Ask Nar Shaddaa In Sickness and in Health

[Giran Latt]

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Giran watched the turbolift descend. Lights from the levels they were passing periodically sped past, momentarily lighting the three Jedi's faces. They'd arrived on Nar Shaddaa two days ago. When he'd seen it from space he'd been in awe, only Coruscant could compete with the sheer scale of it. The city lights burned like tiny suns as if to show that no matter how spectacular nature was people could emulate it. Of course he wasn't so naïve to think that the beauty of the planet did anymore than hide the taint that it held. His father had a saying 'the prettiest smiles hide the sharpest teeth'.
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As soon as they landed Giran had almost been overwhelmed, the sheer amount of suffering, ecstasy, horror and joy the people of this planet were feeling had threatened to overcome him. Only with the help of the knights had he been able to re-centre himself. After he'd steadied himself they'd then met their contact (a private physician to a local hutt) and he'd briefed them. There was an outbreak of an unknown pathogen on Level 2234. To stop the infection from spreading the entire level had been quarantined and the people left to die. The only people still trying to combat the illness were at a small clinic that was woefully understaffed and undersupplied. Apparently many of the doctors and nurses working there had become ill themselves. Thus becoming patients and adding to the stress the clinic was under. Due to the unknown nature of the disease no other help was being sent, the local boss had decided they'd clean up after the whole level was dead. Easier that way, less mess. The jedi were these peoples last hope.
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None of them had been happy with that but there was very little they could do about it. The hutts owned Nar Shaddaa and the jedi had no power here. So, they prepared, gathered supplies and centred themselves. Now they were here descending into the unknown. He looked at his companions wondering what was going through their minds. @Ash Valentine ,the scarred and grizzled knight, had intimidated Giran at first but now descending into the unknown he was glad to have someone with him that he could rely on. A rock in this sea of fear. @Ember Blaze, had a regal bearing, a bearing of purpose. She intimidated Giran almost as much as Ash did, however, like Ash, he was glad to have someone who knew how to handle situations like this with confidence.
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*ding*
"may the force be with us"

@Shax
@ActualRaptors

 

[Ember Blaze]

The elevator was moving slowly, too slow for Ember's comfort. Ember and the two other Jedi with her were sent here to assist in stopping an outbreak. The understaffed and underfunded clinics on those levels simply couldn't keep up. On her last trip to Nar Shadda, Ember did not have the same sicking feeling she was having now. 'How could the upper levels just not care? How could they not help?' Ember thought, anger showing on her face. Taking a deep breath, Ember thought 'Stay calm, remember the Jedi Code, control your emotions and don't let them control you.' With her anger subsiding, Ember glanced over to her fellow passengers.

She was joined on this mission by Ash, a fellow Jedi Knight, and Giran, a Padawan. Ember had not worked with either of them before, but she was looking forward to working with her fellow Jedi once more. The trio stood, anxiously waiting for the elevator to get to its destination. When the doors finally slid open, Ember was unsure what she would find.

A local physician had briefed them on the virus but failed to mention the state of level 2234. While Ember couldn't see the bodies, she could smell them. She gagged on the stench, doing her best to keep her composure. Unable to handle more of the smell, Ember reached into her pocket and pulled out a small mask. She was not sure it would stop the virus from infecting her, but it would at least stop the smell. Turning to her companions, she said "This is a lot worse than I feared it would be. We should head to the clinic and see what we can find out." Ember waited for her fellow Jedi to respond, wondering what it was she got herself caught up in.

@Shax

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash leaned back against the wall of the elevator, watching with his fellows as the floors ticked by. He adjusted his shoulders, as the straps going across both sides of his chest where chafing. He was carrying two large cases of medical supplies on either side of his torso, mostly Bacta but there were some more specialized Anit-Viral agents he technically wasn't certified to administer. He had brought along four other cases for the two other Jedi to carry to the clinic, just in case they were running out of supplies. He had been adamant when asked, that he in fact, not be asked how he got those supplies.

He felt himself, in contrast to his peers, begin to relax against the wall. This was something he knew, something he didn't really have to think about. He never relished the idea of people dying, but he constantly sought out places of misery such as this. Overtime, he was beginning to become more accustomed to the stink of poorly put together medical centers than he was anywhere else. It was a sad thought. He put a hand on Giran's shoulder, having introduced himself when they had all initially met. "Hey, we are going to be fine. Jedi do this kind of thing all the time and come out on top." He rasped. The words were for the Padawan, but he also tried to catch the eye of Ember when he spoke them.

When the woman in question spoke, Ash nodded and nudged the four other cases of stuff with his foot. "The clinic is the best place we can be, from what I understand its a few blocks away from this elevator. If you see anyone on the way, don't hesitate to try and help them. Bring all you can, and those you can't help immediately, make a note of where they were." He continued, waiting for the other Jedi to pick up the supplies before he intended to lead the way to the clinic.

@ActualRaptors @TRook

 

[Giran Latt]

Ash was right. Jedi did do this all the time and he was just going to have to get used to it but, right now, he was just a little overwhelmed. The worst injury Giran had ever seen was back on Mirial when another student had taken a blaster bolt to the arm in a training accident. This was an entirely different beast. Taking strength from Ash's words he grabbed as many of the supplies as he could carry and set out with the two knights towards the clinic. As they walked Giran reached out with the force, lightly touching the few dead and dying on the sides of the street, hoping he could help some of them. They were mostly very young or very old, the most vulnerable of society. The easiest to evict when there was fear of contagion and the quickest to succumb to it's effects. He couldn't stop the tears once they started flowing.

How old was that girl... 6 maybe

He felt her pain through the force, maddening and constant. She was a tweilek but that was hard to tell as her body was covered in blood red welts and scarlett rashes. He approached her slowly trying not to scare her but he needn't have worried, she was solely focused on her pain. Giran administered some bacta to help with that but she'd need alot more attention if she wanted to live through the day. He picked her up and cradled her against his body, unafraid of infection. If he could not save these people, well maybe he should share their fate.

The next person he came to was an old man, a mirialan he noticed with shock. His skin like the girls was red and swollen. Unlike the girl there was very little Giran could do for him. His mind was already broken and his body was barely holding on. He could administer the bacta for the pain but he would still die in mere minutes. That bacta could be used on someone who needed it more, someone who might survive. Perhaps it would be better to just end the man's suffering now rather than let him live through another few minutes of agony. Giran's hand trembled towards his saber. Was this right? Was it mercy? He could still use the bacta. No, he had to see the big picture. He grabbed his saber hand firm now and- suddenly - the choice was taken from him. The man's heart collapsed followed by every other major organ in his body. Giran let out a sigh of relief.
relief... You coward... You monster...
"The clinic's close I think" Giran growled taking off in a run.

 

[Ember Blaze]

"There are so many sick here. What can we possibly do?" Ember said, looking at the scene around her. There was the young girl Giran was holding, then the older Mirialan who died. Ember looked to her left and saw a human woman crying over her child, taken by the same illness that was now infecting her.

"I fear that all we will be able to do is to lessen the suffering of the infected." She said to her fellow Jedi. Ember followed Ash as he led them to the clinic. It was overflowing with those in need of medical help. There were a few doctors and assistants running around the clinic, trying their best to help everyone they could. Ember stopped next to a bed with an older woman lying on it. The infection had taken its toll on the woman, but she was still hanging on. Ember placed her hand over the woman and reached out through the Force. Ember could feel the woman, she was suffering, struggling for every breath. 'Would it not be kinder to end her life?' The stray thought shocked Ember, the emotions playing out across her face.

"No, we will find a way, we have to find a way to save all of these people." She said into the air. Turning back towards Ash, Ember said "What is the plan?"

@Shax @TRook

 

[Ash Valentine]

Ash marched grimly through the hallways making several odd turns before Giran stopped to check up on some infected. He waited patiently, just watching the kid's emotions in the force. He had to imagine that this was his first time doing something this intense, so he wouldn't try and correct his swirling emotional state. He had felt the same a time or two, and regardless of the Jedi's teachings, if those emotions pulled you through the day then he would let them slide.

He glanced towards his fellow Knight as she began to speak. "Then that's what we will do. My old master always told me, anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. Even if we can't save these peoples lives we can make their final hours bearable." He rasped solemnly. Sometimes there genuinely wasn't anything you could do for someone, no amount of medicine, force healing or anything else would prevent them from dying. It was a hard concept to fight with. He calmly wandered over to the woman crying over the child that Ember had noticed moments earlier. With a quick wave of his hand and an exertion in the force the woman fell unconscious, and Ash put her in a fireman's carry over his shoulder before resuming his march to the clinic.

He placed the woman in a semi-comfortable corner, seeing as there weren't any beds free. He sat still with her for a few moments before beginning to attempt some force healing as the woman could still most likely be saved. It was a tricky thing, there wasn't necessarily a physical wound to heal, so instead he needed to accelerate the production of white blood cells and hope that they could actually attack the virus. He stopped after a moment, his efforts wouldn't bear fruit for a few hours if they did at all.

"We check with the doc's and see where they need us. Then figure it our from there." He rasped, moved to turn away, then stopped and spoke again. "And we need to find Giran, don't want him wandering around here alone." He knew the kid couldn't have gotten far and was most likely somewhere in this clinic, but he didn't want to risk him getting lost in the labyrinthine streets of Nar Shaddaa and it would be best if they were all there to talk to the doc.

@ActualRaptors @TRook

 

[Giran Latt]

The clinic was crammed and hot. Spaces on the beds had long since been filled and patients were placed wherever space could be found. It was clean at least. Porters ran around carrying medicines and clean sheets, none of them looked like they'd slept in days.

He found a space away from the main thoroughfare and laid the girl down. He clearly wasn't going to get the help he'd hoped, the doctors were already rushed of their feet. He'd have to help her himself. He went into a healing trance.

He couldn't cure her, maybe a true master of healing could but that wasn't him. Instead, he followed the instructions the Knights had given him before they'd arrived. He encouraged the production of white blood cells within her system, that would help her system battle the infection. She'd need more help if she was going to survive this though, so he also slowed her other life processes, in theory this would slow the diseases progression and allow her to conserve her energy. Lastly, he transferred as much vigor as he felt he could afford to lose hoping it would allow her to last long enough to beat the infection.

He looked up from his trance the girls breathing had slowed and she seemed to be in less pain. That was good he could leave her now. He placed his cloak around her shoulders and stood up to look for Ash and Ember. Stars danced across his vision as he did so, maybe he had over exerted himself... He couldn't afford that right now. He felt out with the force giving himself over to it, not unlike he would when using soresu. He felt the pain, the suffering of those around him. It filled him, not with sadness this time, but with righteous anger. The universe was cruel and he was these people only protection from it. He couldn't afford to be weak not now. They needed him.

Through the force he felt the Knights enter the clinic. Bright sparks in this misery. He made his way towards them doing his best not to stumble. He'd recovered from his dizziness now but still felt incredibly drained. Finally getting to where they were he smiled at the two of them.
"Let's find this doctor then, eh?" Giran said forcing his anger down.