An Age of Iron (Siobhan)

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

"Define: Living rough. Because that can mean a lot of things." Galina said flatly. "Just trying to figure out if I need anything to pack for this or not." Knowing she could in theory make it by with nothing at all but what was on her person, that wasn't an experience she really cared to revisit in its entirety. The girl then glanced to the bow leaning against the wall, wondering in part if it would be useful or not. She still held a lot of faith in that weapon, despite trying out new weapons. Though she had liked a few of the new weaponry that Siobhan had showed her before.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest considered, then shrugged. “Well, rough for most people,” she said with a grin. As someone who’d had to survive in the jungles and plains of Dahomey she could appreciate Galina’s experience, even if she’d not endured it as long.
“Pack warmly and with waterproof stuff. Bring whatever weapon you feel you need…you likely won’t need it, but it’s good to be ready.”

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina chuckled, "Well that's better. I can deal with that. I'm not keen on walking into the woods with nothing and trying to survive that way. Not an experience I can recommend to anyone." Not an experience anyone else should have to go through either in her eyes. Quickly Galina gathered her things, wondering where exactly they were going to end up. Walking to the nightstand, she opened it's drawer, and pulled out a small shatter pistol before laying it into her bag after ensuring the safety was in fact still on. One never could be too safe. With that she slung the bag over her shoulder, "I suppose I'm ready. As I'll ever be, when I have no idea where we are going."

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest smiled. “It’s a surprise, I hope you find it a pleasant one.”

She led her charge down to a speeder and they set off swiftly. It was a long journey though, taking them over winding roads through the mountains. Finally they came to a great plateau, cold and windswept. Snow lay in places and the sun shone down.

The biggest feature though was a lake well over 50 metres across and wide. It was a dark midnight blue.
“It’s called the ‘Tarn of Lost Souls’. There was a battle fought here once I’ve been told, and either the lake now sits on the battlefield or the bodies were dumped in the water afterwards. But, if you reach for the Force you can feel a presence here, a power. I came here a few years ago and have kept it in mind ever since. I want you to commune with the power of the lake, try to master the waters or at least use it.”

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Stepping out of the speeder and into the cool mountain air. The ice, the snow, the lake all of it filled with something familiar, something comforting to the young woman. It had been the same comfort and familiarity at the stream and at the ocean on the island. There was something about it that felt so soothing to the Firemane. And for a long moment, Galina said nothing after Tempest had spoken. She had to just sit and take it all in for a minute before she really could respond.

Cocking her head curiously to the side, she looked to the lake before glancing back to her Mistress. "Very interesting." She finally said, as she reached out to touch the force, instantly that presence Galina could feel. It was absolutely undeniable. "It's hard not to feel it, actually." Spoken as she slowly approached the waters. After all, she did rather like being so close to her element.

Finally she knelt down by the water's edge. Lightly she reached out to skim her fingers over the surface of the water, creating the tiniest of ripples in the frigid waters. Sighing softly, she took her time centering herself within the Force. Those tiny ripples were still spreading out across the lake's surface, almost to the point of disappearing. Grasping at the power she felt within the lake and all around her, she was quick to attempt to draw it into herself. Touching the surface again, tiny ripples grew to larger waves, pushing out from the shore further into the lake. Though she was still playing small, getting used to it for the moment.

With the power of the lake, it had been much easier to connect to the waters. Galina found it easier to control. A rare smile formed on her lips, as she opened her eyes to watch the wave take it's ride further out. With it being easier, she did wonder the same if it would be to stop the motions in the water, and turn it to ice. Ice had been harder than simply moving water. "It's a fair bit easier here. Which I suppose, makes some sense." She said quietly as she glanced back to Tempest.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest nodded approvingly at her student’s connection to the location and the ease with which she had quickly gotten control of the water.

Unknown to her though, whispers would start just at the edge of Galina’s hearing.
‘The water rises! Sound a retreat!’
‘The bank is held! Push on!’
‘Save the wounded!’
‘Help us…’
‘Help us!’
‘Help us!’

Unaware, Tempest came to the water’s edge. “Good work, Galina! Want to give it another try?”

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Hearing something, Galina turned back to the water and found herself staring down curiously at it. "Did you hear that?" She suddenly asked as she looked up to Tempest.

"I suppose." The redhead was a little more hesitant this time. A light touch against the surface of the lake. As the ripples started to spread, she worked quickly to push them into bigger and bigger waves. But something was off, that much she knew. As for what that was..... Galina wasn't too sure. She knew she'd heard something earlier voices? Her brow furrowed as she looked out onto the waters, trying to work it out for herself. Hearing voices, she knew was in no way normal. But it could have been the wind maybe? She hoped.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
When Galina made to touch the water this time it was not voices, but vague shapes in the dark water which became visible.
Dimly, as if from a great distance, tiny figures formed into ranks. Some of them rode steeds of some form, tiny weapons were visible and spectral banners floated in the breeze. They were not small themselves, just viewed from high up.

Then the music started, the sound of horns and drums, faint, but clear.

“Galina…Galina are you alright?” Tempest asked, laying a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina pulled her hand back quickly. This was so not making much sense to her. Nervously she glanced to Tempest, and shook her head. "No! I'm not. Definitely not okay." Clearly the redhead was distressed by this point. It was a level of strange she'd not encountered before. "Look into the waters. Do you see it too?" Surely it couldn't be just her. If it was just her, there were problems and not the kind that Galina really wished to think about. "There are people down there. And ... surely you hear that?"

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest gave her apprentice a sidelong look. Galina had never possessed much of a sense of humour, especially not the pranking kind. It seemed odd, unusual, and it started to worry her slightly.

She dutifully looked into the waters, but could see nothing in the dark depths, could hear nothing but the wind through the heather.
Tempest did not dismiss Galina’s notions though, she had sensed the power of this place, and somehow it was calling to her?
Maybe this hadn’t been such a great idea.
“Alright, let’s go,” Tempest said, taking Galina’s hand

To Galina the shores around the lake seemed to be filling with spectral beings. They marched in ranks, their weapons were spears, swords and bows. On the other side of the rocky plain another army marched. Kar’zun, a phalanx of stone-men with heavy axes and shields. Cannons stood between the formed ranks, battle was about to begin! It was as though the lake was not there for them, as though it had all been a level flatland for them.
A figure rode behind the Eldorai ranks, her armour shining like burnished bronze. Ghostly trumpets on the breeze.
“The goddess has brought us here today to crush these abominations! Too long they have preyed on us, too long they have tormented us. Today we start their total and utter extermination!”
The shades of the long dead Queen’s army cheered….

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Tempest was right, Galina didn't have much of a sense of humor and certainly wasn't a prankster. She was far too quiet and gentle for such things. The power of the lake indeed was calling to the young redhead, who stared wide eyed into the waters, watching the images play out, almost mesmerized by them, so far below.

It was Tempest taking her hand and pulling upon her that snapped the girl out of it. Glancing around, seeing the spirits on the shoreline, only further disturbed Galina. Between the Kar'zun and the Eldorai, she had little understanding of this battle other than it was about to happen yet again and only she seemed able to see it.

"How can you not see this?" She asked desperately. "They are everywhere!" Her voice growing more fearful, more worried as the moments passed. "What's happening?!"

As she passed one of the many shades, Galina felt pressure on her wrist, pulling her backwards. A sharp scream escaped her lips. Ghosts shouldn't be able to grab, to hold. It made no sense to her. Being the science loving girl she was, this all seemed impossible to her. "Let me go!" She shouted trying to pull free.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
It was here that things started to turn nightmarish. The spectral faces decayed before Galina’s eyes, their armour corroded and rusted and their hands turned to bony claws.

Dozens of them moved towards Galina, reaching for her.
“Help us!”
“Save us!”
“Please!”
Voices lost in the wind, the words of men and women dead 1800 years.

Tempest saw the spectral force grabbing her student, and though she couldn’t see the ghosts, she could see their effect. Calling on her power she lifted Galina clear and took flight herself, flying twenty feet into the air.

“It’s alright, Galina, I’ve got you…shh…it’s alright, I’m here,” Tempest said, trying to keep herself levitating above the ground with Galina held to her.

Unknowingly the spirits reached vainly for Galina…as the battle begun below. Star Queen Anais II ordered the advance, and the spirits of the lake began their deadly dance once more….

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

A nightmare, awake for certain. Seeing the sudden decay only drew a second scream from the young woman as she tried hard to pull away. With more turning to her, reaching out to grab her, Galina's efforts to free herself only intensified. "Let go!" She shouted, clearly panicking.

As Tempest finally managed to pull her free and lift her away from the spirits below, Galina clung tightly to the woman. Anything to keep herself from what was happening below and the spirits that were trying to grab her. "Thank ... you." She managed, glad to be off the ground and away from the battle below. Though curiosity got the best of her as she once more looked down to the spirits of the lake. Her eyes widened as the battle began. She clung tighter, still trying to work through what exactly happened. "I don't understand." She whispered. "They shouldn't .... shouldn't be here. Doesn't make sense. They're dead. Shouldn't affect the living.... They're fighting now...."

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest strained her eyes. Yes, the mist was a bit thicker than before, but she saw no armies. She didn’t doubt her student though.
“I need…to come down,” Tempest said, wobbling in the air as she guided them to a hillock not far from the lake. Panting, she looked at Galina.

“Did you want to go?” she asked. Galina seemed both terrified and fascinated by the battle.

In said battle the Eldorai had formed a solid phalanx of spears to block the Kar’zun attack. Arrows and bolts from the Eldorai cut into the attacking wall of Kar’zun, and were returned in kind by musket and cannonballs.
The Kar’zun charge was terrible to behold as they swept forward like an avalanche, crushing Eldorai with hammers or trampling them underfoot. The Eldorai stood their ground though, and used their greater speed and agility to strike at weak places and fell their enemies. Swords flashing with Force imbued fire pierced stony hides, and Eldorai Sciians delivered blasts of fire, ice and lightning.
The screams were distant to Galina, but still clear. The spectres hacked and smashed each other whilst the wounded were ground underfoot.
It was not a glorious or noble battle, it was a grim, brutal bloodbath.

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina nodded, sensing the strain in her Master. Her eyes were glued to the battle playing out just down below at the lake.

For a long moment, the redhead was quiet and said nothing as her eyes darted back and forth watching the exchanges between sides. "No. I feel safer now. I don't think they see us here." She said softly. "I want to see this." Curiously she cocked her head to the side, just watching as muskets, arrows, bolts and even cannon fire was all exchanged across the field surrounding the lake, as well as across the lake itself.

"This is so sad...." Realizing the grim realities of what she was seeing. A battle playing out repeatedly for who knew how many years, with these spirits forever trapped in what happened. "Who are they?"

"Poor souls .... They deserve rest. Not to live like this." She felt terrible for them, but wasn't sure a thing could be done about it.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest shrugged. “I can’t see them,” she pointed out. “The history I read said it was perhaps a battle between Eldorai and the Kar’zun, perhaps 2000 years ago. More than that I can’t say.”

The battle was going poorly for the Eldorai. Pushed back by the Kar’zun, the modern lakebed was almost entirely held by the stony creatures. However, the Eldorai still had heavy reserves not committed.

The Queen looked at the battle, turned to her subordinate. “Break the dam.”
“Majesty…our forces will be caught in the water…” the general said nervously.
“But so will theirs. We have reserves. Do it,” the Queen ordered with no compassion.

Suddenly, though the water was not visible in the vision, its effects were. Eldorai and Kar’zun were caught by the raging tidal wave, sucked into a vortex of stones and water, drowned, crushed, slain.

The Queen ordered her reserves forward to kill any Kar’zun who emerged from the lake. Few did, and fewer Eldorai survived. Victory had been achieved, but at terrible cost. The Queen acknowledged the cheers of her surviving troops and soon departed leaving the bodies of both sides to rot and fade beneath the waters….

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina nodded, "I wish you could." Spoken quietly as she watched below. "It is a battle between the Kar'zun, and the Eldorai." Confirming what Tempest had read. She was still wondering though, why she could see them and Tempest could not. "Maybe I see them because I am connected with the water?" She asked aloud.

"It's not going well for the Eldorai." She whispered.

A gasp escaped her lips as she watched the Queen's orders play out across the battlefield. The dam breaking, left Galina shocked as she clasped a hand to her lips covering her gaping jaw. She could hardly believe what she had seen. "The ... the Queen ordered them to break the dam." The redhead finally managed to say.

To young Galina it was a bit heartbreaking. Though there was nothing she could do to change this past, a part of her desperately wanted to. "She killed her own people and so many of the stone people. She didn't care. Heartless...." She whispered, still seemingly in a bit of shock.

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest felt...something...a flicker of the Force. Still she could not see it though.
She held Galina close though, comforting her. "War is heartless, as you know. Always been, always will be. The Eldorai and Kaeshana look so pretty, like it can't happen here. It's an illusion...their history like ours is covered in blood. Doubtless the Queen didn't shed a tear."

She stroked Galina's hair. "Did you want to stay or go?"

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

Galina sighed heavily, and clung to Tempest as she watched the final part of the battle play out as the Queen and those who survived left the valley behind. For that she was grateful, to have someone who could and did comfort her while watching such horrors. Horrors that reminded her a little too much of her troubled past.

"It is ...." She whispered. "It really is. Just ... hard to see something that heartless and cruel. Her own people didn't deserve that. Neither did the Kar'zun but that is beside the point." The girl gave a nod, "She certainly didn't seem to care a bit as she walked away at the end...."

Reaching up, she brushed the hair back from her face and sighed again, "I think I'd like to go now. There's nothing I can do here to change any of this.... I just wish they could be given the rest they deserve. No one deserves to keep living such a battle over and over again."

[member="Tempest"]

 

[Tempest]

[member="Galina Kerrigan-Alcori"]

Tempest didn’t know what to say. She lacked the magic powers to put the spirits to rest. She’d not even known they’d been here before now.
Still, it had been a good learning experience for Galina…probably. Tempest wasn’t sure what the lessons learned had been, except possibly that authority usually was cruel and heartless.
“I’m sorry…let’s go home,” she said, petting the redhead soothingly.