Chapter 252: Kallus Kane: Dead or Alive
I don't own Star Wars
I've lived long enough to not look a gift kath hound in the mouth… The girls were panicking, that was understandable we just saw Kallus get shot and he went down. And now they're shooting after the shuttle and that freaky cyborg chick instead of helping Kal.
Blaster wounds needed to be tended to IMMEDIATELY for even a chance of survival. I skidded next to my nephew and immediately checked for a pulse… THERE.
"Alright Kal stay with me alright?!" I breathed, slicing off his armor to get direct access to the horrific burn wound beneath before slapping kolto patches on it. It won't help much but it might keep him alive until I can get him into a bacta tank, which will help a lot more but we're going to need someone particular.
"Kal! Kal!" Oriana skidded to his side, but I quickly stopped her, grabbing her tear steaked face and forcing her to look at me as the Jedi approached as well, already putting her jedi healy hands on him as I got Oriana to focus.
"Oriana? Oriana! Get the trolly! Bring it here if it still works! Jedi."
"Lidia." She replied as I moved quickly on.
"Keep him breathing."
"I am trying but he took a sniper bolt to the CHEST." She gazed at me concernedly. "It's a miracle he IS still breathing!"
"You're a space wizard do some miracles!" she looked at me indignantly and somehow I knew Yura was going to hit me later for that one because she HATES it when I say that. And Lidia wasn't any different giving me such a LOOK.
"You two!" I decided to get them moving and turned only to find Nerri helping Oriana to get the trolly back up but we're my new niece? "Where did the pink one go!?" I demanded as Nerri and Oriana looked around, realizing Lala wasn't here…
But she appeared pretty quickly. A top of the line speeder zoomed into the warehouse, Lala leapt from the drivers seat. "Get him in the back!" I stared at her, "Nerri grab his feat." I grabbed my Nephew's arms as we got him into the backseat. "Sorry Kal. Sorry Kal. Sorry Kal." I grumbled as we lay him down the back. Lidia kneeling back there as well to keep him breathing as we all stuffed ourselves into the speeder. "Where did you get this?" I asked as-
"That's my speeder!" shrieked a running Weequay as Lala kicked the engine in gear and streamed out of the warehouse. "Aw come ON!!"
"We need to get him back to the ship!" Oriana shouted.
"No!" I interrupted. "We'll take him to mine! Head to the rebel!" I punched in the coordinates. "It's closer and I have an idea." Lala wasn't arguing, speeding off towards the port.
We arrived in good time, as we got Kal out of the car, and carried him up onto the Scarlet Rebel II. Activating my Bacta tank quickly, we carefully stripped my nephew down, his gear: armor and weapons, clattering onto the floor before we finally got him into the soothing miracle healing tank. Hooked up and floating, Oriana rubbed her arms as she stared at him.
"…This is my fault." She breathed softly, "…I shouldn't have let him go, we should've just left and gone back into hiding but he was so miserable…" she mumbled, talking to herself as Lidia turned her attention to me. Glaring into my very soul as I cringed, Lala and Nerri on the other hand occupied themselves by looking around my ship.
"Oriana it wasn't you fault." I said, going into protective uncle mode as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her head. "…It's my fault." I replied calmly. Taking the blame. "…I should've just handled it myself, called in a few more favors… Urai owes me an all out Mandalorian assault after I beat him in pazaak. I should've just cashed that in."
Oriana scoffed, burying her face into my chest as I hugged her. "…Yeah I thought that would get you." I said as she tried not to laugh while she was crying… "Alright… it'll be alright. Uncle Aiden will fix it."
"How?" Lidia asked curiously. "This is beyond Jedi healing and who knows how long it'll take him to get back up to 100% if ever." she replied, gazing at Kal's floating body concernedly as the bacta visibly did it's work, his wound stopped weeping and his breathing steadied… if this happened to just about anyone else they would've died and I wouldn't wastes the bacta…
I stared at my floating nephew, then sighed irately. "…She's going to hate me for this." I mumbled, already forming an idea in my head. "Alright…" I stroked my niece's hair, before approaching the Jedi, "Hold this for me."
Even Lidia seemed confused as to how I managed to get Oriana crying on her shoulder, but she was a Jedi and empathetic, quickly comforting her as I went to find the other two. "Lala! Nerri?"
"Yeah?" Lala asked, popping out of the kitchen and eating my snacks. I stared at her,
"…Awe not the Spira fruit that's my favorite."
"Mine too that's why I'm eating it." Lala replied, "You owe me like twenty years of presents." I'll let it slide. But I'm counting that, I owe her nineteen.
"Can you fly your ship?"
"…Yeah?" she replied casually as Nerri joined us as well, using one of Caradoc's old whetstones to sharpen her spear.
"…You're both taking Kal getting shot very well." I noted curiously as Lala just ate a fist full of my Spira fruit bites.
"I'm a stress eater."
"I need to keep my hands busy." Replied Nerri as I nodded, I needed to fix Kal so let's move this on.
"Okay. Go back to your ship and follow mine. IF you can't keep up. Go to these coordinates." I transferred them to Nerri's data pad. "Okay?" Lala opened her mouth, still chewing food. "Yes you can take the snacks." She nodded as they both walked out. "Lidia" I walked back into the hold. "You and Oriana stay with me… mostly because I don't think she'll leave him and I need someone to distract her, so I volunteer you." Lidia gaped at me rather confused as I quickly headed toward the cockpit.
"Okay… don't YELL at me." I mumbled to myself, watching Lala and Nerri drive off, before closing everything up… and starting the engines. "Okay…" I said, steadily rising into the air, turning my ship towards space, and shooting off quickly as the stars came toward us.
"A warning next time!" shouted Lidia only for me to snap back.
"Trying to save my nephew!" Good thing I gave Nerri and Lala those coordinates or they'd never find me where I'm going…
"Where are we going?!" Lidia asked, throwing herself into the cockpit as I activated the hyperdrive.
"Visit a family friend!" I replied, jumping into hyperspace. When we came out of it, we were approaching an old space station, orbiting a calm trade planet as I took a breath. "Okay…" I breathed, already hailing it. "…Let's hope she's not in a mood." I noted, "…Xalbaia? Are you there? Xalbaia?-"
"Oh what the space fuck are you doing here Aiden?" came a rather bored yawn over the comes of the family doctor. "I'm retried. I'm on Vacation. Sabbatical… I don't care which excuse you pick I'm not stitching anyone up or developing life saving treatments so GO away!"
"My nephew's been shot in the chest with a sniper rifle." I declared. Lidia gazed at me for a minute then the com. It was silent for a long tome.
"…Dock two. Hurry up before I change my mind or you kill someone." She hung up as I drifted the Scarlet Rebel towards dock two of the station.
"Day's still young." Lidia watched me curiously.
"Who was that?"
"Doctor Xalbaia. A Faleen and a family friend, she's pretty much treated everyone in my family and saved our lives more than once. If anyone can fix Kallus, she can. Oriana?" I asked, addressing the ship. "How's he doing?"
"Considering the hole in his chest. He's stable." Oriana replied. "Are we almost there?"
"We are there, we're docking right now. Unattached the Bacta from the ship we can transport him in it." I got off the chair, "I've upgraded my ship since I last went space adventuring." I noted as Lidia followed me.
"…I sense you don't like me very much." She noted as I paused, and I turned to her looking confused.
"Who SAYS that?" I replied, "I don't have a problem with you Master Lidia. BUT…" I took a breath, "My family as a whole, doesn't have a lot of good memories when it comes to people swinging lightsabers at us. My sisters, who I love enough to piss of my wives by getting back into the game and helping my nephew, are downright HUNTED by Jedi when they're on the battlefield. My wife Yura was a sith trained force user, so she has bad memories with Jedi. OH. And a motherfucking ex-jedi tried to mind-rape and LITERALLY rape another…" Lidia looked at me shocked. "Oh yeah. I remember that fucker. I broke his balls. THEN I heard he managed to get back into the Jedi order. So… you'll excuse me. MASTER Lidia…" I said softly, keeping my cool. "If polite indifference is how I treat you. Can I get back to saving my nephew now?" I replied moving on without her permission as the bacta tank hovered in the hold like a hospital gurny.
I rested my hands on it as the ramp opened up and together with Oriana we walked down, Lidia close behind to see a collection of medical and war droids along with Xalbaia… in boogie shorts and a floral top. I stared at her surprise. "You really were on vacation?" I asked as the medical droids took Kal off our hands, Oriana wordlessly following him as Xalbaia moved quickly with me.
"Yes. Would it KILL you Aiden to show up on my doorstep without dying family? You never write, you never call…"
"I literally did that last life day and you told me you hated the shorts I sent you!" I said, gesturing to the shorts she was wearing.
"What can you tell me?" Xalbaia asked quickly, moving on. "Was he armored?"
"Yeah." I replied seriously. "Took a bolt right in the chest."
"Still breathing?"
"Yes."
Xalbaia whistled softly, already getting her medical droids to apply sterilizing gloves to her hands. "…Alright. I'll see what I can do. Keep his girlfriend out of the way." She said quickly as I took Oriana by the hand and held her back. Xalbaia leading the droids into the station and quickly toward the operating room as I sat Oriana down, and turned to Lidia. "Look after her for a little bit I have to make a call."
"Who are you calling?"
"Another favor. My buddy Urai." I said pulling out my communicator and already making the call as I walked away, Lidia comforting Oriana as she watched Xalbaia immediately begin operating on Kal. "Pick up Urai…" I mumbled, waiting as the com rang… while I waited, eventually Lala and Nerri arrived. All of them along with Rattletrap watching Kallus through the theatre glass as Xalbaia worked… if she can't get Kal back up to 100% then she'd get it as high as possible.
"…Fuck." I mumbled. Trying to call Urai again. Rubbing my hair as I took a breath.
"Haaah…" his bearded scared face appeared on my projector as I smirked at him. "Aiden." He said with a smirk.
"Urai. Looking good."
"Same to you." He replied, "…We got to skip pleasantries." He jerked his thumb over his should to something off screen. "So if this is a big favor you're calling in get to it."
"…I need you, to tell Torga, to tell his sister than my nephew is dead." I said. "Or feed whatever spy she sent into your ranks this week that he's dead. From my lips to yours."
Urai's eyes narrowed, and he seemed to walk to a more secured location where he wouldn't be overheard. "They got him? I told my boys to back off."
"Empire got him." I replied, "…Some freaky cyborg chick shot him in the chest."
"Mandalore. I'm sorry to hear that Aiden… is he gone?"
"Not yet. He gets that from my side of the family… shit that's my mother's side." I growled irately. "Fuck her, she's dead. Not important. Look. Just pass it on, will you? It will keep the scavengers off his back while he recovers… if he recovers."
"It's the least I can do." Urai replied seriously as I grinned.
"Ah it's not. But you don't owe me anything… I think." I frowned, "…DO you owe me a Mandalorian raid? Or did I imagine that?"
"My nephew Ryuai promised you that when you got him drunk playing pazaak." Urai replied stiffly, "And since I lead the Ken clan and not him, it's not really binding… though I imagine he could get a few brothers and sisters to follow him into battle when he's not drooling over that Jewel of his."
If I wasn't a married man and Milky wasn't the sexiest fucking Cathar in the galaxy I'd be drooling over Aphrodite too.
"Ah let him drool all over the Jewel if he wants." I grinned at him as Urai rolled his eyes. "Works for us right?"
"Let him get a few notches under his helmet first before he starts collecting a harem of women." He said jokingly, "…I've found a few snitches in my ranks I'll use them first before I get rid of them." He said seriously. "Try to keep your nephew under wraps."
"…He is a Kane." I noted as Urai nodded.
"And you're a Firemane. That's not much better."
"Hey. Low blow." I mumbled, "Thanks Urai. Let me know how it works out?" he nodded as he disconnected and I shoved my com into my pocket, joining the girls and Rattletrap, watching silently as Xalbaia worked on Kal.
....
"You killed Kallus Kane?" declared Alastor Cromwell suspiciously as Nohgri stood over his shoulder the SMUG look on Critcher's face said it all.
"That C.R.O.W. I had commission shot Kallus Kane directly in the center of his CHEST." Hissed Critcher, "It was… delicious." He smiled as Alastor sat back in his chair, studying his son. He had no words, neither praise nor abuse. He just stared. "…And did you confirm the body?" Critcher scoffed.
"He took a sniper round in the CHEST… that rifle has pierced AT-AT armor." At close range. "He's DEAD. I killed a Kane." Alastor said nothing, his eye twitched and his aged body seemed to ache more than usual. He took a deep breath, reached forward, and turned off the com…
"He didn't. Confirm. The body…" he growled quietly. Gazing up at Nohgri who only scowled back, shaking his head. "Damn that fool…" he sighed, at least the commissioned. C.R.O.W was indeed of some use. Most C.R.O.Ws are hit or miss depending on the genetic 'doners' they used. And a blasted corpse from Kallus Kane's former squad gave him doubts…
But Alastor was old, and wise… unless he had the heads of his enemies in front of him he NEVER counted them out. He's dealt with more than a few 'monsters' in his time… Even the Dreaded Blackjaw Gryst in his younger days… and Kallus Kane was most definitely a 'monster'.
End of chapter.
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