1. | Arrival of the Lullaby Plague

[Laura]

2 weeks ago - City of Kanti, Arkania
It is the nature of the universe that we never really see the end coming. Sure, scientists can publish results, pundits debate possibilities, and the wiser among us might even warn of the coming storm. Still, you never really think it’s going to be you who suffers until reality slaps you in the face. Such was the case for Laura Hill, standing in the aisle of the grocery store, staring at the dying woman.

She was lying unmoving, a few metres down the aisle. Laura was at the entrance, frozen. Between them were a couple of tins of food and a smashed bottle, dribbling a thick brown liquid onto the floor next to a dropped handbasket. The woman looked to be about forty, but it was hard to tell. The muscles on her neck and arms bulged, and she was locked in a position like a coiled millipede, as if a great and invisible weight had been placed upon her back. Her head, pressed against the floor, was twisted unnaturally so that her face looked sideward, up the aisle towards where Laura stared, mouth agape. The woman’s jaw muscles strained, but her mouth remained firmly closed. She blinked at Laura, wide-eyed, and from her throat came the low grunting that had first brought the girl over to investigate.

“Huhh. Huhh. Huhh.”

Laura stepped back, blanching. She’d heard stories of the outbreak. Everyone had. It was all over the news. But here, now? In the grocery store? There was no telling how long the woman had been lying there, it was close to closing time and the store was almost deserted. Laura told herself that someone else would be there to help the woman soon. Slowly she placed the basket she was carrying down, leaving it next to the shelves. Grimly, she took a last look at the woman and turned to leave.


3 days ago - City of Adascopolis, Arkania
Things had got worse after that. A lot worse. Nominally, there was still a government, but the cities felt pretty lawless nonetheless. The shops were shuttered and the streets deserted. An eerie quiet had settled over the city, punctuated by the occasional pop pop of distant slugthrowers, or more rarely the crash as some gang of looters or militia’s death squad smashed in a door or window nearby. On those nights, she would sit bolt upright in her bed, and look across the trio of tense faces, each one having been roused by the disturbance, or else unable to get to sleep. How did you rest easy when sleep could mean death?

They’d all seen it. It was impossible not to. First you got sick. Sneezing and coughing and the like. Then there were the aches and pains, and the splitting headaches. Sometimes you could tell somebody had the sickness just from the way they stared into space, like they weren’t even there. After that came the drowsiness, the first wave of sleep. Liable to knock you flat as you sat down to eat your dinner, or stepped out of the shower. That was when you really knew, when you could no longer tell yourself it wasn’t The Lullaby Plague, that it was just the flu, something harmless when compared to the Sickness.

That was how Laura had known.

It had hit her climbing the stairs up to the one-bedroom apartment. Stroke-swift, one moment she had been trudging up the steps, wincing from her aching legs, and then a deep, true darkness had swept across her vision. She awoke in the bed, some twelve hours later.

Now she was wearing a face mask, not for her own benefit, but for her family, huddled on the other side of the room. Mother, father, and brother, sharing the single bed, pushed up against the wall as far away from Laura as they could get in the cramped space. She didn’t blame them. She’d argued, not very convincingly, that they should just kick her out and leave her to her fate. Truth be told, she still hoped that there was something that could be done. They were going to take her to the hospital the next day. They would be able to do something for her, she was sure of it.


1 day ago - Walcott Medical Centre, Adascopolis, Arkania
Laura crumpled up the note in her fist. Her family was dead. It was something she had known in her gut, some ethereal cord, some connection that bound one to their kin, had been severed. Wherever their souls had gone, she would soon join them.

In front of her, on a small rectangular tray, sat several orange capsules. The doctor had explained in simple terms two days prior, addressing her and the other sickly patrons of the ward.

“There is nothing we can do. You can sit there and let the disease take you, or you can take stimulant packs to keep you awake until your brain melts.”

Up until now, she’d chosen the latter, popping orange capsules that made her brain sizzle like raw meat on a hot skillet. But she didn’t know why. She felt empty. She’d already died. What was the point of struggling now if the result would be the same? Her lips forming a hard line, she shoved the tray away from her, letting it clatter to the floor.

Laura sat back in her bed, sighing and closing her eyes as she waited for the sleep to take her.

​

Now - Walcott Medical Centre, Adascopolis, Arkania
She sat up slowly, squinting into the bright morning light. The ward was bright and empty, and she was still here. Around her, two or three bodies lay motionless in their hospital cots. They had passed from this world in the night, but she had not. Laura smiled ruefully. Nothing ever seemed to go her way. Swinging her legs off the side of the bed, she flexed her fingers a few times. Stiff, but she still felt okay, better than she had in days in fact.

That meant nothing though. She knew what fate awaited her. She would become one of the bodies lying twisted in the empty ward soon enough. Of that she was sure. Still, the utter silence of the room made her uncomfortable, even if the presence of the dead no longer did, so she rose gingerly to her feet, and padded barefoot out into the hospital’s halls.
It had been abandoned, and the paperwork and equipment strewn across the hallway indicated the few remaining staff had wasted no time in getting out of there. Gazing out of the huge windows of the reception area, she saw nothing but the empty street and the bright midmorning day. She may as well have been the last living person in the Galaxy.
Though as far as she knew, she would not last much longer.

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Word filtered through the holo, at first stardust was content with merely listening to it allowing the officials of the planet to deal with it all. After all wasnt her place to interfere, however when freighters stopped checking stardust became greatly worried for her freighters foing to and suspended any arriving and outgoing shipments until she investigated this outbreak herself

Arriving just above the plant in a small shuttle, her guards stood with her as she brought up a holo projection of the city

city is a mess, reports have told this thing has taken a good amount of lives already, everyone is outfitted with haz mat gear this disease seems to spread like some type of flu so best to assume its airborne. Contact with infected is to be kept to minimal to none. We will be dropping out in the center non infected are a priority objective along side getting any info we can of this virus

The drop ship whined as it slowed down hovering over the center, stardust hit a button and opened the door jumping out and aimed around taking a deep breath

we will check every inch we can, now move watch your corners

[member="Laura"]

 

[Laura]

The street outside was barren and lifeless. The front entrance to the hospital was a few steps behind her, its doors wide open, unwilling or unable to slide smoothly closed. A light wind had blown some leaves and debris into the room, which was slowly piling up by the reception desk. Would anyone be coming back to clean it up? Laura didn't know, though she supposed at this point it didn't matter all that much.

Outside, the sun was bright and the air clear and cold. On a day like this, you'd expect to see people milling in the park and restaurants that surrounded the hospital complex, but there was nobody. Nobody except Laura.

As she surveyed her surroundings, Laura was struck by a fit of coughing, and as she straightened up a wave of dizziness almost sent her toppling down the small staircase that lead down to the road. It was cold outside, too cold for someone as sick as herself to be wandering around in just her thin hospital pajamas and no shoes. Reluctantly, Laura turned away from the sunlit street and made her way back into the abandoned hospital in search of some more suitable clothing.

Wandering through the dim halls, and peering into the silent wards, it was clear that Laura and the other unfortunates of her ward were not the only people that had been abandoned to their fates. There were dozens of others: shapes between the blankets, or ghastly contorted faces and twisted forms. After a time, Laura stopped checking the wards. There was nothing for her in there, only death.

Eventually, her wandering lead her to a heavy door marked 'staff only.' Unlike the other rooms, this one was lit with the fluorescent tubing ubiquitous to hospitals, the too-bright white light spilling out into the corridor through the gap in the door, which hung ajar. Laura's gut churned as she approached, and she felt the sudden and near-overwhelming urge to turn and run away as fast as she could in the other direction. Steeling herself and continuing forward, she slowly pulled the door open, revealing a plain on-call room, and something else, an unusual sound. From somewhere inside came the plink, plink, plink of dripping water. Suddenly nervous, she stepped inside the room, squinting into the bright lights and blinking several times. As her eyes adjusted, her gaze fell upon the source of the sound.

What was left of a nurse was slouched in the corner opposite her, his knees hiked up to his chest and his head drooping towards the ground. His hair was matted with blood, and still more dripped from the gaping wound in his skull, adding to the substantial puddle around his body. Laura stared at him for a long time, not moving, just breathing and standing still as a statue, waiting for him to move, for something, anything to happen. But he stayed dead, and the blood still dripped drop-by-drop onto the floor, so she turned away.

There was a set of scrubs sitting on one of the beds, and a jacket sitting on the back of a chair, so she took both and dressed quickly in the hallway outside. Both of the items could've used a wash, but they'd do the job. Finally, she found a pair of simple slippers that would do until she found some actual footwear. Laura wondered what they'd done with her actual clothes. They'd probably burned them. Laura turned to leave, flicking off the lights. She took one last long look into the dimness, towards the body of the nurse, then left the room.

The novelty of being alive had once again worn off, and Laura felt the empty, hollow feeling growing inside her. Everything felt wrong. Numb, but also raw and painful and confusing and terribly terribly lonely. As she passed by a large set of windows on her way back to reception, she spotted a metallic shape drifting down out of the blue. A dropship was circling to land, descending in lazy spirals towards the city. It was a bit hard to tell, but it seemed to be quite close. Briefly, she considered heading out to chase it down, to throw herself at the feet of the pilot and beg to be rescued. But what would be the point? What could they do for her? Nothing.

What she really wanted was something to eat. Her stomach had been grumbling since she'd awoken. Laura nodded to herself. She'd find something to eat, then she'd walk down to the park, sit by the pond and wait to die.

[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"]​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Laura"]

This place reminded her of the netherworld, just a hellish landscape full of death and despair. Her boots crunched over some trash that had spilled over onto the ground when people ran, all across it was...eerily silent. Not even the life form sensor could detect anything nearby it was truely a ghost town.

By now [member="Laura"] could likely hear the stepping if boots drawing closer to the hospital, along side the beeping of the lifeform scanner in one of stars men's hands as he looked to star and then held it up and moved it around before nodding

got one maam....you sure it's worth investigating? The reports of this disease this person could be long gone from help

Stardust took a deep breath, he was right of course, however their other objective was to find what they could in documents

even if so we can give them a way quicker way out....but do not forget we are also here to retrieve documents and maybe we can even find patient zeros records if they even have them....now move forward into the hospital

Stardust cleared her throat, then spoke loudly amplified by her helmet

to ahh...the lifeform inside that is alive if you are able to move and are sentient do not be afraid we are friendly and here to help approach at a minimum of ten feet

With that, they entered, inside was just as horrible as stardust turned on her helmet light and began looking around, everyone looking around at the papers scattered and a few bodies laying around

poor souls...force be with them

She whispered to herself and started down the hall

 

[Doctor Nostredame]

Dr Nostredame had been hired to collect the bodies of those unlucky to have heard the Lullaby of death and take them to a facility for study before disposing of the body. It wasn't hard for Dr Nostredame and his team to find the bodies of the dead which was the saddest part as nearly every building had at least one person. Today his crew were heading to another hospital defeated by the plague.


"It is sad to see even the brave nurses and doctors break before this flu."

As the transport truck drove closer to the location Dr Nostredame noticed a dropship landing near the hospital.

"Nathan please inform Site Hope that we seem to not be the only ones investigating this hospital. Let us also hope these people will not cause problems.


Dr Nostredame was in his PD-8 Environmental Medical suit while the 6 people with him were in grey hazmat suits that said Hope Foundation. The crew also had multiple repulsorlift stretchers meant to carry the bodies to the transport truck and only one of them seemed to have a simple blaster pistol.


As Dr Nostredame moved closer to the hospital entrance he yelled
"I am unsure who is in this hospital but please be aware me and my fellow comrades are employees of the Hope Foundation and will be entering. As you may or may not know the Hope Foundation are the main disposers of bodies in this city so please do not be alarmed if you see us taking away these bodies. We only ask you do not interfere with our job!"
Dr Nostredame's suit made his voice sound somewhat like a droid


[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Laura"]

 

[Laura]

Laura had made it as far as the lobby by the time the dropship's crew had circled around to the hospital. She'd heard the sound of their footsteps, and the regular tone of some sort of scanner, and hurried along. Was it that she was determined to die on her own terms, or did she just want to be left alone? Maybe it was a bit of both. Either way, she moved as quickly as she could, ears pricked for the sounds of the people outside.

It was hard to move quickly. The aching in her muscles had not let up where her other symptoms had, and it pained her to move much faster than a slow shuffle. Each footfall sent shooting pains up her legs that seemed to rattle around her body until the whole thing was a painful throbbing mess.

That wasn't the only thing. Laura flexed her fingers back and forth between a tightly closed fist and open palm. Was there a slight resistance there? A stiffness that went beyond the simple aching that had plagued her for days. Was it her imagination, or was the paralysis starting so soon? Laura stopped, briefly forgetting everything else, and reexamined the thought of her sitting on that park bench, waiting for the darkness that lurked behind her to take her. She imagined the creeping stillness that would overtake her muscle and sinew, her head locked forward as the darkness crept behind, growing and readying itself to devour her as it had her family and the world as she knew it.

Surely she could not let that happen, but she was marked, already marred by the disease. The void would take her regardless. What else could she do?

Briefly, the flicker of an idea came to her. She could dash to the nearest door, throw it open and hurl herself upon the cautious soldiers outside. She could lurch around like the walking dead, gibbering and drooling and clawing at them until they panicked and the inevitable, merciful shot came to end her. The end result would, of course, be the same, but perhaps Laura could be saved some pain.

But alas, she didn't feel brave or energetic enough for that. Instead, she kept hobbling down the hall, occasionally pausing to rub her aching legs and flexing the fingers on her hands back and forth. Back and forth. Was it real, or in her head? Surely she could not feel it getting worse. She flip-flopped constantly between the allure of a merciful death and the terror of oblivion. There was a compulsion, primal and deep-rooted, to hold on to life for every minute, every second she possibly could. Yes, it had been diminished, barely a flickering light against the numb grey and the growing darkness that surrounded her, but it was there nonetheless.

Sighing, Laura resolved to politely ask for a blaster and a minute alone, and left it at that, rounding the corner back into reception.

Silhouetted in the morning light streaming through the open doors were perhaps a half-dozen figures, their features distorted by bulky hazmat suits. In front stood an imposing figure wearing some sort of metal armour with wide piercing eyes and a long, tapering nose. Laura halted, momentarily taken aback by actually seeing living, and assumedly healthy people. The sickly girl raised her hands in the air, at about eye level, and spoke calmly.

"Are you here to kill me?"

[member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"]​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Laura"] [member="Doctor Nostredame"]

More people, she knew that they wouldn't be the first to respond not the last at all. Stopping she listened and looked to each of her guys three in total as she nodded and pulled her comm out set for open frequency

this is stardust Solus Skirae, we are merely investigating this plague, but are happy to be of help to you in any way we can be that protection, addition transportation, or anything else. Weve curreny detected one alive in here unsure if uninfected or not we are currently trying to locate

With that stardust moved in further, stopped as she looked to the scanner and then carefully stardust around the corner, place even had stardust on edge a little bit...even if those infected may not be able to attack...she hoped.

Fully around she came face to face with this hope foundation, at first she nearly raised her blaster pistol but relaxed and looked between them see the only person alive when they all had arrived

no ones here to kill anyone...are you infected?

She has only one medic in her crew, however the arrival if the foundation was actually a relief to have dedicated doctors there

 

[Doctor Nostredame]

Dr Nostredame was a bit relieved he wasn't dealing with looters but was unsure who these people were. Some form of military squad it seemed since they offered to provide the transport truck some protection.


As soon as the infected girl appeared in sight of the group the crewmember assigned as security pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the young girl and then as the other group lead by the twilik appeared he pointed the blaster at them and only put it down once he noticed the other group hadn't drawn their weapons on them.


"She has already heard the Lullaby as has anyone alive here without a suit has. I must apologies Madam but killing you is not a priority."


Dr Nostredame would do what seemed like a stretch before focusing on the other group.


"Madam do you mind explaining who you are or who you work for as it is quite dangerous to have non professionals entering the quarantine zone as that increases the chance of this plague spreading to uninfected zones or worse off world and the rate this plague evolves to infect non Arkarians makes this a very dangerous plague to let offworld."


Dr Nostredame would turn back to looking at the infected individual and would open a container in his suit taking out a small pill and pressed a button on his cane causing some pincers to come out of the tip which he gave the pill to. Dr Nostredame would then point his cane to the young girl with the tip that has the pincers holding the pill right in front of her.


"Despite our name there is little to no hope for us to save your life as our job is to collect the dead and dispose of their bodies. Now you can take this pill and end your suffering so we can dispose of your body or you can continue to fight against the plague and we will collect your body next week. I wish we could help more but our facilities are not built to handle too many infected and right now we are full of our own members who have heard the Lullaby."


Dr Nostredame would then use his other hand to signal his crew to collect the bodies of those who have fallen in the reception room.


[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Laura"]

 

[Laura]

Laura nodded in assent as the strange man spoke. How had he known she was infected? Was it some sort of sophisticated scanner, or was it so obvious that even the sight of her shuffling gait was an instant tell, a physical sign of a disease that seemed innocuous until it finally struck you down. If Laura from two weeks ago had seen herself meandering down the darkened hospital corridors, would she have known? That girl seemed like a creature from another planet, so far removed was she from the reality of the Galaxy. Laura had grown up, and all it had cost her was everything she once knew. Some deal that was.

Lowering her hands, Laura leaned on the counter of the reception desk. She tried to make it look casual, but in reality it was becoming a little hard to stand up straight. Her muscles throbbed and ached, and as she shifted her weight slightly, shooting pains and tingling ran up the length of her legs. Occasionally, she could feel the muscles in her back or her thigh twitch almost imperceptibly, as if treated by an electric shock. There was no denying it now, though Laura supposed it was never really something that could be denied. She would be paralysed, locked in place never to move again, and that would be that. It wouldn't be long now. Minutes, hours? She didn't know, but it would not be long.

In a flat voice, she replied, talking to all of them and none of them. Talking just because they expected her to. She found she didn't really care about what they had to say, what they were here to do. How could any of that matter at a time like this?

"I'm Laura, and this man's right. I've got it."

There wasn't really much else to say. Laura wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone, much less these people. Come to think of it, she wasn't really in the mood for anything. The grey had all but extinguished the flame, and the dark rose up behind it, vast enough to swallow up her, the room, the entire Galaxy whole. For a moment, she almost felt like she could reach out and touch it. Like she could pull all the hurt, and anger and bitterness and just tear and tear at it until it was in tatters. But there was no darkness, not really. There was just a room, and a sick girl, and some people who thought they could help her.

Then again, maybe they could.

The man pulled out something from his pocket, and in a smooth motion, he gestured his cane so that the small purple capsule hung only a few centimetres from her face. He'd said it was something to end her suffering, and that could only mean one thing: A way out kinder than the disease, a way more merciful than a blaster shot, or a slug to the brain. It was exactly what she wanted. Exactly what she was afraid of. She knew she would have to be brave. Laura had to accept the gift, and act on it now, for she knew there would never be another chance.

She stepped back, holding out a slightly trembling hand, palm turned up to receive the suicide pill. Laura let the small capsule fall into her waiting hand, and then grabbed onto it tightly, her fingers curling into a fist. Looking up, she locked eyes with the man, simply nodding as she didn't trust herself to speak. Her face betrayed no emotion. Laura took one last look around the room. She'd have to act fast before the man changed his mind or somebody else tried to interfere. She was going to end it on her terms. It wasn't what she wanted, but it was better than the alternative.

Laura took in a deep breath, and let it out in a slow sigh. She raised her hand to place the pill into her mouth, to crunch down on it and let it take her away, away from this hospital and this Force-forsaken world and this cruel and uncaring Galaxy.

Her hand didn't move.

She looked down, suddenly alarmed, her quiet reverie was broken. Her arm was there, slender and pale and seemingly unchanged, but it no longer responded to her commands. She tried to uncurl her fingers, but they stayed firmly clenched. With her other hand, she tried to pry the grip apart, but her fingers wouldn't work right. Everything felt stiff and numb, as if she were a marionette on strings, she simply couldn't make her digits pull the frozen fist apart.

Laura sank slowly to her knees. It was over. Too late. She'd had her chance and missed it. Staring at the floor, she felt hot tears sting her eyes and run down her cheeks. Quietly, she spoke, so softly the others in the room would barely be able to hear her.

"No..."

[member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"]​

​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Laura"] [member="Doctor Nostredame"]

Her eyes turned to the girl...damn...she couldnt say she was surprised at all, how fast this plague spread reminded her of the rakghoul plague...then again maybe that one was more merciful then this. Then she turned to the odd looking man she stepped forward so she was in the light or well what there was

I've got private business here, lot of my people have went missing havent reported in a lot of freighters mind you....so I've got a little stake in finding out what this all is...and helping who I can

Observing she frowned, she wanted to interfere but stardust understood, sometimes was better for it be be ended quickly then to suffer in it all. Stardust turned away and took a deep breath

Then she felt alarm, she turned and looked to the girl seeing her struggling to open her hand again. Stardust approached slowly then eyed the doctor before crouching beside her. At first stardust was silent in thought and then spoke

alright...alright dont worry we can figure this out...

Thoughts raced in her head, she looked to the "good" doctor then to Laura before she spoke up

I've a idea, labs here should still have equipment right?

She said and glanced about, then to the doctor

we can use some of my blood, my immune system is enhanced due to my super soldier modifications...I think theres a possibility we could use that to make some sort of vaccine or even something to slow it

 

[Doctor Nostredame]

Dr Nostredame wasn't impressed the only reason someone came to this forsaken planet was because of a few missing freighters probably for trading purpose or maybe she did mean she was actually worried about the people who controlled the freighters more but if they haven't reported then Dr Nostredame already knew what most likely happened to them. Next what Dr Nostredame could only describe as a cruel joke by the plague the young girl seemed to lose all function in one of her arms preventing her from having a peaceful death. He watched as the Twilik went to comfort the infected girl.

"It seems I will be coming back next week. I am sorry but the galaxy has decided against you dying peacefully"

When the Twilik asked if there was any lab equipment in this hospital Dr Nostredame was about to state that it would be too late to use it to save the girl but before he could say something the Twilik suggested they use her blood to make some kind of vaccine. Dr Nostredame took a bit to comprehend what this woman just suggested.

After what could be considered an eternity of silence Dr Nostredame couldn't help but chuckle at the idea that this plague could be stopped in a short amount of time because some person has super soldier blood that would somehow defeat the plague.

"You must be joking right. I hate to burst your bubble but from my experiences having some special super soldier blood does not automatically beat a disease. Now do not get me wrong some creatures have blood that could be used to combat certain diseases and other infections however that normally takes years of experimentation and research before one could even think of doing live testing."

Dr Nostredame stopped speaking for a minute and took a deep breath

"I will humor you however and try this just in case this could be one of those 1 in 1 trillion miracles and somehow works. Now you will need to understand if we do this then your chance of getting infected with us using this hospital's equipment will increase and your only real advantage is your what I believe to be your twilik super soldier biology which hopefully the disease doesn't know how to defeat at this current time and I will take no blame if any deaths happen due to this experiment."

Its not like Dr Nostredame has anything better to do while his team collects the bodies of the fallen and this may provide useful research and insight one how the plague works.

[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Laura"]

 

[Laura]

It was like being hurled off a bridge. Those final few seconds as you tumble helplessly and you know that there's nothing you can do and nothing will change your fate. The past few weeks she'd been standing on a precipice, and the ledge had finally crumbled beneath her feet. The water had risen above her head. It was too late for her.

Laura was positive that there was somebody up there in the cosmos laughing at her misfortune, as she tried to claw her way through life, or as she failed even to assure her own merciful death when the pill was waved in front of her own nose. It wasn't fair. None of this was. What had she done to deserve what she'd got? She was no worse than anyone else in the Galaxy. For what crime was she being punished? Laura beat a leaden fist against the floor, still crouched on the cold and dirty floor. She was shocked, dismayed at how fast it was acting. Already the tingling numbness was spreading from her arms and across her body. She realised she could no longer feel her feet, and when Laura tried to wriggle a toe, there was no movement.

Perhaps she should have expected it. It was not as if she hadn't seen it herself. All the other sick and dying had been pretty much the same. But in her naive mind, deep down, she thought that she was special, that she would be the exception. But she wasn't. She would die as painfully and as cruelly as all the rest of them had, from the poor abandoned in the ward to, presumably, her own family. In that way, she supposed the disease was fair. It did not care who it killed, it reaped the souls of all that it touched.

Not that she was particularly happy about it.

Dully, she heard the sound of conversation, muttered remarks between the people who were both, independently, too late to save her. For a moment, the muted, grey numbness that had overwhelmed her since she had risen that morning parted, and Laura was struck by a wave of bitter hurt and anger. Where had they been a week ago, before things had got so bad? Where were they when things still had a semblance of normality, before it all descended into death and hopelessness, and before Laura lost everything she cared about.

The anger as quickly as it came, but she still felt it simmering. It was the culmination of the last worth of loss and despair, the last cry against the cruel darkness that had stolen so much in so short a time. Laura knew, though she hated to admit it, that she would not be special, or significant, she wouldn't be anything. The plague would continue to rampage and she would be left here, one among countless dead, reduced to simply a number, in a world where so many had suffered.

Her eyes downcast, Laura saw someone approach out the corner of her vision. Couldn't they leave her alone? It was too late, the moment lost. She knew she didn't have the strength of will to beg for the shot to the head. Couldn't they just leave her to die? Couldn't they give her that?

Once again she felt the grey begin to part. There was nothing she would like less for them to try some half-baked remedy. She knew she was done for, knew she would be dead soon. Why extend the pain with pointless hope? Why die surrounded by these strangers? She could picture it, them clustered around her, sombre and cowed, and her broken and twisted body, lying once again in some hospital bed. She hated it. Despised them. How dare they not leave her. Could they not afford her that honour?

How dare they.

The woman crouched beside her, still talking to the other man. Before Laura knew it, she was seething with anger, a rage so white-hot it consumed her mind in an instant. Shuddering and shaking, she yelled out.

[SIZE=14pt]"LEAVE ME... [/SIZE][SIZE=16pt]ALONE![/SIZE][SIZE=16pt]"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt]A gutteral scream followed the outburst, and from around Laura burst a wave of intense pressure, a blast of energy that whipped around her like a beast let loose, shattering the windows in an instant and blasting outward with enough power to take anyone in the room off their feet and send them hurtling backwards.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=16pt][member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"][/SIZE]​

 

[Lannik Hayes]

Sergeant Lannik Hayes
Equipment: AKraB Vibrodagger, DC-17m ICWS
Location: Close to Walcott Medical Centre, Adascopolis, Arkania
Tags: [member="Laura"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] | [member="Doctor Nostredame"]

There were days where Lannik Hayes wondered if he was the most ill-fated being in the whole galaxy.

Some days, he knew he was just moaning and being a huge drama queen.

But today?

Today answered his life’s question.

Without a doubt.

Indubitably.

Yes. Si. Oui. Ja. Ayo. Da!

And all that jazz.

Kark his life.

It started as a simple assignment several days ago. A set of orders has arrived on his holomail, dictating that he was one of the lucky few to be chosen to be sent ahead of the rest of his brethren to observe and measure the general sentiments of the citizens of Arkania. The brunet had cheered then, loud and obnoxious as he waved his assignment in the face of his fellow stormtroopers. Because the order to ship out? It may as well be a sanctioned leave.

Walk around, talk to people.

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Okie-dokie, easy-peasy.

Until his ride down left and he walked out of the spaceport.

The first sign that everything was not alright was the eerily quiet streets. The second sign was how the few people he saw was cowering and when he called out to them, they merely shot him a fearful glance and ran away from him. Which… was well… RUDE!

With his pack swung over a shoulder, Lannik ignored the signs until a stooped person(!)… being(?)… thing(?!) stepped out from the alley and bared his(!!) teeth at him. With all the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing on its ends, the stormtrooper had done what everyone else has done thus far and ran the other way and sent a message back to his superior to get him the kark off this planet. Kriffing NOW… please.

And that was how he found himself wandering past the medical centre when he heard sounds of windows shattering. Cautious, wary, and more than a little anxious… Lannik tentatively made his way towards the building, his eyes keeping a sharp lookout for more of those weird things.

 

[Dancer]

Through the cold streets a small band of survivors of fifteen scurried away. They were battered, worn, and all but broken, but they were alive damn it. And they were going to stay that way. At their head, was a brave young man in a soot-covered uniform. On his chest was a barely readable nameplate that had read before "Pvt Matthews." His face had looked ten years younger just a few weeks ago, before all of this. Now his only armament was his side arm and a half a canister of charges. Not everyone they had met had been peaceful.

"Hold on," he said, raising his hand as his eyes alighted on a form crumpled on the streets ahead.

The people behind him stopped. The body lay amid rubble, half covered by rocks. It was clearly a woman, equally dirty as they were. What was left of her shirt was torn in too many places to tell, her shorts were ragged beyond recognition. Her body was covered in several places with bruises and blood. The were all silent.

"We should go," whispered a woman beside him, "Before we disturb the children."

Matthews looked at her and shook his head, "We have to try, Celia."

He approached her cautiously, his weapon at his side. He rolled the stranger's battered form over, checking for a pulse on her neck. She was breathing, even if it was shallow. That was something. "Philips! She's alive!"

One of the silver haired men came forward, he crouched by her, muttering under his breath. His hands moved over her skin, checking her for major wounds, "Nothing is broken, but she is badly dehydrated. She will need a few stitches," his green eyes looked at Matthew's blue eyes, "She is going to die. It's only a matter of time, there is nothing we can do with what we have. She is probably infected with the virus and god knows what else whoever did this to her gave her."

Matthew seized the lapel of Philip's jacket, "Have you people learned nothing yet? We don't give up on people! We have--we have to try!"

Philips pursed his lips, "I--I--alright, I can try. Maybe we can save her. But don't count on it."

Matthews pulled the blonde over his shoulder, he personally carried her for hours to what remained of a dinner for the older Philips to try his best. Philips went into the ransacked kitchen alone with his two barely-trained nurses. They had been lucky enough to be evicted from medical school for drug addiction and alcoholism respectively.

"Set her there," said the good doctor, turning away to open his small pack of medical supplies. The larger of the two tossed her on a metallic prep table with a heavy slam. The blonde landed on her back, one of her arms hung off the edge of the table, dipping into a pot filled with filthy water. The doctor thumbed through his supplies, sighing. "Alright, I won't lie, she doesn't have a chance."

"Sounds like we need to do what we did to Old Man Frank," said one of the nurses flatly.

The blonde's fingers twitched.

"My thoughts exactly," Philips said as he grabbed a line of wire from his bag. "This shouldn't take long, given her condition."

Her fingers twitched again, brushing against something wooden, wet, and slick.

Philips moved to stand over the blonde. He sighed, "Too bad. She truly is gorgeous."

Her fingers wrapped around the wooden handle as the taught wire in his hands pressed against her throat. The blonde's eyes locked onto Philips. The whites were covered over with bloodshot red, but through it, he could see a haze of blue. The doctor didn't even have a moment to feel afraid. Her hand sprang from the pot, flinging water as the filthy kitchen knife in her hand sank into the base of his neck.

"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" he screamed stumbling away.

The blonde retracted her blade, sending a spray of blood from his wound. The massive blood loss made the doctor drop to his knees, grasping at his wound. The two nurses were stunned in pure horror at the display of gore. The blonde twisted her body, her legs wrapped around the hips of the biggest one. She pulled herself upward, slashing the knife across his throat. His blood coated her face in a fresh coat of red, her face twisted in a gleeful smirk as his silent death contrasted with the doctor's screams. She didn't release him, even as the larger man backpedaled into a shelf of mostly sacked kitchen utensils.

"Oh my god," the other murmured, making faltering steps towards the door.

The blonde grabbed a pairing knife off the shelf, she pivoted, flicking the blade through the air. It tore into the addict's chest. She fell back against the wall, gasping for air and grasping her chest. Her fingers were too weak to remove the projectile in her chest as life began to slowly escape her grasp. As she stood amid the three dying bodies around her, a smirk of pleasure crossed the blood-coated blonde's face. For some, death was a luxury. For some, it was a necessity. For others, it was a nightmare. For the Dancer, it was an art.

[member="Lannik Hayes"] I [member="Laura"] I [member="Doctor Nostredame"] I [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"]

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Dancer"] [member="Lannik Hayes"] [member="Laura"] [member="Doctor Nostredame"]

Stardust sighed. Shaking her head at the man as she glared to him while he spoke, she stood standing beside the girl she spoke

weve got to try, anything we can try otherwise we just leave these people to die! And I'm not about to just giv u-

Suddenly her ears were ringing and she went flying, she hit the wall hard as she cried out in pain and rolled a little bit groaning as she heard hissing from her suit. Her men ran over to her helping her up as she removed the hazmat helmet off and tossed it to the side

feth...what...

She shook her head to clear it, she looked to Laura and eyes went wide realizing what the girl just did

laura... Laura!

Stardust walked forward, hands raised...that was quite powerful for someone untrained

easy...

 

[Doctor Nostredame]

Dr Nostredame was about to turn around and head to where he believed the closest thing to a lab would be in this hospital when an ear piercing scream followed with a shock wave of force power made the ill prepared doctor fall to the ground. Dr Nostredame's guard quickly helped the doctor up his feet before pointing his blaster at the young girl. Dr Nostredame wiped some dust off his suit and glared at the girl who sent him flying.

"It seems she has decided to not want to be helped and instead wishes to be a thorn in my operations. Mr Johnson if she attempts such a thing again or tries to leave this facility please neutralize her to prevent the spread of this disease or any threats to the Hope Foundation." Dr Nostredame turned to the twilik lady "Madam if you still believe your blood or something can be used to stop the spread of this plague then you are welcomed to accompany us back Site Hope for further research."

The guard who is apparently known as Johnson showed some discomfort being told to shoot the girl if she attempted to leave the hospital but still nodded and agreed to these orders. The other members of Dr Nostredame's group stopped doing their job to watch the commotion but after a glance from Dr Nostredame quickly resumed work.

[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] [member="Dancer"] [member="Lannik Hayes"] [member="Laura"]

 

[Laura]

The world returned to its normal colour in slow pulses, accompanied by the dull whine of static. A high-pitched whistling replaced the muted rushing as her blood settled and the red haze lifted from her vision. Laura was standing at her full modest height, though she hadn't remembered standing up. Her limbs were still leaden, her hands and arms still unresponsive and unmoving. Still, she hadn't felt this alive since... Well Laura couldn't remember a time when she'd felt quite like this.

It was as if electricity was coursing through her veins. In that moment, in her fear and her hurt and her anger and her desperation, she had torn something down, destroyed a barrier that had always been there, that she hadn't noticed until just then. Now she'd broken through the the other side, and whatever was within was hers.

Her thoughts returned to her situation. Of course she had discovered this on the cusp of death. That was just her luck. Whatever had just happened did not change the fact that Laura was facing her final hours, perhaps her final minutes alive. Did not change the fact that her family was dead. Did not change the fact that her body was shutting down with every instant she stood there and there was not a single thing anyone in the Galaxy could do about it.

Movement caught her vision. The woman was getting up from the floor, making her way towards her, hands up. Laura felt a flicker of annoyance, and in that instant she felt it again, the deep chasm of something raw and powerful that had opened up inside her. She realised that she could pool it. Poke at it and twist it, make it lunge out, pick up the woman and toss her across the room, or even snap her neck. She could leave her wide-eyed and shocked on the filthy floor in front of her. Disturbingly, Laura realised she almost wanted to.

Laura blinked slowly, and the thing inside her settled. She had to control herself. This wasn't her.

Eyes downcast to the floor, she spoke the the approaching woman.

"You should stay back. There's... There's something wrong with me. And besides, I'm infected. That suit isn't keeping anything out."

Laura tried to gesture at the fallen helmet, but her arm did not respond. She cursed inwardly.

A gust of frigid wind made her skin prickle, and she swayed. Now that she was calming down, it was becoming harder to balance, and she could feel the numbness of the paralysis creeping up her limbs. It could not be long now. It would be soon.

"He's right." Said Laura, nodding at the disgruntled doctor. "There's nothing that you can do for me. Best that you leave me. So that... So that I might have some dignity."

There was a lot more she wanted to say. Really she wanted to yell and scream, and beat her fists onto the floor. To tear this stupid hospital apart. She wanted to tell them all it was unfair, that she hadn't done anything wrong. She wanted to tell them she was afraid. Afraid to die, afraid to be alone, afraid of the darkness inside her. She wanted to tell them that she was sorry her family had died. That she hadn't known she was infected, that she'd hoped she was wrong. She wanted to tell them she was the reason they were dead, and that she was sorry.

But they were strangers, and it was too late besides. Anything she could say would only make it harder to let go, and it was already so painful.

As quickly as it had flared, the fire inside her was out again. She was just a dying girl standing in a broken hospital on a ravaged world. Laura gazed past them, out into open air. The broken windows let in an icy breeze, and Laura was cold. It was growing overcast. It looked like it would snow soon. Would she be alive to see it?

[member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] | [member="Lannik Hayes"] | [member="Dancer"]​

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

[member="Laura"] [member="Doctor Nostredame"]

She felt that dark side, it emitted from the girl before her, and in that moment stardust fidnt see a weak girl on the verge of death....no....she saw a potentially powerful force user before her with such untapped power. Star lowered her hands as she felt it slowly retreat away and back to the girl. As Laura motioned to her helmet star sighed and picked it up looking it over before she tossed it away again

theres nothing wrong with you...besides if reports are right and this is a flu im infected anyways yeah?

Stardust stopped maybe ten feet, looking the girl in the eyes before she glanced to the doctor as he spoke. She merely shook her head and resisted berating the man as she looked to Laura

you are what they call force sensitive, one with great untapped potential if that display was to show

She took a step forward as she made a fire ball appear in her hand as she showed it off

ths what I see...you've still got a fire in you...that I can feel

 

[Lannik Hayes]

Sergeant Lannik Hayes
Equipment: AKraB Vibrodagger, DC-17m ICWS
Location: At the perimeter of Walcott Medical Centre, Adascopolis, Arkania
Tags: [member="Laura"] | [member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] | [member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Dancer"]

While he may not act the part, nor look the part in civilian clothing, Lannik was still part of the imperial stormtrooper corps. And though he may never touch the top of the horde, the brunet still got through his initial training when he was in the First Order despite his struggles to become accustomed to a militaristic life and discipline that came with it. And after he had deserted the First Order to look for his erstwhile charge and found her under a new management? Well, like how those pompous windbags of politicians and actors liked to quote – the rest was history.

Though he still dipped and deferred to his habits, and was more often insubordinate than not, the sergeant was still a proud survivor– Graduate sounded better, but truly, it was more of a surviving sort of scenario rather than training and he still had night terrors from the time… but he was digressing– of the ARC training under the brutal tutelage of a group of Mandalorians. So Lannik supposed he was not too bad off.

Perhaps.

Maybe?

Either way, the brunet channeled his inner spy and did a Luther-style sneaking sneak the moment he was within the perimeter of the medical centre, moving from object to shadow to more objects as silently as he could. Stopping beneath one of weird statue that people liked to deem abstract art, but looks more like the artist came up with it while high on hallucinogens, Lannik paused, taking the time to remove his previously concealed weapons from his pack and wearing it on his person.

Because while he still kriffing in the dark to what the kark has happened to Adascopolis, Lannik was not blind nor dumb to the fact that things has gone straight to the Nethers. Feeling a little more safe now that he was at least armed, the brunet continued on to slow progress, peering carefully through the windows of the eerily quiet hospital as he advanced. Perhaps it would make for an easier search were he to enter from the front, but without his armour and the blueprint of the building in front of him, Lannik was not about to risk having to run blindly through an unknown building to look for an exit.

He has seen enough damn horror holomovies to know how that usually ends, thank you very much!

It was at around the – Ah, who the kark kept count of windows anyway? – halfway through his search that the stormtrooper finally found the source of the breaking glass sound. With his back to the wall and his form concealed mostly in the vast shadow cast by the building itself, Lannik peered through the frame, taking note of the individuals gathered within, listening to the conversations held.

Hopefully, he would be able to discover an answer as to why it looked like a karking apocalypse movie down here and discover what was that thing he caught a glimpse of before his ride returned for him.

Just forty-five minutes left.

 

[Laura]

A Force-sensitive.

Laura had heard the term, of course. It was the stuff of whispered rumours, of nighttime stories of good and evil. Titanic struggles against those who would dare to uproot and wield the most fundamentals of the universe. She did not know what it meant for her. Nothing, probably, considering her current situation. Again she felt a stab of bitter anger. It was wrong that she should be told this now. Wouldn't it have been better for her just to have died in the night like everyone else in this damned hospital?

Then there was this woman, strangely confident in the face of this contagion. Perhaps she didn't understand its dangers, didn't understand that it took everyone. That nobody survived. It must have been so, otherwise, she would have turned and run the moment her helmet had come off. Else she wouldn't still be standing there talking to Laura.

"You're probably not infected yet, and it's best you keep it that way. If you get this, you die."

It was that simple really, the impossible, colossal truth that all of the sick and wretched of Arkania had to face. Now it was Laura's turn, and if the woman was smart, if she turned and left now, or even if she repaired her equipment, then maybe she wouldn't have to face that truth too.

A flicker of guilt turned her stomach? Really it was her fault, whatever it was that Laura had done, it had knocked the woman's helmet off, exposed her to the air, to the risk of infection. She wouldn't wish this fate on anyone, and couldn't bear the thought of being responsible for any more death. The faces of her family still weighed heavy on her soul. Laura raised her head and addressed the woman in front of her.

"This is what I was saying. It is too late for me, but maybe not for you. It won't just be Arkania, there will be other planets, I'm sure of it. Why would you even bother when its obvious everything here is already gone? There's nothing for you here, and there's nothing for me outside those doors. Accept it or not, it's the truth. You can leave and survive, or you can stay and watch me die, and within the week you'll join me. Either way, I will be gone."

Laura's voice was no longer flat and dispassionate. Her words carried weight, they were laden with emotion. She locked eyes with the woman, begging her not to approach, to make the right decision. With all the strength she had left, she held her gaze. It would be a waste for the woman to die here. There were others who needed help now, others who had not yet been condemned to die.

Tears swam briefly across her vision, but she blinked them away quickly. Laura would not lose control. She would be strong.

She couldn't really feel anything by the time she hit the ground. The paralysis had continued to slowly creep across her muscle and sinew as she spoke, and while Laura stared into the eyes of the woman, it overtook her completely, and she fell to the ground as her knees buckled, and she crumpled unceremoniously to the floor. She tried to call out, but the only sound she could produce was a guttural growl. Lying on the cold hard floor, she felt the darkness that had hovered above her for so long finally beginning to descend. The final stage of the disease had wrapped its fine threads around her, and now she was ensnared.

It was impossible to keep her eyes open, to concentrate on the world. Laura's mind became clouded, and the sounds around her were dull and distorted. She felt like she was falling, plunging into a dark, deep expanse from which she would never climb out. Dimly, she realised this was it, that she was going to die, that she wouldn't wake from this. This would be the end for her.

There was a vague notion that she should be sad, or even angry, but at that moment, as the sleep took her for the final time, the dying girl lying on the frigid floor of the abandoned hospital could feel only relief.

[member="Stardust Solus Skirae"] | [member="Lannik Hayes"] | [member="Doctor Nostredame"] | [member="Dancer"]​