Maturing the connection (Open to a Master or Self Training)

[Glade]

Somewhere in Deep Space
True Venture Hanger

The metal hanger was deserted as always, quiet, she liked more life but for today maybe, that was a good thing, in case she messed up. Jedi robes on, not often she wore robes. Green colored, bleh, well they were okay, maybe if she trimmed them a bit they'd do. They were light material though, and looked okay in the right light, with a little waist wrapping support which made them tighter to her figure done in black, and some gold wrist embroidery she'd sewn in. Little additions she'd just had to have.

Since Carn's speech had her questioning everything about herself and her place in the order, she didn't think she'd be returning back any time soon, out of all her old friends it had affected Nato the most. She cared about her Master who she hadn't heard from in ages, would he come back? The opinions of people she wanted to like her mattered, yeah she did care, it really had bugged her and she couldn't get a nicer memory back in its place to settle her. Today would have to be a nicer memory.

Sitting with her legs by her side, curled up, on the ships hanger, the girl had been reading over an old archive holopad borrowed from the order. Hey, she'd give it back, it was a copy, of a copy, not like they didn't have thousands. Scanning through it, to pick out some basic force techniques, she placed it on the metal hull, hmm force push, force pull.

The girl set the holopad to speak off the words to her.

"Close your eyes and breathe deeply", the recorded Jedi's voice spoke, she followed the instructions, smiling, maybe it was okay, and someone was teaching her even if they were lightyears away, she still had this.

"The force is all around you, in you, part of you," still listening, and learning, Nato found it hard to concentrate, wanting to actually do something but she stayed and listened. Remaining as the holopad said, feeling the force out, there was nobody to disappoint here but herself, that was easier.

"Feel it, trust it, be part of it. Let it guide you and help you. Open yourself up," The Jedi's voice paused, and Nato found herself levitating a small metal object beside her, opening her eyes in shock, and dropping it with a clang.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Natol'ine"]

"You up here alone. Some solo training?" a female voice asked as Siobhan Kerrigan stepped out of a corridor, ending the solitude of the Jedi Padawan. Whether the intrusion would be beneficial or detrimental was yet to be decided. In contrast to Natol'ine Siobhan was not clad in the robes of the Jedi, for theirs was an Order she had turned her back on long ago and never looked back. Black pants, tank top under a leather duster, good to blend into dark surroundings.

Truth be told even when she had been one of them, striving to do her best to atone for past sins and fight the darkness, she had never felt at home and had mainly been with them due to the force of personality of her teacher, Adril Tythorin, herself the exact opposite of an orthodox Jedi Knight. Now...now she was uncertain, without a flag to obey, sole allegiance to Tegaea and the company they were founding. Despite...she cast that thought aside, for now at least there could be no self-castigation on her mind.

Keen eyes, one organic and one electronic, scarring still evident around the eye sockets from surgery, searched the deserted metal hangar, but no one else popped in. Eyes that had seen a lot, horrors, bloodshed, betrayals, probably committed more than a few herself.

The face was marked by harsh lines and scars, though she spoke softly. Long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her face. Not a regular part of the Army of Light, though she seemed to affiliate with them, ideals burnt out of her. Ideals, beliefs, sometimes it felt hollow. She felt a strong craving for a cigarette, but suppressed the urge. Perhaps once in a while she should take her health into consideration. "Don't stop on my account. Always with trouble with meditating. Care for some company?"

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Yep, kinda different to the temple, more room, less things to break." She smiled a bit, it perked Nato up being around people, she never had worn the robes herself not until leaving, funny that, small things to remind her of what she used to be. Join her? "Sure, that'd be nice."

"Hey did I see you earlier, at the thing," there was flashed smile, tilting her head, jet black hair falling down the face, always enough to make sure it covered the lack of a tattoo the Kiffar girl had, some eyeshadow, little bit of makeup to give the cheeks a faint blush to them, now she was free of the Jedi at least she could take care of herself. You got the sense she wasn't one thing or the other, still looking for a place.

Listening to the instructions go on she kept trying to meditate, and feeling tense. That good nature in her was there, carefree, but somethings were not completely right with her. There was a subtle pain from the girl, controlling pain was something she was doing all the time, since the senate and breaking her back. Not intentionally, but always there in the background, "Tell me about it! Just so hard to not think about everything that's goin on y'know," how did they meditate, and if they didn't meditate how did you follow the instructions? "How do they block it all out."

"Trust what you feel, passion yet serenity." The order's voice still was in the background, and still Nato struggled.

Hmm, she tried again to meditate one last time, and didn't seem to be getting anywhere, the memories in the objects and the floor when she connected to the force were all in her mind, who'd last touched them, where they'd been, what they were doing, many Kiffars read memories from objects and Nato did just the same. Popping an eye open, "you been training long?"

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@[member="Natol'ine"]

"I used to get annoyed when remotes kept hitting me and tossed them against the wall. Kind of annoyed the Masters," Siobhan joked. She had never been the most patient person and time had done little to cure her of that.

"Passion yet serenity. Passions can give you strength, animate you, give you that boost you need to keep going. If it's harnessed and doesn't overwhelmn you," she spoke softly after the Jedi recording had spoken its piece. Calmless was something that had so often eluded Siobhan, true serenity was something she still struggled. Perhaps one of the reasons why she had not been meant to be a Jedi. Rather she had conditioned herself to be a fighter. Her force signature was strong and potent...but it was not a blazing light. There was was a strong capacity for violence there, that of a predator, but tempered with a s trong degree of regret, as if something were weighing her down.

"Yeah, was there. Interesting get-together. Could've used less speechifying," she commented.

Her aura radiated, though she suppressed it. Cold, iron resolve as well. She met the look of Nato but did not quite return the smile. It was gone as soon as it appeared upon her face. If Nato perked up in the company of others, then it seemed like Siobhan could not allow herself to.

"Long, yeah, guess you can say that. About eleven years give or take. Mostly self-training since I quit the Jedi. Being with them...feels almost like a lifetime away," she shrugged and spoke softly as she approached the girl.

"Name's Siobhan Kerrigan." Butcher of Roche and Gehenna, slaughterer of Reavers, former Exarch and a failure at it, now apparently sort of between jobs with a somewhat unclear position in Firemane, partly because the relevant thread about its foundation is still in the early stages. "What's yours? Used to be with the Jedi?"

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Remotes, Nato laughed, covering her mouth with a hand, she'd wanted to do that herself but was always frightened what someone was going to say, laying it to rest on her throat as the giggle finished. She'd needed that laugh ever since the first one had stun her, and she'd want to sting it right back.

Slowly the young Kiffar's face became a mixture of unravelling confusion as the Sio spoke about passion and emotion, a tough issue for the girl at the minute. "I like that... what is serene anyways?" Nato wrinkled her nose together, "and there's the whole getting too attached thing, and it's tough to work out what we are meant to be feeling at all." Meant to be feeling, it was really tough for her, she just felt, and couldn't stop that, she didn't want to stop feeling. "I never got it." Nato sighed for the words, "found it hard not to care, for people. More than I should, or they said I should, Hmm", must have been men that wrote the Jedi code, for that to even exist.

There it was though a beaming happy look across the girls face, "Kinda happy, to know I am not crazy, or the only one." Gaining some confidence, and looking out over the hanger.

Speeches, "uhuh," she agreed with a big bob of her head and wide eyes, waaay to many. Lot of training Sio had, eleven years, "by yourself?" It was an unsettling thought, that long training alone to her, she needed that feedback, that you only got from someone else, someone you trusted. Noticing the other woman was more stoic or maybe just looked experienced, maybe that was what a lot of force training did, the young padawan didn't know, not yet.

"Natol'ine" she said, one hand on her hip, Jedi? "Yeah, used to, kinda don't want to go back. Nowhere to go, so i'm here." That was one thing her body language said she was sure on, as she leaned on that hip, other hand wresting on her stomach. "You're by yourself?" It was still sinking in that she didn't need to train with the order if she didn't want to, she was still clinging to the pads and the voices, until Sio had come, now they were on the floor, and maybe soon they'd be out of reach.

"Can you teach me?" saying the next words slowly, really meaning it, "But not what they would, what you would," she didn't smile this time, she looked at Sio, dead serious, hanging there, waiting, wondering if she'd shoot her down, or lift her up. The mask the girl gave the world was down, a young girl, wanting to know the world, the force and wanting someone to show her. Sio could so easily shatter her confidence or make her into whatever it was she was going to become, in about two words.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

"Serene? Beats me. I think I had a hangover when they were doing that course in Jedi class," Siobhan joked but then her mood turned more serious, somber.

"Sometimes...it's easier not to feel, to detach yourself, focus on the task. In war, cause oftentimes it's the only way to cope with all the suffering, the tough calls you gotta make. But far as I'm concerned that's not the way to lead a life, without people you care about, without anchors. Makes life richer," she spoke, realising that she was rambling a bit.

In battle Siobhan was merciless, she did not hold back. She had cut a bloody swathe through the territories she had conquered for the Protectorate, sacrificed thousands...she had conditioned herself to be inured, blot out the screams. That was the side of Siobhan that was the Butcher, a pure soldier who often came close to the brink of the dark side. But off the battlefield things were different...sometimes it hurt to feel, now she was weighed down by guilt, but she would not miss it. She could not imagine her life without Tegaea, much as this scared her.

"Not quite by myself. Had a master with the Jedi...Adril Tythorin, elf. Probably haven't heard about her. She died fighting an abomination seven years ago. Brave, strong. I left shortly after," she explained, approaching the young Jedi. This was the truth, but also a rather laconic and concise summary. Adril, off and on lover as well as teacher, had long been her idol, the ideal she had aspired to be like. Strong, courageous...Siobhan had put her on a pedestal that blinded her to her flaws. Now she could admit that...she had wrong about a number of things.

But then...Butcher Kerrigan was far from ideal as well. She would still always be an important part of her life, as Tegaea was.

"Hooked up with the Pyre - now the Protectorate - until recently. Got some training there, but mainly just me. Can't heal for crap, can't have telepathic long distance conversations or do that battle meditation thing that's so in now or cast shiny illusions. But I can throw a tank and tear down a roof, summon force explosions and fly, all things TK, ionise pesky droids as well," she said honestly. It came in handy when she needed to tear down a roof, as she had done three times. Siobhan was a pure Force soldier and in her grip the Force became a powerful battering ram, though this also meant its more mystical applications eluded her.

The stoic look upon her face remained but she seemed to be relaxing a bit. Perhaps something about Nato'line's happy attitude seemed to be penetrating the shell around her.

"Don't blame you about ditching 'em. Half the time their Council can't make up its minds about what a Jedi should be, or the Senate's meddling and playing political games. Course, I hear things are different now and the Sith scum is the enemy to them again," she commented with a shrug and an undertone of bitterness in her voice. Of course, the Protectorate was not ideal and there were reasons why her ties with it were cut. Suffice to say her allegiance had always been to Tegaea. "Just my family and me. Work for Firemane," she responded. Her, Tegaea, the elf Princess Anya who sometimes seemed the one keeping two women who had been through hell grounded and stable, often by being an unrepentant troll!

Then came the one million credit question! Obviously not literally, as much as anyone could use one million credits, but one gets the picture. For the first time since the conversation began there was a flicker of emotion on Siobhan's previously stoic and expressionless face. How odd it was incidentally that someone usually so driven by emotion and passion now should appear so stoic, but that was another question. There were several reasons why she should deny the question, as much as it would crush the girl before her.

Siobhan was damaged goods. She was acutely conscious about how messed up she was. On the battlefield she was devastation, off it she was often a mess. The Butcher of Roche was not someone to mould another. She was not someone who had sage words of wisdom to offer. Hell, she herself was terribly dependent on others. Yet the automatic denial did not come from her lips. Perhaps the earnest, honest nature of the girl stirred something in her. Someone else might have suggested that helping the young girl on her path might be a way towards redemption, but Siobhan had long given up faith in that. No 'noble' deed could wipe the blood staining your hands away.

"I'm a lousy role model. I wouldn't always pay too much attention to what I say," she said self-depreceatingly, trying to make a joke out of it, though the serious undertone might not go undetected. "But I can show you the ropes," she spoke after a beat. Force help you, kid, she thought to herself.

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

"Drunk!" Nato's laugh fell into a smirkle, a half smile, half smirk, stifling a giggle, "mmm, I never tried that," again covering her mouth with her hand. Wishing she had tried that all of a sudden, a wide eyed wonder at picturing a Master's face at the temple reacting to a drunk apprentice breaking those annoying droids. She didn't do drunk that well.

Detached, war, she felt sorry for Sio, even though she'd just met her. Wanting to say something to make it alright, a natural pang in her chest, wanting to help. Instead Nato just tilted her head, and gave her a sympathetic look, a small lump in her throat obvious. It was a resigning of herself to it as well, the fact she would probably need to do the same, one day, soon.

No idea what she'd be like in battle, Nato knew she had a lot to learn, and that people would probably underestimate her because of her size. A short petite girl, they always did, that'd be an advantage at least if she could use her size, just like Sio used her powers, only in reverse.

"Sorry about your friend Siobhan, musta been tough for ya," as Sio described her life to Nato, there was an increasing want to give a hug, but she held that in, instead just the sympathetic ear, the caring eyes showing some innocence left, innocence to yet gain sense of what war and galaxy really was.

"Tanks, you can...." she made a gestures on the pad's at their feet, which shifted a bit in the force, "tanks?" Her face was just, shocked at the image. She couldn't barely move the crates in the room, unless she gave them a kick. "You're incredible," she complimented the woman, "how do you do that, do we do that?.

The tone was there, she heard it from Sio and so she leaned her weight on her hips a bit more, the smile warming in excitement to help and to learn, "I'll kinda just watch you and you watch me, and y'know, see what happens." No great commitment in the carefree Kiffar, she wanted a teacher to think well of her but at the same time, resisted the term Master, like the plague. Not wanting commitment and wanting it in equal amounts, "we'll watch out for each other, you know, if you want." She wasn't going to be able to save Sio from anyone, but maybe she could be there sometime when she needed a friend.

The material on the robe was not fitting right anymore, ready to be free of it, "Just hold on, gotta do one thing."

Rip!

Away the lower part of her robe came, detaching it and showing her midnight blue mid calf leggings underneath, fitting well with the tighter corset-like support which held the upper, more ladylike robes still in place.

One more sly, cheeky smile, "kinda hated that look."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

"Thanks. Well, I was pissed and there were Sith tanks and a talking Sith warthog around. Hurt like a queen after throwing the damn thing," Siobhan responded. She could not suppress the smile that spread across her lips. It was small and thin, but it was there. Perhaps something could be said for Nato's bubbly attitude proving infectious. Of course Siobhan was a rather prideful woman, pride was probably one of her three cardinal sins, and a very high opinion of her combat prowess, but at the same time she was often insecure, prone to self-castigation.

After all, as the inner voice quickly reminded her chidingly, although her telekinetic prowess had battering rammed and beaten Velok, he had escaped. It was why she clung so tightly to those people she cared about and whose opinion mattered to her. She could be devoted and loyal beyond reason, but just as fierce if she believed she had been turned on and thwarted.

"As for how you do that...well, had to pump in years of TK practice, lots of will and I guess a healthy degree of craziness," she responded. There was another pause at Nato's words sunk in and she considered before nodding. Siobhan did not really consider herself much of a teacher. Sure she could teach a great deal about how to cause destruction, but the idea of being responsible for someone else was something that also scared her.

"I do have commitments. Strictly speaking I'm not regular AoL. There's someone...very dear to me. She needs me," she spoke finally, not elaborating further. "But, yeah, we can hang out and see where it takes us. I should be able to teach you a few tricks. Never liked the 'Master' title thing anyway." Outside of certain scenarios that would not be applicable to this situation!

As Nato'line liberated herself from the robe Siobhan actually looked...amused and then, would wonders never cease, started laughing. Not full-blown laughter, but it was there nonetheless. "Heh. First thing I did after Tegs recruited me for the Pyre was get rid of them," she said once she had gotten herself under control. "Just make Jedi look like tossers and suck on the battlefield. Decent suit of armour would serve them better," she commented. "So how'd you hook up with the Jedi and how far did your training go there?"

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Things came full circle in funny little ways, coming back to you even if you didn't know it. Unknown to both, Velok's escape and temple raid was one reason for the Army fighting the Sith, and Siobhan meeting Natol'ine here at all. "That'd be nifty to see," the girl's excited look of envy hadn't shifted one inch, "and fun..." She hmm'd in agreement. Throwing tanks? heck yeah.

"Necki always said I had waaay enough crazy for the both of us, my brother he's, kind of a pain, but," she loved him. Healthy degree, "little crazy is totally good for us," shifting the leggins around so they were snug. Always looking to make a friend, preferred it that way.

Looking out for friends, same with her and Kei. "Yeppers, no biggie, gotta be there for your friends," and with a small lump in her throat she thought of that pasty faced Fyor. Advice, "listening I can do, and tricks are fun" with a bright smile, Nato slid on with the conversation. It was easier for someone of her nature, not to commit to anybody, even though that want was there. So she was happy, feeling no pressure at all, to stick with casual today.

Surprised at the reaction of the rippage of robes, the girl actually felt like she'd hit the jackpot when Sio let out a laugh, it was a joyful feeling, "snagged a cute little ribbed synth-leather armor, with mesh and strip padding, plucked it outta the armory the second it was up." If she started collecting armor the way she did dresses, the entire war effort was in jeopardy, maybe worth it though, at least she'd look good.

Joining the Jedi? That was a tough question, "There's this crystal thing, and it's," Nato would have given a ship's worth of creds to see the crystal out of her life, Fyor was gone because of it, and now she only had more crystals in her after the surgery, supporting the spine. "It's sorta hard to," she bit her tongue, withdrawing a bit, "can we skip that for now." The girl tried to smile, and did eventually. She'd probably tell Sio eventually, but right now, it was a bit painful physically, and with Fyor missing.

"Had a couple of Masters trainin' me some saber swingin', and how to fight a Sith. Then", Nato gave a tiny shrug, "it was busy, didn't wanna push."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

History had a way of moving in strange ways. Or perhaps it was the Force at work, for there was no luck or chance, there was only the Force and it had a will. Or so the Jedi doctrines said, but then the metaphysical aspect of their teachings had never interested Siobhan much.

As a practical Force soldier she was not the person to turn to receive a philosophical grounding, but on the other hand she was ideally equipped to teach about warfare, especially since she was a Combat Pragmatist.

"More than a friend," Siobhan spoke softly before Nato'line elaborated on how she had liberated shiny armour from the armoury. "Synth-leather? Nice. I mean, of course you shouldn't just snag equipment from the armoury without the quarter-mastery knowing," she said with a completely straight face, though the look in her organic eye showed that she was not seriously lecturing her.

A frown crossed her features when Nato dodged the question about how she had joined the Jedi. There was a mention of a...crystal? Siobhan looked confused and questioning, but then decided to let the issue drop...for now. She could tell that Nato was hiding...something and felt she would have to bring it up, but despite so often being like a kath hound on a trail Siobhan would not push. She had her own secrets as well, there was much she had not hold Nato and in any case it had taken a long time before she had really spoken of her past to Adril.

In response she shrugged. "Sure, topic closed. It's ok. And don't be afraid to push. In battle you need any edge you can get. Only twits will bite your head off for wanting to learn things," she spoke honestly.

"Anyone teach you how to use a gun? Jedi say it's 'crude and uncivilised', but when the chips are done and you don't have a glowstick handy it can save your arse. Concealed Verpine shatter gun, sawed off scatter gun for close quarter. Explosive rounds from a bolter can't be blocked and wreck havoc with forcers for when you need a big bang. Basic marksmanship at least is important." spoken as a pure combat pragmatist who was at home with using guns and explosives as she was with utilising the Force as a battering ram, and probably had a room in her apartment devoted purely to storing guns, lots of guns.

"We'll get to that. For now let's start with simple telekinesis. Basics are focus and control. Try to focus your energies on that datapad and levitate it...for as long as you can, as high your high as you can, then move it. Simple exercise on paper, takes focus for more than a few minutes. Tedious, but the basis for everything if you want to graduate to throwing heavy objects around or tossing bad guys like rag dolls. And don't be afraid about embarrassing yourself cause I'll be honest, took me a long time before I got the focus right."

By her very nature Siobhan was not a patient person. In terms of skill set she was a telekinetic brawler and so while she could throw very heavy objects, crush and smash opponents, often her attacks lacked a certain finesse. But concentration was important; after all it would suck if she fell out of the air while she was flying because her mind slipped.

"Concentrate your energies on it. Telekinesis is an exertion of will. Your will to succeed drives it. Serenity's not for us, so recall why are you are fighting, what drives you and let that animate and fuel you, blot everything else out."

Later they could graduate to picking up the crates and throwing them. Force pushing the big cupboard in the corner also seemed attractive. So did a bout of telekinetic power where the girl could try to push Siobhan as hard as she could. If the gentle reader were to suspect that the hangar might take a bit of property damage, then they might be correct, but then that would give the clean-up crew something to do!

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

It was hard to tell if Sio was mad or not, she'd just met her, and she always seemed... strong, not giving that much away, bit of a role model maybe for the younger girl. Sio wouldn't need to lecture Nato, as the girl had a natural want for a teacher to think well of her, though grr it was just telling people she'd taken something kind of spoiled the fun, but, "okay, i'll let him know, when he's in a good mood." She kind of half smiled playfully, she'd probably end up sorting out ration packs for the next week. Pulling her hair back embarrassed.

Not having to speak about the whole crystal saga was wonderful for a change, "thanks Sio," Nato popped her lips, letting the tension go. Listening to the rest with interest, the concealed verpine gun really sounded like it'd be especially fun.

Blasters, Blasters, Blasters, Nato slipped a hand inside her leather waist support, and wrinkled her nose, sliding out one of a pair of holdout blasters, not exactly giving her much stopping power but they fitted snug. Revealing them both, she gave a playful raise of the eyebrows holding them out to the sides, "I got those, their a nice fit," sliding them away again, with another pop of the lips. The Kiffar girl often put them in dresses that nobody would expect her to be carrying anything at all under, small things but they'd saved her life before. "We ran a bit, back before... done a bit of runnin'," she admitted, hinting to Sio's previous question on arriving at the Jedi.

Sio really knew her stuff, she felt she couldn't have been luckier with who had offered to give her some tips. Leaning in, listening eagerly, ready to go! The weapons she'd need need to touch, touch was important to her, just being a Kiffar she learned through touching memories. Nato sparkled at finally getting to play, her aura a mix of energetic colors, alive and ready. The crystal in her chest and at points down her back were the brightest of all in the force, personality beaming through them.

"Ain't no thing," looking at the pad, she wasn't confident just gutsy and excited. Stepping close to the pad, and trying to pick it up in the force. Didn't work, because she was detached from it. So she tried to pick up the air, and got a gust carrying her hair back. That didn't really work either, all it did was rattle the corner of the pad, but it was an interesting little revelation Siobhan might note, that her pupil had flicked the air casually.

Sio's advice of taking time to do this was there, but it was set against Nato's desire to impress a teacher, both thoughts rubbing up against each other. Sio's clear voice and logical choice of words won out in the end.

Why was she fighting?

Fyor, he'd gone missing after Coruscant. The Senate, those dead senators, children, their screams! Her back was broken, the temple, the padawans. That was more than enough, there was a pushing resentment in her chest actually, one that Sio might feel, wanting to break out. The girl closed her eyes, and looked for the memories of the force, seeing it through the crystal in her chest, the memories of this place and that pad. Trying to reach them without needing to touch them, pulling for the memory of when she had held the pad, it seemed to be frustrating her that it wasn't coming, that same resentment in her chest wanting to break free. Eventually the pad did move when she found the memory string. It began to rattle, and she peeked open an eye looking down at it... breaking her concentration the pad stopped moving.

The force was literally strings of memory to the Kiffar girl, each another one that found its way imprinted inside her crystal's matrix, she had no idea others viewed it any other way.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

Siobhan nodded approvingly when she saw the holdout blasters. There was not much stopping power behind them, but they were easily concealed and something to fall back in battle or use in a situation where displaying the Force or a lightsabre might be ill-advised. Of course, the advantage of slugthrowers was that they were more difficult to block. The rounds shot from a boltgun could not be blocked by force pushes or lightsabres at all and exploded quite nicely.

"Smart and practical. The Force is a powerful ally and a lightsabre's devastating, but too many forcers just rely on them exclusively. Problem with blasters just is they bounce off lightsabres, normal slugs are harder to block but do squat against any decent armour. But I'll show you some projectile guns that...can really piss Sith off," she said and for a brief moment there was something like a dark smirk crossing her lips.

Did the ship they were on have something like a shooting range? We shall presume that it did and fortunately Siobhan was the person to carry lots of guns with her just because she was a paranoid sort. Or liked to blow things up when she was bored or just plain show her toys off. She fell silent then, letting Nato test her powers, sensing how her aura seemed to light up in the Force.

She noted the difficulties the Padawan was facing, but for a brief moment she sensed something unfamiliar...like a gust of wind...and that Nato was causing it. Interesting. There was something else she sensed from Nato...resentment, though the source of it eluded Siobhan. A conventional Jedi would probably say that such sentiments could be a slippery slope to the dark side and that one should clamp down on them, but Siobhan thought differently. The dark side, to her at least, was not some daemon ready to pounce on naughty Jedi, but something within you. There was a slippery slope, but in battle she did not hold back. To do so could be your undoing and in battle it was your job to make the guy on the other side die.

She noticed the pad rise briefly then fall and spoke up. "That was a good start. Keep at it and focus on the task alone, leave everything else behind. Think of it as one step...for the mission...to fight the Sith, let that drive you. The Force responds to you if pull the right strings. Reach out and try to touch the air, make a wind drive the pad upward. It is just will and a small push," Siobhan said encouragingly. She was the exact opposite of a paragon of patience, but she had years of training behind her. She sat down next to Nato and raised an item of her own into the air, instinctively finding the focus she needed for it.

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Projectile guns, "mmm, I like the sound of that," she smiled back, "you'll have to show me downstairs," tapping a finger to her chin, and tilting her head to one side, a very Nato thought came up, "got anything in white?" Gold too, if she was packing guns, she still wanted to look good. The True Venture was an Arion research and development Frigate, kitted out not for battle but for researching new technology, there was a fancy equipped shooting range down a few decks in the labs, a pretty advanced one with all the equipment for readings and technology that Sio might enjoy testing out. Nato mused on the thought of shooting off big guns, squeezing the trigger, it wasn't a bad feeling she got, biting her bottom lip.

The Kiffar girl lit up at Sio's praise, encouraged a lot, you could see in her aura it was glowing. At her teacher's word, she focused on memories of what Sith had done to her, the Jedi or other innocents, the children and Fyor. Memories, all memories, and focus. Wind born from memories of where the air had been or was going, she looked to follow the air, playing with it, her lips pressed together in a small little smile, Nato was enjoying the thought of following those memories outward to see where the air had been, a small breeze forming around them both, flicking her hair back behind her. The start of a force whirlwind, it would be more effective on a planet when she mastered the use of natural wind, but for now it circled below the pad raising it upward in a small eddy, the current of the air like a fluid in how it moved.

Up it went, and she got excited, she'd never done anything like this before, her force aura again mixing to a yellow and blue waves. That excitement made her concentration falter and the pad hit the deck once more. The device fizzed and sparked as it was dropped, obviously broken. "erm," Nato looked around, that was another thing to tell the quartermaster. She smiled innocently, "I can fix that," she couldn't but maybe someone could, probably not. "Oops, sorry 'bout that." Hanging on Sio's next word, again a clear opportunity, to direct how the rest of Nato's training as a force user would go.

The focus was still lacking, Sio was going down the right route though, she'd got further with her pupil than anyone else so far.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

"Want to distract Sithies with your fashion sense and then shoot them down?" Siobhan asked very dryly. Personally she could not stand white. Tegaea did like her in blue though. Or in black leather. Ah, right, this is training, so we shall stay on topic! Having a shooting was naturally an advantage and practical, and Siobhan just happened to be the person who by force of habit tended to carry lots of guns around just because she could. Or because she expected danger, since so often her life abided by Kirkwall rules! In the sense of her being a trouble magnet.

Siobhan noted how the pad travelled up into the air, raised by the small breeze of a wind that had been conjured up by Nato'line. It was just a start, but the beginning of a force whirlwind was there, something that could be put to good use on a planet with a natural wind to bend to her commands. Siobhan said nothing, just watching, though her aura reflected pride at the girl's accomplishment, then the pad suddenly hit the ground, sparks shooting from it as it broke.

"Happened to me a lot. Gave the datapad repair service plenty to do," she said dryly. "But you did well. Enough training and if you harness the wind you could conjure up a force whirlwind, can be devastating," she spoke encouragingly, giving Nato a light pat on the shoulder as she gazed across the room, obviously locking for new objects to play with. Perhaps break as well. After all, there was lots of stuff lying around.

At a casual mental command a crate rose up into the air, swiftly gaining in altitude until it hovered high above them and was pulled towards them by her mind until it stood still in the air a few metres away from Nato. Keeping it still in the air seemed to cause Siobhan no effort and she looked at Nato.

"Trying something a bit different. When I release control, try to grab ahold of it. Imagine that your physical hand is stretching out and actually grabbing it. Physical barriers don't exist with the Force, it'll respond to your command if you push your will into it. You got an aptitude for manipulating the air, use that to drive it upward, then apply pressure to push it forward. As if it you were really stretching out and giving it a shove. Visualise it in your mind, will it to happen, then it will."

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Fashion sense, Nato gave a lil playful shrug, still learning to read Sio, it'd be a bit till she could. "Kinda just want to shoot them," a smile was there of course, she didn't really mean it did she, maybe? With Sio Nato was feeling that it was okay, she could say these things. She did like white though, could pull off black, and often did. Nato liked the sharpness of the contrast in the colors, and in her life. Not having put to bed the thought of nights out again on Zeltros when the war was done, just yet, she still wanted a party or two in the future.

"To you too?" Finding she was laughing again, not meaning to, just relieved, letting it go. With one small pat on the shoulder, Sio had just built up the girl, you could see her raise her shoulders up, beaming happily, a warm glow. Touch was really important to her, and that simple gesture was everything. The Kiffar would start using her teacher's words and advice if life ever got very dark or uncertain, it'd be Sio's voice in her mind picking her up, or getting her through, those words and memories because she drew so much from them.

About further training the padawan didn't say anything, just had this content look, which she gave Sio. A bobbing of her head and the those midnight blue eyes said it all, yes please, this is as exciting as it gets, or her life had anyway.

Watching the crate with a curious girls eyes, it fell, and she was stuck for what to do next, looking at the air below it, and the crate it almost touched the floor but was stopped... Memories of where both had been, who had held or walked in them, a small eddy formed right below it, pulling on those currents, and started blowing it upward carried on the air current. Not much force or control yet, but it held the weight, just. A couple of times the crate dipped and she had to pull or reform the air underneath it, holding on to the memories. Then it happened, her own hair was picked up in the wind that came out, blowing both of the woman's hair back a bit, a nice breeze though, refreshing.

It was a friction, a very small vortex, a whirlwind, but it was there and holding right in front of them both, stable. Is that me.... is that Sio..... "Are... are you doing that?" She could hardly believe it, alter environment specifically a force whirlwind. Then slowly, as instructed the vortex began to carry it to Sio, the crate constantly rotated in the breeze, a look of absolute wonder was on Natol'ine's face, finding a very peaceful place in the force doing this for the first time.


Not a push or a pull, this was her natural connection to the force, she'd found it thanks to Sio. Wind still brushing past their faces, it almost started to dissipate again, losing a bit of confidence that it might not really be her doing it?

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

A Jedi teacher would undoubtedly have chided Nato for that comment about wanting to shoot Sith, however innocent it might have been. "The only good Sith is a dead Sith," she responded. The look in her eyes suggested that she was not joking or playing around. Kaelin had hurt Tegaea, made her suffer, for that Siobhan had crushed her and killed her. No mucking around, no last minute chance for redemption, no 'if you kill, you become her' angsting.

But then she seemed to relax and watch Nato focus her efforts on harnessing the air as the crate almost touched down upon the floor, to be stopped by an invisible force, the air current shooting upward to seize the crate and stop its descent. The force still lacked power and finesse, for it was a start, but up the crate went and then the wind shot through and blossomed into a vortex, the start of a force whirlwind. In time the whirlwind might lift all the objects in the hangar into the air and hurl them through it, perhaps one day it might seize a tank and spin it like it weighed nothing, if Nato chose to go that direction. There were those forcers who made waves and those who read the ripples after all. But that was for the future and despite herself Siobhan could not suppress a smile as the crate was transported by the whirlwind through the air towards her. She affixed her eyes upon it and Nato but made no move to intervene, her long brown hair whipping slightly in the gentle breeze.

However tempting it might have been Siobhan did not step in, made no attempt to strengthen the whirlwind. This was her student - Gods, she had already started thinking of her that way, but for the moment at least her doubts about her ability to teach had been banished from her mind, for now at any rate - alone.

"No, I'm just standing here watching the show," Siobhan spoke, pride being radiated from her aura in the force. "This is you alone. Your will conjuring up the whirlwind, your force putting it into action and moving the crate. You're pushing the right buttons. Keep at it, the wind responds to your will, focus your power on the whirlwind and strengthen it and spread its range. The room is your playing field."

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

The only good Sith is a dead Sith, it took a bit to sink in, but it sorta made sense, that's why she was here wasn't it? After all they had done and were doing, "hmm... yeah, you're right." The girl looked a bit more serious, that more confident tone in her voice again, she placed a hand on her hip, and chewed on her bottom lip. "Makes things a whole lot easier," more depth to the way she made that statement, eyes squinted together mulling it over, there was a sense it could make a significant impact.

All herself! She saw Sio's pride and it made her blush a bit, felt good, really good. Her excitement threatened to break her concentration and send the crate flying out of reach, but she contained it, especially this close to her teacher. Putting it to rest somewhere by Sio's feet, she took the eddy, shakily away from the woman, it was threatening to unbalance. Working to remember the exact memory of holding it stable, gently correcting the air to be that memory. Altering its motion or vorticity, it's balance, woah, this was tough, but fun, like balancing a twig in breeze, upright exactly where you wanted it.

Next... the room was her playing field... the most playful smile she'd ever given her teacher yet, the girl turned her head left and right, one hand behind her, and one in front. This was the complete opposite to how she'd been trained before. Nato just looked alive, came alive, finding so much peace in the center of the winds, as they blew against both of them. The vortex expanded, growing to surround them, it wasn't as powerful this big, she'd need to keep working on it, but a long breeze of air rotated around them, without any other wind to push against it... she was finding it might actually be easier to grow it, not to start but to expand it in a sheltered environment.

There was a problem though, how did she stop something this big? Smaller ones she could hold right? A big concern was in her mind, what if it got out of control and did actually start a wind she couldn't stop, looking back over her shoulder, asking a question that had a lot of meaning behind it, "How do I... how do we stop it when it's started Sio? The wind?" and what she was about to become.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

It certainly made it more difficult for the Sithies to continue their Sithy work if they were dead. That is, if they obliged everyone by staying dead instead of rising once more from the netherworld, which apparently was an insufficient barrier for the sufficiently magically and necromantically advanced Dark Lord who liked to body jump. Especially if he had clone bodies lying around. Those were always very convenient unless clone madness or degradation set in.

Siobhan looked proud and probably as close to happy as she had been since they encountered one another as the vortex expanded across the room, engulfing them. At the wide range it might have lost some of its power, but the potential for great things was there. Things could get truly interesting when Nato had a pre-existing wind to harness and strengthen, amplify it to great strength. And then came the question. Control. On the surface it might simply be a question about how to activate the off-switch, but it could also go deeper than that.

"It's your will, your energy that powers it. Even if it's a natural wind you're taking control over, you draw the force energy you're unleashing back into yourself. Of course, a powerful whirlwind isn't easily banished like a gust of wind. When you summon it you must let it play out. You can recede control, steer its direction and make it disperse as you pull back, but that means you must be selective when you unleash it. Don't have to tell you that it takes a lot of power to get a whirlwind that seizes a tank and tosses it through the air, even more to make sure it's halfway targeted and doesn't fall back on you. At the start it's draining, the exertion can be painful even," she spoke softly.

"But when we cross that bridge you'll have the control for it."

 

[Glade]

@[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Sio didn't know just how much her words were going to be used in the next week, exhausting. Natol'ine would surely find that out what exhausted meant with the Bimm and Shinju! Every bit of training here had been precious for her student's future.

My will, my energy, all me. It finally sunk in what Sio was telling her. "Let it play out, and?" Nato held the wind, circling around them, small objects clanging against the nearest side of the hanger, hydrospanners and small bits of metal. "What if we don't like where it runs off to?" recede control, "just let it go." Nato whispered, doing what her teacher? Master? wanted. Letting the wind die down, the memories would always be there, but she could just let it go, let it be what it was going to be and move on. "I get it. I think. I mean, we are what we are." Natol'ine smiled slightly, the pain in her spine obvious again, a twinge.

Then she pictured it, yeppers, a tank, in a whirlwind. Tank crushing, it'd be tiring but crushing tanks. Just this excitement at the thought of it all, "Yeppers! Hey wait, when we cross the bridge," Nato lit up again, "does that mean?" Sio wanted to keep teaching her! It must do. She didn't call her Master, because grr the title was tough for her to say, but she probably could have said it here, maybe she would, could she? No. She soooo wanted to wisecrack something, if only to get her own excited mind to shut up for a second. "Now I kinda don't know how to, y'know, mmm, is it Master Sio, Sio, Miss, or do we get to figuring that out later'."

The pain in her spine, she owed Sio an explanation. Touching her robe, she tapped the hard crystal underneath. "It's sorta a part of me, a crystal. Dunno how we get it out, people want it back, Sith people. Fyor was trying," @[member="Fyor Nayus"] where were you... Nato gave a lil shrug again, and smiled. "Figured you should know. I maybe see things in it, or through it. Lil Memories." The pain in her spine bothered her a lot, how she'd look still bothered the younger girl, what if nobody found her attractive anymore because of the implants from the fall. She didn't speak about her back only saying, "hurts on my back," very quiet her voice was but she held eye contact with Sio, because she thought Sio would want her to be strong, "same thing."

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

@Nato'line

Siobhan shook her head in response. "Nah, no 'Master' and 'Miss' sounds all prim and proper and I'm not that. Just got away from the whole title thing. Siobhan's enough," she said. Of course she liked it when people did as she told them and had a bit of an ego, but one could only take so much 'Yes, Exarch', 'Yes, ma'am' or 'By your command, Exarch'.

Of course there was also the fact that Siobhan still did not feel entirely confident with herself, but then there were reasons for that, though Adril had never asked her to call her master except when required for formal situations. She frowned as Nato'line spoke, picking up on the pain the girl was evidently feeling. Her features creased by a frown, an expression of concern crossed her features as she absorbed what Nato'line was saying - or rather what she was not saying. The urge to appear strong and not shaken was something Siobhan well understood, ironically enough the last thing she would want Adril or Tegaea to think of her was that she was 'weak'.

"Crystal? What do you know about it and these...memories, how'd it get in?" she asked. She approached Nato and, looking a bit awkward and unsure, placed a gentle hand, her flesh and blood one, on her shoulder. "How bad does it hurt? Be honest with me, no 'I'm made of steel and can take it' crap. I know a good healer. Someone's who's an expert on all things arcana and artefacts."