((Sorry for the ridiculously long gap between updates. Here is a new one! Good rolls in this.))
ACT 3: Enemies Old and New
Tell Talli that you are very sad and need her to comfort you.
You call on Talli, asking her to help relieve you of the anguish you feel. As she is an integral part of your brain, she did see what you saw and understands. She tries her best, forcing the release of 'feel good' chemicals from the brain to try and lift your mood artificially. She also tries her best as distracting you, with other subjects and even a few other minor problems, like getting our of quarantine now that you seemed to be fine.
~~~***~~~
> Request medical attention.
Waking up fully, you request attention from the medical staff. Two nurses, one the burly male nurse and another, a sweet little woman, enter and start going through the motions of quarantine discharge. Seeing your state, they switch to psychoanalysis and, after hearing a rather cut down version of what you saw in your dreams and visions, prescribe some mild happy pills.
You start popping them as you leave the quarantine ward. Talli's actions as well as the mild happy pills start to take effect and eventually you start to feel your old self. You try to push what you relived to the back of your mind as you walk back to the quarters you share with your daughters.
~~~***~~~
They spoke of the powers of Katia's bloodline, let us find what those are. Give her some time to grieve and have her try to remember as Much of Tarlaithan Culture and homeworld locations as possible, along with the location at present of her sister if possible. Tell her friends of the memories, and swear the strongest tarlaithan oath she can remember (if none are strong enough, use a human or Morey oath) for revenge on the bastards who captured her and her sisters, and killed or mindraped her family. Be ready and vigilant as you awake, for the Von Uberbastard clan may be attacking (they are currently an unknown, it is as good a name as any, given their habits).
Goddamn it Khan, that was tragic and beautiful storytelling. Now it is time for Katia to suit up against the legion of sadistic Orks led by Dark Eldar.
You decide the first order of business should be to try and find out the secrets of your bloodline, which was mentioned in the flashback. You have no idea what they are or how to access them to see. You rack your brain trying to think of a way to find out about them and the only two options you can think of is either finding your sister and hoping she can remember enough to help you or you could try to find a Tarlaithan world, with the hope that your people are still around.
You decide you have grieved enough. Nothing gets done through crying, no matter how much you would love to break down again right now. You fix your sight on the future, and forge ahead ready to tackle any problems that come your way. As you centre yourself, you try to remember any possible titbits of Tarlaithan culture or homeworld locations.
Whilst the information regarding home-worlds is a blur, with barely more than a few hints at galaxies other than the Milky Way, the information regarding culture is rich and detailed. You skim over the information, refreshing yourself on your old customs and mannerisms.
You find that the Tarlaithan's had a complex system of hand and body gestures that complimented their speech, with each having its own meaning. The one used the most is the gesture of greeting, a fairly simple gesture involving both hands clasping each other coupled with a bow and a nod and a formal greeting if the person is unknown, a friendly greeting if the person is known and an intimate greeting if the person is close to you; either an embrace or for people very close to you, a kiss.
There are also several celebrations throughout the 24 Earth Month Tarlaithan calendar. On someones birthday, they have a celebration called a Relina which is essentially a birthday party. After a Tarlaithan turns 26, they have a marriage ceremony called a Tolvor for a male and a Valkor for a female, were they are usually married to the person they were betrothed to at age 18.
At age 16, Tarlaithan males and females go through a coming of age ceremony usually called a Gholt but can also be called either a Opolu, usually for males, or Ywlvik, usually for females. This is a very important time for a Tarlaithan as it means they exit formal education as well as becoming an adult in the eyes of the nation. They also gain the right to bare/sire children and to get married if they are so inclined.
There are also various old religious ceremonies and holidays despite few following the teachings any longer as well as government holidays throughout the year, although they are not particularly important.
After reminiscing about your people, you turn you mind to your sister. As part of your pact all those years ago, neither were to know where the other was exactly, however a general idea of where they were was agreed upon. As far as you can remember, the last place your sister was before your memory becomes fuzzy was somewhere in eastern Europe, possibly Russia. You can even remember her cover name; Vavara Aslanov. But that is all you remember.
~~~***~~~
You eventually come up to your room, and open the door. You are instantly greeted by your daughters, eager to talk. You shush them, and proceed to tell them about your memories, and as much about their Tarlaithan heritage as you can remember, however incomplete it is.
Once you finish, Anna is the first to speak up.
"And to think our mother was an alien......"You smile. "It just means I'm all the more special. Just remember what I told you, about the people wanting to know about and/or have power over my - our - bloodline. Be vigilant. That cyborg may only have been the beginning."
Both your daughters nod, their expressions darkening as they realise they will have to be constantly looking over their shoulder, even in the steadfastly secure Vanguard ships. You give the room anther once over, checking for anything out of the ordinary. It always pays to be vigilant.
"Tomorrow I will tell my brood sisters about my past, and my current situation. And after that, I will find my sister. She isn't safe. If they found me, they have found her. And an intergalactic incident is the last thing Earth needs."
"We'll help you, mum." Anna says, determination evident on her face. Katerinka nods and continues. "We will be with you. I'm sure your Brood and the Vanguard team you are in will help. This new enemy needs to be taken care of, especially as we dont know if they are friendly with the Balshaan or not. Two extremely advanced enemies is something the Vanguard, even with the council race's help, cannot defend against."
You nod in agreement. "I think that we do have one benefit, however. From my memories, the new enemy seems to prefer smoke and mirrors as well as quick, precise strikes over blatant brute force and open war. I cannot be sure, but if they do know of and are supporting the Balshaan, i doubt we'll see any new enemies on the field."
"One thing is for certain though...." You continue, your mood darkening with anger. "I swear by the blood of the Finquith, the great Tarlaithain destroyers, I will destroy those bastards totally and utterly, until not a soul remembers who and what they were. I wont let them get away with what they did to me and my family. They
will pay with their blood."
Your daughters actually back away from you, obviously scared. You smile and pull them forward into a hug, giving them a squeeze. They hug you back, all the tension gone. Finally, after some time, you pull away and set your minds to other things.
~~~***~~~
You turn your mind to the Brood and your team, and the fact that you have been gone too long. You set about planning out your to do list.
We must train vigouresly with our brood Unit. First we'll give them a name and motto
Name: The Unloved Sisterhood
Motto: So others may live
You first think about a name, however you do not know the Vanguards or Morey's conventions on naming, so you hold off for the minute, despite the fact you have several good names in your head at the moment that you would like to make official.
First: Basic Firearms training - We haven't been fighting or directing anything for quite awhile and we need to get back into the swing of things.
You ponder whether to do some weapons training. As you start putting a practice plan together, you realise that it has not been all that long since your last engagement with an enemy, and you doubt your brood has been sat about doing nothing for the past week and a half to two weeks.
There is also the matter of your mental and physical conditioning by both the Morey and the Vanguard. You highly doubt your skills have decreased in such a short period of time. Ditto for your Brood. However, you think it may be a good way of getting the various factions now with you - Slinkar, Morey and Vanguard - to bond and work together, so thats a plus.
You shelve the idea until you have had chance to talk to your brood.
Second: Anti-Ambushing warfare - The Baalshan have a big hunterlike personality on the battlefeild, therefore we need to know when were being watched and how to prevent them from having the upper hand in such a scenario.
Third: CQC - See what we can do about making sure our Unit isn't afraid of going in close with mass drivers to the face of those things or stabbing them. Maybe we can have a mock battle with some warlords? Asking won't hurt right?
Fifth: Mobility - We have to learn how to traverse any kind of terrain whether it be jungles, deserts, forests, mountains, or even flooded urban environments.
Anti-ambush tactics, mobility and CQC. Another three things that were conditioned into the Morey, Vanguard and Slinkar troops alike. However, again, it would be the ideal way to get your troops to bond and start working as a team. You do not know how they work at the moment, but you theorize that it is not 'well' by any means.
You also think that a refresher would be good, as most of the fighting that you have seen has been at range, apart from the boarding actions in the previous engagement, and you also remember how your troops complained in the jungles of the planet over the last five years. They put up with the trials that world threw at you and your brood, but they were a bit under-prepared for it. A refresher on mobility and survivability would be a good idea.
Fourth: Final solution - If they don't know about the suacide rule than there going to know NOW. Prefrebly we'd like to use a more explosive way of taking out an individual and the enemy at the same time but we'll settle for a laser to the dome.
You ponder a suicide pact. You do not think this will go down well with your troops, and you are not sold on it completely either, as to have something like this is tempting defeat. Some may also say it is accepting that one can never win against these enemies, which is not true. It has been done and can be done again in the future.
Sixth: Making sure everyone's on the same page. Vanguard, Morey, Slinkarr, and every other race WILL fall if something extraordinary isn't done soon to stop the menaces of the Imperium. The alternative is living in someone else's body for eternity never being fed life but continuing to live on. A life in fear or in shackles is a life not worth living.
You think about their moral and cohesion. You dont think there is anything else you can do apart from basic encouragement. Everyone knows we are in a tight spot to some degree. Few know just how tight is it. You decide that friendly encouragement and maybe some R&R when possible would do wonders. As well as possibly telling the truth about the situation.
You do not think you need to be worried about deserters. The Morey, Slinkar and Vanguard troops are loyal, steadfast and proud. The more you think about it, the more you realise that they will stick by you, through thick and thin.
Seventh: (An final one) we have to find our long lost sister. Let's talk to High Marshal Veldin personally. Ask for an appointment or w.e but we need to find her ASAP. she may hold clues to our past and information on who killed our parents/where we can find them.
Your thoughts drift back to your sister again. You realise that if you are going to track your sister, you will need to start soon.
You use the video communicator in your room to contact Veldin. Surprisingly, her picks up, despite you not having an appointment, nor actually knowing the man as anything more than a passing acquaintance.
"Hell Katia, What can i do for you?"
"I think you know some of my predicament, High Marshall, although not all of it. I do not have the time to tell you every detail, but you should know that an important part of our fight may be on Earth. She is my sister. Ever since my 'awakening' you could call it, I have remembered much of my people, my true people, and their ways and histories. However, my sister most likely knows where we can contact them. They would be strong and important allies in this war.
Please, allow me to take my Vanguard team, my Brood and some disguised Morey and Slinkar to Earth to search for my sister?"
You try to sound neutral in this. You dont want to sound as if you are begging to go.
It only takes the High Marshall a moment to come to a conclusion.
"Very well. Once we have arrived at our current course destination, I will make provisions to have you and your troops transported to earth to find this VIP. Get some rest, Katia. You'll need it. Earth has changed in the part few years. It will not be like you remember it. Veldin out."
He cuts the transmission with those words. You are slightly puzzled by what he means...Earth cannot have changed that much, can it?
Either way, you got your clearance, which can only be a good thing.....right?
~~~***~~~
What do you do now?
Status:1. Demeanor/Status: Calm.
2. Mental Condition: Mentally fit and stable.
3. Physical Condition: Extensive Scarring.
4. Clear thoughts and currently inactive mental factions.
Inventory:1. Mark 21 Phantom Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing) (Casual Mode)
2. Mark 21 Phantom Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Wearing) (Casual Mode)
Available Equipment:1. Mark 21 Phantom Powered Exoskeleton Suit (Wearing)
2. Mark 21 Phantom Powered Exoskeleton Helmet (Wearing)
3. Mk3 Plasma Beam Pistol (sidearm)
4. Mk 29 Mass Driver Sniper Rifle
5. Mk 32 Pulsed Hyper-Plasma Assault Rifle
6. Combat Engineering Equipment and explosives.
7. Various Vanguard casual clothes.
Implants and Augmentations:1. Vanguard Multi-range optics (Thermal, magnetic, IR, UV, multi-stage magnification etc) implant on eyes.
2. Vanguard Command and Control (C&C) nano-module implanted in head.
3. Vanguard Communications array nano-module implanted in head.
4. Phantom-Spec 28th generation Bio-nanomachines and bio-picomachines in blood stream, bones, muscles, tendons and organs.
6. Vanguard Nano-memory modules in the Cerebrum, holding all relevant non-personal data and nano-supercomputers throughout the brain aiding mental capabilities.
Brood Composition:1. Forward Command and communications: 10 Vat-born.
2. Field Combat Medic: 37 Vat Born
3. Long Range Specialists (Snipers): 48 Vat-Born
4. Heavy assault: 148 Vat-Born
5. Light Assault: 127 Vat-Born
6. Infiltrators: 27
7. Heavy Support: 77
8. Combat Engineers: 69
9. Scouts: 80
Allied Characters:1. Ala-Shar
2. Ankara
3. Ari
4. Elianna
5. Kaleetra
6. Talli
7. Dornishi, Morey regular Commander
8. Tirl-kha, Morey Commando Commander
9. Quish-ka, Morey Regular Commander
10. Annastasia
11. Levinia
12. High Marshall Veldin
13. Major General Hopfield
14. Kilroy
15. Emma
16. Willhelm
17: Matriach Belessa
18: Morey Grand General Ferray
19: Former-Presidentess Karista
Enemy Characters:1. Kirish, the Presidentess's assitant. (Deceased)
2. The Senatorium (Deceased)
3. New Guard Generals (Deceased)
Currently Neutral Relations:1. Brigadier Xander Berginstaff
2. Cecilia, the Medic.
((Now, bed time. I am dead on my feet and my eyes are hurting. Night!
PS: Sorry for any mistakes and grammar malfunctions. Too tired to proofread properly at the moment.))
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Topic: (SG) Starfire: War and Politics - Enemies Old and New - UPDATE 03/07/2014 (Read 87209 times)