Star Wars: Vodran

An Officer on Vodran

Tanfar sat chilled. The Troopship 'Empire's Fist' was not as  luxurious as the Exper, the air on the bridge was musty and stale. A faintly unpleasant odor drifted in from somewhere in the bowels of the vessel. Tanfar wasn't alone on the observation deck either. Stubborn RX series droids scuttered across the viewing deck, shoving past the officer, letting loose a rude beep or buzz of annoyance as they passed. The constant rumble of the engines was replaced by the constant rumble of the soldiers walking down to and smashing Vodran's surface.

"Officer... Adedon Tanfar?" A droid voice buzzed behind him. A medical droid, about as tall as Tanfar himself, hovered over his shoulder. 

"It's just Adi... What are you doing up here, Mess? Aren't you supposed to be in the med bay?" Adi said.

There was a click somewhere in its entirety, then Mess continued,

"I have been reassigned to you... Officer... Tanfar... as you're personal reporter to Grand Admiral Soulice." He said expressionlessly, gears and survos humming in its clear mid section.

"So you've been sent to spy on me?" Adi commented, walking over to take a report from the messenger who had just arrived. "Does the Grand Admiral not trust me?"

The droid followed him as he made his way around the bridge, "Grand Admiral Soulice if afraid that after the... Unfortunate... Incident with the Brooke, your mental stability may be... Deficient... Therefore, given my model as a... 2-1B Surgical Droid... I am best fit to monitor your-"

Adi shoved his hand over the droid's microphone-like mouth, "Shut your mouth, Mess," he said sternly.

"I cannot shut my mouth... Officer... Tanfar... I am a droid, and do not possess a mouth." Mess buzzed.

Tanfar inhaled deeply. Pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.

"What scrad programmed you with sarcasm, Mess?"

"The makers at... Industrial Automaton... Thought a sense of sarcasm would help me relate to patients, and enhance my bedside manner," Mess buzzed.

"Great," Tanfar grumbled, strolling away to the view pane once again, this time with Mess in toe.

"Mess, what do you think of the Empire?" He asked, quietly, so much so that only the droid could hear. Before the droid could respond he continued, "What do you think of what they have -or had planned- for the galaxy? For the Sith... For us..." This time his question seemed more rhetorical, he seemed to be talking down onto the soldiers marching and disappearing into the forest below, their rumbling footsteps still thundering in the space around him.

"Officer... I am detecting some... Heightened blood pressure and increased levels of adrenaline... All signs of... Stress."

"I'm not stressed, Mess, I'm angry!" He shouted, slamming his hand on the view port glass. "This is madness and Soulice doesn't see it!" His blood boiled with every word, his hand clenched into a fist against the glass, "it's a waste of time, of resources, of men! We should be fighting to restore the galaxy's Empire, not to find a few renegades that don't want to be a part of its glory!" The droid sat silent, it's head pivoting as it processed the information.

"If there still is glory in this empire..."

"Grand admiral... Soulice... Says that defeating the renegades on this planet is a necessary use of resources." Mess echoed.

"But to what cost... What end?" Adi whispered to himself, watching as the final rows of stormtroopers disappeared in to the towering growth outside of the clearing.

***