Friends and Nemeses

Umm, patient zero.. Uh, yeah, hold on," he begins to fumble with his datapad. "Oh, uh, my name is doctor Sagar, sorry."

He finishes whatever he's doing, and an image of a burly, old, half-sith appears. The man looks like he'd spent a lot of time in the woods, and scars dot his face and arms.

"This is, uh, Chizyum, he's a trapper from the southern woods. He was in town recently, after, uh, umm, he had been trapping some stuff. Mentioned something about a cave he'd never seen before, and he went in to look. He said, uh, that he, uh, didn't see anything, And, umm, abut 4 days after coming back he complained of some bad dreams, fell unconscious around lunch time, and has been asleep since then. This was about 3 weeks ago. The spread has, ummm, been rather random since then. People in, uh, contact with Chizyum don't seem any more likely than those that haven't been in contact. Treatments, well, all the, umm, basics, [runs through basic Star Wars medicines], but as far as we can tell we, umm, there, uh, isn't anything really wrong that the medications can affect."

---

There is one non-Sith in the room with the infected. The rest appear to be part Sith, even if only minorly part sith.

Waz'aru's ears perk up when he hears the Doctor mention the cave the trapper had found. It seems he was going to have something to do afterall, other than changing bed sheets. "Um, excuse me Doctor Sagar? He says sliding out from behind Arca, where he was trying to stay out of the way.
"I have a couple of questions in addition to those of Arca's. Has anyone tried to search out this cave, which seems to me to be a possible source? And I know Arca would get to it eventually, but his mind is a durasteel trap and everything is orderly, mine not so much. Sorry, rambling. What is going on with the human child over there?"

Arca patiently waits for Sagar to answer his impetuous companion's questions before he adds a second round of his own.

Arca attempts to get Sagar to elaborate, "When did the human boy become ill? Who did he come into contact with before becoming ill? I would also like to know if there are any other patients who have not been brought here to this ward, and if so where they are? We must try to contain this, whatever it is."

"I, umm, am not really the, uh, best person to ask for help, uhh, with planning anything like, umm, that. Honestly, I, ummm, I have only been on the job here for 4 days since my boss got the sickness."

"I'm willing to help get people together to go look for this cave," Zyla interjects. "Jarkyc said he knows the area, so we can probably get his help too."

"That was my general thought Zyla, although we may want to get some bio-hazard gear, maybe just breath masks if we are going inside. Waz'aru says and hesitates momentarily. "Maybe we should ask our soldier friends for some kind of stun weapons, just in case."

"Until the disease vector is identified I must insist on sealed suits. Whatever it is may be able to be contracted through the skin or be small enough to pass through a mask's filtration."

At the mention of stun weapons, Zyla sighs. "Guns are so inelegant, but that's a good point. We don't want to kill any leads. ST-3R, Trixie, are you going stay here and figure things out in the town, or come with us? And where'd Varc run off to? Or are we all going to go as a group?"

Arca addresses Sagar once more, "Doctor, may I see your datapad? I would like to review your notes. I think it's faster if I read them for myself than if I continue to barrage you with questions." And it will give you time to compose yourself.

He readily hands over the datapad, though he leaves it plugged in.

"Better to stick together, I think. Orcam said it is not safe to travel alone. So it's probably not safe to be in groups of 2 or 3 either." says Trixie, a little concerned for the safety of herself and others.

Seeing Arca engrossed in the datapad, Zyla suggest, "Why don't we go get stuff ready then, while Arca finishes doing whatever he's doing?"

She heads out, bumping into Varc just outside and catching him up.

The group manages to get together the EVsuits, and the Republic soldiers prepare to come with you. None of the locals want to risk going to the cave.

Jarkyc mentions he can navigate the woods, but if others would like to help him look for the cave once they get close to the mountain, he welcomes the help.

[what specific equipment other than EV suits are you all getting?]

Kitted up in the suits, the group and the Republic soldiers advance into the woods.


Jarkyc takes the lead, glancing left and right as he goes. The woods are oppressive, cold, dark, and filled with the low sound of birds and of animals hunting in the distance. "Bee cautious, sometimes the predahtors in this world cahn be surprisingly hostile."


The human soldier, Joral, and Nikto, Ka'ran, march in the middle with Orcam and the hover sled. They have their rifles out, and you all notice that Ka'ran holds his gun in his left hand, rather than his right.


Zyla takes up a position in the rear, along with Carran. She fidgets uncomfortably in the full suit.


You all walk for about an hour through the forest before the trees begin to become slightly more sparse. The edge of the nearest mountain is becoming much more visible, and the ground much rougher and uneven.


[perception checks, hard with one setback. Also, say where you walking if you wish. ]

Arca travels relatively close to Zyla.

Varc stayed near the front of the group.

Trixie feels a bit hesitant and wonders if this was a good idea. She has mixed feelings confronting the possible source of this affliction, but also desperately wants to help the inhabitants here. She lingers closer to the back as the conflict swelling inside her causes her to slow her pace temporarily.

Waz'aru walks near the soldiers, studying the surroundings and their reactions to it. He was slowly getting used to the feel of the heavy stun pistol riding low in the thigh holster Ka'ran had acquired for him.

Agreeing with Jarkyc, ST-3R covers the rear of the investigative party. As the droid starts to become aware of environmental shift in terrain, it adjusts the visual settings while still steadily holding onto the Model 77 tightly.