Open Give of Yourself

[Chedra Pelt]

​

Mon Cala.

Chedra had been checking the holonet broadcasts every few days since learning of the terrorist attack led by Gareth Gin. Mon Cala had since withdrawn from the Free Worlds Alliance, choosing to claim its neutrality in an attempt to protect its people. Or rather, what remained of them. The death toll was estimated to be in the millions. Thousands and thousands of refugees - a mixture of the native Mon Calamari and Quarren - had arrived in starports all across the galaxy, seeking medical attention and places to live. What was worse, tensions between the two species were, once again, at an all-time high. Chedra had heard the Mon Calamari believed the Quarren were responsible, and vice versa. Personally, she didn't buy into any of the racial uproar.

The Five Syndicates enjoyed sowing discord and devastation among the stars - that was what they did. After flying back to Yavin with Padawan Leonkri, she'd retreated into quiet meditation, searching within the Force. There was no doubt in her mind that Gareth Gin was responsible for the attack, but the path forward - the path to justice - appeared cloudy. The Empire had since announced its support for Mon Cala, with Darth Andruil announcing a bounty of five million credits to anyone who brought Gin in. The Desilijic Clan had also announced its alignment as well, in addition to a message from the Independent System's Consortium. Needless to say, Gin was probably having a hard time resting on account of the constant need to look over his shoulder for a blaster bolt.

No matter. Such thoughts were a distraction. That was a week ago, and it was better to focus on the needs of the wounded. Those left behind on Mon Cala were in great need of healing. Although the Council had not yet made an official announcement on the matter, nor had the Galactic Senate, Chedra was but one of many healers and medical personnel sent on a relief mission to the planet. She had readily agreed to go, shortly after getting approval from the Council to take on Quin as her Padawan. Working alongside him here, among the dead and the dying, would offer them an intimate opportunity to forge their connection in the Force.

Quin was young, and he was from a well-to-do family on Naboo. Exposing him to the horrors of war so early was certainly not something she had planned, although it was necessary. Jedi were made stronger through adversity, and there was no short supply of horror in the galaxy. Her thoughts wanted to turn to Anoat, to the tragedy she had witnessed there, but she shook away the thoughts. She needed to be present here, in this moment, with her Padawan. The industrial solvent used in the attack had done a number on the biology of the people who lived here, in addition to the coral structures that held up their gleaming seascrapers. The Jedi would likely encounter all manner of injuries here. Clarity was desperately needed, but it would be in short supply on this mission.

The transport touched down on one of the landing bays left undamaged outside Dac City. As the ship settled, Chedra turned to the human teenager standing by her side. "Padawan, a moment of honesty. Once we step inside the med unit that has been set up here, things may become very chaotic. You will need to center yourself in the Force. We will be surrounded by all manner of pain and suffering. It can be overwhelming at first." She paused, regarding him with serious eyes. "I want you to find one patient and focus on them. I will be close by should you need me, but I will be busy myself. Focus on what you can do for that person, and listen to the medical professionals that will be walking around aiding us. Above all, trust in your ability - I wouldn't have brought you along if I didn't feel you were appropriate for this mission."

She waited for his response, and nodded when he had replied. The pair of Jedi stepped forward from the transport, and were greeted immediately by the Mon Calamari representative sent to meet them on the landing pad.

"Thank you for coming, Jedi," the female said. "We'll focus on the patients that we have here on the surface at the moment. After that, I'll have you don your seasuits and travel down the tube to the emergency unit set up below the sea. There's a great deal of coral destruction down there, and we're seeing more crushing victims in that area than we are up here. Lots of seascrapers gave way at one time - it was really horrific to see."

Privately, Chedra admired this woman for having the courage to stay behind and help her brothers and sisters trapped among the rubble. She looked over at Quin, feeling his anxiety through the Force. Unseen tendrils of calming energy radiated from her, wrapping themselves around his presence. Everything will be alright, Padawan, she said as they traveled down in a lift tube. Just do your best.

The lift doors opened, and Chedra stepped onto the floor of the med unit.

@Quin Leonkri

 

[Quin Leonkri]

For the past few days, Quin had spent much of his time thinking about what had happened on Mon Cala. Coming out of the crystal cave, he’d seen the sorrow in his master’s eyes when she told him about the tragedy. At the time, he’d been eager to help out, and the feeling that he needed to do something had only grown stronger since he learned more about the attack.

As he stepped off the ship alongside Master Pelt, he met the Jedi knight’s gaze as she spoke to him. The weight of her words dawned on him, and reminded him once more of the true reason they were here. This was not meant to be a sightseeing trip, rather a chance for them to make a positive difference in the lives of the victims.

“I understand, Master,” Quin said with a nod. He smiled a bit when she said that she trusted him. Hopefully after today, he would prove that it was well placed.

When the Mon Calamari woman came out to greet them, Quin couldn’t help but feel a sort of appreciation for her. She’d seen the horrors for herself, forced to watch as millions were left to perish. Yet here she was, doing all she could for those who’d survived. And right now, that meant showing the Jedi where they needed to go.

He felt a little apprehensive as he went into the elevator alongside the woman and his master, but he could feel Master Pelt use the Force to calm him down. He gave her a grateful smile, then looked out as the doors slid open.

The first thing he saw was a Mon Calamari boy who looked to be around his own age being carried past the group on a stretcher. Well, there was his patient. He followed the paramedics to a bed not too far from the lift, watching as they lowered the boy onto the bed. Just by looking at him, Quin could see that he wasn’t doing well.

As the doctors worked on getting their equipment out, Quin focused on healing some of the boy’s cuts on his arm. He’d taken some time to learn a bit of Force-healing before the mission, and he was glad that he was able to help at least in some little way. Maybe he’d be able to do more once the doctors were ready.

@cpoindexter

 

[Chedra Pelt]

Chedra had barely stepped up when she heard a male voice calling from across the room. "Jedi!" he said.

She turned to see a male Bothan directing a team of nurses at his side. The doctor stood over a male Quarren stretched out on a bed, a containment field triggered around him to keep out insidious bacteria. Alarms were blaring on the monitor next to the patient.

The Bothan had quickly noticed the lightsaber glinting from her belt and made the connection. "Hey, Jedi," he said again. "Get over here and help us! This one's crashing out."

Chedra moved forward to stand next to the doctor. As a nurse assisted to glove her up, she turned and regarded him with a calm expression. "What do we have?"

The doctor gestured. "This one has coral buried in his gut. Got hit by some debris when he was clearing out. We've kept him on antibiotics for a week, didn't want to pull out the shrapnel because he would've bled out if we tried. But the wound started to get infected, so we've got to pull this out now. Problem is, the big stuff is out - but he's continuing to bleed, and the hole won't close." He paused, regarding her with squinted eyes behind his face mask. "I need you to get in there and see what you can do with that Force of yours...it's about time the Jedi stepped in. We've been killing ourselves bending over backwards for these people. Where have you been?"

Chedra said nothing. The Bothan was tired - she could see that the fur of his face was slick with sweat. The weariness in his brisk tone was evident. He had probably been working on this patient for two hours. She didn't blame him for his frustration.

Instead, she rolled up her sleeves and took his place, sticking her hands through the containment field, which would have zapped away any pathogens on her skin. Reaching out, her hands hovered over the open wound in the Quarren's belly. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, preparing to slip beneath that unseen place in the Force, a place she couldn't describe.

Within a moment she was there, inside the wound, seeing the microscopic workings of the patient's body. The Quarren's liver had been sliced open by the coral chunks the doctor had removed. The Bothan had done a nice job - she could see stitching halfway down the organ. The rest of the way down, however, was still open, blood oozing out. The Quarren's life was draining away - he would die soon if she didn't act quickly.

She pored over the area, searching for the cause of the disruption. Ah. There it was. Miniscule bits of coral were still lodged in the delicate skin of his liver. The doctor's invasive motions had only burrowed the pieces further. They were impossible to see with the naked eye - but not impossible with the Force. She reached out with the invisible tendrils of the Force, stroking and soothing the area.

Come on out, she said to the little bits. She "felt" her hand close around the pieces and carefully plucked them from the organ. The wound began to bleed freely, even more so than before, now that the shrapnel - serving as a plug - had been removed. The hard part was over, however. She focused on the skin of each side, drawing them together and covering the liver with the warm blanket that was the Force. The bleeding dissipated. The two edges of skin drew closer than ever together, until there was no gap between them. Now all the doctor had to do was stitch up the rest.

Withdrawing from someone else's body was always disorienting. She felt herself come back into the moment, and exhaled. She opened her eyes to see the Quarren still in front of her, except now the alarm had stopped sounding and blood was no longer pouring from his exposed liver. She felt a little tired, but the patient was now safe. She had already performed a quick scan of the pathogens within his body. The antibiotics would be able to clear away the small infection he was fighting.

"The patient's vitals are stabilizing," a nurse said from her right. "Unbelievable. The bleeding's stopped!"

Chedra was aware that every member of the team had their eyes on her. The Bothan gave a dry chuckle. "Alright, let's patch this one up and get him out of here. Stick around Jedi - there's plenty more where that one came from."

The nurses completed his stitch job while he turned to give her a look of....gratitude? It was gone in a moment, but she had seen it behind his mask. "I saw a Jedi healer once, during my clinicals on Bothawui," he said. He turned away.

Chedra glanced behind her. She could feel that Quin was doing fine. She turned back to see them pushing away the Quarren, replacing him with yet another body.

 

[Quin Leonkri]

The doctors had since hooked the boy up to a plethora of tubes, and Quin wondered if he would be alright. Was there more he could do? The head doctor seemed to notice the worried expression on the padawan’s face, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder as the other nurses started to move on to the next patient.

“He’ll be fine. He just needs some rest. You can stay and monitor his vitals, if you want to make yourself useful. He’s stable now, you see?” The doctor pointed to the screen, and Quin nodded in understanding. That he could do. Once the doctor left, the padawan looked over at Master Pelt. She had just finished helping someone else, and another patient was being wheeled up to her. Well, she certainly knew what she was doing.

Quin stayed quietly by the boy’s bed on a small stool, occasionally checking the screen for any irregularities. It was normal for a while, the steady beep-beep-beeping of the monitor reassuring him that everything was fine. He briefly wondered if he should go help Master Pelt instead of sitting around and feeling useless, but then thought better of it. He’d most likely get in the way, and if it was someone else’s life on the line he didn’t want to risk it.

That was when the frequency of the beeps started to speed up. Quin got out of his seat as the boy started to pull himself out of the bed.

“Hey, the doctors said you needed rest,” said Quin with a concerned frown as he made his way over to bar him from leaving. “You were hurt pretty bad.” The boy looked up at him, his eyes wide in terror as he shook his head frantically. The monitor’s beeping was going off like crazy, and Quin didn’t even need to use the Force to tell that the boy was panicking. He wanted to do what Master Pelt would do and send out waves of calm to help quiet his mind, but he had no clue how to do it. Meanwhile, the boy had grabbed onto Quin’s shoulders and was shaking him.

“My mother- is she alright? Is she here?” Quin hesitated, then put a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“I can find out for you. What’s her name?”

“Dias, Dias Tilubb,” said the boy, his breathing starting to slow. Quin had gently moved him back onto the bed as he spoke, and the boy was once again sitting down. He was relieved to hear his heart rate slowly dropping back to normal.

“I’ll find her,” Quin promised as he held the boy’s hand with his own, before asking a second question. “What about you? What’s your name?”

“Felspik.”

Quin nodded, and gave the boy as reassuring of a smile as he could. “I’ll find your mom, Fel. I promise.” Even if it would mean having to leave his post. The boy would be fine, he was sure of it. Right now he just needed his mother. A wave of determination coursed through him as he stood up again, watching as Fel leaned back in his pillow and gazed back at him with relief flooding his eyes.

Now… where do I start?

@cpoindexter

 

[Adenn Rytt]

The damned five Syndicates were a scourge. Spice and illegal arms was one thing. But The horrors inflicted on Mon Cala was a whole other matter. The hut'uun had attacked the planet and killed many people. The frustrating part seemed to be the cowardice of its government in the face of such evil. They had decided against joining the new republic and have given in to terrorists. The whole ordeal was a horrifying vindication of the Failure of government and the weakness of politicians. Adenn had Raved and ranted it over any time the situation was brought up.
"If the hu'tuun aruettii truly cared about what happened they'd be a staging ground for one of the largest invasions of five syndicates space instead of Cowering behind their desks like whipped dogs."
But despite this Adenn was one of the first to Sign up to use the Spooky Mistress as a cargo ship to haul in medical supplies. And he had crammed all space that could be spared with crates. When finally we reached the ocean planet's cities looked more like a war zone. So many sought were left homeless and were wounded. It was a heartbreaking sight.
"Attention Spooky Mistress, Tag number: *RFD248194, you are cleared for landing. Please stand by for final inspection of contents."
The Comm network chirped with the sound of planet side Landing control. As we entered the port a ground of Man Cala stood waiting.

With our cargo checked and being unloaded adenn left with Etr To Find people to help, of which there were plenty. The hungry needed food, the Injured needed care. The mourning needed comfort. Etr went to the food line, Assisting in the kitchens to serve food. Adenn and Fesseja approached the Jedi.
"Master Jetii, We are looking for assignments. Where would you assign us to help best. My Companion is a surgeon and i am not much but strong. And Learn quickly."

 

[Sah'ra Ryun]

With the galaxy in an uproar following the calamity that had occurred on Mon Cala, figures across the galaxy were presented with a unique opportunity. Support had been declared from every influential body, including words of sorrow from none other than the Empress herself. If someone wished to paint their own image as someone the people of the galaxy could trust and rely on, the Zaa Fenn had given them that chance. Sah’ra, staring on through the viewport of the bridge as the Yuso class corvette sped through hyperspace, immediately made contact with the surface once the blue tunnel streaked back into a scene of black. Mon Cala swirled below, countless relief vessels from across the galaxy in her orbit and this ship was no different. Using the influence she held over Queen Nefri of Adumar, Sah’ra had procured several tonnes of medical supplies as well as a large team of physicians and other medical experts to assist in stemming the bleeding of those below. Once they received clearance, the corvette began it’s descent.

”These people and supplies will be put to great use, m’lady. Please extend our most heartfelt gratitude to both your Empress and your Queen,” the Mon Calamaran dock officer expressed solemnly whilst he and Sah’ra observed the crates being unload on the platform.

”What happened here is a tragedy none in the galaxy wish to see repeated, Officer. We have the resources to assist and we are only too happy to do so,” Sah’ra responded, smiling softly. ”Rest assured that my Empress’ offer can and will bring the vile dog here to face justice for his actions but for now, we must do what we can to heal your world. If there is anything more that I can do, pl,-” she continued with the expectation that what she had brought would be enough. She had little interest in personally getting involved in the relief effort but the offer felt as though it was required. She would be wrong.

”Every available set of hands is a life saved, Lady Ryun. If you truly wish to be of further assistance then we can certainly make use of you below the sea,”

”Oh, well I-” Sah’ra stammered as the dock officer began to walk towards the lift that would take every bit of material below.

”We will provide you a smock and alert the teams below of your arrival. I can not thank you enough,”

”... Of course. I’m delighted to assist,” she groaned before following his lead.

The medical wing of the suboceanic city was as chaotic as one would expect. Having been handed a neatly folded uniform to wear, Sah’ra found a quiet place to change out of her black dress and soon re-emerged in the full white jumper. She hated it.

”You! You there! Take this cart of provisions to the patients in room 11-06!” a Quarren barked in Sah’ra’s direction, levying out tasks to a vast amount of volunteers that surrounded him. Gritting her teeth and reminding herself why she was here, the Sith simply smiled with a nod and began to push the cart. ”How degrading…”

@cpoindexter @Sicadorito @Timmen​