Death becomes her

[Cira]

It wasn't the sort of situation Cira would have wanted. Things never end up working as planned. Even with the best intentions.

In the wake of the Fringe's invasion of Eriadu, Cira soon found herself shuttled off in the direction of Fondor.

Truth be told, she wasn't ready for that yet. Not in the wake of what happened on Eriadu, what had happened enroute to the Starfall - in which she was still quite livid about - and frankly, after the entire galaxy believing her to be dead.

A long while in an oubliette had a tendency to do that.

People had questions, rightfully so. But at the present time, she had no answers. None she was willing to give.

Not now. She needed time.

Public Relations would do wonders to keep the media at bay, but it would not be for long. She was on a time limit. A time limit that begun the moment she presented herself within that conference room in front of the galaxy.

Frustration at herself, at the situation, at everything would rise, prompting her to rub her hands upon her face.

Questions had revealed that it had not been Ayden who'd taken over the Protectorate first, but Tegaea.

And that after an assassination attempt she'd stepped down. Concern over her rose; she had so much to catch up with.

Back to back, first Atresia then the Fringe. What else would be next?

Restless fingers would soon bring up a comm call straight to the bridge.

[ Yes, ma'am? ] there was a bit of hesitation in the relay, as if unsure exactly what to call her. She couldn't blame him.

"Redirect course for Kaeshana." came her order. There was a long pause.

[ But the Lord Protector.. ]​

"To Kaeshana." she said firmly.

[Aye, Ma'am.. resetting course.]​

This... was going to be interesting.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]

Wibbly-wobbley, timey-wimey timestreams were a difficult thing to manage. Since everyone sensible can agree that more than two years have passed, but everyone has their own view on how much, this RP takes place not long after Tegaea resigned, retiring to Kaeshana, and after Anya Venari became Queen Tirathana VII. The exact mechanisms of how much and how long ago are left to mutual confusion.

Regardless Tegaea was in her office when her aide called her. "Ma'am...you're going to want to take this. It's from...Cira. She's coming to Kaeshana."
Tegaea laid down her datapad. She had seen the news of course. Cira had returned, apparently no worse for wear. Bitterness and anger filled the red-head as she remembered the consequences of that vanishing trick, but she contained it. It was well that her wife was not on Kaeshana. She held grudges and resentment often more violently than her.
"Give her our landing pad coordinates. I will meet her myself."
Rising to her feet and using her stick, Tegaea headed for the executive pad to await her former leader's arrival.

 

[Cira]

This was no Dr. Who episode, but it certainly made all sorts of confusing bits with time, angst, and all that jazz.

At least there was no River Song to try and kill her.

Maybe.

Nonetheless, the landing pad coordinates would be relayed and within short order, the ship transporting the former Lady Protector to the other former Lady Protector.

Goodness this was rather awkward wasn't it?!

The hiss of a opening hatch would lead to the outside after engines began their slow cool, ending in a soft hum. Within moments, Cira, a bit worse for the wear for one who would know her well, would step out.

Red hair, same figure, sans wings.

This would be a complicated mess.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]
On the plus side, the fact it's not a Doctor Who episode was probably for the best. At least there would be less deus ex machina, gimmicks and bad plotting.
Tegaea met her at the edge of the pad and offered a cautious nod. "Cira..." she said.
This was awkward. The two former Lady Protectors, the two redheads, the two former friends.
Tegaea offered her hand to shake, then gestured back to the villa. "Please, come in. Drink?" she said as politely as she could.

 

[Cira]

Yes. This was awkward.

Very awkward.

It was so awkward [member="Tegaea Alcori"] would be able to see it flicker across Cira's face, along with a healthy dose of nervousness -- maybe a bit of indecisiveness?

She took the offered hand, glad that for once, it had been offered without immediate questions. Immediate demands. Yelling... screaming.

There were no expressions of hatred, disappointment, and worse of all... avoidance.

There was a firm shake, the awkward uncertain smile. "Tegaea." she said in turn. For a moment, she was brought back to the time she first met the fiery redhead. At the time, it had been Tegs who'd come to her to discuss things.

Now their roles were reversed.

How curious the fates would play their hand.

"Yes. Thank you." she would say just as politely. They were not, after all, in private but in public. Eyes were everywhere.

However, that did not stop her from getting a good look at the woman. Time had changed her, more so due to the experiences in the wake of Cira's disappearance.

Just another nail to the coffin, making her realize just what her moment of selfishness had affected all involved.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]
Tegaea let none of her emotions on her face, just a calm, steady look. She still had to lean on the stick, but even though it hurt she tried to walk straight and tall. She had too much pride to show much pain she was in.
Inside she took Cira to her private study and sat down opposite her. She poured them both a drink and handed one over.
"You are looking...well," Tegaea said, unable to keep a bit of coldness from it. "Might I ask what happened?" she asked softly.

 

[Cira]

In the privacy of [member="Tegaea Alcori"] 's office... things became a bit more complicated. It was all the more clear with every tap of the cane.

She gratefully accepted the drink, her lips pursing into a straight line. The touch of coldness in her tone would not go unnoticed. Then the inevitable question came.

This one, how would she be able to answer this one?

To a degree, it would be easier to talk to Tegs than it would be to Ayden or Sarge. They'd worked well and trusted each other well before the merger between the Syndicate and Omega Pyre fell through.

One slightly trembling hand would rise, coming to rub her forehead and temple.

Finally she simply said, "Everything just spiraled out of control," in truth. It did. Ever since the Dark Harvest. Ever since the resonating actions of Polis Massa, every death, and the Protectorate in the brink of war.

One week of a simple excavation that would simply go awry.

"I never intended for any of this to happen..." Ah, but that sounded like such a horrible excuse. It left a bitter taste in her mouth. Whatever she would say, would likely not be met as a valid reasoning.

In her own mind, she knew this as well.

Ultimately, "Mindtrap." then came a grimace. "Well.. more like a unique sith oubliette mindtrap. I was stupid enough to get caught in it.

Took me this long to figure out enough of the puzzles to finally get out of it. Even then... it required outside help to do it. Otherwise I'd still be in there."

The jedi presence on Rakata Prime had certainly been the catalyst she needed, interrupting and activating the oubliette to allow her to escape.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]
Tegaea frowned. This was unexpected. She wasn't sure what she'd been waiting for, but it hadn't been this.
"Mindtrap? What is that?" She figured she could guess from the description. She knew nothing about Jedi and Sith Force tricks, but she could take a guess. "So you were taken prisoner by someone and they used this to keep you escaping?"
But then she had to ask the question. The question which would probably make things even more strained. "Why did the Lady Protector go off alone at a time of great turmoil? Why did no one report what had happened? Who released you?" She could feel her left fist clenching involuntarily around her glass until her knuckles were white. "I thought you were dead, Cira, and I had no warning, nothing..." she said levelly. "I'm glad to see you alive, I really am. But...so much has changed."

 

[Cira]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

This only made it more difficult. Her own frustration would start to show through in rare glimpses of emotion she had so often hidden away.

“It’s a Rakatan artifact -- used as a mental prison for those that the Infinite Empire desired to keep locked away permanently.”

Then came the more pressing questions. Her hand would tighten upon her glass.

“It was only supposed to be for a week.” she finally said with a sigh, her free hand coming to rub her temples.

“A week to think things through. To clear my head. To figure out exactly what the next step for the Protectorate would be.” she told her, “It had not been the first time I’d gone for a few days time to be alone with my thoughts and to determine what avenue to go for. We lost far too many lives with the plague of the Dark Harvest… Ayden had stirred a frenzy with the Republic, and I had just completed my talks with the Grand Marshal of the Confederacy. ”

Which was true. Often times throughout the period Tegaea and Cira worked together she would disappear for a few days, but still keep in touch. It wasn’t anything to be thought of out of the ordinary.

“I had too much on my mind that I needed to clear my head. With you and Ayden on the helm as exarch’s, a few days time would not be hard to miss.”

There was a rueful twist of her lips, as she was well aware of just what kind of fallacy that thought process was.

“It was just a series of circumstances that ended up snowballing into the chaotic mess that ensued…”

Then came the why. This one.. was more of an issue. Her golden eyes would lift up towards Tegaea.

“No one reported what happened because it wasn’t the Lady Protector the Jedi found.” stating who it was who had a hand at helping her escape.

Her lashes would lower and she would take a drink. “I know things have changed.” She gave a deep sigh and her expression clearly stated she was well aware of that fact. Painfully so.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]

Tegaea remembered back then. Cira would indeed go off for days at a time, but was always somewhat in touch. It had only been when it had happened, which was the biggest issue of all. The destruction of Osarian by Velok shortly after had started a chain of events which had led them ultimately to here, on Kaeshana.

“Siobhan mentioned the Rakata from one of her expeditions with that Jedi Phylis. I’m not very knowledgeable about them, but I understand they had some pretty extreme Force artefacts.” She was just as in the dark about those.

However, one line stuck out to her, and got her thinking.

“No one reported what happened because it wasn’t the Lady Protector the Jedi found.”

Tegaea was not a genius, but she was smart, and she knew a pattern when she saw one.

“You travelled in disguise. Sensible, so no one knew who you were.” She could have left it there, but she decided to play a risky card. “But it’s more than that. The wings…it’s the wings, Cira. You’re a shapeshifter, and that’s what you meant by who the Jedi found. So I guess you have a secret identity you went on these trips as.”
There weren’t that many shapeshifters in the galaxy, not proper ones anyway. Tegaea, unlike a certain xenobiologist ‘close at hand’, was no expert on it, and though she had suspicions she didn’t say which she thought Cira was. She didn’t need to, hopefully her words would have enough impact.

 

[Cira]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"] had a way of just going straight for the jugular. In the most subtle of manners of course. She was direct, but she wasn’t doing it with the impact Siobhan the Battering Ram would.

That white knuckle grip would grow tighter, and had she’d used the Force, would have shattered in her hand.

It was the first time anyone had mentioned -that- particular incident.

In the chaos of the Clockwork Rebellion, it was easy to believe things could have been a figment of the imagination. Considering that thousands of flying droids akin to savage mynocks had fallen from the sky like winged demons, having one more body flying amidst the chaos would be easy to oversee.

Not to mention, any recorded proof deleted permanently.

Her lips would purse. It was clear she was struggling with this part and she was having trouble with how she would respond to that. For centuries she’d been careful. So very careful.

What was going on with her that she was making so many mistakes? It required introspection, and it concerned her. Worried her to no end.

This was not like her.

Her chest would rise, her shoulders would square, and her jaw would tighten as she would brace herself.

“I do.” she finally said simply in regards to traveling in disguise, and it was taking all she had to not direct her gaze from Tegaea’s.

“And I am.” came the admission about being a shifter. A changeling. There were many flavours of it throughout the galaxy, she was not alone in that aspect. But they were rare, and rarer still to determine and discover their secret. Clawdites, Polydroxols, Felacatians, Dazouri, Mikan, Neti, even the dreaded Mnggal-Mnggal. Perhaps even some that were undiscovered.

None the less, there was no denying it to Tegs that she was a changeling. It was just a matter of what kind.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]
Tegaea could see how much the revelation took a toll on Cira. She knew it was a secret that only a very few would know. Perhaps one or two, perhaps none at all. Having a secret like that could burn someone's mind, always having to lie and deflect.
"I'm sorry, Cira. I've known for a long time that there was something special about you, always suspected, never known. It doesn't bother me, and I'll not mention it to anyone else, even Siobhan. What you are doesn't matter to me, just what you do and how you act."
Leaning forward with slight wince, she knew it was time to move things on a bit. In any case, her wife could fly without wings anyway.
"So you're back. What does that mean for you, for Ayden, for me? As you may have heard, things didn't go the best for me. Things were...chaotic..." she said, closing her eyes as painful thoughts filled her again. "And I want to make things clear about how all this works whilst you are here."

 

[Cira]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

There was a measure of relief in that. Gratitude. Her shoulders would rise only to fall as she let the whoosh of air she’d been holding, expelling it from her mouth before she took another deep breath.

“Thank you.” she would tell her, with as much emotion conveying the sincerity of the gratitude.

“As for what does it mean?” she would rub her face again. It was clear she was confused. Conflicted.

“It.. is all up in the air.” It was a PR nightmare at the very least, with her showing up like she did on Eriadu. But that blasted Sith had been influencing the media and the local population. It irked her that she had no other choice.

“The focus now is Eriadu… what comes next.” her hands fell from her face and she returned her attention to Tegaea.

“Aye. I heard… but did not get the particulars as of yet.” She was still catching up to the status of the Protectorate and just what had happened in her absence.

“What happened?” she would ask, as she was very much in agreement that things needed to be clarified, at least as much as they possibly could be.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]

Tegaea grimaced, pained. She was tempted to shy away from the question, but she took a deep breath. It was time to speak, to overcome the bad memories.
"It all began well. We utterly destroyed the Bando Gora and the Reavers at Gehenna. It was the Protectorate's greatest triumph. We were heroes. But then other eyes started to look at us with hostility. I had to work hard to prevent a five-way coalition attempting to dismember us. I managed to stave that off, but then...." A pause as she gathered herself. She could...she would...do this.
"A Sith assassin named Kaelin Isandros, an enemy of Siobhan's for a long time, caught up to me. She...she...she tortured me. Took my eye." She indicated her slightly discoloured eye which was now mechanical. "Siobhan rescued me, killed her, but the damage was severe. I could not carry on my duties, so I resigned from office in favour of Ayden. That is what happened," she said firmly, taking a deep breath and brushing a tear away from her organic eye.

 

[Cira]

Cira would match [member="Tegaea Alcori"] ‘s deep breath, her lips thinning to a straight line. Being in a position of a head of state required certain obligations as well as an increased risk of exposure. It was that very exposure that had prompted Cira to compartmentalize the majority of her life through various aliases, not only for her own protection but for those around her and the Protectorate.

To hear that Tegaea had been a victim of some Sith Assassin… A white knuckle grip would tighten round the glass. Anger would flare. The Sith had grown bolder, and to be frank, she had a sensation of foreshadowing that this would only get worse.

She caught the small action of Tegs wiping a tear away from her lone organic eye, and it was all Cira could do to rest her cup of caf and walk over to her. The woman was never for any show of public or even private comfort, it was a foreign action that she still had trouble working past. But her time in isolation brought a certain need for action.

Were Tegs allow her, Cira would lift her hand to come to rest against her right forearm, attempting to show a measure of comfort for what had occurred to the titan maned woman. She had done her duty, to the best of her ability and had successfully managed to quell the nightmare of a political turmoil in the midst of Cira’s disappearance. There was strength in that, and it demanded respect.

Cira may not be able to relay that so clearly in such emotionally charged situations, but that respect and measure of comfort would be evident on her face.

“You did well Tegaea, far better than anyone else placed into that position.” she’d say, adding with certain ferver, “And I hope to the nine hells Siobhan made that e’chuta pay.” A tit for a tat was not unheard of from Cira, especially when it came to those she cared about. More and more, the Sith were proving to be a disease to the galaxy that had to be carved out, one way or another.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"], [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Tegaea smiled grimly. She was not a vengeful woman by nature, and was usually extremely merciful to even the worst of her enemies if she had them at her mercy. There were limits though, and she lost not a second of sleep over what happened, or feeling a cold joy at the comeuppance of their enemy.
“I assure you, Cira, Siobhan made her pay. She choked her, broke her and then beheaded her. That Sith will never trouble us again.”

Her mood passed and she looked back at Cira. “So…what now? As you may know, after I…resigned…I took control of Firemane, splitting off part of Star Corp. In the chaos after that had happened it was never officially signed, it’s been de facto, not de jure. I want to make it so. I’m not looking for sympathy or for special treatment, I want to go about my business in peace. As you know, some of our products are Protectorate property, and we will pay a suitable licensing fee or purchase the patents from you as required. I would not be adverse to a 5 or 10% cut of each sale of Protectorate gear going to you.”
Tegaea sighed. Money was not important to her, she had plenty enough of it. What she wanted was to be active, to give people the tools they needed, and to satisfy her craving for new and better engines of war, and her wife’s craving for bigger explosions!

 

[Cira]

Cira’s jaw would tighten, and she would give a distinct nod. At the very least, the tit for the tat had been paid for. It was in these instances that one could say Cira walked a fine line between the light and the dark. What she would do to deal vengeance and her measure of ‘justice’ for any that would strike or harm those close to her.

Forgiveness was not her strongest suit.

The mention of Omega Star Corp and Firemane Industries came up, perking her attention and drawing Cira away from darker thoughts.

“So Firemane Industries has split from Omega Star Corp?” she said mulling aloud. Not that there was an issue with that, Firemane originally came to the Pyre as their own mercenary company. “I see.” she would mull this over a bit, only to bring shake her head from side to side at [member="Tegaea Alcori"] ‘s commentary about a hand out. As if.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You are the last person that I would consider to be asking for sympathy or special treatment.” a pause, then a nod, “That sounds reasonable.”

“Is there anything else?” she’d ask, and that would encapsulate the elf world as well as firemane.

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]

“Thank you, Cira,” Tegaea said, seeming to relax slightly. It was clear that she had thought it possible that Cira might take it all away. Her fears had been unfounded.

“If you’re in no rush, the Queen would like to meet you. You met her when she was my aide and PA, but now she’s considerably more regal. The Eldorai look up to you…they just think you should start calling yourself a Queen!” Tegaea chuckled at that. Republicanism of any form was not something the Eldorai liked or understood. Even if the Protectorate was a Republican Dictatorship, it didn’t have a crowned leader.

 

[Cira]

[member="Tegaea Alcori"]

Cira would give a nod, a faint smile coming to her face. “That sounds appropriate, I have not had the chance to officially meet the Queen.” she told her, although a bit bemused that they would consider her to be some sort of nobility.

“A Queen?” came her rather amused query, “I’m not sure how well that would take.” she admitted, “Besides… can you imagine the amount of paperwork that would entail?” she attempted to make a joke. “Just to change all the letterhead in the Protectorate?”

 

[Tegaea Alcori]

[member="Cira"]
“True, the administrative costs are quite high. Just be glad you’re not on Bastion though, they’ve had seven different rulers in the last…however many years! Must have a collection of flags ready for when their new ‘liberators’ show up.” Tegaea had never been particularly idealistic, always a realist and pragmatic to the core.

“On the other hand, you’d get a crown and such. Could be worth it. I know my wife once expressed an idea about the Glorious Omega Empire. Could be worth a shot some time!” Tegaea joked.

She reached for her communicator and made a quick call.
“Her Majesty’s personal guards will come and fetch you in a moment. Until they arrive, is there anything else we need to discuss? I’m glad you came here and cleared the air. Too much had been unsaid that needed to be.”