When Rima is hired by Obi-Wan on behalf of the Republic to help Skywalker's 501st Legion to survive the war; the nautolan did not expect life aboard a war ship to be so... "entertaining".

Last chapter before the epilogue!

Rima did not sleep well. Clones unaware of her presence in the storage office woken her up several times. The nautolan could not blame them, but she was tired to have guns pointed at her. These guys thought she was a spy or something. She had to argue many times, and at a point, she just took her blanket and left. Surely there was a place in this ship where she could rest. The clones' quarters were not an option, neither was the med-bay; the mess hall was always busy, so were the storage hangars. She thought about going to meet the Commander Tano, the only other female alien onboard; but Rima did not dare. The girl was a jedi, she probably had better things to do. Eventually, Rima found a quiet corner in a corridor between the med-bay and the clone's quarters. She rolled herself in her blanket, maki-style, sat on the floor against the wall and felt asleep.

She had several hours of uninterrupted rest. Sometimes she could feel people watching her, surprised, but they never came closer. So, the woman did not bother waking up.

"Now this is a surprise."

Rima open her eyes. She recognised this voice. The man standing in front of her was a famous blond jedi, both diplomat and warrior. Well dressed, his hair and beard impeccable… If only more humans had manners like his!

"General Kenobi." She said, stretching her arms.

"What are you doing here, my dear?" He asked, offering help to stand up.

"An excellent question. I was gathering some sleep. The office they gave me had something -what? I don't know…- the clones wanted and the Chief-Medic Stitch and his brothers hate me enough to kick me out of the med-bay."

Obi-Wan Kenobi raised an eyebrow. If he was displeased, he hid it well.

"Now, that can't be good." He said, inviting her to follow him. "Anakin gave orders so you could do your job. If the clones don't like it…"

"The clones I healed appreciated my help, I'm sure." Rima interrupted, not wanting the blame to fall on every clone in the ship. "But the ones in charge of the med-bays… By the way, what are you doing here, if I may ask?"

"My fleet just arrived. I came to offer guidance to my former padawan… not that he cares about what I have to say, I'm sure."

The light spirit of the general made Rima laugh. Who could hate this man? Her laugh made him smile; but he went back to the problem with the medical team.

"Can clones be that proud?" Rima asked. "I did nothing to get in their way. If anything, I help them save their brothers' lives."

"I don't doubt that." Kenobi said. "I think we should investigate. It's not the first time I hear similar stories about that "Stitch" man from Anakin and Ahsoka. I recall a time when Captain Rex complain about the medic being a butcher. The poor man never complains. To say that about one of his brothers… Come. Let's go find out if something is wrong."

"Where are we going?"

"Asking the public opinion." The jedi smiled.

Their first stop was in the mess hall. Both the Kenobi and Rima took their meal. Was it a trick from the jedi to "blend in" (as far as a General and a nautolan could "blendin a sea of clone troopers), or was he really hungry? Rima surely was. She had not eaten for what seemed to be days… not that the chemically reconstructs food did something for help the appetite. How could the army decently call that food? Rima followed her boss to a table where two clones were having their meal. Once sit, the woman rolled herself in her blanket. Being tired in a space ship does not help warming up.

"Evening, gentlemen." Obi-wan said.

"Sir! Trooper Xan and Han. At your orders!"

"At ease." The jedi said. "We're only here to enjoy dinner."

The men eased up, but still looked at them from the corner of their eyes. Xan was the one with the scar crossing his lips. Han was the one with the number tag tattooed on his neck. Kenobi was a general, they were amazed he would eat at their table. But who was the wrapped-in-a-blanket nautolan woman sitting with the Jedi Master? Once again, she was the only alien around.

"How are you doing? The battle was rough, I hear." Obi-wan said, engaging the conversation.

"We can take it, sir." Xan said with resolution.

"That's right! There's nothing we can't handle." Han added.

"Well, well. I'm glad to hear that!" Kenobi joyfully said. "You were on this ship? My friend here was on the Resolute."

"Really…?" The first clone hesitated.

Rima smiled and confirmed by a small movement of the head. She was tired and did not know what the jedi was planning. So, for now, minimum direct interactions. It was for the best.

"Yes! She's a medic I hired on behalf of the Republic. A skilled doctor trained to deal with urgent situations." Obi-Wan continued. "When I first heard of her, it was when one of my men reported a woman manage to bring back a man from the dead."

"What?!" The two troopers nearly shouted.

Rima felt her face take colours. The Jedi was crazy, right? She did not bring back the Captain Rost from the dead! She simply made sure he would be late at his meeting with Death. A heart massage was not a big deal, was it?

"I did not." Rima said. "I just did what I could to keep him alive."

"Still, an impressive performance. No equipment, yet the man survived a heart attack and now he's back to turn droids into scrap metal."

"Thanks to the clone impressive genetic condition…" Rima muttered.

"That's amazing!" Han exclaimed. "With respect, Sir… Madam… hum…"

"Doctor."

"Doctor. What are you doing here? I though all medics were asked to help in the med-bay?"

"Well, I did hear Chief-Medic Stitch was here." Xan said, grimly.

That news seemed to blow a cold wind on his brother enthusiasm. He went into a long silence; looking at his food, probably asking existential questions in his mind.

"Is something wrong?" Obi-wan asked.

"Everyone in the 501st knows to not trust the name "Stitch", sir." Xan explained.

"Don't say a word!" Han growled with a hushed voice.

"With respect, hang him!" Xan growled back at Han. "The guy used our brothers to experiment on them. When the commanding officers discovered it, they court-martialled him. But because he's a First Generation, no one else had his experience. So, he went back to where he was: chief-medic of the med-bay."

"What kind of experiment?" Obi-wan asked.

"Poison and cybernetic." Han said. "Last time anyone caught him."

"It was the only one time too."

"And you think he still doing these experiments?" Rima asked.

"Sure, he does. A man from the 501st special forces went there for a medical check before a mission. Nothing fancy. Stitch hold him and before his brothers could come back from mission, the man was declared dead." Xan replied. "Everyone knows you don't go to Stitch's med-bay while he's around."

"What about the other doctors?" Obi-wan asked.

"They are like us, Sir. Brothers who follow orders. When it comes to medical safety, medics outrank everybody."

"I had a talk with Stitch." Rima said. "He tried to make me feel bad about y tardiness, while I had already presented my apologies and assume my role as a nurse."

"How did it go?"

"I put him back to his place of course." Rima said. "With respect for the clones, not having parents does not give them the right to treat strangers unkindly."

The clones remained in silence while Obi-Wan chuckled. The troopers could not believe their ears: she did what to Stitch? Did she have a death wish?

"That would explain why he dislikes you so much." Obi-Wan said. "But I think your abilities to question and your ethical traditions makes you a threat. We need to have a chat with the man."

Rima and Kenobi finished their meal, thanked the two clones for their insights and left. The Jedi, on the way to the med-bay, asked a few other clones their opinions about Stitch. They felt the same as Han and Xan. Before they entered the hospital, Obi-Wan stoped and turned to face Rima.

"I have a feeling I won't obtain much from Stitch. That's why I want you to go have a look around his quarters and his office." He said.

"What am I looking for?"

"Anything out of the ordinary." Obi-Wan said. "Be careful, I don't what you to get in too much trouble."

"All right…" Rima hesitated. "but you'll keep him busy, right?"

"You have my word."

The nautolan did not have much of a choice. They entered the med-bay and Rima went directly to medics' staff room. They agreed she could go hunting after the signal. She let her blanket on a chair. Everybody was busy with the injured so she was alone in the perfectly clean room. Her commlink lit up. That was the signal. She went across the room. Stitch office was right here. The door was locked.

"A lock door? I the hospital of a space ship?" Rima muttered, remembering that it was against regulations, for security reasons. "That man is hiding something."

But then again, having a General as boss gave advantages. She took the key-card Obi-Wan gave him and unlocked the door.

"Welcome, General Kenobi." The automated voice said.

Rima went to work immediately.

Desk: nothing of importance. The computer held nothing compromising either. She looked around the shelves… nothing. She went to his quarters doors. A bed and a closet, nothing fancy. The woman sighed. There was nothing out of the ordinary. She was ready to leave before someone spotted her, when a fainted sound reached her brain. What was that? A noise, repeated, irregular. Like someone hitting with his hand on metal, with little energy. She walked slowly in the room. Rima squatted and listened again. leaning on her hands, she pressed her head again the metal plate under the bed. On the floor, there were scratches. The noise was stronger, like right the over side of the metal plate. Someone was there!

The doctor stood up; looking of a tool to use. A screw driver: perfect! She used it as fast as she could. She took the metal plate of and her heart broke. A man, a soldier was there; trap, bounded, barely strong enough to "call" of help again. Rima reach of him and graded him out of under the bed.

"Sweet spirits…" She swore as she took the gag off. "How did you end-up there? Are you injured?"

The clone was weak and thin. Too thin to be in good health. Completely naked, he wore scars of medical intervention… but they were too numerous to be honest. The poor man lost consciousness, too happy to see someone. Rima did not think twice; she dragged him out of Stitch quarters, threw the office and the staff room and to the nearest medical room.

"You!" she shouted to a clone sitting on a bed. "Clear the way!"

He did not make her say it twice. He reached for his crutches and left the bed. A medic came, wondering who was making so much noise. He reacted immediately, taking the trooper in his arm, lifting him with no effort to the bed. He took his pulse, while Rima checked on his blood pressure.

"Heart weak. Hypoglycaemia." The Medic.

"Blood pressure to the floor." Rima said.

The medic injected a medication for the heart. The trooper woke up real fast. Rima had a better solution for the rest of the problem than drugs.

"Drink that. Water with salt. Taste terrible but It will help."

She helped the man drink the water. Almost choke on it. Then she prepared water and sugar, and made him drink it. They repeated the process three times; while the medic ran some test. Scans proved he had saw and broken bones put back together, He was missing a kidney and part of his liver. His right eye was half efficient as it should be.

"His a shiny." The medic said; "He should be as his best."

"You would not say that if you knew where I found him." Rima said, trembling in rage. "Go get General Kenobi. I think he might want to see that."

"The general…"

"Go! I'll manage."

The clones in the room, now awake, were trying to look at what was going on. But Rima ignored them. She put covers as her patient shivered of cold, put a drip to maintain his blood pression, sugar and salt rate stable. The young man's vitals were as much stable as squirrel on caffeine. It was time for some shock treatment. She reached her satchel hanging at her belt and prepared her needles. The clone became as white as a snow flake, when he saw her putting needles under his skin; and probably expected the worst. However, Rima was an expert. Soon, her art made him relax; not sleepy, just relax. And so were the man's vitals.

Obi-Wan chose this moment to arrive.

"Sir… what is she doing?" the Medic asked.

"It appears to be an ancient yet very efficient medical technique. Some of our Nautolan Jedis use it to treat all sorts of injuries and discomfort, but I never saw that closed."

"The vitals were terrible. Now he's relax, so are they. Is clone metabolisms so tricky?"

"Our bodies work fast, Sir… Madame." The Medic said.

"Why did you strip the trooper?" Stitch interrupted. "Are you trying to take away his pride?"

Rima raised an eyebrow. She was pretty sure the clones were doing much worse than staying still naked, in the common showers. They were, after all, men. Pride was a subjective notion. Besides, Rima covered the poor lad with blankets: she broke no ethical rules.

"Because I'm a woman?" She asked. "Sweetheart, I worked all my life as a doctor. I've seen far worse than a human's dick. No offence, of course."

Somehow, that made all the gentlemen in the room blush like teenagers. Obi-Wan included.

"None taken…" The jedi said. "That was… herm. Anyway, where does this young man come from?"

"An excellent point, General." Rima grimly said. "I found him locked under the Chief-Medic Stitch's bed, in his quarters, behind a locked door. By the way, here is the bypass you gave me."

"That's a lie! I would never do that! Not to a brother." Stitch shouted, stepping back. He was sweating.

"Wrong! You've done it before!" A clone shouted.

"Yeah! Everybody knows it!"

Obi-Wan called for silence and had Stitch arrested for questioning. The lad, once he was feeling better, answered all the question the jedi asked. The poor thing was traumatised. The stories he had of what his brother did to him… Rima wished she never heard them. At a point, she was just too tired to think. She wrapped up her needles and went to the staff room where she sat on a chair and fell asleep.

The woman barely woke up when the Medic who helped her up a blanket on her shoulders, as gently as possible.

Star Wars: The Close Wars, Lucas films, etc, etc...

Rima, Six, Rost, Stitch - OCs.