EliteCommander

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

~| Day 3, 18:01 - 18:05 GST |~
~|Location: In orbit of Tatooine|~

Vebra gave a deep grin as he heard the familiar voice of Lyric on the line. "Well when you only gets shore leave every so often one is inclined to spend as much time with Twi'leks as possible. Besides, they taste better than your cigarras anyways” Vebra had to exert quite a bit of control to not burst into immature laughter. It was good to hear from an old friend, even if the circumstances were less than ideal. He took his right hand out from his robes once again and opened up his own personal datapad on the underside of his forearm. He opened a place to keep notes and quickly input the frequency they were using onto it just in case he had to use it again soon.

“With that much female hormones in the room, I’m surprised you’ve not gotten sore merely by standing in the same room.” Lyric stated, recalling the Zabrak’s ability to sense and use scent as part of their culture. It ended to useful despite his teasing tone toward his friend, his lips curled up into a light smile while he adjusted his footing. He knew he was going to be standing here for a while and aimed to get comfortable. His arms, unable to touch his smoke, crossed over his chest where they rested and stopped from shifting about. “So, you either came to check up on me which is unnecessary or you have another reason. Personally, if it’s the one I’m assuming then we could really use your help. Namely as few have answered the request for aid already.”

His body leaned over the console with his palms flat and his weight shifted forward. He looked into the screen as if he expected the very answer that Vebra was going to give.

Fa alternated between keeping watch down the hallway, and leaning in to hear the conversation more clearly. Personally, she still felt like this was a message that Vebra should have sent before they put themselves on a transport to Tatooine, but it at least seemed like Lyric was open to aid. Of course, now it sounded like they might have trouble getting enough men to pull off this rescue. Regardless, she and Vebra were more than used to dangerous assignments.

“Well, we are in orbit above Tatooine right now, and I can tell you that it’s definitely not for a vacation.” Fa chimed in, making her presence known. Vebra had directly interacted with Lyric more frequently than she had during the war, but she was not a person that could be easily forgotten, particularly for one as well-educated as a Jedi. Tiss’shar were virtually unknown by most in the galaxy, so she tended to attract the curiosity of others.

“Well…as you can tell I brought the kid along, hope you don’t mind. Though considering that anyone with a transmitter could pick up on us right now I’ll keep it brief. You know I’m not one to sit idly by while..” Vebra paused for a moment, if they were being listened to he had to choose his words now.” The nerfs are being kept in pens. It’s not like either of our companies are going to do much about it. So, we’re here for whatever you need. Where would be a good place for us to meet? We have all the gear we should need for a party but carrying it all could be cumbersome while in action.” Vebra began to hope he wasn’t being too nonspecific for this type of operation.

This type of paranoia from Vebra was due to a particular operation on Ord Mantell going bad because the locals picked up on their comm chatter. Things got very ugly very fast then and he assumed the Empire could repeat that for them with a smile. The imps were most assuredly set up on Tatooine, anywhere the Republic tried to build something they were always following close behind. He almost admired that about them.

“Tattooine, the litter box of the galaxy.” Lyric chuckled, slightly amused before he continued.

“Best spot to go shit digging, water vapor mining, and more if you don’t mind the slug and pest infestation. At least if you enjoy that for a vacation. As for bring the kid, I don’t mind as right now we are understaffed with only two employees reporting for duty and one loner who seems she does better working by herself due to conflicting methods. The humorous part is that she is a senior employee of almost equal rank to me. the bad part, this means we’re without a manger for hands on events.” Lyric’s tone sounded a bit bitter over the mention of Kinsa, her departure putting Lyric without a field commander and seemed to weaken their power over all. He quickly casted it away for the moment as he redirected his mind and regained his calm in the same fluid moment. He absorbed Vebra’ hidden message and nodded in understanding. He inhaled a moment, taking a breath, then added more.

“I understand your concern about the wee beasties but we don’t have full details on their habitat conditions or treatment. Not even how many are onboard until the surveillance footage is recovered from the building our competition ended up wiping out in a blind sided tactic. We don’t know how many they officially have or where they are being kept.” He paused a moment, his breathing steady and body leaned upright to face the console more comfortably. “Currently my employee’s are retrieving information over a rare procession used by our competition. You might want to start in Mos Eisely, that’s where my employee had docked and started from. They will likely still be there.”

“ I’m hoping by finding the maker, we could find a trail leading to a successful road. They might’ve ran into trouble through and could use the extra help. As for storage,” Lyric gestured to the nearest staff officer to to check the storage and see how much room they had, “I’m pretty sure we can store anything you want to bring here as we’ve got a lot of space.”

Fa thought briefly on how to go about saying what she intended to convey while Lyric spoke. She supposed it would not be suspicious to mention armor, as long as she did not specify that it was Republic armor. This far from the core, it would attract even more attention to her than her species. She could always go without it, though she would have to hope there were no sandstorms, as the sand would be quite harsh on her scales.

“Good, good. I don’t think I prepared enough coming here, honestly. I’d rather not wear my armor around the city; it doesn’t seem appropriate for the place. Perhaps I can pick up a robe somewhere? Perfect attire for the desert. Anyway, I’m here to help however I can; I’m sure you know that I have ‘leadership experience.’ Should we stop by your current location first and offload supplies, or seek out your employees once we land?” Fa asked. Given that they did not actually know what Lyric’s Jedi were specifically doing on Tatooine, they could use a more detailed briefing, but if Lyric’s rescue mission was indeed understaffed, then he might just allow his Jedi on the surface to fill them in on the specifics.

Vebra muted the microphone for a moment. “They already have a ship, well it’s likely where Lyric is sitting right now. As far as cloaks go I’ll nab you one on our way out. Maybe we’ll even match!” Vebra said making sure to accentuate his brow when he said they would match. Unmuting the microphone Vebra continued. “If I give you some coordinates could you do a meet up? While I’m fine hoofing it dropping our things off at the apartment would be ideal.” Vebra actually had a place in mind already that he had used on his first mission to the desert world years ago. I was close enough to the space port to be only a few minutes walk but discrete enough to not draw too much suspicion of a Republic dropship moving in and out fast enough.

He didn’t like how vague they were having to be to keep a reasonably secure line of communication. Though it was still better than some of the jargon that used on Republic battle comms, so it had that going for it. “When we meet up I’ll have you tell me all about the surprise party your friends threw the other day. I heard it was killer party, sorry I missed it.” He began to wonder how much he would actually be able to get from the holorecordings that they likely had of the sacking. At the very least though he needed to see it for himself.

“Again, I won’t look a gift Bantha in the mouth if I can help it.” Lyric stated then smirked at Fa’s offering to help, his thoughts for a moment lingered on the encounters with her. There was something off about her but he never pried. It could’ve been her truthful conversations on the force, the rare neutral, which he found to be a slight shame. He at least relieved it wasn’t negative or like the Sith ,a fact that would’ve caused serious issues later on down the road. Then again, the galaxy was filled with different sorts. That much was for sure. ”Fa, your skills in that area my staff requires would help greatly appreciated and as for your gear, that’s your judgement call. However, I will admit it might be rather… rough down there. Tatooine, isn’t a tourist attraction just because it’s a waterless wasteland.”

At Vebra’s jump in request, Lyric frowned at being interrupted then resisted the name on the tip of his tongue to call the Zabrak. Something in Ul’Zabrak and even Vebra would’ve found offensive, enough to know Lyric didn’t like being cut off in conversation. He shifted to answer the comment about creating a meet up and paused to think. His teeth had bitten through the dark wrap, scattering a bit of spice into his mouth and tongue, making him fight not to spit it out. It was clear he was in deep thought over the request before he spoke. “I think it might be better if I tell them to stay put then give you coordinates to meet them. Namely if they are already collecting information or having trouble, making that date might be rather hard. I hate to make you wait too long after all. Coming back to the ship would be wasted energy the company might not appreciate us using carelessly.”

Lyric’s fingers flew over the console, not allowing either to stop him, while he wrote the message into a format that looked relatively...normal. It would appear over Vebra’s datapad as a simple, ancient shipping receipt of a legit business, one often seen being used by multiple sources. There was no secret encryption to decode or anything to make it suspicious. It was by all accounts a forged receipt with the Jedi’s location at a place known for metal scrapping things from ship parts to droids, the address highlight for convenience.

“Merely arrive there to meet my employees. I’ll inform them of your arrival so they aren’t assuming you’ve come to cheat them out of their job. Work for you Vebra?”

As Vebra received the receipt for droid salvage he thought for a second that the Jedi had lost his mind and had sent him the wrong thing. But he quickly picked up on the information that he would need to get them to the Jedis on the ground already. He briefly remembered that the Jedi had given him fire over interrupting him before but this just made Vebra grin. Anything he could do to make that cigarra chomping mug do a double take and him not be able to do a single thing about it was amusing to him. His mind drifted back to the idea of captured Jedi for just another moment and the thought of what they were more than likely doing to them. Fighting each other to the death was always a favorite, then again so was alchemical experimentation. While Vebra’s smile was replaced with a neutral face he was very careful to not allow the facade of a cool headed leader crack.

Vebra quickly checked the rust bucket of a ship they were on itinerary. They were scheduled to land down in the port in about an hour and from there Vebra would most likely need to procure Ronto just to speed up their travel time. “Hmm, looks like this salvage is a bit far from the port. We’ll grab some local transport over there and could be there before the GST day is over. I do suppose the company was always a cheapskate.”

A hilarious image came to Vebra’s head involving local transportation and Twi’leks which brought a smile to his face again but this one was much more of self satisfaction. “Make sure you tell your employees to not be afraid of matching robes. Last thing we need is another incident corporate on corporate violence. We know how you like to keep em all riled up for a sale. Oh and Lyric, I’ll try to save some of the local women for you.” Vebra laughed albeit a stifled snicker would be a more appropriate description. He waited a few more moments awaiting a response from the Jedi before disconnecting him and the datapad. Then he heard a loud banging noise down the corridor on his right. The side that Fa wasn’t watching.

Fa believed she understood well enough the plan once they landed. They could not exactly control where this ship was going to land, but it was at least not prohibitively far from the address she leaned in to see on Vebra’s datapad. Mos Eisley was the largest settlement on the planet, and while that was certainly not saying much, it at least meant that it was the first destination for most ships coming from off-world. There was still the matter of figuring out what exactly they were supposed to be doing once they met Lyric’s Jedi, but the unsecured line prevented them from learning that. She supposed it would just have to be a surprise. Until then, she would need to keep as low of a profile as possible for a heavily armed and entirely unique reptilian in Republic armor obscured only by a thin layer of cloth.

Smiling, Fa directed a laugh at Vebra before he cut off the call. “Local women? I suppose Jawas need affection as well, though I don’t think Lyric will mind if you keep them all for yourself.” She began before the loud banging from the other side of the corridor immediately captured her attention. Cutting out the jokes, she quickly grabbed the panel and motioned for Vebra to get out of her way. “Quick, unplug that thing and move.” She whispered.

Lyric listened to Vebra, and nodded, his face not revealing much about his inner thoughts. Through on the inside he was relieved to have more assistance in the aid effort through part of him wonder if it was enough and what condition the Jedi would be in when they did arrive. How many would they have to put down during the rescue when they got there? Lyric shuddered, inwardly, at the thought of what they might find. He couldn’t help but wonder if Vebra and Fa were prepared to killed allies now turned enemies.
Lyric was enjoying the banter before a banging was heard over the communications.The master’s face became serious, his voice become immediately silent as he waited for the extra ears to pass. Last thing he wanted was sensitive information being passed while an untrusting source was lurking about, Fa lowering her voice to say something inaudible.

Vebra knowing that their time was at an end flashed Lyric a smile and disconnected the datapad from the antenna. He quickly covered up his own pad and handed Fa back her’s, then reaching into the side where he had kept the panel. He began to hear footsteps on the metal walks far down the corridor. He pulled the metal covering up and forced it into place as quietly as he could. Without looking knowing that there were people coming towards them put his hood up and turned left and attempted to herd Fa out of the area with him. The footsteps steadily growing louder.

He managed to find an exit and quickly opened it which slid to the sides with quick action by the servomotors. He poked his hooded head out the door and was pleased to find that it opened into an empty hallway. “Everyone must still be at dinner.” He whispered just loud enough for Fa to hear. Checking left and right once more he stepped out into the much less cramped space and thumbed the door control behind them. He turned one last time to Fa and said. “Meet me in the loading bay in 15 minutes with your gear. I should have a robe of some sort worked out for you by then.” He glanced at the door again for a moment. “Grab some food too if you want but make sure it’s to go. We should be landing soon.” With that Vebra turned on his heels and began making a fast walk away from the area and towards the rest of his gear, hoping the locker hadn’t been cracked by the refugees.

Although they had to cut their conversation with Lyric short, Fa supposed they had learned all they needed to for the moment. They had a destination, and some direction of what to do once they arrived. All there was to do now was to wait until the ship landed, preferably without causing any problems with its owner for hijacking its communications array. The pair made it out into the hallway safely, and as Fa would expect, Vebra suggested splitting up for the moment and meeting up again shortly. She nodded in agreement, then headed off in the opposite direction.

Following Vebra’s suggestion, Fa decided to grab something for dinner before gathering her belongings, mostly because her bunk was in the same room as his. Meat was a premium meal aboard a ship with barely enough supplies to sustain the refugees on board for the duration of the journey, but as her species were strictly carnivores, they had actually set aside enough for her and any others with the same dietary restrictions. She only had a small amount of the raw meat remaining, but it was enough to last her for a while. Afterwards, she headed back to her bunk to gather her equipment, most of which she would keep in its crate until she could get a cloak from Vebra.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I assume that the warband was close enough to arrive quickly if they could see the smoke. If not, I can take that part out and add it back in on a later post.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Ahnasha feared, her and Caldris' impact on the battle lessened once they were on the ground. They could pick out a few shots, but nowhere near as many as when they were at elevation. It was true that the enemy archers were in the same position, but as the hunters' frontline was more skilled and experienced, they were continually being pushed back. The greatest help Ahnasha could be at first was to help shoot down the oil pots being thrown towards their lines, though the hunters quickly stopped throwing them once they realized that their own men were the ones being burned.

Inevitably, the defenders were being driven back, and Vera doing all she could to keep the withdrawal orderly. Upon being informed by the Nord, Ahnasha rushed over to Vera while still trying to keep as close of an eye on the frontline as possible. Even with a shield wall in front of them, there was no place on any battlefield which could be considered safe. She had an arrow nocked, and was ready to draw and fire on a moment's notice. Once she reached Vera, there was no need for her to speak, as she was sure that Vera would say whatever she needed rather quickly.

Meesei was running at the head of the pack, and her pace only increased once she saw the smoke. They had been running for a while, but the intensity of the situation, and fear for their clan, kept them moving despite the fatigue. Once the smoke was visible, it was only a few minutes before they were upon the entrance of the cave. Strangely, Meesei noticed that the smoke rising from the cave was thinner than what she would have expected if the hunters had tried to burn the interior of the ruin. Although, she supposed that most of the ruin was not flammable, being made of stone. Since all of the warband was in their lycan forms, Meesei decided it would be best for her to shift back to normal. There were plenty of werewolves ready to fight, so her magical support would be more useful.

As Meesei shifted back to her Argonian form, the cold, snowly air bit harshly against her bare scales. Without protection, she would freeze to death rather quickly in the open air, but it was much warmer further down in the cave. She ran in quickly, casting a shield spell over herself while charging lightning in both hands. These mercenaries were striking at the heart of her clan, where Sabine, Kaleeth, and Rhazii had been waiting. She did not think about what might have already happened, and instead just focused on eliminating whatever threats were within, as that would have the best chance of keeping them safe.

While Meesei had been transforming back, several of the others had ran in ahead of her, with Lorag being among the first. He had a rage in his eyes unlike any he had experienced in years, though that was likely true for many in the warband. For most, their home, friends, and perhaps even family were in danger, so these mercenaries were going to be met with all of the ferocity that these enraged lycans could bring to bear.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The fire pots were not something Ahnasha had expected. The attackers could not angle them to land on the fortifications themselves, but that did not stop them from throwing them directly at the defensive line behind them. She cursed herself for not thinking about that before. Their defense would be much more effective with something like bars going to the roof of the cave spaced close enough together. Given the size of the clay pots, herself and Caldris might have even been able to shoot them down, but the damage was already done. Their lines were being pushed back, and they had to retreat from the fortifications. Perhaps after it was all over, they could improve their defenses, but for now, Ahnasha just had to focus on surviving.

Like Caldris, Ahnasha leaped to safety behind allied lines before they were pushed too far back. If there was a silver lining to the oil attack, it was that it also slowed the hunter's advance, since they had to deal with getting around the flames as they pushed forward. Both her and Caldris made it to safety behind their lines, but now she had to find a way to remain useful. She was an archer, not a frontline soldier, and this ruin was far too close range for either side to effectively arc shots over their allies. The arrows would be too weak to cause any serious damage if they tried. She looked around for something to give her just enough elevation to fire over her allies. Perhaps a crate, or something else to climb on. Preferably something that would still allow her to duck down for cover. Once she was in position, she could focus her shots on the enemies who were attempting to exploit the holes in their lines. She was now also keeping a sharp eye out for more oil pots. She almost hoped that the attackers continued to make use of them, as their mages could potentially ignite them before they could be thrown and cause more damage behind the enemy lines. Failing that, her and Caldris could potentially give some protection against them for their lines. Being that they were moving targets in the air, it was not a simple shot to make, but with both of them being skilled archers, she was confident they could do it.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

As Ahnasha had hoped, their position was effective, particularly for herself and Caldris. The hunters had broken through the gate, but they were stepping into an even more dangerous fight. Caldris had plenty of arrows to work with, and Ahnasha's bound arrows were essentially limitless as long as her magicka did not dwindle to the extent that she could not maintain the spell. The attackers were passing only a few feet underneath them, and at such a close range, their bows were strikingly effective. In a normal fight, arrows lost some energy in flight before finding their target, but in this case, they were striking as hard as they possibly could, at ranges too close to miss. Their armor was not designed to take hits at this angle, nor at such strength.

Seeing as the hunters had healers as well, Ahnasha aimed for lethal shots as much as possible, though even disabling shots could be devastating here. The gates were serving as a chokepoint, so wounded attackers would not be able to make it back to their healers nearly as easily. If they tried, they would be blocking their own reinforcements through the gates.

Even after only a few moments of fighting, the number of casualties caused between Ahnasha and Caldris was potentially startling. As fast as they could nock their arrows, they could kill or disable an attacker. The fortifications were protecting them from behind, and they could not even attempt to defend against them without exposing themselves to Vera's frontline. Despite the front gate being breached, this was likely the best position they were going to have; not only in terms of inflicting enemy casualties, but in cutting down their morale. Ahnasha did not know what motivated the hunters to fight, perhaps devotion to Vile, or just the notion that lycans were beasts to be destroyed, but with the smoke gone, the attackers could see clearly what they were stepping into. They could see a shield wall of lycans holding off their frontline while arrows felled their allies left and right. She wondered how strong their devotion to the cause was, and how long they would have to hold before at least some of the hunters decided to flee. No matter the answer, Ahnasha continued to fire as fast as she possibly could. The hunters were better equipped and trained than many of the defenders, but between her and Caldris, they might have enough of an impact to allow Vera's line to hold. If not, they could at least thin out their ranks.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

It was nice of the hunters to create a killing field, though I anticipate things could get difficult, depending. Ahnasha is banking a lot on the overhand flanking angle, which could be pretty effective. Can't really run in with your shield held above your head, not if you don't want a spear to the gut. But, escape could be a definite issue.

At any rate, I should get to bed. Goodnight.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

While it did not seem like they would be able to stop the enemy from getting through the gate, Ahnasha certainly did not intend on letting them through without giving them as hard of a time as possible. For those directly underneath them, manning the ram, there was no real defense against the archers above. It was not as if they could hold their shields above their heads while carrying the ram. Some of their allies attempted to do just that, but they could not cover enough angles to protect them fully. Enemy archers and crossbowmen attempted to strike her down, but she only needed to expose herself for a brief moment to fire an accurate shot at such a short range, and always from a different spot on the fortifications.

Ahnasha did not even bother to keep track of how many of the ram-bearers she and the other archers killed, or at least wounded beyond the ability to fight. Some were armored and harder to kill, but even most steel suits were not designed to handle extremely close range longbow shots from such a high angle. Ram-bearers were hit left and right, but regardless they made progress. The gate beneath them weakened with every successful hit, and Vera was already preparing the secondary defense. Ahnasha had hoped they would be able to repel the hunters at the gates, but at least their defense so far had not been useless. The hunters had been stalled for a while on their fortifications, and had likely taken many more casualties than they had been expecting for the first stage of their attack. Comparatively, the defense's casualties had been fairly light, and most of their fighters were fresh and unfatigued. They had their plan for a fighting retreat mapped out to give as few flanking options as possible. Galsek had likely mapped out the interior of the ruin, so at least their commanders would know the layout. Though, Vera and Darahil would still know it far better than they, and could possibly use that to their advantage, as there could be features of the ruin that even Galsek was unaware of. However, Ahnasha knew of no such traps or surprises which they might have planned and would just have to trust in their orders when and if it came time.

Ahnasha elected not to abandon her position just yet. When the attackers broke through the gate, they would be charging through directly beneath her. They would be entirely unprotected against arrows from above, and if they did turn their shields to face her, then they would be exposing themselves to the other defenders. She would be free to kill essentially as fast as she could nock and release an arrow, though it was a choice that would pose considerable risk to herself. The fortifications would protect her from being shot from behind, but staying above the gate made escape a risky proposition. As long as Vera's frontline was close enough to the gate, she could jump to safety in an emergency, but if they were pushed back too quickly, she would be jumping straight into the enemy. She hoped that her choice would be effective enough to allow their defensive lines to hold, or significantly impact enemy morale. She had to wonder how many of the attackers would be willing to charge through the gate if they saw enough of their allies being felled in front of them by arrows from which they could not defend.

As the ram landed another solid hit on the gate, Ahnasha glanced to her left and right at the other archers on the fortifications with her. The more of them remained to attack from above, the better chance they had of holding them at this position. Ducking behind cover, Ahnasha tapped her bow against the planks beneath her to grab their attention, then aimed her bow down at the space just behind the gate and gave a nod to try to signal what she intended to do. She wondered how many would be willing to take the risk to remain with her.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

One of them is open book, at least. As long as I can use my ebook.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Unfortunately, I have three midterms coming up on the same day. Luckily, it is six days from now, so I can space out my studying.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Overall, the battle was not going terribly, but it could certainly be going better. Ahnasha's arrows had been ineffective against the mage, so she had been able to extinguish the flames. Smoke still lingered in the cave for the moment, but it would now begin to diminish. As well, the ram was at the gate, but the fire trap had been effective in either killing, or forcing the retreat of those carrying it. Honestly, even though the ram was right next to the gate, Ahnasha felt that it would make it that much easier to defend. If the hunters wanted to grab the ram, they would have to run up so close to their fortifications that even a novice archer would have a hard time missing. And, since they were directly beneath them, they could not use a shield wall to effectively protect the ram bearers. Anyone who grabbed it would be extremely exposed, as long as the defending archers could continue to shoot back. That mage, however, could potentially disrupt that plan.

With a keen eye, Ahnasha could see the crossbowman taking aim, and she did not even need to look in order to guess at whom. Darahil had the power to incapacitate, or even kill the biggest threat on the battlefield, which meant he needed to be protected. Her arrow was at the ready, so with as quick of a reaction as she could muster, she loosed it at the crossbowman, though she did not stop there. She did not have time to make her aiming subtle, so the crossbowman would certainly have seen that he was her target. So, he could either accept death, or evade. Assuming he took the latter option, he would likely be able to re-aim and shoot Darahil before Ahnasha could shoot again, so as soon as she loosed her arrow, Ahnasha cast another illusion spell, this time at Darahil. It was a spell of chameleon which turned him mostly invisible, though not completely. However, it would remain active while he charged his spell, and would mask him and his magical aura. The crossbowman would had to have looked away if he dodged, but looking back, Darahil would no longer be readily visible, and with some of the smoke still in the air, it could be difficult to spot or shoot him accurately. He might even think that another had eliminated him. And of course, Ahnasha was not going to let up her volley, though that did make her a more obvious target. She did not have the magicka pool of someone like Meesei or Darahil, so she would need to give her magic a rest for the moment.