Post by Miral Alechem on Oct 16, 2010 15:52:15 GMT 1
An hour after the rescue attempt at the smuggler compound was concluded, a sombre mood dominated the utilitarian office room temporarily relegated to Miral Alechem's control. The Reverend Mother herself was there with Josephine Vortigern, the two women deep in conversation over the recent debacle and its presumed depths, shielded from any possible eavesdroppers by thick, soundproof walls. If their grim expressions and urgent tones were any indication, both Reverend Mothers were disturbed by their conclusions, allowing such feelings to be revealed to one another.
Miral studied Josephine Vortigern with her characteristic intensity, pondering the information she'd just been entrusted with. The reason for the Kwisatz Mother's near-disastrous journey from Wallach IX, why so much was risked and, more pressingly still, what the future demanded of them.
In immediate projection, Miral saw the opposing faction within the Sisterhood as clearly as a beacon: Princess Shalandra Corrino was considered a genetic anomaly, dangerously unstable and not fit for breeding. To not only contest that, but go as far as to claim that a child of the Princess' may result in their ultimate goal, the Kwisatz Haderach himself was borderline folly, except...if one did not trust the knowledge of the one and only person with direct access to the entire scope of the project, who then? When Miral looked at her fellow Sister, she saw absolute certainty.
“You know we cannot fully dismiss the possibility that this attack originated from within our own ranks, Jo”, Miral pointed out in a rare display of intimacy. The two women shared a mutual understanding verging on friendship, as close as separation and a lifetime of conditioning permitted. Most of all they shared trust, which was the reason Josephine Vortigern had dared space travel to deliver her message to Miral personally.
“No”, she conceded after a short pause. “Even if we were to consider complete treason however, I do not believe they'd attempt such an open assault; too risky. Sister Lusia however, and your own messenger...that was no coincidence.”
Miral did not speak, but in this case silence spoke volumes. Jo was right; the subversion of the messengers was done in a way that meant to resemble the initial attack, but there were traces in there that told otherwise: different approach, more subtle, more confusing. If one probed deeply enough, traces of Bene Gesserit method emerged.
“Our conventional methods will not work on the Princess”, Miral pointed out “Unfortunately, we've lost a valuable agent when Kaylynn Langerak died. I have no doubts the Princess discovered who she worked for.”
“Her new Lady in Waiting...?”
“Difficult. Loyal, and we've not dared more forceful persuasion, lest the Princess became suspicious. Her paranoia has grown to new heights since the alleged assassination attempt.”
A vaguely satisfied smirk rose briefly upon RM Vortigern's lips.
“Then a different sort of persuasion is required”, she said.
“Does he have a name?” Miral followed smoothly, matching the other Reverend Mother's tiny lip curl. They were interrupted. Three members of the Commando Sisters' group had stayed behind at the smuggler base with the investigating Sardaukar, and reports were beginning to pour in, brought in the form of coded messages by capable Acolytes. Miral studied them quickly: they'd found plenty of evidence regarding Vlad's activities, but precious little that connected him to the Reverend Mother's kidnapping. He'd covered his tracks well, but an encrypted infodisk had been salvaged, and was being sent to Chapterhouse for analysis. They'd also found video records of all those who visited the compound for shady purposes, including Lady Montague – Miral ordered that particular filmbook to be sent to the Palace immediately.
“Damien Lothander”, RM Vortigern answered once she and Miral were alone once more. “Son of a Reverend Mother stationed on Lampadas, supposed to be very good at what he does. I've told my contact on Lampadas we wish to use him to infiltrate Princess Shalandra's inner circle; I expect he'll be arriving in a few days.”
And by the time the opposition on Wallach realizes our intentions, it will be too late, Miral filled in mentally. That was part of the reason why she and Jo connected so well – they had a knack for following one another's thought patterns with ease. Dangerous, too: their unlikely friendship was a weakness as much as it was a strength, but they were aware of it. Lilith was not; she would have to be dealt with.
Two hours later, as she watched her former Acolyte stride through the door and obediently take her seat, Miral's commanding posture and inflexible gaze confronted her, somehow managing to convey her displeasure merely by the way her eyes latched onto the younger woman's features. Lilith and Elisha had been primed for this encounter, kept aside in confining cells without one another's presence to draw comfort from, left to simmer in their own thoughts. It wasn't until they both sat before her desk that Miral spoke:
“Explain.”
It wasn't a loud word, devoid of any inflexions of the Voice, yet nonetheless carried the distinctive tone of a command. As Lilith gave her tactical account, Miral pondered it silently: her skill could not be denied, Jo had confirmed as much. No, what galled Miral was her wilful ignorance, the ease with which she cast aside both priorities and orders to indulge in personal bravado. She sensed the underlying vanity in her even as she spoke then, the pride at having managed to pull off the impossible. It was time to prod the fires a little further:
“So, not only you decided to infiltrate unknown hostile territory on your own”, Miral chided without any other acknowledgment, “When you were aware they had previously subdued a Reverend Mother and her Acolytes, but you had your old conspirator from school lend you a hand in playing the hero?”
It was a test, of course, and one Lilith saw at least partially. She'd trained her, after all. Every coin had two sides, but Bene Gesserit tactics were known to have many more than that.
“No, Reverend Mother”, Lilith answered with the flush of loyalty in her voice “Elisha saw I was in need of assistance and she joined the fight at my side of her own accord. We have been very fortunate for her help and I know that without it I would probably be dead.”
So that's the side she had seen; the other she didn't seem to consider in her rush to leap to Montague's defense. Lilith and Elisha, together again; it was almost as if no time had passed at all since their time at the Motherschool, but Miral knew it to be a bit more complicated than that. Nonetheless, this reaction sparked an unwelcome confirmation: Lilith remained compelled by her bond to a one-time school friend despite her attempts at eroding it completely. She was forced to look at it from a different perspective: what it showed was her Acolyte's predisposition towards strong loyalty, which could degenerate into emotional weakness. No matter, it would be curbed and in time put to the use of the Sisterhood; the Agony would ensure it, one way or another. In the meantime, Lilith had to be made to realize the dangers of pride; as long as she did not fully see herself as a Bene Gesserit first, and Lilith Piacevole second, other lessons could not follow. To that end, Miral Alechem contrived her decision.
“Fortune has nothing to do with it!” she snapped with deliberate scorn, another well-aimed blow for Lilith's ego, even though it was another artifice. She had been lucky: lucky the smugglers had been distracted, lucky Montague had arrived in the nick of time, lucky that bullet only grazed her temple...which was precisely the point. She still refused to see the difference between a calculated risk and a foolish one. Lilith's reaction to hearing her punishment were very revelatory in the eyes of a Reverend Mother: injured pride - again, pride – at first, then shock. Yes, they had reached the fulcrum of the matter: the young and talented spy had allowed herself the seductive illusion that she was above those lowly Sisters who bore children while she was entrusted with superior tasks.
Therefore, the first stage of her lesson was to understand they had equal value in the grand design of the Bene Gesserit; once she looked beyond what she interpreted as a punishment, the revelation would lay in her grasp. Lilith would see it; Miral knew her to be capable.
With Lilith dismissed, the Truthsayer turned her glacial stare on the Montague ambassador and addressed her for the first time. Although her attention had been given to her Acolyte until that moment, nothing about Elisha had escaped Miral's simulflow awareness. The play of emotion had been an interesting one to see, ranging from acid resentment to shock then the crushing realization that one moment of camaraderie could not turn back time. She could still see traces of Bene Gesserit self-discipline in her, grown slack from lack of practice, certainly inferior to her physical prowess. Yes, Jo had told her how Lilith and Elisha fought side-by side, the latter exhibiting impressive fighting skill for someone the Reverend Mother had rightly recognized as not being part of the Sisterhood. What a waste of potential, Miral thought not without a grain of disappointment, but it was a thought soon drowned by the tide of the young Ambassador's heated outburst. Miral could hardly imagine this girl had once lived up to Bene Gesserit standards of emotional control, thus she cast any remains of it to the four winds with shocking abandon. And for so little too: angry words filled with personal frustrations, even stooping to petty provocations. A mere Initiae would know better than to try that on a Reverend Mother, but apparently all Elisha Montague still retained from her education were mostly a few combat abilities; a glorified thug. The fact that she chose to dull her brain with narcotics said enough.
"What if I don't agree to keep your dirty little secrets, eh?” Elisha demanded angrily. “What then?"
Miral then allowed a measured amount of disdain to creep into her gaze as she let it whip over Elisha's seated form; the holoprojector at her side remained untouched, but it was suddenly included into the Reverend Mother's immediate awareness.
“So many words, so little meaning”, she began and placed a finger on a switch hidden from Elisha's view, “You've always fancied yourself more insightful than you were, Ambassador Montague.”
She had been perceptive regarding one matter though; how the Reverend Mother was subdued with such apparent ease by inferior foes. No matter, there was little she could do with that information, especially when counterweighted by the consequences. Miral pressed the switch, an image suddenly materializing in mid-air above the holoprojector device, revolving slowly to show every captured angle. It showed the interior of what looked like a tacky hotel lobby and two people. One was a small, dark mustachioed man in a silk suit sporting a wide grin as he spoke to the figured draped in a scarlet robe across the counter. When the image shifted, the robed figure's identity was revealed, Elisha's features emerging inside the hood, her breasts conveniently on display. At another press of a button, sound suddenly accompanied the images:
"Miss Rainelle! Good to see you! Good to see you!" the man was saying cheerfully, "So will it be your usual? We got a new shipment of pills in this afternoon!”
Deeming it sufficient, Miral silenced the display, freezing that last frame as it depicted Elisha shamelessly tempting the leering man with a generous show of cleavage.
“I see not much has changed, Miss Rainelle”, Miral commented, referring of course to the methods by which she used to acquire alcohol from the merchants at the Motherschool Spaceport. Students had no money; it required no particular leap of the imagination.
“However, I had assumed Ambassador Elisha Montague would rather avoid creating further embarrassment for herself and the House she represents in Assembly.”
Miral studied Josephine Vortigern with her characteristic intensity, pondering the information she'd just been entrusted with. The reason for the Kwisatz Mother's near-disastrous journey from Wallach IX, why so much was risked and, more pressingly still, what the future demanded of them.
In immediate projection, Miral saw the opposing faction within the Sisterhood as clearly as a beacon: Princess Shalandra Corrino was considered a genetic anomaly, dangerously unstable and not fit for breeding. To not only contest that, but go as far as to claim that a child of the Princess' may result in their ultimate goal, the Kwisatz Haderach himself was borderline folly, except...if one did not trust the knowledge of the one and only person with direct access to the entire scope of the project, who then? When Miral looked at her fellow Sister, she saw absolute certainty.
“You know we cannot fully dismiss the possibility that this attack originated from within our own ranks, Jo”, Miral pointed out in a rare display of intimacy. The two women shared a mutual understanding verging on friendship, as close as separation and a lifetime of conditioning permitted. Most of all they shared trust, which was the reason Josephine Vortigern had dared space travel to deliver her message to Miral personally.
“No”, she conceded after a short pause. “Even if we were to consider complete treason however, I do not believe they'd attempt such an open assault; too risky. Sister Lusia however, and your own messenger...that was no coincidence.”
Miral did not speak, but in this case silence spoke volumes. Jo was right; the subversion of the messengers was done in a way that meant to resemble the initial attack, but there were traces in there that told otherwise: different approach, more subtle, more confusing. If one probed deeply enough, traces of Bene Gesserit method emerged.
“Our conventional methods will not work on the Princess”, Miral pointed out “Unfortunately, we've lost a valuable agent when Kaylynn Langerak died. I have no doubts the Princess discovered who she worked for.”
“Her new Lady in Waiting...?”
“Difficult. Loyal, and we've not dared more forceful persuasion, lest the Princess became suspicious. Her paranoia has grown to new heights since the alleged assassination attempt.”
A vaguely satisfied smirk rose briefly upon RM Vortigern's lips.
“Then a different sort of persuasion is required”, she said.
“Does he have a name?” Miral followed smoothly, matching the other Reverend Mother's tiny lip curl. They were interrupted. Three members of the Commando Sisters' group had stayed behind at the smuggler base with the investigating Sardaukar, and reports were beginning to pour in, brought in the form of coded messages by capable Acolytes. Miral studied them quickly: they'd found plenty of evidence regarding Vlad's activities, but precious little that connected him to the Reverend Mother's kidnapping. He'd covered his tracks well, but an encrypted infodisk had been salvaged, and was being sent to Chapterhouse for analysis. They'd also found video records of all those who visited the compound for shady purposes, including Lady Montague – Miral ordered that particular filmbook to be sent to the Palace immediately.
“Damien Lothander”, RM Vortigern answered once she and Miral were alone once more. “Son of a Reverend Mother stationed on Lampadas, supposed to be very good at what he does. I've told my contact on Lampadas we wish to use him to infiltrate Princess Shalandra's inner circle; I expect he'll be arriving in a few days.”
And by the time the opposition on Wallach realizes our intentions, it will be too late, Miral filled in mentally. That was part of the reason why she and Jo connected so well – they had a knack for following one another's thought patterns with ease. Dangerous, too: their unlikely friendship was a weakness as much as it was a strength, but they were aware of it. Lilith was not; she would have to be dealt with.
Two hours later, as she watched her former Acolyte stride through the door and obediently take her seat, Miral's commanding posture and inflexible gaze confronted her, somehow managing to convey her displeasure merely by the way her eyes latched onto the younger woman's features. Lilith and Elisha had been primed for this encounter, kept aside in confining cells without one another's presence to draw comfort from, left to simmer in their own thoughts. It wasn't until they both sat before her desk that Miral spoke:
“Explain.”
It wasn't a loud word, devoid of any inflexions of the Voice, yet nonetheless carried the distinctive tone of a command. As Lilith gave her tactical account, Miral pondered it silently: her skill could not be denied, Jo had confirmed as much. No, what galled Miral was her wilful ignorance, the ease with which she cast aside both priorities and orders to indulge in personal bravado. She sensed the underlying vanity in her even as she spoke then, the pride at having managed to pull off the impossible. It was time to prod the fires a little further:
“So, not only you decided to infiltrate unknown hostile territory on your own”, Miral chided without any other acknowledgment, “When you were aware they had previously subdued a Reverend Mother and her Acolytes, but you had your old conspirator from school lend you a hand in playing the hero?”
It was a test, of course, and one Lilith saw at least partially. She'd trained her, after all. Every coin had two sides, but Bene Gesserit tactics were known to have many more than that.
“No, Reverend Mother”, Lilith answered with the flush of loyalty in her voice “Elisha saw I was in need of assistance and she joined the fight at my side of her own accord. We have been very fortunate for her help and I know that without it I would probably be dead.”
So that's the side she had seen; the other she didn't seem to consider in her rush to leap to Montague's defense. Lilith and Elisha, together again; it was almost as if no time had passed at all since their time at the Motherschool, but Miral knew it to be a bit more complicated than that. Nonetheless, this reaction sparked an unwelcome confirmation: Lilith remained compelled by her bond to a one-time school friend despite her attempts at eroding it completely. She was forced to look at it from a different perspective: what it showed was her Acolyte's predisposition towards strong loyalty, which could degenerate into emotional weakness. No matter, it would be curbed and in time put to the use of the Sisterhood; the Agony would ensure it, one way or another. In the meantime, Lilith had to be made to realize the dangers of pride; as long as she did not fully see herself as a Bene Gesserit first, and Lilith Piacevole second, other lessons could not follow. To that end, Miral Alechem contrived her decision.
“Fortune has nothing to do with it!” she snapped with deliberate scorn, another well-aimed blow for Lilith's ego, even though it was another artifice. She had been lucky: lucky the smugglers had been distracted, lucky Montague had arrived in the nick of time, lucky that bullet only grazed her temple...which was precisely the point. She still refused to see the difference between a calculated risk and a foolish one. Lilith's reaction to hearing her punishment were very revelatory in the eyes of a Reverend Mother: injured pride - again, pride – at first, then shock. Yes, they had reached the fulcrum of the matter: the young and talented spy had allowed herself the seductive illusion that she was above those lowly Sisters who bore children while she was entrusted with superior tasks.
Therefore, the first stage of her lesson was to understand they had equal value in the grand design of the Bene Gesserit; once she looked beyond what she interpreted as a punishment, the revelation would lay in her grasp. Lilith would see it; Miral knew her to be capable.
With Lilith dismissed, the Truthsayer turned her glacial stare on the Montague ambassador and addressed her for the first time. Although her attention had been given to her Acolyte until that moment, nothing about Elisha had escaped Miral's simulflow awareness. The play of emotion had been an interesting one to see, ranging from acid resentment to shock then the crushing realization that one moment of camaraderie could not turn back time. She could still see traces of Bene Gesserit self-discipline in her, grown slack from lack of practice, certainly inferior to her physical prowess. Yes, Jo had told her how Lilith and Elisha fought side-by side, the latter exhibiting impressive fighting skill for someone the Reverend Mother had rightly recognized as not being part of the Sisterhood. What a waste of potential, Miral thought not without a grain of disappointment, but it was a thought soon drowned by the tide of the young Ambassador's heated outburst. Miral could hardly imagine this girl had once lived up to Bene Gesserit standards of emotional control, thus she cast any remains of it to the four winds with shocking abandon. And for so little too: angry words filled with personal frustrations, even stooping to petty provocations. A mere Initiae would know better than to try that on a Reverend Mother, but apparently all Elisha Montague still retained from her education were mostly a few combat abilities; a glorified thug. The fact that she chose to dull her brain with narcotics said enough.
"What if I don't agree to keep your dirty little secrets, eh?” Elisha demanded angrily. “What then?"
Miral then allowed a measured amount of disdain to creep into her gaze as she let it whip over Elisha's seated form; the holoprojector at her side remained untouched, but it was suddenly included into the Reverend Mother's immediate awareness.
“So many words, so little meaning”, she began and placed a finger on a switch hidden from Elisha's view, “You've always fancied yourself more insightful than you were, Ambassador Montague.”
She had been perceptive regarding one matter though; how the Reverend Mother was subdued with such apparent ease by inferior foes. No matter, there was little she could do with that information, especially when counterweighted by the consequences. Miral pressed the switch, an image suddenly materializing in mid-air above the holoprojector device, revolving slowly to show every captured angle. It showed the interior of what looked like a tacky hotel lobby and two people. One was a small, dark mustachioed man in a silk suit sporting a wide grin as he spoke to the figured draped in a scarlet robe across the counter. When the image shifted, the robed figure's identity was revealed, Elisha's features emerging inside the hood, her breasts conveniently on display. At another press of a button, sound suddenly accompanied the images:
"Miss Rainelle! Good to see you! Good to see you!" the man was saying cheerfully, "So will it be your usual? We got a new shipment of pills in this afternoon!”
Deeming it sufficient, Miral silenced the display, freezing that last frame as it depicted Elisha shamelessly tempting the leering man with a generous show of cleavage.
“I see not much has changed, Miss Rainelle”, Miral commented, referring of course to the methods by which she used to acquire alcohol from the merchants at the Motherschool Spaceport. Students had no money; it required no particular leap of the imagination.
“However, I had assumed Ambassador Elisha Montague would rather avoid creating further embarrassment for herself and the House she represents in Assembly.”
