[TARGETS] Dad and his son

[mamuzzy]

|| Republic Commando: Targets || 2005 || Short story || Military, Sci-fi || 18+ for violence and harrowing themes ||

I AM NOT NORMAL ABOUT KAL AND ORDO OKAY???? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Okay okay okay. Cool down. coolcoolcoolcoolcool.

So in this short story YOU DON'T KNOW what exactly is is the relationship between Ordo and Kal. But with the knowledge of the whole series, this whole bickering between them is just so subtle and yet so intense.

Ordo is so professional and he knows his job, he knows what he has to do, what he should do in this mission. UNTIL Kal signs up as someone who bring in provisions to the Haruun Kal group. Then Ordo immediately changes his mind about his own task:

“I think I should be doing that, Sergeant,” said Ordo.

“Yeah, like they’d succumb to your natural charm.”
(...)

“With respect, you’ll just add another complication,” said Ordo.

Skirata sipped his caf without looking up. “If you mean that my boys will have to worry about shooting me by accident, then it’s simple. They won’t worry about it. Acceptable losses.”

Ordo immediately goes into overprotective son mode. He should be the one inside instead of Kal.
And then it's one thing that Kal BURNS Ordo in front of everyone, but also Ordo calling him a COMPLICATION in the plan just to hold him back. This psychological game between them!!!!

But also without KNOWING their familial bond between them: YOU KNOW that Ordo is a captain here outranking Skirata. And Skirata is a sergeant. And Ordo OBEYS to Kal instead of Kal obeying to him. 

Also we have this one:

“Yeah, like they’d succumb to your natural charm.” Skirata began checking the pockets in his rumpled jacket. He extracted something that looked like a hearing enhancer—no, it was a hearing enhancer. Fi had always doubted Skirata’s hearing was perfect, and now he knew. “Atin, can you pick up my enhancer’s signal? I hate this thing. But it does come in handy.”

“It’ll do,” said Atin, stabbing his finger into a small receiver in his palm. “Are you really deaf?”

“A bit deaf. Just like you’d be if you hung around live-fire ranges without a helmet for too long.”
----------------------------
Ordo and Skirata looked at each other as if some common bond had sprung up from nowhere. Fi wondered if they had some comlink of their own: Skirata occasionally slipped something into his ear and removed it again. Ordo cocked his head but Skirata smiled tightly and without humor.

THAT THING is a hearing enhancer, not a comlink. But also this quote with the common bond. Kal and Ordo looks at each other and they communicate without words. They know each other from the inside. Their thoughts, their reactions, their emotions.

I'm not normal about them okay???

Comments

[kradeelav]

hehehe i'm so happy for you getting to the good stuff here. <3 my gosh i love seeing these quotes here, i forgot how good the banter was especially with skirata involved. when he gets involved all the power dynamics get so much more deliciously complex. XD

also lol at the hearing enhancer bit. kind of cute he's slightly defensive about it and not some all-hearing god. :p

[mamuzzy]

This is my first time reading Targets to the end, and I had no idea how intense they were in this already. Ordo being overprotective and Kal is this "if i die then i die" kind of person, oh boy, I can imagine that he is the reason half of Ordo's greyings. :D

And yes, he is so cute XD Curse of the warrior. His body reminding him that he is not young anymore.