HOME | DD

Description
Summary: Cloaking herself with the Force (Vis), Tywyll Heliwr snuck onto a New Order space station called the Box. While there, she sought out 'Patient Zero' for the most recent strain of the Rhakghoul virus and any research that she might find there. Tywyll Heliwr was able to retrieve samples of both the virus and the vaccine, though not without Sith Lord Raqut sensing her presence in his lab. Continuing to use the Force (Vis) to cloak herself, She stunned Raqut from behind in order to escape his lab. Then, Tywyll Heliwr snuck back to the hangar bay and onto a supply ship which made a scheduled departure. Tywyll Heliwr remained hidden on board the ship until it landed. Then she snuck off the ship and onto a different ship.

Above a world of molten lava and ever erupting volcanoes hung in the sky a cylinder shaped space station, featuring a couple of wings, called 'The Box.' There was nothing particular about this station's construction that made it stand out. Instead, it was the station's purpose that earned it its notoriety. That purpose was the study and containment of dangerous medical matter, which made it not any soldier's first pick in terms of military assignment. Most of the personel on this station were Doctors, Medical technicians and scientists. Just like all stations based in such a remote area, The Box needed supplies delivered now and then. An Imperial contracted supply ship approached the station and landed. Just like any other supply ship, the hatch opened and the crew began to unload cargo and disembark the vessel. Though this particular ordinary supply ship had someone a little less ordinary onboard, who slipped off the ship unseen.

Using the force to bend light around her person and silence the sounds of her movement, Tywyll Heliwr made her way towards the nearest door that would take her out of the landing bay. Being patient, Tywyll Heliwr waited for someone else to use the door before timing her passage through the door just right, so that she did not reveal that there was someone invisible leaving the hangar bay. She fell into stride with the individual that she was following and began to keep an eye out for anything like the entrance to a maintenance crawl space.

Tywyll did not have to wait long as some of the staff of the station quickly made their way through the doorway so that they could begin inspecting what it was that had been brought to the Box. With them came a couple of armed Imperial guards, both of them seeming rather bored of their jobs knowing they were not going to be getting into anything exciting stationed here, then again, most probably would never want anything like that in a station like this. There would be very few outsiders interested in a place like this, and any of them who were no doubt had nefarious plans in the wings that they wished to see take flight.

The interior of the station however was nothing short of completely spotless. The air itself felt surprisingly clean to any who would never have been inside before. Shuffling about were numerous imperial scientists and doctors in uniform all mulling about their own business or projects. Some shuttling reports from one place to another, others simply grabbing some refreshments and chatting with their colleagues before they returned to their work. Signs and small maps installed into the walls marking where one was dotted the entire place. Each of the separate wings on those maps were outlined with specific colors. Green for the residential hall, orange for the barracks and security offices, green for the commons wings, blue marked one wing laboratories while purple marked another. One wing however was outlined in solid black outlines and was marked as 'Restricted Personnel'.

Moving as needed to avoid any collisions with anyone in the hallways, Tywyll Heliwr took only a moment to review one of the posted maps. Making mental note of how to reach the black wing for 'Restricted Personnel', Tywyll made her way along the path she had memorized in her mind. As she drew closer to her destination, Tywyll Heliwr tried to keep an eye out for I.D. badges. She was looking for a badge that might give some indication of granting access to a high level area like the one in which she figured that she might find Patient Zero. Also, Tywyll Heliwr continued to keep an eye out for a maintenance hatch or vent cover that she could use to access crawl spaces.

As she moved, one thing she would quickly take note of were patches that appeared on the scientists of various departments as they moved about. The soldiers did not require one, most understood full well what their jobs were. I.Ds were rather unguarded for the most part as well. Most of them typically sat at tables, as various individuals chattered and drank their caffeine before returning to work. It was rather clear that most present in this station did not have much fear of thieves. Each doctor had a patch on their shoulder with the color of either green, purple or black. Very few however, that had the black patches on their shoulders seemed to be out and about where she was.

Tywyll Heliwr interrupted her progress along her chosen path just long enough to secure an I.D. left out on a table. While maintaining her invisibility with Force Cloak, Tywyll Heliwr palmed one of the few available I.D.s permitting access into the black wing and then returned to her predetermined path. She continued to keep an eye out for any vents or hatches that might offer access to a crawl space. Tywyll Heliwr was starting to question the engineering of a place that never required maintenance of any kind to any systems and provided no air flow for the artificial atmosphere by way of a duct system.

Attaining the I.D. from one of the employees with the black marked sleeve was much easier than it was lengthy to find. There were only a handful of them who actually seemed to be out and present in this part of the station. Most of those few who were also kept the I.D. close to them. Only one, a brash, youngish looking man didn't have his directly on his person so that Ty was able to swipe it away when he was not paying attention. When it came to vents and maintenance ducts, there was nothing that seemed readily available to her. Most the vents were not going to be easily accessible for her to sneak into them, while all entrances to maintenance shafts were locked up tightly. It appeared the only way she was going to be progressing forward was among the shifting groups of people, as they scurried from station to station.

Tywyll Heliwr noticed that getting into a vent would be rather difficult with so many people bustling around the station, so she gave up on that option for the present. Figuring that most maintenance shaft entrances would not be in a main hallway, Tywyll Heliwr continued on until she arrived at the restricted wing.

The entrance to the restricted wing itself did not look all that much different from the rest of the station so far. The only real difference was an opaque glass wall where only a single door was present to welcome her. There were not even guards present or stationed directly outside of the door. In big black and bold letters on the glass though it was clearly marked 'RESTRICTED DISEASE WING. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY." On the side of the door itself sat a small scanner with an unlit red light and an unlit green light.

Tywyll Heliwr approached the door and let the scanner scan the I.D. tag of the black wing employee. She waited for the door to open. Tywyll Heliwr did a quick look out for security cameras even though they would only show what appeared to be a glitch causing the doors to open on their own.

Sure enough, there was only one security camera present sitting on the wall to the right of the door. There was a loud beep of the scanner as the green light turned on and the door gave out a small click and slowly started to swing open however there was no alarm or anything of the such given. On the other side the only real difference was the presence of significantly fewer people. Most of those who were present typically putting on medical masks before entering some of the rooms. Others wore full blown hazmat suits before entering. The rooms themselves on occasion had a single patient inside, each of them suffering from something else entirely. Suddenly however a group of doctors hurried past Ty, all of them coming out of one doorwar and hurrying in a single direction that led deeper into the wing.

Within her Force Cloak, Tywyll Heliwr had her scarf wrapped around her head and neck already but she pulled the scarf up over her nose and mouth. Tywyll Heliwr stepped into the area and then she looked around for any computer systems that might give her access to patient records like the location of Patient Zero for the Rhakghoul virus, the results from tests run on said patient, footage of bacteria or viruses in the patient's bodily fluids and the record of the RNA/DNA breakdown of this particular strain of the Rhakghoul virus.

Sure enough. There was a single console that was currently unattended, the one who had been attending to it getting up and making his way off with the doctors that had passed her by. The system however was filled to the brim with all kinds of records and files. Each one attached to a separate disease with a different group of doctors and scientists attending to each. Compared to most the file clusters? The one for the rakghoul plague was rather... small. Almost puny in comparision for the files that were not dug up from archives about the ancient strains. Then again, until the attack on Yinchorr no one had ever been concerned about a rakghoul outbreak. Hell, a lot of the galaxy did not even know what it was until millions perished on Yinchorr. There was nothing titled as 'patient zero'. The only thing mentioned were 'Subjects one, two and three' and their locations further in the wing. The direction? The exact same way the group of doctors and scientists had gone.

Tywyll Heliwr took out a data storage device from her pocket that would be compatible with the computer in front of her. Since there was little about the recent strain on their system, she downloaded that along with as much information as they had about past strains of the Rhakghoul virus. Tywyll Heliwr accessed the electronic mail of whomever had left their account signed in on the system and uploaded extra copies of the information onto a mail message with an electronic mailing address for someone on Oasis Station. She also cc:'d the message to her own computer hidden in her medical backpack.

Once finished, Tywyll Heliwr started off in the direction that she had seen all the other Doctor's run. Along the route, Tywyll Heliwr tried to keep an eye out for a lab coat that might have been left on a coat hook or draped over a chair at a desk.

Just a little bit further down the hall, in the direction she was now heading, there was one door that sat completely open. Inside was a row of spotless lab coats, the entire row looking and smelling as though it had been recently sterlized. Down the hall, right towards the location it was that she was headed Ty would be presented with a single door that was labeled 'Observation Area', just on the otherside stood a large group of doctors, each one of them waiting silently and looking through a window. As she drew closer however there was a noticable sense of cold that would wash over her, the sense that most recognized being the tell tale presence of a sith.

One of those clean pristine lab coats went missing. Once she reached the door, Tywyll Heliwr could feel the resonance of someone steeped in the more twisted practices of the esoteric. His aura was laced with sadism with perhaps a note of greed. Remaining unseen, Tywyll Heliwr removed her medical bag and took out Nigdy Ciemny. She locked his barrel and stock into place and switched his blade to stun. If for any reason patient zero was actually inside this room and managed to get out of confinement, then she could not afford to kill the patient. She did not bother to drop her cloak, the Force sensitive within the room would be able to sense her even if she dropped her cloak. Replacing her bag and holding Nigdy Ciemny's snath in one hand, Tywll Heliwr slipped into the room with a hunter's stealth.

The room she entered into was entirely bare aside from the dozen or so present. Each of them faced a large window that stretched across the length of the wall. On the other side of the wall was one man in a dark robe standing in front of another man. The second man was strapped to the table, the restraints present ensuring they were not going to be able to move. In the dark robed man's hand was a single syringe filled with an unknown clear liquid.

"Now administering the vaccination to the test subject." the man in the robe said as he turned to face the one strapped to the table. "Ready to truly aid the galaxy, Republic spy?" the sith asked with a noticable tone of malice. The gag in the man's mouth kept anything he might have said completely muffled. With a quick poke of the needle into his arm the syringe was emptied and set on the table closest to the window. "As you all know once knicked by the rakghoul there is no hope for the victim. No matter what they will turn into a monster and turn on other citizens and attack within a matter of minutes to an hour. This vaccination is simply the first step to a cure, and the first measure of protection so that our Imperial citizens will not need to worry about another Yinchorr if the plague cannot take hold." the sith stated turning to a cage door across the room. "Releasing subject one."

With a small click the cage door slid upwards and open. A minute later 'it' finally emerged. The ragged, disease and sniffing form of what must have once been a human. Now? Nothing but a monster that looked as though it's very presence would make someone sick. When it looked at the sith it bared it's diseased teeth, stopping when the sith raised his arm and began directly using the force to control the creature. "Commence." was all he said as the rakghoul looked at the man on the table. Baring it's teeth again it lunged forward and sank it's teeth right into the unprotected arm of the man, muffled screams erupting from the man as he thrashed in agony as best he could in the restraints.

If Tywyll Heliwr were not drugged to the gills with something that suppressed her emotions, then she might have felt a glimmer of compassion for the human experiment. However, there was only the neutral internal acknowledgement that she had found patient zero and that the New Order might have a vaccine. If the vaccine were successful, then acquiring any information that she could on it would provide a head start on which keys would kill the virus without killing humans. She wondered if the New Order had discovered the keys for human children and elders as well.

Tywyll Heliwr could not help it. The man's muffled screams brought the memory of her own muffled screams to mind when she was held on the Shadow Testament. Her brow creased in confusion as images placed there by her tormentor paraded themselves through her mind. Mentally, she tried to brush the thoughts away like someone might try to brush a spiderweb out of their face after walking right into it. This was hardly the time for her to lose focus on what was happening inside the room.

The muffled screaming continued for a few moments now as the rakghoul readily mauled the unfortunate test subject. This carried on for a few minutes as Rarqut just seemed to scan the people on the other side of the glass. The doctors and scientists all present on the other side remained mostly silent. There was obvious disapproval and discomfort regarding the sith's methods from a couple, but none openly protested what was going on before them. Finally, after what felt like minutes Rarqut waved his hand, the Rakghoul without a fuss returned to it's cage. The test subject, however, remained groaning in agony on the table, his flesh torn and slashed in various locations and gushing blood.

"As you can now see. Even after prolonged exposure to subject one, there are no signs of the plague taking hold in our vaccinated subject. It is not a cure yet, that is still a ways off. But for now, we officially have a method of prevention on Imperial worlds."

Tywyll was the unseen watcher and the unseen listener to every conversation in the room. She was close enough to a couple of the doctors to pick up some of their surface thoughts. One of the doctors began to shift from one foot to the other and it was not entirely due to the gruesome display happening in front of them. On some instinctual level, people had this nagging suspicion born in the subconscious that whispers to their waking mind that someone is there watching them and all they have to do is turn around in order to see who it is. This is the same soft whisper that made the heart race when one had to walk through somewhere in the dark or left the body trembling once awakened at night by what one could swear had been a noise in their house. The name of that whisper was a four letter word that few liked admitting that they had. It was alright to say that you were angry or that you hated but not to admit to the emotion that hid behind your anger.

With footsteps softer than a lothcat's, Tywyll Heliwr moved closer to where Rarqut was in order to see what surface thoughts she might pick up from him. She knew she was like a nocturnal lepidoptera to the proverbial flame, dancing close enough to get burned. However, she chose to roll the dice believing that the risk she took would be well worth what she would gain. If she were discovered, then she believed her chances of doing considerable damage here were higher than they had been on the Shadow Testement.

Unfortunately for Tywyll there was no immediate way into the room that Rarqut was currently standing in with the test subject on the table. The large window between them effectively ensured they could all watch safely, but none could enter the room without shattering it. When she approached the window the sith seemed to perk up ever so slightly as his gaze scanned all those present. Whether or not he had taken notice of her presence, none could tell.

"If you will join me in the other room I shall ensure that each of you attain the required samples so that you can begin producing the vaccine and distributing it towards your respective worlds." Rarqut stated, gesturing all the doctors to the door opposite the one they all entered through.

Noticing the Sith's response when Tywyll Heliwr drew close to the window, she weighed the wisdom of following the other doctors into the other room. As long as she remained with the crowd, she might not get captured. If she did not move with the others, then the Sith would notice her presence independent of the group and become aware that it was not one of the doctors who was Force Sensitive...that he had an intruder. Also, Tywyll Heliwr was certain that if she did not follow along with the group, then she would not be able to find direct access to the specific lab where the New Order was working on the recent Rhakghoul strain. As the doctors moved to the other room, Tywyll Heliwr chose to follow them. She timed her passage through the door so that there would be no tell to reveal her presence. Tywyll Heliwr moved unseen alongside one of the doctors in line. Her plan was to pick the doctor's pocket once he had the vaccine and check for other exits to the room that looked like they might lead where she needed to go. If she found any then, while the Sith was preoccupied with handing out vaccines to the remaining doctors, Tywyll Heliwr would slip out of the room. She would be counting on everyone else having their eyes on the Sith at such a time.

Once in the other room, Rarqut did not take long to make his appearance in person. The presence he gave off made the room feel even colder than the observation room. With him was a small cart lined with multiple tightly sealed tubes, each one marked with the label of 'Rakghoul Strain 5 vaccination'. Each of the doctors took two of the sealed tubes, attaining one took nothing short of the steadiest hand and utmost silence. Luckily for her, the door to the laboratory behind the sith was currently sitting open as though the door had not swung shut yet.

Once the doctor that Tywyll stood beside placed the tubes of Rhakghoul Strain 5 vaccination into his pocket, Tywyll Heliwr picked his pocket of one of the vials with a level of skill that could allow her to pickpocket the necklace off a princess. Tywyll Heliwr made her way towards the open door before it could shut. Of course she knew that there was still a chance that the Sith Lord had detected her move off towards the laboratory. Tywyll Heliwr had been forced to move with a measure of haste. Tywyll pocketed the vial of vaccination before examing the contents of the room.

When the doctor realized one of his vials was missing, there was a short moment of confusion as he muttered to himself. After a moment though, he simply took another vial and put it where the other Tywyll had not taken was. The door strangely remained open the entire time, as though allowing her to casually slip through, seemingly undetected.

Inside the room, there was the exact set up one might imagine. A small fridge on the right side of the room contained various labeled samples, all sorts of machines sat on the work tables. In the far right corner of the room sat the subject who had mauled the republic test subject, seemingly docile inside a completely see through cage.

The ideal situation would have been to transport patient zero off of the Box. Her preference would be to work on the cure on more neutral ground. However, that was just not going to be practical. Also, she suspected that if the Fetch worked alongside the New Order to find a cure, then it might not be made available to the whole cosmos. It could boggle the mind how really brilliant and thick certain sapient species could be at the same time. A virus was a virus; the Rhakghoul virus would mutate and without a cure distributed to everyone, would cause a cosmic wide pandemic...mutating into multiple new strands that could end intelligent life as everyone knew it. So, Tywyll Heliwr considered what would be the first things a full team would do to lay the groundwork for finding that cure.

First, Tywyll Heliwr took up a nearby average size transport container designed to keep medical samples cold and approached the refrigerator. She leaned Nigdy Ciemny against the wall. After opening the fridge, she began to go through the samples to locate both the oldest and newest of blood, saliva, urine and fecal for the subject. Tywyll Heliwr knew that there was only so much space in that medical container and believed having the newest and oldest would give Mhyra and her an idea of how fast the virus progressed along with some other important information.

Once finished, Tywyll Heliwr closed the container, took Nigdy Ciemny in hand and walked with both over to a nearby workstation. She searched for a password to the computer secreted away within the items or drawers. Barring that, Tywyll Heliwr would break the password the old fashioned way in order to get into the system. Attaching a data storage device, Tywyll Heliwr began to search for the research notes of the scientists working on the Rhakghoul strain 5, any footage taken from slides, the sequencing record for the Rhakghoul strain 5 virus and any keys found that would kill the virus whether they were safe to be used on humans or not. Tywyll Heliwr was going to need all that information on her data storage device if she could get it before she left. She took a quick look at a chronometer to see how long she had before she would need to be on a certain supply ship going out.

Luckily for her, the sample fridge was filled with exactly what she needed. A small rack of tightly sealed containers was plainly listed 'Rakghoul Strain 5 extract: Only Vaccinated Personnel may Handle'

There was no password for the Computer, unfortunately. The only thing present was a single thumb sized scanner that was no doubt meant for the owner of the workstation. Before she could begin however the door that she had entered through finally swung shut as the sith made his way back through. His gaze swept over the room as though he were looking for something in particular.

Tywyll Heliwr noticed the presence of the Sith in the room before noticing the door swing shut. While her lack of emotions meant that her presence in the force was not colored by feelings, she knew that the Sith would be aware that there were two intelligences present in the room, one of them using the Force. Before moving away from the work station, Tywyll Heliwr grabbed Nigdy Ciemny and removed her storage device from the computer. She slipped the storage device back into her pocket. The Fetch were patient and silent observers. They were the reason that most races talked to themselves when they thought that they were alone because on some level of their subconciousness, they knew they really were not. While Rarqut scanned the room, Tywyll looked around to see if there were any other exits besides the doorway through which she entered. If not, then she knew that she would have to shadow the Sith back out the door when he left.

Unfortunately for Tywyll, the only route to her freedom was the very door the sith had entered through. Now, it was firmly shut and opening it was undoubtedly going to bring attention to where she was.

"I know you are here little mouse. If you presumed you would be able to sneak into my work place undetected you are truly niave." was all the sith said in response as he made his way over to the console she had just tried to get into.

A certain Sith was about to discover that a mouse could roar. Tywyll Heliwr knew that it was within her grasp to flip a switch and change Nigdy Ciemny's blade to a killing blade. However, the mess that would cause would be far more noticeable over security footage and she was contracted to do a very specific thing here. If she did not have to butcher a whole bunch of people to get out, then she would try to avoid doing that. She was not contracted to take this Sith's life today.

When Rarqut went over to examine the console where Tywyll had been, she lifted the scythe's snath. The room was flooded with the sense of danger. While still maintaining her Force Cloak in order to catch the Sith flat-footed, she brought Nigdy Ciemny's blade down at a diagonal angle that aimed to slice down through his right clavicle and out through the left hip to avoid a direct stun to the older human's heart. She only wanted to knock him out because he had given her no other alternative.
Luckily for Tywyll the sith did not seem to recognize the 'danger' he was in until it was too late for him to react in time. The blow struck home and the sith went wide-eyed in surprise for a moment as the stunning blow did its work in making him topple to the floor. Now, it was just Tywyll in the room with a sith who was unconscious for the moment.

On the other side of the door, the doctors had temporarily made their ways back to their stations. Tywyll's time to make her getaway was now officially ticking, and it only lasted as long as the sith was unconscious. When the sith regained consciousness, there would undoubtedly be an alarm raised.

The medical container under the table of the workstation seemed to disappear into thin air as Tywyll Heliwr grabbed it. There was a chance that someone vigilant enough to keep their eyes on live security feed would have seen the older man fall. It was her hope that they would mistake his falling to the floor for some type of medical emergency. She knew that there was a smaller chance that someone looking at security footage would be able to spot a medical transport case, that was there one minute and gone the next, anytime that she had put the container down and picked it up again. There might even be some footage of Nigdy Ciemny from when she had to put him aside in order to have her hands free to work, though she did not think that they would be able to recognize hm for what he was. He would just be an odd object caught in the background on footage if someone was really paying close attention to details to things in the room.

Tywyll Heliwr made her way back through the door of the lab and made certain that it was closed behind her the way the old Sith had left it. She made her way out of the demonstration area and down the hallways, careful to avoid anyone that might bump into her. She caught a glimpse of a chronometer and noted the time. Tywyll Heliwr reversed the path she had taken through the halls of the station until she was near the doors to the hangar bay. She was calm and patient as she waited for someone else to pass through the doors to the hangarbay so that there would be as little evidence as possible about her haven been on the Box.