She awoke to the sound of engines whirring. She blinked her eyes open, it was dark, humid, it was hot. Her whole body hurt, feeling sweat trickle down her back, stinging in her open wounds. She groaned, closing her eyes again. If no one kicked her, she wasn't going to wake up.
"General... General," someone whispered, she finally blinked her eyes open, shifting them around the dark room until they found a familiar blond head.
"Rex?" she murmured, starting to shift from her uncomfortable position on the floor. She could feel a collar around her neck, great. He was sitting up against the wall, with Governor Roshti not far off. "Where are we?"
"A ship of some sort, we've been traveling for a day maybe more. Come here," Esinon knew that voice, it was the big brother voice. A lot of the clones used that tone with her, she didn't care if she outranked them, they had years of experience on her. Esinon slowly but surely dragged herself over to Rex,
"Where does it hurt?" he asked, already starting to assess the wounds on her back, she could feel his force signature churning with anger. She had no idea how injured her back was but she didn't think it looked pretty.
"Everywhere," she murmured, Rex gave a half-hearted chuckle,
"Can you move all your limbs?" he asked, Esinon closed her eyes carefully scrunching all her fingers and toes like she was taught until she reached her right wrist and pain shot through it. She gritted her teeth,
"I think my wrist is broken," she said, Rex gently inspected the limb.
"Yeah, I've gotta set this," he said, pulling off his vambraces and tearing off a strip of fabric from the bottom of his tunic. "Try not to be too loud, they threatened to take away dinner if we were," he explained, giving her a sympathetic look. Esinon nodded concentrating on the force for a moment, dulling any sensation in her wrist. A crack and ground of Esinon's teeth later, Rex had set and wrapped her wrist. She tiredly rested her head against the wall, scrunching her eyes shut.
"Any idea where Anakin and Ahsoka are?" she whispered,
"No, but I wouldn't worry too much," Rex replied, she chuckled,
"I'm gonna anyway," Rex put an arm around her, she sighed. She had a feeling it was going to be a while before someone could rescue them. Might as well get to the pain now.
"Try and get some sleep," he whispered, she nodded closing her eyes and gladly succumbing to darkness.
The ship clunked into the atmosphere, Esinon jolted awake, Rex still had a protective arm around her as a pair of Zygerrians approached. The first one grabbed her ponytail and wrenched her away from Rex as she struggled and yelped at the pain. No doubt the guard would have a fistful of hair left in his hand when he let go. At the moment Esinon was really, really wishing that all of her hair would disappear. She was set on her feet, and shoved forward, her collar sizzled, sending a low pulse of electricity through her body. It didn't hurt, but now her collar was on. The catwalk slid down and there were the togruta, silent and lined up in rows. In the middle sat a fat Zygerrian in a repulsor chair. Keeper Agruss. He probably had never worked a day in his life. Disgusting.
"My people!" the Governor exclaimed, "we've found them!" Esinon smiled weakly as they stepped forward and finally stopped. Esinon stepped in front of Rex, she was a Jedi. And Jedi protected their men, she stared down the Keeper.
"General Windcaster," he said, "You are the first Jedi I have entertained at our education center. Few possess a Jedi's resolve, and strength of will is my greatest enemy." He pressed a button on his chair and five togruta fell through the platforms beneath their feet, Esinon grit her teeth as she listened to their screams echo. She didn't dare move, more would die if she did. "Now that I have your attention Jedi, know that it will not be you who suffers." The Zygerrians prodded them forward, and Esinon moved and didn't even try to fight it. She kept her head bent low, watching the frail body of the Governor ahead of her.
Days started to blur together, beatings, jeering, tugs at her hair, barely enough food and water to survive. Esinon was losing weight scarily fast, she could almost count her ribs through her skin. Her tunic barely covered her body with the number of times that a whip had come down on her back. She'd given up on fighting back because it only hurt the Togruta more.
'Jedi only make things worse.' Every day was the same, wake, drink barely enough water, one meal a day, shovel, beatings, yelling, crying, then sleeping. Listening to the soft moans of pain of the people she had failed around her. Esinon stayed on her side to stop from hurting her aching back more, she missed her bed on the Negotiator, sure it wasn't the most comfortable bed in the galaxy but at least it wasn't made of steel. She let out a weak cough at the constant smell of smog, it was like a constant nightmare or migraine, she decided a migraine was worse. She could wake up from a nightmare, she jumped when someone slipped into her bed. She whipped around to see it was only Rex, she sighed scooting closer to him. He tapped a message on her shoulder,
'Ok?' she shook her head deciding not to lie to him. He'd be able to tell the difference anyway. She fingerspelled against his forearm,
'Stay alive,' he nodded in agreement, it was comforting to have someone next to her. She finally closed her eyes, starting to feel a little safer. She finally drifted off into sleep.
Two weeks, if she had to make a guess. It was blurry, the day was finally over, her hands bleeding from blisters rubbed from continually shoveling scoop, after scoop, after scoop of coal. What the purpose was she didn't know, and she didn't much care, she was more focused on staying alive. She and Rex were currently stumbling back towards their beds, looking forward to sleeping.
"You." The Zygerrians pointed at Esinon, "Come with us," After all that had happened today, she knew that if she disagreed, more colonists would be hurt, Rex, had other plans.
"You're not taking her anywhere," he snarled, jumping protectively in front of the young girl. Instantly three electro-staffs were at his neck.
"No!" Esinon cried, "Don't hurt him! Please! I'll come with you." she said, the Zygerrian grabbed her arm and roughly wrenched her away from the Captain.
"General, no! You can't!" Rex pleaded, she gently touched his gauntlet,
"I'll be ok, I promise," she said softly, she knew she wouldn't be, but whatever it took to keep Rex safe.
It felt like hours that the torture had lasted. She was alone, ankle shackled to the wall, they didn't break her. They never would. But she could feel hot tears dripping down her face. She wanted all the pain to end, she wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again. Dooku knew she was here, no doubt he and Queen Miraj were in cohorts. The Zygerrians had been asking for information about the Republic, cruiser movements, battle strategies, everything. Even though she hadn't broken into giving information, she felt broken, she looked broken.
She stared at her reflection in a puddle of water that formed under a leaky pipe. Her eyes looked… dull. Guess she didn't deserve the nickname bright eyes anymore. She stared at her bruised and battered face, dried cuts and blood everywhere, dirt and ash, and her hair was messy, sweaty, and greasy. She attempted to give herself a weak smile, but she couldn't even muster it. Instead, she curled up in a corner of the cell and went to sleep. Screams haunted her nightmares.
The next time Rex saw Esinon he didn't recognize her at first, but then remembered she was the only human, well near human in this facility. She looked awful, he didn't probe about it, he knew she wasn't ok. For whatever reason, both of them were being moved again, more work? Or did the Zygerrians plan to sell their prized slaves? Guards stood behind them, electro-staffs ignited. The door slid open and Esinon gasped as the air conditioning of the office hit her. It had been weeks since she'd felt cold air. The guards prodded them forward and both of them stumbled down the stairs until they landed on their knees in front of Keeper Argus. Esinon glared up at him, her face twisting into a snarl.
"Someone wishes to speak to you," he said, his repulsor chair floated out of the way of a transmitter and Count Dooku appeared.
"Esinon Windcaster," he said cooly, raising his eyebrow in a degrading manner, "In chains once again I see," she scoffed,
'Real funny,'
"Count Dooku, still afraid to get your hands dirty?" she snarled,
I would gladly make an exception in your case since I can't kill your Master, I would love to kill you," he replied, Esinon let out a low growl, she was gonna be the one to kill him and end this war. "I wanted to say a proper farewell before Keeper Agruss puts you to death. Agruss smiled darkly, rubbing his hands together. Esinon's stomach flipped. This was it.
"Keeper," a guard said, "The slave ship Tecora is making an unscheduled landing on platform two-four,"
"Skywalker," Dooku snarled, something exploded outside,
'Yes Anakin! Esinon Windaster is gonna live to fight another day!' she cheered mentally, Dooku turned back to Esinon.
"Windcaster, tell your mentor if he does not surrender, the slaves will be terminated in his name." Esinon scowled at him trying to hide her fear. There were still thousands of Togruta she could save, they could save. She wouldn't let them die. A transmitter blinked next to her, and she could see Anakin.
"Anakin! I'm glad to see you," she said, "but I'm afraid our hosts feel otherwise,"
"Well you can't please everyone Speedy," he replied, continuing to cut through the door. Esinon sighed, deciding to cut straight to the point,
"Anakin, they're threatening to kill the Togruta if you don't surrender," she said,
"Well it's nice to see you're taking on the mantle of Negotiator but I'm done bargaining with slavers," he growled,
"Anakin please, you have to realize that you can't win this fight alone,"
"Who said I was alone?" he smirked,
"Keeper!" a guard shouted, "Warships just dropped out of hyperspace in sector six!"
"Jedi reinforcements," Agruss snarled, Esinon's once dead com crackled to life on her wrist,
"Wolf Leader to Wolf pack, accelerate to attack speed," Master Plo ordered over the coms,
"This is Xavier, we're going in!" The whole facility shook,
"Rex! Now!" she shouted, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she used the force to crush both of their collars,
"It's about time!" the Captain exclaimed, with a big grin on his face. She flipped behind her captors, getting her wrists in front of her body. She whapped her hands into a guard's head with some help from the force. She dodged three blaster bolts, whipping her hands up and the last bolt sliced straight through her cuffs. She tackled a guard, throwing him into another, grabbing a blaster off the floor and injuring both of them. She looked up at beeping and saw Agruss messing with a control panel, the Togruta!
"No!" she shouted, Agruss smirked, smashing the panel over and over with his meaty fist, she scrambled over to the controls but it was too late. Agruss cackled,
"The controls are destroyed Master Plo," Esinon said into the comlink, "There's nothing we can do from down here,"
"I cannot move the cruiser in for the rescue operation until these enemy cannons are destroyed."
"We'll take care of those controls, Master Plo!" Anakin called, "You focus on getting the cruiser down to the landing platform, we are running out of time!"
"Incoming!" Rex shouted as five more guards entered the office. Esinon ran and dove behind the control pod as a guard fired off several rounds at her. The guard attempted to creep up on her but she threw him with the force, she called her lightsaber into her hand igniting the blade. Agruss smirked at her,
"Come now General Windaster, a Jedi won't kill an unarmed man," he smirked, an electro staff flew through the room impaling Agruss.
"I'm no Jedi," Rex growled, his chest puffing. His repulsor chair spun and he crashed straight into the controls,
"We gotta go now," Esinon said, Rex nodded as they sprinted towards the entrance of the facility. They met up with Anakin halfway,
"There's a gunship waiting outside for us," he reported, Esinon nodded forcing herself to keep running at top speed for a human as a shiver ran up her spine. All of sudden she was really, really cold, and tired, so tired. She didn't feel good, she felt worse than she had her whole time on Kadavo. They skidded to a halt into the waiting gunship, Esinon gripped the strap tightly, trying to stay on her feet. As soon as the gunship lurched towards the waiting cruiser, Anakin eased her against a few crates. "Easy Speedy," She gave a huff, her breathing starting to become very labored. It was really hard to breathe all of a sudden. Anakin wiggled a glove off, pressing his hand to the back of her forehead, he then checked her neck, she was warm to the touch. She leaned into his touch, his fingers were nice and warm and she was really cold. "Gah you're burning up," he murmured,
"I'm cold," she whined, by then Rex had also slid down against the crates gratefully accepting a canteen of water from a Wolf pack member.
"You've got a fever Esinon," her brow scrunched, now that she thought about it she had been really cold and shivery last night.
"I don't feel good," she murmured,
"We're gonna get you to a medic soon," Anakin promised, she nodded, tiredly resting her head against the crates. Anakin turned his attention to his Captain, "how are you feeling Rex?"
"To be honest, terrible, but not as bad as she feels."
"They target her?" he asked, as far as Anakin could tell she wasn't listening to their conversation. Rex nodded,
"They took her last night, I don't know what they did to her, but she came back like that," he said, Anakin sighed, gently brushing sweaty hair out of Esinon's face.
"Just hang on a little longer Speeds,"
Patience. Fives had never been good at patience, he was trying, but it was taking all of his willpower to not pace the floor. The ARC stood in the hangar tapping his foot against the durasteel,
"You ok?" Tup asked, noticing his incessant foot-tapping, Fives glanced at the shiny, well… after Umbara, no one was shiny anymore.
"Just getting impatient, they were supposed to be here ten minutes ago," Fives said, glancing at his comlink for the umpteenth time.
"Well, with General Skywalker, sometimes things can go off schedule." Tup joked, trying to get Fives distracted from his increasing nervousness,
"You're not wrong, you're catching on quick." he said, a fleeting smile crossing his face, shouting filled the hangar as attendants raced past them, "What going on?" Fives asked, catching the arm of a trooper,
"General Skywalker's back, with a whole lot of people," he replied, running off, Tup and Fives glanced at each other before following after the trooper, the Twilight landed, and gunship after gunship did as well, it seemed the stream of ships and people were never going to end. Togruta and soldiers flooded the arena, making it difficult to find his little sister and his captain. The seas finally parted where he could see the frail figure of Esinon, and Rex next to her, Ahsoka was currently supporting Rex, and Xavier supporting Esinon. Fives ran over, Tup close on his tail,
"Hello Fives," Esinon said, weakly, smiling up at him, her ribs stuck out from underneath her tunic, well what was left of it anyways. The shredded cloth barely covered her body, and her face was covered in bruises and dried blood that stuck out even more against her pale skin. She was shivering, clutching Xavier tightly, trying to find warmth. Fives clenched his fist as anger swelled up inside of him, how could someone be so cruel? She wasn't even an adult, it hurt him to see her so fragile.
"General," was all he managed to get out,
"Alright, let's get you to the medbay," Xavier said,
"Xavier!" Esinon flinched slightly at the shout of Master Plo. The way her eyes were constantly shifting for any signs of danger, made his heart ache,
"I can take her to the medbay sir," Fives offered,
"Thank you Fives, and make sure she gets there and stays there," Xavier said, knowing his friend's hate of the medbay.
"Yes sir," he replied, taking Esinon from Xavier, as soon as the zabrak had disappeared, Fives scooped her up into his arms, he grunted in surprise at the ease to pick her up. It felt like she weighed nothing more than a small tooka. She gave a soft smack to his chest plate,
"I can walk just fine Fives," she mumbled,
"Sure," he replied, she didn't object any further and rested her head against his chest. "Come on Tup," Fives didn't like the feeling of her ribs against his hand, the poor thing had been starved half to death, yet she looked thinner than all of the others around him. Had she been starved further than the others? A terrifying thought crossed his mind, her metabolism. That's why she had lost so much weight, on a normal day she had to consume about 8,000 calories, under the conditions of Zygerria, that was probably never met. The two troopers soon made their way into the medbay, setting her down on a table, where a team of medics swarmed her. Fives edged his past them, pulling a blanket around Esinon's shoulders. He didn't like how exposed she looked. By now Esinon was panting. "Stay with her Tup," Fives instructed,
"I will," he replied, the ARC leaving to find Kix. The medic was currently tending to a brother who had been injured in battle,
"Kix, I'm sorry to interrupt, but General Windcaster-"
"Say no more, Harvest!" Kix shouted, the trainee medic came running in,
"Yes sir?"
"Finish checking him over, I've got work to do." he instructed, handing the young trooper his datapad, "Any idea how bad it is?" he asked, as he followed Fives back to where Tup was waiting,
"Well… it'd be easier if you just come see." Curses in Mando'a, basic, and togruta- probably Commander Tano's doing- slipped out of Kix's mouth the moment he saw Esinon. She was still sitting right where Fives had left her, where medics were checking her vitals, she wasn't saying much, keeping her answers short, and eyes on her hands in her lap. Kix frowned at the sight of her shivering violently, he pulled off his glove, gently pressing his hands on her neck and forehead.
"Get a blood test ready," Kix said, his voice rising a bit, "Someone get me blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen, get it prepped." Fives's stomach churned,
"Kix… what's wrong?" he asked slowly,
"Tup, go get General Skywalker, now," Kix ordered, Fives's panic rose higher, as Tup ducked out.
"Kix what's going on?"
"It could be nothing, but-" he cut himself off as a medic ran over,
"Sir she's ninety over sixty," the assistant medic reported, Kix growled, to himself, Esinon looked around blearily until her eyes fell on Fives.
"Fives, I'm cold," she whimpered,
"I know Taz," he said, coming over to stand at her side as another medic began drawing blood, while another was helping Esinon out of the remains of her tunic and Kix inspected the wounds on her back. "But Kix is gonna fix you, right?" he asked, glancing over at his medic brother to get some sort of reaffirmation that Esinon was fine, but he didn't answer. Esinon shuddered again, hugging her arms around her bruised abdomen.
"Heart Rate is at 130 beats per minute!" a medic called from in front of Esinon, Fives's started to get antsier. That wasn't good.
"Blood test came back, it's high," another one reported, a dark look fell over Kix's face. What was high? Moments later General Skywalker appeared with Tup,
"Talk to me Kix," he said,
"Medics, get her transferred into a bed, clean the wounds as best you can, and stay with her." Kix ordered, they all gave him a quick salute as Kix pushed them all outside the medbay, away from Esinon where she couldn't hear them.
"Kix," Anakin said, using his General tone.
"We need to get to a medical station now," Kix said, swiping through a few things on a datapad, Fives's stomach dropped. "She's got sepsis, and I don't have the equipment to treat her here. If we don't hurry, she'll go into Septic shock and all of her organs will fail. You're listed as one of her legal guardians along with General Fisto, I need you to sign off on a couple of surgeries, for later."
"Kix, slow down," Anakin said, a little shocked,
"General," Kix snapped, "She needs to be in an intensive care unit immediately. I don't have the special types of antibiotics to treat it on the cruiser. Clones can't get sepsis normally because of our heightened immune systems. She'll need to go into surgery later to take care of the mess of infected flesh on her back, and she needs a g-tube there is no way she can get her weight back without one." Anakin rubbed his hands together uncomfortably, he'd had to do this for Ahsoka before but never for Esinon. This had always been Obi-Wan's territory, but Anakin was listed as one of Esinon's legal guardians.
"Are these two seperate surgeries or will you do both at once?" Anakin asked,
"It depends on how stable we can get her before we go into the operating room. The priority is to take care of the infected flesh first, then the g-tube but I'll tell you when we get her more stable." Anakin nodded,
"Ok, I'm gonna contact Admiral Yularen and then can you explain all of this to me?" he asked, Kix nodded,
"Of course General," Anakin disappeared around the corner to contact Admiral Yularen in a more private setting, "I need to go explain all of this to General Windcaster," Kix murmured,
"It should be me," Fives said quietly, "She'll probably take it best from me, that'll be one of her first surgeries since General Kenobi's death."
"Ok," Kix said softly,
"So infected skin removal and a g-tube?" he asked, Kix nodded. Fives nodded, it felt like he could feel his face going pale. A trainee medic led Fives to where Esinon was staying, they had cleaned her up and put her in a hospital gown. She looked tiny under all of the machines, she was shivering on top of the covers since the medics were probably trying to get her fever down. She blinked her eyes blearily, sensing him coming into the room. Fives could see bandages poking out from underneath the hospital gown.
"Fives?" she whispered, rolling over to face him, "What's happening?" Fives sat down on the edge of her bed, running a hand down her thin shoulder.
"I need to explain a couple of things, ok?"
"I want my blanket back," she whimpered,
"They've gotta get your fever down," he said softly, Fives wanted to cry at how small and strained she sounded. "Esinon you have what's called sepsis, which means you have an infection. We're headed to the medical station now to get you on antibiotics and eventually into surgery. They've gotta remove the infected skin on your back, and give you a g-tube." Fives expected crying or yelling, or a laugh of denial, but he wasn't prepared for nothing. She didn't move, the only noise that filled the room was the beeping of her heart monitor, it was still beeping abnormally fast. Esinon gave a weak huff, wrinkling her nose at the oxygen tube underneath her nostrils.
"I'm not going," she murmured, rolling back over so her back was to him.
"Esinon, you don't really have a choice. This is important, they're trying to save your life," he said, Esinon shook her head,
"No. I'm done. I'm not going." she said weakly, but firmly, "no more poking, no more prodding, no more pain, I'm done." Fives's heart clenched, reading in between the lines and understanding what she meant.
"Esinon, please," he could see tired tears slipping from her eyes, there was no sobbing or wailing. She'd given up, she didn't have the strength to go on. "Talk to me," he grasped her hand, her small and frail fingers became engulfed in his own. "Why don't you want to go to surgery? The pain will stop if you get help."
"No it won't," she whispered, "I'll get released after weeks of recovery and then shoved back onto the front lines and do it all over again. I'm done Fives, I'm just not gonna get better this time."
"C' mere," he said, gently tugging on her hand. Esinon finally pulled herself up and crawled into Fives's lap. He carefully wrapped his arms around her, she instantly pressed her body up against his, looking for warmth as she continued to shiver.
"I don't want to be a soldier anymore," she whimpered, Fives gently rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort his little sister. For only a moment he tensed up, she had never referred to herself as a soldier. Always a peacekeeper. What had changed? "Why did Obi-Wan have to die?" that was why. Her guidance was gone, but what Fives didn't know is that Esinon had finally come to terms with her involvement in the war. She wasn't a peacekeeper. She never was. "I need him. I want him back, this wouldn't have happened if Obi-Wan was still here."
"It's gonna be ok, I'll be here when you go under and when you wake up," he whispered, even though she was shivering he could feel the heat radiating off her body, she was so feverish. Fives was going to make those Zygerrians pay.
"Promise?" she whispered,
"The whole way,"
"Alright Commander, you've got some electrical burns, but some bacta should take care of that. Lots of fluids and carbs, try and take care of the malnutrition." Kix instructed, Ahsoka gave a nod and looked up when the blast door slid open to her Master. He looked exhausted, more exhausted than normal. Ahsoka gently probed at their bond, and he gave her a little reaffirmation nudge.
"Kix, we're about twenty minutes out from the medical station," he said, "Esinon's sleeping, Fives is with her. A trainee said that her temperature about the same, hasn't gone down at all but it hasn't gone up which is good."
"I'm gonna go call ahead to have them get the antibiotics and an operating room ready," Kix said, Anakin nodded as the medic hurriedly ducked out. Ahsoka glanced up at her Master,
"What's wrong with Esinon?" she asked, Anakin dragged a hand down his face.
"Esinon's got sepsis," he said, sitting down on the bed next to his padawan,
"But she's gonna be fine, right?" Ahsoka asked, her anxiety starting to stir.
"We don't know Snips, but Kix is doing everything he can," Ahsoka let out a shuddered sigh as Anakin wrapped an arm around her.
"I don't want to lose her too" she whispered,
"I know Snips, I know."
"Count backward from ten," Kix whispered quietly, Esinon took a deep breath as the anesthesia was placed over her nose and mouth.
Ten
The room started to slightly blur as her eyes became heavier,
Nine
She swore she could see the stars in the operating room's ceiling.
Eight
She missed the stars
Seven
She watched the stars swirling in the sky, they were beautiful
Six
She could hear someone humming, a familiar melody.
Five
A song Obi-Wan used to sing when she was younger.
Four
I wanna be where the talk of the town is about last night when the sun went down. Yeah, and the trees all dance and the warm wind blows in the same old town. And the water below gives a gift to the sky and the clouds give it back every time they cry.
Three
Make the grass grow green beneath my toes and if the sun comes out I'll paint a picture about all the colors I've been dreamin' of
Two
The hours just don't seem enough to put it all together, maybe it's just as strange as it seems. And the trouble I find is that the trouble finds me. It's a part of my mind. It begins with a dream, and the feelin' I get when I look and I see that the world is a puzzle.
One
Find all of the pieces, and put it all together, then I'll rearrange it, I'll follow it forever, and it'll always be as strange as it seems.
Korkie tapped his foot impatiently as he spaced out in class. Two weeks. It had been two kriffin' weeks since Esinon's capture had been broadcasted from Zygerria. They hadn't pronounced her dead… yet. He shoved that unsure part of his mind away, and desperately tried to focus on the remainders of the lesson.
'Only a few more minutes,' he thought to himself, it was a struggle to focus ever since Esinon had been taken. He knew she did dangerous stuff like this all the time but, it didn't stop him from worrying anyway. The bell finally rang, and Korkie packed up his stuff. 'Just keep moving,' He barely made it a few steps down the hallway before he was stopped by the Headmaster,
"Cadet Kryze, the Duchess has come to collect you," she said, Korkie cocked his head,
"Outside?" he asked, she nodded, Korkie headed out towards the front of the school where his Aunt was waiting.
"Hello Korkie," she greeted,
"Aunt Satine, is something wrong?" he asked,
"Come on, we can talk about it on the way back to the palace," she said, already climbing back into the speeder, Korkie followed after her. "As you know, there is a medical station orbiting Mandalore. Esinon's been recovered, she's currently there."
"Can we go?" Korkie blurted, Satine smiled,
"Yes, that's why I pulled you from school, there's a ship waiting for you."
"Just me?" he asked slowly,
"Someone has to stay here and rule our system," she said with a soft chuckle,
"Are you sure Aunt Satine?" he asked,
"Yes, she is your best friend and I've seen how worried you are about her. So go, I'll be fine."
Korkie collected his things, finally sitting down in the cockpit of his ship. The medical station above Mandalore was neutral, so he had no need to worry, and Aunt Satine said that General Skywalker was expecting his arrival. Sometimes he wondered if Aunt Satine knew about him and Esinon, she probably did, but she had a thing with General Kenobi. Korkie had vague memories of playing tag with a dirty-blond haired man when he was a little kid. He sat down in the cockpit, just as he was about to pull out of the hanger his transmitter buzzed. A voicemail popped up on his communicator, marked Esinon. He hurriedly opened it.
"Hi Korkie!" her voice exclaimed, his name came out all slurred. What kind of meds did they have her on? "Call me, I wanna see you," she said, she gave a huffy breath, "but don't call me 'cause I just got out of surgery n 'm really tired. You shouldn't worry though, I'm fineeeee." Korkie chuckled, "Call me though! 'Cause you're really cuteee, and I wanna see your fluffy little hair. If you ever got a haircut I think I'd have to break up with you. That's a lie. Anyways… call me when you get this. Actually don't, 'cause Fives is gonna be hovering. He's a helicopter brother, so text me. Ok, 'm really tired, I'm 'nna take a nap. Love youuuuu. Oh also your hair smells so good. Bye." The transmitter clicked, Korkie sat in the co-pilot's seat with a dopey smile on his face.
'I have the best girlfriend ever,'
Esinon blinked her eyes open from her post-surgery nap. Her brain still felt foggy from the anesthesia, surgery hadn't been so bad. She felt less crappy, but that was probably due to the number of antibiotics, bacta and painkillers she was on. There were a lot of machines attached to her body. She vaguely remembered calling Korkie, he hadn't picked up but she heard someone say something concerning the medical station and it orbiting Mandalore. She couldn't remember. She glanced over at the nightstand where a few pairs of sweats were stacked along with a holo transmitter. She called it into her hand using the force, turning it only and scrolling through some notifications.
Rex: I'm gonna be ok, Kix said that a little while more in the bacta tank and I should be fine. I had to get some stitches too, and then splinted my arm from when I broke it during the fight in the office. Anyways, hope ya feel better kid.
Fives: Went to go check on Tup, should be back soon.
Missed Call: Dogma
Voicemail: Dogma
She clicked on the voicemail and raised the transmitter to her ear,
"Hey General! We heard that you got recovered and we just wanted to say hi!" Dogma exclaimed,
"Hi Princess Esinon!" Shaeeah added,
"We love you!" Jekk shouted,
"Get lots of rest kid," Cut reminded,
"And lots of fluids!" Suu shouted from somewhere in the background.
"Feel better General," She smiled softly as the transmission ended, Dogma would make sure to call her. But what did he mean, he knew she had been recovered? There was no way he could have known she was captured. Esinon was too disoriented to be overly concerned with it at the moment, she scrolled down a little further.
Missed call: Unknown
Anakin: Should be in in a little while, they needed to give me an exam too, but I assume Fives is with you.
Ahsoka: u awake yet?
Korkie: Got your voicemail, glad you like my fluffy hair. I should be at the medical station in about an hour. Love you
How in the name of the force did Korkie know she was in a medical station. She wanted answers. She was about to text Dogma when her transmitter started buzzing with an incoming call. She didn't recognize the frequency but answered anyway because maybe someone needed something.
"Hello?" she asked, rubbing her eyes as another wave of tiredness washed over her.
"Hey kid,"
"Slick?" she asked, she couldn't tell if she was making a mistake of some other clone or-
"Actually- uh, most people call me Amos now," he replied, she grunted as she shifted in her bed.
"You changed your name?"
"Mhmm," he replied, "My squad didn't like me that much, and my name was another way to be permanently mean to me- sorry about that tangent," he muttered, Esinon rubbed a thumb along her brow,
"'S ok, my brain's fuzzy anyways. Anesthesia's a killer." she murmured, "I just got out of surgery a couple hours ago,"
"Yeah you weren't looking good in that recording," Slick- now Amos replied, his voice wavering a bit.
"Yeah, that's part I don't understand. How does everyone know I was captured? That's not public knowledge. I've gotten similar calls from Dogma and another one of my… friends." she said,
"Kid, it was broadcasted to half the galaxy. When that nasty Queen announced you as a 'special guest'. Then the whole fight broke out and-"
"I know Amos, I was there," she grumbled, pulling the blanket around her tighter. Kix had only let her have a thin one back since she still had a fever technically. Esinon groaned, she now remembered holo-cams circling her on the platform. "Great, now half the galaxy got to see what an epic failure I am."
"You're not a failure kid, you got overwhelmed, but you're out now." Esinon sighed,
"Yeah I guess, so have you found work? Are you still on Saleucami or are you on a different planet?"
"I'm actually on Alderaan working as an elementary teacher," he replied, Esinon grinned,
"I never thought of you as a teacher Amos," she joked, he gave a huff,
"I'm a lot of things I never thought I would be,"
"Have you called Dogma yet?"
"Mhmm, we talked this morning. He seems really happy with Cut," he said, Esinon gave a happy sigh,
"Dogma called this afternoon, whole Lawquane family was with him. I only listened to the voicemail since he called me during the nap I was taking," she said, giving a chuckle and then grimacing at the tightness in her chest.
"Well I just wanted to call and check-in, but I'll let you get some rest," Amos said, she nodded,
"Ok, thank you for calling,"
"'Course kid,"
"Bye Amos,"
"Bye Esinon," the transmitter clicked, she put the back of her hand to her forehead, she still felt hot, but the chills were still racking her body. She dropped her hand to her abdomen and felt something hard, her eyes went wide. She tugged up her hospital gown to find a big white patch over the right side of her abdomen, she poked it again. She knew she probably shouldn't have, but she tore the bandage off and found a hard piece of plastic attached to her abdomen. What was that? She wanted it gone! Just as she was about to try and figure out what this thing was, Fives walked into the room.
"Taz, you're awake! How do you feel?" his stomach dropped at the panic in her eyes.
"Fives? What is this?" she whispered, his eyes drifted down to the g-tube in her abdomen. "Fives?"
"It's a g-tube Esinon,"
"I want it gone," she snapped, already starting to study it to find a way of removing it, Fives grabbed the white bandage patch that Esinon had abandoned on the edge of the bed.
"It's attached to your intestines Esinon, you can't remove it unless you go into surgery," Fives said, pushing her hands away and reapplying the patch.
"Why'd they put it on me?" she shouted, Fives sighed,
"Because of your metabolism, we have to get your weight back up," he explained, Esinon's chin began to quiver.
"I don't want it," she whimpered, Fives gently pulled her into a hug,
"It's gonna help, you'll be ok," she let out a small breath, still feeling feverish and exhausted. She just wanted to be done, but the galaxy needed her from something. She just couldn't figure out what the something was yet.
"I swear one day you're going to be more scar than woman," an all too familiar voice teased,
"Korkie?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, "How did you-"
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" he asked, closing the door behind him. He sat down on her bed, careful not to jostle her too much. "How are you feeling?"
"Alright," she mumbled, she grabbed onto his arm and Korkie helped her into a somewhat sitting position. "Ow,"
"Sorry," Korkie said quietly, she glanced from him to her aching body.
"You didn't do anything," she replied, she'd been a little blunt with all of the constant medication she was on. Her brain was so foggy, she didn't process the whole 'being gentle' thing.
"I- uh..." Korkie tapered off, no sure exactly what to say next. He didn't want her to know about all of his worry, she didn't need any of that right now. He needed to be there for her, not the other way around. Esinon let out a huffy breath, her brow furrowing. She squinted at him, studying his face, she couldn't recognize him. What Esinon didn't realize was that this was going to be one of her many fever-induced sepsis spells.
"Who are you?" she asked, uncomfortably scooting away from him. Korkie cocked his head confusedly,
"Esinon, it's me- Korkie," she shifted again,
"I don't know you," she said quietly, before he could react a blast of the force hit him and he was sent skidding to the ground. Esinon's fingers clearly fidgeting for a weapon that wasn't there, "Who are you." She demanded. Korkie slowly rose to his feet, holding his hand up in a placating gesture.
"Esinon, it's me, Korkie! Your-" he cut himself off, knowing there were security cameras in the room. He couldn't risk anyone finding out, for both their sakes.
"Tell me now!" She shouted, she held up her hand threateningly. Suddenly, the medbay door burst open and Fives was standing in the doorway. His eyes flicked from Esinon to Korkie in confusion, recognizing the Mandalorian Prince but was wondering what he was doing here. His attention was quickly drawn back to Esinon, when she trained a hand on him, leaving the other on Korkie."Who are you?" she snarled,
"Esinon, listen to me," Fives said, "It's me, Fives," he discreetly pressed the button to signal a medic to come. "We are your friends."
"I don't know you," She repeated, her foggy brain trying desperately trying to catch up. Trying to figure out what was happening. Fives paused, he had to give her something that only the two of them would remember. Kix showed up a moment later but Fives held out his hand for him to wait.
"Esinon," he said, slowly walking towards her. "Do you remember when you were on Kamino and I called you after Echo died." Esinon started to lower her hands, "And Hardcase walked into the barracks to repaint his kit-"
"And he tripped, spilling paint all over you," she whispered, Fives nodded,
"That's right, and we both looked at each other and cracked up,"
"And then remembered we weren't supposed to." Esinon finished, her hands falling back into her lap, blinking her eyes.
"There we go, can I come closer?" he asked, Esinon nodded and Fives made his way over to her and embraced her.
"What happened to me?" she whispered, peeking out from Fives's arms to see Korkie's concerned face. Kix walked over,
"Sepsis can induce fever spells which can cause delirium and hallucinations,"
"So it's gonna keep happening?" Fives asked slowly, Kix nodded, giving the pair a sympathetic look. Esinon let out a small groan as if her situation wasn't bad enough. Let's add not being able to recognize people, she took a deep breath.
"Unfortunately there's nothing we can do to help until the fever breaks these will keep happening sporadically," Kix explained, Esinon bit the inside of her cheek to force down a whimper. Fives gently tightened his grip on her,
"It's gonna be ok Taz," he murmured, "We're gonna get through this,"
"Ok," she whispered, her voice cracking. She hated how weak she sounded- how weak she felt. After a few more minutes, Fives let her go,
"I need to talk to Tup, but I'll be back in a little bit, ok?" Esinon nodded, sitting back in her bed and running tired hands down her face. Fives and Kix both disappeared, leaving Esinon and Korkie alone.
"I'm sorry," Esinon choked out, Korkie carefully came closer, placing a hand on her knee.
"It's ok, you didn't do anything wrong,"
"But I could have done something way worse," she whimpered, Korkie gently embraced her as she clutched the back of his tunics and let herself cry.
"Shh," he soothed, "It's alright, I've got you," he rested his chin on top of her head, eventually Esinon's tears stopped and she drifted off to sleep. Korkie carefully shifted them so that Esinon was curled up in his side, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes. He knew what he was getting into when he started a relationship with Esinon. Well... he didn't think there would be slavery involved, but no doubt- this was not going to be their last time in med bays.
"When was the last time you slept?" Tup asked as Fives flopped his head down on a mess room table. It had been three days since the slaves had been recovered. Tup knew that Fives hadn't been sleeping much since Esinon disappeared. Plagued by nightmares… scarily accurate nightmares. And Tup doubted the ARC had been sleeping period since the young General had returned.
"Who keeps track of that?" the ARC murmured,
"Fives," Tup chided,
"Esinon needs attention and care right now," he mumbled, resting his hands underneath his chin.
"And the medics can't provide that?" Tup asked, Fives had barely left Esinon alone. Something had obviously shaken him, other than the fact that she had been a slave and all that.
"She's relapsing Tup." he whispered quietly, "She's got a new infection, Kix is worried she'll go chronic, that if she doesn't die, she won't be the same ever again. Like constant medications, pain, and repulsor chairs. Her feverish spells have gotten worse, she can't recognize anybody anymore. She keeps asking for Obi-Wan, and the stars."
"The stars?" Tup repeated, his stomach doing backflips. He did not want to lose Esinon, after everything, he couldn't. He couldn't imagine how Fives was feeling, he'd known Esinon since she was twelve. Fives nodded,
"Yeah, she says she misses them. It's a lot of vomiting and whining that she's cold, which to her she is but she's burning a fever of 102."
"She misses the stars," Tup murmured,
"You're missing the important part of this conversation," Fives said frustratedly,
"Sorry, I need to go talk to that Prince that's here," he said, "Uh- go take a nap," Fives grumbled something to himself before dragging himself up from the table and hopefully towards his quarters. Tup sprinted to his quarters, flipping up his mattress and grabbing a small satchel that held credits he had collected from various jobs he had done and sprinted back down towards the hanger and awkwardly skidded to a halt in front of that Mandalorian Prince.
"Trooper," he greeted, Tup saluted him,
"Highness," The Prince squinted at him for a moment, studying his face.
"You're Tup, right? Esinon talks about you," he said, "I'm Korkie," Tup was stunned for a moment, this Prince actually knew his name.
"Uh- yes sir, I came to ask if you are returning to Mandalore and coming back?"
"Yes, I need a few… supplies, I will be coming back," he said, Tup held out the bag of credits.
"I was wondering if I could make a request sir? For General Windcaster sir," Korkie smiled softly, closing Tup's hand around the credits.
"I'll pay for it, whatever it is," he said, Tup quickly explained what he wanted to do and the smile spread across Korkie's face. "Of course Tup, I'd be happy to bring those back." Tup smiled in relief,
"Thank you sir," Korkie nodded before climbing on his ship.
Esinon feverishly blinked her eyes open as she heard something creak in her room. She gave a small huff as she felt how her body was so stiff and sore.
'I need more painkillers,' she thought blearily after her fuzzy vision finally came into focus. She saw someone standing in the corner of her room, a clone, maybe? She couldn't tell, and she didn't know why Obi-Wan wasn't coming to visit her. He always visited her. Fives kept saying that Obi-Wan wasn't here anymore, but that couldn't be right. The figure moved again, tapping something on the wall. She could see blue stripes, 'Blue means 501st. I think. I want my legion to be blue.' She started to circulate through people she knew in the 501st, 'Fives, but his armor is funny, Jesse- no. I don't know… Dogma? He's gone, I think? Echo… Sharkbait? That seems right. But why is he here?'
"Sharkbait?" she asked hoarsely, "What are you doing here?" Tup turned to Esinon, smiling sadly,
"No General, it's Tup. Sharkbait… died, remember?" he asked, walking over to her bed. "Can you recognize me?" She blinked a couple of times, slowly reaching out and touching his glove trying to sense who he was. All force signatures were blurring together, she scrunched her forehead in concentration. After a moment she finally settled on Tup's force signature, she nodded.
"Tup, can you bring Obi-Wan to me?" she asked quietly, Tup sucked a harsh breath.
"I can't because General Kenobi died. He's been dead for a while now," Tup explained, she stared at him for a moment before focusing her attention on her feet.
"What about the stars? Are they gone too?" she grumbled,
"No, I actually brought them to you," he said with a bright grin. Tup flicked off the lights and Esinon was greeted with dozens of glow-in-the-dark stars, covering the ceiling and walls. "Your prince friend helped me," She smiled softly,
"Thank you Tup,"
"You're welcome… Esinon,"
I MISS DELTA SQUAD *loud sobbing*
The song that Esinon heard is Talk of the Town by Jack Johnson. Yes it is from the movie Curious George because y'all know that Esinon would loveeeeee that movie
Two more chapters until Obi's back!
Next up on let's make this canon corner: Esinon loves the song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra
Man, I love molding modern things into star wars
Thank you all for reading and make sure to leave a review!