When You Wish Upon A Dark Star (Siobhan)

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
It was totally not a kinky application of the Force, and absolutely not one which the Order of the Torch knew anything about!

Eyrecae was stopped dead by the invisible hands holding her. Her eyes narrowed and she shouted something, there was no translation, but she clearly felt it was not a fair fight for her opponent to be using these powers against her!
Then she was picked up and hurled against the wall. The first impact was devastating as she hit the wall at a considerable speed! Normally this would be a very dangerous training method because the impact could have even killed a normal person...and the lawsuit would have been terrible.
However, Eyrecae was not normal. As she was pulled from the wall by the invisible hand and hurled at the other wall she managed to brace her legs and push off the wall rather than hitting it, breaking the telekinetic grip and landing on the floor with a roll. Then, picking up a blaster from a fallen droid she opened fire as she ran. She knew her opponent would have to expend energy to block the attacks which gave her the chance to get closer....

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Battle had nothing to do with fairness and honour was a fancy word to excuse stupidity. Besides, Eyrecae clearly saw nothing wrong with using her super powers against Siobhan. Forcers would probably be the most dangerous opponents the Eldorai would face. Of course, her abilities would make her perfectly suited for beating them, but to do she had to know what she might be up against.

Regardless, Siobhan found herself confronted with a charging Eldorai supersoldier and incoming blaster bolts. Some forcers had the ability to absorb such incoming energy rounds through tutatiminis and then use it in turn to fuel their own attacks. However, she did not possess such a power. What she could do, however, was manifest a telekinetic shield against which blaster bolts would dissipate. A shield alone would not avail her, however, since Eyrecae was charging at her and though there was some distance, the range was not that great. But that assumed Siobhan would stay stationary as the attack came.

So in a blur, as Eyrecae landed upon the floor and then grabbed her gun Siobhan acted and leapt backwards. Leaping very high and very fast. In the same motion one of the crumbled droids was gripped by her mind and pulled into the air right into the trajectory of the blaster bolts. The already rather damaged machine was blasted to pieces, two more broken droids likewise rose upon being gripped by an invisible hand and were sent flying towards Eyrecae with the velocity of artillery rounds, propelled by what blossomed into a whirlwind that seemed to grow in intensity as droid parts and guns were gathered and pushed forward with kinetic force behind it.

As a force-user Siobhan had a rather limited skill set. There were a few abilities she had mastered and she generally stuck by what was time and tested, which meant that once one had figured out of her modus operandi she could be rather predictable in a fight. However, the few things she was good at she did really well.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Siobhan had leapt back and fired the fragments at her like a giant shrapnel cannon. Eyrecae tossed the blaster into the air, dived and rolled on the ground as one droid sailed overhead, caught the blaster and charged on. When the second shattered droid came in she couldn’t avoid it, and was hit hard on the shoulder, spinning her.
Rather than letting that slow her, she pirouetted and charged onward. Siobhan would run out of places to retreat soon.

As she advanced she fired again, missing, and the bolt bounced off the wall beside Siobhan. That gave her an idea, so this time she fired deliberately wide of Siobhan, hoping to bounce bolts off from an odd angle and distract Siobhan whilst she closed in for melee.

Eyrecae had been left a jagged piece of metal in her shoulder, so she pulled it out, ready to use it as an improvised shiv….

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Siobhan would probably run out of places to retreat soon. But not out of places to throw Eyrecae at. An animal, if cornered, lashed out violently. Regardless bolts bounced off the wall in a wide angle, seeking to entrap and distract Siobhan as the Eldorai closed in. The onslaught of bolts made it difficult to dodge, as Siobhan soon discovered as rounds peppered off the wall.

Rather than trying she sought to summon a telekinetic shield, the Force wrapping itself around her. Nonetheless a bolt struck the place between her amd her shoulder. Fortunately it was her bionic arm and the shield was enclosing around her, but nonetheless she experienced a powerful burning sensation, white hot pain shooting through her and the arm felt immobilised. After all, the droids had been set to kill! Against the pressure she stumbled to the ground but poured energy into the shield, other blaster bolts being blocked by it and then reflected, as if a a tennis balls had been struck by a tennis bat. Presumably they would be spewing out at a wide angle, so it was not precision work.

Clutching her slightly burnt arm Siobhan affixed her gaze at Eyrecae, who was probably quite close now, though she may or may not have had to evade the reflected hailstorm. The barrier dissipated and then Siobhan unleashed a shockwave as power rippled through her. Stronger and more intense than the previous one. Unlike Eyrecae Siobhan did not have super regeneration capacity and thus bled normally despite her ability to use the Force to stifle her sense of pain and carry on But pain also acted as a super charger. It was something that could be harnessed as a weapon and expelled outward in an act of primal ferocity and fury. Last time had been speeder collision velocity, now Mistress Earthshaker, annihilator of cities and destroyer of star destroyer bridge towers, was in action and ready to play. The force blast was not solely concentrated upon hitting Eyrecae directly, but omnidirectional in nature, sweeping across the room to engulf and slam into her, to make the walls and the ground shake under the pressure as if struck by powerful quakes. Fortunately the walls were rather strong.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

It was unclear if Eyrecae sensed the onslaught, but when it came she was ready. The Force wave hit her, but as it was about to smash her she’d dived forward so that instead of throwing her through the air it slammed her into the ground like a giant invisible hammer. There was the thud and a crack as she hit the ground.
However, relentlessly, Eyrecae staggered upright and came right on at Siobhan again! As she charged her broken nose and bruised flesh reformed, and her eyes flared with a relentless joy for battle. She’d lost the blaster, so now just had her shiv.

Being hammered into the ground had meant that she was now close enough to see Siobhan’s face clearly, and she let out a piercing yell as she closed the last feet and charged….

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Siobhan had in fact already been moving since there was no sense in staying put while the wave hit her. Eyrecae charged relentlessly. If Siobhan found some reasom to randomly murder people or consort with sadistic Sith daemonettes again Firemane would have someone who could put her down and was not reliant on magic, without which Siobhan would have never amounted to anything. After all, if Omega Pyre had had someone just as 'efficient' - efficient when it came to wrecking things, not for anything involving leadership, since she performed abysmally there- as Siobhan was they probably would not have put up with her. Besides, Eyrecae was an Eldorai and thus better marketing wise for Kaeshana and its Queen.

If it had not been enclosed quarters Siobhan would leapt into the air and shot upward like an organic rocket ship. Well, strictly speaking she could tear the roof down, but she did not want to demolish her home. At close range Siobhan was at a disadvantage, even with force-enhanced strength. She would pummel Eyrecae with her powers, but the elf would get up and keep coming at her.


As the supersoldier was closing the short distance a stream of blue-white lightning shrieked from Siobhan's flesh hand towards her. Lightning everywhere! The bolts, an outpour of a primal fury that matched that radiating from the aura of the primeval Eldorai, would converge upon Eyrecae like claws from multiple directions.


A gigantic telekinetic fist wrapped itself around her as the lightning danced. Unlike before Siobhan made no attempt to throw her, contrary to what Eyrecae might have expected. Rather the binds were just designed to keep her held in place. Obviously restraining a raging titan cost its price in energy. It was easier to throw a being of such power than to keep her held in place. Beads of sweat dripped down Siobhan's forehead and temples, her tank top was drenched in it, but she persisted in her powerful, crushing force grip. The mind binds would...tighten, squeezing limbs at an unnatural and painful angle as she sought to squeeze her as one would a tomato, telekinetic energy compressing around her like invisible walls.

Of course, Eyrecae's bones were very tough, but even superior regeneration was not instant and that did not stop the feeling of being rendered immovable, caged by chains that were not physical and being pressed together as if in the garbage chute where Han and the plucky rebels had found themselves in on the first death star upon escaping stormtroopers, with the walls closing in ever more and pressing. Perhaps a fitting analogy would be a giant, invisible anaconda wrapping itself around the flesh, becoming almost suffocatingly tight. Yes, this was deliberately meant to sound extremely kinky, to this writer at least. Naturally Eyrecae was still a primeval Eldorai supersoldier designed by a mad scientist to take a ridiculous amount of punishment and equally dish it out.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

Meanwhile on the island sanitisation had been completed. Presumably the Firemane crew had worked through the night to remove any evidence. The dead researchers had been put in bodybags and loaded onto a shuttle for transport back home. Their loved ones would be told of their deaths and they would be cremated after the last rites had been administered, sending their souls along on their journey to Eldorai heaven. They had been loyal children of Ashira the Great Goddess, assuredly they would be offered a place in her paradise.

Naturally no one would be told about why they had really died. Officially they had been murdered by a bunch of heinous raiders who had hidden on the island. As a matter of fact, to make the cover story even more plausible, the Firemane crew had actually brought a couple scum - former Sith turned raiders - who had been captured in a totally unrelated action to the island. There they were unceremoniously killed by a couple blasters bolts and bolter rounds, along with stab wounds inflicted by a lightsabre to make it all look real. Their brutally mangled bodies were then tossed into the ocean, as was common practice when dealing with such scum.

Forgiveness in heaven or even purgatory was not for them. Rather their depraved and twisted souls would find themselves imprisoned judged to an eternity of suffering by Illyria, dread mistress of the dead. For there was only the righteous light of the Goddess or the darkest abyss.

The blue eyes of Host Leader Kaida Taldir turned away from the cleared out facility as she embarked upon the shuttle, the last one aboard as the landing ramp was raised and upon a signal the pilot took off. She was the only Eldorai who had been part of the crew, having returned after playing pickup. Perhaps she should feel honoured for being the only one of her people considered reliable enough. To keep her mouth about the secret of secrets and not break into an religious fervour that would override all reason. After all, she had known for long that Ashira had not been a Goddess.

But knowing it intellectually was one thing, accepting it with her heart another. Even though the knowledge had been liberating in a sense, the ultimate way to reject the stultifying culture of the decadent aristocracy. Change was coming to Kaeshana, it was opening up, but even so. She still would not mind the nobles and priestesses being pulled down from their pedestals and forced to face reality, confronted with their lies, the common people stripped of their illusions.

The humans could be relied upon not ask awkward questions about what had been done in the facility. They were hired guns enlisted by Firemane and were just here to get paid. Besides, say what you wanted about Kerrigan, she knew how to make sure who might have dug in deeper reconsidered this very fast. Her apprentice, the black skinned woman called Tempest, was aboard.

"All is set, we've reached a safe distance. I can push the button," one of the Firemane grunts, clad in body armour, spoke to her, holding a detonator in his gloved hand.

"Good. Give it to me," she retorted. This for an Eldorai to do. It is our planet. We can bury our own secrets, thank you very much, "I have been sorely deprived of my share of explosions for this week and seek to play catch-up," she added in a more light-hearted tone. The grunt looked at her oddly, his scarred face that of a grizzled veteran, but handed the detonator over without protest. An explosion was an explosion after all.

How ironic, now I help in burying the secrets, she thought to herself as she took it into her grasp, enclosing her fingers around the small device. The younger her would have protested and rebelled against this, but life forced compromises upon everyone. Hence there was no time for an outburst, nor for even processing what she had learnt deep in the bowels of the laboratory, where she had laid eyes upon the naked body of Ashira's daughter. Whose mother was not a goddess, though still the progenitor of their people. Created in a laboratory by alien puppet masters to serve as their toy. How ironic that her people had come to believe they were the chosen ones, endowed with a goddess-given manifest destiny to conquer the stars and subjugate the lesser races under the loving heel of the Eldorai mistresses.

In other words, what the Rakatan had successfully accomplished, before their hubris proved the undoing of their so called 'Infinite Empire'.

Blessed are the righteous, the lights in the shadow.
In their blood the Goddess' will is written,

Let it not be said that Host Leader Taldir did not understand duty. To Kaeshana, its people, her Queen.

She pressed the button. Beneath them the facility on the island was wreathed in flames. She looked on as the fireball rose up higher and higher into the air. Stone, durasteel and machinery spread far and wide as the flames consumed all that was left behind, engulfing it in a firestorm that under other circumstances would have brought a gleeful smirk to her sister's face if she were here. The truth was buried. Kaeshana need not fear to be torn apart by chaos. For now.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

One wonders whether Operational Health and Safety would be happy about Siobhan going all out to try and kill her new employee. Or, indeed, if Siobhan was wise in testing Eyrecae's limits so strongly without knowing exactly might happen.
Either way, Eyrecae screamed and thrashed as the lightning coursed through her. Her hair burned, her skin scorched, and the crushing grip grew tighter.

Suddenly there was a voice like thunder.
"That's enough!" Tegaea said, entering the room, with Chesna trailing behind. The Demi-Goddess had obviously run to fetch the headmistress when the students started to act up.
It was unclear if Siobhan had ever seen Tegaea so angry before, but either way she snapped her fingers so Chesna ran up beside her to instantly translate. She looked very much like a stern and angry goddess at that moment.
"What is the meaning of this? I am Siobhan's wife and I am in charge here. Are you trying to kill each other? I was told you would be going down here to train, not to break my building or try and electrocute each other. Come over here right now, the two of you, or I am leaving for good!"

Presumably released, Eyrecae fell to the floor and slowly got up, her torn and bloody outfit barely covering her now.
However, she suddenly moved and planted a kiss on Siobhan's lips before stepping back.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

The lightning dissipated and vanished. The strike had already died since Siobhan had been concentrating on becoming a telekinetic anaconda. Immediately Eyrecae was released from her grasp. The sheer ranger radiating from her wife was enough to make Siobhan recoil and flinch. She shook, looking troubled, guilty, even hurt; her upper lip trembled. Internally she cursed herself for being such a fool.

"Or am I leaving for good!"

"Tegs...I'm...I'm sorry. We were just...training and things...I have no excuse," she stammered lamely. If Tegaea at this very moment was the incarnation of a wrathful goddess, then she was struck with fear. During training she had been consumed by a primal fury, a desire for violence that had been overwhelmning, intoxicating even. Now that was gone and she was left with the consequences. The wound that had been blasted in the spot between her arm and shoulder where a blaster bolt fired by Eyrecae burnt strongly; she was lucky to have used the Force to shield herself, though she clutched at the scorched wound.

She caught completely off-guard when Eyrecae suddenly kissed her, too surprised to be able to respond, before she meekly approached her wife. Power - to say nothing of unwise use of it - did not need equal strength of character. Certainly not a common sense. Between the two of them Tegaea had always been the one who called the shots while Siobhan was a fairly weak person.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
The irony of the situation had not escaped Eyrecae. Though Siobhan was clearly the most powerful being in the room, able to crack the walls and stop even Eyrecae’s charge, she now looked meek and humble before her wife. Power was a term that meant many things.

“I greet you, Lady,” she said with a bow. “Do not be angry with Siobhan, I initiated the duel. I had hoped to test my limits, and she obliged. She defeated me.”
She seemed to show no shame admitting this.

Looking down at her torn clothes, Eyrecae smiled. “Perhaps the Lady Siobhan would be kind enough to honour her victory with me?”

Chesna let out a nervous giggle as she translated.

Tegaea’s eyes looked between the two of them sternly. She noticed the contrition on Siobhan’s face and the resolute defiance on Eyrecae’s.
“I forgive you,” she told her wife. “I had intended to meet our new guest in a different setting. However, I am glad I arrived when I did. You two may ‘honour’ your victory, but I shall expect to see both of you in my study in forty-five minutes. Am I understood?”

Eyrecae nodded, a smirk still on her face.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Power was indeed a very relative thing. Given the fact that Siobhan possessed a ridiculous amount of raw power whilst having significant deficiencies in common sense, responsibility or morals it was probably for the best that when it came to her wife she was a tsundere and could easily turn into a meek lamb. Especially since she had acquired something of a goddess complex and probably enjoyed being worshipped a bit too much.

As this writer is terribly fond of saying, Siobhan was destruction on a leash. Generally Tegaea held it. They key thing was that Siobhan was happy with that.

The rather abrupt shift in mood and Eyrecae's unexpected words did not immediately resonate with Siobhan even as Chesna translated. She was still focused on the pure fury she had aroused in Tegaea, her wife being more angry than she had ever seen her. As the old saying went, one should never piss off a redhead.

She was about to stammer out another apology when the last lines of the conversation finally registered with her. Er, wait, what? Oh...I like her! Clearly she was not the sharpest lightsabre in the villa. "Yes, dear. Thank you," she said obediently to Tegaea, still looking apologetic. She had almost said 'mistress' instead!

"I'll gladly...honour my victory with you. You are a very strong and worthy opponent." There was a smirk on Siobhan's face as she spoke these words to Eyrecae, tone respectful, just before she took her hand and quickly led her out...to a realm upon which a black curtain would fall, obscuring whatever might transpire from view, for innocent minds must not be warped. Said innocent minds would not at all have been affected by reading the logs of a Mengele-esque mad scientist gloating about inhumane medical experimentation, brainwashing, implied torture and murder or watching two demigoddesses beating the hell out of each other.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Naturally, the inhumane experiments, war and destruction were preferable to any hint of breach with Victorian era morals. After all, Victorian Britain had no qualms oppressing their working class and shooting down hapless natives with machine guns, but there mere suggestion of impropriety would cause all good Englishmen to twist their beards!

Regardless, the ‘honouring of victory’ continued to such an extent that they barely made it on time to Tegaea’s study on time. Siobhan it seemed was more concerned by this than Eyrecae.

Tegaea was sitting at the desk, Chesna standing beside her. She was reading some reports that someone had prepared about this matter.
“Come in, sit down,” she commanded them both. This was an interview before someone who acted as much a Queen as Anya Venari.
“I have read what happened. You did well to bring her back here, but what is it you intend to do now? Or rather, what is it the Queen intends me to do? The appearance of Ms Alzari could be highly disruptive to our operations and could cast the Eldorai into turmoil. What is intended to be done about this?” Tegaea asked. Her words were flat, stern, like she was seeing beyond the fun of having a supersoldier in their arsenal.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

For her part Siobhan felt a bit annoyed and looked the part. If she was expected to cave in now like some meek lamb Tegaea would be very disappointed. After all, it was not like she could decide what to do with Eyrecae. Nor was it her fault that the Eldorai had a messed up social system built on lies and thought her new friend's mother was their creator goddess.

Moreover, Tegaea did have a direct line to the Queen. Who had pretty much told Siobhan to take Eyrecae here, without saying what she wanted to do. That said, Siobhan still felt guilty about her display earlier and imagined that Tegaea's sternness might partially be a result of that.

But that would not make her act like this was her fault. Oh, and the stern tone did not intimidate or browbeat her either. So frankly 'Queen' Tegaea could go accuse someone else. Like call the woman who was actually running the planet. Siobhan was her wife and not one of her pets. As for commanding tone, she had one like that as well, so it did not impress.

"I'm well aware of Kaeshana's issues, dear. Not for me to decide though, as you know. Anya just told me to take her here because she needed her away from pyring eyes. I imagined she was going to talk to you. We do have a direct line to the palace after all," she said bluntly, tone pointed and just as flat. The whole 'stern interview before the headmistress' had never worked on Mistress Thuella anyway.

"Well, I figure doing a big public reveal and giving the Eldorai people a full disclosure is out for the same reasons as it was when we found out the truth about the Codex," she gave Eyrecae an apologetic look, tone softening.

"I'm sorry. Your people don't know about the Rakatan creating them or the truth about your mother. Those in power who know the truth have kept it secret for so long it would tear Kaeshana apart...and now that we're part of it. For now at least it might be best to take you off-planet. Dahomey comes to mind."

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
For her part Tegaea looked surprised, her grim mood fading a little.
“Eldorai…” she said with a sigh. “I had thought she would tell you her plans. It seems as though she doesn’t actually have any. That is not reassuring!”

“I’ll talk to Anya, but we need to do something with Eyrecae. Dahomey might be the best option, but what would she do there? She doesn’t know the language or the customs. Would you suggest anyone to go with her?” she asked Siobhan.
Tempest was the obvious choice, but it was unclear if Siobhan wanted to be parted from her apprentice.

Eyrecae spoke up. “My people don’t know the truth, and you don’t want to tell them? Is it really that bad that it would cause everything to collapse if they knew? So instead you want to hide me away somewhere where no one will know who I am? Hidden away so I’m just forgotten again and abandoned? Why did you wake me up if you just want me abandoned again?” she demanded, leaning forward.

“I am a warrior, I am not someone who will just be tucked away in the corner. If you will not tell me people who I am then I will tell them myself!”
The immediate problems of language, culture, evidence coverup and all other things had occurred to her clearly, but she was a proud person, and being shunted off into obscurity was not her thing.

“Is Dells still heading Dahomey?” Tegaea asked Siobhan, signalling that Chesna should not translate this. “Do you think she’d want her there? Do we have anyone we can spare to go with her, or any other suggestions as to what to do?”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

Admittedly Siobhan had not given the matter much thought either, but she was not the sort of person expected to come up with plans. She was not the ruler after all! Well, the elves have sort of always depended on us, she thought rather bitchily and arrogantly, though it was sort of true.

"Your people's entire civilisation is built around the idea that your mother's the supreme goddess to be worshipped and has given them a manifest destiny to rule over everyone. The past Queens have killed to keep the truth hidden. The moment they learn they were created as lab rats by alien puppet masters their culture will collapse and there'll be blood in Santaissa. Your people just suffered two civil wars in less than three years because one party saw the other as being insufficiently pure and devout in their worship of Ashira. Truth is revealed, Kaeshana tears itself apart, Eldorai become easy prey for the scum of the Galaxy," she spoke with strange calmness. It was not directly said, but there was a clear undertone of 'do you want your people to suffer because of your pride?' Of course, Siobhan was being self-centred as well, since her own luxurious life style and influence on Kaeshana depended upon the truth being kept under wraps. That said it was very ironic that now she was just as determined to prevent disclosure as she had been to find out the truth when she and Phylis came to Kaeshana on their quest for the Arithdae Codex.

Then she turned to Tegaea. What came next should not be translated by Chesna. "Yeah, she is. Doing well. As for whether she'd want her, well, she doesn't like elves. But Eyrecae's not a forcer and hits like a truck. Would single-handedly thrash any slaver hordes that make a housecall. If she stays here we need a good marketing agent to put a spin on her story and Linna's sort of moved on. Vandelhelm's just cruel. I'd hate to part with Tempest. She's doing good work out here...but...Well, there's Taldir. She's seen space beyond Kaeshana and...is reliable," the last word came out a bit grudgingly.

Siobhan did not like Kaida much. Mainly because all of this writer's characters can't stand each other. Perhaps also because the Angelii, who admittedly at times had been a bit sulky but then so was Siobhan, had not been interested in sleeping with her. For her part Kaida could not stand Siobhan. To her the telekinesis master was just the sort of decadent, pompous aristo she hated and then there was the bloodbath on Gehenna.

 

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Tegaea nodded. Taldir was a good idea, and though not technically under her command, she was sure that the Queen wouldn’t mind sending her to Dahomey.
“Alright, Taldir it is.”

Eyrecae meanwhile unconsciously imitated Aurelia Saelari by raising her chin and sniffing indignantly.
“Then my people are lost. If they truly cannot handle the truth, then they are not worth my protection. My mother would not have agree with it.”

“Your mother is dead, Eyrecae. It’s what people believe now that’s important. The truth is dangerous enough to probably start a war. That’s why we’re suggesting you go to Dahomey. We have people there who are trustworthy, and we are sending one of the Angelii you met at the cave with you. We see how valuable you are, Eyrecae, even if the Eldorai don’t.”

Eyrecae finally relented, it was clear there was no way around it. “Your wife is a good lover,” she declared, profoundly embarrassing everyone present….
Well, not really. One would expected that it might, but these were unusual people. Chesna was clearly amused, whilst Tegaea just nodded in agreement.
“Yes, she is,” she agreed. Soon Eyrecae would leave Kaeshana though, and take her potential competition with her….

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"]

"Why thank you. I aim to please. You're very good as well," Siobhan said smugly to Eyrecae, before leaning forward to give her wife a kiss. She figured she would have to be...extra devout this night to make up the mess earlier.

Speaking of which, what was Kaida doing?

Well, since she was an officer of some manner she was doing what officers did. Being a queen to her minions...passing on her knowledge that is! It was drill time at the Angelii barracks and so several Angelii were on the spot, clad in their traditional ornate battle armour. The flat cracks of bolters were heard as they fired upon targets. Yes, bolters, rather than honing their Sciia or practicing the use of the sarix. That would obviously happen as well. Kaida had been quite annoyed to hear that during the brief civil war some rogue Angelii had thought force pushes could block bolter rounds! Admittedly that had worked in favour of the side she was on, but it was a strong deficiency in education. Many Eldorai still did not like the idea of using 'crude human weapons'. Loud booms were heard as targets were blasted to pieces.

Truly, there could be no more formidable blade than the sarix, an honourable weapon from a more civilised age, and their Sciia was a gift granted to them by the Goddess. Except, as she had learnt during the Bando Gora war, even powerful magi could be killed via conventional means.

"Steady, take aim, fire! Tydeas, I said aim. As in lock eyes through the scope and shoot at the target. Area of effect damage is a marvellous thing, but useless if you're far off and cannot even aim half-way straight! I've seen human monkeighs with better coordination! Once explosive bolt magazine is depleted, switch to buckshot. No slacking! You are training to be Angelii, the best of the best, and you will act like it. The Goddess Valora won't ascend from the heavens to save your arses if you're worthless!"

Apparently there was an unwritten rule that all sergeants, regardless of species, gender or creed, were psychopaths. Or maybe this writer has been watching too many war movies. Regardless, it took Kaida's mind off the fact that she would soon have to attend...prayer service, for an Angelii officer was always expected to attend the religious rites and be most devout. It...really annoyed her, to have to wear a mask like that.

So she walked across from recruit to recruit, the heels of her boots click-clacking upon the ground, as if punctuating every word she spoke with deliberate emphasis. "You may have heard of those fools who said it's dishonourable to adapt our enemies' techniques - they committed treason and got slaughtered. The slavers and Dashdae Sciians will show you no mercy. Now...again!"

It went on like this for quite some time before she was satisfied. Well, more or less. "Alright, girls. Get up. Now to the chapel. Sprint. In full combat gear! Anyone who slacks gets to sweep the barracks for two weeks!" At that moment, as the recruits dispersed, presumably muttering curses under their breath and as she was about to join them, an aide rushed into the hall, presumably with a message about her good fortune.

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]
[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
The aide was indeed coming for Kaida Taldir, ordering her to report to her Highness the Queen at once!

Still in her armour, she was led to a private room where Anya was waiting.
“Kaida, good. Now, you know the person we found…Ms Alzari? You did very well dealing with matters, but I have another assignment for you. She is going to Dahomey, where she will assist Firemane’s efforts. I want you to go with them. You will help teach her basic and our modern tongue and help her learn about the present. You will also, most importantly, ensure that nothing unexpected gets out about her. You know the consequences if something were to happen, this is why you must keep her identity secret.”

The Queen went to the window, then turned back. “And as a reward for your service, I am promoting you to Captain. It’s a jump, I know, but you will be my liaison on Dahomey and report to me alone. It will also give you a measure of authority there over everyone except the commander of the planet and perhaps a couple of others.”

On the surface it made sense to move two people who knew inconvenient truths to a remote backwater, the promotion being a slight gilding of a bitter cup.

The Queen though was not the sort who could be without emotion. “This means a lot to me, Kaida…you’re the only one I can trust with this. Did you want to take one of my girls with you?” she asked generously. The ‘girls’ were from the Queen’s unofficial harem composed of young (but legally aged) noble daughters who ‘served’ the Queen in various ways for a year or two. Anya had changed it so it was voluntary and paid work, rather than indentured and forced, effectively changing them from slaves to courtesans.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Anya Venari"]

Had Kaida already mentioned that she found most nobles annoying and thought it might be a good idea if the Eldorai people had some say in their fate? Well, if most Eldorai were less annoying and deluded. Well, she liked Anya because she had been an exile as well due to finding out the truth, but that was about it. The Eldorai aristocracy could stand to have a few heads less.

"I see. So because she is...tremendously inconvenient and I presume there is presently no plan about what to do with her more permanently she gets sent to Dahomey and since I fortunately happen to know the disruptive truth as well so I get sent off as well to said third world planet to play guide. Where I cannot help defend Kaeshana. To make it more palatable I receive a promotion, a harem girl and different people to yell at." This she said in a very matter-of fact, rather dry tone. Having an outburst of anger would be both unbecoming and futile anyway. At least she would also get to troll Delila Castillon again. Personally Kaida could think of a few Eldorai she would not mind the red-maned woman punching. Like that pompous, annoying Cadalthor woman.

Of course, she could dramatically mope now, but that would be both unbecoming and just annoying, so she just nodded. "Of course. Much as I would have preferred a less...hot planet. At least I can skip prayer service then. Thank you for placing this trust in me, Your Majesty. I shall need a bit of time to finish up with paperwork for my company and put things in order."

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]

As discussed previously, the Eldorai were not a very nice government group on the whole. It was fortunate that Anya was not like her predecessors or her mother, otherwise Kaida might have expected a free extraction of her tongue.
As it was, the Queen smiled sadly.
"Yes," she said simply to her first words. "If Kaeshana needs the two of you...I will call. Thank you, dear. You can leave tomorrow, but don't tell anyone who you are going with."
The Queen patted her on the shoulder. "May the Force be with you," she said. After all, the Goddess was not something either of them could really believe in now.