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Forsythe
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Now we just need negotiations to break down so we can begin our perfectly planned whirlwind of death. Really sucks to be the Tolian fleet in a few minutes...
Ariadne had quickly taken in what the crewman had told her when she arrived on the ‘bridge’ and was already formulating her own plans. The natives of this world had decided that since the Goa’uld were driven off the planet partially by their hand, they must therefore be the single most powerful faction in this area of space. Had they not been standing in the way of this mission, she might have laughed at the prospect. Particularly the idea that the heavily damaged Ha’tak they possessed - and no doubt had no idea how simple it was to fix - made them the superior force in this battle. She did wonder why the captain had been so hesitant in simply sweeping them aside after being attacked. The man in command had made it quite clear that he didn’t want to just let the Langford pass. “Captain, why are we negotiating? It is clear that that man is not going to give us what we want, and we have every right to fire in retaliation.” She asked, genuinely curious.
"Politics and ethics." Catherine answered simply, shuddering at the first word in disgust. "I could do away with everything that they have and take what we want, but the pilots in the gliders probably have no idea just how big a douche their CO is. As far as retaliation goes, not everyone has been at this stage long enough to understand how things work." the captain sighed.
"Take us for example - Our first trip through the gate, we killed Ra. We all know what that caused. The pilot is alive, and the plane apparently isn't as good for recon as I thought it would be. It's something to learn from but nothing I would kill over... yet." she said, her last word having enough venom to kill an elephant. "Besides, I am looking at a fleet of ships easy to disable at my leisure. Destroying them is such a waste. I'd rather commandeer some of them instead." Kat explained the 'battle plan' with an evil half smile, "Earth's ships may be powerful but there are too few. I am not going to pass up an opportunity to bolster our numbers such as this one. Who knows, maybe we can get you an al’kesh?"
Ariadne nodded at the explanation. She had heard that the Tau’ri often imposed limits on themselves that were not immediately relevant, though this was the first she had actually seen of them. She wanted to be irked at it, but Idalia’s feeling on the matter washed over her and stopped that particular train of thought dead.
Once the captain moved to more pertinent matters, however, she found herself admiring the strategist in her. She was right, why waste perfectly good ships when you can take them for yourself? “I would certainly like a ship of my own, though I doubt an Al’kesh would be able to keep up with the Langford, and it certainly will not fit in the launch bay. Regardless, if we take one of their Al’kesh now, we may not need to resolve the situation in space so quickly. None of the sensors onboard any of their ships could detect a cloaked Al’kesh, and we could use it to safely land at the facility. At least then we will know whether this battle is worth having.”
The Tok’Ra was rising an interesting point. Kat scratched her chin, the gears in her head spinning. Of course a cloaked ship would take them in and out, but what of the guards at the site? Would there be any? If so how would they react? Could they be knocked out before sounding an alarm? No, too many variables that could go wrong. Not to mention that the enemy would eventually miss the Al’Kesh.
“I don’t think we’re there yet, lets see if Mr. Williams can reach agreement with him, but I believe it’s as you said - they won’t give in no matter what we have to offer. I wonder if he is even his own master, what he said earlier sounded like Alliance propaganda.” Still, once the defecation hits the ventilation, it would be better course of action than she thought of. Her plan didn’t see past getting out of the system with as much bounty as possible. “But, once the negotiations fail, then we could do so. At that point all bets are off, and this actually allows us to at least partially accomplish the primary objective.” she raised her gaze from the map and looked directly at Ariadne: “Thank you.”
The captains reaction came as little surprise to Ariadne, the conversation thus far had shown her that Black had a fair amount of distaste for the political side of proceedings. Like Ariadne, she was a woman of action, and did not want to wait while superiors talked about issues. She smiled a warm smile at the heartfelt thanks being offered to her before continuing with the task at hand. Still, it might change things if they waited until everyone agreed to start shooting each other before acting. “If we are to formally agree to fight beforehand, it will likely be best to simultaneously strike every ship we wish to capture. What of the Ha’tak? if we aim to capture vessels, there is no sense wasting the most powerful, damaged though it may be. If I can get to the engine room I can easily wrest control of the ship.”
Listening to Ariadne, Catherine's mind came up with another, unrelated idea. Williams is going to love this. "I think I just solved my missing XO problem." she said, the corners of her mouth twitching in the tiniest hint of a grin. Motioning Ariadne closer, she amplified the map and highlighted possible targets. "The Ha'tak is a different problem. They are jamming our beaming, and the rings are locked out as well no doubt. The only way on board is to take a 302 and land there, which is something i’d rather not do."
Drawing a circle around the pyramid ship, the holo zoomed in and displayed an X-Ray view. "And once there, you have the life support down throughout most of the ship, making movement somewhat difficult. On the other hand-" she pressed a few buttons and several red blips appeared in the detail, "-There are barely a dozen of life signs on board. In theory you with your amplified strength should have no trouble fighting them off, but I still am not big on leaving you there without support. IF we go through with this, it'd be best to focus on disabling the beaming jammer. I'd feel more comfortable if there were engineers and marines with you in case there are unforeseen problems."
Zooming back out, a few of the Al'Kesh flashed. "Only these two are in good enough condition to be worth the salvage. I don't think they bothered to lock out the rings on those, so a squad armed with Zat's should be able to surprise them. They'll be expecting a fight, not a boarding. And if push comes to shove, my bioweapons expert is already preparing nerve gas charges for delivery. We can de-crew the rest with that, but i'd rather not use it. It's not a pleasant death." she finished her train of thought, looking to Ariadne for a second opinion.
“Death never is.” was all Ariadne said, thinking back to the close calls she had had when her host was severely injured. She quickly shook off that line of thought, it was not pleasant, and not something she wanted Idalia to focus on for even a moment. She brought up the hologram of the Ha’tak again and gazed at for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “Beaming jammers.” She said quietly to herself, before bitterly adding in Goa’uld “Ne’wae soy no’yan joy” A small smile then crept to the edges of her mouth at Idalia’s amusement over her annoyed state.
She turned back to the Captain, returning the map to its overview of the entire formation. “Do not forget the Al’kesh under cloak. We should still be able to ring to them even if we cannot find them. Oh, and once we begin to use the rings to attack them, a heavy guard will need to be placed on our own rings. In case they get ideas. Regardless, I think it may be too dangerous to take the Ha’tak immediately. If we decide to destroy it, target the Pel’tak, that will ensure it is crippled and can be dealt with at our leisure.”
“You don’t say.” Kat rolled her eyes at Ariadne’s use of Goa’Uld. She had the opportunity to learn some of the language, but didn’t find it worthwhile with Lt. Zaken on board. It was a bit mysterious to her how the rings would work even on cloaked ships. IF the rings could target, shouldn’t they be able to use that system to pinpoint a cloaked vessel? She shrugged the thought off for now and filed it in her mind as something else to talk about with Lawson.
“Guard won’t do, and we better do it right now. Internal, lock out the rings.” she said to someone on the far side of the bridge. “Boarding party is not the only thing they could send through. A bomb comes to mind. The alliance tried those even on earth itself. And while we don’t have confirmed affiliation, i’d rather not find out the hard way. As far as the cloaked ships go, once we start taking over their own, they will have to decloak to reinforce their numbers, at which point we can beam on board instead.” Catherine thought out loud. “The Ha’Tak is not going anywhere nor do it’s weapons appear operational. It’s of no bother to us, just a prize to be taken.”
Catherine took a few seconds to review the plan in her head. Wait out the shooting - check. The 304s shields were nigh impregnable by the forces left in the milky way. Get Ariadne on board the Ha’Tak - no, delay that, fighting still going on. Take over the Al’Kesh - check. Send the ground team on board one - check, the Jaffa can pilot for them well enough. At that point, the cloaked ships might enter the fray, but their numbers will already be down enough and their ranks disorganized for a 302 or two to slip on board the Ha’Tak. Good enough. Now if only Mr. IOA was so kind to fail at the negotiations so their plan could succeed. Then they could gloat. “This could work.” she finally said with a nod, preparing the orders to be distributed the second the slugging starts. “There’s still the matter of sending you onto the Ha’Tak via 302. It is similar enough to a glider, but i’d rather one of the pilots went along. Least they can do is guard your back once you’re there.” Kat would have loved to take her herself, but it would do the mission no good for her to leave the bridge.
“That would be best” Ariadne said. “I am as yet unfamiliar with the control mechanisms of your craft.” Both she and Idalia were quite eager to learn, though that was something to bring up when there was no hostile fleet so close. “I will go and prepare to board the Ha’tak.” She turned to leave, but before getting out of the bridge she looked back with a smile and said jokingly “I wager a bar of Naquada that I will be ready before negotiations inevitably break down.”
“No bet.” Kat replied in kind, saluting the Tok’Ra off. Popping up internal communications, she informed Mr. Williams that a contingency plan has been created should the negotiations fail that would allow them to continue with the main objective.
*Ne’wae soy no’yan joy - I am no longer amused.
"Politics and ethics." Catherine answered simply, shuddering at the first word in disgust. "I could do away with everything that they have and take what we want, but the pilots in the gliders probably have no idea just how big a douche their CO is. As far as retaliation goes, not everyone has been at this stage long enough to understand how things work." the captain sighed.
"Take us for example - Our first trip through the gate, we killed Ra. We all know what that caused. The pilot is alive, and the plane apparently isn't as good for recon as I thought it would be. It's something to learn from but nothing I would kill over... yet." she said, her last word having enough venom to kill an elephant. "Besides, I am looking at a fleet of ships easy to disable at my leisure. Destroying them is such a waste. I'd rather commandeer some of them instead." Kat explained the 'battle plan' with an evil half smile, "Earth's ships may be powerful but there are too few. I am not going to pass up an opportunity to bolster our numbers such as this one. Who knows, maybe we can get you an al’kesh?"
Ariadne nodded at the explanation. She had heard that the Tau’ri often imposed limits on themselves that were not immediately relevant, though this was the first she had actually seen of them. She wanted to be irked at it, but Idalia’s feeling on the matter washed over her and stopped that particular train of thought dead.
Once the captain moved to more pertinent matters, however, she found herself admiring the strategist in her. She was right, why waste perfectly good ships when you can take them for yourself? “I would certainly like a ship of my own, though I doubt an Al’kesh would be able to keep up with the Langford, and it certainly will not fit in the launch bay. Regardless, if we take one of their Al’kesh now, we may not need to resolve the situation in space so quickly. None of the sensors onboard any of their ships could detect a cloaked Al’kesh, and we could use it to safely land at the facility. At least then we will know whether this battle is worth having.”
The Tok’Ra was rising an interesting point. Kat scratched her chin, the gears in her head spinning. Of course a cloaked ship would take them in and out, but what of the guards at the site? Would there be any? If so how would they react? Could they be knocked out before sounding an alarm? No, too many variables that could go wrong. Not to mention that the enemy would eventually miss the Al’Kesh.
“I don’t think we’re there yet, lets see if Mr. Williams can reach agreement with him, but I believe it’s as you said - they won’t give in no matter what we have to offer. I wonder if he is even his own master, what he said earlier sounded like Alliance propaganda.” Still, once the defecation hits the ventilation, it would be better course of action than she thought of. Her plan didn’t see past getting out of the system with as much bounty as possible. “But, once the negotiations fail, then we could do so. At that point all bets are off, and this actually allows us to at least partially accomplish the primary objective.” she raised her gaze from the map and looked directly at Ariadne: “Thank you.”
The captains reaction came as little surprise to Ariadne, the conversation thus far had shown her that Black had a fair amount of distaste for the political side of proceedings. Like Ariadne, she was a woman of action, and did not want to wait while superiors talked about issues. She smiled a warm smile at the heartfelt thanks being offered to her before continuing with the task at hand. Still, it might change things if they waited until everyone agreed to start shooting each other before acting. “If we are to formally agree to fight beforehand, it will likely be best to simultaneously strike every ship we wish to capture. What of the Ha’tak? if we aim to capture vessels, there is no sense wasting the most powerful, damaged though it may be. If I can get to the engine room I can easily wrest control of the ship.”
Listening to Ariadne, Catherine's mind came up with another, unrelated idea. Williams is going to love this. "I think I just solved my missing XO problem." she said, the corners of her mouth twitching in the tiniest hint of a grin. Motioning Ariadne closer, she amplified the map and highlighted possible targets. "The Ha'tak is a different problem. They are jamming our beaming, and the rings are locked out as well no doubt. The only way on board is to take a 302 and land there, which is something i’d rather not do."
Drawing a circle around the pyramid ship, the holo zoomed in and displayed an X-Ray view. "And once there, you have the life support down throughout most of the ship, making movement somewhat difficult. On the other hand-" she pressed a few buttons and several red blips appeared in the detail, "-There are barely a dozen of life signs on board. In theory you with your amplified strength should have no trouble fighting them off, but I still am not big on leaving you there without support. IF we go through with this, it'd be best to focus on disabling the beaming jammer. I'd feel more comfortable if there were engineers and marines with you in case there are unforeseen problems."
Zooming back out, a few of the Al'Kesh flashed. "Only these two are in good enough condition to be worth the salvage. I don't think they bothered to lock out the rings on those, so a squad armed with Zat's should be able to surprise them. They'll be expecting a fight, not a boarding. And if push comes to shove, my bioweapons expert is already preparing nerve gas charges for delivery. We can de-crew the rest with that, but i'd rather not use it. It's not a pleasant death." she finished her train of thought, looking to Ariadne for a second opinion.
“Death never is.” was all Ariadne said, thinking back to the close calls she had had when her host was severely injured. She quickly shook off that line of thought, it was not pleasant, and not something she wanted Idalia to focus on for even a moment. She brought up the hologram of the Ha’tak again and gazed at for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “Beaming jammers.” She said quietly to herself, before bitterly adding in Goa’uld “Ne’wae soy no’yan joy” A small smile then crept to the edges of her mouth at Idalia’s amusement over her annoyed state.
She turned back to the Captain, returning the map to its overview of the entire formation. “Do not forget the Al’kesh under cloak. We should still be able to ring to them even if we cannot find them. Oh, and once we begin to use the rings to attack them, a heavy guard will need to be placed on our own rings. In case they get ideas. Regardless, I think it may be too dangerous to take the Ha’tak immediately. If we decide to destroy it, target the Pel’tak, that will ensure it is crippled and can be dealt with at our leisure.”
“You don’t say.” Kat rolled her eyes at Ariadne’s use of Goa’Uld. She had the opportunity to learn some of the language, but didn’t find it worthwhile with Lt. Zaken on board. It was a bit mysterious to her how the rings would work even on cloaked ships. IF the rings could target, shouldn’t they be able to use that system to pinpoint a cloaked vessel? She shrugged the thought off for now and filed it in her mind as something else to talk about with Lawson.
“Guard won’t do, and we better do it right now. Internal, lock out the rings.” she said to someone on the far side of the bridge. “Boarding party is not the only thing they could send through. A bomb comes to mind. The alliance tried those even on earth itself. And while we don’t have confirmed affiliation, i’d rather not find out the hard way. As far as the cloaked ships go, once we start taking over their own, they will have to decloak to reinforce their numbers, at which point we can beam on board instead.” Catherine thought out loud. “The Ha’Tak is not going anywhere nor do it’s weapons appear operational. It’s of no bother to us, just a prize to be taken.”
Catherine took a few seconds to review the plan in her head. Wait out the shooting - check. The 304s shields were nigh impregnable by the forces left in the milky way. Get Ariadne on board the Ha’Tak - no, delay that, fighting still going on. Take over the Al’Kesh - check. Send the ground team on board one - check, the Jaffa can pilot for them well enough. At that point, the cloaked ships might enter the fray, but their numbers will already be down enough and their ranks disorganized for a 302 or two to slip on board the Ha’Tak. Good enough. Now if only Mr. IOA was so kind to fail at the negotiations so their plan could succeed. Then they could gloat. “This could work.” she finally said with a nod, preparing the orders to be distributed the second the slugging starts. “There’s still the matter of sending you onto the Ha’Tak via 302. It is similar enough to a glider, but i’d rather one of the pilots went along. Least they can do is guard your back once you’re there.” Kat would have loved to take her herself, but it would do the mission no good for her to leave the bridge.
“That would be best” Ariadne said. “I am as yet unfamiliar with the control mechanisms of your craft.” Both she and Idalia were quite eager to learn, though that was something to bring up when there was no hostile fleet so close. “I will go and prepare to board the Ha’tak.” She turned to leave, but before getting out of the bridge she looked back with a smile and said jokingly “I wager a bar of Naquada that I will be ready before negotiations inevitably break down.”
“No bet.” Kat replied in kind, saluting the Tok’Ra off. Popping up internal communications, she informed Mr. Williams that a contingency plan has been created should the negotiations fail that would allow them to continue with the main objective.
*Ne’wae soy no’yan joy - I am no longer amused.
I gotta say, of all the teachers, Satori was definitely not on the list I thought might get involved with students like that...
And yes Elite, that could be good. I shall send you a link to doc in a PM.
And yes Elite, that could be good. I shall send you a link to doc in a PM.
Auriel has experimented with Dragon men once or twice...
I know, so rare to see me here...
I am still around, as evidenced by my semi-regular IC posts...
I am still around, as evidenced by my semi-regular IC posts...
Auriel is free now, if someone fancies a collab with her.
Earlier in the day...
Deven made his way through the halls towards the mess hall, he let his cloak remain open seeing as he was inside and the cold was not bothering him too much thanks to his blood. His mind drifted off as he walked. Trystan would soon be arriving at the college, he had to admit he was excited to see the familiar face. Tyrstan had been one of the few people Deven had grown somewhat close with, which was not too surprising considering he had taught Deven everything he knew about swordsmanship.
It had been almost a year since he saw Trystan. A few months before Deven and Jenna set off for the college Trystan was sent to help lead the forces attacking Redwood. Now here he was leading this emissary mission to the college. He would likely have hundreds of stories to tell both him and Jenna. Trystan was always a fan of his stories.Deven couldn't help but remember something Jenna's father had said about his brother, Trystan loves to reminisce...he'll talk your ear off a thousand and one times before he even gets out of breath. Sometimes I feel his mind is stuck more in the past then it is the present. Whether it's a curse of a blessing is a thing to be argued.
Trystan's mind set had always seemed so odd to Deven. They were complete opposites, just like him and Jenna. Both Trystan had so many fond memories, memories of happiness, of warmer times. They had so much they could look back on a smile about. But Deven? He had nothing, his past was something he would rather forget. His memories held nothing but pain and hurt for him, always the struggle to survive and the feeling of loss. He spent his life trying to forget his past and ignore his memories.
To him there was no point in remembering, the only thing he got from it was pain. To him it was a point of making new memories with which to bury the old ones. That way, he could maybe one day pretend that what happened never happened.
But he never could. He could never forget what had happened, not when the memories haunted his dreams, lurked in the shadows of his mind. He could almost hear that bone chilling voice again, No where is safe. it echoed in his mind making his hair stand on edge as a chill ran through his body. He pulled his cloak tight around himself, Stop it Deven. Deven thought angrily. Don't think about that, not again. You know thinking about that only leads to bad things. He thought scolding himself.
He shook his head as he tried to force his mind onto other topics. As he finished he noticed one of the colleges many windows overlooking the entrance. He slowed to a stop as he approached, he had recently found that letting himself get lost in a view sometimes helped clear his thoughts...sometimes. Worth a shot. He thought to himself before he released his grip on his cloak, crossed his arms and leaned on the edge of the window frame.
His eyes settled on the path leading to the college gates. There was a carriage approaching with an armed escort in tow he could not make out the insignia on their equipment from this distance but, he could guess by the darker colors that they were likely from Djarkel. Eania had quite the affinity for bright, showy and what some might call happier colors. While Djarkel preferred darker colors. "Hmm, so many envoys, all coming to one place." He thought aloud. I wonder if Trystans arrived yet... He thought to himself as his gaze followed the carriage in its path.
Auriel had been wondering the halls for a while now, unsure what to spend her time on, as ever. Outside of classes, this place had little in the way of official activity to keep her amused, which meant she often fell into old habits, most of which were frowned on by the majority of the staff. Thus far she'd managed to avoid any real scolding for her actions, but it was only a matter of time.
As she rounded a corner, she spotted the cloaked form of Deven, one of her fellow pyromancers, standing at a window, gazing out. Totally oblivious to her presence. She stepped slowly and softly towards him, stalking towards him as she would a beast of prey in the wild. Of course that was probably totally unnecessary, if he was in one of his reveries she could probably walk loudly up to him and he wouldn't notice, but this was all part of the fun.
Once she was almost right next to him, she reached out and gently took hold of the side of his cloak, pulling it aside and reaching towards his coinpurse. She deftly took it from his belt while he was distracted with the window, then leaned her head close to his ear and whispered "Lost something?" Before leaping back and brandishing the coinpurse before her.
Deven had long gotten lost in his thoughts as he watched the carriage, which in this time. Had managed to enter the college and begin dispersing its envoys into the college's depths. I should get moving again. I've wasted enough ti- He thought before he heard a whisper in his ear, "Lost something?" The feminine voice said.
His whole body tensed and his hand shot to his knife as his cloak came falling back to his side and he whipped around to face the source of the whisper. There standing before him, a coinpurse in hand, stood Auriel. Her crimson hair being the first thing he noticed, then came the rest of her features, her striking green eyes and the marking between them then her pale skin. She was a fellow pyromancer and the two had spoken on occasion both in class and out. But they were barely to the point he could justifiably call her a friend.
His eyes settled on the coinpurse in her hand and his hand shifted to where his should be. Sure enough, it was gone. His eyes narrowed on her in faint annoyance, "Good to see you too Auriel." He said before he jokingly rolled his eyes. "You are really teaching me to watch my back more and more often at this school." He continued as he extended his hand palm up for his coinpurse. "Mind if I have that back?" He added after a short pause.
Auriel had a big grin on her face as she dangled the jingling coin-purse in front of her classmate. "I could've run off and been half way across the college by now..." She joked. She didn't actually want the coins, after all she could just steal them from someone she didn't like if she needed money. This was just one of her ways of saying hello.
She tossed the coin purse back to him, then stepped up to the window next to him and looked out herself. "Whats so interesting out there that you didn't notice a pretty elf girl sneak up on you? I could've done all sorts of things and you wouldn't even have noticed..." As was largely the norm, her voice wasn't entirely serious in tone. The majority of what she did was, after all, purely for fun, and seriousness rarely came into it.
"You could have." He said, nodding as he did. "But thankfully you didn't." He said as he continued to hold out his hand. "So I guess I should count myself lucky that it was you that took it and not another." He added with a slight smile. It was times like this he was thankful that patience was not something he lacked, though Auriel had certainly tested his limits before.
As she tossed the coinpurse back to him he caught it with ease. "Thank you." He said as he returned it to its rightful place. As she joined him at the window he turned back to face it, leaning on the wall once more. He listened as she questioned him lightly, "What a shame that would have been wouldn't it?" He joked before he paused as he thought on his answer. "Just watching the envoys arrive. There's quite a lot of them." He partially lied as he gestured faintly towards the carriage in the college's courtyard. "I'm surprised someone as quick handed as you hasn't tried messing with them yet." He added smiling at her.
Auriel turned back from the cold air coming in the window and feigned a hurt expression "Who says I haven't?" She maintained the look for a moment, then dropped it, returning to her usual mirthful expression. "So... who is she?" Auriel asked accusingly. She'd seen Deven stuck in his reveries often enough to know when something was different. She was probably wrong in this case, but it would still be fun.
"What lovely lady has got the mighty and handsome Deven wrapped around her finger so tightly that he's stuck waiting at the window for her to arrive?" She was having trouble maintaining a straight face as she spoke. She couldn't imagine Jenna just letting him be smitten to that degree.
Deven chuckled and shook his head at her little act before he turned his gaze back to the window. A moment past of silence before Auriel spoke up again. "Hmm?" Deven said as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "She?" He asked, not entirely sure what exactly it was she was hinting at.
But soon his question was answered as she continued speaking, one of his guesses being proven true as she did. He managed to keep from getting a little flustered instead chuckling and rolling his eyes as he turned his head back to the window listening to her speech. Once she was done he spoke, "No." He said before a thought came to mind, "Lucky for you, theres no lady." He said grinning at her as he finished. "What about you? What's got you stalking about the halls?" He asked as his eyes drifted back to the window.
A slight sense of relief rolled over Auriel as Deven explained it wasn't a woman he was waiting for. Having other women involved closely tended to make for the kind of unpleasant complication she preferred to avoid. That was one reason she'd decided to leave Althalus alone. His woman was half snake, and not a very forgiving one either.
"Oh, the usual." She answered, only partially lying. She was bored, it was true, but she'd also learned recently that the representative sent from Ghannos was none other than Siala, the girl who'd given her her scars and chased her from her homeland. That'd put her on edge more than a little. "Its just so boring here. How can you stand it?" Of course she meant outside of the classes where she learnt how to throw fire at things. Or at least, they promised to teach her how to throw fire eventually.
Deven listened as she answered. He could only imagine what the usual must be for her, but he dare not ask. As she continued he nodded along with her, "It can be boring, but luckily I have been able to keep myself entertained. Whatever time I have where I am not studying or training I normally spend with Jenna and we tend to find ways to keep ourselves entertained." Deven said with a shrug. He noticed what he said could have been misinterpreted, but he was confident Auriel understood what he meant.
"You know, if your bored you could come with me to the mess hall. Jenna's waiting there now and I really should be getting back to her, i'm probably going to be keeping her waiting longer than she has patience for. I am sure she would be more than happy to have another person to pass the time with. What do you say?" Deven asked turning from the window to face Auriel.
Auriel looked back at Deven then, her mischevious grin only growing larger. "Why... might she get worried that you're off whiling away the long, boring hours in the company of another woman?" She said, teasing him with every chance she could get. She would still go to the mess hall with him though, at least something interesting might happen there. "Well lead on handsome... And watch your back..."
Deven smiled and shook his head at Auriel's jest. "You misunderstand the dynamics of mine and Jenna's friendship, if she found out I was "whiling away the hours with another woman" she'll probably start by giving me a pat on the back before she started complaining about being kept waiting so long." Deven replied smiling lightly at Auriel. As she told him to lead on and warned him to watch his back, he couldn't help but smile slyly and say, "I can't, I'm too busy watching yours." before he pushed off the wall and began in the direction of the mess hall.
Auriel smiled coyly at that remark and sauntered past Deven with a slight swing in her hips. She looked back for a moment and said provocatively "Well perhaps I should go first then..." before continuing down the hallway toward the mess hall.
Deven could not help but watch as Auriel passed him, his eyes admiring the slight show she put on as she walked. "Hmm...by all means, lead away." He said as a sly smile spread across his lips. He followed a short distance after her as she led the way, eventually speeding up to walk next to her.
As Deven came alongside her on the walk to the mess hall, Auriel adjusted her walk to get close to him and slipped a searching hand around his waist, behind his cloak. To onlookers, they'd appear to be a close couple perhaps, and while she did enjoy the closeness, it was also another method to acquire items that weren't hers. She simply wished he carried something more interesting than a bag of coins and a knife.
As Auriel slipped her arm around Deven's waist it caught him completely off guard, he hadn't expected her to move so close let alone slip an arm around him. Naturally his body tensed at the physical contact, though this time his hand did not drop to his knife. "Whoa, at least take me to dinner first." He joked before he smiled playfully at Auriel.
Auriel laughed at that and quickly replied in a sultry tone "I thought that was your job..." before sticking her tongue out for a moment. As she spoke she reached around to find the hilt of the knife on devens belt, testing to see how easily she could take it from its sheath.
Deven chuckled at her reply, "Has that ever stopped you before?" Deven teased, grinning at her as he did. As they reached a small set of stairs, it provided an opportune moment of time, while they descended them, to test how hard the knife was to pull from its sheath. It put up some resistance, meant to be unable to fall out while moving, but should she play it smart she may be able to take it from him.
"I am curious, how do you feel about this whole, meeting of nations thing?" He asked after they passed a pair of Djarkel guards. They were laughing at something one of them had said, but Deven hadn't been able to hear it.
Auriel used the chance to try and acquire his knife, but with her focus not entirely on the task she only managed to pull it a little out of its sheath before she had to release it again.
Auriel didn't much care about any aspect of the fact that the nations were all here. With the sole exception of the identity of one of the Ghannos representatives of course. That wasn't something she was going to talk about with Deven though. "Why?" She asked only semi-seriously. "You planning to join in the talks or something? You know they aren't ever going to get anywhere." She took on a sly expression then "Or is it because of this mystery lady you're denying exists?" She winked at him as she finished speaking, pulling him along at a faster pace once they reached the bottom of the stairs, eager to inform Jenna of Devens 'mystery woman.'
They quickly approached another staircase, and having already tested the dagger, auriel took the chance to yank it right from its sheath. The moment it was in her grasp and away from Deven, she began sprinting down the hallway. As she did she yelled out to him "Catch me if you can!" A silly grin on her face as her long legs carried her away from the shorter man.
Deven made his way through the halls towards the mess hall, he let his cloak remain open seeing as he was inside and the cold was not bothering him too much thanks to his blood. His mind drifted off as he walked. Trystan would soon be arriving at the college, he had to admit he was excited to see the familiar face. Tyrstan had been one of the few people Deven had grown somewhat close with, which was not too surprising considering he had taught Deven everything he knew about swordsmanship.
It had been almost a year since he saw Trystan. A few months before Deven and Jenna set off for the college Trystan was sent to help lead the forces attacking Redwood. Now here he was leading this emissary mission to the college. He would likely have hundreds of stories to tell both him and Jenna. Trystan was always a fan of his stories.Deven couldn't help but remember something Jenna's father had said about his brother, Trystan loves to reminisce...he'll talk your ear off a thousand and one times before he even gets out of breath. Sometimes I feel his mind is stuck more in the past then it is the present. Whether it's a curse of a blessing is a thing to be argued.
Trystan's mind set had always seemed so odd to Deven. They were complete opposites, just like him and Jenna. Both Trystan had so many fond memories, memories of happiness, of warmer times. They had so much they could look back on a smile about. But Deven? He had nothing, his past was something he would rather forget. His memories held nothing but pain and hurt for him, always the struggle to survive and the feeling of loss. He spent his life trying to forget his past and ignore his memories.
To him there was no point in remembering, the only thing he got from it was pain. To him it was a point of making new memories with which to bury the old ones. That way, he could maybe one day pretend that what happened never happened.
But he never could. He could never forget what had happened, not when the memories haunted his dreams, lurked in the shadows of his mind. He could almost hear that bone chilling voice again, No where is safe. it echoed in his mind making his hair stand on edge as a chill ran through his body. He pulled his cloak tight around himself, Stop it Deven. Deven thought angrily. Don't think about that, not again. You know thinking about that only leads to bad things. He thought scolding himself.
He shook his head as he tried to force his mind onto other topics. As he finished he noticed one of the colleges many windows overlooking the entrance. He slowed to a stop as he approached, he had recently found that letting himself get lost in a view sometimes helped clear his thoughts...sometimes. Worth a shot. He thought to himself before he released his grip on his cloak, crossed his arms and leaned on the edge of the window frame.
His eyes settled on the path leading to the college gates. There was a carriage approaching with an armed escort in tow he could not make out the insignia on their equipment from this distance but, he could guess by the darker colors that they were likely from Djarkel. Eania had quite the affinity for bright, showy and what some might call happier colors. While Djarkel preferred darker colors. "Hmm, so many envoys, all coming to one place." He thought aloud. I wonder if Trystans arrived yet... He thought to himself as his gaze followed the carriage in its path.
Auriel had been wondering the halls for a while now, unsure what to spend her time on, as ever. Outside of classes, this place had little in the way of official activity to keep her amused, which meant she often fell into old habits, most of which were frowned on by the majority of the staff. Thus far she'd managed to avoid any real scolding for her actions, but it was only a matter of time.
As she rounded a corner, she spotted the cloaked form of Deven, one of her fellow pyromancers, standing at a window, gazing out. Totally oblivious to her presence. She stepped slowly and softly towards him, stalking towards him as she would a beast of prey in the wild. Of course that was probably totally unnecessary, if he was in one of his reveries she could probably walk loudly up to him and he wouldn't notice, but this was all part of the fun.
Once she was almost right next to him, she reached out and gently took hold of the side of his cloak, pulling it aside and reaching towards his coinpurse. She deftly took it from his belt while he was distracted with the window, then leaned her head close to his ear and whispered "Lost something?" Before leaping back and brandishing the coinpurse before her.
Deven had long gotten lost in his thoughts as he watched the carriage, which in this time. Had managed to enter the college and begin dispersing its envoys into the college's depths. I should get moving again. I've wasted enough ti- He thought before he heard a whisper in his ear, "Lost something?" The feminine voice said.
His whole body tensed and his hand shot to his knife as his cloak came falling back to his side and he whipped around to face the source of the whisper. There standing before him, a coinpurse in hand, stood Auriel. Her crimson hair being the first thing he noticed, then came the rest of her features, her striking green eyes and the marking between them then her pale skin. She was a fellow pyromancer and the two had spoken on occasion both in class and out. But they were barely to the point he could justifiably call her a friend.
His eyes settled on the coinpurse in her hand and his hand shifted to where his should be. Sure enough, it was gone. His eyes narrowed on her in faint annoyance, "Good to see you too Auriel." He said before he jokingly rolled his eyes. "You are really teaching me to watch my back more and more often at this school." He continued as he extended his hand palm up for his coinpurse. "Mind if I have that back?" He added after a short pause.
Auriel had a big grin on her face as she dangled the jingling coin-purse in front of her classmate. "I could've run off and been half way across the college by now..." She joked. She didn't actually want the coins, after all she could just steal them from someone she didn't like if she needed money. This was just one of her ways of saying hello.
She tossed the coin purse back to him, then stepped up to the window next to him and looked out herself. "Whats so interesting out there that you didn't notice a pretty elf girl sneak up on you? I could've done all sorts of things and you wouldn't even have noticed..." As was largely the norm, her voice wasn't entirely serious in tone. The majority of what she did was, after all, purely for fun, and seriousness rarely came into it.
"You could have." He said, nodding as he did. "But thankfully you didn't." He said as he continued to hold out his hand. "So I guess I should count myself lucky that it was you that took it and not another." He added with a slight smile. It was times like this he was thankful that patience was not something he lacked, though Auriel had certainly tested his limits before.
As she tossed the coinpurse back to him he caught it with ease. "Thank you." He said as he returned it to its rightful place. As she joined him at the window he turned back to face it, leaning on the wall once more. He listened as she questioned him lightly, "What a shame that would have been wouldn't it?" He joked before he paused as he thought on his answer. "Just watching the envoys arrive. There's quite a lot of them." He partially lied as he gestured faintly towards the carriage in the college's courtyard. "I'm surprised someone as quick handed as you hasn't tried messing with them yet." He added smiling at her.
Auriel turned back from the cold air coming in the window and feigned a hurt expression "Who says I haven't?" She maintained the look for a moment, then dropped it, returning to her usual mirthful expression. "So... who is she?" Auriel asked accusingly. She'd seen Deven stuck in his reveries often enough to know when something was different. She was probably wrong in this case, but it would still be fun.
"What lovely lady has got the mighty and handsome Deven wrapped around her finger so tightly that he's stuck waiting at the window for her to arrive?" She was having trouble maintaining a straight face as she spoke. She couldn't imagine Jenna just letting him be smitten to that degree.
Deven chuckled and shook his head at her little act before he turned his gaze back to the window. A moment past of silence before Auriel spoke up again. "Hmm?" Deven said as he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "She?" He asked, not entirely sure what exactly it was she was hinting at.
But soon his question was answered as she continued speaking, one of his guesses being proven true as she did. He managed to keep from getting a little flustered instead chuckling and rolling his eyes as he turned his head back to the window listening to her speech. Once she was done he spoke, "No." He said before a thought came to mind, "Lucky for you, theres no lady." He said grinning at her as he finished. "What about you? What's got you stalking about the halls?" He asked as his eyes drifted back to the window.
A slight sense of relief rolled over Auriel as Deven explained it wasn't a woman he was waiting for. Having other women involved closely tended to make for the kind of unpleasant complication she preferred to avoid. That was one reason she'd decided to leave Althalus alone. His woman was half snake, and not a very forgiving one either.
"Oh, the usual." She answered, only partially lying. She was bored, it was true, but she'd also learned recently that the representative sent from Ghannos was none other than Siala, the girl who'd given her her scars and chased her from her homeland. That'd put her on edge more than a little. "Its just so boring here. How can you stand it?" Of course she meant outside of the classes where she learnt how to throw fire at things. Or at least, they promised to teach her how to throw fire eventually.
Deven listened as she answered. He could only imagine what the usual must be for her, but he dare not ask. As she continued he nodded along with her, "It can be boring, but luckily I have been able to keep myself entertained. Whatever time I have where I am not studying or training I normally spend with Jenna and we tend to find ways to keep ourselves entertained." Deven said with a shrug. He noticed what he said could have been misinterpreted, but he was confident Auriel understood what he meant.
"You know, if your bored you could come with me to the mess hall. Jenna's waiting there now and I really should be getting back to her, i'm probably going to be keeping her waiting longer than she has patience for. I am sure she would be more than happy to have another person to pass the time with. What do you say?" Deven asked turning from the window to face Auriel.
Auriel looked back at Deven then, her mischevious grin only growing larger. "Why... might she get worried that you're off whiling away the long, boring hours in the company of another woman?" She said, teasing him with every chance she could get. She would still go to the mess hall with him though, at least something interesting might happen there. "Well lead on handsome... And watch your back..."
Deven smiled and shook his head at Auriel's jest. "You misunderstand the dynamics of mine and Jenna's friendship, if she found out I was "whiling away the hours with another woman" she'll probably start by giving me a pat on the back before she started complaining about being kept waiting so long." Deven replied smiling lightly at Auriel. As she told him to lead on and warned him to watch his back, he couldn't help but smile slyly and say, "I can't, I'm too busy watching yours." before he pushed off the wall and began in the direction of the mess hall.
Auriel smiled coyly at that remark and sauntered past Deven with a slight swing in her hips. She looked back for a moment and said provocatively "Well perhaps I should go first then..." before continuing down the hallway toward the mess hall.
Deven could not help but watch as Auriel passed him, his eyes admiring the slight show she put on as she walked. "Hmm...by all means, lead away." He said as a sly smile spread across his lips. He followed a short distance after her as she led the way, eventually speeding up to walk next to her.
As Deven came alongside her on the walk to the mess hall, Auriel adjusted her walk to get close to him and slipped a searching hand around his waist, behind his cloak. To onlookers, they'd appear to be a close couple perhaps, and while she did enjoy the closeness, it was also another method to acquire items that weren't hers. She simply wished he carried something more interesting than a bag of coins and a knife.
As Auriel slipped her arm around Deven's waist it caught him completely off guard, he hadn't expected her to move so close let alone slip an arm around him. Naturally his body tensed at the physical contact, though this time his hand did not drop to his knife. "Whoa, at least take me to dinner first." He joked before he smiled playfully at Auriel.
Auriel laughed at that and quickly replied in a sultry tone "I thought that was your job..." before sticking her tongue out for a moment. As she spoke she reached around to find the hilt of the knife on devens belt, testing to see how easily she could take it from its sheath.
Deven chuckled at her reply, "Has that ever stopped you before?" Deven teased, grinning at her as he did. As they reached a small set of stairs, it provided an opportune moment of time, while they descended them, to test how hard the knife was to pull from its sheath. It put up some resistance, meant to be unable to fall out while moving, but should she play it smart she may be able to take it from him.
"I am curious, how do you feel about this whole, meeting of nations thing?" He asked after they passed a pair of Djarkel guards. They were laughing at something one of them had said, but Deven hadn't been able to hear it.
Auriel used the chance to try and acquire his knife, but with her focus not entirely on the task she only managed to pull it a little out of its sheath before she had to release it again.
Auriel didn't much care about any aspect of the fact that the nations were all here. With the sole exception of the identity of one of the Ghannos representatives of course. That wasn't something she was going to talk about with Deven though. "Why?" She asked only semi-seriously. "You planning to join in the talks or something? You know they aren't ever going to get anywhere." She took on a sly expression then "Or is it because of this mystery lady you're denying exists?" She winked at him as she finished speaking, pulling him along at a faster pace once they reached the bottom of the stairs, eager to inform Jenna of Devens 'mystery woman.'
They quickly approached another staircase, and having already tested the dagger, auriel took the chance to yank it right from its sheath. The moment it was in her grasp and away from Deven, she began sprinting down the hallway. As she did she yelled out to him "Catch me if you can!" A silly grin on her face as her long legs carried her away from the shorter man.
Auriel will be free shortly Elite. She could do with another man to get close too...
I understand Seraph, and I am glad we are all back to our jovial selves.
I just wish I had intervened sooner to prevent some of that feeling. No matter, whats done is done and we can all move on now.
The thing everyone can take away from this is patience. The plot can wait a day if it means avoiding stepping on toes.
I just wish I had intervened sooner to prevent some of that feeling. No matter, whats done is done and we can all move on now.
The thing everyone can take away from this is patience. The plot can wait a day if it means avoiding stepping on toes.
Ariadne had been about to seek out Cody to ask him the questions he had promised to answer for her when she felt the subtle movement that indicated the ship was entering hyperspace. It was far less pronounced than the effect on a Goa’uld ship entering hyperspace, but it was still there. From what she knew of the situation, she quickly came to the conclusion that the ship was likely about to enter battle. With who she could only guess, likely Goa’uld or Jaffa forces, but even if was not those, she wanted to be on the ships Pel’tak, or ‘bridge’ as the Tau’ri called it. After a millennia of commanding her own forces, she couldn’t just sit back without even seeing the state of a battle. She knew she would not get to command this battle, nor was she qualified to do so with a ship she had been on for a mere few days, but she would never learn unless she saw the action, and looking out the window in her quarters just would not do.
She immediately changed the direction she was heading to take the shortest route to the Pel’tak, unhappy that she had not already been called there. She did not take long to reach the room, and when she did she immediately spoke to the man guarding the door. “Allow me to enter guard. Your captain may require my knowledge for this battle.” As she finished speaking the ship came out of hyperspace. The guard looked somewhat intimidated by her, and she could tell that he had not been doing this job for long. He stared for a moment longer and Ariadne glanced down at the radio on his uniform. He followed her eyes and quickly got the message, reaching to the communication device and relaying her request to the Captain.
She immediately changed the direction she was heading to take the shortest route to the Pel’tak, unhappy that she had not already been called there. She did not take long to reach the room, and when she did she immediately spoke to the man guarding the door. “Allow me to enter guard. Your captain may require my knowledge for this battle.” As she finished speaking the ship came out of hyperspace. The guard looked somewhat intimidated by her, and she could tell that he had not been doing this job for long. He stared for a moment longer and Ariadne glanced down at the radio on his uniform. He followed her eyes and quickly got the message, reaching to the communication device and relaying her request to the Captain.
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