I am Euphoria

A Commander's Torture

Her absence is like loosing your lungs.
And for that period of time you are always on the verge of suffocating.
But you don't die from it.
The torture is what keeps you alive.
This void of knowing kills you slowly.
A quick death would probably be the easiest thing.
The kind thing.

Stone

——

Daro was a woody planet with less cities and more vegetation than he had seen on Takodana. And if he was totally being honest he hadn't really seen much from the galaxy when he had served the republic. Kamino and Coruscant had been really the only places he had been for very long, except the few times he had to escort a member of the senate to other planets.

However there was one time where he had stayed on Florrum longer than he wanted. Stranded with the obnoxious and sloppy representative Jar Jar Binks. A mission he barely remembered weren't it for the request he had made to Fox to never escort representative Binks or any other member of the Nabooan representatives ever again.

But sightseeing wasn't really on his agenda then or any other time, nor was it really something he considered he would enjoy.

Coruscant and Kamino were the only planets he would ever consider 'home' and even that was far fetched from the truth. It were really the only planets he ever lived on. And even that he quite disliked.

But when he stepped foot on Daro he suddenly transitioned into a whole new world. Everything around here was far slower what he was used to. The fellow commanders, who got the same assignment as him seemed to walk slower with their troops as well as the lessons and classrooms were certainly filled with troopers, but every single one of them were rather slow on the uptake. He hated it. He didn't hate the planet, but the occupants.

He had to remind himself, where he was as he had been guided through the new building complex, which was hidden from the naked eye build in a mountain. The walls were a very deep grey and the deeper they walked the less sunlight would come through.

Another former commando clone showed him around, but they hadn't anything to say to the other and stayed mostly silent throughout the course of their walk. Stone didn't know his brothers name nor had he the desire to know. He rather didn't know at all. If it would go after him he was already in his room, locked away from any form of human contact and obsessed about finding what went missing.

"This is your new platoon." The other clone opened a door and Stone stepped into the room with men and women in armor mostly waiting for something to happen. They straightened and saluted. If it was for him or the other commando, he had no clue. He didn't care and wouldn't start to care.

This emptiness in his chest tightened and promised him at the same time a sweet reminder of the fact, that he had cared once. That many moons ago there had been someone, who was once his. But now he had to stay away from any form of memory just to protect himself and the little bit of consciousness he still had. Otherwise he was sure he was going to get mad.

After the tour the other commando left Stone alone and now he stared back at at least fifty troopers. There was a long silence as the two parties seized the other one up and down, but Stone remained his centred self, staring at a point on the wall through his visor, shoulders tense and hands on his back.

"Formation 178." He then said and walked over to the small bench out of supply boxes and sat down. When he returned his gaze towards the platoon everyone had remained in his position just their heads had followed him.