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[Darth Invictus]

"How thoughtful." Ender murmured back to her in response. His words had hit a sensitive spot as he was able to sense the quick surge over anger that bubbled over in her. She controlled it somewhat as she turned to walk away from him to get some space. The doctor wasn't in control of her emotions and he watched as she wrestled with them for a few seconds. She may have had a strong connection to the force but her lack of ability to control her emotions made her a liability and that meant he would have to keep an eye on her.

When she turned back around to inform him that her ordinance was practically bullshit, Ender's mouth set into a hardline as he closed his eyes for a second. He wasn't mad at her but he was angry at the situation they were. Being in the company of Sith had spoiled him as he was used to almost everyone he associated with practically carrying an armory on them for any situation they came across. Thankfully, the doctor could wield the force and that was always an advantage in any situation to him. "We'll need to head back and exterminate your test subjects then. All of them."

Ender glanced at the scientific equipment that was next to the doctor and he made his way over to the equipment and past her. His eyes scanned the equipment for a few moments before he found a sizeable sized paper and brought it over to a nearby table. Grabbing a pen as well, he tossed it to the side by the paper and turned slightly to look at the doctor behind him, "Whatever you can remember, we'll need a layout of the camp. The more prepared and planned we are, the smoother this will go." Not only were the two of them outnumbered by an exceedingly large amount, just one bite or maybe even scratch could debilitate them and make them turn. Plus, Ender's ship was still there and he wanted that back.

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She could feel his irritation rise at her statement, but she had stated bald facts; she hadn't come prepared to take down a zombie hoard by fire, she had come to treat a supposed disease that was reported by numerous planets through one strain or another, and chose to investigate for herself on a planet whose backwater ways meant it was supposedly easier to obtain samples of blood, saliva, and other aqueous bodily solvents.

She hadn't counted on pandemonium to cut those plans short. When he slid the paper and pen her way, she merely stared at him a beat, then uttering a long, slow sigh in response. "I was afraid of that," she finally responded, then turned away.

She was curious who and what this man was... but in truth, it hardly mattered what the answer was. She wordlessly began sketching, turning her gaze away and instead recalling from memory the exact layout. "It was kept simple," she spoke shortly, finishing up the rough sketch with a faint frown of focus. "Support, staff were kept here," she tapped at a cluster of tents to the left. "Patients and specimens to the right."

She then gazed at him, her expression calm. "I'm a doctor, not a soldier," she explained simply, hands folded over the table. "I take others' rights as living beings very seriously. But when others abuse those rights..."

She gazed at his own expression calmly, gaze level and voice cool. "I take that personally. And I ask that you respect the rights those former patients had... they were victims. I intend to put things to rights for my former patients. I don't know how I can help, but help I can in what ways you might see fit."

She was unused to asking for help, or requesting to help herself. But he struck a nerve... and reminded her what her specimens once were. Not that she cared for the beings themselves... but she knew what it felt like to live with very little rights. She would not abuse theirs.

They were dead already, so it didn't matter.

@Orbit

 

[Darth Invictus]

The doctor didn't seem too pleased with having to give him the layout but she complied and made her way over beside him to start tracing it down on the paper. His eyes tracked where she pointed the pen and committed everything to memory. The more he knew about the layout, the easier that it could possibly make this. Ender was continuing to study the map when the doctor brought up that she wasn't a soldier, he tore his gaze away from the map and looked over at her.

"Doctor, those former patients either have their stomachs torn out right now or they have already turned into one of the infected. They lost any shred of having something for me to respect. If we find any of your specimens, we'll try and capture them to see if we can actually learn anything. But if it isn't possible, we're burning the whole place to the ground." Ender backed up from the table as he started to walk toward the cockpit of the ship, "Start getting prepared, extra layers of clothing, ammunition, whatever you got." When he made his way into the cockpit, he sat down in the pilot's seat and started to flip a few switches before directing the ship in the direction of the camp.

It didn't take long before they eventually hovered a safe distance away from the encampment and high up in the air. Ender shut down the lights and any other spare electronics that would make noise or light. It plunged them in darkness and the only light was from the moon above. Maybe shutting off most of the ship was too precautious but the creatures displayed growing intelligence and he wasn't going to take any chances. Ender gazed down from the cockpit and down below, able to see even some small movement that moved between the tents.

Ender let out a soft sigh as his eyes flicked between the tents and just watched the general movement of the infected. There would be a few moments of silence until he spoke out of nowhere, "So, is there another name I can call you besides doctor?" His gaze didn't leave the camp and she would be able to just see him staring down below intently.

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

He just made himself at home on her ship, didn't he?

She would have argued, but as it was, she needed to be prepared. She hadn't worn her professional armor before; she donned it now while he manned the console, mindful to duck into a small console for privacy of dress. It hardly mattered either way, but she did not like this person much... and even most people she tolerated saw very little of the Doctor outside of her professional chosen wear.

When she arrived again, she had a DC-17 strapped to one thigh, her vibroblades… and her professional armor. That was about as much as she came armed for; no lightsaber, as she had not been formally sent to obtain her own, nor any notion therein of what lightsabers were made of apart from one throwaway comment made by Kai the last time they were in--

She shut off that thought. Truth be told, it... disturbed her she had heard little from her former patient, now turned occasional employer. But something of her companion reminded him of what Kai had called the Dark Side... whispers, hints. Control. Anger, oh it was there. Something within that cool control. Something she could understand... the need for strict boundaries.

When she joined him in a silent watch, she was mildly intrigued by his question. Amber eyes were tempted to glance in his direction... instead, she gazed outwards.

Watched these beasts shuffle around, until she finally responded.

"Ilana," she finally answered, her voice cool, almost quiet. "Some call me Ilana Morata. Or Doc. And what should I call you?"

Fair play, after all, though she doubted even the name he would give her would be a true one. After all, hers was only a pseudonym. Yet a useful one at that; it kept and gave her her freedom to move across the galaxy. Who could ask for more?

@Orbit

 

[Darth Invictus]

"Llana Morata." Ender rolled the name off his tongue and it would have a feeling like he permanently etched her name into his memory and that it was never something that she could take back. She asked what his name was in response and she assumed correctly that he wouldn't give her a real name. "Hal. That's it." There was too much at risk and danger associated with him to be giving out his real name to someone he had just met.

His gaze remained on the camp and when he saw the shift in movement and some of the infected stumbling into buildings or tents, it was time for them to move. Ender stood up and started to make his way toward the ramp as he flipped on the autopilot, "Let's go." When they reached the ramp, he pressed the button to open it even though they were in the middle of the sky. Llana had already revealed her powers to him and knew that he was force sensitive anyway, so there wasn't a reason for him to keep hiding his powers. When the ramp was fully opened, both of them would be hit by a gust of wind. Ender turned his head slightly to shield his eyes from it before turning his gaze to her and beckoned llana over.

When she was close, he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him so they couldn't separate. "Hold on tight." A smirk played across his lips as Ender didn't really give her time to question it or resist against him as he just leaned forward and made them both fall off the ramp and towards the ground. They freefell through the air for a few moments until he started to wrap the force around the both of them, easing their descent each second until they finally landed. Both of their feet would barely make a sound as they landed gracefully and slow enough that it didn't hurt at all.

Ender pulled his arm away from llana before staring in the direction of the camp to make sure nothing heard them. When the coast was clear, he looked over to llana before speaking, "Whatever you do, don't make any noise. If the horde wakes up, we're both dead." She wasn't a combatant as llana pointed out herself but he hoped she could at least keep a level head during this.

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She blinked. It was Ilana, not Llana, but she wasn't going to press the issue just yet. It was the fact she was told to simply call him Hal... She blinked again, then sighed. Hal it was, then, but she wasn't going to start using the name anyways.

She followed, but she assumed he was going to actually put it in position to land, not leave it hovering. "Wait---"

But maddeningly, he had already begun to leave it on autopilot, and she was about to mention they had no landing gear for mid-flight jumping, when he suddenly grabbed her, pulled her close...

And before she could protest, they were free-falling.

Her gasp was snatched away by the wind, and as the atmosphere clawed against them for two chilling seconds, she did indeed hold on tightly, despite her better judgement. When their descent suddenly lessened, she blinked... and forced herself to watch the ground meet them as though she had simply taken a light step down.

It took a beat before she could finally release him with numb fingers; she hated heights, hated falling. She had to focus on the task at hand, her heart was still pounding painfully and yet he acted like it was nothing.

In that minute, she was filled with loathing and envy. To be so self-assured, so knowledgeable in a thing she couldn't even quantify... but such emotions were suppressed almost before they even rose to the surface. If he was as empathic as she was, she did not want him to have the advantage of knowing her exact feelings.

She nodded once, drawing out her vibroblade.

Though these things never seemed to sleep... she knew all too well a veritable crowd of them would spell disaster for them both. Honestly, if she had stayed with the ship, she could fire from above... but then again, too little too late.

Into the darkness it was time to go.

@Orbit

 

[Darth Invictus]

When they landed, even IIana couldn't hide the small dose of fear that came through her. When she finally let go, she would find Ender staring at her momentarily with an amused look, to say the least. It was clear she wasn't able to pull the maneuvers herself and he wondered how long she had actually known about her powers. Either way, he didn't wait long before starting to lead the way with the doctor behind him.

The thought of her staying on the ship had crossed his mind as he usually preferred to work alone, especially after what had happened with Talak but there was a reason. As they approached closer to the camp, the sound of clawing and screeching became louder and louder. It wasn't as loud as when the first outbreak started as most of the infected either retreated in tents or some other space to call their home. Ender moved through the shadows with practiced ease and grace as they approached one of the barricades and took cover behind it. Some fires were still lit and the two of them could see infected stumbling around or chewing on a carcass that they saved.

Ender glanced around until he found his route and beckoned for Ilana to follow him. He recalled images of the map from his head and remembered to his best ability to lead them toward where the quartermaster resided and the supply depot. They navigated through the tents, sometimes having to stop to let infected pass but they eventually reached the front door of the depot. The door was slightly ajar as it looked like something forced it's way through.

Ender stepped toward the door first and slowly drew out his vibro-sword as it didn't even make a sound. The door was pushed to the side and he entered to be immediately greeted by darkness. With a quick flick of his finger, a nearby lamp was turned on with the force and it gave them enough light to see. When it turned on, there was a mass huddled in front of them and over a dead body which Ilana would recognize as the quartermaster. The creature immediately snapped its head towards the two and opened it's mouth to start to let out a scream.

Before it could make noise however, Ender used the force to whip the creature towards him at breakneck speed. The vibro-sword was held straight and the creature would be impaled through the throat and caused a gurgle instead of a scream. He pulled the same move and gave a sharp twist with his weapon and breaking the neck of the infected creature and causing it to crumble to the ground without alerting the others. There were a few seconds of pause to make sure the thing was actually dead before Ender glanced at Ilana and the shelves of supplies untouched, "Grab whatever you need, especially to take one of these things alive." The point of them was to study the disease and he wanted to secure the means first before lighting the whole camp ablaze. This was the reason for her joining him as he would have been lost doing this on his own.

 

[Dr Ilana Morata]

She watched with dispassionate scrutiny when he easily dispatched yet another of the creatures that surely must have been patients, coworkers... and yet couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to care. She simply nodded, then stepped past him, amber gaze sweeping over the rows of equipment, medical and not... She tucked medical gloves, masks, and restraints into her bag, along with several specimen tubes. She gloved up, then sighed, glancing at him.

"You've obviously seen these creatures before... any idea for an origin point?"

The question was, perhaps, useless, but it was worth a try to at least find some way to puzzle out their beginning.

It would certainly make her life that much easier.

@Orbit