Quando Judex Est Venturus

[Kuzo]

P A N A T H A
Vain Hollow

"Doctor Ven."

Irajah looked up from the scanner, frowning. She blinked, eyes widening slightly at the looming form of the faceless Crownguard filling the doorway of her lab.

"Your presence is required. Immediately."

There were few people who could elicit an immediate response from the Doctor. But she wasn't going to argue with the personal guard of [member="Darth Carnifex"]. Normally, she did her best to avoid the man, despite the friendship she was building with his current apprentice. After the events on one of his ships, she was very careful to maintain a certain distance.

But, when distance was not possible, Irajah found that a polite tone and a steady hand were the next best thing.

"Of course," she inclined her head slightly, sliding off of her stool.

Absently, she smoothed out an invisible wrinkle from the neat white lab coat she wore. Beneath it, a long sleeved, high necked tunic covered her completely. Short, dark curls fell around a pale, tired face. But her hazel eyes were sharp, analyzing, waiting with a certain wariness.

"A cutter is waiting for you. You will be brought to Canthar, the capital city immediately. A ship has gone down and the pilot is being brought there for your attention."

So few details. But this was not where she would get her answers. She wondered briefly if it had crashed or been fired upon. Panatha, after all, was not the sort of place one decided to visit casually.

"As his Majesty wishes," she murmured, her shoes tak takking across the marble floor. The guard moved aside to let her pass, falling into step behind the petite woman. She walked with her head held high. If his presence unnerved her, she didn't show it.

In truth, there were only two people on Panatha that unnerved the Doctor. And both for very, very different reasons.

[member="Xena Amonali"]

 

[Xena Amonali]

Thump thump... Thump thump.... Thump thump...

The sound of her heart beat hard in her ears; fire crackling nearby, licking at the knocked down trees and other vegetation. Scattered debris lay across the greenery with dark black smoke billowing up from the wreckage.

Slowly, carefully, the girl dragged herself towards a nearby tree. Pain flaring up hard across her body, a pain she had not felt in a very, very long time. Shards of metal and other debris littered her body with a large chunk of transparisteel sticking out from her back. Xena's vision was just blurry, flashing occasionally each time the pain that wracked her body flared up. Crimson clouded up the nearby puddles of water, mixing around with the black of the ships oil. Given the state of the ships wreckage it was hard to believe that someone had survived.

"Why.. do I hurt all over..."

It was the one thought that Xena had while propping herself up on the tree she had been crawling towards. Her eyes felt heavy, drooping down like curtains, allowing her screaming mind a chance for peace. She didn't notice the beings who had come to inspect the wreckage. She didn't feel them moving her to be transported off. All she felt were the memories from just before the crash, reliving them in her mind, unaware of what was truly going on.

---

It was supposed to be routine, just a normal flight to practice her skills. She had been given a shuttle with more then enough fuel to make the round trip. More then enough supplies, but one small miscalculations. One wrong coordinate was all it took to send her into unknown space.

Exiting hyperspace over a planet she didn't recognise, a small frown crossed Xena's face. "Where the heck am I..." She mumbled to herself, staring at the green planet on the horizon. The charts didn't help her at all, she shouldn't be here. Glancing over at the astromech droid that was in the shuttle with her. It beeped and whined at her before wheeling off. "Well.. that was helpful... Stupid droids." a small shake of her head accompanied the statement. Getting up from her seat, she went to the small refresher, thinking of how to get herself back.

"Unknown trader vessel, Identify yourself, shut down your engines and prepare for inspection." The cockpit comm crackled to life, a stern voice attempting to hail the vessel.

No response.

"Unknown vessel, this is your only warning. Shut down your engines and identify yourself now, or we will shoot down you down." The voice rang through again just as Xena came out of the refresher, her eyes going wide.

"Kriff... Kriff kriff..." She swore to herself running over to the controls, sliding into her seat. Thinking on her feet, she was not getting held in an unknown system.

"Fight or Flight?"

She already knew the answer to this one, "Flight!"

Gunning her engines, Xena turned her ship planet side, if she was going to get away from the larger vessels it would be amongst the trees.

There were no more warnings, suddenly the space around the shuttle lit up with laser fire. Each shot battered hard against the shields of the ship, wearing them down quickly. They did give the firrerreo enough time to arrive to the planets atmosphere, but that was as far as they went. A stray concussion missile to the engines was all it took to send her ship into a downwards spiral.

Fire streaked across the sky, plummeting down towards the forest below.

The whining of the astromech droid and the blaring of alarms were they last thing Xena heard. The growing trees filled her vision, each one causing her ship to shudder and shake on impact.

No distress signal, there was no time. The ship dipped into the ground before tumbling, ripping itself apart, turning into a fiery wreck. The motion of it all sent Xena and the wrecked astromech droid through the viewport.

Then the pain returned.. the fire crackling, the searing heat of it all.

She relived it all only once before fully blacking out. Unaware of what she just got into.

---

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Darth Carnifex"]​

---

 

[Darth Carnifex]

​

​

Canthar, Panatha
Hasi’ Sulemi

The Hasi' Sulemi was one of the greatest architectural marvels ever conceived by the Epicanthix race. A massively sprawling ziggurat that dominated the entire skyline of the capital city, it once served as the primary religious center for the city's religious inhabitants but had since been re-purposed for more administrative duties rather than religious ones. The ziggurat's tiered slopes were home to a myriad of smaller structures that had been built right into the greater superstructure, each one serving a specific function to the churning bureaucracy of not only the city's or even the planet's administration, but for that of the entire Pacanth Reach. The other systems within the cluster maintained similar structures, but none were as grandiose or gigantic as the Hasi' Sulemi.

News of the downed ship had circulated quickly through the upper echelons of the city's civil and military authorities, and the highest reaches of the great temple were abuzz with activity as patrol cutters zipped through the air like angry hornets. The ship in question had been possessed and stored in a warehouse somewhere within the city while technicians tore the ship apart piece by piece to discern the exact reason why they had intruded upon sovereign Panathan space and then sought to flee authorities when hailed.

As with all things the Arch-King and his entourage had been notified of the situation, and he had come personally to the Grand Temple to oversee the apprehension and processing of the survivor. He had arrived via shuttle to his own private landing zone farther up on the temple's edifice, and has worked his way down via lift to reach the detention area where the injured pilot and her belongings were being held under guard. He had been informed en route of the pilot's condition alongside any other information his informants could discern from the wreckage, specifically the contents of her nav-computer and the ship's datalogs. This had been the second major incident pertaining to an intrusion of his domain via a ship entering the territory of the Reach and being forced into his custody.

So, naturally, he called upon the only individual who had dealt with the injuries of the previous pilot who had the misfortune of stoking his ire. [member="Irajah Ven"] He now waited for her in the antechamber leading up to the holding cell where [member="Xena Amonali"] was kept.

 

[Kuzo]

Panatha was a roiling vortex of dark side energies. Invisible to the eye or the uninitiated, it drew with greedy fingers on those who chose to set foot on the surface.

Doctor Ven seemed oblivious to the aphotic tides of the Force. Where others either feared it or drew from it, Irajah was one of the few on the planet, perhaps the only non-sith, who seemed perfectly indifferent to it. She moved, unperturbed, through the grand ziggurat, flanked by a pair of guards. People made way for the petite woman and her escort, though Irajah was certain it was for the sake of those two looming, armored behemoths and not for her.

What did make her slightly uncomfortable was the sight of [member="Darth Carnifex"] as they rounded the corner. Even from a distance, the man was impossible to mistake for any other. There was only the slightest hitch in the confident tak tak of her shoes on the marble before she was striding forward again.

She paused with enough distance between them to be comfortable (for her), but not enough that it was obviously rude she hoped. That was, after all, not even remotely her intent.

"Your majesty," she murmured, inclining her head calmly. After the last time, she was much more careful to be unfailingly polite.

"You sent for me?"

[member="Xena Amonali"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He turned slightly as he sensed [member="Irajah Ven"]'s arrival, his burning sulfuric eyes boring into the doctor's very being as a sly smile lightly parted his lips. "Ah, Doctor Ven, I am so pleased that you could come all this way on such short notice." He gave a curt little bow with his right hand clasped over his chest, but his eyes never wavered from her own. "Yes, there has been another incident similar to the one we encountered with that droll [member="Imka Larue"]. Although this one tried to flee authorities after illegally jumping into the system and refusing to allow one of my ships to investigate. Highly suspicious, no?" He'd gesture to the nearby door which led to the chamber where [member="Xena Amonali"] was being detained, "Shall we?"

The chamber itself was very reminiscent of any other chamber where individuals of dubious loyalties were kept under lock and key, the walls spartan and vaguely Imperialistic with various medical equipment scattered neatly throughout the room while the detainee was restrained on a nerve rack at the very center. A stone-faced officer was checking the woman's vitals on a machine in close proximity to the rack when the King and the Doctor entered, and at the behest of the monolithic Sith Lord he quickly vacated the chamber to leave the three of them alone together. While the abundance of various hyper-interrogation devices was obviously to anyone who took a good look around, it was clear that none of them had been used on the trespasser just yet.

The Dark Lord crossed his arms and said only a single word, "Begin."

 

[Xena Amonali]

Stirring slightly, Xena blinked a few times. Trying to clear her vision, the blurry shapes around her slowly coming in clear. She slowly turned her head around, trying to take in her bleak surroundings. Spotting the torture instruments, it all didn't click into her mind until she was looking forwards. The imposing figure of [member="Darth Carnifex"] standing alongside the clean and crisp looking [member="Irajah Ven"] was not the sight Xena was expecting to see.

Groaning to herself she attempted to move, finding her movements restricted by the nerve rack but also by the sudden shooting pain up from her back. Even if the chunk of transparisteel had been removed it still hurt like hell. Her amber eyes worked their hardest to refocus once more before she spoke up. Her voice a soft sound in the cold, mostly silent, room.

"Huh.. w-where am I?"

Panic for her current situation hadn't registered yet in her mind. All that did register was pure confusion on her current situation. It could just be that her young mind really wasn't prepared for what was coming up. Using the force, something she normally just did, was also not coming to her mind.

Her body was still covered with visible shrapnel wounds. Though it was odd, a lot of her wounds had a look that showed scarring, or at least the rebuilding of tissue.

 

[Kuzo]

There was no possibility of hiding the frown that crossed over her face immediately upon entering the room. Hazel eyes cast quickly around, brow furrowing slightly as they came to rest on [member="Xena Amonali"].

She was just a child.

But as her practiced gaze moved down to the peculiar wounds, they cast back up immediately to her face. Golden eyes.

A Firrerreon child.

Her steps faltered for one moment, mentally integrating the sudden series of events unfolding. Normally, she would inform someone that this was no place for an injured individual, and to move her to a proper medical facility immediately. She was, however, reasonably skittish about making any suggestions whatsoever to [member="Darth Carnifex"]. Especially ones that could be interpreted as a failure of skill on her part. She doubted she was going to be able adequately impress the importance of something like the need for a sterile work environment to him. Not that he couldn't understand of course.

But because he wouldn't care.

It would have been enough on it's own. But the girl was a Firrerreon. Irajah was almost certain of that. The virus that coursed through the Doctor's body was a descendant of the one that had almost utterly wiped out their race nearly a millennia ago. It's ability to rip through even the increased healing functions of the Firrerreon biology was part of what had made it so appealing for the researchers behind the current iteration of the Gideon Virus. The details in the original research about how the virus overcame the alien biology had been a leaping off point for everything they had done. And one of the few things Irajah had been unable to study on her own due to a lack of sample material.

She was a child.

She was a Firrerreon ​though as well.

Irajah stepped forward. She had to be careful, for so many reasons right now. She wanted, badly, to answer her question, but it was a question only he could answer- if she said more than he would want, well, it didn't bear considering.
​"Your majesty, she requires surgery to remove the shrapnel," she said, her tone polite and courteous. "I can perform it here, but a sterile environment would be.... more well suited. Due to the healing factor of her race, there are complications that can arise. It would be prudent to move her, with your permission."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

There was a scowl of annoyance blooming on the Sith Lord's face, his eyes narrowing as he looked down at the smaller doctor with his piercing glare. "Such trivialities do not concern me, Doctor. I want your cooperation, not excuses." He had half a mind to deprive her of breath again, but he restrained himself. If she hadn't learned that lesson all those weeks ago then she wasn't destined to continue working under his family's patronage, but he didn't think her that foolish.

Given enough time even the most stalwart of moral compasses would be devoured by the darkness of the world.

[member="Irajah Ven"] | [member="Xena Amonali"]​

 

[Xena Amonali]

Her gaze kept unfocusing and refocusing. There was something clouding her mind, and it wasn't the pain. She was having a surprisingly hard time clearing herself up.

"Where.. am I?" she managed to say once more. Even if she was hugging the edge of consciousness, she could at least manage that. The golden tinge to her skin began to fade with a hard, cold, silver replacing it. Fear started to seem into her mind, a weary feeling of omnipresent dread. Was it something in the air? No.. That is just crazy.

She once more tried to struggle against her binds. Her energy felt sapped, beyond whatever the nerve rack was doing to her. Each movement slowly tore at the silver scar tissue that had been forming around the shrapnel, a small trail of crimson reforming, staining whatever clothing she had left. Her breathing began to grow a bit heavier, her mind began to click things together slowly. She attempted to tap into the force, whether or not it worked was a different story but she was going to damn well try.

It took her a matter of seconds before she ran out of energy to try and maintain a manipulation on the force. Her body was just too focused on rebuilding itself, repelling infection and overall healing. Xena's gaze dropped down ever so slightly, the blurring shapes of [member="Darth Carnifex"] and [member="Irajah Ven"] moved across her vision like ghosts. A ghost of death, and a ghost of life. Only fitting for someone who should have, by all accounts, died in the crash.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah stood her ground as [member="Darth Carnifex"] turned that glare on her. She didn't shrink back or cower. However, she didn't argue either. It was clear that even a politely phrased suggestion teetered dangerously on the edge of his forbearance. Regardless of where she stood with his nephew, [member="Darth Prazutis"], Irajah held no illusions about her safety outside of his direct sphere. Not when it came to the man known more commonly as the Butcher King at least.

She inclined her head and murmured, "As you wish."

When she turned her attention back to [member="Xena Amonali"], the middle of her shoulder blades almost physically itched- having her back to him was a distinctly uncomfortable thing.

Kaine still hadn't answered the girl's question. Which certainly meant Irajah couldn't. Not so long as he was hovering there.

"My name is Irajah," she said softly, eschewing the usual Doctor Ven, as she moved across the room to the medical cart provided for her. "I'm sorry, this must all be very confusing. I'm here to help with your wounds. Can you tell me what is the last thing you remember?"

As she spoke, she started to prepare a local anesthetic from the cart. She paused, brow furrowing slightly. Carefully, she reached out, turning the medical bracelet on the girl's wrist to catch the light.

 

[Xena Amonali]

Thinking hard on what had occurred the girl spoke up again, "I remember... arriving around a planet I didn't recognise... then.. I remember getting hailed... I tried to run... I was scared. The very last thing I remember though was," She swallowed slightly, glancing up to examine [member="Irajah Ven"]'s features and reaction as she spoke, " well it was flying through the viewport... and then the pain.. so.. so much pain.." the girl coughed a bit, turning her head to the side to not cough on Irajah.

Xena's head dipped again, given the wounds she did have she should be howling in pain, unable to do anything without some sort of sedative. She did visibly flinch though when the bracelet around her wrist was turned. In the light, as clear as day, the information could be read, "Species: Firrerreo | Major Allergy: Bacta."

She tried one last time with asking, in her mind it was the only thing she could do, "Please.... I.. I just want to know where I am..." Her body was fully reflecting her state, a dull silver shade staying strong. She refused to meet her gaze with [member="Darth Carnifex"], she wasn't sure why but he was making her feel extremely uncomfortable by just being there. It was like his whole being just projected darkness which as unsettling to say the least.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah hoped, for her sake, that the girl was telling the truth. She let go of the ID bracelet, returning the first anesthetic to the cart and retrieving a different one. The first had traces of bacta, offering some healing along with the pain reduction. That, however, would not due in this situation at all.

"I'm going to recommend that you not watch what I'm about to do," she spoke quietly, as gently as she could. The entire time, the middle of her shoulders burned with the feeling of [member="Darth Carnifex"]'s eyes on them. She tried not to hunch, to keep focused on [member="Xena Amonali"].

"I'm going to inject a localized pain killer before I start to remove the shrapnel. You may feel some pressure, but that should be all. If at any point you do feel pain, please let me know and I can adjust the dose."

Slowly, she injected the contents of the needle just beneath the skin.

She hesitated, resisting the urge to look behind her. She hadn't been given any instruction other than to treat her- and so far, no indication that she was not allowed to speak had come. The girl had asked three times....

"Panatha," Irajah said softly. "You are on Panatha."

 

[Xena Amonali]

Xena just nodded her head, her body tensing up a bit as the needle entered her flesh. She began to think on what [member="Irajah Ven"] had said.

"Panatha...? Where is that...?" she thought to herself. Keeping her eyes closed, working on steadying her breathing. The numbing feeling of the sedative rushing into her body gave her a bit of a start, followed by waves of calm. A sigh of relief came from the girl as the pain she had started to die down to until it was like a low throb, if that.

Listening closely to the room around her, focusing primarily on the sound coming from Irajah and [member="Darth Carnifex"]; allowing the sounds of their breathing and movements fill her sense. Her body started to relax on the nerve rack, as much as she could manage anyways. At this distance Irajah could easily see the flesh rebuilding itself around the shrapnel and other debris that had littered her form. It was honestly a miracle the girl was alive.

In her current exhausted state, Xena could only think of a few things. What had gotten her into this mess? What went so horribly wrong that she ended up in a system that she didn't recognise. Those were some of the many thoughts that ran through her mind. Without really wanting to she started to try and reach out once more with the force, making an attempt to probe at her surroundings passively. Even if her connection was faint, it was at least something. Something that the others may not have picked up on at first.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah began her work, uneasy and uncomfortable. Normally, her patients would be fully sedated, at least one other pair of hands ready to do what was needed, and all in a sterile environment. This was, needless to say, not how she had been expecting this to go.

Once she was certain the area was numbed sufficiently, she started to remove the shrapnel, piece by piece. It was slow, delicate work- in some cases requiring that some of the already forming scar tissue be cut away completely. The bloody bits of metal and flesh were deposited in a metal dish with a surprising amount of care.

After all. Waste not, want not.

[member="Xena Amonali"] [member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Xena Amonali]

Xena kept as quiet as she could, the tugging of the durasteel, transparisteel and other metals and debris being removed was uncomfortable. She kept thinking over her situation, the bleak room, the two beings in there with her, and the rack she was held on. There had to be some way for her to get out.

A little bit into the removal the pain began to come back. It started as a low throb before growing to be a blazing pain once more. Each cut made the girl squirm slightly in pain. Small whimpers coming from her with tears starting to fall down her face. She tried to power through it but it was clear, she had gotten past the painkillers.

Something was odd though about all of that. She should have been sedated enough to give [member="Irajah Ven"] at least another 10-20 minutes if not longer. For some reason it was losing its effect much sooner. Irajah may have begun to notice something else, something that may have caused her a bit of pain in terms of cleaning everything out. Xena's body was rebuilding itself even as the wounds were opened. It was well known that firrerreon's have an accelerated healing factor, but it shouldn't be this rapid. Small incisions were closing up rapidly, with the flesh weaving itself into a deep silver scar.

The only words that came from Xena, was more of a plea. "P-please.. I.. I just want to go home.. I'm sorry..." It was silently whispered under her breath, the girl certainly didn't want to show weakness, especially infront of the imposing figure of [member="Darth Carnifex"]. Even through her pained state she was thinking. Thinking of how the heck to get out of this situation. Her mind starting to work its way through the problem she faced.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah frowned, pausing in her ministrations to inject another dose of local anesthetic.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "But it's not up to me."

Despite her race, the girl was healing *too* fast. She'd never seen anything like it. And not only healing, but metabolizing the painkillers at an astounding rate. She kept the observations to herself for the moment, but her mind was turning silently.

"Please tell me when the anesthetic is wearing off," she looked up at Xena. "I don't want this to be any more uncomfortable than it has to be- but the shrapnel can't stay in your body either."

All told, it took nearly a half hour to remove every shard from the girl's body. The initial dose of painkillers should have been more than sufficient for that time frame- but Irajah had needed to use three.

Amazing, she thought to herself. Everything had all nearly healed, leaving silver scar tissue. There would be no need to bandage any of the wounds.

[member="Xena Amonali"] [member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Amazing is correct, Doctor Ven."

Eerily silent for most of the procedure, the sudden vocal interjection by the Dark Lord of the Sith would be quite startling. He was still standing where he had been, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his posture domineering.

"The girl's ability to heal is beyond anything we have witnessed in a Firrerreo to date, at least in this epoch." It was abundant that while he may have remained silent and immobile he was actively assessing not only the Doctor's every maneuver, but also reading her mind in a subtle and unassuming manner. He uncrossed his arms and approached the rack, his gaze peering down to observe the rapid healing factor that quickly closed the once glass-afflicted wounds.

"I will require more quantitative samples."

[member="Xena Amonali"] | [member="Irajah Ven"]​

 

[Xena Amonali]

Xena couldn't stop herself from visibly flinching hard when [member="Darth Carnifex"] spoke up, specifically on the word "Doctor". Something in her mind told her that their interest was not a good thing, especially when it came from a being who radiated death. Her golden eyes darted around the room, trying to look for something that could help her.

It didn't take long before all of her wounds were covered in silver scar tissue. It was quite a fascinating process since the flesh seemed to almost weave itself back together like threads stitching together a torn piece of clothing. If Darth Carnifex was sensing out, he may also get the odd feeling that the healing was a mix of not only an enhanced healing factor, but also a tiny bit of the force.

In her uneasy mind Xena began to think over what Darth Carinfex said. He seemed to be referencing things that [member="Irajah Ven"] had been thinking. "If he can read minds.. then.. how will I find a way out..." she thought to herself absently, her mind also clearing up the last of the anaesthetic.

"What.. do you want from me?" She asked, the question was pointed right at Darth Carnifex, since it was very clear he was in charge. Her words sounded laboured, as if she was still working on getting over a huge work out. It certainly didn't help that Carnifex had moved closer, the feeling of the darkside hung heavy in the air, sapping more of Xena's energy.

The final thing that made her swallow the lump in her throat, happened to be when she heard that Carnifex wanted more samples. His words brought up some heavy thoughts that Xena had locked deep away. Further clouding up her mind with fear. She had to find a way out soon, fear reminding her that things may end really badly if she doesn't.

 

[Kuzo]

Irajah stood up slowly, suppressing a shudder. She deposited the metal dish full of shrapnel, skin and several thicker pieces of flesh onto the cart. Having the word plucked from her mind like that by [member="Darth Carnifex"] was beyond disturbing. While there had been no actual indication of his intrusion, becoming aware of it left the taste of bile thick on her tongue.

"I can take blood and hair samples," she said slowly, not looking at either of them.

But she knew that wasn't what he meant.

[member="Xena Amonali"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Carnifex suppressed a chuckle, "I wonder..."

He reached out with his right hand to graze [member="Xena Amonali"]'s skin with the tips of his fingers, tracing the silver scars that had formed along her arms. He could feel that this was not the mere work of just the advanced healing agent present in the girl's DNA, but also the work of the Force. He pinched tightly on the flesh of Xena's bicep, rubbing his thumb so hard into the skin that a bruise could easily form if not quickly swept away by her rapid healing factor.

"Could such miraculous powers recover a lost limb? I'm eager to try."

[member="Irajah Ven"]​