Sorry about the slowness to update, I'm pretty bad at this. This is also a bit of a shorter chapter I think. Excited to see some new followers, thank you and I hope you are enjoying so far! I promised a bit more action but it's taking me a bit longer to get there than I thought as I decided to spend some time building on character relationships so that the story line and character actions make some sense down the track.
It had taken just over half an hour for Inara to assess the information and come to a course of action. She had spent time with two of the patients - one of the more recent to have presented with symptoms and one of the earlier who was now presenting with boils. Captain Phasma had shown her through the labs and waited patiently as she poured through all of the available information. She had briefly crossed paths with Dr Graven, who seemed much more irate than earlier however gave her a stiff nod before handing her some notes and heading back into his office.
She had settled on her initial conclusion of Endregaad Plague as the cause and was confident in her diagnosis. What she wasn't so confident in was how to treat it. The journal she had mentioned a concoction of a few herbs and spices, mostly rare and expensive. But it also suggested that there would need to be an herb, likely native to the planet of contraction that could act as a catalyst in the blend and allow a cure. She theorized that if she could mix it with the right substances, she may also be able to get certain level of immunity to propagate.
That herb however would cause issue, particularly if the planet was still risky. According to the Captain, there was a reason they had been using it for training exercises. So, aside from the potential small group left over of angry inhabitants, anyone who went couldn't be sure they wouldn't contract the disease either. It would likely be a one way trip if not successful.
Rather than anguish any further over the possible scenarios herself, she chose to reveal her findings to the General and allow him to decide if it was the best course of action for his men.
Wordlessly, Captain Phasma led Inara through the maze of hallways towards the Generals office. This time, Inara didn't bother to pay attention and instead lost herself in more thought. Would the General send a mission to the planet? Possible death against certain death seemed to be of worthy odds to her, but she didn't know the General well enough to know what his decision would be.
Through her investigation she found out that the troops were not named as such, but had numbers. ES-4221. That was what he called himself when he spoke to her. It seemed to her that anyone who called their troops by numbers likely thought of them that way, and perhaps didn't think it was worth a risky mission for a cure. But then, why source her for assistance in the first place? Was it about numbers? If so, couldn't they just round up more?
More unusual questions presented themselves to Inara. What was the First order like? What was its General really like? Why did she want to know? She had been brought up to not involve herself in anything beyond what she needed to in order to treat her patients and until now, that was how she had always kept it. This time around was different. Perhaps it was the size of the epidemic causing the curiosity? She had dealt with many mysterious and private people before, why did this particular organisation pique her interest?
"You may enter."
The General's voice pulled her from her thoughts and she realised that they had arrived outside his office. Captain Phasma remained by the door as Inara entered. The office was spacious; a lounge area to the left, equipped with a bar and to the right his immense desk. Two chairs faced the General's own on the opposite side. Piles of paperwork were stacked on either side neatly. It was luxurious yet minimal. What was in it was grand, but there was little of it. No clutter, everything had a place.
To Inara, the First Order was becoming truly fascinating.
The General was engaged in his data pad, and had not yet acknowledged Dr Vell's presence. Unaware of normal military protocol – specifically that of the First Order - the doctor strode over to his desk, laid out her notes and started.
"General, I am positive that we are indeed dealing with Endregaad Plague. I am confident that we can obtain many of the spices and herbs needed to make a cure, however there is one that may be a little trouble."
The General slowly lifted his head, stony expression meeting the doctor as she leaned over his desk toward him. A little way behind the General, Lieutenant Mitaka's expression screamed at Dr Vell in terror.
She remained oblivious.
Not 20 minutes ago the General had torn shreds through Dr Graven and here Dr Inara Vell was, just throwing information at him without proper invitation. She seemed to take the General's stony demeanour as his standard look, and Mitaka realised that she probably hadn't seen anything else from him. The silence was palpable to Mitaka, who held his breath in anticipation. To his surprise, there was no explosion from the General.
"Interesting doctor. How so?" He asked her.
"It will as I feared, require a trip to the planet where the contagion was picked up."
Mitaka's stomach turned a little. That was a risky endeavour. With no known immunity and limited troops, a potentially a deadly one.
The General stood and moved around his desk towards Dr Vell, who straightened up and watched him curiously. Mitaka realised she was trying to read his reaction and smiled inwardly. She really did seem smarter than her years, even if she had no concept of military protocol. She may just be the one to cure the men. He wondered if the General thought the same thing and if that was the reason he had overlooked her brashness just now.
"Troublesome indeed." The General stated almost absentmindedly, hands clasped behind his back in thought. "What other options do you have Doctor Vell?"
Dr Vell's face dropped. "The only other option is to hope the mixture of herbs and spices help. But they seem to be more for treating symptoms and easing pain rather than curing the disease. My research all indicates that there is always an herb - not always the same one but always of the same genus, which is routinely ingested by the local inhabitants allowing a sort of immunity. It was never discovered how the immunity developed for them, however adding that herb to the mixture in essence develops it into a cure. Given the right tools and some more time, I could possibly even create an immunity from it. Captain Phasma did advise me that there are natives on the planet the troops were on and that none seemed showed any sign of infection. That gives me an indication that there is certainly a way of preventing the disease from taking hold."
The General gestured at Mitaka who brought his data pad over and placed into the General's waiting hands. He had a feeling where this was going and was not sure he was completely comfortable with it.
"I realise that this is a rather haphazard option. There is no guarantee that the herb will be found, and if so anyone you send down there will become infected with no cure. I fear the fates don't seem to be swaying to our side in this case." She paused for a moment.
"General Hux, there is another important piece of information you should know…" Dr Vell started. Both General Hux and Mitaka looked up at her.
"When the boils present, it means the disease has entered the vital organs and there is no way to prevent death once that happens. If there is not a cure administered within the next 24 hours, I fear that we will be looking at an 80% fatality rate."
Mitaka looked to the General. As mostly usual, his face was a mask. The First Order stood to lose 80% of its troops – thousands of men – and to look at General Hux you wouldn't have a clue. Mitaka's ambitions had been high through his time at the Academy, but to have the kind of weight the General dealt with was beyond his desires. He often marvelled at how short lived the General's emotional outbursts were due to this fact, not that it made them any easier to take.
"We have limited troops AND limited time then it seems Doctor Vell." The doctor seemed to be a little taken back by the General's agreeance to her recommendation.
"Lieutenant, I need numbers of all available troops as well as ranking and experience. We will need a troop available to head back to the planet and other smaller groups to obtain the other herbs and spices. From what I see in your notes Doctor, most are rare and expensive."
"Yes General." She answered
Mitaka scanned the list as he placed troop and ranking information in front of the General who was now leaning over the front of his desk much like Dr Vell had been minutes before.
"General, there are several farming planets within range that I believe we can get this from. There is only one that I see may be a little more troublesome – it's on a Hutt controlled planet."
"We can send officers to obtain the easier ingredients and a troop to the outer rim planet controlled by the Hutts. That will free up more men for the mission to Arknim 2." The General motioned to the door. "Lieutenant, have Captain Phasma enter. She will need to be briefed immediately on the mission."
As Mitaka commed Phasma to enter, he caught a look on Doctor Vell's face.
"General," She interrupted "I'd like to accompany your men to the planet."
The General stopped to look steadfast at the Doctor. Mitaka almost choked, Captain Phasma stood waiting silently.
"Doctor Vell, you are aware that this is a hostile planet?"
"Yes General."
"Do you have any combat or defence training?"
"No General."
"And yet you are asking that I let the person who at this stage is the only one who can help my men walk onto a possibly dangerous planet?" The look he was giving the doctor was almost sceptical.
Mitaka understood the General's objection however, he regarded her with a delighted curiosity. She owed no loyalty to the Order nor to its ailed men and yet she was putting herself forward for a potential one way mission. He was starting to realise that what he had read about her was not as much the stretched versions of the truth he had initially agonized.
"I know the genetic material I'm looking for, but I don't know in what form of herb it takes. If I'm there, I can do tests on-planet to find the right one. With respect, you don't have time for your men to guess. They could bring back 20 plants and they could all be the wrong one. I won't come back until I have the right one." Her face was resolved, she meant it.
Mitaka was dumbfounded. This was something he had never encountered before. Selflessness. She had nothing to personally gain from this. She already had a high standing reputation, and the General had been very clear that anything she did for them was classified and could not be spoken of outside the Order in any case. He wondered exactly what her childhood was like, to be able to freely offer her servitude in such a way and not even blink.
"You make a convincing argument. Very well doctor." The General replied.
With a sudden loss of self-control, Mitaka spoke.
"General, with available troops rather low I'd like to put myself forward to assist Doctor Vell on the mission to Arknim 2." He clapped his mouth closed in sudden shock.
The general paid him little attention and waived his hand dismissively.
"Fine Lieutenant."
What in the galaxy had inspired him to do that? He wasn't a trooper! Sure he had combat training but that's not what he specialised in, he was more of a behind a desk sort of man. A behind the desk, as far away from combat sort of man. Yet the doctor's offer had tugged at something he didn't know he had, compelling him to do something more himself.
With utter terror gripping his stomach, he attempted to keep himself composed as plans were laid out between himself, the doctor, Captain Phasma and the General.
Just as he thought he might pass out, he caught the warm smile directed at him from Dr Vell.
