Roots of Purge

Part 3 The Journey Home

The medical frigate jumped into hyperspace, the star's light creating a blue tunnel around them. Belim sat at the cockpit. Rima had told him to sleep but he couldn't. He had heard Kyle's screams and croaks and he could focus on anything but his friend.
"Belim." Rima awoke him from his thoughts. "If it is Kyle's time to go the you must let him. He might not be able to live much longer." She gave him a worried glance. Belim glared at her. He didn't want his friend to die, he didn't care if he felt angry and he wasn't supposed to. Belim stood up and stormed out of the frigate's cockpit. He walked into the hold and saw his master, Groshuk, contacting the temple. Belim tapped into the force and made the comlink fly across the room into a wall, breaking it.
"We're Jedi!" Belim shouted at his master. "Can't we do something about him instead of sit around and let him die!"
" Belim, he is dying, and I have accepted that. We may be powerful in the force but we can't heal wounds." Groshuk said.
Belim shouted, slamming his fist into the wall.
"Calm down, Padawan." Groshuk said. "Do not give in to the anger that you have. Death is a peaceful thing, and in war it is natural. On Boz Pity, you lashed out in anger against the bounty hunter. You must stay calm, even at times when you panic."
Belim glared at his master. "He his my friend! He has helped me learn and he has taught me the most important things like how to survive in this hell we call a war. He's more of a master than you ever were."
Belim left the hold. He knew that this sadness an anger was a path to the dark side but the Jedi should know that it's impossible to just throw away your emotions. He headed towards the medical bay where he saw Kyle. Attached to his face was a heavy breathing mask with multiple tubes.
"The mask delivers heavy amounts of oxygen into the patient. The only problem is: his lungs are too damaged to filter the oxygen given to him. Even if it did work, it's not portable." said a nearby medical droid.
  Belim looked at the clone. Memories of them flashed through his mind. The two of them holding off squadrons of droids on Ruusan, Kyle covering him while he clashed with Dooku's apprentice, Asaaj Ventress. He left the medical bay. He slowly walked to his quarters.
   Rima came towards him "There is a hospital in a system near us. I was thinking we could stop there and see what the doctors there could do for your friend." She smiled at him.
  "Y...yes that would be helpful. Thank you Rima." he responded. She bowed her head and returned to the cockpit.
  They exited hyperspace. Belim looked around. "There aren't any planets. This isn't a hospital." He said.
  "Look at that asteroid." Groshuk said.
  Belim looked towards the huge asteroid they were heading to. On the top, there was a large facility With multiple glass tunnels and windows.
  "You've taken us to Polis Massa haven't you Rima?" Groshuk asked.
  "Indeed I have." She responded with a smile. "Polis Massa is a space station hospital. It is a neutral facility, supporting anyone who stops by. The natives are doctors but don't get themselves involved with the war." Rima told Belim.
   "What if we find separatists there?" Belim asked.
   "Well then don't act like a Jedi young one. We don't want to get the doctors here involved in our conflict." Groshuk answered.
    They landed at one of the docking bays and got the medical droids do help them transport Kyle off the ship. Once off the ship, multiple small humanoid aliens ran up to Kyle. They put Kyle on a floating bed and hurried off in another direction. Belim began to follow them but Groshuk grabbed his shoulder. "Let them, they can take care of him."
   Belim looked and his master. He had an understanding look on his face. "Ok." Belim said quietly. Rima led them over to the lounge. "Please get yourself some food." She said. "You'll need it." The Jedi nodded their heads. Belim walked towards the cafeteria. He got a plate of food and began to eat, he made sure to conceal his lightsaber. He looked around the room. It was mostly empty except for some serving droids, a group of Neimoidians, and some other assorted species. "Wait." Belim thought. He glanced at the Neimoidians. They were in some sort of uniform, each one had a large fancy hat. "Separatists." He said to himself.
   "What?" Groshuk said, sitting down next to him. "Look over there master, those are Neimoidians. They look to be in separatist uniform." Belim told him.
    "They are wearing Neimoidian clothes. They might be senators or ambassadors of some sort. They shouldn't bother us." Groshuk told Belim. Belim knew something was up. They were whispering to themselves and it was a bit too suspicious for Belim's liking. After eating, they headed back to the lounge where Rima was talking to a doctor. Belim was surprised that she could understand the doctor. He was speaking some confusing outer rim dialect. But for some reason, the Doctor's voice soothed him. She enunciated each word smoothly and it calmed him, even if he didn't know what she was saying. The doctor didn't even seem like any known species. He wondered if she was wearing a mask or just didn't have a nose or mouth.
Rima finished talking to the doctor. She stepped towards the Jedi. "They're doing they're best to help the Commander. His internal organs are damaged. They can heal his outer wounds but that won't keep him alive. There is really only one option. There is a prototype for a new technology the doctors here are developing. It is a special system attached to a helmet that gets special oxygen into the patients lungs. It will help him breathe but the downside is he needs surgery for it and he might not be able to survive it." She said solemnly.
"It really seems to be our only option if we wish for him to live." Said Groshuk. "If he doesn't get the surgery, he still dies."
"Then do it, now!" Belim exclaimed.
"I will inform the doctors." Said Rima, and she stepped away. Belim felt tired. He had been doing nothing but worrying the whole time. He knew he needed rest. The employees at the facility were willing to give them each a room. He got the things he wanted from the ship, like a change of clothes and some food. As he was leaving, he saw the Neimoidians entering the docking Bay Area for all the docked ships. It was suspicious, he knew they were up to something.
   "Calm down Belim." Said Groshuk. "They are probably just going to their ship."
   Belim slowly nodded his head. He was just being paranoid. He walked into his room and dropped his bag on the floor. He moved the chair towards the window so he could look out into peaceful space. He glanced at some docked ships that were located at Docking Bay 2. Then he saw it: a Neimoidian shuttle was docked at the bay. He stood up quickly. "They weren't going to their ship. They were going towards ours." Belim said to himself.
   He grabbed his lightsaber and sprinted out of his room. He dashed towards his ship and was about to enter the docking bay, when suddenly, the medical frigate exploded. The Neimoidians were no where to be seen. He saw that Groshuk had exited his room, drew his lightsaber, and had begun deflecting blaster fire. The other people in the room scattered away from the fight. Belim ran up beside his master and saw that three Neimoidian guards were firing at him. He ignited his lightsaber and charged forward. He cut the rifle of the first one and pushed them all back with the force. Groshuk ran up beside him and threw his lightsaber, killing two of the guards. The last one stood up and began running away.
"I'll go after this one! You go protect Rima and Kyle. There may be more of these scum looking for them." Groshuk ordered.
Belim ran off in the direction of Kyle's room. Once he arrived, he saw that the doctors were in the middle of surgery. Kyle's chest had been opened up and his lungs were being operated on. His life readings were low. Rima walked up to him a worried look on her face. "The operation is going poorly." She said solemnly. "He just doesn't seem to be able to survive the operation. We can't figure out why."
   Belim was about to say something when one of the doctors yelled out. "Uba, Uba. Soshay contivou!"
"What do you think she said Rima?" Belim asked. "It's hard to understand but I think they've found something." She responded.
  Belim looked towards Kyle and saw them pull a strange chip out of his neck. It seemed to have been burnt to a crisp. Suddenly, he sensed a presence outside the room. He stepped out and saw two Neimoidians with their guards. Belim drew his lightsaber and slashed at the two in the front. They both ducked his attack and stepped back. One of the guards stepped forward and smacked his rifle right into Belim's face. He was knocked on the floor and right as one guard was about to shoot him he used the force and sent them all flying. He hoped up and ran his lightsaber across the floor, killing all of them. The two senatorial looking Neimoidian had survived and were running away. Belim chased after them but they already had a headstart. Belim turned the corner and followed them.
   After a few twists and turns he had lost them. Belim heard the squeak of an opening door. He turned to face it but his master came running through.
  "I've already caught mine but I saw that there was more." Groshuk said panting. "What are you doing here?"
  "Chasing after the same scum as you master." Belim responded. "I don't which way they went."
  "Then we must find them. Reach out into the force young one. We may yet find them." Groshuk held his three fingered hand out and he closed his eyes. Belim put his and into the air and... "Found them!" Groshuk said. He
sprinted off towards the right. They ran down the hallway for a while only to realize where they were heading: Docking Bay 2. They were returning to their shuttle. They ran into the docking room. Belim glanced to the side. He saw one of the Neimoidians trying to get the bay door open but it seemed to be on lockdown.
    All of a sudden, they heard a strange noise coming from the hallway in front of them. It sounded strangely like a underwater breath mask. A slow deep inhale, then a deep exhale. The breathing was low but it wasn't raspy. Suddenly, a deep dark voice spoke, "you fools aren't going anywhere." At that moment, an armored hand swung, hitting one right in the nose, sending him flying towards a wall. The next one was uppercutted by the dark figure, knocking him out. The thing turned around and looked at them. Then Belim knew, "Kyle."  he whispered. Kyle had been equipped with his normal purple clone armor but it had a large console on the chest with tubes attached. The tubes ran up to his helmet, allowing him to breathe. His voice was very much deeper than it usually was and he had the low inhale and exhale whenever he breathed.
   A tear dropped down Belim's face. "You survived." He said. "Happy to see me kid." Kyle said. His voice was almost unrecognizable but Belim knew it was him. Rima walked up behind him and said "he survived the surgery. The chip in his neck was damaging his throat because of the electricity and heat it was giving off. Once removed we could attach the apparatus and fix his lungs. He will need an oxygen chamber if he wishes to remove his helmet though." She said.
"I think I can 'live' with that." He said with a little giggle. Behind the mask it was hard to tell that Kyle was happy but Belim knew him, he was happy.
   The Jedi payed what they owed to the doctors and Belim added a little extra tip. Since their ship was destroyed, they took the Neimoidian shuttle. Belim loaded what he had onto the shuttle and sat in the cockpit. Kyle came over and sat down next to him. "Thanks buddy. With Loakka's bounty hunter. It was a big help. I wouldn't have survived without you." He said. "I could've stopped it. You probably hate what you have to live with now." Belim responded. "No." Said Kyle. "I think I love it." His head was high. It seemed like he was smiling. They both laughed together looking out the cockpit window.
  The shuttle exited hyperspace. Looking over Coruscsnt, Belim said,
"We're home." He smiled at Kyle.