Without the relief of the planet's rainstorms to wash it away, sweat poured down Appius' face as panic rushed through his motionless body. His heart thundered in his chest like the storms of Kamino that crashed around them.
Come on. MOVE!
He screamed the words inside his mind and tried his best to will his body into moving, yet the poison had done its damage. No matter what he did, his nervous system failed to respond to the electrical impulses sent by his brain. He tried to connect to the Force, but even as a Sorcerer, the stress of having his body restrained the way it was made it incredibly difficult. He could sense the Chiss kneel beside him through the Force, the same smug smirk plastered across his face.
"Funny, this is precisely how the Kel Dor looked when I performed this exact procedure. How ironic for the master to share the same fate as the student."
Unable to retort, unable to retort, Rhylance's patient remained quietly cooperative as he pried the scalpel out of his leg and placed it back on his belt underneath his medical uniform. With the glistening unused scalpel still in his grasp, he slowly and carefully began to cut a hole into the Mandalorian's armor on his left forearm that was neither too big, nor not too small.
The damage to his head prevented him from moving at the speed he was used too, and he would be damned if a concussion caused him to taint the sample he so desperately craved.
Mixing poisons, especially the inhibiting and debilitating kind, was a habit that tended to pollute his samples and inhibit his progress.
And that simply wouldn't do.
He cut with pinpoint precision in order to expose the flesh beneath, thankfully avoiding direct contact with it. Satisfied with his work thus far, he placed the scalpel on the ground beside him before he reached into the medical backpack strapped to his side and retrieved a small cylindrical object, approximately fifteen centimetres in length, with a sharp, pointy needle at the tip.
Without so much as a second thought, he plunged the syringe as hard as he could into the soft, rain-soaked tissue beneath him. Instantly, Appius gasped as the pain ripped through his veins. His instincts were to react, though the inhibiting poison still held him in place like vines in a jungle that refused to let him go.
A thick red liquid entered the tube attached to the syringe as it drained out of the small gash in Appius' skin. Once full, 'The Doctor', pulled the medical contraption out of the Sorcerer without so much as a care to the agony he caused.
Even with the rain beating down upon his glasses, and the lightning distorting his vision for seconds at a time, the Arcona Proconsul couldn't help but gaze at the vial of blood now in his hands. Getting a sample from Force Users was often hard enough, but getting one from a Mandalorian Force User was another matter entirely.
Another flash of electricity from the blackened sky tore the Field Medic from his stupor. He gazed at the Vizsla member’s body next to him and disgust filled his thoughts. He would have loved to perform a living autopsy, right here and now. But the man was in a position of leadership, and his death could spark a war between Vizsla and Arcona. He would get it in the neck from Lucine if he did so. He was confident in Arcona's power, but facing the wrath of his red-headed lover was not a thought he cherished.
Instead, he slowly rose to his feet and, with the poison in the Force User's bloodstream set to last a couple more hours, decided to make use of the Kaminoan research facility available to him. e could always return to get more samples if he needed them. His footsteps staggered slightly and his head pounded as he rubbed the lump that formed from the injury. He was definitely concussed, and the injury slowed his movements.
Appius remained where he was, and with rainwater seeping in through the gashes and rips in his armor, it soaked the clothes underneath his armor and forced shivers from the cool liquid.
With Rhylance's attention now off him, Appius tapped into the Force and mustered his entire being into expelling the poison from his system. He had to use his full focus and do his best to ignore the thunder and lightning that cracked and boomed around him.
After a few moments, the soothing energy of the Force entered his body. It started with the tips of his fingers, as the sensation of movement brought relief along with it. Then the feeling went through his arms, torso, neck, head, legs, feet and toes until complete movement returned to him a couple of minutes later.
He leapt to his feet just in time to observe the Chiss open the door to the cloning facility. He stretched out with the Force, wrapping it round the Chiss like a rope before the Proconsul found himself yanked backwards. He slid hard across the watery platform, coming to a stop just inches from the Sorcerer.
Seizing the opportunity, Appius retrieved Redeemer and Liberator from his waist. He activated the twin blades and a snap-hiss cracked out of both hilts.
If the fact that he was just pulled back onto the platform by an invisible hand wasn't proof enough that he was in danger, then the emerald blades distorted through his soaked glasses provided ample evidence. On survival instinct alone, he rolled out of the way, just moments before Appius could remove his head from his shoulders. The twin blades sliced through the durasteel platform, leaving a faint orange glow from the strike behind.
The doctor backpedaled and shuffled across the landing platform, eventually reaching the narrow edge that dropped off into the violent oceans below.
"Wait! Wait… I'm sorry. Don't kill me."
The Chiss' pleas seemed to halt the Mandalorian's advance as he stopped directly above him.
"You want this?"
He held up the vial of blood.
"It's yours. I'll come peacefully, I know when I'm beaten."
He finished his sentence, and it seemed to the master manipulator that his bluff had worked. He watched Appius' grip on his lightsabers slowly loosen as he lowered them gently by his sides.
The slightest smirk graced the blue-skinned man's features. The second he noticed Appius' guard drop, he gripped one of his many scalpels in his spare hand and lunged towards his target.
The Force blared its warning to the back of the Sorcerer's mind, and as lightning struck around them, he sidestepped to the left of the attack and swung haphazardly with a vertical strike with Liberator and cut the toxic weapon through its blade.
Rhylance was about to retaliate further when he suddenly felt it hard to breathe. His airways tightened and his pupils dilated as he was forced onto his toes. He wrapped his hands around his throat in a feeble attempt to loosen the pressure on his throat.
The Sorcerer's outstretched fingers were all the red-eyed scientist could see through his water-soaked glasses.
"I don't know what the hell you are up to. You took blood from Trenkyp, my apprentice, and you took blood from me. Whatever it is, it stops now. I'll be damned if you think I'll let you get away with it."
The Mandalorian's words were strong and defiant, yet fatigue was clearly beginning to set in. His use of the Force up to this point was starting to take a toll on him – a fact that didn't escape Rhylance.
"You would… risk war… with Arcona?" He replied between choked gasps.
The reply he received was not what he hoped to hear.
"Yes."
The Chiss’ red eyes widened in shock; he reached for a vial of poison in his backpack just as he started to become lightheaded. Unfortunately, Appius reacted faster than him, and Rhylance was flung violently across the platform, back towards the ships.
