Thank you, Femke-the-lotus, for presenting me with this idea! Combined with our current worldwide situation.
Sick (Interlude)
You can tell how much you mean to someone on how they treat you when you're sick
Steele was not feeling well. He hasn't been feeling well since boarding the destroyer for Agamar. And that feeling grew worse since landing.
But he decided to hide it.
"Let's get the base set up!" Aliyah announced upon arrival.
Everyone worked together to put up the tents, the bunkers, and move equipment from the ship to the Planet's ground. Steele tried to hide his unwellness by keeping to one spot.
But eventually, he was called by his general for a quick strategy overview meeting.
Aliyah was on a call with some of the Council members. She looked up to see Steele stumbling towards her.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
Despite his sense of balance getting increasingly worse, Steele nodded. "Yeah. Cough. I'm fine…"
The ground tilted to one side. Before Steele knows it, he fell to the ground.
Aliyah rushed to him.
The clones of the 304th gathered behind the safety perimeter from the meeting bunker. That's where Steele was currently lying, being treated by a medical droid.
Aliyah was amidst a conversation with the Council. Finalizing her decision with them. "My commander's come down with something. I'm afraid we'll have to postpone this operation until a later time. I don't want the entire legion catching whatever he has."
"Have you told this to the Kaminoans?" Mace Windu asked.
"Yes. They're sending over a separate ship for Steele. And several more for the rest of my men. They're going to be transported off in different divisions."
"Good. As long as that's under control." Mace was relieved. "Don't worry about the operation, we'll send in someone else."
"Alright. Thank you, Master." Aliyah ended the call.
She went over to Steele and the doctor. "How is he?"
"He's running a high fever. But it doesn't seem too serious so far," the droid explained. "Nothing that can't be treated back on Kamino."
"Good. That's good."
Aliyah took a look at her unconscious commander. She wondered why he didn't bother telling her earlier.
The 304th clones all either sat or stood, waiting for the transport ships to arrive. But they all did so with a radius of 6 feet between them.
Suddenly, one of them coughed.
"Who was that?" Kal hollered.
Compass waved his hand. "Geez, calm yourself, captain. I just choked on a piece of my ration bar. I'm not sick."
"That's what they all say…" Egad said ominously.
Compass fake-sneezed in his direction. All the clones around Egad—and Egad himself—frantically scooted away. Which in turn, caused the clones behind them to do the same.
"Aw, that's disgusting!" Egad grimaced.
"You idiot! Do you think is a joke?" Cleaver spat.
"The commander's actually sick, you know!" Dogma retorted.
"I know that!" Compass cried in frustration. "But over-panicking will only worsen things. So will you all calm down? It's probably not something too serious."
"It doesn't matter!" Kal screeched. "We all share the same immune system, so if one gets sick we all get sick!" He pointed at Egad and everyone around him. "You guys! Get back to where you were!"
"Is everything alright here?" Aliyah appeared on the opposite end of the safety-perimeter.
Everyone immediately went back to where they were initially. Kal answered his general, "Everything's fine. How's the commander?"
"Asleep for now. Whatever he has, it's treatable. That's all I know."
The clones relaxed a bit. Compass gave them all an 'I told you so' look. He noticed a single ship enter the atmosphere. Probably the one to pick up Steele.
"Hey, general," Compass called out. "Since this is something treatable, we can handle ourselves just fine. Why don't you head back first with the commander?"
Aliyah and everyone who heard that was surprised. She wasn't sure about this, "You all can really handle yourselves?"
"Yes, yes. Just go."
"Kal?" Aliyah turned to her most sane captain.
Kal gave a side-glare to Compass before answering. "The only nuisance is him, general. But other than that, we're all pretty adept. We've done something like this before."
The ship landed, and a couple of Kaminoan doctors came out. They asked where the sick clone was. Aliyah had to cut the conversation with Kal short.
"Alright, take care of yourselves. I'll see you all back on Kamino." She left to guide the doctors to the meeting bunker where Steele laid.
Compass sat down, finishing his ration bar. A feeling of satisfaction washed over him.
The Kaminoan doctor injected Steele with something that's supposed to decrease his fever. But it also makes him more drowsy than he was before.
He rarely got sick. When was the last time he even got sick?
Oh, right…the last time was when Krell was still his general…
"What the hell is going on with you today, CT-3484?" Krell shoved Steele upright.
They just finished driving the last of the droids out of the Republic's outpost. But in Krell's eyes, their performance was sloppy. Especially Steele's.
"Huh? Answer me!" He whacked the side of Steele's helmet.
That caused his vertigo to worsen.
Reflexively, Steele ripped off his helmet, doubled over, and emptied the contents of his stomach…over Krell's foot.
Every single clone who saw that thought, 'Commander, it was an honour fighting beside you.'
…
The Kaminoan doctors were lining up the 304th in quarantine chambers. Testing them to see if they caught whatever sickness Steele had.
Krell was speaking with the head doctor. "None of them are infected so far, correct?"
"None so far, luckily. Considering that your commander's already in mid-stage of the illness." The doctor eyed Krell curiously. "Why didn't you bring him in when he was showing early symptoms?"
"Didn't think it was a big deal."
"Well, it is." The doctor seethed. "If the illness was something lethal, our entire army could've been wiped out. Next time, bring in your clone if he's showing any signs of being sick."
Krell waved a hand. "I highly doubt I'll need to do this again."
…
During the duration of Steele's recovery, the 304th wasn't deployed anywhere. So Krell didn't bother seeing them in HQ.
They were happy with their general's absence but not so happy with their commander's. Due to quarantine regulations, no clone is allowed to visit Steele.
"We're not even allowed to speak with him via comms!" Compass planted the side of his face against his sleeping pod's wall. "Not even comms!"
"How long has he been in quarantine for?" Vito asked.
"About 3 days," Egad answered as he lept off his pod. "I wish they'd at least let us know his recovery status. Like is he getting better at all?"
"How can he?" Compass mumbled. "He's cooped up all day in that stingy little room. No company whatsoever. Other than the occasional doctor visits."
Kal sighed as he thought about how he'd be in Steele's situation. He knew that he definitely wants something that showed his friends cared for him…a lightbulb glowed above his head.
"Hey, guys! I have an idea."
…
Another check-up test was done on Steele. But the results were the same as last time. He was getting better, but not better enough to join his legion again.
As soon as the doctor left, Steele returned to counting the number of imperfections he could see in the ceiling. That's how bored he was.
Suddenly, the door opened. And Shaak Ti entered the room, holding a wrapped package in hand.
"How are you doing, commander?" She asked.
"General?" Steele was genuinely surprised. "Why are you visiting me?"
"I wanted to see how you were," Shaak took a seat next to Steele's bed. "And to deliver this."
She put the package on the bedside table. "It's from your men."
Steele took the package and carefully unwrapped it. Inside were a small datapad and a box containing food the mess hall rarely gives out.
Turning on the datapad, Steele read the message written on it.
'You can make it through this, commander!'
On the other pages, were more personal messages. Each one was written by a different soldier, he can tell by the names labelled below each message.
"This is really thoughtful of them…" Steele cracked a tiny smile.
"They care for you very much," Shaak said gently. "I care too. Next time, don't be afraid to report you're not feeling well."
"General Krell will see it as an excuse. It's better I don't report it at all."
Shaak stood up. "It doesn't matter how he sees it. Something like this puts the entire army at risk. If not for his pride, then for the sake of the Republic. I'll make sure he knows that."
After that, Shaak left. And Steele is alone again. But he's not as down anymore. He kept reading through the datapad.
Each message was unique in its own way.
'I miss having you around. (Even if that means Krell will be around). Get well soon.' - Callous
'You're the glue that holds us together. We're doing our best to not far apart right now.' - Orbit
'Kan you pleese com bak?'
Steele didn't need to read the name to know it was Compass. Those Aurebesh skills made it easy to tell.
'Commander, you seriously need to take better care of yourself!' - Vito
'Hey, sir. If you're reading this, please know that everyone's worried about your well-being. You're constantly on our minds and that should speak volumes to you. In the battlefields, you're our commander and we'll follow you to the ends of the galaxy. But outside of it, you're our friend and we want what's best for you. Please don't let the general affect your decisions. Whatever you choose to do, we'll support you. Know we have your back.' - Egad
Steele took a break from reading. He always knew that his men respected him, but he never knew they valued him so.
"You guys are my reason to keep fighting…" Steele rested his head back. "Thank you."
…
Over the next couple of days, Steele was getting better. Shaak kept visiting him, bringing more packages from either his entire legion or just handfuls of his men. Or even individual soldiers.
Even some of the doctors started making small talk with him during their visits.
But not once, had Krell come to see him.
That is until one morning…
Steele woke up and turned to the bedside table, grabbing his goggles. As soon as he put them on, he saw Krell sitting across from him.
"Good morning, commander."
Steele reflexively shrivelled into the corner of his bed. Feeling trapped and unsafe. Cold sweat pooled down his neck.
Krell pretended none of that happened and continued to talk. "The doctors told me you're almost fully recovered."
It's true. Steele was feeling a lot better lately. But that wasn't something he wanted to tell his general. He knew that Krell would just find some reason to belittle him again.
But suddenly, Krell's cold-attitude softened. He looked down at Steele with an expression that was borderline concern.
"You ARE almost recovered, are you?"
Steele didn't know what to say. Was his general…asking if he's alright? He responded with a weak head nod.
Krell seemed almost relieved. "Alright, that's good."
A long pause occurred between the two. Then Krell spoke again.
"I'm going to say this only once, commander, so listen. I was wrong to not bring you in when you were showing early symptoms."
"...It wasn't solely your fault, general. I should've just turned myself in."
Krell huffed in response. "You hate me, don't you, commander? For everything I did to you. Especially your sight."
Steele didn't say anything.
"I admit, I went too far that day." Krell's voice was sincere. "What I did was unpleasant. Something that's 'highly-unbecoming of a Jedi'. And that's where the problem lies. 'Fighting for peace', hmph. You think that's what we're really fighting for?"
"No, sir," Steele answered, half lying, half being honest.
Krell seemed fine with that answer. "Looks like you can think for yourself after all. More so than my former Master, at least. He was a compassionate Jedi. An exemplary Jedi. But he was naive and narrow-minded, and that cost him his life. Now, I see the same thing happening on a larger scale. To the entire Order."
Steele braced himself when Krell put a hand on his shoulder. "This war has shown that in the end, nothing matters but yourself and your life. You lose your life if you're on the losing side. Which is why we'll NEVER be on the losing side, you understand me?"
Steele shakily nodded. For the first time ever, he thinks he understands his general.
"Hmm." Krell removed his hand. "Then you understand why I push you all with no mercy out in the battlefield. And why I let you all curse me with every known profanity in the galaxy. Because every victory we get pushes us further away from the losing side. Until we're pushed back again. And so, I push you all and you all curse me, and on and on and on it goes."
'Until the war's over.' Steele thought. 'Or until I'm dead.'
Steele woke up in the destroyer's infirmary. Still feeling a little groggy, but not enough to return to sleep.
He turned his head over and saw Aliyah sitting on a chair on the other side of the room.
She's here. She's here with me.
"General…"
Aliyah quickly made her way over. She helped him up into a sitting position.
"Easy there, easy there…"
"You'll catch it."
"Then I'll fight it off. Just like you will."
So it's not something serious. That relieved Steele. But then he realized they're no longer in Agamar.
"The mission! What about the mission?"
"The Council will send in someone else," Aliyah revealed. "You worry about you."
Steele sighed. "Sorry about this."
Aliyah shook her head. She then proceeded to ask the question that's been bothering her since Steele collapsed.
"Why didn't you say something about not feeling well before we left for Agamar?"
"Old habits die hard…" That memory of the last time he was sick returned. "It won't happen again."
Aliyah gets the gist of what Steele's saying. Krell's dead and most of the legion's moved on from him. But old habits like this still lingered around.
It's her job to break them.
"So you were sick before?" She carefully asked.
"Yeah. Just a mild bug, but it was enough to put me out of battle for some time." Steele pinched the bridge of his nose. "I remember throwing up over Krell's foot."
"Now what I would've given to see that," Aliyah smirked.
"It's funny now. But at that time, I thought I was for sure a dead man."
More memories returned to Steele. All of them were fresh, due to the dream he just woke up from.
But the most prominent one was the conversation with Krell inside the quarantine chamber. That conversation was probably the closest Steele ever got to know about Krell's ideology.
About why he's so harsh on us. Me being a failed RC was only a part in his overall reasoning.
"General…"
"Yes?"
How was he supposed to approach this? "Do you think the Jedi are flawed in the way they fight this war?"
"Of course."
Wait, what—
"I always try my best to stick to the Code," Aliyah continued. "But since this war began, I started to see flaws in the way the Jedi operate and conduct. Why are you asking me this?"
Steele took a deep breath. "Krell once said to me, that the way the Jedi are handling this war will cause the Republic to lose. And he didn't plan on losing." He leaned back. "'Nothing less than victory' was the motto."
Aliyah slowly nodded. "I don't want to lose either and I don't always agree with the way the Council does things. But the way Krell went about it, is not ok. Besides, at the end of the day, he didn't care about the Republic's fate. Just his own. That's why he turned traitor on Umbara."
"I guess so."
But a part of Steele still wanted to know what it was Krell saw that made him think the Republic was going to lose the war.
"Hey," Aliyah called for Steele's attention again. "We'll fight using the rules given to us. Until we morally can't. Then we'll fight and win using our rules."
"And what are our rules?"
"Rule number 1: prioritize lives. We can't protect if we can't stay alive. Though, you've been already doing that for a long time."
Steele recalled the get-well messages he received from his men the first time he was sick. "I wasn't doing that since day one though. It wasn't until General Ti delivered that package to me while I was in quarantine that I realized how much my men valued me. That's when I decided to start valuing them more than just soldiers. They valued me more than just a commander."
"I value you more than just a commander," Aliyah confessed.
I know. Why else are you here? Steele thought.
The destroyer soon reached Kamino. And a medical droid entered the infirmary. "We need to carefully transport you to the medical bay. With as little contact to fomites as possible."
Steele nodded in response. "I'll comply."
The droid left the room to get the bio-suit and other equipment necessary. Aliyah prepared to leave before the droid came back.
"Hey, I'm thinking of going off-world to get something to eat. You want anything?" She asked.
"Not really."
"Are you sure? It's really not troubling—"
"No, just come back. That's what I want."
That made Aliyah smile brightly. "Alright."
She left the infirmary. Leaving Steele to his happy thoughts.
Sick: End
Review responses~
Constanza: Thank you! That was my goal for that chapter. Just a little light-heartedness to follow up a very serious trial arc.
lionkingfactsguy3 (chapter 15): Welcome back, friend! What happened to you after ch 14, out of curiosity? It's fine if you don't wanna tell me. Anyways, I'll respond to a couple of your reviews on the last arc and this one. I don't think the Council can 'take away' someone's connection to the Force LOL.
lionkingfactsguy3 (chapter 18): Thank you for saying I depicted the trial well! I put a lot of work (including enlisting the help of my law student friend) into those chapters so it makes me really happy to see readers like you think so! Steele's human, not a saint, so yeah, I think it's natural for him to feel mad for not being his abuser's killer. But he does know that it's not Dogma's fault.
lionkingfactsguy3 (chapter 20): Burtoni didn't want to risk it. Tarkin, on the other hand, thought that Burtoni's witness was actually telling the truth, but now he needs to deal with this too. Dogma has some healing to do. Luckily everyone there understands what he's going through.
lionkingfactsguy3 (chapter 22): My god, you really binge-read all these chapters! I'm impressed. And I'll consider your idea of Aliyah trying to explain the Force to some clones. Maybe I'll throw in some other canon characters for that. But like I said in previous chapters, I won't be able to cover everyone's suggestions. But I'll do my best.
TobiasTheClone: Oh wow, a riot? Really? Did I manage to make my characters this likeable? XD Hmm, maybe I should invest in some security defenses.
Radicalewe3: Thank you. I have several synopses written down, just waiting to be fleshed out, after I decide if it's worth it.
Akira-Hayama: I'm glad you caught that I delved into some background characters! It's difficult building a story around OC's, which is why I'm genuinely amazed by how many people actually stuck around this far! Thank you!
Femke-the-lotus: Yep! No Krell to spoil the fun this time! And don't worry, it may seem a little stressful to get the baton, but they know it's only fun and games. They've mostly healed from that time of terror. Even more so now that Krell's dead and they have his killer on their legion!
A/N. My town is starting to open some businesses again. It seems that the pandemic is going down. But let's continue to be careful!
What about all of you? How are your lives right now? I hope you managed to use this time to either catch up on sleep or do something productive!
As for me, midterms are coming up so I'm a lot more stressed than usual. Writing is getting more difficult. But I'll soldier on. You guys are worth it.
See you all next time! :)
- MiraLake