Work Text:
Commander Wolffe directed his men as they offloaded the ships, helmet tucked under his arm. The 104th had been assigned to provide relief to the people of a struggling planet hit hard by recent Separatist occupation. They had used the planet as a testing site for new weapons until Republic forces chased them out. General Plo was speaking with the leader of this community while Wolffe oversaw the moving of supplies into a couple of warehouses.
He heard a shout and looked over to see Boost swearing, a crate on the ground between him and a local. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he approached.
“Alright, what’s the problem here?”
Boost glared for a moment then shook his head and looked at his Commander. “Someone insisted on helping then apparently got tired.”
The local started arguing in their language. Wolffe shook his head with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. He waved away the local, moving to take their place, putting his helmet on top of the crate. “Alright, move it. We’ve got this.”
He grabbed his side as Boost did the same, counting down before lifting together. They made their way to the end of the row Boost was originally aiming for, placing it down gently at the end. This row was almost full, he would need to check with both warehouses soon to make sure everything would fit.
“Thanks, Wolffe. I’ll drag a shiny into helping with the next one.”
He nodded and made to follow Boost when something caught his eye. He looked over and frowned to see a small blinking light in the corner. He signalled Boost to wait and carefully approached. It seemed to be a small flat device attached to the wall, hidden behind some crates that had been moved to make way for the new supplies.
“What is it?” Boost asked, staying close behind him.
“I don’t know.”
Wolffe just about had a clear view of the device when the blinking suddenly got quicker.
Boost spoke up nervously. “Didn’t they say the Seppies rigged buildings to test their weapons here?”
Wolffe swore at Boost’s reminder as the blinking kept getting faster until it was almost a solid light. “Get back!” He shoved Boost back as the device went off. An explosion of thick gas filled the space. Wolffe coughed and gasped as it filled his lungs, cursing his helmet and its air filtration features when he saw it still sat on the crate as he choked.
Boost had disappeared into the fog, his helmet hopefully keeping him safe. Wolffe staggered as his knees almost buckled under him as he tried to follow. He had to get out of the cloud. He could already feel his chest tightening as he struggled to get anything but the thick gas into his lungs, but it seemed to have swallowed all the oxygen in the space.
He coughed harshly as he fell to his knees, head spinning. He could feel himself swaying on the spot, but couldn’t see anything past the thick cloud. Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder and hauled him up. “Come on, Commander. Got to get you out of here.” He leaned heavily on whoever slung his arm over their shoulders and led him out.
Soon, he could see the warehouse once again. Now that he could see the world around him, he realised how much it was spinning and leaned on the person carrying him a little more. They swore and called out, his other arm soon slung over another person.
As much as he wanted to know who had him, he had to focus on his gasping breaths. Harsh coughing still shook him as, despite leaving the cloud, he still struggled to get a full breath. His lungs felt tight and his body felt simultaneously light and heavy, his limbs clumsy as he tried to keep walking.
Eventually, he was sat down against something. His chest heaved with shallow, wheezing gasps as people moved and talked around him. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder, seeing Boost crouched in front of him, helmet still on. He looked around and realised all the troopers around him still wore their helmets. That was good.
He refocused on Boost and tried to concentrate on what he was saying.
“You with us, Commander?”
He nodded, opening his mouth to speak but only getting out a wheezing cough. Boost patted the shoulder he still held.
“It’s alright. We’re getting the medics down here now. We think the Seppies rigged this building and it wasn’t all caught in the clean up sweeps. Just try to breathe, Wolffe.”
He gave Boost his best glare as he continued to heave shallow gasps. The coughing had slowed down to a few harsh ones every now and again. He felt like his lungs were going to explode, his head was beginning to feel fuzzy, and his body ached. He felt himself sag a little before he was shaken. He blinked back up at Boost, not realising he had closed his eyes.
“That’s it, just stay with us. No sleeping until Bruise says so.” Boost looked up at another trooper, their voices becoming muffled as they talked. Wolffe heard something about the General, something about a medic. Maybe something about ships?
He tried to stay awake, to keep listening and watching, but he felt himself slipping. The world began to blur and sounds grew more muffled and distant. He looked back at Boost when he shook him again, seeing him watch him for a moment before shaking his head at another trooper.
He felt so heavy, but so distant from his body. His lungs burned and he still couldn’t get a full breath. He felt like he was beginning to lose time. He wished he would just pass out, let his body stop screaming at him, but every time he felt himself drift, he was shaken awake. Soon, the shakes turned into harsher slaps and shouts. He tried to grumble and tell them to leave him be, but all that came out were breathy wheezes.
At some point, he saw red and brown crouched beside the white and grey smudge that was Boost. He heard a familiar drone, but couldn’t make out any words. If anything could make this stop, it was the Buir smudge. He tried to reach out to it, but his arm refused to listen, his hand just twitching in his lap. It must have gotten the point across though, because a clawed hand enveloped it, squeezing gently.
The presence of Buir kept him anchored for a moment longer. He felt a wave of reassurance at the edge of his mind and tried to focus on it as he drifted.
Too soon, he felt the hands touching him move away, leaving him to float on his own. The blurry shapes and muffled sounds moving around him made him dizzy, so he let his eyes slip closed.
He felt something get strapped to his face, blowing air at him. He huffed lightly into it. Then, he felt hands on him once again, this time moving him onto something. His breath caught as he was laid down, his chest tightening somehow even more. The coughing started up again and he was hurriedly sat up once more. Eventually, the coughs slowed and he felt himself be lowered down once again. This time whatever he was on was elevated, so he was sitting up somewhat. His chest still tightened, but only a few wheezing coughs escaped him this time.
He drifted as he felt himself be moved. He flew through the air, glad his eyes were closed at the thought of shapes and colours flying by.
The movement slowed as quickly as it started, or he just lost time again. He felt something shudder around him as he lay there. He let out a breathless groan when he was shaken, someone speaking next to him. He let out another when his eye was peeled open, a blurry shape hovering over him. He grimaced and tried to move away, but was held firm. He felt that gentle reassurance return to the edges of his mind and tried to relax as the poking and prodding continued.
He tried to focus on the world around him, but weightless darkness pulled at him. He felt himself be moved, heard voices float around him, felt hands trying to keep him awake. But he was sore and heavy, his lungs burned, and he was exhausted. The darkness happily claimed him as he sunk into it.
Wolffe woke to a sterile smell and a monotonous beeping. He felt a mask over his face and something pinching his arm. His chest felt heavy and sore, but was no longer so tight. He heard his breaths still ending with a slight wheeze, but he could almost draw a full one in. He tried to do to, inhaling deeply as fresh air was blown into his face, but his chest hitched and he broke out into a coughing fit.
He felt someone lift him up from where he was already propped up, holding him as the fit passed, that beeping noise getting faster. He let himself sag into the hold as he heard voices pipe up around him.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking blearily at the room around him. He looked down at the clawed hands holding him, following the arms up to find the face of his Buir looking down at him. He looked towards the other voices and saw Boost standing nearby, talking to Sinker and Bruise, watching him as he got his bearings.
He realised he was in the medbay of the Hand of Justice. He pulled back from Plo and sat back against the raised bed. He just sat there and breathed for a moment before reaching up for the mask. Plo’s hand stopped him, holding his hand and squeezing it.
“I wouldn’t do that, sir.” Bruise said as he approached. “We’ll swap you over to the cannula soon, but I’d like to keep you on the mask for a little longer.”
Wolffe frowned but relented.
“Do you remember what happened?” Boost asked.
Wolffe cleared his throat before he spoke, but his voice still came out raspy and dry. He only then realised how sore his throat was. “Seppie weapon went off in the warehouse. Kriffing gas bomb.” He frowned. “Anyone else?”
“No one else was hurt.” Bruise said. “Luckily, no civilians were in the area, and all the troopers had their helmets on. Some closest to the explosion said they felt a little light headed, but nothing alarming.”
To save his throat, he hoped his look got the question across well enough. It seemed to because Bruise spoke again, glancing down at the datapad in his hand occasionally.
“It was an experimental bioweapon meant to take out large swathes of living creatures while leaving droids unscathed. The testing was stopped when the GAR came in, and all research was destroyed, but it seems like the sweeps for anything left behind need work. It was a mix of chemicals that attacked your respiratory system, as these types of weapons are wont to do. Your lungs almost shut down and we had to have a machine breathe for you for a bit there, but we managed to flush your system and find a treatment that worked. You should be fine once you recover, but be aware of any respiratory issues in the future. We have no idea what the long term consequences of this could be.”
Wolffe mulled this over for a minute then looked up at him again. “How long?” He didn’t miss how Boost winced at his raspy question.
“You were out for a week and will need another week before you are cleared for the field.”
That made him stop. He’d been out for a week? And he wasn’t even breathing on his own for what was probably a good amount of that time. His mind raced as he thought to what the Kaminoans would do if they knew about the potential long term effects of this. He was lucky he wasn’t decommissioned after his eye. Breathing was arguably much more important. He trusted his vode to keep this quiet, but there was still a chance. And if more troopers were near that, if they didn’t have their helmets on, that weapon could have led to mass decommissionings if it was used on the field.
He glanced up at Plo when a squeeze of his hand cut through his thoughts. He felt calm brush the edge of his mind.
“It’s fine, Wolffe, we have this handled. You will be well again soon, and we will handle any issue that comes up.”
Wolffe took a breath and looked over his Buir and vode. He nodded and tried to relax. Bruise checked him over now that he was awake before he stepped away. Boost and Sinker sat next to Plo and they talked to him, letting him know what had been going on with the Wolfpack while he was out. Plo stayed a steady presence, chiming in occasionally, not letting go of his hand.
He felt himself relax and begin to drift as he enjoyed the company, glad he mostly just had to listen. Soon, his eyes were getting heavy, slowly blinking shut. The talking got quieter, but didn’t stop, as he drifted. Eventually, he was asleep again, surrounded by his pack.