Who We Are [Taeli]

[Fiolette Fortan]

"Care?"

"Sith do not care, forming attachments is a weakness."

Now it wanted to taunt her.

"She declares her love and accepts you, in time you will lose her too."

"And you will be back to the scared, lonely little Corellian that you are."

The Sith could offer at timetable the entity did not care. It wanted this one, it wanted the one who had access. Yes it enjoyed tormenting Fiolette and thriving from the feast of fears that she provided. A new vessel would not do. Fiolette desired, and the entity provided. "She will be mine, and there will be nothing that you can do, lest you face your own fears."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

"I conquered my fears a long time ago," she said, her eyes narrowing as it taunted her. Someone was being... very arrogant to think they could beat a flesh and blood Sith Lady. "I've heard enough from you for tonight. Just know this, if you were a true Sith, you would know a Sith draws power from ALL powerful emotions. You... you're just a no name spirit from a bygone era, a nobody that the historians didn't even bother recording your name on the records of the Sith."

Tired of talking with the entity, she called on the dark side.

"Tach'kaj anmudzuna," she intoned, her spell wrapping itself around the spirit and dragging it back towards the alchemical mark. A temporary fix, a simple banishment spell, but when the time came to be rid of the entity, oh... she would enjoy every single moment of its destruction.

Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled. Against the glass, the first drops of rain started to splatter.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette laid on her back with the sunlight dripping in from the windows. Sheets strewn across her body connecting her to Taeli. Taeli, her girlfriend laid not too far from her, Fiolette's right hand rested lazily atop of Taeli's body. Fiolette's eyes fluttered open, the sun had now done more than simply invaded the room. It had the nerve to wake her from her peaceful slumber. The red head stirred in the sheets and turned her body looking to block the sunlight with her back to little to no avail. "Morning." She greeted the brunette with a smile and a small kiss. Her azure blue eyes seemed to be at peace as she smiled, Fiolette snuggled into Taeli's form.

She was in no rush, not after last night.

Last night there was honesty, and she most certainly appreciated it.

The home was quiet with the exception of the tropical music from downstairs as it hummed its way up. She shifted in the pristine white sheets, the tee shirt soft sheets beneath her body as she watched Taeli for another moment. Content to be there with her, "mhmm morning beautiful." She laughed a little, "I know you're not exactly a morning person, so, why don't I go get us some caf?" Fiolette gave the brunette a soft kiss to the cheek. Unfolding herself from the bed, the Galidraani stood to her feet and grabbed at a long tee shirt from her dresser, it was a white shirt with the First Imperial Naval Athletics. Written across on the front and a set of cities on the back. She padded down stairs and checked her terminal for messages while making caf.

One of her messages had been from the Sith-Imperial Navy. She wondered if it had something to do with her recent trip to Kuat, so she opened it and read as the caf brewed.

She shifted her lips to the side and placed the terminal on a charging station in the living room before looking at the mess in the kitchen. "Mhmm, will deal with that later."

Fiolette poured the fresh caf into two cups, and set each up per their preferences.

Ascending the stairs once more she rounded the corner, down the hall and into the bedroom.

"Here you are," she said setting the cup of caf down on the bedside table as she herself sat on the edge of the bed.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

"Morning," she muttered sleepily, enjoying the feel of Fio cuddled up next to her. Her enlightening midnight conversation was still on her mind, but her bleary eyes cleared as she smiled at the redhead. Returning the soft kiss to the cheek, she muttered, "Caf sounds amazing right now."

Stretched a little on the bed as Fio threw on a shirt, she drew the covers over herself, enjoying the feel of the linens on her skin. Sitting up, propping herself against the pillows, she waited for Fio to return. A flick of her attention, and her datapad floated over to rest in her hand. The timer was that much closer, and she had a message waiting from one of her agents. Swiping left to open it, she quickly read the message before sending a reply. Confirmation on the split in the Vanguard's crew, and her orders to attempt to capture Teth alive.

Fio re-entered the room, two steaming mugs of caf in her hands.

"Thank you," she said, reaching over to grab the mug and take a sip. Oh yes, that was a good roast. It was the little things in life, and already she could feel herself waking up more. "Last night was... fantastic," she added.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette smirked and brought her own cup of caf up to her lips. "It was, and so were you." She leaned over and pressed her lips to Taeli's bare shoulder, blissfully unaware of her lover, girlfriend had talked with the entity that had been the cause of so much turmoil over the past few months. As of this morning? She couldn't be happier, as if those past few months had been worht it if it all led to this moment. "So what did you want to do today?" She asked casually, taking another sip of caf. Hi-Sense implants activated with a blink as she searched the room for the holo, she had recently upgraded her implants to allow her some control on minor items such as.

The holo projector that displayed the news, part of Corellia Digital Services's package. Galactic Broadcasting Corporation, one of the many subsidaries she was sure but looked back over to Taeli. "In the spirit of being honest, Hi-Sense implants." She gestured to her eyes and looked back over to the projection of the news. "I really just wanted the weather update... there we go." Channel changed and the weather update was given just after the headlines. "Mhmm tropical storm? Well I suppose sailing is out of the question."

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

Taeli smiled, giving a small kiss against Fio's neck in response to the one on her shoulder. She pondered the question, and outside, she could see the winds picking up as the tropical storm started to blow in. Was it the same one from last night or a new one? Well that limited their options, at least for awhile. The implants were intriguing, her mind already considering how they might work and how they could be improved on. She was sure Doctor Votoc would have a field day with them, considering he was beginning forays into nanotechnology.

"Well, before we do anything, I need to get some practice in," she said, sipping at her caf. "Morning workout routine, as it were."

She took another sip of her caf, and it would be obvious to Fio that each sip was getting her more energized for the day.

"Do you happen to have a spot where I could go through my forms?" she asked.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

"I do," Fiolette shut off the holoprojector and set her cup of caf down on the bedside table.

She motioned for Taeli to follow her, once she was dressed and ready to follow. "It is not attached to the house, but it is a short walk away."

"Morning workout routines, mhmm?" Fiolette inquired as they descended the steps. She hadn't remembered seeing Taeli workout before, and this was Fio waking up early to begin her own workout routines. Jogs, weights, whatever the day needed to start with. Although she supposed that now they were out in the open, "well at least I won't be alone in the gym in the mornings." She gave Taeli a playful wink as she headed out of the back door padded down the deck past the pool and onto a path paved wtih stone. "Right over here." They passed the scenes of calm waters - perhaps a calm before the storm she wondered. The small gym, and what may have passed for a meditation room matched the house's architecture and held a small washroom of its own. "And this way." Fio moved to show Taeli the sauna, and then, "down over here." A small hottub on a deck that overlooked the waters.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

Smiling as she finished her caf, and rolled out of bed finally, she gave her hips a little wiggle as she threw on a pair of undergarments and tight clinging pair of workout pants and shirt. From her bag, a lightsaber hilt floated out into her hand. Following her girlfriend out of the main house and to a small adjacent building that contained the gym, it was a nice setup. Nice and clear space, plenty of equipment, even a hottub and washroom for easing aches after a strenuous time.

"It's perfect," Taeli said, leaning in to give her a soft kiss. "I would stand back though."

Going to the center of the gym, she brought her lightsaber up, igniting it. A crimson blade shone a bright light around the room, the hum filling the air as she brought it up into a Makashi ready position. Cracking her neck, she started going through several forms and sequences, as if sparring against an unseen enemy. Concentration on her face, she moved and pretended to parry a blade, working through her next sequence. A good warmup anyways.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette returned the kiss and turned to head to the washroom. She might have a pair of shorts in there, always keep spare clothes around she slipped into her shorts once she found them and flipped the tee shirt over the waist band. Walking back out she leaned up against the wall and watched Taeli work. She'd never truly seen a lightsaber, nor been around a Force User. And now, here she was with a beautiful force user to adore. Fiolette admired Taeli for a few moments longer before she headed over to where most of the equipment rested. There she began to warm up her body with simple stretches, working her body up. Fiolette after fifteen to twenty minutes of warm went to work on her routine. First cardio, then weight and resistance training - hair was pulled back into a makeshift bun as she started up the treadmill.

The hum of the lightsaber was a bit distracting, but she had to focus.

Fiolette rolled out the small ear pieces from the treadmill and set them in. Not wanting to disturb Taeli's exercises with her music, she increased the treadmill's speed and off she went. In a galaxy at war, running and building up stamina was an absolute requirement. She began to feel the weight of the shirt on her back and moved to tie it up giving herself a little more breathing room as she kept pace on the treadmill.


[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

As she continued working through her forms, she couldn't help but notice Fio starting her own workout routine in the corner of her eye. Finishing one sequence, but before she went into the next one, she stopped to take a moment to admire her girlfriend as she ran on the treadmill, ear buds in. She supposed the hum of a lightsaber could be annoying for someone that had not been around them very long. Smiling, she started into her next sequence against her imaginary opponent.

Small beads of sweat slid down her cheek, and Taeli took another moment to garb her long hair, pulling it back into a ponytail. As she did all that, her lightsaber floated in front of her. Once her hair was out of her eyes, she grabbed the hilt and continued her sequence.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette looked over a moment and saw as Taeli pulled her hair back.

She smirked.

The Galidraani continued her workout on the treadmill, and her eyes wandered again. They drank in the sight of Taeli's workout, Fiolette exhaled and steadied herself focused on her run. Blood pumping, heart beating, sweat falling taking a breath she exhaled and finished up her run. From there she would move over to the pull up bar and begin with the simple sets and reps there. For a moment her mind wandered to the old contests back in the Atrisian Empire, as a member of the enlisted she and the others would compete. As an officer it was worse - but it was so much fun. Her mind wandered to the work she wanted done, the new bone density weave, muscle fiber treatments - all in the efforts to enhance herself. As someone without the force she was at a disadvantage.

Fiolette pulled her body up and then let it back down.

Thoughts occupied by plans for the future.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

Another sequence down, with a sigh, she took a few breaths and chanced to look over at Fiolette. She had shifted to pull ups and... Taeli couldn't help admiring how her muscles moved, or the strength being shown. No wonder she had been able to lift Taeli up last night. Cracking her neck and wiping the sweat from her brow away, she activated her lightsaber's hidden feature. The hilt suddenly telescoped out, becoming almost as long as a quarterstaff.

Taeli would shift into different sequences, using both the blade and the shaft of her lightsaber pike to fight off enemies, both a single opponent and then multiple imaginary enemies. She would need the practice for this alright, considering it would be the first time she would use this weapon against the Jedi. They would only be familiar with her other lightsabers, but not this one. Oh, she could already taste the surprise that would be coming in just a few days.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette finished up her pull up reps and moved to pat herself down a towel when she noticed Taeli working on...

Her eyes were just drawn to the brunette who practiced with the now-quarterstaff-like lightsaber. Fiolette stood there mouth agape for at least a few moments before shaking herself out of the trance and moving to get some water for herself. She also grabbed a water bottle for Taeli and set it on a bench out of the way and then decided to tackle the salmon ladder. Fiolette hated this one but she had to get it mastered it would be like the pull up bar but worse in that she'd have to use her upper body strength to power up and down each rung.

From there she knew it would be time to work on leg strength and resistance.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

Finishing up her latest sequence of forms with a twirl of the saber pike, she stopped to take a breather for a moment... and her eyes traveled over to where Fiolette was doing her latest rep in her routine. She couldn't help herself from staring as she did the salmon ladder, using her strength to move up the ladder with the pole in her hands. Disengaging the blade of her lightsaber for a moment, she leaned on the staff and just watched, summoning the water bottle Fio had left out for her to hand.

Breaking the seal on the cap, she took a long drink from it, enjoying the coolness. Shaking herself free from the mesmerizing view of her girlfriend's form, she reignited her lightsaber blade and started on her final sequence of forms. Twirling the blade this way and that, stabbing out like it was a spear before bashing an invisible enemy over the head with the shaft, she pretended to move her way through a battlefield, graceful as only a trained warrior could do.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette finished up the last her reps just as Taeli moved to finish her sequences.

Dropping down from the ladder and watched her girlfriend for a moment or two and sighed happily for a moment. "You look amazing darling." She said with a wink as she headed over to the dumb bells, Fiolette did a few stretches and rolled her shoulders back and got down to work. First the quads, extending and flexing when the hip was extended - barbell full squats. Fiolette gritted through the initial burn and pain and then began the reps. Sweat poured through as she worked the sets and reps, once she had completed this she moved to hack squats. Leg extensions would be next but she decided on another break - and grabbed the bottle of water from where it sat on the bench. Just in time to see her girlfriend stab out with the staff, another smile as she drank more water.

She grabbed a towel and patted herself removing sweat from her body and then moved to a machine specified for leg extensions.

Eventually she had gone through her workout routine in full, and exhaled. She eyed the hot tub for a second but thought better on it and decided to head into the sauna to relax her muscles.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

She heard Fio, but she was so engrossed in her sequence that her only response was to give her a small smile. She did watch, out of the corner of her, Fio start going through her leg workout. With a final flourish, she finished her sequence, disabling the blade and retracting the pike hilt to a normal one handed hilt. With a sigh, and the water bottle quickly being emptied as she drank, she watched Fio go into the sauna to relax her muscles. Now that was an absolutely marvelous idea.

Placing the hilt of her lightsaber on the bench, she made silently followed her girlfriend over towards the sauna. Spotting a towel, she had a devilish idea. A few moments later, she was slipping into the steamy sauna... with only a towel wrapped around her.

"Mind if I join you dear?" she asked, a sly grin on her face.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette sat in the sauna relaxed, letting her muscles relax and when she heard the door the woman looked over. Her eyes went wide and mouth dropped, "I- I- yes, of course." She exhaled and moved over patting a spot for Taeli to join her on. Fiolette chewed on the inside of her lip almost debating what she was going to do, and then she waited for Taeli to sit down before she moved closer to the brunette.

[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=355Fk8drgZE[/media]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

By midday, the storm had arrived in full force, rain splattering against the windows and roof of the house. Thunder rumbled, and over the water, lightning flashed. Not that either Fiolette or Taeli really were paying attention to the weather. They had retreated to the living room, both curled up on the coach while a movie played on the vid screen. Taeli had found some sort of snack item that, once heated, had exploded into edible kernels that were surprisingly delicious.

Nestled against Fio, wearing just a pair of pajama pants and a loose t-shirt, Taeli was enjoying just the sheer... simplicity of it all. She had not been able to enjoy something like this in... a very very long time. Maybe even since college. Her datapad was near her hand though, sitting on the coach, the timer still ticking away.

"I'm not sure this movie is historically accurate," she said, watching an actor portray the legendary Luke Skywalker swing across a chasm with an actress that looked like his equally famous sister Leia Organa.

 

[Fiolette Fortan]

Fiolette wore a pair of gray sweat pants and a sleeveless blue shirt with Taeli nestled against her. She had an arm wrapped around her as they watched the holo, her own hand terminal was beside her on the couch messages buzzed in but she paid them no mind. "I rather like the special effects," she said for it, nothing like a nice explosion or two. It was yet another story of the 'Rebel Alliance' and their defeat of the Galactic Empire. "Mhmmm, I will give it one thing at least the ancient Galactic Empire was - more competent than the its current incarnation. I believe Grand Moff Tarkin has rolled in his grave thrice over by now."

Another buzz.

"Oh Balance be, what in the Galaxy..."

She grabbed her terminal with her free hand and brought it to face. Fiolette's brow furrowed and she untangled her arm from Taeli, "just a moment darling..." A hand in her hair as she typed out a message to Yasha Mantis, and then swiped over to send a reply to Sith-Imperial Naval Command.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Fiolette Yvarro"]

"The actor they got for Tarkin is impeccable, at least as far as I have seen from images in history texts. Maybe they used a computer to make him, or a HRD?" she said, her own datapad vibrating as a message arrived, and then another. Seemed both she and Fiolette were rather popular all of a sudden. Reaching out, she took her own datapad in hand, swiping to see what the messages were. One from an agent on Lothal stating the system was all prepped for Fleet Day, the other was from one of her Paradox Adepts.

That one garnered more attention from her. Shifting in Fio's embrace, she started typing a response. Her Adept had been working on a few last minute conversions, mostly among the Jedi Sentinels. Surprisingly, and to Coren's credit, they and SIS were the hardest organizations to actually infiltrate.

"So what is that all about?" Taeli asked, glancing up at Fio before popping a few kernels into her mouth. On the holo, someone wearing Darth Vader armor was dueling the legendary Obi-Wan Kenobi. The effects might be good, but for the Balance, that choreography was terrible.