Welp, here it is. Part four of the disaster story that is The Nameless Commander. I had this done like a week after I finished chapter 3, and then I realized I was ruining all my character development, so I had to scrap a lot of it. If you read chapter 3 before November 25, 2021, go back and reread it. It's important. If you didn't, continue on.
"Sir, yes, sir."
Tup heard Commander Cody gasp and wondered why. What was so shocking? The commander had bleached hair, so what? Plenty of clones dyed their hair.
Krell stomped away and the Nameless Commander followed behind him. One 304th clone reached out his hand but the Commander shot him a look and he pulled it back.
As the door closed behind the general and commander, Tup could hear whispered confusion spreading between the men. The 304th men were clearly afraid, but why?
Commander Cody's face was twitching in a way that Tup would describe as anxious if the commander was capable of being anxious.
"'67," the commander murmured, most likely not intending someone else to hear.
Tup looked over, trying to find Dogma. Maybe he would know what was going on. He spotted him near the 304th, then pinged him over their coms.
Private Chat
Tup'ika: Dogma?
DogmaticallyOlder: We're on duty, Tup
Tup'ika: i need to talk to u
Tup'ika: and quit changing my username
DogmaticallyOlder: I'm older and you know it
DogmaticallyOlder: What do you need?
Tup'ika: u know what's up with 304th brothers?
DogmaticallyOlder: They aren't doing a lot of talking right now
DogmaticallyOlder: One said something in Mando'a
DogmaticallyOlder: Try to find an older brother to translate it
*DogmaticallyOlder has attached audio file -helmetaudiorecord (326).jpg-*
Tup'ika: why did u record it?
DogmaticallyOlder: I record everything
DogmaticallyOlder: I have to go
Tup'ika: ttyl
Emerging from the private world his helmet afforded him, Tup noticed that while the 501st and 212th men had begun to mill around, the 304th had barely moved, their helmets all fixed on the door General Krell and the Nameless Commander had gone through.
Just as Tup began to join the 304th men, the door opened and a solitary figure emerged.
The Nameless Commander walked in slowly, painstakingly, each step seeming to take a great deal of effort, still holding his helmet. As he neared, heading for his men, Tup noticed his face. It was covered in red marks that would surely bruise within the next few rotations, one eye swollen almost shut, and a few places were leaking blood. None of them had been there before.
Almost as one, Kix and Commander Cody lunged forward, pushing past other clones until they were in front of the Nameless Commander. Unconsciously, Tup found himself edging closer.
"Commander," Kix almost shouted, "what happened to you?"
"I am perfectly alright, medic." The Commander's voice was so robotic, Tup could almost imagine him saying 'roger, roger.' He'd never heard a brother's voice sound like that before.
"Sir, your eye looks pretty bad and those cuts need to be cleaned."
"I'm fine," the Commander repeated.
"Sir, with all due respect, you are most certainly not fi‒"
"I said I'm fine!" the Nameless Commander snapped, then flinched at his own words. Bending down, he picked up his helmet and jammed it on, obscuring his face once more. "I am not in any need of medical attention, so let me be on my way… please." The last word was barely audible.
Tup had known Kix long enough to see every medic instinct his brother had raising an outcry within him, but something‒maybe that one whispered word‒won where every single argument from the general and Fives had done absolutely nothing. "Alright."
The medic walked off but Cody stood rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on the figure before him. "'67…"
The Nameless Commander stiffened and began to back up, ever so slowly. The 212th clone spoke again, his voice more vulnerable than Tup had ever heard it. "'67, don't you remember me? What's going on?"
"I do not wish to speak with you."
"Tell me what's going on, '67." Cody reached out a hand. "Tell your ori'vod."
The Commander continued to back away. "Don't." His voice was almost pleading. "Please... just don't."
"You're my vod'ika, '67. Let me help you."
"Stop, Kot‒!" The Nameless Commander's words skidded to a halt, then he restarted, all the emotion gone again. "Commander, I have no wish to speak with you. I request that you leave me alone."
With that, he marched off, his men opening a path for him, closing ranks the moment he was through.
Cody stood still for a moment, before he seemed to come to a decision. "I'm going to my quarters, Waxer," he called, walking away. "See that I'm not disturbed."
Tup could practically feel the cogs in his fellow soldiers' minds whirring. Raised in an isolated and restrictive facility where the only news was what a brother whispered to your between training or what you overheard being whispered between other brothers, the clones possessed a highly tuned sense of gossip. The joint rumor mill of the 501st and 312th was especially busy.
And whatever had just happened would probably reach every man in the base in a matter of minutes.
Tup walked down a corridor, fascinated by the Umbaran architecture. The lights seemed more like a glow than a shine and everything was cast in a faint sheen of blue.
He passed by a dark passageway and caught a glimpse of white. Backtracking, the white was confirmed to be a brother, sitting on the ground with his helmeted head between his knees. Tup couldn't see any markings of orange or blue, which meant this was a 304th clone. As he got closer, drawn for some reason, the brother lifted his head and he saw scarlet markings.
"Can I do something for you?" the Nameless Commander asked, his voice oddly thick.
"Uhhh, well, uhhh..." Tup tried to think of the reason he was there. "I was wondering… what the stuff on your helmet was?"
The Commander made a sound that might've been a laugh, might've been a sob, before taking his helmet off. His eyes darted between the entrance points nervously. He pointed to the scarlet markings on it. "These?"
Tup slid down to sit behind him. "Yeah, what are they?"
"Jai'galaar'lasur'haii'se."
"Oh, right, of course. Obviously."
The Commander's mouth twitched. "Jaig eyes." Tup's face remained blank. "Shriek-hawk eyes."
"Cool! What's that?"
"You don't know what they are?"
"Should I?"
"Didn't you ever listen to Prime? Or the Mandalorian trainers?"
"I never really saw Prime and none of the Mandalorian trainers were involved with my squad."
"Hmmm." The Commander seemed to think for a moment, before moving on. "Did none of your ori'vode ever tell you The Stories?"
"What does ori'vode mean?"
The Commander's eyes widened. "You don't know? How old are you?"
"Eighth cycle, sir," Tup answered, confused.
"Is this your first campaign, trooper?"
"Second, actually."
Visibly paled, the Commander winced. "Just like CT-4746," he whispered.
"Who?"
"Nothing." The Commander resumed his previous tone. "Ori'vode means 'older brother.'
"Oh. Well, most of my older brothers‒I mean, ori'vode‒were sent off by the time they were in ninth cycle or even earlier, so I never really interacted with ones who would have heard, um, The Stories."
"I see."
"So what would The Stories have told me about 'jaig eyes?'" Tup asked, starting to get drawn in. Something about the way the Commander spoke of The Stories fascinated him.
"Jaig eyes are a part of Mandalorian culture. An alor-clan leader- might award them to a warrior who showed tremendous bravery in battle."
"And you did something brave enough to earn them?"
"I was told I did."
Tup whistled quietly. To his shame, he didn't really know much about Prime's people, but he did know that they were considered great warriors, brave as a matter of course. For the Nameless Commander to have earned marks signifying bravery to the Mandalorians, he must've done something almost inhumanly brave.
The Nameless Commander stood up then, clearly ready for the conversation to be over. Tup followed suit and the Commander's helmet turned towards him, the black visor somehow holding some indecipherable emotion in it.
"I enjoyed the talk, sir."
Nodding, the Commander walked down the corridor. Towards the end, he turned around. "Goodbye, Tup."
As the Commander disappeared around a corner, Tup just stood there. He'd never given his name.
Behind him, footsteps sounded and he felt someone's presence behind him. "Ay, Tup, what's up?" It was Jesse.
"Jesse, could you do a favor for me?" he asked abruptly.
"Sure, kid," Jesse answered, apparently unfazed. "Whatcha need?"
"Could you translate an audio recording for me?"
"Okay."
Private Chat
JessTheMess: Send it here
*Tup'ika has attached audio file -helmetaudiorecord (326).jpg-*
Jesse's head tilted as he played the file, so Tup, having forgotten about Dogma's recording, played it in his own helmet.
"...ru'cuyi ori'droten ti'mhi. Ara'nov ven'amu."
"Aay'han gaa'tayl mhi. Partayli bes'ol."
"Ni baati'kaysh."
It meant nothing to him, but maybe it would to Jesse. "So? What were they saying?"
Removing his helmet, the older clone dragged a hand across his tattooed face. "The first one said, '...there was a crowd with us. Defense will die.' The other said, 'Bittersweet remembrance helps us. Remember the priority,' and then the first said, 'I worry about him.'
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know." Jesse's face hardened. "But I intend to find out."
Did you know that literally translating English into Mando'a is really hard?
ori'vod - older brother
vod'ika - little brother
ori'vode - older brothers
jai'galaar'lasur'haii'se - shriek-hawk eyes
alor - ;eader, chief, "officer", constable, boss
ru'cuyi ori'droten ti'mhi - "there was big people with us" (ori'droten is a term I crafted from 'ori' [big] and 'droten' [people] to form a term for crowd)
Ara'nov ven'amu - "Defense will die" (what did he mean by that? who knows?)
Aay'han gaa'tayl mhi - "Remembering and Celebration helps us" (again, what does he mean?)
Partayli bes'ol - "remember priority" (what priority?)
Ni baati'kaysh - "I worry for him"