THRAWN BOOK GUYS! THAT BOOK IS SO EXCELLENT OMG I LIKE THRAWN SO MUCH NOW OMG…. GUYS. READ THAT BOOK!
~ahem~
PrincessCadence2012 – Thank you sweeeetie! I certainly LOVED that Thrawn book OMG… and I hope this next chapter is a great one 😊
grievousrommel - hello new reviewer! I love that you reviewed only to warn me against delaying from updating the next chapter! XDDDDDDDDD
Ahsoka9613 – AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH you are tooooooooooo sweet! THANK YOU! I was so nervous about writing Hera – like, I like her as a character but not as much as the dudes, and I was really scared I wouldn't get her right! I guess it helps to "play" the scene in your head like a movie and let the characters speak in their own voice. ^_^
Phoenixofmyth – I HOPE YOU LIKE THE MORE ZEB TAKING CARE OF IN THIS CHAPTER!
Lynn Friedman-kinsey - Thank you so much! And thank you for saying my fic seems more realistic than the show! THAT IS THE BEST COMPLIMENT ONE CAN EVER HOPE TO GET!
doodly-squat - OH I HATED THAT ENDING OF ZERO HOUR! *hey, Kallus, you got beat up a lot, but just run in all whatever* And adding Dodonna in there just cheapened the whole scene! We didn't need to see Dodanna! We knew he was on the stupid ship! BUT KALLUS – omg all the baggage of getting on the Ghost! OF BEING IN THE COCKPIT WITH THE CREW?! AND THEY THREW DODONNA IN THERE?! And there was… nothing! No … ugh. I was absolutely crushed, I honestly thought Kallus would have a D: face and just say something like "I'm… free." Like, holy shit I had no idea how stressed I was about this until I broke my final ties and escaped. SO DISAPPOINTED!
Jaki822 – I THINK CHOPPER WILL LIKE KALLUS TOOOOOO! I thought it was adorable in Inside Man when Chop was all like ^_^ ❤ with Kallus because I don't think the poor little droid gets enough love on the ship, ha!
Mistress Malica – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I went and updated it! Oh, and I totally think the meeting with the Bendu will totally shake Thrawn. I'm still kind of a stranger to his character, but I really hope this kicks off a downward spiral for him, where he honestly thinks everyone around him is trying to undermine him, and he pretty much becomes the architect of his own destruction.
Guest – sorry! I have to answer your questions, but in the future if you add a name, or pseudonym, that would be so helpful! But yes – in my fic, I imagine that the second transmission never got to the rebels. Once they suspected Thrawn "knew", they just immediately went into battle plans. I added the attempt of Kallus to get out his message because of the plot hole of Thrawn saying "the rebels won't be receiving your warning" and then the next scene "you may have sent your warning." Like, he had to have sent something! Plus, the little handheld blocker Thrawn has was probably what was tracking the transmission, and I imagine tracking the trajectory of a transmission would take time, thus requiring another one to be sent. ^_^ But thank you for the questions! I love them!
As for Hera, I think she's kind of undecided about Kallus. Like, in the show, she never shows much sympathy for him, even when he turns out to be Fulcrum. And yeah, Kallus knew where the base was, and he hasn't had time to explain that Thrawn tricked him into warning them so he could track the transmission. Though I think she would imagine that even if Kallus ~did~ reveal the base to Thrawn, it was obviously under torture and not something he gave up willingly. I'm sure when she sees the further abuse he's gone through, she'll find a way to forgive him 😉
Killerkitty641 – OMG YOU STOP THAT NOW! MY HEART! *weeps endlessly* YOU ARE TOO SWEEEEET! I cannot believe that! YOU THINK MY THRAWN IS THAT GOOD?! THANK UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
Maliwan – OH SHE WILL BE! XDDD
Molly – I haven't read the Ahsoka novel yet – I honestly don't read too much fiction, and I ~really~ have to want a book to justify buying it, and I don't have a library membership where I live right now for… complicated reasons. BUT! I Thrawn is AMAZING.
Midnight Luna – Yeah dude, this is the good time 😉 Patching poor Kal up.
Takeno – I see where your confusion about the taser comes from. But for any kind of law enforcement use (even in a fictional universe) a taser is specifically a "less than lethal" pacification tool – so they aren't meant to kill or torture – though they hurt a lot and can be abused, the intent is to temporarily disable a suspect so they can be apprehended with minimal risk to the officer. I imagine that if storm troopers had tasers, they would serve a similar function.
A M3mb3r123- Thank you so much! Hopefully you like this chapter too
"Karabast."
That was an understatement. Zeb wouldn't consider himself an expert on human anatomy, not by a long shot. But in all the times he'd spent with them, he'd never seen one in as bad of shape as the one currently in his arms, and still be breathing.
Kallus certainly was the toughest human he'd ever known. Even Kanan (and to a lesser degree, Ezra) who were Jedi, couldn't hold a candle to their Fulcrum.
"Hold on, Kallus," Zeb added. Desperate. Not entirely sure how his friend was going to pull out of this one.
There was only one Zeb thought of to bring Kallus to – his cabin.
The lounge was closer to the storage closets, which housed the medical supplies, but there was no way Zeb was going to lay Kallus on the cold, hard, metal floor. The lounge's couch was out of the question – it was curved, there was a table fixed to the ground in front of it, and neither of those factors would help in taking care of his friend.
Zeb laid Kallus's limp figure down on his bed, worry on his face. He didn't give a moment's thought to getting blood all over his bedding, but when he drew his arms away, and found blood on his hand-
"Zeb?" he heard Hera's voice, in that confused and worried tone she would use sometimes when she didn't know whether to be caring or angry. She lingered at the door. "What's going on?"
"It's Kallus, he's-" but Zeb cut himself off before he could put into words the direness of the situation.
Hera took a step forward, trying to get a peek over the Lasat's enormously broad shoulders, but Zeb interrupted, "Medical supplies, Hera. Fast."
Maybe it was something about the tone of his voice, but Hera slipped away without another word.
It had been a while since the days of the Honor Guard, but Zeb had gone through some emergency first aid training. The kind of stuff that would help keep a fellow Lasat alive long enough to receive true medical treatment. And even if humans were tiny, and frail, and had the strangest, tiniest, flattest feet, they were extremely similar in many other ways.
First step, assessment.
Zeb didn't have to try very hard to prioritize Kallus's injuries. A bleeding compound fracture was the most immediate threat to his life. But to do anything about that, he'd need medical supplies. And there was no point in waiting for Hera to return.
To find injuries, you have to see them.
And unfortunately, Kallus's hands were still bound.
"Kanan!" Zeb shouted. "I need those Jedi skills of yours!"
At least Kanan was fast.
"These hand irons," Zeb explained. He didn't need to explain further than that. Kanan reached out his hand, doing whatever it was that he did to manipulate the Force, and the hand irons sprung open suddenly. Zeb didn't waste a moment. The restraints clattered to the ground.
Removing Kallus's protective vest was fairly easy. At least it came apart with minimal convincing. Zeb threw the two pieces on the ground, soon joined by the waist belt. The uniform top was easily ripped open, the snap closures not giving much resistance.
Zeb's face fell when he saw his friend's bare chest. Kallus's neck had distinctive, individual finger-shaped bruises around it… his chest, dotted with darkened patches.
Hera's soft footsteps crept up on him.
"We're going to need more than this," Zeb said, grabbing the white box from her, opening it and looking inside. His face fell as he shoved items around, causing them to spill out of the box.
"This cannot be all we have," he said in denial. "There's not even a bacta patch?"
A bacta patch he could throw on top of that leg fracture. It would at least do until they could get the former Imperial agent into a proper bacta tank... but without one?
"He's going to need fluids. Saline, and a lot of it."
"Zeb-?"
He knew that tone. A gentle, motherly tone. Like the softening before a blow.
"He's going to be fine," Zeb insisted. "Never met a human tougher."
And she was gone.
These medical supplies weren't ideal, but they would do. He grabbed a pair of trauma sheers – scissors with an angled handle – used for removing clothing. Of course, they would be sized for a human hand. Growling with frustration, Zeb threw them aside.
Grabbing the fabric of Kallus's pants, he ripped them into shreds. At last the wound was exposed, and… it certainly didn't look good. The bone was startling white, shattered, the jagged points cutting through flesh. And the red blood… dark. That was good… it oozed from the wound, not spurting… good signs…
Hera was back with the saline solution, and Zeb grabbed on and ripped it open. Pouring it onto the wound, washing the blood away.
"What can I do?" Hera asked.
"Get a tourniquet ready," Zeb said. "There should be some in that box. We can't apply pressure to stop the bleeding, with a break like this, you make it worse."
Without taking his eyes off the wound, he felt a nudge, Hera was giving him a tourniquet. It was a loop of nylon, he'd have to slide it up Kallus's leg.
"Check for a pulse," Hera said.
"I didn't know you knew anything about first aid," Zeb said, grabbing Kallus's boot and pulling it off. That was a relief – his foot looked… normal. Maybe a little pale but it was living. It still was receiving blood. Just as he thought. The dark red blood oozing from the wound – venous blood. The arteries were still bringing flesh blood into his leg. Well, not for long.
"Sorry, buddy," Zeb apologized, as he snaked the tourniquet loop to the highest part of Kallus's thigh. If Kallus was evenly mildly conscious, he was going to wake up.
Zeb tightened the tourniquet as far as he could pull the fabric, and then started to wind the windlass stick. The wound would continue bleeding – it's source was the blood already in the leg, but at least by cutting off the flow from the rest of his body, Kallus wouldn't slowly bleed out.
Kallus's eyes shot open and he jolted up, screaming, trying desperately to push Zeb away. But Kallus was too weak, and Zeb too determined. It only took a few seconds and Kallus passed back out again.
"There," he said, securing the windlass in place. "Hope he doesn't wake up again, this hurts more than the break does."
"He's going to be okay?" Hera asked, her voice weak. Zeb looked over his shoulder at her, but her eyes were fixated on their patient.
"The worst part is taken care of," Zeb said, feeling somewhat pleased. "But he's not out of this yet."
"Saline?" Hera asked.
"Ready it up," Zeb answered.
Hera's help was calming. Something about her insistence to help, it was an effort to make right her doubts about the Imperial spy. She'd harbored doubts about Kallus longer than the other crew members. Except for listening to transmissions, Hera's interactions with Kallus were entirely negative, from a past Kallus was obviously ready to leave.
But there must have been something about the state he was in that spoke louder than her fears.
"Ready," Hera said, handing him a bag of clear fluid with a line, syringe and needle prepped.
"And here I thought you didn't have any medical training," Zeb said with a weak laugh.
"I didn't," she answered. "You taught us, remember?"
"Yeah, well, I'm glad I did," Zeb said. "This might… need a more delicate touch."
Ribbing off uniforms and tightening tourniquets was something he could do – poking a human with a needle and not just outright stabbing him was going to be a little harder to do. Hera didn't answer, she just slid into position.
"Okay… so… looking for a vein," she said, mimicking how she'd seen others try to start fluids… a vein on the inside of the elbow. But… she really had no idea what she was looking for. She'd hoped there would be a faint blue line right under the surface of the skin but…
"Karabast," Zeb muttered.
"Talk to me," Hera said.
"He's … lost a lot of fluids," Zeb said.
"That's why we're doing this, isn't it?" Hera asked.
"No, the … veins," Zeb said. "If you've lost fluids, they… shrink. You can't-"
"Then we have to find another one," Hera said. "Now I just wish I knew where they'd be."
"This is perfect," Zeb muttered. "The two non-humans trying to-"
Zeb cut himself off as Kanan, who'd been silently standing off to the side, made a movement.
"You don't count," Zeb said. No offense, but even if Kanan could use the Force to "see" objects, it wouldn't help them in this situation.
"Got it," Hera said. Zeb turned around to see the Twi'lek feeding the needle into the back of Kallus's hand.
"Alright, Hera!" Zeb said, smiling. "Now tape it down so it doesn't fall out."
And… that was it.
"How much longer until the fleet stops?" Kanan asked, predicting Zeb's next question.
"It'll be another hour or so before we reach our first stop," Hera said.
"If he makes it that long."
Zeb growled, not at either of his friends, but at the situation. If Kallus had made it this far – escaped from Thrawn, escaped from the Empire, there was no way he'd fail now. Hera and Kanan slipped away, maybe to try and hail the other ships and organize a stop.
Zeb looked at Kallus's face, wincing. He grabbed a package of gauze and opened it, using another one of the saline bags to wet it. And as gently as he could, Zeb began wiping away the dried blood that was caked all over his friend's face.
They didn't have any supplies to make stitches, so Zeb placed another fresh square of gauze over the tear in Kallus's lip, and taped it down as best as he could. It looked ugly but it was the best he could do. And Kallus's eye…. Zeb rummaged around the aid box, until he found a cold pack. Activating it, he placed it over Kallus's swollen eye. There… that would work. Zeb secured it in place by wrapped gauze all around his head.
And… that was… all the could do.
The feeling of helplessness, of not doing anything, set to work immediately. Zeb sighed, patting Kallus's arm.
"Hold on, Kal," he said. "You've made it this far…"
THIS CHAPTER WAS SO DIFFICULT TO WRITE OMG…. Guys… guuuuuuuuuuuuuuys. "ripping pants off" *cringes and goes red in the face* Don't read too much into it… *finds rock to hide under*
(also, is it clear I have any experience whatsoever in emergency medical aid?)
Also also, I have NO idea WHO on the Ghost would have canon medical experience. I just imagined that Zeb would, with a military background guarding the royal family, would probably have had the most familiarity with it. But if anyone knows differently, let me know 😉
YOU KNOW WHAT IS NOT CANON? SPACE BLANKETS. BLANKETS. *gonna lose my mind here*
ALSO GUYS! If you've been enjoying this fic, I am starting another one on Kallus's backstory, called Through Smoke and Fire, since links don't work, you can click on my username and find it there! Thank you!