Infection on Alderaan

[Elara Hulis]

Much as it had during the time of the Galactic Empire, Alderaan faced potential destruction. Yet, as pestilence took hold of the people in Aldera City, it faced a type of end not seen in the galaxy for over a century.

Some sort of virus or bacteria seemed to have infected many citizens of the planet. The fatality rate seemed to be roughly half a percent. However, the number of people infected had eclipsed several million and continued to grow. Public amenities began to fail as more and more people fell under, and even greater swarms of people took to their homes to avoid the disease.

One fear ran through the minds of Alderaan's people, as well as those in the galaxy at large. They wondered if the Gulag Virus had resurfaced or not. No medical examinations of the infection turned up a definite answer. The low mortality rate seemed to give Alderaan some hope. Yet, the high amount of cases gave need to worry. So, the Alderaan government sought help.

Along with a band of Jedi, Elara Hulis traveled to Alderaan in order to investigate and eventually curb this new blight. As a Padawan, her job would have mostly entailed to following the lead of more experienced Jedi and performing menial tasks. Yet, during the trip to Alderaan, she had shown an eagerness to do what she could to save as many people as possible.

Upon reaching Aldera City, Elara quickly found herself in the midst of a refuge center. Tents had been erected over one-half square kilometer of hillsides outside the city limits. She had heard that thousands were crammed into these tents and that most had come from the city itself.

The redhead wore the typical, modest robes of a Jedi. While her blindfold and procedure mask were unnerving, the victims attempting to recover from this plague could hardly mind it given their condition. Elara had been inoculated with a drug that should have boosted her immune system. However, she had felt a little nauseous since a few hours after taking it. She had also taken a few lessons on how to help purge her body of toxins through the Force. However, she had been told by older Jedi that a Padawan may not be able to perform such a feat under stress.

As the more veteran Jedi began to heal people through the Force, Elara was first tasked to hand out meals to some of the more able patients. After handing out several low quality rations, Elara happened upon a patient that appeared more ill that she should have if she was to eat solid foods. This particular victim Elara found was a little girl that could possibly be no more than twelve years old.

After setting down the plate of food, Elara walked over to the maiden and attempted to speak to her. The Padawan found her to be unresponsive. It took just one touch of Elara's fingertips on the girl's forehead for her to realize something had gone wrong. The lady's temperature had spiked to a noticeably high temperature, and there were boils that Elara would have been unable to see clearly through the Force due to being a Miraluka.

In a second, Elara realized the issue these boils could have presented. They were not a reported symptom of the contagion disturbing Alderaan.

This malady of unknown origin had begun to shift in its nature - a fact Elara, despite imagining that it might be true, was not certain of. It turned out that the Jedi would have more work to do in order to stamp out the infection on Alderaan...

 

[Flint Pherson]

Outside Aldera City

Tents. Or a maze of them really. Refugee settlements had been erected over a large expanse just outside the city limits. And what Pherson's squad noticed most were the endless upon endless rows of tents.

"Do you really think Doctor Michelle is out here Commander? In this maze it will be difficult to find anyone."
"I know. We'll need to find her Command Vehicle. Look for a blue EMC truck with a yellow cross. When we find it, we'll find her."

Republic Naval Commander Flint Pherson. He was part of the Escort Team that had ventured to Alderaan with the rest of the Republic Relief Task Force. Trooping along with two members of his Combat Staff. Officers Newman and Taylor. It felt strange to be away from the fleet and away from his ship. But these people needed as much help as they could get right now. Even if that meant sending Elite Soldiers like Newman, Taylor, and himself on tedious errand runs. Fetch quests. Searching for lost supplies, lost transports, and more importantly, lost personnel. Key figures like Doctor Sarah Michelle. People who had gone missing in the chaos. Which was easy to do out here. Either they simply failed to report their location to Command or something more sinister was upon them. Pherson hoped for the best. It was chaos out here.

"Vehicle tracks sir. Treads leading north. Multiples. ...Three maybe. Hard to tell."
"Good eye Newman. We'll follow those tracks through the camps. With any luck we'll find the one we're looking for."
"I've set the Radio to the Task Force Emergency Channel. We should be able to hear the other teams if we can stay on this side of those mountains. Too many other conversations going on outside our frequency. Dozens of radio signals flying about out here. ...Keh. Even the airwaves are a littered mess. Sorry sir."
"Leave it. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

The three man team hiked up the warm but rocky outcroppings between the refugee camps. Following a few scarce vehicle tracks in the hopes of locating their missing Doctor woman. It was a populated march. Hungry folks were found everywhere in these desperate times. But the heavily armed soldiers had nothing to offer them. Pherson had given away his last Chew Bar, Newman had given away his last Beef Jerky, and Taylor had even volunteered to use his radio to make a few phone calls. But nothing the three men could do made much of a difference. For every man they helped their was a dozen more asking for aid. Eventually the Commander had to forsake everything but the mission. There just wasn't enough charity to go around. And these people didn't need bullets. Which, was all he and his men had left.

"Sir. This woman remembers seeing our ride. She said that our lost blue truck was retasked to a Sky Lab in the mountains. Up there."
"Well. That would explain the lack of radio contact. Did she know anything else?"
"Not much sir. Just that Michelle was in a hurry to get there."
"Okay Taylor, thats fine. Get on the horn and tell Daniels I want a ride to that location. Air speeder, dropship, ...whatever she has in the area."
"Already on it sir. She's sending us a Terran ATV with the next Supply Run. They'll dump the goods and then turn the vehicle over to us. The Depot is just at the base of the mountains there. If we can make it to the location in the next hour? Our ride will be waiting for us. No sweat."
"Alright then Squad. Let's move out."

Pherson, Taylor, and Newman shuffled up the dirt tracks with renewed vigor. That Depot was a Hub of activity in this mountainous region of Alderaan. No doubt they would find much that they needed there to continue in their quest. It seems they had a trail to follow after all.

___

 

[Malok]

When the news of Alderaan's plight reached the ears of the Republic, a wave of fear rippled through the minds of each and every denizen who heard. Their respective trains of thought led back to one horrifying event of the past, possibly rising again in the present: the Gulag Virus. However, this plague behaved differently that the disease that single-handedly crippled the galaxy, and so there was hope of triumphing over it. With this hope in mind, the Republic dedicated a large number of troops, medical personnel, supplies, and vessels to bestow aide upon the sickened world.

In the short span of a few days, the Republic had amassed an enormous number of relief personnel that had shipped out to Alderaan in waves. The initial force was already there, giving aide as best as they can, with the second force on the way. Among these several mammoth ships was the one Ned Rotsu, a Commando of the Republic's military, and his squadmates occupied. They were located in the hangar bay of the ship, standing by within one of the landing craft to swiftly dispatch to the planet's surface.

Their itinerary was simple. They would touch down at a depot just outside Aldera City, where they would provide an elite team with an all-terrain vehicle, before proceeding into the city and helping its populous. The amount of food, water, medicine, and other essentials they had aboard the transport was enough to amount to quite an impressive number of crates, yet Ned knew that this heap of goods wouldn't last very long. 'Those medics had best figure out a cure for this thing...and fast...' He thought to himself.

With the trademark shudder that nearly unsettled Ned out of his seat, the Republic vessel made its hyperspace leap and came to a halt within Alderaan's orbit. The landing craft then started its engines and shuttled off, exiting the vessel and entering the atmosphere in a matter of seconds. Ned turned to his fellow squadmates and donned the helmet of his modified "Hazmat" Commando armor, addressing them in the calm, accented voice he was so known for.

"Systems check. Make sure your filters and oxygen supply are good to go. I don't know what this virus is, but I sure as hell don't want any of us getting infected. You use every last breath of your oxygen before switching to the native air. Do your absolute best, be patient, and remember, people get desperate when the chips are down. It's our job as soldiers of the Republic to give these people peace of mind and to let them know that everything's going to be okay. Understood?"

Nine voices confidently sounded affirmation with a collective "Yes Sir!" With that being said, the landing vessel touched down outside the depot and the squad disembarked with Ned bringing up the rear. He immediately went to the back of the vessel and hopped aboard one of the ground transports that was about to head for the ocean of tents surrounding the city. Ned pointed at two of his squadmates, Private McGuire and Corporal Makarov, grabbing their attention.

"Make sure that ATV gets to those elites heading up. Once you're down, meet me at 'Tent City'."

He couldn't hear their responses over the roar of the transports engines, but they reacted with respective salutes. Ned settled in the transport and was silent the entire bumpy ride down the road, he gave a silent nod to the elites as the transports passed them on the way down, but he was sure they missed the subtle motion. In a minute's time, they came to a stop outside of the congregation of tents and Ned stepped out, rounded the back of the transport, and began to unload the series of crates. Before he could even get the first crate off the vessel, the denizens were already moving to surround the transport, their voices mingling together as a symphony characterized by anguish.

"Damn...it's worse than I thought down here..."

 

[Elara Hulis]

With haste, Elara notified the nearest doctor in Tent City of the girl's boils. She could sense the doctor's confuse as she informed him of the situation and correctly assumed that this was atypical. Then, he told her to take a break from handing out dinner plates and take some rest.

It did not take Elara long before she found something else to do. She noticed a vehicle approach Tent City - apparently filled with cargo. She walked over to the vehicle and noticed several beings given off the aura of soldiers unloading crates. While Force vision did not catch many of the aesthetics of the world, it did enhance some of the subtleties such as people's posture or mental being.

Approaching Ned Rotsu, a person she had never met before, Elara offered her assistance by asking, "I am free to lend a hand, if you need."

While the blindfold obscuring her eyes and her somewhat muffled voice (due to the procedure mask) may be slightly strange, a knowledgeable person may have been able to recognize the distinctly monastic robes she wore as those of a Jedi.

 

[Malok]

As Ned set about unloading the precious cargo, a voice sounded from behind him offering aide. The Commando turned on his heel and faced the masked, blindfolded woman. He was grateful that his face was hidden behind his hazmat visor, for his eyebrows skyrocketed at the initial sight of her; after all, it's not everyday a blindfolded woman approaches you. Upon taking a ganger at her attire, the traditional robes of the Jedi Order, a wave of ease washed over the soldier and a rare smile graced his visage. He was familiar with the Jedi and was exceedingly glad that they were there to help.

"We'll take all the help we can get. You can start by cracking open these crates of food rations and handing them out to these people. We'll keep unloading and start handing out the water next. When that's done, we'll drop off these medical supplies to the local doctors and then wait for the next supply drop to arrive."

With that said, the soldier turned away from the Jedi and grabbed a crowbar that was tucked beside the crates within the transport, then pressed it into the woman's hands. He surmised that she wasn't able to see, hence the blindfold, but knew enough about the Force to know that a physically blinded Jedi was not blind at all. He then returned to the process of unloading the crates out of the ground transport, laying them in a neat line for the Jedi to begin opening. His squadmates worked alongside him all the while, cracking open some of the food ration crates themselves and handing them out to the closest civilians.

 

[Elara Hulis]

"On it," replied Elara as soon as Ned told her what to do.

There was a lack of clear facial expression due to the medical mask and headband concealing much of her face.

Once it was offered, Elara took the crowbar in her hand and began to work on the crates. The physical training she endured as a Youngling had some benefit to her as she was easily able to open the line of boxes Ned had strung out. However, once Elara opened the last box of food rations, she noticed that several of the soldiers under Ned's command had begun handing them out of the hungry infectees gathering nearby.

Once again, she approached Ned. This time, there was some concern in her words as she told him, "We should save several crates. Not all that need food and water will gather here - most unable to."

 

[Malok]

The Republican Commando had just finished giving a handful of food rations to a youngling when the blindfolded Jedi approached him once more. There was a sad truth to her words. "You're absolutely right..." Ned said. The truth of her words caused him to turn away from her and motion to three of his squadmates. They dropped what they were doing and swiftly stepped over. "How much of our total supply have we unloaded thus far?" He inquired simply. The men took a gander at the crates they had amassed on the ground as well as their remaining supply; the number they came up with was approximately one-fourth of the transport's total shipment.

"Alright," Ned said, speaking in his authoritative tone, "The three of you stay here and continue to hand out the rations we have out. The rest of the squad, load up, we're heading further inside to get some food to those who can't get up."

They sounded their affirmation once more and Ned returned his attention to the Jedi. "There's room for you in the transport if you'd like. We'll head further in and continue giving out the rations. Also, if there are any especially terrible cases that you've seen, let me know. Command wants to know everything they can about this disease." He stepped over to the door of the transport, then extended his arm to her so that she may grasp on and step up inside. "By the way, I am Commander Rostu of the Republic Military. A pleasure to meet you."

 

[Flint Pherson]

Elsewhere

Pherson's squad was moving according to plan. Having gathered what information and allies they could at the Depot, Flint and his men took command of the ATV. Strapping in and readying themselves for a bumpy ride.

"All set back there?"
"Good to go sir. Let er' rip."
"All set sir."

Four men seated themselves and shuffled about. The Republic Team had gained another member. A sixteen year old boy named Vahn. He was to act as their guide as they drove up the mountain roads. The way to the Sky Lab was paved, but dangerous in strange weather. Vahn would see that they made it to the top.

"Okay. Here we go. Keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. Vahn. Call it out as we go."
"Yes sir Commander, sir. Just up that way. Yep."

The olive green vehicle lurched forward at a slow pace. Climbing up the mountain roads and disappearing into the snow country beyond. It was time to find Dr Michelle and see what was really keeping this expert scientist missing.

 

[Asari Morin]

Moridin walked through the facility whistling a quiet sad tune. Around him blood and corpses stained the walls, behind him slunk his darkhounds their claws and teeth dripping with blood and slight chunks of flesh. The Sith Lord stepped quietly through the already dead. He was here to find something out, mostly what this disease that had struck Alderaan was. He found it intensely interesting that another pathogen had struck so soon after the Gulag plague.

He wondered, was this part of the Plague? Was it a mutated version of the virus? He was rather excited about this, although then again disease was disease it would always appear wherever people were stupid enough to be unhealthy and unclean. The Dreadlord walked a few more steps, and then reached a fork in the halls. He frowned slightly, most of the people within this facility were dead, killed by his Darkhounds the Serin. He had been told that somewhere here within this facility was a doctor, a researcher that knew what this infection was, and Moridin was very interested in this person.

“Go. Find this doctor, and do NOT harm her.” Moridin spoke to his beasts, they seemed slightly confused at the thought of not harming someone. The beasts were not all that intelligent, but they followed his commands. They had no other choice in the matter of course, and slowly the Darkhounds bounded off in either direction, Moridin taking the third. Silly little dogs.

 

[Elara Hulis]

"Thank you for the offer," replied Elara at the door of the transport.

As she reached out toward Ned, Elara then said, "Nice to meet you, as well. I am-"

Then, she was cut off the the yelling of a refugee, "Are they leaving? They still have boxes in that truck!"

Elara turned her head toward the crowd to listen the ensuing rabble. There seemed to be some disappoint with the downturn of her lips as the mob began to push forward both to grab the slowly dwindling supply of food as well as to question what soldiers Ned commanded to stay behind.

"Should we just leave?" Elara softly questioned, with enough loudness for Ned to hear though.