Kix bit his lip as he focused on figuring out a dosage of Ipaptropium bromide. Tor, a scout from the 212th, watched Kix's moves with widened eyes as he struggled to get air into his lungs. Kix and Coric had done well in clearing troopers out of medbay and getting them bunked back with their squads and favorite vodes. In Kix's experience, vode recovered much faster when they were happier and medbay was not a happy place for most troopers.
But, he did his best to ease the strain on those who were still so seriously injured they were stuck here for the duration of the journey to Coruscant. Tor had sucked in too much crysfeefa and his lungs had suffered heavily for it.
Thankfully, the burning in his lungs was not as severe as what happened to Keen. Just thinking about Keen brought Kix a painful pang. He was someone Kix had worked with many times on joint campaigns with the 212th and he deserved better than to have his innards burned up in a nasty bit of chemical warfare. In the hectic aftermath of the rescue from the dungeons, the best Kix and Coric could do was make 'alternative dungeons' for Keen. In the official records, Keen was KIA.
Kix sighed and focused on the trooper back in front of him. He needed to have the remainder of these troopers in medbay healed up as much as possible before they touched down in Coruscant so their final fate of these clones was not in doubt.
Unfortunately, a few of the clones in medbay were determined to give Kix grey hairs. Tor was one of them, as he was not responding to treatments as well as the other troopers in the medbay. Amp, Cale and Husk had all sucked in cryseefa, but were responding well to meds. Cale and Husk were already back in regular quarters and Kix was thinking of releasing Amp in a few hours.
"What is this?" Kix correctly interpreted Tor's gesture, glancing up from where he was finely tuning the medication mixture. "This is what I hope will get you to stop doing the best General Grevious impression on the ship."
Despite his lips turning blue, Tor managed to both roll his eyes at Kix's medic humor and give the large needle a wary look.
Kix smiled warmly at the scout. "This is a bronchodilator. It works by opening up your lung passages."
Tor nodded, and doubled over slightly as his hitched breathing grew even more labored.
"Hey, hey, none of that," Kix chided gently, although those who knew him best would be able to detect the obvious concern underlying the smooth calm tones. He thwacked the syringe gently to evenly distribute the medicine. "I'll have you sorted in a moment. Little pinch with this one, alright?"
Tor glanced up at him, despite his doubled over position. His eyes tearing from the strain of trying to breathe. The expression on his face made it clear he didn't believe the 'little pinch' part.
"Best to close your eyes for this one, brother," Kix warned in his no-nonsense tone.
Tor squeezed his eyes shut tightly, but didn't tense up as Kix pulled him upright to get him in a better position for the injection.
He trusts me. All the vode in here do. I hope I'm enough for them- that I can keep them alive and away from reconditioning.
Kix plunged the syringe into the scout's chest. Tor hissed in pain, but didn't flinch away from the medic. After a moment, his hitched breathing eased up. He opened his eyes and nodded, giving the medic a weak smile of gratitude.
Hopefully, that gives Tor some relief until I can figure out the reason he isn't responding to the other meds. If not, I have to hope ArmyMed is willing to be patient with his recovery. And, if ArmyMed couldn't pull off a fekkin' miracle, then-
He pushed the thoughts aside.
Break big problems down into a series of little problems.
Coric always said that to him when he felt overwhelmed. It was good advice.
Kix rubbed circles on Tor's back as the trooper's breathing continued to ease up and normalize. "That's sounding much better already. Slow breaths. Don't overdo it. That's it. Well done."
Tor gave him a weak smile of gratitude and squeezed Kix's bicep. Then, the scout's grip tightened and he tapped Kix's arm to get his attention, pointing across the medbay. Kix turned to see what was in Tor's line-of-sight.
Fek and all. A flashing alert on Echo's bacta tank.
"Good eye. Thanks, Tor."
Tor beamed under the simple praise and relaxed back into his pillows. Kix hurried across the medbay, worried about a second alert on Echo's tank in less than an hour. He stared at the readings on the tank. He double-checked it again.
This was not good. He made several manual adjustments in the hopes of bringing Echo's body temperature back into the normal range.
"Come on, come on..." he muttered, pulling out his datapad to double-check a translation. He was utilizing the tank correctly, but Echo was getting worse.
A lot worse.
The escalating pitch of the alarm on the tank set the tone for his failure.
Kix grabbed his comm link. "Coric, hey, I'm sorry to wake you up. But, I need you down here now. We have a situation."
# # #
Ahsoka followed Rex into the conference room. She looked around the large room and into the canopy of stars beyond. Rex was standing in front of the wall of transparisteel, staring out into the expanse vibrant blue of hyperspace.
She joined him at the window. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I've always found it strangely hypnotic. And... peaceful. When I'm upset, looking out like this brings me peace."
Rex pushed out a long breath. He turned his gaze from the window and looked Ahsoka in the eyes. "I shouldn't have gotten angry... about Appo."
"During the Battle of Kaz'haria, he fought very bravely."
Rex sucked in a breath. "I'd like to believe that's true, Ahsoka, but nearly the entire battalion was taken prisoner, injured or killed."
"What happened there was not Appo's fault."
"It was his first command. I don't know any commander who has ever commanded and lost that spectacularly." He gripped his gloves so hard his gloves creaked. "And, it wasn't with just any Legion, Ahsoka. It was the 501st. When Appo fails, the 501st suffers."
This was heating up into an argument again. Ahsoka did her best to defuse it. "Appo did the best he could and Cody-"
"Cody? Cody was nearly killed thanks to him! We're supposed to have the backs of the 212th," Rex gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached.
"Is this about Appo or about you not being there?" Ahsoka regretted the words almost as soon as she said them, but she could not take them back.
Rex stared down at her, his hurt clear to see on his face.
"Am I interrupting something?" Cody entered the conference room, and crossed his arms across his chest. He leaned back against the doorframe and studied the two of them. "Do you two want a few more minutes to continue... whatever this is?"
"No," Rex and Ahsoka said simultaneously.
"Good." He walked into the conference room and stared them both down, and then shook his head, softening his tone. "Look, I get it, alright? We've all been through a lot, myself included. But, the men need their Captain and their Commander. The last thing they need is to see the two of you fighting."
Rex nodded and met Ahsoka's eyes briefly. They both nodded, making a tacit agreement to table this particular discussion. Despite their somewhat stiff body language that said 'we're not done arguing,' they sat down side-by-side at the large conference room table.
Cody 'hmmmped' under his breath and slid a datapad across the table to the two of them. "This is the basic script of what we'd like you to say, Commander. Did Rex fill you in on what we need you to do?"
Ahsoka glanced over again quickly at Rex before picking up at the pad. "We... uh... were discussing something else." She read over the information on the pad a second time, a furrow forming between her brows. "When we drop out of hyperspace, you want me to contact GAR High Command."
Cody and Rex both nodded as one, studying her reaction.
"We think of all of us, you'd have the best chance of getting a positive reaction. Timing will be critical," Cody looked thoughtful. "Well, actually, General Kenobi would probably have been the perfect one for the job, but he's not available."
Rex shot a look at Cody for the unintentional slight toward Ahsoka. "You have the skills to do this, Ahsoka. I've seen you negotiate before and you could give Kenobi a run for his creds anyday."
Ahsoka twisted her lips. "I'm not sure I'll ever rise to the heights of Master Kenobi, but I have talked us out of some bad situations. I'm willing to do it."
Rex shot her a quick, encouraging smile. .
Cody rolled his eyes, wondering how the two of them could go from arguing to praising each other in a few short minutes. Rex wasn't wrong when he said he had a complicated relationship with his commander.
He'd need to keep a close eye on Rex to ensure this complicated balance he was trying to strike did not affect his performance as an officer.
"You are a known favorite of the Jedi Council. Since you are listed as missing, they will undoubtedly be shocked to see you, but your presence alone should be enough to keep us from getting fired upon."
"I don't understand. Cody, you're a marshall commander. Wouldn't you have just as much sway-"
Rex and Cody both shook their heads as one again.
"A Jedi life is worth a thousand of ours," Rex explained, stating the fact as if it should be readily apparent.
"Sometimes several thousand," Cody grumbled under his breath.
Ahsoka frowned. "No, that's not right. Your lives are just as valuable-"
Cody and Rex exchanged a look, somewhat bemused at her naviety.
Rex interrupted Ahsoka before she could go any further. "That's not reality, Ahsoka. We're a purchased commodity. That's our only value. But, the value of the Jedi is clear to everyone."
Ahsoka opened her mouth to object again, but Cody cut them both off before it could devolve into an argument. "Commander, accept that there is a high likelihood the GAR will see us as a threat the moment we drop out of hyperspace. However, if we immediately make it apparent there is a Jedi onboard, it should buy us the time we need to explain ourselves."
"Alright," Ahsoka accepted heavily, although her tone made it clear she didn't like the premise. "I'll do it. I'll also drop my shields briefly so any Jedi in the facility will be able to detect my presence. Barriss may be willing to temporarily drop her shields, as well. It will get us some immediate attention from our local Jedi."
They went through every aspect of the plan exhaustively. She might not be Obi Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator, but she liked to think she could be counted on in a crisis.
As their meeting wrapped up, Cody stayed behind to answer some messages on his datapad. Rex headed straight for the lift, not inviting her to walk with him as he normally would. She followed him and stepped into the lift with him.
"Rex, we still need to talk about Appo."
"No, we don't. The less I talk about him, the better." The lift door opened at the bridge, and Rex leaned in so he could speak to Ahsoka quietly without the rest of the bridge crew overhearing. "Commander, this is a critical time for all of us. To avoid getting... distracted, it's probably better if we keep our distance when not directly working together. Perhaps Kix or Coric could use a hand with the wounded in medbay."
He spun on his heel and headed to his station on the bridge, leaving Ahsoka gaping after him as the lift door closed in her face.
The dismissal stung, even more so because Rex was probably right. Not about Appo. He seemed to be willing to give all of his brothers a chance, except for Appo. No, he was probably right they should keep some professional distance between them. The return to Coruscant hung over all of them as a source of both hope and dread, as they had no idea how they would be received. This was no time to get distracted. Both Anakin and Rex told her time and again distractions were deadly in a time of war.
She stared at the sides of the lift wondering why it wasn't moving.
Oh. She sighed and punched in the floor for medbay, hitting the buttons harder than necessary. She leaned back against the sides of the lift and stared up at the ceiling, frustrated, annoyed and not sure what to do about any of it.
# # #
"His temperature readings have been fluctuating like this for hours," Kix explained. "They stabilized for a short duration with a manual reset, but now they keep spiking. I don't know what to make of it."
Coric studied the readouts coming off the screens attached the bacta tank. They were slightly different tanks than the ones he'd been trained on, but it shouldn't matter. Bacta is bacta. Any differences in the physiology between Kaz'harians and humans should be inconsequential. The rest of the troopers and the Jedi were responding within normal healing parameters. What was so different about Echo's case?
"Could he have been exposed to something in that control room?" Coric said. "We know the Kazzies were experimenting with a lot of stuff, could Echo have inadvertently stumbled upon something in there? Something other than the controls for the cryseefa gas?"
"Some sort of biological agent, maybe?" Kix didn't like where this line of questioning was headed. But, they had to examine every explanation. "It's a good theory. Any idea how we could check for it?"
"I don't think we can. If it didn't show up in our initial scans, we don't have the equipment for it onboard. At this point, his only hope is a fully equipped med facility ArmyMed." Coric studied the readings on the tank, and then shot Kix a look. He didn't say it. He didn't have to say it. Kix knew.
At this rate, Echo may not make Coruscant.
# # #