The Clone Wars: One-shots

A Needle of Trouble

Timeline: Season 6-7 of TCW

She quietly tore open the panel on his back after using a screwdriver to unscrew the bolts, revealing an endless maze of wires in various colors. Clutching the tool in her mouth, she carefully navigated her hands through the wired mess until she found his power cell. It was too dark to see what was wrong. One of her fingers stayed touching the cool metal of the cell as she reached for her small flashlight. She squinted as the light turned on, but after her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw the problem. AZI's tangled wires had got caught in part of the power cell, causing it to shut off completely. A simple fix. One she had to do quickly before Nala Se found her messing with yet another Kaminoan toolbox in one of the Military Complex storage rooms.

Omega could have submitted a report for AZI's malfunctions, but the last time she did, she had to wait over a week in standard time before her friend was ready to come back to her, even though the only problem was that one of his prongs shut off. She didn't like being away from her friend for so long.

She took the screwdriver sitting between her teeth and gently set it on the floor in favor of a precision tweezer. Still holding the light, she aimed it at the power cell for a second time as she slowly moved the wires at fault out of the way with the tool seized firmly in her other hand. When all looked well, she put everything down to try powering on AZI.

His yellow eyes flickered a few times, then he completely turned on, coming to life.

"And then we can—" he held his hands up, grasping a nonexistent pipe, continuing right where he left off before shutting off and tumbling to the floor roughly thirty minutes ago. He looked down, realizing he was grabbing nothing. "Hey, where'd the—" he scanned the room around him, dark and definitely not the same room he was in moments prior.

Before he could continue, Omega shushed the droid. "It's okay AZI. Your power cell got tangled up in wires so you shut off. But nothing to worry about," she assured, "It's all fixed."

Omega was filled with pride, absorbing the fact that she had just repaired a droid all by herself. She enjoyed learning about the different tools and their functions on their own, but she also liked being able to help her friend when he needed it. She hated feeling useless and hated seeing her friends hurt even more, even if they were just a droid.

"Come help me put all of this away before Nala Se comes looking for us," she said as she neatly placed the flashlight and screwdriver back into the toolbox.

"On it!" he chirped, floating over with the use of his repulsors, picking up different tools scattered along the floor as he came.

After they had put most of the tools away, AZI hovered still as Omega positioned his panel back to where it was and screwed in the bolts with the help of a screwdriver.

Making sure everything in the storage room looked just as it was before they came, they snuck out of the dark room, entering the familiar never-ending white halls lit by beams of light lined on either side. The only halls she's ever roamed since her creation.

Lucky for them, it was empty for the time being—most clones were at the cafeteria for mess. Speaking of which, mess was almost over, which meant that Nala Se would be looking for her.

Omega dashed through the halls, light on her feet, making her way to the other side of the complex with AZI soaring a few paces behind her. She had to meet Nala Se at the medical facility near the DNA room. As much as she dreaded it, Nala Se told her that constantly taking samples of her DNA was necessary for all the clones' well-being. And any time she was late— she shuddered mid-jog thinking about it, causing her to almost trip over.

She was grateful for Nala Se, the Kaminoan was her mentor, after all, but when Omega made a single misstep in anything related to cloning, she turned cold and distant. Omega would get punished for misbehaving, and if she didn't comply right away, things would only get worse.
Pushing the thoughts aside, she entered Nala Se's medical wing, where the tall Kaminoan sat beside a medical bed, making preparations for Omega's DNA extraction. She took a slow deep breath before shuffling forward and climbing atop the bed.

Nala Se gave Omega a nod before turning to the droid. "You may go now, AZI-3," though she spoke smoothly, it wasn't an offer. It was a demand.

"Good luck, Omega," he uttered remorsefully before spinning around and drifting out the door, leaving Omega alone with the Chief Medical Scientist of Kamino.

Omega's back fell into the mattress in defeat, putting her hands by her sides before Nala Se instructed her to do so. The Kaminoan worked silently, hooking different mechanisms onto Omega that made her feel squirmy. A tight band on her arm to measure her blood rate. Wires taped on her stomach and arms. Cuffs around her wrists and ankles to prevent her from twisting or jolting unexpectedly during the procedure. Nala Se was preparing the needle for her blood extraction. Omega kept her eyes on the white ceiling, knowing all too well that looking made it more insufferable than it already was.

She tried to blink away the tears pooling in her eyes but to no avail. Over the years, she's grown a fear of the tiny sharp metal tubes that the Kaminoan scientists use to inject and extract. Not only did it hurt really badly, but the feeling of the needle crawling under her skin made her want to vomit.

Nala Se didn't give her a warning. Her arms and legs jerked against her will, restrained by the metal cuffs. The point pierced through her skin and dug beneath it to the muscle. She squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could, biting down forcefully on her lower lip to ease the pain and distract herself, if only slightly. Feeling the blood being drawn, her body tried to yank itself away, once again stopped by the cuffs pinning it down.

The needle was pulled out from her flesh, leaving a shaken Omega with slightly less blood than she had before.

Nala Se wrapped Omega's arm with medical tape then released the cuffs, allowing Omega to sit up from the mattress. She made the mistake of looking at the large vial of blood, immediately making her stomach churn. At least it was over now, and she wasn't punished with having to provide any more samples. One was all the doctor needed.

"Thank you for your compliance, young Omega," she said in her soft, neutral tone.

Omega rubbed her eyes and wiped away the tears from her cheeks, letting her legs dangle above the ground on the edge of the bed.

"Can... I go now?" she sniffled, careful of her words.

"Yes, you may. Remember to continue your medical studies with AZI-3. If you are to stay my assistant, you must have the information on those documents memorized."

Omega nodded along, only half listening. She would worry about studying later.

"Thank you, Nala Se!" she called as she ran out of the room, eager to get as far away from Nala Se's medical wing as possible.

She galloped to go find AZI so they could do some more 'hands-on research' together as they explored Tipoca City. Though she'd lived there for her whole life, Nala Se was only just allowing her to go off on her own, so long as she followed orders and wasn't a nuisance to anyone.

Her arm starting to sore from the shot, she kept trotting through the halls and let her mind wander and curiosity pique in the place she called home.