It's Just Business

[Mica Chanda]

"Doc, got another one for you. Returner, asked for you specifically."

Chanda rolled her eyes at the nickname. She hated going by Doctor, she wasn't interested in the weird looks it gave her. Snatching up her datpad and shooting a dirty look at the droid who was already processing the next poor soul who had wandered into this particular med bay on the space port outside Courscant.

The sterile environment only served to make people a little more off-put by the gray hue to her skin offset by the dark black of her eyes. She usually wrapped something colorful around her neck to keep people from noticing, but while she worked the shifts she picked up on her father's good name, she was destined for the stark white top of all the medics. Hers had the turquoise bar across her chest where a name should go, marking her as a visiting doctor, rather than a staffer. She was here for the credits and to get moving on to the next port. She hated being sedentary, besides, no one hired her for longer than a month or so. She tended to either bring trouble or make trouble and she knew it.

"Who the frakk comes in here in the middle of the night this many times," She growled, marching over to the bed where the patient was being asked routine questions by a droid.

"PLEASE RATE THE SEVERITY OF YOUR PAIN BY POINTING TO THE CORRESPONDING FACE ON YOUR CHART, LEVEL ONE IS-"

Chanda cut in front of the droid, scowling down at the name on the chart she grabbed from it. Returners sucked, especially the ones that asked for her, anywhere. The droid beeped at her in indignance and wheeled backward slightly. If it could mutter under its breath it would. The man on the bed coughed and smiled up at her.

"Hey, Doc." Selah Braxter was an idiot, an old soldier who had to retire but didn't have the fight out of him yet. She had met him outside of the clinic first, at the bar she usually went to on this particular space port to drink and occasionally land a few punches when she was in the sort of mood. Selah wasn't one she hit but she had seen him before and he knew she worked for the clinic and always asked for her when he knew she was in the system. He had helped her a few times with her own injuries, a stitch or two placed when she couldn't do it herself or an arm to get her back to her quarters shed rented.

"Selah, you're a force-damned nightmare," she responded, pulling up his list of complaints he had given to the droid.

"You only say that to the pretty ones," the old soldier responded, smiling through a wince. Mica rolled her eyes and tied up her hair as the droid brought a couple bacta pacs over.

"Careful, Selah, or you'll end up paying for my dinner," she said as she began to examine the bruises and cuts on his face and neck. He had gotten into a bad scrape with too many of the wrong people tonight apparently.

"Is that a date you're offering, Doc?" He was smiling still but she could see the tension in his limbs as she probed the side of his head, saw his pupils blown out.

Damn. She tapped a few instructions on her data pad to order a scan of his head but she knew what she'd find. It was what she saw most on the fighters she had stitched up over her time in clinics. He had a massive concussion and by the way he was titling his head, his eardrum on his left side may have been punctured.

She pursed her lips and rocked back on her heels. Selah was watching her closely. "It bad?" He asked, his words softer, slightly slurred. Mica jerked her head affirmative.

"I got you, though, soldier," she said before turning on her heel to the droids who could get the instruments she needed.

Their response made her curse louder enough to draw the attention of the whole med bay.


---

Denon


She had taken a few days to stem off the worst of Selah's bleeding and packed him with enough bacta to keep him pain free and stable before she returned. It had taken some serious wrangling to figure out where she could request the best cochlear implant and possibly investigate if there was anything she could do about the damage suffered to his brain after the swelling was down.

The main Doctor on staff had pointed her in the direction of Sakura Welfare who were well known and close by. She had closed up her last shift and sent out a request to meet someone from the corporation to see about buying a few with what limited requisition moment the clinic had and her own pay. Force if she was going to let Selah go deaf and infirm on her watch. She couldn't care less about any of the other damned people on the station, but Selah was one of hers.

She had arranged to meet the representative at the entrance port to transport over to wherever it is they wanted to conduct business. She had arrived on the first transport in the morning to grab food from one of the vendors and smoke a cig. The smoke made her nerves feel less jittery and kept her temper in check. She'd be dealing her own justice for Selah after she fixed him.

Now it was just to wait for the rep and get the tech she needed.

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

The planet of Denon was well their own mini Coruscant, the hard work all of the Republic had done to work with it paled in comparrison to well what they had been doing now. With the more effective factory and population infrastructure in place. her people as the senator were happy. Food was ten times easier to come by same as work in the factories to construct and build up what they had. As a planet covered in a massive city they could now fix it up. With the Jarna stone from Hok that had been imported the structures themselves could be improved, heaters given for many of the things to provide heat to everyone, lights and glow rods that allowed for more energy efficient living. Her people were saving credits and those savings from the lowest worker living in the slums to the highest government official went towards continuing to improve upon the planet. They were even expanding and showing the rest of the system, the rest of the sector they were in what they could do. She was glad to hear when someone was asking for a meeting. As one of the main reps for Sasori and its companies in the Republic well she was moving to get all fo the Sakura information and inventory they could seel to the interested parties. Sending information for them to come and meet her in the senators offices on Denon as she stood at the crystasteel window looking out. Construction crews continued to work on sections of the city to refit and repair it... another benefit to saving tens of thousands of credits a day per person was all of this new work.

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

The damn place was bustling, people milling about and construction crews working. Chanda knew Coruscant was much the same, but Mica detested most of the planets she visited. Perhaps that was the Vahla in her talking. Any planet would not be good enough; she knew her mother had felt the same before going mad. Mica found space ports comforting, but this place had a certain feel to it, unfinished as it was. That helped. The dark-haired woman put out her cigarra when her com channel pinged that she had a message. It was instructions to meet at senatorial offices for this meeting. Well, frakk. She didn't know she was meeting with a senator. Selah better buy her dinner and a diamond ring after this visit.

It took only a short while to get a shuttle to the Senatorial offices and navigate her way through layers of security she rather disliked. She'd left her weapons back in her measly quarters, which was a plus as the security forces probably would have kicked her ass right out the door had she tried to get in otherwise.

"I'm looking for Senator Pallopides?" She asked the very helpful navigation droid in the complex who trilled an affirmative response and began to lead her down and up the hallways until reaching an office. The droid pinged the alert that someone was waiting outside before allowing her to step into the waiting area. Mica nodded, giving the droid and the whole place a once over. Way too fancy for the likes of her in her old white tunic with a deep blue overcoat, too large on her, but it had been her father's uniform back when he served as a fully fledged doctor. She shifted, uncomfortable in the gleaming office with its gleaming city and its gleaming planet. Hell, the whole medical station was going to owe her something after this.

"Er...Mica Chanda, to see the Senator," She informed the person behind the desk in the waiting area, tugging at her sleeve and fidgeting.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

Ayumi felt her approaching, force users were not always what she expected but she turned around to look. reaching out with the force less to touch her and more to detect if there were any other lifesigns. The droids were quiet and her workers down below before she spoke. "Welcome doctor." A small smile curling her lips and she took in her looks while walking around. Hands behind her hand clasped at the small of it. The duster covered and designed with that regal vine silk to disguise the force resistant cloak she had to use. The small clasp at her neck giving it a nearly solid look while going into the gloves and boots at the ends of the form fitted bodysuit underneath it. "I trust you have found everything easily enough?" A small smile was on her face while she was going around her desk with a small look. "We are more then happy to have you on Denon but I am sorry about the construction. We have been working on some of the improvements and it is going to take a while for the entire planet."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

Mica bristled sharply at the brief feeling across the Force. Frakk it all, not only did she have to pick a senator, but a damn Force-using one? Just her luck. She hadn't had to deal with Force-users much since her mother, a few brushes here and there with some potential or some training, but Mica had ignored it all with ruthless efficiency. The part-Vahla winced but tried to plaster on a smile. She tried to conjure up the feeling of a "do no enter" sign through what she could with her own thoughts, but it had been so long since she had touched the Force in anyway that she was sure it was just a jumble of emotions, mainly shock and a little bit of fear. She was all raw edges and not finesse, hadn't had any all her life when it came to that side of her blood. Frakk, frakk, frakk.

"Uh, Chanda, Mica Chanda. Chanda is just fine," She told the woman, though she probably already knew that from their brief comms. "Yeah, everything was fine. Construction noise is good noise." She'd heard that somewhere. Ugh, she hated small talk, she was horrible at it. She felt like she was just pretending at being a person and shifted nervously. She glanced around and out o the crystasteel windows and stepped a little deeper into the office. She could do this, she could do this. It was just fancy offices and fancy Force-Senators. It wasn't like she hadn't acted like a normal person before. She ran a hand through her hair, wishing she had bothered to bring more cigs, though probably would have been rude.

"Thanks for taking a last minute call," She said, picking at her sleeve.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

She was looking at her, the girl was nervous. Almost uncomfortable for the time while she walked to be by her. "Don't be nervous my dear, I do not bite unless some like that." She thought about Cath for a moment on the surface and remained ready but motioned her to come while looking out upon the city scape. Hands behind her back for a moment. "Over there we are rebuilding one of the first in our self sustaining hospitals. it will be able to produce its own bacta and nysillin in gardens. Our technologies for making things better has been coming up second to done compared to other places and it is with the technology. From here we'll be able to restructure the planet block by block and level by level. Improve quality of life and hopefully create a base for other cities across the Republic. We have been working on some of the other things though mostly what to do with some of our excess supplies and it was recommended getting them out to the ones who need it but we have to meet with them first." Which was where she came in as Ayumi motioned for her to come and join her. "Come my dear, you can tell me all about yourself and what your hospital needs."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

Mica blinked quite a few times at the scale of what these people were doing. Maybe she had gotten this wrong/ She was basically a traveling medic, she didn't have access to nearly these level of materials. She had her doctor's bag and father's tools and that was about it. What little she did swipe it was from med bays that weren't using things, which was how she gained most of her hand-held scanners and tools. This place, though....it was massive and far too technical for her.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have given you the wrong idea," She said, holding up her hands and waving them just a bit frantically. "I'm just a wandering medic, really. I don't own a hospital, the med bay I got hired by doesn't have some tools, but frakk 'em. I've got a patient who probably can't pay for what I've gotta do for him but I've got some creds saved up." Mica chewed on her lip and shoved her hands deep in the overcoat's pockets.

"Look, this all looks really impressive, but I'm not the hospital type. The people that come see Doctor Chanda are not ones who show up to hospitals. That usually puts investors off," Mica admitted. She rubbed at her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. She really had just wanted to buy and get out, but here was the mecca of medicine and not only could she probably not afford most of this stuff, she'd never be trusted to use it.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

She didn't turn to look at her when the girl spoke about her situation and past. Slowly taking it in with a small grin on her face before she turned around to look at her with a small smile curling her lips. She moved towards her with a small look on her face. "Hey now, that is alright." Turning with some of the attention while she offered a hand for her to come with her as she spoke. "We can work with you, there is field equipment for medics. A lightweight pack with all the tools and an antidote chem station, a field hypoinjector and rebreather. Plus some other medical supplies you could carry around with you if you so need it." Ayumi maintianed her eyes on the girl while moving. "Come with me and lets see what we can do for you. On the way you can tell me all about what you do, such a pretty medic is sure to have some stories."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

Mica felt a tiny bit of relief when she wasn't turned away immediately. The fact that she still might be able to get Selah what he needed made her relax a tiny bit, the tension rolling a little bit off her shoulders. She followed the senator as she motioned and shifted her hands from her pockets, trying not to fidget more. The high-class company wasn't her forte.

"Stories?" Mica blinked. She wasn't the best of story-tellers, but she knew from listening at bars across the galaxy what made a good story. "Uh...you could say that," She scratched at the back of her neck briefly, twisting her hair around her hand to pull it over one shoulder, despite it being messy. "When I worked in the Outer-Rim, I had a Twi'lek come in and need a stimulant patch to get off whatever drugs she was on, some sort of knock-off deathstick. Stimulant patch goes on, weans 'em off of the drug. She was complaining about not knowing where to put the patch anymore, which I thought was 'cause she wanted more to get her fix. Turns out she never took the damn things off, just kept putting new patches on over and over, had 'bout fifty all over herself. We had to tell her she needed to take the old one off before putting on a new one." She snorted.

"Best part was, she was a dancer and the patches were bright yellow. Would've been fine if her skin wasn't blue. Must'a been hard to get tips before we set her straight. Mica sighed, knowing the woman probably wanted a bit more personal information. "Been working in the Inner Rim and near Coruscant since I could hitch my way over here from close to Wild Space. When all you can do to make a quick cred is patching people up, it's a little harder to move around. Plus, supplies are frelling hard to come by. I usually take the left-overs from my shifts, but this patient of mine, he needs something more high-tech which I don't have." Selah was one of the good ones that she'd come across and Force-be if he was gonna let him suffer cause of some poor-quality med bay.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

Hahaha she chuckled a little with that while walking and getting a decent feel for the girl while she gave a small nod leading the way through the office building to show some of the other sections. The walkway they had constructed so it led towards the hospital and other sections. "Very interesting but you are talented and talent should be nurtured even if it is just giving you some supplies to go and help people." Moving her hand up while she walked to the door and opened it letting others see her with the girl. She made her way into the hospital. "We have managed though to have it in operation for what we are wanting. In your case though we'll get the droid to sign out some of the supplies and give you some for your ship if you need them. Perhaps one of the medical pods we have developed with a synthetic cube."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

The whole place was impressive and a senator showing her around probably was something many of the doctors around the stations she toiled at would kill for the chance. Mica wasn't sure what to make of this place beyond awe and what to make of her host who she had a fairly similar inclination to. Most Force-users she ran across were suspicious of her Vahla blood and her quick temper. None of them had ever offered to help fund medical studies or equipment.

"Mobile is best, I work at a few clinics across the Inner-Rim. I've got people in the Outer as well," She purposefully avoided the Mid-Rim, the last place she had seen her mother before her father spirited her away from her madness. "My patient's a veteran, got knocked around after hours, his head's pretty bad. He's got some bad bleeds I can't reach without surgical equipment, gonna lose his hearing without a cochlear." She twisted her hands in front of her, making a face. she hated not being enough to patch up her people. Selah was one of her people, even if they both wouldn't admit it. Kindness is a rarity in their lives, they knew, and showing an ounce earns you more than enough loyalty.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

"Well we'll just have to help him now won't we." She said it but didn't make it a question, it was a statement. What was the point of having all this if they couldn't help the people and show they were better while she went over some of the things. "We can get you the implant, we specialize in them and a surgical droid that you can use to do it. We have some nice little drones that can travel around with you." Stopping there while she was making the notes of it and pulling up the pack for the droids to fashion and fill. "now lets see some of these and yes get you the basic supplies. The field pack we have designed will also allow you to store and administer different chems as needed. You'll be able to work with your patients and if you need more just come and see me in the future." Offering her hand to her while holding the field pack with a new medical bag. "Now how does your payment situation look?"

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

This was...probably too good to be true? An implant, surgical assistance droids and all of these neat field packs and chem administration tools. It was practically making her salivate. Her father would have been overjoyed to see this place, her in it, and this offer. The brunette ran a hand through her hand and tried not to bounce on her toes. When her mind started turning, her whole body had to be in motion as well. She settled as straightening her coat and shifting on her feet. "This is...you really didn't..." She struggled to find the words she needed. She was crap at expressing herself normally, let alone when given these types of opportunities. "It's gonna make my patient happy," She settled on with a grin.

Oh...right. Payment. Mica knew she had creds stored away, something for emergencies, something for when she needed to get away quick or when someone she'd rather not catch up to her finally did. The near-human nodded absently. "I've got a good amount of creds saved up and the medical stations I freelance at give me stipends for this sort of thing. They all want new new new, so I'll finally be giving them what they expected," She usually pocketed the stipend and went on her merry way, no research contributions or flashy clients. This would be a good use of that slightly underhanded pocketing of creds.

"Do you want payment up front?" That would probably put her out a sizeable chunk. She had been wanted to invest in her own transport too, something to avoid having to attach herself to crews when she wanted to move systems. "I'm flexible, though."

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

Ayumi looked at her with raised eyebrows at the comment and well she wanted so badly to say things while standing there and moving around to look at her and all of the new gear. "Well that is good but the credits at only a formality, one of the biggest things is pay what you can instead of what we can charge." She stood there standing a little tall but offering a hand. "So lets see what you got doctor and lets see what you can afford and then lets make you happy." She was after all in the business of making the people happy so they would be wanting to come back and keep coming back. Hands going up to her hair as she pulled it into a tight ponytail for a moment then let it go. "I am all about trying to make others happy."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

Mica dug into one of her pockets for a personal datapad where she could access her accounts. She had savings, her stipends, and the percentage boosts from a few medical stations. She entered a pin-access code and pulled up what she was probably willing to part with, a large amount that wouldn't bankrupt her, but still. Being a medic paid well if he lived like Mica did, horribly and without much catering to luxury. The most she ever paid was to keep a room on Coruscant if needed. She handed the datapad over to the woman to inspect. It had a sizable amount of creds, bordering on a nest-egg.

"This is about all I've got personally, but I know the med stations would put out a bit if they got to benefit from my using any of the materials, plus I'm still working actively, so I could easily make installments." This was the closest she was getting to actually providing a miracle for Selah and she had to say she was incredibly pleased with herself for the opportunity.

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

She was looking at her with a grin on her face though while she offered a smile looking at it. "This is more then enough thank you." She slid it down for the droid. "So what else can we help you with my dear? There are so many more things around the galaxy that could use some skills and we offer all of it." She remained standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. "If you need to make it easier we could help design and construct you a ship, your own medical ship that will be able to grow, create and function with everything you need for traveling around and doing good deeds. Or we could give you something like our synthetic cubes, force users can use them much like healing crystals of fire only without them being super rare hard to find for saving people from the brink of death."

 

[Mica Chanda]

[member="Ayumi Pallopides"]

Mica blinked in shock. She'd always wanted her own ship, but had kept the idea far from her mind since she had escaped the Star Winds. To be mobile and not have to hop from port to port would make life much easier. She would be her own keeper, a thought foreign to her since her first months in the Inner Rim, ducking and hiding from any mention of other Vahla. The dark-haired doctor grinned, nodding.

"My own ship, that would be frelling awesome," She said, pushing her hands to get hair from her face. The mention of the Force sobered her quickly, though, fingers fidgeting absently.

"I'm not a huge fan of the Force," She said, rubbing the back of her neck. "Not anything against it, but using it." This was awkward. Mica knew some distrusted Force users from the Vahla. The natural inclination to the dark had a long line in their history. Her mother had certainly tended towards it in her fits of madness. "I'd have no idea how to do it anyway. I'm not formally trained."

 

[Ayumi Pallopides]

[member="Mica Chanda"]

"The more interesting ones usually aren't formally trained. I myself never was part of an order but my family preferred private tutors." She said it while standing there and thinking now about what kind of ship to give her. A medical one for traveling was an important idea while she tapped a few fingers along the table. "We'll also be able to make you your own ship, something pretty and reliable as it were since talent like yours my dear should be fostered." A small smile appearing on her face tight lipped when she was walking. "So come along and tell me. What kind of features would you like on your new ship my dear? Anything special, anything exciting? If we can do it then we shall give you."