Recommended listening: "Blumenkranz" from the Kill la Kill soundtrack.
EV-A4-D was waiting at the entrance to the bath chamber.
"The Countess will be with you soon. I will hold your cape and weapons."
Without a word, the General flicked off her cape and removed the belt holding her lightsabers, handing them to the droid.
She stepped through the automatic door, the toes of her feet clicking on the weathered tile. The ancient bath chamber was spacious and glaringly bright - the stone that formed the arching columns, ceiling, and walls refracted the fluorescent overhead lights into soft rainbows. Steam floated on the surface of the water, and the General could hear the gurgle, drip, flow of the beast-faced stone fountainhead feeding the pool. Cautiously, she took a step into the water, wading in until the water was at chest height.
The General - Qaian - clutched her arms together. What had happened back on Ord Mantell? When she lost the hard-earned control that had taken ages to develop. For a terrifying moment her limbs had become dead weight and simply refused to move -
A door on the far side of the chamber slid open.
"My lady."
Save for the cap that held her silver hair in place, the Countess was completely naked. The light shining through the steam made it seem like she was being illuminated from behind.
"General, I commend you on your recent victories - the capture of the hyperlanes leading to -"
It was then that Qaian was seized by a fit of coughing - a dreadful wet, hacking sound came out of her "mouth" and she lost her balance on the wet tile. When she came to, the Countess had placed one hand on her shoulder and the other on her back. The Countess bid Grievous to lie back.
"Have you taken the herbal extract I gave you? It will help."
"I have, my lady."
Placing one hand on one of the General's chestplates, Jaris trailed her fingers to the gap in the chassis where the two plates met.
"This is a bathhouse. You may undress."
The Countess trailed her hand down, and with that gesture, the chassis housing Qaian's vital organs popped open.
Grievous raised a hand to stop her -
"Trust me," Jaris said, and the bony hand wrapped around her wrist let go.
"I shall purify you."
Placing her hands inside the chassis, she began to caress what remained of Qaian's flesh-and-blood body.
"Living things are so frail, aren't they?"
She pressed her hands down - and torn flesh began to knit together, collapsed alveoli re-inflating as the Force flowed through them. The general's eyes were closed, relishing the pressure of water against her gutsack and the strange feeling, something akin to light shimmering beneath the surface of the ocean, overcoming her. Jaris could feel the fluttering of her alien heart. Could feel waste heat radiating off machine parts, flesh-and-blood parts - you're warm.
"Our natural state is nakedness, but our instinct is to cover ourselves."
"Whatever form that covering takes."
No reply but the sound of breathing, soft, gasping. The General's arms where raised above her head, hands clenched. Who knew that the Knight Slayer of Hypori could be so pliable, vulnerable?
She looked over the handiwork of the Geonosian engineers - the body they had designed and built - it was clear that nobody else could wear this outfit as well as the General did. Even now - especially now, with legs splayed out and toes clawing the white tile.
In a matter of moments, the deed was done. Happy with her handiwork, the Countess withdrew her hands from the General's chassis.
"Rise. I have re-aligned the circulation of your vital organs. You will find it easier to breathe from now on."
Grievous stood, closing her chest plates.
"Thank you, my lady."
"Follow me. Your actions at Ord Mantell were commendable, but there are urgent matters to discuss."
The Countess was already walking towards the door, wrapping a towel around her body. Grievous followed shortly after, donning the cape and weapons of rank.