Med Force One-Tales of Recovery

[Doc Holliday]

"The Core," Doc grumbled with obvious dislike. He took a deep sigh and continued, "I've never refused services to anyone. Affiliation, friend, foe or whatever side of the line one walks doesn't concern me but.......the Core." Rather than bore him in the room, he had him get to his feet and began a walk to the secret lab. There would be plenty of time to talk along the way. Doc walked with his hands behind his back, sometimes putting them in his pocket only to put them behind his back.

"Last year I buried two very good people of my medical staff because of the Core," he explained, "when they attacked Freeport 11, they were murdered and several others of my staff were badly hurt. Still, I have staff on the Freeport who think nothing of themselves and only of their duty. Getting them supplies is tough but they have one standing order and that's no services to Core personnel." He then chuckled, "They stopped me outside the base just last week and threatened me. I told them to do it if they thought it would fix whatever problem they were having." Doc then grinned, "They never fired a shot. I guess there's no honor in blowing up a freighter full of pilgrims."

He listened as Golanski spoke of nomad and human tech being mixed. He listened carefully and nodded his agreement. He then told him a story as they walked. "My first encounter with a Nomad is one I won't soon forget. I was in Omicron Alpha when I met.....it. This overwhelming power hit me. My head hurt but then, all was calm. It was curious as it went around my ship. I sat still and didn't show aggression. Eventually, it wandered off. It was sometime after that that I had another encounter. Peaceful at first. It was probing my mind so I lay calm and didn't resist and had no idea what to expect. The emotions I felt went like dealing with a schizophrenic. Images of a time past, of joy and then great anger then.....sorrow. It was as if something wanted me to know what the Nomads were going through due to humanity."
He then sighed and softly said, "it was after that that I wanted to know more about them so I got samples of remains. I wouldn't mind a live one but I don't think we could handle that here."

He looked to Golanski, "You can be assured, Admiral, that I have no intent of mixing what little I have with humans or creating weapons from them. I seek knowledge. For me, it's science."
He then asked him, "Some time ago, you had a man who simply went by "The Doctor." He was my first contact about Nomads. He is also the one that prompted me to start studying them. I take it you know of him?"

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises

[Omicron]

He listened to his first contact with non-human entities and his most recent stories. He'd have swore his encounter was simmilar, allthough far more brutal and dramatic in depths of Omicron Minor during his first patrols as he earned his wings. He would not speak of it if not prompted and his personnal opinion of Core would had likely been way too drastic for Doc to know. More out of politeness than tact he kept his comments to himself. 'The Doctor' however sparked his interest.

"Designated commander of Order Capital Vessel Khonshu, founding member of the Order High Command and one of finest scientists The Order Research Division had to this day. In my opinion he belonged more to a labolatory than Captain's seat of a fully rated warship but it happened way before I was in charge. I believe Doctor would agree with me at least in regard that firepower awaiting his command was redundant. This is part of The Order history I am expected to know, John."

He'd list all other officers of that time, most prominent Admirals and operatives that formed the modern Order High Command. Several of them he knew personally... some he even served under directly.

"Admiral Mirage Bre'Delakorsa, mother of The Order Intelligence. Admiral X, bloody father of that Division and my menthor. The Doctor and Kaylee Staite of OSD.... Admiral Sius Malacos. I could as well list 13th leaders of The Order up to date out of my memory, but these old news propably would bore you. At very least I am not bound to repeat their mistakes."

[Doc Holliday]

"Kaylee Staite,"replied Doc, "that name I know. While I don't know Order history like you do, any Zoner worth their salt knows some of the big names of the Order." He paused a moment and then finished, "I only hope that I become as knowledgeable as the Doctor himself."
He then gave a light smile, "And I do like the names of your ships. I always found ancient Egypt of old Earth very fascinating."

They would finally get to the remote part of the ship where the secret lab was. It was deep within the ship and had a heavy guard contingent standing before a force field. Behind the force field was a very large set of blast doors.
"Doctor Holliday," said one of the guards as he took notice of Golanski. He noticed the uniform but not the man wearing it. "A guest today?"
"Yes, Sergeant, I have a guest," answered Doc. He chose not to use his name to keep his identity secret. The guard then lowered the force field where Doc went to a panel on the wall. He entered a code and then spoke aloud something in Latin and then used the eye scanner. After a few seconds, the doors opened. As they entered, the doors closed and the force field went back up. They were in a chamber with another set of blast doors. Doc did the same with this set of doors. This time upon entry, they were inside the lab.

The orb in the back was what appeared to be an inactive Nomad power cell setting on a platform of sorts. It was also in a heavily shielded area all by itself. In another area was a makeshift morgue for Nomad remains and some tanks of water for that sample that may arrive still living. One researcher didn't appear to notice them as he worked, studying Nomad remains. The lab had many sub rooms to it and more than enough research equipment and computer consoles to store information. For the moment, there were no live samples.

"This lab," explained Doc, "is built so that should this ship ever come under assault and there is no hope of survival, has a nuclear device set to self destruct on order of only one of two people, myself or the ship commander, James Haddock. It is also built so that it can be ejected into space, a planet or wherever due to a boarding assault should the defenses be penetrated. As with every person on this ship, the lab staff has a chip implanted in them so that I know who and where they are."
He then motioned to the orb. "That I paid dearly for. We know what it can do but don't really have the knowledge of how to use it for power. As we discussed, my research is more of knowledge of the Nomads themselves than their technology. Here, we a scientists and medical people. Our technical staff is very good but I won't let them near this." He then gave Golanski a stern look, "In fact, the only people that know that I have this are the five person staff of this lab and now you."

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises

[Omicron]

He'd had taken the tour about the lab, looking suspiciously at every piece of evidence, remain and work that was being done in this secret place right now. It was organized and equipped quite appropriately and he could've expected a doctor of all people to maintain standards up to highest accuracy and tidyness at this workstation. Still, he was surprised that no one minded his arrival. The great orb, the alien cell that resided in its own containment area with plenty of surveillance equipment hosted around it. Admiral approached it as close his instinct allowed him to, recognizing the patterns and the surface.

"I pressume you do not fully understand what exactly you got there, after all your expertise is mainly in saving people's lives by any means possible... be it medical or applying some technology. This cell is a big one for sure, it could not be mounted on a fighter's chassis as are most that we find. I sincerely doubt you even know what it is to be sure."

He had turned towards John, the ambience of the observation room right behind him.

"This is a battery, not generator. It does not consume fuel, nor does its capacity reaches towards infinity. Civilization capable of grasping near infinite energy would had no issues wiping us out from map of the galaxy. It is intriguing in how they are able to contain that much power into such confined space, and keep it from destructive power of entrophy. I cannot tell for certain how much was drained of it by the last alien owner of it, but it is not empty."

Golanski understood where were they charged at, but not only was this information classified but also of little help to Doc. The tiniest examples were powering cloak projectors of Wilde small craft, not as limited to constrains of fuel and battery capacity as their human counterparts. He walked away from it, inspecting other parts of the lab from safe distance.

"What you look into doing with that?"

[Doc Holliday]

Doc turned to Golanski and shrugged, "I really don't know what to do with it. That is beyond my area of expertise and as good as my engineers are, they don't have a full grasp of it. As it was given to us by a Freelancer, we have so little information to go on." He shrugged again, "Perhaps you might have an idea of how we could use it or if it suits you, you could take it."

Doc motioned to his remains labs, "These are what we are researching and have some understanding of. We did have a live sample here but it didn't live long enough to get anything of use with. I can only say though, even with protections in place, we could feel it trying to project feelings to us."

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises

[Omicron]

"Hm... yes indeed I could take it. I can recommend you a faster, safer resolution even. Heard about those Ingenuus? While my thoughts are mixed towards their organization, they have already functioning power generators that are simpler to work with and have simmilar output as to what you're seeing right there. If they wont work with you, I have managed to get hands on some already."

He was bit lost in his thought. He had in posession many of these alien power cells buried in the Order labs and even held some of Ingenuus cells he acquired on other occasion. Golanski's interest, shared by needs of his scientist recommended continued research and use of original, Daam K'Vosh built 'orbs'. As odd as it sounded to him, The Order was far more capable of commencing succesful operations and taking greater advantage of alien tech far more than already existing human-made attempts to reverse engineer same pieces of technology. Comes with the job, Admiral thought.

"What was that emotion that this... sample wanted to project? Fear?"

[Doc Holliday]

"Ingenuus," Doc thought aloud, "I know of them but haven't had dealing with them."
Doc put his hands behind his back. "Admiral, we've known each other for a long time. Our organizations have known each other for even longer. You know I'm not a technical person which is why I have engineers for that." He pointed at the orb, "I would rather you or your people be the ones that either make it functional in some way or just take it if it's not probable. If you take it, I'll admit to you, I would have something to keep a live Nomad sample. It's more my research style. Either way, I intend to do that somehow."
He put his hands together in front of him, "I figure, I give you something, if not the orb, the rights to work on it."

"What was that emotion that this... sample wanted to project? Fear?"
He shook his head. "No, not fear. That's not how I operate. I work on mutual understanding and respect."

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises

[Doc Holliday]

Dock Pad 3

The dock master was confused at first. A Freelancer? Carrying a patient and a medical staff? It was odd. A security officer looked over the paperwork.
"All is in order," he stated. "But why would the Crayter Republic send someone here?" He thought a moment and shook his head a bit, "Never mind. Wheel the patient and medical staff to medical. They'll figure it out." He then pointed to the Freelancer, "Come with me. I'll get you quarters while you're here." He followed.

The patient was wheeled to medical. A confused staff looked at the paperwork and then the victim. The stench of burning flesh overtook them forcing them all to take a step back.
"Woah," said the resident in charge, "Now I get it." He instructed his assistant to stay with the pilot while he went after someone. A few minutes later, John Holliday himself arrived. He greeted all present and took a look at the patient. To the amazement of those around him, Doc didn't step back at the stench. He was used to it. Working in a war zone had conditioned him for it.
"Doctor Holliday, this paperwork came with them. It's from the Crayter Republic," he explained.
"Odd," replied Doc, "A new client perhaps? Med Force Two is closer than we are." Then he noticed the signature and smiled with a chuckle.
"Doreen you red headed devil you," he said jokingly under his breath. It now made sense.
"Get him to the burn ward," Doc ordered, "I'll be along in a few minutes."

It had been well over a year since Doc had heard from his old student. He was confused. The Crayter Republic? He didn't have time to think about it. He was just impressed. He headed up to the burn ward where the "Rejuvenator" was secretly kept. To his knowledge, it was still one of only two in existence. He thought of that statement and smiled.
He then prepped the patient on the slab. He was still in a drug induced coma and it was just as well. He would have to remain perfectly still for twenty four hours and sleeping was the best way to do it.

In appearance, the Rejuvenator was a simple looking device. Designed by the Lane Hackers, a slab served as a bed. Fabric of any kind often stuck to burn victims so it was just a metal base. An arm passed over the patient ever so slowly. Even Doc himself didn't know the exact science of it. All he knew was that it worked flawlessly and gave life back to anyone who had been in it. Burned skin was "recycled" so to speak. No burns, no scars. It made a skin graft a thing of the past. It's only drawback was the amount of power it consumed to run. It took about four hours for one patient who would then have to lie perfectly still on the slab after the procedure was done.

Upon completion, the victim's skin looked like it had a sheen of water coating it. It almost looked like the person had a skin of silicon rubber. Original muscle tone was still there and hair follicles were restored. Once the twenty four hour period was up, the skin looked like nothing was ever wrong with it. Doc never left the ward while this process was ongoing and the entry had a posted guard. Once completed, Doc himself made hourly visits to the ward and kept a staff inside for emergencies.

He always smiled when he thought of the device. He didn't remember the man's name who gave him the equipment. He only remembered him to be a Lane Hacker whom he had befriended. As to his name? He didn't know as he just couldn't remember. He just knew that with his help, lives were being saved in more ways than one.

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises

[Omicron]

He took his sweet time in articulating a proper answer.

"The Order does not have a single live sample in any of its vast, expansive labs. Your and our samples commited suicide to prevent themselves from being experimented on the long run. Ask yourself a question why your own expired, even if it not eminated plethora of negative emotions towards every single member of your crew. For Nomads, death is inconsequential. In another time, there will be another being implanted with exact set of characteristics that made this arbitrary Nomad personality what it was. Quasi-immortality, their memories live on copied over from specialistic Nomad nodes. Doctor Felix Latham's own words, our specialist on Nomad mindshare theory."

Even for military-man, he sounded knowledgeable about the enemy he fought. He tried to invoke that maybe in Doc's memories he encountered a case of a Nomad, that maybe met his end in combat and came back unscathed days, weeks after. Nomads never utilized anything of sort that could serve equivalent of escape pod. They always exploded, leaving just mist of flesh and pure energy that powered their extensive ship-wide neural networks. Well preserved samples were rarity and live Nomad a fleeting experience...

[Doc Holliday]

Doc put his hands in his pockets momentarily while he nodded in agreement. "Perhaps you're right, Admiral, perhaps you're right. I guess the limit of live study will be live encounters.....if I'm lucky enough." He took his hands back out of his pockets, "...but anyway..."

Doc thought a moment and looked back at the orb. He scratched his chin and looked back at Golanski. He remembered some of his power issues in the burn ward. This could help. "Admiral, this COULD be a problem solver for me. I have some equipment that are a strain on power. I know I'm not about Nomad tech but.....this could be the fix. Would you approve of that and could you get it working?"

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[MFE]Med Force One | Tales of Recovery|Med Force Enterprises