Episode 13 - The Innocent Part 3/3
Trying to explain to a Skywalker that someone he cared about was being persecuted for gain and political ambition was about was nice as telling a rancor: "No, you may not touch anything in the china shop." It was destined to be loud, explosive, and with a lot of things being broken.
Amazingly enough, he was very composed.
"We're getting him out of there." Anakin stated. His eyes lit up with all the fierce resolve and determination she had come to expect from him.
"We're what?" Ahsoka gasped. That was probably illegal, whatever he was thinking.
"We're going to get bust him out! Forget this political nonsense. I am not about to let my Padawan be thrown to the wolves to feed their hurt feelings." Anakin pulled his lightsaber to his hand and made his way for the door. Ahsoka stood in his way. "Snips, move."
"Master, we can't just go in there and blow things up."
"I'm not going to." He looked at her curiously. "Your confusing me with Varus. I'm going to go in there, and cut a hole in the wall. A lot of walls. If they come at me, I'll knock them out. I do have finesse you know."
"And probably land us all in jail. And get a lot of people hurt. And still fail."
He snorted. "I'll be fiiine."
"Master, think about it. They were able to overtake Revan in order to have his trial didn't they?" Technically, he probably went willingly, but her master didn't need to know that. Revan was considered the Jedi Champion of his day. Anakin was the Chosen One, but at his current level he would still be nothing compared to the former Champion. There was an unoffical ranking that some 'liberal' Jedi bet on. Anakin was just under Yoda, over the rest of the Council, but still had yet to go over Revan. It was a bunch of nonsense, but the point was still there.
'No going in pulling a Varus!'
"Fine." He relented gruffly. "Then what do you have in mind?"
She sighed. "Nothing right now. But we have time. The second part is tomorrow, with the third part the day after that."
"We are not getting to the third day here, Snips. They are going to stick his head on a platter and open it up! I don't plan on him dying on us."
"Then we have tomorrow to think of something. We can do this, but we need to do it in a way that will not get us thrown in a worse situation."
He sighed to himself. His instincts screamed to do something. He hated politics, and marrying a politician hadn't made it any better. But his maturing Padawan was right. They needed to plan. "I'll get the coffee…"
Anakin checked over the fuel gauges. The warp drive. The air conditioning. All was good.
"I trust all is well." The Ambassador entered.
"As well as this is going to get." The Jedi grumbled. "I got an emergency transmission on a private channel from Master Windu. He is recalling all Jedi from the war to Triple-Zero. He wants them to arrive by tomorrow night, but even if I leave now, we won't make it. But regardless, I need a favor."
"Certainly."
"Arrange for us to leave to return. I realize my student is under trial, but this is an emergency most likely."
The Ambassador's eyes widened briefly in surprise. "But, you will never make it in the time allotted for."
"unfornuate." Skywalker sighed. "But still."
The man nodded. "I am sure it can be arranged. I will make sure your student is in good hands while your gone."
I sit in darkness. There is no sound outside the chamber, but then again, there doesn't need to be. It's just stupid. I mean, really, what kind of luck do I have that of all people I am the one this stupid place picks for target practice?
How long has it been? A few hours? A few days? I tried sleeping. Gave up on that before I started pacing, exercising, and then talking to nothing. Oh? Have I mentioned my guests? And what's with the high-pitched whistling?
"Stop fretting kid, your tougher than this. Suck it up."
"Shut up, Psycho-Bunny." I say offhandedly. "Your just a stupid illusion. Go tick off someone else."
"Varus…" Tree-Hugger tells me. "mouth."
"Right, right." I lay down again. "Who's next? Ahsoka was here an hour ago, you guys missed her."
"She had to go."
"Of course, she did. That's nothing new."
"She went off to find a way to help, Varus. We are trying to gather facts, but facts are few. Perhaps you could tell us what happened?"
I laugh. "I already told you."
"I know, but something about it just feels off."
"It does feel off." Falcon acknowledges.
"Oh! Guess who's here!" I pat Falcon on the head. "All that's left is that obnoxious Eria and HK and it's a regular party!"
"Focus, Varus. What happened?" Tree-Hugger reminds me.
I sigh. "Right, I went down, I touched it, I came back up, Mr. Slice-and-Dice stabbed the shuttle and HK, who was invisible at the time, grabbed me, threw me in the escape pod. We barely made it away, and I threw as much power as I could at him. And that's the gist of it, minus the flying fish. Now, next time you guys come around, bring snacks will you? I'm starving."
Gah, my head hurts...
Ahsoka kept perfectly still, invisible, in the hall. It had taken her most of the night to track down where Varus was kept. She eyed people walking by. The hall wasn't heavily populated, a scant three guards, but it was in the middle of the building where other lawyers and guards walked by to access other prisoners. She had two prospects in mind. Either the lawyer returns, or the population of the hall goes down to one and she uses the Force to make stuff happen.
Turns out, it was the latter. The guards left to rotate and left one behind. She used a basic illusion to make him think something was going on, and the guard opened Varus's door to check inside.
"NO! FOR THE LAST TIME! I DON'T WANT YOUR FRELLING LASAUGNA!" Varus yelled.
Content that everything was good, he closed the door. He never would know an invisible girl slipped in.
"Varus!" Ahsoka whispered. "You okay?"
Varus swayed, gestured wildly in her direction, and focused on her through beady eyes like a drunk man. "'shoka? Your back? No, only half back. not like the others. They all pesturing me for crap i keep telling them and THROWING THEIR LASAGNA AT ME! I don't even know what that crap is!"
"Oooookay..." She nodded. He almost fell to the ground just standing there. His knees wobbled, his head rolled around like a bobblehead, and his eyes spun in his head. He was completely out of it. "Varus, I need you to be quiet a moment."
Varus burst out in laughter. "You're the first one to actually suggest that!"
"Sshhhh." She grabbed his shoulder. "Now stay with me."
"WHOA! Slut!" His eyes exploded wide. "There you are."
She ground her teeth together and reminded herself he was not thinking correctly. "Let's play a game." He nodded. "Who can keep their mouth shut the longest?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, which looked like it took a lot of concentration, until his head snapped to the side. He turned at the hip to look at her almost upside-down. "What do I get if I win?"
Ahsoka groaned. It was like dealing with a child. She loved children, but this child was taller than she was. "What do you want?"
He took an unnatural long time to answer. "Your undying friendship and respect."
She blinked in surprise. To her that was nothing. She was a social person by nature, but him... He had a bad streak with people, and with amnesia, his list of friends would be small. But more than that, for something so insignificant to be of value to him, only showed the possible life style he had ingrained into him. "Sure, thing." She promised. "If you can manage to keep your mouth shut, you will have earned it."
"Okay. Let's all play!" He gestured around the room. "Except you, you're demented!"
"Shh!" She insisted.
After a few moments of silence, she took a stone out of her pocket and threw it across the room. The door opened again, and the guard looked in. He panicked and ran away, leaving the door open. Ahsoka dragged Varus out by his arm and entered the hall. The guard must have hit a switch because alarms went off and everything was in chaos. She shoved him against the wall as people ran by, and inch by inch, they made their way through the building.
"What's going on?" Varus whispered. She clamped a hand over his mouth.
"You're invisible, like me. Just don't let go. This technique isn't hard to maintain, just don't make me lose focus."
"Right! Focusing!" He whispered. He straightened sharply and looked around. She had to tug him to get him to walk again. She clamped a hand over his mouth again as Selkath ran by.
"No, Varus. Don't distract me!"
Everything quieted down again as they left the building. Varus stumbled down the steps, tripping a person. The person screamed and ran away, thinking the wind was attacking him. Varus started to apologize, but Ahsoka dragged him further hastily. They entered the public sector on the way to the Republic Embassy.
After a fair distance, Ahsoka pushed Varus into an alley. She stopped and peered out of it. "This is just great. They are patrolling the streets in such numbers we will bump into them. We have to bide our time."
She waited patiently until the patrols left.
"Okay, Varus. Everything looks clear. Let's go." She reached out to him, but felt nothing. She turned her head. He was gone.
Skywalker sat in the pilot seat and watched as the Manaan security inspected his ship closely. "What exactly are you looking for?" He asked.
They didn't answer. Fair enough. They inspected every inch of the ship. They noticed HK's waterlogged body on a workbench, but did nothing. HK wasn't their priority. The Jedi knew what they were looking for, but even if he was there, they wouldn't find him. As it would stand, he wasn't there yet.
He said, "I trust your… 'inspection' will not hinder my departure, inspector. I'm expected."
The Manaan security officer looked him over closely. Skywalker kept a bored look carefully relaxed and watched the Selkath lazily. Being married to a politician had its perks, such as learning how to conceal easily. "You may depart as per schedule." The officer finally said.
"Ahsoka!" I call out.
Nothing. She isn't around. The water planet gives way to grassy plains, distant forests, and towering mountains. I feel the grass under my boots and the wind on the face. The wind doesn't taste like the salt of Manaan. It's a sweet smell of fruit.
"Well that's just great." I don't think I'm in Manaan anymore. The place isn't bad, but shouldn't I be with Ahsoka or Rahm Kota or Tree-Hugger or Falcon or HK or… all those other people escaping?
In the distance fire erupts into the sky, and pain shoots through my head. I wince and grab my head. The pain subsides.
"Ahsoka!" I call out again.
The only noise that returns my call isn't someones voice, but just general noise coming from the direction of the fire pillar. There is loud music as well coming from the direction of the fire.
It's as good a place to start. I walk toward the fire.
The fire is miles away in the horizon, but it feels like I arrive in minutes. Surrounding the pillar of fire is a great city. The closer I come to the city, the more my head hurts, but at the same time there is a soothing feeling deeper in my mind. Almost as though there is something pushing me along gently. No, not just something, the Force. I can feel the Force's gentle hand on my back pushing me along. All this time my 'intereaction' with the Force has involved me cursing at it for its tendency to pick on me, but now… It feels like a good gesture.
I enter the city. The first thing that strikes me is how everyone is blind. They do not cover their faces to hide the blindness. Yet, despite their blindness, they are in full control of their enviroment. They walk around each other, talk, exchange goods, and laugh just as much as anyone else without blindness. They even have the same facial expressions. I can't say what makes me think so, but I would think that blind people would have difficulty with expressing emotion visually, with it being visual in nature.
"Mom! Dad! We're going to be late!" A kid behinds me yells.
I turn just in time to see the kid running at me. I jump back to keep from colliding with him, but he doesn't stop. He runs int-through me. I gasp in surprise and inspect my stomach. The kid's parents follow along as best they can, and right where my shoulder collides with the father, he passes right through. I sigh. "Okay, so what is this Force? An illusion? Memory?"
Not sure which, but I'll be optimistic about it. The stupid Selkath are probably sticking their filthy fingers in my head. I really need to make a list of people who have invaded my skull. While I'm at it, I need to throw out the welcome mat!
"Okay, Force. Where next?" I wonder.
The music picks up in the distance, the pillar of fire shoots up further into the sky, and people stop everything they are doing to head toward it. I know I'm not a genius, but this feels like a hint. "Thank you." I whisper as I follow along.
The place the people are heading to is massive. It is easily a mile in diameter. The land falls down in layered steps, with a pillar of fire in the very center. Around it are people in the thousands. They mingle and talk. There is a small stand where musicians play. I find myself drawn to the people, and my eyes go to the fire. The place feels warm. Not only is my face and body warmed, but inside I feel… warm.
"What is this place?" I wonder.
"Galen Marek!" A man roars. Oh crap, some kids gonna get it!
I turn to see a man, amazingly enough not blind, stoop down by a boy, also not blind. The kid looks amazingly familiar. The kid is also having a pouting fit, and the father looks like he is going into lecture mode. "Linen Marr says you beat up Visas. Is that true?"
"Visas pulled my hair! It hurt." Galen complained.
The man sighs. "Galen, you shouldn't hit girls."
"Then they shouldn't grab me like they do!"
"That's beside the point. She is your fiancé. She is a girl. She comes from a prostegious family with close ties to ours. That is three reasons alone that you shouldn't have done it, and then we come to the fact that you shouldn't beat people up to begin with. You are my son, Galen. You're the heir to the Keeper line. When I retire, your next. Whether you like it or not, and when your time comes," The man smiles in barely contained amusement. "You can't just beat people up to get your way."
"But-"
"No!" The man says firmly. His smile drops. "You are five years old. You know better! I will allow you to particpate in the ceremony, but Galen, when we get home, we have some work to do on your hide."
The kid visibly pales. He yells, "She's twelve! What kind of twelve year old gets beaten up by a child!"
"One that knows better than to break your neck just because you're throwing a fit!" He returns. "She is a Prodigy, Galen. She could have killed you if she wanted to. Yes, she pushes you. Yes, she likes to rile you up. Yes, she loves to annoy you. But it is only because you react so much! Now go on your way, that's enough out of you."
Galen jumps up with a humph and goes into the crowd. I can't shake the feeling that he is incredibly familiar. Perhaps I've met him at some point?
I follow him. He continues his little tantrum fit to the outer ring of the crowd, and he sits to watch, fuming. His hair is quite long, actually. It goes down past his shoulders. He plays with it mindlessly and tugs at it. "Stupid hair." He gripes. "When I get tall, then maybe this will stop growing so fast. Mum cut it just a week ago! But nooo, I had to inherit freakish-hair-growth."
"Your hair does looks rediculas at that length." I tease him. He doesn't respond, probably can't hear me. I wonder when I will show up in this illusionary memory thing the Manaan are putting me through. And just what does this have to do with their investigation? They're just weird.
I sit with the kid and watch the ceremony. At some point he gets up and leaves, and I follow him right out of the city. There are no guards around, no soldiers, no walls, no gate. It's completely free for anyone to come and go. The land is endless, and from the way Galen wanders out, it's obvious he is used to going about as he pleases. He rolls down the green hills, climbs trees, and strips down and jumps in a little lake. I don't participate, but I just follow along with a smile on my face. The place is beautiful. It's not exactly calming, the emotion it gives is too positive for that, yet too neutral for joy. Contentment perhaps?
The pillar of fire fades into the distance as we continue on. Galen actually jumps into a river and lets it take him for miles as he swims around or rests on the surface. He climbs out and lays down in the grass by the river. I join him, and we watch the clouds go by. The kid falls asleep.
The illusionary world around me shifts rapidly. The sun moves down the horizon rapidly and the clouds fly by. The birds look more like bullets and the grass thrashes about. Suddenly everything slows down again. It is the middle of the night now. The night is quite warm.
A robed man stands before us. I jump in surprise, but the man doesn't pay the slightest attention to me. I can't see anything about him. He wears pure black inside his robes. The only distinguishing feature is his white mask with red marks. Galen wakes up with a yawn and looks up at him.
"Who're you?" He bluntly asks.
The man doesn't respond. His sightless gaze lies solidly on the boy. "Not much of a talker are ya'?" The boy mocks. He smurks.
Again, nothing. "Ooookay… up to you." The boy stands up and starts to pat himself off, but there is just too much dirt on him. "Great… dad's going to kill me."
The masked man extends his hand, and as soon as he touches the boy, every bit of dirt and dust on his clothes fall off. He looks good as new, as though he went through a sonic shower. "Whoaaaa!" The kid screams. "How'd you do that! Is that one of those 'Force' things dad talks about!" He looks at his hands. "Oh, you missed my nails. Minus one."
Galen's eyes go up to the man's waist, and his eyes light up. "You have one too!" He invades the man's privacy without second thought, reaches into the man's robes, and pulls out a metal cylinder. A lightsaber. "This is so cool! Dad has one too but he won't let me touch it."
The man finally speaks. His voice is hollow and empty like it's nothing more than wind. "Do you want one?"
The kid's eyes light up brightly, and a sick feeling enters my stomach. Something isn't right.
"Can I?" The kid asks.
"Even better, I can teach you how to use it." He reaches out, and his lightsaber hovers out of Galen's hands lightly back into his own. "Provided your old enough." The man is clearly playing him. The kid's eyes explode out of his skull at the sight of Force Levitation.
"I'm older than four!" He puts out four fingers for emphasis.
"Hmm…" The man pretends to think. "Not quite. You see, this is very dangerous." He lights up the red lightsaber. The lightsaber looks freakishly familiar, and the pain in the head reaches a new creschendo.
"I'll be extra-super-really careful with it!"
"Don't!" I hiss. I don't know these people, but seriously, he is trying to pull you along! Don't fall for it! Head home, kid!
"Not this one, no, this is mine." The man returns it to his waist, and the kid's expression changes to disappointment. But then he lights up just as fast as a second lightsaber is withdrawn. "But this one, well… I just so happen to have an extra."
"Stop it!" I yell. My head throbs harder and ooohhh boy, I'm going to be sick. The world spins lightly. I have to be getting vertigo from the pain. It feels like my head is going to snap! Images and sounds flood over me too fast to keep track of.
"Pleeeaaaassee!" Galen pleads in that way only a kid can.
"I'll tell you what." The masked man says. "I will give you this, teach you how to use it, even give you power to do a lot of 'cool' things, if you do something for me. A trade, if you will."
"Shoot."
"I've always wanted to see the fabled 'Pillar of Fire'. Would you be so kind as to show me the way?" The kid hesitates, but his eyes are locked on the lightsaber in the man's hand. After a moment, he nods. "Good boy. Lead on."
"Okay!" He says cheerfully, but then stops and turns slowly. "Waaaaaait. Something is off here." Yes! Notice the taunt kid! Don't fall for it! "I don't know your name! I can't just bring you along without a name to introduce everyone!" I face palm.
"Names are of little consequence…" The man muses. "I threw aside my name long ago, but… I guess you could say I have a name. People call me Nihilus." I gasp in pain. It feels like someone is stabbing me in the head and gut! What are the Manaan freaks doing to me! No wait, did he just say what I think he said!?
"Nice to meet you!" The kid puts on a formal greeting. "I'm Galen Marek. Heir to the Keepers of the Miraluka."
Miraluka… Miraluka! The blind people! They were wiped out by a Nihilus bastard! "Don't you dare!" I reach down, light my green lightsaber, and cut Nihilus' head. My lightsaber hits blue and there is Ahsoka standing on the otherside of me with her own lightsaber out looking at me like I've lost my mind. Where the hell is that Nihilus! "Varus what is wrong with you?!"
I look around frantically. "Where is he? He was just here! I have to stop him! I have to keep him from Galen! But the grass is gone, the trees, the mountains, the pillar of fire and music and everyting! It's all gone! Where is everyone!"
"Yes! I know! A lot of people have been here!" She says like I'm mad.
"No!" I yell. "You don't understand! I have to stop him! The kid is…" My breathing picks up, my vision blurs, and I dimly notice there is something wet pouring out of my nose. "The kid is…" I try to finish my sentence weakly. "The kid…" My legs give out and I fall. It wasn't real. It couldn't have been real! A sick feeling fills my gut like acid.
"Varus? Varus!" Ahsoka pleads worriedly. She holds my head faced up. "Speak to me! Stay awake!"
"I'm… here…" I say weakly. I feel like I'm yelling, but I hear barely a whisper. "The worlds… spinning. I think I'm going… to be sick." I groan painfully. I close my eyes. Everything is just too much. I see green, I see blue, I see a world of Manaan spinning in my eyes, I see a kid and robed man conversing repeatedly over and over in my mind. My head becomes too heavy to try to lift, and I let my hands hit the ground. Energy leaves me until it feels like I might just sink through the floor. Just keeping my cells together is too much…
It's all too much…
Everything's…
So…
Heavy...
Skywalker noted the door open, but did not react when no one entered. It closed shut. He was busy with answering a transmission. He sensed a couple of presences had arrived, and said, "Well, I must be off. Good luck in your persuit of justice. Do tell me when you find my student, and how everything goes, will you?"
The Selkath on the other side looked at him strangely, but nodded all the same and ended the transmission. A moment later the shield lifted and he lifted the shuttle off the ground. He flew out the hanger door and initiated the ascending sequence. With that working, he turned his chair around.
Ahsoka lifted the invisibility. Varus was on the ground unconcious, bleeding out of his nose, and mumbling nonsense. He was covered in cold sweat. Anakin felt his anger rise up again, but he squashed it down firmly. "What happened?!"
"He was... master, I think they started the third part of the trial early. He was talking to ghosts and wandered off on me and-"
"I get the picture!" He said. He sounded a bit snappy to his own ears, but everyone involved knew where his barely contained anger was focused. Anakin pulled on the Force, gave off his hands a healing aura, and placed it on his student's head. He could feel down into the young man's head, and with focus, look at a very small scale. The brain-muscle was intact, but the layer that held the brain in place was inflamed and squeezing on it. It had been bombarded vigerously with something.
The inflamation settled down slowly as Anakin pulled the toxins out of the cells and into the lymph system, but damage was already done. Varus would need to rest for a good while.
Just as soon as Anakin moved away to other areas, the inflamation started up again. "Whatever they did to him, it's still kicking!" He cursed.
"Poison?"
"I wouldn't put it past them! See if you can find where he was injected." Anakin kept his hands firmly around Varus's temples.
"Here." She noted almost immediately. She touched the back of his neck. "Feels like there is a small bump." They turned him over slowly while still keeping the technique active. It was the only thing keeping him stable.
Right where she pointed was a small surgical incision. The sight of it made her sadder and him madder. He took a moment to sigh and focus his thoughts. "Snips. I know your healing isn't as good, but you need to take over. I'll see what I can find."
She took his place as he stood. The Knight scrambled through boxes and cabinets until he came across the basic medical field kit. Inside were a few bandaids, a tube of medigel, some gauze, and other objects that were not necessary, and a small cutting knife. He grabbed it and sat down on his knees on the other side of Varus. "Have you ever done this before?" Snips asked.
He shook his head. He brought his hands down slowly onto the boy's neck and stopped. "Just like working with hardware..." He told himself. Working with hardware and the delicacy of cords and wires, he could deal with. Surgery, not so much. Better to shift into a perspective he was good with and wouldn't panic in.
He visualized the depth of skin Varus had. It would be very small, like a tenth of a centimeter at most. Too far and he severs the boy's neck, not enough and they risk him going into a coma or dieing from whatever the hell the bastards are doing to him. With the knife just on the edge of the pre-done incision, they both sucked in their breathe, and he pushed down.
He stopped himself as the cut gave easily, and a little blood came out. Varus was still breathing. Anakin breathed out. First step done. He couldn't help a weak chuckle in the tense atmosphere. "So far so good. This isn't any harder than building Threepio's prototype."
"He had a prototype?"
"Yeah, just don't tell him. He thinks himself an only child."
He glided across the rest of the incision, keeping himself at the exact same length from the surface skin all the way across. "I would think it's more like making your first lightsaber. The precision, the delciacy."
"Excellent example, Snips. I'll be sure to tell him you think him delicate." He half-joked.
The cut was complete, and Varus was still breathing. He was moaning, but that could be for a number of reasons. Anakin levitated the rest of the medical kit to his side and looked in it. There wasn't think he could use to open the cut, so he did the next best thing. He grabbed hold of both sides of the cut with the Force and parted it as though he was using his fingers. Slowly it parted, and blood was all he saw underneath. He patted it down with a cloth and tossed the cloth aside. Under the blood was a little piece of hardware fused to Varus's neck bone. Anakin saw little wires extending out of the plating and dig into the bone. "They got it in good..." He hissed through his teeth.
The positioning didn't look bad. It was attached only to bone, not to any nerves. Whatever it was doing, was probably emitted rather than directly into his nervous system.
but then came the difficult part of killing it without crippling Varus. It was almost comical, in hindsight. Here was a born-sith laying exposed as he would ever be under a Jedi's hands, and he was working to save his life. If he had been told this would happen a year ago, Anakin would have laughed. He had no doubt Starkiller would have done the same, then killed the messenger. But right then, Anakin had no doubt he would do it. Heck, he'd do the last several years with Snips and finally Varus all over again, even knowing all the heart attacks they put him through beforehand.
But that wouldn't matter if the surgery wasn't successful. "Just like working with hardware." He reminded himself more confidentally. It really was at this point. There was a piece of hardware, it was just plugged directly into the neck of his student. Not that big a leap. He could do this. He pushed away the medical kit and instead levitated to himself his hardware kit. He looked through the box. It had plugs and screws and wires and probes and... all kinds of junk, but what he needed was something specific. Seeing his prize, he grabbed a small probe designed to super-heat and fuse metal together.
The device in the wound was held together with plates and screws. He used the Force to do the precise work of turning the screws, lifting them out, and then lifting the front plate. Underneath was wires. "Take a moment to bring me a magnifying glass." He said.
Ahsoka took out of his box a stand with a large glass attached. He corrected it and looked intently into the wiring of the machine.
From what he could tell, there were three boards inside. He could see the first two, and he understood their function and design, but the last one underneath was questionable. He could cut off the transmissions from the primary chip to the outlying nodes, he could stop the power, he could redirrect the flow of wires to other directions to send it into an infinite loop and either hurt Varus further, or make the programming crash on itself. There were several delicate possibile ways to destroy it from the inside, but without knowing what the third plate's design with his own eyes, he would have to take an educated guess.
Taking a moment to be sure it was the right one, he turned on the heating probe, and tapped the wiring. The metal melted on touch, and the wiring's design was influenced. For better or for words, he could not say. There was no lighting, no green light, no sound, to show it's functioning status. The only thing left to do was wait and see.
He pushed the sides of the wound together, and used the same probe to seal the wound. The probe would no longer function properly, having dried blood fused to it's tip.
"What now?" Snips asked. She stopped using the healing technique on Varus' skull as Anakin took over.
"Now? We wait." He released the breathe he had been holding. "The inflamation isn't growing. That's a good sign. All that's left to do is wait, and see."
"Can we take it out?"
He shook his head. "Not here. A hospital will need to do it. And we won't be near one for a long time. We've done all we can do without cutting his nerves."
Gah… I think I'm going to be sick… The worlds a little spinny, my head hurts, and… my neck hurts? I can't move my head. The muscles in my neck are locked down and cringing like iron. "Oh, wow! Okay, this hurts."
"Varus!" Ahsoka jumps to my side. One look at her face and its rather obvious something happened to me.
"What happened?" I ask.
"The fish-heads decided to take your head for a spin earlier than they said they would." Tree-Hugger says from the pilot chair. We're in space. The last thing I remember is telling Ahsoka how I'm still alive… then here.
"They implanted you with something in the neck. It almost killed you! If we hadn't done some… cutting -not sure if you can call that surgery- and its been two days since." Ahsoka says. "How are you feeling?"
"Well…" I pause while I try to move. I wiggle my toes, try to lift my knees but that puts pressure on my neck, try to lift my arms but that puts pressure on my neck, and trying to lift my head is just stupid. "Like crap. Why would they kill me?"
"That probably wasn't their intent… They wanted something out of you specifically."
"Yeah, the same crap I would have told them otherwise." I groan. "But wouldn't they know if they were killing me?"
Tree-Hugger speaks up, "I doubt it. Not everyone has had as many people in their head as you have, in what? Four or five months? Your brain just can't take it anymore."
That's true! "So… what now?"
"Now, we are heading for Kashyyk. Nice place if you like green." Me! I like green! "We should arrive in… three days. Till then, just lay back."
I don't need to be told twice. I'm not on the ground, either. There are cots that come down from the walls. I have a pillow, a blanket under me, and the cot is actually comfortable. A big plus from the Manaan prison of Rock'n'Dust'R'Us. Ahsoka lays in the one opposite of the room doing… whatever it is girls do to pass the time… Yeah… I have no idea.