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Boil let out a frustrated sigh. “You got anything?”
Waxer scanned the building ahead of them with his binocs. “Well, it is a factory, but it looks abandoned.”
“Right, but that can’t be possible, they dispatched a unit from here just a few days ago. And our comms are still being jammed.”
Waxer lowered his binocs. “Unless that intel was wrong. Or they know we’re here and they’re hiding.”
Boil let out an annoyed huff before raising his own binocs again. “Well, if we don’t see anything in the next five, we’re heading back.”
Waxer mirrored Boil and scanned the factory once again. It was a huge operation, he could tell even while it sat seemingly abandoned. The factory itself was huge, towering over every other structure, sitting imposingly on the landscape. There was a large shipyard and hangars spanning one side, ships still sitting idly. Massive warehouses lined the area between the factory and the hangars. And on the far side were abandoned artillery, tanks, and speeders. The place looked way too important to just be abandoned.
After five minutes, Waxer lowered his binocs. He glanced over at Boil, expecting a frustrated spiel. Instead, he moved to lower his own before quickly raising them again.
“Wait, I saw something. Yeah, there’s definitely movement down there.”
“Can you tell how many?”
“Ah, not sure. It’s gone now. It was just a flash by the hangar.” Boil lowered his binocs and nodded back towards camp. “Come on, let’s get back to the General.”
Waxer went to push himself up when he felt a sharp pain in his hand. He pulled it back with a yelp and saw something slither into the underbrush. He looked down at his hand and saw two small puncture marks through the thick material of his glove.
Boil swore. “What was that?”
Waxer flexed his hand, wincing as it pulled at the wounds. “An angry local. It’s fine, let’s head back.”
They got up and made their way back to the camp the 212th had set up just a few klicks from the factory, careful not to be spotted. Halfway back, Waxer felt the pain in his hand begin to grow from a dull ache whenever he moved it to a constant burning. He held it close as they walked, not missing Boil’s concerned look.
By the time they reached the camp, the pain had grown so much that he could barely move his hand without a flare of pain shooting up his arm like fire. His mouth was beginning to feel dry, and he felt warm under all his armour.
“How about you go to the medics, and I’ll talk to the General. I’m the one who saw anything anyway.” Boil suggested.
Waxer nodded. “That’s probably a good idea.”
They walked together, parting ways at the medical tent. Waxer took a moment to get his balance when he turned into medical, the world spinning a little. He blinked and looked over when a medic approached him.
“What’s the problem, trooper?”
Waxer cleared his dry throat so he could talk. “Got bit by something while out on recon.”
Helix nodded and guided him over to sit on a bed. “Where did it bite you, and did you see what it was?”
He offered his hand, with a pained hiss. “Bit through the glove. Didn’t get a clear look at it, but it looked like a snake.”
Helix hummed thoughtfully as he slowly pulled off Waxer’s glove. He had to stop himself from yanking his hand away when the action sent fire up his entire arm. Now that it was free, they could see the way his hand swelled around the bite, a small amount of blood staining the area around the puncture marks. Helix raised his medscanner to it.
“Well, good news, we know what this is. Bad news, we don’t have the antivenom for it here. We’ll need to get you back to the ship, quickly.” Helix moved around the tent, pulling things over.
“What do you- Gah!” He barely held in a scream when Helix took his hand and began applying some sort of cream to it, then bacta, then wrapped his whole arm tightly with a bandage. Another medic had to come over and hold him still when the handling made him writhe, though he hardly noticed through the fog of pain.
“Oh dear.” He heard the familiar voice of the General when Helix was finally done, blinking away black spots to refocus after almost passing out. “I believe your report may have been an understatement, Helix.”
“You doing alright, Waxer?” He looked up to see Commander Cody looking at him with worry.
He took a moment to catch his breath. “Feels like my arm’s on fire, sir.”
Cody patted his knee and turned to talk with the others. Waxer spotted Boil standing nearby, watching him with concern. He must have still been with the General and Commander when they were called over, he would have stopped to grab food for them if he came back on his own. They both turned their attention to Helix when he started talking.
“Looks like Waxer was bitten by a venomous snake native to this planet. It is something the GAR is familiar with, so we know how to treat it, but we need to get him back to the Negotiator. I’ve applied an antibiotic cream and bacta and wrapped the arm to try to slow the spread of the venom, but it’s already been circulating for close to an hour and he was active for most of that time. We’ll need to move fast to get him back.”
Boil stepped forward. “Wha- How fast?”
“As soon as possible. We have a few hours. The venom is slow acting, but without proper treatment, it will kill him.”
Boil bit back a remark, sending Waxer a worried glance. He tried to give him a reassuring smile, but he just looked back to the group as General Kenobi spoke up, hand on his chin as he thought.
“Unfortunately, we cannot simply pull back, we need to make sure that factory is shut down. And we can’t risk a medevac giving away our location.”
“Sir, what if we send a small team back with Waxer? Just to a point where a medevac can safely pick them up. We’ll leave the main force here for the attack, and get him the treatment he needs.” Cody suggested.
“Yes, that is our best option. I want Helix and at most two others to go with them. Boil, I know you’ll be going, and perhaps Wooley.”
Helix nodded. “Good idea, sir. We’ll leave as soon as we’re ready.”
Within five minutes, the small team was ready to go. Boil helped Helix carry Waxer on a stretcher as they made their way back towards the Negotiator. Wooley kept his blaster ready, keeping watch for danger.
Waxer looked terrible. He stayed stiff and still, stifling a cry every time his arm was slightly jostled. Sweat had begun to coat his brow, and he kept getting dizzy, even as he remained lying down. His face was twisted in a look of constant pain. Boil told Helix to give him something to help, but he just shook his head and explained that painkillers only made the pain worse.
They had been walking for close to an hour when Waxer groaned. His tense body had begun to tremble. He swallowed thickly with another groan.
“Put him down.” Helix ordered.
Waxer let out a pained cry as he was settled on the ground. Helix carefully rolled him onto his side right as his shoulders tensed and he heaved. He held him there as he emptied his stomach onto the dusty ground, giving quiet words of reassurance to the ailing trooper. Finally, he slumped with a groan.
Helix moved to roll him back over when he tensed again. Waxer gave a short cry as his arm tensed with jerky convulsions that quickly spread throughout his body. He let out more cries of pain as his body seized. Boil quickly crouched down to cushion his head with his hands as it bounced off the hard ground. Helix gave him a nod and restarted his stream of reassurances. Wooley kept anxiously glancing over as he stood watch nearby.
The seizure didn’t last long, and Waxer slumped once again after less than a minute. Helix gave him a moment before rolling him back over.
“You still with us, trooper?”
Waxer blinked up at him with a groan. “Yeah.” His voice was a tight whisper.
Helix nodded to Boil to lift the stretcher again. As they walked, Boil had to ask, “Still think he’ll make it, sir?”
Helix gave a firm nod. “Seizures are a common symptom of this venom. It’s once they start getting longer and he becomes unresponsive that we should really start to worry.”
He nodded, eyes never leaving his brother. Waxer met his eyes and gave a small smile. Boil rolled his eyes with a huff and gave him a small smile back. He would be fine. He had to be.
The had to stop once more to wait out another seizure. This one went a little longer and left Waxer disoriented, but he responded to Helix’s questions and Boil’s worry.
Boil’s attention was drawn from Waxer when Wooley came trotting back from scouting ahead. “Comms are clear just over the ridge. I reached the Negotiator and told them to wait for a request from you.” He reported to Helix.
“Good job, trooper. Let’s move.”
Beyond the ridge, Wooley led them to a small ledge to shelter under. They rested Waxer by the wall and Boil watched over him while Helix commed the ship and Wooley kept watch.
Waxer’s face was flush and tight with pain. He was soaked with sweat, and he couldn’t hold back the pained scream when his arm made contact with the hard ground. His breathing had become laboured half an hour ago. His gaze had been gradually growing less focused, and now he blinked a few times before he focused properly on Boil, giving him another small smile.
“You hanging in there, vod?” Boil asked. “You better be.”
Waxer gave a breathy laugh at that, groaning when that caused pain to shoot up his arm. “Wouldn’t dream… of going anywhere, vod.” He said between breaths.
Helix returned to their small shelter. “A medevac is on the way.”
Boil gave him a nod and turned back to Waxer. “Hear that? We’re getting you off this rock.”
“No more… snakes?” He asked with a breathless smile.
Boil huffed and shook his head. “No more snakes.”
They sat there a long moment, until Waxer let out a long groan, his eyes fluttering closed and his limbs twitching. Boil rolled him onto his side. “Helix! He’s seizing again!”
Helix hustled over, tucking some folded cloth under Waxer’s head before sitting back and monitoring him, medscanner out.
Waxer seemed less conscious for this one than he had the previous two. His eyes rolled in his skull, and he let out fewer pained sounds. They watched and waited as it seemed to never end, until the convulsing slowed and eventually stopped. He let out a breath as he slumped forward, Boil quickly catching him before he landed on his face, gently rolling him onto his back.
Helix came closer with the medscanner. When Waxer didn’t immediately stir or respond to their voices, he opened his eyes to study them with a light. He groaned at the light and slowly opened his eyes himself. They drifted around the space without really taking any of it in. Helix waved a hand to draw his attention.
“Hey, trooper. You with us?”
Waxer just let out a long groan and let his eyes slide shut. Boil went to try to wake him before Helix put out a hand to stop him. “Let him rest a moment. We’ll try again when he wakes up.”
Waxer didn’t wake up until just before the medevac arrived. He didn’t answer any of Helix’s questions, but he gave Boil an exhausted smile when his gaze finally focused on him. They were just finishing this assessment when a ship landed behind them, and medics swarmed and carried Waxer away, Boil close behind them.
The world swam around Waxer. He felt himself being moved, which only made him feel sick. His entire arm was on fire, but that was nothing new.
He heard a voice talking to him and tried to find its owner. Instead, he found Boil’s face watching him with open worry, something that did not suit his brother at all. He gave him a reassuring smile to try to make the look go away, but it somehow only made it worse. Before he could figure that out, the face disappeared and a hazy wave of hands, faces and voices engulfed him.
He closed his eyes against the bombardment. He felt himself be lifted and moved, unable to hold back a cry of pain as the fire turned into a blaze as he was jostled. He wished he could sleep, but the constant fire refused to let him relax, taking all his energy and concentration to hold his arm as still as possible.
He drifted as the voices and faces and hands around him blended together. Time turned into a murky soup as he lay there. He felt his muscles begin to tense involuntarily and let out another shout as his arm twitched. The time soup only thickened, and the voices faded as he felt his aching muscles twitch and shake against his will. Something soft was placed under his head, something he appreciated as his head throbbed with the headache that had become as insistent as the fire.
Once his body finally stopped, there was a brief blackness before he was moving again. He opened his eyes, but quickly shut them against the disorienting, bright lights and shapes flying past. Muffled voices echoed and spun all around him.
He cried out as he was lifted onto a soft, but solid surface, instinctively pulling away as hands probed at his arm, cruelly stoking the fire. Other hands held him in place as he screamed and fought, eyes flashing open to the disorienting world around him. There was too much to take in. All he knew was that these hands were hurting him, and they were all around him. He couldn’t escape.
A scream cut itself off when he felt a sudden wave of nausea rise in him. He was moved as he heaved, body trembling. When he stopped, he was laid back again, though the hands still held him firmly in place. He whimpered when he felt a pinch at his neck, then let out a long groan that quickly built up into a scream he didn’t know his ruined throat still had in it.
The fire blazed up his arm with a vengeance, stretching to burn along his side. It was unbearable. He pleaded with whoever would listen to just make it stop, but his pleas went ignored. He kicked and writhed as his arm burned like it had been dipped in molten lava.
His vision swam and black spots invaded his vision. He might have felt himself throw up again, but he couldn’t be sure as he finally dropped into blissful unconsciousness.
Waxer woke slowly, his whole body aching and heavy. He heard the quiet voices of vode nearby and felt the just soft enough to be considered soft GAR issued mattress under him. His throat was sore and dry, and his hand throbbed, but the fire that had consumed his arm stayed mercifully absent.
He blinked his eyes open to the bright white lights of medbay. A few other vode lay on beds nearby, a medic making the rounds among them. He heard movement to his right and turned his head to see Boil sitting there watching him. He gave him a small smile, to which Boil shook his head, trying to hide a relieved smile.
“If I don’t make it to the end of this war, it’s not going to be a clanker’s fault.”
Waxer huffed a laugh at his brother. When he spoke, his voice was a hoarse whisper. “So you do love me.”
Boil shook his head again with an eyeroll before grabbing a canteen, helping him sit up and drink. The water soothed his throat “How do you feel?” Boil asked when he was done.
“Tired, sore. Better though.”
“We got you here just in time, just a few minutes later and you’d be dead.”
Waxer flipped his uninjured hand over. Boil took it. “I’m fine. Give me a couple days and I’ll be running the training mats again.”
“I’ll get Cody on your shebs, challenging his title like that.”
“Give me time and I’ll have him beat.”
Boil laughed. “That madman punches droids every chance he gets. Though maybe he’d do you some good, keep you humble.”
They both laughed and relaxed into easy banter. Helix made his way to them, checking in on them both before checking his hand. It was still a little swollen and tender, but leagues better than it had been just a few hours ago. Helix let them be and Waxer just relaxed and enjoyed his brother’s company.