Through the Long Night

[Caulder Dune]

HYPERSPACE
MACHINATOR

[member="Ivy Lasranae"], who was usually known only as Hazel Scheler, bobbed up and down in the confines of her bacta tank. The surgeons had done what they could, but assured Adekos that his favorite mercenary would still need an ample amount of time submerged in bacta. It simply wouldn't be becoming of him to ditch her in some hospital on some backwater world and give a courtesy call once she regained consciousness. The Machinator had a well-stocked and staffed medical bay. He'd placed her there for that reason. Besides, here she would be the only patient and have the attention he deserved.

Presently, Adekos observed Hazel alongside the chief medical droid, S1-829469. 829 was more interested in a datapad it was scrolling idly through containing Scheler's medical information. It barely looked up when Adekos began to speak.

"What prognosis do we have here?"

"Patient is stable." It announced. S1s were made to have soft, reassuring vocabulator tones. But there was no mistaking the synthetic undertones of it. 829 did not care. It was a droid. It was programmed to care. "Estimated time of recovery... One week."

The Umbaran grunted, discontent. As romantic as it would be if he lounged around the medical bay for a week waiting for his mercenary-mistress to regain consciousness, he had a day job that he needed to attend to. The gears of the galaxy kept on turning and they never stopped for anyone. Still, he couldn't leave her alone completely. If he wasn't able to sit vigil, he would extend the professional courtesy of being around when she regained consciousness.

"I'll clear my schedule a week from today, then. I want updates on her status every six hours, sent directly to my datapad." He paused. "You know, in the event she awakens early."

829 nodded. "Improbable. But, as you wish."

Improbable. You know what was also improbable? [member="Dak Canton"] allowing this to happen. But here Adekos was, pulling Hazel back from the brink of death once hour in bacta at a time. Dak was probably better off anyway. He certainly didn't need the week long bacta vacation Scheler had been saddled with. At least now he knew for a fact how wonderfully lethal the TA4s were. "Good. That will be all." His business concluded, Adekos turned on a heel and exited the medical bay. He had to go to the ship's library now, to make sure someone was handling their assigned readings in a timely manner.

He'd be back in a week.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Five days later the improbable happened. Within the bacta tank a bleary-eyed Merc awoke to the blue tint of her surroundings. A state of blissful, cooling calm and the sickeningly sweet taste in her mouth was all she needed to know that she was, without a doubt, not dead but floating in a bacta tank. It was a familiar sensation if nothing else.

Her wakefulness heralded a fine-tuned stream of activity within the room beyond to which her drifting consciousness paid only a modicum of attention. Sensors reeling, preparations underway, the woman thought little of the glowing droid eyes watching her through the glass - her mind was far away, in a different place and time.

Missive to [member="Darth Adekos"] sent, med bay ready, they commenced tank extraction procedure - something that hundreds of years of technological advancement had still yet to make graceful or pleasant for anyone involved.

 

[Caulder Dune]

Only a few minutes later, when the attendant medical droids were helping her stand, toweling her off, and presenting her with a nice bathrobe, did Adekos appear. The doors to the medical bay slid open at his approach and the Umbaran strode urgently into the room. [member="Ivy Lasranae"] was out of the tank, but looked only slightly more coherent than when she had been in there. That would probably pass. Bacta tank extractions were always messy. Probably the only real down side to their use, provided one didn't have an allergy to the substance. Darth Adekos had never been one for wasting time, so he launched right into it as soon as he was within speaking distance of Lasranae.

"There she is. I hope you're feeling better than you look." He said, reflective mask refusing to betray any facial expressions other than Ivy's own. "I had the money wired to your account while you were in the tank. There's also a tidy bonus enclosed with it. For your trouble."

Should he have tried to sound more concerned? Of course not. She was out of the tank, as alive as she was going to get. What else was there to be concerned about?

 

[Hazel Scheler]

In particular this extraction was about as graceless as a one-legged flamingo. Hazel nearly crumpled to the floor after several attempts to gain her balance, finding both her cybernetic leg and arm delayed and strangely heavy on her body. It was normal, she heard someone, something explain, for mechanical limbs to feel "soggy" after brain trauma or concussions, especially while on heavy medication.

Helped to the nearby bed she sat there for several moments reeling from the extraction, wanting to go back to that blissful dream state so badly it almost hurt. A medical droid tended to checking all vital functions while Adekos talked. Hazel didn't hear a word he said.

Thup thup on the right.

CLICK CLICK on the left.

Shadow on the right.

Bright searing light on the left.

The merc flinched from the flashlight, pushing the droid away.

"Negative sensory response on the right, Sir."

"My book," Hazel said, "where is it?"

 

[Caulder Dune]

Darth Adekos hadn't been expecting any medical complications. It was probably just a temporary setback. "That's quite alright." Adekos said, still adept in the delicate art of lying to himself and others. "Step back for a moment, will you?" If [member="Ivy Lasranae"] was just going to keep pushing the droid away then it would be a better use of their time to just wait until she got her bearings back. Adekos folded his arms across his chest and considered the question. He didn't know anything about a book. Hazel never struck him as the literary type, unless it was a gun magazine or something. There hadn't been a library on her vessel from what he had seen.

Speaking of which.

"If you left it on your ship, it should still be there. I had it temporarily sequestered at the spaceport you left it at until you can return to it."

By no means was Adekos as good at caretaking or being outwardly concerned as Admiral Bosch... But then again, who was?

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy struggled to focus her eyes on the masked Sith standing before her. Half her vision was nothing but blackness accompanied by the hollowed sounds of an eardrum damaged beyond repair. She'd taken a grenade explosion point-blank to her right side and were it not for her armor she'd likely be dead.

"No," muttered the woman as she lifted her natural hand to touch at the right side of her face, wincing, "it was with my armor. A compartment in the breastplate."

Images were filtering back in but she could remember nothing after the explosion.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

To his credit, Adekos had not rifled through Hazel's pockets once she went under. So in the grand scheme of things it was probably good that he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about with this journal or even where it was. Whatever it was, it could wait until later when she was less delirious and more rested. One would think sleeping in the bacta tank would make everyone feel nice and refreshed, but judging from her impermanent deafness and-slash-or blindness, some good, old fashioned bed rest would be needed.

"I'll have your belongings brought up to your room. I'm sure your journal is fine. For now, you need rest. Are you hungry?" Whatever she asked for would be cooked with love, care, and a pinch of sleeping medication. He turned to the medical droid. "Go get her a hover chair and bring her up to the guest suite."

Whether she liked it or not. All this "I'll just inject myself with stims every time I feel sleepy" nonsense stopped here. Darth Adekos had warped his own body, mind, and soul with the foul energies of the Dark Side and even he thought it was simply obscene and self-destructive to skip out on at least seven hours of sleep. Either that or he was really gunning for the Intergalactic Bosch Award for Tender Loving Care.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Room?"

She was feeling a little slow, as though things were registering with a delay. Molasses on the mind. Head trauma recuperation likely had something to do with it, but the medical droids had certainly been able to deduce that the woman wasn't particularly healthy to begin with. Stim addict with a bit too much alcohol in her system coupled with not enough real food and certainly not enough sleep. Running on fumes, they called it, and it was all catching up to her. Hazel felt utterly exhausted.

And thirsty, which was as much as she said when asked if she was hungry. Well-known fact that bacta submersion recovery made for thirsty patients. Whether it was due ot dehydration or simply the sickeningly sweet aftertaste was hard to say.

Hazel pushed her hand through her bacta-slicked hair and chanced another weary glance around. They weren't on her ship, they weren't on Mustafar, certainly weren't on Dak's ship. "Where ...?" the question didn't quite all make it out but she gave [member="Darth Adekos"] a look that finished the sentence for her. A dubious stare met the arrival of the hover chair. As much as she would have insisted on walking - standing alone was enough of challenge. She sank into the chair like a stone.

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

Adekos let the medical droid push her chair. Maybe it would have been more touching if he had done so himself, but he was already violating the unspoken rules of being a Sith Lord by treating employees with a modicum of dignity and respect. He wasn't about to further his descent by wheeling her around like a doting nurse. "You're on the Machinator, Hazel. My Lucrehulk." Hadn't she been here before? One would think he'd remember, but there were a lot of women coming and going. Most of them apprentices. His apprentice defection rate was abysmal. In any event, he neglected to mention where the Lucrehulk exactly was or where it was going.

He'd get to that when she was more coherent. One small step at a time, or so it went.

"If you don't have any meal preference I'll send up a few Imperial rations. You must be famished." Adekos said, following closely as she was pushed out of the medical bay, down a hallway, and towards a waiting elevator.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Under normal circumstances there was a witty remark to be had here about the Lucrehulk, but Hazel's mind just wasn't coherent enough to draft one. Moreso she allowed her brows to knit at the center of her forehead, causing the faintly glowing red scars to pinch. The fact that the man said 'my lucrehulk' and not 'a lucrehulk' was mildly disconcerting. What the feth did this guy do to allow him the luxury of a fething lucrehulk?

Just taking it out for a Sunday drive?

"Soup," she managed, head cradled in the palm of her natural hand, the lingering odor of Bacta causing her mind to spin, "don't think I can stomach much else."

They came to a halt before the lift entrance. Hazel's cybernetic hand reached sluggishly for the man's nearest arm, "Tyrin..."

"...thank you."

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

As far as Adekos had gotten in the sordid galactic games of politics, war, and economics, it would have actually been much more absurd that he didn't own a Lucrehulk. The vessel had served him well for a great number of years. He remembered distinctly when he, a lowly Sith Knight, helped the Death Watch commandeer the vessel as they tried to carve out their own nation. It failed, miserably, and then Adekos took the money, some Death Watch, the Lucrehulk, and ran all the way back to Sith space... Where he was set up as the governor of the Raxus System.

Oh, those were the days. Look how far they had both come. "I'll see to it the cooks make you something special." He said, sounding as sure of a positive outcome as he always was. It might as well have been inevitable to him: this high up the ladder, mistakes were incredibly rare things. "You'll need something more substantial at some point, but-"

He paused when she started groping for his arm, just seconds before the doors slid open. "Think nothing of it."

It was never exactly a comforting sight, for Adekos, to see anyone he was familiar with reduced to a sad, barely coherent, semi-lucid state. He imagined she would probably be embarrassed or bitter about it once she regained her bearings. Just another couple of reasons to get her to her suite as quickly as possible.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Hazel was certain the bowl of soup had been delicious but for all she could tell it tasted quite strongly of bacta. The aftertaste would linger for days, she knew from experience, and ruin most every meal she had. At least now she didn't feel as though she'd been subsisting on sugar-water and nails.

A shower followed. In her present condition it made for an aggrivatingly long one. Her cybernetic limbs still refused to function normally, so she spent more time fussing with them than anything. Upon finishing she found that not her armor or anything close to resembling a normal outfit had been provided. Instead a sealed package of gender-neutral hospital patient's pants and shirt greeted her on the bed. Hazel eyed the package dubiously but dressed without a complaint.

First day after tank extraction, couldn't expect to be let out so soon. Tomorrow, the Merc told herself, tomorrow she would get her armor and head back to her ship and drown in the incessant mechanical silence she would now be left to without her pet blackstalker. Jet had met a rather unfavorable end back in that bucket of bolts planet. Her natural fingers itched for the company of the beast, bereft of anything else to do.

Without any consideration of the bed in the room Hazel limped her way over to the window and slowly set herself down at the wall beside it. From there she had the door in her direct line of sight and the viewport just above her. Though she would have much preferred the weight of a rifle in her lap, for now she would have to do without. With any luck her sight and hearing would be back to normal by the time she woke.

That's right, everything would be back to normal come tomorrow....

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

If the entrance of Adekos and the medical droid failed to wake Hazel up, then the ensuing chastisement probably would. "Oh, come on now. I didn't have this room cleaned out just for you to sleep on the windowsill." He scoffed, nodding for the droid to put down the covered food tray it was carrying. It marched off to the side, where a small but elegant two-person table was occupying one of the corners of the room, setting the tray down there. "You'll hurt your back." The droid was not the only one carrying something. Adekos had in his hands a manila folder, inside of which looked to be about two dozen sheets of flimsiplast.

It would also be impossible to notice the grey gauntlet he had on his right forearms. It was a garish thing, inlaid with gold and rubies. Probably just some sentimental bauble he had picked up over the years. Maybe she had seen him wearing it before. "While you're eating, we're going to have to discuss the contents of your toxicology screen, as well as some other complications that have come. You can hear me, right?"

There was nothing in the world a little cybernetic augmentation couldn't fix. Ugly? Cybernetics. Near-sighted? Cybernetics. Weak? Cybernetics. Hard of hearing? Cybernetics. Crippling personality flaws? Brain implants; turn yourself into an emotionless android. All problems, all solutions. Although in this case the only pressing problems Adekos was intent on solving were a total loss of hearing and sight in one ear and one eye, respectively. That, and the fact that Hazel's toxicology screen was essentially just one big red flag, fluttering violently in hurricane-force winds.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Hazel woke from a sound sleep with a jerk, eyes blinking back the vapid nature of heavy slumber come to an abrupt end. She immediately reached for the weapon that wasn't there and subsequently stumbled through several seconds of panic-induced-anger before her brain fully kicked in. White-faced, the Merc threw a look at Adekos that would have been more approrpiate on a feral Nexu just woken from a nap.

Heart painfully racing in her chest, the woman reached her natural hand to press upon it with a groan, "...and here I took you for someone to knock before entering..."

To her relief both cybernetic arm and leg were now functioning properly and she used them both to slowly pick herself off the floor. Hazel stretched, the sensation of muscle memory a pleasant one after having spent who knew how long floating in a tank of goop.

"My back will be fine," she swiped a hand through her short hair and moved, slowly, to join Adekos at the small table. The vision and hearing of her right eye and ear were still shot, leaving her surroundings off-kilter and disorienting. She took her seat without preamble and promptly removed the cover of the food tray. The aroma of sausage, eggs and toast told her that her sense of smell was returning. Hazel only hoped her sense of taste would follow suite - she couldn't recall the last time she'd had a breakfast that didn't consist of freeze-dried space sponge or whiskey.

Speaking of whiskey...

Her gaze lingered over this supposed toxicology report as she reached for a fork. Her fingers missed by several inches, causing her to frown. Perception, one of those senses you never really value until it's no longer a thing. Tilting her head to the right she tried again with success, eyeing the man and his flimsies across from her.

"Only out of this ear," she tapped at her left, "do I get to discuss this with my reflection in your Mirror Mask or the blond bombshell behind it? I don't really care much for my reflection so I probably won't listen if that's the case."

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

It looked like she was still having sensory problems, as the medical staff had predicted. He could tell by the way she moved, it was a little more cautious and awkward than even post-slumber grogginess would normally imply. Half-sight, half-hearing. What a sad woman. "I did knock. Several times. You're not exactly a light sleeper." She didn't protest against the food, which was good. At least he didn't have to force her to eat a real meal for once in her life. Although what happened next, in addition to the fact that he had conducted a toxicology screen without her permission, would probably bring some form of objection. That was fine. People seldom knew what was good for them.

"I suppose we'll get this out of the way now so we can focus on what's important." He passed off the file to the medical droid in the meantime, unfastening the helmet. There was an audible hiss as it depressurized. He pulled the helmet off, and the face underneath looked far different than the one she had previously seen. The previously long, golden hair was now shorter not to mention neglected. It was wiry, and had a sort of unnatural grayish tint that didn't exactly flatter the rest of him. In a word, Tyrin had withered. The Umbaran was long overdue for the physical effects of the Dark Side to take hold of him. It had been warded off previously through some expensive cosmetic maneuvers, but after accidental exposure to the technovirus, Adekos didn't see any point in frittering the money away.

Besides, he had a HRD lined up to take over public affairs at Hegemonic Automaton while he got ready to shut the company down.

Speaking of droids, Adekos also looked a tad more cybernetic than Ivy would remember, as if the rest of his sudden appearance shift weren't enough. One eye was apparently gone and the other was replaced by a bright red cybernetic eye. It didn't look like he was suffering from any depth perception issues, of course. That's just how he rolled. "I hope I can still hold your attention," he said mirthlessly. He put the helmet down on the small table, which had just enough room for the clunky thing. Now she could still watch her reflection eat along with her if she decided that view was far more preferable. He took the folder back from the droid and started leafing through it.

"How long have you been dependent on stims?"

And just like that, back to business as usual.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

In silence the Merc remained as the helmet pulled away to reveal a stranger sitting before her. The weirdness of flesh, the pallid tone of his hair, the glint of a mechanical eye. Hazel's expression morphed from amusement to a sting of shock as the reality of the man returned to her. Perhaps she'd forgotten what he really was - convinced herself at some point that he might actually stand for and represent something more than just the Sith.

Couldn't be a Sith, not him.

Yet there it was; all the evidence one really needed to convict a man of darkside corruption, literally staring her in the face. Hazel wanted to be disgusted, felt like she should have been, but somehow wasn't. Couldn't look past the black robes and red saber blades of any other person, but here she sat feeling concerned, unable to look away. Where the feth had this come from?

"That's not fair," she leaned forward, meal forgotten, and swatted the flimsies down onto the table, "you don't get to unmask like that and just go business as usual. Tyrin," she may not have been able to see out of her right eye but the glint of stubbornness was there all the same, "what happened to you?"

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

"I could no longer afford my makeup specialist." He said, flatly. "Had to let her go."

Adekos snickered, though it sounded more coarse and mechanical than it had previously. The amusement drained from her face and Darth Adekos immediately regretted removing the mask. Now they weren't going to keep on topic here. Why did everything always have to be about him? He'd never understand the obsession. There were much more important things to worry about. Rather than launch into any further discussion about his current state, the helmet lifted off of the table and returned to his waiting hands, which had been rudely freed of the flimsiplast by Hazel.

The Umbaran slid it back over his head, then there was the familiar snap-hiss as it re-pressurized. "We're going to chalk it up to a workplace related incident and leave it at that. Physical appearance notwithstanding, I am perfectly healthy. You are not."

It was true, for the most part. Far more powerful Sith Lords had looked far worse at the height of their careers, yet they still managed to carry themselves and wield the power of the Dark Side with impunity. That was what the records said, at least. And those records never made any mention of the love lifes or the subsequent dynasties of those Sith, so... Well, it didn't matter. This was the cost of doing business. If he had to lose his award winning platinum locks in the battle to save this degenerate galaxy from itself, then so be it.

He held his hand out. "There are more important things we need to talk about. Your file, please."

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Workplace ...incident?" incredulous, Hazel leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. Oh yeah, breakfast was long forgotten.

"What do you take me for? A pleb? That's not an incident that's-oh don't put that back on-" an audible growl escaped the woman's throat as the helmet hissed back into place. Eyes narrowed, it was Hazel's turn to scoff as he attempted once more to redirect the subject to her. Namely, her health. Things we don't pay much attention to, in her mind.

"I'm not having this conversation with your helmet."

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Ivy Lasranae"]

"Yes, a workplace incident." Adekos snorted. Now she wasn't eating, which was a great indication of how this was already becoming complicated for paltry reasons. "Unless you suspect this happened to me on the way to the grocery store." Adekos could not fathom why she would get so hung up on something so trivial as his physical appearance. Sure, he looked a little worse for wear. A lot worse for wear, in fact, but clearly he was still of sound mind and body. He still had his same old sunny disposition. Really, better people had gotten off with much worse.

Not that this at all mattered. There were more important problems to be addressing, and Hazel's own health was one of them. "We wouldn't be discussing my condition sans helmet or not. This is all about you."

The medical droid was still standing nearby, placid as ever. It had no interest in meatbag drama and so was keeping itself entertained through its passive connection to the holonet, reading through some medical journals. Despite that, it still heard Adekos when he said. "But if you don't want to talk to me, I suppose the medical droid can inform you of your situation."

 

[Hazel Scheler]

The Merc loosed a loud snort at the grocery store comment. As if he bought his own groceries, she didn't believe it for a second.

Jaw clenched with growing agitation, eyes narrowed upon the reflective mug of the man sitting across from her, Hazel issued a terse sigh.

"You are such a shit," the words struck across her teeth like bolts across armor and tasted just as metallic. She hoped that wasn't an after-effect of shrapnel to the face. The flimsies were pushed back across the table at him and she stayed there, leaning forward on her cybernetic elbow, half resentful-half glaring up at her reflection where his face should have been, "go on then. I doubt you'll tell me anything I don't already know."

[member="Darth Adekos"]