Bringing Heaven to Hell (Firemane)

[Eyrecae Alzari]

[member="Kaida Taldir"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]

And what now for the vengeful demi-goddess? Well, after sheparding the prisoners, (some still covered in fresh blood which for once wasn’t theirs) she had wandered aimlessly around the growing base. To her the battle was winding down and she’d missed most of the best parts.

Still, drawn on, and by the radio chatter, she came at last to the throne room where Kaida had finished dispatching the ‘Puppet-Master’. With a dismissive snort, she turned from the fallen Ewok and walked up the stairs of the throne. The skeleton sat there, the crown sitting there upon its head.

“Pitiful,” she said scornfully. Reaching out, she took the diadem from the figure, causing it to crumble.
To those expecting a sudden dramatic rumble, a spectral figure arising to punish the desecrator…they would be disappointed. Nothing happened, except for the skull falling to the ground and rolling to a stop at Kaida’s feet.
“Dead, and a sham, like all Gods,” Eyrecae said, not caring who heard her. Turning to Kaida she unexpectedly saluted. “Good work, Captain. I’ll take these trinkets back to base.”

The diadem was very shiny, and very…enticing, after all.

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


((So we still have the space hulk to conquer and raid. Cory, you can still do the Cory smash thingie we talked about on the ground. Place is big and if I recall correctly Coryth/Tempest were cut off from the main group))


Tarissa looked as stoic and superior as ever when she heard the news. "I see. I imagine I should not be surprised that a collection of degenerate heathens should be duped by a teddy bear. Truly, it may be less ridiculous than an 'omnipotent' Dark Lord biding his time for his 'great revenge' for 1, 300 years in the shadows and then returning with a fleet of antique ships that somehow is not oudated and manages to seize the galactic capital," she said in a scathing hiss after having read the dispatch.


"Our brave troops have claimed the city of the heathens. Ashira's blessings were with us," the Chaplain declared solemnly. "Those who took it are heroes, our sisters who fell martyrs who will sit at her side as angels." Well, those were truly inspiring words.


Tarissa did not like being interrupted by anyone. Especially not by people she considered beneath her, which applied to almost everyone. "Truly. And all those who dare raise their blade against the Goddess shall be cast into the fiery pits of hellfire." If only she knew that her Goddess had been created as a slave by a race of megalomaniacal, cone-headed aliens and that her daughter was a hammer-wielding maniac. "What word from the Ardarvia?"


"Lady Alcori suggests we begin Stage Three, my Lady," the comms officer reported, though Tarissa did not even bother to look at her.


The battle seemed to be winding down, though doubtless monsters still remained in certain parts of the vast tunnels. Who knew, maybe there was a Bando Gora lab or two somewhere, waiting to be smashed. Word was that one of the Firemane squads, led by a Lieutenant Tempest had disappeared while searching for the Jedi healer everyone on Spacebook was gushing about. But it seemed the situation was secure enough, so Tarissa nodded. "Agreed. Have someone inform Doctor [member="Elanil Saedaris"]."

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Eyrecae Alzari"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


Doubtless several elves were shocked and shot Eyrecae disapproving looks at her heretical comments, though Kaida was not among them. Fortunately her features were obscured by the large helmet she was wearing, so her expression could not be discerned. One had to keep up appeareances after all. Only a select number knew about the Eldorai's true origins. For the good of Kaeshana it had to stay that way.


Well, at least that was a convenient rationalisation. We don't need gods to swoop down and lead us by the hand, she thought to herself. If only all superstition could be eradicated in such a straightforward manner, all idols of false gods torn down and exposed for the frauds they truly were. At least after today anyone who seriously proposed that the Eldorai should stick to stasers and eshew modern weapons should get a beating.


"Make sure you clean away the dust and the blood stains before you try to pose for Ashira's Angels with it," Kaida said very, very dryly. She had no need for trinkets, however shiny they might be. So she got out her comm and activated it, hailing Tempest. Obviously Kaida's group had been focused on the battles they had fought and so they had not kept touch on the 'Knight of Kerrigan', whereas contact with Coryth had been lost entirely. "Lieutenant, Taldir here. I've secured the citadel. What's your status?"


Oh, and naturally a holocamera team was there on the spot, enthusiastically taking holopics, especially of the Banner of the Kaeshana Confederation standing tall and proud upon the ruins of the Bando Gora Citadel. After all, every step of the Elves assuming direct control had to be documented. It would assuredly increase the authenticity of the movie that was being planned. That said Kaida had the suspicion that the part about the Bando Gora's puppet master being an Ewok would be written out in favour of a dramatic end boss fight with a Bloodthirster or something similarly cliched.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Mirien didn't need another word spoken from Siobhan to know what to do. For as her dear friend mentioned invisibility, the memory was drawn to the front of her mind and a smirk appeared upon her lips. While the woman might have been a fish out of water in these large scale engagements, slipping into the shadows and striking unseen was her specialty.

Pulling carefully upon the fragile threads of power in the force, the dark woman drew the shadows in, wrapping them tightly around her body until she like the alien creatures, disappeared from sight. Moving quickly she raced to the back of the group, sensing more of the alien creatures gathering there.

She cringed as she heard another agonized scream as a Firemane trooper was plucked from the group and taken into the ceiling where her tortured cries went on for a couple minutes before silence overtook the group. The death hide her like a tidal wave in the force. A feeling she had to force away from the front of her mind as quickly as possible for there was no time to concentrate on the deaths of her allies.

Taking her time, Mirien positioned herself behind where she sensed three or four of the creatures. They couldn't see her, and she could only just barely make them out as the snuck about looking for the best position in which to pounce their prey.

A flash of light came as flares went up, and the Eldorai lit the room on fire. In an instant her blade sprang to life, almost as if coming from the shadows itself as Mirien didn't drop her shadowed guard. She struck out against the first of the creatures as it vainly attempted to crush an Eldorai soldier. Almost instantly the alien folded in half as Miri cleaved it apart at it's midsection. The two halves fell in different directions, collapsing to the floor in a heap.

Drawing once more upon the force as the room grew dim, she covered herself in shadows again, hiding from everyone's eyes alike. Once more she snuck around seeking out her next target. For none shall survive her wrath. Spotting another getting ready to leap down from the ceiling, Mirien leaped skyward with the aid of the force quick to slice the beasts head from it's shoulders. As she and it came to land upon the durasteel floor below, she merely watched for a moment as many of the other alien creatures were cleaved apart, ripped apart, or burned into a crisp. Fried alien, anyone?

Without hesitation, she spun and leaped again for her next target. It with it's claws entangled around an Eldorai's throat, preparing to spit the horrific acid, she had to act quickly. Drawing upon the force, she gripped the creature with an invisible hand not taking any time to be gentle as she ripped the being's head back, and soon after managed to separate the elf and the alien. Wasting no time, she simply applied further pressure to the creature and crushed it in her powerful telekinetic gasp. The vile blood sprayed everywhere, but the former Inquisitor cared not. At least the elf would live, that was what mattered here.

Around her the battle seemed to be slowing down, as more of the monsters were slaughtered by the soldiers, Angelii and Firemane alike. The deaths she could feel radiate through the force and the darkness upon the group was lifting a little. Though the ship itself was still oppressively dark and sinister, just less of the lifeforms causing the disturbances in the force were out and about.

As the last evil being fell, Mirien glanced to Siobhan tentatively. A gut feeling told her that Siobhan had suspected the same thing Mirien was thinking. She had something to do with the Bando Gora, and the idea pained her more than she could bear. How else could she know this place? Nothing else made the slightest bit of sense to her. And still, she worried very much how the rest of the group would react when they learned she'd been to this place before. What would they all think of her? Would they kill her for it? Horrible thoughts that could not be helped.

With a sigh, she waited only a minute or two, trying to give their little group some small break before they pressed onwards. The moment of downtime, gave her a minute to think, to feel out the way ahead of them all. Another flash hit her as she leaned against a wall to catch her breath. She and a scientist stood in this very hallway, talking back and forth about the future. Mirien spoke to him of an object of power, a tablet. She shuddered as the flashback faded nearly as quickly as it had come.

Coming back to the reality, she shivered coldly, and glanced back most worriedly to Siobhan. None of this seemed like it could be real. None of it felt right. Was she truly some horrific monster? A part of her wanted to cry then and there, but did everything she could to make sure not a trace of that pain showed through on her face. Right now, she feared very much how Siobhan or Tegaea would react to knowing this little morsel of her past. I'm not her. I'm not that person anymore. She tried to tell herself. Anything to bring her some small bit of comfort in a most dark hour for her.

Exhaling slowly, Mirien finally managed to wipe most of the worry and fear off her face as she looked back to the troops. "This way." She said coldly as she pushed off the wall and turned right down a side hallway.

Right now, there just wasn't anymore time that she could sulk over her past, or fear for what would happen to her after. The simple fact was that she'd have to tell Siobhan everything she'd seen. That was the promise she'd made, that she'd fill both her and Tegs in on anything she learned of her past. That meant even the worst parts of it.

The journey deeper into the ship, actually went rather quietly as Mirien moved on. So far, she sensed a clear path, with no approaching monstrosities heading their direction. Though, she did feel a darkness ahead, they were nearing it. But it was not moving towards them. It had to be the lab, and whatever dark being led it, as well as whatever living experiments existed within those walls.

After a long while of walking down the rather dim and dank corridor, the hallway opened up into a gigantic room, with a most high vaulted ceiling and numerous bright lights suspended from the beams above. Dozens of beds lay neatly across the room with various creatures strapped down to them, many seemed to be in a state of sleep, others struggled violently as various aides tended to them.

Mirien could feel her hands start to tremble, this all felt so familiar, so much like she'd spent a fair amount of her life here. And truly it only made the woman want to turn and run. Run far, and run fast.

Her eyes widened as a man in a labcoat approached the group, "Welcome! Welcome Kerrigan!" He said with a bit of a flourish and a deep bow before Siobhan. "Oh, what an honor! I never dreamed that THE Kerrigan would come and visit me, in my little lab! But I'm soooooo pleased to have you here. Please, please, come in!" This was the same scientist she'd seen in the flashback only minutes ago. "Please, I think you'll rather much enjoy what I've been working on..." Then he seemed to realize his manners, "Oh do forgive me oh great one, pardon my manners. How may I be of service to you my Goddess?"

"No..." She shook her head, not believing. It couldn't be real ... This had to be a dream right? Wrong. The man then turned to Mirien. "Why, Miss Valdier, it has been some years since you last graced us with your presence. We welcome you back with open arms M'lady." He approached her slowly, and drew the woman into a tense hug as Mirien could only stand there frozen in shock.

"No.... No... This ... this is wrong. This, this ... this can't be. This can't be real." Mirien could scarcely breathe as she slowly, slowly was seeming to catch up with the unfortunately reality of the situation. Her mind, still didn't want to belief. Though it was becoming more and more obvious that she could not pretend that this wasn't a part of her past.

"It most assuredly is real." He sighed sadly, "When you left us for Atrisia, we thought you'd be back in a mere matter of days, maybe a week or two at most. You after all were only going to such a miserable little world for the great objects of power. The tablet you'd been sent to collect as part of your final test." Stepping away from the group, he walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a dusty box and brought it over to an empty bed and beckoned them to join him. "A fine student you were, the best we'd seen in a hundred years. Poised to take my place as head researcher into the fine art of alchemy."

He looked down to the box with a most sad expression, then up to her again. "When I heard about the purge on Atrisia, I feared you had certainly perished in that chaos. So few people like you seemed to have made it out alive." He then smiled as he pulled a page from a magazine from his pocket. Unfolding it, he handed to Mirien. "I was most excited to find this," Upon it was an image of Mirien and Siobhan making out on Alderaan. "To think you ended up with the Kerrigan, and were still alive, it was the best news I could have gotten after thinking you dead for so long."

Mirien couldn't speak at all. She was barely managing to keep herself upright at that point, disbelieve, fear, and horror was about all that she could manage to process. She had been a monster. Hell she'd been just like the very bastard in front of her. She was evil. "I....I..." She shook her head, trying just to find her words again. "No." The brunette said firmly. "I'm not ... You've the wrong girl."

"No, my dear. I've the right girl." He lofted a finger indicating for her to wait a moment. He then fished quickly through the box and removed a holopicture, and laid it down where she could see it. The picture contained five people, a younger version of Mirien, and four other scientists, himself included in that bunch. "See, you were right here with us."

"I ... I don't... remember this. Any of this!" All Mirien wanted in that moment was for someone to pinch her, or shake her out of the nightmare she was in. Surely it was only a dream. It just didn't seem like it could be her life. Real life. It just couldn't be.

"That's not all I have." He said most helpfully, not catching on that Mirien had no true memories of this place, or what she was even doing here with the alchemist. "I've your journal from your work here. Some old trinkets that were kept in your room. The vial of your first alchemy made chemical. You know, just little mementos from your time with us."

He grinned most brightly, "We didn't want you to be forgotten after all. You were the best of us. It broke my heart when you didn't return. Truly." His mood growing rather sour for a moment, but his joy soon returned. "After that picture on Alderaan, I knew you'd come back to us sooner or later. So, I had them dig the rest of your things from storage. There is another box here somewhere..."

He reached out, and laid a hand upon hers as she reached for the holopic, "It never was the same without you, you know. We are so grateful for your return, and to think you come with the Great Goddess of Chaos Kerrigan at your side. We could not have hoped for a better life for you, though we could still use you for our great task!"

Mirien backed away slowly, a hand on her chest sucking air, most desperately as she tried to breathe. She glanced back to the hallway behind them, very much wanting to bolt from the lab and race back to the ship they'd came in on. Anything to escape this reality. "This is not who I am. I'm not her anymore.... I won't be. I won't." She panted as panic took over her. This was a past she never could have imagined for herself. Never did she imagine it was this bad. "I'm not ... I'm not ... this person. I didn't do this... I ... am not one .. of you."

"You most certainly are, my dear." He said encouragingly. "There must be some problem with your memory. You don't recall this part of your life do you?" He frowned, "Did you have an accident? Or did some other force user get a hold of your mind..." Pondering the reasons why she didn't remember her greatness.

"Yes .... I fell a long way... When I woke..." She gasped, "I ...." A huff followed, "I can't... I'm not having this conversation with you."

[member="Aeda Shaytari"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"], [member="Aeda Shaytari"]


And so, dear reader, we are back with another episode on the Space Hulk of nightmares and monsters. In case you might have forgotten what this is all about, for which you can be excused since this thread is fething big, let us refresh your memory: The stoic Warrior Angel Arwen of Kaeshana and our two lovely Dark Is Not Evil anti-heroines Mirien and Siobhan boarded a derelict Bando Gora battleship accompanied by a unit of Firemane soldiers and Eldorai Angelii warriors with the goal of killing all the monsters and taking their loot. So it's sort of like a D&D dungeon and like every good quest into a den of evil it has disturbing revelations about the part of one of our heroines. A bit like Knights of the Old Republic, you might say, just without a weapons factory that can somehow create infinite logistics via space magic.


Anyhow, now we shall return to the actual plot, for there is one in this post. Death, death surrounded Siobhan as she and her unit of Firemane soldiers faced the onslaught of the alien beasts. But it was something she had become familiar with by now. Indeed one could say death was sort of an old friend these days. The same applied to the fathomless darkness that seemed to have wrapped itself around this ship, for she longer feared it either. One might go so far to say that she had stared too long into the abyss and so now the abyss stared into her. None of the beasts that dared to assail them would survive her wroth. And so her mind turned to murder and slaughter as the hallway was bathed in a flash of light from the fire magic of the Eldorai and the flash rounds fired by the Firemane soldiers.


The Eldorai had taken care of one quarter, purging it with fire and steel, sometimes quite literally so for a wall of the flames seemed to engulf the area, the searing blasts acting like a broom that swept anything away that dared to come into its path. Mirien had vanished into the shadows and aliens fell before her blade and telekinesis. As for Siobhan, she and her troops had taken over the other end and formed a solid wall, a phalanx of bolters and blasters...and lightning. Lightning everywhere!


Death upon death could be felt radiating through the Force as she wrapped herself in its energies and then unleashed what amounted to a solid wall of telekinetic energy that crashed into the charging alien beasts like a a solid permacrete wall. So many deaths were felt as the telekinetic wall impacted upon them and sent beasts flying, while others were crushed utterly and their limbs were torn apart, with the already stained ground being splattered with blood and body parts. Then lightning surged from her fingertips with an angry shriek as she unleashed a furious torrent, her rage being such that surviving alien creatures were utterly fried and it smelt as if they were having a barbeque and whoever had been responsible for it had not watched the meat long enough. Combined with the brutal firepower unleashed by the mercenaries and Eldorai warriors, the beasts stood no chance and so within moments they stood victorious upon the field of battle and death, with the corridors littered with dead bodies. Siobhan wasted no time and soon started barking out commands, ordering the troops to get back into formation again, with the heavily wounded being guided back to the hangar so that they could be evacced. But there was no time to waste and thus also none to mourn those who had perished.


She caught the glance Mirien shot her as the smoke cleared and the fighting was over. You know what this means, the treacherous inner voice that she wanted to ignore told her. You've killed people for less. She tried to blot it out and it was probably fortunate that she was wearing a helmet that obscured her features, so Mirien would not see the suspicion written upon them. However, she would undoubtedly feel it resonate through the Force for such things could not be easily hidden. Especially from someone who specialised in all things relating to perception and sense, not to mention given how closely connected they were. "Follow her. Keep an eye on your flanks," she said coldly after Mirien had spoken, gesturing to the brunette to take point.


There would be...words.


Their path and their guide took them to the lab, which may be a bit of a deja vu for Siobhan if one remembered the first time she had boarded a Bando Gora command ship and fought her way through. That particular excursion had also involved her tossing a bunch of Bando Gora scientists into a cage full of Reavers, their own monstrouus creations, after they had protested that they had been 'just following orders'. Their screams had resonated across the room while Siobhan calmly walked away from the gory scene and left them to their fate.


The doors parted and opened for them with a snap-hiss and they beheld a site straight out of a nightmare. It was a massive laboratory that was every mad scientist's dream. It had a high vaulted ceiling, numerous bright lights suspended above the room from beams above, numerous beds with drugged creatures strapped to them. Some of these creatures still resembled humans, but in various states of mutation, now reduced to a pitiable state as the dark magicks and alchemy of the Bando Gora was taking effect on them.


The site made her...very, very angry. Such that it took a great act of will to restrain herself and not tear the entire room apart in an outburst of furious violence. Her anger was such that anyone strong in the Force should be able to feel it. Especially Mirien Valdier...for as Siobhan heard the mad scientist speak there was the urge to unleash violence upon her as well. It was a grotesque scene before them that seemed to have been spawned by a demented mind. In the far distance one could see cages filled with Reavers and the alien beasts from before, thrashing against bars if they were not restrained. One human was lying on an operating table, still restrained and in a state of half-transformation. A few Ozzlites could be seen in caves, comparatively docile but then their people were natural slaves, her cold bionic eyes even beheld a few cages containing Klaxxi, the monstrous, giant spiders the Atrisian Inquisition under Mirien had fought on Csilla so long ago.


Mirien...who had been with the Enemy.


She still is. How can you trust her now? She didn't even tell you about Atrisia...or her psycho girl pal, who'd fit in with the Bando Gora just fine! Have you sunken that low? Clearly the traitorous inner voice would not be silenced, yet for the following moments she was like a spectator as Mirien and the mad scientist, who seemed terribly in awe of Siobhan spoke.


Well, you always wanted to be worshipped and called a goddes, didn't you?


"You're just like me you know...One day....you'll be...what I am now...That is your fate." Truth be told this writer has no clue when this thread takes place in relation to the one about saving Coryth, but the last dying words of Sith Lord Xerxes Vondiranach, the sadistic jackarse who had made the short stack of fire's life a living hell, seem terribly fitting given the context.



Shut up! I'm not like you, not like them. I'm not ruled by my own cruelty. And she's not that person anymore.


What, you believe in redemption now?


No. Never have, never will. There's no magic wand to wipe your sins away


What does that make you then? And her? Amnesia is the jail free card now? Or is she just that good in bed?


The question went unanswered for Siobhan finally spoke up. "Section Three, secure the corridor and cover our exit," she said icily to a group of heavily armoured soldiers, indicating that they should make sure that no surprises sprang upon them. Her voice was as frosty as a snowstorm on Hoth. If looks could kill, then the glance she had gave Mirien should have wiped her from existence. However...Siobhan stayed her hand. One might speculate as to why, but that is another matter.


"She was with you?" she demanded of the scientist, though she already knew the answer. Her voice was so chilly that even he was obliged to take a step or two back, though the look of pure joy that was written across his features still remained. She felt like tearing his spine out right, right there.


However, one of his colleagues was far less enthusiastic and shrieked. "She's going to kill us!" the female scientist, her eyes showing the corruption of the Dark Side and the effects the drugs of the Bando Gora had, shrieked and foolishly made a dash for it. Needless to say she did not get far. A Firemane soldier had already raised his bolt pistol but Siobhan was faster and abruptly wrapped her telekinetic willpower around the woman, gripping her tight and crushing her with agonising force. As the woman lay there upon the cold ground she had suddenly been smashed into, wailing and crying out in pain, though it was probably still nowhere near the pain she had inflicted upon her victims, before Siobhan stepped forward.


"None of you leaves this room. Unless you want to find out why I'm called the Butcher of Roche," she said frostily, as cold as an icestorm conjured up by Captain Taldir. There was no humanity to be found in those eyes that locked upon the scientists.


"Of course, Great One," the lead scientist, who was still looking upon them with an expression of pure adoration on his face. "Abaddon himself took a shine to my little girl! I confess to feeling a bit like a schoolboy meeting an icon. Well, a cross between that and a happy father overjoyed to seeing his...little girl again. Our lives are yours to command dispose of. Whatever torture you see fit to mete out, as is your prerogative, do so. I will die a happy man." The looks he was giving Mirien could only be described as paternal.


"Don't call me that. Unless you want to be in for lots of pain. I guarantee, you won't enjoy even a second of it." Such was her tone, that of all too apparant menace and coldness that even the unenthusiastic scientist took a couple steps back before he composed himself and nodded submissively. "What sick experiments did you perform here? Out with it." she demanded of him. A strange calm pervaded her, though it was deceptive. What she was actually feeling was cold hard anger, and the calm was razor-edged. The stillness was like the cold beneath the stars. A cold she was by now so terribly familiar with after having been spaced and almost perished due to falling victim to Shadow's plot to murder her.


"Oh, biological alchemy. Mixed with mechu-deru and metallurgy. Taking the ancient arts of the Sith to the next level. You see, we were dissastisfied with the old Reavers. They were too, well, chaotic and savage. We have you to thank for this understanding actually, for you showed what a disciplined fighting force can accomplish. We started with technobeasts, infecting humans and Reavers with mechu-deru vitae as a first step," he pointed to one group of cages, then motioned to another.



"Then we moved on to these...our predators. With the ferocity and strength of a Reaver, but guided by a tactical mind able to learn. Where the Reaver is a pure savage, these were apex hunters." Now he was indicating the alien beasts they had fought earlier. "We were about to move on to perform studies on the Klaxxi - remarkable creatures if I may say so, with a exoskeleton that can resist even lightsabres and their ability to cloak themselves in the Force - but time ran out. Likewise we have dabbled in alchemically enhanced weaponry, forging the instruments of war the legions of the future will need. Weapons resistant to lightsabres, amulets, even ways to adapt a Klaxxi exoskeleton as armour. I must say, Young Mirien had quite a talent for such things. It seems like fate was just waiting for this moment," he sniffed slightly. "You two are so great together. Ah, the marvellous chaos you..." he did not get further because he was suddenly gasping for air as telekinetic fingers wrapped around his lungs in an ironclad grip tighter than a droid's pincers, applying pressure to the point where he would suffer extremely painful spasms, making him cough and feel as if he was choking, drowning. His face had gone red and he was desperately trying to breathe before she released him, by which time he had fallen on his knees.

"Spare me the prattle and get to the point. Because I'm in a mood to rip all of you apart." I'll tear you to pieces when I'm done, she thought. He knew it, she knew it. Every word he spoke just made the anger rise in her stomach like bile. But would she lash out against Mirien as well? Her eyes fell upon the test subjects locked like animals in cages, too far gone for anyone to help them.


"Y-yes...We have been researching...beautiful bioweapons. Oh...I'd almost forgotten. I deserve full punishment for my oversight!" he exclaimed excitedly as he quickly walked over towards an energy field that shielded a rather large shelf. Only now did Siobhan notice the shelf and see what it contained. Namely a stack of datacrons and a pyramidal-shaped object from which the power of the dark side radiated, for it was a holocron.


The scientist quickly typed in a few commands upon the console and the force field dissipated, leaving the artefacts as theirs for taking. The thought that these monsters worshipped her was sickening to the core. "This is for you. I know it will serve you well. You and the Eldorai. I must say I was impressed by how far their people have come in a few years. I'll give you full access to our databases," he was so helpful to type in a few commands on a console and give them access, then handed the pass key over to Mirien.


"I want those databases raided. Make sure you're not downloading a virus in the process," a gesture was made to the slicer on the team. Cold eyes glanced over to look upon the former Grand Inquisitor, revealed as a former acolyte of the Bando Gora. "Valdier?" The name was spoken with a tone of cold revulsion.


Past Siobhan would have just tossed the scientists into one of the cages full of Reavers as punishment for their war crimes and earned Renegade. This Siobhan was the sort to question them first and find out what they knew, then punish them and get Renegade points after exhausting the options on the dialogue wheel. Ironically enough this might be due to Mirien's influence, for the woman's memories had been imprinted on her. Why the data? Countermeasures on nasty stuff like the technovirus alone would be worth it. Along with alchemised weapons and stuff.


What will you do with her?


She had no answer at the ready for that.

 

[Darth Libertas]

While [member="Mirien Valdier"] was dealing with shocking revelations, Naamah felt it all. She felt her former mistress', who quite literally had been her former owner, shock, revulsion, fear, all those emotions that radiated through the Force were picked up on by her. They did not have a force bond, but they were connected. Perhaps the awakening in the shrine room had heightened her senses, but the former Inquisitor felt every moment of it when Mirien's eyes were opened to truth.



Oh, her former mistress was still struggling, unwilling to accept the plain facts that were laid out before her eyes. She still struggled against accepting how glorious...and beautiful she had been. The truth will set you free. Isn't what we always said to heretics right before breaking them? Open your eyes to truth, Mirien. You know where to find me. Perhaps Mirien would pick up on her thoughts and feel them reflected through the Force, perhaps not. However, as it happened Naamah's preoccupation distracted her just a bit, for a few vital moments and so she noticed too late that as she took another turn into a corridor that, like seemingly every corridor upon this accursed, benighted vessel was stained with blood and strewn with badly mutilated corpses, that she happened upon a Bando Gora Priestess and her minions.



"Another scavenger who has come to steal our treasures. Cloaking herself to appear of the dark side. Feast upon her flesh!" the Priestess hissed angrily. Her blue-white eyes, showing the clear corruption of Bando Gora narcotics and of the dark side, seemed to glow and were seemingly ablaze with pure fury. She wore a helmet made out of the skull of a human, as befitted a cult of cannibalistic death worshippers.



However, her minions, the Bando Gora slaves, seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. Indeed they seemed to recoil slightly at the sight of Naamah. Their features were hideous with black mottled skin that showed their immersion in the dark arts practiced by the cult of Chaos, while their eyes glowed a fiery crimson. "Mistress? This one bears the Mark of Chaos. I smell her on her," one of the slaves spoke up. Without further warning the Priestess called her lightsabre into her grasp and, activating the crimson blade with a snap-hiss, chopped his head off.


"Fool! Valdier is a traitorous queen and anyone of her brood will suffer in agony for ten thousand years!" Well, that was dramatic but Naamah was in no mood to keep standing around and listen to dramatic speeches, so she did the appropriate thing by unleashing a furious blast of telekinetic upon the Priestess that sent her flying through the corridor before she crashed into the ground with a loud thud. You see, talking is not a free action, though for some reason 'heroes' and 'villains' cannot resist indulging in mostly pointless speechifying during duels. Anyhow, she drew and ignited her lightsabre, the crimson blade humming as if in anticipation if the lives it would take and the souls it would reap for Chaos. She was by no means in perfect fighting shape, what with having only hand and all that, but the dark side called to her and so she felt filled with energy. Even as the Priestess was flying Naamah picked up two dead bodies and quickly tossed them towards her opponent like improvised projectiles. One body missed but another crashed into the Priestess, making her cry out in pain as it rammed her.


Feeling triumphant and wanting to press her advantage Naamah charged, blade in hand, for it looked like the minions were waiting to see how this played out. As she crossed the distance she suddenly a warning through the Force. As a matter of fact it felt like someone was whispering in her mind. Watch out!


Lo and behold she felt a surge of dark side energy and brought up her blade in a defensive motion, just in time for the Priestess manifested a spear of midnight black and thrust it at her. The spear was invisible, but the dark side could be sensed and so Naamah narrowly managed to block it with a furious swipe of her blade. However, it had just been a distraction her adversary used to throw the body above her off and Naamah cried out as she was suddenly bound by invisible chains and gasping for air as her throat was gripped tight. Pouring her telekinetic willpower into the motion the Priestess brutally raised her into the air and smashed her into the ground, clearly trying to pull a Sio Kerrigan and repeatedly bash her until she was paste. Naamah was no god of telekinesis but she understood a few things to defend herself and so after the first impact that sent white hot pain shooting through her body she gathered all her willpower into a blast of energy to break her chains, leaving her lying upon the ground but free.


However, there was no reprieve as the Priestess charged her with her lightsabre. Naamah rolled and luckily evaded a blow meant for her head, though she bit her tongue as the Priestess nicked her shoulder. As she jumped to her feet their blades met in a furious clash. Again and again their blades met in the vicious dance that played out across the corridor. However, as would soon become clear the Priestess was simply the better duellist. Naamah had never been one by nature and she was weakened by her exertions. True, lightsabres were near weightless, which contributed to both moving as if in a blur, but still fighting one-handed was awkward, for the Bando Gora spirit had not been so kind to give her a new hand.


The feeling made her angry, bringing her rage and fear to the forefront and so she made a dash at her enemy. So Naamah summoned her own anger, thinking of nothing except killing her opponent. She would drain her, completely and utterly crush her, drink her blood and take her eyes as trophies! The Priestess pressed on furiously, her strength clearly in the force of her blows, but Naamah was quicker. And so the Clawdite side-stepped a powerful slash that her enemy delivered off balance and stabbed underneath it with the blade of her lightsabre into her ribs. But the pain only seemed to animate and spur the Priestess on, stoking the fires of her rage. Naamah parried a great many of her strikes as the Priestess delivered a series of furious counterattacks, but felt herself weakening, something that was clearly sensed. The Priestess sensed her weakness, fed on it like a vampire, drawing on it to give herself greater energy. Somehow Naamah felt herself becoming dizzy and losing focus, though she knew not why, and her dodges become more clumsy with every swipe and slash she blocked until she stumbled over her dead body and the Priestess slashed her in her right leg, driving her to her knees. All at once the Priestess delivered a furious blow with all her hatred, the sheer force of it sending Naamah backwards, gasping for breath.


With her lips curved into a feral smirk, though that was obviously obscured by her skull mask the Priestess raised her lightsabre over head and then brought the end of it down, cutting through Naamah's shoulder. Scalding heat burned through Naamah's flesh, muscle and bone as the blade cut into her. She felt sweat pouring down her face as she writhed in agony and, drawing upon the dark side, she kicked the weapon in the Priestess' hand, forcing it upwards and pulling the blade out of her. She felt herself unconsciously reaching for her wounded shoulder but then thought better of it. Pain is clarity! the inner voice inside her mind spoke. Focusing upon the Priestess, who seemed off balance by the kick, Naamah unleashed a powerful force scream that caught her opponent full on like a hammer and sent her flying, her lightsabre falling out of her hand. Naamah was about to get up with a groan but suddenly blasts of lightning shrieked from the Priestess' hand towards her. Her lightsabre was knocked out of her hand and Naamah fell to the ground again, all thoughts of combat leaving her as she felt herself being fried and burnt alive.


"Pathetic," the Priestess sneered as she walked towards her, still keeping up the torrent of lightning. "Bend to me."


Anger, hatred and fear swept over Naamah like a tidal wave. She could manifest a force shield to protect herself, her lightsabre was too far away to bring up defence against the onslaught. She wanted to kill the queen, crush her utterly, drain her! Take her power for herself.


THEN DO IT!
EAT HER!
DO OR DONT', THERE IS NO TRY


With the excruciating pain came clarity. With the voice that was beating inside her head like the blow of a hammer came certainty of what she could. The dark side called to her and she answered, not trying to contain her red thirst, her sheer hunger for power but unleashing it. The pain was no longer a hindrance, but rather it was energising. Suddenly, clearly to the surprise of everyone, Naamah started laughing. As a matter of fact she was giggling like a schoolgirl. "You're my...breakfast," then abruptly orange tendrils of dark side energy leapt from her fingertips and swirled towards the Priestess. She sought to defend herself and poured more lightning into Naamah to distract her but the girl was persistent and soon the Priestess was enveloped and was the one crying out in pain.


"I like your taste," Naamah hissed as she arose to her feet, eyes glowing a sulfuric yellow as she poured all her energy into draining the Priestess of every inch of life. The Bando Gora struggled but it was futile, for Naamah's hunger was ravenous and so she feasted upon her. The feeling of power flowing through her body was pure ecstasy.

 

[Elanil Saedaris]

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"]

An hour, maybe two had passed as the very bored scientist had managed to fall asleep and was peacefully dreaming about the periodic table of elements and what fun she could have with different combinations there of. Ah, the lovely dreams of a dozing scientist.

There was just absolutely nothing normal about the redheaded Eldorai. No, no... In fact this writer would venture to say that she was beyond the realm of eccentric and somewhere around half past the point of odd beyond all belief. The woman was just rather strange to even the other elves, but that was to be expected given her love for the modern galaxy and her desperate need to understand every last part of it, while knowing all of the science for why exactly it worked that way. Of course, for all her oddity, it could have probably been explained by one very simple fact: She'd never gotten laid before. Which if you ask me, completely explains her bitchy nature with any and everything.

A loud buzz was soon heard, startling the redhead from her most lovely dreams about Stoke's Theorem. It seemed somewhere in the middle of dreamland, she'd gone from chemistry over to calculus and was rather enjoying herself. That was until some jerk decided it was time to awaken the beast.

"Come in!" She snapped, as she sat up, quick to brush her hair into something more civilized. "What is it that you want?" Growling, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

"Y..-you weren't answering your comlink, Doctor Saedaris. I was sent to retrieve you."

The redhead's eyes narrowed upon the human underling that was standing before her. A true mundane if ever there was one. "And where exactly was I to be retrieved to?"

"The bridge, ma'am."

"Ahem." She said clearing her throat, "That's Doctor to you, youngling."

She shook her head as the human already seemed to be looking for an escape out of the room and far away from the scientist. "The door's that way, in case you forgot." She said calmly. "I'll be along in a minute. I need to prepare myself. So, run along little one." Faking kindness as best she could manage. Though the effort was most exhausting for her.

A sigh came as she rose to her feet and wandered over to the mirror to brush out her hair. After a moment or two Elanil was satisfied and headed out of her room, a few datapads necessary for the mission tucked nearly into a messenger bag that was slung over her shoulder.

Finally the redhead entered onto the bridge. "I'm told I was needed." She smiled a slight bit, "Which means I can safely assume that is it nearly time for me to begin the gargantuan task of terraforming this world."

 

[Vaena Askari]

"Yes, the 'heroic champions' have finally paved the way by slaughtering all monsters, and so we shall proceed to Stage Three and at last do what we're actuall here for," Tarissa spoke as [member="Elanil Saedaris"] entered the bridge. Tarissa was many things, among them haughty, arrogant, a religious zealot and frankly a bit of a queen, but she could respect brilliance where she saw it. Even if it occasionally meant acknowledging other people.


Stage 3 was the name of the next phase of the plan where terraforming could begin, where the base building and clean up could intensify, and they could start systematically mapping out the tunnels and passages of the mountain. "You may begin your work," with that she made an impatient gesture to some minion, who was in charge of comms which meant that she presumably had a certain degree of qualification or perhaps not.


"Open a comms channel to Lady [member="Tegaea Alcori"] and inform her Doctor Saedaris is ready." Tarissa still did not like Tegaea much. For a change this had less to do with racism since given the sorry quality of most Eldorai aristos she could probably be considered an improvement as a peer. No, it was because the redhead had stolen what Tarissa considered to be her property!

 

[Aeda Shaytari]

[member="Mirien Valdier"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Aeda Shaytari followed the other two a little later. She had set a rearguard of Eldorai and Firemane troops and now headed to the lab to check on process.
Her emotionless black helmet looked from the workbenches to the the cages and the unfortunates within. She heard everything, heard Mirien Valdier learn that she had once been an acolyte of their enemy, learned of Siobhan's fanatical devotion among them. The Grand Seraph stood silent as the conversation wound down. There was a tenseness, a strain. Anything might happen, Siobhan might turn on Mirien in anger, Mirien in turn might fall back into her old ways.

Aeda sheathed her Sarix, breaking the silence. She approached, examining the cages in silence, though with each horror she encountered her fists tightened a bit more. Little wisps of smoke rose from her hands as she suppressed a rising anger.

Aeda Shaytari had long wondered as a child why the Goddess had put her on Kaeshana, but give her the face of her aunt and cousin. Why would the Goddess do that to a child, condemn her to a lifetime of misery and ensure she could never show her real face in public?
Now she knew better. There were no gods. Her exile in the galaxy had shown her that.

She looked at Mirien Valdier. She knew less about her than Siobhan did, but she knew she was a recent arrival, somewhat trusted. Yet the man before them presented proof she had once been of the Bando Gora. Mirien denied it, and Aeda...believed her. She knew much about the nature of deception and how people reacted when they lied. Mirien was not lying, she genuinely did not remember.
Of course, amnesia was not a free pass, but it was a mitigating factor of sorts.

"Ah, the Grand Seraph! Welcome, I'd heard you were coming!"
Aeda's eyes narrowed behind her mask. She said nothing.
"The three of you, here at once, it is an honour."
The Grand Seraph ignored him.

"Siobhan, it is not time. We will deal with this revelation when we are out of here. Mirien does not remember it, she will not turn."
A person can change. Not through the actions of goddesses and queens, but over time they can. It did not reduce their crimes, but it mitigated them.
And at this moment Aeda figured it would be wise not to start killing each other then the battle was not over, and their soldiers were not safe.
"And we will kill him," Aeda said, pointing to the scientist and his cohorts. She did not do so instantly though, the choice to take first strike was Mirien's.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"], [member="Elanil Saedaris"]

It was probably just as well, since Tegaea despised Tarissa, though not for the same reason. If she hated everyone her wife had slept with she'd open herself up to a charge of astonishing hypocrisy as she had had many many partners of her own.
No, she despised Tarissa for being the exact embodiment of all that was worst in the Eldorai people; smug, self-satisfied racists still preening about how great they were despite owning a speck of a planet on the edge of civilisation. True or not, these perceptions were exacerbated by the fact that Tarissa looked like Adril. It was always hard to be the second love, the second soulmate, and whilst Tegaea didn't admit it, she had a nagging inferiority complex about the way Siobhan treated her dead teacher. She'd never known Adril, never known her faults and foibles, but that shadow had never quite been erased by even ten years together with her.

So when she received the message she had to compose herself.
"Reply that we are in position and will start the bombardment when the Doctor is ready." Not a literal bombardment of cannon fire, but a bombardment of a chemical capsules Doctor Saedaris had prepared for them which would help to counteract some of the planet's atmospheric make up.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Kaida Taldir"]

"Lie-- T---r ---re --- sec---he---tadel ---your stat---?"

"Get that transmission cleared up!" Tempest snapped.
"Signal's being blocked, ma'am," her comm specialist said unhelpfully.
"Try and send a reply message that we're in the tunnels searching for Master Elaris. Tell her what happened and that we'll try and find another way out."
The comm specialist looked dubious, but tried to send a text transmission to Kaida. How much, if any got through, was mere guess work.

Next Tempest took point, heading down a gently sloping floor to the end of the passage. It appeared to end in a dead stop. But...that made no sense. This passage was carved, it had to have a purpose. What was more, the ripper creatures had been down here before, she could see their tracks. So there had to be a way to open the door.
"Life forms on the other side. Probably Master Elaris and her...Reek?"
"Don't ask. Put your head to use finding the release for the door."
Tempest looked at the door, as door it must be. There had to be a simple release. Rippers didn't have the ability physically to do anything more complicated.
Finally, she knelt down before the door and noticed a slightly raised stone. She pushed on it, and with a grinding sound the door slid open ponderously.

There, before her, was a readheaded short stack of fire and a Reek.
"Master Elaris, I presume?" Tempest asked, getting to her feet and extending a hand. "Lieutenant Tempest. We're sort of blocked out from going back, so we'll need another way out. Any ideas?"

 

[Darth Libertas]

On the Space Hulk,
somewhere entirely different from everyone else. Random corridor.


While everyone else was dealing with disturbing revelations and fawning Bando Gora scientists who apparently liked to deify those who excelled at murdering their Cult, Naamah was for a change thoroughly enjoying herself. As a matter of fact at this point in time she was close to ecstatic and experiencing what one could quite accurately describe as a Force induced drug rush. The Bando Gora Priestess lay before her and still struggled but her screams were music to Naamah's ears as the orange tendrils of darkside energy wrapped around her enemy. A sensation of power coursed through Naamah's entire being as she poured all her focus into utilising a Force Drain upon her adversary.


Her hunger was such that it was almost overwhelmning, as if she had been starved for years and now finally had the chance to gourge herself. In desperation the Priestess looked towards her minions, but the Bando Gora slaves made no attempt to step in, for their pack followed whichever predator was the strongest. Oh, yes, she was a tasty one and right now she was nothing but a feast to Naamah, whose eyes had acquired a bright, sulfuric yellow glint as she sought to pretty much devour the Priestess, and leave nothing but an empty husk. Only time would tell how strong her hunger would become in time, and whether she might be ruled by it. The ship was engulfed by an ocean of raging darkness and she greedily lapped at it.


However, Force Drain took a great deal of concentration and it was an attack Naamah was using for the first time. More to the point, she had lost a hand to alien beasts and in her duel with the sorceress been injured in the shoulder and the leg with a lightsabre. So she was running on sheer and on borrowed power acquired by leeching her enemy. Focus could be easily broken by distraction and even a momentarily slip of concentration could be fatal in the world of magicks.


So with what strength she had the Bando Gora sorceress stretched out with her telekinetic willpower and grabbed a blade that was lying around, likewise the broken body of a technobeast that was conveniently slumped against the wall behind Naamah. Both improvised projectiles were abruptly gripped into the air and shot towards the former Inquisitor, the body just a moment after the blade. Naamah sensed a warning in the Force just in time but not quite fast enough. Her lightsabre was swung in a fast motion to cleave the blade in half, then slash more guns that were shooting her way out of the air, but she had not kept her focus and so as she was trying to defend herself against the furious onslaught the cyborg zombie body crashed into her back, hitting her like a powerful hammer and sending her flying across the corridor to a wall though she was able to slow down her flight. An ordinary person would have been knocked unconscious by the impact as she crashed into the ground, but she was far from ordinary. With pain shooting through her body she tried to get up, though she was clearly weakened and her back hurt like hell. Her eyes were ablaze with sheer hatred and her teeth bared as if they were fangs. Her dinner was not supposed to move while she feasted on it!


"Blood for the Blood God!" the Priestess shrieked, electricity cackling over the open palm of her hand as she raised them. Naamah had just a moment to notice the tell-tale signs and call her lightsabre into the one hand she had left before a torrent of lightning shrieked from her enemy's hand and surged towards her. The lightsabre ignited with a snap-hiss and flashed a bright crimson as it met the electrical onslaught. Bolts of lightning wrapped around her blade like snakes as she sought to blot the salvoes. To an extent she was successful but she cried out in pain as bolts swept past her defences and burnt her body, pushing her against the wall. As lightning blasts came upon her from multiple angles she shrieked out loudly, dropping her sabre.


Triumph could be seen in the sorceress' eyes as she advanced, keeping up the onslaught, though she as well had been weakened. Neither fighter could keep this dance up for long and so both drew upon the dark side of the Force, using their fear, hatred, aggression and even pain to give them the fuel they needed. Fear gripped Naamah and then she lashed out in the same way she had done so often, namely through a powerful roar, a Force Scream so loud and forceful that it echoed across the corridors and unleashed a devastating shockwave. The floor and the walls shook, discarded weapons were tossed into the air and the sorceress was thrown backwards, her attempt to ground herself having been too weak as she felt like her eardrums were being crushed.


With a very evident, painful limp Naamah advanced, beads of sweat dripping down her face, with each step sending new sensations of pain shooting through her body. She looked like a feral beast closing in for the kill and so, despite the pain, her bruised lips curved into a smile as the fingers of her one remaining hand curled into a fist. "Chaos loves me." Then she harnessed her telekinetic willpower to reach inside the woman's body and, in a brutal motion as she poured all her force into it, crush her heart. For the last few seconds of her life the priestess would experience unbeabrable agony as Naamah extinguished her life. The Clawdite rejoiced at her enemy's pain, a sensation of sheer ecstasy coursing through her.

 

[Elanil Saedaris]

"Heroic, is debatable if you ask me." She said softly, as she rolled her eyes. "It all seems a bit of a waste truly. Should just destroy the planet and leave a space station in the aftermath. But alas, I, unfortunately do not make the decisions." The redhead sighed most heavily, just small things that annoyed her. "Though it presents a most interesting scientific experiment. There will be data collected here that scientists galaxy wide will be studying for years to come. And I essentially get a planet sized petri dish to play in." That part she was eager for. In her hands were the chemicals and compounds needed to create life on the hellish world below. And she was the one who would orchestrate their deployment, and essentially reboot the world below into something livable. "Deploy the monitoring drones to the surface. I'll need as much feedback as can possibly be collected in the atmosphere."

Pulling out the first of her datapads, she stepped over to one of the consoles that held a stream of data from the planet below. "I need one final scan of the current atmospheric conditions below." Once the data was fed back to her, she spoke again after a few quick calculations. "Inform Lady Alcori that the bombardment can begin. Start with the northern most sector, and work towards the South. Current wind conditions will help with the drift of the chemicals and distribute them evenly over the planet's surface."


She paused for a moment then glanced around the bridge. "I'd also give warning to those on the ground. The weather outside is about to be rather frightful, dangerous and highly unpredictable. I'd imagine it would be most unwise to be outside during the initial bombardment, as well as for some hours after."

[member="Tegaea Alcori"] [member="Tarissa Cadalthor"]

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Elanil Saedaris"], [member="Tegaea Alcori"]


For the record, in the event that Adril were to return from the dead Siobhan would always choose Tegaea. She had loved her teacher dearly, but two highly-strung, narcissistic, neurotic wet hens were too similar to make a couple. Hence the rollercoaster of melodrama on both ends.


"I thought about just using it as a dumping ground for undesirables in. Terribly cliched, but it's fine as a prison world. But I'm sure Her Majesty, may Ashira's grace be with her, knew what she was doing when she agreed to support Firemane's latest adventure. Assuredly the returns will justify the investment. Presuming the Bando Gora have not thoroughly plundered all the diamonds beneath the surface," Tarissa said dryly with an element of haughtiness and sarcasm. In any case swarms of monitoring drones were deployed to the surface, which by now had been cleansed and was filled with corpses and wreckage, and soon fed back a true flood of data.


She gave the comms officer a nod. "Pass on the message. Order all our ground forces still on the surface to pull back into the tunnels and for our dropships to take off back immediately." What heavy equipment could not be loaded into the transport ships would likewise take to the tunnels, which were fortunately quite wide. "Once you have confirmation, initiate bombardment at the coordinates from Dr. Saedaris." Presumably these orders were followed and then the massive bombardment began. On the ground deep below the surface work on the Firemane base was continuing. Once it was done it would be a domed base with some research facilities for the scientists and compounds for the soldiers.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Siobhan's anger, Mirien couldn't have missed it at all. It was nearly as tangible as the darkside presence within the ship. Closing her eyes, she grimaced painfully. Mirien wanted to be anywhere but on that ship, with Siobhan right then. The question remained in her mind, if she didn't remember her sins, were they still hers? Atrisia had excused her past sins, because of her memory loss. But right now, Mirien knew she could not forgive herself for these horrors. They were in fact her sins, even more so now than they'd ever been. Regret, was a most terribly feeling.

With Siobhan's tone growing darker, more icy, even Mirien took a few steps back. Very much afraid of what her friend's reaction would be to the most horrifying news a person could receive. "I'm not your girl!" Valdier snapped harshly, as she reached out, using her telekinetic power to slap him across the face, splitting his lip in the process as her powers connected with his flesh. Oh yes, Mirien was most ticked off at that point. "Not your kid, get over yourself."

In truth, trying to process the information, of the monster she had been was nearly completely overwhelming her. Her only desire was to run, to escape the room and deal with the very harsh reality of what she had been. "I'm.. I'm not that person anymore. Nor will I return to her. She is dead." She said coldly, unsure what else she could say. But that anger soon melted back into her fears, and panic over what she had been, worried for how the others would react.

As she heard her name called, she stepped up slowly and most cautiously beside Siobhan. Her heart pounding with in her chest, hands shaking, and tears flowing so easily. Still she slowly reached out and took the pass key from the scientist and stepped to the console. After all she had a job to do here, and it wasn't over yet. Right now, she could only focus on the task in front of her. There was a time for falling apart later, if she survived that long.

"On it." She said quietly. Even in her voice it was clear just how close the woman was to breaking then and there. Nearly shattered by the revelation that had just been doled out to them all. Fingers moved swiftly over the console as she started to copy over every last file from their database into a small datacrystal that she'd produced from one of the pouches at her waist.

In her mind as she did so, she picked up on the blonde's thoughts in the force. At that moment, those words, those thoughts made her want to scream. It was everything she could to just to remain standing, to keep breathing when her body wanted to give up then and there. It took every ounce of her strength to push the panic and fears down in her mind and try to keep on task retrieving the data for the team.

Mirien turned as she heard the Grand Seraph speak, her attention gotten at the last line. She very much wanted to step over there and strangle him where he stood. He represented a part of her that she loathed, that cruel woman who was capable of such horror. "Let me." The iciness in her words, powerful enough to have frozen half the galaxy. "I started this, and I should be the one who closes this chapter." It was something she needed to do. She needed to end him, but wasn't going to act unless she had permission unsure if Siobhan had more questions for him.

The console beeped at her, confirming the transfer was complete. With care she pulled the crystal from the machine and pocketed it. "One more question." Her tone still as icy as ever. It seemed the ice queen might have returned. If anything it was just a mask to bury how torn apart she really was inside. "How did I come to you? Was I found? Taken?"

"You're parents abandoned you because of your powers. Force users were considered evil and at a young age you were thrown onto the streets to fend for yourself."

Mirien frowned, but nodded slowly. So that part explained why no one came looking for her. It made sense. "And then?"

"A relative took you in, an uncle I think. He abused your trust, and you from what little I could gather."

"How so?"

"I do not know. I believe it was of a most perverse and sexual manner. Your personal journal may give more insight into that. You wouldn't talk much of what happened to you under his care."

She nodded slowly, the idea was rather painful to believe she'd been taken advantage of in that manner, but the pain was such a tiny pinprick compared to the greater things she'd learned of herself today. "And how was I found by the Bando Gora?"

"That I am not sure of. You never told the tale to me, and I never asked. You'd been under the care of the Bando Gora for some time before you came into my care." He could have been lying for all she knew, but truly was in no state to determine that for herself with the flood of emotions she was still sorting through.

It seemed the answers, all of them were not going to come so easily. She had a few of the puzzle pieces now. And maybe in time, if she was given it, she could learn more. She glanced between The Grand Seraph and Siobhan, waiting now that she'd gotten what little information she could from him. Who knew what would be in the box of her things that he'd left out.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Aeda Shaytari"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Mirien Valdier"], [member="Aeda Shaytari"]


An uncomfortable silence descended upon them. What expression was written across Siobhan's features could not be seen, for her face was obscured by her imposing beskar helmet. Likewise her voice was modulated by a speaker, giving it a mechanical quality that only enhanced the coldness in her voice.


Finally, after what almost seemed like an eternity, though in reality only a few minutes at most had passed, she spoke. "Kill him. In whichever manner you see fit. He's all yours." There was no humanity in her voice, so frigid to freeze half a galaxy. "Kill them all." Her eyes travelled across the massive laboratory to behold the cages that held test subjects, likewise she saw the jars that contained the organs and body parts of captives who had been killed. Here there was a lung, there one could see a finger or an eye.


"Give their victims a quick death. We can't help them, death's a mercy." This referred to those captives who had undergone the cruel medical and alchemical experiments to be turned into Reavers and those on whom new variants of the technovirus were being tested on, along with whatever alchemical concoctions the scientists had cooked up.


"What? Great One...we can serve you. Support you on your path to greatness. It is our calling to be your humble slaves! The galaxy will tremble before your might." the lead scientist exclaimed. It seemed that all of a sudden for all his faith in the teachings of the Bando Gora, he was feeling fear. "Mirien...do not do this. I was more of a father to you than the one who cruelly cast you out. We took care of you, treated you like a daughter. We were your family."


"But...you can't do this! We don't deserve this...we were just following orders," another scientist, a female purple Twi'lek cried out. Abruptly Siobhan wrapped her telekinetic willpower around her heart and completely crushed it, giving her a most agonising death as she fell down to the floor and died. There was no escape for any of the Bando Gora scientists in this room.


"I don't give a damn. That's no excuse. These days it's always 'I was just following orders', 'I didn't know we were going to wipe out an inhabited planet, I was in it for the science' or, my absolute favourite, 'I want to bring order to the Galaxy'. Time for judgement. You met the angels of death." The order was given, and death followed. The head scientist would be left for Mirien.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"], [member="Elanil Saedaris"]

Tegaea received the instructions.
"Lady, all units are now undercover."
"Good, deploy the terraforming shells in the pattern specified. Pass the message on to all ships in the fleet."

Soon there was the flash all over the fleet. Rather than turbolaser bolts though, there came slow moving missiles. One by one they penetrated the atmosphere and deployed their payloads with flashes of light.

At first there was no effect, but then there started to be the tearing of clouds. Using the scientific powers of handwavium technobabble the payloads started to convert the raging atmosphere's excess CO2 into H20 so that rain began to fall. At first the heat was such that steam was all that came down, but soon enough the heat began to dissipate as sunlight escaped from the clouds, the temperature dropped and rain fell in thundering torrents onto Gehenna. Soon great lakes began to form, and the plain of battles became drenched in water.

It would take time to make the atmosphere breathable, and the turbulence would be even worse for a while, but in time Gehenna would be a world where one could at least walk outside without being seared to the bone....

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Mirien sighed most heavily. There was no way she could walk from this room, this place and still be the same person she was when she entered. No, she would be forever changed. Whether it would be for the worse, or for the better, that story is yet to be told.

Her cold eyes moved to the head scientist, as he spoke out, pleading for his life. "A father? Seriously? That's the line you want to use with me? Personally I'd have gone with 'I can tell you more about your past' though that option really has been exhausted already." Stepping forward, she pushed him backwards with a firm hit to his chest. "A father gives a daughter toys, dolls ... protects them! At what point did you decide to give me chemicals, an alchemy knowledge to help destory innocent lives?!" Oh yes, so very angry. It seemed he might have pushed a button or six with her.

"Family? You know nothing of family." Another strike as she threw him back further, this time against one of the cages.

"Mirien, please ..." At this point, the brunette wanted to hear none of it as she slammed her fist into his throat, leaving him choking and gasping for air.

"Take your death with dignity. The dignity you've offered no other." She hated when they begged to their life to be spared. "Do not beg for a life you do not deserve." Words that stung even her as she realized she was putting to death the very monster that she was well on her way to becoming once. It was enough to give Mirien pause on her actions as she stared at the figure, she should have remembered. Then again if she remembered him, she might still be in this very lab, on a completely different side of the fight.

It was an opening, though small for the scientist to recover and lash out at her. Lightning springing from his hands, as he gripped the brunette and threw her across the room, crashing into one of the empty beds in the lab.

Crawling to her feet, she was rather pissed off. "A mistake." She said coldly. Though whether she was commenting on her own error, or his, was rather hard to tell. Reaching up into the air, she slung the bed she'd fallen on across the room hitting the scientist squarely in the chest with a sickening crunch. There were bound to be a few broken ribs from that alone, though, him spitting up blood soon after only confirmed that she'd punctured a lung.

"Drowning in your own blood, must suck." Personally not something she wanted to experience for herself any time soon.

"You whelp!" He growled, "I should have killed you when I had the chance."

"How very fatherly of you." She smirked, as she picked up a scalpel and hurled it with enormous force, watching as more blood splattered as it embedded itself into his abdomen. Probably at this point, she was merely playing with him. Making sure his end wasn't in the least bit quick, nor painless. "You never would have been a worthy opponent for me anyway. You'd have just died in the attempt." She sighed, "I do occasionally like a challenge, but you most certainly are not that." She glanced down to her belt, drawing a vibroblade from it as she advanced upon her prey. "Even now, you quiver in fear." Yup, totally playing with him.

Any other day, any other time, she'd have just simply ended his life quickly, and quietly as her training dictated it should be done. But nope, not this time. He just have to piss off her inner queen. Once more she drew upon the force and pinned him to the ground, squeezing just a little bit upon his chest causing him to weakly cry out.

One cage of Reavers was still active, and that brought a smile to her. It was going to be a fitting end for him. Though she wanted to make him bleed a little more first. Kneeling beside him, she took the blade and swiftly chopped off his right hand as he raised it against her. "Now, now ... can't have you doing that. You'll die alright, whether I touch you or not. Punctured lung has a way of doing that to a person. Thing is, you will die on my terms, and I'm not ready to just end this quite yet. After all, how many of them had to suffer and die first? How many other kids were like me, brought here to play in your sick games?"

"A .. lot."

She nodded slowly. "Yes, I'd imagine so... had to recruit the next generation." He weakly was lifting his left hand to her, in some attempt of an attack but that too was soon removed from his person. "And I'm guessing if we failed you, we were the next experiment on the schedule..."

He nodded to her, confirming what she'd thought. "Wrong answer, sweetie."

Taking the blade the pressed it against his chest, just deep enough to cut through his flesh but not into the muscle below. He was fading now, that much was certain given the size of the blood pool around him. Getting up slowly, Mirien sighed heavily as she wrapped an invisible hand around his body and lifted him from the floor, hurling him across the room, only watching as his body crashed into the wall and slid down to the floor. He wasn't moving, but still had his eyes open, and was ... somewhat breathing. Glancing to the Reaver cage, her anger only grew as she once more picked up his body, opened the cage and quickly threw him to the very monsters he had created. "Fresh scientist, it's what's for dinner boys."

She glanced to some of the soldiers near by. "Wait a moment or two, let them finish him off and then end the Reavers as well. They didn't deserve this. He does, but they don't." His pitiful screams were only heard very briefly as he was shredded by the monsters within. A fitting end if ever there was one.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Aeda Shaytari"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Mirien Valdier"]


Naamah was leaning heavily against the wall, feeling tired and exhausted after her battle with the sorceress. Who a few moments ago had gotten her heart crushed by her. A most messy and painful death, in other words just the way the Clawdite liked her enemies to die. What was the point if you could not enjoy a good kill? Still exhaustion was written across her bruised features. Her lip was split, her back was hurting like hell and, oh, she only hand one hand left since an alien beast had decided to eat the other, something that annoyed her to no end. So she was panting heavily as her breathing had turned ragged, though she could not help feeling triumphant. Her teeth were bared like fangs as the Bando Gora Slaves approached her and she forced herself to stand upright despite the sensation of pain it caused her. But after having come so far she refused to be taken down by a bunch of minions!


Then suddenly they knelt before her, one by one. "Mistress...we serve you. Our lives are yours to command," one them hissed. "Our bodies are yours. Command us to maim and slaughter and we shall obey." Oh, she liked the sound of that, though she doubted the slaves would last long. Ah, well, expendable cannon fodder was always useful and you had to start somewhere.


"Good. Obey me in all things or I'll take your tongue and force it down your throat, then take the rest," she declared, suppressing a pained groan. "I want off this vessel. Take me to her ship."


"Yes, Mistress!" the minion declared obediently but then paused for a moment. "May we feast upon the heretic's body? Her flesh is tender."


Naamah looked rather impatient but then gave them a nod. Sometimes it was important to indulge your minions even if they were just expendable cannon fodder. "Do that, but don't let it slow you down or you feel my wrath." And so the body was appropriately shredded and subsequently Naamah limped away from the wall through the corridor, after what was left of her opponent had been appropriately recycled as a meal for the cannibalistic Bando Gora minions who just a few moments ago had served her. As it happened one of the minions was moderately useful because he had actually taken a first aid course and so the stump of her lost hand could actually be properly bandaged for a change though she waved their offers to help her walk away. They could not go to the main hangar because it was crawling with Firemane goons but the sorceress presumably had a ship docked somewhere.


As she limped through the darkness Naamah was suddenly overcome by an overpowering sensation. She could feel pain, agony, unspeakable wrath and hatred emanating from where the laboratory lay. She felt it vividly as Mirien unleashed her vengeance upon the scientist, the sensations and feelings being so strong that she felt as if were standing there herself. Her heart leapt with joy when the scientist's pitiful life was ended as the monsters tore him apart and shredded him. She felt all this and rejoiced at the feeling as if she were in a state of pure ecstasy. It was simply...beautiful. Truly a work of art. Yes, dear reader, Naamah just experienced what people would consider intense pleasure due to Mirien unleashing her vengeance and passing judgement. Miri...you're magnificient. That was beautiful. We should do that to some Sith one day. Or Jedi. I'm not picky.

 

[Aeda Shaytari]

[member="Mirien Valdier"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Unlike a certain Clawdite who seemed to be having a darkgasm from Mirien’s onslaught, Aeda just watched.
As she hurled the dying man into the cage she finally reacted. She drew her pistol and put a blaster bolt into the scientist’s head, finally ending his screams. Then she turned the weapons on the creatures, calmly shooting them one by one. When it was done, with the help of some of the soldiers, her helmeted head turned to Mirien and Siobhan, held their gaze for a moment, then she turned to go. Nothing was said, but soon Siobhan and Mirien were left alone. If they needed to talk they could, or if there was any other items of value.

“Captain, prepare to move. Set the charges.” Once Sio and Mirien were finished they would leave and detonate the charges to destroy the ship.