annexedlogs | The number one drama causer is at it again. He's not really sorry.

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The number one drama causer is at it again. He's not really sorry.

Who: Vader
What: Self-surgery, healing, dragging people into his mess
When: Early month, prior to the mini-missions
Where: A room in a rent-by-the-day building in the Magitech, Obi-Wan's hut, probably other places as things develop
Content Warnings: self-surgery, blood (lots of blood), to be updated as needed

Given the chip implanted into them was at the base of their skulls, what it did, and the experiences he had with implanted chips - both in his men and in himself - it probably shouldn't surprise anyone he decided to handle it himself.

Not that he hasn't taken done preparations. A field surgery kit, mirrors, some kind of healing gel and bandages, a tarp on the floor under a cheap chair, and furniture moved away. The room was paid for a couple of days. After thinking it over before he started, he sent a text message to Padmé and a message to Obi-Wan.

Then he washed his hands, the back of his head and his neck, and sat in the chair, prepared so the mirrors allowed him to see the back of his head and neck clearly, even when his hands were in the way. And started cutting. Peeling. The scar tissue was thick, tough, and hard to pull apart. But pull it apart he did, because he didn't want to cut nerves or large blood vessels - there wasn't a bacta tank here. It took time, to get down to muscle, to scrap it away from the implants in his spine without harming his implants or causing too much muscle damage (what he thought was too much anyway).

He didn't winch or flinch, only swore when a blade broke. Angerly threw the disposable ones across the room and set a blade into the reusable ones.

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Overall, someone finds himself unsurprised as to what's happened. It by no means makes him feel any better for it, and in some ways, he wonders that this could have been avoided if he'd just made more progress in his researching. Realistically Tech knows he would have largely been unprepared for it. He's a soldier, not a surgeon, and even in the removal of their inhibitor chips, that had been mostly through aid of technology, and such equipment was not something readily available to him.

The sigh he greets his former general with isn't necessarily directed at Vader himself.

Had they had medical droids (their own medical droids) available, he would have asked Tech to oversee, solely so the chip wasn't damaged. It would have been a better idea, really.

It also would have necessitated waiting longer, and he'd been unwilling to do so. Vader did not enjoy the feeling of not having the Force at his fingertips. Here, one needed every advantage they had.

"I hope the chip wasn't damaged. There was a bit of a struggle with it." Also, he had certainly scraped bone several times. If Vader was paler than normal, it was almost impossible to tell, due to his scars and the Dark Side corruption giving him an unnatural pallour. "And I am grateful for your discretion as to who it came from. As well as all your work on this project."

The clone arches a brow at that. "A struggle. Well yes, I would imagine that would be an understatement for one performing delicate surgery on themselves." He shakes his head.

"It was relatively in one piece, however long deactivated once I received it. I've spoken to someone who's constructed a crude scanner that was able to pick up vague signals from our active chips, and I can only assume that only works so long as they're still wired in." He upturns his hands in a faint shrug. "This isn't necessarily how I anticipated getting a sample to study, but I'm doing what I can to delve further into this technology."

"The implants make it less foreign than you might suspect." Not less delicate, but delicate in a way he was used to and comfortable with.

"If I could examine the scanner, I should be able to increase its efficiency." That at least he had more than enough experience with. And was certain it wouldn't be something Padmé would worry over. "Planning on scanning them before they were removed?"

"Perhaps, but seeing as performing such duties is not part of my training, I would not attempt doing something to that degree without at least some oversight."

Tech shakes his head. "From what I gather, it's a tool based upon something of his own specifications, and scanning seems to be but one feature. But I'm fine-tuning my own version of a scanner, if you would like to have a look at that." He then nods. "That is the only way currently to get any active readings from them as I don't know how long they remain active once removed."

"I admit if Kix were here, I could not have imagined a better team to handle it." Even if he wasn't entirely sure Kix would have been willing.

"Ah. Building one for your own use is likely to be more advantageous in that case. Chips like these are not uncommon in the Outer Rim Tech, I've built scanners for them before." So yes, he would. "Do we know if the Slyphid retain their chips after they kill their hosts?"

Kix- ah yes. It takes Tech only a second to recall the clone medic from the 501st, brief a time as they'd worked with him. The last Tech had ever seen regarding records was that he was MIA some time before the end of the war, not that it helps them any here.

"Then your insight will be most valuable," Tech says on the subject of the scanner. He's heard that the general had been something of a mechanic prodigy. "I'll bring it over when I can. As for Sylphids... that is actually an excellent question. I am actually not sure how much of a host's ability that a Sylphid retains access to in general, or to what extent they make use of chip identifiers and locators."

Technically speaking, were there better medics within the GAR? Probably. The 501^st likely didn't have the best of everyone, even if Vader's thoughts on the matter were different. Was there anyone else he'd trust? A solid no.

"Please do. At the moment my focus has been on remaking my tools, as they were specialized." It was slightly less life-threatening to not have them, but his implants, his cybernetics, they all required upkeep. "I suppose we'll have to find out." By which he means, he'll find out if they have the chips. It's not like the dead would mind.

He looks quietly at Vader, such a statement sounding ominous, and Tech can only imagine what he means by that. It really doesn't take much of an imagination given what the man has done with his own chip, though.

"I do have this for you," Tech says as he reaches into his pack to produce a comlink of sorts. "I've pieced together several as you've specified wanting communicators independent of those provided by the rebels. Earcoms will not be far behind, but these will all require proper testing." And naturally since it's been a specifically requested private side project, there haven't been many options in whom to ask to help run them.

He's not going to vivisect anyone. But killing the enemy is unavoidable in war. And they might as well take advantage to get the information they need.

Vader offered his hand, allowing Tech to deposit them, rather than him grabbing them. Some is simply knowing having a cybernetic hand grab your flesh and blood delicate body parts is often a threat, another is an attempt at not bowling into Tech's space. They didn't have the close relationship to allow it. But his shoulders still pull back just a little, he inhales oddly - sharp and quickly which is almost immediately halted then continued slower. And he speaks without exhaling. "Earcoms are not something I can use without them being wired into my helmet. My hearing was damaged on Mustafar and unable to be repaired." He loathes admitting that. To give any physical weakness out. "My outer ears were also severely burned resulting in nothing an earcom could hold onto." That bothers him less - he survived. Scars didn't matter.

Still, it was a huge extending of trust.

That's a line of reasoning that Tech can understand, which is why he isn't making any objections. Besides, the Sylphid meant to use them as little more, themselves, just more intact.

At least the clone isn't one to react viscerally, and while the subtle things that come along with the Sith lord's efforts to control even a simple action as holding his hand out are taken note of, Tech doesn't give too much thought into the why's. Tech hands over the units, narrow but flat and without the odd bend of a Jedi communicator's design.

"...I see," he says once he soaks in this new information. Bits and pieces of information that are still far and few to fill in the enormous puzzle that is Lord Vader. Not something he imagines given so freely, either. He files this away, nodding. "Then I will give you what I come up with, and you can see how to best accommodate it to your helmet's specifications."

Vader has never made a habit of asking more of those under his command than he's willing to do himself, never been one to shrink from the front or ask they put themselves more at risk than he's willing to. Only extremely rarely has he risked the lives of his men being lost for no reason.

It's a point of pride. It's something he judges other military commanders by, and it plays into promotions and has even been a factor in who he kills or not.

It is not something he's going to change now.

He won't ask Tech to experiment with these chips if he isn't willing to retrieve them.

"Normally it arguments my hearing, to the point of being able to hear whispers hundreds of yards away." It's why he was so good at stealth kills when he wanted to be stealthy, "But now, it seems to only function as well as I remember my hearing being before." He would like to get it back to what it was. Visual abilities as well. "The hospital here mentioned something of magnetic implants, which would allow for the comlink to be more easily wired in." It was likely something he'd use with his helmet eventually.

It's why Anakin Skywalker was so respected among his men, among the clones. He was always out there in the thick of things with the rest of them. He wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty or even take on tasks himself. That much has not seemed to change, even if outward appearance and more directness to his approach has.

Tech isn't necessarily unwilling. Of his brothers he's the one who sees things in terms of details and numbers, facts and statistics. This chip business isn't all that pleasant and there is some personal offense taken in them, but otherwise it is a puzzle to be solved, a problem to fix. He'll do what he can about it, and he's just glad that he isn't having to work it out completely alone.

"Like many of our superior abilities with the chips," he sighs. "We've been forced to start at a baseline here, but we are not restricted to it. Technology is comparable if not potentially better than what we know. Magnetic implants sound like a delicate matter, but I can see how that can be useful so long as it does not interfere with signals."

It's why he was still respected. It's why, considering the Empire military command at large thinks of Troopers as replaceable clogs - not allowed any separate identity, nothing more than parts - there were groups which treated Vader more as God-being than Commander. His presence could easily turn the tide of battle, his presence often meant surviving.

Vader's men loved him. Vader loved them in return.

"Yes. Which leads me to believe they are magic-tech combinations." Made him hungry to get his hands on that knowledge. "It's something I'm exploring on separate matters. Anything I find which will further your research I will share with you." Of course it's a quid pro quo situation in Vader's mind.

"Most likely. I have yet to actually do some study on how such things work. One would think they're polar opposites, but I was gold that it is mainly a manner of perspective, making use of different properties to ultimately come to a similar objective."

Tech nods at Vader. He doesn't doubt that he'd get around to finding things sooner or later but he's but one person and not above accepting help, especially from those whom he trusts knows what they're doing. Well, more or less.

"In the meantime, is there anything else you need?" Of course he has to ask, even if he continually has a full plate.

"The old Sith Empire had entire divisions devoted top blending Sith alchemy and sorcery with technology I'm told. Most of the knowledge is lost now." How much of that was too be mourned he didn't know.

His mouth pulled a little into a smile but only a little. Good on Tech, really. "Not at the moment no. Do you need anything from me?"

The Sith. Not an unfamiliar term by now, but he's mostly heard about it dropped by the Jedi and whatever scant details could be gleaned from history files. It's not really much to go on, save that dealings with them never bode well for anyone.

"Then that does us little good," Tech says. Neither of them seem particularly versed in too much outside of the more technical aspect of things, although Tech would count the Force an advantage in Vader's favor. He had experience with the supernatural, with existing powers outside of what was harnessed in machinery.

The clone thinks a moment with the question perhaps unexpectedly turned back to him. "Recover," he says with a nod. "And if you are willing, if any new opportunity arises for us to gather relative information, allow me to accompany you."

"We know it's possible. If you hear the name Dr. Aphra, a girl with dark hair, first name Chelli tell her to meet with you and notify me right away. It is her point of study, which I fund." He doubted they would be so lucky.

"I will. On both accounts." It was an easy request to honor - the former something he would do anyway, the latter simply made sense.

"Noted," Tech says, nodding. That Vader knows someone studying such specifics is hardly surprising.

Not that he thought his request would be turned down, but it's still some odd relief to receive confirmation. His needs are simple, and ultimately boil down to wanting to be useful, though it is not something he has voiced, but to those who know clones, it's probably more than obvious. Out of his element if there's no war to be fought, nothing to be fixed. Keeping useful, busy doing the things he knows he can do has been his sole grounding point here and separate from his siblings.

He offers another nod. "Then, by your leave?" It's still so easy to fall into habit when in the presence of the former generals.

Given she's the one best trained to work on his suit? Probably not. That that someone specialized in ancient tech probably said much more.

Privately Vader was appalled by the cruelty of bringing in a single clone.

"You are dismissed, yes." It was comforting in a way, to fall into a familiar role. For both of them.

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The number one drama causer is at it again. He's not really sorry.

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