When You Wish Upon A Dark Star (Siobhan)

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“Sleep, Eyrecae, soon you will rise as my champion, and the galaxy will be ours!”
She had complied, mostly because she knew he could make her obey if he wanted. She did not want that pain again. Thoughts filled her, conflicting thoughts. Was Raik’aro someone out for her interests? Was he, like he’d said, doing this for her mother and for her? Or was he, as she secretly thought, using her for his own ends, as a pawn in a game? Oh, he had been nice to her, even during the…operation…but she knew if she was not nice in return he could hurt her. Hurt her, her mother, all her people.
“Deep breath,” he said as the liquid filled the tank.
The first time she had panicked, but now she just relaxed, letting it wash over her, and then everything faded away. Soon she would be back….

Air!

She gasped, swallowing some liquid as she opened her eyes. Something was going wrong! Looking around she pawed at the glass, trying desperately to breathe!
Then suddenly the glass shattered outwards and the liquid was draining away, and she could look out into the lab.

There were unfamiliar people there. Two were Eldorai, the other two looked similar, but were not. One was dark skinned, the other with brown hair and eyes.
Eyrecae looked between them, licking her lips. Her eyes took in the general condition of the room, the dust and decay.
“Who are you, what are you doing here?” she demanded. She put her hands on her hips, completely unselfconscious of the fact she was entirely naked.

(Can you play Anya?)

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

First contact scenario with a primeval Eldorai supersoldier who could punch through durasteel, was the daughter of the first Eldorai who was seen as a goddess by her people and had been asleep for over 20,000 years. All this requires diplomacy, empathy, nice Neutral Good thoughts. Unfortunately this writer does not have a character like that, so the narrative was stuck with Siobhan...

Who apparently was incapable of keeping her alignment consistent. Well, she was consistent when it came to destroying things. Nothing could possibly go wrong. At worst it could result in Siobhan getting punched with such force that she would fly across the room and perhaps through the wall, but then this one would enjoy that.

"We're here to help you. There's nothing to be afraid of. Your Master, Raik'aro, the one who did this to you, is dead. You've been asleep for a long time. The Rakatan and their empire have fallen. The Eldorai are free of their rule. This is Anya Venari, Queen of the Eldorai. I'm Siobhan Kerrigan, that's Tempest - we're from a race called humans, we fight the Eldorai's enemies in the Queen's service."

Oh, and there was Kaida, but this writer pays little attention to her! In any case these were truly inspiring words, except not.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Anya gamely translated the words, a little slowly because it wasn’t every day a dead language came back to life.
She added at the end. “Daughter of Ashira, I am Star Queen Tirathana VII. What my ally says is true, we are not your enemies.”

Eyrecae digested the words in silence, the liquid dripping off her. Looking between each of them, judging their truthfulness and character.

“You must be mistaken. Raik’aro promised to return and revive me. Where is he? Is this not some dream or vision?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"Raik'aro wanted to awake you...to use you as his pawn for his mad quest for power. He deceived your people. I'm sorry. But he's fallen. There was a civil war among the Rakatan, the Eldorai call it the War in Heaven. It destroyed them and your people claimed your world for themselves."

Well, and now they were theoretically beholden to an empire called the Protectorate that was mostly run by humans, but Siobhan decided to leave that part out so as not to complicate things. It was not like she or Kaeshana paid a great deal of attention to what happened on Fondor anyway.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Eyrecae stood, listening. To her credit she didn't try to refute the point or fly into a rage. Observational evidence showed her that at least some of it was correct. She was in the presence of aliens in a dilapidated version of her old lab, they were speaking oddly, and even the Queen's words sounded stilted and uncertain, like it wasn't her native language. Eyrecae knew enough to know that denying the plainly obvious truth would get her nowhere.

"Suppose I believe you. What then? What do you plan to do with me?" she asked, her fists balling. If they offered her violence she would not go down without a fight!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"If we wanted to hurt you, we wouldn't have been so foolish to wake you up. We would've killed you when we had the perfect chance, when you were asleep. We know about what abilities you have," Siobhan pointed out very logically, since it seemed that the plainly obvious truth worked on Eyrecae. As for what they wanted to do with her, well, that was for Anya to say! It was not like Siobhan was Queen or anything.

Well, she would not mind being ennobled for all her valorous deeds. Tegaea as well. Countess Kerrigan had a nice ring to it. Since it seemed that the Eldorai deifying her would probably remain the stuff of dreams. On the other hand...they would be sort of undergoing a religious crisis...and she was Mistress Earthshaker!

Anyway, back to helping the primeval Eldorai supersoldier after this digression into Siobhan's ridiculously big ego. Still the question remained. What were they going to do with Eyrecae. The Star Queen could hardly appear and spill the beans, reveal the truth to her loyal subjects and give them the biggest identity crisis imaginable. Could she even stay on Kaeshana or would she have to be exiled somewhere, out of sight, out of mind? Or...spin the facts, twist the real story just enough to make it stick and serve their purposes? Having spent time around Linna Beorht, Omega's PR consultant and later Foreign Minister, Siobhan was no stranger to that. Either way Agent Mulder, if he existed, would probably not be happy but then he was annoying anyway.

"We want to help you. We can take you off this island, back to a real life." What that actually meant in detail was for Anya to say, though presumably there would not be a detailed discussion in a dusty, twenty five thousand years old laboratory.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Again Eyrecae showed a depressing amount of common sense and logic. Her fists unclenched.
“It is as you say. However, how much of a ‘real life’ can I have now? It’s like being born anew, waking from a dream to find everything changed.”
She shivered slightly and crossed her arms. “First of all, can someone get me a towel or something to wear?” she asked. It was quite draughty in there, and dare this writer say…a bit nippy?

Anya shrugged off her coat and offered it whilst Tempest pulled out her spare trousers from her pack. It was always good to carry clothes in case she needed to change out of the armour after all!

Using a cloth Eyrecae dried herself and got dressed in the mismatched outfit and stepped down to the floor. As she did she stepped on a piece of broken glass. As they watched the blood stopped, the wound seemed to cover over, and then it returned to pristine skin.

“So it worked,” she said to herself.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Obviously Siobhan would not be able to understand what Eyrecae was saying. "He wanted you to be his perfect soldier, virtually unbreakable...but controlled by him. If the Rakatan had not destroyed each other, he would've created many more 'Dark Stars' like you. I'm...sorry you had to go through this, Eyrecae. Can't give your old life, your family back. Your people have changed...a lot. Can offer you the chance for a new one though. I'll...help you along the way, as much as I can."

Despite the fact that just minutes ago she had been perfectly willing to murder her in cold blood - and she would have been able to get over whatever remorse she felt and deal with it. After all, Siobhan had always excelled at rationalising yet her own deeds. In fact, she was still dubious about whether letting the elf live might not have detrimental consequences for them later. Of course, one might ask how long a nation could exist on a lie, but that was not on her mind.

And, yet, she was completely sincere in wanting to help Eyrecae find her way. As strongly contradictory as this no doubt was.

"Come on, we'll take you out to our ship," she added. She gave Anya a look of the 'what are we gonna do with her' variety.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Eyrecae looked at the two of them, nodded slowly. “Thank you for bringing me back,” she said, smiling slightly. Sadly, this version of Eyrecae was not a vampire, so the term ‘fang-smile’ couldn’t be used.

Still, as they headed out and passed the wrecked droids Eyrecae finally reached the open air, looking on the grey sky and frothing waves.
“Some things never change, like this storm,” she joked.

She shied away for a moment as Kaida got the ship hovering in the air, the engines and repulsors filling the air. With an effort though Eyrecae stepped forward, forcing back her fear, and stepped aboard.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"It's alright, there's nothing to be afraid of," Siobhan said softly. As for vamp Eyrecae, this writer still thinks a thread where Siobhan and Tegaea get vamped and become blood queens would be fun, even if it is noncanon. "It's just a short trip and then you'll have firm ground under your feet again. The Eldorai have advanced a lot. Even built ships that can fly through space at great speed across the stars towards other worlds...and repel invaders who would wish them harm."

She stayed close to Eyrecae as Kaida powered up the engines and brought the ship, soon flying it through the air towards the palace. Personally Siobhan did not think much of her, but she could be trusted to fly the shuttle properly without crashing even through the storm, but then the former Exarch was not much of a pilot.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Eyrecae gave Siobhan a sidelong glance. “I may be from a long time ago, but I am not a savage. I knew of Raik’aro’s starships and what they did. Though I suppose of the Rakata were destroyed my people suffered a decline,” she added.
Anya sounded unreasonably smug as she translated, and whether she translated with a bit of trolling inaccuracy was unknown!

And then they were off, leaving the island behind. Tempest had stayed behind to await a Firemane team to ‘sanitise’ the scene and retrieve the dead researchers. Humans could be better trusted not to ask inconvenient questions!

Eyrecae, despite knowing about starships and high tech, had obviously not been in one much. When they hit a patch of turbulence she gripped the edge of her seat hard enough that when she released it she had bent the arm rest out of place.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Well, until recently you were at the mercy of pirate bands and you still need humans to build proper battleships for you. And I had to end a civil war for you twice, Siobhan, without whom Anya would probably not be queen or even alive, thought. The elves probably clung so strongly to their belief of having a goddess-given destiny because, when all was said and done, they were not particularly impressive - and stuck to a single planet. Which was theoretically ruled by a human-led empire. They could not be any further from fulfulling the Goddess' mandate to subjugate other races to serve their Eldorai mistresses.

Of course, at least they had not foolishly declared themselves a 'galactic empire'!

But Siobhan did not say that. Partly because she was not fully conscious of it. "I'm sorry. I know you're not a savage. Wasn't implying you were." With that they were off and were soon en route to the palace as they left the island behind them. They would be landing in the special hangar reserved only for the Queen, one away from the official one where she normally landed. It was best to avoid prying eyes, for even the palace walls had ears.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Eyrecae seemed oblivious to the internal monologues and snarking going on. As they came in to land at the palace though she looked quizzical.
“It is a larger version of the palace where mother lived. Is she really worshipped as a Goddess?” she asked. The thought seemed to genuinely amuse her.
“Mother was very strong with the spirits, and she told me she was the first Eldorai created, like I was to be the first of another type of Eldorai. Does that make me half a goddess too?” She laughed, genuinely happy for the first time they’d seen her.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"According to a mad cult of murderous loons I'm a chaos goddess...for all but wiping them out. I think your mum has a better class of worshippers," Siobhan said very, very dryly. "Your people believe your mother created them, placed them here on Kaeshana. The Queen is seen as her High Priestess. The entire culture has been built up around her. There's a couple of other deities. I reckon they were ancient Eldorai as well."

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Eyrecae nodded. “Well, it’s actually true, but she wasn’t the one who begun it. My mother was very old, several hundred years old. I’d had 18 siblings before me, but I was the only one who could not use her Sciia. The other Eldorai who were not her children were created in tanks from her essence. It’s how it went….”

The ship settled down and Eyrecae rose. “I would like to learn the modern language. Is there a way I can do this?”

Anya nodded and spoke with her briefly, leading the two of them to a decision. Anya looked at Siobhan.
“Can you take her to your home, show her the bathroom and let her stay there and then bring your droid in? She should be able to learn by translating through it and through you. It’ll take a while, but I have to return to the palace. My absence will have been noticed and I need to find a good cover story. We’ll discuss more what to do next…soon.”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Siobhan nodded. "Sure, Tegs should be home soon as well." It was probably a good thing that the couple had an...understanding and thus her wife returning to their pleasure palace, ahem, villa to find Siobhan with a beautiful, very well-built unknown Eldorai would not be the cause of a melodramatic confrontation.

"Come with me, I'll take you to my place, dear. We can get you some other clothes and food there. You must be starving," she said to Eyrecae, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder before leading her out to the speeder, the droid in tow, as they would leave through the special exit to the similarly exclusive garrage. Tempest had refused Siobhan's offer to take her flying, so they had come to the palace the way most people would. For some reason all the women in her life did not want to go flying with her. Honestly, it was perfectly safe and she would never let any of them fall!

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Eyrecae followed willingly enough, getting into the speeder and flying in it back to the villa. Soon enough they entered the Firemane compound and Eyrecae was led into a spacious guest room one floor below Siobhan and Tegaea's room. There she would have access to a private bathroom, new clothes, a bed, computer and whatever else she wanted.
"Thank you, Siobhan, this is very nice," Eyrecae said, looking around. The droid translated onto Siobhan's HUD. They needed a better system for this, and quickly! If only there was someone else who was an Eldorai who might or might not be of great age and whose origins were probably that of a demi-goddess....
Or simply a translating unit linked up to a pair of datapads so each side could read what the other was saying. Either or.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"I'll have my cooks prepare a meal for you. Got to be starving. They're very good." How many calories did an Eldorai supersoldier need to eat? Siobhan was a telekinetic wai fu and a rather big eater, something which undoubtedly had been the cause of trolling on her wife's and Anya's part, but then throwing tanks with your mind devoured calories! While Eyrecae was designed to be a walking tank and almost unstoppable.

So, presumably, she would need...a lot. Good thing there's no planet with more twenty-four hour takeaways than Kaeshana. It would have been bad if it was Naboo because apparently a movement that stood for veganism and fanatically opposed what it called blind consumerism had arisen, which was funny because Naboo's main attraction was as a tourist planet for the rich and decadent.

"I'll be right back. Just gonna get out of this armour and have a shower." Walking around in beskar'gam the whole time was not comfortable after all. As she left the guest room and returned back upstairs she obviously found herself confronted with the aforementioned translation problem. Obviously Siobhan could think of an ingenious technical solution that would be terribly efficient or...well, it was not that much of a long shot and she was reliable...

At the very least she should be totally capable of distracting Eyrecae from the fact that she had been ripped out of her time and her world. So with that in mind, after stripping out of her armour, Siobhan walked over to the comm and made a call. The probable demi-goddess was due to over tomorrow anyway....

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
The holo-terminal was eventually answered. It was probably just well that Siobhan wasn't wearing much, that way she wouldn't feel out of place when Chesna Chinue answered. The other woman was wearing a light robe and from the looks of it nothing else underneath.
"Well hello, Mistress Earthshaker. Wait...was I supposed to be over there tonight or tomorrow? Right...tomorrow. So, what's this, booty call?" she asked.

Chesna's exact history and backstory was a mystery to everyone but the woman herself. She had some unusual, even unique powers of the Force, and seemed to be a good deal more than she seemed.
"As it was, I was just finishing up with my 'friend' if you need a friend tonight." After all, Siobhan was practically naked, what else could she be wanting?

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Siobhan was indeed...not wearing much, as in barely anything. After all, she had just gotten out of her armour. She could not help licking her lips at Chesna's offer. After all, the day had been stressful, she could use a special friend!

You know me, I can always use a special friend...pet," she said lustily before she remembered the actual reason why she had called! Admittedly getting some relaxation from the mysterious space elf and probable demi-goddess was on the list as well. "Look, long shot maybe, but do speak and understand ancient Eldarai?" That was obviously totally a normal question to ask, but then again Chesna was not what most people considered normal.