Ask Plot Chandrila Infected

Maxims Tionson

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Max had been working on Eriadu for some time but things elsewhere in the Galaxy required the attention of the Jedi Order as well. Alongside the ongoing investigative efforts, the Jedi Order were doing what they could to become more involved in the Galaxy at large on a greater scale than they had since before the formation of the Empire.

Hence why he was currently in the back of a ship heading down to the surface of the planet Chandrila's surface.

The planet was, without a doubt, a shining jewel of the Core but it's shine was deeply marred by it's current reality. A disease had taken hold on the planet with such speed and aggression that the planetary government was reaching out for aid. People were dying by the day and the Jedi Order had pledged its support for those it could reach.

Today he was working with a Nara Allam, a padawan of the Order. As their ride was still breaching the atmosphere he decided it was best that they get to know each other now rather than when they were walking the halls of the medical facility looking to give respite to those suffering and those who were forced to keep the victims of the disease under lock and key.

"Padawan."
he called out to her over the sounds of the ship entering the atmosphere, "Have you learned much in the way of Jedi healing techniques?"


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Nara sat, watching the computers whirl on the console, eyes narrowing at the readings as the ship headed down to the planet. She hadn't really ventured much into the Core Worlds, in her time. Just one silly, desperate visit to Coruscant that she'd sooner forget about. What little she'd heard about Chandrila sounded amazing, though perhaps a little too fancy for someone like her. Until the disease, that was.

She'd been sent on this mission so fast, her head was still spinning. Maybe they were just desperate for help. Maybe it was serendipty... sorry, The Force. They'd been saying at the Temple that she needed a new focus, a new place to channel her energies. Why not healing? It had been the only suggestion that'd made any sense to Nara. What better way to help people?

She was lucky to be with Maxim, though. She'd never met him before in person, but she'd heard about him. Not just from Master Oren either. He was a good man and an accomplished Jedi, who'd probably saved countless lives.

"Nothing much, Master Tionson!" she yelled over the noise, much to the 'delight' of the crew around them, "I know some basic first aid, but that's all practical. And usually involving a ton of bacta slapped on everything." She had an inkling that it might not be enough today. "I'm uh... very keen to learn more though. I think it might be a better path than just waving a saber around."

Nara looked down at her datapad, running over the details again. "How bad can this be? It seems to have started incredibly suddenly."


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Max himself knew a little about healing with the Force but it wasn't his most amazing set of skills he would be the first to admit. He could heal some light damage but it wasn't anything that would be able to actually help the people suffering from the disease. They were mainly here to see what they could do on the ground while their allies did more to combat the actual disease itself. It was up to them to see about supporting the hospital that was in quarantine.

He grinned a little bit at the Padawan.

"I'm glad to hear you say so Padawan! It's refreshing to find that the Padawans are looking to improve themselves just like the rest of the Order!"
he agreed with a nod, "Together I'm sure we'll manage to help out and we are bringing in more supplies with us."

As their ship touched down on the landing pad atop the hospital's main building, Max looked around expectantly before waving for Nara to follow him to the elevator. Once the doors had closed he answered honestly.

"This could be ground zero to a plague that could kill more people than the last two wars combined."
he told her bluntly, "Never underestimate your enemy; even if the enemy is a disease. But the reason why I didn't say anything until we were alone here? You can't say things like that here. These people are in quarantine. They can't see their friends, family or anyone not in a hazmat suit or using the Force for protection. And they're dying."

He ran a hand through his hair.

"As far as these people are concerned, this disease is the single most important thing in the Galaxy. Do you understand?"



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Nara smiled at Max's comment. It was nice to be recognised for something by a Knight... and not just for shouting at people. She hoped it'd be true, too. Helping a bunch of people would make her feel a lot more comfortable and centred, especially after recent events.

Nara followed him to the elevator and listened closely, her eyes getting wider and wider as he spoke more freely. Suddenly, this seemed much more serious than she'd imagined. She nodded, taking in what he said.

"I'll try and keep things.. positive." It wasn't like her to keep things hidden beneath the surface or lie quite so... brazenly, but she'd have to do it. It made sense. They weren't going to get anything done by focusing on the doom and gloom of it all. They had to get stuck in and do something, even if it was just for the sake of morale and holding the fort.

"Yes sir, I understand. The most important thing..." she said, just as the doors of the elevator opened to the Quarantine floor. Nara stepped out, jaw hanging loose as she stared at the mess of medical personnel running around, plastered with masks, aprons and thick gloves. Warning signs littered the walls, as messages about hygeine, safe practices and limited exposure scrolled past on screens,

"We are fine with the force, aren't we?" Nara asked Max, looking back at him with just a small hint of worry on her face. She could feel the distress coming from deeper in the ward. All those people...


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She understood.

Max didn't like being like that, he didn't like being 'the bad guy', but sometimes it was needed. Nara didn't know how to act before but now she knew what it meant to be a Jedi in this situation. It was easy to be a model Jedi when nothing was wrong. When everything was going right it was the height of simplicity itself to be the kind of Jedi every Master aspired to be even as a Padawan. But the fact of the matter was that it was never going to be like that out in the real world.

And the best Jedi was the one who could stand the horrors of the Galaxy and still be everything that the Galaxy needed the Jedi to actually be. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"We can help them."
he assured her, "Even if we only serve to remind them that there's hope, we owe it to them to give them that."

The disease was not something that worked on the Force sensitive when they were trained enough to enhance their bodies. Force enhancement was often used to tank hits and increase strength but it enhanced other parts of the body as well if you focused on it. A disease that was capable of exploiting the weaknesses in regular organs found no weaknesses in one enhanced by the Force.

"Force enhancement on your body."
he prompted Nara as he reinforced his own body, "We will be fine for a short time. If we're here for longer than a few hours at a time, take a rebreather as the disease is airborne."

He squeezed her shoulder gently and moved on ahead. Speaking briefly with one of the head doctors he frowned at the grim news before waving Nara over as he moved down the lines of bed. When she was close enough he spoke softly.

"Do you think you can lessen someone's pain with the Force?"
he asked her with a small frown, "One of the patients is going to be undergoing some emergency surgery and they need us. I will heal in a localized area to limit blood loss but they can't use painkillers - so you will be focusing on lessening their pain. Can you do it, do you think?"


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Nara listened, hoping inside herself that there was a little more that they could both do beyond just giving a little bit of 'hope.' No doubt it was useful, essential even, but Nara didn't really fancy the idea of heading back to Ajan Kloss having just given some 'hope.' Maybe that was selfish of her, she considered.

She followed his instructions, pausing for a couple of seconds to breathe gently, focusing herself. Focusing her attentions and energy on the Force, she felt it tingle through her gently, like a tiny electric current, as it subtly supported and enhanced her body's functions. She felt just a little bit stronger, a little bit firmer and in control.

Once she was over with him by the beds, Nara frowned as she thought the procedure through. Using the Force this way seemed like a balance between her instincts and actual, medical knowledge... something she'd decided she was quite lacking in. "I can try, at least," she started to say, but realised that probably wasn't the best attitude to have when it came to dealing with real-life patients, suffering from a deadly disease.

"Sorry. Maybe directing the energy through their nerves, or the area around where they're operating. Or maybe focus on the head, the back..." she wondered aloud, starting to wish she'd had a little bit more training. Or a lot more training. The only way to know how to do it... is to do it. "I can do it." She tried to fix that note of confidence in her voice. She knew she'd need it around the sick and the dying. She looked around at them, lying in their beds in various states of disease and dismay.

"I can stop the pain," she vowed again. "How the heck do Jedi learn this stuff... it's way more complicated than just shoving people around and making rocks float?" she asked quietly, out of the earshot of the patients.


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Max knew that healing was something that Jedi learned but it was something that had two schools of thought and two methods to approach it; one that was effective due to a more scientific approach and one that was effective due to intent and trusting in the Force. The scientific method might prove more effective in some cases but sometimes there could never be a substitute to reaching out to the Force and letting it guide you.

He squeezed Nara's shoulder and spoke to her through telepathy instead since it would be harder for any of the patients to have any idea that Nara wasn't entirely sure what to do.

You take his hand and you reach into the Force. Trust in the Force and sense him, sense his pain. Trust in the Force and try and take that pain into yourself, you can deal with it better than he can. Once you have it inside of you instead of him you must be careful, Nara.


They moved over to the patient but Max had eyes only for the padawan.

Pain leads to suffering. Suffering leads to the Dark Side. When you have taken his pain upon you, you must do as you have done with your emotions and pains in the past; let it go. Trust in the Force and thrust it from yourself. I'll be here but Nara?


He smiled as he grabbed hold of the patient's left hand as his right was given to the padawan.

You can do this.



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Nara shivered slightly, like she always did whenever anyone spoke to her like that. It always discomforted her when voices appeared in her mind like that. Though obviously, it was essential to keep that information from the patient. She still didn't have to like it though.

Trust in the Force, she said back to him, looking up into his eyes. I'll do it. I'll try.

With that, she took ahold of the patient's hand. Even though she'd reached into the Force plenty of times before, it felt different this time. Not just rocks, trees and inanimate objects now. She was having to perform a delicate, dangerous procedure. All sorts of things could go wrong. She tried not to think about it too much. I can do this.

Her breathing slowed as her eyes closed. She focused on the patient, on the touch of his skin and the feel of his pulse. Sensing it thud through him, up through his arm and to the rest of his body. She could feel it, in that strange, negative-space kinda way. The Force all around him, reacting to him and his pain. She could tell instantly that there was something wrong with him. The energy around his was weak and black, like oozing dirt clinging to his body. She felt the patient wince and knew he was in a good bit of pain.

Bring the pain into yourself... she repeated in her mind.

She reached out through the Force and tugged at that dark, oozing mass around him. Felt it pulse through him, down his arm, into her. The second it first slipped through into her hand, she gasped. Ah. Ahhhhh. Fffffffff.... she thought, biting her lip to distract from the strange, phantom pain. It ached through her from the arm upwards, making her muscles twitch and her nerves fire. Her body tried to repulse it, like it knew it wasn't her pain and it didn't belong.

Let it go... she thought, breathing deeper and faster. "Let it go..." she said aloud, her voice tinged with effort. She stood strong and gathered what she could, trying to use the Force and her sheer will of personality to push the foreign, awkward pain from her body. This guy better be feeling much less crappy because I'm not doing this for nothing... she thought, fingers tensing.


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Nara was in pain but the point was that the patient was in less pain. She was doing what a Jedi was supposed to do and she was ensuring that someone else was bettered through her training and connection with the Force. Thankfully for both her and for the patient, the surgery was actually not too extensive in terms of time.

With Max able to at least partially heal the surgical wounds themselves, the surgeon was soon signalling for Max to finish up healing as much as he could. That meant that Nara was going to have to let the patient manage his own pain again.

It was horrible.

It would be knowingly letting someone suffer but the time of the Jedi was too valuable and needed to be spread out so Max stood up and placed a hand on Nara's shoulder. Instead of using telepathy he spoke to her aloud instead.

"Let go of him Nara..."
he urged her quietly, "We need to move on. He will live but we need to keep moving."

He added in the Force.

I'm sorry, I know it hurts but we have to keep helping.



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Nara held her nerve as much as she could. It's better if I have the pain than them. I can deal with it. She thought it again, just to try and get some composure over what she was feeling. It was tricky, especially since she couldn't really concentrate on anything but that. She couldn't check how Max was doing with the healing, or how the surgery was going.

She heard Max's instruction and nodded. Whew, finally. She felt a swell of relief as she let go of his hand and...

She opened her eyes to see the patient twitch, his face twisting as the pain bounded straight back into him, with a vengeance. Nara watched in horror as the patient roiled in his bed, groaning with the fresh wave of pain. Her hands squeezed round the side of the bed. It felt awful.

"Yeah... yeah. There's others to get to," she said, nodding quickly, but it was easy to tell she wasn't happy. As they moved down the beds to another patient, Nara felt like she could hear him, rolling around and tensing in his bed. Her body tingled with residual pain and memories from the experience.

"This isn't going to get any easier, is it?" she asked the Knight, her boots squeaking on the floor. "Is it always like this? That hard?" She sighed as she rubbed her eyes. Already feeling a little bit tired. "And there's hundreds of people here." The path of the a healer was seeming very, very trying indeed.


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That Nara felt for the patient was good. To have taken on someone's pain and to feel worse when it was removed from you because of what meant for them? It was a promising thing to see in the young Jedi. An empathy that could not be faked or improved upon, something that occurred naturally and without effort.

Truly something to be cherished and nurtured within the mind of a young Padawan.

Did it ever get easier...?

"Would you like for me to lie to you and tell you that it gets easier with time?"
he asked her quietly, mouth twisting into a grimace, "I'm sorry Nara but it never gets easier and it shouldn't ever get easier. If it gets easier we are deadening ourselves to the suffering and feelings of those around us and we should never wish for that. Would that I could take the burden for you Nara but it is part of being a Jedi, alongside the determination to never cease in your efforts to lessen the total pain in the Galaxy."

As they were moving through the hospital halls a young man in hospital garb barged past them in a hurry, shoulder-checking Max in his haste. The Knight watched the young man go with a small frown, sensing the man's fear but he was clearly afflicted by the disease... fear of the unknown and possibly death was not unexpected.

It was only as the young man was closing the doors to an elevator with himself inside that the doctor arrived with security. The Doctor cursed.

"Damn it!"
He noticed the two Jedi, "Masters Jedi... that young man is attempting to break the quarantine. You must stop him! If he gets outside the perimeter we could lose all control of this situation!"

Max's head whipped round, catching the floor number the elevator had stopped on.

"Nara, we need to get to the roof."
he commanded the padawan, "Make haste! Let's go!"


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It wasn't the answer Nara was hoping for, but somehow she knew it was going to be something like that. If it wasn't like that, then everyone would be a healer, wouldn't they? There was a snarky comment somewhere in her brain... but she let it die there. It didn't seem like the time. She looked away for a few seconds, running over his comments in her mind.

"Maybe a lie woulda been nicer, honestly."

She walked along with him, watching as the younger guy barged into Max, shoving him aside roughly. Nara stepped a little to the side to avoid him, frowning. "Hey! Watch where you're goi...." she began before she saw the security. "Oh. Oh crap." She looked around with Max, staring at the top.

The roof, the roof, the roof. There was a second of horror. "Master Tionson... the ship isn't still up there, is it?" she asked. Without hesitation, she broke into a dash to the next elevator as she pulled out her communicator. Clicking the frequency to the ship as she jammed the 'Roof' button on the elevator controls.

"Captain?! Anyone?! This is Nara, one of the Jedi, there's a prisoner breaking quarantine that's heading up to the roof. Seal the doors quickly! Don't let him on board!" That'd have to do for now. If the ship was left open, then all the crew would have to be quarantined too. Or even worse, he'd manage to find a way off the platform.

Nara watched the dial move upwards as the elevator moved, every second feeling like a lifetime. Her hand moved to her belt, thumbing her blaster. Stun if I have to. Stun if I have to. It didn't feel nice, but stunning someone was better than hundreds more dead throughout the city because they couldn't contain it.

My life is just a continual series of really crappy choices.

"We'll stop him,"
she vowed as the elevator doors opened onto the roof, the landing pad spotlights half-blinding her as she stepped out, holding her blaster in hand.


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Force damn the security on this place!

With the elevator moving, Max knew that they would get there after the man arrived on the roof but he would be damned if he didn't make a good effort to reach the roof in time. In time for what he didn't know but he was reasonably certain that something bad was going to happen. He could feel it in his bones and that meant something he was rather concerned about actually; it meant that the Force itself was trying to warn him.

This had the potential to be really dangerous.

"Force Speed - now!"


Following his own command, Max pumped the Force into his body and moved in a way that was unnatural for humans. He dashed through the hall as quickly as his enhanced body would allow him, all-but crashing through the door to the stairwell before taking the steps several at a time in a frantic effort to reach the next level faster.

Growing more desperate with each passing second, Max focused on nothing but ensuring that he was going as fast as he could until he finally burst out into the bright daylight of the rooftop. Almost immediately he spotted the quarantined patient - standing precariously on the edge of the building.

It honestly looked like the terrified man was going to jump...

If he jumps his body will be outside the quarantine zone and the resulting gore will infect those reporters down there... we need to talk him down Nara.


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The instruction caught Nara all of a sudden as she watched Max tense, then dash out of the elevator in a blur. Nara focused for a second, pushing the Force into herself again, towards her legs and muscles. She followed him, running as fast as she could. People whizzed past her in a smear of colours and uniforms, but she wasn't anywhere near as skilled as Max at that kind of Force enhancement. She chased up after him, hearing the thud as he shoved the door open several seconds before she ended up there.

As she headed out onto the roof, snatching a breath from the fresh air, she felt Max's voice in her mind. She looked over, seeing the poor guy standing, just at the edge of the roof. Her face froze in horror for a couple of seconds as she watched him just stand there. The sun beaming down on them as the breeze fluttered the patient's clothes.

Talk him down? Talk him down? Nara thought frantically. You've got the wrong Jedi for speaking nicely to people... but here goes...

Nara raised her hands gently, just at chest level. She took a couple of small steps closer, but still a distance from the man at the edge of the roof.

"Hey. Hey... just... hold on. We're not here to try and hurt you," Nara began, hoping that the patient couldn't feel the fear that was coming off her now. This guy is about three seconds away from jumping off, ending himself and putting the rest of the planet at risk. No pressure, girl.

"I'm Nara. This is Maxims," she said gently, nodding to the Knight next to her. "We're here helping the doctors heal people." She didn't want to mention that they were Jedi quite yet. There were still plenty of people who were scared at the thought of them, since all the trouble started in the Galaxy. "What's your name?"

The patient shivered, turning a little to face the both of them. The sun caught the tear trails running down his cheeks. His arms were wrapped around himself. He looked ill, tired and completely at the end of it. "Lorc..." he finally said, his voice hoarse. "Lorc Carr."

"Hi, Lorc. Listen, I... I know you must be scared. It's a scary situation. But all this is just to try and help people. Make sure that we can help the sick and stop others from getting it, too. There are hundreds of people working to stop this thing. We've got people, on-and-off planet, doing all they can to help." Nara swallowed softly as she took a small step forwards. "Do... d'you think you could take a little step back? Just... off that edge. A little bit... if it's okay with you?" Nara watched Lorc carefully, feeling the sweat bead on her forehead with the stress.

I hope this works I hope this works I hope this works...


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Yes, he knew that Nara was not the typical choice of a Jedi to try and talk someone down. She was the kind of young Padawan who did what she could to keep active and engaged because that was what she needed. She needed the frantic pace to make it feel like she was contributing.

And that was exactly why Max had decided she would talk the man down.

Max stood the best chance out of the two of them of catching the man with the Force if he did decide to jump as well but this was a golden opportunity for Nara to realize that being a Jedi meant far more than rushing around from one disaster to the next with lightsaber in hand. No, being a Jedi meant taking the time to see the smaller picture as well as the larger picture and acting with the knowledge of both.

Nodding in greeting as he was introduced, Max sat astride the edge of the roof a few meters away from the man so as not to be a 'threat' but still keep him in view if he did decide to jump.

Lorc shook.

Not his head or his hands but his entire body shook as though he weighed nothing more than a leaf caught on the breeze. Swallowing as thickly as his swollen throat would allow, he shook his head.

"I... I can't Master Jedi I..."
he waved a hand back to the door and teetered slightly from his own motion, ignoring how perilous his situation currently was, "They gave me a terminal diagnosis. I'm... I'm gonna die but I don't... I don't want to die pissing and crapping myself and wasting away in some hospital bed you know? Just let me have this. Let me have control over how I go out... please?"


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Great, just great, all the patients I have to try and talk down and I get the terminal one with a suicidal streak, Nara thought to herself. She didn't allow her face to change though. Just a little flicker of her eyebrows as she tried to think quickly. Okay, new tactic. Here goes...

Nara took a deep breath, nodding at what Lorc told her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I couldn't know what it must be like... but this isn't just about you. Not now." She looked around. At the top of the roof, they could see over some of the city around them. The sharp, angular buildings jutted out, with pin-pricks of light coming from them. Walkways teemed with life below them.

"If you do this, then you break quarantine. There's a chance that this disease will spread outside of here. To everyone out there, just going about their lives. What trying to contain could be spread across thousands more people. Probably millions. Millions of families, millions of parents... millions of children who'll suffer in pain and face... face the worst."

Oh boy, here goes, I cannot believe I am going to say this...

"If you choose to jump, right here... now... that's what might happen. Do you want to risk all those people? All that suffering and death? Because I don't think you do Lorc. I think you're a good person who's been dealt a really, really shitty hand. And now you have to choose how you're gonna play it. Are you gonna risk everything and everyone on this planet to get that sliver of satisfaction you think you need? Or can you help us? Can you help us and we'll get you pain meds, relaxers, anything that can help you be at... be at peace."

Master Max, please be ready.. she thought to him, eyes wanting to flick over to the older Jedi, but she daren't break eye-contact.


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Oh this one was going to be a hard one.

Good.

Max wasn't a sadist but he knew that Nara needed this. If he was being old school then this could very well be considered one of her trials, one of the tests that would prove whether or not she was actually ready to continue within the Order and become a Jedi Knight. He wasn't her Master so he wouldn't dare to say so but he could still think it. If Nara did well here, if she answered the problem presented to her right now correctly?

She might very well be a Jedi Knight soon.

But Lorc was hardly going to make it easy for her. He clutched desperately at his hair with his hands and sobbed as she spoke, knowing that she was right but damn it, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to be selfish and to just feel as though he had control over this one last thing in his life.

And yeah, maybe there was some resentment there as well towards the quarantine and towards those outside who had never actually encountered any of this...

He clutched tighter at his own hair.

"I don't know if I can do that."
he told her honestly, looking back at her with red eyes, "What if... what if I'm not strong enough to do it that way? This way the gravity would do it for me and all I would need to do is..."

He glanced over the side of the building.

"... let myself fall."



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Nara took a small step closer, clenching her fists for a moment. Her nails dug into her palm as she thought through her reply. He was desperate, cornered. Any second he could just slip off the edge, whether deliberately or accidentally, and Nara wasn't sure she would get there in time. Max might, but it wasn't guaranteed. Any sudden move towards him was gonna provoke him into doing it too.

The plan formed in her head. She was going to keep going, see if she could pacify him. And then... and then... then I either dash and yank him back, or just pull him towards me or something. She stood there, a little closer to him now, both hands raised partway. Palms open. I'm not a threat. I'm not a thread. I'm on your side.... she thought, as if they could be transmitted over to him.

"You are strong, though. You're strong enough to do all of this when you think you're at your weakest. You managed to get past all the security staff on one of the Core Worlds. You pushed past two Jedi and managed to beat us up here. You were strong enough to take action, don't tell me you're not strong enough to help others."

"You have control. Over all of this right now, you have control. You can choose to jump, to go, to end it that way. To put everyone else at risk, everyone on this planet. All those fathers and mothers, all those children, all those families. Or you can choose to come down from there, choose to come back with us and we'll find a way to make it easier. We'll find you a way to lessen that pain. We're Jedi, we can take your pain."


As she finished, she focused. Channeling what she could of the Force around her, just in case. Concentrating hard on him. Her hands raised still, but on her right hand, her fingers tensed the tiniest bit. She'd be ready if she needed to be. Sweat beaded on her forehead with the situation. With the energy. With everything.


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Maxims Tionson

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Nefieslab
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Lorc stared at Nara as she approached but didn't visibly react. When she started speaking he flinched a little bit, moving slightly on the ledge but not enough to be a danger to himself as of yet. Instead of moving either backwards or forwards he just stayed perfectly still as he listened to Nara.

As her words unfolded, Max was able to see where it was going even if Nara wasn't.

The patient, Lorc, was well and truly on his last legs and all that mattered now was whether or not he would fall forwards or backwards. Would be push himself backwards for a speedy death under his own control? Or would he allow himself to merely drift forwards and surrender to a death he knew was coming but he had no input over?

Max saw it before Nara or, perhaps, even Lorc did and he turned away.

Lorc fell forwards into Nara's hands and began coughing wetly. He clutched at the sleeves of her robes desperately, his eyes wide, as he could feel what was happening. His lungs were filling with fluid caused by the disease and he was drowning right in front of them, in Nara's arms. The lungs themselves were too weak to manage anything and his heart was already beginning to give out.

Reaching forwards, Max placed a hand on Nara's shoulder as the man gasped and writhed in pain in front of them.

"Take away his pain."
he urged her gently, "Let him slip away peacefully at least."


@Charndley
 

Juniper

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Charndley
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The suddenness with which Lorc fell into her arms shocked even her. Her arms lifted up, just about managing to stop him stumbling into the ground. He sagged with the effort, with the pain, with the choking, blustering cough. That close, Nara could feel his desperation, anger and pain, rolling around in his body in a turmoil.

As she felt Max's hand on her shoulder, Nara nodded and breathed gently. It had to be done. Her hands spread on his body, feeling the fevered, clammy flesh beneath the fabric. Just like she'd done before, with the other patients, she reached deep into herself and channeled that energy between them, that connection between all things.

And now... rest, she thought as she winced, taking his pain into herself. Her throat spiked with rough, fiery harshness. Her lungs ached and her muscles groaned with exhaustion. Her body shook slightly as her cheeks paled, gritting her teeth as she tried to siphon away as much as she could. Her palms felt red-hot against his body, where the Force flowed and guided his pain into her. Her legs wobbled just a little as she struggled to keep him up... but she soon felt him start to pass. The lessening of the pain as she felt his body start to completely shut down.

She leaned in a little closer, whispering gently into his ear. "Thank you. I'm sorry," she said gently, even though he probably couldn't hear her. But he hadn't jumped. He hadn't broken quarantine. They'd managed it. Nara gently lowered Lorc's body to the ground before sitting on the roof, taking a few deep breathes. Shivering as she felt the pain still throb through her body.

She blinked a couple of times and then looked up at Max, still in shock. "How the kriff did we do that?"


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