(Untitled)

[organicmeatbag]

He's helpless with not knowing what to do. Everything - surgical removal, kolto, herbal medicines - they've tried only makes it worse or does nothing good. All he can do is watch on as the parasites grow in strength and size to encase his son's arm

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[organicmeatbag]

"Kira."

Ranthus waves her over from where he stands near the reception doors, waiting. She looks like her husband is on the brink of death, sullen yet determined, and he has no words of comfort to share.

He doesn't embrace her when they meet up, such is the hesitancy in their relationship, simply leads her through the doors and down the stalk white halls where her husband rests.

He talks as they walk, catching her up. " - They're basically releasing a toxin into his system. It's what killed the others but for some reason he's hanging on longer than the rest of them. They're not multiplying as fast. It seems like they're almost...confused."

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus hands her the datachip. Everything she needs to send would be on it. He then walks over to a bookcase, reaching up to grab a bin off the highest shelf as Kira plugs in the datachip to transfer its contents.

He places the bin on the edge of the desk. He doesn't know the code Revan locked it with as he frowns at the box.

"He was... working on this Holocron thing before everything happened," Ranthus explains, having already filled Kira in about the pilot and the crash when they were rushing to see Revan. "I don't know if it'll help or not."

He hands the box over to her.

[jedi_exile]

Kira pops the datachip into the computer. "Got it?"

"Got it." Mical's tiny image nods as he receives the data. "I know where some of the files are..."

He drifts off as Ranthus mentions a Holocron. Kira drags her gaze up to the older man, taking the box from him. "Kira--" Mical's voice is tinny and stressed. Kira shakes her head. "I'm not...stupid, Mical. I know what it could do, especially in this state."

This upset, weakened by her emotions and pregnancy state. That said, she slides her fingers over the buttons for the code, carefully trying the first numbers that pop into her head. The first numbers that feel right. Their daughters' birth date.

It works and the box opens, revealing the Holocron. She can feel its pull, its power and sway over her and she wishes she wasn't holding it. She blinks, trying to snap herself out of it. "Mical," She whispers. "Please just look as quickly as possible okay?"

He clears his throat, nodding. "Yes. Yes, alright. I'll call you when I...find something, either way."

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus, unable to feel why the Holocron has such an effect on Kira, merely takes the box from her hands based on her dazed reaction alone. He doesn't get it, doesn't understand their Jedi ways, or what the seemingly plain artifact does to them, but Revan had trouble looking at the thing too.

He almost hates that he brought it down from the shelf, only he felt compelled to tell Kira about it. He shakes his head at the thought.

"You should rest," he murmurs, snapping the lid shut. He doesn't think there's much more she can do at the moment and she should be awake and strong for whatever may happen. "I can wake you when your Mical calls back."

[jedi_exile]

If Revan had trouble with it, Kira's trouble would be far worse if she kept it. She threads her fingers through her hair and shakes her head. "I can't sleep."

She looks exhausted, she feels exhausted, but the idea of being asleep while this is happening is ridiculous. And she feels sick.

[organicmeatbag]

"What else can you do than worry yourself sick?" Ranthus asks shortly, rummaging through the cabinets of his kitchen unit. He retrieves a bag of salty snacks and something fizzy to drink. He sets them down in front of Kira. "Rest. For the kid."

If she still feels like she can't sleep in an hour, he'll go out of his way to help her research however much she can. But he won't let her push herself.

[jedi_exile]

Her fingers curl around the bottle neck of the fizzy drink. She takes a deep breath and nods, pushing away from the comm unit to stand. "Just...yeah. Let me know when he calls back. And don't let me sleep too long. And tell me if there's any change with Revan."

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus makes up his bed for her so she'll have somewhere to lie. He gives her as much sleep as he can, with no change in Revan's health and no call from Mical, before he wakes her again. He cooks her supper. They eat, they research, they check on Revan.

It continues that way for some time, the hours blurred together by their worry, and the time passes too quickly as the creatures grow in number while far too slowly as they wait for Mical to return with news.

[jedi_exile]

Kira's staring past the datapad in her hand and has been for the past half hour when Mical finally calls back. She's not sure what hour it is, let alone what day and if only a short amount of time has passed or if it's been weeks. It feels like too long regardless, even as time slips through their fingers, as Revan worsens

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus leans in over Kira's shoulder, having followed the conversation closely yet kept his distance until now. "At this point, we should be trying everything. What is it?"

[jedi_exile]

Mical nervously clears his throat, looking at Revan's father. "It says...something about electricity. Not anything helpful about it, but I believe it's relatively safe."

"Relatively safe?!" Kira hisses. "No mention on how much or what to do? I'm just supposed to hook my husband up to an electrical current and hope that doesn't kill him before the kriffing bugs do?!"

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus rests his hands on Kira's shoulders, clearly trying to calm her, even as he frowns at the news himself.

He tries to work out in his head how it might work, what they could. Their lasers hadn't even been able to cut through the hard shells of the creatures when they tried to remove them surgically. They'd even tried to remove the parasite by cutting into its soft underbelly yet it only seemed to agitate them more.

But...

"Their undersides," he mumbles, more to himself than Mical or Kira as he pulls up a picture of the Orbalisk. But he does point out the diagram to them, soon to explain. "They have a small section of an exposed soft underbelly. If we could direct a current through there, maybe we could stun them enough to loosen their grasp."

He looks to Kira.

"It would need to be a strong surge. We barely harmed them with our lasers, only agitating them in the process."

He won't tell her about how Revan yelled out in pain when they tried that.

[jedi_exile]

Kira shuts her eyes before ducking her head in a nod. "Fine."

She bids Mical goodbye before clicking the comm off and moving to stand. "We should...get things ready. I want to be in there when it happens. I...need to see how it progresses."

She presses her hands into her hair and sighs. "How...how long will it take to get things ready?"

[organicmeatbag]

Ranthus is already taking notes of what they'll need on a datapad as he toes on a pair of boots, not bothering to lace them. "Give me a couple of hours and I'll let you know," he says, rushing out the door before Kira can so much as get in another word.

[jedi_exile]

She just stands there for a long while after he leaves, lost in thought before she moves to the kitchen to grab something to eat really quick before wandering around for a few hours. She tries to nap, it doesn't work. Finally, she makes it back to the medbay where they have set all the equipment up.

Kira feels utterly lost as she watches Ranthus, stares at everything except her husband's form. She inhales sharply before stepping forward, muttering that this better work.

[organicmeatbag]

To direct the current as careful and as best as they can, the team standing in have a droid ready to do the work for them. It moves in, its thin, needle-like arm at the ready as it closes in on where Revan rests fitfully on the bed, him lost in a delirium of feverish dreams.

A spark of electricity erupts from the end of the needle in test before the droid closes in on one of the parasites. They don't know where to start with the charge, of how much power it would take to stun the creatures, so they start low.

Too low.

Revan cries out, convulsing, from the sudden activity of the parasites buzzing dangerously, the jolt having done nothing more than annoy them.

"We need to up the charge."