"Come. Remove your helmets, you all shall. Including you, Shooter.", Yoda said, calling for us to join him. Hearing that, I suddenly paused in my tracks.
"Something wrong, Shooter?", Thire called out to me while the three clones walked over to Yoda. He saw that I hadn't moved yet, so he raised a question. I could see confusion in his eyes. I knew I was hiding my face, so they couldn't exactly read me right now. I could only sigh hearing this.
"I have a little confession to make. I could proceed to take off my helmet, but it sort of has a built-in translator. I don't actually speak Basic.", I answered.
Basic is officially known as Galactic Basic Standard, or simply Basic while bringing it up in a conversation like this. I was immediately thrusted into Star Wars while just knowing English from my previous life. That wasn't everything I now knew, though. All of Samus's memories swirled inside my head during my time in the healing pod. I was able to recollect most of them, and called them my own. It was something I had already accepted. But what came with that wasn't just the combat experience this body will quickly adapt to again. It also stored all the knowledge the original Samus had. That included the languages she had come across. Metroid contained a few known languages. Galactic Federation Standard being the most common one. It would be portrayed in English, and written in Latin, I think.
But here in Star Wars, it has its own fictional alphabet, officially known as Aurebesh. It is spoken in English at the convenience of those who watch Star Wars, but you'd see these weird symbols depicted on signs and such no matter where you went. This is where the differences start piling up. If I removed my helmet, I likely couldn't converse with these folks.
Thire raised his eyes, not expecting me to say that.
While I could attempt to speak Galactic Federation Standard from Metroid, I was thinking of making the Chozo language my parent language. How cool would that be? Thanks to the release of Metroid Dread, we received quite the amount of hefty dialogue spoken in Chozo dialect. I know its language is primarily depicted as runes and symbols, but there are Chozo tribes that can speak it.
"You're being serious. You really don't know how to speak Basic?", Thire questioned, still doubtful.
"Unfortunately, that is the case here.", I replied, shaking my head.
"Hehe, not perfect, everyone is. Always something to learn, there is.", Yoda replied, giggling. "Come. Let us teach you a lesson, we shall. Even if a simple one, it is.", Yoda said, still requesting me over to his side.
"It's as the General says. You've saved our hides out there today, Shooter. Look, I know Master Yoda was the one who decided to hire you, but the boys and I have been thinking of ways to repay that favor.", Thire said to me.
"Thire's right. There's not a whole lot of ways we can thank you. Our injuries would have been worse if it weren't for you. But seeing as we've brought this to the discussion table, I think we've found a way to repay you.", Rys said. Jek also nodded his head. It looks like the trio of clones were in agreement here.
"Indeed. So a lesson, it will be. The promised reward to you, it will not change. Take off your helmets, you will.", Yoda said, once again requesting us to take off our helmets.
"I don't see a reason not to at this point.", Thire responded.
"You guys...", I uttered. A strange feeling began to swell up inside me. Was this a new sense of happiness forming? They do say bonds develop rather quickly in the midst of war, depending on who's associated with you. I didn't think I'd develop a friendship, with clones no less. But it was then a decisive look in my eyes. I decided to be true to myself. I was going to introduce myself, adopting the Chozo tongue as my own. "If it's going to be like that, then let me formally meet your acquaintance.", I declared.
The three clones removed their helmets, showing me an identical face. I proceeded to do the same. My long blonde hair revealed itself, and waved around a bit. You could see my crystal-blue eyes. They sucked in a cold breath of air, seeing that I truly was a woman. But that didn't bother me one bit. I proceeded to speak, using the Chozo Language.
"Bi mar sahali bi umas hem om mehen hem yayu.", I said, introducing myself. The words weren't all exactly there, as I had trouble recalling the exact phrasing of "It is nice to meet you". But if one roughly translated this, it would be more like, "Is nice meet you and know you". A little broken up, I know. It's a shame the Chozo never fully revealed its entire dictionary. I could only pick and choose select ones that I could remember.
I then placed the helmet back on, leaving the clones stunned. After all, I couldn't exactly speak with this helmet off now could I?
"I can't recall hearing such a language before. It sounds pretty ancient and cryptic if you ask me.", Thire questioned, trying to recall if he had heard such words before. The clones nodded their heads, as they too were unable to recall Chozo.
"Know of it, I do not know either. Nonetheless, a pleasure to meet you, it is. Sharing your face, I thank you, Shooter.", Master Yoda said, smiling back at me. "Now. Start the lesson we shall. Hmm?", Yoda questioned, drawing our attention back to him.
"Let's. We all could use a good distraction right now. We'll be able to focus on our roles later after we get a little bit of rest. We need to take that camp by night tonight, and until then, we'll continue to rely on you, Shooter.", Thire responded, looking at me.
"Likewise. I really do appreciate you spending your hard-earned break to teach me Basic. Thanks, boys. I mean it.", I wholeheartedly replied.
Truly I was. Learning Basic was one of my immediate to-do list items, apart from testing Samus's skills out in live combat. The latter was sent to me on a silver platter, and Adam allowed it so I could follow through with this training. Now that I've experienced parts of my Power Suit to see how it would fare in combat, I could now start to shift my attention elsewhere. Other things that I needed to do. Just participating in the Clone Wars wasn't all of it.
Plus it'd be embarrassing if Master Yoda ends up bringing me back to one of their Republic bases and encountering General Skywalker, only for me to get tongue-tied and not introduce myself properly. Haha!
I'm sure I'll get to meet all the popular characters shown in the Clone Wars show. Anakin Skywalker. Ahsoka Tano. Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mace Windu. Other Jedi. Hell, I've already met Master Yoda, and he, along with the clones, are about to give me a lesson. A lesson taught by Master Yoda himself, even if it was just learning a language. It isn't every day that you'd get an opportunity like this, so I was quick to accept it.
Thire and the rest found some sticks around us, and began to present the basic symbols of Aurebesh to me. Perhaps it was because I already was familiar with different kinds of symbols and runes of Metroid-based languages that I was able to pick up Basic quite easily.
Before I realized it a couple hours have passed while Master Yoda and the clones taught me Basic. The star had descended further now, and sunset was well underway. Here I was, already starting to spell out basic words. And with them being clones and all, they started teaching me militaristic vocabulary. They were equally surprised to see how quick I was picking Basic up. Now I wasn't having full blown conversations by the time I started keeping watch, but I learned to get my way around. And to me, that was enough.
And since we spent our time like this, these couple of hours began to pass a blink of an eye. Even Master Yoda entered meditation, connecting himself to the Force. The clones propped themselves up against the rocks, and were taking some naps. We still had to beat this challenge within the time limit, but they sure are making the most use of their time, huh? But for me, I wasn't sleepy at all. Samus's internal structure sure is a mystery, isn't it?
But with this time spent, our short reprieve came to an end. We could hear the subtle mechanical thumps of the droids streak across the forest all around us. They were definitely ready for us to initiate this fifth clash. It was about time to continue our campaign, and hopefully route the rest of them. Master Yoda became the victor originally, and I plan to keep it that way.
I just felt a pang of guilt strike against my body, knowing what was to come for these clones. It truly is a shame. You know, because of Order 66 and all. They'll turn on all of their allies, and become the Empire's main force, the Clone Troopers. I made a mental note here. Depending on what clones I end up becoming friends with, I may slip them a little note about the inhibitor chip resting inside their heads. By doing so at the right times, I could potentially gain more and more allies with time.
I also know about Clone Force 99, and boy it will be a hoot getting acquainted with those guys. Especially Omega!
*
So with me currently leaning toward girl x girl romance, Omega is actually one of my primary interests I have. Imagine a kid made between Samus and Omega, perfect DNA on top of perfect DNA. Let that be food for thought.