Private The Hollowing of Nar Shaddaa

[Solace]

THE HOLLOWING OF NAR SHADDAA

The Rodian rolled listlessly in the cot. His breathing was slow and laboured, his movements languid. As Solace leaned in closer, she could see it clearly through her Force-sight: the telltale milky pupil. A strangely viscous whiteness in the pupil that swirled with head movement. Whoever this Rodian had been, it wasn't there anymore.

"His eyes..." the Mon Calamari medic muttered, blinking in disbelief. "He's been..."

"Hollowed," Solace finished, stepping back. "Another one." She took a look around the room. A local administrator had prepared it once they'd had more than a few reports. Around them, some other cots had been hastily arranged and separated. Some of them were filling up now. Other Rodians. A family of humans. A Sephi, who'd been a wandering trader just a few days ago. All coming down with the same problem.

Solace knelt down by the Rodian and reached out. Her slender fingers brushed his scaly hand as she slowed her breathing. Drawing on the Force, she guided the energy through the Rodian's body, using carefully-honed techniques to try and jumpstart some sort of reactivity back into him. From fingertips to toes, she pulsed electrical signals through his nervous system. She tried to spark movement in the muscles. She tried to coax some kind of thought from his brain, or speech from his mouth.

Alas, her efforts came to naught but a few vague twitches. With a sigh, she removed her hand and stood, wiping her brow. Delving into the Rodian's body in such a way had been an exertion.

"Anything?" the medic asked hopefully. Solace shook her head.

"No. I'm afraid he's just like the others." It didn't matter the species, the class or the condition of the victims so far. All of them developed headaches, then chills. A strange fever that couldn't be coaxed, then the milky-white eyes. After that, there seemed to be nothing left of them. No independent thought. No movement. No life, beyond the most basic functions. The unfortunate souls had to be coaxed and prodded into the basics of life, such as eating and... well, the other side of that.

"I've called for more support, we can't handle this alone," the medic sighed. Solace nodded. In his own way, he was right. The nature of this illness was beginning to perplex her. She had found very little of relevance in her collection of medical texts and her techniques were not provoking any response she was familiar with. It was just an... absence of consciousness. A removal of sentience.

"What could possibly be taking their minds like this?" she asked, more to herself than the medic.

Whatever it was, the impact was growing. Two days ago, there had only been a couple of reports. Now, they were up to fifteen. And that was just the ones they knew about.

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

One of the bad traits Ara could never truly shake was her stubbornness, no matter how many knocks she took or how much introspection she did. Sitting around, meditating, peace and quiet it gnawed at her and frustrated her. A hard serving of solitude also didn't help her mood that much either. She had to do something, get to work to keep the dark thoughts at bay.

It was like a miracle in the Force that a report came in of strange happenings on Nar Shaddaa. The Smuggler's Moon wasn't a normal stop for her, she always hated the similarity between it and Coruscant, but it was exactly what she was looking for and it gave her the chance to get back to what she did best. She was a Jedi, she needed to help people, she could worry about her own problems at a later date.

The shuttle touched down and the Jedi disembarked, almost immediately regretting the decision when the smells and lights hit her. For a brief moment she was back in Underworld, fear wrapped its cold tendrils around her heart and bitter memories filled her mind. She took a moment to calm herself, to focus on the reason she was there to begin with.

With a deep breath she pressed on to look for some transport.

It took some time to find the neighbourhood and even more time to get past the small team of doctors and medics. The neighbourhood itself wasn't any rougher or better than anywhere else, but a quick talk with the locals gave her the impression that something was very wrong. A rumor of some kind of epidemic that was quickly spreading. She finally found what looked to be the people in charge, though a wandering gaze couldn't help but notice a paralytic Rodian. She almost forgot to announce her presence. "Excuse me." She spoke up, giving a bow of respect to the Miraluka and Mon Calamari doctors. "Jedi Knight Ara Sheridan." She introduced herself, quickly wanting to get the formalities out of the way.

She remained close to the doorway, studying the patients from a distance. "... What's wrong with him?" She asked carefully.

Solace

 

[Solace]

Solace sensed her entering the room before she made herself known. A presence that approached, then lingered by the door. The help that'd been asked for appeared to have arrived. Solace smiled at the newcomer, watching the introduction. A bow? Some respect here, in the bowels of Nar Shaddaa? Such a rare quality.

"Greetings, Master Jedi," she replied, "I am Solace. This is Dr Chiglar." She waved her hand towards the Mon Calamari doctor, before stepping away from the latest victim. It was perfectly visible from where the newcomer was standing, though the details may not be that discernable.

"He's unresponsive," Dr Chiglar began, stepping closer to the Rodian. His fingers reached for the patient's hand, pressing just below the wrist. "Bodily functions remain normal and breathing occurs, it seems all natural rhythms of life are continuing unabated."

Solace turned to face Ara. "Except there appear to be no higher thoughts. All cases have had the same progression: fever, then chills, then this." Leaning over the Rodian, one spindly finger peeled his eyelid back to expose the milkiness beneath. "The only physical indication of something wrong is this build-up in the eye. Common across all species," Solace explained.

"We have fifteen cases we're aware of so far, but there may be more," the doctor added, bracing himself by a cot out of frustration.

"Indeed. Nar Shaddaa is not famed for its overly caring populace," Solace said with a sad smile. She stepped back from the Rodian, offering Ara a closer look. "I have some training in the healing arts, but I could not bring anything from him. I would welcome the expertise of a proper Jedi Knight. Perhaps you may be able to find something I missed."

Ara Sheridan

 

[Ara Sheridan]

The Miraluka introduced herself and her colleague, earning a polite bow of Ara's head in response... to a species that couldn't see. It was the Jalen situation all over again, doing things and making remarks that would most likely be inappropriate to the other party. As if she didn't have enough to worry about, she needed to mentally prepare herself for the eventual embarrassment that was most likely going to happen.

They made room for her to see the patient and the Zabrak quickly made her way over, kneeling down to hold a hand over the Rodian's head while she listened to their explanation. She spared a quick glance at Doctor Chiglar as he and Solace brought her up to speed. Sure enough... there was nothing. The Rodian was technically alive, but nothing resembling a hint of sentience anymore. "Almost like he's... braindead." She remarked quietly. She withdrew her hand to stand, quickly turning to make sure she heard correctly about the amount of patients. "Fifteen?" She repeated, looking back at the Rodian. "And... when did this outbreak start?" She continued, a number of concerns already forming in her mind.

She was never that good of a healer, her lessons were never completed. But she learned and experienced enough to know a thing or two about diseases and outbreaks... nothing held any resemblance to this.

"I have some training in the healing arts, but I could not bring anything from him. I would welcome the expertise of a proper Jedi Knight. Perhaps you may be able to find something I missed."

"Sadly I'm not that great, either... but I don't think any form of healing arts will help with this." She remarked, looking back at Solace. "Is there any correlation between the patients? Like... living arrangements, food, were they all part of the local swoop club?" She asked, hoping for some kind of clue.

This was exactly what she needed. A proper case that could do some real good, something that could properly keep her distracted for a while. This was why she became a Jedi, not to cry herself to sleep.

"If we can narrow the circumstances down, we can quarantine and stop more potential cases." She glanced between Solace and the doctor, trying her best to piece it all together.

Solace