Chapter Eight
Transmission
Four hours passed as everyone sat with Ahsoka, the children and Al had fallen asleep, leaving Tann to watch Ahsoka on her own. "Mm." Ahsoka quietly groaned as she started to stir. Tann sat up and stared at Ahsoka. "Uh, where am I?" Ahsoka quietly wondered aloud as she looked around a little bit.
"You're awake, how are you feeling?" Tann asked with a smile as she walked over to Ahsoka.
"Like this has happened way too many times." Ahsoka answered with a smile as she stared up at Tann. "How did I get here, what happened to me?" Ahsoka asked in a groggy tone.
"How much do you remember?" Tann asked as she placed her hand over Ahsoka's.
"The last thing I remember is seeing Barriss disappear, everything's fuzzy after that, I just have memory fragments. I was cold, and things were blurry; I think I was in a vehicle at some point. I don't know though." Ahsoka answered as she looked around some more. "Am I in a room at the clinic?" Ahsoka asked as she looked bat at Tann.
"Yes, you had to have surgery to repair some internal bleeding." Tann informed with a sad expression.
"That explains why I'm so sore right now." Ahsoka replied as she gently placed a hand over her chest. "Oh my God! Andy and Nima! Where are Andy and Nima?! Did they get away?! Are they safe?!" Ahsoka asked in a panic as she looked around, then she saw each of them sleeping on Al's lap. "They're here? Thank goodness." Ahsoka quietly said with a relieved sigh.
"They are, and it's all thanks to you. It doesn't seem like you remember, but you're the reason they were able to escape from Vader. You saved my children's lives again, Ahsoka. I'll never be able to repay you for what you've done for my family. Thank you Ahsoka, if there's anything I or anyone else in this town can do for you, just say the word and we'll make it happen." Tann said with a soft smile.
"Anything?" Ahsoka quietly asked in a hopeful tone.
"Anything." Tann replied in a serious tone.
"Please help me fix the communication systems, I wanna call my family." Ahsoka quietly said with a sad expression. Tann was surprised at Ahsoka's request, but now that the badlands gang and Vader had been dealt with, there was nothing stopping the town from repairing their short and long range transmitters.
"That's more than doable, I'll let the sheriff know and we can get right on that. We'll make sure that your family's here within the week, two at the most. You have my word." Tann replied as she stood up to leave.
"Thank you, I was so lucky that your husband found me in that canyon, I couldn't have asked for a better family to spend my time with other than my own. You and your family are truly wonderful people, and I'll never forget any of you, no matter what happens in the future." Ahsoka quietly said with a smile.
"We were the lucky ones, we got to host the woman who saved our town. A kind, strong, compassionate, and beautiful togruta; it's been an honor, Ahsoka Tano." Tann said with a smile before leaving the room. Ahsoka closed her eyes to sleep, despite having just woken up from her anesthetic, she was exhausted.
"Thank you, misses Usho." Ahsoka quietly said before falling asleep. While Ahsoka slept like a baby, Tann was gathering the townspeople for a meeting at the church.
"Alright everyone, good news first off, Ahsoka woke up finally! She's tired and a little disoriented, but she's awake and somewhat coherent. Also, she asked for one thing, one thing that we've all wanted for months now. She asked that we get the coms up and running again so that she can call her family, and I know that many of you want the coms for the same reason!" Tann yelled as she stared at the small crowd in front of her.
"You bet we do, but no one here has the technical know how to fix it. That's been our problem this whole time." A woman replied from the crowd.
"Isn't there anyone here who can fix that tower?" Tann asked as she looked out at the crowd.
"I can." A timid voice replied. Everyone turned and stared at the voice's owner, shocked at who it was.
"You? Seriously?" The sheriff asked as he glared at the woman.
"Why should we trust you? Didn't you work with the badlands gang?!" Someone else shouted in an angry tone.
"I did, and I understand your hatred and distrust towards people like me; but I swear to all of you, we weren't bad people. We didn't have a choice, she lured struggling teens like me with promises of a better life, but then she started using us like hired guns. If we didn't cooperate then she'd make an example of us. My best friend defied Vader once, Vader originally wanted her to kidnap the Usho children. She refused, she said that she wouldn't drag children into this, exploiting their family for protection money and other B.S was one thing, taking their children was crossing a line even for us. But Vader didn't care, she made an example of my friend! She grabbed her in a force choke and held her in front of all of us, we were forced to helplessly watch as my friend had the life slowly choked out of her by that mad woman! We didn't dare defy her after that, but I'm sorry for the trouble we caused all of you. I don't blame you for hating us." A young woman cried as she hung her head. The crowd was silent for a moment, but then something unexpected happened.
"You poor thing, I'm so sorry that happened to you." Tann quietly said as she hugged the young woman.
"How? How could you, of all people, forgive me so easily?" The young woman cried as she stared at Tann.
"Because thanks to your gang we know what it feels like to be exploited and used. You only did to us what Vader did to you, and it wasn't because you wanted to, but because you were forced to. I'm so sorry that you went through that, but you're free now. All of you are free thanks to Ahsoka, now let's put your skills to good use and give Ahsoka the reward she deserves, let's get those coms working." Tann replied as she patted the young woman's shoulder.
"Thank you misses Usho, I'm Emily by the way." The young woman introduced as she held her hand out to Tann.
"Tann Usho, it's a pleasure to meet you." Tann replied as she shook Emily's hand.
"Alright, so we've got someone that has the knowledge to fix the tower, but where do we get the materials to fix it with? I doubt it's going to be as easy as replacing a fuse." The sheriff asked as he looked at Tann.
"That's easy, we raid Vader's old hideout for any equipment we need. All the technology my gang and I were forced to steal on Vader's behalf is stock piled there." Emily replied with a smile.
"You mean the hideout that exploded?" The sheriff asked as he glared at Emily.
"The upper level exploded and was caved in, but Vader made us store everything deeper in the mountain side. If we can clear the rubble then we can access the stash via a secret passage in the main hideout." Emily replied with a smile.
"Hm, I have to admit that it's not a bad idea, but how are we going to clear the rubble with no explosives or other equipment?" The sheriff asked with a thoughtful expression.
"Unfortunately that's the only thing I don't know, it's not like we just have explosives lying around. Anything that could've blown open a passage through the rubble is ironically inaccessible because of said rubble. Does anyone have any ideas?" Emily asked as she look at everyone in the crowd.
"Oh! Oh! I know! Let's ask Ahsoka to move the rubble with the force!" Nima suggested with a smile.
"Ahsoka can't do anything like that right now sweetie, she has a lot of boo boos. She needs to stay in bed to heal." Tann explained as she looked down at Nima.
"You know, I might have an idea. I just hope it doesn't get me into trouble with the law." One of the citizens said with a small grin.
"Oh boy, crazy Dave's got an idea. Duck and cover people, this is gonna be good." The sheriff said with a smirk.
"Very funny sheriff, but in all seriousness, I think I know what to do. Al, you know some of the local farmers, right?" Dave asked as he pointed at Al.
"I know them all, how does that help?" Al asked in a confused tone.
"Do any of them keep fertilizer by any chance?" Dave asked with a grin.
"Hold up Dave, you aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?" The sheriff asked as he stared at Dave.
"Yes sir I am, we're gonna make a bomb." Dave answered with a grin. Everyone looked at each other for a moment, but then people started nodding.
"It's a good idea, and it's not like anyone here other than Dave knows how to, so there's really no risk to it. We all know that Dave would never hurt anyone." One of the citizens said with a smile.
"Yeah, he was a demolition expert for nearly forty years. If anyone should be trusted with a job like this it's him." Another person said with a smile.
"Alright, but under two conditions! You give me the list of ingredients and tell no one else about them, and I supervise the construction of the explosive. Deal?" The sheriff asked as he stared at Dave.
"Deal, now let's have a blast!" Dave yelled with a smile before walking back towards town.
"Uh, what kind of sheriff authorizes the creation of an unregistered explosive device." The sheriff said with a sigh.
"The kind that's willing to do anything for his town." Al replied as he patted the sheriff on the back.
"I suppose so. Now let's get to work, maybe you and your family should go check on our little hero. See how she's doing." The sheriff suggested as he walked alongside Al.
"Will do sheriff, come on kids, we're going to check on Ahsoka." Al instructed as he looked at his children.
"Yay!" Andy and Nima both cheered as they ran after Al.
"Wait for me!" Tann yelled as she ran after them.
"Ahsoka!" Andy and Nima both yelled as they burst into Ahsoka's room. Ahsoka's eyes shot open and she let out a loud hiss as she rolled out of the bed and onto the floor. "Uh oh." Andy quietly said with a surprised expression.
"What happened?" Tann asked as she and Al ran in behind their children.
"Ahsoka?" Al asked when he noticed that Ahsoka was on the floor.
"N-no yell! Scare Ahsoka half to death." Ahsoka said as she peeked over the bed at Andy and Nima.
"Sorry." Andy and Nima both apologized with sad expressions.
"Are you okay?" Al asked as he carefully picked Ahsoka up and set her back in the bed.
"I think so, I feel conflicted though. I don't know if I should be happy that they're so enthusiastic about seeing me, or worried that they'll give me a heart attack." Ahsoka chuckled before looking at Andy and Nima.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean to scare you. We just wanted to see you, you're like our big sister now." Nima replied with a smile.
"Awe, that's so sweet of you both. Come here you little rugrats." Ahsoka giggled as she held her arms out to both of them. Andy and Nima smiled before climbing onto Ahsoka's bed and gently hugging her.
"You're so good with children, do you have any of your own?" Tann asked as she sat down next to Ahsoka's bed.
"Yes and no. My padawan is only about six, I see her and her sisters as family. I also have what many of us in the republic consider a younger sister. She's a clone named Omega. For some reason the clones see me as a younger sister, but Omega's about the same age as these two are, so she calls me big sister Tano." Ahsoka explained with a smile.
"You ever consider having children? You'd make a great mom." Tann said with a light chuckle.
"No thank you, a padawan is more than enough of a child for me. Besides, I wouldn't wanna go through the hassle of trying to find a donor." Ahsoka replied with a giggle.
"A donor?" Al asked with some confusion.
"Yeah, my partner and I have a matching set of reproductive tools, if you catch my drift." Ahsoka answered with a smile.
"Oh! When you said Merida was your girlfriend you meant it in a literal sense, we thought you meant that she was one of your female friends." Tann replied with some surprise.
"I mentioned Merida before?" Ashoka asked with some surprise of her own.
"Yeah, it was almost right after we met you. You were in that weird animal like state, the one you talk funny in." Tann explained with a straight face.
"My feral state? I talk about stuff like that when I'm feral? Hm, strange." Ahsoka replied with a shrug.
"We still don't understand much about that state, how exactly does it work?" Al asked in an intrigued tone.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. Sometimes it lasts for a while, other times it lasts for only a few minutes. There are even times it just takes over when I feel threatened or startled, but I revert to my normal self immediately after the danger has passed. I know that it's an instinctual defense of some kind, but I'm not positive as to why the amount of time I'm in that state varies so much. My friend Ami suspects that it's a psychological defense of some kind that's triggered after a trauma, and the extent of the trauma affects how long the feral episode lasts. She believes that my more advanced levels of thought are shut down in order to help my subconscious process my trauma faster. The worse the trauma, the longer it takes to process, hence an extended period of feral behavior. But that's just the best theory we can come up with right now, as far as any experts are concerned, I'm the only documented case of feral regression amongst togrutas. People have heard of it happening in other's before, but it's never been studied or documented. Merida and Tara actually say that it's so rare that the odds of a traumatized togruta shifting into a feral state is only about one in ten-thousand." Ahsoka explained with a straight face.
"Wow, that's incredible. You're literally a one in ten-thousand chance, we knew you were special, but that's crazy." Al chuckled as he stared at Ahsoka.
"That just makes us even luckier to have met you, you're probably the rarest togruta in the galaxy. A Jedi and an anomaly amongst your entire species, someone should give you an award for that kind uniqueness." Tann replied with a smile.
"I got the greatest award of all when my feral state first appeared, I met the woman I'd fall in love with thanks to that little quirk." Ahsoka answered with a smile. "I can't wait to see her again." Ahsoka said with a small yawn before slowly closing her eyes.
"Poor thing, all this chatting's already worn her out." Tann said with a smile as she pulled the blanket a little higher up on Ahsoka.
"We'll let her rest for now, we've got a communication center to repair." Al replied before leaving the room.
"We sure do, come on kids." Tann instructed as she looked at Andy and Nima.
"Okay." Both children replied with some disappointment as they slowly followed their parents. While Ahsoka slept and the Usho family went to assist their fellow townspeople with fixing communications, the rest of the town was already hard at work on the task.
"And that should do it sheriff." Dave said with a grin as he tightened the top on his explosive.
"I can't believe I just stood here and watched you make a bundle of pipe bombs, you'd better vote for me to keep my job in the next election." The sheriff chuckled as he examined Dave's work.
"Are you kidding, I'm nominating you for mayor." Dave replied with a smirk as he held up his creation.
"We don't have a mayor, one of the perks of being in such a small town. Besides, you know me, I like to get things done." The sheriff said with a grin.
"That is true, in which case a politician's life is definitely not for you. They never get crap done, well, with the exception of that new chancellor that is. She's the best politician ever, I'd vote for her any day of the week." Dave replied with a smile as he carefully placed his explosive in a large metal box.
"Ah yes, Chancellor Amidala; I heard she was a queen at one point. I wonder if that's true?" The sheriff replied as he watched Dave gently pick the box up.
"We should ask Ahsoka, she would know since she's from the republic's capital." Dave suggested as he carefully started carrying the box out of his basement and towards the sheriff's speeder.
"That poor woman has enough on her mind without answering our annoying questions." The sheriff replied as he and Dave got in his speeder.
"I hope she's doing okay, I know that misses Usho said that she made it through the surgery, but she still has to recover. She took quite a beating from that Vader character." Dave said with a sad expression as he buckled himself in.
"She seems pretty tough, if anyone can make it through something like that it's her." The sheriff replied with a smile as he started driving. A short time later the speeder arrived at the old hideout of the badlands gang, or what was left of it anyways.
"Damn, whatever happened here must've been pretty intense. The whole cave is gone, looks like it collapsed in on itself." Dave quietly said as he stared at the pile of rock that was once the badlands's hideout.
"It was worse, Ahsoka did this. She brought the entire ceiling down on both herself and Vader, all to protect those two kids. Our tiny town wasn't ready for such a big hero." The sheriff replied with a smile.
"It sure wasn't, I just hope we can repay her for what she's done." Dave quietly said as he started setting up his explosives.
"Me too Dave." The sheriff replied as he watched Dave set up the last explosive.
"Alright, they're all set and primed, now we just have to move back and watch the fireworks." Dave informed with a grin as he started running away from the rubble.
"I hate to admit it, but I'm extremely excited to see this." The sheriff said with a smirk as he and Dave hid behind some rocks.
"Ready?" Dave asked as he flipped the safety cover on the detonator.
"Blast it." The sheriff replied as he covered his ears. Dave hit the button and a second later there was a massive explosion that sent rocks flying in every direction. The explosion was so powerful that it could be heard and felt back at the town.
"Hot damn! No way that didn't clear the blockage! Like a butt blast with a pressure washer!" Dave cheered as he waited for the dust and smoke to clear.
"See, phrases like that are part of reason everyone calls you crazy Dave." The sheriff replied as the dust started to settle.
"I may be crazy, but I get the job done." Dave said with a grin as he gestured to the cave, which was now completely open.
"That you do. Now let's head back to town and let everyone else know that the cave's clear and ready to be worked in." The sheriff instructed as he walked back to his speeder. Dave followed him and buckled himself in, then the duo sped back to town, unaware that they'd have quite a surprise waiting for them when they returned. "Alright, head to the church and let everyone know that the cave is clear, I'm going to let the Usho family know." The sheriff instructed as he walked towards the clinic. The sheriff walked into the clinic and was surprised to see that it was empty. "This ain't right." The sheriff quietly said as he placed his hand on his blaster. "Hello?! Is anyone here, this is Sheriff Thompson?!" The sheriff yelled as he slowly moved through the lobby.
"Keep your voice down!" A woman quietly yelled as she peeked over the reception desk.
"What's going on here?" The sheriff asked as he approached the woman.
"Some idiot set off an explosive without warning anyone, and the one patient we have here is a traumatized and battle hardened Jedi from the Clone Wars. She went nuts when she heard that explosion, what the hell happened?" The woman asked as she stared at the sheriff.
"I messed up is what happened, Dave and I cleared the rubble from the Badland's old hideout with a homemade bomb, we should've warned you folks here; I didn't realize the blast was going to be that big though. Where's Ahsoka now?" The sheriff asked as he stared at the woman.
"That's the problem, nobody knows. She panicked and took off, hissing and barreling past people the entire way." The woman explained in a frightened tone.
"I'll find her, just stay here." The sheriff replied before cautiously walking away. "Ahsoka? Ahsoka this is Sheriff Thompson, it's okay, you're safe! It was just a mining operation, there's no danger!" The sheriff yelled as he slowly walked through the clinic.
"Sheriff." Al whispered as he and his family peeked out of the room Ahsoka had been in.
"Al, thank goodness you're all okay. I heard Ahsoka lost it when she heard the explosion." The sheriff said as he walked over to Al.
"That's an understatement, she moved so fast that she was literally a blur of orange and white. I heard what sounded like glass breaking at some point though, it came from the other end of the hallway." Al informed as he and his family stepped out of the room.
"Thanks, I'll check it out." The sheriff replied as he walked towards the end of the hallway. "Yikes, I know she's feeling that one." The sheriff said to himself as he approached a shattered window with a busted metal frame.
"Uh, sheriff, I don't mean to bother you, but our town's hero locked herself in my freezer." Scoops said as he peered through the broken window at the sheriff.
"She locked herself in the freezer?!" The sheriff asked in a surprised tone as he climbed out the broken window.
"Yeah, I was afraid to try and get her out because she ran in there like she was running for her life. I thought I should just wait for you, or at least give her a chance to calm down a bit." Scoops replied as he lead the sheriff towards his parlor.
"Ahsoka?! Ahsoka it's the sheriff! Everything's okay, it was just a little demolition work in the mountains, there's nothing to be afraid of!" The sheriff yelled as he cautiously entered the parlor. There was a quiet creaking noise towards the back of the parlor, then a shivering and slightly frost covered Ahsoka slowly poked her head out of the freezer.
"N-n-n-no b-b-b-bad people?" Ahsoka asked through her shivers.
"No, just a couple of knuckle heads doing some work in the mountains. It's okay though." The sheriff answered as he knelt down. Ahsoka stared at him for a moment, then she cautiously took a few steps towards him.
"P-p-promise A-A-Ahs-s-soka s-s-safe?" Ahsoka asked as she stepped a little closer to the sheriff.
"I promise, now come here and we'll take you back to the clinic so you can get a nice cozy blanket on and warm up." The sheriff answered as he held his arms out to Ahsoka. Ahsoka stared at him for a moment, then she slowly turned around and walked behind the counter. The sheriff and Scoops looked at each other with sad expression, but their expressions quickly turned to ones of confusion when they heard Ahsoka sniffing around behind the counter.
"Oh, smell yummy." Ahsoka said as she poked her head up just enough so that her montrals could be seen through the window of the ice cream case. Scoops and the sheriff chuckled a little at Ahsoka's child like behavior, she'd forgotten all about her fear after getting a whiff of the nearby ice cream.
"Would you like a scoop?" Scoops asked with a chuckle.
"Yes please, Ahsoka wanna try brown one with black swirls in it." Ahsoka answered as she pawed at a bucket of chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks in it.
"We call that one bantha tracks, it's chocolate ice cream with fudge swirls and chunks of caramel filled chocolate." Scoops informed as he walked over to Ahsoka and grabbed a dish and his scooper.
"Ooo, Ahsoka wanna try." Ahsoka replied as she continued staring at the ice cream bucket.
"Here you go, it's on the house." Scoops said with a smile as he dropped a huge scoop of the ice cream into the dish, then handed it to Ahsoka.
"Yay! Ahsoka get ice cream! Thank you!" Ahsoka yelled with joy before gripping the edge of the dish between her teeth and walking outside with it.
"Why do I get the feeling that one or both of us are going to regret that?" The sheriff asked as he watched Ahsoka sit down in the middle of the sidewalk before starting to lick and take small bites from her ice cream.
"Oh what's the worst that can happen sheriff, she gets addicted and keeps coming back for more until I run out?" Scoops asked with a chuckle.
"I was thinking something along the lines of we both get yelled at by her current care takers. For someone who's never met a togruta before, Tann seems to know a lot about them. She connects well with Ahsoka. So hopefully her motherly side doesn't come out and scold us for giving Ahsoka ice cream before making her eat actual food." The sheriff replied with a smile.
"I'm sure she'll be fine with it. It's just a little bit of ice cream, what's the worst that can happen?" Scoops replied as he watched Ahsoka finish her ice cream, then lick what ice cream she could from her face before wandering off. "Um, aren't you supposed to escort her back to the clinic?" Scoops asked as he looked at the sheriff.
"Oh right, thanks for reminding me. Ahsoka! Ahsoka, wait up!" The sheriff yelled as he ran after Ahsoka. Ahsoka stopped and looked back at the sheriff, tilting her head slightly to show either curiosity or confusion; it wasn't clear to him which she was trying to convey though. "Hey there, you want me to take you back to the clinic by Tann?" The sheriff asked with a smile.
"Yes, Ahsoka go back to nice family!" Ahsoka answered with a huge smile.
"Alright then, follow me." The sheriff instructed as he lead Ahsoka back to the clinic. The duo walked for a few miles before the sheriff started to notice something was off with Ahsoka. "You okay back there?" The sheriff asked as he looked back at Ahsoka, who was lingering several feet behind him.
"A-Ahsoka...tired, and...tummy hurt." Ahsoka answered through some heavy breathing.
"Maybe you ate too much ice cream, you want me to carry you?" The sheriff asked with a smile, Ahsoka stopped walking and gently shook her head. "Alright, upsadaisy." The sheriff said with a smile before gently picking Ahsoka up. "You're a lot lighter than I would've expected, most people your height and build are much heavier than you are." The sheriff said with some surprise as he started carrying Ahsoka towards the clinic.
"Ahsoka was sick for while, mean lady call Ahsoka fat, so Ahsoka no eat and loose lots of weight. Friends help cure Ahsoka though, now Ahsoka eat again, but still not gain all weight back that Ahsoka lost." Ahsoka explained as she hung her head over the sheriff's shoulder.
"Well I'm glad that you're all cured." The sheriff replied as he carried Ahsoka into the clinic.
"Ahsoka no feel cured." Ahsoka replied before letting out small burp. "Uh." Ahsoka moaned as she let her left arm hang loosely over the sheriff's right shoulder, while she let her right arm just swing lightly at her side as the sheriff carried her.
"Oh come on now, you didn't eat that much ice cream." The sheriff replied as he carried Ahsoka into her room.
"There you are, where have you been Ahsoka?! We've been worried sick about you!" Tann yelled as she ran over to Ahsoka and the sheriff.
"Ahsoka got scared by explosion and run away, hide in cold place." Ahsoka answered as she held her arm out to Tann. Al and Tann both looked at the sheriff for clarification.
"She locked herself in Scoops's freezer." The sheriff clarified with a smile.
"Oh you poor thing, you must be so cold. Come here, let's tuck you in." Tann said with a smile as she pulled the covers back on Ahsoka's bed. The sheriff started to set Ahsoka in the bed, but he stopped dead as Ahsoka vomited down his back.
"Al, did she just..." The sheriff asked as he looked at Al. Al just grimaced a little in response. "That's what I thought." The sheriff replied before finishing laying Ahsoka down. Then he carefully took his over coat off and shook it off over a garbage bin in the corner of the room.
"Are you not feeling good sweetie?" Tann asked as she sat down next to Ahsoka. Ahsoka's responded by starting to dry heave. "Sheriff, the garbage!" Tann yelled as she held her hand out. The sheriff quickly grabbed the small garbage bin and handed it to Tann, who held it under Ahsoka's mouth just before she vomited again. "What is this stuff? Why is her vomit so brown? What did she eat?" Tann asked as she looked at the sheriff.
"Just a scoop of ice cream, it wasn't even that much." The sheriff answered with a straight face.
"What flavor of ice cream was she given?" Tann asked with a slight bite to her voice.
"Bantha tracks, she really liked it too. Maybe a bit too much." The sheriff answered with a chuckle.
"You mean the chocolate one with fudge swirls and chunks of caramel filled chocolates?!" Tann yelled in a tone that was as angry as it was concerned.
"Yes! I'm sorry that we didn't make her eat actual food before hand, we didn't think she'd get sick from a scoop of ice cream though!" The sheriff yelled back in a defensive tone as he stared at Tann.
"She's an adult! I don't care if she eats ice cream for every meal of the day, but her species is highly allergic to chocolate! It's extremely toxic to them! A single average sized scoop of chocolate ice cream in a togruta is the toxic equivalent of you or I eating a cube of womp rat poison! It could kill her!" Tann shouted as she looked at Ahsoka with a slightly panicked expression.
"What?! That's crazy, I've never heard of anything like that before. How do you know?" The sheriff asked in a shocked tone.
"It was in a documentary I saw, most togrutas know not to eat chocolate, but in her feral state she doesn't realize how toxic chocolate is to her. She just knows that it smells and tastes good, so she eats it without realizing what it can do to her." Tann explained as she placed her hand over Ahsoka's.
"Mama." Ahsoka quietly said as she gently wrapped her fingers around Tann's hand.
"It's okay sweetie, I'm not your mommy, but I'm here." Tann replied as she squeezed Ahsoka hand back.
"Ahsoka tummy hurt." Ahsoka quietly said before starting to dry heave again.
"I know honey, that's because somebody let you eat chocolate." Tann replied as she glared at the sheriff, who just chuckled nervously.
"In my defense I had no idea, it's not like they cover the dietary restrictions of a togruta in the academy." The sheriff replied with a straight face.
"What's done is done I suppose, we'll just have to keep an eye on her while we try and fix the coms tower." Al said with a small frown as he rubbed Ahsoka's back.
"You two get to work then, I think someone in such a delicate state needs a lady's touch. Isn't that right Ahsoka? Did those dumb ol' men give you chocolate and make you sick? Yes they did, you poor little thing you." Tann babied Ahsoka as she rubbed her back some more. Ahsoka just quietly groaned as she hugged Tan.
"Come on sheriff, Tann's in a mothering mood." Al said as started leaving the room.
"What's that mean?" The sheriff asked as he followed Al.
"It normally means that I get to sleep on the couch, however since you're the one she's mad at, I'm not sure. You have fun wondering though." Al chuckled as he and the sheriff left.
"Great, thanks Al." The sheriff replied as he continued following Al. A short time later the two men had arrived at the communication tower, happy to see that progress was being made.
"A little more to the left! No, your other left!" Emily shouted as she looked up at one of her gang members. "Jeez, am I the only one that made it past the third grade?" Emily grumbled to herself before noticing Al and the sheriff. "Oh hey, you're just in time. We're just finishing installing the long range dish." Emily informed with a smile.
"We can see that, you're really keeping your friends in line I see." The sheriff chuckled as he looked up at the man that was welding the dish into place.
"Someone's gotta. So what's up sheriff?" Emily asked with a smile.
"Not much, we just came to see how things were progressing and if we could help out at all." The sheriff answered as he looked back at Emily.
"We should almost be ready for a test run, I'll just need to run a few diagnostics before activating the long range systems." Emily answered as she looked up at the man welding the dish, who looked down at her and gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks, now get back down here so I can test it!" Emily yelled up to the man. "Alright gentlemen, let's see what we're working with." Emily said as she cracked her knuckles, then started typing on a computer that was built into the dish. A bunch of random letters and numbers began to scroll on the screen as the system began running its diagnostics. The words system ready appeared a few seconds later. "Nice, we're in business." Emily informed before she started typing a message into the computer.
"What are you doing?" The sheriff asked as he looked at Emily.
"Sending our message." Emily answered before pushing the enter key.
"What exactly did you say?" The sheriff asked in a suspicious tone.
"I said, dear Jedi dogs, we have your wild orange friend, give us a hundred million credits or else." Emily replied with a smirk.
"That had better be a joke." The sheriff replied in an unamused tone.
"Of course I'm joking. I actually just said that a Jedi was found on our planet and is of need of a pickup." Emily answered with a smile.
"Thank goodness. Thanks for all of your hard work, this never could've happened without you; you've got a good head on your shoulders." The sheriff complimented with a smile.
"Thanks sheriff, it feels good to do something nice for a change. It's been a while since I've been able to be a nice person." Emily replied as she hugged the sheriff.
"If this is what you did on your first day of being nice, then I can't wait to see what you'll do with a life time worth of it." The sheriff replied as he hugged her back.
"So now what?" Al asked as he looked at Emily.
"Now we wait for some kind of response." Emily answered as she looked up at the sky.