Ash-Teared Doctor, Crocodile

[Vayna Akhara]

"The Empire is what I have sworn my loyalty, and I will give it my loyalty unto death. If the Emperor changes,then the new Emperor will have that loyalty, but until then, the current Emperor is my liege."

The blonde Imperial overheard the words from the other Knight, about how they should not allow the Empire to create new versions of the virus. Taia agreed with it, and they already had orders not to let the existing versions of the virus survive; that was why they had been equipped with the plasma incinerator.

"All of the samples will be destroyed once they've been recovered; we've been given an incinerator to destroy them down to the subatomic level. Our orders were to destroy all samples of the virus, not to recover them."

The room they were in was devoid of any further viral vials, so she proceeded to the next room.

 

[Syn]

Knight looked at Taia and listened as she spoke going to the next room. "The Emperor is a murderer how can you stomach him?" She could feel Z's warning and looked at Taia letting her face go calmand detached while she holstered her blasters and held the saber. She didn't activate it merely stood within range of the woman while she spoke. "And your certain one hundred percent the Empire would not use the virus on their enemies?" She raised an eyebrow and continued. "Your going to have to get out of Alliance space quickly after this."

 

[Insanity]

Qwarn turned to look at the Knight who'd shadowed him since he'd walked into this death-trap facility. They'd saved each other's lives once each, and now that alliance was jagged, glass ready to cut at the slightest mistake. And... Qwarn didn't care, didn't react in any way but to look at Zsaekriel. The visor of his helmet, the helmet hiding his face. It was his mask, just as he closed in his mind, sealed it behind a wall of emptiness, a fortress of his own making. Only after the silence, only after Taia, his ally still, spoke, did he speak as well. " 'Leave everything here'? Including us, you, me, our comrades? Because we're a part of everything, every single one of us. We came in here to stop this from happening anywhere else... and you doubt that of us? Antidote? No need for an antidote if it stops here. Even as these files are being copied, they're being erased." As he spoke, his hand on the console beside him ended the sequence, the files finished copying. He removed the datachip, holding it up for a second before putting it into a slot on his helmet. The images, the words, played before him in seconds.

Every horrifying experiment the Gungan had done, every image and sequence, genetic and simply viral, was there before him.. and he wouldn't forget them. It was done in seconds, the images and words stuck in his mind. He removed the datachip and tossed it to the ground, a boot coming down and shattering it. Then he took a step forward, towards the Knight. "Put the saber away, you've no need for it." A slight shift of his attention as it went to the Gungan, a change in Qwarn's tone of voice. "It's that beast that needs a weapon, now." And his blaster was out, firing at the Gungan's head. And for anyone who felt such things, there was no emotion behind that action except for a cold fury, immense in its chilling-ness.

 

[DeathToll]

Zsaekriel watched the Gungan fall lifeless, his face slapping a fleshy clap onto the floor before him. He just stood there. He had done nothing. And facing the same choice again, he would do nothing again. His arms were now at his sides, though not yet deactivating his lightsabers. He cocked a head at Qwarn, eyes shifting to Taia and back. Something was wrong. He either didn't beleive them or didn't believe what they said would actually come true, despite their intensions. A distrust marked his stance, a stain upon his face as he look at them.

Why copy anything if their motive is to erase all existance and trace of the virus?

Zsaekriel couldn't place his feelings into specifics, and lacked any proof. He didn't doubt himself, but trusted in these two Imperials' skill. He trusted that they would be capable of outmaneuvering him. He looked at them with a pride of the Empire's soldiers... tragic. The Sith had done this. These four in this room were seperated, so perfectly cohesive yet set apart because of what the Sith had done; because of what the Imperial Knights failed to stop. This here, this was a deformed existance of the way things should be. He stood there. Zsaekriel stood motionless, just staring at them with a disbelief.

"We should be together..."

He left it at that. His respect for them, yet complete disagreement of their choice to continue with the Empire, stilled his hand; he would say no more. They had sworn their oath to one Empire, yet now served a completely different body. Where was the "loyalty" in that? There was none. These two were blind, by their own hands. Zsaekriel would not harm them, not now. He only pitied them. He wished for something that simply could not be.

Zsaekriel had completey shut down, morphing into a look of defeat before their very eyes. He was deadened in the moment. The Imperial Knight turned away from them and began making his way for the exit, checking a head nod to his true commrade.

"Knight. It's time we leave."

Zsaekriel couldn't even look her in the eye, knowing full well that he should be confronting these Imperials to be accountable for their oaths and to join with them here and now; but he couldn't. After this short period in this facility, he had felt what should have been; he had seen what these four here should be like, but for the Sith's intervention. Zsaekriel stopped before the doorway and turned his cheek to his shoulder to give remind these Imperials of -his- oath.

"It was an honor to fight along side such skilled individuals. If we meet again... I -will- kill you."

And with that, Zsaekriel turned his back on them. Whatever their plans, he would have no part in them and take the consequences of his actions whatever they may be. He held no command over Knight and she could do as she liked, as she was the one to include him on this effort; but he would be of no use in this moment. They had shown him the brightest moment yet simultaneously bittered it with the most saturated blemish. His silver lightsabers finally retracted as he pass into the darkness of the hall, his entire being disapearing into it.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Taia came from the room she'd been searching and watched the Imperial Knight leave and shrugged, it had been no more than she'd expected. She'd even been ready for a fight. But since he was leaving, there was no point. She looked over at Qwarn.

"I've searched all the rooms; no more vials here. Let's dispose of the ones we have and get back to town. We still need to track down a woman named Jistra Bayon and find out who she sold the vials to. We know Vilathus Research has some, but who else? We'd better move fast; once news of Crocodile's demise gets out, the value of these goes through the roof, and everyone's trying to get their hands on a vial."

She waited for the other Imperial to get out the plasma incinerator.

 

[Syn]

Knight looked at Z and nodded as she backed out of the room and spoke offering a smirk before running. "Should come with us but you won't. If you ever change your mind? Well you''ll figure out how to get ahold of us." Knight waited until she was around a corner and ran as she spoke towards Z in the force. "We should seal the area."

 

[Insanity]

The knight didn't even try to stop him. Didn't move, didn't defend the Gungan or lash out. He just stood there as Qwarn killed the monster. And here Qwarn had been, ready to die, gambling his life to chance. He could've fired at the knight, of course, with just a slight adjustment to his aim. But he had his morals. He had his debts. And he wasn't a fool. The Gungan, Crocodile, was dead because of a debt. A debt Qwarn had taken up in order to pay, for all those who'd been victim to the 'modifications' and tests.

Should've been together, the knight said. The 'Imperial' Knight without an Empire, who'd lost his place to the Sith. Who'd failed. Honored to have fought alongside the Empire's soldiers? What, like he surely had before, once? Qwarn ignored the implications of the words, the sounds of the knight's voice, and the expression that knight held. He didn't agree.

What difference did it make who ruled the Empire, so long as it survived? Qwarn had grown up on the streets of Bastion during the pre-Sith rule. He'd been born to poverty, he'd stole and killed to get by. And through it all, life didn't change. The Emperor and his family died, sure. But life went on, Qwarn's routine didn't change, he was still in poverty and a gangster's enforcer. He'd joined the Army after getting a clean slate and had sworn his loyalty to the Empire as just another soldier.

So what difference did whoever ruled the Empire make? His loyalty had always been to himself, then the Empire. Survival was more important than success, unless they represented the same thing. Life would always go on, no matter who died or who ruled. That was because life was change. And change was something you could never beat, if you remained mired in the past. That was something the soldier was aware of, why he'd accepted change and become something more than he was born into.

He nodded as Taia confirmed that there weren't any more vials to be found. "So we'll just move fast, then." His tone was normal, like it'd been when they'd first met up for the mission. He detached the satchel carrying the incinerator and set it out on one of the medical cots, ignoring the deformed corpse laying on it. He placed the vial he'd carried beside it and walked back to the console, leaving the samples to Taia. He didn't touch the console, didn't seem to register the blank screens. Plans were needed, adjustments to be made. He had considerations to make.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Taia had meant every word; it wasn't the person of the Emperor she was loyal to, it was the ideal.If the Emperor changed, her allegiance would be to the new Emperor. Whoever ruled the Empire, she would serve them loyally.

She took all the vials and dropped them into the incinerator one by one, watching as each was reduced to its subatomic components, utterly harmless, the virus gone forever. Each vial destroyed lessened the threat to the Galaxy; a bringer of death to billions eradicated.

The last sample was incinerated and she stood looking at Qwarn and Knight. "That just leaves the few samples back in the city, with Vilathus Research. We'd better move fast if we're to secure and eliminate them."

 

[Insanity]

With both knights gone, he nodded. "You carry the incinerator. My HUD's gone, wiped." Keying in a short sequence, he turned away and started for the main corridor back to the main entrance. "This place will seal in three hours, initiate cleansing protocols, and anything inside here... will be gone. For good." He stopped, turning back to the dead Gungan. He rifled through the clothes, pulling out a holocard, a lighter, other personal effects. He put them all in a satchel. "Proof for the report."

Assuming Taia agreed, he walked back to the corridor. He thought about the whole entry, the time it'd taken, everything that was still to come. His head hurt from it, after the images he'd forced himself to see. Images he'd never forget, after this. After this... he knew why he'd kept the cause he had now. First, the Alliance hadn't stopped any of this... they'd done nothing, yet this happened in their domain. Second, he and a comrade risked their lives to do this... and, he himself, had nearly died. Only an impromptu alliance had gotten them this far.

And now... well, now it was time to finish up and go home, whever the Army said home was next.

 

[Vayna Akhara]

Taia nodded. They had one last task before they were finished, and that was to retrieve the remaining flasks of the virus and destroy them. Then it would be on to the next mission, whatever that might turn out to be. She hoisted the incinerator onto her back and locked it into place. "Let's go; if we move fast enough we can get info about the remaining vials before word spreads of Crocodile's demise."

Though the Knights had left, there was still work to do. Still, at least she didn't have to think about whether some of those on the team might be planning to turn on her. She and Qwarn would get the job done, do the Alliance's work for them, and move on. End of story.

 

[Insanity]

"Word won't spread too quickly. Crocodile shut off his communications once we breached the facility. At the least, his contacts know he's been attacked. The result of the attack is something they don't know, and likely won't, until they send someone to check. By my estimation, we'll have half an hour, maybe more, before someone comes along. By then, we'll be gone and they'll have to get back to the city a bit late. if they have long-range comms, though, then we'll have to move faster." He stated it matter-of-factly as he navigated along the compound's corridors, making sure to go back the way he'd entered. Past the trap where the knight had saved him, he stopped and listened intently.

The facility's machinery still thumped rhythmically in the background, sending out slight vibrations as it prepared to seal the base. There was no loud movement, no sounds of any droids still going. He went through the door he'd used to penetrate the inner compound minutes earlier and followed that corridor as it bent around back to the intersection that met the main corridor and the ramp leading up to the surface. He caught himself as he was about to move towards the gaping tear in the entrance door.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump. He felt the ground shake a bit as the sound got closer, slowly, along the main corridor. Heavy metal coming down, approaching methodically in programmed routines. He breathed deeply and slid into a slight crouch, waiting as it got closer. He also counted the time, comparing it to his estimates of someone arriving to scout the compound.