OOM: Scientific Inquiry

(OOC: Some lines taken from canon.)

Ibani is getting very, very tired of hearing the shrieks of angry Colicoids, of having their ichor splattered all over her armor. She nudges what appears to be a stinger the size of her head with one armored boot. This one had been much bigger than the others and its shrieks had drawn Colicoids out of what appeared to be all the walls and the floor. "I'd guess that was the Queen of this colony," she remarks to Khem, who makes a grunt of what might be agreement.

Not impressed with this fight, apparently. It figures. Ibani sighs, and stretches to relieve an ache in her back. "One room left to check before we can call this trip a bust."

Last room's the charm, apparently, as this room holds a working terminal with research data on it.

.....Progress on the experiments is not going without a hitch, but we seem to have overcome the initial obstacles we faced when we began. Recently, Team Five reported that the subjects responded positively to the waste from the hazardous vault. Our only remaining concern is that the casualty rate seems to have gone up in this round of testing. So far, we've lost two of our best scientists and three research assistants. At this rate, we almost can't afford to be successful. At any rate, I have recorded the formula for the chemical compound that has thus far produced the best results. I have also diagrammed its structure and how I believe it interacts with the Colicoid cell structure and the toxic waste. Hopefully, we will be able to figure out the cause of the rise in the subjects ferocity and eliminate casualties from here forward.

Ibani copies the data files attached to that entry, the last one on the system. The scientific portions of the documentation might as well be gibberish, and the mention of increased aggression causes a pang of concern, but she doesn't have any better leads at this point. Maybe someone back at Sobrik can make sense of all of this.



She returns to find Major Bessiker being lambasted through the holocom by a man whose rank insignia proclaim him a Colonel. "Major, if we don't get those supply vehicles...!" he shouts.

"My men are working on it, sir," Bessiker replies calmly, "but until that shipment of plasteel I requested three months ago comes in --"

"I don't care!" the Colonel interrupts. Tear it off the walls if you have to!" Then he ends the holocall abruptly to cap off his display of rudeness. Really, there's no call for that sort of behavior!

Major Bessiker notices her, then. "Don't worry about the colonel. He's loud and impatient, but we all are these days, what with the supply shortage." Ibani would not give the Colonel nearly that much credit, personally. Possibly the Major is a much better person that she is. "Did you manage to find anything out at the lab? Captain Ilun and I have been doing our own research, but we haven't discovered much."

"I did, in fact," Ibani replies, her pleased smile hidden by her helm. She hands the datapad to the Major, who dutifully takes it. He opens the file, reads through it once, twice, turns the datapad ninety degrees as if in the faint hope that this will somehow aid his comprehension. He then looks imploringly at Captain Ilun.

"Have a look at this, Captain. I can't make head or tail of it."

Captain Ilun reads through the documentation, brow furrowed. "Hmmm. Well, this confirms our suspicions that the Colicoids were being mutated to clean up the waste. And I think the chemical mutagen they were using could work, in theory." Interesting, very interesting. Looks like there's more to the Captain than meets the eye if he could make sense of THAT.

Major Bessiker's response to that explanation is one of cheerful relief. "Well that's it! That's our solution, right? We just replicate this chemical mutagen!"

Captain Ilun coughs meaningfully. "Um, sir, there's a problem with that plan. We don't have anyone capable of even starting to replicate something like that, not anymore."

Ibani represses the urge to sigh at this ill news. "Someone was killed recently?" she asks.

"Not killed, my Lord," Ilun replies, appearing decidedly uncomfortable with this topic. "Our chief scientist, Iannos Tyrek, defected to the Republic a few months back."

"Defectors' bodies usually turn up a few weeks later in a ditch somewhere, but Iannos Tyrek appears to have avoided that fate thus far. Somehow." Major Bessiker adds.

That makes perfect sense to Ibani. Balmorran Resistance fighters that didn't trust turncoats, Balmorran citizens afraid of being accused of hiding criminals, Imperial soldiers out for blood, Imperial Intelligence, the deck would be very stacked indeed. "He's valuable enough that certain parties might be keeping a very close eye on him," Ibani replies, thinking. "Could he still be on Balmorra?"

"Most likely," Major Bessiker replies. "Travel on and off this planet has been very restricted since before Tyrek's defection. We should be able to find out what hole he's been hiding in, but it will take time."

"I see," Ibani replies. More karking delays. Perhaps she can help the army around Sobrik while she's waiting for this scientist to be found, make the best of the delay.

"We will, of course, find that information as quickly as possible, Sith," Bessiker adds.

"I'm sure you will," Ibani replies with a wave of one hand. "But I would imagine there are....problems that I could deal with, yes?"

Bessiker and Ilun share a glance, then Bessiker nods. "Indeed, Sith. I will get to work digging up the information we need while Captain Ilun details some outstanding...issues that could benefit from your attention."