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Mar 8th, 2018, 05:51:37 AM
#61
Another plot? If this was but a diversion that Alex was proving to be a far better tactician that she had planned. No. Perhaps not a diversion. Perhaps just a fool throwing all his darts wildly at the board and hoping that maybe just one will stick. Good. Play your hand Alex. We will thwart every attempt, every push, and when the smoke clears all of your darts will be in the wall, and you will have none left in hand. This could be the end of the Cult of Dark Ascension, or whatever he was calling it these days. That, at least, was what it had been called when she had created it.
With a snap of her finger, the Raven Guard captain straightened up and began barking orders to his troopers, who began to fan out, preparing the wounded for medvac and the rest for the next leg of the journey. No doubt already establishing communications with Control to try and lock down this Dock and Shuttle that may be the key to the next target.
"Dig deeper, Palinsa. Find his every secret, explore his deepest desires, and uncover his greatest fears. Uncover this new plot. He is a ball of yarn waiting to be unraveled. Do not be afraid. I am protecting you."
There was a smile upon her scarred lips. She did not even realize it, within this moment, just how much she was enjoying watching Palinsa tear this man's psyche apart like an child with a napkin; unclear of the damage she was doing.
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Mar 8th, 2018, 09:33:45 PM
#62
Pali brushed her hair behind her ears as she watched the reactions to her information. After things settled, she turned back to Alexia. "Yes, Ma'am," she responded to the order to dig deeper. Grabbing the man's shoulder and pushing him gently to his knees, she stared into his upturned face.
This time his mental pleas went unheeded. Palinsa pushed them aside and listened deeper. It never occurred to her, as it did her mentor, that she was enjoying this. The heady rush of power was washing away her doubts in her abilities and her fear of the consequences of her actions. In that moment, she wasn't paying attention to the ramblings, mentally and verbally, slowing and becoming less coherent. She was listening to the prompts, the echoes of orders received, and other chaos that minds spit out on a regular basis.
Tilting her head down, she pressed deeper. Soon the oral rantings ceased and his eyes glazed over. But Palinsa didn't notice, and didn't stop. Her whole interrogation was going on silently in his mind. The question and answer session turning the man's senses to mush.
Once it was done, she pulled back with an audible gasp. Her face was flushed and sweat beaded her temples. She felt like she had been swimming under water without coming up for air. As she slowly tried to refocus on Alexia, she kept her hands on the man's shoulders. But this time it wasn't to control him, it was to balance her. "I..." she shook her head trying to organize her thoughts. "He, he said that there is another attack. One that I mentioned before. The other one, the other attack." She realized the words before she spoke them and suddenly her vision, her demeanor, her thoughts... they were all so crystal clear.
"He knows I'm your apprentice. He's planning to, was planning, to take me to get to you." She frowned as she realized the plot was known but not the actions. "This one didn't have the details, only knew the vagueness of what the four groups were going to be doing." Her mind ticked off the groups and she frowned as she let go of the man's shoulders and straightened up. "If this was group one, and the shuttle is two, taking me is three.... what is group four doing?" She didn't like where this was going. "He really doesn't, didn't, like you... did he? Do you think the plans will stop because he's dead?"
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Aug 24th, 2018, 08:37:36 AM
#63
The cadet came out out of the cultists mind like a rising phoenix; in flight and on fire. She did not even notice as the cultist crumpled to her feet, the damage to his psyche too much for his weak mind to bear. He was not dead, not yet, but there was little hope that he would ever emerge from the coma his mind had slipped into. Nothing of worth was lost. Alexia was with her apprentice the entire way, seeing what she saw, while also skipping around to a few deeper corners. He knew nothing. Nothing at all. Just another piece of meat in Alex's war of chaos.
"Careful, Cadet. Temper your expectations. Keep in mind that all you can find is what the individual believes is true. Alex is well aware of my powers of telepathy and he will no doubt seed misdirection and falsehoods even in his own men so that in the event that they are captured they have little to offer to me but deceit. This was good practice, all the same, but I fear I have pushed you too far. You are standing on a precipice and it is time to come back from the ledge. You may need time to recuperate and sort what is your mind and what you took from the minds of others. Alex was not here, he is not among the dead. Come, we will rendezvous back at headquarters. The garrison can handle any other threats. You did well, Cadet Donar."
The shuttle had landed in the street outside, the folding wings of the iconic Lambda folding up neatly to allow it room to perch. New shuttles were arriving by the minute, disgorging additional troopers to assist the Raven Guard, see to the wounded, and take away any survivors to prison and their eventual execution. It had been a very trying day for both of them, and the Cadet had earned a little rest. There was not much of it these days. There was little time to sleep while the city burned.
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Aug 25th, 2018, 12:27:08 AM
#64
"Not here? But he... I thought they..." she pointed to the Ravens around them. "I thought they killed him." She shook her head in disbelief as they headed for the transport. Her mind replayed the scene over and over. Alex, Bane, in her face... taunting... then...
She shook her head and a smile lit her features as the transport took off with her and Alexia in it. She looked to her mentor and cocked her head slightly. "We didn't kill him, did we? He clouded my mind, maybe the guard as well, to make us think we did." It wasn't a question. She could feel, just on the fringes of her mind, a caress she was starting to find familiar. It was dissipating, slowly, as if it had pulled a cover over her mind and then slowly released it so she could come back to herself. She looked at Alexia and sighed. "Was that why I believed he was dead and the two Raven with me, yet his remains weren't found?" The sense of failure tinted her words. Had she been stronger, not panicked. Perhaps if she hadn't shifted her concentration to holler for her mentor. All those things went thru her mind and made her wonder what else she had missed because of his skill... and her lack of it.
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Nov 18th, 2018, 02:58:37 AM
#65
Alexia gave her student a sideways glance before returning her eyesight to the landscape as it passed by underneath their shuttle.
"I don't know what you think you saw, Cadet. You have had a very trying day. Bane would never be present at a battle where his victory was not assured. He is a coward that hides behind a bulwark of flesh. He is a great manipulator. He may have played a part in the raid. Perhaps he is trying to finish what he started with you. Stay vigilant. What I know about Alexander Bane is that he fixates and obsesses, and unfortunately you have drawn his eye. We may have to move you off planet for your safety. We cannot risk the levels he will go to if he chooses to continue to harass you."
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Nov 19th, 2018, 10:59:17 PM
#66
Palinsa replayed the scene in the building over and over. Alex had been in the room... she had seen him. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. "It wasn't him. But he had been close." She looked at Alexia and suddenly felt very foolish. "Close enough to cloud my mind. I'm sorry, Ma'am. I hollered that it was him, but it was merely one of the others. He made me think it was him so I would react." She felt very stupid and vulnerable suddenly.
When her mentor mentioned moving her off planet, she shook her head. "No, don't send me away. If he has a fixation on me, then let's use it. We know he'll come for me, right? So let's use that to our advantage." Her normally nearly peaceful face was suddenly looking very cold and menacing... as well as calculating. "We can use me as bait." She knew those final words wouldn't sit well with Alexia. But something told her they didn't have a choice. "If I leave the planet, we may lose our chance. There's no telling if he will follow me or choose another target. This may be the only way."
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Mar 16th, 2019, 07:00:00 PM
#67
"The decision is not mine to make. I will send my report and we will follow whatever orders that follow. Until I am told otherwise, you are still assigned to this post and you will continue to serve under me. I will make a Knight of you yet, Cadet Donar. When we return to headquarters you are to eat a hot meal and rest. Your training will continue tomorrow at dawn. If this rebellion escalates any further there will soon be no time for food and rest. Enjoy it while you can. Tomorrow is a new day."
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