Serve With Alacrity

[Prennis Keeoli]

851 ABY - First Order Medical Station, FIMS Mountbatten
[member="Labkahip Mordulla"] / [member="Paige Blossom"] / [member="Kyle Arnok"]
†††

Aes'ona weaved her way through the bustling hallway, with her personal datapad and three medchart files clamped under her left elbow, her uniform jacket draped over her forearm, and a small tote in her free hand. She reached up to her right temple with a hand to angle her headset down towards her mouth, as she had accidentally bumped it while rushing to get ready to meet her new staff members.

"Alright, Launderslaug, I'm out of surgery," she said into it.

Almost immediately, he replied from the other side, "How'd it go?"

She gave a half-hearted chuckle and replied instead, "Let's try not to jinx it, hmm?" She carefully began adjusting her burden as she walked--slinging the tote over her shoulder so she could flip through the files on top of her datapad. "So, who am I looking for?" Aes'ona knew their names and, generally, their credentials, but had not been told their species. Her motive for asking was simply so that she might more easily pinpoint her new hires in the crowded spaceport bay she was headed to. One of the handful of qualities that set Doctor Terrani apart from her fellow Imperials, both civilians and officers, was that she was not a speciesist xenophobe.

"One's a Twi'lek," her fellow answered. "The second is a Ming Po."

Raising a brow, Aes'ona prodded, "And the last?"

"Hold on," requested Doctor Launderslaug. After a few moments of silence, and after she had turned into another corridor, he added, "That file's not coming up. I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks. Who knows, maybe I'll bump into him." Powering off her comm just as she entered into the eastern docking bay, she found a place out off the way of the day's heavy foot traffic. While she began scanning the room for those she was here to greet, she mentally cursed herself for her mentality yesterday:

Yesterday, her hospital had been quiet, mostly empty.

Today, the staff, even with three new members, would be working either around-the-clock or nearly so. Something small in her told her that she had caused the influx of patients by being so bored, but the rest of her knew better. Her oath to do no harm was one she took deathly seriously. She would never have wished ill or injury on anyone no matter how slow her office got.

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Paige felt at odds with herself. Not weeks before she was under the training of a Jedi Master and had now voluntarily took a ship to a First Order station to treat, who she could only assume would be people that would hate her. Not because of that training, she hadn't even been introduced into a proper order let alone be knighted at all, but because she was foreign. Ming Po weren't exactly known around the galaxy, and looking different was reason enough to be suspected in this field.

She could only imagine the comments about how she was dirty, filthy... but still, that was her unnecessary pessimism playing in. She was re-assured to say the least at saying the Order of the Sacred Lotus was at least involved in the construction of this station, so perhaps neutrals such as herself would be welcomed by patients and at the very least the staff.

This was, for Paige at least, what could best be described as an internship, though she didn't explicitly see that being listed in the offer, just that she had to have some experience prior to coming here. Her methods were probably a little unorthodox, given she had only ever healed someone using the force, and even at that it was a minor burn that some soothing cream could do a better job than her confused attempt at 'force healing'.

Paige arrived on a fairly standard liner, not having the money or the expertise to rent out a personal ship for the day and waited patiently in the docking bay for [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] to greet and debrief her.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Spotting the nervous-looking, blonde Ming Po was not hard. Even though this medstation was regional--open to the public as well as the military--by the nature of where it was located--deep in Order Space--it tended to draw only from the homogeneous, human-like populace of the First Order's various holdings.

She was prepared for a fight of acceptance, in some fashion, over this one. Though she was not, some of her staff were xenophobic. And, as if that was not enough, Aes'ona had yet to tell her staff of Paige's command of the Force to heal. Admittedly, the good doctor herself was a bit of a skeptic; similarly, her prejudice against med-droid assistants was well-known by her colleagues. She firmly believed that treatment with organic hands was the best way to operate--but she tried to keep an open, progressive mind.

Aes'ona shook this from the forefront of her mind. She could deal with all this later.

Putting on a welcoming smile, she approached the newcomer, though her progress was a little slow due to her path cutting through the foot traffic.

"[member="Paige Blossom"]?" she asked rhetorically, to get her attention if she was looking the other way. She extended her hand to shake. "I'm Doctor Aes'ona Terrani. My staff normally just lops off my title and given name, and calls me Terrani."

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Paige at first failed to hear the Doctor but then turned around, realizing that someone was calling her. At first, she was startled, given she didn't know who to look at, though eventually caught on as she spotted Aes'ona staring at her. At the very least, the two had something in common. Paige herself was a skeptic in the Med-Droid department, instead preferring an organic to perform the work though in her mind force healing was the same as the caring hands of a regular Ming-Po. Not many people could distinctly tell her apart from baseline humans, not unless they were specifically looking out for it though Paige could only assume that the people in the station were, and those suspicions were confirmed as she smiled at the oncoming traffic, only to be replied with scowls and stares, one man even walking past her with his mouth gaping.

"Yep, that's me." Stuttering slightly on the final word.

Paige stared directly at the woman, being a bit socially awkward before extending an arm, only to have it nearly taken off by a running bystander who was obviously in a hurry. She blushed, realizing how embarrassing that just was, before indicating for the two to attempt to get out of the crowd and somewhere a bit more quiet, a bench to be specific.

"Sorry I'm not really good with introductions, I don't really have anything to introduce anyway. Officially, I'm a refugee from the planet of Carlac, I don't like telling people that though. They make assumptions that I'm trying to leech off of whatever tax-benefit system their nation is running, which is partly why I'm so eager to work with you and your colleagues."

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona sat down on the bench that [member="Paige Blossom"] had led her to.

"In that case, your secret's safe with me, Paige," she replied. Taking notice of some of the sour faces passing by locked on the foreigner, she added solemnly and with a sigh, "I'm afraid you'll find plenty of people like this here. It really is unfortunate; I've only heard a little of your background, but I'm glad to have you on-board SPD."

Aes'ona turned her attention back to her companion. "I have to ask seeing as you're a little less qualified than those I normally hire--not that that's bad. Are you looking to start a career with us, or is this a stepping stone on your way to something else? I won't judge. We've all been both places."

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

"I'm not too sure..."

Paige's head tilted upwards and her legs started to shake a tad, an involuntary reaction to the nervousness that she naturally got when speaking to new people.

"Well, I suppose I haven't got anything lined up yet, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be, but I knew it would be something medical. I suppose so long as the work environment and pay is acceptable I'd be staying for the foreseeable future, probably longer."

Paige was still young and naive, despite what she had been told about the apparent atrocities of the First Order, she could live in a station with casual racism if it meant a permanent home, something she had never had outside of an orphanage for a year or two, though to call that a 'permanent home' was a stretch. Barely funded government facilities with horrible men and women looking after you everyday...? The very thought of it sent chills down her spine.

"Also... I think 'underqualified' would be putting it politely. My only real way to treat people is by using the force, I know a lot of people in these parts would find that... odd but it works just as well as conventional medicine. Of course, it has its limitations but I'll hopefully be overcoming them by learning underneath your leadership."

Even saying it, Paige realized that it sounded like she was a burden, which was anything but what she wanted to come off as.

[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Doctor Terrani nodded. "So I've heard," she agreed. "I know little of the Force myself--Light or Dark--but I will try to help you learn the best ways to apply your gift to the practice of medicine." She paused for a short moment, searching her vocabulary. "As for those who find it 'odd', no one needs to know. Most patients, I've found, are happy to be healed, whatever the medium. But if anyone gives you trouble, direct them to me. I'll think of something."

Then she smiled again. "And don't worry about being under-qualified. After all, every great doctor starts with an internship."

Aes'ona took her tote off her shoulder and set it down beside her to dig through. "We're waiting for the two others I brought on with you, but while we are--" she pulled out an enamel name tag and a clinical pin that matched the one on her stiffened jacket collar "--here..." She turned and presented them to [member="Paige Blossom"]. "I have some induction forms for the three of you back at the office that will ask for your measurements so I can order your uniforms soon, but you can just wear these for now. I hope you don't mind if the debrief waits until they arrive, too. I'd rather not repeat myself."

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

"You seem really understanding, unlike most people here unfortunately. Alas, I'll try my best to fit in here."

Paige smiled with glee, feeling like she had made a companion on an otherwise lonely piece of metal floating in space.

"I get you, don't worry." taking the enamel pin and and then securing it to her casual attire, not at all suitable for surgery, though she probably wouldn't be removing brain tumours today anyway.

Paige sat and wondered exactly who the other two would be, excited moreso to see if they were different like her. While [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] had shown true compassion so far, and Paige did appreciate that, she could never understand what it was like to be different, to such a large degree, and people hate you just because of the way that you look. Not that she resented any baseline human or was jealous, not at all, she wouldn't give up her past for the galaxy, but sometimes she just wishes that for a day she could feel like what it was to be normal. Her teachers did always say that being normal was boring, but being unique was glum at the best of times for Paige.

 

[Labkahip Mordulla]

A Lambda-class T-4a shuttle shuttle would slowly approach the medical station after its long flight from Galatic Empire space, un-marked to avoid any diplomatic conflict, being escorted by two TIE fighter and it made its final approach. "Why of all times did war have to break out now"? My company was going soooo well, made deals with the FWC, got my new armour set into production, but nooo the CIS had to attack Kamino, then we counter attack and so forth, then the First Order hops in on the band wagon and goes to war with the GA". The rutian Twi'lek just shook her head in defeat, "I will never understand politics, or these odd force users, why the hell do they have to constantly fight anyways, it's like they are the core reason for all the problems in the galaxy, *sight*, guess I just have to deal with it".

The small shuttle rocketed as its landing gear made contact with the floor, steam and ventilation jets spewing steam from the craft as Ladkarhip disembarked from its landing ramp, data pad in hand along with a hover crate containing personal belongings and several medical instruments and tools. A station officer soon approached the former traveling docter, giving her a small bow, "Greetings Dr Mordulla and welcome to FIMD Mountbaten Medical Station, I hope this is one of many exchange program the First Order and Galatic Empire conduct with one another".

"I hope so too", 'Hopefully though I won't be getting caught in the cross fire between galactic powers, getting blow out of the sky by several capital ships does not sound fun'. She shook her head wuickly, realsing that the thoughts was going off on a tangent, "An sorry I'm day dreaming again, so who was this Dr I am supposed to be working with"?

[member="Paige Blossom"] l [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Being abnormally busy today, the docking bay hosted a messy conglomeration of sounds. However, she was able to pick out the "doctor" that fell from [member="Labkahip Mordulla"]'s lips, as working nine years on this station had conditioned her to respond to her title, name, or both. It was a very important skill when you were on the floor.

She looked up to the source of sound. A blue Twi'lek. The race was somewhat of a rare sighing here, as all Non-Human species were, so Aes'ona could feel confident in her assumption that this was one of the newest additions to her team.

She stood, turned to [member="Paige Blossom"] and told her, "Hold our seats. I'll be right back," and, with that, jogged over to Labkahip and the station officer.

"Thank you, officer," she dismissed them. "I can take it from here." She turned her attention to Labkahip. "I believe that would be me--Aes'ona Terrani. Labkahip Mordulla?"

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Paige nodded as [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] spoke looking down to her nails and smiling to more oncomers.

She peered over the crowd to spot a Twi'lek, [member="Labkahip Mordulla"] to be specific, at the very least they could share the whole being different thing, though Paige suspected the twi'lek would be subject to a lot more xenophobia than her, just on appearance alone. She sighed as she saw people giving her a similar look that she had received minutes before, but wasn't going to question her assuming she was lucky enough to not notice it.

 

[Labkahip Mordulla]

Lab's (yes that is her nickname) attention drifted from the deck officer and to the new woman jogging over to her person, quickly dismissing her welcome party before introducing herself. "Ah ha, well it is a pleasure to meet you Dr Terrani and yes I am Labkarhip Mordulla, not many people go by Twi'lek names, or one so fitting to their profession, though I have gained a slight reputation as Dr Pun because of it".

"May I ask who else will be joining me in your little group", she had noticed another girl a way off that Terrani had talked to before coming over, was she another practitioner from another Empire... maybe the Sith? No, if that was the case she would most likely be bearing their crest, along with the gaze’s other gave her it seemed the other woman was an outsider, like herself.

It was true that she herself was receiving a few odd glances from those around, being a non-human and all, but said gazes usually diverted when those looking saw the Galactic Empire marking on her lab coat along with other rank indicators like 'Head Scientists' and 'CEO'. Even if most humans did not like her race or others, one thing they did respect was rank, and Lab was no mere grunt, besides she was a visitor here and with the war kicking off again and the First Order surrounded by the GA and ORC they needed all the allies they could muster, and being rude to an ally representative like herself would be a bad move.

[member="Paige Blossom"] l [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

"I appreciate you coming all the way from Imperial space, in wartime no less," she said. With that, Aes'ona began to walk back to the bench she had left, motioning for [member="Labkahip Mordulla"] to follow her. "This is [member="Paige Blossom"]," she introduced. "And we are waiting on one more, though we may just start working soon. There is a lot of it, and I suspect something has kept him up."

Aes'ona stooped slightly, reached into her bag and took out a clinic pin identical to those she had given to Paige. "I wasn't going to give you a uniform as you have your own, but some specific identification never hurts."

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

Paige stood up and looked directly into the eyes of the twi'lek and looking at the insignia imprinted on her labcoat.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Paige Blossom, I don't have any titles to follow that." Laughing as she turned to [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]. "I forgot to ask, do you operate outside of this facility? On a battlefield or battleship perhaps? I have no problem if we do I'd just like some advanced warning so it doesn't come as a shock to me later down the line. I don't have much experience in treatment under pressure."

Turning back to [member="Labkahip Mordulla"], she grew increasingly more worried. While she was aware the First Order hosted their own sect of force users under the titles of 'Ren' (whatever that means,) she also knew the Galactic Empire was housed to primarily Sith, and as such she felt a bit threanted. She couldn't pinpoint if Lab was a force user herself, though if she was she could be so powerful that she could hide it, or simply be untrained to mess with Paige's recognition, not that it was particularly developed anyway.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona shook her head, answering [member="Paige Blossom"], "Not to worry. I've been quite insistent on a position outside of combat myself, and that's what we have here." She paused, and then resumed, "Though that may or may not change with the tide of the war."

She followed-up with a reassuring smile. "Still, we're far from the front, so I doubt we'll be called, but, in the event we do, I will try to give you all the warning I can."

 

[Labkahip Mordulla]

Lab waved her arm dismissively with a humours smile on her face, "It is no problem, I needed to get away from imperial space for a while anyways, and navigating here was not too difficult". The Twi'lek docter had spent her childhood traveling with her mentor to may parts of the galaxy, so flying and long distance travel was second nature to her. She gladly accepted th pin handed by Terrani, attaching it just below her current name tag, "Thank you, I am not one to run down proper identification, also does not hurt to have a spare, so just keep a coat in stock for me, ever should in need a replacement".

Next the rutian Twi'lek turned around, giving a small bow to the new woman [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] had indicated to, "It is nice to meet you too page, I hope we can get to know each other a bit more during my exchange program". She tried to sound friendly to the woman who was obviously an outsider, but she got this gut feeling the woman had somthing against her, was it due to racial differences, no it's felt different, but lab could not seem to place her metaphorical finger on it. Lab shook her head once again, her mind drifting off into la la land again, retiring focuses back to the conversation at hand.

"Well, I guess it is good to know we will not be put in any harms way, but may I ask what our first order of business is? No doubt such a station has many tasks that need attending to, or is a tour of some sorts in order". Though having similar structure, Lab was unsure how the First Order actually operated.

[member="Paige Blossom"]

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Suddenly, making Doctor Terrani jump just a little, her headset crackled back to life. "Terrani?" the same voice of Launderslaug came through.

Quickly recovering, she put up a finger to signal one minute. "What's up?" she asked. "Find me that file?"

A moment's silence. Then, "Uh, 'that file's' actually two," informed her assistant.

"I approved two?" Aes'ona asked with a furrowed brow. It was not really a problem but the news knocked her somewhat off-guard. "At once?"

She could almost she Launderslaug biting his lip, biting back a snide comeback. "Apparently," he settled for. "Two human males."

"What's the--?"

"Zerrik [member="Zip"] Zarth."

"--name?" she muttered the finish. "Thanks, Launderslaug."

[member="Labkahip Mordulla"] / [member="Paige Blossom"]

 

[Priscilla Utorna]

"Are we waiting for others? While I'm a patient woman I agree with [member="Labkahip Mordulla"], this place is far too busy for us to be waiting around all day, and very crowded."

Reaching to her shirt she began adjusting it feeling an uncontrollable amount of heat swelling. She was feeling the nerves now, extremely so. Paige sat down again, trying to control her leg movements. She had this wondering suspicion that everyone was staring at them, everytime that she looked up there was somebody laughing in her face, making fun of her and even imagining [member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"] pretending that she had signed up for the wrong course. That's what being deprived of food and water for a day does to you.

"Sorry, do you know any cafes or like a vending machine around here? I'm getting rather peckish."

Looking down to her stomach it began to grumble and she felt slightly in pain as she began looking around for a restaurant or something, though that was an unlikely occurance in a medical station.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona frowned slightly--at the implication, not at her companions' ideas--but nodded. "You're right," she conceded, turning off her headset again. "I'll let the deck captain know who to keep an eye out for, and they can catch up later."

She again reached into her bag and this time offered [member="Paige Blossom"] and [member="Labkahip Mordulla"] a hearing device each. They looked like a small headset that clung over one's ear--easy to shape and fit to one's individuals 'ear' no matter what it might look like. She also handed them both their own file of an assortment of durasheet papers ranging from basic patient information charts to toxicology screens to complex medscan results, the durasteel sleeve imprinted with the SPD's logo. "We have extra datapads to lend you if you don't have your own, but we still use some papers," she explained. "Trust me, flipping through multiple screens on a datapad can be annoying, not to mention a little disorientating."

Only then did she finally zip closed her tote. She straightened and hoisted it over her shoulder, holding her datapad and the other file (she made a mental note to put together another one), to her chest with one hand. Smiling at Paige, she answered as she reached into her jacket with the other and pulled out a red, plastic credit chit printed with a large Order shield, "Yeah, you can grab something with this from the machine around the corner. I can make some caffe or tea later too, for those who'd like it." She pointed out into the hall leading into the station. "Don't worry about keeping it down. We won't be doing anything...overwhelming."

Nothing that ought to cause a purging reaction at least.

With that, Aes'ona led her new healers into said hallway.

†††
"It's right behind that potted tree, Paige," she elaborated. "We'll wait up. Take your time." The doctor came to a standstill, expecting Lab to do the same, and turned to the Twi'lek with the intent of learning more about her as Paige got herself some food.

"Lab?" she asked. "You prefer that name, right? Or, is it Doctor Mordulla? I myself prefer the title, but I don't want to be disrespectful and assume."

 

[Zip]

Ringing filled Zip's ears, his mind drifted off to thoughts of home. The young man had recently sent his file out to a few organizations to see if he could get an internship of sorts and possibly medical training. None of them bit, well that is until now. The ringing slowly faded and Zip's eyes refocused on what he was doing. He sat on a bench in some hall, his hands shaking slightly. He really hoped that this whole acceptation thing turned out to be true. Zip adjusted his jacket and dusted off his pants as he stood.

He was pretty nervous as he had not much love for being around large groups of soldiers, The teen quickly pushed that thought aside, the people on the station weren't all soldiers, and even if they were, they aren't all bad.

Zip sighed. and reached into a pocket in his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He began to scan it quickly.

"BlahBlahBlah.....Dr. Aes...Aiss....Aes'ona...grrr...Dr. Terrani" Zip smirked "People need easier names...Well I guess I should find this lady...." Zip complained as he put his paper away and picked up his duffel bag. He looked towards the nearest people. it was a group of ladies.

As he got closer he would run a hand through his hair nervously.

"UhExcuseMeDoYouKnowWhereICouldFindADoctorAes...Aiss...DoctorTerrani?" Zip said quickly.

[member="Labkahip Mordulla"]
[member="Paige Blossom"]
[member="Dr. Aes'ona Terrani"]