#they’ll numb me but if my insurance doesn’t cover it I’d have to pay an extra 1000$ to get knocked out

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

My state’s insurance being like “we see you are getting home nurses visits every week”

Me: “uh, yeah. Why?”

The insurance: “you know how we said we were the type that covers disability?”

Me, suspicious: “yeah”

The insurance: “well we don’t cover people with that much disability. Your severity has been changed so you get this new other state insurance that is for more disabled people! Don’t worry, they cover your doctors and nurse visits”

Me: “okay, cool. What about my dentist and eye doctor?”

New insurance: …

Me: “you fucking bastard whores! You covered them on my old one, I need to get my wisdom teeth removed now! What are you going to do with that?!”

My insurance: “we’ll just have to see what happens”

Me: “you fucking shitty ass bastards! Fuck you!”

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred: It’s Futile ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Suigin Ryū ] [ SasuHina ] [ Gun, vulgarity ] [ Verse: Oil and Blood ] [ AO3 Link ]

“Sir, please...I need you to calm d-”

“Y-you don’t understand! This thing, it’s...it’s killing me! Since the model is outdated, my insurance won’t cover it...a-and I can’t afford to have it replaced! And fixing something this old...no one’ll do it, let alone have the parts. And it’ll cost me too much! Please...there’s gotta be something you can do!”

Head in her hands as she tries to think, Hinata mutes herself while she heaves a gusty sigh. How many times a day does she hear stories like this…? It’s all part of her job, she has to numb herself to it, and yet...it eats at her. Every time she has to turn someone down for help, it kills her a little more inside. What she wouldn’t give to find a new job, but they’re so scarce…

“...sir,” she then offers, reenabling her communication mod. As she does, furtive glances side to side show her colleagues busy with calls of their own...and their floor manager is nowhere in sight. Cupping a hand over her ear, she makes to act as if she’s simply leaning her head into her palm.

But as she does, a new transmission - text-based - begins sending alongside the call.

“I’m so sorry, but your policy is...is clear. There’s nothing I can do. If your model is outdated and no longer within the service pool, it cannot be w-worked on and be covered. You’ll have to have it replaced.”

Via text, she sends him, I know an underground biotech who can help. Meet me, and we can see her together to get something figured out. Her high-paying clients help cover those like you. Don’t reply to this text until after five o’clock to give me your answer. She then adds coordinates and a time for a meeting.

There’s a long pause as he clearly goes over her message. “I...I understand. Thank you for your time, miss. I’ll...I’ll think over my options and see what I can do.”

“All right then, sir. I hope you have a good rest of your day.”

“...I’ll try.”

Letting the call end, Hinata sits back in her chair with a heavy sigh. Oh, if only she could do that for everyone…! But this particular client is suffering from a mod that aids in regulating his heart rate. It could literally kill him if it doesn’t get fixed, and soon. Someone with a loose elbow socket or a cosmetic mod that keeps turning their hair green is not as needing of care. Her underground contact will be able to help him...if he agrees to meet. There’s a risk on all sides, after all...this is very, very illegal.

...but it’s also a matter of life or death.

Technically Hinata can’t arrange any of it until she’s off the clock. Sending that text was risky - she has a relay scrambler to help cover her tracks while she’s connected to the company’s network, but she only uses it when absolutely necessary as not to gain attention to herself. If she were caught going through back doors to help clients that would otherwise be denied their claims? Not only would she lose her job, she’d end up in jail. The government takes mod regulation very, very seriously.

...Hinata knows that well, as both the daughter of a mod mogul, and being someone who’s worked in mod claims for several years now. Few are aware of the ins and outs - and the corruption - of the industry more than her.

She originally got this job hoping she’d be able to help people. Her father’s greed and bowing to the governmental contracts meant a great deal of suffering. Surely companies like the one she found herself working for after her father disowned her would help remedy it, right?

Ha...wrong. They don’t exist to help people...they exist to extort people. And though Hinata does her little bits of good when she can...overall, she’s hardly making a dent.

Hence taking opportunities like this when she can. Any small difference in the grand scheme might be a huge impact one just one life. And for her...for now...that’s enough.

...just like when she hauled that Uchiha out of the litter and took him to the same doctor she’ll be taking this man to, if all goes well.

Which reminds her...this might be a good way to get his debt repaid…! Then she won’t have to worry about him randomly showing up like he did a few days ago, trying to get her to assign him a task to relieve the debt. He’d agreed to serve as a makeshift bodyguard the next time she arranged a meeting like this. It’s perfect…!

She doubts anything will go wrong - it hasn’t yet. But either way, they’ll be out of each other’s hair.

So when her shift ends and she’s cut off from the company network, she steps outside and has her communicator mod dial him.

“Talk.”

Unable to help a small jump at the blunt answer, she stutters, “I-I, um...this is Hinata. Uchiha-san…?”

“I know it’s you.”

“Oh...well, I just wanted to forewarn you, I might have an upcoming job for you. To...to settle the debt?”

“Perfect. Just send me the details and I’ll be there.”

“All right...thank you.”

“Mm.”

The line then goes dead, and she decides to head to her meeting place. She has about twenty minutes - plenty of time. If he shows, she’ll take him to the doc. If not...well, she did all she could. She can hardly force him. Until she knows, however, there’s no point in calling Sasuke in case the man doesn’t show.

The time comes...and then goes. Deciding to wait, Hinata pretends to scroll through her feed along her palm, not wanting to look suspicious.

Ten minutes after the designated time, she’s almost ready to leave when a man walks up beside her.

“H...Hyūga-san…?”

“That’s me. You must be Ito-san?”

“Yes...you - you said you could help me?”

“I can take you to someone who can,” Hinata offers, giving him a small smile. “But we have to be careful...if you would, I’d like to call a...friend of mine to go with us. Just to make sure we’re safe.”

“Oh...are they trustworthy?”

“...yes. It won’t take him long to get here, I just need to call.” Dialing hands-free, Hinata hears Sasuke answer before offering, “Can you make it to my location?”

“Lucky for you, I’m a block away. Had a feeling it would be soon.”

“Thank you.” Disconnecting, Hinata gives the patient another brief smile. “Just a minute, sir.”

When Sasuke approaches, however, Ito goes white as a sheet. “I-is he…?”

“A friend,” Hinata insists, giving Sasuke a look. “It’s not too far, so he won’t be with us long. As I said, it’s just to make sure we arrive safely.”

“...right…” Tone faint, Ito follows as Hinata leads the way toward the doc’s shop, who she sends a mentally-dictated text to forewarning of their arrival.

Got it. I’ll be ready for you in ten.

Rounding the last corner, Hinata can’t help a small gasp as someone suddenly lifts an arm, barring her path as the limb rests at eye level. Ito, beside her, also goes stock still as, from every shadow outside the clinic, men begin to appear.

“Well, well...look who showed up. This the one?”

Nearby, a sunken-eyed man looks Hinata over. “...yeah. That’s her. That’s the one I saw talkin’ to the Uchiha the other day.”

Ohhh shit.

“...p-please sir, I...I have a client that needs -”

“I don’t care about your client, sweetheart,” one of the other yakuza offers, lazily letting his bat rest over his shoulder. “The Uchiha. Where is he?”

“...I-I…” Is he not behind them…? Did he see the ambush coming and bolt?

“I know you two’re in cahoots. So, you tell me where he is...and I don’t gotta bust your kneecaps. Sound like a d-?”

Like a cord-pulled machine, the man suddenly goes slack, crumbling to the alley floor. There’s a moment of shock, and Hinata uses it to drag Ito back around the corner as gunfire rings out.

“O-oh gods...oh gods…!”

“Please, just stay calm!”

“M-my chest...I-I can’t…!”

Panic mounting, Hinata tries to glance around to the chaos. She doesn’t see Sasuke: only the half a dozen goons firing wildly at a ghost.

“Get out here, bastard!” one calls. “It’s futile! I don’t give a shit what mods you have, you’re not takin’ down all of us!”

“Wanna bet?”

In what looks like a flicker, Sasuke stands beside him, pistol to the man’s head before it goes off with a muffled bang. The firestorm starts all over, Hinata flinching back from the sounds. Ito, in the interim, doesn’t look good...she has to get him to the clinic...!

With a roar, an engine flares to life, and a hoverbike screams out from the building toward them. Whipping around, the doc shouts, “GET ON!”

Hefting Ito into the sidecar, Hinata sits behind the doctor, who - for now - circles around the block to buy time.

“What’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know!”

“What about the patient?”

“F...faulty, outdated pacemaker mod. It’s been giving him pain, and I think he might be having a heart attack from the stress!”

Ducking into another alley, Ryū powers down the engine, tossing a piece of tech to the sideroad mouth. An image flickers to life, a hologram hiding their presence as it displays an empty alleyway.

“Let me see.”

Moving out of the way, Hinata lets her work, watching nervously as she attempts to save his life.

This is not what she had in mind…!

By now, police sirens are blaring, and the stimuli are almost making her head swim. Leaning against a building for stability, Hinata does her best to stay calm. But all she can do is worry about Ito, and Sasuke…

…is he still alive? Has he been arrested? If he was...it’s all her fault...she dragged him into -

“Gotcha!”

Crying out, Hinata finds herself lifted by an arm around the throat, pulled out past the hologram and tossed into a van. Doors quickly slam shut, and tires squeal.

“You chose the wrong side in this little turf war, missy,” one of the gangsters offers.

Struggling to breathe in her panic, she can still make out the leaf tattoo along the man’s neck.

...Senju.

Oh gods.

As they fly from the scene, Hinata can’t help but recall the doctor’s words: about helping so many Uchiha. If they found her...will they…? And Sasuke...is he still alive? He...he must be. Why else would they take her? She doesn’t know anything or anyone else!

...or maybe they think she does.

Either way...things just went from bad to worse.

                                                                  .oOo.

     More cyberpunk AU! And uh...things got a little messy :'D Here Hinata thought she'd be getting out of a problem, and now...well, quite clearly, she's got an even BIGGER problem! Fun!      I really really REALLY like this verse xD I've even been writing a liiittle bit of it with my OC, too (the doc in this mini series) over on my other account...and I wanna do more! But hopefully I'll have a good prompt soon to do more here, cuz...well, cliffhanger! Sorry xD      Anyway, it's SUPER late and I'm falling asleep on my keyboard, so I better go lol - thanks for reading!

[darthrevaan]

Might I request a combined 15 and 21 with Rexsoka? (Ahsoka and Anakin are siblings, Rex is Anakin's best friend, Anakin does a stupid and winds up in the hospital)

(After five thousand years, I reply....)

I feel like this was probably intended to be a fluffy prompt, but I apparently cannot do fluffy right now? So we have this instead...

Set in an AU where the Jedi Order fell and the Republic became the Empire probably ten years or so ish before Phantom Menace.

~

Thereceptionist runs Anakin’s ID, butinstead of the expected green light, the screen flashes up red. Ahsoka feelsthe bottom drop out of her stomach. “There must be a mistake,” she saysinstantly, “He has trooper cover-”

“That only covers injuries sustained in theline of duty,” the receptionist snaps. “He’s on leave right now, so he’s notcovered.”

“But he just fought a Jedi!” Ahsokayells, louder than she means to. She can tell several people have turned tostare.

The receptionistjust raises an eyebrow. “Kid, theJedi are all dead-”

Anakin moansfrom where he’s slumped onthe floor, clutching at the stump where his right hand and forearm used to be,and Ahsoka panics. “Fine, run my card,” she says, slapping her own ID down onthe desk.

Thereceptionist rolls his eyes, but he does so; after a few seconds, it flashes upred. “Not enough to cover that much injury,” hesays, “You’ll need to go down to the General Intake Emergency Room-”

“He’s lost an arm!” Ahsoka bursts out, unable to containherself any longer, “He needs to see someone now!”

“Kid, this waiting room is for people withproper insurance, and they pay a lot for a calm, stress-free experience,” thereceptionist snaps, “Now if you can’t pay cash, you need to get to GeneralIntake-”

“Hold on there a moment,” a new, deep malevoice says. Ahsoka looks up as someone joins her at the desk; a man who looks alittle older than Anakin, with close-shaven hair and tan skin. “You can put histreatment on my cover,” the man says, holding out his ID card.

Thereceptionist begins to snap, “I’m not-”but the man cuts him off. “Just run it,” he says, and the menace in his voicesends a shiver down Ahsoka’s spine.

Thereceptionist gets the message; he starts to run the card. Ahsoka feels someone’s hand touch her shoulder, and she turnsto see a second man, his face so similar to the first that they could be twins.“I’ve got some bacta,” he says, “Let me take a look at that arm.”

Numb withsurprise, Ahsoka steps aside so that the man can get to Anakin. He kneels downright away and starts applying something to the cauterized wound on the end ofAnakin’s arm, andher adoptive brother makes a low moan that might be relief. “It’s a painkiller,”the stranger says, “Don’t worry, it’ll start to kick in almost instantly.”Anakin slurs something that sounds like thanks.

Ahsoka tunesback in to the receptionist’s voice ashe says, “Is this- you have Level Five- andapproved by-”

“Is it enough?” the man asks sharply.

“Uh,” the receptionist swallows, “Er, yes,more than enough, sir. I’ll call the doctor right away.” He presses a brightred button on his switchboard.

“Thank you,” the man says, “Make sure hehas everything he needs - and the highest quality prosthetic.”

“Of course,” the receptionist says, “I’llinform the doctor.”

Ahsoka feelsrelief flood her chest, followed by another round of nerves. Who is this man,and why did he just shell out for a complete stranger? She turns to look athim, but he’s staringdown the hall, clearly waiting for the doctor to appear. Below, she can hearthe second man talking soothingly to Anakin.

The doctorappears within half a minute, his face drawn and worried. The man with Anakinhoists him up to his feet as nurses with a gurney arrive, and he says somethingto the doctor that Ahsoka doesn’tunderstand, for all that’s in Basic. Some kind of medical code, she assumes.The doctor nods his thanks, then he and the nurses whisk Anakin away throughthe door into the hospital.

For a secondAhsoka feels lost, unmoored; she’sgot what she wanted, but she’s still not really sure how it happened. She doesn’teven realise she’s crying until the first man hands her a small piece of cloth.“It’s clean,” he says, “Promise.”

“She’s in shock,” the second man says, “There’sa café over there.”

“Right.”

Ahsoka letsthe two of them steer her over to the café,sit her down and place a hot caf in front of her; then she says, “Who are you?”

“Captain Rex of the Imperial 501st,” thefirst man says, “And this is our unit’s medic, Private Kix.”

“You’re Imperial troopers? Like Anakin?”Ahsoka asks.

“Actually, we’ve been working withCommander Skywalker and his unit,” Rex says. “We were scheduled to go out againtomorrow, in fact. But he said he had to take today off - couldn’t miss it.”

Ahsoka triesnot to start crying again. “It’s mybirthday,” she whispers.

Rex reachesout and puts a hand on her shoulder. “I’msorry, kid. That really stinks.” He hesitates for a second before asking, “Doyou know what happened to him?”

Sniffing,Ahsoka shakes her head. “We weregoing to go out and see a holo, but he said he wanted to head down to thebarracks to check on some things first. I don’t know what happened, but when hecame back he…he had…” She stutters to a stop, her throat choked, and simplymakes a gesture toward her arm.

“Okay. That’s okay, kid.” Rex gives hershoulder a comforting squeeze. “The bureaucracy may be a pile of kriff, but thedoctors know what they’re doing. Anakin should be just fine.”

“He said…he did say something about alightsaber,” Ahsoka says quietly. “That’s why I…I thought he must have beenattacked by a Jedi. The lightsaber was a Jedi weapon, wasn’t it?”

She doesn’t miss the way Rex and Kix share asignificant look. “It was,” Rex says.

There’s clearly something they’re not tellingher, but she doesn’t imagine they’ll spill if she just asks. “So…what now?”

“You drink up that caf,” Rex says, “I’vegot to make a call to my superiors.” He slides his way out of the booth andwalks out of the café; Ahsoka watches him from the corner of her eye as hedoes.

“Unfortunately there’s little else we cando but wait,” Kix says.

“Yeah,” Ahsoka murmurs. She knows no matterhow much she tries not to, she won’t be able to stop worrying until she seesAnakin again.

Rex comesback after about ten minutes, and they sit there together, the troopers buyinganother round of caf and some small cakes as they settle in to wait. Ahsokatries to take her mind off Anakin by watching the two strangers; they seem onedge, though they’re clearlytrying to hide it. She pretends to play with her datapad, watching them in herperipheral vision. Both of them are watching the crowd, small frowns on theirfaces and clear lines of tension in their shoulders.

What have you got yourself mixed up in, Skyguy?

After almostthree hours, a nurse comes to find them, and tells them Anakin is ready forvisitors. Ahsoka is out of her chair like a shot, and the nurse leads them at asmart pace through various corridors until they get to a private room with thename ‘Anakin Skywalker’ on the holodisplaybeside the door.

Inside,Anakin is lying on a hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. His facebrightens as Ahsoka runs to his side. “Ahsoka!Are you okay?”

“Am I okay? You’re the one down an arm, Skyguy!”

Anakin’s smile is more like a wince. “Hey, onlyhalf an arm.”

Ahsoka has noidea what to say to that, so she just hugs him. Anakin wraps one arm aroundher, and they stay like that for a long minute before the door opens. Anakin’s head shifts and he asks, “Captain Rex?”

“Commander Skywalker. How’s the arm?”

Ahsoka pullsaway as Anakin says, “The damagewill heal enough for a prosthetic, given time.”

“Good.” Rex closes the door behind him andpulls the two visitor’s chairs close to the bed, then sits down in one. “Sorryto jump straight to it, but we need to get down to business. Ahsoka here saidyou mentioned a lightsaber just after your attack. I just had a chat with yourdoctor; he said your wound could have been from a weapon of that nature.”

“Were you attacked by a Jedi?” Ahsoka asks.

Anakin makesa face and shakes his head. “No. I thinkthis one was a Sith.”

Rex lookssurprised. “What makesyou say that?”

“His lightsaber was red. He was…” Anakinglances at Ahsoka, then continues, “He was a Zabrak. Red skin, strange blacktattoos all over him.”

“Interesting,” Rex murmurs.

“But what happened?” Ahsoka presses, “Why did he attack you?”

“He jumped me when I cut through the alleysnear the old Senate Building,” Anakin says. He glances at Rex for a moment,then continues, “He…didn’t really say why. Just leapt out at me from theshadows. I managed to avoid his first swing, got my blaster up and got a fewshots in, but then he got through my guard.” Anakin glances at his arm and thenaway, wincing. “But the blaster shots drew the attention of a passing patrol. Itold them to follow him, that I’d get myself to the hospital.”

“Anakin! You could have passed out beforeyou got home!”

Anakin lookssheepish. “I guess. ButI didn’t want that Sith to get away.”

Ahsokaberates him some more, but her mouth is working on autopilot. In reality, she’s perturbed for another reason. Anakin hasnever been good at lying, and while most of his story is the truth, she cantell the part about the Sith not saying anything to him is a lie - and she didn’tmiss the way he glanced at Rex just before he said it. Either he doesn’t wantto tell the truth because he did something that the Empire wouldn’t be happywith, and he can’t talk about it in front of Rex - or it’s the other wayaround, and something about that encounter is an Imperial secret, something shedoesn’t have the clearance to know.

Either way,the possibility that Anakin could be wrapped up in something to do with Jediand Sith scares her.

“That’s enough information for now; we’llorganize a full debrief in a few hours,” Rex says, standing. “Make sure yourest, Commander Skywalker. You’ll need your strength.” He nods, and then leavesthe room.

When they’re alone, Ahsoka says, “Alright Skyguy,cut the kriff. What really happenedbetween you and that Sith?”

“What- I told you what happened!”

“Yeah, and I’ve been able to tell when you’relying since I was ten,” Ahsoka says. “So spill.”

Anakin sighsand scrubs a hand through his hair. “Ican’t tell you, Snips. It’s related to a top secret Imperial mission. I don’t actuallyhave high enough clearance to know about it, not really; I only know so muchbecause I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He glances toward thedoor. “That’s why Rex and the other members of the 501st are here; to containthe situation.”

“What situation?”

“I just said I can’t tell you.”

“But you could at least give me a hint!”Ahsoka gasps, “Is there a Jedi here onAxxila?”

Anakin makesa face. “I can’t tell you, Ahsoka!”

“There is,” she says, and he shakes his head. “You’rebad at lying, Skyguy.”

“Ahsoka.” There’s no smile on Anakin’s facenow, and he takes her wrist with his one remaining hand. “This isn’t a joke.There are high-ranking officers crawling all over the planet right now, engagedin a mission no one is supposedto know about. And if anyone does knowabout it, those high-ranking officers will be wondering why, and who told themabout it. Get it?”

“Right,” Ahsoka says, sobering. “This isserious.”

“It’s about as serious as it gets, Snips.So don’t breathe a word about this toanyone, understand? We’ll come up with a cover story about how Ilost my arm. In the meantime, stay away from Rex and the other guys from the501st. They’re here to make sure this all goes smoothly, and they’ll do anything to keep the secret from getting out.” He gives her a hard look. “And I mean anything. So don’t trustthem.”

“Right,” Ahsoka says, nodding. “So, what dowe do?”

“For now, just let me handle it.”

She pouts. “So I just do nothing?”

“Yes. Do not drawany attention to yourself, okay?”

She sighs,but she nods her head. “Fine.Promise.”

He grins. “Good. Thanks, ‘Soka.”

After amoment of quiet she nods at his arm. “Isthat really okay?”

He does thesame trick of glancing at it for a second before looking away, and she can tellit’s really bothering him. No surprise there.“It’s not good,” he admits, “It’s…I think I still don’t really…believe it’sgone. But then I try to move my hand and…” He trails off, grief written plainlyon his face.

“It’ll be okay,” Ahsoka says, trying not tolet her voice sound choked. “We’ll get you a prosthetic and you’ll be good asnew, okay?”

He manages arough smile. “Yeah. It’llbe okay.”

She hugs himagain, and they spent the next hour together, just chatting, Ahsoka trying totake his mind off his arm. She always knew there was a possibility he’d get hurt in the line of duty, but thereality of it is even more horrible than she imagined.

A knock comeson the door, much sooner than expected. When Ahsoka goes to open it, she findsRex standing outside. “Sorry, kid,”Rex says, “But we need to do that debrief sooner than planned.”

“Oh.” Ahsoka turns back to Anakin. “Are youokay to do it now, Anakin?”

Anakin nods. “It’s fine. We should get it over with.”

“I guess I have to wait outside,” Ahsokasays.

“This may take a while,” Rex says, “Youmight want to go home.”

Ahsoka looksback to Anakin, who nods. “You go,Snips. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay.” With one last smile at him, Ahsokaleaves the room, stepping out of the way so Rex can enter in her place.

Out in thecorridor, Kix is waiting, clearly on guard duty, but trying to be casual aboutit as he’s currentlywithout his armour. “You need a lift home, kid?”

Ahsokaremembers what Anakin said about the 501st, and shakes her head. “No, thanks. I can make my own way.”

“Okay. But-” Then Kix cuts off, his eyeswidening as he spots something over her shoulder.

She turns.Someone in intimidating black armour is striding up the corridor, clearlyheading for them. Ahsoka has never seen anyone of his species before; he’s very tall, with thin lines cuttingvertically across the paper-white skin of his face. Red triangles like stylizedteardrops have been painted or tattooed under his eyes, with more markings onhis forehead. Ahsoka feels a chill of fear creep across her skin the moment shesees him, and she steps back, trying to make herself small.

The goldeneyes land on her anyway. “Who is this,trooper?” he asks, his voice a low growl of menace.

“Commander Skywalker’s sister, sir,” Kixsays. He’s come to smart attention, not looking at her. “She was just leaving.”

“His sister?” The man in armour stepscloser, his eyes locked on her, and Ahsoka fights the urge to run. “Not byblood, I assume?”

Ahsoka shakesher head, unable to summon her voice.

“Interesting. Very interesting.” Three moretroopers arrive behind him, these all in black armour that Ahsoka has neverseen before. The stranger moves his gaze to Kix and says, “Private, take threemore of your number and escort this girl home, then place a guard around thehouse. We don’t want anything untoward happening toher.”

Kix salutesand says, “Yes, sir,”and then the stranger is gone, through the door into Anakin’s room. The threeblack-armoured troopers go with him, and for a moment Ahsoka gets the strongesturge to rush inside as well, feeling for a second absolutely sure that she must protect Anakin from- something. Her fear lessens as soon as thestranger is out of view, and she clamps down hard on her feelings. She can’t interfere.

“Sorry, kid,” Kix says, “Looks like you’regetting an escort home after all. We’ll go meet some of my brothers; theyshould be downstairs.”

Ahsoka eyesthe door and asks, “Who wasthat?”

“A superior,” Kix says stiffly.

Ahsoka looksat him incredulously. “You don’teven know his rank or title?”

“Kid, you learn quickly in Imperial servicenot to ask too many questions,” Kix says, taking her shoulder and steering herdown the hall. “And you learn that when someone like that shows up,you don’t ask fortheir kriffing operating number. That’s the way to stay alive - and people whodon’t learn that usually don’t make it.”

Ahsoka cantell he’s tellingthe absolute truth, so she stays quiet all the way to the speeder.