The Storms of Kamino: Crosshair

Day Shift

The stark, white walls of the medical bay greeted me as I went inside and made my way over to my desk. AZ-5 was already there preparing datapads filled with appointments for the day. I groaned, my eyes struggling to stay open as I sat down next to him.

"What's on the docket today, AZ?" I asked.

"Good morning, Doctor," he responded, handing me a file. "Clone battalion 212 suffered heavy casualties while battling Separatist droids on Utapau. Mistress Nala Se has requested that you receive some of the injured clones for treatment."

"Yeah, that sounds fine." I waved my hand to signal for him to go away, but he didn't listen to me.

I flipped through my schedule while AZ chattered on about how a mechanic had refused to fix one of his servos last night. "I told him how important our work was, but no, he said it was four o'clock in the morning and I had to come back when his shift started. Can you believe that?" I grunted at him as a response, and said, "Well, maybe if you hadn't woken him up so early, he would have been more helpful." AZ whirred so he was in front of my desk and facing me directly. "Oh, so now you're taking his side?" he questioned. I brought my hand up to the bridge of my nose, and exhaled harshly. "AZ, that's not what I meant. I can fix your servos later, but we have a lot of work to get done today, so can we please drop this?" He turned around, his metal arms clanking as he crossed them. "No, I understand. I'm just a droid, who cares what I think," he grumbled.

I don't have time for this, I thought, getting up to look at the droid face to face. He turned away, the blue lights he had for eyes casting a shadow over the nearby medical equipment. "You know, you're the only real friend I have here," I said. "How about after my shift, I not only fix your servos, but recalibrate your memory banks so you can store more information."

He twirled around in the air, almost giddy with excitement. "Really?" he exclaimed. "You'd do that just for me?"

"Of course I would," I said. "Let's just get through this day. Prep the medibeds for all incoming casualties, most crucial on the left, and least crucial on the right. And, pick up some disinfectant spray from the storage rooms when you get a chance. We're almost out."

Two clone troopers limped through the door just as AZ-5 left and sat down, catching their breaths. I went up to them and asked what was wrong. One said that he thought one of his ribs was broken and the other had a large gash across the top of his head. I applied a bacta patch to the wound and told him to lie down and rest.

"If you feel dizzy or sick, let me know," I said as I went to prepare a cast for his friend.

He grabbed my arm, not in a threatening way, but in a way that suggested he needed comfort, or someone to tell him that everything was going to be alright. "Thank you, Doctor."

I nodded. "Everything is going to be fine, trooper." He smiled and his grip on my arm loosened as he began to drift on into sleep.

"I'll go and prepare your cast. Make yourself comfortable, it shouldn't take long," I remarked to the other trooper. "You'll be back on the front lines in no time."

"Didn't you hear?" the clone said.

I raised my eyebrow. "Hear what?"

He shifted so he was sitting more alert. "The war. It's over. The Jedi turned against the Chancellor and were executed for treason. The Republic is gone, replaced by the new galactic Empire."

My eyes went wide at the surprise of this new revelation. Before I could process it fully, the doors of the bay opened and in ran a small child with blonde hair and brown eyes. Omega, the little girl always trailing after Nala Se. She was panting, heavily, and looked exhausted.

"Doctor, I've been looking everywhere for you. There was an incident in the cafeteria. Clone Force 99 has requested you, personally," she said, still trying to get as much air into her lungs as possible.

"Where are they?" I asked, bending down to her height, my hands on my knees.

"They're on level six. I'll show you where."

"AZ, can you handle things for a while?"

He acknowledged me with a wave of his hand. "Of course I can."

"Thank you. I'll be back as soon as I can," I shouted back at him as I accompanied Omega outside.