#the vods

[oceantail-oceantail]

my biggest (and saddest) flex is that ive watched illumina's 15 hour all advancements and his 24 hour all versions vods from start to finish

[skies7536]

The Visitor

Commander Wyn sits at his usual table in a Kamanoen cafeteria near a window overlooking the landing bays. Taking a sip of tea, he stares at the ships leaving the atmosphere to illusive freedom.  

“You still have a great right hook.”

“Yeah.” The Commander muttered as he moved his bruised hand within a towel filled with crushed ice, “I'm not much for conversation right now.”

“That's alright.” Said the unwanted visitor as he helps himself to a seat.

‘Kriff, just leave me alone' Wyn frowns, “Listen…”  He looks at the intruder for the first time.  The visitor sitting next to him is a younger clone in his mid-thirties in appearance, but it was clear that the vod was very ill.  He was painfully thin, practically disappearing within his rain coat.  His head closely shorn yet patches of bare skin shown in several places.

“I'm sorry…”Wyn stared the vod trying to recognize him.  If it weren't for the jagged tattoo along his boney jawline, the Commander may not have recognized him at all.  “Jacs?”

A crooked smile with many missing teeth spread across the visitor’s pale face, “Hi, Commander.”

“Force, Jacs!”  Wyn gently embraced his trusty Sergeant, a valued Medic under his command who helped recover him from the rubble of a destroyed field hospital at Umbra during the Clone Wars.  “What are you doing here?”

“Just thought I'd visit the home world.” Said the vod, “Came in time for the show.”

“Oh, that.”

“Hey, he deserved it. He shouldn't have touched you. That’s what he gets, tussling with an Alpha.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have done it.  Could have killed him.”

“Oh, he'll be alright, he had his bonnet on.  ‘Sides, these natural born Stormtroopers need to toughen up.”  

His voice started to fade and he took a sip of his water.  Noticing the concerned expression of his former Commander, he decided to answer the obvious question when his voice returned, “I was caught between blast doors during a radiation leak last year.  They say only a clone could live this long with the exposure I got.”

“Are you here for treatment?”

The vod shook his head, “Naw, too far gone for that.”  Looking out the window, “Where were you going?”

“Ryloth.”

Jacs smiled, “No, really.”

“Why are you here?”  The Commander asked trying to change the subject.

“I thought I'd stop for a visit and take some vaccines along my route to Alderaan.  That Takartus disease has been skip'in around the core planets and spreading.”  He shivers from a chill, and wraps his coat tighter around himself, “but I've been so ill lately, I began to think that I’ve come home to die.”  He took another sip of his water, “Then, I saw you at the landing docks.  I think we can help each other.”

“Yeah?”

Jacs pointed with a thin, shaking hand, “See that ship there?”

“It’s yours?”

Jacs chuckled, “Well, I didn't steal it. Is there someplace we can talk privately?”

“Alright, Sergeant. Come on.”

Jacs waited as his friend prepared his canes and began to stiffly walk.

“To have to use canes must be very frustrating for you.”

“Age catches up with all – “ Wyn winced and mentally cursed himself.

Jacs chuckled, giving his friend a feeble nudge, “That's one step in our development, I don't have to worry about.”  He slowed down his own steps to pace with the Commander. “I was newly batched when I saw you compete.  You ran like the wind.”  Jacs smiled as if discovering a long lost secret, “Is that how you got your name?”

Wyn smiled and nodded, “I also liked to win.”

“What was your record?”

The Commander paused a moment to shake out his bruised hand before moving on, “Fourty-two miles an hour without armor enhancements."

“Oh, yeah, every vod tried to break your record.  Never even came close.”

Wyn smirked and huffed, “I’m more like a silent fart, now.”

Jacs broke out with laughter, “You are the only Alpha who could laugh at himself.”  He coughs as he  holds onto Wyn as he recovers.

The old doctor supports his frail friend, “Easy there, don’t hurt yourself.”

“If I die laughing right now...I thank you…ahead of time.”  

Wyn flags down a passing tram, after a brief tour to view the new facilities, the driver takes them to Wyn's apartment.

“Wow, this is yours?” Said Jacs as he looked about the apartment.

“They let me use it. They say it once belonged to Jango.”

“Woah, this is kriff'in great! Why do you want to leave?”

Wyn placed his finger over his own lips to silence his friend, “Take a seat vod, relax.”

Jacs takes off his raincoat and sits on the couch as he notices Wyn tap a disk at his knee brace.

A small droid detaches itself, hovering toward the ceiling, and scans the entire apartment.  “All clear, Commander.” It said as it reattaches itself.

The ill vod jumps as he notices a strange creature silently take his rain coat, “Kriff! That's kark'in creepy.” Shivered Jacs as he stares at the assistance droid as it stations itself in a corner.

“Isn't it?”  Wyn smiles as he tosses his trooper helmet to the droid, and the droid catches it and puts it on backwards.

Jacs laughs, “That's even worse!” The droid goes to it's place in the closet as the vod suspiciously watched it, “Does it hear us?”

Wyn comes from the bedroom with a blanket, “No. It sees and hears what I want it to, which isn’t much.” He unfolds the blanket and covers his friend.

“Thank you, Sir.”  Jacs huddles within the warm fabric, “After the wars, I didn't want to be a medic anymore.  Got tired of the bodies, ya know? So I got onto transporting medical cargo, among other things.  I spent years learning about finance.  Force knows, the Kamanoens didn't bother to teach us about credits.”

Jacs's voice started to fade again, so Wyn brought him some water.  The vod continued, “After my accident, I continued to deliver supplies to…” He sadly shook his head and sighed, “I'm far too weak to go on alone, but as I said, we can help each other.”

Jacs licks his thin lips, a little reluctant to ask, “Captain Docer, said you had a stash…”

Wyn smiled as he retrieved a bottle and glasses from his desk, “I can't tell you how many times I had to find a new hiding place for this during the wars.”

He pours a glass for each of them.

“I just require a taste, Sir.”  Jacs accepted the whisky glass and took a small sip.  He closes his eyes and smiles, “Can't taste much anymore, but it still has bite.”

Wyn pushes the bottle toward his vod, “Help yourself.”

“Thank you, Sir.”  He raises his glass, “To the vods.”

“To the vods.”

[shrimp-gender]

The clones create interesting questions. cloning is an imperfect process naturally. new cells within a single body can change due to a copying error. and they each have individual personalities meaning they are not exact copies of each other.

Do they have the same sexuality? Gender identity? Are there trans clones who choose traditionally feminine names?

Do some clones have mental illnesses and others not (not just PTSD)? Are some Autistic and others Allistic?

Force sensitivity can be inherited but it can also show up randomly in a child whose family has no history of it. Are there force sensitive clones? Can they be Jedi?

Additionally thanks to their aging factor they are at best teens (chronologically) during the clone war. Does this make them child soldiers?