#impcomm

[thelightismine]

Love this interpretation of Fi's character and behaviour; I also found it jarring for KT to say in ImpComm that they'd not spoken to Fi in two years, when in O66 Dar mentioned snatches of conversation and messages back and forth - as you said, it would simply be strange for them to know their brother is alive, witness the start of his healing, but never speak to him once he's doing better, even disregarding the fact they served together for half the war.

One other element to this to consider, separate from his own internalised emotional issues, is that by virtue of his presence on Kyrimorut Fi knows about Kad, about Ko Sai, about all the dealings going on at Kyrimorut that Kal (at the point in O66 that Darman mentions speaking to Fi) has not come clean to Omega about. Poor Fi is probably terrified to open his mouth and reveal something prematurely, especially considering I doubt he had much contact with Etain after she left, so wouldn't have any idea if she had told Darman about the pregnancy yet, and could only ask Kal or the Nulls what was going on outside Kyrimorut. I can't imagine being essentially stuck on a planet lightyears away from your closest brothers, surrounded by evidence of secrecy and witnessing events like Kad's birth, and being unable to say anything to them. This ties in with what you said above, about not wanting to bother them/worry them with anything serious so they can stay focused on whatever’s on their plate - but also folded into this, alongside the guilt of perhaps getting to live the life he spoke of so often whilst they do not, of sitting out the remainder of the war, is probably a certain feeling of guilt for knowing things of great significance that they don't, yet.

This happens in ImpComm, when he brings up the Jedi on Kyrimorut to Darman and puts his foot in things. Imagine if he'd told Darman about Kad before Etain or Kal did? How differently those confrontations would have played out? Poor Fi, trapped with all this information and no way to tell anyone about it.

So in Imperial Commando, Niner says that he hasn't spoken to Fi in nearly two years, and that bothered me a little. (Well, more than a little.) I just find it a little strange that we know that Skirata personally takes the time to check up on the hundred or so commandos he trained, yet he can't find time to arrange anything between Fi and Omega and make sure that Omega gets to check up on Fi. It also makes me wonder whether Omega ever asked to communicate with Fi directly (even just to record a message for him or something,) because it seems like they would so *what happened and why didn't they.* Basically I'm wondering how to square Omega being so tight-knit and caring about each other with the fact that they don't actually interact with Fi for almost two years once he's on Mandalore, and I find it difficult to believe that at no point during those two years did they have even 5 minutes to talk to him. My instinct here is to ask why Skirata might find it beneficial to keep Fi and Omega apart, and I can't tell if I'm unfairly on an anti-Skirata kick here, but maybe he sees their separation as something that will help establish Kyrimorut via Omega's dependence on him as the "keeper" of Fi? (I know this is very rambly and I apologize but I want your thoughts here!)

Hi! Again, you don't have to apologize for rambling. I'm not exactly free of sin myself here, and I don't mind, anyway.

So I was thinking about this, and I checked, and you're right that in IC Niner and Darman both comment that they haven't seen Fi in a couple years. Darman even goes one further and acts relieved that he's able to talk to Fi now, which sort of implies he wasn’t able to before:

Which surprised me a bit, because I remembered this part in Order 66 (that I had to go back and find to make sure I wasn’t imagining things), where Darman mentions that Fi left them messages sometimes:

Granted, leaving messages isn’t really the same thing as being able to talk. It’s still something. It’s less clear if they’re able to respond, but them receiving texts from a dead man apparently isn’t a security issue, so I feel like they must have a secure enough method of communication that they might be able to reply too, at least sometimes.

And I mean, at the very least, they should have been able to use Jusik as a messenger, since he’s noted to have been updating Omega on Fi’s condition this whole time, and they are able to talk to him.

It’s likely KT just forgot, and she sort of went off the rails with characterization continuity in IC anyway, but I agree with you that it’s strange if she shifted to the idea that Omega never got to talk to Fi. I mean, canonically it didn’t happen. They did have some form of communication as per the above. But it would be very strange.

But since it didn’t, and in order to square it with Darman and Niner’s comments in IC, I’d bet that communication coming from Fi has been exceptionally sparse and thin on substantial topics, and doesn’t feel emotionally satisfying. They’ve gotten updates, but they haven’t talked. If you only saw someone you love for barely ten minutes over a year ago and barely exchanged hellos, will you count that as “seeing” them within the last two years, or will you count the time instead based on the last time you saw them where you were also able to spend quality time with them? (Holy cow, that sentence.)

That’s the best explanation I could come up with, anyway.

As for the rest, I agree that it doesn’t really fit with Kal’s MO, either, except in the way that Kal tends to forget about people having relationships that don’t involve him. I don’t feel like he’d deliberately cut Fi off, not even in that way he does where he tells himself he has a good reason for it. He’s too proud of Omega as a concept. Rather, I think it’s more likely this is similar to the way he doesn’t ever really think about the Nulls talking to and missing each other in a way that doesn't involve him, so he probably just doesn’t even think about whether Omega are talking to each other or not. Not even in the vein of wondering how Fi’s doing. Not deliberately malicious, but just a consequence of his own self-centeredness. Being fair to him, though, while he is someone Fi respects and looks up to, and while his advice would carry a lot of weight with Fi, Skirata’s not actually responsible for Fi’s recovery. He’s not a medical professional, and unlike Parja he hasn’t tried to insert himself as a medical authority in Fi’s life regardless. If he’s keeping his nose out of it unless specifically requested, that’s not wrong of him (though a check-in probably wouldn’t really be amiss, I’m pretty sure it just literally has not occurred to him).

So I wouldn’t really place the blame for this at his feet. If I were to try to come up with an in-universe rationale for this, I’d probably say that it looks a lot like Fi’s self-isolating.

Whoever is helping him with his recovery should be encouraging him to reach out to people who care about him, but either they’re not, which isn’t great, or they are but Fi’s dodging the issue, which isn’t exactly something they can help. Lead a horse to water and all that, and they can’t make Fi utilize his support network. Unfortunately, I do think it’s very likely Fi would dodge communicating with Omega every chance he gets. He likes to pretend things that upset him aren’t happening, and with his own struggles with his self-worth, I can see him neglecting to communicate with his squad. It might make things too real for him, it might make him wonder why he’s “wasting their time”, and he might even be resentful of them sometimes. The rest of Omega isn’t in a situation to apply force to the situation either, not until Atin makes it to Mandalore (after which, we rarely see Fi anywhere without him, so).

This was interesting to think about. Let me know your thoughts?

[kungfuslipper]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars Legends: Republic Commando Series - Karen Traviss Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: RC-1136 | IC-1136 | Darman Skirata/RC-1309 | IC-1309 | Niner Skirata Characters: RC-1136 | IC-1136 | Darman Skirata, RC-1309 | IC-1309 | Niner Skirata, IC-4447 | Ennen, Clone Commando Bry (Star Wars), TK-70558 | Rede, Roly Melusar Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Suicide, Angst, Hand Jobs, Post-Order 66 (Star Wars), book: imperial commando 501st, Dubious Consent, Complicated Relationships, maybe a tad codependent, Darman's a sad boy Summary:

I saw some potential for something with these two on my latest re-read of Impcomm, so here it is

[thesummerstorms]

It's interesting to me, given that Kal thinks Mereel is the one he least needs to worry for in previous novels, that these books emphasize Mereel as being the one least prepared to deal with a Kaminoan.

(And that Jaing is there to babysit Mereel... after Jaing turned Ko Sai into gloves, as KT is so fond of reminding us.)

I mean, Mereel really wasn't okay wrt Ko Sai, and no one could expect him to be, but I think he handled it exceedingly well, all things considered. He may have wanted to hurt her, and he and Jaing (and Ordo I guess although his reaction isn't explored) may have enjoyed the closure of what happened after with the body.

But it's not like Mereel just lost all control and went completely ... Well "psycho" to use KT's oft repeated word.

He not only kept Ko Sai alive, but strung her along for months and stayed focused on his goal the entire time. And she was the one who directly abused and attempted to murder him.

I don't know why the narrative is acting as if seeing Kina Ha, who is a Kaminoan, yes, but is a stranger and more importantly, one who can be used for his work on the cure, would be more than Mereel could handle in light of all that.

[izzyovercoffee]

@tiender replied to your post: “@tiender replied to your post:this meme is a lot harder than it looks...”:

I run into problems with Omega Squad tho'. Niner is fine, but Atin and Darman I'm not sure about, and Fi likes glimmik, so a raver?

IIRC glimmik is actually supposed to be the equivalent of heavy metal or hard rock, so Fi would probably lean more towards the goth side of the spectrum

I have noooo idea where Niner would be, and Atin and Darman are also difficult for me?? Atin seems like a goth, to be honest (his love of knives, I guess, is what I’m basing this off of lmao) but Darman seems pretty easy going, too easy going for any kind of goth vibe, at least early on. late-repcomm “canon” Darman is a full blown goth

[stuffedeggplants]

When I read Order 66, I was worried that this moment might be foreshadowing something later in the book (or in the next) where Niner trades his life for Omega’s. We meet Niner as the last one left out of his entire squad, mentally running over what he should’ve done differently so that his brothers could still be there. You could bookend the part of Niner’s story that he gets to write by having him close out his chapter so the rest of his squad can continue theirs, no doubt in his mind that he’s making the correct choice and one he’ll never have to regret this time, but I’m happy Niner’s arc went elsewhere.

I also love how Darman and Corr just straight up ignore him here, like it doesn’t even merit a response lol. It’s also nice/interesting that Atin is the one to say “we don’t do that here” considering the tension between him on one side and Fi and Niner on the other right after Darman got separated from the group back in Hard Contact. 

And Darman ignoring Niner is a whole thing that I also love. When Niner tells him to jump out of the rapidly failing ship over Qiilura, Darman just doesn’t do it and has to body slam Niner out of the aircraft because the guy won’t leave him otherwise. Later here Niner tries to pull the “leave without me I’ll hold them off for you in a last stand” card but Darman & Co. pretend they do not hear, then during Order 66 Niner's like “l e a v e  m e, you fucking idiot” and Darman just refuses to lose anybody else. Darman also (against orders) runs into a burning building to help Niner recover that computer from Camas’ hideout in ImpComm, and Niner’s just ugh you never listen but their friendship wouldn’t be the same if Darman did listen at times like this. 

[leias-left-hair-bun-again]

never mind im not sleeping tonight im writing fix it fics for impcomm instead

[countessofbiscuit]

Someone knocked on their door. Civil knuckle-rapping. No demanding fist like whoever it was was clocking the time till clocking you. Bry answered promptly.

“Squad 40?” offered the standard commando on the other side.

“Yeah. Bry and Ennen. RC — I mean, IC-four— ”

“That’ll do, son. I’m Niner. You ready to move?”

“Yes, Sarge,” replied Bry, wholly convinced. Niner couldn’t have typified the rank more with a three-bar barcode on his forehead.

Ennen grabbed their packs and they filed into the hall.

Regime change smelled of acetone, but at least their new sergeant was as unsurprising as a box of Oaties.

. . . . . 

drabble for a missing ImpComm scene ... i really should finish this Brennen fic 

[mistflyer1102]

bugs

A/N: ImpComm era, AU in which Etain survives Order 66.

Summary: A short conversation between Etain and Kad about bugs while heading inside for the day.

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

As soon as she could see the clouds, Etain knew it was almost time to go back inside.

“Kad? Kad, we need to go back inside before it starts snowing,” she called, scanning the clumps of frost-coated grasses. She could barely make out the ground in the early evening light, and given that it was off the beaten path, she knew the grass was also tall. She could hear her son’s soft giggles nearby, and could sense him a few feet ahead of her. However, she could also tell that by hiding, he had no intentions of going back inside anytime soon. Snowfall or not, he planned to stay outside as long as he could. She had only meant to let him loose for a couple hours - the sun had actually come out that morning - to burn off some energy, but they ended up staying outside all day. She never planned to wander far from the family home on Mandalore, though, and could still see it if she turned around and looked back.

Etain took a step back when the patch of grass in front of her abruptly shook as Kad pushed them aside. “But Mama, you haven’t seen my hiding spot yet. It’s around here somewhere,” he said, pulling himself to his feet. Etain knelt slightly to brush off the dirt from his head, arms, shoulders, and torso. “Mird helped me find it,” he said while looking up at her with a grin, before he wrinkled his nose and grudgingly turned around at her encouragement.

“Really? What else did Mird show you?” she asked as she brushed the rest of the dirt off of his back. She took his hand in hers as he twisted around to face her again, and winced at how cold his fingers felt against hers. “Where are your gloves?” she asked as she leaned over his head to check his other hand.

He stuffed his hand into his coat pocket before she could see. “I don’t know. Mird was helping me look for bugs when we found a hole that we could crawl into. We could only go in one at a time, but it had roots and a lot of bugs,” he said, hunching his shoulders as he and Etain began to walk back to their house. Etain could see that more lights were on than earlier when she had last looked back. Even after four years on Mandalore, Etain still easily lost track of time. She and Darman had moved out of the main Skirata household about a year after she’d recovered from Order 66, but remained close by.

Etain couldn’t help wrinkling her nose at the mention of bugs. Well, that explains the beetles in the nightstand drawer last week. “Well, maybe we don’t bring the bugs to bed with you next time?” she suggested as she guided Kad back to the house. She gently squeezed Kad’s shoulder as a thought occurred to her. “Maybe if you ask Buir nicely, he can help you build something to put the bugs in next time you go collecting with Mird,” she suggested as they walked.

Kad glanced up at her. “Can I keep it in my room?”

Etain said, “If it’s secure enough that the bugs don’t get out, then yes, you may keep it in your room.”

“Can Mird help?”

Etain hummed. “Ask Uncle Walon when he comes to visit, okay?” she said, wrapping a gentle arm around Kad’s shoulders.

Kad was quiet. “And no bugs in the baby’s room, right?”

Ah. Ruusan had warned Etain that this might happen, when Etain and Darman had started planning for a second child last year. Having grown up in the Temple crèche there had been no competition for attention that she could recall, not as a child herself or when she visited the crèche as a Padawan to assist the crèche masters. Darman had grown up with his original squadmates. He’d once told her that while he hadn’t experienced much competition with his squadmates, there had definitely been competition among the squads. Ruusan Skirata, despite being the youngest of three, had heard from her siblings about what it was like having a new sibling in the house. Especially when Ruusan’s older brother, Tor, had had several kids of his own. Illippi may have been alone raising the three of them, but Ruusan said Illippi did her best to keep things fair among the three siblings.

Etain technically wasn’t showing yet, she and Darman planned to keep it a secret for now. But they’d told Kad, and Etain hoped to slowly get him used to the idea of a sibling before the baby was born. But she didn’t push, she wanted Kad to adjust to the idea at his pace. She’d reassured him that despite the changes, she and Darman would still love him as much as they do now.

She finally said, “Well, no, maybe not right away. We don’t know yet what kind of bugs your brother or sister will like, or if they like bugs at all. We should probably wait to see what happens, okay?”

Kad looked up at her, and she gave him an encouraging smile as they came to a stop a few meters from the entrance. “Buir is still gonna help me make that thing to keep the bugs in, right?”

Etain nodded. “I’m sure he will if you ask nicely.”

Kad chirped, “Okay!” before making a dash across the yard to the door. Etain winced as some mud splashed up in his wake. She sighed, and smiled faintly to herself as she wrapped her cloak tighter around herself before following Kad into the house.

She still checked Kad's bedroom that night, while Kad was in his bath, for any loose bugs.

[thealluringsink]

I'm just curious because I noticed repcomm but good series was deleted off of ao3, did you get copyrighted or smth? I was halfway through impcomm 😭

i did indeed get copyrighted. if you want to read i have a google drive. i’m still changing all the scenes that I didn’t rewrite to potentially publish on ao3 again, but the pdfs in the drive have the full text as they were published. impcomm 1 is also complete.

[oldtestleper]

He went up to Ennen, who was standing by a med speeder with his forehead resting against the vehicle’s durasteel side, and reached out to put his hand on the guy’s shoulder. But Ennen shook it off and walked away.

I need to go lie down…

[thefoundationproject]

[1/?] Anakin is my favorite character, and I love how you deal with him in his fics, he's so... I can't even describe it, it's just good - Anakin needed someone to understand him and validate his feelings and say 'no, you're not wrong to feel it, how you act about it is what matters' and it is so sad that the only time in canon that this happens is with Luke, Luke who came to free slaves (I was on @fialleril tumblr recently, and it shows LOL)

[2/?] so does he have this with Rex? it's great! clones freeing themselves? I'm here for it! actually, thinking about Alpha-17 made me think about Jango and thinking about Jango, I thought about Boba and is he okay? is your father alive? or if not, where's the army of brothers to protect this boy and keep him from Mace? (Mace, I love you, but I don't think it would be good for Boba to be around the guy who beheaded Jango, just saying LOL) (on the other hand, Jango alive is... something, I think?

[3/?] He trained the Alphas as far as I know) well, I'm reading RepComm (I'm on Order 66) and I kind of found it online and in English? on the same site, I read Hard Contact, Triple Zero, True Colors and now Order 66 - I don't know about ImpComm (501st) since I haven't read it yet and according to the people who read the books and made excellent meta (@izzyovercoffe @thesummerstorms are two that see my mind, and that can help a lot to understand the characters) the last one is not very good,

[4/?] but could I pass the site to you? on the one hand, RepComm has incredible characters and talks a lot about the flaws of the Jedi Order, on the other hand... well, Kal is problematic (and abusive, like Walon Vau) and the treatment of women is so terrible (they deserved better, especially Etain)

[5/?] but I asked about the Nulls because, in addition to reading the series, drum roll please, Mereel (ARC N-07) canonically (Legends) created the 'cure' for the accelerated aging that the clones suffer and I thought that would be in Cody's interest? (and also because after going through so many pages with Kal I’m begging someone to take the Nulls, Omega, Delta and everything else and keep them away from Kal and Vau)

[6/?] (and it would be interesting for the ARC Nulls and Commandos to socialize with Rex and the other 'whitejobs' clones, I think they call it, and Anakin, especially Anakin) (actually, Anakin and Etain could get along really well and since I read Hard Contact, I think of an AU where they are friends and Anakin and more friends always are good) As for Bacara: the more about him, the better! He and Fox are quickly becoming my favorites LOL and Bly too, hugging Rex and Wolffe...

[7/?] I can only think of him biting and snarling at people who threaten his siblings (I think this is the fault of some fic I read, think about it), but protective brother? love it!and... omg, I wrote a lot - sometimes I just start writing, and I don't stop and uh, sorry about that, I think? and about the cure that Mereel created @izzyovercoffe has a very good meta explaining everything (I forgot to talk about it LOL), but anyway: I love your fics!

[8/8] and sorry for the inconvenience, I 'speak' a lot LOL and if I seem insistent or demanding, it really isn't my intention! I get really excited talking about things that interest me and I end up being rude without wanting to, or just being annoying

Hello and thank you!  I was on my own in a different country from my family at 19 and I remember thinking how hard it was to remember to frackin feed myself sometimes and one time I had to deal with a hospital and the US health system on my own and just... PLEASE DON’T GIVE TEENAGERS ARMIES it’s SUCH a bad plan!  I was overwhelmed filling out insurance forms, much less developing planetary-scale war tactics...  (BTW America what is wrong with your healthcare jfc I just needed some fracking antibiotics...)

SO I HAVE SPOKEN and in Soft Wars Mace Windu did not in fact behead a man in front of his small child.  Not a thing that I’m allowing to happen.  Jango is alive.  At some point Cody will Punch Him.  Maybe more than once.  He Will Deserve It.  They’re cool with Boba though, he’s vod come by any time.  Leave your wastrel father somewhere else though, or we’ll spend the whole time glaring at him.

I am trying to mostly stick to TCW canon, but I’m being tempted out by others so I can’t say where it’ll lead.  Been thinking it over the past hour or so and I don’t think I’ll be pulling in a mass of main characters from the comics.  The lift to get all those characters wrapped in will probably be too much for me, especially since I’m kind of a perfectionist when it comes to developing a characters’ voice.  And I have a LOT of TCW characters in the series already that have outstanding plots I haven’t followed up on.  I have yet to write anything starring Wolfpack for instance, and that’s a crying shame.  I will probably keep the Null storyline etc as more background to Bacara (and apparently Neyo) since they were around when it was happening even if they weren’t involved.  Plus I don’t know the characters in those story lines the way I know TCW characters, so IDK I guess the idea just isn’t really catching me right now.  Happy to have the link if I ever end up changing my mind though!

I am absolutely down for removing Nulls etc from those right bastards, but it’ll probably again be background in a fic, rather than a main plot with the Nulls as MCs.  And yes, Mereel does in fact get a fancy lab space on Concord Dawn and everything he needs to undo the bastardly they did our boys.

UGH BLY I have had his ‘convincing Aalya to get a padawan’ saucy side on prompt for METRIC YONKS I need to write that.  See this is why I need to stop adding new characters, Bly has been waiting patiently for WEEKS to help Aayla ‘meditate’...

Never you mind dear, I don’t mind at all!  Thanks for chatting!  

[clonecumber]

For Kyrimorut's eventual discovery in the unwritten ImpComm book, what I'd like to see is that it actually doesn't have much to do with the Jedi, but is the culmination of small mistakes and threads coming together into something big enough to finally trip the alarm. Something bigger could get Imperial attention, they open an investigation, and it's only then that they begin to piece together reports that had been ignored, things that didn't add up, financial anomalies, and cases that were closed without appropriate closure. The Nulls' financial 'adventures' have seemed relatively convenient and without consequence so far, so I'm wondering if KT had planned for that to go somewhere (or for some character flaws to crop up) to make some of the Nulls seem less...invulnerable I suppose? I think it could be an interesting contributing factor to Kyrimorut being discovered, along with whatever Darman is planning, the presence of the Imperial garrison on Mandalore, ~ JeDi ~, logistical breadcrumbs for some alphabet soup agency to follow, and ignorance of/failure to understand something crucial in the civilian world (as if that's not a massively complicated and diverse thing in itself, lol.)

I have no idea what KT was planning of course, but I think by having multiple things contribute to Kyrimorut's discovery, you have the opportunity to sort of portray how even if you have one person who is officially responsible in a buck-stops-here kind of way, there are still things that a lot of people with different responsibilities could've done differently to help the situation, so there's room for improvement and learning across the board and you're not just pointing at *one person* and saying "yeah you're the one who fucked this whole thing, get out." It sounds boring when I describe it like that but I think if you execute it properly, it can be a compelling look at something going wrong and how various characters react to that and understand their role in what's happening-- more compelling than, like, one person being plucked from the frozen section of CoruFresh by the ISB and induced to divulge the location of Kyrimorut via force magic.

Sorry this is super long but I wanted to know what you were thinking for why Kyrimorut is eventually discovered in the unfinished book, and how that can fit in with established themes in the other books or evolve them to portray new ones!

I find it funny when people apologize to me for long anything. Friend, you are perfectly fine, I promise :) I really like your ask.

I also don't think it sounds boring at all! I agree, actually. Small missteps made along the way leading to a complete collapse sounds like a perfect sort of low point in the story, where the survivors all have to individually come to terms with their own failures, go on their own mini-journeys to heal and overcome and shift their perspectives, regroup and re-solidify their bonds, and come back better if not exactly stronger? Especially in a multi-POV series like RepComm, that sort of thing would be perfect, normally. Classic heroine's journey, refracted in a thousand ways across a cracked mirror. I love it.

...more compelling than, like, one person being plucked from the frozen section of CoruFresh by the ISB and induced to divulge the location of Kyrimorut via force magic.

Well-worded, lol. I also agree with you!

The thing is, is I think there's a difference between what I think KT was going to do, what I personally think would have made the most sense for the story and the characters, and what I think would just be the most cathartic thing and the thing I most want to see happen. It's difficult to talk about them in the same breath, but since you asked, I'll try!

...this is very kal skirata critical guys be warned

Ideally, if the book hadn't included Kal Skirata in the way it did, your presentation here would have been just about perfect. I also think it makes the most sense! A thousand small flaws in the wall that bring it all toppling down, and it offers significant room for growth and the spotlight to just about everyone. It's wonderful. There is definitely plenty there that could be used to assign everyone a whole crack of their own, from what’s been mentioned previously about supply lines, to the fact they have two ex-government employees hanging around who are probably listed as kidnapped/jail-broken, the fact Jilka never actually volunteered to be there, the fact Kyrimorut is just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and the garrison is right there, Kom’rk and Jaing’s unease with being locked out leading to them making a few mistakes when they try to get back in, someone on Mandalore rats them out because Kal trusted the wrong person just because they wore the same kind of helmet he did, Isabet Reau comes back with a Vengeance, one of the deserters isn’t actually (and they are pissed everyone here took off and left all their brothers behind), Rede’s whole...deal.

There’s plenty to work with!

Since Kal Skirata as he is does exist, however, I'm sorry to say that what you said here - you're not just pointing at *one person* and saying "yeah you're the one who fucked this whole thing, get out." - is actually kind of what I do want XD and also the thing that would absolutely have never happened.

The thing is, is that we know the other characters are already aware of their own flaws, willing to work to overcome them, and willing to own up when they fuck up. This is established in the story, with one glaring exception that changes the whole game. The only one who doesn't have to eat their own shit in the whole series in a way that could actually get them called out on their nonsense in a not-fun way is Kal.

And, I mean, sure, the whole thing with Darman, right? Except I refuse to actually accept that as a scenario where Kal "owned up to his mistakes". To me, it was a more extreme example of that thing he does where he "owns up" by blurting out shit like "it's because I'm such a terrible father" which is NOT an apology, or even a sincere admission of fault. It has never been.

Okay, hear me out.

The only one who left that confrontation feeling better was Kal. Kal got what he wanted, which was catharsis for his guilty feelings, and all without even having to admit to every aspect of his sins (what a bargain!). He walked out of there satisfied and vindicated that he was Doing Better By His Boys, even as he left Darman - the one he harmed, the one he was supposedly apologizing to, the one whose benefit this conversation was supposedly for - rattled and horrified and so guilty he immediately tried to bury all the misgivings he still had rather than deal with them. Darman got nothing from that conversation. It gave him zero closure, because Kal didn't actually answer him.

And the beating Kal was so determined to let Darman have? Who was that actually for? Who left that interaction with some degree of closure? Because it sure as hell wasn’t Darman. Kal decided letting Darman hurt him was a good way to pay his dues (which is tremendously fucked up in its own ways, but we already know Kal doesn’t have the healthiest way of conceptulatizing his relationships), and he barred intervention from onlookers deliberately so he could go about paying them with no regard for how it was going to impact Darman.

Look, he basically used Darman as a tool to salve his own guilty conscience at the same time he was supposedly meant to be doing better by him. As much as I like seeing Kal finally get punched in the face, Kal wanted it too much, and it hurt Darman too much, because Darman's not the kind of man who would ever be satisfied or okay with harming the people he loves out of anger for any reason. He knows it’s unacceptable, and he spends the rest of the series twisting himself up in knots every time he thinks of it, and too guilty to ever hold Kal accountable for anything again, even for things Kal deserves. That’s not healthy.

So that wasn't Kal owning up to his mistakes. That was Kal wanting to get on with paying his ticket so he could go right back to reckless driving.

Anyway.

So what I would really like to see if I have a choice, is a scenario where Kal actually has to pay up for real, when it's not easy for him, when it’s not on his terms, when it doesn't make him feel better. Where things are fucked up so spectacularly that there is no wiggling out of accepting his fair share of the blame, and he's not going to get pats on the head to make it all better afterward.

And since Kal in the story is so big on hobbling everyone around him by limiting their information and running everything through himself and hoarding secrets and refusing to clearly relay his intentions so people can get on with things without his direct input, so insecure that he has to make himself the indispensable lynch-pin to the family and coincidentally the single point of failure...

Let him.

Let him be that.

And then when that single point of failure that is himself, does, in fact fail, when everything falls apart around his ears, when he's gotten his own people killed in a way that can't be handwaved away, when they're scattered and hurting and when he has fucked up, have him have to eat that. Have his mistake be so awful no one's willing to cut him slack anymore. Have it be so awful there's no way he can make it so the people he harmed have to be the ones reassuring him. Strand him with Vau in the aftermath, maybe, and just him, and cut off from everyone he's got in an emotional stranglehold who might feel obligated to soothe him. Have him have to live with his faults dripping out of Vau's mouth and no way to hide.

Strand the clan in bits and pieces but primarily and most importantly without Kal, and have it be a long time before they're able to re-establish communication with him. Give them long enough to realize exactly what Kal did, not just the mistakes that broke their home, but the damage across a lifetime. Give them time to really feel it.

In this case, you can have characters wounded, or cut off from their usual support systems. Let the Nulls be shaken and scattered, have their usual frequencies, their unusual frequencies, be unreliable, tapped, have them not know how deeply they've been had, and have it take a hell of a lot of time before they can get their feet back under them and regroup. Let them be scattered, but Laseema know how to survive losing everything, how to live with nothing, dragging Kom'rk along behind her. Jilka snapping at a destroyed Fi because she's stressed, okay, and not a soft person by nature, and Fi almost feels like he's home. (Let Fi still have Atin, though, and Corr - don't leave him alone again.) Prudii hurt and alone with a wounded brother Null - A'den maybe, or Jaing, and they have never been hurt this badly before - who won't wake up, sick with terror and fear, getting them somewhere safe but not trusting the hospitals, not knowing who to call, who to trust, for the first time in his life not knowing what to do. But Ny is there too, or Parja, or both, and she has an idea. On and on like that. Ordo alone, maybe, and how that wrecks him - and then how he figures out how to keep going anyway. Solve the problem. Get his clan back. Piece by piece.

Have them have to rely on each other. Trust themselves. Solve each others' problems. Have them build those bonds together and be stronger for it. And when Kal's brought back into the fold in what feels like a lifetime later for all of them, have them not need him.

And if he's forgiven, if he stays, if he gets to rebuild his relationship with his children, that's all dependent on how he handles no longer being their everything.

[kungfuslipper]

All Our Demons

For Repcomm week, day 2: Casualty

Niner / Darman

angst / handjob / character death / suicide / dubcon

Mature, 18+, explicit sexual content

Niner, Darman, Rede, Ennen, (mentioned) Bry, (mentioned) Roly Melusar

Text exchange between IC-1109 Niner and IC-1136 Darman, approximately 2200 on the day of IC-4447 Ennen’s death:

IC-1109: Come back in one piece, will you?

IC-1136: fff Niner nu draar. Im leaving somethingg here.

IC-1109: are you drunk, mir’sheb?

IC-1136: I alrrady left sth here

IC-1109: what are you on about?

IC-1136: Joint op.. Quibbuus. Theres aroom I cant forget about.

IC-1109: … that’s a different place.

IC-1136: same place in my shabla heaD.

IC-1109: come back and tell me about it.

IC-1136: fevkin Ennen,,, vodd.d What a shabla dikut. I ccclda done th sAME THING.

IC-1109: you didn’t.

IC-1136: i hd you.]

...

“Sir, I apologize for what I’m about to say. IC-4447 is dead.”

Roly Melusar did not react. Niner may as well have said he’d submitted his squad’s annual performance evaluations. “How did he die?”

Melusar looked right at Niner, holding eye contact for a moment that ticked by too slowly. His tone was even, but Niner suspected the question was rhetorical.

“Suicide. We … we found him. He’s been examined by medical and taken to the morgue. You’ll have the police report in a couple of hours.” 

Niner had never had to report a squadmate’s death before, but there was a first time for everything. Blaster bolt to the temple. His own weapon. We were just outside when it happened — Dar was inside the ‘fresher. 

Yes, you can ask him. Dar, the MPs need to take your account. No, we didn’t touch anything. 

Melusar rose from where he sat behind his desk. He leaned over the polished surface, supporting his weight on his fingertips. He nodded once, then walked around the desk. “How’s Forty taking it?”

The new squad name went in one ear and out the other. Niner had gotten used to Omega, and he'd get used to Forty, too. 

But he wouldn't get used to the absence of Fi and Atin.

Darman wasn’t taking Ennen's loss well. He’d disappeared off base by himself. He'd always been the type to process things alone, but still, for a commando, isolation wasn't a good sign. 

Rede seemed shocked. Niner could only hope he'd eventually adapt to this tragedy as well as he had to everything else he'd been put through so far. 

“Hard, sir. But we’ll handle it.”

“You always do. Take the next couple of days to yourselves. Don’t worry about the details for now … we’ll find a replacement when you’re ready.”

Niner had come to expect fairness and genuine support from their commander, but all the warm words in the world didn’t make the situation any easier. He felt hollow and robotic. “Thank you, Sir. One other request – Ennen was Corellian. He would have wanted a cremation.”

“Yes of course. Once I receive the formal report we’ll proceed with those arrangements. That won’t be the end of it, unfortunately. We’ll have to endure an investigation – don’t take it personally. Investigation is routine when something like this happens."

The only thing Niner had ever taken personally was his squad’s welfare and performance. He took a breath and clenched his jaw tightly.

"I don’t have to tell you to keep your squad within recall distance.”

“No Sir.”  

“Take care of yourselves, Sergeant. I’ll contact you when I have an update."

Niner saluted, about-faced, and strode out of the office. He’d find Rede and they’d walk the base, kicking up dust and pretending to be doing something other than trying to forget about Ennen.

…

Laundry. Rede stared at Ennen’s pile of hand-me-downs — worn blacks, fatigues, a few civvie shirts and pants. “What will happen to them?” Rede asked suddenly, toeing a red T-shirt. Rede hadn’t been through this before – the coming home to a barracks room and finding nothing but items which had nowhere to belong. Or the rote solemnity of tasks performed to force the emptiness into a structure. Filling the time so you’d make it to tomorrow. Senior leadership misunderstood how soldiers worked, Niner thought. All free time ever did was remind you where you’d gone wrong. 

If they’d been a regular infantry unit, service droids would have cleaned up all evidence that Ennen had ever existed. But commando squads took care of their own – increased autonomy meant self sufficiency. Not a steep price to pay when it meant you could hold on to those you’d lost.

They divided up Ennen’s clothing between them wordlessly. Rede took the civvies and folded them, lingering reverently over his footlocker as if the precision of the folds would make things right. Maybe they wouldn’t, but Rede would have his first pair of civvies out of it. There were plenty more jarring things than seeing a vod in a dead man’s clothes, Niner told himself. That’s how things were done in the squads.

Niner took Ennen’s fatigues for himself and left the backup bodysuit on Darman’s bunk. Dar needed a new one, but superstition dictated wearing your first one until it became more of a hazard to wear it than replace it. Dar's blacks were Bry’s old pair.

Niner rubbed his forehead wearily and beckoned Rede out the door. “That’s sorted. Let’s eat.”

The sun was setting behind the spacescrapers, casting a forest of cool shadows over Core Square. It had been a hot day. The ferrocrete blacktop had begun to release its absorbed sunlight, warming their boots as they walked, like shadows themselves in dark imperial armor. The katarn, an effective insulator, kept them cool enough, and their bodysuits did an adequate job of adapting to body temperature. Niner could feel his sweat being wicked away even as his brow furrowed in worry over Darman’s radio silence. He focused on Rede’s profile as they walked. Under his bucket, Niner knew Rede’s face still looked smooth and youthful. His eyes, normally expressive, sat high and deep under his brow bone. No eye bags, no lines yet, no gray hair. Age would come for Rede, too, but Niner had somehow hoped that he would be spared just a few months longer.

The few years between Rede and the older commandos were enough that Niner noticed. Seeing Rede was like seeing himself as he thought he was, and then realizing he was not that younger man anymore. A few years did a lot to a clone – some of it visible, but most of it not. 

…

Lights out had come and gone, and Darman stumbled into the bedroom, a darker shape in a dark room, briefly illuminated by light filtering in from the hallway. He blundered into the bunk he shared with Niner and put one foot on the ladder’s middle rung. Niner, up to his chin in covers, reached out and grabbed his calf. “Hey. Down here. Rede’s up top.”

“Whaa?”

“I offered,” Niner explained in a hoarse whisper.

“‘Course,” Darman agreed, but he groaned, unstuck his foot from the ladder, and crawled heavily onto the narrow mattress next to Niner, still booted and clothed. Niner turned towards the wall, taking up as little space as possible. “Sorry.” 

He didn’t mind that Darman had to scoot in close to him, or that he rested his hot forehead between Niner’s shoulder blades, huffing as he settled down. Rede snored above them, a loud rattle that drowned out background sounds of sky traffic and the laundry room down the hall. They could have an entire conversation without him hearing.

“Oh fuu, m’ clothes,'' Dar slurred suddenly, and Niner caught a whiff of beer on his breath. Darman sat up, thunking his head on the bunk above. Rede snored on, undisturbed, and Darman continued thrashing and huffing as he tried to pull his shirt off.

“Help me, vod’ika.”

Niner reached blindly for his brother, bumping into bare skin and grabbing onto what he realized was Darman’s back. He slid his hand up, wiggling his fingers experimentally where the edge of Darman’s shirt cut into skin. It had gotten stuck around his lats. “How did you stuff yourself into this?” He asked helpfully.

Darman sighed. “It fit fine earlier. Just get it off me.”

The CSF Social Club, known for its loaded fries, had obviously bloated him on both sodium and booze. 

Niner had to roll over and straddle him from the front, edging his fingers in deeper, before he finally worked Darman’s shirt up and over his head.

“Di’kut,” Niner murmured, pushing him back down onto the bed. He rolled off Darman's lap and settled onto his side again, feeling better about everything with Darman close. He closed his eyes, intent on falling asleep. Dar's chest rose and fell against his back, but he kept moving and twitching, bumping Niner’s legs with his knees.

Niner sighed patiently and focused on the sound of Rede’s snoring. He was interrupted again a moment later by a metallic jingle right behind him. It had to be Darman’s belt buckle. Niner turned, waiting for his eyes to re-adjust to the dark again. He could just make out Darman’s hands fumbling with his belt and then with something else between his legs. “What. What are you doing?”

Dar hissed in frustration, palming himself, yanking on his pants. “Gotta take care of this.” 

This turned out to be his half-hard cock, which was nestled in his open fly. Niner watched, frozen, as his hand dipped into his pants and moved up and down a few times. Then Darman stopped, his face turned toward Niner’s in the dark. Niner swallowed. A brother taking care of himself in the same room wasn’t unusual, but Omega Squad had always given their sergeant a respectful amount of distance when it happened.

Darman seemed to have forgotten this unspoken etiquette, or maybe their relationship had evolved enough that he felt it no longer applied. “Could you … could I – I mean –” he stuttered, face tipped toward his dick, which peeked out of his fist. 

Niner’s mouth dropped open. He probably misses Etain, and I’m the best he’s got. “I don’t think –”

“Fine. Forget I asked.”

Darman sounded tired now, and resolute, and vulnerable in a way Niner had not heard since before …

“You want … me?” As soon as the words left his lips, Niner’s chest began to pound. He’d never been propositioned before. He couldn’t even say where Darman would fall on a list of possible partners, because he didn’t think he had a list. Everyone he met was more or less the same to him – just people, and they all had a job to do. 

“Your hand, maybe?” 

This wasn’t part of the job. Or at least it hadn’t been until now. 

“I don’t know, Dar,” he said, as gently as he could. “I’m probably not the best person to ask.” 

Darman growled, frustrated, and his hand snapped up and down, as if he were trying to yank the stiffness out of his erection. Then he lay down on his side behind Niner, his forehead warm and solid against his back again. Niner sighed. Darman hadn’t pulled his pants back up, which meant the door of opportunity was still open, and all he could think about now was how Dar was lying there behind him with an abandoned boner. 

Niner didn’t know what to do. “I’ll sleep on the floor,” he muttered. He grabbed a blanket, rolling onto his elbow to sit up.

“Lay down,” Darman snapped in a loud whisper. “‘M not that drunk anymore. I know what I’m doing.”

Niner wasn’t convinced. It was difficult to tell which Darman he was dealing with. Was this grieving Dar or couldn’t-care-less Dar? But Niner lay down again, for reasons beyond rationality. They breathed quietly for a minute, each with his own thoughts, and then Niner felt Darman shuffle closer and rock into his backside. He was still hard. And his hand pinned Niner’s hip firmly against his own.

“Udesi, vod,” Niner bit out, but a little shiver crawled up his spine. Something was happening. Maybe he’d never had a list before because no one had ever come quite this close. And Darman wasn’t anyone. He wasn’t just one of his brothers anymore – or even just one of his closest brothers. After Shinarcan Bridge something had changed. The playing field had leveled out in a way that made him want to respond to Dar’s insistent advances. 

Niner reached back, not knowing exactly what he meant to do, and found Darman’s head. He pulled Dar in close, turning to face him, caught by the need to keep him where he was.

“Let go of me, then,” Darman breathed, fanning Niner’s neck with warm air. 

Niner didn’t move.

“You want this, don’t you.”

Niner shuddered, and Darman felt it, because he relaxed, face buried in Niner’s neck. “Please.”

Of all the days, of all the times, Dar.

Darman’s lips on his neck made everything feel fuzzy. He didn't want to let go. So he held on, folding Darman close, breathing deeply against him. Warm little curls of desire unwound as Darman's hips arched into him again, and before he knew it he was letting Darman hump his thigh, and then his open hand; all he had to do was close his fingers.

He had his vod’s cock in his hand on the same day he’d lost another one to his own demons.

All our demons.

Dar’s gentle huffing noises turned tight and desperate as Niner worked him. Then they went ragged and wet with tears as he came, effortlessly, into Niner’s hand. 

Rede hadn’t stopped snoring. Vor entye Manda. He’d seen enough for one day.

Darman drifted off to sleep, and Niner didn’t move for the fresher until he was sure he wouldn’t wake.

@officialrepcomm

[thesummerstorms]

It makes absolute zero sense for Scout, who may I remind you nearly broke her own hand and grabbed a lightsaber blade so as not to lose her sparring matches in her novel, to sit in the kitchen horrified that two women might be playing space-soccer-rugby with the men.

[jacensolodjo]

Some ideas about Wolffe during O66:

Gilroy says Wolffe didn’t remove his chip until some time after the initial Order 66 release. It is not unlikely he was elsewhere with another jedi instead of having to deal with the death of Plo Koon. We know wolffe did NOT kill Plo Koon but nothing says he wouldn’t be accompanying another jedi and kill that one. 

Some time between initial O66 and meeting the Spectres for the Liberation of Lothal the chip was removed. But Gilroy says he had it activated w/ Order 66 for so long this was the main cause of not trusting Kanan and the rest, believing them to want revenge on him, Gregor, and Rex. Slightly implying that Wolffe had killed at least one jedi. 

However, it is also likely he wasn’t around any jedi and nothing said they had to specifically hunt down jedi on their own. It would be the first instance of a clone actually hunting down a jedi, any jedi, to kill for O66. (In ImpComm/RepComm they are shown as doing ‘cleanup’ and having specific targets handed down, not them deciding on their own to find the nearest one to execute.)

The last Jedi Wolffe was seen with prior to Rebels was Aayla. But we know Bly was the one who killed her. So we’re left with no possible known named jedi for him to have killed during O66. 

For all I know he could have been resting on Kamino or something. But I think he learned about Plo sometime between TCW and Rebels. perhaps that is the impetus of the chip removal. Maybe he is one of the few that was able to fight the chip. Who freaking knows. I want to know for sure, dammit. 

[wardensantoineandevka]

“You okay, son?” “Fine, Buir.” “I know things are a mess at the moment, but it’s going to work out. I promise.” It was a lie, because Ordo knew they’d probably spend the rest of their lives on the run with bounties on their heads, never able to drop their guard. Kal’buir had lost count of the number of death warrants out on him. Now they all had one. But a lot of Mandalorians—and others—lived their lives that way, and seemed happy enough. Ordo decided he would be happy with it, too.

Imperial Commando: 501st, Karen Traviss