The Official Alpha, the ARC Troopers and the Commandos Thread

I regard the Nulls as an attempt to bring more real world stuff into Star Wars.

The Nulls are clearly the first expression of "Emo" in the series.

 

emo?

 

Emo is a subtype of music, and the dressing style and attitude that go along with it. Specifically, its a cross between hard punk, goth, and rap. Typically very angsty and whiney. Think Linkin Park and the stuff you see the posers at Hot Topic wearing.

EDIT: here
Removed profanity from the picture link. Please be sure the pics you post follow the same rules as the posts. Thanks!

 

Razzy: you could do worse than google "emo song", if i posted the link here I'd probably get banned sharpish.

>>"slamming on Alpha for his decision during the Kamino battle to destroy the clone embryos (as opposed to letting the Seperatists get them)"<<

In an article/blog, I suppose? Do you have a link to it? (I'm interested to see that particular take on Alpha's decision there, not in any "author bashing" or whutever.)

 

Um, completely off-topic. Please post on-topic or it will be considered spam like this post was.

 

At least we can spell.

 

Well, that was the oddest page i think i've ever read.

 

I guess new characters instead of rehashes is just horrible.

As for Alpha's deicision to destroy the embryos-it was a bad call, and as we see a few panels later, one he didn't need to make.

"Oh. Right. I've got Jedi who can tear metal apart with their minds with me. Oops, forgot about that."

 

>>>Well, that was the oddest page i think i've ever read. <<<

I am unafraid. We already retconned Jawas of Doom, and besides, we have jawajames on our side...

 

The jawa thing was off-topic. Let's try and stay ON-topic, mmm'kay?

 

Tam, it is in the new Odds story. I do not have it handy or I would quote word for word.
Like I said before, I have nothing against the author whatsoever, but I do think that Null ARCs show very anti-Alpha ARC tendencies while showing a very soft spot to the standard clones. Maybe it is just like the Army versus Marines versus SOCOM attitudes. In fact, that is how I figure it is meant.
Of course, maybe PR for the Alpha series is over-rated. They do get a lot of coverage in the comic and the animated Clone Wars, so it's probably time the other 'branches' get acknowledged.
I can see it from both sides, so I am not TRYING to be argumentative, just discussing.

DarthBoba, I personally do not have ANYTHING against new characters, but there are still over half of the ARC troopers that have not been named or chronicled. I would like to see some more of them and see them in the same light we see Null ARCs and Commandos. We are told that they are "pure Jango", but I rarely see anyone say that Jango was too "by the book".

I apologize if I am stepping out of boundaries here, I was just excited to see a new post and a new subject and jumped right in.

 

I don't think Traviss has anything against Alpha ARCs, given her avatar. I wouldn't call them by the book, but the Nulls and some of the RCs are even less by the book.

 

Like Kuk said, it was in Odds...

You're going to give us back our lives, gihaal, me and all my brothers.
Mereel included the Republic commandos, the poor cannon fodder meatcans around him, and even the Alpha ARCs, who'd been ready to kill clone kids to stop the Seps from using them. An vode. They're all my brothers. Even the Alphas.

I rather like this new take on the Alphas from the Nulls' standpoint.
It fits well with what we know about them. After all, they are outsiders and they'll have different opinions about clones who aren't like them. Just look at the phrasing. "Poor cannon fodder meatcans." The Nulls still sympathise with their brothers, no matter who they are, but they also realize that they're different and often times more aware of what is really going on. The way I relate it in my head is like a parent looking at a child. The parent realizes that the child's games are nothing of real consequence, but the child does them anyway. The parent still loves the child, but they know that what they see isn't reality.

 

I checked through Triple Zero, and here are the ARC Trooper references I found. There are probably more that I missed, but this was a quick search.

"They had to remove what made Jango a selfish loner, because that makes a bad infantry soldier, and you can tell from the Alpha ARCS that the Kaminoans weren't wrong."

"Typical ordinary ARC. Typical stubborn ARC."

"You can't convince Alpha ARCs of anything by rational argument. They're every bit as obtuse and impulsive as Fett, believe me."

"Clone troopers are well disciplined. Even the Alpha-batch ARC troopers?surly though they are?are predictable, in the sense that Fett gave them precise orders that they continue to obey. But the commando batches are almost as unpredictable as the Nulls, and the Nulls are as good as being Skirata private army."

After looking at these as stand-alone sentences, it really isn't as bad as it seems. So Alphas are selfish, stubborn, obtuse, impulsive, surly, and predictable loners. I can live with that.

 

Well, they were trained by a Mandalorian...

 

Okay, I'm catchin' up on this Mandalorian/clone obsession business.

I finished Hard Contact today. (I picked it up mistakingly thinking it was the first Republic Commando, and didn't realize it until I got it home.) I have to say, I like Traviss's style overall. However, I don't think Hard Contact differentiated among its featured identical jar-brothers as well as Cestus Deception did. The characterization of the commandos seemed rather flat (ie. one is serious, one is jocular, one has a scar, etc.). Maybe I just like ARCs better.

One thing they do have in common though. The middles of both of these books dragged for me. For a hundred fleeting pages, I wondered if I was maybe reading a book based on a video game or something.

Somewhere close to the end, my interest came back up. The ending was great.

Etain Tur-Makan ended up developing into a halfway interesting character. I almost believed that spending a couple days with a commando contributed more to her growth in the Force than any time with her Master, as she claims at the end. (How crappy must Fulier have been.)

Ghez Hokan was a good concept for a villain, but I think a little background would have gone a long way. Not enough development for this guy. I like the way he went out though.

Karen's celebrated pro-clone/Mando--anti-Jedi bias didn't really slap me in the face until the end either. But she made up for it by slapping hard. Is this just revenge for the references to clone bigotry scattered throughout the post-ROTJ EU?

I liked the quotes that began every chapter. It made the transitions--especially through the slower portions of the book--a lot more interesting.

The only thing I thought was missing from this book was a glossary of Mando'a terms, which I found out is in the other two. So I guess I'm not hurting too bad, considering there weren't that many, and the only one that got much screen-time was di'kut. But while I'm on it, what the heck is up with di'kut? Is it really something your average Mandalorian says at least ten times every hour? I just don't feel the sting.

Note: you know you've spent too much time in the GFFA when you're noticing the typos in Huttese. (Ap-mai keepuna should be ap-xmasi keepuna, the x being a wet lip smack. There was no lip-smacking. Okay, so this could have potentially been a character mispronunciation. Saberdart me, why dontcha?)

There was also one really good joke in here that is going on my signature. If I ever get around to typing it in.

All in all, I'd say it was well written and enjoyable, worth a 6.9/10, which is high praise considering I was struggling to stay awake through a third of it. That could just be me and my lack of patience with battlefield soap opera. Brings back bad memories of Jedi Trial. Still entertaining. Not bad, Karen, not bad.

Fandos, is it worth going back to the original RC before I hit up Triple Zero?

<Edit> Sorry to post this here...I belatedly realized a lit review thread would be better. Unfortunately, the one for Hard Contact is locked. So...forgive me?

 

Hard Contact is the first Republic Commando book, there have only been two so far...

 

Hi-rez Muunilinst Ten pics!
Unfortunately, it appears they recycled the old ARC heads, which have strangely long necks on the new trooper bodies, plus the articulation doesn't look so good.
But I'm still gonna buy 'em!
EDIT: Fordo also seems to be missing his antenna....

 

Scorch gets a mini and RPG stats!

First an action figure, and now this. Man, he's one lucky clone.



Edit: A preview in Inquest also seems to indicate we're getting Boss...

 

Dammit, stop beating me to it RF!

E_S

 

In a vaguely related question, how old is Etain suppossed to be? Becasue I got the impression she was 13-14 years old, but if so that makes Triple Zero REALLY messed up.

 

Why? I mean, the clones are only about 11...



>>>Dammit, stop beating me to it RF! <<<

Fwa ha ha ha ha!

 

You know, now that I think about it, the accelerated growth should be a dominant trait. It needs to override the usual built in bits that keep your body at the right size instead of constantly grwoing, like some fish do. Which when you consider cell growth and carrying capacity, really brings into question some stuff about the clones growth, and more importantly the likelyhood of miscarriages for clone children.

 

She's supposed to be about 18-19.

 

I'm just suprised the Kaminoans didn't sterilize the clones.