Nirauan's Terrain

Cain had endured another restless night and was attending to his daily duties as the facility overseer. That's when the Supreme Commander had replied to his update. Cain listened intently. Once the Supreme Commander's response finished, Cain clapped his clawed hands together with joy. Beneath his helmet he was grinning malevolently.

The last time he had be able to successfully do live experimentation had been back during the days of the Tyrian Triumvirate. And even then, he hadn't been able to get far. With Xander's take over, all of his work on the Dracus Infection had been suspended and Cain himself had been restricted access to his own laboratory as per the Overlord's orders. With the fall of the Imperial Sovereign House of Savage, all of his research had been destroyed. And so he began again. With the resource rich First Order, Cain was once again able to continue his work. And he was taking full advantage of it. As long as the ISB or the Supreme Commander didn't come poking around where they didn't belong, Cain'd work could continue unabated.

Cain called in the Stormtroopers that were posted outside of his quarters.

Cain Dracus:"Corporal Vale. Locate my new apprentice and have him meet me topside in the Hand of Thrawn. There is work to be done. And inform Major Tagge that we are on our way."

The Stormtrooper Corporal saluted and marched off with his partner to carry out his new set of instructions. Cain, on the other hand, moved to the refrigeration unit adjacent to his quarters and collected two vials of the Dracus Infection and two vials of the control serum. With all four vials safe and secured on his person, Cain exited his quarters and made his way to the main turbo lifts that would take him up the the Hand of Thrawn fortress far above him.

Continued from the Hand of Thrawn thread.

The lift came to a stop in the deep subterranean laboratory complex. Cain stepped out of the lift and began walking to the Viewing Chamber located high above the main containment room. As Cain entered, he commented on the room itself.

Cain Dracus:"This room overlooks the main containment chamber. Below is where the live Dracus specimens are kept. The glass is sixteen centimeters thick and reinforced with a phrik mesh laced within the glass. This room is air tight and runs off of its own supply."

Cain motioned to the glass.

On the other side of the glass, a thick greenish-brown haze hung within the room. Movement could barely be made out as the small infection forms skittered about. The larger Combat Forms shambled about aimlessly. Large fleshy sacks could be seen growing on the walls and in the corners. They pulsed and shivered. The much larger Tank Forms could be seen laying about, barely moving, always watching.

Cain Dracus:"The smaller fleshy sacks with meter long tentacles are the Infection Forms. They are the weakest of the Dracus and are what resides within the host's chest cavity. The Combat Forms are the larger human-looking creatures."

The few Combat Forms that could be seen were shambling about.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the skin of the host was molting and appeared a grayish-brown in appearance. On the right arm of the Combat Forms, at the writs, whip-like tentacles could be made out. The head of the host hung slumped towards the back, slightly to the right. On the chest there was a small, almost rock looking growth.

Cain Dracus:"The Combat Forms are the main workhorse of the Dracus. Think of them like the common foot soldier. The whip-like tentacles, when used in melee combat, are capable of shattering a Stormtrooper's plastoid armor, or pulverizing bones of an unarmored opponent. The rocky growth on the chest is the hardened shell that protects the infection form from damage. The infection form itself is no bigger than a human heart once inside the hosts chest. It sits between the lungs and is directly connected to the host's spinal cord, where it accesses the memories and functions of the host."

One of the Tank Forms lumber from out of the shadows.

The Tank Form was the size of a Reek. It moved on all fours, though it was capable of standing on its short, stubby back legs for a time. Its front legs were much longer and much thicker. The left front leg was about at thick as Cain was, but angled sharply to a point. The right front leg was as thick as Cain was, but instead of a point, it merely looked like a massive fist.

Cain Dracus:"The Tank Form is the strongest of all the forms. The left front leg had been known to shear a human in half. The right one is about as heavy as two Super Battle Droids and it capable of turning duracrete into a fine powder. The growths on the walls and corners is the Incubator Form. If a host is too badly mangled and cannot sustain an infection form, then several badly damaged corpses are brought together and the Infection Forms spew a slimy green fluid over them. The fluid then forms the fleshy sac you now see. And anywhere up to thirty infection forms can grow inside within the span of thirty to forty minutes. They have altered the atmosphere inside the chamber to suit them. While capable of breathing in nearly all environment types, the Dracus can alter the air to make it much more difficult for any living creature to breath. My helmet is equipped the with proper particle filtration system to keep the toxins out of my system, however anyone not equipped with the proper breathing apparatus will succumb to the poor air quality in minutes. And the side effects of breathing in that soup isn't pretty. Dementia, fits of rage and aggression and eventually insanity are what can occur...so my apprentice. What are your thoughts?"

Cain eagerly awaited his apprentice's response. All while keeping an eye on the Dracus below.

Cain, still watching the Dracus moving about below, answered.

Cain Dracus:"Deprivation of sufficient food used to be the way we controlled it, after my father died. Now I can command the Dracus telepathically. I've exercised my mental abilities numerous times. I can successfully control the Dracus and keep them at my control."

Cain neglected to mention the recent debacle on Csilla a few months back.

Cain Dracus:"It is far from perfected, hence the testing. The human variant is nearly there, but aside from that, it remains largely untested on any alien physiology aside from Zabrak. Which is why I am exploiting my connections within the First Order to get the specimens I need. Once humanoid and alien testing is passed the Beta stage, I am expanding testing to animals. That is the one area I have never covered."

Cain glanced back at his apprentice, who seemed to be marveling at the creatures below.

Cain chuckled.

C'thulu's curiosity was a fresh change of pace compared to the mundane pace of his scientist crew.

Cain Dracus:"Early for us. This parasite has been around for several millenia. It is ancient, even by our standards. Expanding on the base tests, our variety of prisoners will produce interesting results, I am certain. As for neurotoxins, preliminary results show that the parasite is incredibly resilient against poisons that would cripple or kill us. Testing is limited due to the adverse reactions the parasite has to outside toxins. With this new facility, testing the Dracus against poisons and toxins could begin again. However, the unpredictability of how the parasite will interact with poisons makes testing difficult."

As Cain finished speaking, his wrist comm chimed.

Cain Dracus:"Dracus. Go ahead."

Cain allowed the message to play so C'thulu could hear it as well.

The prisoners check out. We are moving them to the main laboratory now. We will be ready to commence testing as soon as you are ready.

Cain nodded and replied.

Cain Dracus:"Understood. We shall be there shortly."

Cain terminated the link and spoke to his apprentice.

Cain Dracus:"Our new test subjects are ready for testing."

And with that, Cain spun on his heel, swiped his clearance card to exit the room, and made his way through the facility towards the laboratory.

As they walked, Cain replied.

Cain Dracus:"On a living target, the infection takes hold in seconds. After a full sixty seconds, the host has been assimilated and is fully infected. On dead tissue, the infection spreads even faster, infecting the target within fractions of seconds. However, the down fall to that is it takes a full ninety seconds for the infection to fully take hold. As for resistant species, I haven't found any. But that's why we are expanding our test bed."

Cain swiped his clearance card and entered the decontamination chamber. He removed his lightsabers from his belt and set them in the tray before him.

Cain Dracus:"Place your weapons in the tray. The lab is filled with highly sensitive material. Some of the effects of the equipment really mess with a lightsaber's functionality."

Cain watched at C'thulu grudgingly surrendered his lightwhips. Being unarmed around the Dracus was certainly intimidating, but it was a necessary precaution. Cain pressed the decon button. With a high pitched whistle, the decontaminate sprayed out of the nozzles on the wall, effectively removing any outside traces of anything foreign. Once the procedure was completed, Cain stepped through the second set of doors and into the brilliantly white lab. The walls appeared to glow with a bright white light. The floor and ceiling were a highly polished material. And everyone in the lab was wearing a sterile hazmat suit or lab coat. Depending on where each person was situated.

Cain chuckled to himself as C'thulu adjusted to the brightness of the room.

Cain Dracus:"You will, in time. The reason we keep the initial infection rooms so bright is to keep the infected calm. The bright light disorients them during the initial stages of the infection. Once infected however, the infected sensory input is increased tenfold, making the infected a very dangerous opponent, especially in the dark."

Cain motioned to one of the technical staff, who in turn nodded and motioned for the specimens to be brought over. Wheeled in on flat metal tables, the Rodian, Chiss and Trandoshan were strapped to the tables tightly. Cain waited patiently as each subject was tilted up to a forty-five degree angle and hooked up to monitors that kept track of vitals and brain waves. Another technician wheeled in a cart covered in a white sheet.

Cain Dracus:"Stand back."

Once the technicians were clear, the lead Medical Officer nodded to Cain, indicating that he was monitoring the specimens. Cain pulled the white sheet off the cart, revealing three syringes filled with an eerie blue glowing liquid. Cain then walked over to the Rodian, who immediately began struggling against the restraints.

Cain Dracus:"Shhh...there is nothing to fear. It will all be over soon..."

Despite the awkwardly reassuring words from Cain, the Rodian struggled harder. Cain swabbed the Rodian's right shoulder. He then slid the needle into the Rodian's skin and pushed the plunger slowly. The blue liquid entered the Rodian's veins, causing the veins to glow with the blue liquid ad it began to spread into the Rodian's body. The other two specimens watched quietly. The Rodian slowly stopped struggling until he went completely limp, head flopping to the side. Cain stepped back. And then the Rodian's eyes snapped open, wide. It's whole body tensed and strained against the restraints. And then came the blood-curdling howl. The Rodian howled and screeched loudly. As this was happening, Cain stepped over to C'thulu's side and spoke to him over the screams and howls.

Cain Dracus:"The infection is taking hold. Without an infection form, the transformation is incredibly painful. Imagine drowning. Lungs filling with fluid, unable to catch your breath. Each breath becomes shorter and shorter, lungs burning due to the lack of air. Your nerve endings feeling like they are on fire, burning all throughout your body. And then this happens..."

Cain motioned to the still struggling and shrieking Rodian. Suddenly it's left wrist snapped back with a sickening crunch. With the left hand almost completely folded back, sharp pieces of bone began to protrude out of the flesh at the wrist. The Rodian shrieked and squirmed even harder and louder. The Chiss and Trandoshan simply watched in horror. Once the tendrils protruding from the wrist were roughly five feet in length, the Rodian's usually green skin began to fade to gray and molt. Flakes of dead skin rubbed off as the Rodian did it's final death throes against the restraints. As the struggling lessened, the Rodian's head snapped back. Vertebrae could be heard snapping and popping out of place. And finally, a rocky looking growth began to slowly permeate out of the Rodian's chest. Finally the Rodian was infected. Little sensory tendrils began to sprout out all over the Rodian's body. Cain, who had been watching his apprentice's reaction, finally spoke.

Cain Dracus:"A painful process, but necessary to continue my research. At first inspection, it would appear that Rodian physiology can be infected. However, the Rodian will be moved to a containment unit and monitored for twenty-four hours."

Cain motioned for two technicians to sedate the Rodian and wheel it out of the room.

Cain got quite the enjoyable 'kick' out of C'thulu's reaction to the infection process.

Clearly C'thulu was a lot darker than he had initially portrayed himself to be. And Cain relished in that fact.

Cain shrugged at C'thulu's question.

Cain Dracus:"If they are compatible with the generic version of the infection, yes. If not, then it is either a lot worse then that or some minor twitching and that's it. See, as we infect each new species, my technicians are monitoring vitals and brain waves to ensure that the infection process doesn't stress the body to the point of mental break down. Once mental degradation occurs, the host's body becomes less viable for the infection. And it only lessens in viability as mental degradation increases. And this is why I am selecting my specimens with such strict stipulations. I need near perfect health conditions to keep the infection process as controlled as possible."

Cain then selects a syringe from the cart and walks towards the Chiss male, who glares as Cain defiantly, but says nothing.

Beneath his helmet, Cain grinned. He paused before he injected the Chiss, to answer his apprentice's question.

Cain Dracus:"The original strain of the parasite showed vulnerabilities to certain aspects of the Force. Having had time to correct that, this strain of the parasite is immune to the Force. While Force abilities of a practiced user could still harm Combat Forms and Infection Form, gene splicing from several Force resistant or Force immune creatures has had amazing results. This, in turn, diminishes the ability of the infected host being a Force user, however the parasite can still infect Force sensitives without issue."

The Chiss still glares at Cain.

Cain Dracus:"Defiance won't help you much longer, my blue-skinned puppet. And it make it all the more satisfying for me, watching you change..."

Cain cackled to himself. An abhorrent sound, due to the raspy mechanical sound of his voice.

Cain proceeds to inject the virus into the Chiss, watching gleefully as the look of defiance on the specimen's face quickly turned to a look of pain. As with the Rodian, the Chiss struggled hard against the restraints. It howled loudly and shrieked in pain. Cain took another step back from the table, as the Chiss' struggling is causing the table to rock. The beady red eyes of the Chiss were now panic-stricken. All traces of defiance gone. Cain chuckled.

Cain Dracus:"Notice how quickly the look of defiance changes. The Dracus consumes regardless. Theoretically there is nothing in this galaxy that could stand up against it, if it was given the chance to roam unchecked."