#aril'ree

[depizan]

Make a Difference

Republic Medical Corps Doctor Aril’ree, on Alderaan with her squadron to support possible peace talks, searches a battlefield for survivors and wonders if she made the right choice ten years earlier.

Whumptober prompt #18: the doctor is in

3.7.10, sunset

Under other circumstances, the mountains of Alderaan might have seemed beautiful, if austere; in the middle of a civil war, they were simply a lonely place to die.

Republic Medical Officer Aril’ree’s lekku wrapped tighter around her neck as she trudged through the bloody snow, looking for survivors of the battle. The temperature was dropping already, and any soldiers left alive overnight wouldn’t be by morning. The Alderaanian troops would hold the position, but Aril’ree doubted they’d have much time to search the battlefield.

House Ulgo’s troops had retreated, leaving their dead and injured scattered among those of House Organa and House Alde. Aril’ree had already had several arguments with Organa medics regarding the extraction of injured enemy combatants.

That was Alderaanian honor. Fight where you can see the enemy, and the enemy can see you, because that’s The Way War Is Done, but leave your fallen enemies to bleed out or freeze to death because… loss is dishonorable? …enemies have no honor? …honor was a terrible replacement for actual laws of warfare.

She knew her fellow Republic soldiers sometimes broke those laws—she’d seen it herself—but at least there were laws. Not archaic conventions that were followed when they cost more lives and broken when they cost more lives.

Her handheld medical scanner picked up vital signs. Another living casualty. No, two. She commed their location.

“Sir, that one’s House—” The Alde soldier broke off at her look. “Yes, sir,” he finished instead.

It was twilight when the last of the medical evac units lifted off the mountain, heading for an Organa stronghold, with her and the last of the casualties she’d found on it. With her team, and the stronghold’s medical staff, most of the casualties would make it. Whatever that was worth.

The Alderaanian civil war had been raging for ten years, since just after the Treaty of Coruscant was signed. The soldiers she saved would simply go back into battle again, fighting a futile war for the throne and the allegiance of Alderaan.

Not that she was any different, she thought as she checked a fluid drip. She’d been all but ground zero for the Sacking of Coruscant, her residency ending in that horrifying mass casualty event, and she’d traded in her planned future in civilian medicine and signed up with the Republic Army Medical Corps. To make a difference.

Perhaps she belonged on Alderaan, planet of futile wars. She could battle death while they battled for their throne.

Perhaps she needed a meal and rest, or at least a ration bar and a cup of caf. Her battle wouldn’t seem half as futile to the solders as theirs seemed to her.

Tags: whumptober 2021, no.18, the doctor is in, fic, swtor, I write, Aril’ree

[depizan]

So, another SWTORsian (or whatever we want to call people who partake of and write SWTOR stuff) posted about the challenge of naming starships...

and I realized that, despite assorted ships appearing in my fic, I have named exactly one: the Luck. More accurately, the Wayfarer’s Luck. A ship with many aliases, but also an actual name.

Savler has a ship. She presumably calls it something. (Besides “my ship.”) For one thing, I’ve always had the impression from Star Wars stuff that ships have to have names. It may also have aliases, but it probably has an actual name, too.

Kyrian did not name the shiny silver ship Intelligence let him use, as it was not his ship. If needed, he used whatever alias Intelligence put on the registration.

Ianya and Novani (and her master) just use Jedi Order ships as needed. They probably have names. It has yet to come up.

Tevin and Havoc Squad do, probably, have a specific assigned ship. Which would have a name.

Aril’ree is not assigned to a specific ship, and just uses whatever military transport is going her way when she needs to get somewhere.

Daska probably does have a specific ship that’s “hers,” which would have a name.

Lysara is not a pilot, and I’m not sure whether the Sith she’s an enforcer for would assign her a specific ship and pilot or not. Something to ponder.

Pheodra might name her shiny silver ship. I”m not sure. Something else to ponder.

I clearly have ship names to consider. At an absolute minimum, I’ll need to come up with one for Savler’s ship. Possibly some of the others as well. Oh dear.

[depizan]

Let's go with 15 and 16, but pick the OCs you feel best match each question

15. What is something about your OC can make you laugh?

Both Jezari and Kyrian are, in good Star Wars fashion, somewhat comic relief-ish heroes. Which means a lot of light to funny dialogue, and, of course Kyrian’s tendency to try to use diplomacy and charm for everything can also be amusing.

Though, weirdly, when everything got more dramatic, it was Savler’s calm practicality in the face of terrible odds that came the closest to providing comic relief.

(After my main fic three, everyone is significantly more serious. Which is probably why I don’t write much about them.)

16. What is something about your OC can make you cry?

Oh, well, I did give rather a lot of them tragic backstories. Jezari’s mother disappeared and her father died in her arms (when she was only a teenager). Kyrian’s parents were killed in the war when he was a little kid and he grew up in an orphanage. Ianya thinks her husband and daughter were killed in the war (and her husband is dead). Daska and Lysara grew up in slavery in the Empire and becoming Sith separated them from their mother and from each other (never mind everything else bad about becoming Sith). Aril’ree was doing her hospital residency on Coruscant when the Sacking of Coruscant happened. The tragic past fairy was very busy!

Tragic backstories aside, writing Kyrian trying to come to terms with everything going straight to hell hasn’t been the easiest thing ever. Objectively, it really was a fairly mild case of Reality Ensues, but not from his standpoint. (I’m not sure you’re supposed to drop reality bricks on comic relief-ish heroes and then have them react somewhat realistically to it.)

[depizan]

Ω = Has the character ever sleep walked before?

Hm, no character specified, so let me consider...

I could totally see Aril’ree sleep walking to the infirmary in stressful times, the urge to check on her patients persisting even though she’s asleep.

[depizan]

😉 - Do they have any qualms with manipulating others to get what they want? for any/all characters

Well, that’s going to be a rather long answer.

Jezari: Which others are we talking about? Sure, she’ll try to convince her friends of things, but that’s likely not what the question intends. And, yes, she’d have qualms about that when it came to friends. Not so much when it comes to authorities, enemies, and other adversaries. (Though her skills at manipulation tend to diminish the further you get from: “No, officer, no contraband here.”)

Kyrian: In the diplomacy and negotiation sense, not so much. Though he defaults to honesty a hell of a lot more than someone in his line of work should. (Because when it comes to lies and deceit and shadier sorts of manipulation, he very much does have qualms.)

Savler: Nah. There are definitely lines she wouldn’t cross when it comes to friends and family, but manipulation covers a whole wide spectrum of things, most of which there’s nothing wrong with.

Ianya: When it comes to people she’s very close to, yes, depending on the sort of manipulation in question. Otherwise, well, they teach you the Jedi Mind Trick for a reason.

Novani: Yes. She knows that manipulating people is part of diplomacy, and diplomacy is very much the Jedi way. But where do you draw the line? When is manipulating people, even for what you think is the greater good, going too far? Or is it always at least the least wrong thing? (And that’s not even touching on the additional complication that is the Jedi Mind Trick. When is that acceptable? When the ends are too important to risk? When all other options save violence have been exhausted? When you’re dealing with bad people? When it won’t do any immediate harm but might help you greatly?)

Tevin: Yes. Though, honestly, manipulating people isn’t really his strong suit anyway. Unless we’re using a very generous definition of “manipulating.”

Pheodra: No. It’s part of the job, and necessary for the greater good.

Daska: Nope. The alternatives are generally very much worse. If showing too many teeth and reminding someone that they’d make an excellent floor rug or that they probably don’t need both of their hands gets them out of your way, it’s totally worth it. Half the Empire already thinks that Zabrak eat people’s livers with some fava beans and a nice Chianti anyway, might as well make use of that.

Lysara: No. If it’s Imperials, they deserve far worse, if it’s Republic people, it’s for their own good.

Aril’ree: Depends. Sometimes that’s the only way to get your patients to do what you want them to do, and there are times when it’s necessary to get the bureaucracy moving. But manipulating people outside of professional necessity doesn’t seem so right. 

[depizan]

Full Name: Aril’ree Gender and Sexuality: female, unclear Pronouns: she/her Ethnicity/Species: Lethan Twi’lek Birthplace and Birthdate: Coruscant, 25 BTC / 3678 BBY Guilty Pleasures: mobile holonet games Phobias: What They Would Be Famous For: Offering free clinics wherever she’s stationed. What They Would Get Arrested For: Refusing illegal orders, commandeering local medical facilities, trying to save even enemy lives. OC You Ship Them With: none OC Most Likely To Murder Them: good question Favorite Movie/Book Genre: science fiction Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Magic Antidote Talents and/or Powers: She is a doctor, first and foremost. Why Someone Might Love Them: She’s a dedicated doctor who will risk her life to try to save others.   Why Someone Might Hate Them: She can be focused on her work to the exclusion of other things.   How They Change: She was going to be a civilian doctor, but the Sacking of Coruscant changed that.  She went into the military because she didn’t trust the resulting treaty.  After that... I don’t know yet. Why You Love Them: She takes her profession very seriously and she’s a clever, good person.