The Doctors Orders

[Kendall Ginn]

As Cage shook his head to Kendall's question there was a welcome feeling of ease, since at the very least they had a path to the ship. Cage continued to start sliding down the ridge. Kendall followed, although his balance is snow was off, and the descent was shaky, almost toppling over multiple times. Making it to the bottom Kendall waits outside the rather conspicuous entrance, as Cage took point.

Looking around, Kendall continued to watch for hostiles. At this point, they could easily be surrounded if the First Order was watching the area. His surveying didn't last long as he heard blaster shots coming from in the ship. Kendall jumped to attention holding up his blaster and taking cover on the wall of the ship. Hearing the man's ravings however, it became clear that he wasn't a threat, and with Cage's confirmation Kendall was relieved to find out this was their man.

"If that's our man tell him who you are, calm him the Kark down." After this Kendall caught a shift of color in one of the surrounding ridges. Shifting his focus to it the picture of a scouting drone became clear. "Drone, get down!" Kendall dropped down hiding himself as much as he can behind a mound of snow. If their man already dealt with a sith then the First Order was probably already here, makes sense to leave behind something to keep watch on such a large drop.

[member="Dr. Cage Freeland III"] , [member="Keanu Shan"]

 

[Keanu Shan]

Keanu followed the pair down the slope, taking up the rear as they all advanced towards the hulking wreck, which had lodged itself on this forsaken, frigid, ice ball of a planet. As they trudged across the snow Keanu, reflected on the mission. Cage had seemed to calm down, more mission focused. Why were they here? he wondered, sure it had been sold to them as a rescue mission, but the longer he knew Cage the less he thought this was a rescue born of friendship. Cage didn't seem to comprehend human interaction, Keanu doubted there was anyone who willingly associated with the Doctor.... "Except idiots like me" he thought.

Keanu had always suspected there was more to the rescue than met the eye. Mentally he reviewed his theories; Cage was after the information in order to sell it himself, Cage was an agent hired by an unknown power to retrieve the info, Cage was an agent trying to find and kill the target to stop the info leak, or Cage was actually telling the truth. The Doctor was hard to read, things were coming down to the wire and Keanu wished he could discover Cages true intentions before they found the Target, it was critical to Keanu's success. Keanu was no agent, in fact he didn't really consider himself a killer. True, he had done his share (and more) in the cockpit of a fighter, but that seemed different; more like a battle of the minds, a personal test with very high stakes. Could Keanu kill a man who was clearly a traitor to his people? He wasn't sure but he would definitely try if given a chance. The politician deserved to die...... after all the death and hardships suffered under the One Sith occupation, and now this traitor would ally himself with the First Order? Technically the First Order wasn't run by Sith but apparently they welcomed the scum into the organization. Keanu had little doubt he would have the strength to do the right thing when the time came.

As the team prepared to enter the ship, blaster fire lanced out erratically at them, and a man began yelling threatening them. The man thought they were Sith? Interesting, maybe he didn't realize the extent of the First Orders evil. Cage assured the team that this was their man "The Politician". "That explains the wild blaster fire" he quipped, with a smirk "I mean I'm no marksman but that was just plain awful".

Kendall warned "Drone! Get down!", Keanu immediately dropped onto his face in the snow, taking cover beside Kendall and his snow drift. Slowly he looked up, locating the drone as it skimmed over the snow drifts on its patrol. "You think it saw us?" he whispered to Kendall.

[member="Kendall Ginn"], [member="Dr. Cage Freeland III"]

 

[Dr. Cage Freeland III]

Kendall warned about an incoming scout drone. Without thinking, Cage slid back around the hull. He dropped into the snow, preempting the barrage of poorly aimed blaster fire that flew over his head. If there were First Order scout drones around the wreck, patrols probably weren’t far off. Not to mention who ever this Sith was Dack had been raving about. All that meant they didn’t have time to do this the nice way. He swiftly crawled through the snow on his hands and knees until he was safe behind a jagged piece of durasteel. His thermal mask clicked as he unhooked the faceplate then slid it up over his head. The shock of subzero air burning his skin and freezing his lungs took a few moments to get used to.

“Stop shooting you moron, I’m clearly no Sith. This is Dr. Cage, my team and I are here to get you off this frozen hell-hole. So if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t shoot me so I can do what you hired me to do!” He yelled over his shoulder.

“What… Cage, that really you?! How’d you find me!” Dack yelled back, relieved.

“Of course it’s me, now, can I approach you, or what?”

“Yeah… yeah, of course.”

Tentatively, Cage emerged from behind cover. No blaster fire. A little further into the wreck, he saw a shivering man curled up partially behind a collapsed door frame. He rushed over.

With the bedside manner as cold as the planet they were stuck on, he efficiently examined Dack while Dack bombarded him with questions that he ignored. He was banged up: scrapes, bruises, malnourished, clearly hypothermic, patches of frostbite covered his face and hands. Everything considered, not too bad.

Cage administered a few shots: antibiotics, bacta, stim. “Can you walk?”

“Ah, yeah, I’m a little slow on foot these days but I can move.”

“Good, that makes this a lot easier.”

All of a sudden, Cage felt as if a dark haze had washed over his mind. He couldn’t hold a thought. At least, not his own. It was like someone was jamming his mind.

Oh, yes, you’ll do perfectly, he heard a male voice. Was that coming from outside, or, inside his head? He looked around dazedly.

Your mind is already primed, it won’t take much to make you do my bidding. You already don’t care about anyone else. I approve.

Cage tried to shake it off, whatever it was…

With a final act of resistance, he switched his commlink to a mode that would continualy broadcast to Kendall and Keanu.

A shockwave rippled through his thoughts, then darkness utterly consumed him.

With an even more dead stare than normal, he looked down at Dack, who was still asking him questions.

Find the prototype. Ask him where it is, commanded the voice in his head.

Cage cut Dack off, “Where’s the prototype. We must find it.”

Dack looked at him, startled and confused. Cage had never shown the slightest interest in the prototype he was trying to sell before, that’s what made him perfect for his job. Why now? Dack supposed it didn’t matter anymore, he might as well come clean and fill him in. Maybe Cage could even help.

“Look, there is no prototype. It was all an elaborate set-up. The Corellian intelligence agency was helping the Galactic Alliance track down a black-market supply network used by the First Order to acquire an extremely dangerous weaponized virus they intend to use against Sullust, killing billions of people and causing chaos, terror, and panic throughout the Alliance. Crippling them. The fake prototype was just a way to find the virus. It worked, just not exactly the way we, or I, hoped, as you can see. The virus is aboard the black cruiser that did this,” he held out his arms and looked around the wreck, he coughed, “and if we don’t stop them, they’re going to do so much worse. The cruiser should still be in orbit around Hoth, this is their launch point, you and your team must help. I know it’s not the sort of thing you usually do, but I’ll quadruple your payment, four million credits, plus whatever else I can scrounge up. Billions of lives are at stake, will you do it?!”

| [member="Kendall Ginn"] | [member="Keanu Shan"] | [member="Darth Roth"] |

 

[Kendall Ginn]

As Kendall was laying low against a pile of snow, and he saw Keanu drop down beside him, and Cage ducks back towards the interior of the ship. He can hear Cage calling out to Dack, Kendall couldn't hear Dack's response over the wind, but soon Cage's comm turned on, and was held open. After Cage asked about the prototype, Dack began explaining what his true reason for being here was. As it turns out, Dack was on a special mission to destroy a First Order virus, and had evidently failed. This new information brought to light, a lot changed about this job.

Billions of lives. That's the number Dack throws out, billions of lives could be snuffed out. He asks Cage for help, Cage and his team, can they really do something? Is this really a surmountable odd? "Doesn't matter, billions." Kendall tells himself. He looks over to Keanu and speaks into his comm. "You hear that? This just got more interesting." Problem is, the new target is in orbit, and they're stranded in a frozen wasteland. Sure doesn't seem do-able.

The drone, the drone must have been sent by a local outpost, and with that comes communications, possibly vehicles, most importantly, options. The drone also signifies patrols nearby, doubt they're walking through this. It's risky but if Kendall can being a patrol to them, they ambush it and take their vehicles, then the group can get to the nearby outpost. "I've got a plan." Kendall jumps up from the snow bank he was laying against, and begins firing his carbine towards the drone. unsure if it sends data instantly or has to return to it's controller, Kendall avoids destroying it, but as it clearly notices him, it begins to fly back out of the crevice and away from the crash. Kendall lowers his gun, and turns back to Keanu.

[member="Dr. Cage Freeland III"] . [member="Keanu Shan"]

 

[Keanu Shan]

"Yeah, I heard alright", said Keanu in response to Kendall's question. The stakes on this mission had just skyrocketed. Could they help? It didn't really matter if they could or not, the group was already stuck in a rapidly escalating situation. With Keanu's experience he understood (much to his chagrin), that the only way out was right into the thick of things. Surely there was another way. Kendall had an idea, Keanu watched as Kendall jumped up and began firing at the approaching drone. "Wait, what are you doing! You should have waited until it was closer, now it's going to escape!". Hitting the comms he announced "get ready for company, Kendall just had to stir up a whole nest of trouble. The only way out of this is to keep our heads low". Keanu's convictions were beginning to weigh heavy on him. How could he let a whole planet be wiped out? Painful memories of his own family, surfaced. He had a job to do, and as much as he didn't want too he knew it was right. If he was good at nothing else in life he could try to stop what had happened to him. Besides he mused he had nothing left to live for other than justice.

Kendall leapt up from behind his snow bank concealment and rushed inside, "Dack, you were holding off the Sith before you said. How many enemy and what type of weapons, were gonna need to ambush them if we want to make it out of here". He turned next to Cage "Is he good for the money? The extra 4 million?". Keanu wanted to survive, and he didn't consider himself mercenary but.... money might help sway his nagging conscience. "First we get a ship, then we decide if we help you Dack". Keanu glanced outside into the snow again. He was sure they didn't have much time, they needed to act quickly to secure an ambush zone.

[member="Dr. Cage Freeland III"], [member="Kendall Ginn"]

 

[Kendall Ginn]

Kendall had heard Keanu tell him that he had gone too soon, as well as telling Cage of his "stirring up a nest of trouble" "It was supposed to escape you bleeding idiot!" as Keanu rushed inside Kendall follows and hears him mention a ambush. Even if he had misunderstood Kendall's actions they at least had the same idea in mind. "Obviously we need to ambush them, otherwise we're caught in the middle of this cold ass wasteland an no way to get to that virus!" He came in next to Keanu, stating this after the pilot made the comment about getting a ship. "Where are we going to get a ship besides the First Order on this desolate dung hole! So they come to us, simple."

 

[Dr. Cage Freeland III]

The sith controlling Cage screamed inaudibly to everyone, except Cage, as the sith’s anger raged through his mind, almost as if it were Cage’s own. The dark side began flooding his mind and body. Before, the sith’s hold on him had been remote, distant, and simple. Now, the sith began channeling more of himself through Cage, until finally, he didn’t just control Cage’s mind, he was his mind.

Cage’s eyes reddened, then glowed noticeably, and his voice became not his own, but that of the terrifying personification of the controlling sith.

“You fool! You dare try to deceive the First Order!!” the sith yelled through him at Dack, once he’d finished his plea.

With supernatural strength, especially for Cage, who always detested close physical confrontation, he slapped Dack into the durasteel wall a few feet behind him. The blow, compounded by his already weakened state, knocked Dack out cold, who slumped to the ground.

Feeling the approach of Keanu and Kendall, the sith turned around just as Keanu started yelling, “Dack, you were holding off the Sith before you said. How many enemy and what type of weapons, we’re gonna need to ambush them if we want to make it out of here… Is he good for the money?” Kendall said to Keanu, “Where are we going to get a ship besides the First Order on this desolate dung hole! So they come to us, simple.”

In a booming voice charged with dark force energy, as if it were and weren’t emanating from Cage’s body, the sith remarked, “I get the feeling he is good for the money but you’ll never collect it! Not only do you destroy my apprentice, you think you’re getting anywhere close to the Amens virus!” he laughed maniacally, as sith are frequently want to do. “Hoth will be your frozen graves!” he yelled as electrical dark force energy coursed through and around his body, before being focused by his outstretched hands and fingers toward Keanu and Kendall. Strings of lighting arched from his fingertips toward the two, “No one defies Darth Imperium!”

[member="Keanu Shan"] | [member="Kendall Ginn"]

 

[Kendall Ginn]

Arriving behind Cage, a booming voice welcomed Kendall. It was not one that belonged to Cage, and with the mention of his apprentice, Kendall could peace together what was happening. His fist clenched as the controlled Cage addressed their plans, can these arrogant sith really reach into people's minds like this? It's an unacceptable amount of power, and Kendall would not sta- "AAAAHHHHHHH!" A streak of dark lighting interrupted Kendall's thought as he dove back out of pseudo Cage's eye-line. Well, quite a crossroads, Kendall didn't want to kill Cage, but was there a way to subdue him as a overcharged lightning slinger? Additional the First Order Patrol was on it's way. Kendall's eyes darted around for a moment to confirm Keanu hadn't been roasted by the attack. He then spent the next few precious seconds reminding himself of his armaments, his carbine, blaster pistol, trusty Vibroknife, and the flamethrower strapped to his back. "Make your move sith" Kendall thought to himself, though he loathed the idea of any move said sith could produce.