Swarm

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa's travelling cloak was heavy, laden with rainwater. It didn't drift around her feet as it was supposed to, it clung to her, resisted every motion. She hated the rain here on Bakura and for many reasons. She could see the disease control centre now. The rain was what had alluded them. They had assumed the virus a natural phenomena. It had kept breaking out of their quarantines. Because someone was using the rain to spread it deliberately.

There were lights on in the centre still. In the evening dark they picked out the slanted streaks of rainfall. Another gust of wind and that was almost horizontal.

The guard post was unmanned, but Neesa was not without obstacles between her and her goal. Two of the Changed reacted to her presence. One was dressed in a guard's uniform, the other just civilian clothing and a torn raincoat. Yellow eyes glared at her as she walked out into the landspeeder park in front of the building.

Had to deal with them quickly and quietly now or else more would come. Scimitars snapped free as they rushed at her, growling and snarling in guttural tones. Just the brief scuffle attracted attention. She kept the blades out for a moment, waiting for them to absorb all the blood on them before sheathing them.

The front door was locked of course. Perhaps they had thought they could lock the danger out. But the disease was no natural thing. The virus caused a range of symptoms, killed 80% of the elderly and sick children. Most healthy adults it only laid them low for several weeks. It was only in the last few days that the Changed had started to appear.

She backed up, looking for a window. It would definitely attract attention, but she drew her blaster and shot out a window four stories up. Her eyes spotted movement in the periphery. More glowing pairs of yellow eyes. Neesa ignored them and leapt.
Again it seemed abandoned, but she could hear voices. This was just an office of some kind, but flimsiplast was left spread across desks untouched. Neesa pressed on and almost immediately realised the voices were more cries than groans. In the next room six people were rolling across the ground, all twisting and contorting in agony.

“Feth it.”

She needed these people but she was too late. One of them, she might be able to save one of them. She couldn't cure a virus but she could stop what was happening here. Neesa picked at random. She pinned a slender woman down and drew her knife. She sensed her confusion, but there was almost no struggle. The woman still screamed as she pulled down the back of her lab coat and started to carve a run into the back of her neck. Neesa spoke several words in the language of the ancient sith. The woman stopped writhing. The others didn't. Their skin turned blotchy and red as their capillaries burst, their hair fell out in clumps. Odd bony protrusions started to burst through their skin.

Neesa dragged the woman along through the next door, entering a sealed sterile environment. She locked the door behind them and propped the shaking woman up against a freezer. One of the medical team appeared at the glass door. Bright yellow eyes watched them as she tried to claw at the glass.

Neesa waited until the woman started to take in her surroundings again. For now they were effectively trapped within the small chamber. The woman's colleagues finishing their transformations outside.

“You have questions.”

 

[Kuzo]

"You could say that, yes."

Irajah's voice was shaky, but surprisingly calm, considering the situation.

The Center for Disease Control here on Bakura had contacted Doctor Ven to consult on a case. It wasn't until she had arrived here that the sheer weight and breadth of what they were dealing with had even been hinted at. The briefing she'd been sent was wholly inadequate.

The initial meeting had only just begun when things seemed to slip sideways into the impossible. It had all happened so fast it was hard to sort out in that moment.

She looked up between [member="Neesa"] and the clawing.... that was Professor Janin. Had been. Was? Irajah blinked, recoiling slightly. Not that she had anywhere farther to go.

Reaching back, her fingers traced the strange cut on the back of her neck. She couldn't make out the shape of the rune, and winced slightly before drawing her fingers back. The bleeding was slow, and the cut shallow enough, but what in the world had that been about?

"Maybe start with why you cut me, because I'm having a hardtimewithallofthisbutmaybewecanstartsimple."

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"I know nothing of medicine, but I do know sith magic. The virus is artificial but it's something like Sith poison. I can't do anything about the virus but I can ward against the spell that's turning the infected people. Unfortunately symbols and blood are powerful things," she stated matter-of-factly. The last sentence wasn't even spoken with inflection to suggest any kind of apology.

She rolled up her sleeve and showed the red outline of a similar mark. It was perhaps just a day old. Two loud thumps caused Neesa to look towards the sithspawn at the door. She looked back to Irajah. A deathly pale hand reached for her chest. One finger lifted her lapel to reveal her name badge. It said 'Doctor'.

"Good. I only had time for one. Was concerned I'd saved a janitor."

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah lightly batted [member="Neesa"]'s hand away from her badge, scowling. Mistake her for a janitor? Please.

Though the back of her neck stung, it was perfectly bearable. And, it seemed, the least of their worries. She scooted herself up, sitting up fully rather than slumped at the base of the wall. She eyed the other woman for a moment. Sith. Of course. Though this was a very different situation than her usual intereactions with them. Though, was she a sith? Or simply was the virus sith? Either way, what she had expected to be a normal, run of the mill consultation was proving to be anything but.

"My name is Doctor Ven," she said, a little more chilly than she usually spoke to new people. A janitor even.

It took a moment to register all of the mumbo-jumbo that went along with the explanation however. Symbols and Blood? Spells?

"I was called here to help investigate a virus," she said, shaking her head. "It sounds like there's.... a lot more too this. Care to share with the class?"

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa couldn't be frustrated. At least, that was what she told herself. In reality she was; there was little time left. That didn't change the fact that this woman was going to need a full explanation of she was going to be of any use. The spawn slapped at the glass fruitlessly, causing both of them to look up again. It wasn't as if anyone else was going to be of any help.

Neesa stood up and leaned back against a counter, crossing her left foot across her right and placing her hands flat on the table behind her. There was probably a sterile experiment that had just been compromised.

"This is someone's experiment," she said. "Do you know how sith poison works?"

 

[Kuzo]

It was difficult to pay serious attention to [member="Neesa"] with the contorted faces of people she'd been shaking hands with an hour ago banging against the glass. This wasn't a situation Irajah had any experience with- it was so outside of her wheelhouse as to be completely preposterous. It reminded her, however, of some of the things [member="Matsu Xiangu"] toyed with on Maena. Were they dead here as well? Or alive but simply warped?

Irajah wasn't going to check their pulse to find out.

"Um. No. Not particularly, no. I mean, I'm familiar with typical poisons and the way they affect a body, but this wouldn't be something I'd classify as typical-"

She was starting to babble.

Breathing in deeply, she let out a long whoosh before making herself look back at the other woman.

"No. I'm not," she said, forcing a calm she didn't particularly feel.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa decided she should probably say something reassuring. She looked around the room as if searching for inspiration on the matter. Nothing in the cold clinical sterile room offered anything.

"Take your time," she tried. "But not too much. There isn't a great deal." At least she'd tried.

"If it gets into the bloodstream it can do bad things, but rather than being created in a lab it's made through with sorcery and alchemy. The most common can compromise a Jedi, bring them closer to the dark side." She waited for the doctor to digest this. The others were starting to get back up now. She imagined the door would hold them. So far she hadn't witnessed any of those who had changed attempting to use tools or weapons.

 

[Kuzo]

The most calming thing [member="Neesa"] could have done was start talking about the details of what was going on here. Those sent Irajah's mind working, giving her something to focus on, rather than the lurching.... things.... outside the door.

"So, someone piggybacked Sith poisons onto the extant virus?"

The implications were, well- to someone trained in science, rather than 'magic'- frankly astounding. Also a little insane. But then, she'd seen the Force used to force the dead to speak- to force them to walk. But it was only with the continued attentions of the practitioner generally....

"The virus takes the place of the creator's attention," she blinked in surprise. It was.... a surprisingly elegant solution.

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"I think...and this is testing the very small limits of my understanding of medicine...they created the virus and then did something with sorcery to alter it. There are several spells to detect sith magic at work and I could feel it on others and myself as soon as I got here. Someone has then been drawing on something powerful and casting a spell to transform those infected."

Neesa tightened her cloak around her. She wasn't a large woman and the sterile room was apparently kept at a low temperature. Irajah would see ripped fabric around the hem of her trousers and a fresh wound.

"I don't have the power to stop the spell, only protect a few individuals. But that isn't permanent. I was hoping the people here could do something about the virus, but obviously I was a little late. I know where they've been manufacturing the virus. They probably have plans and samples. Can you help me if I get you there?"

It was half a city away. A city that was now densely populated by rampaging sithspawn and abandoned landspeeders. Not worth the trip if she couldn't help. Neesa would have to cut her losses and leave the world, hopefully let her body fight the virus itself before Siedra could overpower her wards.

 

[Kuzo]

Even if she's wanted to say no, Irajah's answer was pre-destined. After watching what the Gideon virus had done to her homeworld, the idea of denying someone help with anything even remotely similar was simply not possible for the dark haired woman.

"If there are samples and a history of the work they did? Absolutely."

Raj stood up slowly, eyeing [member="Neesa"] as she brushed herself off. She always did better with a course of action, a plan. Something to keep her mind working and busy. Given a lab and a job, she could accomplish anything. At least, that's what it felt like.

Hazel eyes cast around, frowning. There was only one main door out of this particular room. Talk about a safety oversight. She paused, suddenly registering something Neesa had said a moment ago.

"Wait. Temporary? Like. How temporary?"

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa held up a deathly pale hand flat and tilted it from side to side. "I can keep these in place for a few days. The spell that changes people isn't..." she furrowed her brows as she thought of how to explain this. "It's a sort of one shot thing. If she leaves in a few days we'd be fine. If they keep this us I might get pushed beyond what I can keep up. At least you'll turn before me so you won't be like that..." she gestured over one shoulder with her thumb, "...for long."

That probably wasn't helping. Her colleagues had just been turned into monsters and there was a very large chance Neesa was going to have to kill them in a few moments. The girl had just seemed to start rallying herself too.

"I will get you out of this," she said carefully, attempting to sound reassuring. It wasn't something she was used to trying. "I am a Jedi," she attempted to lie. She was just a doctor after all. Likely would be glad of the lie. Neesa needed someone focused if they were going to get across the city in one piece.

 

[Kuzo]

"At least you'll turn before me so you won't be like that...for long."

"Oh, that's very reassuring."

It wasn't possible to apply sarcasm any more thickly to words than Irajah did in that moment. Oddly, it didn't seem to particularly upset her further at least. She had something to focus on, a goal to move forward with. That made everything easier.

"A Jedi?"

There was also no mistaking the surprise and.... was that a hint of disgust?.... in her voice.

Irajah didn't think particularly highly of the Jedi. So far, she wasn't impressed. The ones she had met were either hypocrites or deeply unstable. Many of them were both. So, a Jedi was honestly the very last person she'd want to be trapped with in this scenario. She knew their actions were deeply selfish, even if they refused to admit it. Everyone, ultimately, was out for themselves in one way or another- and Irajah had more trust in someone who was upfront about it.
​"Oh. Alright then."

She turned, frowning slightly. It didn't even occur to her that they were going to go out the way they'd come in. Though there were no other doors to the room, there was *one* other option.

"Come on, help me move this table."

[member="Neesa"]

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa wasn't sure why the reaction to her pretending to be a Jedi was quite so negatively. Perhaps it was a lie too far, but she had hoped a simple doctor would be reassured by it. They were supposed to be guardians of the people and all of that stuff.

Telling the doctor she was just another sith who had no real concern for the people, but a great deal of interest in foiling the plans of another sith. Irajah would come to regret meeting the sith at a point in the future. Vrak would turn out to be far less gentle in coercing the doctor to assist in creating a weapon just as potent as the one Neesa sought to prevent.

Neesa raised one hand and slid the table out of Irajah's grip and underneath the ventilation unit.

"Those three won't be too difficult to get past?" Neesa suggested. Her empathy didn't go particularly far. The other staff had changed, likely beyond return. Three of them weren't a great threat, especially right after being turned.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah frowned over her shoulder as she crawled up on the table. Short, wearing heels and not particularly athletic, she looked ridiculous.

Tally up another thing she didn't like about Jedi. Once again, the people out there, non-force users, mattered less. Great. Lovely.

"If there's a way to undo this, then I'd rather not risk injuring them for the sake of convince," she said, her tone a little frosty. After all, the Force Users she'd met so far weren't adverse to using force at any opportunity. She made an assumption that [member="Neesa"] meant the same thing.

Pulling a chair up behind her, she positioned it beneath the vent and clambered up. She pried the grate open with a grunt. Boosting herself up into the opening, she looked back down at the other woman.

"You coming?"

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Neesa spared one final look to the three spawn now hammering away at the glass with balled fists. She'd had a fraction of a second to choose which one survived. The one she had saved at least seemed to be capable of making decisions in a crisis, perhaps she had made the right choice.

"That one was wearing flats though," she mumbled to herself.

Neesa unclipped the sheathes of her swords from her belt, wrapped a strap around them to bind them both together. She held both swords together around the middle and passed them up to the medic. She didn't relinquish her grip on them immediately. Neesa very reluctantly put them in the care of a stranger, if only for a moment.

Neesa hauled herself up after Irajah, taking the blades back immediately. Pushing the bundle along as she crawled as awkward, but not as much as trying to do so with a pair of curved swords still strapped to her waist.

"It is likely we'll have to go on foot. The roads are blocked with landspeeders. We'll have to move quickly and as quietly as possible." Neesa's eyes once again fell upon those heels.

 

[Kuzo]

"About how far is it?" She asked over her shoulder. "I came straight to the center after I landed- I'm not familiar with the city at all."

The whole journey through the ducts was.... awkward at best. Having a stranger crawling right behind her- well, she hadn't specifically dressed with this eventuality in mind, and she was overly conscious of that. Every so often, she would pause, peering through a grate here and there. Her frown deepened each time.

Everyone- whatever this was, however it worked, everyone in the building was being effected. She didn't know any of these people, not really. But that wasn't really the point. Her lips set in a thin line. It wasn't the people down there that made this personal....

Gideon.

Too many people playing maw cursed gods.....

"Hey, security's locker room is empty. Might be able to grab something useful?"

Maybe a stun gun and sneakers.

[member="Neesa"]

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

“Hopefully boots for you,” Neesa said, mind on a similar train of thought.

“It is far enough,” Neesa replied. “They were working out of an old warehouse in an industrial park near the city centre. Getting away from here won’t be a big problem, but that district is tightly packed and the city centre streets were clogged with speeders. A good couple of kilometres on foot could take a long time.” She left out the obvious implication that it would be both slower and noisier in heels.

Neesa came to a halt. The grate was on the far side of Irajah. “Perhaps I should go first?” Just because there was no one in immediate sight did not mean they couldn’t be attacked as soon as they went down. Irajah could shuffle on past the grate and Neesa could drop down with a weapon drawn. “Is this close to an exit from the building?”

 

[Kuzo]

"By all means," Irajah chuckled, scooting out of the way.

There were plenty of things Irajah was good at. But it seemed to her that [member="Neesa"] was by far the better suited of them to be scouting out first in this situation.

"And boots would be waaaay better." Would she find any small enough for her? Hopefully.

"I'm not that familiar with the building layout," she admitted. "But I'd be willing to bet it's not far. Might even be a door directly to the outside in here, if security needs to step outside for a smoke or something...."

Waiting while the other woman slipped down out of the vent, Irajah frowned.

"So, you have a name? Or should I keep calling you Anonymous Jedi in my head?"

 

[Neesa]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"Neesa," she replied in a hushed whisper without looking up. She slid a dagger free from her cloak and used it to pry open the grate. Irajah might wonder what kind of Jedi kept knives with a matte black finish.

She dropped down lightly, barely making a sound. A quick scan of her surroundings with the knife gripped tight followed. Just one door. She moved to it and locked it. Then went to help Irajah down if necessary.

"Heels off first."

There was a line of lockers with name tags on them. Most still closed, but mechanical and electronic locks were both relatively minor hindrances to Neesa.

"See a name of anyone your size?"

 

[Kuzo]

Raj kicked off her heels before shimmying out of the vent. Barefoot was a much better for landing after a two meter drop. She didn't need the Jedi's advice on that one. She tried her best to not roll her eyes at [member="Neesa"] when she asked if she recognized any names. She had just gotten here, she didn't know any of the people who worked here by name.

With a slight oooph she dropped to the floor.

"No, but I'm not above rummaging through their chit," she said absently, starting to open up the unlocked lockers.

"Oh hey, Private Tali's got cute kids. Huh."

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually she tracked down boots that fit her close enough and a couple pairs of socks to round out the deal. She also found a holdout blaster and she looked up, thoughtful.

"Hey Neesa, does the stun setting work on these folks still?"