Pirate Log 43762 Section 6

The Chancellor left the meeting in a mediocre mood when a Space Pirate
she somewhat recognized approached.
He had a red mark on his left shoulder. He was one of Ridley's personal
Guard, no doubt. The Chancellor remembered him vaguely as "new guy."
"High Commander-"
She cut him off with a salute that he returned all too hastily. It made
her uncomfortable.
"High Commander! The Security Chief crash landed in the Factory District!
He's conscious, in the Medical Palace. I thought you would want to see him."
The Chancellor was already out the door. She called over a skiff and had
the driver take her (and the guard) to the Medical Palace.
"Brief me, New guy!" She said. Her manner of addressing him was half
unintentional, but it didn't matter- she could call him anything she wanted and
he'd be able to do nothing.
He seemed not to mind it remotely. "High Commander, there was a
malfunction with his Phazon Device. Aparently it got into his skeleton and
weakened it. He was flying and the arm part of his wing-"
"The humerus," corrected the Chancellor.
"Well, it broke while he was turning. Almost right in half, Ma'am. He was
able to get through the smog with minimal damage, but he crashed. His chest, it's
cracked. And... there's Phazon in his lungs and hearts."
The Chancellor was panicking.

At the Medical Palace, Ridley's Armor plates had been removed. His red
underskin was obvious, along with all the wounds, which here bandaged and in
casts.
He'd spent a lot of time in this, the largest room in the palace.
His personal guards stood at attention. This was why he had them, in case
he ever needed to be protected.
His former subordinate threw open the doors and looked him over. The
other guards looked to Ridley, as if unsure what to do. Should they keep her
back.
Ridley's right side was the worst, and three of his tail joints were
broken. He was in bad shape.
"Hello, High Commander," he said in a very smooth voice that was followed
up with a hacking cough and a wad of phlegm.
She replied with a nod.
"Word spreads fast," he continued. "But I suppose I should tell you what
I know before some horrid rumors get out saying I've gone and laid a clutch of
eggs."

The Chancellor could not be sure if this was Ridley's idea of a joke or
if it was a Norfairian expression. Or he was just a little out of it from
painkillers, so she treated it as if she hadn't heard him.
She nodded, intending him to continue speaking. She was given a detailed
account of the Phazon Device and how Ridley's body had reacted to it.
Conveniently, a member of Science Team and a doctor (the two had teamed
up for this case) entered the room and were checked for weapons by the guards,
who were almost never this tense.
The doctor spoke first, reading from a portable computer. "Chief, there's
extensive damage to both your lungs, you're going to need new ones."
"Then get to work," Ridley commanded. "Make me some!"
"We can't, sir," said the scientist so meekly he was almost inaudible.
The Chancellor watched Ridley give the Scientist a look that would kill most
people.
"Why?" Ridley hissed.
"Sir, the Phazon invaded the nuclei in your cells. They're multiplying
just fine, but we can't isolate any DNA or even RNA or mitochondrial DNA. It
should clear up in a few months, but if your breathing gets much worse, we'll
need some sort of external breathing apparatus."
Ridley tried to hide a cough but could not. It was a painful sight for
the Chancellor, who had protected Ridley from outside threats and who now was
forced to witness Ridley's suffering at an internal one. "What else?"
"Well, your mitochondria seem... well, mostly burnt out," the doctor
said.
"That would explain why I'm tired now."
The scientist cut in, "Well, we think that what happened with the Phazon
was, it made your mitochondria super powerful, which was one of our aims, but it
was for Pirates more than Norfairians, and because you are cold blooded, the
Phazon Device overestimated your energy needs."
The Chancellor was following all of this.
"It was supplying you with the energy you would need to self-heat, and it
sort of... overloaded you."
Ridley nodded. "Makes enough sense."
The doctor and the scientist went to leave.
The Chancellor flinched when Ridley hollered a stream of obscenities and
threats once the door was closed. Among the many words he tossed about, "Science
team had damn well better fix the Phazon!" stuck with the Chancellor.