Ask From Can to Can't

[Lorcan]

Of all the people he thought he'd end up doing some Freelance work with, Doc was not one of them.

That had been his stance for a long old time until he started getting the buzz about her cooking up a vaccine to all the AMS shite running around ruining the Galaxy. One thing that he had heard was that Doc and her company were about to begin trials - which was karking good news because he was sick to the back teeth about hearing shite about it. Honestly, the only thing big enough to knock an AMS news story off the holonet for awhile was a literal Sith Invasion of the FWA... and AMS had been back on top billing within an hour!

Anyway.

Apparently there were some news stories about how different areas of space had different strains of the AMS virus and what not - apparently the Hutt Space strain was different to the strain that had arrived in the Core and that was different from others yadda yadda yadda etc etc.

The point of his journey to Nubia today was because he'd gotten some chatter from one of his old Ranger "buddies" that there was apparently a new strain in the Core. Was it massively different? Absolutely not. Was it something that Doc might like to take a look at? Certainly. Was it something Doc would pay good credits to get a chance to look at while it was in its infancy?

Kark he hoped so, he was thinking about upgrading his ship's engines.

So he'd sent out a call to her through one of the old numbers he had and said he had the skinny (ugh, never using that term again) on the new strain in the Galaxy. Hopefully it was a big enough difference from the rest that it'd be worth credits. And if not? Well hey, it'd been a long time since his last therapy session with the good ol Doc.

Maybe she missed him?

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

With the state of the galaxy and the mounting pressure on her, nothing surprised her more than a message from a former patient and employee. Her eyes narrowed at the male's name flashing on an old contact list. Not only had he vanished right when she most needed a reliable bodyguard, he hadn't picked up his personal check when he worked for MorataCorp. She had no reason to trust him, really, after vanishing without a single word.

And so she didn't.

Leaving her ship with the protocol droid on board, she made sure to leave instructions that if anything went sideways, it would leave and notify of her disappearance and whereabouts. She didn't know what Lorcan had been up to, but it seemed like everyone wanted a slice of the pie she had these days.

No doubt he wanted a good portion of those credits. But really, she didn't need more samples from the Core. There was Ralltir, and that had been enough with other planets' giving. But this was unfinished business. And Nubia was a planet that would be useful to get on the good side of, provided they would be amicable enough.

The RangeMaster landed quietly, and though she had done a scan for him or his ship, she found nothing yet. So she would ping him, a new number. She was intrigued since the last they met. There were rumors about him, perhaps even a planet that sought a bounty of sorts on him, but she would have to be cautious. But the message had been sent, and he was anything but dull when it came to missions.

Shall we hunt? -IM

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Oh what was this?

A number he didn't recognize sending him a message? Ominous. Of course he recognized her initials but what did that even mean? Her initials were known across the Galaxy at this point. Maybe she was feeling like she needed to do some cloak and dagger shrak since they hadn't had much contact in awhile?

That made sense he supposed.

Standing outside an apartment block across the street from another one that had been entirely closed off from the general public, he considered his options. He could demand she meet him face to face but it didn't sound like that would work. She had enough of the cards that being too abrasive right off the bat would just annoy her.

Time to be diplomatic he supposed.

New com, who dis?

Well he tried to be diplomatic but he was enough of an asshole to know he couldn't, really, be a diplomat in any sense.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

When her comm pinged again, she looked at the message for a moment, blinking.

Then gave a low snort of amusement.

Really, you have enough booty calls for that? A shame, and I thought we had something special.

Sighing, she shook her head, then texted again with one hand, pulling on her hood with the other.

Being recognized would be less than ideal, so she kept the outfit less noticeable. But still, he called her out here, and she would be curious enough to pay him a visit.

And pay more than that if it was worth her time.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Booty calls... right.

Well, it was nice of her to assume that he hooked up for sex through his com unit rather than just using it as a way to pick up his next bounty target or watch some cat videos. But he supposed she might just be making a jab at him with that last part... he had kind of just up and left.

In his defense, she and her company had been doing the square root of sweet FA while he was there with her. Waiting hadn't been a strong suit before the merc work, before the Morata corp work or even before the Rangers. Waiting might be an old friend but it didn't mean he karking liked it, even if the metaphor made it sound like he did.

He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled through his nose.

You seemed to do well enough without me, Doc. Was for the best anyway.

Drumming his fingers against a railing, he rolled his eyes before tapping away the navigational data and pinging it over to her. She could decide if she wanted to come and check things out with him or not.

Location is sent - locals are starting to get itchy trigger fingers so might need to step on it if you want samples without carbon scoring.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

At least he was direct and to the point. That was one thing she appreciated about Lorcan. Pleasantries were good and all, but they got dull really quickly.

Scanning over the message, she frowned once, before tapping a quick answer and pocketing the device.

However, not before leaving a final message with her staff in case things went sideways. You never knew in this galaxy.

Meet you there.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

K

Lorcan took off his helmet, giving a glare to the local police officer who looked at him like he was about to spit fire at him for daring to not wear a mask. It was an infection that spread when one karking thing bit into another karking thing - it wasn't karking airborne and wearing a mask wouldn't accomplish jackshit! But still, the locals had put a mask order in place.

Because apparently that was how responsible planets handled their pandemics or some such rot, he hadn't paid attention to the PSA on his way onto the planet.

Rolling his eyes, Lorcan focused on the building that had been surrounded. It looked like the police were gearing up to perform the search and rescue mission that would be required for them to find their balls. Probably going to be a long mission so they had time for Doc to reach him before they thought they might be better off handling it themselves.

Funnily enough, local police were more than happy to let "outside experts" deal with the situation when it came to a deadly and transmissible disease.

Fancy that.

"You know anywhere near here that sells good food?" He asked the police office, ignoring the piercing screams from the appartment block, "Like anything, I'm getting hungry."

The police officer ground her teeth.

"People are being eaten right now and you're thinking about food?!"

Lorcan just blinked.

"Well duh, I'm not one of the ones eating right now. You ever just watch someone else eat? Gets you hungry."

The police officer stormed off and Lorcan just shrugged - she didn't seem to know the area well enough to talk about places to eat he supposed.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

It didn't take her long.

The speeder that pulled in was stopped by two officers, about to lecture the woman about civilian risk. Once he looked at a pale face, white hair, and icy amber eyes however, he froze in his tracks, gaping openly.

"I'm here to collect samples," she spoke up coldly, glaring the man down. He seemed to shrink partially into himself, Pantoran skin turning a rapidly chalky blue as she walked to Lorcan, head held high. "My detail," she nodded to the man, "and I will require full cooperation. Where is your Captain?"

The man visibly snapped his head back in surprise, then picked up a comm.

"Sir, she's--"

He glanced over the two, then shuffled away, clearing his throat. "Dr. Morata is here. She wants to see the... uh... the things. Do we let her in?"

He winced as the man seemed to shout something from the comm, bringing it away to negate whatever ringing his ears would have for the next few hours. The man came back after a few moments longer, blue cheeks now visibly flushed purple. "We've, ah... been advised to keep these things," he gestured to the living dead quarantined area, "secured. And the Chief wants you to stay put until he's properly advised you. Ma'am," before offering an awkward, fumbling salute.

She slid a glance Lorcan's way... but she was smiling slightly. It almost looked smug.

"I suppose we may wait a little while longer... but not too long, my detail does not bode well with that. And nor do I," came her cold voice, and the man flinched again, visibly chilled by the cold response.

Was she having fun with this?

Yes, yes she was.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Lorcan had found, of all things, a hotdog stand around the corner that had been willing to accept his credits. Well his credits and act before he had to make good on his mild threats but, well, mainly the credits. Most people running a business couldn't very well enjoy their time in business turning down credits after all. He was halfway through his second hotdog when he spotted Doc, giving her a half-hearted wave as he continued eating.

Most people probably would have rushed now that the person they had been waiting for had arrived but Lorcan was not most people. Instead he simply held up a finger on his free hand to ask her to wait a moment as he finished the hotdog. It felt strange to be eating something so often called a mystery meat when there were zombies in the building eating sentients not too far from them.

And yes, he called them zombies because calling them Infected felt like a dumbass fad.

Finishing the hotdog, he rolled his eyes a little bit before nodding to the security who had questioned Doc and told them to wait.

"You'll find that between us two? I'm the nice one. See..." he made a point of shrugging, hand on his holstered blaster, "I just kill ya. Doc? Well Doc makes you feel bad before she does anything to you and ain't that just mean?"

Not like he gave a fuck but he could see that Doc was enjoying teasing the security so why the hells not? No skin off his back after all, right?

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

They didn't have to wait long after all.

Another speeder descended, and a heavier-set male stepped out, jaw clenched with a professional air.

No doubt the 'Captain' in question. Amber eyes raked over the male as he strode over, glaring daggers first at Lorcan and then the Doctor herself. She merely drew herself taller. He visibly grimaced at seeing the man eating... hot dogs?

"Doctor Morata, a pleasure," he managed through his teeth. "But you can't just arrive, unannounced, demanding special qualification despite your..." he glared back over at Lorcan, "hired muscle. We have rules and regulations. For instance, why are you here?"

The implication being not behind a lab coat on Thyferra.

She stared right back, and the male met her gaze, seemingly unfazed by the icy aura the woman exuded.

"Captain...?"

"Pelant."

"I apologize if we stepped on any toes," she responded smoothly, offering a slight tilt of her head. "But I require some samples from this particular strain. And though it may seem contained..." she glanced about, "this is an urban area. Are there any other sectors under any quarantine regulations?"

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Lorcan just rolled his eyes behind the anonymity of his helmet's visor - some people would have called it 'safe' to roll their eyes when their face was covered. He didn't and the only reason he didn't roll his eyes hard enough for the old man to actually, physically, feel it was because it would be a pain in the arse to remove the helmet for something so quick. However he did raise an eyebrow at being referred to as hired muscle.

The kark did this greasy little shite stain think he was talking to?

Time to educate everyone involved.

"Officially? Two sectors under quarantine. Lower levels that no one gives two solitary shits about. Unofficially? Another four are close to the red line and the local dipshits - sorry, local security forces - are flailing around with their collective dicks in their hands trying to pretend like they have it under control."

The captain had begun to turn red in the face as soon as Lorcan had started speaking but by the time he was finished he seemed to have passed any known shade of red and was quickly turning purple.

"That is an outright lie. How in the name of the Galaxy's Good Name have you managed to conjure up such conspiracies and mud tossing?"

Lorcan jerked his thumb behind him.

"Hot dog guy." he announced, bluntly, "Because turns out? Talking to the people who don't have security bunkers to hide in is a great way to check how bad things are in certain neighborhoods. Imagine that. Nah but for real - Doc is here to unfuck the Galaxy. I am here because I wouldn't trust your entire security force to find the trigger with three weeks notice, a map and a karking neon sign post."

The mercenary placed a hand on his waist, near his blaster pistol, and the surrounding security forces almost collectively shat themselves trying to raise their weapons. Hells, the only reason one of them didn't accidentally shoot at him was because the safety was still on - something everyone was aware of by the click of the trigger being disengaged by said safety. The Captain shook on the spot but Lorcan moved on.

"Now that you're done proving my point - hand the Doc the key and let us pull your fat behinds our of the fire you've so happily bumbling into."

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She had never seen a humanoid get absolutely, literally purple in the face before, but sure enough, he flushed deep from his neck to the top of his head while he got thrashed by the stranger in the helmet who had, until recently, been casually noshing down hot dogs.

Still, she was mildly amused at Lorcan verbally calling the man out on his own fucking up. Because honestly... there were so many things wrong with how they handled everything, it was almost appalling.

"Here is the key," the man muttered, feeling his own nerves begin to shake in his very feet, all the way up. What was she doing, allying herself with someone so unstable? He glanced at the Doctor once, and something almost like bewildered pity glinted in his eyes, before he turned away, and snapped his fingers once.

"Let them in."

The gate opened, slowly. Amariel retrieved a container in one hand, her DC heavy blaster in another. She learned her lesson long ago. She wouldn't be an easy target.

Glancing back at Lorcan, her lips twitched in a faint smile. "Good detective skills there."

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Oh that worked?

Ha.

Lorcan had honestly been mentally preparing to have to gun them down, take the key from them and drag their corpses into the quarantine zone to make it look like they’ve been killed by the Infected. Of course he would need to slash their wounds up to make them look like they have been savaged but he had a knife, time and the inclination to make it work.

That they just gave up to the key brought him up short as he was mentally working out an alibi he could give the investigators who would doubtlessly ask about their deaths. No longer required it seemed so he just ignored it, making sure his armor was all fully secured in place for a moment before drawing his pistol in one hand and his knife in the other.

When the security forces tensed he rolled his eyes underneath his helmet.

“I’d call you pussies but I’m reliably informed that those things can take some rough treatment – unlike you.”

With that parting word, he stepped into the quarantined area with Doc, his eyes scanning the dark corners – because this was now a zombie-holonet drama and dark corners always had lurking Infected in them. Usually more than could physically be expected to fit in such a small space too but that was a trope he was sure, not a sign that the Galaxy was trying to feck them over.

“Well didn’t drop all the Ranger training you know.” He joked back lightly even as he opened the door to the infected tower block, pistol up and at the ready, “Some of it was useful. Most of it was bullshit but SOME of it was useful.”

Some of it.

The front reception area of the residential tower block was fairly typical – desk in the middle, elevators at the back and stairs to the sides. Oh and there were several bodies torn apart in the atrium itself, painting the entire space a macabre red.

“Tasteful decorating choices.” He muttered as some of the blood on the ceiling dripped down, “Yay… fresh too. This was recent.”

The blood on the ceiling hadn’t had time to dry out and that? Well that tended to happen fairly quickly which meant this display had happened within the last few moments.

Neat.

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

The smell of blood wasn't anything new to her. There was a time that she stepped into a former smuggler's den and it was coated with multiple sentients' blood. This was similar, though with the many bodies she paused for a moment. Blood dripped from above, and she glanced up, nose twitching slightly.

Troublesome.

As they approached, one of the torn torsos twitched, and began to move.

A low, rasped, and gurgled moan struggled from its' lips as it began crawling forward.

And then another.

And then another...

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

“Oh boy, crawling damp!”

He joked but crawling infected could be a real pain in the backside if you weren’t careful and didn’t do your absolute best to destroy them utterly. Kicking the grasping hand out from under it, Lorcan caused the crawler to collapse to the ground before pinning it’s head in place with the sole of his boot.

Considering it for a moment, he shook his head.

“Too many wounds, too much blood lost… you’d make for a terrible sample.”

With his dismissal done, he raised his boot before bringing it back down, hard, against the infected’s skull. Again and again he stomped down viciously onto the prone creature until he had pulped it’s head completely, caking his lower legs in gore. He shrugged at Doc.

“Makes less noise than a blaster.”

It did… kind of.

Bone snapping and brains being squished still made a relatively loud sound after all and the area had been silent otherwise. From upstairs, sounds of movement started along with the unmistakable sounds of broken jaws snapping shut on nothing but air, the infected so willing to bite but so dumb they didn’t quite know when to bite if the prey wasn’t right in front of them.

“Blasters or blades?” he asked Doc, “Which one will contaminate the sample more?”

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

When people met the Doctor as she was now, many assumed her to be the type to mind grime, dirt and dust. But Lorcan had met her before all that; there were days they spent together caked in blood and sweat. A time in a hotel, when he laid on the floor from a slit throat while she was coated in his blood, pinching the blood vessels closed long enough to save his life.

She wasn't afraid to get a little messy.

She pulled out one of her vibroknives in her off hand while the thing began dragging forward, plunging it down hard into the top of its' skull. Blood and brain spurted, and she yanked it back out, grimacing at the sounds above.

At his question, she merely flicked him a glance before exterminating the next undead, watching it slump to true death before yanking the blade back out and replying. "Blades are preferred," came the rasp. "Some of these strains are more resilient to blasters; blades provide less burn damage. I don't need a living sample."

Again, the sounds of movement from above. Whatever it was, it sounded huge.

Ugh. Lingering wouldn't be wise.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Bloodbaths were, usually, good for business but they weren’t if the business got killed (Doc in this instance) or if he ended up dying before he could cash the credits in. Infected were trouble because they could very easily throw hyperspanners in his Grand Plan of “Live and be Rich”.

But Doc wanted the task done with blades, not blasters.

Which meant he was going to need to get closer than he, strictly speaking, would prefer. Rolling his neck, he considered his options. There were more than a few of them but most of them involved violence, just as he liked it. Drawing his vibrosword, he waited a second before activating the weapon’s vibrating edge, the part that made a vibrosword something that could cut through armor rather than just a pretty knife.

“Alrigh’ Doc.” He answered as he eyed the stairs for a moment longer, “Reckon we’re gonna have the whole place coming down on us any second now so…”

The doors that blocked off the stair was flung out into the reception room and Lorcan stared at the mutated creature that paused for a second before unleashing a roar that split the air and its own mouth… head… all of it really.

Kark.

He wasn’t even sure what the damned thing had been before the Infection got ahold of it but he really didn’t care to know – the thing needed to die because he had seen enough of the weird cartoons that some of the Sith soldiers watched to know where this was going otherwise.

“You take the right side, I’ll take the left!”

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She recalled the thing that had sludged through the underbelly of Nar Shaddaa, the other thing she met in the apartment of the same ecumenopolis... the mutations were getting more and more exotic. She gritted her teeth and nodded once at Lorcan.

"Got it. Just be careful."

Gripping her vibroblade in one hand, she stared down the thing for a beat before moving, shifting forwards to keep its' attention on her. No point in letting him get the face full of teeth first... but the scientist in her was intrigued at the physiology of the thing. A pity it would have to be torn to pieces.

@Nefieslab

 

[Lorcan]

Careful?

Careful was for pussies who didn't know how to handle their monsters - Lorcan was about as careful as a candle in a propane factory and he loved it that way! He laughed at the very suggestion that he be careful as he charged the creature as it ran at him. Counter-charge was always a legitimate tactic and he would never hear a word against the practice so long as he lived.

Which might not be long, actually.

Imagine that, dying at the hands of some Infected monster in the habitation block of some planet he didn't give a rat's arse about. Part of him was always looking to die but he wasn't about to let this be the die he died, especially not to some split-mouthed creature that looked like a flytrap had hate-karked a blender of teeth.

Using the distraction Doc gave, Lorcan skidded to the right, lashing out with his blade and cutting deep into the side of the creature's stomach. The skid was well advised as it meant the instinctive horizontal slash went over his head. Giving him time to get back to his feet and start backing up as the creature rounded on him, screeching and hollering as it tried to slash him with both hands.

Ducking and weaving as he retreated a few steps at a time.

"Come on! COME ON!" he roared right back, "Stop trying to bite me and actually get to the killing me part you big dumb bastard! I DARE YA!"

@Killa Ree

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

Her words had the exact desired effect they would. He was reckless, possibly sociopathic, but in some senses predictable. If you told him to be careful of something, he would often go out of his way to go blasters blazing and prove otherwise incapable of care.

She, however, could allow him the first few strikes, and absorb the concentration of their engaged enemy.

As the thing began to reach and slash, she made her own move. Aiming carefully towards one reaching limb, she ducked away from its' razor reach and slashed down, the vibroblade biting deep into its' flesh. A screech flew in her direction and she followed her partner's example, ducking another swipe from its' other limb and backtracking away, mindful of any ankle biters that still might have survived their first slaughtering.

@Nefieslab