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|| Republic Commando: Triple Zero || 2006 || Book series || Military, Sci-fi || 18+ for violence and harrowing themes ||
Kal not just gotten sentimental and lost all his professional attitude toward this job, he lowered his guard around the kids. I mean, who wouldn't? But Kal decided they are just little kids. Nothing out of ordinary (if we don't count that they are 6 mini-jangos)
I think this was GENUINE. Ordo PROTECTED his brothers from the adults. But still, the boys are continuously gave those signals, that they were harmed, tormented, and are scared. They are looking vulnerable in Kal's eyes.
Orun Was says they are DEFECTIVE and the reason they are deemed defective that they are not obedient. They don't obey to orders. They are not reliable. They cannot be trusted.
I think this is straightforward, they wanted to find a potential way to escape somehow.
Kal heard the word terminated and he totally went berserk. It's like he didn't even recognized what he heard. For him, these kids were still vulnerable and scared kids, and evil people wanted to execute these kids.
Kal NOW physhically stood in front of the children so HE can protect them with his own body if needed.
A physical contact was made. Kal's one hand got occupied.
The little boys getting really physical with him.
AND THEN IT HAPPENS:
Jango indeed got his surprise:
Okay, the entry of the Nulls is just brilliant.
It really shows that we are not seeing ordinary children here. They are not harmless. They are not someone to be underestimated. They are already trained to kill, and now these people want to get rid of them. Except this one singular dumbass, Kal Skirata...
But let's go back to the start:
“Well, I'm keeping my end of the deal?” Skirata adjusted the fifteen-centimeter, three-sided blade that he always kept sheathed in his jacket sleeve. Two Kaminoan technicians walked serenely across the floor of the facility beneath him. Nobody had searched him and he felt better for having a few weapons located for easy use, including the small hold-out blaster tucked in the cuff of his boot.
The knife is actually very important to Kal, but the centerpiece of the scene is actually the blaster of his boot.
Skirata was not a man who easily fell prey to sentimentality. But this did the job just fine.
They were children: not soldiers, not droids, and not units. Just little kids. They had curly black hair and were all dressed in identical dark blue tunics and pants. He was expecting grown men.
Kal not just gotten sentimental and lost all his professional attitude toward this job, he lowered his guard around the kids. I mean, who wouldn't? But Kal decided they are just little kids. Nothing out of ordinary (if we don't count that they are 6 mini-jangos)
The boys huddled together, and it ripped at Skirata's heart in a way he wasn't expecting. Two of the kids clutched each other, looking up at him with huge, dark, unblinking eyes: another moved slowly to the front of the tight pack as if barring Orun Wa's path and shielding the others.
Oh, he was. He was defending his brothers. Skirata was devastated.
I think this was GENUINE. Ordo PROTECTED his brothers from the adults. But still, the boys are continuously gave those signals, that they were harmed, tormented, and are scared. They are looking vulnerable in Kal's eyes.
“These units are defective, and I admit that we perhaps made an error in attempting to enhance the genetic template,” Orun Wa said, utterly unmoved by their vulnerability.
(...)
“Chief Scientist Ko Sai apologizes, as do I,” said Orun Wa. “Six units did not survive incubation, but these developed normally and appeared to meet specifications, so they have undergone some flash-instruction and trials. Unfortunately, psychological testing indicates that they are simply too unreliable and fail to meet the personality profile required!”
“Which is?” said Jango.
“That they can carry out orders:'
Orun Was says they are DEFECTIVE and the reason they are deemed defective that they are not obedient. They don't obey to orders. They are not reliable. They cannot be trusted.
The kids' gaze darted between Skirata and Jango, and the doorway, and all around the room, as if they were checking for an escape or appealing for help.
I think this is straightforward, they wanted to find a potential way to escape somehow.
Then Skirata registered terminated and his instinct reacted before his brain.
His clenched fist was pressed against Orun Wa's chest in a second and the vile unfeeling thing jerked his head backward.
“You touch one of those kids, you gray freak, and I'll skin you alive and feed you to the aiwhas—”
Kal heard the word terminated and he totally went berserk. It's like he didn't even recognized what he heard. For him, these kids were still vulnerable and scared kids, and evil people wanted to execute these kids.
He yanked his arm out of Jango's grip and stepped back in front of the children. They were utterly silent. He dared not look at them. He fixed on Orun Wa.
Kal NOW physhically stood in front of the children so HE can protect them with his own body if needed.
Skirata half turned to check on them, and their gazes were locked on him: it was almost an accusation. He glanced away, but took a step backward and put his hand discreetly behind him to place his palm on the head of the boy defending his brothers, just as a helpless gesture of comfort.
But a small hand closed tightly around his fingers instead.
A physical contact was made. Kal's one hand got occupied.
“No, they're not units.” The little hand was grasping his for dear life. He reached back with his other hand and another boy pressed up against his leg, clinging to him. It was pitiful. “And I can train them.”
The little boys getting really physical with him.
AND THEN IT HAPPENS:
And then the little lad grasping his leg suddenly snatched the hold-out blaster from Skirata's boot. Before he could react the kid had tossed it to the one who'd been clinging to his hand in apparent terror.
The boy caught it cleanly and aimed it two-handed at Orun Wa's chest.
“Fierfek.” Jango sighed. “Put it down, kid.”
But the lad wasn't about to stand down. He stood right in front of Skirata, utterly calm, blaster raised at the perfect angle, fingers placed just so with the left hand steadying the right, totally focused. And deadly serious.
Skirata felt his jaw drop a good centimeter. Jango froze, then chuckled.
“I reckon that proves my point,” he said, but he still had his eyes fixed on the tiny assassin.
Jango indeed got his surprise:
“We could do with a few wild cards,” Jango said carefully, moving between Skirata and the Kaminoan. “It's good to have some surprises up your sleeve for the enemy."
The boys realized that Kal Skirata is the weak link among the adults. And also with a gun in hand's reach. And they used this to their advantage. I think they were able to connect that Kal is TOUCHED by their presence. That this vulnerability lowers Kal's defense more and more. And it worked. Kal DID NOT EXPECT this to happen, that he will be played like this.
But even if they deceived Kal, his kind heart wasn't unrecognized by the Nulls after all...
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Date: 2026-04-04 01:17 am (UTC)From:I mean they are smart, they are effective predators, they very well know what looking harmless and sad makes others around them friendly towards them, they have natural talent to identify the weak link... Yet still getting emotionally attached to their favourite person who serves them with their everything...