#mereel: kal'buir says that---
Note
50 for Mereel/Fox? Love the way you characterize Mereel in that pairing.
hi anon! the prompt was putting a hand over the other’s mouth to shut them up. established relationship, 650w, T. set during the war and featuring cody :)
---
Fox stops in front of the open door and scowls.
The door was locked, but that means very little. His office isn’t empty. Mereel, wearing his shell and leaning against the desk; Cody, sitting on his chair, the jacket of his dress greys hanging from the back and his hat in Mereel’s hands.
They turn to look at him at the same time, and Cody’s eyes flash. He smiles, tiny and smug, and folds his arms. He has his boots on the edge of the table, and he looks comfortable and knowing and Fox’s very glad he’s well and alive but right now he’d give quite a lot for him to be well and alive and on the other side of the galaxy.
Mereel looks like he always does: he winks at Fox, long fingers playing with the hat, and Fox didn’t know he was back on Triple Zero, and he thought he didn’t like Cody too much—something about Jedi and bootlickers and Sergeant Skirata; Fox stopped paying attention halfway through—but his presence isn’t as much of a shock as it should be.
He slips from the edge of the table, kama swishing around his hips, and Fox steps further into his tiny office and locks the door behind him again: whatever happens here, he doesn’t want any of his men to see it. The last thing Mereel needs is a kriffing public.
Cody’s grin grows, and he sits up on Fox’s chair, dropping his feet to the duracrete noiselessly.
“We’re meeting tonight,” Fox tells him. Cody, Fox, Cody’s captain, Ponds. Some other people whose names Fox can’t remember. What are you doing here?
Cody shrugs: wouldn’t you like to know. “We are,” he agrees easily. He stands up and starts rounding the desk; Mereel throws his hat at him, and Cody grabs it from the air without looking, eyes still on Fox. he stops in front of him and knocks Fox’s pauldron with his knuckles; Fox rolls his eyes and takes off his bucket.
Cody’s smile softens a bit, and when he reaches out for Fox, Fox goes. He rests his forehead against Cody’s for a beat, breathing in Cody’s familiar smell, soaking in his warmth.
“Well, that’s adorable,” Mereel comments. Cody blinks his eyes open and steps away. He glances at Mereel, eyes suddenly flat, and Mereel smirks. Blood in the water, and Mereel about to say something he shouldn’t and won’t regret.
Fox places his hand on his mouth; Mereel stiffens, scowling, and Fox pushes him away, one hand on his face and the other on his plackart. He turns to look at Cody, tilting his head at him, and Cody exhales. He places his hat back on his head and leaves without looking back.
Mereel huffs. Fox cuts his eyes at him and folds his arms.
“Rude,” he says, and Fox—Fox just laughs at him, hoarse and painful.
He crowds Mereel against the door; Mereel scowls down at him, pouting like he does every time something doesn’t go his way, and when Fox licks into his mouth, he sinks his teeth into Fox’s lower lip and pulls, just once and too hard.
Fox leans away.
“Play nice or fuck off,” he reminds Mereel, and Mereel—for a beat, Fox’s sure he’s going to leave, that Fox’s finally pushed him too hard, but then Mereel sighs and lowers his eyes and it’s mostly theatre but he also stays where he is, between Fox and the door, his fingers hooked around Fox’s belt.
Fox sighs, suddenly very tired. He leans forward, and when Mereel doesn’t move away he hides his face in the crook of Mereel’s neck, right under his jaw, breathing in clean sweat and aftershave and the chemical smell of Mereel’s blacks.
One bare hand wraps itself around the back of Fox’s neck, gripping tightly, before scratching at his hair.
“I always play nice,” Mereel lies grumpily. Fox snorts.
#foxreel#foxmereel#mereelfox#cloneshipping#repcomm#touch prompts#commander fox#mereel skirata#maría writes#mereel: kal'buir says that---#fox: [starts thinking about the funny looking tooka he saw the previous night]
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Voices Carry
Mereel seeks advice.
Eventual Mereel Skirata x fem!reader pairing.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1200
Warnings: Attempted espionage, discussions of assassination, implied threats.
Previous | Next | Masterlist
---
Part Five
His brothers were the smartest people Mereel knew, but he had still been reluctant to ask their advice.
For six men who were - according to the galaxy at large - identical, the Null troopers displayed a full swath of personalities with varying levels of pragmatism. Mereel had known they were going to have different opinions on how they should proceed, but he hadn’t expected quite as much blame as he was currently getting.
“I thought you said you could get the information without a problem,” Kom’rk pointed out. “This sounds a lot like a problem, vod.”
“The problem isn’t the slicing,” Mereel explained again, striving for a patient tone. He failed. “The problem is Julgum’s secretary.”
A’den snorted. “The kaminii wasted their talents on you. One human female and you’re out of ideas.”
“Not out of ideas,” Mereel rejected immediately. “Just trying to figure out how to deal with such an ori'buyce, kih'kovid civvie without attracting the wrong kind of attention. I’ve never seen anyone take such a pointless job so seriously.”
“As much as I hate to point out the obvious-” Jaing starting, pausing to let the muffled laughs from the other Nulls fade. Everyone knew Jaing loved the little details, especially when he was picking up on things the others had missed. “Like I was saying, you’ve already spoken to her. That means you have access to the office. Doesn’t that mean you can slice in to pull the data at any point?”
Mereel scowled. "No. The paranoid chakaar has his system rigged to defend against that. Doubt if it's on purpose, but his office is on a different circuit than the comms in his reception area."
"So the only way to access his files is to convince the secretary to patch you through," Prudii summarized, frowning. "And even if she was amenable toward letting people talk to Julgum, she has to be getting suspicious by now."
"Exactly." There didn't seem to be much more he could add to that, but Mereel desperately wanted to. The failure of his efforts stung, and he was struggling to keep back the panic that always rose up with a failure to complete his mission. Kal'buir had worked to remove that sting, to reassure the Nulls that they still had worth even if a task were beyond them. Sometimes, those first few brutal years of life rose up anyway, refusing to grant Mereel a moment of peace.
"I think you're overlooking the simplest solution, ner vod," Ordo told him, tapping the table decisively.
In a moment, Mereel's melancholy had melted away, replaced by the fire of his friendly rivalry with Ordo.
"Yeah?" he challenged. "I've been working on a solution for the better part of a week. But sure, tell me the brilliant plan you've already cooked up."
"I think it's time that Julgum's secretary had a little accident," Ordo told him, gaze steady. "Easy enough to arrange, especially if we pick someone to set up as a scapegoat. Not Julgum, obviously. We want him available for our questioning after it's done-"
"No."
Mereel's flat refusal made Ordo stop short, the other Nulls staring at them both. For all that his failure bothered Mereel, it bothered him almost as much to think about you being hurt or killed because of your incidental position working for the di'kutla senator. Especially since you didn't seem overly enthused by your boss.
And Ordo had seemed to consider it a foregone conclusion. He had planned your disposal, started thinking about who to blame, and moved on to the eventuality of questioning Julgum for his information.
Mereel couldn't do it. Not to you, even if you were nothing more than a random stranger from a chance encounter.
He also couldn't begin to articulate the tangle of his motivations to his curious brothers. Instead, he invented a few believable explanations as he spoke.
"We don't want to draw any more attention than necessary to Julgum and his office, especially after the attack on Coruscant," Mereel told them. “It’ll get blamed on the Separatists and I don’t want to deal with the scrutiny. It might even get people wondering if Julgum has important information, then we’ll have competition for it.”
“Worried about the Guard, Mer’ika?” Skirata asked from the doorway, a fond smile softening his craggy face. He hadn’t spoken much, but Mereel could tell he was listening intently. “Or CSF?”
“I’m not worried - I’m concerned,” Mereel corrected. “We’re good, but I won’t set us up to question Julgum while he’s under Senate protection. Too much attention, and I don’t want to take that risk. Not with this.”
That, at least, seemed to quell any suspicions his brothers may have held. The mission to find Ko Sai was at a standstill, so gathering information about the cloning process had taken priority.
“Do we even think Julgum has anything?” Prudii asked.
It was probably the dozenth time Mereel had been asked the same question, but there was no impatience in him. Not when Prudii’s voice had held the subtlest-possible request for assurance. The Nulls had always protected each other, even before Kal’buir came into their lives.
“I don’t know,” he told his brother. “All I can say is that I think it’s worth checking out. I’ve found more important intel in less likely places.”
Prudii nodded slowly, echoes of the movement trailing around the crowd of Null troopers. His honesty had seemed to put everyone at ease, but there was still a feeling of tension lingering in the room. Mereel decided to break it.
Mereel tucked his hands into his belt and gave his most exaggerated grin. “I remember one time-”
Ordo interrupted him with a loud groan a moment later. “I cannot listen to the Venestria story again. You’ve told it at least fifty times.”
With a rude noise, Mereel told him, “You’re just bitter because your girlfriend sees more action than you do, lately.”
If Mereel hadn’t already been grinning, he would have done so at his brother’s reaction. Ordo’s face grew flushed, his gaze flicking from Mereel’s face to the table in front of him. It was back in place a millisecond later, but that may as well have been a lifetime. Mereel noticed everything. From everyone. All the time.
Ordo cleared his throat. “Agent Wennan is very proficient at performing the duties of her job.”
Mereel repeated his rude noise, this time joined by several of the other Nulls. The best was Kal’buir’s quiet sigh. His voice was filled with disappointment as he said, “You know her name, son.”
If Mereel had thought Ordo was flustered before, it was nothing compared to his reaction to outright censure from Sergeant Kal.
Ordo’s apologies were waved away by Skirata, whose expression had gone from discontented to considering. Kal’s light eyes cut toward Mereel, lips pursed in thought. Mereel met that gaze steadily, waiting for the sergeant to speak.
At last, Kal’buir said, “If you can win her over, son, we could do worse than to have a contact inside the Senate.”
As far as Mereel was concerned, that was as good as an order.
---
Author's Note - In case anyone is wondering, this is loosely set between Republic Commando: Triple Zero and Republic Commando: True Colors. Thanks for reading!
You can find other works on my masterlist or sign up for my taglist here.
Taglist: @jennamelinda12 @thrawnspetgoose @bobaprint @icouldsaythesameforyou @mooncommlink @amaliia @dreamie411
#star wars#star wars republic commando#null arcs#mereel skirata#null-7 mereel skirata#mereel x reader#mereel x fem!reader#mereel x you#reader#reader insert#star wars fanfiction#ink's fics#more to come#voices carry#voices carry fic
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Cyare Verd *Beloved Warrior*
Chapter Three
When I entered the mess hall I could not believe the number of troopers in there. I scanned the room while heading toward the mess line not really paying attention to where I was going. I bumped into someone "Ni ceta (sorry)" I say looking up to meet Captain Rex's eyes. "Oh I'm sorry Captain, I didn't see you there" I say. Osik... he makes me so nervous...Maker WHY?!
He laughed and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck (must be I make him nervous too) "No it's my bad, I wasn't looking where I was going". He then gestured for me to enter the line in front of him.
I smiled at him "Vor entye (thank you) Captain".
"Ba'gedet'ye (you're welcome)" he replied. "By the way you can just call me Rex".
"Okay 'just Rex', I am impressed by your Mando'a" I reply which causes Rex to blush and chuckle.
"One of my teachers on Kamino was Mandalorian. They taught me and the rest of my batch some of the heritage which included Mando'a" he says proudly.
I can feel the heat creeping up my face and I smile. "I wondered, I noticed the Jaig eyes on your helmet" I say pointing to his buy'ce (helmet) under his arm.
He looks down at it and was now beaming with pride "Painted them myself. I know you usually earn them by acts of courage or bravery but one of my teachers thought it was fitting."
"They say Mandalorian's are good at reading people. By what I have heard about you, you live up to the expectation." I said to him smiling.
"Vor entye (thank you)." He smiled back at me.
I give him a respectful nod as we finish getting our food.
I hear loud chatter and loud foot steps to go with it approaching me and Rex.
"I still think we should have gone to 79's!!" Fives says to us as he grabs Hardcase and puts him into a headlock.
"I don't know why you are taking this out on me! Jesse is the one who shot that idea down!" He yells, while struggling under the ARC Troopers grip.
Fives laughs "Because you are the one closest to me!" He yells.
I laugh at the boys and Echo swats at Fives. Fives lets go of Hardcase, "You take the fun out of everything" he says. "And you always act like a di'kutla (fool)" replied Echo.
Rex rolls his eyes and sighs before walking toward the table - where I now see the rest of the guys sitting - and I follow.
"Those two remind me of my two vode (brothers) Ordo and Mereel." I laugh.
Rex looks back at me in surprise "The Null ARC's Ordo and Mereel???" He asks.
"Yeah those would be the ones" I reply. Rex seemed shocked and confused so I explained further. "My Kal'Buir took them in as young boys because the Kaminoans said they were 'too unruly and would not follow orders'. They were wrong though, they are some of the most loyal men I know but dangerous yes."
"Wait what?" Kix said as Rex and I sat down at the table. "The Nulls are your brothers?!"
I laughed "Well not literally but yes, I was raised with them pretty much. Kal'Buir taught us how to fight to protect ourselves and each other".
"I'm just glad you are on our side. How does that saying go... Ke nuk -" Jesse begins to say before I cut him off.
"Ke nu'jurkadir sha Mando'ade. I give you credit for trying." I smile at Jesse who repeats the phrase.
"What does that mean?" Asks Hardcase as he, Fives, and Echo join the group.
"Don't mess with Mandalorians" says Rex between bites.
"Not all of us had the privilege of being trained and taught out heritage from Mandalorians. They have picked up on it since they joined the 501st." He continues lowering his voice so only I can hear. I hum in understanding.
We all finish up our meals chatting and laughing about various embarrassing stories Hardcase and Jesse tell about Fives. Most of them are him flirting with girls at 79's who are - in the words of Jesse 'way out of his league' - that usually end in him being rejected.
Fives is cute I'll give him that but he's definitely a little errogant and has an ego. He closely resembles Jango in those ways.
Fives finally speaks up "why do all these stories have to be about me? Why can't we tell embarrassing stories about Echo or Hardcase?" He whines.
This causes Echo to laugh quite loudly "Because you di'kute (idiot), you do stupid stuff all the time".
I giggled, Rex rolls his eyes, and the rest of the table nodded in agreement.
"You guys sure are an interesting bunch" I say laughing as I grab my tray to take care of it.
The rest of the table gets up and follows suit.
I catch Rex talking to another trooper whose armor is white and yellow.
"Whose that?" I ask Tup who is the closest to me.
Tup looks over to where I was looking "That's Commander Cody. He's the Commander of the 212th under General Kenobi. He and the Cap are pretty close."
"Ahhh" I say as I nod in understanding. "So, what's the rest of the night look like for you guys?" I continued.
Kix comes over and chimes in "I've got to go to a shift in the med bay. I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow." He says before we all say goodbyes, and he walks off.
"Basically it's the only downtime we get during the week so sometimes we stroll around Coruscant, or play cards in either the court yard or our sleeping quarters." says Dogma who really has been pretty quiet this whole time.
"Do you mind if I join?" I asked.
Echo and Fives lit up "Or course not!" They both said at the same time.
"Just don't forget about curfew....I'm not getting chewed out by the Cap because you di'kutla (idiots) were out too late." Says Tup.
Fives gives him a shit eating grin while he salutes "Sir, yes, sir" He says causing Tup to roll his eyes.
"Don't worry Tup, you guys are training with me first thing and I can promise you I'll kick his sheb (ass) myself if he's late" I say.
The boys laugh and head their separate ways. I follow Echo, Fives, Hardcase, and Jesse out of the mess hall. "So cards it is then?" Asks Jesse.
"I'll go get them we can sit in the courtyard!" says Hardcase before running off probably to their quarters.
"This way my lady" Fives bows and points in the opposite direction Hardcase went bounding off to.
"Why thank you kind sir" I joking bow to him. Which gets a snicker out of Echo and Jesse.
Masterlist
#clone captain rex#may the 4th be with you#may the force be with you#rex star wars#star wars clone wars#star wars the clone wars#the clones#rex x you#rex x reader#captain rex x you#dogma#arc trooper echo#arc trooper fives#clone medic kix#tup#hardcase#jesse
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My RepCom Musing: Kal and Vau about Etain [TC]
"They'll end up killing them all anyway," Ordo said. He would never disobey his father, and he loved him too much to allow him to be even slightly disappointed, but he had to at least ask. "Kal'buir, are you certain you want me in Qiilura? I can be more use to you finding Ko Sai."
Father. Yes, he'd always felt like Skirata's son, but now... he actually was.
"Etain's used to you, Ord'ika." Skirata had promised he would never lie to his men, but he'd admitted not telling Ordo everything. Perhaps he wasn't leveling with him now. "She might get gedin 'la if Mereel or Vau show up. You know how cranky women are when they're pregnant."
"No, I don't."
"Well, they are. Hormones. And Etain's cranky enough to start with."
Vau looked up and put his comlink back in his belt pouch. "I got on very well with the young woman when we last worked together, actually."
Skirata gave Vau the long stare, the one that said he didn't think the comment added anything useful to the sum of the galaxy's knowledge. Vau shrugged and got up to wander around calling for Mird, who'd gone exploring, leaving only his pungent aroma to keep the sofa warm.
[True Colors]
I understand Kal’s idea of sending Ordo - someone Etain already knows - to not stress her more than it is necessary, especially since the pregnancy was already in danger. But really, calling pregnant women cranky?
And then being like, all because of hormones, but Etain was cranky even to start with? Jeez, and what did she do to earn such scorn, beside getting pregnant? Most of the Triple Zero she was on pretty good terms with Skirata and then came news about the baby and now she is cranky (bad-tempered; irritable; weird) to deal with?
Which is why I love Vau’s comment so much. Kal is talk-trashing Etain (pregnant women are cranky, the Jedi was cranky even before she got pregnant) and Vau, even if he personally hates Jedi and Etain by no means is part of his family, is not girlfriend of one of his boys, comes to defend her. Etain was cranky? Not what I remember of the young woman; the last time she was perfectly fine to work with.
And also, is it only me, or did Vau sound like he was okay to go babysit Etain, as he doesn’t think his presence would freak her out?
It is really heartwarming and hilarious that Walon I-care-only-about-Mird Vau took time and effort to contradict Kal’s low opinion about Etain. Of course Skirata did not appreciate this comment and Vau did not bother to fight with the other man about that issue. But I do not agree with Kal on this one. Vau’s comment adds a lot to this conservation. It highlights what an ass Kal can be toward Etain (and women in general).
Also, this Ordo’s inner thought always makes me sad. The “He would never disobey his father, and he loved him too much to allow him to be even slightly disappointed” is such an unhealthy approach to the relationship. I know that no son (child) who loves his father would want to disappoint. But this sounds like putting father’s comfort above your own mental health and living this constant perfect image of yourself is gonna bring down a person sooner than later because people make mistakes all the time.
(Not really saying the second issue is solely fault of Kal as we know that living on Kamino messed up clones’ psyche way before any Mandalorian instructor showed there up but maybe praising them all the time as the genius, perfect kids went too far and strengthen the Ordo’s unfortunate belief that he must always be perfect? Which is doubly sad, because Nulls needed to hear they are perfect the way they are, to build up their own self-confidence after being labeled defective and not worth to live. This is so messed up.)
#star wars#etain tur mukan#kal skirata#walon vau#ordo#republic commando#My RepCom musing#kal skirata critical#jeez the man and his opinion about women#his wife was three times pregnant#i know plenty women who were pregnant i would not call them cranky#there are always worse days sure or more emotional ones but women don't change into some monsters or weird creatures once they carry a baby#vau is such a nice addition to this kal's messed up view on etain and women in general#also ordo is messed up but what is new here?
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Prompt number: 5. “I might just kiss you.”
Fandom: Republic Commando
Rating: These hands are E for Everyone
Warnings/Tags: Depression, panic attacks, wrestling with deep-seated internalized homophobia
Summary: Fi just wanted to watch the sunset in peace, but the problem with being alone is that it gives room for his mind to wander.
##. don’t know what I’m looking for
There were few places, in the dense grasp of forest and the tight snap of early winter, that Fi could find a good place to watch the lingering vestiges of light claw at the sky in its last breath of day. Still, he’d made it a habit to walk the boundaries of Kyrimorut and tread out into the woods, and find a place where he could watch the sky change colors, and watch the red streaks of late afternoon light linger long after the retiring of the sun.
But the night always came. It's inevitable.
Some part of him, deep and buried and very, very, tired, knew that that kind of thinking couldn't help him---wouldn't help him---move forward in coming to terms with his... his...
With himself.
There was a word he searched for---the searching less, lately, but still ever present and made worse in the grips of panic every time he realized he searched a little longer than he used to, than he remembered doing before.
The cold of the snow under his bare palms, and the rough bark scraped against the underside of his fingers, helped to ground him in a way that the other exercises, other coping mechanism taught to him, didn't.
Freedom. That's what he had. A freedom to look into the sky and see the streaks of the dying sunlight and linger as long as he wanted outside in the open air and brisk night and not have to answer for his ignoring curfew.
He didn't have a curfew---as far as he could be found, and that everyone knew where he was, and where he was going.
Even that sounded like something less than freedom---the bitter, angry, disappointed and grieving part of him wanted to call those limitations suffocating. The better part of him, the part he wanted to actually be but still couldn't quite reach, knew the difference. They wanted, needed, to know where he'd be and how to find him because they needed to be able to make sure he was okay.
Before, his location was branded into him so they could monitor where he went and why, and for how long, while under the exacting eyes of the Republic. He had to answer to, and for, something that owned him.
Now, "undead" as Mereel liked to call it, Fi was free. Actually free.
But the weight of something unnamed and unknown still choked around his neck and threatened, constantly, to pull him back under the tide of his grief and sweep him away.
He lifted his hand off the half-frozen bark of the tree he stood beside, and stared at the indents left behind in his palm.
Only a couple hours before, he'd held Parja's warm hands between his own. He'd done the things he'd seen Ordo do with Besany---affectionate touches, closeness imitated in old holos like hugging, or cuddling. Things that, honestly, weren't so different from what Omega fell to after hard missions---except there was an implied weight to it now, that wasn't there with his vode before.
And in the cold of the end of day, with the dying light slowly extinguished by the encroaching night, he admitted to himself that he expected things to feel different. He expected...
He didn't know what to expect, actually. He expected something. Anything. Some kind of illumination in his head, or his heart, or something else that would make sense and he'd go "aha" and understand he was in love. He'd spent so much time daydreaming about what Darman had with Etain, or Ordo with Besany, and how he'd cherish this thing that eluded him and that those two found with the kind of shabla good luck Fi could never even imagine happening to him---
He slammed a balled fist against the tree.
It shook, and snow tumbled off the cold branches above him, and a lump of cold-and-wet snow plopped unceremoniously down on his head. Pieces dripped and escaped the clumps to fall under the edges of his poncho, and chilled down his back.
What was wrong with him?
He flailed, and slapped the snow off his head and the back of his neck.
Couldn't he appreciate how lucky he was?
Shivers tensed painfully up his spine.
Gods.
He couldn't breathe.
Why couldn't he see what was right in front of him?
The itching collar of his sweater felt like a noose around his neck, cutting off air. He clawed at his throat, at his poncho.
How could he be so selfish? So stupid?
He ripped off the offending clothes, still struggling to breathe.
Why couldn't he just---
A hand found his shoulder.
"Fi," a soft, familiar voice cut through the haze of fury that clouded his vision. He blinked rapidly, and felt that same panic rise in his chest. Where? Where was---? "That's enough."
Though he tried for anger, for frustration---reached for it where it had burned so shabla brightly in his chest just a few minutes before, he only found exhaustion. It made shrugging off the gloved hand of Jusik especially difficult, but he still managed it.
"Go away, Bard'ika."
Fi pretended he wasn't cold, that he wasn't just mindlessly ripping off his clothes in the middle of nowhere right off the boundary of Kyrimorut completely surrounded by snow-laden trees and snow-covered ground, his back dotted in now-frozen streaks of once-snow and his hair a mess with snow sticking to the shabla strands.
Wow. He's in trouble.
"Sure, I can do that," Jusik replied, just as even-toned and right under the edge of pleasant that really fires Fi's nerves and he can't exactly identify why except he wanted to punch him for sounding so understanding in the face of yet another of his pointless breakdowns. "As soon as you talk to me."
"Maybe I don't wanna talk?" Fi snapped, and cringed, and fought down the lump gathered in his throat. "Maybe I just wanna be alone."
"Okay," Jusik said, and Fi easily heard the crunch of snow as the other man approached. It was something to focus on, beyond his frustration giving way to violent shivers. "Okay."
Fi had been through worse. Survived worse. The cold barely fazed him, in his heyday.
He was a long, long way from those days.
"But..." Jusik trailed off.
Fi finally looked at him. Saw him, dark skin and sun-bleached hair a bright, warm contrast to the cold and monotonous shadows and white of the landscape. He held up the clothes Fi was sure he'd thrown to the ground---and searching the snow, found no trace of disturbance where they should have landed.
How long was he out there, watching over him?
"But what?"
Oh, Fi sounded defeated. That wasn't good.
Something shifted behind Bardan's eyes, and his expression tensed around the eyes, the mouth, as he fixed on Fi's face.
Moments like this, Fi wished he was more like Mereel. Or Kal'buir. They knew how to read expressions better than he'd ever even tried to do. Better than anyone else he knew. They could look at someone, and just ... know what they were thinking. Or hiding, if they were hiding something, from just a look. From just a sentence.
But he wasn't like them. He was barely even like himself.
Oh. Oh no.
Fi pressed his fists to his eyes. Hot tears spilled from the corners of his eyes, and he struggled to push them aside, or away, or stop them entirely.
"Don't---" Fi snapped at another crunch of snow, but---
But Jusik ignored him this time.
"But it's cold, Fi," Jusik insisted, too close for comfort, but Fi couldn't bear to back away. He couldn't bear to move. "Let me help you. Please."
"I don't---" Fi grit out between his teeth, and pushed through the sting of his breakdown to look at Bardan. "I can't breathe with that shabla thing." His knuckles grazed the edge of the sweater Jusik held, and he shuddered. "Don't make me wear it."
"Then at least put this back on---" Jusik tossed the sweater over his own shoulder, and moved to put the poncho back over Fi's head.
Fi didn't resist, though he closed his eyes as the soft knitted fabric fell over his shoulders and draped down past his hips. Instantly, he felt some warmth return, some stability, some...
Something.
He felt something he couldn't name as Jusik's hands rested on either side of him, holding him by his arms in place. Steady. And sure.
And different.
And all that grief bundled up inside him. All that anger, and that rage, and that frustration, and confusion, and, and, and---all of it came tumbling out of him with a shaky exhale on the edge of another sob.
"Whatever you're dealing with," Bardan said, "Just know you don't have to do it alone."
Fi couldn't respond, couldn't think. All he could focus on was the weight at either side of his arms, of the rubbing motion Jusik took in a way that should have been comforting, but pulled at that anxiety, and that fear, and that panic buried deep down just as much and as easily as it steadied, and calmed, him.
For so long, Fi always...
Kal'buir was always so focused on "his boys" finding "good girls" to take care of them. Fi had taken that to heart so thoroughly he didn't... he hadn't...
It never occurred to him to look elsewhere.
And he buried that traitorous thought back down, deep, as he thought of Parja and found his grief and his confusion double suddenly, painfully, sharp in his chest.
"I know," Fi's voice cracked.
He searched for a way to say, to express, to speak his mind and define the ways in which he didn't, couldn't, allow himself to be any more of a burden than he had been so far. He tried to find a way to say how he couldn't forgive himself for not getting better, faster. For getting back to his old self, now. Sure, he understood that these things took time. That he had to work at it. That he might never be the person he once was.
But he remembered what it felt like, and that was a torture no one prepared him for. He remembered what it felt like to look and find the words as easily as he could find the sky, the cold, the snow, and Bardan on this day. He could feel his limbs want to respond with the precision, and the accuracy, and the finesse he worked his whole life to perfect, right up to the day his life was nearly taken from him. He remembered what it was like to be himself, and now that he was trapped in this body that didn't work, didn't respond, with a broken brain that cut him down at the knees and took from him who he thought he actually was---
Who was he, really, without everything that he'd used to define himself, before? Who was he?
Who was he?
"Just breathe, Fi."
Bardan's voice pulled him back into the present, into the weight on his arms and the little warmth draped over him that still, somehow, managed to chase out the chill of the night.
"It'll pass. Just breathe."
Fi didn't know how Bardan knew, but he assumed... he just assumed... Well, it didn't matter what he thought.
Bardan knew, somehow---felt, somehow---the very struggle that wrought Fi's insides and brought them into knots so tight they crippled him, and that?
That, above all else, made him feel less alone.
Made that fear, and that panic, and that dread that'd settled so deeply at the base of his skull every time he closed his eyes, every time he slept and dreamt of the person he once was and woke to the shadow of who he is, he knew, somehow, that Bardan was right there---nearby, even if not nearby---as steadfast and grounded as the tree Fi accosted a while ago.
"I'm sorry," Fi broke. Cracked. Felt the grief rise back and overwhelm him. He reached out, finding that warmth that Jusik always seemed to radiate, and grasped him at the shoulders, just shy of the juncture of where his collar met his neck. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay." Bardan's voice, still so solid, and warm, and understanding, and no longer scraping at Fi's patience so much as soothing his hurt. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Not here, and not with me."
I could kiss you, Fi thought, delirious and exhausted, and buried that thought as quickly as the shifting winds picked up the snow once more.
He knocked foreheads with Bardan, instead, with eyes closed and hot, angry, tears gathered behind them, and focused on breathing.
"It's okay," Bardan whispered between them. "It'll be okay."
Fi didn't believe that. He didn't believe it for a second, not when he could still feel the man he once was in his broken body.
But the way Bardan said it...
The way he said it made him want to think it might be.
And that was enough for him.
#writing: mine#writing: fictober19#writing: repcomm#Republic Commando#Fi Skirata#Bardan Jusik#r: Bardan/Fi#I still have to come up with a ship tag but uh ............. for now there it is?#r: tbd#I really meant for this to be short and sweet and then it turned into this#2k bittersweet and wounded ... thing#the ship is very much a blink and miss deal if that's not your cup of tea#also a post-GAR fic so Fi is free; if that's also something that you look for#c: Bardan Jusik#c: Fi Skirata
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Cyare Verd *Beloved Warrior*
Chapter Two
We finally reached the door, the Captain pressed the keypad, and nodded for me to head inside. He followed closely behind me.
This must have been one of their training rooms as there were desks and chairs all over the place. Among these chairs and tables were 7 men in similar blue and white plastoid armor to Captain Rex.
Their buy'ce (helmets) were scattered around the room. I noted subtle differences in each of the men, who had not seemed to notice we entered the room due to being in deep conversation.
Captain Rex cleared his throat, causing one of the two ARC troopers to turn and face us. Realization waved across his face as he snapped to attention, causing the other ARC trooper to do the same, with the rest following suit.
"At ease boys" I laughed. "Lucky for you I have no rank here". The room seemed to immediately relax.
The first ARC trooper (one with the typical buzz cut, however he also had facial hair) came over grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it.
"I'm ARC Trooper Fives, at your service" the rest of his comrads snickered. The second ARC trooper, one who appeared to be much more mellow than Fives, playfully shoved his vod (brother) out of the way.
"Sorry about that. I'm ARC Trooper Echo. Fives and I are twins from the same batch." He said, shaking my hand while glaring daggers at his brother.
"It's alright" I laughed.
I could sense Captain Rex become tense behind me. I turned to look back at him, noticing he had taken his buy'ce (helmet) off as well. He looked like his vod (brothers) but with one feature that without a doubt had my attention. Rex was blonde. I have never seen a blonde clone as an adult. Nor was I ever attracted to a clone but I found myself staring for a moment. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck likely picking up on the fact I was taken back by his hair color. I felt so embarrassed suddenly which was not common. Osik.....stop staring you di'kut (idiot).
Rex spoke "That's Jesse, Kix our medic, Tup, Dogma, and Hardcase." and at that, each of them waved as their name was called.
"It's really an honor to meet you all. I've heard some of the stories of your missions. I look forward to getting to know you all better." I smiled at them.
They were a proud bunch and vode (brothers), to say the least.
"You should join us in the mess hall for lunch," Echo said, pulling me from my thoughts.
"How about dinner? I need to go unpack and make a call." I replied.
"Orrrrrrrrr-" Fives began before being cut off.
"No Fives we aren't taking her to 79's her first night here...not only that it's during the week you di'kut (idiot) and I'm not carrying your drunk sheb (ass) home." Scolded Jesse.
I giggled "79's must be a bar?"
"Only the best bar in all of Coruscant!" Harcase beamed.
"I'll make you boys a deal, dinner tonight and at the end of the week we hit 79's" I smiled at them. "Just make sure you boys can keep up" I finished winking.
Five's jaw might actually hit the floor tehehe. I think we will get along just fine, me and the boys.
——————
Back in my quarters, I pulled up my com link on my watch and commend Ordo, hoping he was with Mereel.
Come on please pick up....
"Rav'ika (little Raven, Like little sister)!!!" I heard from the other end of the link.
I sighed with relief "For a moment I was beginning to think you weren't going to pick up."
"Mereel....MEREEL" I hear Ordo yelling on the other end. "That di"kut (idiot). Sorry he's out tinkering with Maker knows what at this point."
I laughed "Typical Mereel. I just landed in Coruscant and have met my squad."
"Oh, good. Kal'buir (papa Kal) has been bugging me since you left to find out when you would arrive." He responded.
There was a loud noise and another voice that came over the link. "What do you want Ord'ika (little Ordo, like little brother)?" Followed by a pause..."Rav'ika?! Is that you?" Mereel says.
"Su cuy'gar (Hello) Mer'ika" I say smiling.
"I am assuming that means you landed safely?" Mereel asked.
Ordo chimed in "If you had come when I called you would have heard her say she did and she met her squad."
There was a moment of silence which I could assume was my vode (brothers) giving one another a death stare.
I rolled my eyes...I love may vode (brothers) but sometimes they drive me crazy.
I broke the silence, "I should probably get going, I just wanted to let you know I was here. I've still got to unpack and go catch up with the rest of the boys for dinner."
"No worries Rav'ika we will let Kal'Buir know you are safe." Replied Ordo.
I sighed "Keep him safe too will you? I understand why, what he is doing is important but gar shuk meh kyrayc (he is no use dead)."
Mereel scoffed "You're telling me...Ret'urcye mhi vod'ika (Goodbye little sister)"
"Ret'urcye mhi Rav'ika" said Ordo.
I replied "Ret'urcye mhi vode (goodbye brothers)".
With that I turned off the link and began to unpack my things. I began with my cloths, putting them into the dressed and closet before pulling my case out from under the bed to inventory it.
Inside lay my beskar armor...black plates that are worn in some areas where I had been hit likely sparing with my vode (brothers) or during some of my fights, showing the natural sheen of silver underneath the paint. I had hand painted my armor quite sometime ago and initially my vode (brothers) made fun of me for choosing black (considering the GAR had chosen white). I ended up accenting it with blue and purple not to please my vode (brothers) but more for myself. My name is Raven after all...might as well make it look like a raven...
I carefully removed the armor looking it all over carefully before placing it back inside the case. Ending with my buy'ce (helmet), I picked it up and stared into he visor for a moment....
Kal'Buir is be proud of me for how far I've come. Making a name for myself to the point where the Jedi counsel has asked me to work alongside the 501st. However, I can't help but feel I should be helping them find a cure for the accelerated again those aruetiise (outsiders) created in my vode (brothers) and the other clones. All clones deserve a life as long as the rest of us. Ironic coming from a Mandalorian whose focus is on the battle today not tomorrow. Yet we still value life, even cloned life...
I place my helmet back into the case, closing and locking it. I then grab a change of cloths (black bantha leather jacket Kal'Buir gave to me a long time ago, black pants, a blue v-neck shirt, and my boots), before heading out to the mess hall.
Masterlist
#clone captain rex#may the 4th be with you#may the force be with you#rex star wars#star wars clone wars#star wars the clone wars#the clones#rex x you#rex x reader#captain rex x you#dogma#arc trooper echo#arc trooper fives#jesse#clone medic kix#tup#hardcase
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Etain sipped. The shig was citrus-flavored and kinder to her stomach than caf. "It's just such a shame that all that other data was... lost."
It felt too cruel to say blown to pieces by your crazy brother.
"Yeah," Mereel said, and squatted down next to her seat. He put his finger to his lips for silence and opened one of his belt pouches. Then he drew out a container, the kind that datachips were stored in, took her hand, and laid it on the little box. "Indeed."
"Mereel..."
"Don't you always do a backup, Etain? Tut tut..."
"Don't joke about this, Mereel." She was starting to get annoyed with him. Skirata had been mortified by it. "Is that what I think it is?"
"We might have behavioral problems, but we're not stupid. It is. All intact. Ordo meant what he said, but he didn't use the real set of chips."
Etain's ecstatic relief was instantly slapped down by recalling Skirata's face. "How could you do this to Kal? What if he'd had a seizure or something? He was devastated."
Mereel replaced the datachips and stood up. "I know, I know. Ordo and I argued over it, but it was the only way I could get Kal'buir to act like it was real. He's usually a great little actor, our buir, but he isn't always good at grief. Ko Sai would probably have spotted it."
"Poor man."
"I'll comm Ordo and let him know he can tell Kal'buir."
"Kal's going to be furious. He blames himself."
"Oh, Ord'ika can get away with murder. He's the number one son." Mereel went back to the datapad, and smiled again. "And it broke Ko Sai, didn't it?" [True Colors]
➦ Mereel is such a fine schemer but this passage makes me wonder, if his knack for manipulation and ruthlessness toward even his own family (Skirata) is actually connected to Skirata’s favoritism of Ordo (and maybe Kal’s general way to interact with people). Kal said to Etain in the same book “You can't have favorites. But [Ordo]'s probably the one I overprotect most, yes” so he may not see his attitude as having the favorite son but as a way to protect the one Null he perceived to need his attention/support the most - what may be relate to how Ordo is the more introverted Null than Mereel or other brothers.
But Mereel definitely see it in different light, as he literaly made a statement that “Ord'ika can get away with murder. He's the number one son”. In the context of his dialogue with Etain, Mereel’s words don't seem to be along the mindset Kal will understand and forgive us and sounds more like, Ordo will tell him the truth because Kal would never blame him for anything. Which to be honest, is awfully worrying to me, especially since True Colors also mentioned in Skirata’s POV that Ordo and Mereel “indulged in a little rivalry” that explained “Mereel's love of risk taking”. All because “he had to edge out of Ordo's shadow somehow”.
Of course, this does not necessarily mean Skirata went out of his way to treat Ordo better than his brothers but for sure there is quite a discrepancy between what Kal said to Etain and what Nulls feel. Ordo felt bad about being the first - and for some time, the only one - Null formally adopted by Skirata due to the implication of being the favorite son (“At least one cause for guilt had been lifted from Ordo's shoulders. He was no longer the only Null formally adopted by Skirata. It was a legal detail, nothing more, but Ordo didn't want to be singled out as the favorite. He already felt he had a far easier time than his brothers.” [O66]), Mereel’s opinion was already mentioned in above quote, then there was the “number one son” joke between all Nulls and the whole dynamic of six brothers brought by Imperial Commando: 501st:
Jaing laid his datapad on the table. "Oh good," he said. "I thought we were going to have a spat about Number One Son losing his place in the pecking order. Okay, what floor plans do we need?"
It had always been a joke, but Ordo wasn't sure it was so funny now. He'd been the informal alpha male of the brothers since infancy, and Skirata treated him as such. Mereel had always fallen into the sidekick role. In a family of six sons, it was inevitable that there'd be alliances and harmless rivalries. Now Ordo was starting to worry that they really did see him differently. The last thing he wanted was advantages that his brothers didn't have.
It is understandable that with six genius-like Nulls and 100 or 104 clone commandos to train at the same time, Kal could mess up here and there in the regard of Nulls’ upbringing. At the same time, it is worrying how differently he and his six sons look at the matter of favoritizing Ordo. For Skirata it wasn’t favoritism per se, just his protectiveness as Ordo worried him the most while for Mereel, Ordo could get away with anything regardless how furious Skirata would be - while at the same time implying(?), he doesn’t think this forgiveness also applies to him?
➦ Etain’s thought “It felt too cruel to say blown to pieces by your crazy brother.” is so... rude?. Like yeah, Ordo wasn’t at his best and news about Fi did not help much to improve his emotional state, but being angry and acting under strong emotion (for what it looked back then) is hardly the same as calling him crazy - a word that usually is associated with someone mentally deranged, especially as manifested in a wild or aggressive way. Dunno maybe my memory is just bad, but I don’t remember Etain thinking about Ordo or Nulls in general by outrightly calling them crazy before? Even during the previous scene, her POV described Ordo as “he walked a fine line between self-control and chaos far more often than anyone seemed to realize, and news of Fi's condition hadn't helped.” What hints Etain was aware of Ordo’s mental problems but she did not classified - insulted? - him as a crazy man. And yes, she was so devastated when Ordo supposedly destroyed the chip and that meant Darman’s chances for normal life dropped dramatically so this attitude could stream from that. But at the same time, the book series like to label people as psycho (Vau, Sev) and crazy (Arla Fett) and dunno, Etain’s remark, even if the one she kept to herself, feels more like an insult than a real worry about Ordo’s mental health.
#star wars#republic commando#etain tur mukan#mereel#ordo#kal skirata#kal skirata critically#just to be safe#My RepCom musing#there is so much to unpack about mereel's remark about ordo being the favorite son#though of course this does not mean kal would not forgive mereel if it was him who told the truth#it may be just mereel's own insecurity and so on#but some of nulls remarks toward kal#the supposed the best father doting on their sons that worry me about them#kal has his problematic habits and though i do not think he on purpose tries to hurt or manipulate his sons#we know he IS capable of doing so if he decides that was the best way to deal with problem#and why etain is now calling ordo the crazy? :(
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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
#star wars#my repcom musing#walon vau#kal skirata#ordo#Ny#republic commando#whatever her name was i don't remember and don't care enough to check lol sorry#kal skirata critically#not really calling him out (yet) on those issues but yeah my ranting may be taken as such#i don't understand the supposed romance in repcom books#and it irks me what the hell skirata put into his sons heads about this needed a wife lol#meanwhile vau and deltas are minding their own lives#while atin end with alien woman as the only one person#so technically he got what skirata thinks is the happy end#aka a wife#but of course atin got one that doesn't fit the pattern seen with skirata's other sons#lol#good one atin the vau stays strong in you#i'm really irked by the whole every woman wanst a clone for a husband narrative#even more since legacy books have gay mandalorians#also a hilarious idea but what if ruu and jilka ended with each other instead of clone lovers out of nowhere?#sorry but this Ordo's POV always makes me so angry how idea of wife is presented#and with that womanhood
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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.
#star wars#jango fett#dred priest#isabet reau#death watch#walon vau#mij gilamar#kal skirata#republic commando#my replies#sorry for the rant i don't have many occassion to talk about DW#thank you for ask!#in short i doubt jango cared about their ideology#he wanted job be done#and by job i mean destruction of jedi order
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