The Kaal city sirens had just wound down, marking noon. The hospital had a perimeter set up around it, manned by various forces both local to Kaal and not. There was a small makeshift landing pad for ship to drop off people and supplies, a larger patch of tents numbering dozens of different colors, and a wall made by a mixture of sand bags, fast acting concrete, and metal support beams. Inside the walls, standing just off set from the gate, was a small squad of Knights preparing for the coming task.
“Ten minutes.” Growled the massive black Shistavanen to the others. “Final check. Watch your countermeasure.” He lifted his heavy vambrace and twisted it outwards, to show a small hard plastic package strapped to his harm that housed an easy inject needle. Each member of the outing had one, just in case.
From there, the Knight-Commander Doon Sulvir ran a check over his own gear. Armor, utility, and weapons. Usually he would keep his claymore saber blade stored safely away from wandering eyes, but keeping these ghouls at arms length was a priority. He ran his claws aong the blade of his Beskad, which would make a good backup for anything that got too close. He’d have to remember, no biting these things.
Despite the order, Remy made no move to check her gear. Not only did she not have much to check, she had been preparing for this since the call went out, and anything more would just be obsessive. Instead, she spent the time casting her perception out to catch as much of the area past the walls as she could, hoping the extra preparation would be of assistance. Unfortunately, the Rakghoul didn’t seem to have much in the way of plans or strategy, so she just felt the numerous, small presences of evil scattered around. Of course, she also felt the much stronger evil presences much closer to hand, but she had long made peace with the fact she would have to work alongside the repugnance of the Sith and their wannabes.
“Master Sulvir, how long after infection are these countermeasures effective?”
Remy could be effective at range, but she was at her most powerful when she was allowed to use her hands. She didn’t even have to worry about moral quandry, given that killing these creatures would be more putting them out of their misery than anything approaching murder. Breaking the Dark Sides tools was always a good use of her time.
She sidled over to Esen, who was triple checking her medical equipment, “Are you sure you want to be here? This isn’t the kind of battlefield they trained you for on Selen.”
… No. That wouldn’t do. It was a lie to couch everything in logic. Despite her wishes, she wasn’t a machine, and she wasn’t sure she ever would be.
“…And I don’t want to see you become one of these things. I have never been good at protecting others in the field.”
At the call of final check, Esen patted herself down, going through her mental check list. Sapphire blade on her hip– check, both blasters, a back up vibrodagger. Check, check, check. She shifted her footing, feeling the extra weight of her backpack droid, Vox, of whom beeped quietly, sharing similarities to a babies coo.
Although she never changed around the placements of the medical items from their allotted space inside her medical bag, a triple check couldn’t hurt. She crouched down, sliding Vox off her back, and ignored his beeping protest. Unzipping the bag and going through that mental check list. Seeing as everything was exactly as she thought, she grabbed her travel gel, comb and mirror. She applied more, spiced apple scented gel to her already slicked back, albeit unruly hair. Making sure to apply a little bit extra at the corners of her ears, where the hair likes to come out most often.
“I made an oath to help as many people as I can… However I can. Right now the labs are full of medics, scientists, and researchers sweating trying to develop a cure as fast as possible. I am needed here.”
Perhaps she could grab a few samples when this is all said and done. Rem was right, this was different than Selen, but she had been training with Doon for months now. Her hand to hand has greatly improved, and her effectiveness with blasters even more so.
“I’ll make sure to stick with someone should the group get split up. The good news? This virus seems to not be spread to droids. In the event I am decommissioned, Vox knows his job. He’s equipped with a stim dispenser. He will act as a buffer, allowing time to seek medical aid.” She extended her arm and lowered her shoulder allowing him to hop up on her back.
“Besides we have a single use beta cure,” She squeezed Remalia’s hand lightly, giving her an eye-creasing small close-mouthed smile. “I’ll make it count.”
She resuming her at ease position, honed into her from years at the Dajorran military. Feet shoulder width apart, head faced forward, that cool mask falling into place once more, and her hands locked together behind her back.
“Well that’s comforting to know,” Jon drawled. The Vagabond Knight was sprawled out over one of the medical supply crates, a dagger dancing between his fingers.
Looming next to him was the impassive figure of a Magna-Guard droid, still shiny and chrome as the day it rolled off the assembly line – which was not long ago, actually, though Jon had paid premium for enhanced combat sub-routines that he was assured would make up for the lack of practical experience in its processors.
“Stick with me and Mr. Smiles, and we should all get out of this in one piece.”
Jon turned to Doon, and said: “Speaking of, Knight Commander, you wanna establish order of priorities so we know all know what needs doing when shit inevitably hits the coolant port? When this all goes to chaos, what’s our biggest goal here? Keeping the ghoulies from crossing this line? Extermination? Or just not getting bit?”
Jon hadn’t had a chance to have a proper live-fire mission with the Knight who had taken Syreena’s place. The geopolitcal shitstorm that Celevon’s little extrajudicial stunt a few months back had unleahed was keeping everyone a little bit too busy to socialize. The question was much to learn something about his immediate superior’s personality as it was a tactical one. In a lot of ways, the Shistavanen Battlemaster was still a mystery to Jon, and that irked him on some level. What did Doon value most in the haze of war?