Private Son Of Kamino

[Alpha-89 "Vod"]

An armored hand banged against his chest plate, as his own did to the one standing next to him. The rain shot down on them, like invisible blaster fire, coating every inch of their ivory beskar'gam. The armored fist banged against him again, as did his own against the vod next to him.

"Taung sa rang broka!" The captain roared, followed by the chorus of fellow troopers. He himself sang it too.

"jetiise ka'rta!" They continued in their singing, standing perfectly still in the rain, apart from their armored hands that beat against their chests.

"Dha Werda Verda a'den tratu!" Then the trooper noticed something, the one next to him was off beat. It was slight but still noticeable. The trooper raised his fist, and sent it into the helmet of his brother, knocking him to the ground. Quickly, the furthest man filled the spot the other just had.

"Coruscanta kandosii atu!" They sang into the night of Kamino as if their lives depended on it.

Finally, after reciting the whole of the song, the captain came up to the trooper and patted him on the shoulder. "Ori'vod, nynir dral." The Arc Captain said, hitting his helmet against 89's.

89 shook his head. "I don't know as much mando'a as you, Captain. What are you saying?"

The Captain laughed. "I said you know how to throw a punch."

He sighed, but couldn't help but chuckle as well. "The Dha Werda Verda commands it."

***​

a long creaking noise rang out through the Venator. It was old then time, it seemed. A relic from a bygone age. It moaned like it was on its last legs, dying slowly over so many centuries. War was fought over Rishi, and people came and lived on Rishi, time passed over Rishi. Yet the ship still remained. It was either a miracle or a curse that no one had found the ship, still, the clone wars were over now, yet a soldier still remained.

There, deep in the bowels of the ship, a heart lay beating, the last spark of ancient power, holding a stasis chamber in process. It was impressive that the thing had stayed operational for so long, even more so that it kept its occupant breathing. The Arc Trooper lay, frozen in time. It seemed, the galaxy had forgotten him, and the Republic had fallen without him even knowing. That story was over, but perhaps his wasn't.

The ship was mostly dead, aside from a few security turrets in the medical bay, keeping the clone safe over the years. A beating heart still remained, keeping someone else's alive. Maybe it was time for 89 to wake up.

Tae'l Vizsla

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

Far above, The peculiar Raider-class corvette circled the ancient moon of Rishi, Captained by the Fallen Alor Aloy Vizsla and spurred onward by the promise of treasure. If one considered dusty old battle droids and damaged holo-vids to be "Treasure".
Tayl never did understand why her mother, The human of the two, at least, was so obsessed with a war that ended nearly a thousand years ago.

But she understood her mother when she said that the family needed a "Vacation". Tayl had spent over a month in that damned Bacta tank now, and her skin was finally beginning to look "Normal" again, even if it was paler than before. She needed the fresh air as much as Aloy needed the distraction.

And of course, it was a great opportunity to spend time with some old friends. Iris Arani , The Jedi who had saved her life and since earned her respect. And Shot Sutaz , The nautolan hottie and viscous Cyborg that made all of this possible. Aloy owed her life to Sutaz for her slicing skills, which eventually found her and lead up to the rescue operation that made today a reality.

And Iris... Once her enemy, Now a close friend. That very rescue operation went to wrong by the end... She very literally owed her life to that young woman. And she would never forget that.

Mmh. She could see it now! walking out of cantina with both women, one on each arm. It made her giggle inside the bacta tank thinking about it.

But of course... They were both pretty things, and she was so very far from being like them. Not anymore. For all that healing gel, entire weeks at a time spent inside that tube, much like the very tube she was grown in on Kamino, she was still... Disgusting.

A spawn. And now she looked the part. Even that chip in her head, regulating chemicals, keeping her calm and collected even when she was being burnt alive... It wasn't enough to shake the thought. She looked like a monster still. Skin pale and rough to the touch, her tattoos now gone, burnt away under sith lightning that cooked her inside of her own armor. She still had night terrors, reliving that night sometimes.

No, today would be different then she had imagined. No cantina. No playful banter over a glass of spotchka.

But maybe, just maybe, she could forget it all for just a day? A day of exploration, digging into a past not her own. Maybe it could be fun after all.

​

A strange signal had directed their attention onto the world of Rishi itself and away from it's now lifeless moon.
Aloy had meticulously traced ancient records, looking for old battles of that bygone age. It had led her to this very place in search of wreckage from a long lost naval battle among the star tides, and it seemed they may have found it.

Tayl paid no mind at first. It could just as easily have been a small settlement, or a far more recent crash. Maybe even pirates.
But peering down into the jungle below, from the cockpit of the Sabre-1, which Aloy had so graciously let Tayl borrow for the day, She finally saw it;

Far below lay the ruins of an Ancient vessel, broken and scattered across the jungle caked mountains of Rishi. Overgrown and undisturbed since the great war that changed galactic history forever, and gave rise to the very order that had brought Mandalore to it's knees, even in recent times.

"It's... big" Tayl said, stunned that such a thing could hide all this time.

Aloy Vizsla was quick to chime in over the comms "Mhm! a Venator-Class Star Destroyer, based on an Ancient Mandalorian design. Few will ever get to see one in person, Darlin'. savor it"

Tayl wasn't as enthusiastic of course, but she looked honestly amazed that her crazy old mother was right after all. Readouts checked out, even; The signal, weak as it may be, was coming from inside.

The Sabre-1 had been landed in a small clearing by a pond somewhere up hill from the ancient wreck, which groaned loudly even over the rushing creek water as Tayl and her fellow Explorers approached.

Tayl, being the Mandalorian among the three sentients present, had her Signature particle-pistol drawn of course, and held loosely at her side while she used her empty hand to brush leaves aside as they entered the ancient derelict.

Surprisingly, there appeared to be some flickering lights somewhere deeper within, past some malfunctioning blast doors that they might have to cut through.

"So, girl's night out. Pretty cool, right?" She chuckled awkwardly at the others, Having exactly zero clue as to what awaited them or what they'd even do when they found it.

​

​

​

Alpha-89 "Vod" \\ Iris Arani \\ Shot Sutaz​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Can't say I've ever just gone spelunking in old ruins. That weren't y'know, Jedi oriented." Iris let out a breath, glancing around the old freighter. She was in typical Jedi attire. Robe, lightsabers on her hip. Her little BD unit on her shoulder scanning around. She walked up closer to Tayl, sparing the Mandalorian a glance. Well, as best she could given the girls armor.

"How's the rehabilitation?"

Tae'l Vizsla | Alpha-89 "Vod"

 

[Alpha-89 "Vod"]

Shifting, lights deep in the ship blinked with some semblance of life, creating an air of both uneasiness and subtle danger. To anyone entering the ship, it was quite obvious that others came before. In small corridors, nearing the deeper parts of the vessel, bodies were strewn about. Some of the corpses were as old as the ship, the clone armor still recognizable despite time taking it. But there were other bodies too, appearing to be from all different castes of time. What was most profound were the ones that were mere months old, with the signs of blaster bolts still clear on their bodies.

In an office only steps from the dead's hallway, sat an old medical droid, missing its legs. With cables still jacked into the droid's exposed wiring, it made minimal movements, twitching erratically. He repeated a single sentence for no one to hear. "Error--- patient in- in- in- in- in- patient in stasis- deliver to Kamino- clone classification- Alp--- 8- 8- 8- 8-"

When the message ended, the droid would be sent into sleep, only to be shot back to life in a matter of seconds, a process that lasted centuries.

***
​

"How many years do you think it will take to finish this war?" Vod stood on the Geonosian cliff, looking out over the red, rocky landscape. The setting sun glinted off his green-streaked armor. the first battle of the planet had been hard but won. Now, they were back. Arms folded over one another, he looked down, shaking his head.

The red-colored ARC Captain came to stand at his side. "I wouldn't think too hard on that, Sergeant Vod." He said, with a sigh.

"Maybe I shouldn't, but sometimes it feels endless." His Concordian accent was heavy with that statement. He alone was a prime example of his generation and a good placeholder for his 'father'.

The Captain said nothing at first, then followed on. "It is endless, but our purpose, our duty is to get it over with."

Vod smirked under the helmet. "First true sons of Coruscant." He muttered.

Tae'l Vizsla / Iris Arani / Shot Sutaz

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

"I'm fine." Tayl groaned gently. Less like she was annoyed, and more like she was stricken with guilt at lying to Iris.

"I'm just..." Her flight suit was already beginning to chaff at the joints where her marred skin was still a little too soft. Honestly, she hadn't been able to look herself in the mirror for weeks now. Not because of the scars, but because of how she got them.
There was no glorious battle to the death. She didn't leave bodies in her wake.

She just stood there. Watched. Let the woman she once called "friend" burn and wither her away.

"I need a long break, Iris. Maybe we can talk about it later? Just... the two of us"

In truth, she didn't want Iris to see her. Not like this. But maybe she didn't need to remove the helmet to have some personal time? There was so much she wanted to say... Even if Iris could read her emotions with some mumbo jumbo space magic, She still wanted to say it for herself.

She continued deeper into the derelict after, trying to shake the thought from her mind even if she knew Iris would get to it first.
Her pulse-scanner emitted a series of low clicking sounds that would echo throughout the ancient vessel, sending sonar feedback and highlighting the rooms around her, making it just that much easier to see in this dark place.

Once she saw the holographic highlight that clearly displayed bodies on her HUD, she suddenly through one arm in front of Iris to halt the young Jedi Knight "Bodies..."

She carefully examined them, lowering her guard a little when she saw the famous clone trooper armor that mother had already shown her illustrations of. No doubt they had been here for centuries.

But then she knelt beside something new...

Some rodian that had obviously seen better days. There were several scorch marks evident, and the body had begun decaying awhile ago. From his clothing, Tayl's glove became stained with carbon scoring, flaking in a gently rain of ash when she rubbed her fingers together and suddenly looked up.

"Blaster wounds. Several weeks old, maybe more...?"

Her eyes began to dart around the corridor ahead, spotting the malfunctioning droid on her scanner. She was looking for true threats though, be that bandits using this place as a hideout, or automated security gone haywire.

::Mother, we've got signs of fighting here. Recent too::

::Roger... I have another ship on standby if things get hairy:: Aloy assured her, her command staff audibly relaying orders and preparing for newer tasks in the background.

::Affirmative:: Tayl said, slowly rising with a blaster at the ready.

"Iris... You feel anything off?"

​

​

Iris Arani \\ Alpha-89 "Vod" \\ Shot Sutaz​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Long breaks. Yeah, I get that."

That, and the lying about being fine. Iris could see that much in the colors around her friend. She wasn't fine. She could also just tell the girl wanted to speak for herself. It was enough for the Jedi to nod her agreement. Later, they could talk. Iris knew quite a bit about what Tayl was going through. Mostly. There were some emotions there she didn't understand. Probably wouldn't.

"Iris... You feel anything off?"

She didn't need to look long. She didn't even respond. Iris rushed forward, past the droid without a second thought. A body. A person alive. She glanced over the machine, hastily trying to pull up a report. Alive, in stasis. For..

Way too long.

"They're alive. We need to get them off this ship."

Tae'l Vizsla | Alpha-89 "Vod"

 

[Alpha-89 "Vod"]

"You're wounds are mild, but need better care than I can give." The medical droid said to the clone, applying the bacta solution to his arm. "That said, the pod is waiting for you."

89 pulled his armor back over his injured arm. "Is the pod necessary?" He asked, not sounding overly enthusiastic.

"It is, by order of your superiors." The droid helped him from the table, carrying him over to the pod.

He fell into what he could only describe as a coffin, for that's exactly how it felt. The thing was cold, the metallic inside resembled a metal womb. It reminded him of his youth on Kamino. However, there was nothing good about his childhood, and this thing only served to bring back those awful thoughts.

"You'll be fine, Lieutenant. Automated security is operational, you'll be ready for battle in no time."

"Of course, as always." He replied.

The glass shield came over him, sealing him into the pod. "Going down in 3... 2... 1..."

Everything went black, and Vod would be asleep for much longer than he'd ever wanted.

***
​

Rescue was so very close to the Alpha-Class. Very soon he'd be out of this cold thing. But there were many things left to think of. How would cope with this new world, different from his own? There was nothing he could do to go back, he'd have to adapt or be destroyed in the process.

But there was another thing that came to mind in this situation. Would his rescuers notice the automated assault turrets near the entrance begin to activate? Better yet, would they be able to survive them and pull this relic from sleep?

Tae'l Vizsla / Iris Arani

 

[Shot Sutaz]

In the days that followed the end of the raid, Aloy might have gotten mighty annoyed with Sutaz. She'd taken any free time she had to come and check on Tayl. Which was every damn day. Even in instances where they were out in the field and away from home, Sutaz would somehow find them like some sort of omnipotent eldritch being. She would always bring some sort of exotic takeout with her too. Sushi, spicy curry, she even brought gold sprinkled steaks as a joke once since she had that sort of money to spare. When Tayl needed rest, Sutaz was only but a call away from the bacta tank, but she would always be in a separate room. She knew that Tayl was ashamed of what happened to her body. She knew that feeling better than anyone, and it wasn't something Tayl could be forced to face until she was ready.

Due to her recent activities consisting of doting upon Tayl, she was naturally aboard when the ship picked up those readings. Though she didn't notice at first since she was working on something at the time. that being her left arm. It was odd to see Sutaz with her spare left arm prosthetic. Unlike her Talon Class combat prosthetic, it didn't have any internal mechanisms that needed to open up. This meant that her left arm currently had zero lines or breaks in the pseudo skin that covered it's surface, save for the gaps in the finger joints that allowed it to move properly. Her combat prosthetic was completely disassembled on a table within the main area of the ship. Routine part cleaning and blade sharpening. Typically, Aloy might have gotten mad about the mess. Sutaz bribed her with takeout from a traditional mandalorian cuisine shop. Hopefully the bribe had worked.

It was only when everyone was almost ready to go that she looked up from the table, her head tilting as the tendrils on her head flicked about. "Hm? What's going on? Pirates? Loot?" They would then, unfortunately, have to wait until Sutaz reassembled the entire left arm and installed it again. She was quite the room mate to be dealing with, but at least she had the looks to back up her flaws.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sutaz didn't have much to say as they approached the ship. She had dressed in that new bodysuit she loved so much. Light enough for agility, but had the ability to protect both her body and her identity in cases where she felt the need to put on the suit's mask. It wasn't until Tayl spoke up about a girl's night out that Sutaz decided to speak up. She had been busy inside her own head, running a diagnostic to double check that everything within her left arm was in order. The tendrils on her head squirmed about with surprise as the lines of code that were running in her mind came to a halt. "Tayl. I love spending time with you....but let me choose the next girl's night out." She puts her hands on her hips. "Maybe it's different in Mandalorian culture, but where I'm from? A girl's night out consists of an unhealthy amount of tequila and either a seedy club or a massive bonfire. Maybe a gunfight. Maybe."

As Iris asks how the rehab was going, Sutaz clenches her teeth and makes a cutting motion by swaying her flattened hand back and forth, as if warning Iris that it wasn't the best idea to pursue the topic. Then her shoulders slump as Tayl responds. She would talk to Tayl later as well. But now wasn't the time. The task at hand was more imperative, and things could get fatal if they didn't treat it as such.

Sutaz would kneel over the bodies beside Tayl. Those abyss black nautolan eyes of hers glow a faint blue, and holographic scanners fire up, flickering about over the bodies. She idly mumbles to herself while the process happens. "Running injury trajectory calculations....reading gas type used to inflict blaster injuries....scanning radiation types...." She then looks up from the bodies to the entrance of the ship, and her eyes shift to a hue of red as she transitions to a different type of scan. "I'm still pulling in results...but..." She unclips a gas mask from her belt and tosses it to Iris. "I've heard old stories about ships with viruses on them. Experiments gone wrong, sabotage....Sometimes they would just leave it on the ship for the rescue teams to catch. I'd rather not become some sort of undead freak." If they knew their history, they'd know the virus she was referring to. She takes a metal mask that was also clipped to her belt and presses it to her face. The mouthpiece lights up as the tech springs to life and her armor begins deploying layers of metal panels and armorweave to hold the mask in place and cover the rest of her head. Even metal sleeves extend outwards to cover each of her individual tendrils. Pressurized air is ejected from the mask as the visor and all the other mechanical parts tighten into place. It made her look like quite the mysterious creature, since it completely concealed her features. Even the visor was shaded, hiding her eyes. The final touch was a water bottle that she pulls off of her belt and hooks up to the mouthpiece. Even though it was shaded, one could see the inside of her helmet filling up with water. Since she was also a water breathing species, the water would act as an extra filter, making her mask practically immune to most toxins or gasses since they couldn't properly combine with water. This meant the only thing getting through at all was the air that the mask naturally absorbed into the water. These absorbers also naturally filtered out any hazardous bacteria or diseases.

Her accent was strangely accentuated when she spoke through water. It was more high pitched as well since she was partly using the vocalizations her species emitted to communicate under water in order to speak through her mask. "There was no fight. At least not with physical people. My scans say the electricity is still running. Likely old security systems. The scorches on the body were caused by blue gas, the standard issue for clones back then. So the evidence adds up. Not to mention my trajectory calculations concluded that they were shot from the ship....but you could have guessed that."

Tae'l Vizsla Iris Arani Alpha-89 "Vod"

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

Tayl's eyes slowly slid from side to side in the dark, an uneasy silence having overtaken the usually confident young Twi'lek. Iris' sudden sprint forward only had her more concerned. They could have been wounded in whatever battle this was, or they might be something worth protecting, and thus dangerous.

"Iris...?"

My scans say the electricity is still running.

✱CHOOM✱

Two lights suddenly flashed, bathing the corridor in a dull blue glow that had everything clear as day now. Tayl had already stood and stumbled in front of Sutaz the moment her eyes caught the first flash. The second was her shield suddenly activating from her wrist, deflecting an energy bolt into the ceiling above them.

"Ya think...?!"

She grunts, stance unstable and arms held in front of herself as if to shield herself as much as Sutaz, who was now behind her. Her chest was rising and falling quickly now, only just barely slowing down as she looked to Sutaz over her shoulder to make sure the nautolan hadn't caught the stray bolt.

"... Holy chit"

✱CHOOM✱

✱CHOOM✱​

Tayl was still there to catch the next bolts, one bouncing off her pauldron and into the wall next to her, and another into the ceiling again as her shield extends to cover the length of her torso and maybe more. A shot that would have slammed right into her visor otherwise.

It seemed there were multiple turrets ahead, at least two firing down on those present in the hallway.

"Iris?!"

The Jedi could handle herself, that much was known. Even Sutaz could, only reason she had intercepted the bolt was out of habit and ignorance as to the nautolan's defenses at the moment.

But that didn't stop her from wanting Iris out of harms way just a little faster.

Another shot lands, burning a hole through her tough leather Kama and just barely grazing the gap between her knee and thigh-plates, earning little more than an annoyed hiss from Tayl.


Her particle pistol is quickly shoved through the one way shield, it's heavy barrel lined up and her targeting computers already locked onto the turrets, while her offhand was positioned to hold down the hammer and activate the gun's rotary cylinder for a full auto payload.

Just a moment later, the hallway is bathed in a fiery glow as Tayl unleashes a viper wasp's nest of explosive particle bolts into the two turrets.


Unbeknownst to her however, Another damaged turret was attempting to activate from the ceiling behind them, spitting desperate sparks in it's wake.

​

​

Shot Sutaz \\ Iris Arani \\ Alpha-89 "Vod"​

 

[Iris Arani]

The colors. Danger.

Iris left the turrets to the others, for the most part. Her focus was on the slumbering figure, her eyes scanning through to make sure they weren't in any danger. The small BD unit on her shoulder hopped off to join in. Plug into the programs, figure out how to open it. Dragging the whole thing with them wasn't going to work, not if they were being shot. Another flash of danger, darkening the colors.

She turned, the pink of her saber lighting up the room as she cut through a hail of blaster fire. And raised a hand. The blasters ceased, just for a moment. Then, with a screech of metal, Iris ripped the nearby turret right from it's housing. And promptly turned back to the hibernation capsul.

"I'm waking him up. Domxite, turn those turrets off."

Tae'l Vizsla | Alpha-89 "Vod" | Shot Sutaz

 

[Shot Sutaz]

It was just after Sutaz spoke that it happened. The familiar sound to tibanna gas being ignited. Her various head cybernetics and armor readings allow her to pick up the fact that there was a bolt fired even before Tayl ignites her shield. By the time the bolt flew, the Nautolan had already leaned out of it's path, allowing it to pass her right shoulder. As Tayl gives her a sarcastic comment, Sutaz sighs. "You're right. Sorry, sorry, I probably should have specified that I meant enough power for the turrets to still be active." Her expression is hidden by the mask, but her tone makes it obvious she's wincing.

That's whem more shot's begin firing. Briefly, Sutaz puts her shoulder up against Tayl's back in order to both get over and keep her companion from falling over and becoming vulnerable. "That clone war era tech packs a punch." She grumbles, seeming slightly annoyed. "I should have brought my droids, but I felt like it would ruin girl's night, y'know?" She states this with a wry chuckle. While propping Tayl up with her shoulder, Sutaz had been typing on her wristpad. "Sorry, give me just a secooooonnnnnd...." With one final tap on the datapad, a fishlike shrill of joy leaves the voice modulator of her mask. "YES. I just hacked into CLONE WAR TECH. I've never gotten to do this bef- ohfuck, hold on." After having hacked into the system, her gaze drifts behind the group just in time to see the turret coming out of the ceiling behind them. Since she had hacked into the system, she was automatically it's target. The others were still firing at Tayl, it seems. "Testing something out. I am REALLY sorry if I get blown to smithereens." It's then that her reason for breaking into the system is revealed.

Various lines and circles run across her visor. Just before the turret fires it's next shot, she draws her pistol and fires. Both she and the turret fire at the same time, and their bolts make impact with eachother, causing a small explosion of quickly disolving plasma gas that looked almost like a greenish blue nebula cloud. "YES." She sqeals as she takes a step to the side, shooting the next projectile as well. Now that Tayl was no longer behind her, she could begin doing what she was really good at. She dives over the next shot, landing into a roll that ends wth her smoothly on her feet once more. She then runs at the turret and jumps to the right. Another bolt hits the wall just as she jumps off of it to get higher. The sound of mechanical whirring is heard before a metallic tear that echoed through the whole ship. Sutaz lands on the floor, the turret above her hanging from the ceiling by a mere wire.

With her threat handled, she throws some aid towards Tayl. After a few quick taps on her wristpad, Tayl would get some info transistioned directly into her helmet's targetting systems. Lines would appear, showing the trajectoties and angles of the next shots that the turrets were going to fire. "I just hacked your helmet. Don't worry, I didn't snoop around!...No matter how curious I was on your opinion in the debate about butts vs-" A bolt from one of the turrets down the hall flies past her just before she can finish, causing her to raise a leg so it hits the floor below here. "Alright, the novelty of hacking a clone wars era security system has worn off." She draws her blaster again and begins firing at the turrets down the hall. She might land some shots. but long range wasn't really her specialty.

Iris Arani Tae'l Vizsla Alpha-89 "Vod"