent blotting out her sensation of pain, but that cost energy as well. Sure she had expected him to initiate the mental attack after wearing her down a bit with the tutaminis exercise, but that did not change the fact that her mind was almost wholly focused on dealing with the very real onslaught of blaster bolts.


Thus when Qae opened Pandora's Box and the mental shockwaves of Tzeentchian power were unleashed, it hurt. Well, as a matter of fact it hurt a lot, though even that's still understatement. It was like Terminus again, when the two of them had faced the power of a Mad God. A battle that had almost resulted in her losing her mind. One might note that she had gotten lucky then because Qae had elected to face the mental battle in the astral planes, directing the attention of the Greater Daemon to himself so that Siobhan could find him. There was no backup of this sort now.


The banshee's scream came fast, hard and was almost overpowering. As it slammed into her mental walls with the force of a dozen rampaging terentateks she keeled over and fell to the ground. Needless to say she was in considerable, excruciating mental agony as she scrambled to fortify her mind, even as the eldritch energies of Tzeentchian Chaos continued to tear at her sanity with demonic viciousness. Very dimly she managed to hear the words Qae was speaking. Well, they came across a bit garbled given the terrifying loud screams that felt like they came from the depths of Chaos itself, but she understood enough.


Enough to get a measure of clarity. Her mind was like a bubble of enough. It was something she could protect. She faced mental attacks of this nature before, on Terminus and on Alderaan, though the latter had been less painful. She had faced Lotek'k, the Terror from Beyond, twice. For just a moment there was a flash in her mind, even as her walls seemed to crumble, as she remembered the lessons of [member="Mirien Valdier"]. She had the woman's memories, including those of her own mental defences, which also meant all her knowledge when it came to dealing with mentalism.


She just had to apply it to this situation, along with Qae's instructions. So she steeled herself and sought to fortify herself with renewed vigour Barriers formed about the bubble that was her mind as she poured all her will into protecting it. Even her mind was energy. Energy that could be synced to that of the mentalist onslaught pouring into her to repel the incoming mind blasts that attempted to blow her defences to smithereens. Complete exertion was written over her strained features, beads of sweat dripping down her face and back, though she persevered. Thus a mental battle was waged between her mind and the spirit of Chaos.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

With all the practise she had, Sio was certainly holding up well, as far as Qae could judge. He wasn't there to see or feel what was going on - how could he be? He wasn't a psychic master. He was great with the Force in physical applications, but like Siobhan he only had certain limits.

Qae intended to push hers.

He sat back and let her continue to fight, walking over to the holocron and curling his fingers onto it - ready to shut it off at a moment's notice if things went crazy. His mind, at this point, was sealed.

She had plenty of practise. Instead, he was going to do something and try and help her practise a little better - what little power he could put in, he did, trying to probe her mind and see what he could get out of it.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Limits. All training was about finding out what your limits were...and then trying to push beyond them. After all, in actual battle your opponents would not kindly ask you whether you had enough. However, at the same time it was crucial to know what your limits were...and thus also when it was time to quit a battle. Even though doubtless a number of 'warrior cultures' populated by 'proud warrior race guys' would say that sort of behaviour was 'dishonourable'!


Siobhan was, at present, being confronted by the fact that her mental limits were being pushed. Unlike Qae, her mind, at this point, was not sealed. It was a state of mental fortification she was trying to achieve, erecting what amounted to a barrier around the bubble that was her mind, strong enough to withstand and absorb the mental blast, nullifying the shockwaves of energy that were being unleashed upon her by the scream of Tzeentchian power.


It was a strain upon her, concentration was etched over her features and her hands were balled into fists, with the nails of her organic hand digging into her palm so tightly that they were drawing blood. But she was getting better and more controlled. Then the Vong-shaped Nautolan Water Shaper Echani Martial Arts Guy decided to join the fun and probe around in her mind with his mental tentacles. Well, now that this writer thinks about it, this talk about poking and probing sounds sort of dirty, especially since the Nautolan had actual tentacles!


Insert moderately corny comment about filling holes. Well, this is a thread featuring Siobhan Kerrigan, so at some point there has to be lame innuendo. Siobhan felt the influence creeping up inside her mind. Said mind was pretty chaotic oftentimes. Also rather simple and one-track in a number of ways. There was also plenty of unpleasant stuff to be find in it, images of woe, suffering and slaughter on a ridiculously brutal and over the top scale. Oh, and rather raunchy images with certain ladies that qualified as over the top as well.


In any case, Siobhan was thrown off balance at the sudden intrusion, something the Voice of Tzeentch obviously sought to exploit! She had defied the Chaos Gods and laid the citadel of their disciples, the Bando Gora Acolytes, to waste, now she must suffer in burning hellfire. Or something similarly poetic and overdramatic like that. What it would attempt to do was turn her mind to paste and wipe it, ideally leaving her a vegetable, a mindless vessel trapped in her own madness. Movement was becoming more difficult as her limbs refused to obey her commands and felt like they were slackening and turning weak.


Suffice to say, it bloody hurt. A lot. As she breathed in heavily, Siobhan sought to rally her defences. A Sith Lord had tried to drive her into a catatonic state and then sought to flash wipe her on Alderaan, an attempt that had succeeded in making her temporarily lose a few years. The Cry of Chaos Daemons was seeking to tear through her mind with all the subtlety of a battering ram, but she could deal with that. And so she pushed her mental defences into an attempt to repel the onslaught, even as the voice of Chaos grew ever louder and a battle of wills raged, one trying to dominate the other as she pushed against all mental intrusions, trying to seal her mind in what could be described as a protective cocoon. Still mental walls fell against the onslaught of the Call of Tzeentch, her defences were stretched thin, though she refused to give way, with her bionic eyes flaring up under the severe strain she was being put under.


As the malignant power of the holocron tried to twist around her mind like a boa constrictor, closing in on her consciousness mercilessly in an attempt to deprive her of the ability to think, breathe, to move, Siobhan felt a surge of fear build up inside her, something the spirit fed off shamelessly, making its hold stronger. The logic was simple, if she was trying to retreat and wrap her mind in a protective barrier, it would simply lay siege to it and choke the life out of it. Of course, Qae's mind was sealed and he could switch off the holocron any time, but that was a logical thought that was far from Siobhan's mind at the moment. Likewise there was no [member="Coryth Elaris"] to shield her this time, as she had done on Alderaan. In her own mind Siobhan, covered in sweat by now, cried out in agony. Then, as the illusionary Jörmugandr, the Midgard Snake of Chaos, tightened its grip around her mind to agonising levels, inflicting visions of fear and torment upon her, she gathered her energy and released it, throwing it back at the spirit in a long, dragged echo of herself as she sought to expel and crush the dark tendrils.

 

[Qae Shena]

In the next moment, the holocron snapped shut. The voice of Chaos silenced as it whirled away into nothingness, swallowed by the void; Qae had mastery over it only in the fact that he could temporarily silence its cries, containing the beast until the next poor soul decided to pry open this monster.

"Well," Qae said after a long, protracted silence, trying to gather his thoughts. "That could have gone better."

Well, realistically, he'd not expected this thing to be a manifestation of pure chaos. He thought it was just some rogue Bando Gora master who'd put his teachings into this thing. Turns out it was more of a malevolent tool than he'd ever expected. That had not been the best of ideas for poor Siobhan, who did not deserved to get raked over the coals like that. Instead, Qae took the holocron, set it on the other side of the room, and left it there so that nobody touched it any time soon. This thing was dangerous. In fact, Qae wondered why it hadn't been shattered into a thousand tiny pieces yet, but hey - we may need a holocron of the four Gods for a future plot point that is literally being concocted mid-sentence. Let's hold on to it, shall we? Qae conveniently remembers it's not his and decides not to break it.

On one hand, she wasn't braindead. Mission accomplished?

"You okay?" he asked, instead - less concerned with success than he was with her well-being.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


On the positive side, poor Siobhan was gaining lots of XP points when it came to dealing with infernal mind rape attempts. Assuming she did not end up braindead after exposing herself to demonic forces like that, by the time the exercise was over she should have a good idea about how to resist the next time a Sith mentalist tried to fry her brain. As they say...there is no priiiize without heavy risk. It would also probably be the wisest move to smash the infernal artefact into a thousand pieces and toss them away, but, hey, let's hold on to it. It might be useful...for a future plot.


In any case, in a flash the holocron had snapped shut and the banshee's scream was silenced, returning back into the abyss that had spawned it. It took a long, dragged out moment before Siobhan finally responded to Qae's query, weariness and strain written all over her her features. She was not only trying to gather her thoughts, but dealing with a headache from hell. "Yeah...," she said at last, taking a deep breath whilst she rubbed her head. The voices might be silent, but it seems the headache had decided to stay for a bit longer.


"Not...very eager to do that again. Feel like a building smashed dropped on my head...but my brain's not turned to paste. Feth...I need...a drink." Somehow she had the impression that it would take more than aspirin to end the painful throbbing in her mind, and the weakness inside her body.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"You don't just need a drink, you need five," Qae said, off-hand. "And I could probably use a couple myself."

That said, he had no idea where to get a lot of booze around here at very short notice, given the fact he'd been on Kaeshana for all of an hour or so by now. Shirking responsibility - what responsibility? Qae was a galactic wanderer and did all of nothing all day every day, living off odd jobs and the fortune he'd accrued for himself as a Vagrant. It worked.

So he just grinned.

"Let's go find us some drinks. Do they have ale and wenches here on Kaeshana?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Siobhan gave him a tired smile. "Five sound good," she said after she finally managed to get up, though her organic leg felt rather wobbly and seemed to have decided to give up the ghost. Hence why it protested when she tried to walk, though she managed.


"Ale and wenches? Oh, we have lots of those here. And some of the best wine. I'll just put this away," she indicated the holocron. "Don't want anyone else stumbling on it." So she gripped her cane and after the artefact of doom had been put wherever Siobhan put it, she would lead Qae to what turned out to be the Firemane cantina.


See, corporate headquarters, so it stood to reason that the building would have a place where you could have drinks. Presumably she did not have any business-related responsibilities to deal with, but then it's not like anyone could tell her what to do except her wife. Rank also had its privileges when it came to being served by a rather pretty Eldorai waitress and so within a couple moments, Siobhan and Qae would have their drinks.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Cue ale and wenches.

Alright.

So, with a cushy seat under his butt - a rare luxury, even with the Sky Dancer II the way it was - and a drink in his hand, Qae was particularly happy. However, for some reason, his face seemed so dark, like he was staring at the storm that was brewing in his mug. Proverbially, of course. He stirred with one finger, looking at the liquid, almost analysing it for Force knew what reason.

"It's been a long time since I've even had this kind of thing."

Secluded in hyperspace, training, roaming the Galaxy - even on Teth, when he wasn't talking to Teio, who had basically graduated to 'roaming student'. It was a long and lonely existence as one of two Je'daii Masters in the Galaxy, whom preferred the hermit lifestyle. He had made a lot of bad choices in that. Now he just felt old and trapped in his ways. To be drinking with someone else? That was a rarity.

"Maybe I picked wrong. Maybe not picking a side, not believing in a cause, doomed me. I don't know."

He didn't look up. "I envy you. You fought for what you believed in. You could believe in something greater. And you never ran away when it was threatened. Maybe I should've been more like you."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


Ale and wenches! All was good. Well, not quite, since the conversation was sort of grim.


"Thing about grand causes is, everyone thinks theirs is noble and righteous...and it almost always ends up on a road paved with corpses. These days my cause is my family and Kaeshana - in that order. Small, nothing to change or 'save' the Galaxy, but something I want to dedicate myself to."


No Protectorate, no Lady Protector, no Grand Crusade to 'purge the Galaxy of Sith and evil'. Selfish? Maybe a bit, but also realistic. "So don't put yourself down, ok? You're a good guy and I consider you a friend. I wouldn't have been able to take down the Bando Gora on Terminus without you. You saved a hell of a lot of people there. And, well, if you're unhappy with things, someone with your skills can start over. I came from the gutter and was a lousy Jedi, never thought I'd end up like this."


Married to a woman she loved, with a daughter, a company of her own. There were times that it seemed almost too good to be true to her. Deep down there was a part of her that could not help but think that some day the dream would come to an end and she would wake up. It would not stop her from fighting for it though.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Started from the bottom, now we here..." Qae hummed, quoting some oft-quoted, uh, wisdom.

"I don't know. I seem to get myself somewhere and it keeps crashing. I can do good things. I've got the capacity for it. But I've also got the capacity for great evil, and... well, my teachings require I keep all things in balance. When's it going to happen?"

Hell with it. Qae downed the rest of his ale in one go, burning its way down his throat like he didn't even care. Truthfully, he just had to do it, just had to get it through his system and stop thinking about all the bad. "Enough of the philosophical crap. It's what got me into this mess." Welcome to the chocolate cake theory. Eating too much of the cake that was Force religion was just going to make you fat and slow. So far all it had done was bring down his entire world twice, rid him of everything he knew and loved. And what could he say for it? Nothin'. Oooh, look at me, I can use the Force!

Chocolate cake, kids.

"It's all just chocolate cake. Delicious, but bad in the long run."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Qae Shena"]


"Ok, no philosophy, no chocolate cake. Is apple cake kosher then?" Siobhan asked sardonically, making a presumably lame attempt to lighten the mood, before finishing her drink. She was not really one for philosophy talks either. Or Force religions.



"So...any remaining pointers you can give me on tutaminis and mental defences? Along the lines of 'this you were ok at', 'there you really sucked' and 'that you really shouldn't do again?" Siobhan was a big girl with thick skin, she could take it! Well, at least she thought so.

 

[Qae Shena]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Honestly? I never learned tutaminis, so to speak. Ashin took her brain and shoved all its contents for tutaminis and Shii-cho into it. I'm basically perfect when it comes to both, but I can't explain how. I never learned the regular way. And I'm not mentalist enough to explain how to defend properly. It's a sucky situation and a failure as a teacher on my part, but I never learned it to begin with."

Strange as that sounded, it was also true. It was raw instinct on Qae's part; he learned by getting it shoved into his brain and adapting it. Which, really, wasn't all that hard to do. Being unable to explain his own problems meant that he wasn't going to be able to explain others' - but, really. "You seemed fine anyway."

"Apple cake is fine," he said after a long world. "Actually, I haven't had any for a really long time."