Darman Skirata

Darman Skirata, formally known as RC-1136 during service to the Galactic Republic, later as IC-1136 after its reorganization into the Galactic Empire, and affectionately known as Dar, was a clone commando of the Grand Army of the Republic and member of Theta Squad, Omega Squad, and Squad 40. He was formally adopted by his training sergeant Kal Skirata. After the Clone Wars ended he was unable to escape to Mandalore with his squad mates and remained on Coruscant with Niner (RC-1309). They were both absorbed into the Imperial Army's 501st Legion after the formation of the Empire.
==Biography==
Darman was a Republic Commando assigned to Theta Squad and trained by Sergeant Kal Skirata. During his first mission on Geonosis, Darman lost contact with his squad mates and called for each man personally over the comm; none replied. He waited until the last LAAT/i left to see if his squad mates would return, but was forced to acknowledge that all other members of Theta Squad had been killed. Darman was re-assigned to Omega Squad along with Niner RC-1309, Fi RC-8015, and Atin RC-3222. He was considered their demolitions expert. He served alongside his squad members until the end of the Clone Wars, when half the squad deserted to Mandalore.
===Mission to Qiilura===
Omega Squad was tasked with destroying a bio-weapons facility on the planet Qiilura. The Separatists were supporting Dr. Ovolot Qail Uthan, a microbiologist, in her work to design a nanovirus that would target all Fett clones. Upon insertion into Qiilura Darman was separated from his squad and was presumed dead by the other Omegas. After landing on the planet, Darman met up with Jedi Padawan Etain Tur-Mukan, who had no knowledge of the new clone army or of her new status as a commander. The two managed to work together and with the help of Jinart, a shape shifting Gurlanin, they reunited with Omega Squad. With Darman, Omega Squad assaulted the bioweapons facility, retrieved the Clone nanovirus, and captured Doctor Ovolot Qail Uthan.
Despite the mission's ultimate success, it almost ended in disaster. Omega's armor and weapons were disabled by an EMP pulse, and they were almost killed by the Dr. Uthan's Mandalorian minder Ghez Hokan. In addition, Dr. Uthan and Atin were critically wounded by a round from a Verpine rifle; Atin spent a month in bacta as a result.
During the mission Darman and Etain formed a close bond of friendship. Etain heavily relied on Darman's commando training to help them survive on the Separatist-controlled planet, and Darman in turn relied on Etain's Force skills to help them avoid danger. At the mission's end Etain offered Darman the option to stay with her on Qiilura to help her and Jedi Arligan Zey clear the planet of Separatists, but Darman chose to remain with his squad.
===Galactic City spaceport hostage siege===
A month after the Qiilura mission, Omega Squad was stationed at the Arca Company Barracks on Coruscant, where they were called upon to defuse a terrorist siege at a local spaceport. With help from Kal Skirata and the Null ARC Captain Ordo, they were able to remedy the situation.
===Mission to the Corellian-Perlemian Intersection===
367 standard days after the Battle of Geonosis, Omega Squad was tasked to interdict and detain the occupants of a Gizer L-6 freighter. After boarding the craft, they managed to subdue the crew and take some prisoners. Unfortunately their own ship, along with their pilot Sicko was shot down by a civilian freighter, Nova Crystal who mistook them for a pirate vessel. The attack caused several hull breaches in the L-6 and left Omega stranded.
A Red Zero call was immediately issued and both the RAS Fearless and Delta Squad responded to the call. Delta Squad was the first to arrive in a Neimoidian shuttle and dock with the crippled craft. They successfully evacuated the prisoners and Omega Squad while the RAS Fearless provided cover and destroyed an attacking Neimoidian starship that had also responded. Darman would find himself reunited with Etain aboard the Fearless.
===Mission to Coruscant===
Due to the increasing terrorist activities on Coruscant, Omega and Delta squad were handpicked by Kal for a special black ops mission. Omega and Delta united with training Sergeant Walon Vau, Ordo, Jedi Knights Bardan Jusik and Etain for the mission.
The team established Qibbu's Hut as their base of operations. It was during this time that Darman and Etain decided to have a relationship and ignore the rules prohibiting it. Unbeknownst to Darman, Etain became pregnant with their son. Kal pretended to be a black-market explosive dealer and the terrorists soon took the bait. After several contacts with the terrorist network, an exchange was soon scheduled. Led by Ordo, the team consisted of Mereel, Kal, Omega and Delta Squad. Their objective was to neutralize the terrorist cell that would show up for the exchange while a separate team would go for the other cells.
The team managed to kill fifteen out of twenty-six terrorists almost immediately, while the survivors retreated to a warehouse. The survivors made a last, final gambit and attempted to trick the commandos with a false surrender. Darman was nearly killed in their attempt by a flame projector. Fortunately his Katarn-class commando armor managed to protect him against the attack. All of the terrorists were killed during the second firefight.
The two teams completed their missions without any loss. They regrouped at their base and celebrated their victory.
===Mission to Gaftikar===
Darman traveled to Gaftikar with Omega squad to help with a rebellion against the CIS loyal government. While there, he found AWOL ARC Trooper Sull, who he and Atin captured and brought him to the commanding Null ARC A'den stationed at Gaftikar. The Null let the AWOL ARC escape and Darman traveled to the former home of the AWOL ARC trooper to collect any signs of him being there. While he was doing so, two Covert Ops clone troopers attempted to assassinate him, mistaking him for Sull. Darman killed them, causing himself to second-guess his actions and later creating internal guilt. Sometime later, Darman went through another emotional roller coaster when squadmate Fi was seriously injured in battle.
===Mission to Haurgab===
On Haurgab, Darman and his squad were sent to assassinate a rebel leader by the name of Jolluc. After they killed him, they found themselves under assault by more killer rebels than Intelligence stated. They made a stand on a hill and, after a furious fire-fight, were rescued by a LAAT/i sent by Captain Maze.
===Return to Coruscant===
When Omega returned they ended up having to go through the Battle of Coruscant. They barely made it through the planet's shield and a droid starfighter followed them through the gap. Their ship crashed somewhere in Galactic City where they joined the other troopers in the area to repel the Separatist invasion. Omega defended a HNE Station successfully.
===Etain's death===
Etain Tur-Mukan was struck down and killed by a young Jedi Padawan when she tried to interpose herself between the Padawan and a clone trooper to keep the Padawan from attacking the trooper, who had been blocking his escape. After seeing her death, Darman told himself that she had not died, despite the fact that the sight of her being struck down replayed endlessly in his mind. He proceeded to admit to himself and Niner that she had died and then distracted himself from his loss by focusing on helping Niner, whose spine had been broken by a young Jedi who had been trying to escape from Imperial troops. Believing that Niner would be allowed to die by his superiors if no one was there to intervene for him, Darman decided to stay with Niner despite Niner's protests, instead of leaving him and fleeing to Mandalore with Skirata and the others. Darman summoned a medical evacuation craft to his location and, after it took off with him and Niner aboard, Darman repeatedly screamed Etain's name within his isolated helmet until he had worn out his vocal cords.
Darman saw to it that Niner received the medical care that he needed. Both were now soldiers of the Galactic Empire and Darman's new duty was to train other clones to become commandos. Darman was less than impressed by the performance of the Spaarti-grown Fett clones and was exasperated by their insistence that Centax-2 was Kamino, but he felt that they were not to blame for these shortcomings, which owed to being grown in only one or two years and being repeatedly told that Centax 2 was Kamino by their superiors. However, he had a higher opinion of the clones that populated the 501st Legion. In order to cope with the task that had been thrust upon him, Etain's death and the new political atmosphere, Darman felt he had to set aside his personal beliefs until he could escape from the then-current situation. He also greatly anticipated what he felt would be an inevitable confrontation between the Empire and Kamino.
===Working with the Empire===
Three weeks after the declaration of the Empire, Vader briefed the surviving clone commandos, including Darman, Niner, and former Delta Squad members Boss, Fixer and Scorch. They were made into the Imperial Commando Special Unit within the 501st Legion, specifically selected to hunt down Jedi, deserters, and other traitors to the Empire. The list of targets was transmitted to the clones' HUDs and Darman recognized such names as Maze and Sull, former Omega Squad members Corr and Atin, Commander Levet, as well as Yayax and Hyperion Squad. Darman's wife, Etain Tur-Mukan, was also listed as missing, the Empire not knowing she was dead. Niner placed his hand under Darman's elbow to prevent him from showing a visible reaction to seeing his dead wife's name and thus giving himself away to Vader, but Darman didn't react; Darman blocked out the fact that Etain was dead, believing it happened to another Darman somewhere else.
Darman continued to work with the newly-renamed Squad 40, claiming it was so that the Jedi couldn't take Kad. Darman's squad eventually had a new officer, named Roly Melusar. In a mission to kill a Ranger named Jilam Kester, they were ambushed by Iri Camas, who was staying with Kester at the time. Kester escaped hours before Squad 40 arrived, and Camas killed a trooper named Bry in the ensuing battle before being killed himself. Another trooper, Ennen who was in an earlier squad with Bry, demanded to have a traditional Corellian cremation. Squad 40's new commanding officer, Roly Melusar, had Bry cremated, and was shown to be as honest as Jaller Obrim. A new member named Rede was assigned to replace Bry. On a later mission, the four of them were sent into Coruscant's undercity after a suspected Jedi. Ennen killed the man, disgusted to find the supposed Jedi was nothing more than a common thief who happened upon a lightsaber. Later that day, Ennen committed suicide. Darman felt responsible for this, as he intended to tell Ennen about Kal's place on Mandalore in time in the event he wanted to desert. By then, Darman found out that the Nulls could contact Niner on a secure link through his helmet. After Ennen's suicide, the remaining three members of Squad 40 were sent to deal with the Jedi Borik Yelgo, who was killed by Ennen. Darman was furious when he later got the same secure link installed in his helmet, and was told that Jedi were at his home on Mandalore- all the work he had done to protect Kad and Kal allowed the Jedi into his home, where Kad lived. He even threatened Bardan Jusik that he would track him down if the Jedi took Kad away, showing how far gone he was from his original self. Eventually, he let go of both his anger and released his emotions over Etain's death, and devised a plan in the refreshers to go to Mandalore. He convinced Commander Melusar that he could find a Jedi on Mandalore named Djinn Altis, planning to use it as an excuse to desert. He surprised Niner by saying that he was intending to hunt down the Jedi on Mandalore, all in the name of Kad's safety.
===Legacy===
As an adult, Darman's son Venku wore a patchwork of armor, including plate from his father.
==Personality and traits==
Like all the clones of Jango Fett, Darman had the nature of a young child despite his commando training. The loss of his original squad affected him greatly but he nonetheless came to consider Omega his new family.
Darman was known as being the calm one in Omega Squad. To his squad mates, especially Fi, Darman seemed to be able to relax and sometimes even sleep before missions. He even once seemed to be sleeping-from Fi's point of view-during a TIOPs mission where they were to retrieve prisoners and a hull breach limited the squad and prisoners oxygen supply. However, regardless of being calm, he could have a nasty temper, which was shown when he attacked Kal Skirata for not informing him about his son, Kad.
Trained by Kal Skirata, he adopted the Mandalorian culture wholeheartedly. Due to his guilt of killing whom he considered his brothers, he decided to memorialize Moz and Olun by saying their name everyday, as part of a Mandalorian custom. He was also quick to defend any cracks or rude comments aimed at Etain.
After Etain's death, Darman's heart was broken. He was within reach of his perfect family, Etain, Kad, Kal, and his comrades, only to have his wife die in front of him and the rest of his squad desert from the GAR. Niner did his best to keep Darman focused, but Darman became extremely unstable, sometimes lashing out for no reason, such as when he returned from turning down the Null's offer to take him back to Mandalore.
Toward the end of the Clone Wars, Darman developed an unfavorable view of the Jedi, save Etain. This sentiment only intensified after he became an Imperial, as he lived in constant fear that the Jedi would take away his son Kad. He even resolved to hunt down the Jedi on Mandalore in order to protect Kad.
Also, like all clones of Fett, Darman was claustrophobic, but had to crawl in a Gdan tunnel on Qiilura.
Darman's favorite weapon was the bowcaster.
==Romantic relationship==
During the mission to Coruscant, Darman's relationship with Etain Tur-Mukan blossomed and they became romantically involved. They also privately spent most of their free time together. Darman is most likely unique in his relationship with Etain, as a clone-Jedi affair was utterly unheard of at the time. Etain, out of desire to give him a future and out of respect for Mandalorian culture, conceived a son, but did not tell him for some time. She eventually revealed Venku's identity to Darman, and though he was initially angry at being the last to know he had a child, he and Etain reconciled and spent time together with their son on Coruscant. The couple later wed via comm messages during the Battle of Coruscant. In the wake of Order 66, Darman refused to comply out of love for Etain. After her death, Darman was haunted by her loss and worked tirelessly to protect their son from the Jedi.
==Behind the scenes==
According to Karen Traviss's blog, Darman was named after Peter Darman, a military writer. "Darman" was used as a placeholder name until a better name could be thought of, but it was accidentally released into the public domain.
An in-universe explanation in Republic Commando: Triple Zero, explains that Darman's name, which he probably received from Kal Skirata, is short for Dar'manda, a Mando'a term denoting someone who has lost his Mandalorian heritage, and thus his soul. Presumably, Kal Skirata gave him the name out of pity.
"Darman" is a cheat code on the PC version of the game Star Wars: Republic Commando enabling the player to complete the level being played immediately without having to do anything.
Theta Squad is mentioned in Star Wars: Republic Commando after the player eliminates Sun Fac. "As you know, 36's squad has been incapacitated." This could be a reference to Darman; even though he was not the leader of Theta, he was the only survivor which would explain why they mention him.
==Appearances==
*Star Wars: Republic Commando 
*Republic Commando: Hard Contact 
*
*Republic Commando: Triple Zero
*
*Republic Commando: True Colors
*Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
*Imperial Commando: 501st
*Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice 
*Legacy of the Force: Revelation 
==Sources==
*
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Essential Reader's Companion
==Notes and references==
==External links==
*
Category:Clan Skirata
Category:Clone commandos
Category:Clone stormtroopers
Category:Individuals with he/him pronouns
Category:Males