Public When the Cards All Fold (Kaeshana/Invite)

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]


"What?" Siobhan exclaimed, flushing very strongly as a bright shade of red spread across her cheeks. Oh. Darn. Mirien had found them! Her bond sister would never let her live this down. This was so embarrassing.



"Will you be composing love poems for Mirien and Tegaea soon? I've been waiting," Harmony snarked, apparently enjoying Siobhan's embarrassment to the fullest. Siobhan really felt like smacking her, but she did not have the energy for it, so she was reduced to grumbling.


"Harmony, shut up," she grumbled and then soon enough fell asleep. At least she had Mirien's beautiful body to snuggle against it and could enjoy the feeling of her lover's head resting on her chest. Siobhan really liked being a pillow. And so the hours passed until the sun was rising into the sky and, as bright light peaked through the curtains, she gradually emerged from the dreamlands. Mirien's reaction was extremely cute, from Sio's perspective.


"Aww, you're so cute. Cutest dark alchemist I know," Siobhan snarked. "Hey, don't hide your pretty face behind a pillow." With that Siobhan pulled the away from Mirien's lovely face so that she could give Mirien a kiss. However, she was nice enough to use telekinesis to pull the curtains a bit closer together.


"Yes, don't hide your lovely face from your dark princess. For it is as radiant as the stars and a mere look upon you makes her swoon. Let her worship your beautiful, red lips," Harmony trolled. It seemed that was her favourite activity, aside from crochet, presumably.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Mirien grumbled as the pillow was pulled away, not any bit liking the light. "I'm a lady of the night, and want nothing to do with this thing they call morning. It's a cruel mistress, one that I cannot stand." Her complaints were soon silenced as Siobhan drew her into a kiss.

As Harmony spoke, Mirien only turned to her, her skin starting to turn a lovely hue of pink. Reaching over she grabbed her pillow from Sio and smacked Harmony with it. "Such a cute little troll that definitely needs some punishment. I suppose we should tie her up and leave her untouched today, shouldn't we?" Teasing, certainly as Mirien was grinning from ear to ear.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]


"Agreed. She is severely lacking in discipline and needs reeducation. And when we get back, after leaving her tied up all day, we should have sex right in front of her. Without touching her," Siobhan teased, grinning evilly. Yes, totally teasing. Well, the last bit sounded very fun.



For her part Harmony pouted. "Mistresses are very, very cruel. You two are so perfectly in sync." Yes, definitely still trolling, but then she got up and emerged from the bed. "I'll go make sure breakfast is ready." With that she left. Needless to say without bothering to cover herself much and the delicate sway of her hips provided an enticing view.


"As much as I'd love to spend most of the day in bed with you, I guess I should get ready. Need to check on how Coryth is doing and get this show on the road," Siobhan said, tone turning more serious as she reluctantly disentangled herself from Mirien and sat up. A hand touched Mirien's cheek and affectionately caressed it before she planted a kiss on her lips. "Thanks for everything again, darling."

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Coryth Elaris"] |

Whilst the lovebirds of the “Dark Is Not Evil” sisterhood had their sexy sleepover, Phylis had dozed off in her room. She had been working on…something…she was sure it had been vital.

As her alarm went off, she jerked awake, knocking over her glass of water over her robes.
“Oh…poot,” she said mournfully, looking around for a towel.

With a sigh she got up, stretched, and started to pack up her things. Hopefully Coryth had possessed the sense to not wander off in the night. That would be awkward…though perhaps not as bad as explaining to the hospital why she’d glued glitter to the floor of their ward….

 

[Kaida Taldir]

It was wasteful, frivolous and uneconomical. In other words, the exact opposite of what she thought she was and thus terribly out of character. Not to mention terribly overdramatic. However, despite this Kaida had decided to forego use of a speeder and fly to the hospital. Of course, this could be justified by the plain logic that practice made perfect. The best way to master any aspect of the Force was to...simply use them a lot and apply them wherever possible. Well, within reason, of course.



That was a perfectly logical explanation. True, it would be energy-intensive, but better practice now than suddenly have to try and fail during combat when she needed to make an emergency exit. All this was perfectly logical and rational, though her decision probably boiled down to the simple fact that flying felt good. Of course, the Seraph would never admit that such a consideration would have influenced nor. Nor would she admit that part of her might have wanted to show off...just a little bit.


And so she let her powers carry as she sailed on a powerful wind, sweeping across the beautiful city beneath her. Everything and everyone down on the ground seemed so small to her. Perhaps deep down a part of her understood now why Kerrigan loved flying so much. Of course, she was nothing like the arrogant Countess. Not at all. Soon the Firemane hospital building appeared before her eyes and she willed the winds to slow down and be reduced in intensity, allowing her armoured form to gradually descend down from the sky before the entrance of the building.


Her landing might not have been the most graceful since she was a beginner still, but she still touched down upon the ground without falling or breaking anything. Firemane mercenaries and some Angelii were on patrol outside. She had checked in with the responsible Angelii Host Leader before taking to the sky, and fortunately it seemed [member="Coryth Elaris"] had not wandered off into the night.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"Ugh..." She groaned softly as she further tried to sit up. Wincing heavily for her efforts, the little redhead finally gave in a little, admitting at least to herself that she might be hurt as she laid back down. "I still feel like a star destroyer decided to run me over. Horrible might in fact be the biggest understatement in my life." The little strong willed redhead, had not made an escape in the night. Though it had crossed her mind fairly early to do so. She wanted this whole damn mission over and done with, like yesterday. Thanks to Master Alince, and a little bit of modern medicine sedating her overnight the little redhead was still here. "I seriously, just want to get on with this now."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]

 

[Mirien Valdier]

"Hmmmm, perhaps I should make the arrangements for that..." Mirien appeared to be pondering that, but it indeed was all an act, well except for maybe that last bit, as it indeed did sound fun.

"Harmony, are you really so surprised by this? Especially when we can coordinate such things without a physical word spoken between us." Mirien was outright beaming at this point, barely able to hide that she was in fact teasing. Though, it wasn't a secret that the pair shared a bond and could in fact communicate with one another across long distances. The benefits of talking a walk in someone else's mind, but it was not without its downsides. If anything happened to Mirien or Siobhan and one should happen to perish, the other would no doubt experience horrific pain and never be exactly the same again.

"I know ... I know, it's time for you to go. Just take care of yourself this time, okay?" A little worry creeping in, as Mirien knew she would have to return to her own work dealing with the company's intel division. "Not a problem, dear. Just come back to us, that's what matters."

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]


"Oh, that's so romantic. Even the Force wants you to be together!" Harmony said in an exaggeratedly, sing-song voice as if this where a cheesy romance movie and she a fangirl. Even more fodder for the fanfiction she wrote for Crimson Chronicles! As a matter of fact she was working on a rather stimulating work of fiction. Once it was done she would email the link to the Mirien, just to see her reaction!



My lines aren't that cheesy, Siobhan thought to herself, though she was touched by Mirien's obvious worry and concern for her. "I'll take care, honey. Promise," she said softly, a slight pink hue having spread across her cheeks. "Give Tegs a kiss from me. Or more than that if you're in the mood." Monogamy was monotony, or at least Siobhan thought so. She gave her bond sister a hug and a deep kiss, then departed down for breakfast. However, breakfast passed swiftly and once it was done she was on her way to the hospital since they had to go on a big quest and stuff.

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

One redhead is never enough. The writing gods have decided this story needs not one redhead but two! In the same place at the same time at that!

Elayne had been assigned guard duty as well to make sure a certain little redhead didn't somehow slip out of the hospital in the wee hours of the night, and head off into danger. Near the little Jedi's room stood Elayne. A rare specimen, a redheaded Eldorai who was just as fiery as could be, and especially snarky.

The woman glanced to her watch checking the time as she glanced back around the corner. A sigh came and went at seeing the little redheaded Jedi awake, and somewhat talking to the scout trooper in the room.

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"]


In Kaida's opinion Elayne was far too snarky for her own good, though she was showing promise when it came to doing things such as summoning strong winds and manipulating the earth. "Talon Saedaris, you're here, good. You'll be with me. We're assigned to help Firemane. Expect combat with Sith and their beasts, so arm yourself accordingly. Destination will be Malachor. We'll be leaving momentarily," she said, you might have guesed it by now, laconically because that was apparently the way she always talked.



She spared the hospital room a glance, where apparently Coryth Elaris had woken up and seemed to be conversing somewhat with [member="Hevana Martin"]. Kaida had met the scout trooper once several years ago the Pyre. It seemed a bit like a private moment, so she did not intrude yet. Kaida was not the most sociable type. Apparently Kerrigan had yet to arrive, though Kaida did not mind since she could not stand the woman.

 

[Hevana Martin]

Moving over to sit on the side of the patient's bed, Hevana patted her hand. "Well at least it wasn't a Death Star," Hevana joked. "I know you're all gung ho about heading out, but if you're not strong enough to make the trip then it really defeats the purpose of everything. When the doctors and others say you're ready, then we go."

As much as she would have loved to keep the private moment a bit longer, she knew it was not entirely private. "You seem to have some visitors," Hevana bobbed her head toward the door. "Want me to let them in?"

[member="Kaida Taldir"] [member="Coryth Elaris"] [member="Phylis Alince"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

Coryth sighed, "We can't wait forever, and who knows what power this thing is managing to gain on the other side of this." That was the part that worried her more than anything else. "I'm rested enough, and Phylis will be there, it is not like I'll be the lone Jedi on this mission. Nor the only one capable of healing at that rate. It will be fine, I've had more rest than I could have asked for under the circumstances." Stubborn til the end.

A sigh came, as she glanced to the door. "Yeah, sure ... Let them in, it's fine." Visitors wasn't exactly her idea of fun, when she just wanted to pack her bags and head out the door then and there. But she also had a suspicion that the reasons there were two Eldorai had a lot to making sure that Coryth couldn't sneak off when no one else was looking.

[member="Kaida Taldir"] | [member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Hevana Martin"]

 

[Elayne Saedaris]

Elayne gave a nod, "Of course, Ma'am." She listened closely but have a few questions. "Sith? Do we know the exact nature of the threat or is that still undetermined at this time? Or is it just a bodiless voice causing all sorts of havoc?" The redhead did wonder, because in any other day and age such a notion would be considered insanity. But here, now ... this was the normal day to day.

"Malachor? Last time I knew there was nothing there of note. Just an old academy and the stuff that scholars like my sister like to pick over. Why in the stars one would go there for anything other than research is beyond me."

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Phylis Alince"]


It was at this point that Siobhan, having said goodbye to her beloved Mirien, finally arrived on the scene. She noticed the pretty redheaded Angelii who was standing guard. She was cute...and seemed familiar somehow. Naturally she and Kaida ignored one another beyond grunting something that might be counted as a 'hello' if you were feeling charitable.



And so she stepped into the hospital room. "We shall be leaving today once Phylis arrives. And you will bloody well stay with the group and not run off again, Coryth. Clear?" Mistress Thuella was not one for pussying around. After all, she was in charge!

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Elayne Saedaris"]


"I have often found that common sense is in short supply in this universe," Kaida responded in a manner that may or may not involve breaking the 4th wall. "Far as we know it's a bodiless voice with mentality, perhaps reality-warping, powers of great potency, in a...box, an artefact. Regardless, prepare yourself in the expectation that there's bound to be misceallaenous monstrosities somehow stuffed into the Trayus Academy, despite Malachor being a dead world."


For the record, Kaida had picked the 'Destroy' option when she played TSL.

 

[Phylis Alince]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Coryth Elaris"] | [member="Hevana Martin"]

Phylis was on time! Well...almost. She had been ready to leave early and had realised that she could just take a note of a few things she'd thought of...and time had slipped away. Now though, she was ready, set to go, and she appeared at the door along with a large wheeled case full of her notes and other items.

"Good morning, good morning. Coryth, dear, are you alright?" she asked, smiling.

 

[Hevana Martin]

Hevana nodded at Siobhan as she came in, a bit surprised they were leaving so soon. Not that it was her call on this one, and it would be nice to get this all done and over with. She just worried that in the process Coryth would push herself to far and do something stupid. Well, that was probably be guaranteed regardless, but at least if she were healthier she might survive it!

She remained quiet as the order was not directed at her though. As Phylis entered, Hevana stood up to stand next to the bed out of the way. Hevana had been expecting at least a day before they left again, so she was already doing a mental inventory of what she had on hand and what she would need to grab quickly before they left.

It was a long list, mostly of things that went boom. One could never have enough things that went boom.

[member="Phylis Alince"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Coryth Elaris]

The stern words Coryth seemed momentarily taken aback by. She'd not expected that to come from Siobhan. However, Coryth did have a habit of running off and getting herself into so much trouble. "Sio, I don't think I'll be running off anywhere. Not exactly in the best shape to do so." The little redhead spoke so quietly. It was clear the poor thing was still worn, exhausted and feeling some effects of the horrible poison within her skin. At least she wasn't as close to death as she was just a few days ago. For now, the redhead was in good hands.

Her eyes drifted to Phylis as she entered the room, a frown quickly formed upon her lips. "I'm afraid I'm far from alright, but at least I can safely say I'm better. More rested than I have been in some time." She sighed softly, "So time to pack up the crystals and go?" She asked of the Jedi Master.

"Also, I think I need some clothing. I don't think prancing to Malachor in a hospital gown is going to work well. Not with my butt hanging out for all to see." At least in part Coryth had found something she could joke about. "There's just no way I can rock that look, not even with a lightsaber in hand." At that, she tried to smile a little bit, trying to keep her heart on more lighter thoughts, to keep looking for what could keep hope alive for just a little while longer.

Reaching over to her bedside table she grabbed a datapad, there was one more person they needed for this adventure. A one [member="Verz Horak"]. She quickly typed a message for the most part summarizing the events at the dungeon of doom. Things he may have missed out on, and then details of Malachor. We'll be leaving Kaeshana as soon as they can help get me ready. If you want to meet us in space above Malachor V. We'll be heading to the Trayus Academy where this thing ... whatever has a hold of me is at. So, if you can make it, we could use one more on this journey. Signed, Coryth Elaris. And so the message was sent.

"Verz Horak may be joining us along the way to help out. He's offered his aide again and I hope we can have him on this final leg of the journey." Gods it certainly had been a long journey. A long long road. It hardly seemed real to Coryth how long she'd been under that thing's influence, and how much it had taken her before it decided it wanted her life as well.

She sighed heavily, and slowly pushed back the covers of her bed, swinging her legs over the side. Tired, exhausted were both understatements but they had to press on. If they didn't kill this thing, it was going to kill her and soon at the rate it was going. Especially if she stepped beyond Phylis's crystal barrier of protection. Her eyes then shifted to the two Eldorai at the door. "Are you both joining us?" She asked softly. Curious to know if they were coming with them or just guarding her to keep her from slipping off in the night to handle the Malachor situation on her own. She suspected it was a bit of both.

[member="Hevana Martin"] | [member="Phylis Alince"] | [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] | [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Phylis Alince"]


It was at this stage that Kaida decided to actually address the little redhead. It did not take a genius level intellect to figure out that the Jedi was in dire straits and she certainly looked like hell. It did say a lot about her that she was still struggling and trying to fight the malignant influence that sought to end her life.


Of course, Kaida had no personal experience with Sith Poison and the like, though she had seen the effects such vile sorcery could have on Bando Gora slaves encountered during the war so long ago. "Yes, we were assigned to help. I'm Seraph Kaida Taldir, that is Talon [member="Elayne Saedaris"]," she spoke in her usual clipped, professional tone. Eyes briefly travelled over to Kerrigan. Suffice to say, Kaida neither liked nor trusted the woman, especially since she happened to be a darksider. Hopefully whatever malevolent power lurked inside the Trayus Academy would not drive her insane and make her go berserk.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Phylis Alince"], [member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Hevana Martin"], [member="Verz Horak"], [member="Elayne Saedaris"]


Naturally Siobhan dismissed Taldir and did not pay the elf much attention. At least she was good at killing and icing things, so she should be some use. The other Eldorai was a redhead, which obviously made her a special snowflake. However, though her expression remained as grim as ever she was happy to hear that Verz wanted to rejoin the group. After all, the Mandalorian was a very good fighter and it was touching to hear he wanted to help out.


"Good. I brought clothes for you. They should fit," Siobhan indicated the rucksack she had been carrying. "We'll leave momentarily then. I got a corvette for us. It's outfitted with a substantial armoury. Malachor is a queen to land because of the unstable gravity, but we should be able to get close to the Trayus Academy and HK's maps indicated a backdoor entrance we can use. I'd split the group up to draw enemy fire but if this box has such potent mental power that'll backfire if it can pick us off so easily, so we'll be going together. Phylis, Hevana, you stay close to Coryth and guard her. I'll be taking point with Verz. Taldir, Saedaris, you watch our rear and flanks."


The situation was grim, if they did not kill the malevolent dark power soon, it would be Coryth's end. "Goal is to eradicate the box. We can dismiss any idea that it can be destroyed via conventional means." In other words, stomping on it, shooting at it with a bolter or a missile probably would not work, what with it being an ancient artefact of dark power built to last. "That leaves the Force, perhaps Force Light, but it would take a hell of a lot of power and focus to do that, but it's our one shot. Our only one. Opposition is unknown, but we can be certain the box will be throwing all mental and reality-warping powers it has us. If you have any artefacts or devices to shield yourself against that, get them now."


Perhaps it was her sense of drama talking, but Siobhan had the feeling it would come down to Coryth ending the evil herself. It was her story, her struggle. The rest of them were just there to make sure she made it there...and did not get broken in the process. "Let's get going."