Their Blood Runs Black

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak nodded and took the sample delicately but securely, carrying it over to a separate table, but not too far from [member="Arabi Cordelle"] and [member="Kirie Ito"].

Using a syringe, he pulled out a little drop of the goo from the main clump, and set it on a slide. It immediately became self-animated, but it would appear that the lack of mass prevented it from actively moving anywhere. Just to be sure, Jak put a drop of water on it and the top of the slide, and it stopped moving completely - though it still wriggled under the weight of the slide itself. Fascinating.

He put the slide under a microscope, fine-tuning the magnification till he could see the goo quite clearly. Under his mask, his tongue was sticking out a little in concentration, but he soon got a clear picture.

Pulling out a pad of paper and a pencil, he started drawing what he could see - it looked almost like the goo was a collection of cells in some kind of solution, though he had never seen any cells like these before. He doodled what he could see, though he didn't really understand much of it, and kept examining the sample to see what he could do with it. Perhaps they could modify an anti-viral? He didn't know what an anti-viral could do against a non-viral cell, but if they could destroy the active ingredient of this goo without actually destroying the goo, then the body would be able to expunge the goo on its own - and hopefully in a way less harmful than draining ALL the blood of an organism and then putting it all back in again.

He brought his findings and thoughts over to Arabi. After fumbling through his idea, he presented her with the drawing of the cells. "This is what they look like. I'm not sure if they're mutated blood cells or not - if I could get a tissue sample of muscles, skin, and brain, then I could tell you for certain." He looked over at the girl on the table with no small pity - but if they couldn't find a cure, she was already dead anyway. He had to work past that if they were to save countless lives more. He drew his attention back to Arabi. "For all I know, these cells are a brand new type of organism."

 

[Aryn Teth]

Arix Valen

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​

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Kwenn Station, Kwenn System, Kastolar Sector, The Mid Rim.​

Interacting With: [member='Lady Kay'] [member='Arabi Cordelle'] [member='Kirie Ito'] [member='Jak Sandrow']​

​

Arix raised an eyebrow as he saw Kirie brought back into the room. There certainly wasn't any sort of sorrow in his mind - to him this was a victory, the girl might have been in pieces, and in all likelihood would possibly die before they were done here, but now they had their sample. Moving over, Arix clasped his hands behind his back, allowing the others to work on securing her body as he looked over the ooze and her regrowing legs. "Fascinating..." Dragging a small knife from within his jacket, Arix gave it a slight twirl between his fingers as he collected a sample of the black substance that was oozing from her legs, slipping it into a vial as he took a few steps back, beginning to muse to himself. Staring at the liquid within the vial, he casually listened to the others around him, taking their observations and adding them to his own.

It was particularly useful that they now had a source of the substance in the form of Kirie, however the girl was far from a healthy subject - and there was still no telling in his mind how long she had actually been /infected/ - if he was to gather an understanding of how this liquid functioned, he needed to see it all, start to finish - so that he could find some point or some way that he could wrench control from Onyx. It was also blatantly aware to Arix that his ideas and tests would likely not appreciate upon Kirie, considering the camaraderie she seemed to have particularly with the Queen. Luckily, Arix had people of his own, and the slightest hint of a devilish smirk crossed his lips as he moved to another table. "Sergeant-" Arix called to one of his troopers, who immediately made their way over. "-Remove your helmet and lie down." Casually waiting for the trooper to do as they were ordered, without question of course - clones were oh so useful when it came to that, Arix twirled the vial between his fingers as he moved to place the restraints on the trooper.

With only a few more moments, Arix set up all the equipment he would need to monitor and take note of the trooper, before he opened the vial again, pouring the black substance straight into the trooper's mouth. Momentarily, the trooper fought, but as Arix placed a gloved hand firmly over his mouth, the trooper had little choice to submit after some time, Arix giving him a pat on the cheek. "That's a sport." Now Arix would have the subject he needed - and everyone there would likely get at least the general indication of how far Arix would be willing to go to find the 'solution' to the black substance problem.

 

[Kirie]

Kirie's eyes shot open. Her head was pounding, her legs throbbing and radiating pain from the stumps that dripped dark liquid. Slowly, minute by minute, dark flesh grew from the severed ends. Forming corrupted veins, muscle and bone. The more damage she took, the more the substance could mould her to its will.

Fluorescent lights shone overhead, the low electric buzzing present under the low chatter of the room. She moved her arm to scratch her nose, but her hands were strapped to the gurney. She strained, attempting to pull her arm free, but the restraints held. She looked around the room, identifying it as the observation deck, now filled with medical equipment.

She began to cry, and called out in desperation. "Let me go! Please let me go! You're not saving me by doing this!" Her voice was tight and strangled, her red hair soaked with sweat and stuck to her face, and the corners of her mouth. She kicked and rocked, attempting to tip the gurney. But it was no use, they had trapped her. Her gift would be taken, and they would break her apart again.

| [member="Arix Valen"] | [member="Jak Sandrow"] | [member="Arabi Cordelle"] | [member="Sol Damerin"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] | [member="Sol Damerin"] | [member="Bradshaw Ku"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"] | [member="Uigin's NPCs"] |​

 

[Xaedrin Vondiranach]

Xaedrin bounded down the corridor, his body energized by the living substance flowing through his veins. He felt no fatigue, no tightening of muscles - he felt immortal​. He was immortal. Even if this body died, he would live on - part of the Contingency, connected to Lord Onyx forever. He could feel this in the deepest part of his being, knew it to be true. He knew, too, that the Interesting One was connected to the great nexus of life. Even now, those without understanding closed in around her, threatening her - he could feel it. She wanted to be free of them, wanted to be free of their twisted goals for her. He could make that happen.

Turning a corner, he saw ahead the location he had been seeking - the central control room. From here all of the stations systems were maintained. From here he could destroy the entire station, allowing for himself and the Interesting One both to be set free forever. This is what he had to do, he could feel it. He knew it to be true. Unsurprisingly, the door was locked. The mechanism to the side made clear that one needed a keycard in order to gain entry. He didn't have a keycard, but he did have a lightsaber.

[member="Arix Valen"] | [member="Jak Sandrow"] | [member="Arabi Cordelle"] | [member="Sol Damerin"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Kirie Ito"] | [member="Bradshaw Ku"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"] | [member="Uigin's NPCs"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay overheard [member="Jak Sandrow"] as he spoke of getting brain and tissue samples from [member="Kirie Ito"] . Of course she had issues with it and right away had to step in. "Your job is to save her, not to kill her. You have your samples, there's no need to kill her and autopsy her. She--" Kay stopped mid-sentence as [member="Arix Valen"] started to prepare one of his own troopers to be infected?? Her brows furrowed as she took note of how he treated those below his station. Clearly they were nothing to him. Kay just couldn't be that way. She couldn't use people like that. Her attention turned back to Kirie as the girl pleaded with them. "It'll be okay Kirie. You're just in a nightmare. We're going to help you wake out of it..." A bad lie, but it spoke of a half truth. They were living in a nightmare until the Contingency was stopped.

*************************​

The Iron Knights, although seemingly to be very much robotic, were in fact more than that. They too wielded the Force, were linked to combat as one, and individually if they had to. [member="Sol Damerin"] was one man. His speed was followed quite well by the complexities that ran the robotic bodies, put them in sync with one another, and let their movements flow with the same ease of grace. Their power that drove them was centuries old, while the man before them was barely an infant in their eyes.

His blades were countered with their own from the inside, pushing them outwards to direct the blades away from them. Then both stepped in to stand on both of his feet with one of their own, wanting to hold him in place while they sucker-punched his gut.

[member="Arabi Cordelle"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"] [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Uigin's NPCs"]

((Sorry for the short post. Still on holidays and had a moment to sneak a post in. 8 more days till I fly back home!))

 

[Sol Damerin]

Given the position Sol had put himself in, the robot he was attacking was best situated to block the lightsaber coming in on a lazy loop to strike against his middle, cutting from the Iron Knights right to his left. The other Iron Knight was best situated to block the lightsaber that was coming in high. Which meant that the one deflecting that blow had to come in high as well and push even higher to knock Sol's saber out of the way. Conversely, the lower blow had to be blocked by a sweeping slice if it wanted to push Sol's blade outward. In both cases to achieve the result, the Iron Knights desired they required a full commitment to their swing.

While the high swing with his right hand looked very fast the fact that he was swinging with both arms meant he hadn't fully committed. All the speed it had came from a simple flick of the wrist, not that it mattered with lightsabers usually but in this case well... The left-hand swing came in low, controlled, and slow so as Sol feels the Iron Knight's lightsaber touch his it is a simple matter to change the angle of the blade slightly with his wrist. The shoto saber slips underneath the Iron Knight's over commited block and then Sol suddenly commits pivoting with his body and twisting.

The sudden shift changes the position of his toes stopping the Iron Knight's from stepping on them. It also means that his saber is coming in hard fast and directly for the midsection of the left Iron Knight's torso and neither are in a position to block since the right one had to go high and the left one's blade would be playing catch up. In short, the left Iron Knight was going to get bisected before he could land a punch unless he did something fast. However, if they did punch Sol would just roll with it bouncing using the push to carry him away.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak winced at [member="Kirie Ito"]'s cry of pain. "I'm not going to kill her. I've got very steady hands - we've got a bone needle, I can take a sample almost painlessly. It won't permanently hurt her, I promise. I'll do it; if... if you guys are a bit squeamish, you might want to turn away."

As they held her down, he let his Force presence flow through him. His green skin returned, and he let out a slow breath as he used the Force to hold her head in place. Tilting her up very gently, he positioned the rock-steady needle below her head, just above her neck, after brushing her hair away. "Sorry, Kirie... this is going to hurt." Pushing in, the needle gently punctured her skin, black goo pooling at the surface and gently trickling down the needle.

He held her close, straining a little to keep the girl and his hands from shaking, gently sliding the needle the smallest fraction into her brain matter. He pulled a little bit on the plunger, enough to have the smallest sample in the tube, and then very slowly retracted, knowing that the goo would heal her body even as she cried in pain.

"I'm going to take some other samples as well," he said quietly, quickly nipping off a bit of her skin and muscle, letting it heal as her blood dripped like liquid night. "I'm sorry; I'll get right back to work."


[member="Sol Damerin"]
[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"]
[member="Arix Valen"]

 

[Kirie]

[SIZE=13pt]Kirie strained, feeling the air move as the needle descended towards the exposed skin on her neck. She recoiled, trying to move her head, to free herself, to get away, but he held her in place. The muscles on her neck bulged, tendons popping with the effort of trying to escape, but still she was held fast. [member="Jak Sandrow"] stood above her, a look of concentration on his face. His strange green skin looked sickly under the soft light of the observation deck. In his hand the massive syringe glinted wickedly. As the pointed end was thrust into her scalp, Kirie screamed, wrenching her head in an effort to free herself from the man's Force grip.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]As the needle entered her brain, she was granted the relief of unconsciousness once again, her ruined body relaxed, slumping against the hard surface of the gurney. Her wrists, only moments before pinned against the leather straps securing them, were red raw. Her skin was pale and covered in a bright sheen of sweat. Her legs, cut off by by [member="Sol Damerin"]'s lightsabers, were below her on the gurney, her stumps growing and twisting, ebony flesh that formed into new muscle and sinew. Already the black skin had spread like a tumour, several inches of her leg had been repaired, spreading further and further down, forming her calf muscles, and her shin bone. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]Lying unconscious, her mind plunged into a nightmare. Visions of death and decay assaulted her, bodies swarming with flies, [member="Lady Kay"], lying an a pool of her own blood. She saw the palace on Commenor ablaze, the consequences of a faliure to submit to the Contingency. The only answer was to join their collective, those who failed to see that were blind.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]But, at the same time, another voice whispered to her, a dull undercurrent of fear and doubt that she felt being supressed as soon as she was aware of it. The call of the Light haunted her. The millions of voices in her head, the will of the Contingency told her to ignore it, and she did. But it was still there. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]Kirie stirred in her sleep as Jak collected his samples, her forehead furrowed in pain. Her mind was once again washed with waves of calm, the many minds within her lending her strength. Her body, which would normally have been destroyed by her extensive injuries, continued to recover. The poison inside her veins spreading through her, repairing and changing her as it went.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt][member="Jak Sandrow"] | [member="Sol Damerin"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] | [member="Arix Valen"] | [member="Ghorua the Shark"] | [member="Arabi Cordelle"][/SIZE]​

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

Bradshaw didn’t need to be told twice to put [member="Kirie Ito"]’s severed legs down. He more than happily plopped them onto the table, still leaking disgusting black ooze. Why had he been stuck carrying the things, anyway? [member="Sol Damerin"] cut them off, he should’ve brought them back. On more than one occasion as they made their way back to the lab he’d been seriously tempted to drop them into a passing garbage droid. But that would be mean, to the droid. What did they need them for anyway? They had the rest of her. Maybe it had just been the grouchy older man’s way of getting back at him for his less than tactful wisecracking at his expense. Everyone’s always a joker until you have to cut someone’s legs off. Fair enough, he supposed.

Fortunately, he wasn’t around to witness Kirie’s agonized awakening, or the stomach churning cerebral probing by [member="Jak Sandrow"]. No sooner had the young woman’s legs flopped sickeningly onto the table than Shorty’s urgent whistles and boops had called him over to the little droid. Apparently, their infected friend from earlier ([member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"]) was making a mess of the security door to the station’s central control room. To make things worse, Shorty had also glimpsed the arrival and movement of a few Iron Knights as they made their way through the station. Dealing with the infected was one thing, but dealing with the Iron Knights themselves, that was a whole new mess of trouble.

Everything was going swimmingly.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-​

He was now running full tilt down one corridor after another and skidding around corners, not unlike the first time he’d charged from the lab only minutes ago. There were two very big differences this time, however. The first, was that he wasn’t following [member="Ghorua the Shark"]. The second, was that he’d ordered Freeosk to stay behind to help protect the lab. His bodyguard had, predictably, argued against being separated from his charge, but to no avail.

The presence of the Iron Knights changed everything and now that they at least had one infected person to study, the lab was their best chance against the creep of infected surging and crawling across the galaxy. He’d be lying to himself too, if he denied his concern for his mother’s safety. No doubt she could take care of herself better than he ever could but he’d spent most of his life learning to live without his family, now, he didn’t want to lose what little he had left.

A sense of dread slowly crept into his thoughts and a knot began twisting his stomach. There was no doubt they were all in big trouble. Maybe they could handle the infected on the station, but he’d heard of what just a few Iron Knights had done at the Force Praxeum. At least then they’d had many Jedi masters and Knights. Not so much now.

He also had the unnerving feeling that he was running to his death. Or worse.

His father’s lightsaber, the one hanging on his belt, flashed through his thoughts without context or further insight, almost as if priming him to use it. Was the force trying to tell him something? That would be ridiculous. He had almost no training with a lightsaber and hadn’t even so much as switched the old weapon on for a decade and a half.

The darkness was closing in on him.

So he did what he always did when emotions got too serious, or too grim. He tried to keep them at bay by lightening the mood. Popping in an earpiece, he switched it on. The rest of his sprint toward the control room was filled with his absurdist attempt to keep his mind off the dire situation as he managed something of a half dance while running.

He knew exactly which corner would bring him within shooting range of the Controlled One. Now that he knew what to look for, he could sense him from the other side of the station if he wanted to. Turning the corner, one assault blaster in each hand, he took quick aim and prepared to fire.

“Hey, you, moody eyes! Smile for the camera!”

A spray of blaster bolts lit the hallway with transient red light.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-​

​

Back in the lab, Freeosk’s deep, booming voice echoed throughout the space, “Sorry to disturb your playing doctor, but you should know that we have company. Iron Knights are on the station, currently fighting with the grumpy man, and one of the puny infected boys is attempting to gain access to the control room. Bradshaw has foolishly gone alone to stop him. I will guard the door. They will not pass!”

- [member="Lady Kay"] - [member="Arix Valen"] - [member="Arabi Cordelle"] -​

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

Arabi watched the reconstruction of the legs in horror and fascination. The medical part of her nearly couldn't take her eyes off the process, but the sound of the poor girl's whimpering protests kept her from becoming far too stoic. She looked down at the girl from above and gave her a soft, reassuring smile. "My dear, let us help. Just relax." There was so little they could do to ease her pain. The black ooze would likely deal with whatever narcotic she placed inside the veins. For now though, the girl thankfully lost consciousness. Her body went limp. Feeling a great deal of compassion for the poor girl, she touched her forehead with a gloved hand. "We shall help you my dear. We shall indeed." Then with a spike of anger, she turned to [member="Jak Sandrow"] to examine his findings.

(when Kay gets back and I have more specifics on the cells, ie, if they are biological or mechanical in nature, I can do more)

She looked at the drawings and then left Jak to watch over @Kiri Ito for a minute while she looked in the microscope herself. Whoever had done this had done more damage than the physical. If she remembered correctly Kiri was deaf. Now she could hear. When it was gone again, the healing would not likely be permanent. If that was the case, Kiri would have a hard time coming back to her reality as a sense she had been gifted was once more taken away. It would be devastating.

Arabi took a deep breath and let it out, closing her eyes to the microbe for just a moment to stead herself. Now more than ever, she needed to be swift and precise.

 

[Xaedrin Vondiranach]

Darkened sweat dripped from Xaedrin's brow as he thrust the glowing, green blade into the door to the station's control room. He watched as the metal of the door turned molten around the blade, a slight smile creasing his lips. It took several minutes for the door to be damaged enough for him to get through, but as soon as it was he was prepared. Reaching out to the Force, he prepared to throw the door inward. Just as he was about to, however, a voice shouted at him from down the corridor. Xaedrin only had time to react, as the man raised two blasters and fired. Instead of shoving the door into the room, he tore it off the wall in two sections and threw one down the corridor toward his attacker. The flying shield absorbed all but one of the energy lances, the lone remaining shot striking his left shoulder. Pain tore through him as he howled in rage. He knew he had several moments, as the door he'd thrown would soon reach his opponent.

Gritting his teeth, he cast the other fragment of the door into the room. Two technicians stood inside, dumbfounded. The door caught one in the chest with its flat side, hurling him out of the way. The other wasn't so lucky, as the door spun over and acted as a blade sheering into the man's sternum. Xaedrin ducked into the room quickly. Glancing around the room, he quickly evaluated his next move. In front of him was a control bank with several computer terminals as well as banks of sliders and switches. Above the control bank was a transparisteel window looking out into the massive shaft where the reactor would be located. He knew that he wouldn't have the necessary clearance to simply activate the self-destruct sequence on the station, but there was other havoc he could cause. He couldn't destroy the station, couldn't even eject or detonate the reactor core. He couldn't shut down the oxygen scrubbers or completely power down the station, but there was one thing he could do. Using the controls, Xaedrin managed to fool the system into shutting down the station's heat. It took him only a few seconds, given a work around that he was familiar with. ​Was it his information? Had he known this before the Nexus? ​Everything ran together so oddly.

He knew that his attacker would be here soon, and would be getting over whatever caution might have been there before, but he took time for one more step. With a flurry of his blade, Xaedrin destroyed the controls - all of them​. He also slashed a rather gaping hole into the transparisteel viewport. The reactor shaft was pressurized, so no rush of air entered the room - but it did get much louder. Without access to the central station controls, reactivating the heat on the station would be incredibly difficult. It would also be a race against time with no guarantee of a win. Xaedrin stepped closer to the hole in the viewport, ready to make his escape.

[member="Bradshaw Ku"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Kirie Ito"]

 

[Bradshaw Ku]

The time of one snarky comment. That’s all it took for the Controlled One on the other end of the hall, and on the wrong side of Bradshaw’s two assault blasters, to react. But he’d done much better than just react. With superhuman focus and reflexes, the infected man responded to the Prince’s attack by, of all things, throwing a solid durasteel door at him. And it wasn’t an underhanded pitch either, he put some heat on it.

Metal crashed against his right side as he attempted, not very effectively, to dodge. Having jumped, leaving nothing to resist the door’s momentum, he now found himself spinning uncontrollably in mid-air. And now, just moments later, he unpleasantly discovered that the floor of the station was just as hard as the galaxy’s Miraculous Flying Door. His head exposed that fact with scientific precision as it recoiled from the hard, semi-gloss surface. The ringing in his head matching beautifully the metallic drumming left over from the door’s meeting with the wall at the end of the corridor.

Or, was that still his head?

It took a while, he had no sense of just how long, to regain enough control over his screaming body to crawl onto his hands and knees. It couldn’t have been too long, because the Controlled One was still within eyesight, but long enough that the demon had already done a number on the control room’s former occupants.

Bradshaw drew on the force. He called on it, but what he beckoned for was not of the light. It was angry, he was angry. The darkness came to him like an old friend from prison: familiar, dangerous, a bad influence. It had been some time. Too long, it seemed to whisper to him. Much too long. Where have you been old pal?

It took hold of his mind and motivated his throbbing body the way a puppet master forces his creation to dance. He couldn’t control it, never could, it always controlled him. Before the infected could jump through the hole in the viewport and into the reactor shaft, Bradshaw felt obliged to help him, by joining him.

With a quickness and strength fuelled through the force, he leapt from his weakened, crouching position into a run. The mangled door at the end of the hall rose once again as his right arm reached out and through the force, ripping it from its resting place, forcing it once again into action. He was in the control room in an instant, the door held in front of him like a shield, bearing down on the infected.

His intention was not just to push the other man into the shaft, it was for them both to end up there, and so, every ounce of his energy was directed toward that purpose. No preparation to quickly stop himself before falling through, just a single-minded focus. What he would do after that, he didn’t know. He’d never been one to think ahead but it was much worse when his temper took hold and the darkside egged him on. There was no logic to any of it, just anger, hatred, and a compulsion to act.

Was it crazy? Yes. Was it suicidal? Probably.

- [member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] - [member="Arabi Cordelle"] -[member="Kirie Ito"] -[member="Jak Sandrow"] - [member="Sol Damerin"] - [member="Lady Kay"] - [member="Arix Valen"] -​

 

[Kay-Larr]

The black substance that had been extracted from [member="Kirie Ito"] wasn't mechanical in nature at all. As [member="Arabi Cordelle"] studied it in the microscope she would find it very much biological and moving in such a way that one would presume that it was sentient itself, yet it wasn't. It looked like any other bunch of blood cells, however what radiated from it could only be felt instead of seen; despair, loss, loneliness; the complete opposite of what it seemed that the substance gave those that it infected. It was unlike anything that anyone had ever seen before.

Kay felt the pull of it. She had felt that before, once when she was broken during her abduction and months of torture, and again after some of the Iron Knights were destroyed on Commenor. The resulting explosion had unleashed not a ball of fire, but a shockwave of those feelings. She had run from it, haunted again by the Darkness that once held her captive, only to be rescued by a being of Light.

The Light.

Kirie had already passed out by the time that Freeosk came in and warned them. The Iron Knights were here. Kay clenched her jaw. If any of them were destroyed, the station's occupants could go stark crazy. Who knew what any would do once the waves of Dark emotions struck them? It could be devastating. Her thoughts went to [member="Sol Damerin"] now. The pair of rings that they shared enabled her to speak with him without revealing her secret. ~Sol, whatever you do, don't let the Knights explode. They have a self destruct. If you can...get them ejected out of the station somehow. Their weakest point is near their heart, but you don't want to strike it. I repeat, you do NOT want to strike it. Get them out of here!~

With the warning sent out she approached Kirie as she lay strapped to the table. Arabi was nearby and concentrating, so it was the perfect cover for her. Kay placed her bare hand on her assistant's forehead and opened herself up to the Force, to the Light. She needed to send her some hope. In the darkest of times, hope had the power to pull people through. Hope brought strength with it. "Fight the nightmares Kirie. We're not going to leave you alone with them." Kay focused on hope, the feeling of the lifting of heavy burdens that it gave and sent it into Kirie through their physical connection of her touch. The black substance that had woven itself into her bloodstream began to slowly recoil from the area, almost as though it wanted to find a place to hide. The regrowth of her legs visibly stopped, unfinished, as if it had changed it's mind. It's control over Kirie was shifting.

With the actions taking place in the control room, the air around them began to get a little colder. If it wasn't fixed within the next few hours or so, all those on the station that were away from a source of heat would freeze to death from the cold temperature of open space.

*************************​

Sol's lightsaber cut through one of the Knights, bisecting it in half as it wasn't able to block the sudden shift in movement so quickly. As the Knight fell to the floor in two pieces, the second Knight continued with it's punch. There was no remorse for it's fallen comrade for they weren't so easily beaten. The mechanical body may be in two pieces, but what gave it life was still very much intact. For now it feigned defeat while the second chose a different tactic. Instead of stepping forward into Sol after the punch, the Knight chose to retreat slightly and stepped back a few paces, drawing it's lightsaber at an angle before it in a defensive stance. One way or another, their enemy was going to be defeated.

[member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] [member="Bradshaw Ku"] [member="Arix Valen"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

The mechanical fist impacted against his battle chest piece and Sol was forced backwards. He'd gone with the blow rather than trying to power through it, but it still hurt. He felt his ribs creak but they didn't break and for a moment he was short of breath. Fortunately, the Iron Knight didn't press the attack which gave Sol a moment to recover. The one he bisected was playing possum. He could tell that based on what Lady Kay just told him, he was willing to bet that these things wouldn't die unless he pierced their hearts. Also, they were droids, most droids could keep working sections of their body as long as it was still connected to the CPU.

Cracking his neck Sol takes a deep breath. Inhale, exhale. Behind them, a hole in the station was sealed off by blast doors that he'd narrowly avoided. He didn't want to put another hole in the station, however, he could potentially use that. "[member="Lady Kay"], do you have contact with the control room?" Sol had a plan but he'd need someone with access to the station controls to enact it. He stands at a distance from the Iron Knight that was still standing, his fallen brother between them. Another rush could work but he wasn't going to rush things just yet, he'd already proven that being connected to a being with centuries of experience didn't make you a good fighter. Information downloaded into a processor wasn't as effective as real-world experience.

"If you can, have them shut down the gravity in this corridor and open the blast doors back to the breach. Let me know before it happens."

 

[Kirie]

[SIZE=13pt]Kirie swam into consciousness as if surfacing from a great depth. The words of [member="Lady Kay"] had echoed through her repaired ears and into her unconscious mind. The waves of Lightside Force cementing them, driving back the darkness that clouded her thoughts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]When her eyes snapped open, she was granted a moment of clarity from the perverse influence of the substance. Memories of the last few minutes rushed into her mind, only now they were tinged with a new guilt. Shame washed over her, then, looking down at the stumps of her legs, a wave of sheer terror. She let out a piercing scream, pulling at the restraints. Her throat, already ruined from vocalising for the first time in almost two decades, strained as she let out a frantic cry.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]"Help me! Please by the Force please save me!" Her wild eyes locked with the Queen's, and she gasped, a wave of darkness sweeping over her vision.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]"My lady, please... Hold my hand." As the wave of Light began to dwindle, the darkness rallied, muddying her brain. A fog descended once again over her brain. Only a few words still rang true, tolling like church bells in her head.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]Fight the nightmare. Nightmare... Nightmare. Leave you alone. Alone. Alone...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]Kirie wept, her shoulders shaking, racked with sobs. She held on as tightly as she could, even as the webs of darkness tugged at her consciousness, trying to turn her back into a tool. In unison, the thousands of voices cried out to her, trying to bring her back from the brink.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]She was in limbo, trapped within her own mind. The voices rose to a cacophony, to the point where she was unable to differentiate reality from hallucination. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt]Whispering hoarsely, barely audible, she made one last plea. "Please, help me." [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13pt][member="Sol Damerin"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Bradshaw Ku"] | [member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] | [member="Arabi Cordelle"] | [member="Jak Sandrow"] | [member="Arix Valen"] | [/SIZE]​

 

[Jak Sandrow]

Jak looked up as the room's temperature dropped a degree. "....Someone's tampered with the heating." He looked to Arabi and Kay. "I'm not sure what this black goo is, but it seems to be some kind of corrupted bacta, linked to the Force." He continued, "I think someone's messed with the heating in here, and the controls on the wall aren't responding. Someone needs to go check it out." By that 'someone', he meant himself.

He winced as he turned to Kirie's broken body. Her grief came through the Force in waves, and it struck chords a little too familiar to him. Shaking his head, he frowned a bit in consternation. "Do you think you can heal her? If that black goo suddenly decides to leave her, can you heal her?"



[member="Kirie Ito"]
[member="Sol Damerin"]
[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Bradshaw Ku"]
[member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"]
[member="Arabi Cordelle"]

 

[Xaedrin Vondiranach]

Standing on the console, Xaedrin stared into the abyss of the reactor shaft. Jagged lines marked a gaping hole in the transparisteel viewport, outlining his entry point into a move he'd had little time to consider. His shoulder ached even as it repaired itself, left arm dangling uselessly by his side. His right hand still held the lightsaber, it's green-blue blade bathing the control room in a calming light. Sparks flew off the consoles from the gashes the energy blade had carved through its delicate components. He wasn't sure where he'd go from here, he just knew that he had to keep moving. His attacker would be on him shortly, but he was confident he had a few moments to think. After his gut-instinct toss of the erstwhile-door, the man would surely show more caution.

He hated being wrong. Before he had time to formulate a plan, Xaedrin saw the door-turned-projectile burst into the control room. In the time it took for the man to cross the room, Xaedrin had several moments to react - however, he was at a loss for ideas, so instead he simply stood there dumbfounded as the riot-shield-battering-ram bore down on him like an angry rancor. His earlier reaction with the door had made sense, as he'd already been holding it and preparing to throw it with the Force. This was entirely different, however. This was insane.

At the last moment, his survival instinct finally overcame his stupefaction. Too late to act in any way that would alter the situation, he at least pushed against the door with the Force, lessening some of the blow of the heavy object as it hit him. Still, the oncoming door knocked the breath from his lungs even as his head smashed into the durasteel wreckage, leaving him dazed. The door was larger than the transparisteel viewport, so as it struck him it also shattered more of the weakened material into the shaft. Xaedrin fell into the shaft - or rather, was pushed - the door pressing against him and separating him from his opponent. In his panic induced by both the blunt-force-trauma and the uncontrolled fall, Xaedrin flailed his arms as best he could, attempting to gain purchase on something. His left arm still had little control, but as he desperately sought a hold of some kind with his right hand he unthinkingly released his grip on the lightsaber, which spun away as it deactivated.

In primal desperation, he reached out to the Force and shoved against the door with everything he could muster. The move was ill-conceived, however, and the maneuver backfired. His push slowed the descent of the door as it was pushed upward, but his body was the counterweight, propelling him away from the door at even higher speed. His body struck the side of the reactor wall at near breakneck velocity. Bones cracked inside of his body, the damage done by the blaster bolt forgotten as new injuries erupted. Xaedrin's eyes closed non-volitionally as his broken body careened into the bowels of the station. It was over. His last thought was a hope that his work on the station controls would yield fruit. At least then he wouldn't enter into the void alone.


[member="Bradshaw Ku"] | [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay couldn't imagine what it was like for [member="Kirie Ito"] to realize that her legs were gone, replaced with blackened stumps that were in some form of mid-repair. As their eyes locked, she saw the familiar look in her eyes of the assistant that she hired. But the wave of Darkness moved over her again. Still maintaining one hand on the girl's forehead, Kay did her bidding and held onto her hand as well, giving it a squeeze of reassurance. The inner turmoil that Kirie was going through was difficult to witness, yet all that Kay could do was to continue to push the sense of hope into her while she spoke. "It'll be okay, Kirie. We're helping you now. It'll just take some time. Be patient."

Her attention turned to [member="Jak Sandrow"] as he spoke up, clearly just as horrified by the goings on as most of them appeared to be."I thought the shift in temperature was just me...but yes, it needs to be fixed. And yes, she'll be healed. We'll take her back home as soon as possible. The emotional wounds will take longer. But I'll help her through it..."

The voice of [member="Sol Damerin"] came into her head then. Did she have someone going to the control room? Didn't Freeosk mention something about [member="Bradshaw Ku"] going in that direction? She wasn't sure. ~I'll get someone on it. It may be difficult. Someone's messing with the heating, so the Knights could be there.~ Her eyes focused on Jak again. "If you get to the control room, try to turn off the gravity wells in the corridor with a breach. It should pop up in the system so that you know which corridor it is. Give a warning over the P.A. System first in case there are civilians there. Hurry!"

***********************​

The Iron Knight stood there while Sol recovered. Instead of coming after it, the man seemed to have sensed his trap. Force Users had the ability to do that. Perhaps it's hesitation was badly timed. There were other avenues to take. "You are just prolonging the enevitable. You have already lost. The Galaxy belongs to Lord Onyx. Soon you will understand."

As the one Knight spoke, the fallen one slowly moved his right hand towards his chest plate. His lightsaber was out of reach, yet his comrade could help him with that. Just one simple toss and it'd all be over for their adversary.

[member="Xaedrin Vondiranach"] [member="Arabi Cordelle"] [member="Arix Valen"]

 

[Sol Damerin]

Sol showed no outward sign of being aware of the Knight on the ground slowly moving its hand. But he was aware. The Iron Knights sent out ripples in The Force with their movements, unlike many droids, it was possible to track them. Not easy, but possible. The one still standing tries to bait Sol, distract him, but its words are just ripples in the pond. His emotions were a riot but he controlled them.

A Jedi let emotions move through them maintaining a perfect calm. Sith harnessed their emotions and let them control them turning into a raging storm. Sol did neither. His anger, his hate, his fear were all accepted but not embraced. Instead, he used them to hone his senses and his focus into something razor sharp and utterly focused on a single task. Somedays that task was survival, other days it was protecting another. Today he had only one task, defeat his enemies no matter the cost.

These two were not something he could defeat by being reckless. While he could, potentially, outfight them and pierce their hearts Kay had said that would lead to the station being destroyed. So he needed to wait. He stayed perfectly still in his ready stance as he just breathed. Inhale, exhale. The Force swirls around him the dark side raging, the light side calm around him. He sits in the centre of his storm and waits for all hell to break loose.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Arabi Cordelle]

Arabi could feel the fight in [member="Kirie Ito"]. It was so strong between her Will and the entity. For a moment, it distracted her calm concentration. She paused and placed her hands on the table to hold herself steady. Mere seconds seemed like hours before she finally looked back up and turned her attention to the girl. Her calm had returned. She was one with the Force. She noticed immediately that the healing of her legs had stopped. The Cathar Jedi healer looked from the injured and possessed girl to [member="Lady Kay"] and back again. The theory that if they found a way to purge the black substance from a body meant that any healing the substance had done would be undone was confirmed. The fact that the cells were normal in every way she could see meant there wasn't anything biologically she could think to do. If she created an antiviral, there was nothing abnormal to target and thus it would simply attack the person's cells indiscriminately like a blood cancer. It would take more time than they had to figure out how to fight this substance unless she had some kind of radical idea suddenly pop into her brain.

[member="Jak Sandrow"] brought her attention to the temperature and she nodded. Let him figure this out. She had to find some way to help Kirie.

Stepping up to the two women, Arabi placed a gentle, soft hand over Lady Kay's on Kirie's forehead. Whatever Kay had been doing had helped. She could feel it emanating from the woman who claimed not to be Force Sensitive. Arabi respected everyone's individual needs regarding their own abilities. It wasn't her place to say anything to any one. It was her place, to heal this poor girl and hopefully, the people around the trio of women would keep them safe.

She placed her other hand in Kirie's free hand and gently squeeze. Light, hope, joy and peace rolled through her and the connection she held physically with the girl. It was like a wave of healing energy focused in the same vein as Lady Kay had done except far more focused and far more powerful due to years of specific training and practice. She gave Lady Kay a soft reassuring smile and then turned her entire focus on the girl. There would be no place this substance could hide from her healing light.





Lady Kay - Sol Damerin - Arix Valen - Xaedrin Vondiranach - Ghorua the Shark - @Brandsaw Ku