Leave No Stone Unturned (Kaida)

[Elayne Saedaris]

- Citadel of Dawn -

Elayne was sitting in her bunk in the Citadel, having been stationed at the Citadel for a while now. Truthfully she felt more at home here, than she had anywhere else on Kaeshana. So much stone in which she could draw power from, relate to, it was her element. It was her home. Sitting there, she was idly flipping through an issue of Ashira's Angels.

Her comlink startled her from her thoughts as she was reading an article on the proper way to do a natural Eldorai look with makeup. Not that it truly interested her. She was just there for the pictures after all. None the less, she had instructions to meet another for training. A one named [member="Kaida Taldir"]. One Elayne had met before, but alas ... the redhead found her to be a little, too serious for her tastes the last time they had worked alongside each other. With that thought in mind, she quickly got dressed and headed up to the main floor of the Citadel to meet with her new trainer.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"]



The Citadel of Dawn was a truly majestic fortification. Built deep into the mountains of Kaeshana that overlooked the capital city of Santaissa, it stood there as a towering, vigilant guardian against those who wished the Eldorai ill. Mighty Tempest cannons were ranged into the sky, able to blast even capital ships out of orbit. Angelii and soldiers from the regular Eldorai army were stationed here on a rotational basis and it was considered a rather prestigious assignment.


Seraph Kaida Taldir, needless to say, did not much care about that. The common assumption about her was she was too serious and did not know how to have fun. Far as she was concerned this meant that she was focused on her job. Frivolous pleasures could come later. If you did not want to completely dedicate yourself to a task, then you might as well not try at all.


Elayne would find Kaida standing outside, a bit further up in the mountains, for the Angelii had been inspecting the heavy guns and turrets of the base. Seraph was an officer rank that roughly equated to Major in a human army, for she had been promoted recently. She still carried herself as ramrod straight as ever. There was a bit of a wind going on and so a mildly strong breeze would flow her way.


"Talon," Kaida said in greeting. And that was it, no 'how are you', or 'you're looking good'. It was simly not needed, so she did not bother. Talon was the Eldorai equivalent of Sergeant. "You've been assigned to me for specialised training. State your past combat experience and skills with weapons and Sciia." Obviously Kaida knew Elayne had skill in aeromancy, but she was asking for what she knew beyond that and how far she had progressed in that art.

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

As Elayne came up to Kaida, she quickly saluted the woman. "Seraph Taldir. Yes ma'am, that was my understanding from the message I received." Spoken confidently, as she returned to her normal stance. For all the seriousness of Kaida, did slightly irritate her but she said nothing on the matter for there was a job at hand to do.

"I served under Silaqui, in the civil war. And again against the dark Eldorai in the more recent uprising. I was also assigned to the Kar'zun reservation for several years." She sighed heavily, for Elayne knew too well the reason she had not advanced in rank was due to the bond she gained between her and the stone people. She felt for them, understood them more than anyone else.

Another sigh followed for her skills with weapons were a little lacking. "I've only recently come into the new Firemane weapons, recently learning how to handle a bolter. I have extensive experience with our old weapons - the Sarix and Sarzmigar are my favored weapons.. "

Her thoughts drifted to Sciia, and the powers she gained through the force. "I'm a skilled terramancer. I can grasp a target with stone and earth pinning them in place. I can create shockwaves in the ground to knock a target from their feet. If I truly focus I can create small earthquakes. I'm working to further that ability into large quakes to effect larger areas and buildings. I can throw shards of stone at extreme speeds to pierce an opponent like a slug or knife would depending on the stone I get a hold of. And I've been working another skill, turning my skin into something akin to stone to protect me from attacks, and negate some damage but that I will admit is not perfect ma'am. It takes a lot of my focus and power to do right now, but I'm sure it will get better in time." Another sigh came and went as she knew she'd be scrutinized here and now for her abilities and her lack there of. It was never a pleasant thing to deal with.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"]


Kaida seemed to sense Elayne's slight irritation, but made no comment. It was not that the Seraph was antisocial, well, actually she was, though this probably tied in with an underlying insecurity and awkwardness when it came to social situation. However, she was a superior officer and thus acted the part. It was ironic that Kaida was probably far more moral than Kerrigan, but also conversely a good deal less personable.



So she looked as serious as usual, her blonde hair tied back into a severe ponytail as the breeze of a wind came their way. "Good. You'll improve in time. Training is about testing and pushing your limits. The sarix and the sarzmigar have great value and should not be neglected. The bolter and its variants are among the best ranged weapons available. We may face situations where our Sciia is not available to us."


Since Elayne had these fancy elf ears, it would be quite likely that over the howl of the wind she would hear the click-clacking of metal foosteps on the rocky ground, especially since she was so attuned to the stone.


"Summon your stone shield." That was all, no further encouragement, no more warning than that. But then far as Kaida was concerned, the woman ought to know the drill given her experience, so it was not done out of meanness. Fun fact, part of Kaida actually sort of liked her. Carefully reading between the lines of Elayne's files had indicated that the woman had been back for promotion and training partially because of her empathy for the Kar'zun. As someone who had been forced into exile for having a mind of her own, Kaida could sympathise. However, Elayne would have very little before the droids levelled their guns at her. Stun bolts be pumped out and fly her way.

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

"Yes, ma'am." Feeling a little nervousness rising within her. Having someone observe always brought a tenseness out in her, fear of failure and so on. "I haven't allowed my skills in either to slip in practice sessions. They are skills that must be maintained at the highest of levels." She nodded slowly, "Of course, I'll work more closer with the bolter in future sessions." Just let that not be today, no need to suck today in front of the new boss lady.

If the truth be told, it was the resonating sensation that ran through her feet and into her chest that warned of the droids coming, placing Elayne on edge instantly as her keen eyes started to scan for the opponents instantly. It was only after that feeling had started that she could pick up on the clinking noises on the winds.

Elayne didn't need further instruction beyond the simple command. The battle was coming to meet her very soon and she had only a few moments to fully prepare herself. Drawing upon her power, pulling at the strands of infinite power, she drew it within herself and soon the force tingled along her skin. Only a second passed before her skin paled, turning a greyish color as it hardened.

Though this was not without it's own complications for the process was rather uncomfortable to begin with but further more it limited her movements. There would be no quick actions from her in her current state but that did not leave her without her Sciia.

As the droids came upon her, stun bolts flying .... The one thing she didn't like particularly about her abilities was the slowness in which it took to enact anything. One such stun bolt hit squarely against her shoulder by no harm came to her save a mild tingling. How annoying.... The singular thought in her head as she momentarily glanced down. In truth she'd never really tested the ability against a droid, only against a sparing partner and the results did not end well.

It was then that with a small motion of her fingers she splintered a nearby boulder, lifting shards from it and launched them into the incoming droids. Keen eyes watched as they ripped through critical systems, and most of the droids fell to the ground. Slightly annoyed that she didn't fell the all in one shot, left her mildly annoyed as a few more stun bolts came her way, doing little more harm than a small sting against her hardened flesh. I think I like this a little more than I thought.

The effort to shift her arm enough to reach up to the stone above, took some effort from the redhead as she tore larger stones from the mountain side and tossed several small boulders at the remaining droids. Some small sigh of relief came as the last droid was crushed beneath the stone. And her gaze shifted to Kaida, but only waited for the woman's words for a small hint of what would come next. For this was just the start of training, surely there would be more.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"]


Kaida watched impassively as Elayne drew upon her power to harden her skin until it was like stone, then tore a boulder into shards to tear apart the critical systems of the droids so that they tumbled to the ground like puppets whose strings had been pulled. The woman had taken hits, but not let this stop or deter her. Good. Kaida was not the coddling sort. Or a particularly nice person in general. So as the last droid was crushed beneath the onslaught of small boulders and stone, the Seraph took a deep drag from her cigarette as she Elayne's gaze.


"Good," that was all she had to say on the matter, though it might mean something that she actually gave what could be considered a compliment. Then, as she exhaled and a stream of smoke escaped into the air, it began raining grenades. Carried by a strong whirlwind Kaida had conjured up through her power, a hail of concussion and sonic grenades would descend down upon Elayne. "Maintain your stone skin and keep focus."


The type of explosives had been quite deliberately chosen. Frags had too much of a chance of seriously hurting her, not to mention blown her off the mountains. It was supposed to be a lesson in concentration and focus. Concussion grenades would met a strong, stunning shockwave, sonics would create a massive wave of sound that could cause immense pain to your hearing and thus wreak havoc upon your focus. The blast radius and force would be such that it would be damaging even for droids. So it would be an exercise in to what extent Elayne could maintain concentration and thus keep her stone skin.