Comments | sw_saga_drabble: Why They Fight

compass_ink in sw_saga_drabble

Why They Fight - Clones, Geonosians (RotE)

Nov 22, 2009 01:35

Title: Why They Fight
Prompt: Important
Characters: Clone troopers, Geonosian warriors
Era: Rise of the Empire
Rating: PG
Word Count: 400
Warnings: None really. It's battle, but not gory.
Author's Note: I've never been able to see redshirt characters as blank slates, whether they're on the good guy or bad guy team. Takes place during "Landing at ( Read more... )

character: clone troopers (unnamed), era: rise of the empire, character: geonosians (unnamed), author: compass_ink, prompt: important

Comments 5

ansketil_rose November 22 2009, 20:57:12 UTC

Wonderful, gritty anc chilling. I really liked:

They can hear the screams as the transport that had been flying beside them spews smoke and flame, plummeting mercilessly towards the surface

The mirror image of the Geonosians and the clones; how divorced both side is from the ideology of the conflict; brothers and sisters - united in their fear and determination...

ansketil_rose November 22 2009, 20:57:46 UTC

anc = and (*headdesk*)

compass_ink November 23 2009, 02:08:29 UTC

That really struck me while I was watching the episode--seeing a transport be shot down is one thing, but when you could hear the men inside screaming as it goes down really has an incredible impact. It was definitely the most brutal battle on the series so far.

And yeah, when you think about it the clone troopers and the Geonosians are really not that different--just on opposite sides. They're both born to fight, literally, but they're still sentient, thinking beings.

(The comment has been removed)

compass_ink November 23 2009, 02:26:56 UTC

I really wish they did a better job with the Geonosians. Battle droids should not be getting more characterization than a race of sentient beings.

It is kind of meta; I tend to feel like this whenever I see nameless soldier characters getting mowed down in any fiction. When I was writing this I kept thinking of the dedication from Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett: "Their job is to rush in, one at a time, and be slaughtered by the hero. Nobody ever asks them if they wanted to." It's something that applies to the clones and Geonosians so much more deeply than most redshirt/mook groups because they have never had a choice. From the day they were conceived they were meant to fight and die in battle, and they don't actually get the freedom they're supposedly fighting for--so all they truly fight for is each other.

drakeguard November 23 2009, 15:43:54 UTC

Wow, Geonosian's and Clones, in an episode I thought was a nice difference from the norm in the way of episodes. You hit home what both sides had to fight for, that while they may be physically different they share the same beliefs in what they fight for. How this isn't focused on just one or two characters but the groups as wholes if a very nice difference as well.