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| - (Ardus Kaine) The lines have grown quiet a bit. Each force has seemed to fall into their spots, the Imperium insided the buildings while the Republic surrounding them. Since then there had only been occasional blasterfire between the two. Kaine has moved up to the the front lines. He sits with one of the Guard companies, one he'd come to become very close to in recent days. There is soft joking and laughs as they try to ease the tension they all feel. (Rem Dolor) Unlike the Republic lines, Merr Sonn's droid factory is tensely silent. Fortified, the exterior shows the wear and tear of explosions and orbital bombardment, but the interior holds mysteries. From initial reports, uncountable amounts of monstrous clones, but now the great doors have been barred from the inside. High above, somewhere in the rafters, a small hatch slides open, hardly bigger than a human's head. Someone's taking a peak at the Republic defenses massed outside. (Ardus Kaine) Kaine slaps one of the soldiers next to him on his armored shoulder and makes a joke about the guy's girlfriend. Just as the soldier laughs and opens his mouth to respond one of the others shouts out down the line a bit, "We got a lookout! Could be a sniper!" Suddenly the laughter is gone and all good humor evaporates with it. The soldiers immediately throw themselves down on the their barricades raising their weapons to point towards the giant building. Kaine follows suit. Staring down the scope of his blaster rifle he spots the one peeking out, "Stand down boys...but just a bit. She could be a sniper but I doubt she'd be willing to set herself up this much." Rising up a bit, Kaine sits crouched on his feet, "Wing Commander! Have you showed up to surrender??!!" (Rem Dolor) "Hardly!" Rem scoffs back. The walls of the narrow factory corridor let the small woman's voice echo down to the Republic soldiers below. "Just getting some fresh air. But, if you're willing to surrender, I'm all ears." She chuckles a little. "But, seriously, how's about returning our lost clone to us? We were nice enough with your Jedi emissary. Surely, you can return the favor?" (Ardus Kaine) There is a soft chuckle coming from the Republic lines. Kaine raises his head up enough to shake it, "I'm sure we will. But I heard the last Jedi y'all 'gave back' did some damage to you before you 'allowed' him to leave. Your clone will be back sure. But after he has time enough to heal." It fall silent for a moment before he continues, "If it is getting stuffy in there you can come out, or we can help make some more windows." (Rem Dolor) "Which one?" Rem calls down dryly. Really, there have been too many Jedi waltzing in and out of her captivity. "Savages! What did you do to him?!" There's concern there now, and perhaps with a scope the officers below can see the pained expression on the Commander's face. "You're more than welcome to fraggin' come in here and try your hand at structural changes! I'll let the clones here get revenge for their brother as they see fit." (Ardus Kaine) Kaine sighs and tries to put a little pain in his voice, "Oh. I'm sorry. I thought you would have known. Your clone friend suffered some...'injuries' when he 'resisted arrest.' I'm afraid he is not quite up to traveling at the moment. Hopefully, our doctors will be able to tend to him. Unfortunately, we really aren't that familiar with clone anatomy except where to shoot to do the most damage. I'm sure that with the current situation that the clones will be able to see their brother soon enough, you can give them that promise.....That is of course if the clones have any belief in an afterlife." (Rem Dolor) Rem snorts in response. "You'd better hope they don't share one with where you're going, then. But, after I'm done with you, it might not seem that bad. That is,if you Republic dogs ever get bored of sitting around and torturing innocent clones and decide to look for an even fight. But, that's not much to your liking, is it?" (Ardus Kaine) Kaine simply shrugs, still looking up towards the opening and the wing commander, "I'm sure they do enjoy questioning the clones back behind the lines. As far as innocent clones, tell me what do you mean by 'innocent'?" (Rem Dolor) Rem's good eye narrows at 'questioning'. "You'd better fraggin' hope he's still in one piece, nerf herder. He might be kind and gentle, but you'll find that we will not be nearly so." (Ardus Kaine) Cocking his head to the side Kaine squints, "Really? I see that you aren't the chummy little people that the dear Warlord has spent so much time trying to show the rest of the galaxy in his little chats." Shaking his head, Kaine stands up and pushes himself up over the battlements and barricades to sit atop them. Pretty gutsy with enemy weapons that might be bearing down on him, "This clone must be the the only 'innocent' one in your little band. But if he is innocent, why would he be an enemy combatant? Now, trust me, I do not see me or my men as innocent either. We are soldiers. We have been trained to kill and that is what we do. But we do not have this psychological disease that makes us see ourselves as innocent." (Rem Dolor) "Our attempts at being 'chummy', as you say, have been met with betrayal and backstabbing. Even your pathetic attempts at Peace Talks. No, the time of chummy is over." Rem spits. "You call the clones monsters, unnatural beasts. But, how the Republic treats them, their prisoners, even their own people is monstrous. No, you're not innocent at all. You are all blind fools!" Sure, she's blind in one eye, but that's a minor technicality. (Ardus Kaine) Kaine sits there, legs hanging down over the barricades, "Could be true, could be not. We are all blind. Some of us moreso than others, but we are all blind to the beliefs that are not our own. When we get focused on one side too much we ignore all others. Everyone is guilty in this war. I am guilty, but that doesn't mean I am going to stop what I am doing. And the clones aren't monsters. The people that put them out there, without free will to fight for battles that are not their own, they are the monsters. But, that can be said about nobles too who use us grunts to fight their wars to make them money. Me? I am a noble, but I could never stay out of a fight. I always like to be down in the dirt and the mud with my men. The better clones, the ones that can think for themselves and make their own decisions, yeah I can see them as a fighting force. These clones that don't have that higher function, they are nothing more than slaves. How is one side better than the other than?" (Rem Dolor) "Of course, you're a noble. That's where the high-and-mighty attitude comes from. I'm surprised you don't see your own men as slaves to be sacrificed at any moment." Rem's face bears a scowl. She doesn't have as comfortable a seating on her perch, specially not with a wounded arm. "You're wrong, though. They may not be capable of higher thought, but they can feel, and they fight for much the same reason as you own men. For glory. For the praise of their commanding officer. For love. Do not pass them off as beasts so quickly." (Ardus Kaine) Kaine again cocks his head to the side, "I do not see the men I fight alongside as slaves. These men are my friends. We share stories of loved ones, of past experiences, of our lives. Yes, some may fight for glory, others for praise, but most fight for their homeland. They fight the people that cannot stand for themselves. They are not the same as your clones. Tell me, do they have lives before this war? Do they have loved ones? Can they express their loves in words, can they create works of art? Can they feel grief or pain for even the being that they are killing? Your clones, most of them, are beasts of burden for you. They are trained from the little scientific dish till they come out of that egg to obey certain people, to be nothing more than guard dogs and pets. I have a dog back home that I love as part of my family, but that doesn't mean he is anything more than a beast. Yes, you love these things, but you love them the way a master loves his pet. They can feel but they can't do anything about it. They can fight, but they don't have a choice on whether to or not. They were bred to die for you. My men and I have the /choice/ to fight, and we /choose/ to." (Rem Dolor) "Perhaps the older models are.. pets, as you call them. But, they too, love. They love their father, each other. They fight because they wish it, not because they enjoy it. Committed, like you and your men. Though, perhaps, more fiercely." Rem replies cooly. "Clones or not, they are just as committed to the fight as our officers. As your officers." (Ardus Kaine) "They fight because that is what they were programmed to do. They do not speak, they simply growl and snarl. My dog loves me because I feed him and give him companionship, we have a master and a pet bond. Love has many different meanings each depending on the bond. Tell me can your clones, the ones that can't speak or aren'y human-like, create bonds of true love with another being? Can they show the compassion and deep, deep feelings for another sentient being? Can they express it outwardly? Or is their 'love' simply genetic manipulation by their 'father' to ensure loyalty? I doubt the love they feel is of their own choice. I love my family, my men love theirs, not because they were programmed that way but because that is the bond they chose to make. Your 'troops' love your officers because they have no other choice, they know no different way. It is part of their genetic makeup to loyaly follow you without question." (Rem Dolor) "Human-like? My, what standards you set. How limited your view of the Galaxy must be." Rem snorts. "When you work up the courage to fight the clones, you will see just how deep their love for each other runs. For their brothers. Then, perhaps, you will not write them off as programmed creatures." And then she chuckles. "And, their vocal capabilities might be limited, but they can sing quite well." (Ardus Kaine) Kaine simply shrugs and swings around on the barricade, casting his back to the building he casts his voice over his shoulder, "Yes. Human-like. And as for the singing...I guess it is all dependent on your tastes." With that he jumps down back into the 'trench' with his comrades. Then after a moment his voice rises over the field, "I hope to see you on the field of battle, Wing Commander!!" (Rem Dolor) "I'm not going anywhere!" Rem calls after the Republic commander with mild humor. And, really, she isn't.
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