Imperial Academy of the Psionic Arts [IC]

[System-Lord Baal]

Memnet-Re bowed her head and closed her eyes momentarily, attempting to form a shell of sorts around her mind. She then cast a wary glance towards the Wraith. She wasn't sure what was going to occur and she was torn between walling her thoughts away from the others completely or try to mentally watch what was going to happen.

[Michael Kenmore]

The Queen hesitated, then attempted to do so, as unnatural as it was for her kind. It would be crude at best, as Wraith were accustomed to allowing any one of their kind assess to each other's thoughts. She stared at Gradian and waited.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

Gradian nodded at the Queen as she readied herself and erected a crude but still somewhat effective psionic shield around her mind, making it invisible to any who could not get through the shield first. He smiled and then proceeded to address the students.

"I will now proceed to attempt to get through the Queen's shield. Please turn your attention to her psionic presence." He stated.

Next, he began concentrating on the Queen's thoughts, attempting to read them. He found an obstacle, and focused his will and psionic power on said obstacle, in an attempt to break through. It took a few moments, but, sure enough, Gradian managed to make the Queen's shield falter, and likely stunning her momentarily.

"As you can see, the Queen just reacted negatively to her psionic shield being shattered. This is due to the fact that it is directly linked to her concentration, and thus shattering one means shattering the other, thus stunning the shield user. This is important, as the opposite can happen as well. If the user's concentration is shattered, the shield, too, will falter." He stated, and then turned to the Queen.

"Your demeanor told me that you were expecting to be affected by the intrusion before putting the maximum ammount of resistance against it, and that you are accustomed to allowing others to access your thoughts freely, even if only ones of your kind. However, it was an excellent first attempt."

[Michael Kenmore]

Unlike many newcomers to telepathic communication the Queen seemed fully alert of her surroundings while her mind was being probed. She narrowed her eyes, tilted her head to one side, and shook it as she felt the intruding presence. When her defenses were forcibly broken she froze immediately, with a short insectoid screech that was audible only telepathically. It was only a brief scraping cry, and only the product of her mind, but it would have chilled any Wraith in the vicinity.

In a moment she recovered herself. She gave a quick nod and flare of her nostrils to the teacher, and then sat down again.

[Starkindler]

With the help of her Angel, Aiwendil cleared the bed for her daughter to lie on, then placed her there softly. She started to sing The Angel had detached herself, and started to dance a standard waltz as her host sang. However, she wore a magnificent dress in place of her modesty clothes. Leaving her host alone with the repairs. She firstly undressed the unconscious Clank, then, using tools from her luggage, she began to disassemble her in order to begin the repairs.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

After the Queen had recovered from the shattering of the Psionic Shield, Gradian spoke to the class once again. "Very well class, now that we have seen how Psionic attack and defence works, I want you all to become familiar with this before we delve deeper into the subject. For now, I want you all to work in pairs. One of you will take the role of attacker, and the other will take the role of defender, though it is important that you alternate said roles." He instructed. "And remember that, when defending, if you wait until the attack has commenced, then you start defending yourself when it's already too late. Please begin."

[Michael Kenmore]

The Wraith Queen made a slight nod and looked around. She did not believe she would be anyone's first choice, so she decided to make the first move. Both of the new students had seemed afraid, and she did not like fear. She turned to Sufan, the other human.

"Would you be my partner in this?" she asked.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

Ingeborg had curiously watched the demonstration of psionic defence. The wraith, she still need to figure out what on earth her name was, had volunteered to participate in the demonstration and seemed to have done her job successfully. She carefully took notes of what occured. So, concentration was apparently the key to proper psionic defence. She underlined it in her notebook, giving extra importance to it. Her ears perked, and she looked up again to hear the teacher talk. It seemed like they were going to work in pairs now to practice what they've just been taught. She glanced around, and secretly praised god that the wraith was opting to practice with Sufan. "Hey, Aria, how about we practice together?" she asked her. Aria was just about the only student in the academy she could actually get along with so far, and she was quick to ask if she could partner up with her before someone else. God forbid she'd end up paired with Memnet-Re. No, that'd end up disastrously.

[Nature-Spirits]

Sufan watched with interest as the professor incapacitated the new student, who then proceeded to request him as a partner. He took a deep breath through his nose, his nostrils flaring inadvertently, and stared into her unnerving inhuman eyes. "Of course. I will gladly join you for practise." He smiled at the creature, attempting to clear his mind. "So, would you prefer to attack or to defend? Oh, and I apologise, but I did not hear your name if you introduced yourself. I am Sufan." He bowed his head for a second.

[Michael Kenmore]

She repeated the bowing gesture. "I did not introduce myself. I am Wraith. I will not be assigned a designation until my neural pathways have become distinct." She flared all four of her own nostrils and cocked her head to one side, smelling him.

"If it would make you more secure, Sufan, I shall attempt to defend once more."

[System-Lord Baal]

Memnet-Re was relieved that she had walled her consciousness in, although it was only the Wraith being attacked. The telepathic scream was unpleasant, and rather spine-chilling. Still, the Goa'uld never got to pursue a true alliance with the Wraith after the Drone War. They had assumed the Wraith were angry about the loss of a hive and did not desire any acquaintances with other races.

She started to ask the Wraith if she wanted to be her partner, when she saw the Wraith had other plans. Tightening her lips, she looked at the new students. They too seemed to have no desire to speak with her. Memnet-Re shrugged and found herself wishing the Clank was here.

The Goa'uld turned to a Zarkenian student. "Would you mind if I paired with you this time?"

[Meritocratic States]

Aria Tannhauser
Classroom F1-B, IAPA

Aria stood from her seat when Ingeborg asked her to be her defense partner. "S-sure." she put her materials away and faced the kangaroo in front of her. "I rarely practice my defensive powers during my time in the Ascension Project so expect me to suck." she joked. She rubbed her nape and bent her neck side-to-side, careful not to damage the psionic implant embedded on the base of her skull. Mentally she wondered how this would end, looking at the bright side she wondered "Well, how bad can this be?" she thought as she prepared herself.

[Nature-Spirits]

"Very well," replied Sufan, closing his eyes and preparing himself, meditating on what he should attempt. However, considering that he didn't have much practise with Magickal/psionic attack, he decided on simply trying to make his way into her mind.
He was about to begin when he heard Patno's voice. I don't like her. Her energy feels odd. Unpleasant. Chilling. Like she can suck the very h(áá) - meaning "energy" or "Breath of Life" - from things. And when that man broke her shield - which was terribly constructed, by the way - her mind let out a terrible shriek. I have the feeling that her nature contradicts mine in some way.
You're being irrational, contradicted the boy.
Patno mentally implied sighing. I suppose that you're right. Very well. Proceed.
Sufan took another deep breath through his nose and focused his will, throwing his mind against the barrier surrounding the Wraith's mind, assuming that she'd already created one by now - she'd had a few minutes to do so.

[Michael Kenmore]

She concentrated, watching the human silently while he prepared himself. It seemed strange to her that other species tended to close their eyes while attempting telepathic contact, as if that would help them see other things not seen. She waited, trying to form another shield around her mind again.

He finally attacked, and she braced herself. Still, his force was strong and she was used to giving others free reign in her mind. It broke and Sufan entered- a cold, dark place inside her, with writhing, indistinct forms darting away from Sufan's light of mind. She restrained another telepathic scream. The first thing he would experience was an extreme, gnawing hunger in her soul, one that was just barely controlled. Her mind did not consist of orderly words or memories either- it was a streaking wash of feeling, emotion, images, and pervasive hunger. There were distant other Wraith minds at the edge of her conscientious; the transport that had brought her here had dropped out of hyperspace to regenerate and was just detectable.

The Queen shook her head, trying to push him out again before he could regain composure and do so himself. It had been only the briefest second. "Do you wish me to try an attack now? I am still unskilled in defense and would like an opportunity again at some time."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The student the Goa'uld had addressed was a Zarkenian male with slitted pupils and whiskers below his nose. He looked at the Goa'uld upon hearing her addressing him, and, after taking a few moments to remember the correct English words, nodded. "No, I wouldn't mind at all." He said. He showed obvious surprise towards the fact that Memnet-Re had asked him to practice with her, but it didn't show too much and he swiftly regained his composture and sat so that he was facing the Goa'uld.

"Would you rather attack or defend? I personally don't mind either, though I would prefer defending. But it is up to you." He said.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

Ingeborg smiled when Aria thought it was a good idea for the two to work together. "Don't expect me to be much better, either," She jokingly added, "Defence is probably not really my forte." She paused for a second, wondering who was going to perform which role first. She didn't really have any preference, so she figured she could just ask Aria what she wanted and have a go with the role that remained, "So, you wanna have a go at defence first, or attack?"

[Meritocratic States]

Aria Tannhauser
Classroom F1-B, IAPA

"I'd attack first, if that's alright with you." Aria blinked to activate the HUD of her implant, setting it to offensive mode. "Okay, I'm ready."

Like any other Ascension Institute-issued implants, her implant works with two modes, offensive and defensive. When the offensive mode is up, she can project and sustain a powerful directed psionic energy as long as she can hold it, and a defensive mode where she can project a psionic shield and sustain it as long as she can.

Feeling the psionic energy from her finger tips, she raised both of her hands towards the kangaroo "Prepare yourself." she said telepathically towards the kangaroo.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

Ingeborg took a deep breath. She tried to remember everything the teacher had said about setting up a psionic shield. He said that the most important thing was concentration. She had to concentrate all the strength of her thoughts on setting up a shield to block the attack. So she did, she tried all her best to focus. She was unsure if she was doing it right though, she may have missed out on some important other factor she had to weigh in. And crap, what if her defence was ineffective against certain types of attacks? She tried to mentally tell her thoughts to shut the hell up and focus for once. She briefly shook her head to get the lack of focus out of her mind and tried again. "Focus, concentrate, prepare yourself," she thought as she tried to direct her energies to form a shield.

[System-Lord Baal]

"I would prefer to attack," Memnet-Re agreed. She closed her eyes and concentrated. "Are you ready?" Once the affirmative was given, she threw herself against the defensive shield, willing what concentration she had to break into the young man's mind.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

The Zarkenian nodded at Memnet-Re, and then tilted his head in confusion when she closed her eyes, though he soon shrugged at the fact and began concentrating, focusing his thoughts around his mind, drawing out the entirety of his Psionic power to form a shield around his mind. Like every other person, he too had secrets, and in turn used them to fuel his will and strenghten the wall around his mind even further. If anyone were to look at him, they would see him holding his gaze perfectly still, not blinking and breathing slowly.

When Memnet-Re asked him if he was ready, he nodded. "I am." He said, and then focused on his psionic shield even more, before feeling the strike of Memnet-Re's concentration. The young Zarkenian focused on the shield, ignoring the strain that was slowly building up. However, after several moments, the shield finally began to crack, and parts of his consciousness connected to hers. Realizing this broke his concentration completely, making the shield falter.

Due to his physical relaxation, however, the Zarkenian was not affected too much by the shattering, only becoming a little dizzy and stunned after it happened. Once he recovered, he addressed the Goa'uld.

"You win. Great job, Memnet-Re. Should I attack now?"

[Nature-Spirits]

Sufan's eyes flew open, surprised and scared by the inhuman mind of the Queen. However, before he had the chance to regain his composure and perhaps analyse the Wraith's mind, he felt himself being roughly forced out, and the images, hunger and sounds vanished. He swallowed.
See? said Patno. I was right.
Yes, replied Sufan dazedly. You were right.
"Uh, yes," he said out loud. "Of course." He again thought about his approach. Many Magickal practitioners of the Tribe simply visualsed raw energy surrounding them protectively, but he also knew of people who preferred to visualise something from nature to protect them: walls of ice, circles of fire, thorny vines, swarms of insects, an ouroboros. Now he decided on thorny vines, imagining them sprouting around his feet and growing, twining around his body and joining at the top to completely surround his body. However, he also let his concentration swirl around his thoughts, blocking out anything that might attempt to probe them.

[Meritocratic States]

Aria Tannhauser
Classroom F1-B, IAPA

Aria breathed as she felt a pulse of psionic energy was released from her fingertips and contacted with the shield. The initial contact was merely to test, so the energy was just to "feel" the shield her partner formed. The prospecting energy found an area of advantage, she took it and send a pulse to crack it. She felt the shield crack, and sent another. It was slightly powerful than her previous pulse, enough to create a large crack on her shield. Finally realizing her cracks can break the shield with one last pulse, she said again telepathically "Ready for this one?" She threw a type-8 psionic energy towards the shield with an intent of breaking it.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

What Ingeborg experienced was odd to describe at best. It was the first time ever she was actually being psionically attacked. Admittedly, not really that much of a milestone you'd want to make note of, but it was the strangest experience she had ever felt. She felt like there was some sort of physical force actually attempting to tear down her shield, but there was nothing there in reality, nothing physical at least. It was just pure mindpower doing all this. It was part fascinating, part terrifying. She had to make sure she kept in focus, but her shield was probably weak already by her lack of concentration and endless digression, and with the attacks weakening it, it probably wouldn't hold long. She felt quite a bit of knockback when the last blast broke her shield entirely. She could probably best describe it as a smack in the face really, except with an invisible hand. She rubbed her temples after it was done. "That was an odd experience," she said while trying to shake off the slight dizziness.

[Meritocratic States]

Aria Tannhauser
Classroom F1-B, IAPA

Rubbing the back of her neck, Aria sighed and licked her lips. "That's a really good resistance." she rolled her shoulders "So, switch roles?" she smiled as switched the implant to defensive mode. She began to use the breathing exercises she learned during her tenure in the Ascension Institute. Standing on her defensive posture, Aria waited for Ingeborg to begin.

[The Kangaroo Republic]

"Ah, I couldn't have been that good," Ingeborg said. "Switching roles is good. I'd like to see if I can do something fancy. Don't really have anything offensive I can throw at ya, so I suppose just attempting to break into your mind's the best I can do," she continued, before she mentally told herself to stop talking so damn much and just begin the exercise. "Okay, then, ready? 'Cause here I go." she said more determinedly now. She tried to concentrate to the best of her extent to focus her invasion on Aria's mind. It was odd to actually not be able to sense a person's emotions from the get-go. There was only cold as her attacks bumped against the defensive shield formed. Really emotionless. Not the kind of emotionless cold she sensed with the wraith, no, really no emotion at all. She figured all it took was to continue battering the psionic shield with waves of attacks until it would give way, a battle of who can stay more focused and concentrated. The visualisation at least seemed to help her understand what she was doing to some extent. Small cracks became larger fissures. It was tiring attempting to break a shield down, tiring to have to not feel anything, except for the icecold void of emotion, especially with the emotions influencing her way of thoughts. It felt desolate and unpleasant and strained on her mind, but the fractures continued to appear and grow, and kept her informed on the progress she's made. She kept her mind concentrated, and built up her internal energy to release in a final powerful blast that could probably take the shield down. She felt it build up inside of her, and soon she let go of it all at once.