#Lord Mirdalan Vau

[sevdidntdie]

someone write a fanfic where Mird gets its own adoption ceremony

Idea: Mandos saying the adoption vows for pets they just got. Who in the family cries cause they have a grandkitty and who’s rolling their eyes cause ‘they’re not even sentient they can’t even have a verd’goten’ and who just straight up refuses to show up to the new-adoption party?????

[alabyte]

Vau's weird space dog (he's a good boy just ugly)

was trying to figure Mird out, probably gonna stick with this design

[nereiix]

“I opted to take on Vau. He had a real Mando iron saber, and I was unarmed. I just went at him. I never wanted to kill so badly in my life and he just cut me up. [...]” ― Atin to Fi, Republic Commando: Triple Zero

It was about time I drew the man. I designed his armor using various references and my imagination, I just didn't want it to look like Jango's armor in black. I've got a soft spot for scarves, so I gave him one. For Mird I tried the stay close to my original concepts of it, but with more skin and color on its coat. And I added a collar too, because it's mentioned it has one in True Colors (and also in Triple Zero, indirectly). I'm still not sure about the size of a strill, but since Vau keeps scooping Mird up in his arms, I don't think it can be bigger than that. Also, I think a beskad is supposed to be shorter, but I liked it like this so... artistic liberty, I guess.

References for the pose below the cut.

I decided to make the pose with one of my little men and to trace over it. For Mird I used a Shar Pei 3D model to help me with the perspective.

→ WIP available here

[nocturius8015ficore]

Oh... Mird ^^'...

[roseaesynstylae]

Star Wars: Republic Commando: Triple Zero, Chapter 4

"Mereel was on Kamino. If Zey was heard to mutter that the Nulls were Skirata's private army, he wasn't entirely wrong."

You say that like it's a good thing.

"'I never said good-bye to the lads who didn't come back, that's all. I lost nine out of my batch.'

'But the last time you saw them, you left them feeling confident, respected, and loved. That's enough for any buir to achieve.'"

*narrows eyes* *with a remarkable amount of spite* I fucking doubt that calling them "wet-droids" made them feel loved. Just because you're constantly licking daddy's boots doesn't mean everyone else does.

Okay, that was going a little far. But everyone talking about this asshole like he's the ideal parent makes me want to throw something across the room. Hard. And repeatedly.

"'Have you met Sergeant Kal yet?'

'No.' Kal was always there for Darman, somewhere, even at times like this when she wanted to say so much to him.'

'Darman beamed, clearly delighted. 'Oh, you'll like him, General. You'll really like him.'

Etain certainly hoped so. And if she didn't, then she'd try, for Darman's sake."

*beaming smile* I'll just list things off, shall I?

"Even at times like this when she wanted to say so much to him." Etain, I want to say so much to him as well. It isn't what you want to say, though. It's a bit more...profane.

"You'll really like him." I've been getting a look into this man's mind for the past few chapters. I don't fucking like him. I actually prefer Walon Vau, since he's at least open about the fact that he's an asshole.

"And if she didn't, then she'd try, for Darman's sake." I could not try. It would end in an attempted strangulation.

"Vau was settled in one of the deeply upholstered hide chairs with the strill draped across his lap on its back, all six of its legs flopping in an undignified sprawl while he scratched its belly. Its huge fanged mouth was slack, tongue lolling, and a long skein of drool hung almost to the floor. Its body was a meter long, lengthened by a whip of a tail covered in more loose skin.

The strill was still prettier than Vau, though. The man had a long square-jawed face that was all bone and frown lines, and graying hair cut brutally short. Faces rarely lied about the soul within."

MIRD!!

PRECIOUS BABY!!

Oh, yeah, and its human servant. Great to see him too.

Who is the most adorable little killing machine?! It's you~

Mird, My Beloved: 1

"'The Jedi Council is pretty adept at turning blind eyes,' Skirata said. 'For an organization that knew it was taking on an army with an assassination capability, you do send out conflicting signals to simple soldiers like me.'

Vau was watching like a man being mildly amused by a holovid. The strill yawned with a thin, high-pitched whine."

Mird, My Beloved: 2

*sourly* I'm glad someone is amused by this.

"'We didn't even know we had an army until a year ago.'

'Maybe, but the fact that you're sitting here now with a general's rank means you've accepted responsibility for it. You could have objected, collectively or individually. You could have asked questions. But no. You picked up the blaster you found on the floor and you just fired it to defend yourself. Expedience ambushes you in the end.'"

*in the most fake nice way imaginable* Fuck. You.

Lemme just break this down a little...

"You could have objected, collectively or individually."

They did.

"You could have asked questions."

They did.

The problem isn't that the Jedi didn't try to find a way to object or that they didn't try to investigate. The problem is that the Separatists were actively attacking, the Senate wanted a war, and Palpatine had manipulated everything so they had no other choice. They took the role of Generals and Commanders because they felt that it was the best way to prevent excessive casualties and lessen suffering.

But, no. It's all the Jedi's fault. It isn't that they're a group that was not and never has been intended for a military position who have just been forced into this role. It isn't that they're trying to keep to their principles in the middle of a situation they are not meant for. It isn't that the chaos of the war made it so that trying to object or figure out what the hell was going on impossible.

In conclusion...

WHY DON'T YOU ASK JEDI WHAT THEY FEEL ABOUT THE SITUATION AND WHAT THEY DID? THEY'D TALK TO YOU. THEY'RE NICE, REASONABLE PEOPLE. I"M SURE THAT YOU'D LEARN A LOT MORE IF YOU HAD AN ACTUAL CONVERSATION INSTEAD OF RANTING ABOUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU BARELY KNOW.

Jedi-Bashing: 7

"'Oh no, I'm just a civilian now,' Vau said. The strill rumbled. Vau, apparently distracted, fondled its ghastly, stinking head, his slightly narrowed eyes revealing a doting affection that he never seemed to spare for any other living creature."

I'm going to make this clear right now: I like Vau considerably more than Skirata. 80% of that affection comes from Mird.

Mird, My Beloved: 3

"'How far is too far, Kal? Can you answer that? How far did you go?' Vau called after him. 'I made that boy a warrior. Without me, he wouldn't be alive today.'

With him, Ordo thought, Atin very nearly wasn't."

Vau's training methods are a discussion for another time.

(I still prefer him to Skirata. Like I said, Vau's open about the fact that he's a bastard, unlike some people.)

"It was delightful to see the mix of armor -- yellow-striped commanders and pilots, plain white troopers, and the motley mix of commando colors -- drawn together in one ancient Mandalorian ritual, every face the same.

Etain felt adrift, excluded.

She had never truly felt this degree of bond with her Jedi clan. The connection in the Force was there, yes, but....no, the real strength here was attachment, passion, identity, meaning."

Attachment is not love. Attachment is not a good thing. Passion is not a good thing for a Jedi. I am explaining this in small words for the author's benefit.

Also, nice shit you just took on the Jedi's Youngling Clans.

(Don't fucking insult the Jedi Younglings. They're adorable and have done nothing wrong, ever.)

Given the fixation on (relatively nuclear and standard by sci-fi standards) families in this series, this really feels like a jab at the "fact" that *extremely mocking voice* ThE JedI DOn'T HAve FaMilIEs.

Jedi-Bashing: 9

That's it. I'm exhausted by this series' bullshit and it's only been one chapter. Thankfully, I have a vacation coming up where I can ignore these books and concentrate on actually good Star Wars content. Once I'm done decompressing, I'll be ranting about this again.

Jedi-Bashing: 9

Mando-Shilling: 1

It's a Man's World: 1

Shut the Fuck Up, Kal: 1

Deltas, Move Out: 4

Mird, My Beloved: 3

Is This The Bad Batch?: 2

Main Post

[itsagrimm]

mandalorians really see the most dangerous, absurd animal to have around and go

💕That's my new pet. 💕

[tesalicious2]

Delta Squad Headcanons

Focusing on Advisor

During transport and some missions, Asvisor will wear his dress grays which are actually pitch black so Admirals can distinguish commando squad advisors from the other regular clones (though most have no idea what the black means, just that it is different)

Few of the GAR know about advisors at all and those who do are very high up commanders (when I say GAR, this includes ARC, CTs, regular CCs, literally anyone but the Commandos and the Advisors)

Advisors often work with multiple squads at one time, though their missions usually don’t overlap (ie, two different missions at the same time, not two squads on the same mission)

In the beginning of the war, it was common for multiple squads in the same planet working together and the command center to be very active with Advisors working maps, intel, and avoiding the GAR

The more dangerous missions occur right before or lead to a campaign and no one is the wiser, though its about equal between those that happen before and those that happen during

In one instance, Delta squad was on a LAAT/i heading toward their ship and saw an LAAT/i heading toward the planet carrying troops

The commandos themselves have small ports on them to inject bacta into for damage and internal stress

All that’s needed is to lock a small container of bacta into the port with a click and it auto injects

There is one port per arm and one port on the upper and lower leg, then two on the front and back of their chest below the ribs

These ports are meant for long missions with little rest time, injections are saved until enough damage is accumulated or one major injury

These are inputted at standard age 2 and they all put completely out and given a week recovery before the ports can be used

All commandos have basic medical training, however there are a few specially trained medic commandos that stick to one squad and partner with others for missions

Walon Vau, while a very strict and harsh teacher, did care about Delta squad in his own way

This care continued into the instruction of the Delta squad Advisor CC-01/425

The Advisor program came along about a year after the Commando project began, however they took CC cadets with low physical score and high intelligence and processing to be the candidates

These cadets had essentially no continued combat training since age 2, with only one day a week reserved for it (half day of blasters and half day of sparring)

The rest of the days would be full of strategy, team management, intelligence collecting, map reading, etc. everything they’d need to lead a squad from an ship in orbit safe and sound

(They were never really safe and sound. They were the squads almost guide and half guy in the chair with a smidge of leader and decision maker, any and all failure in any compacity fell to them. Squad failure=their failure and just as harsh of punishment. Death)

Each Mandalorian in charge of a squad would teach a class for the advisors. Though with the amount of mandalorians, only the ones with top ranking squads would get to teach

Walon would often pass up to teach Delta, but a training accident that left three squads out of commission for a week left him and Mird restless

He decided to watch some of these advisors and CC-01/425 caught his eye

He had a look of defiance and a ‘take no shit’ attitude that was perfect for his squad

During that week, Vau rearranged the training system so each day included 3 hours of physical training as well as their full day

During these three hours, Vau had the Deltas study on their own while he took CC-01/425 for personal training

In the beginning, these three hours were spent playing strategy games and gambling, sabaac was a key game. Gambling games were used to teach how to read others who show little and how to weigh risks

He also taught him how to command and care for Mird, since Vau wanted him to learn that responsiblity (also he would get Mird if anything happened to him)

Eventually, these changed into sparring and language studies (ie, mando'a), and taught him a lot of the mandalorian customs that he taught the Deltas (so CC-01/425 could understand how the Deltas think/act and to be competable with them)

Though Vau taught CC-01/425 with the purpose of advising the Deltas, he kept them separate and did not tell them about each other (he does care for CC-01/425 just as much as the Deltas)

This choice was because he cared for CC-01/425, since if CC-01/425 bonded with them as children, his judgments would change based on his past experiences

Keeping them separate kept him unbaised and able to be brutally honest and strict with the Deltas while on missions

The only time they've interacted is on a training mission, which ended in success for the Deltas and the highest score of all the commando groups

Due to Vau's want to prepare CC-01/425 for the Deltas, he modified the Advisors training track, overall improving the quality of troopers; with their intelligence and strategy matching the command track CCs (CCs specialize in large scale attacks, Advisors specialize in small strike teams and stealth missions)

One Advisor can operate and strategize for -at most- 3 Commando Squads before another needs to step in. However, if all the squads are on the same mission, the number rises to 5 squads since the commands go to each squad instead of every member of a squad

There has been a few instances where Advisors have helped/guided GAR troopers on stealth missions. Though the Advisors are referred to a different titles (depending on the mission) and they have never truly made contact with the men they were helping

GAR troopers rarely work with Commandos, due to the animosity between the groups (especially the ARC troopers). During those times, Commando squads will defer to their Advisor rather than the ranking officer, even if the officer is a nat-born

Delta has drawn the short end of the stick the most and often find themselves working around the GAR, keeping their mission secret

There were a few training sessions were the CCs would work a Commando squad, these would often end in longer mission times and lower success rates

Vau often enjoyed watching these sessions and would have CC-01/425 analyze what the CCs were doing wrong to improve his strategies

Vau would also take Delta to watch other Commando squads training sessions to see how different squads act during a mission. He would also have them watch CTs completing sims to see the difference in techniques and approaches

Though, Vau doesn't let them interact with the non-Mandalorian trainers. This is not because of anything about them but rather Vau knows from experience that the trainers care little for improving the individual troopers but just that their numbers are met

Vau is particular with who his troopers interact with (trainer wise), not letting them interact with trainers such as Dred Priest. Despite this strictness, Delta works with Skirata's Commandos very often and will let the Nulls teach the Deltas when he goes to train with CC-01/425

The Commando barracks are on a completely separate building on Kamino with their own sim and training areas for them to learn without the distractions of the CTs and other CCs, though the Advisors are kept on the same building as the Commandos

I'm already on a part 2, who knew Tumblr had a character limit?

[astrangeroftides]

Walon Vau and Mird out for a walk

inspired by this post by @jastertown

I like to think they're off to go visit a local coffee shop so Mird can growl at and terrorize children :)

Just a Mando and his lizard dog cat honey badger baby

[alabyte]

"You gotta finish preparing lesson materials for tomorrow" no I gotta draw Mird again my life depends on it

[nereiix]

I draw very slowly, so here is a WIP. 👀 Edit (Sep 12, 2023) → Finished drawing

And a bonus from 2021, since I will never finish it:

(I probably drew Mird too big here.)

[cienie-isengardu]

Vau: I don’t care for blood ties, they are overrated anyway - especially since I have the best family I could wish for. Here is my Pride and Joy... MIRD...  and of course my sons. All of them.

Boss: Aww sarge, thanks!

Skirata: You shouldn’t favor the strill over your boys!

Vau: EXCUSE ME, but Mird was there first and as the eldest, it deserves all the respect. Di’kut!

(Look, I know if I ended the comics with Mird-frame that would be 100% canon Vau but Boss, Fixer, Sev & Scorch deserve some happiness too :) Also, I’m pretty sure Mird is older than all of Deltas put together XDDD)

[ugliness-is-an-illusion]

I finally gave in 😔

I made a Mird sideblog

[roseaesynstylae]

Regardless of what you think of the Republic Commando series, we can all agree that Mird should be canon-ed yesterday. Wonderful non-binary multi-legged gliding rat-dog.

[panther-os]

"The first inter-unit adoption was when Alpha-17's CC training squad adopted CT-7567/Rex and convinced their trainer to go along with it" is actually a common misconception.

The real first adoption was when Delta Squad's RCs adopted CC-5576-39/Gregor and got their trainer's strill attached to the younger clone so Vau didn't have a choice but to accept it.

[figgiforever]

I'm reading True Colors for a third time but it's the first time I noticed this cute little detail about Mird <3

[stardustloki]

"Look, that kid’s not Vau," Atin scoffed. "He can’t even hold a knife correctly. I took him down in a second.”

“He holds himself like you do.”

He gazed at him in bafflement; he’d never heard something so ridiculous, and so wrong. “No he doesn’t!”

“Yes he does,” Darman replied quietly. “He holds himself exactly like you do when you’re afraid, but you’d rather die than show it.”

Chapter 3 of a fic in which Vau gets turned into a ten-year-old and everyone has to figure out what to do about that.

Gen, teen, no archive warnings.

Characters: Walon Vau, Mird, Atin, Darman and Kal Skirata (so far)