Is There Life On Duro?

[Connor Harrison]

Former Imperial Reprogramming Institute
Duro, Duro System

​

JN-4 sat on the large boulder blocking the entrance, or one of many entrances, to the ruins of her home. Knees up to her chest, she looked out over the polluted battleground that had been the only place she had known. If this was what the outside world was, she would have to get used to it. The dirty air filtered through her nose and respiratory system, the damage already being done from months of pollution she was force to inhale daily. The sky was a light copper and the ground was dirty brown. A few token sprouts of yellow fauna, the odd green maybe.

But it was all normal to JN-4. She was warm in her grey vest, black trousers and military boots. Her body had almost become one with the humid temperature and dirty breeze that blew. It was all normal.

Attacked by those known as “the Republic”, the institute had been decimated and left to burn, years of research and secrets either destroyed in the fire-fight and orbital airstrikes or taken away for analysis by “the men and women with guns”. The Stormtrooper legion who had helped JN-4 try and escape had all but fled to where ever they had to go.

In one hand she rubbed her two dog-tags together on her chest absentmindedly, and in the other she held a burnt Fefze, half-eaten, the rest crunching around inside her mouth. It was a sub-standard food, but it was something until her food rations later in her make-shift hovel in the burnt out crater of the institute landing pad. For now, she just watched.

It would be nice to have something to read, or to talk to someone, one of her fellow sisters, or even the creator, but they were gone. She was all that was left. She didn’t have the resolve to die, that wasn’t what her teaching had instilled in her to do, so until the day a transport took her away or she found a place on his world to live, JN-4 sat on her boulder, knees up to her chest, and looked out into the distance and waited until the sun above fizzled into the horizon for the day.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Sometimes Asemir wondered why he took on certain jobs. Eliminating a target was his most typical job. Nabbing someone was another. They all exploited his expertise as a commando. Soldier. Combat specialist. Get in, tag the target, get out. Not too hard.

But sometimes, rarely it seems, he'd see a different type of job. Something far easier with less risk, and given all he'd been through in his near-century, it was something of a relief to take on these jobs. Courier services. Surveyor. Messenger. Jobs that involved no mortal danger or adrenaline rush. Jobs that paid decently and allowed him to relax. Chill.

This job was a mix. It was on one hand quiet and easy, with nothing more exciting than getting his boots dirty. Survey Duro. Map and tag anything that's worth salvaging after the big invasion that left the planet a husk. Locate any remaining valuables. Easy enough.

Of course, "easy enough" never was easy enough, he thought as he jumped off his speeder. The cracked dirt ground instantly coated his boots and legs in a layer of dust. The mission was going to be easy enough, but the environment was going to make it tough.

Just a little bit. Not too tough.

Devastation littered the barren wasteland. Ruined guard houses, destroyed machines, crushed war materiel. All signs of a battle fought and lost, or won depending on which side you were on.

He approached some wreckage and broken fortifications. Large boulders that had been dislodged probably by an artillery barrage or an airstrike. He lifted the macrobinoculars to his face, scanned the area, and carried forth.

So far, his trip had been pretty worthless. Anything valuable, anything that could be used to recoup the military losses, had already been stripped from the battlefield. Nothing of significant value remained. He had found a few instruments and simple equipment, but nothing that his employer would deem worth sending a salvage team for.

The fortifications grew closer, and Asemir Lor'kora scanned the area carefully with experienced eyes. Scavengers were known to pick apart an expired battlefield. Fortunately, he had found no one else searching the ruins, but that didn't mean that the area was empty.

His eyes saw nothing, except... wait. Something. An odd shape. On a boulder. Hunched. It glowed with life energy, its aura pulsing gently in a way only a Force user could detect.

It was too far for the ingr'nysk to make out the figure's intentions, but she or he or it didn't seem threatening. But looks were often deceiving, Asemir knew well enough.

He latched his macrobinoculars to a hardpoint on his armor and shouldered his carbine in one hand. His other hand was free, available for other weapons if necessary.

He approached carefully, slowly. "Hello?" Asemir called out to the figure on the boulder.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Some strange feeling like being watched made her chew a little slower, but it was probably some native Duros scavenger or a wild animal. She couldn't see very far, but she didn't need to because a voice called out, and it made her freeze - it sounded like mechanical warrior, one of those soldiers - was it a Stormtrooper solider?

Dropping the bug in her hand, she rolled backwards and to the side, sliding down the boulder to the ground and crouched down, reversing back into the small gap between the destroyed entrance and the huge rock itself. The E11 was quickly in her hand that resided on the floor with her water canteen, but the charge had died weeks ago. This weapon, one of the ones the Stormtrooper in white had thrust in her hand, was now all for show.

Her heart thumped in her chest and her ears picked up an eerie sound, which she soon identified as the blood pumping through her veins. Fingers tight on the cold weapon, she knew to point it and fire and take down the enemy. But, she didn't have any charge TO fire, so it would be a case of survival in the face of danger.

The being would surely be here to investigate her, or terminate her, or rescue her. She didn't know which, and she wasn't going to waste time finding out as she dared not move a muscle in apprehension.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Well, maybe calling out had been a stupid choice, Asemir thought. The figure had disappeared off the boulder at the sound of his voice. He couldn't see him anymore (Asemir decided that the figure was a he.), but the defilade couldn't hide him from the Force. He was there, crouching in cover.

As he stalked forward, Asemir took stock of his situation. There was enough debris that he could dash to cover should the figure attack. With the Force, he'd certainly have enough warning. Plus, while Asemir's armor was more akin to light armor, it could stop a blaster bolt.

But precautions were always a good idea. The armor shifted its color slightly, the nanomachines morphing their color to match the dull browns and grays of the landscape. A little nudge with the Force, and some of the battlefield dust rose in a thin cloud. Just enough to obscure his shape, to make any ambushing shot just that much more difficult.

Asemir started to work his around the boulder and wrecked buildings. Carefully. Methodically. The figure's life presence hovered in the same place.

"Hello?" Asemir called out again. "You can come out. I come in peace. I'm not here to hurt you. Just here to survey this area."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Her knee trembled slightly, be it from adrenalin or simple muscle spasm due to her cramped stance - crouch. Small fingers flexed on the useless weapon and she swallowed, running her tongue across a dry set of lips, her breathing staggered and eyes wide waiting for something - anything!

The voice again; commanding, but sending out a message of peace, which was important. They were here to survey the area and not hurt her. She hadn't know anything else except commands that were expected to be followed and trusted. What was a lie? She never had been told one.

JN-4 decided to come out. She crunched forward slowly on her knees, aiming the E11 forward where her eyes were trained. Nothing but a curtain of dusty wind. Standing, the muscles taught in her body, she stepped forward gingerly, looking down the barrel of the blaster. To her right, where her vision was somehow pulled to, she noticed the figure. It seemed rather monstrous, hulking and...big.

She was now in full sight, and waited for a few moments, nothing but the wind around her, making her eyes narrow against the grit, and the blood pumping in her ears.

"Identify yourself - name and rank," she croaked, devoid of real power due to her dry throat.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

The woman standing before him was a surprise. Asemir wasn't quite sure why, though. Probably because he wasn't expecting a woman. Certainly because he didn't expect her to be dressed in simple garb. Maybe the combat fatigues and armor of a soldier, or the rags and ad hoc clothing of a scavenger perhaps. Anything but something so utilitarian, so plain.

The Forgotten watched the woman carefully. Her blaster was pointed at him, steady, trained. His armor's computer identified it as an E11 model, with an eighty percent probability of accuracyu. If she fired, and with the distance between them, it wouldn't be enough to stop him. She wasn't a high threat. At least not right now.

"I am Asemir," he said in response to the woman's request. Her voice was tired, forced. "I have no present rank but I once held the rank of colonel."

He decided to drop the dust swirling around him. The debris cloud dissipated and his form cleared. After a moment, he lowered his own weapon, but stayed alert.

"Who are you?" Asemir asked. "What is your name and rank?"

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Her leg trembled slightly, that feeling of fear was creeping up her body. The warrior spoke calmly but the whole ensemble was rather terrifying. Maybe he was here to finish the job? JN-4 nodded in acceptance of his answer. Thankfully he lowered his weapon at the right time the dust seemed to settle more, and his appearance became more clearer. That certainly didn't warrant her weapon to be lowered, even if it was useless.

"Aes...As..." she fumbled slightly at the new name, "..Asemir. Ase-mir."

She nodded. The name made this machine more human, and he was certainly involved in military operations if he had been a colonel. She could trust him if he wasn't ready to shoot her.

"I am JN-4, a female. I am a product of the Imperial Remnant but can not say why. I have a project name of Joon. No rank."

She stepped forward a little more, the E11 lowering, as with her interpretation of the situation.

"Are you here to take me away to the Imperial Remnant, Colonel Az..Ase-mir?"

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

The Imperial Remnant. Well, they were the losers of this little conflict. Did that mean she was a stormtrooper? Or maybe something else, given that she called herself a product? Asemir wondered about that and wanted to ask Joon about that but decided it probably wasn't the right time.

"Please, I'm retired from the military. Asemir will do just fine." He considered her question. He really had no desire to get involved with Imperial business but he couldn't leave someone to starve to death on this barren planet.

"Rescuing you was not my objective," the Forgotten said finally, "but I can take you off world so that you can contact your superiors. Or take you to any other world you'd like."

He glance around at the wrecked landscape. "Are you hurt? Would you like water or food? How did you survive the battle anyways." Asemir gestured around him. "It was pretty intense. It is a wonder that you survived the heavy artillery."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Anyone with life experience and a greater understanding of the galaxy and those who lived and fought in it would question help from an armoured stranger so soon. What were their motives? What did they want in return? Why did they want to help? It was all about survival; who to trust.

However JN-4 knew nothing about everything else away from what she was used to – being told instructions and following them, and hearing news and stories and believing them.

"I will take some nutrients and water please, whatever you have, thank you Asemir."

The kindness was enough to make her drop the E11 and smile, nodding to him.

"There is nowhere else I can go, all I have known is here – the legion of Stormtroopers tried to help but we were separated and I had to find my way back here over a course of days. By then it was nothing but what you see now and I have waited here ever since for someone to collect me. If you can show me where to go, I will be every thankful."

Gingerly, she reached out and touched the warm shell he wore; it fascinated her. She wasn’t aggressive at all, just curious; the child-like curiosity coming into play.

"Where do you come from? These aren’t Imperial markings, or ones I saw with men and women of the Republic who came here."

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
Writing a post with a baby is tough. Train of thought constantly wrecked.

IC:

As the woman JN-4 (Joon, Asemir reminded himself) placed a finger on his armor, it occurred to Asemir that he had changed. Years and years ago, had a stranger reached out and tried to touch his person, he would have either recoiled or killed the offender. But that was years ago, and he'd grown since then, changed, in so many ways. Matured, perhaps? Or perhaps gotten softer? As it was, he kept his stance nonthreatening but ready, noted her footwork and her stance, and a piece of his mind cataloged what was the best way to disable her should she turn threatening.

"You're right. I'm not Imperial or Republic," Asemir said as Joon stepped back. With his right hand, he reached for the supply pack strapped to his back and pulled it from its hardpoints. "I come from a small region of the Galaxy quite a ways from here. Out in the Unknown Regions. It's quite a story of how I even left my people and ended out here. It's one of those stories that you'd tell over a few drinks and over the course of a few nights. Maybe I'll tell you about it when we head off this planet."

He finished rummaging through the pack and offered a snack bar and a bottle of water. "It's not much, just something that has calories and carbs in a small package. Mostly nuts, I think. I've got better food back in the ship, but this should suffice until then."

As Joon accepted the food, Asemir blinked a command to his armor AI. His helmet peeled back like molting skin, the nanomachines making up his armor folding back into the rest of his armor, revealing a blue face and gold eyes. The Forgotten smiled gently, relishing the coolness of the dusty air. It was a welcome change from the stale air cycled through his helmet filters.

"Well, Joon, what are you doing out here on Duro? I take it this was your home?"

[member=Joon]

 

[Connor Harrison]

OOC: Totally understand! Toddlers are just as bad!


She took the water in the bottle, knowing what this was, and generously drink it, gulp after gulp, until she polished it off. Half-listening to Asemir, nodding now and then, she tore into the food and started eating hungrily, not knowing a taste like this or texture. So much so she wretched slightly, not giving enough time for the water to go down and each bite. It was safe to say she was experiencing something she never had experienced before and enjoying it.

With a little composure, a few lines of water dribbling down her chin, she paused slightly as the face behind the mask came into view, and what a peculiar tone he had. Nothing like she could imagine – and she could imagine little – he seemed quite pleasant and imposing with that smile on the cool skin.

"Thank you, again, Asemir," she said, wiping her mouth.

She held out the empty food wrapper and bottle.

"Duro here is where I was created and raised and it is my home and school and base of operation. Well, it was, until the Republic men took it away in conflict with the Imperial Remnant who just wanted to make the galaxy safe again."

Joon turned and pointed to the old institute.

"This was the only place I ever knew but it was rather wonderful. Full of life and you could learn anything and everything, and you were kept comfortable. However," she turned to him, ”now you have found me for a new life and I look forward to working with you and travelling together as you wish."

There was nothing strange about submitting to someone who had helped her, and Asemir was now the next person in line.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

OOC:
And here I am, hoping that when my son gets to that age he'd understand if I ask him to give me time to write a post.

IC:

Asemir watched Joon wolf down the water and snack bar. He recognized the enthusiasm of someone who had been surviving on survival rations for a period of time. He'd been there before, and new that anything tasted better than those rations.

"It sounds like a wonderful place, your home," he said after Joon described her life here. "I actually grew up in similar circumstances. While I wouldn't describe it as a super happy place, it was still home. My friends grew up there too." He recognized the familiar pain of regret at the thought of his squad. He'd never see them again, at least not in this life.

Stuffing the food wrappers and bottle back into his pack, Asemir looked around the ruins. "Did you want to head back to my ship, to head off planet now? Do you have any personal items or anything? I don't mean to hurry, but I've learned to move fast when you're around battlefields. There's always scavengers or other people that wouldn't mind taking a potshot at you."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He grew up like her? He was a clone too? A small smile started to flower on her face, until he mentioned his ship. Taking a few steps forward to stand beside him, she suddenly slowed and started to falter. His ship – off planet. What if the Imperial Remnant soldiers came back for her? Where would she go? What if Colonel Asemir was going imprison her?

JN-4 looked up at the face of the man she was starting to appreciate, but didn’t know what to do.

"I – w….what if the doctors and soldiers come back for me? If I go, I’ll have nothing. I don’t’ know where they are."

Her face felt tight, and her heart rate started to rise as she panicked, like she experienced in the wild when she was alone and worried she would be terminated.

"Do you have anyone out there for you, Asemir, or are you alone, travelling on your own too? Maybe you can stay with me here and re-build the Imperial Institute and work for them!"

She turned and placed excited hands on his armoured arms. It was as if autopilot was turned on.

"You can train us, like you did as a Colonel in your past, and you understand us, and can help us against the Republic people wanting to destroy us!"

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Oh boy, the Forgotten thought. He sensed anxiety in the woman, both through the Force and through her expressions, her body language. Her questions, her posture, everything spoke to shock at what had happened. That, or she's being completely genuine. It was puzzling for the former Sith-Lord-turned-bounty-hunter. Joon obviously was different from a normal human, someone who had grown up in normal circumstances. But, if this place had been the only home she knew and if she really had been raised in a super structured environment like his own childhood, then her attachment made a bit more sense.

He looked at the woman. She wasn't an adolescent and he guessed that she was on the older side of young adult. And yet, her emotions, her questions, the way she spoke, they showed a naivety, an innocence. Something that he had seen in his fellow initiates over a half-century ago.

"I don't think they're coming back," Asemir said quietly. "You've been out here for how long? They would have returned sooner. And look around you. There's not much here. We're in the middle of a desert. It wouldn't be safe to try to rebuild here. Without proper supply and support, I don't think we'd survive for very long. I know this is home for you, but sometimes life changes and you have to roll with it. You'll have a better chance off world. Look at it as a new opportunity to learn, I guess."

He sighed and looked around the desert. The winds were picking up again and stirring up a cloud of dust. "In fact, I do have someone out there for me, so I really can't stay out here." He thought back to Tacitanya and her unbridled enthusiasm and cheerfulness. " She's a wonderful person. I think you'd like her, actually."

The Forgotten took a step back, and rummaged through his pack again and pulled out a light cloak. He offered it to Joon. " I can train you. I can help you get on your feet so that you're set to meet the world." He gave her a look that was full of sympathy. "But, and take this from a person who's seen enough violence in life, there's more to life than getting vengeance. See the galaxy, enjoy life. I know the Republic really screwed up your life here, but you don't want to get consumed by the desire for revenge. That's a nasty road to take."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

JN-4 smiled gently and took the cloak, holding it and folding it over her arms, watching him as he spoke. Why didn’t he want to stay? He seemed lonely to her.

"But, I don’t want revenge Asemir. Revenge is something bad, it’s filthy. I just want to continue what I was part of, and we were attacked first remember, so I need to protect myself and everything that I know”

She wrapped the cloak around her torso and looked back at the facility. She did want to learn, but something wasn’t letting her go. She believed in something; JN-4 wanted to believe.

"Can I reach you in communication at any time?” She turned back to the solider. "I need to wait a little longer. I feel they will return – they will. Maybe now you know of this place you can inform them I am here and I can protect the secrets here?”

She sighed and rubbed her nose.

"I feel…torn. Internally. I want to leave, but I don’t. I feel angry and sad, but hopeful. I have pains sometimes. Aches.” JN-4 looked at him. "You have someone out there. A brother, sister? Friend? I am glad you have companionship”

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

Asemir nodded. "I can understand your reluctance. This is home and even if there's nothing here anymore, it's still home. The memories, the experiences. They all make it tough to leave."

He unhooked a communicator and handed it to Joon. "You can reach me on this. The number is also programmed in their so you can pull it and load it into a more powerful comm unit if necessary. I'll also see if I can find someone who can protect what's here."

He thought back to Taci. "She is a friend. A student also. We met a bit ago on a moon a long ways from here. Nar Shadda. Have you heard of it? Anyways, her name is Tacitanya, I met her quite unexpectedly, and she's been my student and companion and friend since."

He sensed the sorrow within Joon. "Do you have any siblings?" Asemir asked the clone.

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

A small hand reached out to take the com from the large armoured hand of Asemir, and she looked at it curiously, spinning it in her hand and inspecting it.

"I'll treasure this. Thank you, Asemir”

Turning, she pulled the cloak and broke into a quick sprint and ran up the large boulder she had sat on, and span to face him, before dropping to sit, legs out, like an excited child. She smiled and laid her hands on her knees.

"Taciyanata? Tac-i-tany-atya. She sounds wonderful and exotic. I'm glad she is your friend, and you teach her well.” She laughed at her embarrassing tongue. "And I've not heard of Nar Shadda, it sounds wonderful too. Is it a big world? Is it full of people like you, and me?”

She looked up and pointed to the sky and grinned, ever so innocent and childlike, wondering what was out there.

"I will leave here with my people one day, I promise you. And I'll come and find you, with my new device,” JN-4 waggled it at the soldier, "and you'll be happy with what I can become. I'll be like you one day, like your student, I'll be someone. The JN project was defining, and it will rise again. I will make it happen and I'll be back!”

Looking down, she calmed a little, rubbing her hair, and shrugged, shoulders dropping.

"Are siblings friends? I had sisters and creators but no friends. Sisters were those grown with me, and taught with me and trained with me, but I think they will destroyed and taken away. If friends are what you have, then I may have my first friend with you, Asemir. If that's suitable.”

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

"Nar Shadda is not really a wonderful place," Asemir said as he watched Joon sprint up the boulder. It was impressive, to be sure. "The planet, actually a moon, is heavily polluted and chalk full of crime and corruption. There are people there who are plain evil. But there are those who are innocent like you and Taci."

He thought back to his life at the Temple. It was cloistered but that only drew his fellow students closer to each other. "Siblings can be friends, sure, but they don't have to be. The people I grew up with, they weren't my biological siblings, but we went through so much together that we were pretty close. Some of them became friends, some of them didn't." Asemir paused, signed. Their memories would always carry a hint of pain, even after decades. "They're all gone now."

He looked up and smiled, burying his sorrow as he normally did. "I'm honored to be your first friend. And as friends, do stay in touch." He pointed at the communicator. "I look forward to meeting you again. Please don't hesitate to call me if you need anything or want to get off this world.

"Now, do you have enough supplies? Do you need anything? I can grab what you need from my ship."

[member="Joon"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

"I will, I never do back on what I say. And siblings are what I had if that is what you say. I have nothing but creators and siblings. I had. It’s ok because I can’t forget them, so like you say, some can be friends and some can’t be friends.”

She held the communicator in her hand and stayed sat, looking relaxed and carefree. But there was nothing she really needed…actually, there was. JN-4 slinked down the boulder as he feet gently touched the ground and she was standing again.

"Can I take another protein bar and water? I found those beneficial and more satisfactory than creatures from the ground.”

JN-4 stepped forward again, and let the cloak slip off her shoulders and she draped it over her arm and held it out to the soldier.

"Thank you for coming here and talking to me. I will watch the stars every night and look for you and when I find what I need to do here, I will contact you for help if you can still give it.”

There was more emotions being stirred, but she didn’t understand how to express them or what they were; help or hindrance. Her face was rather placid, but her voice was softer than before.

[member="Asemir Lor'kora"]

 

[Asemir]

After fishing through his pack, Asemir pulled out another bottle of water and some more protein bars. "Here you go are then. And please keep the cloak." He gave the clone another reassuring smile and briefly wondered if she should make another, firmer recommendation to convince her to leave this place. But, no, she was an individual, an adult, and capable of making her own decisions. And, if she had been a product of Imperial science as she claimed, she would have been trained and equipped to survive in harsh conditions.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, Joon. It was an honor to meet you. I hope you find what you are looking for. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you need help. It may take me a few days to reach you again, but I'll come back. I look forward to seeing you again." Asemir gave Joon a salute, which turned into a wave, and a retreat into the wastelands.

As he mounted his speeder, Asemir looked back towards the ruined compound and saw Joon's silhouette. He tossed a final goodbye-wave before gunning the throttle. It'd be a relatively short ride across the sun-baked flats back to his ship, but it'd be a trip full of thought. What an interesting mission, the Forgotten thought, to meet an Imperial clone like Joon. He genuinely hoped the best for her future, and was slightly surprised at the sense of sadness when he realized that the odds were stacked against her.

Oh well, not much I can do about that. The mental blocks were already forming, Asemir realized, his natural reaction to melancholy. His mind would numb the emotions, but he made a conscious effort to stop that process. It was a tough habit to break.

In any case, this whole trip would make a good tale for Taci, though the twi'lek would probably have regretted not meeting Joon in person. But they could always make the trip back, Asemir reasoned. As the wind roared past his ears, he wondered if he'd actually see Joon again.

[member="Joon"]

OOC:
Let me know if Arya would like Asemir to pop up in the other thread! If not, that's perfectly fine!