'Once, I didn't care about people fearing me. Now,...'
Anakin shook it off and headed for Emil's office. He paused a bit and then knocked on the door.
"Come in," Emil's voice came from the other side.
The former Sith lord entered the room and looked down at the seated man.
"Ah, Anakin. It's good to see you. What can I do for you?"
Anakin's charateristc breathing sound was all that was heard for a few moments.
"I was wondering if your medical abilites would be able to help me."
Emil Lang winced, as he replied, "I don't know. We could take a look."
Anakin held up a hand for silence. "I know that the prospects aren't hopeful. But, I really should check. As I told you before this suit I wear is a major irritant for me."
Dr. Lang nodded. "I understand. All we can do is look and try. Maybe skin grafts and maybe...."
Dr. Lang's voice trailed off and looked sad.
Anakin sensed the sadness and the uncofortableness that whatever thought was going through Lang's mind brought him.
Anakin waited for a moment, not saying anything.
Emil Lang stared Vader in the eye(well as much as can be with a black helmet seperating them.) "I don't know if your culture does it. My guess is not, due to the fact that you are wearing that device. We'll have to do tissue compatibilty checks."
"I don't understand," Anakin said, confused.
Emil Lang closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "This is probably going to sound barbaric to you. Our mortally wounded piolts, the oes are medical abilities can't save do help us save others."
Anakin waited, feeling both his unease and Emil's 'Whatever this is, it's going to be different.'
Emil asked, "Just what does that device you wear aid or replace?"
"I can't breathe regularly and my heart is also damaged. My eyes, ears, tounge, and stomach are okay, as is my brain. I have suffered burns over sixty percent of my body."
Emil nodded. "We can do that. Our pilots have signed wavers so that we can use their organs to help and save others. We transplant a healthy set of lungs and a healthy heart to replace your dameged ones from a compatible donor. Same goes with the skin graft."
Shuddering in disgust, Anakin thought. 'Organ transplanting? Skin grafts? Bacta tanks and cybernetics are things I fammiliar with, but this?'
Dr. Lang noticed the shudder and smiled slightly. "I can see this is not something you are at ease with. We don't have the technology to clone parts or replace with cybernetics. We have to carve up bodies of people who can't be saved to help those who can be. If you lost a hand, we can't replace it with someone else's. I know it sounds disgusting to you. It has always been a sensitive subject."
Anakin flexed his mechanical right hand , while staring at it. 'Lower technology, but a chance. In my galaxy, this would be appaling technology, but they don't have other options.'
Raising his head, he whispered. "How long?"
"For the transplanting? About a day. Same for the skin graft," Emil Lang replied. "Finding a donor? That will take time, unless of course there is suitable organs in the stores already."
Anakin stood up. "Hopefully there are. I don't want any more deaths on my conscience. You will find that my right hand is cybernetic. Do not remove it, but you can study it."
Emil Lang stood up as well. "Let's head to the medical bay. We will need to take tissue samples."
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Anakin lay on a bed and looked around. He noticed that unlike the medical bays he was familliar with, this one had no droids or bacta tanks. He also noticed that there seemed to be a sort of heirarchy in this medical ward.
'I told Rick I was going to do this, and gave him a regime to follow while I'm here.'
A woman came up to Anakin's bed and smiled down at him.
"We do have a set of lungs and a heart that can be used. Skin grafting will take some more effort to deal with."
"Thank you, Doctor."
The woman laughed a bit. "I'm not a doctor. I'm a nurse."
"Nurse? Um. What does a nurse do?"
The nurse looked at Anakin quizzically. "We assist doctors in treating patients. Don't you have nurses where you come from."
"We have medical droids that assist doctors. And, it doesn't take that many people to us a bacta tank."
"Bacta tank?" the nurse shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter. I can see why you would make that mistake then. As soon as you're ready, we can begin. We checked as much as we could. This sedative I'm about to give you, will knock you out and keep the pain away."
Nodding his approval, Anakin smiled behind his mask and thought, 'I can keep the pain away on my own, and I'm not going to be unconscious for this.'
The nurse injected Anakin through a bit of exposed arm and waited. Anakin obliged her by slipping into a mind trance and nullifying the sedative.
------------------------------------------------
Looking up at the ceiling of the hospitial ward with his own eyes, the former Sith Lord grimaced a bit. 'That was interesting. Disgusting, nauseating, and horrifying and yet it was still interesting. Seeing them cut open my body like that and then sew the heart and lungs in. Not to mention sewing my body back together. I can see why they would want to knock people out. The pain I was blocking was immense.'
Anakin noticed sadly, that there were a lot more people in the medical ward than there was previously. 'Another battle. More fighting.'
Anakin felt his student's presence enter the medical bay. He sat up looking for Rick.
Rick Hunter almost missed seeing Anakin. However, he felt the Force tremors emmenating from his sensei and let his feeling guide him. He spotted the helemt that Anakin had worn ever since he had known him.
"Sensei is that you?" Rick asked.
Anakin smiled, as he picked up his old helmet. "I never thought I'd see the day I could look upon the universe with my own eyes once more. Sometimes the old technology beats the new."
Anakin turned the helmet towards him and gave an amused snort. "Now, Darth Vader is truly dead."
"Who?" Rick asked. "the name holds some importance to you, but you never mentioned him.
"A name from my old life. A title that I'm ashamed of having. When the doctors pronounce me fit enough, I intend to tell you my life story. It is extreme. Now, tell me about your last mission."
Rick went into an account that described the defense of the SDF-1. It was just another standard battle, until Rick mentioned the ship transformed to fire its main gun.
"It did what?" Anakin asked.
"It changed shape like the Valkyries do."
"Ah. The fighters that turn into giant droids."
"Robots actually," Rick answered, and smiled a bit. "Roy was a bit put out with me. I was doing things with the Valkyrie that he said were not possible. I was using your teachings to help me pilot the Valkyrie better. Not out of anger, but out of a desire to protect everyone."
Anakin nodded. "Good. Not out of extreme emotions or repressed emotions, but out of channeled emotions. Anger without hatred, but tempered with compassion. Do not worry about your brother, I think he is just unconfortable with what would be termed a hokey religion able to influence the world around him. Just keep up your training exercises, until I can resume your teaching."
Rick nodded. "Well Sensei, I hope you get better soon."
"I will," Anakin replied, while putting the helment back down. 'Accelrating my healing will insure that.'
Rick Hunter left the person who was once Darth Vader alone with his thoughts. 'It has been more than long enugh. Theese people should know who I once was. Was it my arrogance that caused my fall? Maybe some fresh views will help me understand how I became what I once was.'
A thought came to Anakin. 'Alderaan? Was it my fault it was destroyed? I was on the Death Star, but it was Tarkin's idea to use it against Princess Leia as a barganing chip. And when he got the information he thought he wanted, he chose to blow it up anyway. Could I have stopped it?'
Anakin thought for a long time and shook his head. 'No. Alderaan and Corellia were chosen as example worlds. The most I could have done was die. I wonder what Captain Solo would have thought if he knew his homeworld was targetted as an example world for the Death Star.'
Anakin gave a long sigh
'After I heal, I will tell them. Rick, Minmei, Emil, Captain Gloval, Lt. Fokker, and the others of the Command Staff.'
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(Posted Sun, 17 Oct 2004 06:48)
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