Nobody Listens to Kix
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Star Wars: The Clone Wars or any related titles, characters, plots, settings, etc. These rights are the sole property of George Lucas, Dave Filoni, the Walt Disney Company, and their various publishers and distributors. I own only the original elements of this story, the writing and publishing of which earn me no money.
Case 00646: General Obi-Wan Kenobi
Kix was roughly forty forms deep in his ever-growing stack of paperwork when a knock sounded at the entrance to the medbay.
Normally, he made a point of not turning his attention to newcomers until he had finished what he was working on - a medic had to be focused, after all - but the polite gesture captured Kix's attention.
Approximately a half-second after he had glanced at the door, Kix snapped into a salute. "General."
"At ease, Kix, please," General Kenobi told him. "I'm afraid I would rather not return a salute at the moment."
If this were General Skywalker, Kix would have to use his 'medic' voice to get him to come inside and accept treatment, but General Kenobi was known for being a little more level-headed. "Please come in, General, and tell me what happened."
Kenobi had just taken a step inside the medbay and opened his mouth when his wrist comlink went off. He grimaced. "My apologies, Kix. Kenobi here."
"General," Commander Cody said from the other end of the comlink, his professionalism making him instantly recognizable. "The Jedi Council has requested that you join their meeting as soon as possible to make your report."
"Very well," Kenobi sighed, clearly preparing to turn back toward the bridge. "Please tell them I will join the meeting as soon as I can return to the-"
Kix switched from 'soldier' to 'medic' in a moment. He stepped forward to stand beside Kenobi, speaking over the general. "Commander, this is Kix. General Kenobi is currently in the medbay having his injuries treated. Please report to the Council that he will make his report after his health has been deemed satisfactory."
Kenobi gaped, but Cody's response held an edge of amusement. "Take your time, Kix. The Council will understand that health takes precedence over timely reports. Cody out."
General Kenobi stared, obviously shocked by the turn the situation had taken. "I really must report to the Council, Kix. I can return here when I've finished-"
"Patience is a Jedi virtue, is it not?" Kix asked, not waiting for an answer. "They'll be fine. Now, tell me what happened."
Kenobi paused to consider the orders he had been given by a subordinate. Finally, he laughed. "Anakin did warn me that you take your duties seriously!" The laughter faded, but the general's eyes still sparkled with amusement. "Very well, I believe I may have been injured during a fight with Ventress."
"Where is the injury, sir?"
"Just here, along the back of my neck and across my upper shoulders," the general told him, gesturing stiffly to the area he had mentioned even while his face paled with the pain the motion had surely caused.
"I need to examine the wound," Kix said, pressing General Kenobi's arms back to his sides. "I'll remove your armor, General. Just try not to move."
In a few practiced motions, Kix had unhooked the small pieces of shoulder and bicep armor the general wore. Those, along with shin armor and vambraces with attached gloves, were the only form of armor General Kenobi had chosen to wear.
Kix took a little more care as he helped the general remove his Jedi robes and tunic. Kenobi had indeed been injured in his fight with Ventress. Kix had to peel the singed fabric away from the blisters already forming on the general's skin.
It was a long and gruesome process. The fabric of General Kenobi's robe had melted as it came into contact with Ventress's lightsaber and parts of the weave had fused with the Jedi's skin. Kix was as gentle as he could be and Kenobi sat perfectly still, but he knew there would be a significant amount of pain in the process.
General Kenobi continued to bear the discomfort in silence, but Kix could not fight a grimace of his own as he finished removing the last of the robe from the burn. "If only you had been wearing a chestplate and backplate," he commented as he worked. "Plastoid won't survive a direct hit from a lightsaber, but it can block proximity burns like this one."
Kenobi laughed dryly as Kix removed the last sections of his tunic. "You sound like Cody."
"The commander is a wise man," Kix said blandly, focusing on removing a final few melted threads from the edges of the burn wound.
"Meaning that I am not?" Kenobi asked with a raise of one eyebrow.
Horrified, Kix paused in his motions and stared at the general. "No, sir! That wasn't what I meant to say."
"I certainly don't feel very wise at the moment," Kenobi admitted, reaching as if to prod the burn on the back of his neck.
Kix stopped the motion before the general's fingers could make contact. "I wouldn't do that, sir. Ventress must have gotten close, by the look of that burn. I'll have to make a bacta spray for it first, but then I'll apply some cooling gel to help with the pain."
Though Kix half-expected the general to trivialize his pain as General Skywalker would have done, Kenobi only nodded. "I appreciate your efforts, Kix."
Kix set to work creating the bacta spray. It would have to be diluted a bit more than he would have preferred. It would still be effective enough to decrease the required healing time, but it could have been stronger. The Resolute was running a bit low on bacta, an uncomfortable situation this early in a series of missions. Considering the ship now held troopers from the 501st and the 212th, Kix thought it wise to conserve bacta where he could.
As he returned to where General Kenobi sat patiently, the general asked, "Do you speak Mando'a as some of your brothers do?"
"I do, sir," Kix answered. "But if you're wondering who taught the General and the Commander how to curse in Mando'a, talk to Fives. And Captain Rex," he added after some consideration.
"Noted," Kenobi said, attempting to hide a grin in his beard. "As it happens, I need assistance with a translation."
"A translation, sir?"
"Yes, I wish to know the Basic translation for a word: jareor." Kix paused in administering the bacta spray and the general twisted to peer at him sharply. "The expression can be translated, I trust?"
"Yes, sir," Kix said, hiding a grimace behind Kenobi's back. "May I ask who said it and if it was said about you?"
"I believe it would be best to withhold that information until I receive a translation," General Kenobi said carefully. "However, I can assure you that there will be no repercussions for the one who said it."
"All right. Jareor means to take an unnecessary risk, a foolish one." He finished with the spray and placed the bottle back in his medical cabinet before retrieving the cooling gel. "Now, who did I just get court-martialed?"
General Kenobi grinned. "No one, Kix. Cody commented that my strategy of drawing Ventress away while my men evacuated to the Resolute was jareor."
"Placing the cooling gel on now, sir. Brace yourself," Kix warned. After a moment, he asked, "Do you feel you made the right move?"
"There were no casualties of the evacuation and we took out an entire battalion of super battle droids, so I must say yes," Kenobi said, wincing slightly as Kix smoothed the gel on and around the worst of the burn. "Cody just likes to throw his own authority around every once in a while."
"Ah," Kix said, fighting a grin of his own. "So he's ori'buyce kih'kovid."
"I beg your pardon?"
"All helmet, no head," Kix translated. "With all due respect, of course."
The general found his statement so entertaining that Kix had to pull the gel's applicator away for fear of jabbing the sensitive area. When General Kenobi had finally finished and sat wiping tears from his eyes, he asked, "Would you be willing to teach me that particular expression?"
"Of course, sir."
"Kix, have I mentioned how highly I respect you?"
"Every time we work together, sir," Kix responded dutifully.
It took the general only a few minutes to learn the proper Mando'a pronunciation, well before Kix was ready to discharge him from the medbay. When he was finally leaving, Kenobi half-turned to address Kix over his shoulder, though the move obviously caused him pain.
"Thank you, Kix, for both the treatment and the linguistics lesson," Kenobi said with a grin. "Wonderful language, Mando'a!"
Kix had to agree.
Author's Note - If Kix does not draw the line at sassing a general, he isn't going to have a problem with throwing shade at a commander! Anyway, I know what you're thinking: Finally! A chapter for Obi-Wan Kenobi featuring Commander Cody.
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