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mamuzzy || Republic Commando: Hard Contact || 2004 || Book series || Military, Sci-Fi || 18+ for violence and harrowing themes ||
Think of yourselves as a hand. Each of you is a finger, and without the others you’re useless. Alone, a finger can’t grasp, or control, or form a fist. You are nothing on your own, and everything together.
The chapter started with a Skirata-quote and I liked how Darman reflected on it that commandos are only functional together. But then you have the ARC troopers who are trained to be solitary fighters. If they can fight and think alone, why can't he? And I think this initiative shows through Darman when he gets before the dilemma of helping those farmers.
So what was the reason Darmad helped in the first place? I think it was the feeling of responsibility. Darman felt responsible for their current misery, caused by Hokan's men, given they were searched for Republic troops. Maybe we can say that Darman had guilt. What ultimately made him run for the attack is that he thought about the long-term positive consequences of his interference: maybe these people are not Republic citizens. But one day they could be.
And then the quote from Arligan Zey came into mind from Chapter 2:
The intro quote made me think about another thing how the Skirata-commandos commonly agreed upon not leaving Darman behind, while Atin was reluctant to accept this. Darman interpreted Skirata's teaching that the commandos are NOTHING without each other, therefore they are good as dead and yet he tried to go against this notion by thinking like an ARC Trooper, get his shit together and not losing hope alone and then taking initiative (although the result backfired on him); also Darman prioritized Niner's individual safety, then the mission, so the overall team's safey fell behind the priority list.
But I love think about the possibility how could have Niner interpreted his teachings and I got my answer from a later scene in this chapter:
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
You never leave your mates behind.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
Think of yourselves as a hand. Each of you is a finger, and without the others you’re useless. Alone, a finger can’t grasp, or control, or form a fist. You are nothing on your own, and everything together.
—Commando instructor Sergeant Kal Skirata
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
You are nothing on your own, and everything together. He’d been raised to think, function, even breathe as one of a group of four. He could do nothing else.
But ARCs always operate alone, don’t they?
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
Nothing in his training corresponded to what he was witnessing. There was not a memory, a pattern, a maneuver, or a lesson that flashed in his mind and told him how this should be played out. Civilian situations were outside his experience. Nor were these citizens of the Republic: they weren’t anyone’s citizens.
His training taught him not to be distracted by outside issues, however compelling.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
In this entry I want to talk about how Darman is breaking through the protokolls that was beaten into his head during training in order to be able to make independent decisions for himself and the civilians he encountered. •───────•°•❀•°•───────•
The chapter started with a Skirata-quote and I liked how Darman reflected on it that commandos are only functional together. But then you have the ARC troopers who are trained to be solitary fighters. If they can fight and think alone, why can't he? And I think this initiative shows through Darman when he gets before the dilemma of helping those farmers.
So what was the reason Darmad helped in the first place? I think it was the feeling of responsibility. Darman felt responsible for their current misery, caused by Hokan's men, given they were searched for Republic troops. Maybe we can say that Darman had guilt. What ultimately made him run for the attack is that he thought about the long-term positive consequences of his interference: maybe these people are not Republic citizens. But one day they could be.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
But there was still some urge in him that said Do something.
(...)
It didn’t take a genius to work it out. The sprayer had exploded on landing, detonating any demolition ordnance that Darman hadn’t been able to cram into his packs. The Weequay patrol hadn’t called in when their masters had expected. Now the humans—farmers—were being punished and threatened, and it was all to do with him. The Separatists were looking for him.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
But there was still some urge in him that said Do something.
(...)
It didn’t take a genius to work it out. The sprayer had exploded on landing, detonating any demolition ordnance that Darman hadn’t been able to cram into his packs. The Weequay patrol hadn’t called in when their masters had expected. Now the humans—farmers—were being punished and threatened, and it was all to do with him. The Separatists were looking for him.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
They could be Republic citizens, one day.
They could be allies now.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
And then the quote from Arligan Zey came into mind from Chapter 2:
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
Clone personnel have free will, even if they do follow orders. If they couldn’t think for themselves, we’d be better off with droids—and they’re a lot cheaper, too. They have to be able to respond to situations we can’t imagine.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
The intro quote made me think about another thing how the Skirata-commandos commonly agreed upon not leaving Darman behind, while Atin was reluctant to accept this. Darman interpreted Skirata's teaching that the commandos are NOTHING without each other, therefore they are good as dead and yet he tried to go against this notion by thinking like an ARC Trooper, get his shit together and not losing hope alone and then taking initiative (although the result backfired on him); also Darman prioritized Niner's individual safety, then the mission, so the overall team's safey fell behind the priority list.
But I love think about the possibility how could have Niner interpreted his teachings and I got my answer from a later scene in this chapter:
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
You never leave your mates behind.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
