#but at the same time vau asking could means he wanted to know how to deal with the problem (aka how to train sev)

[cienie-isengardu]

Walon Vau about Delta Squad [from Republic Commando loading screen]

[mistflyer1102]

visit

A/N: AU in that Etain told Darman about the pregnancy sooner.

Summary: Darman visits his infant son while on Coruscant.

---------------------

It was almost midnight when Darman and Atin arrived at the little apartment above the Kuggerat.

Laseema’s face lit up when she opened the door. “Darman, Atin, it’s good to see both of you,” she whispered as she stepped back to let them enter. “Kad’s asleep right now, and Etain isn’t home,” she added as the two of them walked into the apartment. Darman glanced around the room before his attention was drawn towards where he knew his son slept; Etain had mentioned that Kad’s room was towards the end of the hall. Darman pulled his jacket off, and gently shook his head when Laseema offered to take it. She nodded, and then turned to the two of them. “Kal and Sergeant Vau have been gone all day, Besany and I are taking bets as to whether I’m going to get a call from Captain Obrim,” she said as Darman hung his jacket up on the hook.

“Probably not, I can see Captain Obrim bailing anyone out if ever got to that point. We did see Etain briefly, she was supposed to come home with us,” Atin said as he pulled his jacket off. Darman didn’t miss the way Atin’s jaw twitched at the mention of Sergeant Vau.

“She got redirected, she’s got a mission to the Outer Rim with Captain Maze. Something hush - hush involving another legion,” Darman said, grinning when Atin snorted. “Maze meanwhile is probably just happy to get out of the office for a change.”

“You mean like Niner? I know Corr is familiar with Mereel’s idea of a night on the town, but I think Niner is going to be in for a surprise,” Atin said, grinning. Darman snorted at the memory. Mereel had dropped into the squad’s barracks - literally - after they had finished with showers, and somehow managed to coax Niner into joining him and Corr. Darman could still recall the look of wariness on Niner’s face as Corr helped build Mereel’s case. Darman meanwhile had refused the invite, hoping to see Kad, and Atin joined him. Atin later admitted, as they walked towards the Kuggerat, that he’d been figuring out how to sneak off to see Laseema while they were still on Coruscant.

“Well, I’m hoping Niner may just have a chance to relax,” Darman said finally. “He’s definitely earned it.” He glanced at Laseema. “I was kind of hoping to see Kad… should I wait if he’s asleep?”

Laseema shook her head. “No, you can go in there now. He may wake up, but that’s normal for babies his age,” she said, smiling softly.

Darman nodded, and then headed down the short hall to his son’s bedroom.

He could hear Kad whimpering from the crib as he eased the door open. The room was mostly dark except for a soft gold light emanating from a fish-shaped night light in the corner of the room. Darman let out a slow exhale before he approached the crib, where the cries were getting louder. “Hey there,” he whispered as he looked down at his son. Kad was wearing a small outfit that had little animal prints all over it, and his face was scrunched up into a tiny scowl. He was a bit bigger than Darman remembered, less fragile-looking, but Darman still hesitated to pick him up. He still remembered how to do it from the night Kal first brought Kad to the apartment. The same night Etain told him everything.

I’ve handled all sorts of fragile things before. I can do this.

Not to mention, Kad was getting louder. Darman knew how much Atin missed Laseema, and he didn’t want to bother either of them.

He leaned forward, and slid one hand gently under Kad, careful to keep Kad’s head supported. Kad’s cries tapered off into soft whimpers when Darman reached in with his other hand. Kad then blinked in confusion as Darman slowly finished getting him into the position that Kal had shown Darman the last time Darman held the baby. Kad let out a few more whimpers as Darman carefully lifted him out of the crib, and then began to cry again as Darman adjusted his position once more. Then Darman carefully sat in the rocking chair, he’d read somewhere that babies generally liked gentle rocking movements. He settled Kad into the crook of his harm as he began to rock the chair slowly.

“I’m sorry, I’m not very good at this,” he said finally, tilting his head as Kad hiccuped through another round of sobs. “But I’m going to be on Coruscant for a few days, and I’ll try to visit when I can,” he whispered as he continued to rock the chair. He’d have to be careful, with General Zey still on Coruscant even if Maze was off-planet. He’d still try to visit though. Etain had explained that the Order could not recruit Kad without parental or guardian consent, and Mustafar would freeze over long before that happened, but Darman didn’t want to tempt fate. He looked back down at Kad, who was still hiccuping. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and your mom will come here soon,” he said, grinning with a conviction he didn’t feel. He had no idea when she would return, if at all. Her comm frequency had been disconnected the last time he tried, and Ordo hadn’t known she was on assignment at all when Darman asked him about it.

Ordo said he would look into it, but so far… no news.

Darman looked down again to see Kad was still making faces through tears, but he was quieting down now. Maybe I’m getting the hang of this, he thought as he continued to gently rock the chair.

He had a standard week on Coruscant, barring any emergency. Plenty of time.

[clonewarslover55]

Memories AU  Verda Tal Rose in Triple Zero

Part one(1) out of five(5)

Part two  Part three  Part four  Part five

Summary: Random drabbles based off of parts in the Republic Commando book Triple Zero where Etain interacted with Walon Vau! @just-some-girl-92 wanted to know how Etain would react to Rose, so here’s a new series lol 

Notes: If you have no idea who Rose is check out Memories here! And her many many character notes on my masterlist!! Please do, I’m really proud of Rose and Memories!!

 This is the part where Etain meets Walon, adding Rose of course! 

The formatting, plot, dialogue, etc! Are not mine!!! This is all from Republic Commando: Triple Zero, chapter nine. Written by Karen Traviss. So none of this is mine but the Rose parts! 

If you haven’t read Triple Zero or Memories then I suggest you don’t read this until you do!! 

Warnings: Canon violence, Rose is a bitch ngl, Walon Vau is polite, Rose is not, 

+Safe house, Brewery zone, Coruscant Quadrant J-47, 1000 hours, 371 days after Geonosis+

Vau, sitting at the table, looked tired. He still seemed like a professor who wasn’t very happy with his class, but the physical effort showed in deeper lines from nose to mouth and the way he was drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. It was his trick for staying awake. 

A woman sat beside him. She was leaning back in her chair, an ankle propped on her knee. Her dark auburn red hair, which was greying, was in a messy braid, her emerald green eyes half lidded. She blinked slowly and glanced at Etain, a bemused expression on her beautiful face. The woman was around Walon’s age it seemed, her freckles and frown lines prominent. 

The man who had his head resting on the same table in front of him didn’t look awake at all. Vau leaned forward and lifted the man’s head by his hair, peered into his face, and set him down carefully again. The woman sighed, Vau glancing at her. Both were clearly exhausted and irritated. 

“You’re the relief watch, then, Jedi?” Vau got up and stretched extravagantly, joints clicking, and indicated the empty chair. “All yours.” The woman sat there a little longer, looking Etain up and down. She clearly did not like Jedi it seemed.  When she stood Etain noticed she was tall, a few inches taller than Skirata but still shorter than Vau.

Etain looked surprised. Skirata had expected her to register horror at the blood spatter on the otherwise pristine cream walls, but she just looked at Vau like she was expecting to see someone else. 

She looked back at the fellow redhead. “I thought I was only meeting-” The woman cut her off, she was very rude. “I’m Verda Tal Rose, which means Warrior Blood Rose. You may call me Rose, I’m Walon’s wife. I help him with these kinds of jobs.” Kal sighed, “She wasn’t supposed to be here.” The woman, Rose, rolled her eyes. “I don’t need your fucking permission Skirata. You know I can keep my mouth shut.” She spat the words, Kal glaring back at her. 

Etain was even more shocked. How Skirata described Vau he didn’t seem like the man to take a wife. Let alone one who was incredibly rude. Kal quickly cut the tension by directing his attention to Walon.

“Where are the other two?” Skirata asked.

“Nikto number one is M’truli, and he’s secured in the small bedroom.” Vau was perfectly polite: this was just business after all, and even Skirata felt too centered on the task at hand to resume their feud where it had left off. His wife on the other hand, was not. Rose despised Kal more than her husband did, but not because of the feud between the two men. “Nikto number two is Gysk, and he’s in the study.” Rose spoke this time, irritation in her voice. 

“Your tunics could use a wash.” 

“It’s the little horns. You can’t punch a Nikto. Had to use something else.” Rose nodded in agreement with her husband, a little smirk coming across her face. Etain looked at her and swallowed thickly. Rose seemed quite unhinged, and she had just met her. 

Etain sat down in Vau’s seat and placed her hands flat on the table, still looking puzzled. Skirata leaned against the wall. Vau wandered into the ‘fresher: water tinkled into the basin. Rose stood near the table, watching Etain with an eyebrow raised. 

“You want to tell me what you know,” Etain said soothingly. “You want to give me the names of the people you operate with.” 

Orjul twitched. He raised his head from the table with some difficulty and stared into her face for a second. 

Then he spat in it. Rose pulled a dagger from her boot and snarled. Kal grabbed her shoulder and held her back, “She can handle this Verda.” He whispered,  Rose only sneered and yanked from his touch. She was wound up, Orjul must have spat on her a few times already as well. Rose was easy to piss off though….So Kal was scared to guess what he had said so far.

Etain jerked back, visibly shocked, and wiped the pink-stained spittle with one hand. Then she composed herself again. 

“Keep your stinking mind tricks to yourself, Jedi,” Orjul hissed. Rose glared at him, the man not looking at her out of fear. Rose dropped the blade back into her boot, crossing her arms. 

Skirata didn’t expect her to break at that point. And she didn’t: she simply sat there, although he knew it wasn’t blank inactivity. She had been trained from childhood just like the clone army, except the first weapon she seized would be her control of the Force and her ability to read it like clamoring comlink signals. 

Darman had told him. “She could tell us apart right away by how we felt and thought, Sarge. Wouldn’t that be a handy trick to have?” 

“Can I see the Nikto?” She asked suddenly. Etain looked at Rose who just gave a half shrug letting Etain know she wasn’t in charge. 

Vau came out of the ‘fresher, wiping his face with a fluffy white towel. “Help yourself.” He gave Skirata a “you-know-best” look and unlocked the doors for her.  “They’re securly trussed. You know we keep them from talking to each other, don’t you?” Rose spoke, walking to her husband. 

“I worked that out,” Etain said.  

Rose gave her a tired smile, it was the smile of someone who had been up for hours. It nearly looked like a mothers smile, and for some reason it made Etain’s heart ache. There was just something in Rose’s smile and force signature. Odd. 

She looked back at her husband, “You missed a spot.” She mumbled, taking the towel from him to wipe some blood from his neck. Walon glared at her like an embarrassed child. Rose only pecked his cheek, a loving smile on her face. Vau sighed, looking like he hated the attention. Only a blind man would miss the love and admiration in his golden eyes though. 

Etain laughed to herself at their antics, she couldn’t wait to have that with Darman. The small cute moments in the future. She shook the thought away and disappeared into one room for a minute and then came out and went into the other. When she emerged again, she walked up to the three Mandalorians and lowered her head. 

“I’m pretty sure those Nikto have no information, and know they don’t have it,” she said quietly. 

“People have useful information all the time and don’t know it,” Skirata said. “We piece together apparently useless stuff together and come up with connections.” Verda Tal Rose snorted loudly, “We??” Vau elbowed her, he was too tired to listen to her and Kal argue. Rose glared at her husband, Walon looking at Etain to avoid his wife’s murderous gaze. 

They had clearly been married for quite a while. 

“What I mean is that they have this distinct sense that they’re just afraid of dying.” 

Vau shrugged. “So much for Nikto grit, eh?”

“Every creature avoids death. The difference is that Orjul is afraid of breaking. It feels different to me. It’s not animal dread. It’s not as deep in the Force.” Etain had her fingers meshed in that Jedi way that made her look as if she were wringing her hands. “I might as well concentrate on him. He has information he’s afraid to reveal.” 

They watched her walk the few meters back to the main room and settle down at the table opposite Orjul again and stare at him. 

Vau shrugged and put an arm around Rose’s waist. “Oh well. At least we can have a nap while she’s minding the shop. Then I can get back to work with more tangible methods.” Rose smirked at him and chuckled. She pulled away, nodding at Skirata before walking into the bedroom, leaving the two men alone. 

There was a sharp gasp from Orjul and Vau looked around. Whatever Etain was doing, she wasn’t even touching him. Just staring.

“Kal, those people scare me more than Orjul does,” Vau said. “Even more than your wife?” Walon snorted in that royal way of his, “I have yet to find something scarier than my Blood Rose.” Kal could agree with that. 

“I’m just going to get my head down for a couple of hours. Wake me if she gets anywhere….Or kills him, of course.” Kal nodded and waved his old friend off. Vau’s golden eyes stayed locked with his blue ones for a moment before he left the room. 

~Some Jedi interrogation and Orjul having a mental breakdown later!!~

Skirata grabbed Vau’s shoulder and shook him awake. “Get in there. She’s broken him down enough for you to finish the job.” Rose sat up and rubbed her eyes, unbraiding her chaotic hair. Vau stayed down for a moment, he was clearly exhausted. 

Verda suddenly grabbed Kal’s hand that was still on her husband's shoulder, yanking it towards her so she could see his chrono. “Not bad.” She spoke, her voice still groggy. Walon looked at Kal once Rose dropped his arm. 

“What’s up? Don’t want to let her face the real consequences?” Vau spoke. 

“Just do it, will you?” 

Vau swung his legs off the bed and stalked into the main room to usher Etain from the chair and steer her and Skirata towards the doors. “Go and have some fizzade, Jedi.” He turned to Orjul, who was staring after Etain with wide-set eyes. “She’s just stepping out for some refreshment. She’ll be back later.” 

Walon spoke like a teacher, his accented voice helping him sound even more regal and in control. Rose walked out of the bedroom, twirling a dagger between her fingers with skill. Etain blinked, Rose’s hair was now in a perfect braid instead of a messy one. She’d have to ask her secrets for controlling crazy red hair later. 

Skirata led Etain out by her elbow. He sat her down on a little bench at the back of the landing platform and took out his comlink to call for transport. 

“No, I'm going back in,” said Etain. 

“Only if Vau calls us back.”

“Kal….”

“Only if he really needs you. Okay?”

They were still waiting for Ordo to collect them when Etain flinched and then looked back at the lobby doors. 

They opened and Vau wandered out, rubbing his eyes. There was a distinctive tang of ozone clinging to him, like a discharged blaster. 

“Retail zone, Quadrant B-Eighty-five,” said Vau simply. He held out his datapad with the coordinates. “But he hasn’t given me a date, if he knows one. He was supposed to drop the explosives off in the warehouse, and someone would be along to collect it. He never knew who. 

Skirata sniffed the ozonic scent again and switched to Mando’a, although he was sure Etain had flinched because she had sensed what had happened. Rose walked out just as the men began to argue, quick to distract Etain. 

“Gar ru kyramu kaysh, di’kut: tion’meh kaysh ru jehaati?” 

Translation: “You killed him, you moron: what if he was lying?”

Vau made an irritated pfft sound “Ni ru kyarmu Niktose. Meh Orjul jehaati, kaysh kar’tayli me’ni ven kyramu kaysh.” 

Translation: “I killed the Nikto. If Orjul’s lying, he knows I'll kill him. Orjul would be dead sooner or later anyway.” 

No prisoners: not on this run. It was amazing how many people overlooked the inevitable while hoping for a way out. 

Kal knew Etain couldn’t speak fluent Mando’a, but he was still happy Rose was there to distract Etain from picking up any of the words in the conversation that she might know. “Seriously it works wonders Etain.” Rose spoke, smiling a little at Etain. She’d definitely listen to her hair advice. 

“Darling.” Walon spoke, motioning to the doors. Rose winked at Etain and walked to her husband, walking back inside with him. 

Etain looked at Kal, “She’s a rude one…..but I think she likes me?” Kal chuckled, “Yeah, which means you’re lucky.” Etain frowned at that, “They’re an odd pair, but they somehow work. Just wait until you see them in action….or arguing.” Etain wasn’t sure if she wanted to see any of that. 

Etain almost bolted to the speeder when Ordo settled it on the platform. 

~Back inside~

Walon hugged Rose from behind, both procrastinating moving the corpse. “That girl is smart but naive. She’s too reliant on Skirata, which is never good.” Rose suddenly spoke. Vau sighed, he agreed with her.

Tags: @the-arctic-violet @crimson-dxwn @cherry-cokes-world @thealluringsink @seafoamandlilliesinthesea @leias-left-hair-bun @catsnkooks @royalhandmaidens @simping-for-fives @valkyrieofthehighfae @mxndalorians @colorfulloverbatturkey @peacefulwizardfox @ahsokatano-thetogruta @hounding-around @julyzaa @feathersforclones @chr0nicbackpain @fyrepen33 @ct7567329 @mistflyer1102

[colehasapen]

(ONE SHOT) chaabar STAR WARS

He can’t breathe.

Tucked inside the darkest corner of the maintenance closet, 7567 knots his fingers into pale blond curls and pulls, trying to ground himself as he wheezes. Tears are hot on his bruised cheek, and it makes the swollen skin sting - Trainer Reau must have split the skin open with her gauntlet when she’d punched him - but, not ever the pain of the injury can distract the young cadet from his panic.

Eights is gone. Eights is gone, he’s been taken away for decommissioning, and 7567 is afraid. He’s next, he knows this, because he’s the only one left to take. He’s the mutant, the mistake, and he knows too well what the Longnecks do to mistakes. His entire was defective, all but one, and now there’s only two of them left. Keeli is perfect though, he has dark hair and dark eyes like every other clone, unlike the rest of their batch.

Keeli will be safe, but 7567 isn’t.

The scientists will be coming for him, 7567 knows, because trainer Reau had taken great amusement from telling him so. They’d come for him, and they’d take him to the labs - they’ll cut him open while he’s still awake to see where they went wrong. They’ll tie him down and make him watch as they put pieces of him into jars, and when they have all they need, they’d feed the rest of him to Trainer Vau’s striil. He’s so defective, they won’t even bother recycling him.

The memory of Trainer Reau’s voice has panic crawling up 7567’s throat like the bugs she had forced him to eat during survival training, with hundreds of legs and sharp pincers. He sobs harder, curling tighter around himself, breath catching in his throat and rattling in his chest. He itches and burns like there are things under his skin, and his nails dig into his scalp. He claws, scratches, and hiccups - anything to make the panic go away.

He doesn’t want to be decommissioned.

He can’t breathe - can’t get enough air past the bugs in his throat. He feels like his heart is clawing out of his chest, like his stomach is twisting itself into knots. He doesn’t want to be eaten, he doesn’t want to be taken away.

Panicking as desperately trying to muffle his cries, 7567 is still aware of the door to his little closet opening, casting light over his huddled form. He curls tighter in on himself, trying to hide away from the eyes watching him, burning against his skin. Then, the light is gone, plunging the closet into darkness once more, and 7567 shakes in fear, hyper aware of another person’s breathing invading the space he had hidden himself in.

“Hey,” A voice nearly identical to his own speaks, and despite himself, 7567 finds himself relaxing at the comforting sound. “Hope you don’t mind, I’m looking for a place to hide too.” 7567 sniffles, pushing his face further into his arms. “Can I come sit?”

He hiccups, then shrugs, despite wanting to tell the other boy to go away. He’s a mutant, if another cadet actually wants to be near him, then there’s not actually anything he can do about it. He’s the lowest of the low, barely even a clone, nothing he wants matters.

There’s a shuffle of fabric, and 7567 knows without needing to see that the other cadet had sat down just outside of his arm’s reach. “Priest is on a warpath.” The other boy says cheerfully, “But I think Baar’ur Gilamar is trying to stab him with a scalpel, so he won’t be looking for me for awhile - so I gave the medics the slip.” 7567’s breathing calms the longer the other cadet speaks, and he lets himself relax as his voice washes over him. “Alpha won’t be very happy with me -” 7567’s breath catches, “- he says I shouldn’t be running around with a head wound.”

Only CCs trained with the Alpha-class clones. There’s a CC hiding in the closet with him. He wasn’t supposed to be near the CCs; he’s a CT, they’re not supposed to be around him, they’re not supposed to talk to him unless it’s to give orders. Even worse - he’s a mutant CT sitting within touching distance of a CC.

“You’re a CC.” He whispers in horror, panic cresting once more. Trainer Reau would be so angry with him if she knew he was contaminating a CC.

“Well, yeah .” The other cadet says easily, like it wasn’t a big deal. “I’m CC-2224, who are you?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to you.” 7567 says numbly.

CC-2224 scoffs, “Why not?”

7567 shakes fearfully; Trainer Reau was going to punish him so bad for this. She’d probably send him right to the Longnecks - he’d prefer another beating to being sent to the scientists. “You’re a CC .” He says again, voice growing shrill, trying desperately to make this CC understand.

“Yeah.” CC-2224 repeats slowly, but there’s something calculating in his tone. “What about it?”

“I’m a CT .”

“So?” The Command-classer asks, suspicious now. “I talk to CTs all the time.”

“During training!” 7567 cries, tugging on his hair. “We’re not supposed to talk to you outside of training!”

“What?” CC-2224 sounds stunned, “Why? That’s ridiculous!”

7567 just starts sobbing again. He was going to be decommissioned for this, Trainer Reau was going to be so angry.

“Please don’t cry.” CC-2224 says in alarm, and a small hand lands on his arm. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“They’re gonna decommission me!” 7567 wails, and hands pull his fingers away from his hair before he can start pulling on the ugly curls again. He squirms, flinches, but CC-2224 holds tight, reeling him in so that he could wrap his arms around him. 7567 finds himself pressed against CC-2224’s chest, his head tucked under the other cadet’s chin. Hands rub his back, warm and grounding. At a loss and overwhelmed, his emotions shutting down, 7567 melts into CC-2224’s hug, heart racing and tears on his cheeks.

He doesn’t know what to do with this.

“It’s okay, vod’ika.” CC-2224 promises, voice hard. “I won’t let them decommission you.”

He wants to ask what CC-2224 could do to stop the Longnecks if they came to take him, but there’s determination in the other cadet’s voice. There’s a hard conviction to his words that chases away any doubt that he wouldn’t stop them. 7567 finds himself believing him; he wants to believe him.

“Let’s go find Alpha.” 2224 says, and, to his confusion, he gently headbutts 7567. “He’ll help.”

 

 

Alpha-17 doesn’t know what to think of him, that much is obvious to 7567 when CC-2224 drags him into his batch’s bunkroom. The older clone tears into 2224 for leaving the infirmary with his injury first, a massive thing hidden behind bacta bandages that hides one half of 2224’s face, and 7567 is shocked that the other cadet - he's barely taller than 7567, they’re probably in the same growth cycle, even if 2224 is a little older - could still move around and speak properly with the wound.

Then, once his cutting words for 2224 dry up, Alpha-17 turns to 7567, dark eyes studying him with growing interest. His attention is constantly pulled back to 7567’s hair, but there’s no disgust in his expression, something 7567 had grown accustomed to, but instead it’s calculation. “How old are you, cadet?”

7567 snaps to attention, “Three, sir!”

Alpha-17 hums, circling 7567 like a predator, and 7567 turns to always keep him in eyesight. He’d learned that much from Trainer Reau, and it seems to amuse the Alpha-classer. “Must be good, huh, vod’ika - to have made it this far with hair like that.”

“I’d like to think so.” 7567 says before he can stop himself, then kicks himself - Keeli was always saying he never thought before he spoke, and it got him into a lot of trouble with their trainers. But Alpha-17 doesn’t lash out, instead he snorts.

Next to him, 2224 grins, “What d’you think, Alpha?”

“I think you put yourself into danger you didn’t need, kid.” Alpha-17 says sharply, turning a glare on the smaller clone, but 2224 only lifts his chin stubbornly.

“He said they were going to decommission him.” CC-2224 retorts, “That’s not fair!”

This is the wrong thing to say.

“Life’s not fair, Kote!” Alpha-17 thunders.

The room goes quiet - there’s horror in 2224’s squadmates’ expressions, and agony in Alpha-17’s. 2224 himself just looks confused as the silence grows.

“Who’s Kote?” Once again, 7567’s tongue gets away with him, and he bites his tongue hard enough to taste blood. He’s not supposed to ask questions.

“Doesn’t matter.” The older clone says harshly, and 7567 flinches. Alpha-17 stays tightly wound for a moment, before he lets out a rattling breath and forces himself to relax, his expression rearranging into a carefully neutral mask. “You have potential, kid.” He tells him, then glances at 2224 for a moment, “I’ll do what I can.” Alpha-17 grumbles, rubbing a hand aggressively through his short hair. “Now get out of my sight.”

7567 bolts.

 

(The next day, 7567 and Keeli report to their training room, but Trainer Reau is nowhere in sight. Instead, an older clone stands in front of them, arms crossed over his muscular chest and a sharp grin on his face. He's as tall as Alpha-17, and just as heavily muscled, and it almost hurts to look up at him; his dark hair is just a touch longer than regulation length, and there's a deep scar scored across the bridge of his nose, more visible scars peeking out from his training reds. He had seen fights, and he'd walked away from them in one piece.

“Hey there, verd’ike.” The clone says, voice darkly amused. “A-77 at your service - or Fordo. But you can call me Captain, or Sir.” His smile grows wider, more dangerous, and 7567 swallows nervously, Keeli shifting awkwardly next to him. “You answer to me now.”)

[thesummerstorms]

Rev Recaps Hard Contact (Chapter 10)

CW: murder, death in combat,slightly graphic descriptions of corpses

TL:DR Recap: Etain and Dar go to one of Jinart’s safehouses and are immediately betrayed, which yet again, kind of justifies Etain’s paranoia. Darman kills a man, which perturbs Etain. Omega steals mining equipment and accidentally captures Guta-Nay. Hokan is pissed that Dar and Etain got away, and reveals that Jinart literally murdered the collaborators and tore them to pieces.

unfortunately, after posting the last recap I saw two Kal mentions in Chapter 9 that I missed, so we’re starting at a Kal count of 18.

Beginning Kal Count: 18 Ending Kal Count: 19

I regret to inform you I missed TWO references from Niner about Kal in chapter 9, so we’re starting at a Kal Count of 18.

I won’t screenshot the opening quote, but it’s basically a notice to the farmers on Qiilura that anyone who has Republic soldiers on their land without knowing will be sold into slavery and anyone helping the Republic on purpose will be shot. It does provide some needed framework for the rest of the chapter. Then we open in Darman’s pov, and IDK, I just kind of like the opening line. He still thinks of Kamino as “home” apparently at this point in time.

Etain is still being kind of unfairly snarky, and Darman’s at a loss what to do about it.

“Darman took is as a sensible observation rather than an insult.” Etain isn’t really being great right now, I recognize that, but I still love that line.

Anyway, they stop at the first safehouse and Etain goes to knock. Darman hates feeling obvious and exposed, and compares his lack of ability to blend in to, you guessed it, Skirata.

Kal Count raised to 19, BUT so far I think that’s the only one in this chapter.

Anyway, the house is empty; the family fled in the middle of a meal. Darman is still overly cautious, and walks Etain through house clearing procedure, even though her Force-sense tells her it’s safe. He points out that she can’t sense a tripwire that would murder them, even though Jedi Danger Sense is an established thing in the EU by this point and-

Sorry.

He also redirects her when she’s peering over his shoulder into the pantry instead of standing guard at the door and watching their gear, although he’s gracious enough to admit it had probably never occurred to her with Jedi senses.  While he raids said pantry with the intent to test the food for toxins later, she goes to fill bottles of water from a pump outside, and he asks why she isn’t using a filter. Again, we were just giving Etain shit a few chapters ago for being too paranoid and now she’s asking if he was trained by Nemoidians, but honestly I’m feeling kinder to Dar than Jinart because it really is a culture clash.

Yet again, I wonder how the Kaminoans can afford to kill that many clones out right when each clone is such an investment to rain and train in terms of both input and time. 

Darman doesn’t know what to make of a Jedi who isn’t the perfect demigod he was promised, which is affecting his trust levels. And Etain hasn’t been helping a lot with that. But she does notice something is wrong with him; she just doesn’t know him well yet, so she assumes it has something to do with his physical injury.

They eventually make it to another safe house, when they meet a woman “with a face like a gdan”, several children, and a few other adults. Dar is briefly overwhelmed because it’s the first time he’s seen this many humans who aren’t clones. I guess the commandos never saw their Sergeants group up.

Darman places mines all around the entrance to the building before he goes in, which I’m sure would win him no love even if the farmers weren’t already under threat of execution or slavery. The family at the safehouse says very little, outside of one woman who wants to know how the Republic is better than the Nemoidians, but they do attempt to feed Dar and Etain, which I have to say, is generous for the kind of place they’re living in. Or would be, if the family weren’t planning to sell them out & use the food as a distraction.

Dar, honey, she’s going to be able to read you in the Force better than anyone else in the galaxy by the time this is over and you’ll like it, so you might as well just buckle up. 

Also, clones are able of discerning thoughts/behavior patterns/moods really easily through minute observation and there’s nothing ruling out Etain doing the same her, but I guess it makes sense he jumps to mind reading the way the Kaminoans built up the Jedi.

Lots of little thoughts here. There’s post to be made based on a conversation I had with rey-skywalkin-away about Etain and food that I’ll save for another day, but for now, let me just say as much as KT tries to present Etain as a picky/snobbish eater, lemme just say that I don’t blame Etain in the least for being suspicious when the last stew Jinart tried to serve her included grains literally picked out of the manure on Etain’s cloak. Also, it’s still kind of sweet that Darman notices she isn’t eating enough and immediately offers her his bread, even though he’s in heaven getting “real” food. It’s generous. 

But good things never last, and Etain pretty much immediately is warned by the Force that someone is approaching unexpectedly. Darman flips out and the family immediately flees, which only confirms his suspicion. Dar and Etain brace for combat, while Etain uses Force-sense to pinpoint the incoming enemy forces. It’s actually kind of a great little action scene for the two of them.

“She put her lips so close to his ear he jumped.” Idk, I just giggled at that.

It’s just kind of a great little moment, getting to actually see Etain use her Force skills competently in an action scene. But of course, it immediately devolved. Darman, being raised to be a soldier, kills the one surviving Separatist, who’s injured on the floor. Etain, being raised a Jedi, doesn’t understand. Again, it’s a culture clash, but given the military focus of the books, we know who the narrative thinks is right.

I STILL WANT TO KNOW... who the hell were the clones supposed to be killing on Kamino? I can’t imagine the Kaminoans would let the clones kill even “worthless” Kaminoans, for fear of the armies they were raising getting ideas. I suppose Jango could have snuck back a bounty that was supposed to be dead every now and then, but that wouldn’t be a lot of people for training with 3,000,000 men. 

Also, Darman literally had his freak out over killing people on page 56 of this same, book, so it comes off as a tad hypocritical, even though this isn’t the last time he’ll not understand what Etain is upset about wrt killing.

Anyway, Darman is shot in the shoulder, though it’s a minor wound, they’re now on the run with no “safe houses” to hide in, and at the end of this scene, when Darman asks if Etain can sense droids, we find out she can’t when a droid starts shooting at them.

We then skip to Niner and Atin and Fi raiding a quarry for droids/explosives/equipment. I’m not gonna lie, I could care less about the plot of this section. This is my third time reading it and I’m still fuzzy on it. But it has a few fun little moments:

Atin is tricky. Also, I’m pretty sure that if this wasn’t a Star Wars book,that line would say “pants-shittingly nervous” rather than “drink-spilling”. With the facility seemingly cleared out, Niner and Atin go in to loot it, and we build some more on the “Atin is the tech guy” thing.

Except the guard shack isn’t empty. Guta-Nay (again, the would be rapist) has been hiding there, since Hokan wants him dead. Guta-Nay tries offering various bits of information if Niner will keep him alive, and KT really, really leans in to the whole “to stupid to function” thing, which is still making me uncomfortable, but comes to a head a few chapters from now. Eventually, Niner concedes that they’ll take Guta-Nay prisoner rather than kill him. Atin is displeased, but starts leveraging it to try and find a technical solution to one of their other problems.

Niner, you should absolutely keep thinking mean thoughts about Vau.

Atin hacks some droids, and they’re going to use them to move the mining charges and smuggle them into the places that need to be blown up, including the Nemodian comm relay in Tekklet. Atin still does not like Guta-Nay.

And then one bit that really makes this scene:

Tiny bit of foreshadowing for Triple Zero and True Colors. GREAT moment of Fi’s typical sass. “Don’t stand there being so ugly, man. You’re scaring him.”

We then close the chapter with Hokan being pissed that Darman and Etain escaped. I’m not going to spend too much time on it, because it’s mostly Hokan yelling at his subordinates.

Things that are of note,  with a CW for a graphic description of mutilation of corpses: this is what Jinart went and did to the collaborators.

As negatively as Traviss paints them, I actually feel really bad for the farmers in this book. She’s not much sympathetic to them, and she explicitly goes out of her way to show why you’d be stupid to sympathize with them, but on the one hand you have the Separatists and Hokan torching these people’s land, selling them into slavery, and executing them. On the other... you have Jinart. 

On top of which, they’re literally starving because of the Nemodian’s financial control of their lives. They don’t even have 21st century plumbing, in Star Wars. Whatever point Traviss thinks she’s making about unworthy civilian/local populations, it rings kind of hollow in the face of that information, because I can understand exactly why the NPCs act the way they do, even if they’re technically in opposition to our protagonists.

Anyway, Hokan pulls all droids out of Tekklet, where the comm is, to guard Uthan’s facility. He tells his men he wants either Darman or Etain alive, especially if Etain is a Jedi. Preferably both of them. Again, remember, he tortured Kast Fulier to death with Fulier’s own lightsaber, so remember what we’re working with here.

And that’s where the scene ends.

[izzyovercoffee]

RepComm for the fandom meme

send me a fandom and I’ll — meme

softly, with a lot of feeling: I’ve been waiting for this moment.

lmaoo not really but yes, yes really. I am here and I am ready for this. 

Thank you for sending this B’)

Republic Commando

the character i least understand

Karen “What Is Abuse I Don’t Know Her″ Traviss

Ko Sai. I think, for the most part, she was written with very alien motivations, and it was fairly successful, at least in conveying that it was difficult if not impossible to relate with her on any level. 

I’m sure if I spent more time thinking and writing about her I could maybe attempt to understand her character … but for the most part I don’t really “get” her, and I think that’s the point.

interactions i enjoyed the most

Mereel and Ordo are endlessly entertaining. 

Any of the Nulls together, individually or clusters or all six in one room.

Mereel and Etain have had some very, very touching, emotionally deep moments — the kinds of scenes KT generally doesn’t allow any of her characters to have between two characters that aren’t romantically involved.

tbh this list is gonna be very long so to sum up: everyone with everyone else, when they’re allowed to be individual characters with separate personalities and motivations recognized, instead of twisted into very specific moral representations that KT pushes towards the end.

the character who scares me the most

Walon Vau is reasonably frightening, though really he should be. He is about as cold blooded of a killer as you’re going to get, and he doesn’t make threats, he makes promises. B’) 

Plus he’s also very difficult to get into the mental space to write, because he’s a legitimate Bad Person, and trying to write characters like him can be difficult.

it’s also a good idea to maintain a healthy fear of the nulls, if only out of respect of their potential for sudden and extreme violence. They’re not as “unpredictable” as the text says, though.

the character who is mostly like me

mmm … actually, I’m gonna go with Kal. this is probably gonna garner some “whaaat? but you HATE him?” 

Yes, I do hate him. but let me list some similarities lmao:

perpetual limp due to a bad ankle and persistent injury that never healed right / properly (partially kept as a constant reminder for a mistake)

short and angry, like all the time

compartmentalize everything and everyone

obsessive about caring for and protecting family, literally does everything for family

extremely secretive, to the point of never telling anyone the full story or full truth, everyone just get bits and pieces that seem complete. no one ever seems to realize this.

self sacrificing to the point of martyrdom, especially for family

these are all pretty negative, but … unlike Kal, I am actually self aware lmao and am working on these things, and have for the most part listened when other people criticize me so that I can continue to work on being better. it’s a daily process, you know, so I don’t hurt the family I care so much about.

Kal starts off terrible, and the writing implies that he might learn from it … but then instead of him learning and growing like everyone needs him to, the narrative instead makes excuses for him, everyone suffers, and Etain dies.

it’s unfortunate bc people like him exist, and you can’t coddle them if you want them to survive life. and yet everyone coddles Kal. Fandom, in general, coddles and makes excuses for abusive men. Full stop.

but like, here’s the thing:

He is a grown man. He is not a child. Don’t treat him like one.

I hate him partially bc the entire fandom excuses his behavior when it is, ultimately, inexcusable. He is not a child. He is a man, who has undertaken a huge group of extremely vulnerable people under his care, and he ultimately hurts them all. Severely. And TBH Kal deserves better than to be coddled and all his boo-boos kissed away by a fandom who says they care about the rest of the clan, but cannot see the sheer world-shattering damage Kal committed on them, regardless of intention. 

You can like a character, and still hold them accountable. Fandom, somehow, seems incapable of this level of nuance, especially if they’re a father and shown as sympathetic in any way.

hottest looks character

Mereel, obviously. lmao

No but like, consider: he dyes his hair (and his skin, and his eyes) and has a full wardrobe for all situations. 

He’s the (Daniel Craig) James Bond of the Grand Army of the Republic.

But I also headcanon Jilka and Besany to be incredibly fashion forward. Besany usually embodying the Career Professional woman, with very sharp, very perfectly tailored outfits that allow no room for nonsense.

Jilka also perfectly tailored, though her wardrobe is potentially more fun, visually, and incredibly flattering in all the right ways — but still very sharp, and very much professional when necessary.

one thing i dislike about my fave character

Mereel, light of my life, sun of my sky, salve of my wounded and broken heart, peace at the eye of my storm …

why are you like this?

lmao. On a more serious note, I can’t outright say I dislike anything about Mereel, but his inability to share what really goes on in his head with … well, anyone. The only time we see a truthful admittance to weakness is that single moment with Etain, when he admits that he’s still human. That he’s not perfect.

Every other time, and I know I say this a lot, but every other time … he deflects any serious conversation with a joke — and usually a joke that the speaker wants to hear (even if they don’t know they want to hear it). He doesn’t let anyone in, not even his brothers, and that’s … got to be a lonely sort of suffering. 

The kind of internalized suffering I’m sure he’s learned from Kal, both in the how to do it, and the reason he does it. bc Kal does internalize a lot of his suffering and doesn’t share it, burying weakness while in the same breath saying that he’s experiencing it and letting it go. He doesn’t, it’s just a different sort of self-delusion and deflection, and Mereel echoes it to a painful degree.

And then, of course, there’s Mereel learning that he needs to do it, bc Kal only accepts a certain kind of visual presence of mental illness and suffering, otherwise the person is “damaged” in some way and will never be “okay” for whatever understanding Kal has given okay. (view, for example, how he sees Ordo vs how he sees Mereel. He sees Mereel as stable, bc Mereel is extroverted, outgoing, and “always positive.” It’s not something intentional, but it’s still damaging, to all parties.)

one thing i like about my hated character

I might hate Kal Skirata, but I also love him. He’s a fantastic character. He is so so so flawed. His flaws make him interesting, and he tries. He tries so hard. He cares so much. He cares too much, even. His dedication and his love for his family are all encompassing, to the point that he can even be blinded to their faults because he loves so strongly.

But that love is a sword. One might even say it’s a triple-edged blade.

Love, as bright and fierce and consuming as it is, does not make someone right. It does not make their actions excusable when it leads to hurt, or even someone dying needlessly. It does not make one’s choices correct.

Love does not excuse abuse. And I really wish fandom would, at the very least, make the attempt to understand that.

a quote or scene that haunts me

Yes, I know how the Kaminoans did it. They used our genes against us, the ones that make us bond with our brothers, make us loyal, make us respect and obey our fathers—that’s what they manipulated to make us more likely to obey orders. They had to remove what made Jango a selfish loner, because that makes a bad infantry soldier, and you can tell from the Alpha ARCs that the Kaminoans weren’t wrong. But there’s one thing I don’t know yet—and that’s how they controlled the aging process. That’s the key. They robbed us of a full life span. But we will not be defeated by time, ner vod.

—ARC Trooper Lieutenant N-7—Mereel—in an encrypted transmission to Captain N-11, Ordo

a death that left me indifferent

mmm, Sev, actually. Like, in the game? I went through the whole grieving process after I finished Republic Commando. 

The way it was written? idk. It did nothing for me.

This probably is an unpopular opinion lmao but honestly, that scene? did not hit me anywhere. it just kinda left a bad taste in my mouth … much like Etain’s scene, except that I was actually pissed off about Etain lmao to the point that I still rant about it bc of how little sense it made.

a character i wish died but didn’t

I mean I could go the obvious route and say Kal, but I actually don’t wish Kal died. I just wish he’d learn from his mistakes and people would point out how he’s hurting his family lmao?

who do I actually wish died? any of the nulls, even if they don’t die die. They’re presented as these entirely Untouchable cast, to the point that no one really expect any of the Nulls to so much as get a paper cut — because how can they? they’re presented as close to perfect (obviously not in the mental illness department, but they do inhabit this space of being invincible).

and for any of them, even temporarily, to die would have had incredible emotional impact — moreso than Etain’s. It would’ve really brought home the threat on all their lives in a way that Etain’s death could never convey. 

but I’m asking nuance of a writer who clearly overwhelmed herself with a cast much larger than she could handle in writing, and who started all these incredible thematic arcs only to abandon them, forgotten, over the course of the series.

my ship that never sailed

I have a lot of ships, tbh, but it’s kinda like … weird? to talk about? as if I expected them to sail and then they just simply didn’t. 

I don’t have any ships that I expected to happen or be recognized and simply didn’t. I mean … Fi read as if closeted, so I was kind of hoping he would maybe realize he was attracted to men, but then of course he was paired off with his caretaker, and my god there are so many consent problems with that. 

[cienie-isengardu]

My RepCom Musing: Kal’s drinking habit [HC]

The Hard Contact was our first introduction to Kal Skirata. Understable, we knew him then only by what Fi, Darman and Niner recalled from memory, either in time of need (battle-related advices) or to comfort themselves as all of them missed their training sergeant. However in the same book, every mentioned commando also recalled Kal’s drinking habit, as one of the most characteristic traits of said man.

And so we have Niner and Fi:

    "They spend so much time and trouble making us perfect and then they don't give us what we need to do the job. You remember what Sergeant Kal used to say?"

    "He used to swear a lot, I remember that."

    "No, he used to get upset when he'd had a few drinks and say that he could make us better soldiers if we had time to go out and live. Data-rich, experience-poor. That's what he used to say."

    "He used to slur the words quite a bit, too. And he didn't like clones."

    "That was all bluster. And you know it."

  And soon after that Niner’s personal thought:

Once he signed up with the Kaminoans, he said, they never let him go home again. But he'd told Niner that he didn't want to. He couldn't leave his boys now, not since he knew. "Brief," he'd say, gesturing with a glass of colorless alcohol, "is never glorious."

    Niner was determined to work out what Kal Skirata had come to understand, and why it upset him so much.

And Darman:

"And what about you? What happens if I send you or Fi or any of you into a situation where you're going to die?"

    She was genuinely upset. He could see it in her face, and in the way she held one thin, scratched, bony hand clenched tightly into a fist. He stood up as well, walking after her as she headed for the edge of the coppice.

    "We were all made for this," Darman said. It was true, wasn't it? He wouldn't exist at all if it hadn't been that someone needed soldiers, utterly reliable soldiers. But it didn't feel that way right then. Her reaction told him he was wrong, and suddenly he saw Kal Skirata, in tears, a drink in his hand. You poor boys. What sort of life is this?

Interestingly, even Atin, who has never been trained by Skirata and knew the man mainly from stories of other commandos (and maybe own sergeant?) also recalled him to be drunk:

    "What do you prefer," Niner asked. "Dry rats, dry rats, or maybe dry rats?"

    "Let's go with the dry rats for a change." Yes, Atin was definitely feeling better, and not just physically. "Who used to say that, then?"

    "Uh?"

    "The dry rations thing."

    "Oh. Skirata. Our old instructor sergeant."

    Atin took a bite out of the white cube and washed it down with a gulp of water from his bottle. "He never trained us. Heard a lot about him."

    "Trained Fi and Darman, too. Our squads were all in the same battalion."

    "We had Walon Vau."

    "That explains where you get your cheery outlook."

    "Sergeant Vau taught us the importance of planning for the worst scenario," Atin said, all loyalty. "And maximizing your tech. Being hard is good, being hard with superior tech is better."

    "I'll bet."

    "I'd heard everyone loved Skirata, though. Even if he was a bad-tempered drunk."

    And because Kal’s drinking habit was literally repeated by every commando including Atin, I’m a bit concerned here. Presumably, all the mentioned scenes with Kal happened in his free time, but no commando (paragraph) outright said Skirata drinked only off-duty. And even if he did, it does not exactly mean that the next day he was already sober (he could feel like that, but blood alcohol content does not disappear just like that.  All depends on how much and what he drank and how much time passed between the last drink and the first training with clones was beginning). At the same time, it is truly sad to see how training clones  burdened Kal and how emotionally unwell he was. Yes, he was always sentimental and acting on emotions but it is clear he did not copy well with the situation (even less, after killing his trainee during live ammo exercise). Kamino definitely destroyed him in a way events from previous life did not.

[cienie-isengardu]

My RepCom Musing: Ny-Skirata-Vau and Ordo's one fear a.k.a. Mird

"Ordo was desperate to ask Ny a more personal question, but Besany had forbidden him to raise the topic of her opinion of Kal'buir. Trying to marry them off was premature, Besany warned, and there was a chance it would scare Ny away.

Ordo couldn't see why everyone was skirting around the issue. A'den had decided the two of them were a good match, the rest of the brothers agreed, and Kal'buir needed a wife. If he didn't get a move on, Vau might move in. Ordo had never known Vau to show the slightest interest in another living being, but he'd watched enough holovids to know that romance sprang from the most unlikely shared moments, and Mird was in danger of becoming one of those." [Imperial Commando: 501st]

➦ To this day, I’m not sure why, in opinion of Nulls, Kal needed a wife when he himself A) never(?) said much about wanting to be married a second time and B) clearly was still not over his divorce with Ilippi. Like yeah, he may not talk much about her to Nulls, but Skirata did not go out of his way to flirt with women in general (and I think he only once joked/said to Twi’lek waitress who was asking when is his son [Ordo] something like I'm not good enough for you? in Triple Zero). I understand that Ordo and his brothers may be bad in that area of expertise that is an interpersonal relationship between woman and man but they could learn to take a hint.

➦ Of course, this is most likely about what Skirata put into Nulls heads about the “happy end” for a man (Mandalorian/soldier), as in, having wife and kids (sons) to pass on Mandalorian tradition. Which is honestly quite problematic because this is what Skirata wanted for himself but should not mean every of his sons must to want that too. Generally, it irks me how Mandalorian culture is supposed to be gender neutral by nature yet narrative seems to push into “man and woman and kids” endgoal for almost everyone without really taking into account a possibility that some clones may not want any romantic and/or sexual relationship with women or anyone really, the same like not every available in book woman must be into clones / men or relationship at all.

➦ The second thing that irks me is Nulls idea about Kal’s marriage, not like their father deserve the happy end or should find a woman who would love him (and vice versa). He needs a wife for what, exactly? Is this sort of repeat of Triple Zero’s “[Fi] spent a while wondering what the man might really want, and apart from a wife to look after him, Fi had problems imagining what that might be.”? As in, wife to take care of a man? Not as his equal, a partner but caretaker? LOL. I’m really worried by what actually Skirata’s idea of wife and marriage was that gave his clone sons so twisted image?

➦ Also, to this day I’m not sure, should I read this “Kal needed a wife” as a Nulls wanting Skirata to have the “happy end” he tried so hard to make possible for them, because they care so much or yes, they care so much but also hope once he get a wife, he will finally focus more on himself than on their private lives? I’m biased here of course, but Ordo liked to say/think how they weren’t boys anymore but Kal has this bad habit of going into “buir mode” when “father always knows the best” even if in truth he hurts people trusting him. 

➦ Once again, the books make me feel Vau may be aromantic and/or asexual (or at least with minimal libido and/or wish to maintain interpersonal relationships). This is interesting for how much his and Skirata’s boys (of course, just these we could see through the books) seem to take after them in that regard? Ordo and Darman got (human) wives, Mereel is implied to be a ladies man - or at least presenting himself like that, Fi so badly wanted to have a girlfriend (and got a (human) wife too at the end of story) and the author’s notes about IC2 states Jusik would marry Arla Fett (again, a human woman). In contrast, Deltas did not show much of interest in women, men or Aliens and generally like keep just to themselves since they are one of few last squads who had the same members from the start while Atin married a Twi’lek woman and because of that stands out from other Skirata’s sons as the only one in relationship with Alien.

➦ Ordo getting his knowledge about romance and relationship from holovids is both funny and kinda sad? Like, if this is how he spent a time with Besany, watching together holovids? Heartwarming. But if he based his knowledge on dramatic fiction instead of, I don’t know, reality (and he was always so pragmatic and down to earth type of guy?) really worries me. Of course, he didn’t have that much life experience but he was in a relationship for 2-3 years already so he wasn’t so inexperienced either. And let’s not forget there was wisdom of Kal Skirata too, so holovids seems like a weird choice to base his opinion and worries on?

➦ Still, I will admit, Ordo worrying that Nulls secret plan is gonna be ruined by Mird is hilarious as hell. I mean, this is like second time when Mird is the villain of his life: first, the legit feeling as a child for what happened to him, but now, as an adult, he is worrying the strill will steal Ny’s heart and in result, Vau’s own, before Kal will have a fair chance? LOL talk about tough competition XD 

➦ For someone so oh special and tough and smart, Kal’s favorite and so on, Ordo really has some serious insecurities.

➦ Thankfully for Ordo and his brothers, Ny already failed and can be crossed out for list of people in which Vau could be romantically invested. She didn’t manage to bring Mird a promised bantha bone and this affront will not be overlooked:

The shuttle skimmed over familiar woods and fields and then followed the course of the Kelita River into Keldabe. Vau parked the shuttle near the animal market.

"Seeing as your girlfriend failed to secure a proper bone for Mird, I'm going to see the butcher," Vau said. "Never break a promise to a strill."

"She's not my girlfriend," Skirata said. "And Mird got the cookies."

➦I guess Nulls finally can breathe a sigh of relief XD

[cienie-isengardu]

Why do you think Jango Fett hired Dred Priest and Isabet Reau, even tho they were suspected death watch sympathizers? I cant imagine the Commandos they trained would be happy to be serving under jedi...

Before I will talk about Priest and Reau, I think is worth to point that no Mandalorian training commandos was overly fond of Jedi or Republic.  Not all commandos / ARC liked to work with Jedi, some were disappointed by their force-sensitive commanders, but I doubt Dred and Isabet personal hate/dislike, even if passed down to their trainees, would make soldiers disobey the orders coming from Jedi. Frankly, commandos get along & work the best with their own brothers, but that is just the way they were raised. Personal feelings will not get in the way, they are too professional for that.

As for the major ask, here we go:

The Imperial Commando: 501’st raised this topic in one of talk between Ordo and Mij Gilamar:

“What was Jango doing recruiting them? He had more reason to hate the Death Watch than anybody.”

“Priest and Reau weren’t exactly card-carrying members. Jango thought they were all talk. He only cared about results.”

But I think the matter was more complicated than that.

Jango Fett hired one hundred people - the best soldiers, tacticians, sappers, communicators, survival experts - to train future Republic Commandos, but managed to get only 75 Mandalorians. Due to Jango Fett: Open Season comics, we know that many friends / associates / allies of Jango were interrogated - and most likely killed afterwards, like Silas - by Dooku during his “research” about Fett’s past, so the limited number of people to choose from influenced the decision to some degree. 

We know little about Isabet, but Dred was considered as a good (albeit idiot) soldier, so he met the requirements.

Then again, even with limited choices, Fett still didn’t want to hire Kal Skirata and he did so only because Walon Vau insisted. But Vau hated Death Watch above everything else, and I don’t think he would agree to work for Fett and/or get along with Priest and Reau, if they were true Death Watch sympathizers back then. 

“How do you lie to a Jedi Master?” Laseema asked. “Without him sensing it, that is?”

“I didn’t,” said Vau. “I said I’d tell him if I found Kal doing anything to help the enemy. The minute that this little shabuire opens a comlink to any former Death Watch personnel, I shall gladly turn him in.”

Skirata paused for a moment, then managed to laugh. “Do I know any?”

“No, but they’re the only group I’d really call my enemy. So I didn’t lie, and I was genuinely emotional enough for him to believe what his Force senses told him he wanted to believe.” [Order 66]

In this short passage, Vau says that Kal Skirata does not know any former members of Death Watch, so during the conflict between DW and True Mandalorians, Reau and Priest weren’t part of enemy group. So, if Jango knew them (otherwise, how he could judge if their skills are good enough to train future commandos?), they most likely were his former allies / subordinates or some freelancers whom he met over the years, right? 

Between Order 66 and 501’st, the biggest hater of Dred and Isabet is Mij Gilamar and I think his hate is only partially fueled by their Death Watch-like ideology. He is the one to say “`They had the makings of the Death Watch in them, those two. Him and that perverted secret fight club, her and that let’s-conquer-the-galaxy-again osik”. Alongside him, Ordo and Skirata were the most vocal about those two Mandalorians. Interesting, Walon Vau - for whom Death Watch is trigger to extreme hatred - did not despite them openly, at least until he saw DW badge on their armors. Then, he was all okay with killing them.

Here is the thing: was Dred and Isabet truly Death Watch sympathizers back on Kamino, or did their ideological thinking was just additional reason why Mij hated them both? Because we know he “loathed them with passion” and being “marooned indefinitely on Kamino with folks you hated on sight and nowhere to escape them” for sure did not help the situation. 

Frankly, Mij and Dred is not the first duo that fought and hated each other guts. Walon Vau, when introduced, also was seen as the psycho, cruel, bad Mandalorian; an image fueled by Skirata’s, Ordo’s and Atin’s POV yet with passing time, perception of his character has changed. So, can we be sure that Dred and Isabet were so awful? Especially since Vau and Fett could tolerate their sentiments, even if that sounded a lot like Death Watch’s ideology?

This leads me to two conclusion.

The Priest and Reau’s ideology was not really unique only to Death Watch. They wanted A) Mandalore to be great empire again, B) Mandalorian people to serve their own interest rather than fighting for foreign governments and strangers. Most likely many other Mandalorians were bitter about their past and current situation. If we take Legends and New Canon into account, this kind of sentiment actually makes sense. Death Watch may take that into extreme, but even people like Skirata - or his just-adjusting to Mandalorian life daughter - from time to time were thinking that Mandalorians shouldn’t fight for aruetii (foreigners) and doing their dirty jobs.

“I’m not arguing,” Gilamar said. “Just making it clear that if I run into Dred and he starts on that bring-back-the-good-old-days garbage, I’ll gut him. And his crazy girlfriend.”

“No reason to run into him,” Ordo said. “Unless you’re in Keldabe.”

“Don’t you think it’s time we started fighting for our own interests?” Ruu took the mug out of her father’s hand and peered into it as if checking up on him. “I’m not saying this guy’s right, but being at every aruetii’s beck and call and doing the dying for them doesn’t sound smart to me. Look at this world. It’s dirt-poor. That’s not much to show for the lives we’ve spent on shoring up other governments.”

“Good point,” Vau said. “You’re definitely a Skirata.”

That was an odd thing for Vau to say, seeing as no Mando cared much about biological parentage. It was a culture of adoption and blurred lines between offspring and in-laws.

He just means she says the same things as Kal'buir. That’s all.

If Skirata can talk/think how Mandalorians shouldn’t kill each other for foreigners’ money, like in True Colors:

Mandalorians ended up killing one another for all kinds of reasons, personal and incidental. It still didn’t make it right. The covert ops troopers sent after Sull, now these strangers-the thought of nek dogs came back to him, dog set on dog for sport, or just a killing machine to do the master’s bidding. Skirata felt it was time Mando'ade stopped being everyone’s nek.

then maybe the idea of “coming back to roots” and creating one mighty army is not so controversial? I mean, Jaster Mereel saw Mandalorians as just well-paid mercenaries, yet by leading (at least three) military units of well trained warriors he had better bargaining position to pick up missions, clients and how much money should be paid than a lone mandalorian freelancer could have. I think that last decade or so before the Clone Wars was time in which “national movements” happened in various mandalorian groups.

We may only wonder how much Priest and Reau’s ideology changed over the years, when they all were stuck on Kamino training little kids to fight for Republic/Jedi Order that no Mandalorian was overly fond of.  

There is also the little passage in Bounty Hunter Code, in which Jango commented that the Death Watch manifesto does not sound like Tor Vizsla (that Fett considered just a thug), the original leader of the group. But is something that Priest or Reau could said.

Jango could not be aware of how deep they felt about the whole “great mandalorian empire”, but either, like 501’st said, he thought they were all talk or knew, but did not care.

What brings me to the second point. Jango changed a lot between Jaster Mereel’s death and agreeing to be DNA donor for Great Army of Republic. Especially after Galidraan. He agreed to work for Dooku, because the man promised to destroy Jedi Order. And as much as Jango hated Death Watch, ultimately he hated Jedi even more. So, he could be as well aware that Priest and Reau were at heart Death Watch sympathizers, but did not care. He needed the best soldiers to train an army to eliminate Jedi - the ultimately enemy of all Mandalorians - once and for good.

“Now do you see? Do you?“ Vau hissed the sibilant like escaping steam. Mird cowered on the floor, whining softly. “I’m sick to death of your sentimental twaddle about Jango betraying us by letting Kamino use his genes. He did it to stop the Jedi. He did it to create an army strong enough to bring them down. You drone on about the injustice of unelected elites, my little working-class hero-well, now they’re gone. Yes, it cost our boys’ lives, but the Jedi are gone, gone, gone. And they won’t be killing Mandalorians again, not for a long time. Maybe never.”

And here comes my, most likely, unpopular opinion: I don’t think Fett cared much for the ideology. He hated Vizsla and DW, because they killed his family and mentor. He lead True Mandalorians because he cared for Jaster Mereel and tried his best to carry on his legacy. But in the end, somehow, in some ironic way, Jango adapted Tor Vizsla’s ruthless determination to achieve his goal. If to destroy Jedi Order he needed to sacrifice milions of his own clones and deal with two Death Watch sympathizers, so be it.