Very oblivious to what was happening in the Phantom, a few days had passed since Icarus left all contact with the rest of the team. Since that day he left with Tronda for the same Gwori forest where he had that... "strange encounter" with the ghost of Ki-Adi-Mundi. Although the droid still refused to recognize what it had seen, justifying that it was a simple error in its sensors. Who knows? And maybe that forest had an electromagnetic field that will affect the droids.

Even so, Icarus himself could not deny the fact that Tronda, even with his blindness, knew perfectly where to go, even traveling at a speed as high as that of a Speeder. As if... something... had called her to that place.

Now, Icarus was sitting on the moldy forest floor, with Tronda right in front of him. While Alfa waited further from the first line of trees. Without any type of communication with his general. And at a bad time.

Tronda: - If you don't close your eyes and concentrate... you won't be able to see the world any other way. - He said with slow and patient words.

Icarus: - If by "close my eyes" you mean turning off my optical sensors, I don't think I can see. -

Tronda: - Ha ha. No... I don't mean that kind of view. -

Icarus: - It's been a long time since we've been here and I don't notice any progress. I don't think it's wise to spend more time away from the rest. -

Tronda: - Haven't you seen progress? I think that is not true. -

Icarus: - No... I don't understand what you mean. -

Tronda: - At least you're listening to me. That's progress. -

Icarus: - My auditory sensors have always heard her. -

Tronda: - You heard me... But they didn't listen to me. -

Icarus: - This is... absurd. -

Tronda: - That's what someone who hasn't tried says. -

Icarus let out a metallic growl of anger, an iota of his emotional part, although very repressed inside. He felt that all of this was a waste of time, but perhaps the most effective thing would be to simply listen to the psychic and show that all of this was in vain.

Still annoyed, Icarus turned off his optical sensors, and just as he had predicted... he saw nothing.

Icarus: - And now? -

Tronda: - Now? Now you must turn off the computer. -

Icarus: - I am, literally, a computer... I can't just "turn it off." -

Tronda: - I mean that you stop thinking... Computing... Drawing plans and strategies. -

Icarus: - "Clearing the mind" is not something I can literally do. How am I supposed to do it? -

Tronda: - I don't know, hehe. - Her mockery somewhat irritated him. - That's something you have to find for yourself. -

Icarus believed that the situation couldn't get more ridiculous. But I had an idea what to do. At least I could imitate the organics when they did something similar.

The droid lowered the speed of its computations to a minimum, as if its RAM were working at the lowest possible capacity, only maintaining the basic calculations to keep it running. Something he had never done, and it gave him a feeling of... emptiness... Something unpleasant indeed for a mind that has never rested.

The feeling he felt could only be described as discomfort. He could not find peace as Tronda said, because a droid that was created for war had perhaps never calculated what true peace would be like. A paradox in his own mind that, when it became a loop in his mind, gave him some restlessness... Some... alienation.

Seconds passed... Minutes passed. And its primary functions slowed down more and more, and as if the Twi'lek had read the future, its core of midichlorians entered a strange state that it was not able to define. A state of... alarm.

Strange traces of information traveled through its circuits. Strange codes that seemed to emerge from deep within his core. Codes that he was not able to interpret literally, but whose chaotic incoherent pattern of digits caused him general discomfort. Those codes were very similar to... when I was on the battlefield.

Something wasn't right. Something was definitely not right at all. It was like feeling a chill run through its metal cables. A prelude in organic words, but one that he could not interpret so literally. But that feeling made him too nervous. It was like hearing screams... Feeling pain... Anger and... Death.

Icarus couldn't take it anymore. Their systems activated in a burst of energy. That was too chaotic for a machine as logical as him, so lacking an open mind to understand things that were beyond logic.

Tronda: - Well. I guess that's enough for now. Maybe we should go back. -

Icarus: - Yes... I think... you're right. -

The droid didn't notice, but it was obvious that Tronda had sensed something stalking him. He couldn't define what, but he knew that whatever it was, it had made him very upset. But he never imagined that the answer would come so soon.

Alfa: - ¡General! -

As soon as the commando droid saw Icarus and Tronda emerge from the forest he rushed to meet them. From the way Alpha acted, the super droid knew something wasn't right.

Icarus: - What's happening? -

Alpha: - It's the Phantom. Something terrible happened. -

Never before had the Speeder reached such speeds. Icarus ordered Alpha to drive at full speed back to the base. The droid had received the news of the mission just an hour ago, but since he could not communicate with his general there was no way to notify him.

Icarus was not able to understand what had happened, since the information that Alpha had was not very detailed, but it was enough to know that Commander Boil was in critical condition so that he could not stop thinking about the millions of possibilities of which that could have happened.

Icarus: - Speed ​​up. -

His words were impulsive as they approached the shelter and he saw trails of light descend from the atmosphere. It was the Phantom and the rest of the ships, there was no doubt about that, and I wanted to know what had happened as soon as possible. I had to be there no matter what.

As soon as the Speeder entered the hangar, Icarus descended without even waiting for them to come to a complete stop, and had to run to avoid falling. But at that same moment, the ramp of the Aurora freighter slowly opened, revealing a heartbreaking scene inside.

Two droids were carrying a stretcher in a hurry towards the medical station, Miraj herself being in front of the group. All the senior officers of the Oasis were aware of the situation, all except Icarus, who needed an immediate explanation. And above all, why the stretcher they were transporting was covered with a white blanket, as if trying to hide the obvious, when the silhouette that the blanket marked was clearly that of a human being.

Icarus rushed to catch up with the group that was going to the hospital, but was quickly intercepted by countless organics who urgently needed his intervention. A barrage of questions fell on the droid. What should they do? Where were they going to settle the refugees? Where could they get the rhydonium? And many others that were of no immediate importance to the super droid.

Miraj used to take care of those administrative things at the Oasis, but since she was the one leading the group to the hospital it was impossible for her to do it. To make matters worse, Wag Too was nowhere to be found, he had probably stayed at home taking care of his calf. And the only familiar faces were Bly and Li Mu, and neither of them had the knowledge to carry out such tasks.

Icarus felt overwhelmed... unable to compute clearly. I knew I had to answer all those questions. It was the most logical thing. But he wanted to follow the group that was heading towards the medical station and that had already disappeared from his sight. If he had teeth he would have clenched it furiously, trying to release his anger, a sensation that he barely recognized in himself, but that he was able to calm with some logic. "He took a deep breath," metaphorically speaking, and got to work organizing everything. But inside, with all his bionic part, he regretted not being able to accompany Boil at this time. And the truth was... it would have been the best.

For the group that went to the hospital it was not easy either. Numa demanded to stay at Boil's side with too much impetus, so much so that she had to be subdued by the B1 droids acting as sentry, destroying two in the process with just the fury of her bare hands. Miraj did her best to calm her down, but it seemed pointless, and only Mirana's voice could be heard by the very angry Twi'lek.

Mirana: - ¡Numa! -

Her scream caught everyone's attention, including the young woman, who looked up on the verge of tears. Numa couldn't...lose anyone else. Boil was the only thing he had left besides Lubo of Tronda. His only older brother still alive.

Without giving any response, Mirana approached Numa and wrapped her in her arms, as emotionally hurt as she was, but her hint of maturity allowed her to hold back her tears, something that the Twi'lek could not do when she felt the warmth of the hug. . And there, at the doors of the medical station, his heartbreaking screams of agony echoed in the hearts of everyone present.

Just as Tifany and Kurt predicted, the prosthetic core they gave Boil as a secondary heart did its job the entire trip, but such a rushed job would soon present fatal flaws. As soon as they arrived, the doctors accompanied by the tired Tifany opened her chest again, to remove the Delta nucleus and give her a transplant. But... Unfortunately that would be impossible.

Boil's condition was far from stable. His heart was failing more and more, and his roasted lungs would not be able to survive more than twenty-four hours. The doctors looked at the truth with pain, and even Tifany, who had fought by their side from the beginning, was already giving up. Saving him was... impossible.

But the silence did not last more than a second, when a new member entered the operating room. He was a tall guy, and whose imposing figure made everyone around him feel like ants. A subject of a very controversial species in the Star Wars galaxy.

Skakoano: - To the side. Let me pass. -

Surgeon: - Doctor Hunkbor. It's not time for your... -

Hunkbor (Skakoan): - If you want this clone to live... He will shut up and step aside... Now. -

The amphibian alien stood almost eight feet tall, and his threatening stance made the rest of the room recoil from his aggressive words. The huge alien pushed aside the challenge of surgeons, remaining right in front of Tifany, who looked like a pygmy next to him.

Hunkbor: - Heart rate and blood pressure? - But there was no response. - Doctor? -

Only then did Tifany emerge from the state of alienation she was in, immediately answering the Skakoan's question as soon as she obtained the data from the monitors.

Hunkbor: - That's not good. We have to make a more aggressive intervention that we want to survive. We must take him to my classroom immediately. -

Surgeon: Doctor, I already told you it's not... -

Hunkbor: - I said... Right away. -

It was more than obvious that this guy was not well regarded by the rest, but in this situation there was not much else to do. After all... Nothing was lost by trying something unknown.

Tifany: - You heard. Take the clone to your laboratory. -

Hunkbor just nodded at the Rodian, taking control of the medical team as they transported the stretcher with Boil's body to one of the farthest places in the hospital. Away from prying eyes, where the Skakoan and only a few were allowed access. A room terrifying to mortal eyes.

What happened inside there... only a few were able to see it with their own eyes.