Bringing Heaven to Hell (Firemane)

[Vaena Askari]

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


Prayer session concluded, Tarissa arose from the hallowed ground of the shrine. The smell of incense was in the air and after her moment of self-reflection she felt strengthened and invigorated. To be sure, much of the Eldorai religion was propaganda and a means to exert social control over the populace, but there were many among the people who were true believers, even though the beliefs the elves had clung to had been so profoundly shaken in many ways by the revelation that they were not alone in the Galaxy.


And that, probably more importantly, there were nations out there far more advanced than some. Many had seen this as cause to question whether the Goddess Ashira might be as powerful as the scriptures claimed she was. Others had come to the conclusion that Ashira did not exist at all. Or that she was useless as a deity and thus not worthy of worship. Ironically enough one of Tarissa's sisters had been one of those. Maerys had ended up working as co-host for the short-lived, right-wing propaganda mouthpiece 'Battle for Democracy'. Little did Tarissa know that the woman had been enteched by 'metal demons'. For the record, Tarissa really disliked that term because it was so primitive.


Far as she was concerned Ashira was real and all this was a test for the faithful. And with that in mind she departed from the shrine, returning to the bridge of the flagship. Duty required her to be indomitable, impassive and in control. She did that well. Along with speaking imperiously and making bitchy comments. The officer on duty saluted and the XO passed to her a datapad with the latest updates. Clean-up in orbit was all but done and space was probably freer of debris than it had been in centuries, atmospheric transformation was seemingly proceeding on schedule, though the bombardment was continuing at regular intervals, likewise the construction of the base was proceeding, which meant that the grunts were actually doing their job instead of using the enforced stay beneath the surface as an excuse to start slacking at work. Once the base was completed they just needed to figure out what to name it. Personally Tarissa still thought Gehenna would be an excellent place for a prison to dump undesirables in!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"], [member="Mirien Valdier"]


While Tegaea was once again assuming the burdens of duty and preventing a certain Pirate Queen...pardon Exarch Soluza from absconding with all their loot, the doctors on the Valora's Blade were busy trying to keep her wife from perishing on the operation table. Well, obviously not all doctors were employed in such a manner, since there were plenty of other patients aboard the ship. Every battle demands its price in blood after all and there were countless Eldorai soldiers who had found their way into the medbay. Undoubtedly not all would make it, despite the best efforts of the medical team. In the annals of the Eldorai the battle would go down in history as a righteous struggle in which the forces of good and order overcame the savage chaos the Bando Gora represented, but there was always another side to it. A side that expressed itself in officers writing letters to bereaved families who would forever be deprived of a loved one and in military funerals where the dead were given the last salute.


As they say, war is hell and there is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs. But regardless the medics were busy. In this case this meant carrying out the surgical procedure referred to as a pneumonectomy, the operation to remove her lung after all the damage she had sustained. In the process the doctors also removed two ribs to allow themselves better access to the lung. Not particularly pleasant, but fortunately Siobhan was unconscious and in any case heavily dosed with painkillers and sedatives. She would be dependent upon machinery until a new lung could be implanted and had proved itself as being reliable enough for her to breathe without external help.


As for her eye, surgery for bionic transplantion would have to wait until after the battle was over, though a call had been sent out to Doctor Osway, the prim and proper Twi'lek who apparently was mainly held on retainer by Firemane Industries to fix up the corporation's Vice President whenever she lost a limb or two. In all likelihood the good Doctor could look forward to both plenty of work and a considerable remuneration because Siobhan not only had plenty of broken bones and needed a new eye, but her bionic limbs had probably suffered a damage as well. In other words it was very certain that Siobhan would be done with adventuring for a long time. On the bright side Siobhan had managed to flee the space hulk with a shiny holocron in her possession! Only the Force knew what dark mysteries of the Chaos sorcerers might have been imprinted upon it.


Doubtless the Countess would soon be able to enjoy being under the Iron Matron's fair but stern care! Just as undoubtedly Siobhan would make a crude attempt to seduce the good doctor and utterly fail, since Osway was the very rare sort of Twi'lek who liked keeping her clothes on instead of losing them at any moment. And, as a matter of fact, wore actual clothes instead of a stripper outfit! For her part, Siobhan was utterly oblivious to what was going on, for she was by now deep within the realm of Morpheus. That of the god of dreams, not of that bald fellow in the Matrix who keeps yammering about the 'chosen one' and commands a crew obsessed with leather outfits. Just in case there were any misunderstandings.


The Dreamlands are a realm of innumerable dimensions beyond the ability of even the most advanced super computer to compile. Perhaps the realm a being visits during their slumber is tailored to their personality. And, of course, there are Fade spirits, with an equally infinite capacity to annoy the dreamers for this or that reason. Or to possess them for whatever purpose they have in mind. Such as in the case of a certain mage who randomly blew up a Church full of innocents to...protest against oppression. See, mages are more oppressed than poor peasants! And the best way to help them is to commit mass homicide and start a war. This writer's meta-loving tangent about other franchises concluded, we shall return to the actual, for there is one since Siobhan was dreaming. Hopefully there would be no angst for a change because that's seriously getting old by now.


Naboo was beautiful at seemingly any time of the year, though it was especually fabulous in summer. Lake Country, far away from the city of Theed, could only be described as idyllic. A gentle breeze of wind blew across the land as a wave from the magnificient blue lake crashed against the beach. Needless to say the beach was full of sand, which was coarse and got everywhere. Anyone who tries to use that as a pickup line deserves to be drawn and quartered on principle! Palm trees stood tall and rose out into the clear blue sky.


It appeared that Siobhan's subconscious - or the powers of the Fade, whatever rocks your boat - had decided to teleport her here to this idyllic place. The soft breeze of wind coming from the sea whipped against her body and her long dark brown mane, which was as wild as its owner, curly and allowed to fall freely across her shoulders. She was wearing a strapless, shiny dress that matched the colour of the sea and her feet were tucked into comfortable looking sandals.


"You know, it's almost funny. You crave excitement so much and revel in battle. The greater the challenge, the better. Yet in your dreams you keep coming to places like this. Well, that's when you're not angsting about how bad you are. Nice to see you're doing that less now! The mandarins who had to catalogue everything kept moping."


A voice seemingly out of the ether broke the serenity of the scene and jolted her out of it as Siobhan abruptly spun and turned around, for she recognised the voice all too well. "Nice dress, by the way. You're doing the princess thing well, little sister."


"And apparently my subconscious still has not learned to make my dreams fade spirit-proof," Siobhan muttered more to herself than to anyone else.


Althenea just shook her head. "Here I thought you loved compliments about your good fashion sense. What, no hug?"


"Normally this is the point where you launch a tirade about your unending hatred for me. Or rather the apparition wearing her face because it's never really her. Just something my mind conjures up to torment myself because apparently I get a kick out of it. So, yeah, I'm sceptical," Siobhan retorted, though she did take a step closer. The sand was coarse and annoying, but some random guy dressed in Jedi robes and with a look of rapture upon his face as he approached quickly turned tail and fled when she gave him a death glare that would have made him spontaneously combust if looks could kill.



"Oh, come on. You never have trouble believing it's Adril when she pops by for a chat. By the way, no offence, but I like Tegs a lot more. I mean, I was rooting for you and Addy for a while, but the melodrama got so repetitive after a while," Althenea snarked because apparently all the women in Sio's life were trolls.


"I'm so not discussing my love life with an apparition. Fade spirit, whatever. So if we're skipping the redundant reason you suck speech, where am I here? And, yes, I know this is the Naboo beach. Am I dead? In limbo? Or whatever the term is," Siobhan said impatiently with a hint of exasperation.


"My, my, you're as patient as ever. I shoul've buttered you by teleporting a blue Twi'lek onto the beach first. So I'll go ahead and ruin the surprise by saying you dodged the bullet. Again. You should really stop making a habit of this, the Erinyes are getting annoyed and your near-constant, near-death experiences are a queen for the mandarins to catalogue. I get so many complaints."


As the fade contained a seemingly infinite number of dimensions, all were governed by a celestial bureaucracy too large for anyone to count. On paper holding and at times cutting the string of life might sound fun, but in actuality the day-to-day work of a mandarin was terribly dull, tedious and annoying. After a while even cutting strings or decreeing that people who annoyed you should be reborn as mice lost its novelty and became a boring routine.


"Oh, that's sad. Do tell them I'm terribly broken up about it. They could just use space magic to make me invincible and I would not end up here."


"Or you could just stop death charging. I'm sure there's a self-help group."


Now Siobhan looked very annoyed and glared at her. "I was not 'death charging'. Anyone who thinks that's sodding clueless. I took a solid, heavily armed strike force to board a prize vessel. Tegs gave me theatre command for it and I made the call. I'm the most experienced with fighting Bando Gora and their Chaosspawn, so I had to go with and lead it. We secured a treasure trove, it all went well until the bloody spiders attacked. Couldn't anticipate that the Bando Gora got so far into the unknown regions and captured a horde of Klaxxi. Still, I made it out. Mission was a success. War's not a picknick."


The apparition let Siobhan speak her piece before responding. "And you're still the eternal warrior. Or rather you're between worlds. So you going to the space hulk had nothing to do with you being bored on the Ardarvia since the ground battle was going on without you and Tegs was running things just fine on her own?"


Bringing her wife into the conversation did not make Siobhan any more chipper.


"She has her strengths, I have mine. It was an important mission. Hanging around in safety when I could go somewhere, be of use and perhaps save lives would have been ridiculous. I am the best Firemane has after all. Not just arrogance, statement of fact. Now, are Aeda and Mirien alright?"


Birds were happily chirping and a boat sailed past on the lake. Siobhan spared the scene a glance. Back on her homeworld there had been a sea but was terribly polluted, yet the sight had still provided some measure of solace in a life characterised by poverty and destitution. For some moments after having worked all day in a factory. "They'll be fine, don't get your knockers in a twist. Mentally Miri's a bit of a mess. Understatement of the year. What with finding out that she was on the way to become latter-day Mengele before taking a hard knock to the head."


It was ironic but it seemed losing all her memories of her life had saved Mirien from becoming a complete monster. The look Siobhan shot the apparition at the perceived questioning was fierce and protective. "If you're trying to make me question my trust in her, save it. It's not gonna work. Mirien was with the enemy, she did horrible things, yeah, I know. She also brought my memories back and she's changed. End of the story. Long as she sticks with us, I stick with her."


Perhaps surprisingly Althenea did not seem angered, rather her lips curved into a thin smile, though it was gone soon again. "Loyalty. Such a nice quality to see in this day and age. Always liked that about you." It was a response that seemed to catch Siobhan off-guard and she was quiet for a moment.


"I wasn't loyal to you...Al..." The guilt was strong and tangible in her answer.


"Stop right there. Don't start with the guilt trip. You didn't pull the trigger. You messed up and tried to fix what you did wrong. End of the story. If you can forgive her, you may as well let go."


Siobhan sighed strongly, clearly surprised by the answer. "I...thanks. I tried to so hard to make up for it...don't think anything fully can, but I have and I am sorry. You can't just balance the scales and say things have been right again."


The apparition just shook her head. "No, you can't. But you admit it. And don't start getting teary-eyed and saying you're sorry, we've had enough of that. If you want to say you're sorry to someone, do it to Tegs. When you awaken. Hearing of you losing bits again has broken her up a lot. Also big understatement."


Siobhan tensed a bit before responding to that. "It hurts her, I know. I've never wanted to hurt her. Hell, there have been many times where she would have been in her rights to leave. Not like I'm asking monsters to cut my up. Only went to the space hulk because it was a prize Bando Gora vessel, otherwise I would've blown it to bits. I am the best fighter Firemane has, her strong right arm. Can't expect troops to go into the jaws of death and give their utmost while I'm safe and sound. It's unbecoming and cowardly given what I can do."


"The bold leader, always leading from the front. Thing is, Siobhan, there'll always be something big on some battlefield where you could help. Does that mean that you should? You're not invincible, even with your strength in the Force you're not the same woman you were in the past. Imagine a really big threat pops up to raze Kaeshana and you can't help because you're crippled from some random skirmish. Taking a step back doesn't automatically mean you'll go soft. Besides, there's Galina. Can't have your adopted daughter lose another parent, can you?"


Siobhan opened her mouth but no words left it at first. As much as it annoyed her, the apparition did have a point. She did not regret her actions, but nonetheless. "She's not my daughter. I'm far too young and hot to be a mother," she protested lamely. This one apologises to all mothers who may be reading this. It's just their character who's this narrow-minded!


"Yes, yes, and you haven't been mothering over her from the moment you met her. Not at all. Thing is, you can't do that if you get carved in half. Galaxy's going to the dogs. Try to make something out of the time you have left. You know how short-lived happiness can be. How fleeting it will be. You literally dodged death once already. Shadow's trap was supposed to be your one-way ticket to Hades." the apparition reminded her bluntly.


Siobhan did not like being guilt-tripped, though she remembered the entity that had appeared in the guise of the blue space elf Melantha saying that. "Yes, I remember the big speech. Got a second chance, should not waste it. Got a wife and a little girl to look after. And I want a life with them. Peace and quiet with Tegs. I am still going to go after and kill Shadow though. Nothing's gonna stop me from ending him."


The apparition shrugged response to that. "Oh, go kill the son of a queen by all means. Hell, space him for poetic justice. Just don't get so obessed it kills you in the process. Or twists you into something just like him. She who fights monsters..."


"Must take care she does not become a monster. I know. That's my line! I will kill him, not become him. I've had plenty of chances to fall. The Dark Side's not just a naughty voice in your ear suddenly persuading you to do bad things and go Sith within the blink of an eye. Unless you're really lacking clarity. There's a difference between using 'dark powers' and being an genocidal maniac obsessed with enslaving everyone. But...you have given me much to think about."


"Good, don't think too hard though. Brooding is not sexy. Anyhow, as fun as this chat was, I got to go. Got an appointment with the Princess in Novgorod in ten. Have no, fear you'll be waking up soon." Abruptly Siobhan interrupted whatever else the apparition of Althenea wanted to say by pulling her into a big hug. Somehow this worked, but then this is the fade, and space magic has a power of its own. The apparition let it happen and gently stroked the woman's hair. "There, there, I missed and love as you well. Now I really got go be off."


"I love you too. Feel free to haunt me...but not too much!," Siobhan managed to say feelingly, emotion evident in her voice, before the shape vanished into thin air. Then she was alone again. Well, there were obviously other people on the beach, many of whom were enjoying sunbathing. For some reason they just happened to be all pretty and female. Racially there a mix of Twi'leks, humans, Eldorai and even two Cathar, but then this was Siobhan's dreamland so that was probably not a coincidence. However, soon Tegaea would receive a message that the operation was over and so Sio's time in dreamland would be cut short as she likewise would be jolted awake.


Siobhan's time for self-reflection did not last long for suddenly a dazzlingly gorgeous blue Twi'lek, dressed in a very revealing swimsuit and as curvy as a scenic highway, appeared by her side. "Excuse me, Lady Kerrigan. Could you please...cream me in with sunscreen? It's so hot out here," she purred, making bedroom eyes at the Countess and batting her eyelashes.


Siobhan looked very, very tempted but then reluctantly shook her head. "No, sorry, I have to get back." Then suddenly she was enveloped by a bright white light and grunted in obvious annoyance. "Bright light? How cliched." Apparently the kiddie-protection police was in action again and was teleporting her away before anything smutty could happen that might upset their innocent minds. By contrast, if Siobhan had been maimed again - or brutally killed a few people - that would have been shown in gory detail.

 

[Mirien Valdier]

Mirien lay in her bed, tears slowly slipping from her eyes and down her cheeks. Though it wasn't pain that was making her cry, well not in the traditional sense, it was the reality of who she'd been. It was tearing her apart. She had no idea how Siobhan was going to react, much less if Sio would even survive.

Her eyes drifted to the tube on her bedside table, and sighed heavily, though winced for her effort. The injury certainly had taken it's toll on her, exhausting her beyond belief. There was little she could do about it, stuck in bed for a while, tended to by medics and nurses, the occasional doctor would drop by and check her bandages, making sure she wasn't bleeding out in any way.

She glanced to a medic as the pain grew in her shoulder, drawing out a whimper from her. Soon enough the medic came over, and dosed the brunette with a heavy dose of pain killers, sending her back into the land of dreams where she didn't have to worry or regret her former Bando Gora self, to not have to think about the monster she had once been.

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

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

Tegaea had gone to bed. Everything was under control, and she'd left orders that her staff was to wake her when there was news of Siobhan or any other emergency.

The redhead lay in her cabin, the best on the ship. The bed was comfortable enough, but it felt wrong every time she was in it alone. The big bed seemed like a vast expanse without Siobhan.
Dressed in a light outfit, it wasn't fun sleeping au natural alone, she pulled up the covers and stared at the metal ceiling. By degrees, she fell asleep.

Tegaea didn't tend to get the prophetic dreams of her wife, and most of her dreams were not very useful. More often they were jumbled memories, things she'd rather forget.
There were a few things her memory came back to. One of them was the battle on Vandelhelm, the other....

The old warehouse, always the old warehouse.
She was tied to a chair. Not in the...religious rites...method she was used to. No, this was cruelly tight, with no regard for comfort, only for control.
She saw the monster looming over her, mocking her, hurting her. She cried for Siobhan...and Siobhan always came for her.
Except this time she didn't.
“She’s not coming for you. She’s never coming for you. She left you to me.”

Tegaea jerked awake. Her hand touched her left eye. Even she forgot that it wasn't originally hers sometimes, for she had a clone-grown replacement put in. There was a slight difference in the texture of the skin around it though, and on her side was the feeling of the scar.
Tegaea sighed. She was drenched in sweat and her heart was beating like a drum.
What did this mean? Did this mean something prophetic, or were her fears imprinting upon her dream-memory?

She looked at the chrono. Two hours had passed.

The door slid open and Kayla entered. "Ma'am?"
Tegaea looked up. "What is it?" she asked tiredly.
"Lady Kerrigan is out of surgery on the Valora's Blade."
Tegaea rubbed her eyes and pushed her hair back. "Prepare my shuttle. I'll be ten minutes."

 

[Vaena Askari]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


The necessary communications were sent to the Valora's Blade and so obviously Tegaea's shuttle received clearance to the land in the hangar. When it did so and the Lady Alcori walked down the landing ramp, she would find herself greeted by a small honour guard of Angelii and, as surprising as that might seem on first sight, Lady Tarissa Cadalthor. The Eldorai noble looked as stoic and indomitable as ever, for a noblewoman cannot be seen as losing control for even a moment in public, so she must be as perfect as a statue.


There was no point in battle armour far away from the fields of war and so she was dressed in conservative black robes, which were doubtlessly made of the finest materiel, but while refined were not particularly ostentatious since Tarissa was one of the few Eldorai nobles who had little time for that. Ironically perhaps one of the very few things she had in common with Anya, or rather the Star Queen Tirathana VII. Needless to say she did not walk the whole way towards Tegaea because she was arrogant that way. More to the point she did not like her.


Her jaw tightened for just a moment as she beheld the redhead, but then she relaxed and assumed her usual stoic expression. Much like Tegaea she had left the command deck since there was nothing more for her to do there, though rather than going to bed she had been eating a much-needed meal in the mess. "Lady Alcori, welcome aboard the Blade, though I wish the circumstances were different. I prayed for Lady Kerrigan's recovery. She has been moved out of the ICU into a less critical ward, but is being monitored constantly." Tone calm, though for a just a short moment the facade dropped and there was a flicker of something on her face as she mentioned Siobhan. Silly girl. Why do you insist on charging into every battle? Out of some misguided notion of heroism? You have minions to do that for you. You're lucky you're alive. The Goddess won't always protect you.


The bloody woman was so frustrating sometimes. She would quickly lead Tegaea out of the hangar. Naturally she would not be too hasty in her steps, for that was unbecoming, but still with a sense of purpose. After a while they would end up in the medical wing of the battleship, more specifically in front of the room that held Siobhan. By now surgery had been complete and Siobhan would be the proud owner of a new artificial lung and another bionic eye. Fortunately for her the Company kept spares of her size on virtually all Firemane ships! Well, it was not that extreme, but you get the picture. Nonetheless after what she had been through Siobhan looked a mess, like she had been through the ringer, though at least all the blood had been washed away. A nurse was checking up on her and a doctor stood outside to answer questions if needed.

 

[Elanil Saedaris]

Elanil monitored the bombardment of chemical capsules with the utmost focus the woman could manage. So much so that most of the world around her she had tuned out as scientific reading came back to the screen she was observing. Occasionally she'd call out a command for the com officer to relay to the other ships as she adjusted certain mixes and canister drops upon the planet. Steadily the drones upon the surface were feeding a constant stream of readings and important data to the datapad in Doctor Saedaris's hands.

Most thoughtfully she would tap at it every now and then looking for the slightest anomaly, anything that seemed out of place. However, so far things seemed to be going quite smoothly for the operation as a whole. Rain was falling for the first time upon Gehenna, sweeping across the hellish landscape. Clouds were forming most beautifully and it seemed the start of an atmosphere fit for life, was well on it's way to being formed. The torrential rain was slowly starting to calm and more regular weather systems were beginning to form as the planet's atmosphere was starting to stabilize.

It was time for the secondary phase of her project. "Plant matter will need to be scattered now upon the surface. Deploy the capsules so that soon enough plants and other growth will begin to take shape to help sustain a livable, breathable atmosphere." She said coldly as ever, but that was just her nature. Then again that just might have something to do with her being a one hundred and twenty something year old virgin. She waited for her command to be followed and soon watched as the plant matter capsules fell away to the planet's surface, to help seed the volcanic hell world.

With that done, she returned to monitoring the data feeds coming in, eager to see just how well her experiment worked out. It was one giant petri dish to her after all. And science was her lady, and life. She lived for moments like this.

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

 

[Coryth Elaris]

"He won't hurt anyone." She said, to reassure the people around her. "He's on our side." Coryth then nodded to Tempest and took her Reek and moved as far back away from the explosive charges as possible.

As the explosion rocked the cavern, the thin wall crumbled leaving dust flying through the room. Once it clear, the opening now stood there just waiting for them all to go through. Without a word to the others the redhead stepped forward, her Reek right behind her as she stepped through the rocky opening and into what appeared to be a vast laboratory.

This normally would never have bothered Coryth but something about it seemed so familiar to her. Too familiar. No, she could sense it, feel it, smell it. Xerexes had a hand in this lab. His force presence was all over the place, and anger and rage started to bubble beneath the surface in Coryth. She was livid to say the least. Even more so as she walked past a set of cloning tubes where a half dozen Xerexes lay dormant waiting for use by the monster of a Sith that had brought her so much pain.

The anger kept rising in the little Jedi as she spotted a statue of her tormentor standing guard near the far doorway. "Oh, hell no!" She snarled most bitterly. "That bastard does not get immortalized!" Her anger still was building more and more, to the point it was quite tangible in the air.

Before even waiting for the others Coryth's rage took over, and she instantly sent the Reek out to start destroying the lab, along with her telekinesis the redhead pulled powerfully on the force and started to rip shelves from the walls of the room, crushing everything in sight that she could get her hands on before turning to the statue and with the power of her mind alone, caused the stone statue to explode into a million pieces, and the little Jedi was only just getting started.

[member="Tempest"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


As chance would have it at this point in time Kaida and her unit of heavily armed soldiers had reached the location of Coryth and Tempest. While they had lost contact with them and been unable to communicate, they had been able to track their life signs. As the powerful explosion rocked the caverns and echoed across the tunnels the unit picked up the pace, hoping that nothing bad had happened. They had been forced to leave their APCs behind further away in the tunnels because they were too small and narrow for them to manoeuvre, so they had continued on foot. As it happened the explosion had blown a good deal of the caves apart and left an opening for them. So the Eldorai troopers passed through the massive hole and emerged through the thick clouds of smoke that were billowing up into the air.


And so it came to pass that they burst in just as the massive laboratory was revealed and the little redhead Jedi Master began her rampage. There were no monsters in sight. Well, none that directly threatened them and required their considerable firepower to exterminate. An expression of surprise crossed Kaida's features as she beheld the scene, though it would not be seen since her face was rather obscured by her helmet. It appeared that their targets had saved themselves. If Kaida had been the wethennish sort she would have probably moped about the fact that someone had 'stolen her glory'. However, she was not a wet hen and thus quite content with the fact that she did not have to fight another horde of monsters. Frankly she had been through enough fighting for today and was fairly tired by now.


The foul stench of the dark side hung over the pall like a pall, almost choking. Its foul power was such that it was tangible, making one feel as if one was inside an ocean of darkness. Kaida watched the scene with an impassive expression as Coryth wrecked everything in sight like an avenging angel of pure rage. Unlike Siobhan she was not inclined to interfere and search for artefacts. The dark knowledge of ancient Bando Gora sorcerers held no interest for her. The only way to deal with such foul creatures was to destroy them and their dark magicks could serve no good purpose.


"What are your orders, Captain? Should we step in? Place explosive charges?" one of the Host Leaders asked her, pulling her out of her musings.
In response Kaida shook her head. "No, I believe this is a personal kind of deal. Set up perimeter security against ambushes and have our healers provide medical assistance to any wounded in Lieutenant Tempest's squad," she said impassively, then reached for her comm to send a transmission to the fleet. "Ardarvia, Captain Taldir here. Lieutenant Tempest and Master Elaris have been located. Alive and well. Returning to base momentarily."

Obviously she did not know that Tegaea was on the Valora's Blade, but the message would be forewarded to the flagship anyway, so it did not really matter. That done she switched the comm off and holstered her bolt pistol, then headed over to where she could find Tempest. Unlike certain other people Kaida took little joy in explosions and was also not the sort to stand around and fangirl. Unfortunately for Coryth, at least one Eldorai soldier wanted to capture her moment of fiery destruction and so very soon another vid would be uploaded on Galaxytube.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Tarissa Cadalthor"]
Tegaea approached the Eldorai woman rather stiffly as well. The disadvantage about having Siobhan on this ship was dealing with this...person.
Still, she'd learned enough in the last decade to keep that disguised.
"I thank you for your assistance in this regard," Tegaea said. "Please take me to her."

When they came to the ward and she saw Siobhan laying there. She turned away slightly, fighting the urge to cry. She would not weep when Tarissa was there to hear and see.
"Will she be alright?" she asked the doctor in charge, more for her own reassurance than anything else.
"She will take time to recover, and she has a long road ahead of her, but she should make a full recovery. She's very tough."
"Yes...she is," Tegaea said sadly.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

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


Step by step Siobhan awoke from her deep slumber. The light that greeted her was too bright and she would have rubbed her organic eye...except she did not have one anymore. More to the point, it seemed her hand refused to move at all except with a glacial slowness that seemed as if it was trying to mock her. Her bionic eye had been implanted but was obviously untested and would probably require finetuning, so she was left with the old one for now.


Her functional bionic eye flashed a bright crimson for a moment before resuming its common brown colour. Bit by bit the shapes inside the room solidified in front of her. "This...isn't the eternal waiting room in the fade," she muttered more to herself than to anyone else as she got used to her surroundings.


"No, you're aboard the Valora's Blade. Do not strain yourself, you're lucky to have it out alive. Lady Valdier and Lady Shaytari are fine," the doctor said, preempting any questions Siobhan might have had. "Your wife and Lady Cadalthor are here to see you," she added, indicating Tegaea.


Though the motion made pain shoot through her Siobhan turned her head to look upon Tegaea. Suffice to say Siobhan looked like hell. It did not seem she had even noticed Tarissa was there. "Hey...I'd say I'm sorry...but I guess you've become tired of hearing that...still I am. You're a sight for sore eyes. My beautiful Tegs."


Tarissa was still standing in the medbay, though a bit further away. If one were to pay attention to her one would notice that she as well was fighting down an urge to cry. It would be absolutely unbecoming to lose composure in a moment like this. Only now did Siobhan apparently register the fact that she was there. "Tari...you don't have to stand in the corner," Siobhan said tiredly. "Am in trouble?"she asked no one in particular.


Tarissa tensed and then walked over to her. "You...you're lucky to have made it out alive. What were you thinking? No, don't answer that."


"I was gonna say I don't think much," Siobhan joked lamely, though evidently the Eldorai noblewoman did not appreciate her idea of humour.



"Just get better and think next time. I should...probably leave you two to it," Tarissa spoke, indicating Tegaea and Siobhan, trying to keep her tone calm and composed. Her delicate fingers went to her comm as it beeped and she received a message. "Master Elaris and Lieutenant Tempest have been recovered alive and well. I'll be on the bridge, finishing things up. And you stay in the medbay. I will tie you to the bed and leave you locked up alone if I have to," she said to Siobhan very sternly, giving her a gentle pat on the hand and giving her a soft kiss on her undamaged cheek before turning away on her heels and departing.

 

[Tempest]

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

The redhead healer’s fury was breathtaking, and also quite alarming. With her reek she singlehandedly destroyed the entire lab. Statues were destroyed, equipment was wrecked, clones destroyed.
Tempest pulled her troops back to the entrance where Kaida had entered and looked on with just a little concern and a little bit of admiration.
“Nice to see you again, Captain. As you can see, Master Elaris is…cleaning up,” Tempest said conversationally.
The head of a statue burst into gravel before them.
“It’s like Siobhan when someone steals her magazines,” Tempest muttered. You did not take Ashira’s Angels ‘Chosen of the Goddess Edition’ from Siobhan and get away with it.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Envy and jealousy were dangerous and invasive things. Normally Tegaea was quite happy for Siobhan to have her dalliances, as Tegaea had her own. However, there was something about Tarissa. Possibly that she nearly bore the face of the old flame, possibly that Tegaea disliked the woman intensely. Either way, when she was gone Tegaea went over to Siobhan and was extra affectionate. She was the wife here, and some space elf hussy would not stand her up!
It was all silly of course, she knew it was silly in her mind, but jealousy was a powerful thing.

“And you, my dear, are a very naughty girl, my beautiful Siobhan!” Tegaea said, kissing Siobhan on the cheek where Tarissa had, then on the lips too.

“The Doctors say the operation went well, but you’ll have to rest for a while. We’re heading back to Kaeshana soon, so you can get some proper recovery time there. It’s so good to see you again, I was so worried!”

She didn’t voice any scolding at this moment. Partly because this wasn’t the time, but also because Tarissa had.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


"Will you teach me to be a good girl again?" Siobhan asked flirtatiously and lamely. She did not get the girls because of her amazing wit, that much was certain! "I'd hug you but...kind of knocked out. It sucks." Yeah, well, you got maimed and had lots of bones broken. So suck it up, Princess!


A frown creased her features. Siobhan was not the sharpest crayon in the box and could be tremendously dense at times, especially since she had a habit of thinking of herself first and not paying much attention to other people, but after ten years of living together she knew her wife pretty well. "It's cute when you're jealous. Makes me feel extra wanted...but you don't have to be. She's not even remotely a competition. There's no one who could be for one for you."


Aww, wasn't Siobhan being sweet? There was a pause before she spoke up again. "I'm...I'm gonna try and retire from taking a leading role in combat. Unless one of our own or Kaeshana is threatened. Still gonna find Shadow and chop his head off, but me always being on the front lines is unfair to you. All those moments you have to spend afraid that I might not come back alive. And I got Galina to look after now."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Those words…they were the ones that Tegaea had been wanting to hear for years now.
“Thank you, love…that means a lot to me,” she said, kissing her again and hugging. She pulled back though when she realised that joyful hugging was probably not so jolly for someone just out of surgery.

“Sorry,” she said, patting Siobhan’s hand awkwardly.

“I love you, Siobhan,” Tegaea said. The tears she had been holding back came forth, but now happy tears as she’d finally be able to keep her wife with her. And maybe, just maybe, they might both live to old age together.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]


The scene was so sweet to make sugar taste sour. Perhaps now they could finally be a shiny and happy lesbian family! They even sort of had an adopted daughter now. Of course, they were not perfect and never would be, but then life never was.


Needless to say as much as Siobhan appreciated the display of affection it was not good for her bones and tired body. So she stifled a cry as a sensation of pain shot through her, though she tried not to let it show. After all, she did not want to interrupt in the joyful moment. Perhaps it was only dawning on her now how hard things had been for her wife as well.


"I know. I love you too. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. As long as you'll have me," she said feelingly, returning the kiss. Tears of could not glisten in her eyes because both were those of a machine now, but the expression on her face should show how she felt. Now she would just have to figure out what to do with all her spare time! Siobhan had quite deliberately not mentioned the revelations of [member="Mirien Valdier"]'s past. Partly because she was terribly tired and did not want a long conversation, partly because she figured that the woman would want to tell the tale herself.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"], [member="Coryth Elaris"]


((Posting again since Kaida's at present just interacting with Tempest. Cory smash!))


Due to keen elf ears Kaida obviously heard Tempest's comment about Coryth's display of pure redhead rage being like Sio's response to someone taking her smut magazines. Contrary to popular belief, which was propagated by all sorts of holovids, said elf ears actually had a practical use rather than just being the subject of odd sexual fetishes.


"I imagine," she said very dryly in response. Has it already been mentioned that Kaida could not stand Siobhan? In all likelihood this has been said excessively. "Undoubtedly she'll be in a mood when she hears about what happened to her 'glorious' statues. Terraforming ongoing. Apparently Gehenna is undergoing the phenomenal experience of having massive downpours of rain and being seeded with plants. Supposedly we will be able to breathe freely eventually."


Her tone was, you probably guessed it, dear reader, dry and terribly sardonic. She questioned the point of investing so much money in an attempt to transform this hellhole, but not her call to make. Likewise it was not her money. Well, actually it was since she paid taxes! Well, that sucked a lot. The battle was over, wounded were being carried away for medical attention and construction of the base was almost complete. Now they just needed a name for it. Kerrigangrad was rigtht out! But all in all mission accomplished. Undoubtedly the church bells on Kaeshana would be ringing soon. And the holomovie would be a total hit!