Private Rebirth

[Inanna Harth]

So she was a native. Inanna was reluctant to push the issue further knowing that, but Amani didn’t seem completely closed to the idea.

The Shi’ido shrugged. “New people arrive every day. Some afflicted, others not. There’s not much rhyme or reason to it. One medic won’t make too much of a difference… but whenever you can spare the time, the offer is open.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani debated the idea further, before nodding, "Once this camp leaves Tython, I'll have more time on my hands. Then I can make my way to Erakhis, see how I can help."

"So… consider the offer taken." She forced a smile. The grievances of the Maw had forged a grim sense of camaraderie in Amani, for others who suffered under them. If there was any effort to be made on her part, she would make it.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna managed a small smile as Amani accepted the offer. The prospects certainly looked good—with the battle won, Tython would have a relatively quick rate of recovery compared to the planets still under Brotherhood control.

“I’ll send you the coordinates,” she said, pulling out her datapad and doing so. “Any supplies you can spare would be helpful as well. And thank you.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani pulled out a datapad in response to register the coordinates, and nodded. "Don't mention it."

"I usually try to bring fresh supplies any time I take a new job. I'll see what I can get. Anything in particular they're needing more than others?"

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“General supplies. More than just medical. We’re… often short on food and other necessities.” Inanna paused to clear the lump in her throat. “Anything helps.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

"I think I've still got some suppliers in the Outer Rim. I'll make a few calls, see if they can get me anything in bulk. They know I'm good for it," She smiled a bit. Handy contacts were the backbone of any marginally successful spacer ventures. Even after she'd distanced herself from it, there were still some lingering benefits to be had.

"I won't come empty-handed," Amani assured. She'd round it all up herself if she had to. With that she took her leave of Inanna's ship with a final, "See you on Erakhis."

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“Good. See you.” Inanna wasn’t exactly at her most eloquent right now.

She bid Amani farewell, then prepared for launch. Within minutes, she was off the planet and watching the stars blur into white lines as her ship jumped into hyperspace.

In a few more hours, she’d be delivering the body of yet another dead son to her mother. The family would sing lamentations; his adoptive clan would prepare his body for burial, but rather than finding rest in the earth of his homeworld, the remains would be incinerated and the ashes preserved until it was safe to go home again.

LATER

Erakhis was an oceanic world located at the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Dotted with hundreds of tiny islands, much of the population was concentrated in arcologies. The inhabitants had welcomed refugees to their world, but their intense germaphobia—the result of spending most of their lives in a sterile, rigidly controlled environment—meant that the refugees had to either seek citizenship (a length process which required a thorough disinfecting) or stay in isolated camps outside the cities.

Exposed to the elements.

On a planet known for its intense storms.

Amani arrived during one such hurricane. High-speed winds turned the rain to ice, whipping at Inanna’s body. She was out there waiting to meet with the Mirialan, bundled up in a salvaged environmental suit.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

When Amani had signed up, she wasn’t quite expecting this level of inclement weather. Not like it would have deterred her or anything, but more of a heads up would have been appreciated.

She grumbled passingly as the storms wracked the hull of her ship, keeping her well on alert for what would normally be a simple landing. She touched down, and as soon as the exit ramp opened Amani was greeted with a blanket of heavy precipitation belting down all over, creating an incessant, tinny ring against her vessel.

The healer was bundled up in a few mismatched coats and other weather gear, meeting Innana’s eyes from across the distance. In spite of the unpleasant conditions, she smiled visibly, and shouted over the din of the storm, “I didn’t come empty handed!” Behind her, a few stacks of tied-down crates could be just barely seen, containing some standard medical supplies, and more general necessities. Food, especially.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

At the sight of Amani standing at the top of the ramp with a few stacks of supplies behind her, Inanna suffered a slight case of deja vu. It was like Kahlil Noble ‘s visit all over again… except this time they wouldn’t be dealing with any Fleshtakers.

One could hope, anyway…

“Let’s get them in there!” She pointed to a series of buildings. Part of an abandoned high school, the campus had been put to use by the refugees as a central headquarters. Under the current conditions, it also served as a makeshift hospital.

The building had a faulty generator, leading to constantly flickering lights and other fickle systems. But it was dry and provided shelter from the storm.

Inanna helped to move the crates, enlisting a few of the refugees as well. Security was noticeably hovering around the entrance—large, burly Shi’ido armed with paddle beamers and other weapons set to stun. Inanna gestured to an elderly female Shi’ido who stood poised with a sterile needle.

“Mandatory test to make sure you are who you say you are,” she explained. “It’s just a finger pinprick. We’ve got to see the color of your blood.”

If it was black, that meant Amani was really a Shi'ido who had been made into a Fleshtaker. If it was red or whatever color Mirialan blood was, she was in the clear.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani took the restraints off her cargo, welcoming the extra help on board to unload everything she had.

Stepping off she was greeted by a strange lady with a needle, which in most circumstances would’ve seemed concerning, but Innana quickly explained. Although the reasoning was still a bit vague.

“Oookayyy…?” Amani apprehensively held out her finger, flexing slightly at the sudden prick, which left behind a dollop of red. She looked expectantly between the two Shi’ido, “Is that… good then?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Inanna held her breath until the test had been completed, with the results being that Amani’s blood was red. She exhaled before replying, “Yes, it’s good. You passed.”

Judging by the confusion in Amani’s tone, a more elaborate explanation was due. “We have a problem with Fleshtakers—that is, Shi’ido who have been brainwashed by the Maw into becoming double agents. They normally hide among the refugees, but sometimes they’ll pose as relief workers, medics, and so on in order to sabotage the camp. If we know the person isn’t supposed to be a Shi’ido, but they have black blood, it’s an immediate giveaway, no advanced testing needed.”

Even the most skilled shapeshifters among them would still bleed black. It was one of the few traits the Shi’ido couldn’t change about themselves.

“Right, let’s get going then.” Inanna led the way through the halls of the school. Some of the walls still bore faded signs, decorations, and student’s artwork pinned up. The classrooms had been converted into sickrooms for the ill and the wounded.

As they made their way further into the building, the condition of the patients in the rooms became gradually more severe until finally they reached a room which was sealed shut. “The people who have been exposed to the Wretchedness—er, to the biological weapon of the Maw are being quarantined here.” She reached out, punching in a code to unlock the door. “I’m immune to it now, so it won’t matter if I come in, and you won’t be affected by it.”

She still waited for Amani to enter first.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

“Oh.” Amani shut her mouth. That sounded like a pretty valid reason to be suspicious. Anything called a Fleshtaker was probably not great.

As she followed Inanna through the school her thoughts lingered on the plight the Shi’ido were facing. A bit too much internal musing brought it back to herself. What if she was a brainwashed Shi’ido, and just didn’t know it? What if her whole life was some lie crafted to fit the illusion?

Oh wait, they just proved that couldn’t be the case.

No more getting lost in her own thoughts for a while.

They came to a wing of the school containing the worst cases, Amani now decidedly more attentive by the time Inanna spoke again. Wretchedness. Another ominous name that did little to improve the atmosphere. “How’d you get an immunity? Natural or…?” She trailed off for Inanna to answer, her focus turning more the quarantine zone as she took her first anxious step inside.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

“I survived,” Inanna replied. “If treatment is administered in time and you survive, you develop an immunity to the Wretchedness. It no longer has the same effect no matter how many times you’re exposed to it afterwards.”

The effect, which Amani was soon to witness in the quarantine zone, was nothing short of horrific. A fleshy mass lay on the table, no longer discernible as humanoid. It looked as if they had melted like candle wax. Every once in a while the blob would twitch, as though it were trying to reconstitute itself, to no avail.

A dozen others had been reduced to a similar nigh-liquid state. There were only three medics on duty, scurrying around and trying to keep an eye on all of the patients. They hardly took notice of Inanna and Amani’s arrival, too busy with their work.

“We’ve been able to stabilize them, but treatment is more complicated.” Inanna gestured to the nearest patient. “Requires surgery to rearrange certain organs, and other stuff I don’t fully understand. But, the medics are here to help—and now so are you.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Whatever Amani had been expecting when they stepped inside, literally never could have matched what truly awaited. Hiding any sort of outward reaction was simply not possible, but she at least kept it from becoming little more than a drop of her jaw.

The healer understood Shi'ido were… malleable. But this was nigh-incomprehensible levels of body horror. "How could they…?" Amani sighed annoyedly. Who was she kidding; The Maw obviously had no qualms about their atrocities. More fuel to her fire.

"What can you tell me? About the Wretchedness, about treatment options, anything." There would be opportunities to learn, but whatever Inanna had in experience would make for a better jumping off point. Meanwhile Amani threw off the bag slung over her shoulder, methodically checking over various medical accoutrements for her personal use.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Rather than answer Amani’s question herself, Inanna caught the attention of one of the scurrying medics. “The new gal’s here. What do you need her to do?”

The medic, a male Shi’ido whose current form had been optimized for medical treatment, including many eyes and deft, delicate fingers perfect for surgery, blinked at the Mirialan. “The virus inhibits nerve and density control. We have the formula for an antiviral, but production has been slow due to our having just one enzymer.”

He gestured for Amani to approach one of the infected patients, pointing to a sealed incision wound on the chest—or what appeared to be the chest, seeing as their head had more or less fused to their torso.

“We inserted a pressure resuscitator into the trachea of each patient to feed oxygen into their lungs and avoid asphyxiation, but it’s only a temporary fix. Ideally we would put them in an oxygenation chamber and perform connective surgery, but we don’t have a surgeon on hand at the moment.” He looked up at Amani with all of his eyes. “Please tell me you can do surgery.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

The Shi’ido medic’s appearance was a bit off-putting, but considering their surroundings it was hardly the strangest sight Amani was being exposed to. She blinked a bit as she tried to focus, taking in all the information at once for an end result that left her understandably a little overwhelmed.

His final question didn’t receive any outward response for a few moments, until finally she spoke, “...Yeah…” Amani shrugged, the tone in her voice sounding more like a ‘screw it, might as well give surgery a shot' rather than a ‘yes, I have definitely done surgery before’.

Which was unneeded, really, because she had definitely done surgery before.

Still, there was some underlying nervousness about attempting it on a subject so sensitive and so, well, mushy. Another second passed before Amani seemed to straighten up, and answered again more firmly, “Yeah. Yes. I can.” Far be it from her to let her anxiety take center stage when there were lives at stake. The healer fought herself out of such emotion, letting her training take the wheel. “You have an oxygenation chamber?”

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

The medic nodded and pointed to a large machine, recognizable as an oxygenation chamber to those well-versed in medical equipment. “Just one, and a dozen patients who need it every day it seems.”

He turned back to the patient, starting to wheel the bed toward the chamber. “We don’t have any time to waste. If you can start immediately, it would be for the best.” There was an underlying note of urgency in his tone. If they waited too long, the patients would either start losing body mass as their cells died of asphyxiation, or their bodies would just give out from the stress.

Inanna eyed Amani, wondering just how good the woman was with a scalpel. She hadn’t sounded all that reassuring when she answered the medic’s question about her experience with surgery. But there was nothing she could do except hope and pray it all worked out in the end.

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

"Then let's start immediately," Amani resigned to the commitment with a nervous sigh, and followed. The chamber opened, and the fleshy mass of Shi'ido was laid inside. It sealed shut, and soon filled the interior with a constant stream of oxygen, as well as altering the air pressure within. This allowed the patient a relatively unimpeded intake of air, and kept the body in a state that was easier to maintain.

She looked back at the medic, and Innana, before slipping her hands through the attached glovebox that would allow her to operate from outside of the capsule. Amani steeled herself, taking a firm grasp of the scalpel inside, and making the first incision. Outside concerns were no longer relevant. It was time to work; And time it was going to take.

Goodbye healthy sleep schedule for the foreseeable future.

Inanna Harth​

 

[Inanna Harth]

Surgery could take hours, let alone several surgeries. Inanna wasn’t going to hang around the whole time. She had other duties to attend to. Besides, it brought back bad memories of her own experience with the Wretchedness…

The medics were there to assist, filling in some of the gaps in Amani’s knowledge of Shi’ido physiology. When the first patient was finished and the antiviral was administered, signs of improvement rapidly began to manifest. The mass of flesh spasmed, then began to reform into something more recognizably humanoid. They were quickly ushered into Recovery, making room for the next patient.

The second, however, deflated the victory of the first. Large portions of their body mass had already turned black with cell death. Too much time had passed, and it was unlikely that they would survive regardless of treatment.

Chewing his lip, the medic reluctantly said, “Don’t bother with this one. She’s too far gone. The next is in better condition and can still be saved, provided we don’t keep him waiting.”

Amani Serys​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani found relief in her success, though not respite. As soon as the first was wheeled off, she was in the zone for round two, so much so that the medic's recommendation nearly slipped her by for a moment. As soon as it registered, her face, once decorated by determination and poise, deflated. "...What? N-no. I can't-"

She looked at the patient, then the medic, then back at the patient, as if things would suddenly be better the second time, "I can't make that decision," Amani whimpered. Her flaw as a healer? She was dangerously idealistic. And now it was being put to the ultimate test.

One she was determined to pass.

Amani reached out to the dying woman, and channeled the Force into a link between them. Detoxify Poison, an ability intended to root out such curses from the source, was one she was quite familiar with. All that healer training had to mean something.

Seemingly, it did. The woman's body seemed to naturally reform into something more familiar, slowly, but undeniably. Amani gasped at her own success. "I have a bacta tank. On my ship. Get her in there to keep that necrosis from spreading." She ushered the medic to wheel her away.

"I need triage. Give me the most urgent cases right now. We can turn this around." And just like that she was commanding the room. Detoxing every single patient was likely a tall order, given the amount of energy it would expend. But if those in the worst condition could be saved now, it would make it a lot easier to get to saving everyone.

Inanna Harth​