And the marathon continues! Don't forget to review!
Kobayashi ran into the medical wing first, followed by Kerrick, Zan, Zhymmia, Ooke, Marrax, Moeema, Mormi, Numel, Jifo, Shiine, and Rowan. Ryatsi stood waiting for them by one of the medical consoles.
"What did you find, Ryatsi?" Rowan asked as they all walked toward her.
"I found out why he was in the suit, for one thing." Ryatsi said as she stroked the screen to access the information. "You won't believe how much digging it took. These records are highly classified."
"How'd you get in, then?" Kerrick inquired.
Ryatsi sighed. "I got Vader to do it."
"What?"
"Yesterday after his classes were done, I took him to a console in the engineering section so he wouldn't panic, and then I told him to access the medical files for someone named Darth Vader. He—"
"You said his name?" Carh'la interrupted. "How did he react?"
"He didn't react at all," Ryatsi shrugged. "I didn't know what to expect, but he didn't react to it. He just nodded and said okay. It took him ten minutes to hack into the files—"
"So let me get this straight," Numel cut in. "You told Lord Vader to hack into high security files to find his own medical file? Are you out of your mind?"
"I received orders from Capt. Mentzer to find out what happened to him," Ryatsi argued. "If that means hacking into our own files, then so be it."
"Someone could notice that!" Mormi pointed out.
"I'm aware of the risks," Ryatsi said. "But I have no other choice. We must get this information. Besides, it certainly proved to be interesting. Listen to this: according to his medical file, Lord Vader had all four limbs amputated. He had severe third degree burns all over his body. He had to be fed intravenously, and his lungs were incapable of working for themselves. Something about this record worries me, though; if he was so dependent on this suit, then that means it was a sterile environment. His immune system may not be able to handle the pathogens that float in the air. He could get sick very easily. Has he been showing any signs of illness?"
Shiine was the first who was able to respond after assimilating the information. "Uh, no—no signs whatsoever from what I've seen."
"He's been fine with me, too," Kobayashi managed to say.
Ryatsi sighed in relief. "Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Still, you need to keep a very close eye on him. I heard that he went traversing through the ventilation shafts yesterday. Do you know how dirty those things are?"
"Good Force, Ryatsi, you sound like my mother," Numel laughed.
"This isn't a laughing matter, particularly since I heard that you were the one who lost him and let him climb into the ventilation shafts," Ryatsi folded her arms irritably.
"W-well…" Numel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Little One looked about the room in boredom. They had told him to stay in his quarters while they went to the medical wing (which he certainly did not want to go to), but he had nothing to do!
Sighing in exasperation, Little One flopped onto his cot and remembered what Jifo had told him.
"Uh, I have some urgent business in the medical wing, Little One. Don't leave until I come back."
"Don't leave until I come back…" Little One muttered, mulling over the words. Jifo never said don't leave the room…
Smiling deviously, Little One hopped to his feet and ran out of his room. Laughing the whole way, he ran down to the odd place he had visited with Moeema before his classes began. Just as before, that mean man was still there. At least Little One knew his name now.
"Hi Cdr. Sypikne!" he said cheerfully as he looked around the dim and red-stained room.
"What—you again?" Cdr. Sypikne stuttered before giving him a scrutinizing glare. "What are you doing down here, Lo?'
"Who's Lo?" Little One asked.
"T-that's you." Cdr. Sypikne said, looking irritated and unnerved at the same time. "What do you mean who's Lo?"
"Oh, that's my name? But… but I thought my name was Little One," Little One said uncertainly.
One of the people in the odd white armor stepped forward. "Little One? Wow, you look different in this lighting."
Little One squinted at the man before recognizing him. "Ress!"
Ress removed his helmet, revealing the extremely familiar face that both haunted Little One and made him laugh. Something about Ress' face unsettled him deep inside.
There was nothing about Ress that would startle Little One under normal circumstances. Despite the scar going across his left cheek, and the military buzz cut that cropped his black hair, Ress looked perfectly normal. He had brown eyes that were always gentle when regarding Little One. His complexion was similar to Little One's, though it was a little lighter. He was always kind to Little One ever since the two had met when Little One wandered off from Ooke two days ago.
However, something in his face scared Little One. On the surface, Little One loved the company Ress provided, but deeper down, some part of him didn't trust Ress. A voice continually whispered, Remember what happened with Order 66, but he had no idea what that meant. The face also brought odd and blurred images in his head where he would hear people screaming and explosions.
"Trooper, you know this man?" Cdr. Sypikne said to Ress.
"Yes, sir," Ress nodded. "He's a friend of mine. He's a good man, sir."
"What is his actual name?"
"Uh, well, sir, I'm not quite sure. He introduced himself as Little One to me."
Cdr. Sypikne rounded on Little One. "What is your name, rank, and number?"
"Um…" Little One paused before replying, "My name's Little One, I don't really know my rank, and… my number is… thirty-two."
"Stop fooling around with me and answer me," the commander said in a low growl.
Something stirred in Little One and his eyes narrowed, growing cold. "My name is none of your concern."
Ress' eyes widened in surprise and the commander took a step back before retorting, "How dare you treat a superior officer in this way?"
"I dare because you're not superior," Little One went on, even though a part of him wasn't sure why he was saying all those mean things.
"Little One," Ress said in a shocked tone.
Ress' tone of voice immediately ripped through the odd cold void that had been forming inside Little One. However, for a brief instant, that part of him wanted to lash out at Ress. Shaking his head, Little One muttered, "Oh, I'm sorry, Ress…"
Cdr. Sypikne approached Little One. "Answer my questions or face a formal interrogation, brat."
"I—I'm sorry, I… I don't get it… my name is Little One and—and I don't know my rank…" Little One stuttered, taking a step back as the lights in the room seemed to dim.
Suddenly, the commander pulled a blaster pistol out and pointed it at Little One, who yelled out as everything in the room shattered, sending everyone to the ground.
There it was again! That person was using the Force again! If only he could sense who it was… but he couldn't; every time he tried, the signature would be muddled in a haze of confusion and fear.
Sighing in frustration, Obi-Wan looked out of his window at the impending sandstorm. After five years in exile, he was beginning to grow used to Tatooine's harsh climate, though he was also developing a similar hate for sand that Anakin used to have.
The mere mentioning of Anakin's name brought back memories Obi-Wan would rather not relive. Forcibly pushing the memories out of his mind, Obi-Wan sadly looked away and went to bed for the night.
Ryatsi leaned against the wall while she talked to the others when Rowan's comlink suddenly beeped.
"Sorry," Rowan said as he grabbed his comlink. "This is Cdr. Chupa-Pau,"
"Commander, the security feed in the detention cell just stopped. I think the cameras are all broken!"
"What? What happened down there?" Rowan barked.
"Well, sir, I believe there was a person who called himself—"
Suddenly the voice was cut off and someone else began speaking through the comlink on the other end. "Cdr. Chupa-Pau, it's Little One. He wandered down to the detention center and Cdr. Sypikne began to ask him questions, such as his name and rank. Obviously, Little One didn't know how to answer so the commander began to get a little impatient, and… well, I'm pretty sure Little One panicked."
"Stang," Rowan cursed. "Who is this?"
"Midshipman Wefaskan Noko, sir,"
"Midshipman Noko, get down to the detention area. I'll meet you there."
"Yes, sir,"
Rowan cut the connection and looked at the others. Kerrick asked, "How does this midshipman know about Lord Vader?"
"I assigned him to sub for Jifo a day or two ago," Kobayashi supplied.
Marrax rolled his eyes. "Naturally. You know everyone on the bloody ship."
Zan interrupted the conversation. "I believe we should be going now."
"Right, let's go," Jifo agreed and everyone, including Ryatsi, ran to the detention center.
When they arrived, the room was dark. Glass shards were all over the floor, but there was no one in the room except for a lone man in an enlisted personnel uniform.
"Midshipman Noko, where are they?" Kobayashi asked the ensign.
"I have no idea, sir," Noko shrugged. "The place was empty when I got here."
Zhymmia looked around and then pointed down the hallway. "There! I see some people!"
Everyone ran to the other end of the corridor. Four stormtroopers and two officers, including Cdr. Sypikne, were sitting and waiting to find a way out.
"Cdr. Chupa-Pau," Sypikne said. "Do you have any idea where that blasted boy is?"
"What boy?"
"The one who claims to be called Little One,"
"I'm afraid I don't, Sypikne," Rowan responded. "We came down here looking for him as well. What happened?"
"The power went out just after everything shattered," one of the stormtroopers supplied. "Little One ran off, I believe, though I can't imagine where he could have gone with the power down."
"Power's back up," Ooke told the stormtrooper. "At least the emergency generator is,"
Ryatsi pointed back towards the main chamber. "I thought I saw someone moving over there."
Kobayashi ran ahead but claimed that no one was there. One of the stormtroopers joined him and called out to Little One. Amazingly, Darth Vader immediately answered the call and seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
"Where did you go off to?" Kobayashi asked.
"Nowhere," Vader shrugged, looking at Cdr. Sypikne fearfully.
"I believe we're going to have to imprison this one," Cdr. Sypikne said, pointing an accusing finger at Vader, who recoiled.
"No," Rowan raised his hand. "You and I have a few things to discuss, Cdr. Sypikne. As for you," he added, looking at Little One. "You are going to have a few things to discuss with them,"
Rowan motioned towards the main group that had been charged with taking care of Vader. Darth Vader looked at them for a moment and then backed away, entering the turbolift. Mormi walked towards him and entered the lift just before the doors closed.
Rowan led Sypikne out of the room by means of another turbolift. Meanwhile, Kobayashi turned to the stormtrooper who had called out to Vader. "How do you know Little One?"
"I met him two days ago, sir," the stormtrooper responded. "He sort of ran into me. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was avoiding Lt. Tunrott, sir. He said that the lieutenant was trying to torture him with a child's project."
"What's your name?" Kobayashi asked after stifling a snort of laughter.
"They call me Ress, sir," the stormtrooper said.
"Remove your helmet, trooper," Kerrick ordered.
The stormtrooper immediately did so, revealing the face of a clone.
"A clone trooper?" Jifo raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, sir," Ress replied. "I used to be part of the 501st before they reassigned me here to the Executor."
"How long were you with the 501st?" Moeema asked curiously.
"Since the beginning of the war, ma'am," Ress answered.
"Interesting," Kerrick muttered before saying, "Well, Ress, you'd best be cleaning this mess up."
"Yes, sir," Ress saluted the officers before putting his helmet on once more and walking over to the other stormtroopers.
Kobayashi looked at the others and motioned that they should leave. Everyone entered into the turbolifts and sped to Deck 65.
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