Instant Rehab

[Taeli Raaf]

Rhinnal system
Rhinnal State Medical Academy

"Master Raaf, I really wanted to thank you for the donation you made to the academy, we don't see many outside contributions from non-alumni," the chancellor of the medical academy was saying. He and Taeli were slowly walking along a corridor that looked out over the frozen and rocky landscape of Rhinnal, the capital city spread along the river that flowed underneath.

"It was my pleasure, Chancellor," she said, smiling. "I will admit I did have an ulterior motive for both my contribution and presence on Rhinnal."

"And what might that be?" the Chancellor asked.

"My company, Aurora Industries, is going to be expanding our bioengineering division to the planet," she explained, stopping to watch two academy students pass. "We are hoping to have a close working relationship with your staff and students in developing new projects in that field, specifically products that will help the medical field."

"I can say, after your generous donation, that shouldn't be a problem, Master Raaf," the Chancellor chuckled. "Did you have a specific project in mind to start with?"

"In fact I did," she replied, checking her datapad. "I recently took possession of two boxes of Forcebreaker grenades. They use a concentrated version of Ixetal Cilona to disrupt a Force user's connection to the Force for a few hours. I want to develop something like a stimpack or adrenal stim that can counteract those effects in a quick fashion."

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I think we can accommodate this, Master Raaf," the Chancellor said. "We have some of the most state-of-the-art research labs in the galaxy, even after the Gulag virus. You get us samples, and I can assure you our staff and students will be able to put something together your company can mass-produce for the effect you desire."

"My research team will be over with the Forcebreakers within the hour," Taeli said. "How long do you anticipate this project would take?"

"That will be determined by the team, but I doubt it will take long," the Chancellor stated. "Ixetal Cilona addiction can be cured in most every medcenter for about 3000 credits, so the science is already there. You're simply asking to accelerate the effects and make it portable."

"I look forward to seeing what comes up, it was a pleasure and to a fruitful relationship," Taeli said, shaking the man's hand and departing for her next meeting. Aurora scientists would be along within the hour, and the work would begin.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

Once the Aurora scientists arrived, they were quickly set up in one of the premiere labs on the campus, per the Chancellor's express invitation. The scientists in question weren't exactly sure how much of a donation their boss had given the university, but it must have been substantial. A couple of Aurora security men carried in the crate of Forcebreaker grenades, setting them off to one side while the team got settled. As a first order of business for the team, they began asking around the campus staff and upper-level students if they would mind helping out with the project, specifically those in the pharmaceutical fields.

They also reached out to the engineering side of campus to begin development of a new injection system for the stimulant they were hoping to create. The team of Aurora scientists sent a list of features they needed it to be, mainly portable and be able to quickly deliver the anti-toxin to a subject's bloodstream.

It was nice to see such enthusiasm from the faculty and students, the head Aurora technician thought as he reviewed the answer from the engineering department.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

The team had begun disassembling the Forcebreaker grenades, the key part they needed being the ixetal cilona core in the grenade. The other parts were left alone as the team wasn't one interested in the technical aspects of how the grenade worked. They knew the basics after all. Gas cloud, some shrapnel, normal gas grenade stuff. The student helpers they had gotten from the campus were taking careful measurements of the ixetal cilona cores, detailing any variations they might see and the concentration of the powder itself.

It was necessary to figure all of that out because the stim was going to need enough of the anti-toxins to counteract a full dosage of the ixetal cilona, any less and the subject would still experience some of the effects of the addictive drug.

At the engineering side of the stim, the students and faculty had been joined by two Aurora engineers to help oversee the project and whether or not they were going in the right direction. It was a simple task, as all they were making was a quick release hypo stim with pneumatic injector, but it still would require oversight and documentation for the company. Still, they had drawn up a couple of drafts and ideas for the stim and were beginning to fabricate it from a high-density plastic to allow the stim to survive getting jostled around.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

With the amount of ixetal cilona determined from the grenades, the team began working on how best to update the anti-toxins that were used in medcenters galaxy-wide to deal with death stick addictions. Luckily, the materials and medicines were readily available, but they needed a few updates for the stim. Mainly, the team needed to focus on how fast the drugs would metabolize with the ixetal cilona in the blood and speed that up so it could be healed in the span of a few seconds.

The bio-engineers began by observing and testing the ixetal cilona itself, but not on themselves as they rather liked their lifespans as they were. Unfortunately for such science, sacrifices had to be made. Several nerfs and other animals that could be used to simulate the effects of the ixetal cilona were brought in and the team began the work of going through and testing different strains of the medicine they had developed. It would take a few weeks, but eventually they hit upon the right combination of medicines to swiftly counter the ixetal cilona.

They unfortunately did determine that it would only work once, so if someone got dosed again, they would require a separate stim to be administered. They had also noticed, in the repeat tests, that some side effects were being presented... but they couldn't determine what those might fully be until they moved to humanoid testing. They were waiting on permission from the local planetary authorities to do so, but in the meantime, the engineering side had finished the first few injectors so when testing resumed, they would have all the equipment.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

It took a little longer, but the government officials on Rhinnal gave the team the green light to begin testing on humanoid subjects on the condition that they be paid extra for the risk they were being placed under because of the required use of death sticks or direct ixetal cilona contamination. Aurora Industries had agreed to the stipulation, and had begun searching for volunteers. Waivers were signed by some students interested in the quick credits being offered, but they also went to local medcenters and offered to junkies trying to recover a chance at a quick rehab.

Fifty subjects were chosen in total, all different species and genders, with variations in body type and immune systems. Death sticks or powdered ixetal cilona were provided by the team, all set at the same potency as a single Forcebreaker grenade. Once the drugs were taken, the team of scientists administered the injectors and began observing the subjects for results. They didn't have long to wait. Almost to a man or woman, the effects of the ixetal cilona were mitigated within a few seconds of administration with effects completely disappearing within a few moments after that.

However, the team did note that minutes after use, some side effects manifested in some subjects. The team observed that most of those were consistent with minor symptoms typically suffered in withdrawal cases; jitters, cold sweats, concentration going out the window. Some of those showing side effects had developed temporary mood swings, mainly to irritability or anger. One subject, a Rodian male, developed a unique rash across his green skin in splotches, but they chalked that up as a genetic disorder to the medicines as none of the other fifty showed a similar rash.

It had taken a few weeks, but the team had managed to get a working product set-up.

"Miss Raaf, I would like to report a success," the head scientist for the project said as the holocall opened with his boss.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

"I like to hear that," she said, looking up from her desk as the call came through. It had been a few weeks since she had heard from the team, but she didn't have any doubts they would succeed. She had put the best her company had available on the task... well those that weren't sequestered at Jen'asha Station working on their more... secretive projects. It would seem reaching out to the Rhinnal Medical Academy had been the right way to go. "Send me the data for review."

"Of course, Miss Raaf," the head scientist said. "Transferring data across secure channels now."

Her desk computer pinged as the data packets arrived, and Taeli began looking over everything. Discussing certain points that leapt out at her, such as the side effects and the rapidness of the counter agent, she couldn't help the internal smile from popping up. Forcebreaker grenades were such a headache to deal with, and with the Mandalorians beating the war drum, it would be good to have something to counter one of their avenues of dealing with Force Users. If it became necessary... still...

"Lys, I think I'm going to get in contact with Pharma Tech," she said once they finished the debrief. "While we will be producing and selling this ourselves, I believe this new stim needs to be more available. Cheaper to acquire for those suffering through their addictions."

"That is your call, Miss Raaf," Lys said. "My team and I will be staying on at Rhinnal, yes?"

"Yes, establish some independent labs and such in the local area of the medical academy," she said. "I want our outreach and relationship with them to continue. That will be all."

With that said, the link closed off and Taeli immediately began calling up one of the ATC reps she knew that probably oversaw Pharma Tech for Danger. She would Danger herself, but the woman was probably busy after that business that occurred in the Corellian system recently. So, Taeli reached out to [member="Saffron"] and suspected the woman would be quite open to such a partnership once she revealed what was created.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Arceneau Trade
PharmaTech

---

---

Saffron would be the one the call would be directed to. In a few minutes, Taeli’s holoscreen would bloom to reveal the cerulean visage of the petite blonde.

“Namaste, Miz Raaf.” Saffron would murmur in greeting, giving an incline of her head.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” she inquired, keeping a cordial smile and expression upon her youthful face. It was the Companion training that provided that perfected hostess atmosphere that Saffron and Aeri radiated. It certainly helped during business negotiations.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Saffron"]

"Miss Saffron, thank you for receiving me call," Taeli said, smiling back graciously at the woman. "I had a proposition for Pharma Tech I think you might be interested in. A team of my scientists have been working closely with the Rhinnal Medical Academy to develop a quick cure to ixetal cilona contamination, and we have recently just finished the testing stage for the cure. Think of it as something like an adrenal stim, where a person can inject themselves with it and get rid of the effects of ixetal cilona in the body. Now, my proposal is this... would Pharma Tech be interested in a partnered production of this product? I think it would be quite beneficial as it would allow it to be a much cheaper alternative for those suffering from death stick addiction."

As a cherry on top, Taeli would send Saffron a copy of the test results and other data her scientists and bio-engineers had sent her, to peruse at her leisure.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Saffron considered the offer. Truth be told, PharmaTech had become to do their own tests on the Ixetal cilona. They even came up with a Force Suppression pill. A stronger version of the Balo Mushroom was currently being cultivated and genetically enhanced. Methods and new pharmaceuticals were being created from this stronger version in order to isolate a variety of new uses.

A small bloop would appear on her screen. Oh, Miz Raaf had even sent the test results and data. Fascinating.

"That is indeed a project we'd be interested in partnering." Saffron stated. "We would be happy to join in a mutually beneficial production of the stim. Currently, we have facilities on Quesh that may be able to help with speeding up production." Quesh was known for their stim and their adrenal exports.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

[member="Saffron"]

"I'm glad you are interested, Miss Saffron," Taeli said, smiling. She had no idea that Pharma Tech might have been pursuing other experiments on ixetal cilona, but as she thought about this stim... she started thinking about other applications herself. She would keep them to herself though as she kept smiling and added, "I'll be sure to send along samples of what our scientists made on Rhinnal to the facility at Quesh so we can begin production as soon as possible. It's always a pleasure doing business with ATC and its affiliates."

With that, and an exchange of parting pleasantries, Taeli would cut the call off and go back to pondering. The new facility at Rhinnal would certainly help for a few other projects she had in mind, but for now, they would focus on the stim and the name for it. She remembered an old story about Obi-Wan Kenobi her sister had been fond of; that the legendary Jedi Master had been very against the drug trade and was fond of asking drug users and sellers to rethink their lives. She sent a memo out to the team that they would be calling the new stim the Kenobi ReThink and that the partnership with Pharma Tech had been reached.

 

[Saffron]

[member="Taeli Raaf"]

Saffron gave a smile, and inclined her head.

"A pleasure as always, Miz Raaf." the young Companion would state. Once the transmission cut, Saffron would transfer the details over to PharmaTech's research and development team. Once Aurora Industries sent over the rest of the information, they would be able to work through all the items they would require at the Quesh facilities.

For now, PharmaTech would continue on with their Balo Mushroom genetic enhancements for a stronger version of Ixetal Cilona and refining the benefits from the chemical strain.