Chapter 21: Hat Trick (2)
Republic Assault Ship Dauntless
Hyperspace
After the comm signal cut off I looked at the female Togruta in front of me. She turned around and I could see a frown on her face. For a moment there was a trace of distress in her eyes. If it wasn't for my connection with the Force I would not have noticed it. I guess that she was not looking forward to her next chat with the Jedi Council. Not only she had decided to listen to my suggestion to grab the Dauntless and make a run for Coruscant before someone who will remain unnamed for now, could sent another CIS fleet after us, without consulting with the Order leadership but now I was a Republic general with the same authority as the Jedi. Most of their contingency plans for dealing with me just went down the drain. Its one thing for the Order to arrest (and/or kill) a mercenary who they accuse of being a Sith. Doing so to a GAR general, one who had done more to derail the CIS plans in few short weeks than most of the Jedi combined did since the start of the war was something very different. Not to mention that it was I who led the boarding party who grabbed Grievous and Ventress... Gurney's demise was just the icing on the cake.
"I guess congratulations are in order, general." she said in an emotionless tone. Her face could have been a marble statue for all the expression it showed.
"Thank you." I deadpanned. "I hope that the Council won't be too pissed off with you."
"Why would they be?" she asked faking confusion.
"We both know that there were a lot of outcomes they hoped for when you were assigned as my babysitter but none of them ended with me becoming a Republic general. I do not need to spell to you what it means for the council."
She gave me a sharp nod and frowned in a way that reminded me of my late wife.
"I'll go check on Ahsoka and the prisoners. See you around, Master Ti."
I made a fast exit. Jedi or not, if she her temper was anything like Ashara's, I did not want to be in the vicinity when she was getting angry. I highly doubted that a spirited sparring session in which she tried to take off my head, followed by a make-up sex was in the cards in the foreseeable future.
=RK=
On my way to the medical bay I spoke with a Clone sergeant and made a small detour to requisition a tac-pad, which was the SW universe answer to the tablets of my own world. It was much bigger and heavier from what one would expect but it had incredible processing power and storage capacity as well as build in comm which could interface with nearby hyper com terminals and had a lot of protection against hacking. It could survive many things short of a blaster bolt too. For a piece of military hardware the tradeoffs were generally worth it. It was close to soldier proof.
Which is something that can't be said for most if not all hardware on the Earth I came from.
I uploaded in it some "light" reading for Ahsoka. For good or bad she was stuck as a commander in the war. I doubted that she would request not to be sent to the front lines and even if she did it was unlikely that such thing would be granted. Considering that the kid was starting to grow on me I decided to do something that could help her remain in one piece.
The med bay was full with wounded clones. I could see long rows of bacta tanks in which people were floating. Each one of those devices had a heavily wounded trooper in it. The beds were full too and there were even makeshift sleeping bags on the floor on which wounded soldiers were laying. I knew that leaving Rodia immediately after we evacuated the CIS Frigate with our prisoners and wounded did not make any services to the harmed Republic troops but I could not risk another ambush. Not with such a prize on board.
As you could guess the medics who were up to their necks in wounded did not approve of my plan. On the bright side, they were able to stabilize most of the clones and the most severe cases were already in the tanks. That left a lot of people to be more conventionally (and slowly) treated. Ahsoka was one of those unfortunate souls. Her leg would have been mended after only couple of hours in bacta but now she was laying over a sleeping back in a corner of the room.
I stopped by the purple haired Cat who was being treated for plasma burns on his chest. The Lieutenant had suffered injury when one of the last Super Battle droids in the Reactor chambers hit a plasma conduit feeding the engines of the enemy Frigate with a missile. The resulting venting of super-hot gases clipped the armor of the man who fortunately enough was far so far away from the breach that he got away with only third degree burns when his chest plate was overheated. If he was closer his armor would have been no protection and the plasma stream would have cut him in half.
"Lt, how are you? Beyond the obvious." I waved at his wounds which were tended by a young, pink colored nurse from a species I did not recognize.
"I've been better, sir! Congratulations for the promotion, General!" he winced when he tried to give me a proper salute.
"I see that the rumor mill is still working at lightspeed." I chuckled. "None of that while you are wounded, Cat. There is place for proper military protocol and it's definitely not while you are being patched up. You did great job leading the 71st."
"Thank you, sir. I just wish that more of the boys made it. At least we nailed the Chief Clanker!" He exclaimed and then groaned when he strained his burned chest muscles.
I gathered power from the Lights side from the Force over my hands and slowly moved my palms over Cat's burns. He hissed in pain when healthy tissue started growing under his crispy skin. The nurse who was tending him looked from a hand-held scanner to me and back with a stunned look on her face. She was babbling about something but I paid it no attention.
"Now, that's better." I groaned few minutes later. That stunt I just pulled was a bit too much after all the energy I used during the battles earlier that day.
"It's amazing! You cut weeks from his recovery time!" Exclaimed a doctor who had come to see what the commotion was about. "Can you do it for the rest of the wounded?" he asked.
"Unfortunately no. That wiped me out." I sad.
My legs were swaying and I had problems staying on my feet. That confirms it. I did not have the same endurance Vael had. Whether I would be able to match his feats in the future or not remained to be seen.
"I've never been trained as a dedicated medic. The energy I spent hastening Cat's recovery... Let's just say than I could have wiped few enemy platoons without becoming so tired." I muttered.
The doctor waved a scanner all over me and frowned.
"Indeed. You are showing signs of acute exhaustion. I recommend few days of rest. Preferably in bed. "
"You'll get no arguments from me doc. Unless the Sep's decide to visit us again."
The medic grumbled something about gun-ho soldiers that did not know better and loved to create more work for him.
"I'll just visit another patient of yours and make my way to a bed."
I went to Ahsoka who was looking at me with wide eyes.
"Delkatar...That was incredible! How did you manage to heal him!?"
"Some advanced techniques that could be taught in the academy if there was interest in them. Though what I know is technically aimed at self-healing. By helping Cat I used even more energy that I indicated to the Doctor."
"Wow. Can you teach me?!" she gave me puppy dog look with her huge eyes.
"After I get few day of sleep." I muttered. "Here." I gave her the tac-pad.
"What is this?"
"A small present to pass the time while you are recovering. Some essential reading if you want to be effective at leading troops. This war is just starting and I do not believe that you'll simply step away after you are well again."
"No." she frowned. "I've seen what the Separatist do. They must be stopped."
I nodded.
"Get well soon, kid. Get better."
I went to a nearby room where Ventress and Grievous were floating in bacta tanks. There was a squad of heavily armed clones at the door and another inside despite both of the prisoners being fed regular doses of strong sedatives. No one was taking any chances this time. I checked the bindings on the assassin's access to the force and was relieved that they were intact. Combined with the sedatives she should be out for at least a day. Enough time for me to get some rest.
=RK=
My next adventure started soon after the Dauntless exited hyperspace near Coruscant and we headed towards the planet escorted by few hundreds fighters and a battle group of Venators and their escorts. No matter what the Chancellor might have wanted, the GAR High Command was taking no chances.
Under normal circumstances, now that I was a general I should have been looking for weeks if not months of paperwork and debriefings before being assigned troops to command. The Clone Wars were far from normal conflict. What was happening in the last few days – was even stranger than "normal" for that war.
I was on the bridge chatting with Piett who struck me as a competent if a little too eager kid. If I managed to keep him alive I believed that he would have a bright future ahead of him. However for that to happen I had to take him under my wing for more reasons that you might guess. Some in High Command were pleased with his actions at what was becoming known as "The Battle at Rodia" thanks to the reporters. Yeah. They are a bloody menace in this universe too.
But the Captain of the Dauntless was far from happy that a green Ensign had taken the ship into combat without his permission. The fame that the kid was about to receive for his part in the battle where Grievous was captured was something that was infuriating that man.
Earlier that day I had walked on a pale Piett who was shouted down by a purple faced man in his late fifties. Or at least he would have been that old back on Earth. It was not a huge surprise to learn that the people here, at least the ones who could afford top notch medical help could live decades longer than the average back home and that was back in the day.
The gist of the show was that if the Captain had anything to say about it Firmus would end back at his backwater world and not leave it until the war was over. That's when I decided to intervene.
"That's funny captain...?" I moved so I can be seen by the man on the other side of the channel.
"Who the kriff are you?! This is none of your business." He snarled.
"Captain, you will introduce yourself and behave in a manner befitting a Republic officer! I am clear, mister!" I snapped at him.
The purplish color of his face subdued a bit and he gulped. It might be that it started dawning on him that he had made a mistake.
"I am Captain Hebok Lursa. Sir. Who are you?" He asked in quieter voice.
"General Delkatar Veil." I smiled thinly under my helmet.
"Sir! I am sorry for my conduct, Sir! It will not happen again!" He stammered. His face was pale with distinct greenish coloration.
"It better not, captain." I spat his rank as if it tasted something vile.
I waved my hand and the connection was cut off.
"I am sorry that you had to witness that, general." muttered Piett.
"I see that it was a special kind of 'joy' serving under that idiot. If I have anything to say about it you'll be transferred to my new unit. What you did at Rodia was a sweet piece of ship handling. So tell me, what is your opinion of the navy so far?"
"It's been a bit strange, sir. Not exactly what I expected when I graduated..."
Until arriving at Coruscant we talked about some his experience in the Republic army and his impression about the Acclamator class of ships. It was enough for me to like him and conclude that he was a bright kid.
=RK=
We and our escorts were making orbit when new orders came from the Chancellor's office. Me and Shaak Ti were summoned to meet Palpatine as soon as possible. We were about to meet him as well as members of the Jedi council. That was interesting. The paranoid part of my brain was screaming warnings. What were the Jedi up to? Or was that another plot by Sidious? Considering my new status I had two choices. Present myself to the Chancellor or ignore the 'polite suggestion' of my Commander in Chief. Neither of them was particularly good idea. I said goodbye to Piett and headed to the hangar.
Weekly Power Status
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