Drinking All My Cares Away

[Preliat Mantis]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]


"I may be violent, but I do not see myself as so fargone."

Brown eyes met the alchemy-twisted eyes of Ashin. He stared for a moment longer, before walking up. He wasn't that much more imposing than her, Ashin was destructive and powerful in her own way, as was Preliat. Ashin, was most likely more so. But Preliat broke into a smile. He moved his arms outwards, and then, did something that he did not do often.


He hugged Ashin as if greeting a friend.


"My people owe you a great debt. My brothers may see only a Sith, but I see a fellow vod, a fellow Mando'ad. Though, you lack the armor, which- I am assuming is of personal preference."His crushgaunt-adorned hands rested on her arms, and he looked down at her, smiling."A wolf? Fitting for me."His voice curled with excitement and pleasure in the description that Ashin provided.

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

Why was there fighting? Shouldn't there have been only drinking and merriment? Why oh why did this have to be the bar she chose to spend her night off?

 

[Connor Harrison]

Thankfully the interjection gave him the moment he needed as a breather to get away from causing any more trouble than needed. The fact his Outback has now been reduced to nothing but a worthless trinket with a twisted barrel annoyed him. That blaster had seen him through some tough times. But maybe it was time for something new now he was out in the galaxy.

Watching the warrior contain himself and move his attention to the mysterious woman with the cane, Kail shrugged and brought up the Outback, tossing it onto the bar with a heavy clunk, offering a small smile to himself.

"Well that was annoying."

He turned his head and raised his eyebrows at the brunette.

"Looks like someone else more interesting just caught his eye. Not that you're NOT of course....typical Mandalorian. All brute, no brains."

Another drink seemed tempting, but he didn't want to wallow in self-pity and feed on the frustration of others. He held up his hands and looked around.

"Sorry everyone! All good. He's calmed down. Carry on...!"

Kail kicked himself quietly. He now had to find a new blaster.


[member="Ashin Varanin"] [member="Preliat Mantis"] [member="Katrina Garnier"] [member="Siska Shivali"]

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Preliat Mantis"], [member="Ashin Varanin"]

It was at this juncture that Siobhan's writer decided to show up in another bar thread. Maybe this time said bar would not get torn down. To be fair it had not been her fault the last time!

The doors opened and Siobhan Kerrigan sauntered in. Scarred, though less rough around the edges that she had once been, a good deal happier as well. Annoying, painful limp in her flesh leg though pride dictated she stand tall and proud. Her usual leather coat worn over a blood red shirt, legs clad in tight-fitting black leather pants. A heavy blaster pistol was on one hip, her these days rarely used lightsabre on the other.

Her senses picked up on a rather familiar presence in the Force and she headed towards it. Brown eyes fell upon the former Sith Empress. Her presence in the Force felt...different, a sliver of what it had once been. The power she had wielded was something Siobhan remembered all too well, having felt it course through her being when she was filled with it during the force meld that had attempted to avert disaster on Druckenwell. She beheld a Mandalorian, unknown to her, embracing the woman like an old friend. Siobhan was not familiar with him, but was on good terms with the Mandalorians, considered Ordo and Mia friends.

"Ashin fething Varanin. What a coincidence."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Preliat Mantis"]
Crushgaunts on her arms? Well, she'd lost an arm before, and say what one might about Preliat Mantis, he wasn't one to try for a suckerpunch while smiling at you. No, if he wanted to kill her, she's probably be dead already. So she went with it, even when [member="Kail Ragnar"], who appeared a little more inebriated by the second, continued running his mouth in the background.

And then [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] walked in.

"Thought I smelled troll." She disengaged from Preliat. "I got that Bando Gora shrine printed in high-def. One of my favorite decorations. Always did want my own personal Chaos goddess hanging on my wall."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Flattering to know the Conqueror of Ten Thousand Worlds honours My glorious image. Want to apply to become high priestess?" Siobhan asked sardonically with a tone of wry amusement being, as can be expected, a total troll. As for the actual life-sized depiction of her as the Chaos Goddess, she had hung it up in her room above her bed. "Heard Jorus' sister got her own ascension. Was thinking about sending her a fruit basket. One more and we can start a pantheon."

There was a pause as she gave Ashin a one-over before she spoke again, turning more serious now. "So, it's true then...you got severed?" The tone contained no mockery, though it had an element of confusion. News travelled fast down the grapevine and all sorts had been floating around Sigma Station, though Siobhan had not believed them. Evidently she had been mistaken.

 

[Preliat Mantis]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] seemed nice enough. Well, there was some hint of some sort of odd, frenemy relationship between [member="Ashin Varanin"] and her. He blinked, glancing between the two. Ashin was right, Preliat wouldn't kill you if he smiled at you. If Preliat wanted you dead, or thought about you dying, the person would know. Because he'd have either killed them or be actively trying to kill them. Or he liked you, and didn't want to kill you.


He turned back to [member="Katrina Garnier"], the smile fading and replaced with the usual thousand yard stare."You were saying?"

 

[Torrlack]

Torrlack pushed the door to the bar open, slowly stepping inside. He slowly looked around the room, saying nothing at all. He slowly made his way over to a booth and sat down. He stared down at the table, tapping it lazily before staring up at the ceiling. What was he even doing in a bar? He couldn't even eat or drink. He adjusted the holsters that his slugthrowers layed and jumped up. He walked over to the bar and took the seat that was the furthest away from anyone and motioned the bartender over. "You, you, you! Give me a potwa and send it back to the booth in the corner. Perhaps I-" But Torrlack was quickly cut off by the bartender "We don't serve borgs", the bartender said, angrily. Torrlack's head shot up, staring right into the eye's of the bartender. "Why is that?" He asked in a vocoded voice "BECAUSE YOU DON'T BELONG 'ERE!" The bartender shouted and Torrlack jumped out of his seat. He grabbed the bartender's throat, grinning under his mask. "I could snap your neck right here, it would make my day a lot better! But you see, I am attempting to hand you credits for a drink and you treat me like this. Is it that difficult to give me a drink?" Torrlack asked curiously. By now, the bartender was gagging and grabbing Torrlack's hand. "Can I have a drink?" Torrlack said, releasing his grip. The bartender coughed for a second before nodding and immedietly filling up a mug. He slid the mug over to Torrlack, trying to sell the idea of a fake smile. "How much?" Torrlack asked curiously "F-Free", he mumbled. Torrlack stood up, raising the mug. "WHO WOULD LIKE A FREE DRINK?" He shouted before looking at the bartender "If you see a Hammerhead with a scarf come in here, tell me", Torrlack said, setting the mug down and walking back to his booth.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"True enough. Ran into too many righteous souls willing to rage about how I'd never faced justice. They were right, and that annoyed me. So I recognized that I was never going to be able to do what was necessary unless I took some consequences. Went to the Councils, suggested a few things, they Force-stripped me back down to square one. I'm getting really, really good at moving pebbles."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Propel them with enough velocity and those pebbles can be dangerous," Siobhan joked lamely. "So you get a bad conscience, go to the Council to offer them a checklist of penances and get put back to square one. That...well...takes a lot of guts. Not the move I expected." She said bluntly, as can be guessed.

"I remember Naboo pretty well. You were the Sith Empress, I was, well, probably not 'good', wanted to kill you more than anything. Would have probably gotten my arse kicked then. Almost lost...everything because of my rage," she was not speaking of her own life in this instance, but of Tegaea. Introspection annoyed Siobhan, as in her case it often translated into wethennishness.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
She nodded at the acknowledgement of guts.
"Mikhail Shorn used to be my personal champion," said Ashin drily. "Trust me, I know all about pebbles moving fast. As for the rest, though, I don't know if it was guts so much as...well, I was half relieved and half terrified. I was feeling nihilistic, shall we say. Too many days like Naboo, I think. I miss that place, my house in Otoh Gunga, my birth mother's estate, my grandparents -- it's been at least a couple of years since I've so much as visited. My own fault, I suppose. Only so many places one can go on holiday after one conquers twenty thousand worlds."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Sort of makes the locals think you're sooner or later going to drop rampaging hordes upon them and other nastiness," Siobhan said very dryly. "Well, I figure you could go there now. I like Naboo...Tegs and I had some happy moments in Lake County." They were still having a relatively civilised conversation. This was fething weird. Truth be told, a darker, deeply buried part of Siobhan still wanted to inflict violence. Force severing could be overcome with enough effort and whatever claims Fringe might make about fighting monsters, it probably had more of those in its ranks than anyone else. She had no doubt that they would have welcomed Kaelin Isandros with open arms, but then the monster was dead by Siobhan's blade and would stay that way.

Self-righteousness, they say, is the path to the dark side. Assuming Siobhan had not ended up there a long time. Still she did not stab people in the back. Especially since, as grudgingly as the admission came from Siobhan, fought side by side many times by now. Part of Siobhan did grudgingly respect her. She removed a package from her coat pocket and took out a cigarette, lightning it. "So what are you gonna do now?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
She stretched out to get a better idea of Siobhan's mood and inclinations, but it took more effort, more focus, than it once had, and so it seemed like more of an invasion of privacy. After a pause a moment too long-

"Spencer and I found some peace in the lake country too, once upon a time. That's where I taught her the lightsabre. As for what happens now, well, she's started my training from scratch, from square one. I'm going to be more...simple this time, in what I learn. I'm going to be something new if I can. Who knows -- I might even call you up for telekinetic pointers. I heard you lifted five Muntuur stones at the Convocation."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Six, actually. Was extremely draining, but worth it," Siobhan responded smugly as she took a deep drag from her cigarette. Pride was probably one of her three cardinal sins. The other two being lust and wroth. The thought of the former Empress seeking pointers from her on telekinetic combat struck her as, well, it had a certain element of hilarity.

"What's Fringe gonna do regarding the One Sith who make it their secondary home? No one can tell me Zambrano had a change of heart and took the throne on Panatha to fight monsters. And I doubt the 'omnipotent', unseen Dark Lord is keen on sharing his minions' loyalties," she said after a pause. Perhaps it said something for character development that she did not deliver this in a rant and her tone was rather measured.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Another gentle probe more or less confirmed that she was reading Sio right -- that the undercurrent of wroth was buried relatively deep just about now. Safety measure. "Zambrano had no change of heart, no. I don't know for sure what the Fringe is aiming to do over the dual-allegiance issue, and I hear Lucianus Adair is livid, but there's only so much I can do -- it turns out that employment prospects aren't terribly common for women of a certain age with bad limps and no paranormal talent whatsoever. Who knew."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

"Thanks for the heads-up. I'll keep it in mind for the future," Siobhan said sardonically. Lucianus Adair did not ring much of a bell. In the past she had kept herself informed on Fringe leadership and military. Back when she was Exarch they had been the nation the Protectorate expected to fight, especially after they occupied Phu right on Fondor's doorstep. She had been out of office for a long time, to paraphrase the Zeltron genius Linna Beorht, whom this writer would love to see active, she could see Fringe from her house on Kaeshana!

Trust was good. Control was better. Still, she seemed to have lost track recently. Also no longer had the military intelligence network of a space empire at her disposal. On the plus side at least she no longer had to read Moira Skaldi's endless memos. Speaking of the terminatrix, she really should track her down. She was bound to be planning terrible things. Little could Siobhan know how close to home those would hit.

"Well, I gave Zambrano a beating above Fondor way back. Maybe I'll get to finish the job some time. Apparatus was killed in that skirmish. Belated justice for Donanyd, probably a good deal more merciful than he deserved. You have any insights into the One Sith then? Not a history buff, but I hear it's not their first incarnation." This writer is presuming Siobhan would have learned who he was, since Jorus identified him. Should this not be the case they shall edit, as Sio throwing the former Sith Emperor across a hallway and then bringing it down upon him but not knowing who he was would be hilarious.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"My grandfather was a member of the original One Sith -- Darth Shule, he was called. He left records of how the One Sith do business. There's always a Dark Lord to whom all others bow, and there's always a long, long period of patient growth. The Dark Lord always has a Voice, a singular servant to guide the rest of them. The Voice is strong alone, but is also a conduit of sorts for the Dark Lord's influence, though I'm not sure how that would be accomplished or what degree of connection the Dark Lord might risk. The others are all equals under the Dark Lord, both Masters and Knights, and they give away the Darth title like candy. I was well into my Mastery when Apparatus named me Darth Desmius." Ashin shrugged. "De gustibus non est disputandi."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

Ashin's quotation at the end went over Sio's head. She was not much of a linguist. Certainly not a classical one. "Oh, so they're a big personality cult built on the glorification of the leader to keep the acolytes in line. There's no chance that their Dark Lord is just a smokescreen; a projection of their Voice conjured up to maintain power by giving everyone a symbol to bend to and distract any power plays?" Siobhan asked half-seriously. She had a rather cynical view of the Galaxy and her share of experiences with absolutist theocracies.

"Well, they seem a lot more focused than the Empire was...since Roche really. No flattery intended." Best not to make [member="Spencer Jacobs"] get the wrong idea! After all, she could do wicked things with plants and uber mentalism.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"You and your bending to," said Ashin, not at all metafictionally. "As for the Dark Lord, I have no idea -- I never considered that he might be a fraud. I suppose there's only one way to find out. Concussively."

She stretched out, got the measure of the room's intention. People seemed to have calmed the feth down, so that was helpful. "Oh, no, of course not. And let's face it. A posse of doped ropos would have had more focus than the Empire after me.

"...I mean what?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]


Siobhan gave her a look and then abruptly burst into laughter. Genuinely so. She happened to know a robot who really liked ropos!



"Nothing, Varanin," she said after she had recovered. So here they were chatting, almost as if they were old friends. Almost. Yet somehow they kept crossing paths. The eyes of Ashin reminded her of those of the Bando Gora. The Siobhan she had fought in her dreams after almost dying in her duel with the Primarch had had the same pallid blue-white eyes. Not everything the other had said about Siobhan had been wrong. Actually it was probably closer to the truth than she would like to admit.



"On Ord Mantell you mentioned being infected with Sith poison for fifteen years. What's the story behind that?" It made rumours about the nasty stuff being cooked up in a certain Fringe laboratory on Endor - a lab the Rebel Alliance had raided back in the day - very ironic.