Private Journal of the Fire Princess

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

((OOC: Set shortly after Elpsis' duel with Matsu Xiangu in the Gree invasion.))
I hate hospitals. Maybe it's because I spend a lot of time in them. Mum jokes about me following in Mother's footsteps a bit too well. Well...I just lost an arm, so maybe there's merit to that. On the bright side, I can hear things again. Folks left cards. Some were thoughtful enough to write them in braille.
I feel tired. Exhaustion is not allowed to have its way, because I feel her approach. I hear her before I see her through the Force. The tap tap of her cane on the floor creates a rhythm of its own. I hear her say some words to a nurse outside, then she stands above you.
"Hello, mother. You look...great. I'd hug you...but I only got one arm and you don't like hugs from me." I make an effort to give her a wave. My hand moves way too slowly. I imagine her glaring at me. I'm positive I can feel the glare.
Siobhan Kerrigan does not understand the meaning of humour. Coming from me, at least. "Do act less childish, will you? I see your latest adventures took a toll on you," she remarks. She's got the High Basic clipped, posh tone down pat. There is a pause. Before I can say something, she adds, "I am glad you made it out alive."
"You are?" Alright, that is probably unfair. But while Mother is stern...she is not loveable. Seems to resent my existence in the family. I guess it's because of the other kids. Ran off, turned traitor, went insane. Maybe she's just a bitter grump. Or because I'm the one who's burning Sith. It takes me a moment to realise that I actually blurted this out. Awkward.
"Yes." Oh, now she is really annoyed. "You are my daughter, after all. Even though you do your best to irritate me, shirk responsibility and do not live up to your potential." And I was just about to start liking you, mother.
"Set your psycho girlfriend on fire, how's that for living up to my potential?" I sense confusion. "The one and only Matsu Xiangu. Necromancer Queen? Small lady, packs a huge punch. Ring a bell? You two wrecked a town once."
"You fought her - again," then she reached out and examines my face. The part that is not a mess. It's...weird to see her being tender. "She did this to you." Probably means the lost arm. I feel like I have to start measuring my life in significant maimings.
"Yeah. But, hey, all you need to do is glue a fresh one to my shoulder. And I gave as good as I got. Paid the debt. Set her on fire, roasted her lung. She was...pissed." We were both a complete mess at the end of it. Any goon with a gun could have killed me. Luckily, Natalie was there to drag me away. "Following in your footsteps, Mother. Battling bad guys, getting maimed, landing in hospital."
"You did well."
"Wait...you're prasing me? Are you a shapeshifter? A pod person? And what did you do with my real mother?"
A sigh of pure frustration. "Would it kill you to show some maturity? I am trying to have a serious conversation. You showed bravery and skill in battle and I respect that. She is a very dangerous foe," she huffs.
"Alright, I'm sorry...just joking around. I am, uh, glad you're proud of me. Put your lessons to good use." By cauterising wounds, among other things. Mother made me do that after stabbing me with a vibroblade. Mother's training methods are an OSHA nightmare.
"Now you just need to apply the lessons that do not revolve around the battlefield. Medical should have a cloned arm for you in a couple months." Another pause. "Whilst I'm here, I might as well inform you. After a long period of consideration, Tegaea and I have reached an important decision. It will impact you significantly."
"You're adopting someone else? Wait, you two aren't...breaking up right? Please, you can't break up. If there's something..."
"Be quiet and listen," she snaps, voice like the crack of a whip. She'd love that analogy. "No, we are not breaking up and I am not adopting anyone. In the light of how...poorly things went with your predecessors and the dedication and loyalty you've displayed, we've decided to alter our will and make you majority heiress of House Kerrigan-Alcori."
What?! Oh. Damn.
Before I can say anything, she continues. "This will not alter your status in the Company in any way. You will work your way up just like every employee and be rewarded or penalised based on merit. Nor will you be able to spend our money willy-nilly."
"Look, I get it. I'm the...Fire Princess. But I gotta work for it. Mother...I wouldn't have it any other way, ok? I came from nothing. I just want to be judged on what I do, good and bad. I don't even care about the money. I'm a bit...overwhelmed. Being heiress, is, well...why me? Because I'm the last one standing. Why not...Tempest?"
"Because you're my daughter."
"So are Adril and Livia. Sort of."
"They're children. Children I will raise and educate personally, but children nonetheless. I will not leave my legacy to chance. You've been the cause of much frustration on my part. You've wasted much of your life aimlessly adventuring without a care in the world. But you've always been on the spot when it mattered. Others have come and gone, you stayed. Others have succumbed to cowardice and betrayal, you stayed and fought."
"I...uh...well, I'm honoured, Mother. I promise I won't let you down, Mother."
"It's not an honour, it's a responsibility. There are certain expectations you will have to meet. Once you've been discharged from hospital, you will be enrolled in the Firemane Academy as an Officer Cadet. You have served. It is time for you to leave your comfort zone, learn to lead and understand what Masterhood truly means."
It's cute how you try to be nice...while still being as stern as usual. Anyhow, I nod. "Ok, I'll join the Academy. I'll be part of the Company. I'll visit you as soon as I'm out."
"Good. We're the last Kerrigans, Elpsis. You, Adril, Livia, me. The last ones who count. But Kerrigans are people of a special cut. Whatever stands in our way, we will defeat it." Then she turns around and leaves.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

((This entry is set shortly after the events of Into Darkness))
It is over.
The Grand Inquisitor is dead. All that's left of him is ash and a skeleton.
I've kept his skull. It shall remind of a time when I was...weak. Suffering. Naive.
Someone else's puppet. Never again.
Serene Springs is no more. Only ruins remain. The prisoners have brought their tormentors to justice. The few guards and functionaries that surrendered have been burnt.
They cried about just following orders. We do not accept that excuse. Only Diona was spared. I...could not kill her. She hurt me, but she...protected me. I could not backstab her. And she is so broken inside that death would be a mercy. I push the thought aside. This is just one of many brainwashing camps dotted all across Tephrike. The Dominion of Light still stands strong. The whole planet is one big Nether hell.
"So it is true then?" Rhea asks. "There is life outside of Tephrike."
I turn my gaze to the Rattataki. "Yes," my voice is low. It hurts my throat to raise it. "The Darkness was...harsh. Many died, but life recovered."
"Have you visited many worlds?" Her wods are full of wonder.
"A couple. There's as many as there's sand on a beach. You could spend your life travelling and only visit a fraction."
"Is there a Jedi Order out there? Are they like...the Dominion?"
"There many Jedi orders out there. And they're not like the Dominion."
"You mean they don't oppress innocent people then?"
"No, but they don't anything about oppression either. They'd rather drink tea with Sith and talk about the Light and peace. They're cowards. Their halo is all that matters to them." There is venom on my tongue.
Her aura is fierce. Anger flares inside her. "They should come to Tephrike and experience what we have," she scoffs bitterly. "If they are this weak, they deserve to be punished."
I've learned bits and pieces about her. The Grand Inquisitor made her his personal 'project'. No choice, no freedom. Just a slave for a monster who hid behind a cloak of righteousness. I burnt him from the inside out, and yet I feel his death was too quick.
"Yes, they do," I say quietly. There is silence for a moment, only broken by the roar of the shuttle's engines. "You're free now. You can...go wherever you want. Be whoever you want to be. What do you want, Rhea?" I finally ask out of the blue.
"I..." She falters. The very idea of having a choice sounds foreign. Then the words burst from her tongue like bolts from a repeating blaster. "I want...justice. I want to tear down the Dominion and the Vaderites. I want those who hurt me and mine to get what they deserve. I want to be strong. Will you," the words almost die on her lips, "...will you train me?"
"I...I...I don't know anything about teaching." Something like fear rises inside me. "Firemane has better ones. Experienced ones." Ones who do not see things in the flames or hear voices.
She does not waver. "They're not you," her voice is firm. "They haven't experienced Tephrike. You have. They would not understand." I am silent, so she presses on. She takes my hand. The one that is not missing fingers, fortunately. "I want you. Not Firemane. I don't know them, I don't trust them. I don't want to serve them. So...will you be my teacher?"
"Yes," I say at last. I set her free. I brought her into this strange new world. "I'll teach you all I know. And we will punish the wicked together." Two traumatised, vengeful Tephrike survivors. Scarred, defiled, but not broken. What a pair we make. I cannot tell whether her lips form a smile. My Sight leaves me blind to facial expressions. I can perceive her aura though. It makes me imagine the mirror of a smile. One that promises pain, fire and blood. I'll teach her how to be strong, free and fierce. Siobhan claims that is what she does, but she wants lackeys who stroke her ego, not equals. I shall not be like her.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

All things considered, Diona's cell is not too bad.
There's light in it. It is clean. No loudspeakers droning out non-stop propaganda. There are no rats waiting to gnaw at her.
Unlike the filthy cell the Inquisition put me in.
The one she put me in.
Bile rises in my stomach. I try to suppress it as I cross the threshold and look upon her.
My tormentor, my protector. My enemy...my...comrade?
She is sitting in her energy cage. I figure she is meditating. However, she is alert and rises the moment I enter. For a moment we just stand there. It may be as awkward for her as for me.
"Elpsis," she says.
"Diona." What do I want from her? An apology? A chance to hurt her? Both? Hell if I know. "Enjoying Firemane hospitality? No rats, no lice. No one pouring hot water down your throat or frakking with your mind. No one drowning you."
"I'm sure you'll be inventive if you want retribution." Her tone is almost conversational, and yet she sounds...resigned.
It makes me angry. "You'd deserve it," I snap harshly. "You locked me in that hellhole and let them torture me even though you knew I was innocent. You let them twist my mind until I was a puppet on strings."
She does not waver. "Yes."
"'Yes'? That's it?! That's all you have to say?" For a moment it feels like the ceiling is shaking. The floor beneath my boots trembles.
"I cannot say anything that would satisfy you. I let them do horrible things to you. I have done terrible things to many people. If you want to kill me, you are in your right. But get it over with."
I make a mental gesture and the energy cage shuts down. Then a telekinetic blast slams into her stomach and pushes her against the wall. I am certain she must have suffered a cracked rib. I pin her to the wall. She does look away, or beg. She just stares at me. Resigned. Defiant. Just waiting for me to end her. I hate her for this. I can imagine her bursting into flames. Burning from the inside out.
"I want an explanation." My tone is icy. I can feel the fire burning inside me. "Why? Why did you do it?"
"Because...because I believed it to be my duty," she declares harshly. "I was raised in the Dominion. The Order and my sisters were all I had. They are my family. I was moulded into a warrior. We were assailed by threats - horrible ones. I believed myself to be a shield between them and my people. It has been my lifeI did my duty, or people died. When your Firemane landed, we believed you to be another enemy who had come to assail us."
"But you realised I was innocent..."
"I developed doubts after I touched your mind, yes. And I hated you for making me doubt my cause. Because...because if I was wrong about you, then everything I'd believed in would have been a lie. Everything my sisters and I had fought for. Everything my template fought for. Eventually I could not close my eyes."
"You asked the Grand Inquisitor for permission to go to the frontlines with me. What did you intend to do?"
"Get you away from...us. Bring you back to your people."
"You would have died."
"Undoubtedly. Probably by your hand, or theirs. You might never have been able to snap out of your indoctrination. But it was worth a shot. You deserved it. Death was better than whatever the Grand Inquisitor had in mind."
I take a long breath. "A good deed does not wash out the bad."
"No, it doesn't. I make no apologies for my actions. Nor shall I be craven and beg. So will you take your revenge now? I will not stop you."
"I..."
"Just kill her already. That Jedi worm deserves it." Either my senses are off or Nyssa has gotten better at sneaking. Suddenly she is at my mind, snarling in anger and full of hatred. "She hurt you. She tortured you."
"Sith." Diona's hateful tone matches her revulsion. "This is between Elpsis and me."
"Shut up, Jedi. Elpsis is my friend, and you hurt her. I'm the Sith here and you lot did worse than I've ever done."
"Both of you, shut up. It my decision. Mine alone."
"Then end it. I am ready to die. I don't fear death." No, she does not. She has been ready for a long time.
"No...I won't. I'm not making it that easy. Just as a good deed does not wash out the bad, a bad one does not wash out the good." I take a step closer to her, then another. "I can still feel it. I don’t mean ‘in my tender heart, it still pains me so.’ I can still feel what they did, in my body and soul, standing here, right now. You will live and you will do penance. I won't let you die. You will live with what you did." I release my grip on her, she stumbles, and I turn away.
"Are you out of your mind?" Nyssa thunders. "She's the enemy. After all she did to you, you want to let her go scots free? The moment you turn your back, she'll betray you. She wouldn't show you mercy."
"Mercy?" My laughter is without mirth. It agitates my throat and causes me to cough. "Is that what you call this?" I ask rhetorically once I have calmed down. "Killing is easy. Living with what she's done is worse for her than death. I won't give her an easy way out. Her life is mine alone to take and ending it is too merciful."
The door closed behind us. "Corporal," I beckon the guard on duty to come close. "Has anyone else been there to visit the prisoner?" I demand of her.
"No, ma'am."
"Good. No harm is to come to her. No roughing her up for questioning, no 'punitive measures', no 'enhanced interrogation' are we clear?"
"Uh, ma'am. I don't have the authority. What if..."
I brush the words aside with a wave of my hand. I am a Mistress of the Order. I've shed blood for it. My word has weight. It's time people understood that. Let mother rage all she wants. She has no power over me anymore. No one ever will. Not again. "I don't care if Sergeant Solveig, a Truthseeker or even my mother come down here. She's my responsibility. She helped me escape the camp. She will not be harmed."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

We have left Tephrike behind us. Its orb grows more and more distant. In terms of space, at least. The scars remain. They are etched inside my flesh. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to leave this planet behind me. Maybe one day I shall return.
To set things right? With blood and fire. Or to fail disastrously? Someone has to try. Someone has to be the cleansing flame. In the meantime, there is a promise I have made. I'm not a natural teacher. Probably not a good one either. But it helps me focus on something other than...what happened. I am not weak. I've sent all the people away who could not stop going on about how sorry they are about me being tortured and how happy they are to see me again. Or applauding me for being 'heroic' and stuff.
Rhea is at my side. I cannot see the expression on her face, but if her aura is any indication, I can imagine it. I can feel the wide-eyed wonder as we break through the cloud layer to reveal bright, endless blue sky. I'm leaving. I'm actually leaving. That is what her thoughts bleat out. The blue of the sky peels away to reveal the endless void and myriad stars. "I'm in...space. This is real," she mutters. She turns to me. "There are no abominations in the void?"
"No. Space travel can be dangerous...but normally there are no fiends." Now is not the time to tell her about Otherspace and my run-in with Charon. I watch her as she stares at her homeworld as it grows distant with each passing moment.
"It looks so small from here. Like an island in a big ocean." I smile smightly at that remark of hers. It does not reach my eyes though. The Tygaran natives have a habit of calling space the sky-ocean.
"Every planet is a small part of a larger whole, just like all beings. The Lifeweb connects us all. You cannot see your home from here...but you can feel the life on it from here." I pause for a moment. "And the pain, anger and suffering. Did that monster teach you anything about meditation?"
She shakes her head. I can feel the revulsion rolling off her in waves at the mere mention of that bastard. I was too merciful. "No. He wanted a weapon. Someone he could control. Not someone who could ever threaten him," her tone is laced with bitterness. "He did teach me to track and sense others though."
"That's a start. Up here, you can feel Tephrike around you - and the Force. The ebb and flow of life. The cycle of pain. The scream of despair from the camps and the killing fields, the greed and lies of the Jedi and the Sith. I want you to focus on that."
"How?"
"Close your eyes. Remember what you felt when we thrashed the camp guards - anyone who hurt us. The fires we lit when the cowards who had enjoyed torturing and brainwashing begged for mercy...and we burnt them. The flame burning inside you. Hold on to that feeling and don't let go. Look at Tephrike. Imagine the people who hurt you. Those who suffered with you and still do."
At first she does not quite understand. But then I can feel her reaching out. With her mental walls down, I can catch a glimpse of what she sees. Of the images flashing through her mind. Jumping into a rayon a moment before Sith Stormtroopers open fire on her and other civilians. Of an older woman's body collapsing on her, shielding her from the salvoes. They look so alike. Her mother? I thought there were no families in the Dominion. Of her hiding beneath bodies with bated breath, forcing herself not to cry or make a sound while butchers trample on her. She was only a child.
Of the Grand Inquisitor using her as a tool while feeding her lies about him being a servant of Light. Liars all of them. Of the poverty in the collective farms. Of the absurd monuments and shard towers that dot Nexus City, built upon the backs of brainwashed drones. Of the camps. I can feel the rage coursing through her. It feeds mine. My fingernails dig into my palms.
"I can feel it...this planet. I can feel everything. It hurts. All the pain, despair and lies. All the people. It's too much." She is shaking. Her body trembles. She clutched her head.
"What do you hear?"
Sweat drips down her face. "It's so loud. Like an echo. An echo of the minds of all those who suffered and those who enslaved them."
"Don't turn away from it. You can drown or swim."
"I will not drown. I will not drown. I will ride the wave. I am not weak. Not anymore." She repeats the words again and again, like a mantra. The rage intensifies. The room starts to reveberate under the strain of the power she is drawing upon. Then a blood-curdling shriek emanates from her. Her anger echoes across the room, causing trembles.
But it does not stop at tremours. Lightning courses across her hands and shrieks from her fingertips. Thankfully, there is nothing too important in the viewing port. Bolts of lightning strike the ceiling and the walls. The lights go out, engulfing the room in darkness. Some computers give up the ghost.
"Rhea, come back to me." She does not respond right away. I wince a bit when a bolt slashes me. By now I have a working relationship with pain. I do not feel much of it. "Rhea!" It hurts my throat when I raise my voice.
The lightning ceases after a moment. The trembles take a bit longer. "I'm sorry...I did not mean. I was just so angry," she struggles for words. After having ridden the wave, she looks lost. "Did I hurt you?"
"Don't," I cut her off. "Don't apologise. Don't feel bad. It's natural to feel anger. It's natural to hate injustice. Stoke the fire inside you...but you gotta learn to control it. I can show you how to silence the echo."
"I want to become like you. I want to be strong, and I don't want to be afraid or at someone's mercy anymore. I don't want to be lost anymore. When the Jedi, Sith or anyone else takes something from me, I want to have the power to take it back...and hurt them. They must pay. I want justice. For my parents, for all who died because of the lies of hypocrites and slavers."
I nod curtly. "We will have justice. They think they're all-powerful because of their armies, palaces, and slaves. But the Force - the Lifeweb - is greater than any one person. We're all so small before it." Mother does not understand that. She cannot accept that we are all just part of the web. "When things are at their darkest, draw upon the fire inside you. A simple spark can become a firestorm."
"I'm free, but there are so many people on the planet who are still slaves. We must do something to help them - whatever it takes."
"We will. But if you just charge in right now guns blazing you'll die for nothing."
"But Firemane's leaving, aren't they?" There is a note of challenge in her tone - and disgust. "They can pat themselves on the back and say mission accomplished. They won't bother. And you know what the Guard does to people like us? Lock them up like wild animals."
"No, Firemane won't stay. They won't continue the war." No point in beating around the bush. Or in letting her entertain comfortable delusions masked as hope. "But who said anything about Firemane? It won't be today or tomorrow," I caution her. "But one day."
"One day," she repeats, a bit incredulous. "I want to know how to use a lightsabre and pilot a void ship," she adds after a moment.
"Then l'll show you how." Tephrike vanishes as the blue tunnel of hyperspace swallows the ship.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

"What is this?"
"A training dummy." Stating the obvious, I know.
"I am aware."
"And your first enemey."
"Are you trying to mock me? I have fought in battles. You told me that you would teach me to be strong and fight like you!" I can feel Rhea's irritation. She is probably glaring.
"I did, and I will. First you must learn to control yourself."
"All I need to know is how to smash my enemies and punish those who wronged me," she snarls.
"Power without self-control is like a sword with a hilt. I show you how to swing a lightsabre and and crush people, send you back to Tephrike and point you at the enemy and you'll get yourself killed because you'll just burn out."
"You got not idea what I survived. What I've been through."
The old me would have felt bad about upsetting her. Old me would have been nicer - and in doing so failed Rhea. Old me was soft and weak. That's why the Jedi managed to turn her into their puppet. I am not her anymore. I take a step closer to her, then another. Until we are face to face. "Do you just want to survive or do you want to win? Do you want justice for yourself and your people, or do you just want to throw a tantrum? Because if that's your attitude, I'm wasting my time with you. I can point you at the nearest Jedi or Sith lackey and let nature take its course. Right now you're a mentalist's wet dream. All fury, nothing else. It's the way the Grand Inquisitor wanted you. Do you want him to win?"
I can feel the anger rise in her. "No." Then she relents. "Fine, then show me. What do you want me to do?"
"Give me your sword." After some hesitation, she complies. I take it and give her a blunted one instead. "You need balance. Mind, heart, body. Fury, control. That dummy is our outlet. Pretend it's the Grand Inquisitor, the Sith, anyone who hurt you. Hell, act like it's me if that helps you."
She takes the training sword and walks towards the dummy. She gives it a good swing. "Where did you grow up?"
"What?"
"Tell me about your childhood."
"A collective farm. My parents were farmers. We were very poor. Everything was owned by the Dominion."
"The Dominion treated you poorly?"
"Yes. The headman barely left us anything to eat - and sometimes even less. We got worthless coupons. We had to steal to survive."
"That is the headman. Hit it."
She swings her sword and the dummy shakes.
"What happened to your parents?"
"The Sith...they murdered them!" I can feel her voice almost crack. She forces the tears away." Another strike, with fury and force behind it. Her sparring sword smashes into the dummy.
"Tell me what happened."
"My paternal died fighting the monsters!" she declares hatefully. "The headman ran away. The Sith rounded up all non-humans. My maternal, me and the others were led to a ravine. We had to...line up for our deaths." Another strike. She throws in a furious punch. It smashes into the dummy's head. "They killed her. They murdered them all." The tears flow.
"How did you survive?"
"Before...just before the shooting started, I heard a voice. I threw myself into the ravine. My maternal...my maternal fell on top of me. With her last breath, she told me to live. I tried to be as still as I could. Body after body fell until was buried. I could not breathe...but somehow I did not suffocate. I tried to make myself as small as possible, while Stormtroopers marched on me. When they started burning bodies, I ran into the wilderness."
"That is the Sith who murdered your parents. Hit it." Several more furious hits. "The Dominion found you?" She nods. "What happened then?"
"I was conscripted into a labour unit. We looked after supplies, helped with the wounded, dug trenches. Manned flak cannons when those Sith bastards dropped bombs on villages."
"How did they find out that you have the Force?"
"I choked one of those Sith bastards who got shot down. He was so smug and full of arrogance. Acted like I was little more than dirt beneath his boots because I'm not human."
"Hit him." More.
"So the Jedi conscripted you."
"I wanted justice for my family. For my village."
A thought comes to me from my talks with Mara. "You had a family. The Dominion hates attachments. Everyone's supposed to grow up in a lab. How did they treat you?"
There is an angry gleam in her eyes. "They told me I was impure! That my parents had lived in sin. I hated them for it. For spitting on the people I loved. But I wanted to avenge them and there was no one else."
"That is the Jedi. Hit it." Hit.
"How did the Grand Inquisitor get his paws on you?"
"I took out a Sith bunker, single-handedly. I just wanted to hurt these bastards, no matter what happened to me. I killed them all. Buried my sword into the heart of a witch and broke the Stormies' bodies. He told me I was a hero. That I was special and could be the template of a new line of Jedi warriors. All I had to do was serve him...and denounce my master."
"Your master and him were at odds?"
"She didn't trust him. Told me to stay away from him. I felt she was holding me back. I was...a stupid girl."
"You wanted to be strong. To make a difference. He played on that. But it didn't work out that way, did it?"
I can feel the shame blossom inside her. "He used me. Beat me...humiliated me." I do not press. Even I know not to. "When I defied him, he tore my mind apart."
"This is the Grand Inquisitor." Hit , hit, hit, hit. It is a wild flurry of blows.
"I fought back and ran. But his goons found me and they took me to the camp...the one you were in."
"They hurt you. These are the Inquisitors. Hit it." I wait until the blows cease. It takes a bit. "What happened in the camp?"
"They chained me. Starved me. Worked me to exhaustion in the camp. Violated my mind. By the time they were done, I was broken. I was so pathetic. So damn weak. I thanked him when he took me back." She hacks at the dummy until it is in pieces. until it is in pieces.
"You are not pathetic. You are not weak. You survived hell - and you will put those who hurt you through it," I tell her slowly, intently. "Now go to the next dummy. Any time you strike, tell me who you are punishing."
She goes through half a dozen training dummies. By the time she is finished, they are all in pieces and she is covered in sweat. I can feel the energies of the Force writhe inside her. Her aura is fierce when she tosses the blunted sword away. "I want a real enemy," she declares.
I nod and pick up her sword. Perhaps she expects me to hand it to her. I do - after a fashion. By throwing it across the room. It lands on the floor, and a battle droid steps onto it. Another droid emerges from the other side of the room. Both level their blasters on Rhea. They are, of course, set to stun, but with the pain setting amped up. They also have electrostaffs. A third follows shortly thereafter. "You sink or swim. These are your enemies. Destroy them." They fire salvoes at her, and she throws herself into battle. Her aura is feral. She is like a Cylix. So fast even I have trouble following her.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Three skeletal droids level their blasters at Rhea. Each is in the rapid fire configuration and set on stun with the pain setting amped up. Each unleashes a furious salvoe of blaster bolts. Each droid is in contact with the other, sharing data to coordinate their attacks.
And Rhea leaps into motion. She hurls her blunted sword through the air towards the skull of one of the droids and sprints. In all fairness, to say she sprints does not do it justice. Even I have trouble perceiving her through the Force. She seems to be dropping in and out of it.
She is a blur of motion. A whirlwind. The things she could have done if she had not been a cog in the machinery of a monstrous system.
She is running along the wall as it gets peppered with blaster fire. Then she is on the ceiling. I have never been one for fancy acrobatics. Or any sort of acrobatics, to be honest. She pulls it off though. She's the type who, as cliched as it sounds, makes it look like a dance. It must be draining long-term though.
When she ceases to be a blur, she is behind the droid whose foot is planted on her Force Imbued Sword. The machine has the presence of mind to turn and she blasts its power core with scalding lightning. The droid is pushed back and the Sword leaps into her grasp, glowing with the power of the Force.
I watch as she clashes with the machines. The Force surges through her as she dodges blaster fire or blows from electrostaffs, slashes at limbs and joints. The droids try to surround her and bombard her with a fusillade of fire and here and there a bolt burns her, but they cannot pin her down.
The machines switch gears. One fires a hard sound gun embedded inside its gauntlet. Sonic weapons are a poor man's ysalamiri - and they work. Feels like being hammered in the skull. She is down on the ground, in pain. An electrostaff strikes her, easily knocking aside a clumsy parry.
I can feel her pain. It triggers her fury. A furious roar emanates from her throat. Powerful enough to produce a shockwave. Then she charges. Stun bolts strike her, but she presses on. The last droid smashed into the wall and burnt with lightning before she cuts it down with her blade.
In the end she, she stands atop a heap of broken machines. The air is filled with the scent of burnt metal, electronics and, here and there, flesh. Her aura is red with rage.
She turns to me and yells some sort of war cry I do not understand. Then she charges me. The leg wound has not fully healed yet. Her roar pains my ears. For a moment all I hear is white noise.
She gets in a cut across my face as I dodge. Then she runs into an invisible wall and I knock her across the room. This must have been very bad for one of her ribs. She manages to kick herself off the wall rather than being slammed into it.
Snarling like a beast, she tries to launch herself at me again, but I pin her against the wall. She struggles, but the more she pushes, the more she drains herself and the tighter the chains become.
I push into her mind. She screams loudly, in a mixture of dread, terror and anger. She pushes back hard enough for me to consider backing off. I can see the damage that monster did to her mind. The scars he left when he invaded it without a care for her.
It sickens me - and makes me consider backing off. I resist the urge. Coddling does not help anyone. It is necessary. I will not enslave her like he did. Instead of bring her pain, I incapacitate her. My touch is not a gentle one. She gets dizzy and her head spins.
"I am not your enemy, Rhea." I let go and she collapses onto the floor. Her sword falls to the ground. I take a step forward to her. Then another. "Do you understand now?"
She looks up to me. Her aura shows...acceptance. I stretch out my hand and she takes it. "Yes...Master."
I'll admit there is a part of that does like the way that sounds. I clamp down on it. I am not Mother. I do not need people to throw titles at me. "Just Elpsis."
xxx
We call it quits after a couple more practice sessions. She gulps down a bottle of water, pouring some of its contents on her head and shoulders. "What do you believe in?" she asks out of the blue.
"You mean Force-wise?"
"The Dominion drilled it into my head that there is Light and Dark. That one stands for good, the other for evil. That there is no salvation outside the Light. The Sith are evil - monsters. But the Dominion is no better."
"No, they are not. Your master was a Sith in all but name." Father would have liked him.
"The Jedi taught me anger is unnatural. That all emotions are. But that monster made me feel nothing but anger," she spits his name.
"Nothing is more natural than feeling anger at someone who hurt you. At being furious about oppression. Light, Dark, those are words. Anyone who goes on about how the Dark Side is an evil demon ready to pounce on naughty Jedi is just trying to control you or a fool. Don't get m wrong: there are vile, evil people who deserve nothing but death, but they chose to be that way. The only darkness we have to fear is the one inside us."
Sometimes I really hate it that I cannot see facial expressions. She is quiet for a moment. "Then love is not unnatural either. My love for my family was not wrong."
"Love for family can never be wrong."
"I am done with their lies. The shackles they put on me. But what do you believe?"
"You want to forge your own path. Do you just want to hear about out of a sense of obligation?"
"No. I want to know. The Jedi pushed their beliefs on me without any regard for me and broke their own code at every step of the way. The Sith murdered my kind just because of what we are. You haven't lied to me. What is this Lifeweb you speak of?"
"The Lifeweb is...the cycle of life. The web that connects us all. Imagine it as a fractal design where each leaf reaches to a different destination, but the end result is the same for everyone. It's the divine power that governs the universe - to me. The Force is the energy we all share. The Lifeweb reclaims us all one day."
"Like the Jedi say we all become one with the Force?"
"See, I don't think that's the end. I don't believe everything ends and we just lose our identity and that just a couple people get to live on as Force ghosts. That's elitist. Energy cannot be destroyed. Way I see it, death is another stage on the journey."
I pause for a moment, concerned I might be losing her. But she seems attentive. "We move to a different stage on the web and are reborn. Different body, different species, different realm of existence. Some may go to a lower or higher plane. But no matter how high we rise, we're all small before the Lifeweb. Life, death, rebirth."
She looks up to me. "Then nothing is ever truly gone. I could see them again one day."
It is not rocket science to figure out who she means. "Yes. Maybe not in the same shape as you know them, but yes."
"And the Grand Inquisitor?"
"Many years ago, there was a strange event. People started disappearing by the trillions."
"Oh, so it happened everywhere?" she interrupts. "I sppose that makes sense. It caused great panic in the Dominion. We thought it was the end of days. A machination of the Dark Side."
"It was a mad goddess - Akala. Anyone who disappeared woke up in a cold, dark realm. Filled with tortured ghosts and horrors. I was one of them. I think he's being punished there."
"What makes you sure?"
"Because my father is there and he's a monster. He was so how and mighty in life. Thought he was a god and everyone else was his plaything. So full of cruelty and malice. The when I met him in the Nether he was nothing - and I broke him." The smile does not reach my eyes, but it is there. When we met in hell, I was but the learner. He should meet the new me. I would throw his black soul into the deepest pit of hell.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I am, all things considered, not much of a duellist. I know the basics, I know what's dumb. That's about it. Forms? I've never bothered much. I stick things with the pointy end. It works - mostly. I prefer fire. Nyssa, on the other hand, revels in it. Blade on blade, she is fury, strength and vigour. I suppose it also helps that one of her hands is not missig fingers. And that one of her hands is made of Phrik. I struggle to keep up in melee. "Blade up, Elpsis. Keep it high. Move, don't just wait for me. Slide my attacks weak. You don't have the strength to block them front on, so don't try." Easy for her to say. She sends a storm of blows my way. One almost knocks the lightsabre out of my grasp, another I duck under.
Our twin blades of orange and scarlet crackle and scissor as I parry a strike away. Some I parry, some I manage to dodge. My right knee flares up in pain when her blade misses me by the inches. I pour the Force into it. Pain cannot be allowed to stop me. The Force strengthens my grip on the weapon. For a while, my defence holds. But Nyssa is faster and stronger. Her blade seems to be everywhere. I backpedal, parrying with increasing difficulty. Her crimson blade strikes through my guard, and only a frantic jerk takes my head out of its immediate trajectory. Her blade does kiss my cheekbone though. The sabres are obviously not set to kill. It still burns.
I am soon being pushed back. She comes at me, and her lightsabre kisses my forearm. The zap stings, but after Tephrike I do not really feel it. I could use the Force to smite her, blind her or toss her across the room or do any number of things I am better, but today is not about that. It is about dealing with weakness that got me locked in a cell, beaten and brainwashed. Our dance continues. Our blades clash. Backed into a corner, I hold my ground. I am sweating, and pour more of the Force into my good arm. Our blades lock. She puts pressure on me, using her greater strength. Then suddenly switches off her blade. It unbalances me a bit, and she rams her foot into my bad knee. The one that has yet to steal from the slug that pierced it on Tephrike. Pain shoots through my leg and she hits me in the face with her hilt.
I tumble and fall. I should not be angry. Nyssa is rough in sparring practices - because that's the way she is. The way I want it to be. No sense coddling. But when she hits me hard, my head spins. I see something else. Tephrike. The camp. Jedi. I lash out. A savage scream comes from my throat and an onslaught to match it. Before I know what I'm doing, telekinetic fire sweeps from me and propels her across the room, slamming her into the wall. By the time I come back, she is on the other side, bruised and rolling on the ground to put out a small fire.
I hasten to her. "Nyssa!"
"We said no magic. That's cheating," she grunts, tearing off her ashen robe. "Maybe I'll make a proper Sith Lady out of you, after all." I do not appreciate her jokes.
"You alright?"
"No drama. You hit harder when you blew up my hand."
"I didn't mean..." Sorry, for a moment I had a bad flashback to being in the camps because I'm too weak? Because that's the truth.
"Don't apologise," she cuts me off. "Work on your technique. You can kick my arse with the Force, that's fact. Get better with the blade and you won't need it all the time."
"I could look at your wounds."
"Elpsis, it's fine. Drop it. Call it quits for today."
"Yeah, ok."
"You did better than last time. Give it time and you could be decent at Soresu."
"I will be a lot more than passable." Failure is not an option. A different thought pops into my head. "Nyssa, there's something I'd like to ask you."
There is a gleam in her aura. "How to punish that Jedi who tortured you and stood by while you suffered and who you have not killed yet for some reason?"
"No," my tone brokers no contradiction.
"Because I have some ideas. Back where I come from we had this execution method that involves ash.."
"We've been over this. My decision is final. Diona's fate is mine alone to decide."
"Fine, whatever. Do your it's too merciful to let her die thing. What do you want then?"
"Way back, after we first met, you said I might have the gift for Sith magic."
She pauses. "Yes, I did. I recall you getting angry and saying you wanted nothing to do with the dark arts."
"I didn't. That was before a bunch of Jedi put me through hell. I've realised one thing: the piece of chit who calls himself my father was a monster because of the choices he made. He was evil. I am not. Light, Dark, I don't believe it. I believe in the Force and the Lifeweb. And I want to be ready - for anything that comes." Including him, if his spirit ever gets out of hell.
"Well, I know the basics of it. Ghanima was the Sith sorceress of the family...and she probably hates my guts, if she's even still alive." For a moment there is a flicker in her aura. It feels like...regret, but then it is gone within the blink of an eye. "You know, your mother's Xio fan club can probably teach you more. Not as well as a Pureblood, of course, but still."
"I don't trust mother's fan club. I trust you."
"I will teach you everything I know then. Under one condition: get some frakking rest."
"I'm fine."
"The hell you are. You look like chit."
"I am the judge of that. And I don't want or need anyone to coddle me." My voice gets sharp. "Same time tomorrow. We'll start with sabres, then move to sorcery."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Here we are again. Jailer, torturer, victim, saviour. I hate Diona. I don't hate her. Somehow I keep coming back to her cell and we find ourselves here. Trapped. Her quarters are nicer than mine were. She is not locked into a tiny, squalid cell infested with rats. Or chained and shackled. It is pretty civilised. She seems to be meditating when I enter the room. The collar around her neck is a reminder of her prisoner status. The one I wore collar gave me electrical shocks any time I used the Force. I need to use the Force to see. Hers just blocks her from using it. No pain necessary.
"Hello," she says.
"Hey." I feel lame. "Heard you've been enjoying the amenities of modern technology."
"Your cogitators are a lot faster than ours," she remarks. "Though I find the - what do you call them again? - pop-up windows vexing. They keep spreading propaganda for frivolous products whose value is on lost me."
It's called advertisements. Needless to say her net access is strictly censored. "Welcome to First World problem." The reference seems to be lost on her.
For a moment, there is silence. "Anyone else come here?"
"The Sith came here to glare in a manner she considered threatening and to make various threats before departing." I hate the way she sounds so serene. Maybe she is trying to provoke me.
"That Sith has a name. Start using it." My tone is sharp.
She does not budge. "So do I. She has yet to address me with it."
"Her name is Nyssa Vykaris and she's my friend. A truer one than any Jedi I have met."
"Do you make a habit of befriending Sith?" Her aura shows something like...regret. "I am sorry. That was uncalled for. I do not have a right to judge you."
"Damn right it was. You want to know my feelings on Sith? My father was one. He was a monster and tortured me because he wanted me to be like him. That cell he put me in was like the one you did. Even frakked with my mind. He was just more into pain than anything like rewriting my mind. Only he failed. And when I met him in hell again I broke him." Only now do I realise how much I have raised my voice. I clench and unclench my hands, taking a breath. "When you and your friends locked me up, Nyssa came for me."
"You have endured many horrible things and prevailed over many foes."
"Yeah, whatever. So don't act like you know, or can judge me."
There is silence. "I have been reading up on the Jedi of this Galaxy. It is all...very different from what I imagined."
"Well, they don't turn an entire planet into a slave state and torture people into being brainwashed drones."
"No, but they do not fight evil either. The Sith hold dominion over most of the Galaxy. The Jedi are scattered, weak and focused on debate rather than action."
I actually...agree, despite wanting not to. Not out of any love for Jedi. Damn them all to hell. But simply because I do not want to be on the same page. "Yes, they do. There's two categories of Jedi: ineffectual hippies and self-righteous tyrants."
"I thought learning about the Jedi would show me how to be a true one. That I could unburden myself and atone. But perhaps there is no point in labelling myself as such. I can only make my own beliefs and forge my own path."
"What do you want? Forgiveness?" There is a part of me that wants her to beg for my forgiveness. Go down on her knees and plead. So that I can deny it.
"No."
I am disappointed, but also respect her more. Grudgingly. "Good. The moment you do something good because you want your victims to forgive you, you're not trying to atone. All you want to do is for someone else to take the burden off your shoulder and make you feel better about yourself. You cheapen their suffering, and your own struggle."
"I don't want your forgiveness. You have no right to it. If you offered it, I would say no. I want Tephrike to be free and at peace. I want for my sisters not to be pawns in power plays. I want to...do something right before I meet my end, be it at your hands of my victim or in battle. What do you want?"
What do I want?
I waver. I am angry with myself for hesitating. I am Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori, daughter of Tegaea and Siobhan. A Kerrigan-Alcori does not show weakness.
I want to punish her. I should.
I want to...understand her.
Be with my family. Burn those who tormented me and the other prisoners - and who continue to do so to the people still on the planet.
And who made her...this. I should forget about Tephrike. Cut the bonds tying me to it. But I cannot. It is a part of me now.
I look away. My emotions are put on a leash. My face is a mask. "I will not turn my back on the people you helped torture," I say coldly. Ice encases my heart.
"If you were to fight for them...my blade would be yours."
I turn my gaze back to her. "I don't want you. I don't need you." Then I leave.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Light, Dark. Those are words that allow people to break the Galaxy into good and evil, to categorise virtue and vice. There is the angel on your shoulder, and the devil. It's all too simple. Commit atrocities, blame it on an external demon you had no control over. But there is no naughty demon that will pounce on you if you stray from the one true code.
There is temptation. There are evil spirits, just as there are benign ones. But the only darkness I have to fear is the one inside my heart. I suppose my birth mother would disapprove of my choices, but I do not care. As for my father, by all rights he should be in the lowest pit of hell and be reborn as a cockroach. If he manages to claw his way out of hell, I should have some surprises for him.
When I brought Nyssa to Firemane, many thought it was a ploy. That she was just waiting for a stance to stick a knife between my ribs. I'll admit, I suspected the same. I've been in her head, after all. Maybe it was her plan at first. But somewhere along the lines, she changed. Showing her mercy was the right thing. I won't lie. Nyssa is...rough. She is crude, arrogant and xenophobic. But she's never pretended to be anything else. Never fed me anything other than the unfiltered truth. She's always been there when it mattered.
So here we are in a forest. "Blame that whiny Togruta brat for holding me up," Nyssa huffs when she shows. It has been a while. "Silly brat just turned eighteen, and thinks she's the next chosen one. Not that the original one was worth anything, but I digress."
"Let me guess, you left her in tears."
"And bruises. Princess Padawan needs a thicker skin. And some practical wardrobe advice."
It's one of those days. "What's her name?"
"Something pompous and forgettable, no doubt."
I suppres a sigh. "Nyssa, you really should remember the names of your students."
"I'll remember them when it turns out they're worth my time. Maybe you should tell your mother to assign trainees to me that don't live in fairy tale land."
"I'm afraid the day Siobhan takes instructions from me is the day you turn into a champion of equality and become a pacifist." I cannot see a death glare, but I am certain it is there. "Besides, I'm dead certain she assigns the most 'difficult' students to you because she thinks you're good at breaking them in."
"If it goes on like this, I may break them."
"Nyssa, you will not be breaking any students, Togruta or otherwise. No matter how annoying they are. Beating down naive trainees is no fun for because it is no challenge and a victory without challenges is worthless, isn't it?" Sometimes, I pay attention to her speechifying.
"I know what you're doing," she grunts. "Fine, whatever. You know what, why don't you take over the academy? You could do it. Knock some sense into those little brats. Besides, they all read Blasters and Blades and guess who just got a big article?"
I am not sure how I feel about that. Never wanted fame or cared about it. "How nice to know. Anyway, let's get started."
"Good. Come over here. You can help set things up."
"Set things up?"
"It's sorcery. The heritage of my people. The way we commune with our ancestors and the Darkness. If you want to learn it, you're going to do it properly." With that she puts down a large duffel bag. I join her and that rummaging through it. "Be careful with that," she warns when I pick out what seems like a small statue. "The statue of the great Typhojem has been with my family for generations."
"Fair enough." There is also a dagger, some crystals and bones, among other things. 'I examine all the items while she uses the dagger to draw a circle in the soil, taking care to be precise. "Never saw any of this stuff when that swine who calls himself my father was doing sorcery," I comment.
"That's because he wasn't doing it right," Nyssa grunts. "He didn't share our blood. He wasn't raised in our culture. So all he saw was something he could steal to lift himself on the shoulders of giants. Figures he did not appreciate any of it."
That...kind of resonates with me. "Everything to him was just a tool to make himself feel mighty - or a plaything to torment. He was a monster."
"And you've already become far greater than he'd ever be. Through victory, your chains were broken."
I raise an eyebrow. "I'm no history buff, but I'm quite certain that line comes from the code of Dark Jedi who conquered your people."
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Or a Jen'jidai," she grunts. She places the statue in the middle and sits down. It feels completely mundane to me. I join her. We spread out the bones and prepare some incense sticks. "Light these candles. In this circle, a pathway will be built as you open yourself to the Darkness. The fire within you. In time, you will have to learn our language. For now, I will say the words and you will repeat them. Instead of filling your head with emptiness, you will bask in the Dark. It will challenge you to test your worthiness."
My mind wills the candles to be ignited. Flames across my face. "I understand. And I appreciate you sharing this with me. I know your heritage means a lot to you," I say and I mean it. "I'm ready."
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Take the dagger, cut your hand, let the blood drip into the bowl. A crystal is inside it. " Without hesitation, I take dagger in hand. When I run a finger across it, I can feel engravings it. There is a power that emanates from it. The blades slices across the palm of my hand. Droplets of blood fall into the bowl. There is no way I'm going to get used to cutting myself.
Nyssa cuts her hand as well. I can feel the power building up inside her, growing in intensity. Her hands move in complex patterns and I try to follow. She begins to chant. At first she speaks in a hushed tone. The language sounds dark and guttural. A cold shiver runs down my spine. But I do not turn away. I am not the little girl that ran away from her monster of her father, from the Jedi and the Force. I am different now. Stronger. I join her chant. The ancient words do not roll easily off my tongue. Doubtless I am getting the pronunciation wrong. But my voices grows in strength. Nyssa's aura glows blood red. I can feel the Force surging through me.
Nyssa takes my hand. I can see. But the landscape is different. The crystal drinks in dark red blood. For some reason, my small cut itches. The smell of incense fills my nostrils. Is it just me, or am I feeling a lot colder? The chirping of the birds is distorted. Screams and wails fill the air, building up to a deafening chorus. Dark clouds have formed in the sky. There is no light save for the candles. It is very cold. The eyes of Typhojem glow with a fierce, crimson light. Now he no longer feels mundane to me. I can feel power radiate from him.
Tendrils of blackness suddenly sprout from the ground. I wince when one grabs me, then another. I struggle, but they only tighten. They are chilling to the bone. It is so very cold. "Nyssa..."
"Don't fight it. This is you. This is all you. Embrace it." Her words are almost drowned out by cruel, mocking laughter. I know that voice. I know him. Anger and rage course through me, stoking a fire. I grab ahold of one of the tendrils, seizing it with an ethereal hand. I feel a biting cold. My hand looks like it is rotting before my eyes, but I hold on. I pull the power into me. I will make it mine. It is drawn into me. I feel a rush, bigger than any I have felt before. The tendrils coalesce, morphing into a cloud.
I grab the mass of dark power. My heart thumps inside my chest. I breath in deeply. But then the darkness forces itself into my mouth. My body trembles. I try to expel it, but I falter. It forces itself down. I feel like I am freezing up inside. Something cold reaches inside me, further and further down my throat. My face itches like it is not my own. Fear grips me like a vice. My whole body shakes.
I feel like I am drowning in the dark currents.
Swallowed by the void.
My thoughts flash back to being drowned by the Inquisitors. I struggle to breathe, as I am dragged down. I fight, but they are too strong. The pressure is too heavy, weighing me down. Water floods my lungs. I am suffocating.
I will not drown.
I overcame this. I am stronger than this.
I embrace the void.
I remember how I burnt the Grand Inquisitor.
I remember the monster's screams.
I remember how good it felt to watch him burn.
I see a skeleton and ashes.
And myself wreathed in flames.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I am starting to understand why Mother grumbles so much about needing a cane. My bad leg has yet to fully heal. The doctors say I am lucky to walk at all. They also say I should take it easy, sit down and let nature take its course. I cannot take it slow. When I am idle, I am dragged back to the camp. I am left alone with my thoughts and trapped in my memories. I can't look back. I can't be weak. I cannot be a prisoner again.
This corridor of the Destiny is mercifully free of crowds. I do not want to feel anyone's pity anymore than hear their applause. My feet take me to the room I'm told Natalie and Mara have set up shop in. Natalie is a friend. We have not talked much about her past, but she understands. She suffered under Sith, too. But she took her life back and made them pay. She stood with me against Matsu Xiangu. She came for me. I'm told that Mara helped. Mara, the first Tephriki I met. Sweet Mara who was raised to believe the Dominion was good and noble. As I enter the room I can hear voices inside. It bring a thin smile to my lips. It does not reach my eyes.
"Where are your cables? And your plugs?" That is Mara. She sounds a bit mystified.
"We don't use any." Natalie is deadpan as ever.
"You jest surely. How do you get anything done on these...tiny devices. There's not even a keyboard."
"And yours are so big they take up an entire room. How do you even move?"
"I worked on the most modern cogitators in all of Tephrike."
"And now it's time for you to move on from antiquity and join the rest of us." Natalie produces a datapad. Welcome to the world of tiny, wireless computers, Mara.
Mara takes in hand. "Are you telling me this little thing has the same processing power as a cogitator? That is...Elpsis!" she suddenly exclaims when she notices.
"Hey." Natalie says, but Mara has already gotten up and rushed to me. "Hey. Good to see you," I say, but she has already grabbed me.
She does not mean anything ill by it. She is happy to see me. I should hug her back. I should not be thinking of iron chains and shackles, of Inquisitors and drowning. I push her back. My body trembles.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean," she stammers. I feel horrible.
"It's ok, it's fine," I try to soothe her. My hands clench and unclench. I am better than this. I am not weak. "Just got tender ribs." It's not quite a lie. "It's good to see you."
"Don't sweat it, Mara," Natalie interjects. "Nice to see you back on your feet. Thought the doctors would keep you locked up anothe week."
"They wanted to. I left," I shrug. "I, uh, wanted to thank you both for all you did."
"I didn't really do much," Mara says self-deprecatingly. "I helped decipher some codes and..."
"You helped me find the camp, girl. Don't sell yourself short," Natalie interrupts.
"I also told Elpsis that Firemane should negotiate with the Dominion. I thought the Grandmaster was a good man and that this would help my people. I was foolish."
"It's hard to see a machine for what it is when you've been raised in it," Natalie says. "You know the truth now."
Maybe it had to happen this way. I do not voice that thought, but I cannot help had to think to my dream. Is the Red Lady real? Or is she just a figment of my imagination? Is this the future that had to happen? I shake it off. I can't dwell on what ifs.
"Mara, I don't hold a grudge against you, ok?" I think she nods. "Good. What have you two been up to?"
"Natalie has been teaching me about how your cogitators work. It is strange, but exciting. They are so small, but extremely fast."
"She's a fast learner. May be better than some of your best techs soon."
"You flatter me. I hope I can catch up soon. I want to contribute."
"You staying with Firemane then?" I ask. The more we talk about her, the less we talk about me and the camp, which is good. "You don't have a master anymore, Mara. You're free to do what you want."
"I...you saved me. It's a debt I can't repay, but I'll try. I'd like to see the Galaxy. See the worlds you told me about with my own eyes. But I also want to help my people. There are many who still suffer."
"Last I heard, Firemane's pulling out," Natalie remarks. "That deal with the Guard's still valid?"
"Yeah, Mother's gonna send them weapons and advisors and get resources in return." I guess Siobhan needs to get something out of an exploration mission that went so horribly wrong.
"I understand it's not my place to judge...but I do not trust the Republican Guard," Mara speaks up. "They blow up civilians without a care and they have Vong abominations. I've seen what happened to Padawans they get in their grasp."
"Seems like the lesser evil to me. Besides, can you blame them?" Natalie argues.
"I lost friends to them," Mara counters. "If they win the war, who is to say they do not reopen the camps to put in their enemies? Their hatred for Force-Users runs deep."
"They'd have to win the war first," I state. "Firemane doesn't want to get bogged down. Last I heard, the Dominion's got a new leader. That Battlemaster woman. You know anything about her?"
"Battlemaster Mahtara. She is...old and of the same species as Grandmaster Yoda. It is said that she has been around since before the Great Darkness. She has led the Dominion to victory in many battles. She is also ruthless. Many soldiers adore her," Mara responds.
"That Kel Dor Jedi who met Tempest at the camp gates claimed he was sent by her. Said she didn't want the war, not that it matters much now," Natalie adds.
"Evil, female Yoda. Lovely." My sarcasm is strong. "The Dominion just got leadership that doesn't suck, they might have become more dangerous now."
"Sometimes when you kill the supervillain all you manage to do is have someone smarter take his place. Life's not a holodrama where the bad guys are beaten without loss and everything turns shiny and happy." I can tell Natalie is speaking from experience.
"Stupid do-gooders don't get that." I do not hide the bitterness in my tone. "Too busy attending conclaves and holding hands with Sith."
An awkward silence falls upon us. It is eventually broken by Natalie. "Hey, Mara, do they have any booze where you come from?"
"Booze? Oh, you mean liquor. Intoxication is...officially discouraged. It can lead to sin. It is still available, unofficially."
"Ever partaken in sin?"
"A few times, maybe."
"Well, time for you to sin a bit more." With that Natalie gets up, fetches a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. "There, that's real spirits." She pours the glasses and sits down. "To the dead."
"To the prisoners of Serene Springs," I speak.
"To those who are still chained by oppressors," Mara adds. Our glasses clink nicely together.
"I'm thinking about going back." Natalie says after a moment. "Take out bounties on Jedi and Sith. Blow up their nice little temples."
In a way...it is liberating to hear that someone feels the same way as me. "I'm not done with Tephrike yet. One person can't win a war or wave a magic wand and set things right, but I gotta go back. Show them what it's like to be helpless and afraid. I'm not gonna let Rhea face them alone. Frak the Jedi, frak the Sith, frak anyone who puts innocents in chains."
"I'd help you. I'm no fighter, but I can help out with tech, I know a bit about cryptography and I'm familiar with Dominion security protocols. These are my people. I cannot let them remain as blind as I was," Mara affirms.
My vacant, milky-white eyes meet Natalie's blue ones. The gaze is hard and determined. I can feel the fire rising in me. "I have a trust fund." Not done much with it, beyond donating to some charities - orphanages and schools for war orphans and former slaves, wildlife conservation on Dahomey and Tygara.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Of all places, Sio's office is not one I want to be in. But I have to. She's the one who pulls the strings. Tegs can promise me this or that, but Sio can always take it away. "Elpsis, I'm pleased to see you recovered from your ordeal."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Sit down, daughter."
I'd prefer not to just because, but my leg won't let me get away with being stubborn and I guess childish. So I do. "Brought you the head of the Grand Inquisitor. Wanna see?" Without waiting for a response, I fish it out of my backpack and put it on her desk. "Nyssa alchemised it for me. I'm gonna hold on to it." To remember when I was weak.
She seems to examine his skull. "I hope he suffered."
"He did. I burnt him to ash."
"Good. Then the debt is paid. That vile man deserved all he got and worse." Then she is all business again. "You saved the lives of Firemane personnel and overcame a horrible ordeal...and you disobeyed a direct order from your mother and commanding officer. She told you to remain on the Scarlet."
"What do you want? An apology? What would you have done? I did what I had to do...and I'd do it again. If I'd stayed, her delegation would've been slaughtered and you know it. "
"Perhaps they would have been, perhaps not."
"What would you have done if they had?"
"I would have retaliated accordingly," she says darkly. Maybe the Red Lady was right. "Your intent was noble, but that is no excuse. Soldiers who disobey orders are court-martialled - and rightly so. If everyone does what they think is right because they believe they know better than their superiors, the whole organisation falls apart and people die."
I'm getting tired of this. "Mother, if you want to punish me for doing the right thing, go ahead. I didn't do anything you wouldn't have done before you got a crown."
I'm certain there's a glare. "Mind your tone, girl. Perhaps you should reflect on your actions a bit and be more appreciative of the sacrifices Firemane made for you. We went to war for you. Many soldiers lost their lives so that you can sit here."
The image I see is that of the soldier I murdered. My right hand clenches. I take a breath, trying to reply as calmly as possible. "I appreciate it. I'll meet with their families, write letters, donate. Won't be enough to repay it, but yeah. You did more for me than any of my past mothers. But I'm not an object to be pushed around. So what happens now? The Dominion still stands tall. So do the Vaderites."
"Indeed. So do many barbaric regimes across the Galaxy. The only difference is that this one had the temerity to betray us and do harm to my daughter. People suffer and die every day. The debt has been paid. We're not here to fight the Tephriki's war for them or teach them how to govern themselves."
"So we're leaving them."
"It's not our job to play galactic cop. Frankly, it's beyond our means. I'm not throwing millions of credits down the drain and sending Firemane soldiers to die on some damn fool's crusade. The Tephriki who came with us have been given a chance. We can send them back with resources to continue their fight for freedom or resettle them on a safe world, where they can heal from their ordeal and live their lives as free people. Since Firemane needs to get something out of this whole affair, we'll be selling weapons to the Republican Guard in return for resources. I would even be willing to dispatch advisors. I'm considering setting up a base on one of the planet's moons."
"Seems like you got it all figured out."
"Spare me the sarcasm, girl. It's unbecoming of you. This brings me to your situation. You're the legacy of the family and I will not have it go to waste on frivolous adventuring. You will go to Arkas. There you will take up a position under our local resident and learn the tools of the trade. It's time you familiarised yourself with the family business. Then I will assign you to a suitable department."
I knew this would happen. I hate her tone. So assured that I will do what she wants. "I'll go to Arkas," I say after a moment.
"Good. Then..."
"On my own terms."
Her aura shows her irritation. She is vexed. Her tone is sharp. "You are my daughter and a soldier of Firemane. You do not get to dictate terms. Certainly not after all your family has done for you. When you receive an order, you do your duty like any good soldier," she snaps.
The words just burst from my mouth. "Remember when you had that stroke? I saved your life. When you had your big fight with Matsu and both of you lay near death in the ruins, I recovered your broken body. Time and again, I've risked my life for this damn company. I've bled for it. Yet both you and Tegs assume I should just nod and do whatever you say. Now I don't expect love from you. Or affection. You adopted me because Tegs wanted it, fine. But I'm done doing anything more until you listen." She wants to get a word in, but I don't let her.
"I will go to Arkas - to help the refugees settle in. I know them - the ones from Serene Springs at least. And they trust me more than folks they don't know. I will help them get organised and show them how to defend themselves. And I won't abandon those who want to go back to kick the Jedi and the Sith in the teeth." All this talking is exhausting. My voice has risen, and my throat burns. I take slow, long breaths. "I don't want to inherit Firemane. Never did. Probably wouldn't be any good at it anyway. I could run the Order though - one day."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I cannot read her expression. But I'm quite certain it's a glare. Her aura certainly reminds me of a glacier. Still, I press on. No time to get wobbly, as Mother is fond of saying for some reason. "Look, Mother. You don't like me, I get it. Truth be told, I don't like you much be either. But let's be honest, you don't want me to run Firemane. Can you imagine me sitting in a board room going over profit margins or chit-chatting with prissy nobles at fancy balls? That's not me. You know what's me? Being out in the field. I want to protect people, not make decisions in an ivory tower. can fight. I can teach. And I want to lead the Order in the field one day. Pick someone who'll actually be good at running things on high. And I'll protect them." Damn, that was a lot of talking. My throat is very unhappy with me.
"This is what you want?" she says after her a while. Her tone is chilly. Not hostile. I hope. But I hold her gaze. I will not flinch.
"Yes." This is like pulling teeth sometimes.
"Done."
Wait, what? "Really?"
"Last I heard, you were blind, not hard of hearing."
Mother, that's ableist. I do my best to swallow the snark. "So...you're letting me. For real. Mother..."
"Please spare me the sentimentality. It's too embarrassing," she cuts me off. I can vaguely see her wave her hand. "You will renounce all claims to leadership of House Kerrigan-Alcori and Firemane Industries."
What is this, a feudal dynasty? "Yes, Mother."
"Swear it. By the gods, the Force, Great Green...or whatever it is you pray to." You'd know if you ever bothered to ask me about my beliefs, Mother.
"The Lifeweb, Mother," I sigh in exasperation.
"Yes, whatever," she responds dismissively. "Swear it. You will not contest the succession. You will defend the family and follow the family head."
"I've never been anything but loyal to the family, Mother." There is an edge to my voice. Sharp enough to cut.
"You have," she concedes after a moment. "But nonetheless."
"I swear it. By the Lifeweb and the Red Lady, on my honour as a warrior." It is done. I am free. As free as I can be. There will be strings. There always are. But I do not care. I've found my place.
"Good." She gets to her feet and walks to the drinking cabinet. She pours herself a glass, then one for me. I accept it with my good hand. "Livia and Adril are good girls. But they are very young and innocent. I hope to keep them that way a while longer, but the Galaxy is not kind to the innocent. They will have to grow up and learn to be strong sooner than any of us would want," she says after sitting down. Her tone is almost...melancholic. "They look up to you. When I'm gone, it will fall to you to protect them."
I...do not know what to say. "Mother...don't talk like this. You're not old. You still have many decades ahead of you."
"You never fawned, Elpsis. Don't start now."
"I wasn't fawning. You..."
"Had a stroke not so long ago. I survived, but no one is immortal. Death comes to us all sooner or later. Your body goes to the worms and all that's left are memories and your legacy. I'm in this world a while longer to defend House Kerrigan-Alcori. To defend my family." She leans back in her chair and takes a sip from her glass.
"I will do anything I can to defend the family, Mother. I would die for it if needed. I won't let anything happens to my sisters or Mum."
"Be mindful of this when the days are darkest. The time will come when your duty to your family requires you to do abhorrent things. You will curse yourself for making the decision, you will hate it. But you will have to overcome your inhibitions and do your duty."
"Yes, Mother." My voice is quiet. "Triumph over adversity." Those are our words. I swallow the wine. It is a bit too sweet for me.
"Triumph over adversity," she repeats. "Brigadier Varkathras will continue to supervise your training. You will show her every respect and obey her orders. Firetruth will be making a holodocumentary of the Tephrike campaign. You will appear on it briefly to answer your questions. The journalist is handpicked."
It is a good thing my glass is back on the desk. "And I suppose you want me to answer questions the right away." There is a bit of an edge to my voice. For a moment, my mind is elsewhere. I see a Firemane pilot, pleading for her life. Danita Barek. A comrade. And I murder her.
No, Roxane did.
But it was my hand on the trigger.
I am Roxane.
I killed her.
"You want to be an officer. A leader. Someone who can lead and inspire. You will be the face of the Order's youth. And for your new role, there are some matters best left unmentioned. Tegaea assigned you to the escort. You nobly defended the delegation and sacrificed yourself for them. You were captured by the Dominion, brutally tortured and subjected to brainwashing, but you managed to break your chains and destroy your tormentors, leading a successful prisoners' revolt. That is what you will say, and it will become the truth."
I sigh. "And the woman I murdered..."
"Lieutenant Barek's family will be looked after."
"Alright. I'll do it."
"One matter remains. Your Jedi prisoner."
"She's no threat."
"She aided and abetted your torture."
"And helped me."
"You're too close in more ways than one to analyse this rationally. Don't think I haven't taken note of your constant visits to her."
"Oh, I'm quite certain you've recorded everything and got a bunch of transcripts in your desk." I cannot help the snark.
"You two gravitate to each other in unhealthy ways."
"Because we understand each other," I snap. "Sort of. She hurt me. And I have not forgiven her. Doubt I ever will. She also helped me. I won't allow her to suffer or rot in some mine. I want her to make amends. So does she. If she shows any sign of playing us false, I'll kill her myself. Look, just put her to work. Slap a nullifier on her, let everyone know what she did, but don't ill-treat her. I can keep her in check."
"I considered assigning a Truthseeker, but I have decided that Leonina will assess the case and deliver a verdict. She's trustworthy. Dependable."
"I want to be able to present my point of view to her. Yes, I am close...but I also know Diona."
"You may," she says after a moment. "And you will abide by her decision."
"Yes." Leonina is fair. She is better than a Truthseeker would be.
"Good. Then we understand each other. You're dismissed." I get to my feet, suppressing a wince when my bad leg flares in pain. It's just pain. "By the way, Elpsis," Mother says when I'm about to cross the threshold, "I do expect granddaughters at some point."
"Mother..."
"The family line must continue. I'd suggest adopting in due time."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

On first sight Arkas is like a paradise. Clear sky, clean blue seas, white sandy beaches, beautiful islands. The population is small enough to keep civilisation from devouring nature. You gotta watch out for the storms, but still. It's the perfect place to find some peace. Appearances can be deceiving. Not so long ago it was a haven for pirates - and not the kind who do anything except being piratical. Never liked how Holowood romanticises them. There's nothing noble or dashing about scum like that. They built their profits on the backs of slaves, silver and Najim.
Wroshan Base was one of their strongholds. Till the Eldorai drove 'em out. The base has been abandoned and the slaves freed, but they still left their mark. Which makes it the ideal place for some training. It also houses a volcano. Which we are currently inside of. The blazing heat does not seem to bother Rhea much. Being a Rattataki, she is probably used to it. The lava seems to make her uncomfortable. The volcano has been inactive for centuries.
"The Force is not a power you have. Or a tool," I explain. "It's not about lifting rocks, throwing fireballs or mind controlling people. "It's the energy we all share. The Lifeweb binds us through it. It's life, it's balance. This energy passes on with us when we return to the Lifeweb."
She nods curtly. "There is only one Force. No Light or Dark."
"Not in the way the Jedi claim to. There are evil spirits, demons and so on...but the darkness that makes us do evil is our own. Not some entity that pounces on naughty Jedi who don't follow a code that has changed whenever it was politically convenient."
"It was all lies. All that talk about the one true code."
"You won't believe it, but there are Jedi who say you should hug Sith instead of fight them. Because violence is wrong and your own personal halo matters more than innocent lives."
"Oh, I know all about those," she snorts. I am surprised. "Tephrike has a small sect of them. They live in the Ruhewald and consume mushrooms."
"How the frak do these idiots survive?"
"Mother Nature does the killing for them. And they sell 'happy pills'."
"The Vaderites are their customers."
"And the Dominion," she pauses for a moment. "The Grand Inquisitor...he...made me take them sometimes," she admits, speaking haltingly. She shakes her head, as if trying to banish an awful memory. "He would have done the same to you."
I grip her shoulder tight. "He's dead, and in hell where he belongs," I growl. I was too merciful. "And those wacko Jedi belong there with him for enabling evil."
"Jedi Sith. It's just two sides of the same coin. I wish I could stand before them now, and make them answer for all the pain their lies and hypocrisies have caused."
"Me too. Channel that feeling into action now. We can't change the past. But we can use the terrible things that happened to us to rise above them." Time to get back on track. I need to work on not getting sidetracked. "Close your eyes." She does so obediently. She trusts me. Looks up to me. I cannot fail her. "Breathe. Now reach out." Fortunately, she understands that I don't mean literally reach out. It would be really cringey if she stretched out her hand and I had to smack it with a leaf.
"Breathe," I repeat, as her hand touches the stone she sitting on. "Breathe. It's just you, and the Force all around you. Listen to the flow of the lava, the howl of the wind, the ocean, the chirping of the birds outside. All life is connected. Reach out with your feelings and touch the web."
She is deep in concentration. I can hear her steady breathing. It is not easy for her. She struggles to stay calm, but she tries. "What do you feel?" I ask.
"The island. Life," she says calmly. "Death. Decay that feeds new life. Warm, cold. Peace. Violence."
"And between it all?"
"Balance," she says, almost in trance. "Energy. A web."
"And inside you?"
"That same energy."
"You see, all life is connected. We're all part of something greater. Just a small piece of a tapestry. The Force doesn't belong to the Jedi or the Sith, me or anyone else. Can you feel that?"
"There's something else. I hear an echo." Her voice grows agitated.
"Face it. What does it say?"
"It tells me of pain, fire and blood. It's so loud." She clenches her fists. Her body trembles. "It's calling me." Rocks have started tumbling down. A nearby rock bursts into dozens of fragments. Lava rises up from the lake and eats away at the land we stand upon.
"Rhea, come back!" I push against the flood. My shield surrounds us. The lava recedes and the land beneath us begins to float.
She awakens from her trance, panting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."
"What did you see?
"People were held in chains. They suffered. They cried out for justice. But no one heard. What is this place?"
"It used to be a slaver base. Pirates worked their chattel to death."
She breathes in deeply. "Did they get what they deserved?"
"Yeah, they burnt. Before my time."
"When I heard the echo, it was like drowning in fire and blood. I felt strong...yet helpless. How do I get control over this?" she waves her hand around. "I want to burn the wicked. I want to make my oppressors pay. But I don't want to drown in it."
"You know the answer."
She takes a moment. "Balance. I must find balance in myself."
"Yes." I stretch out my hand. A small flame forms inside its open palm. "There's a fire inside you."
"Fire can warm and burn," she says.
"The first step to civilisation was taming it."
"Fury, yet calm."
"Wrath, yet kindness." The piece of land beneath our feet floats across the fiery lake. Lava brushes against it.
[background=Be the eye in the storm, sweeping all before you but remaining at the focal point of it. Be the storm[i], [/i]t be thrown by it. Alright, but how do you suggest I do that? When I get angry I can't control it, but I can't use it unless I'm angry!"
[background="There's no one-size fits all recipe. First of all, you have to believe you can control it. That your the mistress, and not the slave. You have a short fuse." I can feel she is annoyed by that. Whatever.
[background=I carry on. "Statement of fact. We both have. But you control the blast. Meditate. It will help you find that calm centre where you can hear the Lifeweb. Keep your anger close to you, let it fuel you when you need it. You want to be the thermic lance. Precise and deadly, not the time bomb. There will be moments when you absolutely have to let loose without hesitation or mercy. And always remember what you're fighting for. You're a defender of the people, a punisher of oppressors."
[background="Not an oppressor. I seek power to do justice," she finishes, then looks around. "We should jump."
[background=The lava is indeed getting close. "Go." She is a lot more agile and acrobatic than me. In a blur, she has somersaulted and reached the mainland. My bad leg would kill me if I tried that. So I let myself be raised and float. My feet touch down on the ground. "There is a time for contemplation and one for action. You're full of energy. Let's put it to use."
[background=She seems a bit...uncertain. "Here?"
[background="I won't let you fall," I assure her.
[background="That's reassuring. But actually I was worried about you falling." She's getting cheeky. I like cheeky.
[background="We'll see about that..." even as the words leave my lips, she is channelling the Force. Lightning shrieks from her hands towards me. Some strikes me. Some of it is absorbed as it crawls over me, the rest burns. [/font]
[background=I swim in the pain and raise a rock. It earths the blast. Then it blows up when she ramps up the lightning. I send the fragments flying towards her. Some she dodges, others she deflects, others strike her, cutting her with small wounds. Pain only seems to make her grow in strength. Fire and lightning meet as we channel our powers.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Time flies, or so they say. I'll be returning to duty soon. Colonel - or rather Brigadier - Varkathras will be 'evaluating' me. I hate the word. I hate waiting. At least it's not Mother doing it. Work allows me to focus. Work allows me to forget. If I look back, I am lost. The sun has not risen yet, but I am up and about. Sleep has been difficult. Sometimes it takes me back.
My path takes me to the garden. Save for a guard, the only other occupant is Diona. Ironic, I had to weed the garden of the concentration camp. Just after being brainwashed. Then I murdered a Firemane officer. I still see her face in dreams. Hear her voice, pleading with me to help her and break my conditioning.
I was too weak...
Weak.
Weak.
I clench my fists. I cannot be weak.
Old me was weak.
I am not.
The garden is pristinely weeded. The heady aroma of freshly cut grass fills the air. Diona is covered in dirt and sweat, but her aura is peaceful. She's wearing a collar that inhibits her ability to use the Force, of course.
"Hey," I say. It is the lamest greeting ever.
"Hey." At least hers is no better. She seems to look me up and down. "It is early. You should be resting."
"I don't recall you being the boss of me," I retort caustically.
"No, I am not," she admits. "But I am right nonetheless." She continues cutting weeds.
"You should finish up and hit the sack yourself. You can get the rest done later."
"I shall be finished soon. I find the work soothing. It is peaceful here. It gives me time for introspection. Face things I keep pushing away."
Like being complicit in murder and torture, I think. The words are on my lips. They are about to leap from my tongue, but I do not. I should not give a damn about her feelings. "I'm sure you have lots of those."
"Yes, many regrets."
For a while we are both silent. The only noise is caused by the wind and her clipping and cutting. Finally I have had enough. "I'm returning to active duty. I'll be training apprentices and helping the refugees settle in." I do not quite know why I bother tell her.
"I see. You'll be good at it. You're brave and you've got a good heart."
I...do not know how to respond to that. "Your case is being reviewed," I say instead. "High command will be sendig someone to question you."
"And they will be asking you for an opinion, I imagine."
"What happens isn't my decision, and even if it were..."
"I am not so craven or foolish to ask you to speak out in my favour," she cuts me off.
"Good. And for frak's sake, cut this 'I'm at peace with whatever the frak happens' bullchit," my throat burns as I raise my voice. I'm too irritated to care. "What do you want?"
"I told you. A chance to do some good. To do some things right before I become one with the Force."
"You think that will wipe the red from the ledger?"
"No. But it is not about wiping it away. Or making myself feel better by telling myself that I need no longer loathe myself. It is about doing the right thing - at last. Scorn me for it, if you will. But it is the truth."
My fists are clenched tightly. I take a breath. "That plant's dead," I point to it with a finger from the hand that got maimed while fighting her boss. His skull is on my desk.
"It can grow again."
"Add it to the pile."
"All it needs is a nudge. You told me that. When you toiled in the garden."
"The brainwashed drone that was using my body after you and your friends turned me into your puppets said that," I snap. The fire is rising inside me. I can feel it burning her. Beckoning to me. Demanding I strike.
She does not flinch. "In that moment, it was you talking."
"And that me is dead. She was weak."
"She was stronger than you think. She forced me to stop being blind."
"And you killed her. You and your friends. Go." When she does not leave immediately, I repeat it more forcefully. "Go!" Slowly she gets up. Diona picks up the bags of weed and clipping and departs. The guard leaves with her. I stay there alone, standing above the flowering plants and shrubs.
I breathe in deeply, trying to control the fury inside me. It takes a while. My throat burns. I draw upon the Force to control the pain. I am about to turn, then I look upon the flower. I bend down and touch it with my hand. Life returns to it and it blooms again.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I suppose I am sounding like a broken record, but I hate needing a cane to walk. The annoying tap, tap every time it touches the floor. The feeling of being dependent, of not being whole. I plain hate it. It cannot be helped. I will overcome. There is no try.
Two months have passed since Tephrike, and yet it still feels like days. But I can walk and touch the Force again. I'm back in Firemane uniform. Olive green, with the OOF symbol on my chest. The uniform coat feels stiff. It is new, so it needs to be worn in to get more comfortable. Feels like thick velvet and has too many fiddly buttons. I still need help getting into it. One of my hands is missing too many fingers. Whatever, I'll overcome. It's pressed to perfection, and my boots shine. I finally reach the Colonel's office. Or rather the Brigadier's.
Leonina is decent. Tough, but fair. Does not judge me on the basis of who my mothers are. I can't help feel nervous though.I push that thought aside as violently as I can. Nervousness is unbecoming of a Kerrigan. A quick knock, and I'm let in. Leonina seems to be up and about, watering her plants. The scent of the flowers helps set me at ease.
“Officer Cadet Alcori reporting for duty, ma'am,“ I salute formally, as a soldier does. It is not quite bone-cracking efficiency, but whatever. Contrary to some, I can actually take protocol seriously. I just don't bother with the bullchit. “I guess congratulations are in order. I'd click my heels and all that, but my leg won't allow it.“
“Spare that for the parades. Sit down, Ms Alcori. Welcome back to active service, she responds.
“Thanks, ma'am. I'm happy to be back. Been going stir-crazy in hospital.“
“Don't take what you went through lightly. You'll be kept out of combat for a while, pending full physical recovery and evaluation. If there's anything the Order can do to assist you, we're here to help.“
I don't want help. I don't need help. I am not weak, no matter what Mother says. I take a breath. “I appreciate that, ma'am, but all I wanna do is get back to work instead of lazing around or bleating my heart out to someone. I'm fine.“
She is not having any of it. “If I got a credit any time a soldier who went through hell told me they're fine and I should just give them a gun and point them at the nearest enemy, I could quit my job and retire to a tropical island.“
I cannot quite resist snarking. “Arkas has some nice ones, ma'am. But seriously I am fine."
“You've probably drilled that so thoroughly into your thick skull that you actually believe it. One of the pitfalls of the tough queen persona the corps cultivates is that everyone feels like they're failing in some way if they don't live up to it day in, day out. I suppose it's even harder when you're the boss' daughter.“
I am getting very annoyed. This has nothing to do with Mother. Nothing. I open my mouth. The words are on my lips, but she waves her hand. I fall silent, and she continues. “Which is why you'll get counselling and go through a full psych evaluation.“
More people who want to poke and prod me. More people who will go yap to Mother. “No offence, ma'am, but I'm not eager to have a shrink poke through my mind."
"Not a shrink, just someone you can talk about your experience with without fear of being judged. I won't know what you tell her.“
“And my mother?“
“Even the Lady Kerrigan's power ends at the doctor's order. I can't have you return to the front lines unless you're fully recovered and able to lead. Do you understand?“
I suppress a sigh. I want to get back to work. I have to. And if I have to go through this nonsense...“Yes, ma'am.
“Good. You saved a lot of good people on Tephrike. Their families will be grateful. You also went behind your superiors' back.“
“I did what I thought was right. If I hadn't gone planetside, our delegation might have been slaughtered. I suffered...but I don't regret it. If I'm supposed to be punished for that, I'll accept it, but I won't apologise.
“If I wanted to, you'd out of uniform and not in this building. Why did you go down there?
This is new. “I felt there was danger. I just, uh, I knew I had to be there, or bad things would happen."
"If you had communicated things better, perhaps all the unpleasantness afterwards could have been avoided. Poor communication kills.
“Yes, but we may not have had the time."
“Perhaps. I will not be punishing you for it. That would be idiotic after what you went through. There always comes a time when doing the right thing is not clear-cut and we're left with a host of bad options and have to pick one. But I expect discipline. Like it or not, you've made a name for yourself in the Order. Not because of who your mothers are, but for yourself. Trainees look up to you. Now, you can stay on the level of a simple grunt who happens to have the powers of a Master, and let you take orders from any junior officer or NCO. But think that would be a waste of your talents.“
This is very new. Mother says similar, but it's always accompanied by her making me feel like a disappointment for not living up to her precious legacy. Mum is nicer...but she'll pick Mother's side in the end. I don't want to run anymore. I'm a Mistress. Time to act the part. The Lifeweb and the Red Lady have brought me this far for a reason. There must be a meaning for the hell I went through.
“I won't lie. Responsibility is something that doesn't come easy to me. I've been scared of it. But it's something I want now. I want to contribute. I want to do more for the order, and there's so much I can do at the bottom. I'm aware there's...a lot of stuff I've got to learn about leading, but it's what I want.“
“Good, then we understand each other. We recently got a batch of new acolytes. Plus several of our new Tephriki friends are Force-users, but their level of training varies a lot. You'll help educate them.“ With that Leonina gets up. She reaches for something. Even without physical eyesight, I know what it is. She walks over to me. “Lieutenant Alcori." Then she places the insignia on my shoulder.
I feel...proud. Happy. “I won't disappoint you, ma'am.“ My words are so fervent to surprise even me.
“I'm not concerned that you will. Only that you will burn yourself out in your fixation not to disappoint. None of us are perfect, Lieutenant. From the strongest Mistress to the lowliest Acolyte. Doing your duty as a soldier is about making the poor bastard on the other side day, not going out in a blaze of glory. Now, to business...

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I'll admit, I'm not good with sums. Maths was never one of my strong points. But I'm quite certain that all the food being served at the banquet could feed a ton of starving people. I reckon there will be many leftovers. Hopefully they won't go to waste. I'm not holding my breath with a crowd like this though. The grand hall is packed with diplomats, nobles and hangers-on. If I was not blind already, I'd probably be blinded by all the gems and lights. Everyone is dressed to the nines. Coiffed and perfumed. I'm surprised I'm not suffocating. My mothers have no trouble mingling, shaking hands with Countess This and Duchess That. I'm already fed up.
"What you went through is truly dreadful," Duchess That is saying. "Words do not suffice to express my revulsion." Yet she does it anyway.
"I appreciate your words," I say stiffly. What I want to say is: I can do without your false sympathy. Mother told me to be nice. "But it's behind me. It doesn't define me."
"You were so brave to free yourself from the grip of these barbarians. Hopefully it will teach them a lesson. This is what happens when the wrong sort of people are given authority. People from the gutter..."
"I am from the gutter, as a matter of fact. So are my mothers," I cut her off. Mother may get mad. Or not. Sometimes she hates aristos. Sometimes she does her best to out-aristo them.
"Oh," I can vaguely perceive her hand going to her mouth, "I was not speaking about you of course, dear. Or about your dear mothers. Just the..."
"Wrong sort of people."
She seems taken aback, but regains her composure. "Yes, precisely. No matter, your example is an inspiration, truly. You will convey my offer to Lady Kerrigan, will you not? In such trying times, it would be wise to strengthen the bonds between our houses."
"Sure I will," I mutter. What was her offer again? Who cares. I cannot get away from her quickly enough. I run into Natalie along the way. She seems to be doing better.
"Mingling?" she asks. "Nice dress. Green suits you."
"Don't you start. Haven't seen such a collection of shallowness and stupidity in a long time. How many of these people have ever done an honest day's work? Or even made their own bed?"
"Careful. Some of them may be petitioning your mothers this very moment to marry you to one of their daughters."
It feels like something vile is on my tongue. "And then I tell them to frak off. Fortunately, I'm not the heiress anymore. Good luck to whoever gets that 'honour'."
"I could think of many who'd kill for it. And get killed by it," she remarks. A servant passes by and refills her glass. I take the chance to help myself to some liquor. It makes this ridiculous event a bit more bearable. I look at the parade of nobles, business moghuls and generals.
"One bigwig after another. All strutting around like they own the world. All stuck in one place. Imagine if someone smuggled in a bomb. Think of the fallout."
Natalie seems to shake her head. "Every rebel's wet dream. Smuggle in some Detonite to a gathering of whichever grandees you think are the oppressors you want to topple. Boom. They're dead. Only nine times out of ten, it never works that way. Too well-protected, too big a fish. So you go after the targets you can. Sometimes you can take out their top minions. Security chiefs, officers, scientists and so on. Sometimes you abduct their loved ones and hold them for ransom. Most of the time, it's low-level administrators, security cops, common soldiers. Or completely innocent people who just happened to step on the roadside bomb you laid. People who toil in a factory that churns out their war machines are put on the street when you blow the place sky-high or close it down by airing their boss' dirty laundry. You want those in power to crack down so hard that people run into your arms even as you're wrecking their livelihood."
It is dark and grim...but the truth. She does not surgarcoat. The cold truth is refreshing. I would rather have it than comfortable lies. "It's what you did," I say. My voice is low. There is no judgement. "They leave that out of the holodramas and newsreels."
"Find me a rebel whose hands are clean and I'll tell you they're pure as white snow because someone else did the dirty work so that they could get a medal and smile at holocameras. The underground is a world of sleepless nights, numbed by liquor, filled with backstabbers and four-faced liars. Half the time, your enemy is not 'the Man', but the rebel who's not wearing your colours. You lie to friends, lovers, yourself. Story of my life," she sips her drink. "Does this bother you?" she looks me straight in the eye.
"I guess it should," I admit. "Once upon a time...it would have. But that me died a long time ago. War's not a song. People say rebellions are built on hope. That's true...but they're fought with ferocity and resolve, not empty words. And you came for me when I needed you. I'd rather have someone like that at my back than some fools who want to play hero and drop me the moment I need them because their halo might be in danger."
"When I was a kid, the Jedi filled my head with stories about how the noble heroes take down or redeem the villains like it's a leisurely stroll through the park. Then when I needed help they dropped me because I didn't fit into their neat box. Hell, every Jedi I've known has disappointed me. I know two types: fools with their head in the clouds who wanna hug Sith, and fanatics who are Sith in all but name." I'm ranting, but it feels good let to loose. I shake my head. "The world would be better off without Jedi and Sith."
"It would be," Natalie agrees. "But that would take more slugs and more Detonite than we could possibly acquire in both of our lifetimes," our glasses clink together. I down most of mine in one go. There's a big commotion up ahead. Judging by the noise, Mother is being called upon to give a speech or something. She loves doing that. I love missing them. My vacant eyes meet Natalie's. Gently she takes my hand hand and leads me away. "Let's go." Somewhere private.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

((Thanks to Six-O for suggesting the idea and helping with this a lot.))
I have not been able to see the normal way ever since that reactor went nova on Omega. I do not see faces or facial expressions anymore. Instead, I see auras and shapes. Things like machines are hard to perceive. I can see through walls. I cannot read text unless it's in braille. I don't really know what many of my friends actually look like. And there are people where I used to know, but am starting to forget.
In my dreams and visions...I can actually see. But it's gotten harder over time. Things get blurry. This time..it is different. I do not see. I hear, feel and taste. There's death all around me. Everything is bloody and chaotic, yet so clear. The cries of war can be heard in every direction. The stroke of the unsettling wind blows over and above me by the sudden blast of an explosive. Grit and muck paints my face and violently rustles my hair.
I feel the sensation of my bare feet as I step in blood drenched mud. I see nothing, but know exactly where I must slog forward. I hear the call signs of soldiers being shouted across the battlefield, only to be drowned out by the staccato of slugthrowers, the hum of lightsabres and whine of blasters. I hear steel clash with steel. The earth trembles as bombs fall. Nature's agony can be felt through the Force. I stumble and fall as the ground shakes. My hand touches something very soft and comes back covered in sticky blood.
There is so much death and agony. It rings like the cry of demons and banshees. Utter anguish. But I cannot pull away. There is the sudden stab of heat, as hot ozone of a discharged blaster bolt rips narrowly past my face. So close that I can feel the heat. My eyes are wide and blind to all that's going on. But what my eyes cannot see, my mind cannot pull away from. It does not allow me to be look away. To blot the mayhem out.
All around me, men and women are being slaughtered. They fall to slugs, they are ripped apart by explosions or are cut down in melee. I raise my voice. I try to shout. Nothing comes out. They do not hear. I hear them. Thunder boombs overhead. Lightning strikes and men are electrocuted. A thousand voices shout, scream and howl. They speak in Basic, Zandri, Dahomian, Xio and in dozens of other languages I cannot place.
Rain pours down from the sky. I'm soaked. I hear the cries of the wounded before they are silenced forever. Tanks rumble across the battlefield, accompanied by thundering steps of Cataphracts in power armour. Each time their cannons fire, it sounds like thunder. Each shot is like a fist to the ear. A dropship taking off, full of wounded judging from the noise, is ripped apart by an explosion. Gunships roar through the air. Tanks go up in smoke. Dust, fire and smoke rises up, filling the air. I struggle to breathe.
Amidst the roar of automatic weapons, I hear the cries of children. Younglings. They charge. Driven into battle by madme. I can taste their fear and terror...but they have no choice. I try to scream. To use the Force. To do...Something. It's all futile. They charge to their deaths â€" and die. I feel everything. The taste of the mud and blood covered soil beneath my feet, the coppery taste of blood on my lips. The smell of smoke that chokes me and burns me to my very soul. The shouts of squads, the buzz of comm-traffic, the roar of engines that make me tremble from my head all the way to my sinking feet.
A thousand broken bodies are strewn across the battlefield. The stink of death floods my nose. So strong I feel sick. I am knee-deep in blood. I smell the blood. I taste it. The guns have fallen silent. I wake up in my my bed, covered in cold sweat, trembling.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

I could have delegated this. When she ordered me to pass the sentence, Mother did not specifiy that I actually had to do it myself. Most of the time she leaves it to firing squads and hangmen. The comparison is probably kinda unfair because if she handled every single execution herself, she would never get anything else done. I am not Mother though. I don't have a business to run.
Killing used to...trouble me a lot. I had to do it by necessity from when I was young to survive. The sin pits of Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa go not reward gentleness. When I became a soldier, battlefields were hell. I am an empath. I feel others' emotions. Their fear, their anger, their pain.
Sometimes being in crowds or surrounded by people dying around me caused me to freeze and double over with headaches. I hardened myself. I learned to shield myself. It became easier. Then came Tephrike. When I broke free from my chains, I only felt anger. Those camp guards and minions who made the prisoners and me suffer deserved what they got.
A room has been set aside on the Arx. A small crowd has gathered. Officers and comrades of the soon to be executed prisoner. Siobhan is there, though they give her a wide berth. She says nothing. There is nothing to say.
Regina was once a Jedi. She came to us recently after all the hurly-bully over in the Core. She seemed a good girl. Then we found out that she was consorting with a Sith. Her lover. She collaborated. She betrayed state secrets to her friends and put lives in danger. She betrayed her comrades. We do not forgive that. I do not forgive that. But I don't enjoy this.
She understood the consequences of her actions. Two soldiers lead her out. She has, I've been told, stripped of her uniform and forced into a gray jumpsuit used for common criminals. Her hands have been cuffed and her feet shackled. A nullifying collar keeps her from using the Force. Her comrades watch on. I can feel a mixture of disdain, anger, shock and regret.
The signal comes once she has reached the designated spot and I step forward. I can feel her anger...but also fear. A guard forces her down so that she kneels. My eyes lock with hers. "Regina, you've been accused and sentenced to death for treason, subversion and conspiracy," I recite the words. It's all part of the script.
"Acolyte Regina, the military tribunal of the Firemane armed forces has passed your sentence, death. May it go down as a warning to anyone who would think to betray Firemane or the people under its protection, regardless of their rank or position." I pause before adding, "may you choose better in your next life." If the Lifeweb is real, she should experience the lowest form of rebirth. It's what traitors deserve. "Do you have anything to say?"
She spits. "Go to hell."
I wipe the spittle away with my hand. I retrieve Inferno from my belt. The lightsabre's yellow blade springs to life with a snap-hiss. One of my hands is still missing some fingers. Holding it is awkward. I call upon the Force to compensate. Mental fingers strengthen my grip on the weapon and make sure it is firm in my grasp.
I lift Inferno above my head. For a moment it is shaky. I drink from the well of the Force to tighten my grip. I won't flinch - and I won't botch the job and make her suffer for it. Then Inferno comes crashing down. I take off her head with one stroke.
The smell of ozone and cauterised flesh fills my nostrils. There is no blood where lightsabres are involved. It gives the illusion of cleanness. But stand close enough, and you smell cooked flesh. There is nothing clean about killing. The head hits the floor. I halt it before it can roll. I heard once that the brain can live on for a bit after beheading. I hope that ain't true. There is silence in the crowd.
I feel numb. But I don't feel bad about it. I switch off Inferno and put it back on my belt.
"An execution is never pleasant. Killing someone in hot blood on the battlefield is one thing, a cold-blooded execution another. But these are the choices a leader needs to make." Mother is at my side. "Your method was a bit theatrical," she comments because she can never stop lecturing, even when a corpse is being wrapped up in front of us. She pats me on the shoulder. "But you did well."
I don't want praise. "It's my way. If I kill someone, I owe it to them to look them in the eye." Then I walk away.
"Dispose of the body," I hear her say behind me. "Cast it into space."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

((Written in response to this, as Coryth Elaris was Elpsis' IC mother)).
She's gone.
I don't know how she died. Or where. All I know is...mum's dead. Coryth is gone. We barely know each other. After how much she'd suffered at the hands of the bastard who'd infected her with poison, she could not raise me.
So shortly after being born, I was adopted by the Kallikoras, then sent off to the Jedi Temple when they decided looking after a child that got headaches from being around crowds was too much of a hassle.
It's funny. She was a Jedi. We might have passed each other in the Temple without even noticing. In fact, I'm dead certain that my smuggling crew once boarded her ship and stole stuff. Story of our lives. Passing each other, always in reach...but never close.
Now she's gone.
The tears fall.
We met years later. After I'd...had a reunion with the monster who call himself my father. After I ran away from the order, and Siobhan killed him. For a while...we were family. I took her name. We clicked together.
Then she disappeared. I searched for her. I was mad. I could not keep myself from fearing she'd abandoned me. That I was not good enough. I was selfish.
I wish we'd...had more time together. That I'd done more to get to know her. Now she's gone. No do-overs, no second chances. Maybe in our next life.
I hear noise coming from outside the bushes. Boots on the grass. I try to compose myself. It does not work. It is Siobhan. "Hey, you just ran off during the middle of a report."
"She's gone." Despite my best efforts, my voice cracks. "Mum's gone."
I cannot see her puzzlement, but I can sense it. "Elpsis, I was on the holocom with Tegs a couple minutes ago.
"Not her, Coryth." I bite back a sob.
"Oh," she pauses. "I'm..sorry."
"I barely knew her. Took the Kerrigan-Alcori name when I lost her. Now she's gone. I betrayed her. I should have looked for her more. I should have..."
"Elpsis, stop right there." Her tone is sharp. Like the crack of a whip. "You betrayed no one. You're a brave girl and if she were here...she'd be proud of you. She's dead. Nothing can change that. She lives on in you. Honour her in your actions."
I'm too stricken with grief to process the fact that Mother's trying to be nice to me. "I just...I wish I'd done more. That I'd gotten to know her better...that she'd still be here."
"Yes," she says after a moment. "I loved her, too. We had our differences...Personally, ideologically. But she was one hell of a woman."
"She was."
"Putting you on leave."
"I don't..."
"Yes, you do, and that's an order." Her tone brooks no contradiction. "I went stir-crazy after Adril died. So if you need to hit something or someone..."
Just...just hold me." I do not expect her to do. I feel like an idiot. Stupid and weak. A moment later she hugs me.

 

[Darth Libertas]

My late, not really great and thoroughly unlamented Master had a throne. It was a big, rocky and spiked thing. Impractically huge, to be honest. I suppose it helped puff up her ego if she was able tower over everyone. For the same reason, she was fond of projecting an enormous hologram of herself when contacting her minions. I make do with a simple chair. It is sturdy, well-built and easily transported without needing a crew of workers. "My Lord," Nur Jahan says, standing to perfect attention. Few Mon Calamari, to my knowledge, become Sith. It is certainly not the typical image. But we like to subvert expectations.

I face her. Standing or sitting with my back turned to her might look more dramatic, but it would be silly. "Apprentice, you have what I sought?" It is not phrased like a question. Not that I would choke her in a fit of pique if she did not. Not without a very good reason at any rate.
"Yes, Master."
"You never cease to meet my expectations, Nur."
"I aim to excel, my Lord." She inclined her head slightly, but does not bow. My Master liked it when her servitors went down on bended knee before her. She confused the reality of power with its trappings.
I arise and hold out my hand. "Were there difficulties?"
"There was rot. I exploited it." She is not much of a conversationalist. That is fine. I talk enough for the both of us. But she has endured great hardship. It is such dire circumstances that forge strong beings. Many cannot pass through the crucible, but rare individuals emerge stronger. She places the data stick into the palm of my right hand. Once it was flesh and bone, now it is Phrik and circuitry. Shedding the flesh has made me stronger in some ways, weakther in others. But I am no longer distracted by concerns of the body. I can focus fully on the mission.

Accessing the device, I browse the data. "Kerrigan's security arrangements and itinerary for her trip to Dahomey," Nur Jahan says.
"Inspection, pleasure cruise and good-will tour all rolled into one," I remark. "She will receive the homage of her vassals, accept their tribute and probably fornicate a good deal." It is not a weakness exclusive to her, of course. The old Jedi were fools, but they had a point when they instituted chastity. Look at the Sith and Jedi of today. Debauching all the time. They waste their energies on carnal pleasures. It depletes their mental faculties. Passion is far more than wanton craving for the pleasures of the flesh. Control over oneself is everything. Without it, we are chained by our appetites.

"She's just another rich human bigwig." The disdain is palpable in Nur's tone.
"She's an interesting figure. She came from the gutter, then rose to the top in a frenzied dash for power. She is incredibly powerful...and like many who come from nothing and then find themselves at the peak, she gourges herself, cloaking herself in silks, pomp and majesty." Millions have flocked to this so-called 'queen of fire', trading their choice for the security she offers them and a chance to bask in her glory. They have raised her on a pedestal and hailed her as the 'Karishzar'. But the moment an icon shows cracks, those who praise it the loudest can turn into the most fervent apostates.
"Why we do care?"
"I do recall you being very eager to get back at the great and good. The leeches of society. Have you lost your appetite, my friend? "
"Never. But we don't have the resources to take on Firemane." The moment the words leave her lips, she regrets them. "Not that I am..."

I brush them aside with a wave. "If I wanted a drone, I would purchase one of Enyo's automatons. You're a Sith, not a simpering creature fearful of opening its mouth, let its tongue be cut out because its owner does not the like words leaping from it."
"Yes, Master."
"I have no grudge against Kerrigan, but I would not mind seeing the pyramid she stands upon being thrown into disarray. Moreover, a former student of mine has considerable interest in her."
Recognition dawns upon her features. "Darth Soteria."
"A powerful figure as well. Whilst Kerrigan basks in luxury and adoration, Soteria has embraced the primal ferocity of the jungle. Of passion and fury, she has learned much. Of control? Far less."

I suppose the error also lay with me. Converts tend to become the greatest fanatics. She was indoctrinated into the Light of the Jedi, so when she embraced the desk, she plunged head-first into it. We Sith fulfil a vital purpose. We serve Nature's purpose by culling the herd, but no greater purpose is served when we wipe it out and burn the forest down.

"Leonina Varkathras, Soteria's former Padawan, serves Kerrigan. Soteria always wanted her at her side. Like a mother wants a daughter to follow in her footsteps." Leonina rejected us both when we tried to open her eyes. Her defiance was frustrating...and yet I respect her for it. It was a foolish choice that has continued to tie her people who will not let her develop the full extent of her potential, but a choice.

Nur catches up. "You wish to lure her to Kerrigan."
"It will be a test for both of them when the two forces of nature collide. We cannot approach Soteria directly, but I know a broker she has dealings with. Some doctored footage might not go amiss. If Soteria is led to believe that Leonina is there, she may make a move."
"She will realise she's been set up," Nur points out.
"Of course. Perhaps she will even trace it back to me. But when she finds herself facing the woman who 'denied' her Cathar 'daughter' to her, will she slink away? I think not. Not when Kerrigan has her guard down and is without her legions. Soteria is a predator. She craves to test herself against the greatest game in order to prove her superiority. She can send a message, and lure her ex-apprentice to her. And Kerrigan thinks herself a battle goddess."There are no god-queens or, for that matter, god-kings in this universe. Just the eternal struggle. If Kerrigan dies, Firemane will be after Soteria. If Soteria perishes, I get rid of a thorn in my side and Kerrigan will not emerge unscathed, mentally or physically, after being ambushed in her domain.

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen."
"It is, Master?"
I shrug my heavy, metal shoulder. The servos hum. "I'm putting two dragons in a room to see who comes out on top and then I will exploit it down the line. But should things proceed in a manner I want, I will naturally have a monologue prepared about how everything was part of my grand plan. It will be a good monologue. The best."