Retrained and Reforged (Tempest)

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“It’s OK Sio, we can fight droids if you’re not as afraid of losing to them!”

Tempest turned to Harmony as she burst in and spoke, all the humour and bantering gone.
“Tell me everything.”
“We received a distress call from one of our deep space sensors. A merchant ship then confirmed that an enemy whose ships matched the profile of the Arkas raiders was in bound. They seem to be making landfall some distance from New Arrah.”
Tempest looked to Siobhan. “If we moved now and gathered up some Eldorai ships we could get there in a couple of hours – maybe enough to stop them!”

Tempest was always ready to get stuck in if it meant thwarting slavers.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Siobhan wanted to punish Tempest for her insubordination, but alas there was serious business. She did bypass the woman's armour to give her arse a good swat though. She had the impression that dating Elpsis would only end up making Tempest bolder and more dominant.


After all, the redheaded teenager fangirled over her and seemed rather submissive to the Dahomian. Regardless, they had to fight evil! Yay! The Uruk-Hai were besieging Helm's Deep! Siobhan finally turned serious.


"Agreed. Go and assemble the QRF. I'll give Aeda a call and get some Eldorai frigates. I want the Ardarvia ready for combat," she stated, all business now. It was time to slaughter orcs for power, dresses and the Eldorai way!

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tempest nodded and swiftly started to assemble her team. Ana Zaridas had passed her trials, and so now she was going to be leading the contingent of Firemane troops on this particular operation.

“Ana, get everything ready. I want two squads ready and on the Ardarvia in fifteen minutes. Also, alert Tabaqui that we’re going in, then join me on the ship.”

She then hurried along, making further calls to get everything ready. The armour felt…good. Responsive.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Swiftly a strike force of crack Firemane commandos had been assembled. Two squads was not a lot, but it was what they could muster on short notice. Moreover, they were trained professionals and would have two Mag'ladroth walkers to provide support, along with a couple mortars. Success depended on shock and awe - and on the orcs not expecting swift retaliation.


After a brief chat with the notoriously taciturn and stoic Grand Seraph, Siobhan had been able to borrow a couple Eldorai frigates to ensure orbit would be swept clean and the troops' descent would proceed unhindered. Once they had boarded the ship, Tempest and Ana would find Siobhan in the war room of the Ardarvia, studying a holographi map New Arrah and the surrounding area. She already liked her new armour and was itching to test it out.


"Ana, Tempest. Good. Come here. I've just received the latest report from New Arrah. The raiders have made landfall. The battle should be in full swing by the time we arrive," she pointed towards what seemed to be the orcs' landing zone.


"The militia will hold out as long as they can, but can't beat them alone. Our projected LZ is here," she pointed with a razor. "The gunships launch a bombing run, then we land our strike force in their rear. We'll have to walkers for support."

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Tempest nodded. “Now remember, we don’t know what these things can really do, so be careful.”

Presumably this takes place after the Lyra thread so they may have seen a handful in combat, but not a full raiding force.

The warships in space moved in to duel with their opposite numbers. The raiders seemed surprised by the quick reaction and did not push the attack vigorously. Rather, they maintained an orbital zone for their ships to retreat to, and in due course most did so.

However, one contingent continued to attack New Arrah, and as the bombing run started they opened up a vigorous anti-air salvo from several vehicle mounted missile launchers. The Firemane gunships changed their aims and wrecked these, but in doing so left the main enemy force relatively undamaged.

Tempest led one squad into action as soon as the transport hit the ground. The enemy, tall and strong reptilian beasts, armoured and disciplined, unleashed a hail of blaster bolts. Some rode on fast skimmers, others on creatures.

“Sio, I’ll hold their attention, you come in from the flank,” Tempest suggested. Siobhan was the best at making a critical impact…and it would allow both of them to try out their new armour…by getting shot at a lot!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


No plan survives first contact with the enemy. A full bombing run to sow chaos amongst the enemy infantry had not been on the cards, but but at least their vehicle mounted flak had been taken out.


Far from being primitive brutes who mindlessly death charged crying 'WAAAAGH', the greenskinned, reptilian beasts were armed with heavy weapons, organised and disciplined. Blaster bolts rained down upon the Firemane soldiers when they made landfall, while their skimmers and warg seemed intent on flanking the attackers.


"Sounds good. I'll leave some for you!" Siobhan quiped. Maybe they'd start counting kills, even though that was a tad morbid. Then again, they had Dark Jedi tags. Anyhow, Siobhan flew into action and activated her jet wings. It was time to go all Dark Phoenix.


A missile shooting her way was deflected, causing a lovely explosion and, using thoroughly overpowered telekinesis, Siobhan used the chaos to grip a skimmer loaded with lizardmen, lift it into the air and then smash it into the ranks of reptilian infantry to crush them beneath it. A lovely, orange fireball blossomed when the skimmer blew up.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
The enemy, whoever they were, did not panic when faced by such a powerful foe. Rather, they sent a force to hold her up and pressed the attack on Tempest’s front.

Those sent against Siobhan were few, but were armed with missile launchers, grenades and other weapons which would be harder to deflect.

Those pushing on towards Tempest’s position came on with a hail of blasters, grenades and closing to get into melee where their strength would do them well.

Tempest knew it was her turn, so she turned to her troops.
“Take cover, pick your targets, focus fire!”

Unfortunately, some of the enemy had guns with a truly prolific rate of slug shot fire. That was effective at keeping the Firemane troops in cover as their others came forward.

Now it was time for Tempest to strike. Moving forward she sent a blast of lightning at the creatures, and saw a pair drop. One of the repeaters was turned on her, and she braced herself. Like hail the slugs bounced off her new armour, but out of dozens, one round found a joint and sliced through her underarm.

Feeding on the pain, her rage growing, she lashed out, unleashing a blast of lightning sufficient not only to reduce the gunner to a skeleton, but also to arc to those nearby.

“Ma’am, you’re hit!” Ana commed, somewhat unnecessarily.

“I’ll live. They won’t,” Tempest growled over the open channel. “These guys are getting old, Sio, let’s waste them!”

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


The lizardmen had probably not expected to be attacked by two hyperviolent, moderately morbid Space Wizards. However, they showed their discipline and villainous valour by adapting rather than panicking and breaking ranks.


This probably separated them from the average horde of raiders, who tended to be a superstitious, cowardly lot easily cowed by theatralics. Yes, this writer is totally plagiarising that series about a certain cowled crusader. Unlike him, Siobhan didn't have a no-kill rule.


She'd totally tap Selina Kyle though. Anyhow, on with the actual plot. Siobhan could not come to Tempest's aid because a heavily armed force of reptilian orcs closed in on her and pinned her down, proceeding to unload a hailstorm of missiles.


She pulled up higher into the air, moving at a truly superhuman speed, but she could not escape by evading alone. Her telekinetic power exploded outward as she sought to grip the missiles and deflect them. Boom! A massive explosion ensued, lizardmen died.


Unfortunately for Siobhan, the lizards had not entirely miscalculated. She could deflect missiles with her power, but was not far enough from the explosion to not be affected and one of them got very close. As powerful as she was, a volley could overwhelmn even The Kerrigan. The Force wrapped around her in a protective cocoon but she was blown out of the sky. She was able to slow her descent, but created a small crater when she crashed into the ground.


Luckily, the Force had been with her and her new armour was better suited to deal with kinetic impact. It still bloody hurt. Ouch. Stuff inside her had broken. Needless to say this heightened her anger. Plenty of lizardmen had been blown apart by their own missiles, but warriors were charging her. Gathering her rage, she fed off her pain and lashed out. She sought power in it and directed it outward in an explosion of telekinetic energy that exploded internal organs, burst limbs and pretty much tore lizardmen apart.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
The warriors drew back, having suffered heavily. From their ranks though stepped forward a massive brute of a warrior. This one, dressed in a heavy suit of armour and carrying a long halberd crackling with power, strode forward.

“I am Warlord Sael of the Kraal. Your warriors have shown themselves worthy of respect. Therefore, I challenge your greatest champion to battle. If I win we depart with our spoils. If I am defeated we will leave without, or die to the last if you so wish to fight. Do you accept?”

Tempest weighed their chances. They’d have to fight this guy regardless, and it might be simpler to evict them rather than fighting and killing every one of the Kraal. They could examine the dead.

“You want me to take him, Sio?” Tempest asked, having not seen how bad Sio’s fall had been.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Unsurprisingly, Siobhan stepped forward. It would have probably been better teacher behaviour if she'd let Tempest fight in her stead, but the Force Mistress was was too prideful for that. Her body ached from the fall and she'd probably broken a rib, but the power of the Force surged through her.


"I am Lady Siobhan Kerrigan, High Mistress of the Fire Order and Warlord of this world." Was she? Well, it's unlikely any of the inhabitants of New Arrah would dare object. Leave it to Siobhan to add new titles whenever the mood hit her. "I accept your terms and your challenge of honourable combat."

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
“Clan Navou fights!” the Warlord called and strode forward.

With exceptional speed for something so big and in such heavy armour, the Warlord bounded forward and leapt at Siobhan, his halberd aiming to hack her in half.

Some surprises would confront the Telekinetic Titan. First, the Warlord was clearly a powerful Force user himself, but more than that he was wearing a helmet which seemed to block almost all influence from offensive mentalism. In this battle it’d be a bloody and brutal affair of power and strength, both physical and Force.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


And so the mighty Warlord charged her. For someone so large and heavy, he moved with astounding speed. The Telekinetic Titan felt the Force surge through the lizardman. Moreover, his helmet blocked his mind from her.


This was less useful in this battle than it might have been against a different Force-user because Siobhan was no mentalist, but it also shielded him from precognition since she could not read his mind and anticipate his actions.


Siobhan cartwheeled when the big lizard came at her like an ox or battering ram, but he was fast and she was still hurt from her fall earlier. She avoided the brunt of the ferocious blow, but the polearm's axe blade struck her ankle and slid down towards her foot when the orc brought his weapon crashing down upon her with the force of a hurricane.


The weapon could not penetrate beskar, but it sure hurt like the dickens. Ouch! But Siobhan was not idle. Instead she'd brought up her sonic shotgun and let it spit out a high-intensity sonic blast strong enough to shatter solid objects and cause small impact craters the size of a small hand. It was directed towards the orc's arm. Feeding on her pain, she unleashed a brutal telekinetic hammer on his chest with bone-crushing force.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"]


The Firemane soldiers gave the two duellists a wide berth when it became clear that there would be an honour duel to the death. Settling it that way might be easier than fighting all the raiders, though letting them get away probably still felt wrong to some.


One Firemane trooper, who was new to the Company and still a Private, winced when the Warlord leapt at Siobhan and hacked at her with his imposing halberd. "That guy's bloody huge. Shouldn't we...do something?" she asked quietly, sounding a bit skittish and nervous.


Then an imposing, blonde-haired amazon kitted out in duraplast armour slapped her on the shoulder. "Calm down, kid, and don't be a wet hen," she said gruffly. "You're in for one hell of a show." Then the Boss unleashed her powerful telekinetic bolt. The troopers still kept their bolters at the ready and Gunships were up in the sky. They were ready to strafe the lizardmen if needed, though they kept a distance to avoid misunderstandings.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Warlord Sael let out an almighty roar as he staggered backwards. The one-two blow to arm and chest had hurt him and dented his armour.
Undaunted, he tore off the damaged portion of his armour and levelled his halberd at Siobhan.

From the end of it, instead of a spike, there was a barrel which unleashed a torrent of flames in a widening cone against Siobhan.
With one arm damaged he held it with one hand mostly, using his other to merely balance the end.

As with the helmet these were useful kit…but not specifically designed to fight against someone with Siobhan’s skills. Still, Sael was no weakling either way!

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


The reptilian Warlord was full of surprises. His halberd suddenly spat out tongues of blazing fire! White-hot fury swept towards Siobhan in a widening cone. They were still very close, Siobhan's leg hurt and her armour was rather heavy.


All of this limited her ability to dodge effectively. The torrent of flames engulfed the Countess and seemed about to swallow her. Beskar was rather resistant to flames and thermal gel dissipated a good deal of the heat. Despite the cooling system, her armour still felt like it was boiling though.


Siobhan called upon her powers. The external fire stocked the flame of rage inside her belly. She was burning white-hot and now she had found an outlet for her ferocious fury. She unleashed a massive telekinetic blast towards the Warlord. You could have called it a Force Push, but it was a lot stronger than that. The air twisted in strange shapes, foliage was ripped apart and mud blown around, flames were swept back towards the lizard, who would hopefully be thrust into the nearest tree with excessive force.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Sael let out a howl of pain as he was picked up and slammed into a tree, all the time wreathed in flames.
Still though he would not yield, and got to his feet.

“The spirits serve you well, human. I will not yield though!”

With that he ran at her one final time. Slower because of his injuries, but with halberd raised to again try and cleave Siobhan in half.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Siobhan took a deep breath. She was covered in sweat and still in a good deal of pain, but she was well enough. Once again the reptilian Warlord charged her, though his speed was slowed because of his injuries. This was good.


It had become time to end this. She gave no response to his cry of defiance. At least not a verbal one. Siobhan activated her jetpack to pull herself into the air as she focused. Titanic telekinetic willpower crunched down upon the lizard's neck in an attempt to crush his windpipe. Master Level Force Choke, Darth Vader style.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Tempest"]


Private Summers, who earlier had been so worried about the Countess' safety, was now looking awfully fangirlish! "Did you see that? She just chucked the huge lizard like he's a ragdoll! He's bloody on fire."


Freya suppressed a sigh. Leave it to a new recruit to puff up the Boss' ego even more. That was the last thing anyone needed. "Yes, now stop staring like a fool, maggot, or I'll box you. We're still on a freaking battlefield with a load of big, angry lizards," she barked with all the authority that only a Sergeant could have. Even if the Warlord died, his minions might still fight on.


"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," the Private visibly winced and straightened, holding her bolter tight.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]
Sael choked, struggled, thrashed at her with his halberd and even unleashed a last jet of flame. To no avail, there was a crack and he fell like a stone to the ground.

The Kraal watched the battle’s end, raised their weapons to Siobhan in salute.
“The victory is yours,” one of them, an Atabeg (Captain) called. “What is your decision, do we leave or do we fight until death?” he asked.

The Kraal levelled their weapons at Firemane troops, but did not fire, it would be a great dishonour to do so.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Siobhan breathed in deeply, pondering. It was so tempting to order the Firemane soldiers to attack...but she'd made an agreement. Moreover, while she'd win she would probably lose some of her own people. Admittedly that was a soldier's lot.


The ground shook when she dropped down from the air and deactivated her jetpack. Then she removed her helmet, allowing the Kraal to behold her scarred face. Her hair was matted in sweat. "Your leader fought honourably. You may leave, without your spoils. Remember this face. Tell your leaders that I am The Kerrigan and will crush anyone who trespasses upon my lands and harms my subjects." Wow, that was dramatic and corny. Siobhan, stop watching Game of Stars.