The Blind Follow the Blind

[Caelag Vass]

"Good thing I never planned on calling you master then. Takes more than a drink for that." She smirked a bit, before sinking back in her seat to think. Experience with the force... well... what constituted that? How would she know? She couldn't recall much at all, though of course a few incidents could stick out in her head. She ran a thumb over her chin, before speaking softly. "When my friend convinced me to at least give this all a shot, he had me meditate. I don't know if that counts, but it didn't go terribly well. Aside from that, I can think of maybe three times something abnormal happened. Once, after I was told about my mother dying, I tore apart the living room. I don't know if I used the force or not but, I did break a lot of things, and Father was astounded that I managed to do as much as I did."

"Then back when I lived at the orphanage I was bullied a lot for, well," she gave a motion to her head, right around her eyes. Since they both saw through the force, she was confident it was obvious enough. "And for always having to have bandages wrapped up around my head because of it. So once I guess I knocked back one of the bigger kids enough to make him fall over, even though I was much younger. I don't know about fire, but I did burn another kid by accident. We were by the orphanage's fireplace so, it could've just been cinders I managed to throw, but I also don't really know if that was the case, especially considering they were kind of mean burns."

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


Elpsis looked sympathetic. "You haven't had it easy. Sorry about your mum. I grew up without my real one. Didn't meet her until I was a teenager. My adoptive parents sent me off to the Jedi because they couldn't deal when I started hearing voices and moving things with my mind. Sticking with the Burlap Brigade didn't agree with me, so I ran off. Saw my gifts as a curse," she shrugged.


"I guess there's tone of stories like that. Whether you use your power is your choice, but what's important is that you have control over it. So that you don't hurt anyone by accident. Then you choose, whether you use it or not."

 

[Caelag Vass]

"These things made me who I am. My mum chose me, and she chose to fight for her beliefs. I'm proud of her, even if I miss her." She sighed lightly, and folded her arms gently, not unlike a faint hug. "But, she taught me to shoot, and how to have dedication to what I believe. The only thing she and father couldn't give me was lessons to control myself, my power. To a certain degree I've learned how, at least how not to kill anyone by mistake. But.. with everything happening, taking up a lightsaber and crystal, a position of power... I need to be certain. And I can't have it be the one who urged me on to learn, I can't be certain he will be objective."

Oh how would Theo think of that slight shot below the belt? "And if I learn more, I don't want to be taught as a jedi or a sith."

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


Their life stories and drives seemed to have some similarities. Elpsis could relate. "Amen to that," she raised her glass and drank, emptying it. "Sith are evil - plain and simple - no matter how many times they'll yap your ears off about how all the fethed up chit they're doing is for the 'greater good' and all about 'bringing order to the galaxy'. All they've ever caused is death and destruction." Her tone was laced with revulsion. She had a personal reason to loathe them.


"And nine times out of ten, any Jedi you meet are sanctimonious, hypocritical dicks. Most care more about their precious code than helping the people. And they can't even agree on what their mission is. I used to be a Jedi way back as a kid. Walked away very fast. My mother dumped them as well after they were jerks to her one time too many." She was a bit biased!


"Suffice to say I ain't a friend of either. I can work with Jedi when they get their stick out of their arse and actually fight bad guys and help innocents, instead of sitting in their ivory temple or hunting down anyone who doesn't use the Force the way their code dictates. But that's it. I follow my own path, one of Balance. It's not perfect. I sure as hell am not. But it's my way and it's worked for me. I have my own beliefs about the Force, but I don't press them on people."

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Credit where it's due, at least you can trust a sith to be scum." Even with an empty glass, she took the small toast before setting it down. The brunette sighed as she listened further, tucking hair behind her ear as she listened. Not Jedi, not Sith, balance. Curious,she tilted her head as she listened thoughtfully to [member="Elpsis Elaris"] explain her stance. If she.. recalled correctly, it in many ways mirrored classic beliefs of Miraluka, to a rather startling degree. Life, Death, Light and Dark, even separated from her 'people' she couldn't deny the attractiveness of this ideology. Caelag slowly nodded as she finished, and sat forward slightly.

"Forgive me if I'm about to sound.. pretentious? But... you sound much like a Miraluka, from what I recall. I never grew up with others like me, but my mother had thought it important to teach me of my heritage, so I wouldn't be surprised when I met one. Balance, the Greater Force I believe my kind call their philosophy, accepting both the light and dark for what they are. It's quite an attractive philosophy, even if I can't fully accept that there isn't evil. One too many times on the field of war taught me that life is a shade of grey, but there damn well is some black in there." Did color analogies have the same meaning to her? No, but she'd heard this one well enough to understand it.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


"It doesn't sound pretentious. Bit surprised. Can't say I've met Miraluka before...till I ran into you," Elpsis admitted. "I believe there's evil in the world, and I believe it has to be fought. But I don't think someone's moral stance is determined by their colour scheme. There's still a line, but I've met 'darksiders' who did good and Jedi who did bad while thinking they're morally justified. It's easy to think that everything is just black and white."


She leaned back into her chair. "See, I get visions. Sometimes they're of the future, other times they're of the present or even the past. Suffice to say most are a cryptic mess that just give me headaches. Sometimes they let me help people. I used to do everything in my power to run away from them. Till I realised there was a purpose behind them. I follow my goddess and the Force and do the best I can."

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Can't say I have either. Surprisingly when you grow up in a galaxy with a curious majority human population, you don't necessarily find many. Then again, I can't say I'm surprised, humans tend to be such..." She paused in her thoughts, tilting her head instinctively in thought. Humans were such... "... Life is odd like this I suppose. It's why I like the battlefield so much, the lines are clear. Good and evil become irrelevant, it's you and the enemy. It's easy to understand, you shoot them and you live. You don't, they shoot you. I like simple, there's no asking why."

She sighed and 'looked' back up at [member="Elpsis Elaris"] after a moment more in thought. "I don't.. get this kind of thing. The complicated stuff, talking with people, conversations and relationships that go beyond 'he who punches' and 'he who gets punched'. And when things like this get so confusing I do what I do harder than before to fix it for me. Breaking a room, fighting a bully, I like simple solutions, they feel good. But the longer I'm forced out of being able to do that, the more I risk burning someone important to me. I don't get visions to help guide me, I don't have a higher power looking down and urging me along a path. I just want to avoid hurting someone who doesn't deserve to be on the sharp end of a dagger." For someone with very simple motivations, as she so claimed, she certainly had ways to lengthen, and perhaps even overstate herself, didn't she?

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


"Oh, believe me, visions aren't all they're cracked out to be. Most are just a confusing mess that leaves you frustrated. My goddess is kind, but likes being cryptic! I don't have a ton of answers. I just try to do the right thing. Having the right friends help. Maybe you need to get out more and meet more people outside of the...punching zone." Elpsis remarked and finished her drink.


"Battlefields have clear lines. Watch your six and keep an eye on your battle sister, beat up the person on the other side. I don't like killing. I'll try to avoid it when I can, but it's often necessary and let's be real, some people really deserve it," she shrugged. "Since we're in a moon-sized 'wretched hive of scum and villainy', you fancy the chance to do some justice?"


It was always the same. You go visit Master X and ask them to teach you Power Y and they respond 'sure...but first you must help me complete side-quest Z'. On the bright side, at least it was not a fetch quest. Those were always annoying. Especially if they were of the 'please fetch me twenty tach glands' variety.

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Killing is a harsh way of putting it, but I get my life isn't for everyone." She made sure her glass was empty, before she lifted up the rapier hilt of her lightsaber. "I didn't bring this for nothing sweetheart, I was rather expecting more use before I found you to be quite frank. I was almost concerned I wouldn't get time to practice holding the damn thing when I found you so quickly." She slowly rose up to her feet, by the table, and fished in her armor's pockets, looking for the sufficient credits for her drink before they left.

"Well then, do you have anywhere in particular to head off to? My idea is to just throw a knife and see where it lands, but I don't think that's quite an effective search pattern."

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


"Keep your stick in your pants...for now," Elpsis joked when Caelag showed off her sabre. Lame innuendo, thy name is Elpsis Elaris. She reached into her pockets and removed some credits. Giving one of the dancers a wink, she stuffed a credit chit into her bra.


Then she tossed the rest to the barkeep and strutted out. "There's a Zeltron Suallia Hezea called. She's been distributing a new and very vicious type of spice. The chit is more addictive and dangerous than the regular high. Dude has a warehouse near a landing pad in this sector where the drugs are coming in. There's gonna be a new shipment from Kessel. I wanna give it a proper welcoming. With a big bang."

 

[Caelag Vass]

"I would if it would fit. Hope a belt will suffice." She shrugged and followed behind [member="Elpsis Elaris"] carefully, listening to her words. A proper welcoming eh? Well she didn't bring her usual assortment of weapons, only her knives and lightsaber, but that didn't matter did it? That was still seven blades to do something with, so perhaps that would do. She nodded gently, stepping up her pace to stand next to the woman on their way. "I have six knives, a lightsaber, almost no training in the force beyond picking up my weapon if i drop it and seeing. And I don't know what you have beyond your own abilities in at least two force techniques. I don't suppose you've got a plan, or are we doing this by ear?"

Was that a hearing pun on accident? These things were unavoidable.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


"Bit of both. Don't sweat it, babe. Best way to learn is through experience." Elpsis was probably not doing a good job sounding reassuring. "Just need you to watch my back. I can burn things pretty well and frak with minds - and not just in ways that are fun and hot. We sneak in, lay explosives at the landing pad and get out. Ideally, we'll only have to deal with a couple guards and take them out quietly." Sounded simple, right? Naturally things could never be simple.


Leading the Miraluka away from the bar, she made her way into an alley. Predictably, it was filthy, for it was the kind of street the garbage collectors never visited. Thus the smell was atrocious. Many had tried to clean up Nar Shaddaa, both literally and figuratively. They'd all failed. The empath was an optimist by nature, but even she doubted this cesspit could ever be changed.


Still, she had to believe that small acts of valour or kindness had a purpose. Passing a beggar dressed in dirty rags and looking painfully thin, she tossed him a couple credit chips. "May the Great White Wolf guide to better things," she said softly. "Don't waste it on spice. Get off this rock." He looked predictably baffled and confused, but she quickly walked away. Her gaze turned back to Caelag.

 

[Caelag Vass]

"Quiet I can do." She calmly reached into one of her pockets, taking out a dart coated in a particularly potent paralysis poison, and loaded it into the right launcher of her armor. She also loaded the MM9 system on the left with a small rocket, making sure the safety was on so it wouldn't accidentally go off if the button was hit somehow. Last thing she wanted was to blow herself or [member="Elpsis Elaris"] sky high by accident. With this done, she was more than prepared to take part in this small little op, hopefully without any hiccups.

As they passed the beggar, Caelag sighed and added a few extra credit chips to the pot for the poor man wordlessly, neither offering advice nor gentle prayers for him. She didn't expect it to have any effect if she did, so why bother? If he was going to buy spice no words would help him, at least not from a stranger. "I don't suppose you have more intel? Perhaps the amount of guards we can expect, or a layout? I'm hardly in the mood to get shot today after all." Rough words? Perhaps, but while the genuine concern was there one with enough empathy could tell it was as much an act as genuine. Putting on a face of the tougher, sarcastic even, military commander.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


Elpsis looked amused as opposed to offended. "Oh, baby, you know all you have to do is tell me where it hurts and I'll kiss it all better. And I've got magic fingers." Innuendo aside, she was an actual healer.


"Anyhow, according to my intel, we can expect about half a dozen guards at the landing pad itself. Maybe a few more, but not many. They have a watchtower. Of course, the shipment will have a few goons protecting it. Some bigwigs might be there to oversee the transfer. Would be great if we get to blow them up as well."


Of course, things might get more complicated than the empath had anticipated. "I don't know how to cloak us, but while I can't make us invisible, I can confuse and distract minds, so that should help us get in and out."

 

[Caelag Vass]

"I didn't know your hand was in your mouth. Learn something new every day about humans, explains their fascination with trying to kiss me." She slowly ran a thumb over the top of one of her daggers, and thought quietly. Landing pad with a half dozen or so guards, watchtower, and the protection of the actual shipment. From raiding pirate bases to handling small time drug rings... Galaxy had a strange sense of humor.
"Way I see it there are two options. Handle the watchtower and pray no one calls in, or attempt to do the job with them potentially having oversight. If there's enough crates and cover the second option would actually be preferable to keep appearances, but if not...

Well, if not then she was glad she had a dagger for just about everyone she could expect to meet.

[member="Elpsis Elaris"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


Elpsis liked her corny lines. Sometimes she did not really think them through. "I can show you all about them when we're done. But business first." As flippant as she acted, she could focus when things were serious, even though she was probably being terribly casual about things right now.


"Speed and stealth's important. I say I can handle the dude in the watchtower by taking a peek in his mind and distracting him. Easier to sneak past when he's nodding off, rather than cut his throat and risk causing a ruckus."


Not that she had any moral problems with killing gangbangers, as her earlier actions demonstrated. They made their way through the dark streets, pulling away into an alley to avoid a patrol of thugs. Eventually, they would reach their destination.


Both the warehouse and the rather dilapidated landing pad were under guard. Most goons were Trandoshans and Devaronians, but the one that stood out was a huge Wookiee armed with an equally huge shotgun. It was always nice to see multiracial gangs that could bond over the enslavement, extortion and murder of innocents.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag hummed a moment to herself as they arrived,the dilapidated pad had sufficient cover to disguise their approach, they simply had to be careful on their way up. The warehouse was a bit concerning, as she couldn't see through all the items inside to find the life there, leaving the potential of a zone they had little cover from revealing them. However she was confident in [member="Elpsis Elaris"] being able to cover them from the watchtower, which comforting enough for her. She placed a hand on the other blind woman's shouldr, and slowly nodded to her to indicate that she was going to begin her approach. Then, she drew one of her knives (which she handed to Elpsis, just in case), dropped into a crouch, and began making her way to the first cover piece.

A large storage crate, which seemed to have been left out by mistake, was where she managed to find protection from view, slowly moving to the edge as she sensed the guards. The watchtower might be able to see her, and one of Devaronians was nearby, talking with one of the Transdoshians before the latter went back to his post. If only this lovely melting pot of cultures didn't have to take place over Spice. She waited, calmly, for Elpsis to distract the watchtower guard, before the Devaronian made his way nearby. With hopefully no one able to see from the watchtower, she grabbed the guard as he walked by, covering his mouth and shooting her dart into the man's exposed neck before setting him up as though he chose to take a nap nearby, removing the dart. She began to reload her wrist dart launcher as she waited for Elpsis to come up and join her.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


Force Sight was convenient because it allowed you to see through walls. But that required some focus and given the size of the warehouse, Elpsis would obviously be unable to detect all the presences inside it. She accepted the knife from Caelag and slowly began her approach, moving surreptitiously. It was probably a good thing that she'd decided to wear casual street clothes. While her phrik armour was very good at protecting her butt, it was not subtle at all and made sneaking very difficult.


Guards were on patrol, but in a casual manner. Some were smoking cigarettes or chatting about the latest grav-ball game. It was a shame that this cultural melting pot was dedicated towards spreading misery amongst sentient beings.


Her attention was focused on the watchtower, and she ducked for cover beneath a big crate. Reaching out with her power, she gently touched the mind of the guard who was watching movements on the ground from above. He was carrying an impressive Verpine sniper rifle. Presumably her Miraluka companion would have liked to play with it. By contrast, Elpsis was not much of a sniper.


Pulling at the tangled web of power that was the Force, she began to press her will upon the guard. His stance would slacken, his attention span would drop and bit by bit, he would lulled into a state of sleepiness. The outpost was secure, all his buddies were doing their job and he could really use a nap, right? He suppressed a yawn, as his attention drifted away. Should any of his buddies comm him, their first thought would probably be that he was just a slacker. She gave Caelag a mental ping, indicating that she was heading towards her position.

 

[Caelag Vass]

Caelag nodded a bit at the ping from [member="Elpsis Elaris"], though it did make her twitch reflexively in her facial features. The Force was still an annoying thing from time to time for her, but she didn't twitch inappropriately to give herself away at least. By the time Elpsis had joined her, she had mapped out the area in her head completely. She knew her path but, it put her dangerously close to the Wookie, alas it was the only way to get to the optimal bomb site, or at least one of them, without passing in more open areas. She'd knock the wookie out, but these darts worked better on more human-esque things. The transdoshians and devaronians were easier to drug, the Wookie's stoutness meant the dart would take a minute to take effect, more than the others, and that was a problem. Still, if this route worked out it meant this would be over all that much faster...

She tried to think her mental map to Elpsis, unsure if the seer was able to read her thoughts or not, but in either case she hoped that her movements would show her intentions clearly enough. She moved through the shortest gaps, making her way to another crate, waiting, and moving to another as the guards casually strolled by. Shadow was on her side, her comfort in the darkness served her well enough. Let them be as blind as her on Myrkr, home of Ysalmari. Another guard, and she moved to the next crate to wait. Elpsis had the explosives, not her, she was here for backup. Speaking of which, she knelt quietly, holding out her wrist in the shadows to stay hidden yet give her companion a single chance to retain stealth, should she need the sleeping dart.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Caelag Vass"]


The guard on the watchtower was out of the way. Sadly, there were plenty still in the area and the two ladies had a tight deadline. The Wookiee seemed to have realised how flammable his species was, and thus wore armour, which would make it more difficult to set him on fire and roast him. However, that would cause a ruckus anyway.


Elpsis moved slowly and quietly. Or at least as much as she could. Sadly, the empath had never gotten around to learning how to camouflage herself in the Force. She'd probably do well to hit up a teacher to show her the skill. Or just consult one of the many holocrons that were gathering dust in Auntie Sio's rarely used library. She could sense that Caelag was close and had a broad idea of what the Miraluka intended to do.


Heavy footsteps resonated upon the ground when the Wookiee marched on his designated patrol route. He carried a big, nasty looking shotgun and had a disruptor holstered. Further away from him, two Trandoshans were discussing the next grav-ball match. The Wookiee looked around and sniffed, as if he'd smelt something foul. Elpsis held her breath, feeling a stab of concern that they might have been detected. Then she made a gentle gesture and willed a pile of boxes to collapse in the opposite direction of their destination. The noise reached his ears, causing him to turn and head away.