Wandering the Wastelands

[Olom Grihk]

Dagobah System, mid-afternoon.


Olom grinned. The Columi mastermind had landed on this old swamp planet drawn to some darkness here in the force. The wood here wasn't as warped as the Felucian wilds, but the weather was nicer. Humid, muggy, slightly lower than average gravity, albeit not as low as his homeworld. This wasn't his home planet per se, but it would be a decent place to settle for the time being.

He had brought what he could here. A few weather-proofed labor droids, some tools, and his own cleverness. He had landed his ship in a small, but stable rock outcrop. And now, he was meditating. He would focus. He would find the darkness that lingered on this planet, and train within it. He would become more here, with or without the politics of the former empire aimed to destroy him. He blinked as he swore he sensed something. Bah, let whomever come. After all, what had he to fear from this planet?

 

[Valik]

Warren Valik, through a combination of Sith Alchemy to alter his appearance and a Force Disperser in order to hide his presence in the Force, looked like an unassuming gray-haired old doctor. He was on Dagobah to gather samples of various specimens, examine wildlife, analyze fungal and plant patterns, and other various studies in order to see if he could find something worth replicating, perhaps a poison or some sort of beast he could turn into an interesting Sith Spawn. One of the last things he expected to find however, was a Colomi, and a Sith if he was reading the Force correctly. Admittedly he might not have, but in any case it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was a Colomi.

"Excuse me, sir!" He said, bringing himself to the attention of the Colomi as he walked over. "I don't mean to pry, but are you a Colomi? I am a doctor, well I'm really a pharmaceutical researcher in truth, but anyways I have a colomi patient back at Coruscant, and I'm have difficulty finding a suitable treatment for his species. His biology is so different than what I'm used to, and with his body so corrupted from radiation it's hard to get a good feeling for his species with him specifically. If you don't mind could I take a DNA sample and examine it, to see if I could figure out how to cure him?"

@[member="Olom Grihk"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom blinked at the man. He didn't seem quite right. And his story was a bit much, to boot. A Columi so desperate he'd turn to a humanoid for help? A humanoid so vapid that instead of appealing to Columi Commerce Board or Guild of Medics, he would instead entrust himself to wander a planet without any technology in hopes of finding a relevant cure? It diodn't stand up to scrutiny. At all. It was interesting, though. And he liked interesting.

"You are quite a good performer," he said with a smirk. "Still, I'm afraid that story reeks of of madness. If you were searching for research on Columi as a species," he said, waving a hand around, "You'd pick a planet of similar environment to our own for extrapolating DNA and anatomical similarities. Not this backwater swamp," he said with a chuckle. "Still, you've intrigued me. There are much more unique species than myself on this planet to analyze. What's the real truth here? Unlike msot Columi, I'm not one to hoard knowledge. If your research is of interest to me, I'll contribute in a fitting way," he said calmly.

His teeth were sharp, his eyes flickering a dull red. He couldn't sense any force energy on this man, but his deceptive nature was self-evident, and his body language was that of a curious, methodical sort--it reminded him of a serial killer he had interrogated when he was still part of the Sith's governance. He waited to hear his new conversation partner's retort. It would be...enlightening, to say the least.

 

[Valik]

Valik grinned, and let out a small laugh, heartier than the years displayed in his alchemically altered appearance. "If I a good performer I'd have a DNA Sample." He said, considering for a moment what to tell the man and what not to tell the man. "I'm a scientist, of many different subjects and practices. I've made machines that can capture Jedi and make the great Mandalorians unable to take a step." He said, each of his words true, though not revealing everything. "I'm very, very good at ending lives, but recently my studies have taken a turn. Now it the production rather than destruction of life that interests me, cloning, genetic alteration, and so on and so forth." He explained, again, truthfully, yet not revealing every nuance. He was a columi, so he had a better chance than most to keep up with Valik's intellect, but it was still best not confuse him.

"Your people have interested me for quite some time. Your species reproduced solely through cloning. I'd like a DNA sample to see if I can obtain the effects that has, how a species cloned for so long retains viability without degenerating to clone madness, the effects of the lack of reproductive organs, how you manage to move your arms unlike many of your kin." He continued, still finding the not-complete truth as his best option. "Your species is a puzzle I haven't had the pleasure of solving. I came here to study the dragonsnakes and swamp slugs and see if there were any traits worth documenting, but you are far more interesting to me than they. A blood sample would be ideal, but I can work off of a simple cotton swab. Would you care to indulge me?"

@[member="Olom Grihk"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom nodded as the man spoke. Admittedly, the Columi's cloning technology was superlative--even "deviated" samples like himself came out relatively healthy and neurologically powerful. His own mutations from his force-sensitivity aside, there was usefulness to his DNA. He considered the man's curiosity, and had to be impressed with his reasoning. "I can't promise that the DNA is terribly easy to reverse-engineer post-synthesis. However, I can provide you a tissue sample," he said slowly getting up and grabbing his walking stick. "Your equipment might be a bit harsh for my fragile form. We will perform the necessary extraction on my ship," he said calmly, walking towards the ramp on his vessel and gesturing the alchemist to follow him.

"I'm also interested in the wildlife here," he mused as he walked into the ship, scanning his left hand against a biometric security pad. "I believe watching the dragonsnake in its natural habitat can produce some insights not only into its' immune system, but it's incredible musculature," he said with a nod. "Perhaps with time, and few good specimens dissected, I may even develop a taming method," he said as he walked into the med-bay. "Watch your head. The doors are a tad low for some humans," he said calmly.

"Dagobah is an interesting planet," he mused out loud. "Many mysteries, and a great deal of life, both mundane and exotic. I think the ecology of this place has mysteries we've yet to exploit, but it will take time to find," he said with a smirk. "You wouldn't happen to know any good sites for native fauna nests, would you? I'd be willing to trade some data on Columi homeworld cloning methods--might be handy with this blood," he said with a slightly tempting tone. He could use some of the younglings of various species as samples, provided he could get data. This scientist of questionable ethics seemed like a decent source for information.


He then nodded as if suddenly remembering something. "By the way, what is your name? Shouldn't just be selling blood to strangers, after all. I'm Metassi Ungvar," he said, lying calmly and quickly. An old Columi name, one of the noble house names, but not a terribly uncommon one. Besides, he doubted this man would get access to the Columi DNA banks just to verify Olom's existence. It seem like he had much better to do. He began calibrating the tissue extraction module.





@[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Valik chuckled a bit as the Colomi rose and grabbed his walking stick. "If it were easy I wouldn't need it." He said softly as the the Colomi continued towards his ship. He listened closely, not wanting to appear overbearing as well as also trying to gather any information. While he doubted the Colomi could match his intelligence, there was always a possibility he exceeded the alchemist in knowledge. Especially when it came cloning, which admittedly wasn't -exactly- what he was looking for, but still good information to know regardless. Never know when such a thing could come in handy.

Valik noted the biometric security as he scanned his hand onto the panel. It wasn't natural for Valik to 'case a joint', but when dealing with a person one on one you never took your eyes off of them, and Valik had a tendency to examine technology specifically. It was technology he could bypass by cutting off the Colomi's hand, cloning the Colomi, or perhaps even alchemically altering his hand to match his with a DNA sample. Or he could stick a saber through it, slice it manually, but such things lacked subtlety and efficiency. Hopefully he'd not need it, but the Sith Scientist had not come as far as he had by not being prepared.

As the Colomi spoke of his intentions, following the dragonsnakes and studying them, Valik reached into his pocket and pulled out a small container of what looked to be shards of permaglass, and a transmitter. "If you can stick this to a slugthrower and fire it at a dragonsnake it'll transmit a signal until the snake manages to get it off. If you can get a shot near the snout and get it to inhale some it'll transmit a signal for over a month. That should find you your nesting grounds." He said, before pulling back. "Name's Warric Vos. Old Kiffar, but I never got the tattoos. Bit of a falling out with the family." He said, mixing truth with lie.

"I suppose that data would be pretty handy in general. I managed to get access to a few spaarti cylinders, so I've studied methods of cloning before, but I won't I've managed to replicate the process without hitches. Any data would be useful and appreciated."

@[member="Olom Grihk"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom nodded, rolling up a sleeve of his gown and chuckling. The needle on the droid quickly and silently went into his shoulder. Olom seemingly ignored the pain, thanking his lucky stars that his skill with the force could help him focus elsewhere. Hell, his skill with the force was the only reason e could move of his own accord. He nodded as the needle retracted, a small canister and grayish ooze contained within. "I'm not certain of your familiarity with Columi anatomy," he said softly, "But the tissue sample is a mixture of blood and a type of internal fluid for easing muscle movements. It should contain sufficient cellular mass to provide you with DNA, and a sample of internal bio chemistry," he said, making a slight show of rolling his sleeve down slowly, accentuating the mock pain. After all, appearing weak was important. He slowly moved over to a console, typing out multiple holographic commands and plugging a message disk into the system.

"This download should give you some additional research of note. I'm going to be camped out here for a few months, in all likelihood. I may even set up a more permanent lab near here. Feel free to drop by, should you wish to exchange more information, or discuss the results of your research. I'm Certain it will be enlightening," he said with a smirk and nod to Valik. He couldn't help but wonder what secrets the cold man was really hiding. Maybe he'd extract some of the better ones in due time. After all, much could be gleaned here.

@[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

Valik took the canister of fluids and the data disc. "These will help me immensely." He said as he put the two pieces of data into his pack. "Now, this has been enlightening, but why don't you say we get some work done?" He said as he began to leave the ship. "I've possession of a tools in my ship that would be useful for capturing larger specimens such as the Dragonsnake. Hows about I head back there, get my equipment, meet with you in morning so you have some time to rest after the sampling, and then the two of us go out there and capture a couple? Set up some trackers. Explore the bogs. I could do the work myself, as I feel you could as well, but I feel our combined effort would be worth more than the sum of it's parts."

@[member="Olom Grihk"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom smirked. "That does seem practical. This planet's been pretty high risk for researchers in the past, and it couldn't hurt to have two clever minds peeling the pieces apart," he said with a smirk. He had to admit, this guy was definitely a snake in the swamp, but it couldn't hurt to have a colleague, and besides, it's not like he trusted his cohorts in the Empire, either. They were all...insane, to put it mildly. He nodded. "In the morning, then. We'll see if we can't garner a few specimens of interest."

He smirked, rolling his sleeve down slowly and nodding. He'd meditate and heal a little, focusing his energy. He'd be limber as all get out tomorrow. He'd need to store his strength up, after all. And reboot a few of his droids....

He smirked. "Have a lovely day, Dr. Vos," he said with a chuckle as he began calibrating a few things on his computer. It was time to do a little preparation before he rested a bit.

@[member="Valik"]

 

[Valik]

(My apologies, didn't see the @ until today)

Valik headed back to his ship and let the Columi by his lonesome. At his ship he put the blood sample in a proper storage device to make sure it didn't become riddled with bacteria or otherwise corrupted, before heading to get some rest. He slept well, knowing he had gathered a much needed resource, and was going to gather another less needed resource in the morning. As he awoke h put on some simple armor, light and cheap durasteel crap, but useful and going along with the budget of a field scientist, and then obtained a couple of old Gorgon rifles from his armory, bringing one for him and one for the columi.

Once he was ready he headed out and eventually sat on a stump in front of the man's ship before picking up a small rock and chucking it at the transport. That should have gotten his attention.

@[member="Olom Grihk"]