Sibling Rivalry

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]



"Well, I'm glad you aren't hanging around a cult anymore."


He was quite biased but at least big sister seemed to agree with some of his views. Snow crunched underfoot as they worked their way to the hangar. Makai reached out to take her arm as they moved onto a sidewalk that was still a bit icy, picking their way through to a side door.


Slightly warmer inside the hangar, TIEs were lined up. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop as he directed Big Sis to 'his' bomber.


"Guess everyone took the day off."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


The hangar was terribly deserted. TIEs were all lined up in an orderly lined. "Oh, that's convenient. I'll give my old smuggling pals a call. So much tech just waiting for someone to come along and grab it," Elpsis said with a completely straight face, then burst into a fit of giggles. "Kidding. Left that life behind me." She hadn't been that good at it anyway.


"So that's it," she spoke once they'd reached Makai's bomber. Of course, she could not 'see' it in the conventional way, but she'd encountered TIEs back before she'd lost her sight. After all, they were the go-to fighter and bomber craft for Sith, Imperials and the like. Much like any Republic or Alliance used X-Wings. Even though almost a millennia had passed since the days of Luke Skywalker.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]



"If something gets stolen I don't know anything, I'm just the little guy."


Makai offered a shrug even as his sister started laughing. Of course Elpsis had been involved in smuggling. What else would a blind Force user do for employment?


Scale speckled hand came to slap against the TIE bomber. It was upgraded but from what he learned it was basically unchanged for hundreds of years. Much like a boat or basic housing architecture. Hollow metallic sound echoed through the hangar.


"Yep." Makai glanced over at her. "I think this thing has been in commission longer than you or I have been alive. Its like a flying coffin."


He stepped away to grab a ladder up into the cockpit. Might as well let big sis look around a starfighter she probably had seen a hundred times over.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


Elpsis shrugged nonchalantly. "Flying coffin, huh? Sio says the same about my freighter. Actually, that's one of the more polite terms she uses." Elpsis, it is a flying coffin, held together by spit, duct tape and glue.


She poked around the antique bomber a bit. It sure felt ancient. She would not be surprised if it had come off the assembly line during ol' Palpy's days. Or of that hologram dude who came after him. What was his name again? Something silly. She'd read that he'd died like a punk. It had kinda torn him up.


Anyhow, Makai fetched a ladder and so she climbed into the craft. . "Geez, you weren't kidding about this thing being a coffin. Could use an air refreshener." she said teasingly.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]


"Hey! I'm a growing boy with a changing body. We all can't smell like the cheap perfume of a latest conquest."


There was a playful grin. There was nothing better he found than having a real life sister to tease. Elpsis was especially fun because she could troll as equally well back. Dark hair was poked down into the cockpit where Elpsis sat, mentally noting it did smell a little ripe in there. Wasn't telling her that though.


"I don't think both of us can fit." Eyes took in the bomber. "Might have to scrap the entire 'blowing up ice' but it sounds like you've already flew something like this before? Boy they must been desperate if they were hiring blind pilots. Guess a girl has to earn a living."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


"And that's why I have conquests, both cheap and expensive, and you don't," Elpsis just had to retort, though her tone was goodnatured and more teasing than offensive. The ripe smell inside the bomber caused her to crinkle her nose a bit. Good thing Spire was not here.


His subsequent comment caused her to glare at him though. "Hey, I'll have you know that I'm a pretty good pilot. Shoulda seen me in my smuggling days. Ran my share of blockades, went up against TIEs." This was true, though she was exaggerating more than a little. Han Solo she was not. "One of my buddies and I hijacked a cruiser once," she boasted. This was true, but then they'd crashed it on a desert planet.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]


"Smuggling days?"


Makai was trying not to laugh as he repeated her statement. Elpsis was roughly twenty or so if he remembered correctly. He was sixteen, only a four year age gap. While he had not known Elpsis for an extremely long time -roughly two years or so. There had been no talk of smuggling rings or hijacking ships. The half-Galan would admit that his sister was a bit wilder back then but he was never told these tales of a slightly criminal nature.


"So where are your criminal buddies now? Waitin' for them to get out of the pen to rejoin a life of debauchery?"

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


"Old history," Elpsis responded off-handedly, then furrowed her brow slightly. "Well, not that old when you think about it. Feels that way though. From before I hooked up with Firemane," she added. "Needed to make a living somehow after I ran away from the stupid Jedi." She'd done some other stuff in between, but she did not want to talk about that. Some it was rather shameful, from her perspective.


"An older captain showed me the ropes. She was hot. Died in a shootout. Got my own ship then. Haven't really had much contact with my old criminal buddies since going legal. Comes in handy sometimes though. First time I met [member="Tempest"] was when a job on Arkas went south."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]


"Showed you the ropes? You mean shared her bed and mooched off her profits in exchange. My sister, the business harlot."


There was some laughter as he grinned again. It wasn't exactly difficult thinking Elpsis had done illegal activities in the past. She had a wildstreak after all. A question burned in his mind though, one he was going to ask. For him it was simplistic but he doubted it would be for Elpsis. Nothing was ever simple for Elpy, except smuggling and stealing ships apparently.


"Why don't you just work for Firemane? I mean, you'd probably get better pay and a semi-cushy position. Women to lord over, to have at your beck and call. Sounds like everything you love."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]


"I do work for 'em. Sorta. Tag along on missions, burn bad guys, heal wounded, help out at refugee camps and stuff. Just...not really part of the hierarchy. Not big on orders, ranks, uniforms or teaching Paddies how to swing a glowstick and lift rocks. And being responsible if they leave a battlefield alive or in bodybags." Responsibility was the key word. Elpsis was very averse to it.


"'sides, Sio doesn't like me. Tegs is real good and supportive, but any time Sio looks at me, it feels like she's judgin' me and deciding I don't measure up to her standards, no matter what I do."

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]


"I get it. From what I've heard no one can really measure up to her standards. Harder though since she's Tegs wife, I mean its not like you have many people to go to complain and drink about her."


Makai rested against the TIE, listening as a supportive brother should. Idea was creeping into his head as he stared down at Elpsis. She probably wouldn't appreciate or like the idea but he had to throw it out there. After all what were little brothers for if not horrible ideas?


"You could work for my Dad. I've worked on the salvage lines, you can have as much or as little responsibility. Or he does mining too, if you can work somewhere that is a couple kilometers underground. Overseeing the equipment or helping identity ore sites or something. Something to think about....its not waving your fancy glowsticks and lifting rocks but..."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


Indeed it was not easy. Not every Firemane employee was a diehard Kerrigan fanatic. The woman's egotism and personality cult were the butt of many jokes behind her back. But she'd built Firemane, and shed her own blood for it. That created an attachment. It made things awkward for Elpsis.


"Yeah, ain't easy. And Sio killed that piece of chit that called itself my dad. So I sorta owe her," Elpsis said quietly. She made a face when Makai made his offer. Well, he was her little brother, so making bad suggestions was his job.


"Dude, no offence, but that ain't for me. Appreciate the offer, but yeah, I'll manage. Tegs wants to do exploration stuff, so maybe I'll fit in there." Boldly going where no Firemane has gone before...Presumably it would be more like a genderflipped Kirk. Just as long as it wasn't Janeway.

 

[Makai Dashiell]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]


Makai wasn't sure how exactly Elpsis owed someone for killing an excuse for a father. Paid hit? Probably not but there was always a possibility. If Elpsis felt beholden then there must have been some type of circumstances that his big sister didn't want to share. As much as he wanted to ask he didn't want to pry. Wasn't his right.


"Conquering new lands in the name of red hair,eh?" Makai have a small smile. "Try not to commit too much genocide on the way."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Makai Dashiell"]


Elpsis made a face and elbowed Makai slightly. "No, I leave that to the faux lightsiders. I'll just boldly go where no Firemane has bone before and seduce cute alien babes," she declared. Oh, if only things were that simple. Unfortunately for Elpsis, her writer was kind of a sadist...