Swallow Your Pride, Jedi

[Connor Harrison]

Unknown Location
Erilnar, Centrality Sector ​

The Sanctum were on containment and clean-up on Galidraan, following the rakghoul outbreak. While the threat had been controlled at the Outpost and additional forces had moved to the city, there was still the case of a repeat infection and outbreak from the creatures that had survived, never mind the mysterious and ruthless Sith pulling the strings whilst hiding behind her mask.

For an attack that was so heavily focussed on science and alchemy, there was only one person he knew about who could possibly help either identify the make-up of the rakghouls or provide a way to combat and even cure those infected.

He hadn’t seen her for…months now. Out of sight, out of mind. He had been to Erilnar the last time to try and help, but she had shunned his aid and made it clear he wasn’t needed. Now, the tables had turned a little and he needed her help on a nothing but professional level.

To say he was nervous was accurate. His relationship with Taeli was a confusing one at best, spurned on by a history of confrontation and support in equal measure which brought them close, but pulled them apart. Time had gone on, and Connor was never good with emotions, hence he tried to never show them. It felt like a long flight alone to Erilnar.

Taeli Raaf had her headquarters on the planet of a thousand lakes, and Connor Harrison followed the coordinates to her after arriving at the planet with a skin and blood sample of a downed rakghoul.

Whether she would help would be one matter. Whether she wanted to see him was another. And whether she was still a servant of the Light, or slipping into the Dark, was a whole different chapter altogether.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

Aurora Industries Headquarters​

​

​

It was a busy time for Taeli. Between helping the Galactic Alliance fight against the Sith and other enemies, to getting her company ready for their next big expansion, she was swamped with work. Her office, well it was more part office, part lab, and part library, looked out over the campus that made up the Aurora Industries headquarters. Currently sitting at her desk, scribbling away memos to the different divisions of her company. They needed to have everything ready for Project Luminence in the Scillal shipyards, they needed to get the next wave of Sianium technology ready, they needed... they needed...

Leaning back from her paperwork, she looked out the window as she sensed someone familiar was nearby. Connor Harrison. Glancing at the square holocron sitting on her desk, she wondered if it would be apology enough for the last time they saw each other. It had taken a bit to acquire, and when they had last parted, it had been less than ideal. To be fair, she had been rather emotional distraught. She still felt pangs of sorrow when it came to her sisters, but there was no fear of her going dark again.

Curious what might have brought Connor here, she would wait for him to arrive and went back to her paperwork. Her comlink started to ring, and with a sigh, she picked it up when she saw it was from the Droid Division on Saleucami.

"Yes?" she asked.

 

[Connor Harrison]

It was hard not to be distracted by the complex that had led him to the gleaming headquarters of Taeli’s industry. It certainly had expanded since before, and he even had an escort to fly him in and land at the rear of the main building at the request of seeing Miss Raaf.

Assuming his name had been banded around here by Taeli at some point, there was no trouble in landing or being led, with security across a gleaming walkway from one glass-covered building to the next. Below, the courtyard was peaceful and a few bodies milled around as the sun shined brightly above.

Upon reaching an office with double doors, Connor glanced around and waited for the guard to signal they had a visitor, and a soft female voice gave a command for an entrance. The guard nodded to Connor , who in return gave a placid smile and walked on, opening both doors and walking in, seeing them quickly shut from behind.

Turning, Connor heard Taeli talking and swamped behind a desk that shared space with what looked like a larger version of her ship’s hold. Books, apparatus and relics. All overlooking the courtyard in a room bright and full of light with a wonderful view of the planet.

Walking forward casually, hands in his pockets, Connor took his time walking to the desk as she was engaged in conversation. She hadn’t really changed much, at all. She did look a little better than last time he had seen her, and certainly more in control.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

Looking up as the doors opened, she gave Connor a small smile and held up a finger to wait a moment while she finished. He looked good, although there was a worry about him. Something horrible had occurred.

"No," she said into her comlink, swinging her chair around for a second. "We're discontinuing the old Legion droids. I leave it up to your team to put together a new design for use and sale. Uh huh... alright, send me the designs once they are finished. I'll make suggestions on them... yes because sometimes you have odd ideas that might get expensive... fine fine, just send them to Jaxson."

With a click, she set her comlink down and turned back to face Connor.

"Sorry about that," she said. "We're a little busy as you can see, Connor. It's good to see you again, it really is."

 

[Connor Harrison]

”You look well,” Connor replied, rocking gently on his feet. He glanced around the office and indicated to the apparatus on one end and books on the other. ”You’re stepping up in the world I see? Nice place you have.”

With a smile, he returned to her, sat behind the desk.

”How have you been?”

If Corvus had come back, he’d have known. There was no point bringing up a subject likely to cause more pain she was probably trying to heal from.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"You've just never seen my actual office," she chuckled, gesturing for him to take a seat. "And I've been pretty busy. I'm sure you heard about the events on Naboo where a Sith attacked the palace with a Force Storm? I was there when it happened, fainted trying to keep the debris from crushing the nobles and other guests. On top of that, I've been traveling around to more places as always."

Coming around, she leaned against the front of her desk, palms on the surface.

"I take it this isn't just a social call, is it?" she asked. "I heard about what happened on Galidraan, and before you ask how, my company has a facility in the northern mountains there. They sent a report that some sort of bioweapon or mutagen was released?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

With a sly incline of the head, Connor raised his brow.

”I knew nothing about the Naboo attack. So they’re trying to sink their claws into the Southern regions? The Sanctum are preparing to defend the Western borders from them I believe. It’s their time to go on the backfoot. Anyway, yes, you’re right. This isn’t a social call.”

He thought that sounded a little harsher than expected, and as he turned to look at the seat, he reached into his side belt and pulled out a thin vial, containing something brown and crimson.

”I need you to take a look at this,” he handed it over and took a seat, crossing his legs and arching his fingers. ”A nasty little Sith creature that came knocking on our door, thankfully not reaching yours. You’ll find a slice of one’s skin and blood. Anything you can tell me about their DNA, their biology, anything, I want to know.”

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"Nasty Sith creature? Awe you shouldn't have," she said, taking the vial. "They must have used alchemy in its creation, and naturally you thought of me because I was an alchemist and sorceress. Alrighty, let's take a look."

Going over to her lab equipment, she took out a pipette and drew out a small sample of the blood in the vial. Placing it on a slide, she slid it under a microscope that was also recording all it saw so it could be projected in the room's central holo-projector. To Taeli's eye, the blood sample was absolutely fascinating. She hadn't seen something this complexly made in a very long time.

"This is superb work," she said to Connor, not looking up from the scope. "Incredibly superb. I once worked on a similar project under my Sith master, but this is something far better than those blasted Croa that Praelior was working on. Okay, give me a sec here... here we go." On the holo-projector, a three dimensional view of the sample she was observing appeared.

"It's definitely a rakghoul virus," she continued saying. "Highly modified though, using both science and the dark side of the Force. I recognize the viral structure from some of the old records. Highly aggressive, even for the virus. Changes would begin in a host in just a matter of minutes from infection."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Leaning back in his chair, totally relaxed as if nothing had gone on before, he tapped his fingers on the arm rests, spinning left and right gently. As Taeli went to work, Connor looked out of the large windows at the complex and huge sister building beside them as she started.

Looking across to the holo-display, most of it didn’t mean anything to one so distanced from science and alchemy as Connor, but this was why he was here, as her enthusiasm certainly was evident.

”They are fast, near silent and merciless. I saw the effects of the mutation they encourage after pasing their DNA to another, and it’s grim. They’ve been spotted on the outskirts of Sanctum space and I really want to know how effective they really are and if there’s anything about them that’s….” he shrugged, ”…weak.”

He made small circles with his finger around his thumb.

”The one behind this is a real slimy sort. Deceptive and cowardly. Typical Sith. Hiding behind her monsters and a helmet, and she controls these things with ease. I don’t like it. I need something intricate to use against them if they surface rather than just a blade.”

He looked back out the window and smiled.

”I’m not asking much, of course.”

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"Not at all," Taeli said, still looking at the virus. "Although, you might want to revise your opinion of the Sith a little. She might be deceptive, but whoever this girl is is extremely smart. Look here..."

On the holo-display, a small section of the virus was highlighted in a soft yellow glow.

"That right there is how she controls them," she explained. "It's a part of the virus keyed into a specific pheromone, along with a predisposition to listening to orders from a dark side user. Traces of alchemy are on that site. Incredible. She made it so that even other Sith can't control these things unless they also emit control pheromone... which I suspect your Sith is the only one who does. I could maybe synthesize something for that... but..."

A new section of the virus was highlighted now, a bright green color.

"That right there is the antigenic region of the virus," she said. "It's been heavily modified and in a very unfortunate way. If anyone tries to tamper with the virus beyond observation, say to develop a vaccine or a cure, the virus is programmed to start a series of mutations here and elsewhere. The DNA core of the virus would start doing half-replications, making it useless to develop anything from, and the antigenic region would warp into something different. She's made a rakghoul virus that cannot be cured."

Stepping away from the scope for a second, she started running different light and radiation tests on the virus sample under it.

"Fast and silent you said?" she asked for clarification.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Resting his chin in the cup of his hand, he looked at the display of the virus. It was Alchemy For Dummies; coloured sections highlighted for each area of interest, and Taeli spoke it all clearly and carefully. What she said was worrying.

Connor licked his lip slowly.

”Fast enough to move on all fours or on hind legs if required, and they could climb walls and hide in shadows. And take away their god-awful screeching, they were pretty silent, yes.”

He watched the virus and the colour code of the section that made it un-curable. And to think, he had brought the virus without knowing it to the Sanctum outpost. His hand slid up and fingers rubbed his temple for a second.

”It was clear she was smart, but I didn’t know HOW smart from what you have said.”

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"Well those sound much more dangerous than normal rakghouls," Taeli mused aloud. "Fast, silent, a screech that is going to make any prey want to run I'm guessing... they rely more on sound and movement than sight if they screech a lot. These are, and I know I should be repulsed by this, but these are a true work of alchemy art."

Much more so than any Croa or virus she knew her former master had worked on. Those had been created with an amalgamation of different DNA structures and it had just been a messy project. This virus, judging by what she could see, was a direct modification of the original strain of the rakghoul virus. More than one sample... there were a few RNA sequences that looked out of placed, like they were introduced and merged with alchemy into this new form.

"I'm guessing you met her before the Galidraan attack?" Taeli asked, watching the different radiations be tested on the virus in quick bursts. "Judging by these spots here," she pointed them out to Connor by turning them a light blue on the display, "she got two samples of the rakghoul virus, the original, that evolved on two different worlds. I could try and isolate which ones to see, but it might trigger the mutation programming of the virus."

Suddenly, as the machine switched to ultraviolet radiation, the sample of the virus flared and turned blackened. The UV radiation has killed it outright, burning away everything.

 

[Connor Harrison]

As the flare of UV caught his eye, he lolled his head and snapped his fingers.

”Of course,” Connor sighed, ”the light. These things always were out at night, and they seemed to attack at night. I don’t think they can tolerate the sun, hence that little reaction.”

He stood up and walked over to where Taeli was experimenting and stood behind her, looking over her shoulder at the various bits and bobs she was using to work on the flesh and blood.

”I saw it all on Kulthis, after we picked up a distress call. Don’t know why she was there, but she was just this blonde girl posing as a doctor one minute and leading me a merry dance before showing her true colours.”

He hated the fact she had been right there under his nose.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"More specifically UV light and radiation," Taeli said, removing the ruined sample from under her microscope. "That could be adapted into weapons for use against these things, so that's one avenue to attack them. I think... yes... if we could get a hand on a original sample from wherever this Sith developed I could develop a cure looking at it more."

She brought up one of the stills from the virus she had recorded.

"These mutations only occur after a subject is infected," she explained. "Something how the virus infects and mutates the cells triggers these subroutines on becoming incurable. Almost like a flu virus that can appear on some human majority worlds."

Stepping away from the microscope again, she grabbed the skin sample that Connor had brought as well. Holding it in her hand, she didn't immediately return to her examination.

"How did this Sith fool you?" she asked, not trying to sound unkind. "Is she adept in the more stealthy uses of the Force? A good actress? All of the above?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor looked from Taeli, to the display, to the sample, and back. She was in her element here, and even her comment didn’t bother him because he HAD been fooled, never mind how annoying it was.

”Well,” he inhaled sharply, ”that or I wasn’t paying attention to those closer than I should. I picked nothing up, I mean there as Force aura but it doesn’t mean you have to be a Sith or Jedi just because you have that ability. Don’t get me wrong, I was suspicious and I didn’t overly trust her but didn’t see her ace card when she dropped it.”

He went back to look at the sample and flicked his head to the display.

”Be honest, this is the most exciting thing you’ve had to do in weeks isn’t it.”

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"It's certainly the most interesting," Taeli said, taking a scalpel to the skin to test its toughness. The blade didn't even pierce through the outer layer, causing her eyes to widen. Setting the scalpel aside, she sat back down in the chair and spun around to face Connor. "From what you describe, she sounds like an Inquisitor. They're very good at deception, well some of them were. But they normally don't go in for alchemy, so I'm guessing this Sith you encountered serves a higher master."

Tapping her chin in thought, she glanced over her shoulder back at the equipment.

"There aren't many places one could establish a lab necessary for this sort of work easily," Taeli muttered. "You would need specialized equipment, secrecy of course... some place that has the facilities to do this might be an old cloning or biological weapon facility. She wouldn't develop the virus in Sith space itself however. Bloody cutthroats would be after the project for themselves."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Nodding at her explanation, Connor took one more look down at the flesh that hadn’t been even grazed by the scalpel.

”First time I saw her, she was dressed all in black and had this strange helmet,” he turned and used his hands to mimic the shape. ”Looked quite , what’s the word….ancient in style but modern in design. Like the bowl shape the Sith Vader used to wear.”

He wandered back to his chair and sat, taking up the gentle spinning from left to right.

”So without special weaponry there’s going to be no way to try and stem this except a well-honed lightsaber blade to the gut, at night? Or taking down this Inquisitor?”

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"Or finding her laboratory," Taeli concluded with a nod. "Easier said than done I think. The problem with dealing with an Inquisitor is you never know exactly what they can do. Take this one for instance. She hid her true nature from you, is an adept in alchemy and science... which means she is far more powerful than given credit for. That would suit her needs just fine."

Sighing, she took the skin sample in her hands again and ran her fingers over it absentmindedly.

"It feels tough, the victim's iron in the blood and other tissues might have been re-purposed to strength the skin against blades and other types of weapons... possibly the calcium or a combination of both... anywho, you are right that specialized equipment is going to be needed to fight these things. If the toughness is caused by iron or calcium, fire is going to be effective against them. Might weaken the skin, melt that resistance. Energy weapons, like a blaster, might take several shots before killing one."

Blinking, she set the sample down again on the desk.

"Sorry, my mind is racing a mile a minute with this," she said, giving a small smile. "I haven't seen something this complex in a long time."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Again, he nodded, not totally following her wild train of thought, but picked out the important words.

”Well, are you too swamped for me to leave this little gift with you for a while to see what you can come up with? I just didn’t know where to go with it, and knew you had such a strong background in alchemy and science that you may be the only person to help.”

He smiled and clasped his hands.

”Seems I was right. As always.”

He looked around the office again and took all the various books and apparatus in.

Nodding at her explanation, Connor took one more look down at the flesh that hadn’t been even grazed by the scalpel.

”First time I saw her, she was dressed all in black and had this strange helmet,” he turned and used his hands to mimic the shape. ”Looked quite , what’s the word….ancient in style but modern in design. Like the bowl shape the Sith Vader used to wear.”

He wandered back to his chair and sat, taking up the gentle spinning from left to right. Really, he just wanted to ask the question.

”How are you keeping, in general?”

There wasn’t a need to say too much, but enough to let her know he cared.

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Connor Harrison"]

"I can keep studying it, of course," Taeli said with another smile. Then he asked the question, and the smile slowly faded into a contemplative look. She had to choose her words carefully here. Not because it was anything bad, but it was hard to explain.

"I'm holding up I guess," Taeli answered slowly. "It's... hard to think I won't see them again, and it still is and probably will be a wound in my heart for a very long time. I love my family Connor, and I'm all that's left right now... but I have to keep going for their sake's. I try and keep busy to keep my mind off things, but sometimes... it sneaks up on me. I..."

She trailed off for a second.

"I wanted to apologize for the last time you saw me," she said, getting up and moving over to her bookshelf for a second. "I... lost my head there and wasn't thinking clearly... understandable of course... but I shouldn't have been so... oh what's a good word for it? Impulsive? Irrational? So, to show how sorry I was, I went and got something for you."

Picking up a square shaped holocron, she brought it over and set it down in front of Connor.

"I remembered how much you admired the Imperial Knights of the old Fel Empire," she said, tapping the holocron with a finger. "This is the holocron of an Imperial Knight known as Eshkar Niin, one of the finest instructors the Imperial Knights had back then. He detailed their philosophies, their training regimens, strategy... just about everything one could expect a Master of that order to know. I got it for you to have. Cost me a little bit as it was being auctioned off randomly, but I thought you might appreciate it."