Taming the Tempest (Siobhan)

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Delila Castillon"], @[member="Tempest"]

This one notes that if one wanted Tempest to learn calm, balance and the light side one should not have picked Siobhan as a teacher, whose flaws this writer has pointed out incessantly. One could hardly expect her to be. Someone called the Butcher was not a good person by any stretch of the imagination. It was not like her teacher Adril Tythorin had been particularly calm, balanced or not filled with anger.

But then the Jedi Master who murdered thousands of Republic-friendly POWs on Metalorn via natural disasters and later hit Ahto City with a typhoon had been perfectly serene and calm. That did not make her victims less dead. Violence commited while being serene was not more noble than done while driven by fury.

One might also note that the Eldorai, whom Firemane propped up, definitely were not on the 'lightside' scale of things. What with them being a racist, femnazi theocracy that believed their Goddess had ordained them to subjugate all other races and would probably be far more oppressive than the Galactic Empire if it ever managed to achieve galactic power, which fortunately was extremely unlikely. As for Yoda's famous line, the old Jedi had not been pacifists. Luke was clearly trained as an assassin to commit tyrannicide.

"I learned my rules from a hot Eldorai. We had lots of fun. And Blasters? Please. Bolters are the way to go. Actually let you blow a forcer's face off. I thought you'd learned that by now, Dells," Siobhan sad teasingly. In truth she did like the redhead a lot, even though she still did not want to live on Kaeshana.

But Siobhan already had a different plan for her. Stationing her on Tempest's homeworld, which was close enough to be on call and should also give her a home at last! There were those rare occasions when she actually noticed other people's problems and tried to help, more or less...well, probably less. "Take your time. Then show what you can do, Tempest. Remember, you're the eye in the hurricane."

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] @[member="Tempest"]

Bolters.Blasters. Kerrigan knew damn well what she was talking about! Scanning the room, she spotted the training dummies in use by the two ladies. She wasn't going to bother asking for any since they were in the middle of some mystical training session. Delila could always beat the stuffing out of the fake things later on in the week.

"I didn't come to watch, sorry. I don't want to interrupt any 'eye of the hurricane' business."

Naturally, the jab was at Siobhan and not the poor woman trying to learn from her. She didn't want to seem like a creepy intruder, so the redhead grabbed some training 'sticks' to practice fighting with. They were a perfect imitation weapon for fighting hand to hand with. Delila liked to keep up her Blade Dancing skills in private, even if she was only half trained.

"Found what I was looking for. Good luck, both of you.You're gonna need it"

 

[Tempest]

@[member="Delila Castillon"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

“Don’t leave me alone with her!” Tempest mock pleaded to Dells as the redhead departed. She knew she’d pay for that comment later…and was probably looking forward to it!

Being serious again, she faced the dummy. She tried to do as she was asked, but burst out laughing, unexpectedly.
“Sorry, I just had a crazy thought about how to do this!” she said, composing herself.

Facing the dummy she looked at its blank face…and imagined that it had the face of her former Master. Imagined that it was him standing there, gloating. She felt her anger, her fear rise, but she was able to temper it…direct it.

From her fingers a stream of electrical discharge appeared, arcing into the dummy and crackling off it. Sparks flew and the attack stopped.

Tempest grinned. “Well…that worked,” she murmured.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Tempest"], @[member="Delila Castillon"]

"Come to my office tomorrow, Dells! I have...business to discuss with you. You'll like it," Siobhan called after the departing form of the redhead. You might have guessed it, she was appreciating her rear, but then who could blame her? Unfortunately for Siobhan, who loved redheads, Dells was resolutely straight!

In any case her unruly Padawan commanded her full attention again. "I think someone needs to learn her place again," Siobhan said with a slight grin before she likewise turned serious. Oh, yes, they would have some fun, but for now they were mostly work and little play. Fact was that Siobhan did want to try and get Tempest trained up properly, help her along the way just as Adril had done for her. Of course...her teacher had been less than perfect, likewise there were probably far better, more balanced teachers than Siobhan around, but she wanted to try since she believed that she understood Tempest.

The laughter confused her a bit but then she nodded. "Sure. Go experiment." She kept her eyes on Tempest as the younger woman concentrated, stretching out with the Force to get a read on her. Nothing invasive or anything much in terms of mentalism, for Siobhan lacked the talent for that, just to get a sense of her, see how well she was keeping her control, to try and help her if needed. But the girl performed exactly as she could have asked of her.

She felt the sheer rage, the fear rise up in her, though she obviously did not know precisely what was conjuring it up since she could not look inside her friend's mind, although she could imagine to an extent. The emotions were written across her features and were reflected in her aura, then it was unleashed in form of a stream fo electricity that struck the dummy.

"With a name like Tempest, I should've known you'd be electrocuting things," Siobhan said happily, walking over to her student and occasional lover. Raising her flesh hand she cupped the black woman's cheek and gave her a soft kiss.

"See, you can do it. That's how you can do it. Anger, but tempered, channelled and unleashed at the right moment with a clear target, not blindly and wildly lashing out. Often it is a struggle; it means walking a fine line, but you did good," she said. Though it was wholly Tempest's accomplishment and not hers she found herself feeling something like...pride in her. Had she made Adril proud? What would Adril be thinking of her now?

She brushed those thoughts aside as a short smile graced her lips. "Let's say see how you deal with some...opposition," she said, patting Tempest on the shoulder as a mental command flipped a switch. At both ends of the hall doors suddenly opened, each releasing a bipedal training droid of the sort Jedi used, each equipped with a blasterlike weapon that had been powered to give a good zap and what amounted to a droid shock arm, again nonlethal and not intended to inflict lasting damage, but both robots sported some tough armour and had some weight on them, meaning it would take some energy to throw or electrocute them, for an apprentice at least. For close quarters both wielded a staff-like weapon.

 

[Delila Castillon]

@[member="Tempest"] @[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Sorry, you've made your choice. I can only hope you're alive come a week from now."

Perhaps a bit of exaggeration but the idea was still there. Besides, when did she ever pass up the chance to tease Siobhan? Twirling her wooden stick that was taller than herself, a frown immediately came to her face. Office? Tomorrow? Force only knew what it could be. No doubt it would be something ridiculous -- like attend a space elf ball or guard some space elf diplomat.

Always with the elves.


"You got it Colonel..."

Now it was time to go make herself look like a fool.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Delila Castillon"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Tempest watched Delila go with a crooked smile. The redhead was naturally suspicious of what this meeting was. Sadly aside from beating up old space elves Delila tended to only do business things. The redhead needed to get out and have some fun too...unless hitting geriatrics was her sort of game....

Still, Tempest listened to Siobhan's words and took up a training blade to face the droids. She knew what she'd usually do, but wasn't sure if it was what she was supposed to do. Nervously she watched them approach. Fortunately one stopped obligingly to let her face one at a time. unfortunately she still had no idea what she was supposed to do!

Taking a deep breath she dived for cover behind a pillar as it fired at her. She knew she should be reflecting the bolts back, but she wasn't sure how to!
Looking at the droid she tried to regain her previous sense of calm fury, but couldn't. Her distraction was painfully hammered home when a stun bolt lanced into her should, causing her to drop the weapon in shock!
Pain swept through her, and she started to get angry again. Having trouble moving her arm, she forced them into position and thrust them at the droid, imagining it as the particularly vicious overseer on Dahomey.
To her astonishment a web of actinic blue lightning arced out again and caught the machine dead on. There was a flash and the smell of burnt circuits and it crashed to the ground.
Tempest looked at her hands like they were about to explode. "Uhh..."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]

Siobhan had stood a bit further away while Tempest faced the droids. She winced slightly as the girl was struck, and for just a moment honestly considered helping her when it seemed like she could not manifest her powers and seemed helpless. Of course, intellectually Siobhan knew that the machines could not seriously hurt her and that trial by fire - well, there was no fire, but you get the point - was perhaps the best way to get her to learn.

It had admittedly been the same way with Siobhan. Adril had presumably not spent that much time on theory, for which in any case Siobhan, being only a semi-literate rube, would not have had the necessary attention span!

She saw the arc of lightning shoot from Tempest's fingertips and destroy one of the droids, sending it crashing to the ground in a flash of light, the smell of burnt circuits filled the air and smoke billowing up from the wreckage. Siobhan had felt her apprentice's sudden loss of control, her outburst of primal rage and hatred. Siobhan did know that it was dangerous, but at the same time the middle of a training fight was not the right time for a lecture. Besides, how often had she done the same? Many, many times. In battle you let loose, even a moment's hesitation could cost you your life.

"Good. Focus. You have the power, you can be the tempest," she urged her on, trying to reach out to her with the Force. "Take control. The Force is not just your sword. Focus enough and you can erect a shield that will bat away bolts shooting for you and send them flying back to your opponent to hit them. Like a shield that blocks the blows of the slavers striking at you, keeping you safe from pain. Imagine a wall protecting you."


There was such a thing as a lightning shield, though Siobhan had decided to teach her the basics of a force barrier along the lines of her telekinetic shield, since overreliance on lightning was...not good for obvious reasons.

As for the other droid, now that it had been polite enough it came at Tempest as well, moving with speed as it prepared to unload its stun blaster weapon, either seeking to take her down with it or stun her long enough to move in and get in range for its droid shock arm.

 

[Tempest]

Tempest turned to face the second droid, half listening to [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]’s words.
In her slightly fevered mind she saw the droid morph into the cruel visage of a slaver with a gun. It fired, and she held up her hands to protect herself.
Energy crackled from her, and the bolt dissipated, giving Tempest a zap, but halting it enough. The pain and dazed vision inspiring her, she thrust out her hands and blasted the machine with arcs of crackling lightning. With a loud bang and smell of burnt circuits the machine fell with a crash to the floor.

Tempest swayed alarmingly and almost fell, managing to settle herself onto the floor. “Is that what it feels like all the time to use the Force? No wonder the old Jedi didn’t need sex…” she murmured distractedly.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]

Siobhan was quickly there and joined her student on the floor, patting her on the shoulder. "You'd be surprised how much they needed it and how much sexual repression worked against them. Many a Jedi fell because a little taste of 'sin' was too much," she joked.

"That said, sex with the Force at your command can be...a lot more fun. I'll have to show you a few tricks," she smirked. Oh, there were things she had to teach Tempest. Such as, telekinetic stimulation. Sparks of electricity could be pleasurable as well. With a mental command she poured water from the bottle into Tempest's glass and levitated it over to her. The girl could probably use a drink!

"The Force is powerful, mind-boggingly so. Gives you a strong rush, makes you feel indomitable. That's just the feeling though, with the right tools and training non-forcers can take 'force gods' down. You know what havoc bolters can cause. All their powers didn't stop the old Jedi from getting mowed down by jarheads with blasters during Order 66." Considering how reckless Siobhan was and how often she acted as if she were invincible she was probably being a bit of a hypocrite here, but she was putting things in perspective. Some proper education in the most dangerous anti-force user techniques and the necessary counters against them would be added to the curriculum.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

This writer suspects that submitting the Forbidden Holocron to the factory would not go down well…no matter how fun the Development Threads were!

Still, Tempest smirked. “Oh, I bet you could, Mistress Thuella,” she said with a wink.

“Yes, the Force doesn’t make you invincible. I’ve seen plenty of them taken down. Took down a Sith Apprentice once with a bolter.”

Tempest looked reflective for a moment. Perhaps she saw in a distant reality an image of herself, red lightsabre in hand, cutting down Jedi and Sith traitors on Corellia. Or perhaps not.

“So what do we do next?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]

This one notes that personal holocrons do not require a tech submission. Regardless at some point Siobhan would make a holocron. It could not be that difficult!

Crimson lightsabres were also so last year. Even if one was dark side one did not need to resort to cliched colour codes. Siobhan still used her blue one. This one recalls that an incarnation of Shadow on another site used a blade of that colour as well.

Regardless, on with the plot, for this post actually serves a plot-related purpose!

"Well, I was thinking some backroom fun but...," Siobhan trailed off as she made a casual gesture with her hand and one of the unignited lightsabre hilts rose from the table a bit away from them and flew over towards her grasp. She pressed the activation button, holding it close enough so that Tempest could see, and a beam of orange energy shot forth, casting her scarred face that had become paler than it had once been in a bright light.

Naturally she was smart enough to hold the pointy end of the lightsabre away from her face, unlike a certain farmboy. Deactivating the weapon she handed it over to Tempest so that she could try it out and get a feel for it.


"A 'Jedi's weapon' some would say...except they and the Sith long stopped having a monopoly on it. Even seen assassin droids and non-forcer elites use it. You'll find that a number of things about the weapon will take some time getting used to, such as the relative weightlessness. With skilled use it becomes less about brute force and the weapon turns into an extension of you, with the Force as your ally. This was Adril's lightsabre. She wielded it when she sacrificed herself against an elder horror. I found the pieces when I went back in search of a body," she said, for a moment she seemed strongly affected by emotion as what happened flashed through her mind once more before she composed herself.

She had searched and searched, but in the end all she had found of Adril were the pieces of her blade. So she had rebuilt them and kept the lightsabre with her since then, though she had never used it. "I'd like you to have it."

 

[Tempest]

Tempest took the weapon and gently ran a hand over the smooth metal. It was inscribed with detailed and intricate Eldorai runes and the grip had a flowing feel that made it feel natural.
“Thank you, Siobhan. I…don’t know what to say,” she said awkwardly. She knew about Adril, or the basics anyway. The Eldorai had been Siobhan’s Master, and later her lover. That did imply something to Tempest that she wasn’t entirely sure about.

“It’s beautiful,” Tempest said at last.
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]

"It is. Folks say it's 'not as clumsy or random as a blaster, an elegant weapon for a more civilised age'," Siobhan spoke, deliberately parodying a certain Jedi master, who apparently thought it was the right thing to do to leave his former student and friend, who admittedly had turned into a genocidal prick, to seemingly die an agonising death burning in lava instead of simply putting him out of his misery. Admittedly Anakin had been terribly annoying, but surely this must have netted some dark side points!

"I'm sceptical about there ever being a 'golden age' but nonetheless. Common rite of passage for Jedi Padawans close to knighthood is to build their own lightsabre once they've progressed fast enough. The quest to acquire a lightsabre crystal is already a journey in itself, the creaction process is intense. You can do that when you're far enough, but it feels right to me to pass hers on to you," said solemnly. Aww, wasn't Siobhan being sweet? Probably not.

"With a lightsabre you can block and reflect incoming blaster bolts, stop slugthrower rounds though that's harder when they're area of effect, other lightsabre attacks and deflect blastes of force lightning with the proper technique, so it's a shield as well as a blade. The power setting can be adjusted to stun rather than kill opponents," at that she demonstrated this by flicking a button on the sabre hilt.

"There are various Jedi forms of lightsabre combat, each for specific situations and opponents, ranging from the classical one-one duels the holovids like so much - and tend to get all wrong - defence against volleys of blaster fire and those focused on raw power and brute offence. We'll get to those soon and you shall receive instruction, over time you should be able to choose your focus," Siobhan said, having decided that already giving Tempest a long list of forms with descriptions would not be that useful.

"For now we shall start with Shii Co, the oldest and simplest lightsabre form and basis for all styles. When utilised it is based on seemingly random, fluid, simple movements. Its simplicity is its greatest strength. Not my preference - lacks force - , but you've heard about Varanin - and whatever else she calls herself - she's a Shii Cho duellist and nothing to scoff at."

An unignited lightsabre that was lying on the table would leap into her hand and ignite with a snap-hiss, a slender, green beam of energy springing into existence. Siobhan would position in a powerful, balanced stance, arms held forward, blade out aggressively, the opening stance of the form. She would wait and give Tempest time to emulate the stance before continuing.

"It has basically three types of attacks, long swipes, short cuts and stabbing jabs. There are no set combinations, but almost infinite ways to combine your attacks in a sequence that works best for the current situation. To better classify attacks Shii Cho masters imagine six body target areas that carried into other lightsabre techniques."

"Follow my movements." As she spoke Siobhan would settle into a variety of stances and one after another demonstrate attacks on the target areas against a training dummy, with some brief words about which was which, such as a vertical chop against the head - target zone number one - with the parry being a horizontal block - and a low side swipe to the leg, target zone five, with the block being a drop parry with the hilt held at waist. The concept of the form was basic enough: six different target areas, combine them in any way that worked.

Disarming strikes were a big feature of Shii-Cho, which she demonstrated with a vertical slash that would be geared towards combating a blaster-wielding opponent, then she would sweep the blade horizontally, with her arms about halfway extended, a large blue arc left in the path of her sweeping blade, displaying the Sarlacc Sweep that was designed to hit multiple enemies at once, usually at the chest or waist level, as would be shown.

Presumably all these demonstrations took a while and were accompanied by some brief elaborations, but Tempest would get a good view of the moves. Likewise presumably more than one post could have been spent on this, but this writer thinks having Tempest actually hit something that could fight back would be more stimulating than five posts about her hitting a training dummy and trying out this or that combination.