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Primary
Function 2000 short
story by Mark Newbold Thirteen years before Episode IV - A New Hope Aurran waited patiently and
silently at the top of the ramp of the Trooper like he had many times
before. He was a master at the art of
being patient, which was a boon when in the employ of the young and reckless
smuggler Jan Lomona. Although only
sixteen years of age, Lomona was already displaying the signs of recklessness
and arrogance that Aurran had seen in so many other humans who left their
homes at a young age to see the galaxy and make a name for themselves. And here on the world of Zelon, where the
young A-desandian had brought them in his ship the Trooper, Aurran stood and
waited as his master searched for employment. It had been a difficult few months. After over a quarter of a century in the
service of the Lomona family Aurran had left their home when young Jan had
decided that the life that beckoned, a life in service to the Empire was not
the life for him. And so when the last
light of the A-desandian sun Tri-Lomon had finally set, Jan took Aurran and
his counterpart Troopie away from the main part of the house and to the
hangar bay, which sat, adjacent to the house.
And before the old droid could raise any rational protestations the
Trooper was blasting skywards and heading out towards a new destiny. But not a destiny that Aurran, in
his mature and considered opinion, was looking forward to. It had been a strange life for a
droid. He'd been activated sixty-seven
years before aboard the Republic cruiser Renown III. Like every other droid, he assumed that his
life would be one of service and duty.
Service to his masters and creators who had assembled him, duty to perform
the tasks that those same masters gave him.
And, for many years he indeed performed that duty, seeing much of the
galaxy in the process and travelling from Core to Rim on many occasions. But life, as Aurran swiftly
realised, had the habit of throwing unusual obstacles in the paths of those
who inhabited the galaxy, sentients and servants
alike. While serving as the aide to
the second captain of the Renown III, Aurran caught the attention of a
visiting attaché from the Mid-Rim world of A-desando. And during a particularly heated discussion
between the captain and the attaché Aurran had interceded with an incisive
comment that broke the stalemate and brought the situation to a swift and
amicable conclusion. The attaché was
impressed. So impressed that he
insisted that the droid be re-assigned to the A-desandian Security Forces and
relocate to A-desando. The captain
hesitantly agreed, having had Aurran alongside him for almost a decade, and
so Aurran became beholden to yet another master, his third after the death of
the first captain of the Renown III. A-desando was a revelation to the
smart droid. A world of towering
inhabitants, beautiful cities and vast sweeping plains. He found it unusual that this world, so
full of tall and strongly built people, should live in almost entirely
single-level homes. Only the capital
city of Ecaps boasted any mentionable amount of taller buildings, and even
those were in a core area of the central business district. The natural areas were well preserved,
running rivers through the towns and cities as part of the link between the
natural and the synthetic. To the
photoreceptors of the droid he found it a stimulating environment to
operate. He was attached to the office
of A-desando's chief security officer and worked out of the central city of
Ecaps for twenty-four long years. On
his travels with the chief of security he saw many of the same worlds that he
has seen whilst in service aboard the Renown III, and took great pleasure in
noting how many those worlds had changed for the good. But the wily droid couldn't help but notice
how a great number had changed for the worse, Republic intervention either
not arriving or having been refused.
He saw that while the inner and Mid-Rim world were
well protected and looked after, the far edges of the Mid-Rim and the Outer
Rim worlds were practically forgotten.
As far as the Outer Rim was concerned, the Republic didn't exist. As the years and decades passed,
Aurran's role shrank in importance and status as newer, more capable droids
entered the service of A-desandian security.
The days of productive and meaningful work slipped by and soon he was
reduced to the role of liaison officer with the A-desandian press corp. It was whilst here that the droid began to
notice the swathe of anti-Republic feelings that were brewing on A-desando
and throughout other Setnin Sector worlds.
It was something that he was wholly unaccustomed to - his years of
service and duty to the Republic were as much a part of his whole as the root
commands hardwired into his brain.
Uncertain of his role in society he requested a transfer. Which came as
a total surprise to his superiors. Droids were often required to use
their initiative and think fast in situations, but here was a droid who had
been in service for over four decades, seen most of the galaxy and served all
masters with distinction. And now it
was asking for a transfer. Soon the
word got out, and it wasn't long before a queue of buyers
were lining up to take the droid off the security forces hands. And the first in line was a well-liked
member of Halandon society who had travelled to her
sister world of A-desando from the almost identical world of Halando. Narn Giappa Lomona offered the highest
amount of credits for Aurran, seeing in the old droid the wherewithal to help
bring up the young family that he and his newly wed wife Sierra were
planning. And luckily for the old
droid the sellers were amenable to the bribe that Narn laid out to prevent
the memory wipe that would normally been standard, but would also have wiped any
vestiges of personality that the droids experiences would have accumulated. Aurran stayed within the city of
Ecaps, moving to the outskirts where the Lomona family home lay. Already a wealthy man due to his ties on
Halando, the home was a welcoming place to live. They made the old droid feel like a part of
their small family, a family that grew four years later with the birth of a
son Hijjin, their first child. Feelings of apathy and resentment
towards the Republic continued throughout the years as Aurran continued to
serve the Lomona's. When the ruling
council of A-desando broke off all ties with Halando the whispers of Republic
intervention and meddling were rife on the streets. As awkward as it was for the Halando-born
Narn, that discomfort was offset by the growing dissatisfaction with the
Republic. And yet Aurran, bound by the
deep-rooted orders of loyalty to one's master kept his feelings to
himself. Not that he believed he could
ever get away with expressing such feelings in public again, not on
A-desando. A second son followed three years
after Hijjin, a sickly baby called Luude.
And yet despite his physical weakness he was loved by Narn and Sierra
and doted on by his elder brother Hijjin.
To many they seemed like the perfect family, with their idyllic home
and good prospects for the future. And then Jan Lomona was born. Wise old Aurran could see in the
boy a kindred spirit. From an early
age Jan always fought to do things his way, even when the path to where he
wanted to go was a long and circuitous one.
While Hijjin and Luude were smart and obedient boys, polite to anyone
and everyone, young Jan was a spitfire.
Nothing that Narn and Sierra did seemed to stem his rebellious streak,
and soon it was left to Aurran to drag Jan back on what his parents perceived
to be the straight and narrow. And for
a while he did. Jan listened intently
to the old droid, listening to his stories of glorious days past in the
employ of the Republic, travelling the space lanes and visiting distant
worlds. Jan's eyes grew wider as the
stories became more and more fantastical and soon the boy wanted nothing more
than to leave dull old A-desando behind and find his own fortune out there
among the stars. All was good... Until Luude died. At the tender age of nine, Luude
succumbed to a mystery virus. Many
doctors believed that it was brought to the planet by an off-worlder who had
not correctly followed the requisite vaccination procedures. Already a weak and skinny child, Luude put
up little resistance to the virus and died quietly in his bed without so much
as a whimper. His parents were
devastated. All their dreams were
slowly unthreading before their eyes.
The worst thing that a family could endure, the loss of a child, had
happened and it threw the Lomona's into a dark mood. Narn decided to stop living off his
family's wealth and enlisted in the A-desandian Security Force. Certain that the fault lay with the lax
attitudes of the Republic he threw himself into his new career and quickly
rose through the ranks. Sierra
followed, joining the same forces and forging ahead with her career. Which left young Jan,
seven years old and still a rebel, alone with his elder brother Hijjin,
twelve years old and brimming with the desire to serve alongside his parents. The two fought constantly and it took all
of Aurran's wits to keep them apart.
And despite the elder brother knocking lumps off his younger brother,
and Aurran vouching for Jan when Hijjin attacked him it was always Jan who
was handed out the punishments. It was of no surprise to Aurran
or Jan when Hijjin left home at the age of eighteen to join the Empire. The Republic was no more, planetary forces
spread throughout the entire galaxy had seen to the end of that august and
venerable old organisation. The sith had slain the Jedi and the galaxy was perched on
the edge of a new order. And Hijjin
wanted to become a part of it. His
father Narn had long since switched from the A-desandian forces to the Empire
and had risen through the ranks with as much vigour as he had before. Both mother and father showed immense pride
in their eldest son. And nothing but
blind contempt for young Jan. Age thirteen, Jan was even more
of a troublemaker than he was before.
With an absentee father and a brother at the academy he ran wild,
prairie racing with his Trandoshan friend Treesk and winning some high-stakes
races. Soon he had amassed enough
credits to purchase his first ship, the Trooper. She was a small, hyperspace-capable vessel
with little cargo capacity and no weapons.
But she was Jan's, and she was a ticket off world. With the ever-loyal Aurran covering for him
he worked on the ship in the hangar bay that his mother never went in to,
making her ready for a lift-off that would take him away, never to return. Snapping away from his
recollections Aurran paused, as he was about to turn away from the ramp and
continue back inside to prepare the evening meal for his master and plug his astromech counterpart Troopie into the power supply. Someone was lurking about in the distance,
hiding behind the cargo crates that littered almost every landing bay in the
galaxy. He tried not to make it appear
obvious that he had the lurker in his sights and
moved away from the top of the ramp, which led directly into the small
cockpit at the nose of the ship. He
raised a metaphorical mechanical eyebrow as he stepped up into the
cockpit. Quite why Master Jan
orders me to leave the ramp down whenever we land is beyond me. He paused as his head rose to look through
the cockpit window, giving him a better view of the landing bay and the lurker who was nearing the ramp. Master Jan only took us away from A-desando
six months ago, and yet every time he leaves me alone on the ship he insists
that I leave the ramp lowered. If I
didn't know Jan better I'd think it was blind arrogance. He paused as he allowed that last thought
to work its way through his brain.
Well, it's obviously arrogance, but there must be something more
behind it. If not, it looks like I'm
about to meet my new master. The lurker
had built up his confidence to boiling point and was readying himself for the
final move. Nona Neraal twitched and
wiped his hands against the rear of his jeans. He could see the ramp of the small shuttle
lowered, her large cockpit chair indicating to him that the owner was a Wookie,
a Trandoshan or possibly an A-desandian.
Certainly one of the larger species of the galaxy, that was for
sure. He checked his blaster at his
side, swallowed hard and prepared to run hard into the ship. Aurran stayed in the shadows of
the Troopers cockpit, not wishing to show himself and therefore deter the lurker. He was
sure it was simply a starship thief, chancing his hand at taking a shuttle or
whatever he could get and make his escape.
He pondered some more over his master's wishes to leave the ramp
lowered, but kept those thoughts to himself.
One way or the other, he would soon learn the wisdom of that choice. Nona Neraal came out from behind
the crates at a swift pace, drawing his blaster and hammering the plastisteel surface towards the Trooper. As he approached he looked left and right
to make certain for a final time that he was alone and then ducked his head
for the entry into the ship. It was something like running
headfirst into a blast door when you expect to run through an open doorway. Nona's momentum and forward velocity were
almost instantly nullified by the powerful mantrap that Jan had installed in
the entrance to the ramp. He hung in
midair for a second, his face contorted into a grimace of surprise and
despair, and then the powerful gravity generators kicked in full power and
slammed him into the floor with the force of five gravities. He tried feebly to crawl
away back down the ramp but found the effort too taxing and remained still. Aurran came out of the shadows of
the ramp and moved to the top of the ramp, joining Troopie who had rolled out
of the rear engine compartment to see what the commotion was about. Aurran looked down on the domed head of his
yellow and blue coloured friend and nodded towards Neraal.
"Did you know anything about this?" Troopie issued a stream of
elaborate beeps and whistles, to which Aurran cocked his head.
"What do you mean I would have told someone? Discretion is one of my prime assets." Troopie bleeped again.
"Master Jan does not know everything, although he might like to
think he does."
"Can't argue with that old buddy." Jan Lomona approached the Trooper, his arms
swinging by his sides in a relaxed gait and a wide grin plastered across his
young face. His yellow and purple long
jacket was swung back behind his arms, showing his blasters off to the
unfortunate thief who lay immobile on the rubber-covered ramp.
"I take it your meeting with Belarra went well, Master Jan?"
"You take well. He's
offered me a few local jobs and some trips out to Gista." He kneeled next to Nona, just out of range
of the mantraps gravitic influence. "I didn't think today could get any
better. I'll have to thank Romanoe for
the good work on the mantraps." Nona managed to twist his head
enough to catch Jan's eye and slowly his mouth moved the words.
"...Lllleeeetttt....mmmmeeeee....oooouuuuttt...." Jan sucked in his upper lip and
glanced up at Aurran and Troopie at the top of the ramp. Troopie hovered on the spot, a wire filled
bundle of excitement as Aurran stood impassively waiting for Jan's next
move. Try as he might, the only word
he could use to describe the young man who he had helped raise since birth
was unpredictable. And that was Jan's
biggest advantage. That and the
impetuosity of youth.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a
break. You're the first scumbag to try
and steal my ship and you won't be the last.
I've had a good day today, but that won't last. Nothing ever does." Aurran zoomed in on his master as
he said this. He was pleased with what
Jan was saying and doing. It showed
that he had learned much from his experiences out in the galaxy already, and
despite the fact that Aurran was against leaving A-desando in the clandestine
manner that they did he was pleased that he was still with his young
master. It was a more honest life for
the droid who was activated aboard a Republic cruiser sixty-seven years
before than to stay with the bitter minds and hearts of the Imperial
sympathisers the Lomona family had transformed into. He watched as Jan stepped around Neraal to
the top of the ramp and de-activated the mantrap, smiling at Aurran as he did
so.
"I'll show you how it works properly later on, old
man." He whispered. Glaring down at Neraal who was slowly
dragging himself to his feet he scowled.
"Now, get the hell out of here.
If you really want to steal a ship there's a
YT-1300 with its ramp open on Level 4.
But you didn’t hear that from me." Nona Neraal got to his knees,
took a moment to catch his breath and then began to walk slowly away with a
sorry expression across his face. Jan
watched him until he had left the landing bay and then closed the ramp. Aurran waited for him in the
cockpit, duster in one hand and a cup of hot Chav on the other. Jan raised an eyebrow.
"Which one's for me?"
"You're the captain, you tell me." Intoned Aurran in his drollest voice. Jan took the Chav and slumped into the pilots seat.
"Nice work there Aurran." Aurran looked balefully at Jan,
his mechanical eyes unable to reflect the pride that his android core was
feeling.
"It was nothing Master Jan.
Protecting the ship is my primary function." Jan closed his eyes and rested
the Chav on the dash. Aurran paused
for a moment, watching his master as he fell asleep, and then moved out of
the cockpit. Primary
Function 2000 short
story by Mark Newbold Thirteen years before Episode IV - A New Hope Histories
-
This short story by Mark Newbold
tells some of the back history of Aurran, Jan Lomona's
trusty old droid who has been with the Lomona family since before Jan's
birth. Set just after Jan initially
left A-desando to
embark upon his career as a smuggler, we see one of the few occasions that
his first ship the Trooper
is mentioned in the
stories. Cast of Characters Aurran Jan Lomona Nona Neraal Troopie |