'So That's What Fox Meant About Not Minding A Squeeze...' Bite Thought To Himself, Assessing The Trooper

“BITE!!!!”

Crane’s running down the hallway, almost crashing into a wall in his rush. He nearly ran completely past Bite, until he tripped and fell face first on the floor.

Crane pants and huffs on the floor until,

“I- *huff* heard you were looking *pant* for Tumbler!”

Crane tries to get to his feet but ends up sitting on the floor.

“Weird message *pant* Me and Forge! *huff* the Rattataki!! *pant* NOISE COMPLAINTS!!!!”

(Idk if @squad380 would be with bite at this point in time but hope the @‘s ok)

( @guard-crane )

"Crane, vod, breathe!"

Bite considered helping the trooper off the floor before deciding it would be much easier to drop to his good knee.

"Slow down and tell me what you know."

Normally the GAR doesn’t assign us to well , security detail. @clone-force-87

I can't deny that statement. In all my time with stealth ops, I never had an escort assignment before. But then again, the situation around my transfer was less based on my specialisation and more that this was the only posting other than a medical base they could justify sending me too, and apparently it would be "a waste for a trooper with such expensive training to be assigned to such a post"... yeah. Although working on Coruscant has had some similarities with my previous job that I was definitely not expecting.

"Ka'ra, why are all the corries so murder-y? No, I do not need you to stab someone vod. And you are good on the punching thing. Work with injured troopers long enough, few things faze you in the end."

Bite prods at the blooming bruise a few times before he is sure there is no real damage. The towel around '07s shoulders does little to hide the scars from Bites trained eye, and the way the vod has slightly curled his shoulders and refuses to meet his eye tells him all he needs to know about '07s opinion on that fact.

"Are you alright? I know tension is always high on Coruscant, but it doesn't usually end in bruises outside showers."

1607 despises people seeing his scars. They're a thing of shame, after all-- not battle scars, just evidence of what's been done to him. The elaborate patterns trail down from his shoulders to his wrists, and all along his ribs. He despises them. So, when he steps out of the shower and is face-to-face with another trooper, he acts on instinct-- he punches them.

Not. A. Chance.

"I apologise, Ma'am, but the situation requires CT-3996's immediate attention. This unit has received training and education in every area our creators and trainers could have anticipated my line of clones could require."

Bite is going to throw every single thing the demagolka from Kamino ever told him to justify their cruelty back at this osik'la woman now. He already knows this is going to hurt, but there is no chance he is letting the senator drag his vod back into to hell along with him.

"Mouse is waiting for you vod'ika, don't make him worry. It's my job as your medic to fix you when you're broken, it's my job as your vod to atleast try to stop people from getting to break you in the first place."

Ka'ra, Bite is not looking forward to the conversation he can feel coming after this is over.

[DECEIVE] The sender tells a lie in order to protect the receiver || Bite was hoping for a quiet shift, though a shift as the on call medic for the senate is never quiet. As soon as Bite saw a senator getting a bit too close to his vod, he sped up to intervene. "Sir, I see that you seem to be asking this trooper for some assistance. I regret to inform you that it is unable to complete any alternative taskings at this time. I can assist you with anything you need to the best of my ability."

"Oooh? CT-3996, why didn't you tell me you were occupied? Were you hoping someone would tattle on lil ol' me?"

Tumbler would appear unaffected at first glance, settled in perfect parade rest but Bite would see how Tumbler is digging his fingers hard into his forearms, hidden behind and out of sight of the Senator, hiding his building fear and discomfort as the Senator trails her hand under where his chin would be, safe beneath his bucket.

"I was unaware, Senator Vyrim. Forgive this Trooper, it's holocomm may be inoperable and missed a situation that requires their attention."

He hopes, prays even, to whatever damned deity or greater being or even the sith-damned Force that the Senator drops the matter. Senator Vyrim was too alike Sly Moore for Tumbler to truly dismiss and disassociate from, the Rattataki Senator sharing the same pale tone and eye colour, with her tattoos and bejeweled skin the only difference from the Umbaran female.

"It's- I- I don't know. I feel like I'm there, in that room, but I can't be because my squad came for me, right? They got me out, but they aren't here, and I don't know where here is. I don't know where I am. And where are my squad? Kara, please say I got out! Please say I'm not making that up!"

Bite's breathing is slowly starting to even out as he subconsciously mimics the pattern of the vod in front of him. His mind is still racing. Every reason he finds to think he might be ok is immediately joined by more reasons he isn't. At least he isn't alone, the warm body under his palms, not a trick his mind is capable of playing.

"Not alone, not alone, not alone..."

(from: @squad380) for Spotify wrapped starters/asks: 27

[Nice, song 27: Panic Room by Au/Ra]

Bite wakes with a jolt and a loud swear, tumbling from his top bunk and groaning as he lands on the previously distant floor.

"Kriff, one night of uninterrupted sleep in all I ask for." Bite mumbles in staggered, sharp breaths, aware of the vode sleeping around him. He pushes himself up on shaking limps as the adrenaline from his nightmare continues to rage through him.

In the darkness of the barracks, Bite could have sworn he was somewhere else, the cold floor only serving to help his mind send him places he never wants to think of again. Only the steady breathing of sleeping clones, intrupted by the sounds of rustling sheets and creeking frames, grounds him in the room.

Even now, Bite can feel the panic in his throat, and the images of past horrors flash across his vision. The shaking has spread throughout his entire body, and his breathing is still uneven. With each thunderous beat of his heart, Bite moved further into the shadows of his mind.

Bite takes the datapad from the obviously nervous vod in front of him and sets it down on the desk before looking back at him.

"Before I read this, I just want to say thank you for trusting me with this. I know it can be hard to talk about, I'm a transfer myself. You have done a good job just getting to this point, vod."

After that, he picks up the data pad and begins to read. What he read was horrible. He mourned for the shines who never got to grow up, but he also mourned for the man stood before him. For Forges life he lost after he was put through a hell he can't even remember.

"Thank you, vod. That must have been hard to write. If you ever need me, for absolutely anything, whether that be in the form of a medic, or a friend, comm me."

As Bite speaks, he writes down his comm code on a slip of flimsy and holds it out for Forge to take.

The door to the med bay opens with its usual hisssssss

He clears his throat.

“Uh excuse me,—”

(@guard-crane :D yay forge time)

Bite looks up from where he sat at the small desk shoved into the corner of the medbay, filling out medical reports to add to a few troopers' files when someone walked in. He can see no visible injuries in the clone in the doorway, so he stays sitting but puts down his stylus and gives the trooper his full attention.

"That's me. What can I do for you, vod?"

"Thank you for telling me, vod, I assume Tumbler knew seeing as he seems to be taking a certain level of glee in the situation?"

Bite's heard similar stories, but every time, they make his blood boil and stomach roll. He'd learned early to expect harm from the Kaminoans and Cuy'val Dar, but their brothers? They were supposed to be safe.

"Alright, he's ready for transport, I need both of you to help me get him to the medbay without jostling him as much as possible. Ready? Let's go."

(from: Mouse, @squad380)

Hey, so-- okaylistenIknockedaguyout-- okay no, breathe, just breathe-- okay. I mostly-accidentally knocked Vayne unconscious and now he's bleeding from his ears. I also not-accidentally broke his ankles. And uh. Tumbler and I have no idea what to do.

This was not what he'd expected when he arrived after receiving a 'Help Please!' comm from Mouse.

"Ok, before I touch any of the rest of that, keep breathing vod'ika, you are going to be fine. In, hold, out. Good Mouse, and again. In, hold, out. There we go. Show me the way, vod'ika, I'll see what I can do."

Given the description of the injuries, Bite is rather confused on exactly how the little vod before him managed to make someone bleed from their ears after a punch, but given the things he's seen, he'll wait until he can see for himself to make any judgements on the situation.

"By the ka'ra, I new Guard-GAR relations weren't great, but not this bad. Shows how much time I used to spend on Coruscant."

Bite starts talking as he helps Tumbler get his helmet off before moving on to his left glove and vembrance.

"I'll splint this now and check your head, then I'll wrap your arm properly. Sound good? And let me know if you want a painkiller."

Bite waits for an acknowledgement before he starts pulling things out of his pack and getting to work on Tumblers arm.

"Either way, impressed you managed to take out so many marines by yourself, we should spar some time."

He is just finishing up with the quick brace and was about to move on to the head injury when the marine closest to them pipes up.

"He got lucky, nothing impressive about it!"

If Bite had been annoyed before, now he was getting pissed. Do these guys not know to shut up when they are down.

"I recommend you can it before I march you back you your commander myself and have some words with your CMO about reminding his troops to stop picking fights while someone elses medic is stitching up your face."

Bite makes eye contact with the medic working on the marine, who nods in thanks before turning back to Tumbler.

"Kark, I hate marines."

:Incoming Transmission from: Coruscant Guard Holding ward:

We need any available medic to head down to the Holding Wards and tend to our local vent cryptid. Di'kut got into a brawl with someone from Bacara's lot and our on-hand medics are tending to the the Marines who jumped in.

- @corrie-guard-tumbler

"Medic Bite, on route, Over"

Bite stands quickly from where he'd been sat talking with one of the other medics in the mess.

"I've got this one. Flag it to the medbay in case things got extra rough, and I'll comm you when I have the facts."

Bite turns on his heel and starts running full pelt towards the holding wards. He'd only met Tumbler once, but after memorising his file, he was already trying to sort out a plan in his head.

As Bite skid around the final corner, he was greeted with the sight of injured brothers and very tired medics trying to stop someone from continuing the fight.

Turning to the trooper on duty at the entrance, he asked where to find Tumbler and was pointed to a dazed and injured looking vod in the back corner of the room.

Weaving around the clones still scattered around the space, Bite finally reached the corner Tumbler was pressed into.

"Hey vod, it's Bite. What happened? What do you need?"

[To whoever sent the ask saying, "I love you and your brothers," I'm sorry I have accidentally managed to delete the ask after answering it, so here is what I had intended to respond with:]

"Um, thank you?"

Bite had had weirder and much more unpleasant things said to him before by Coruscanti citizens, but few of them left his feeling as confused and wrong footed as this. He could only pray to Mand'alors long past that this wasn't one of those clone groupies his brothers had told him about.

An obligatory Commander check-in.

“What’s your status?” (How are you?)

@bittercafanddatapads

"Ready to return to post, sir!"

It was nice of the Commander to check in on Bite, but he knew he'd do exactly the same for any vod returning from a stint on Kamino.

"If I may ask, anything of note I've missed while I was on temporary reassignment, sir?"

After the Kaminoans had sent over the paperwork for his temporary transfer, Bite had had to move quickly to get packed and on the next transport, leaving little time to tie up his loose ends on Coruscant. He could only hope his absence hadn't left too much damage within the Guard that his fellow medics were left to fix.