Private Off Duty

[Driver]

Off Duty
Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

A two front war. The thought simply boggled Driver's mind. There were so many factions in play these days, which was insane to think about. It felt like only yesterday that everything was about a cut and dry civil war. Now it felt like every moving piece was a new faction making plays for their own growth. In times like these, there was very little time for respite. All that said, to finally go off duty was the single most relieving sensation that the Sergeant had ever felt. The situation called for some time to relax the mind, and what better way to do so than grab a bite to eat.

Driver had sent Dominik a message before setting out to a deli he had been going to for the past few weeks now. Task Force Y hadn't been called on since Ilum, so the clone had been left to his regular Defense Force duties. He hadn't seen the rest of the task force since then either. So, the ever thinking man he was, Driver took the opportunity to reach out to his colleague. Perhaps they could catch up for a moment. After all, Ilum had been months ago.

"Anything else?" the Keshiri waitress asked, an older woman in her fifties with black hair speckled with white streaks.

"No, ma'am," Driver replied, just as well mannered as he was on duty. "Thank you."

As the waitress went off to relay his order to the staff, Driver let his gaze drift out the window. Coruscant felt like it used to, which was strange for eight-hundred something years. Maybe there was some merit to the whole 'time is relative' adage. Hopefully Dominik had gotten his message, or more so Driver hoped he had remembered to send it. All there was to do now was simply wait and enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[Dominik Borra]

Dominik had been busy with his own life and further SIA jobs, more being used like a shock trooper than an actual intelligence agent, since he had last seen or heard from Driver. Ilum had been one crazy ride. Operations had barely begun before they were all dashed by the Empire's super weapon. One minute they were in an ice cave, the next it was threatening to fall on them, and being loud about it. So after he got a message from Driver to meet up to eat, just chat and take a load off, he was willing to accept.

But in his line of work, you rarely get calls to eat and spend time with someone without an ulterior motive.

Dominik had arrived about an hour early, checking out possible sniper spots, and observing the crowd for planted agents ready to jump out of their coats ready to shoot. He didn't spot any. He saw Driver arrive, watched him as he got a table and sat down. After a bit a waitress came by and took his order. Then Driver looked out the window. Dominik rested on a building just above Driver's gaze. This seemed like a genuine meet-up. When he looked at the logs for Driver, it seemed he had been busy on other duties and finally had a day off. Maybe the guy just wanted to eat and relax.

Dominik arrived at the restaurant about five minutes later than he was supposed to, looking around slowly as if to locate exits, doors, and possible ways to run for cover as if he hadn't done that already. It was an instinctual thing for basic soldiers to do, let alone spies. Then he spotted Driver and walked over to their side booth with a soft smile on his lips.

"Hey, Driver. What's happened with the.." He tapped the side of his head as he sat down, gesturing at the eyepatch. "I don't remember that happening on Ilum. Who gave you that?" He glanced at the menu and at him, trying to see what might be good here and giving him attention.

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"Some Sith Acolyte," Driver shrugged as the SIA agent sat down. "Just a slip up. Nothing serious."

Of course, this was about losing an eye. Perhaps to some people it was serious, but it was all part of the risk of going to war. Sometimes very little of you came back.

"I'd say you should see the other guy, but there isn't much left of him," he joked. A grin spread across his face. He had noticed Dominik check for cover as he entered. As a soldier raised from birth for combat, Driver knew the instinct all to well. "I don't think you'll need the cover. All the real noise is down at 1313. Apparently some Hutt Cartel goons are still running a muck down there."

Driver leaned back in the diner seat and picked up his cup of caf, taking a quick swig of the black substance within. He hadn't been able to relax with a warm drink for a while now.

"Been a while since Ilum," Driver continued. "I'd tell you what I've been up to, but I have a feeling you've already checked my reports." SIA agents always did that. "I've been making more of those lately. I'll tell ya, keepin' up with two fronts is as thrilling as it sounds... What's been keeping you busy? Well, what isn't covered in black ink anyways."

 

[Dominik Borra]

"A Sith Acolyte did that to you?" Dominik chuckled. "Well good thing he's gone. Can't have an acolyte running around that wounded you." He was mostly just poking fun. Dominik had far, far more training in fighting Force Users and combating lightsabers than anyone outside of the Jedi or Sith. He was raised in it. For others it was more like a training seminar or three and a week or so of live training. But training or no, taking down a force user wasn't an easy task. Being able to use the Force made you incredibly tough to actually kill. You had to fight with your mind as much as your body, and you had to pull out all the stops and hit them fast. If Dominik was being completely honest, acolytes and padawans were more dangerous than their masters in most regards. Masters were drilled into forms and had expectations of their opponents, and had routine moves to fight. Learners were more creative and spontaneous, more open to experimentation. Aside from masters being more apt at Force Abilities, learners could catch you on the wrong footing and, evidently, take an eye.

Driver mentioned 1313. "Yeah, Hutt Cartel. But Coruscant also has a new group, that group that fought back when 1313 got torn up recently. Word is they have been moving in quietly. Hutts might be gone before too much longer."

He only smiled when mention was made of already reading his reports. "Little bit of stealing, working closer with some Jedi. I think they like having a gun by their side, not just another blade. Metallos was..." He rubbed the back of his neck, remembering those terrible Maw creatures. "...interesting."

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"I read up on some of the Metallos reports," Driver nodded. "That alchemy is real nasty stuff. I've heard all kinds of horror stories from the front lines."

Driver shrugged as he took another sip of his caf. Horror stories or not, he practically lived on the front lines these days. War may have been hell, but things were always worse when there was nobody there to fight in them. He had seen a lot of Sith alchemy first hand lately, but he was nothing if not good under pressure.

"I've been managing," the clone added. "Alchemy or not, those war beasts don't hold up too well if you got enough firepower. Those gifts we got back on Empress Teta... well, they certainly have their uses."

He had received a hand cannon unlike anything they had in his time. To think that anti-vehicle rounds could be stored in a single slug thrower boggled his mind. Then again, a lot could change in eight hundred years. War didn't though. That was a constant.

The waitress came back, a plate of fries in hand, the appetizer he had ordered.

"Here you are, hon," the older Keshiri said. She then turned to Dominik. "Are you ready to order yet?"

 

[Dominik Borra]

Dominik was silent as he nodded. "Yeah, terrible stuff. I would have driven a whole star cruiser into the hole to kill them all, but I think some higherups wanted to test out toys. M wanted us to bring back some Mawites alive, just like Ilum. Hard."

Driver mentioned Empress Teta. Toys, that was for sure. He had been able to snag an ice beam gun of all things. It didn't shoot actual ice, but that's the gist of it. It froze things incredibly well, and it was well worth the trouble. "They sure do."

The waitress came over and placed down fries, asking Dominik what he'd like. He looked to Driver. "What's good here?"

As much as this was a friendly visit, Dominik still wondered why he chose this place in particular. Was it because he was a regular and knew the menu? Or was this new for them both? If it was new, why did he choose this place? Or had it been chosen for him by someone else?

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"Yeah, terrible stuff. I would have driven a whole star cruiser into the hole to kill them all, but I think some higherups wanted to test out toys. M wanted us to bring back some Mawites alive, just like Ilum. Hard."

"Ouch," Driver reacted, rubbing at the back of his neck. "That's always fun. Of course, it's above my pay grade to ask what M and her associates get up to, but I always wonder... But I guess that's just part of all this 'two front' business."

As the waitress asked Dominik for his order, he asked for a suggestion. Driver, of course, had already begun to stuff his face with fries. He cleared his mouth and then gave a suggestion.

"The red hot fried porg burger is always good," he noted, "Or the buttery fried porg burger if you aren't about the heat. And you can't really go wrong with the BLT."

The clone would wait for the waitress to take the agent's order before continuing their conversation...

"You know," Driver remarked with a grin, "I can now say that I've been an active duty soldier for over eight hundred years. I went back through my Old Republic records, and they never officially discharged me on account of being MIA. Though I guess I'm not fighting droids these days... I don't think I ever asked where you're from. Well, I guess I don't even know if I'm aloud to. What got ya into the whole 'secret agent' gig?"

 

[Dominik Borra]

"The red hot fried porg burger is always good," he noted, "Or the buttery fried porg burger if you aren't about the heat. And you can't really go wrong with the BLT."

So, he was somewhat of a regular. He liked this place. Which meant he probably lived nearby. That was good to file away for the future. You never knew. "The Buttery Fried Porg Burger sounds great." He said to the waitress with a smile. She stepped away and Driver continued talking.

It was interesting, his past as a clone from the Clone Wars, so many, many years ago. "Well the Republic doesn't exist anymore. Just the Galactic Alliance." Driver asked about his own past. He had to ask, really. His file would have practically nothing. Mostly from records of him being scrubbed and Dominik covering the rest up.

"And I'm from..." Visions of his mother, caring and loving and warm, and his father, violent and hateful and cold. Of his mother's cold body, his father's cut throat. The boy's home reduced to rubble. The Sith taking his arm and dragging him away. "A small planet, it's nothing now. I've been through a lot of employment. Worked for a lot of people. Started off with the Sith. That's why I know a lot of how they work, and have no problem reducing them to atoms when I have the chance. After them, I worked freelance. I've been around. The past ten or so years ago I..." He remembered the cold, dark, murky bacta he had been left in for ten years. "Took a vacation, so to speak. Came back to work, got into the SIA for my skills."

"What about you? How did you go from the Clone Wars to here?"

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"What about you? How did you go from the Clone Wars to here?"

"That's a long one," Driver reminisced, slipping another fry into his mouth. "I was with the 327th Star Corps... I doubt that's a name that's still around. Led a squad of Y-Wings for some time. We used to rig'em up with supplies and take them behind enemy lines for surveillance back in the day. Got my ass shot down and shipped off to Skako. Somethin' about using my DNA to make a bioweapon to fight the clone army. While I got left on ice, the CIS went and got itself annihilated. One power outage later and here I am. A living fossil."

Driver leaned back, reflecting for a moment on what the past had been like. How he had earned his rank, his Jaig Eyes... The brothers he had lost. And now, ultimately, what he knew about his era.

"Believe it or not I prefer it now," he stated. "Health benefits are a huge bonus, let me tell you. Republic retirement funds were practically non existent. That ain't even mentioning the fact that we were fighting for the enemy, but I guess hindsight's twenty-twenty." Driver paused for a moment, becoming a bit solemn. "Death is easier on the battlefield when the people around you don't share your face... All things considered, the job's a bit more straight forward, even with all these Sith running around."

The clone grinned. Dominik and him had something in common, aside from just being dudes with guns.

"I guess we both worked for the Sith then," he laughed. "Looks like we got ourselves some common ground. Small galaxy, ain't it?"

 

[Dominik Borra]

A squad of Y-Wings, huh? That explained why he was Task Force Y's designated special pilot. With what he knew about clones and how they used to name themselves other than just going by their number, that might be why he went by 'Driver'.

Dominik smiled and took a sip of the drink the waitress had delivered. "Small Galaxy indeed." They also seemed to have being on ice in common, but he wasn't about to just say that the last ten years were blank. Driver also talked about the battlefield, seeing people who shared his face die. Dominik didn't have to deal with that, but he knew what war was like. What seeing friends die was like.

The waitress came by and delivered his food. He stopped her. "In a few minutes, bring over two beers. I'll buy."

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"In a few minutes, bring over two beers. I'll buy."

"I'll take something light," Driver added. He turned to Dominik with a slight grin. "I'm afraid my tolerance is incredibly low. My genetics weren't very kind to me in that regard."

Granted, this was light social drinking, nothing extreme, but Driver would rather be safe than sorry. A single shot had driven him to the floor last time he had alcohol. He felt it best to play it safe, just to be sure he could enjoy the rest of his day.

"Well, aside from the constant swapping between fronts," the clone continued, "I've been 'moving up in the world,' so to speak. The higher-ups have seen fit to place me under the command of my own unit, though I'm sure you've probably read that too. Apparently I've proven myself enough of a lunatic to head a first-contact operation. Guess all that redacted work payed off."

He had never fought anything quite like a Sith in the Clone Wars. Now he fought them on the regular, and in a manner most found unorthodox. It was refreshing to be put at the head of an equally unorthodox unit, though commanding non-clones was something he would need to get used to.

"So," Driver added, "If you ever find yourself in need of a walker and happen to be in the same area, consider me an asset on the ground at your disposal. Just... be discrete about it. The paperwork on those LAATs are a real pain."

 

[Dominik Borra]

​

"Something light then." He smiled at his friend. "Not trying to get you sloshed."

He raised his eyebrows at hearing of the promotion. He had indeed read about it, but he wanted to act surprised and happy for Driver. And he was happy for Driver. "First-contact? Your own unit? That's great!" He leaned back before lifting his drink to clink glasses with his if he assented. "Other than the first-contact thing. That can suck. But no one better than a Clone from the Republic to handle the job. And I will take you up on that offer. Don't worry, you won't even know I'm there."

"Any word on where you're going next?" He asked. He wouldn't be able to just look in his file for that, orders were under a different lock and key and took more to get. "Or are you like me, being shipped wherever last minute?"

 

[Driver]

Coruscant
Tags: Dominik Borra

"Any word on where you're going next?"

"Well," he began, sharing in Dominik's toast, "I reckon I'm off to the front again. Just gotta get some last minute paperwork filled out. I guess I'll only know for sure whenever we make our next move."

Their food had come in now. Driver, of course, got the spicy fried-porg burger, which had a redder hue in comparison to the browner buttery fried-porg burger. The clone scooped up his sandwich, sinking his teeth into it, not even reacting to the spice. He was pretty used to it. Spicy food was given out all the time in the clone wars to mask the terrible taste of the food they recieved.

"So," he continued, swallowing his first bite to speak, "Where are you off to next?"

 

[Dominik Borra]

Dominik began eating his food too. He had to admit, it smelled great and looked just as appetizing. For a diner on Coruscant, the food was actually delectable. He took a moment to savor the food.

He chewed the food while Driver asked his question. He took a minute, glanced out the window, then back at him before swallowing. "SIA has me running around everywhere. Who knows. I still need to repair my gear from Metallos but they are already wanting me for more." He took another small bite and spoke with half a mouthful. "I've had so many meal kits out on the field recently, haven't had a good meal in ages..." He filled his mouth again.