Poor Bedside Manner
Eloise stood on a precipice. At the bottom of the steep cliff was a vast ocean that stretched out to the horizon. No light could penetrate its dark depths. It should have been peaceful, a numbed and quiet place for her drugged mind to rest. But she couldn't. Her mind was never calm, never idle. Never had been.
A great wave rose up and crashed into the rocks far below her feet. She felt the mist splash up against her face, tasted salt on her lips. Then the iron tang of blood and burning carbon flooded her mouth.
Suddenly she was back on Tython, standing over the Sith girl who had tried to kill Dio.
Eurydice
's dismembered arm was still burning, scorched flesh glowing orange like hot coals. Eloise's lightsaber growled in her hands as she raised it, ready to strike. This time, she wouldn't hesitate. This time, she wouldn't get away...Except it wasn't the nameless Sith girl anymore. In her place was someone closer to home. Altrea. Familiar eyes glared at her, their green irises turned toxic with corruption. Her little sister was lost to her, forever. Eloise screamed and swung her blade—
Eloise fell belly-first amid a shower of bacta and shattered transparisteel. She struggled to lift her body from the floor, hacking up bacta, eyes glued shut and liquid draining from her ears. Suddenly the muffled sound of alarm klaxons was loud and shrill, along with the panicked shouts of doctors and the rapid-fire binary of medical droids. One voice in particular rose above the din, close by and speaking to her directly: "Padawan Dinn, stand down."
"Where am I?" she rasped, voice barely above a whisper. "Who are you? Why can't I feel the Force?" That last one was a new development, as she tried to center herself and found that she was blinded and deafened in a much more profound way.
"You're aboard the Adhira Chandra, in the medbay. I'm Dr. Nars. I've been treating your injuries. As for why you can't feel the Force... We use nullification fields to prevent these kinds of destructive episodes. But it seems you didn't need the Force to break out of your tank."
Eloise blinked. As her vision returned, she could see what the doc was talking about. She raised her trembling hands toward her face, stunned by her own strength. "Sorry."
"It's fine. Could've been worse. A few thousand credits is a drop in the bucket for the Republic." Dr. Nars gestured to a droid. "Deactivate the nullification field."
Eloise sucked in a heavy breath as the Force flooded back into her... and with it, the furious echoes of what had happened on Tython. Her hands clenching into fists, she asked, "Where is Diogo?"
