Private Communion

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"She has a point," Elpsis said quietly. She was agreeing with Siobhan on something? The end of days was at hand. Soon the seals would be broken and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would be unleashed. "Even though you already have a bodyguard." She knew there was Simoom, a Dahomian lady. She would not be surprised if some of Tegaea's 'personal attendants' doubled as guards, too. "Catch you later. I'll go hit up Tempest's contact."

xxx

Shazora considered Hasana's analysis. She agreed in part. Having something to prove could give one fuel to go the extra mile and face odds others would consider daunting. But it could also give one tunnel vision. However, it was a trial all Qadiri now faced. In her experience, children of famous parents tended to fall into two categories. The entitled ones who basked in their parents' fame, and those who struggled to escape their shadow and be known on their own merit.

"I am holding you to that, Hasie." One embarrassing nickname deserved another. Shazora secretly liked 'little orchid', but would not admit it. She blushed slightly when Hasana planted a kiss on her. After all, they were in a quite public place. However, she returned it and stroked Hasana's strong shoulder. "You are a noble soldier and your bravery makes you an inspiration to the free Qadiri. You show that we can succeed without begging nobles for scraps or standing in awe of off-worlders...but you are also someone who is very dear to me." That had gotten more emotional than she had intended it to be.

She composed herself. "I shall see you later today. I have some meetings to ahead. With the Xioquo representative, among others." She felt uncomfortable about that, but did her best to obfuscate it. "Mayhaps an elegantly dressed, entitled minion of Semiramis will find her way into my office and pontificate. Keep me abreast if you need anything, and give your 'sand babies' my regards."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tegaea let out a little ‘hmmph’ worthy of Phylis Alince. “I’m not complaining, she does have a great pair of legs. Anyway, I guess I should be happy everyone wants me safe and so gives me absurdly hot women to protect me. Anyway, see you later, dear.”

XXX

“Hasie, huh?” Hasana asked. She seemed amused rather than upset by the name. “Little orchid is playing a dangerous game.”
She gave her another kiss, if only to embarrass her lover even more.
“You’re very dear to me too, Shazzy. I’ll be back soon, you’ll see.”
And then she was off, striding deliberately towards the barracks area.

XXX

Meanwhile Tempest’s contact had been written as ’Journey’ so Elpsis might have expected a Dahomian. However, it turned out to actually be a Blue Twi’lek wearing a particularly racy outfit, legs up on the table and smoking a death stick. She had a mechanical eye and a series of scars across the large amount of her body visible. She also had a very large pair of pistols at her side and a small grenade launcher on the seat beside her.

Understandably the other patrons were staying far away. When Elpsis would approach she’d give an ironic salute.
“Windy’s girlfriend, right? Elspeth. So, you’re paying me for intel, pull up a chair and ask what you want. Don’t mind the launcher, I’m ‘not allowed’ to carry it around loaded. Frakking dumb, what do they expect me to do, blow myself up? Still, it stops the guys trying to chat me up. Ehh, and the girls too, especially the girls in this place. Want a drink? A smoke? Don’t mind me, I’m here for a few hours before I push off again.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"Great legs, huh? Do tell what she's like between the sheets if you bed," Elpsis quipped, showing a bit of her old self. The fact that most people would consider it strange to discuss their mother's sex life with her seemed to escape her. Then again, her mother was so kind to organise hookups for her. Anyhow, Elpsis departed.

As the Fire Princess walked away, Xalda suddenly appeared at Tegaea's side. Truth be told, the Xioquo had never left it. She had been watching, waiting and guarding. Such was her duty. "I would protect the Blessed Consort from any harm that might befall you," she stated. Did she feel a bit offended by the fact that a Vash was supposed to guard her lady? Who knew. "The Shahbânu was disrespectful. She is a snake. Her words are honeyed, but her tongue drips with lies." How much of this was astute observation and how it simply her being extremely biased was another question.

xxx

Meanwhile, Elpsis ran into Journey after a brief stop on the way. To her surprise, she was a Twi'lek. Her outfit revealed a lot, she was scarred and had some big guns. "It's Elpsis," the Lieutenant stated. "MGL-1, right?" she asked rhetorically, indicating the launcher. "Handy little thing. Packs a solid punch. Loves to jam if you don't replace the magnetic rings a lot though." She knew her guns. Elpsis took her seat, and propped up her boots. "You've been to the Kriselist station, haven't you? Tell me about it. Defences, ingress and egress." Just so you know, I'm charging you for this, a ghostly voice said through her earpiece.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tegaea had given a knowing smirk which indicated she’d already been there, done that….

The sudden reappearance of Xalda was something of a shock, even though she should have been used to the Xio appearing unexpectedly by now.
“Yes,” she answered simply. “But we don’t get to choose everyone we work with…. The key, Xalda dear, is to know who you work with, what to expect, what their strengths and weaknesses are. Be aware of what Semiramis will do, and then her actions will not surprise you.”

She looked at the Xio. “Come along, I’ve got a surprise for you.” A good surprise, hopefully!

XXX

Journey blew out a cloud of smoke, showing no emotion. “Sure. Sounds like you’ve got a deep and meaningful connection to a grenade launcher, Elphus. Just don’t give it a name like some people I know.”

“Kriselist Station. Been there three times, was glad to leave each time. Was running electronics one time, high grade duranium the other two. Shipped back out ammunition and finished weapons. Their pay isn’t great, but they didn’t try and cheat me.”

“Defences? Sixteen quad lasers spaced around the hanger bays and external sensor towers. They’ve got a squadron of interceptors on hand in case anyone needs chasing. Typical TIEs for the most part.”

She stretched out, placed her hands behind her head, massaging her lekku gently. “Internal defences? Hmm, my memory is getting real fuzzy due to lack of money….”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Xalda seemed to consider this. "If you know what drives someone, you can envisage her moves in your head and set them up for the fall," she surmised. "Blessed Consort is wise. If the Qadiri queen deceives herself into thinking she is in control, she will overreach herself. " Tegaea's further words made her curious. "I am excited."

xxx

A cloud of smoke blew out into the air. Elpsis had spent enough time in sine pits not to cough. She helped herself to a drink, drinking straight from the bottle. "Funny how quickly memory gets fuzzy," she remarked dryly. Don't fall for that, her earpiece crackled. Her data sounds reasonable. But if you loosen your purse now, you'll be asking to be scammed. She took another gulp from her bottle, then put it down. "You haven't told me anything I couldn't find out my own. If you want more than pocket change, you better remember the juicy stuff."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
“Now you’re getting it, Xalda!” Tegaea said approvingly. “Diplomacy is all about the art of giving most people most of what they want. What Semiramis wants and what I want don’t entirely line up, but it is sufficiently aligned that she wisely does not antagonise me.”

They arrived back at Tegaea’s office. There a pretty Dahomian was waiting for them. “Everything ready, Purity?”
“Yes ma’am! Miss Xalda, I had to guess your size a bit, but we can always make alterations later, and I think I’ve calibrated the matrix correctly…”
“Purity…it’s fine,” Tegaea said gently. “Show it to her.”
Purity, a little flustered, produced from a sealed container and presented a very light, very form fitting suit.
“I know you have combat armour, but this will assist your already considerable skills of evasion and stealth. The suit contains a cloaking device to hide you, and the suit is designed to make no noise when moving, and to have pouches and weapons be able to be connected to it easily. Even without the cloaking device you will be almost invisible in low light or if you don’t move. It’s a first test prototype for our agents, and I immediately thought of you. Try it on if you’d like, or later if you prefer.”
The suit left little to the imagination. Getting into it would almost certainly mean stripping off then and there…not that this would be much of a problem – except maybe for Purity who was still a little shy.

XXX

Journey stared at Elpsis for a few seconds, blew out a cloud of smoke and ran her hand down her lekku.
“But you’ve not found it out on your own. Alright, something’s coming back. There’s auto-turrets in the hanger bay, emergency vent system and ray shielding over the exits. The usual. But, they’ve got a special war droid concealed in a hidden bay, big as an AT-ST and just as shooty. I only saw it because my eye’s able to pierce that sort of covering to see the energy source of the motor. That’s prize info that is, so how about you shell out for info on the garrison and the Commander’s special surprises?”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Xalda examined the suit. She ran her hands across it and sniffed the material. "This sounds very well-designed," she remarked. "I am grateful for it. You are truly a warrior of the mind," she added, possibly embarrassing the shy Dahomian a bit. Without further ado, she proceeded to get out of her uniform. The fact that this might embarrass Purity a bit did not enter her mind. Xalda was not very modest and, in any case, Tegaea already knew what she looked like without clothes.

Rather than just toss her uniform on the ground, she took the time to fold it and lay it on a table. She was still new to having actual possessions of her own. As a slave she had owned nothing and even as a janissary she had still been her mistress' property. Slaves did not own anything, just like animals did not. As Purity would be able to see, Xalda's body had been viciously mauled. Scars and burn marks criss-crossed her dark grey skin. Slowly, she slipped into the stealth suit.

xxx

Elpsis fished into her jacket and put a bunch of credit chips on the table, then pushed them towards Journey. "That should jolt your memory," she said dryly. "Continue." Her earpiece crackled. I don't have any information on the droid, but I came across references to a Project Talos. I'll cross-reference to see if they might be linked.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
Purity rapidly looked away, coughing slightly. It wasn’t that she was a prude, but she was shy and rather nervous about romance and didn’t have Tegs’ experience seeing undressed persons.

The suit itself was actually something of a marvel. It was at first rather baggy even, and covered the whole body from neck to toes. A mask could go over the head to conceal it too.
“She’s got it on, Purity,” Tegs said gently.
Purity turned. “Right, so now, we just get everything comfortable and hit the sealing button.” She helped Xalda arrange it and then pushed a button on the suit. The material tightened and fitted so it was near skintight. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was perhaps a little claustrophobic. Over the top were some light plates and emitters and a pair of light boots.
“It has built in underlays which prevent chafing and absorb the sweat for rehydration. It also regulates the temperature so you can survive in both hot and cold, and with it fully sealed you can survive in vacuum for five minutes before the suit’s temperature regulator becomes compromised. It provides decent protection against primitive…I mean traditional…blades and projectiles. You don’t want to get hit by lightsabres or explosives though.”

She came closer and put a belt around Xalda’s waist. Once on it seemed to seal in place.
“Utility belt. Holds emergency rations, power pack and a generator. On the back of your hands are some inbuilt static dischargers as a last ditch combat weapon. And then there’s the stealth field. It has power for up to ten minutes constant use, but the powerpack can be swapped out as needed through the belt. The mask has an inbuilt HUD and you can trigger the stealth from there or from the button control on the belt.”

"Those plates over the chest, legs and back project the stealth field. It also protects the vital areas better against blasters and vibroblades, though you'll want to stay out of harm as much as possible."

She stepped back and looked to see Xalda’s reaction.
XXX

Journey glanced at the credits, then expertly whisked them out of sight.
“Funny, it is coming back to me now. “Garrison are ex-Firsty white-hats. They all look the same, but I reckoned there was twenty to thirty of them. The Commander though seemed a real creative type, scientist or researcher. Didn’t get the name, but she was a thin broad, grey hair, wore a grey uniform with some weird insignia on the shoulders.”
Journey slid across a datapad with a snapped picture from her eye. Natalie might be able to find more about this person.
“She’s got combat droids. One of the haulers I talked with mentioned reconditioned mining droids for scaring the cattle. Drills and saws and such.”
Journey didn’t seem too concerned, but flicked her spent death stick into an ashtray and reached for another.
“Anything else, Elpus?”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Xalda had slipped into the outfit. She tried to move around a bit in the suit, taking note of its doodads. "It feels a bit uncomfortable. Like it is glued to my skin," she commented. Fortunately, Xalda already had some experience with the sealed armour and bodygloves the star warriors used, but she still felt some discomfort. "Does it shield from the spirits' power? And how does it fare against machines and their eyes?" Presumably she meant it concealed the wearer from electronics, namely sensors, scanners and so on. Baffleweave, Shadowsilk and no-shows helped. Taozin amulets blurred Force senses. Perhaps Purity had heard of flex armour.

xxx

I'll see what I can dig up on the commander. Should take a few minutes. Or less so if my net stops lagging. You need a better provider, Natalie spoke. Before Journey could get out her lighter, Elpsis made a gesture and set the death stick alight for her. "Tell me about the commander's 'special surprise'," she said. Fishing a few additional credit chips from her jacket, she put them on the table, but did not push them over to Journey yet. "And whether you've seen any slaves. Brown skinned, pointed ears."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
Purity continued to carefully examine the results.
“It will shield you mostly from sensors and Force users…from peripheral scans at least. You may run into more trouble with advanced or powerful applications of both focussed on you. It will very much blur it though.”
“Purity is being modest, it will protect you from all but the most advanced or powerful devices or Force users…unless they already know you are there.”
“Caution is wise though, ma’am. As for the suit, yes you’ll get used to it though I reckon. Walk around, get a feel for it, use the stealth if you like.”

XXX

Journey’s hand stopped halfway to her lighter. A twitch of the mouth was the only reaction as she put it away again.
“I think they prefer to call them ‘indentured assets’,” Journey said with a snort. “Yeah, I seen them, but they keep them out of sight of the customers. There’s your desert elves there, plus others. Don’t know what they want them for when they’ve got a production line for making things. Got to be a reason, but the guards weren’t chatty. The surprise is kinda clever. They’ve all got collars on and been told they’re explosive.”
Journey eyed the credits, as if calculating, then must have decided the calculus was good.
“Except the bomb’s not in the collars, far as I can tell – they’ve got sub-dermal implants and markers on the upper spine. Scan showed me it was transmitting. Take the collar off and nothing will happen, but when they push the button…pow…suddenly you’ve got a whole where your neck was. Pretty clever.”
“Since you’re asking, guessing you’re gonna go attack, right? Bet that bit of info will save a few lives. If you survive and make it, you can give me some more money then. A ‘told you so’ payment.”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"I see. Thank you for explaining," Xalda said in her accented Basic. "You are a very capable machinist." She walked around a bit in the suit. The Xioquo found the tightness of the material constricting. It felt a bit like it had been glued to her. But she could move in it. She stretched her limbs, then activated the cloaking device. Immediately, she vanished from sight. "Am I to use this suit to slay the Karishzar's enemies and ferret out their secrets?" she asked a bit excitedly.

xxx

Frak, Elpsis thought. Her jaw clenched. Bastards. She could feel the fire rising inside her. Slavers have gotten smart, Natalie interjected. Compared to Elpsis, her voice was very calm. Indeed, her tone was businesslike. Every would-be rescuer goes for the collar, after all. EMP may be able to deactivate the implants...but it might be trigger, too. I believe the Atrisians used a similar system for their janissaries. If you're lucky, there'll be a central transmitter, but I would not count on that. But it may be possible to cook up a jamming device that disrupts the signal. Elpsis pushed over the remaining credits. "I'll say hi to Windy from you, Journal." Then she got up. She had some slavers to burn with extreme prejudice. Without pity or mercy. None of them would be allowed to leave the station alive.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
“Yes, you are,” Tegaea said with a smile. “We are very pleased with you, Xalda, and so you were the first person we thought of when this was brought to us.”
Purity took a step back. “Right, do some movements, mix of fast and slow. I’ll use various scanners to try and pick you up.”

XXX

Journey pocketed the last of the credits. “So how’re you planning to get in?” the Twi’lek asked. She put her feet down from the table but was still puffing on her death stick.
“Not like I care what you do, but I can’t get my thank you credits if you end up dead. I’d try to get onto the surface of the asteroid and cut through into the old mining tunnels…but that’s just me.”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"This one...I am honoured, Blessed Consort," Xalda said piously after verbally stumbling a bit at first. Sometimes it was a bit too overwhelming to take in that she was a person. A person had a name, rights and possessions. A slave was an object and had none of this. Regardless, she started moving. At first she was moving slowly and surreptitiously. Then she broke into a sprint. Because the Xioquo wanted to show off just a little bit, she ran up the wall and propelled herself onto the ceiling. She snuck across it, moving in a manner akin to a spider.

xxx

Elpsis gave the Twi'lek a curt nod. "Yeah, thanks. I'll make sure to protect your investment," she said sardonically, then pointed at the lit death stick. "Not like I care what you do, but I'd be careful with those if I were you." Successive doses of death sticks took away large chunks of the addict's life span, after all. "It would suck if you don't have the time to enjoy your thank you credits," she shrugged and walked off."

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
Tegaea watched as Xalda vanished before her eyes. If she really strained her eyes she could see flickers of movement when the Xio moved fast. And then she lost her entirely.
“You picked her up?” she asked Purity.
“Hmm? One moment.” Purity fiddled with a device. “Scanning visible and other bands. Slight blip on ultraviolet. Will need to examine that. Scanning for heat…no abnormality detected. Scanning for audio…no noticeable abnormality.”

She smiled slightly. “Scanning for simulated vector anomaly…got you.” She pulled a laser pointer out and shone the beam right at Xalda on the roof.

“Very good, come on down, Xalda. Hmm, the SVA is a very rare and complex piece of kit I am building to detect cloaked and invisible targets. Unless I knew you were here already I’d have no chance of picking you up.”

Tegaea looked very pleased, though slightly puzzled. “SVA?”

“What it does is build a map of the room you are in and then send out radio waves to the calculated limits. Where it hits something which does not conform to the projected layout of the room, it has the anomaly. Useful, but rather niche. Of course, the target can hide behind a pillar or wall and not be detected, so it’s going to need some more work.”

XXX

Journey blew out a cloud of smoke. “Bionics don’t get cancer. Have fun.”
When Elpsis was gone she started checking over a datapad.

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Hearing Purity speak, Xalda dropped down from the ceiling. She landed upon the floor with feline grace in a crouch, barely making a sound. The carpet did its part to dampen any noise she might make, cushioning her descent. A large sofa obfuscated her a bit. "Then find me," she said, moving under the piece of furniture.

xxx

Since Journey's apparently thought deathsticks are cigarettes, this one shall assume Journey was smoking cigarras. Elpsis' point still stood. "They do. Just takes longer. Unless you've got so many robo parts that there's no point in going through cigarras in the first place," she pointed out, then turned around and left the sleazy dive. She had plenty of meetings ahead of her and a lot of work to do.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
With a slight huff, Purity started to reconfigure her equipment. However, this time with Xalda alerted to her, she could not detect her at all!
“I will find you,” she muttered, wandering around the room, trying all her tricks to locate the Xio.

Meanwhile Tegaea went to sit in one of the armchairs, watching Purity’s efforts in amusement.
“It seems she has you confounded now she is alerted!”
Tegaea extended a hand out beside her, invisible to Purity, and beckoned, putting a finger to her lips. It would be quite funny if she was there petting the Xio whist Purity ran in circles.

XXX

Elpsis’ path would next take her to Tylania’s garden. The redhead had been there often enough, but this time there was a new silver stemmed plant there with bright blue flowers.
Tylania was meditating before it, floating slightly off the ground.
“Welcome, Elpsis, please come in, relax. I know you have other places to be this day, but I hoped to chat with you a little while.”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

When it came to evading heat scans, it helped that Xalda could use the Force to alter her own body temperature. Regardless, Purity was using all the technological wizadry at her disposal to locate her. The Xioquo's lips curved into a slight smile. She moved quietly, using the furniture lying around as cover while she kept her head down.

Xalda had good eyes, and her vision was even better in low-light conditions. Thus she saw the hand. Moving in a crouch, she sneaked towards the armchair Tegaea had taken up residence in, moving with feline grace. Without making a sound, she came to a halt beneath her lady.

xxx

Elpsis had been to the garden in a number of times in the past. Any time she entered it, she felt a sense of calm. Whatever burdens plagued her did not vanish, but they always seemed a bit lighter. The many smells of the plants, the animals and the warm ground seeped into her nostrils. It was a soothing scent.

She took off her boots and stuffed her socks into them. Soft, strong grass and mosses caressed her bare feet when she approached the plant Tylania was floating above. "It's cool. A break's nice. Thank you for receiving me, Lady," she inclined her head slightly. Elpsis, as a rule, did not bow and did not bother much with formal titles, so this was the closest she came. "I don't want to to be grateful, but why are you so interested in me?" she asked aloud. She liked Tylania, but she could not entirely shake off the nagging suspicion that the wood elf took an interest in her because of who her mothers were.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
Tegaea felt the brief brush of moving air, reached down and sure enough felt the outline of the mask and suit. She gently stroked Xalda’s head and back, not like a pet so much as in an affectionate way.

Meanwhile Purity eventually let out a sigh. “Okay, point made. Where are you, Xalda?”
“She’s right here,” Tegaea said with a little smile. “I think what you have there is very good, Purity, but we will need countermeasures in our most secure areas to deal with similar stealth abilities. Weight registering pressure plates might be worth investing in.”
“As you say, ma’am. Purity smiled at Xalda. “Good work, Miss Xalda. I think you’re a good choice for this prototype. If you don’t mind we can run some more trials later on.”

XXX

Tylania opened her eyes and stood up in mid-air, finally settling on the ground.
“I am interested in you, dear, because you are interesting. How I was introduced to you was, yes, through your mothers, but I’ve taken interest in you because you are unlike many others. I have other people I follow along the careers of, some famous, some not, but what distinguishes them above all else is they do not follow the usual arc of a career. Walk with me.”

They walked to beside a small fountain and spring beside some manicured gardens and rocks. There she offered a seat to Elpsis and took a seat beside her.
“Why I find you interesting is three-fold. Firstly, you have a great deal of power and maturity for one so young. I am always curious where such a path leads you. The torch which burns brightest burns shortest is the common phrase – too often sadly true. My hope is that you will find a way to balance the power you have with the responsibilities upon your head…whilst staying alive and whole.”
“Secondly, you have taken to elemental energy like few humans or indeed most sentient races. The Sith and those associated with the Dark Side claim the lightning as their power, but it is in truth rather more like a manifestation of their inner darkness than truly harnessing the elements. I am interested in seeing whether humans and others within your Order can learn as well as you can or whether you are a special case.”
“Lastly, I see a lot of myself in you, but also that of my sisters. I was not always as I am now. I have had a long time to reflect on my life and career and have made some dramatic changes during it. I see you have too, plus like me you have struggled with malign influences which would control you.”

She shrugged. “Plus, I find you an interesting perspective to talk to. The reluctant heir, the woman who chases control and power but must look to the future. All very interesting. But, I did have a specific reason to talk to you today….”

 

[Karrigan'Xalda]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

"I would not mind, Scholar Purity. Blessed Consort honours her servant."
As she said these words, the three would hear the click-clack of high heels coming from outside the room. A moment later the Lady Siobhan sauntered inside. "Ah, there you are. I've just come back from showing the pyramid-ship to Livia and Adril. Which reminds me that I still need to fly it to Zeheb and park it right in front of the Citadel."
Immediately Xalda dropped to one knee and prostrated herself before her Lady. "Your humble servant greets you, Great Karishzar," she declared piously, Her head was bowed deeply.
"Arise, my loyal shadow blade," Siobhan said indulgently. "Tell me what you've been up to?"
"Scholar Purity has devised a most excellent device for your agents to infiltrate the ranks of your foes and slay them. Blessed Consort granted this one...me the honour of testing it."
"Did they?" Siobhan stroked one of Xalda's pointed ears, then looked at the others. "I see you've been holding the fort well in my absence. You'll have to tell me about your meeting with the 'Sun Empress' later," she gave Tegaea a kiss, then looked at Purity. "Purity, is it? Tempest's talented cousin who's enriching our arsenal. So glad to finally meet you."

xxx

Elpsis walked alongside the primeval Vashyada. Soft grass brushed against her feet. "I'm no one special. Just saw someone who spent a lot of time in the Galaxy's sinpits and who the Lifeweb saw fit to bless. Not sure why....but it did, so I got a responsibility I must live up to. And I'm not the heir anymore. Turned it down. Mother can find someone else to make propaganda movies about. Hopefully the next chosen heir doesn't get drunk on their fame or run off, too," she said sardonically.

She furrowed her brow slightly. "You said you weren't always who you were now. What do you mean by that? It's...hard to imagine you struggling with evil influences once." Then again, appearances could be deceiving and she knew the Vashyada was very old, though not how much. It was rude to ask.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Karrigan'Xalda"]
Tegaea concealed a smile as Xalda threw herself down at Siobhan’s feet. Usually such fawning was only observed in certain special ‘group’ meetings.
“I am sure ‘Sun Empress’ would love having the pyramid landed there. She’d be happier if she could somehow claim it from you, but until then she can show it off.”
Purity meanwhile coughed slightly. She was likely blushing but it was hard to tell. “Oh, thank you, ma’am. My cousin has spoken highly of you,” she said, as modestly as she could.
Tegaea returned the kiss. “Yes, we have some matters to discuss, and I was going to debrief my new bodyguard.” She almost said ‘that you made me get’, but she could see the advantages.”

“Shall we? We have some time before my next appointment. We can go over the meeting and I can see the kids.”

XXX

Tylania raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I hadn’t heard, my apologies. It speaks well to you though that you turned it down. Many…most…would have taken the life of wealth and position for their advantage. To hear you turned it down impresses me more. Well, I hope this is not a touchy subject to discuss though, and apologies if it is.”

“All of us struggle with our path, Elpsis. Those of us with the Force must consider that struggle especially, and it’s true that I have done so like you. The truth is that once I was very different, a pawn and an instrument of others, not my own fate. I progressed down a dark path, and yes it still hangs over me. However, the right path is rarely the easy one, I chose the Light because I saw where the Dark was leading me…just in time. I saw that it would lead me to the eventual fate of three of my sisters. I do not do what I do for wealth or power, but because I deem it right for my people. Not always correct of course, I am far from perfect, but my aims are attempting to be helpful.”

“Anyway, we can discuss this afterwards. I was in that meeting even though strictly it did not concern the Vash because I wanted to see you. I was hoping to ask for your help when you return from your current mission.”