Remember the scene in Order 66 where an ensign sees Captain Ordo the rest of the Nulls talking with Skirata in the wardroom, and is so upset that they’ve brought an NCO (Sergeant A’den) in that he completely forgets everything he was taught about courtesy and respect before he got to the fleet like a full eight weeks ago?
So this Republic Navy ensign recognizes GAR ranks well enough to know that A’den is a sergeant, something the author tells us a page or so earlier that not all non-clone officers can do. He also knows that the rest of the Nulls are officers, though Ordo being senior to him doesn’t affect his behavior at all-- the only time he cares about rank in this scene is when he thinks he can use A’den’s to give clones a hard time. You could tell this man that ‘we salute the rank, not the person,’ and his response would be ‘oh so you think clones are people? 🤡’
He also threatens to have Ordo court-martialed. On what grounds? I have absolutely no idea. Maybe he’s threatening to send a report to Ordo’s commander which he hopes will result in a court martial. (Implying that Zey won’t "accidentally” let that report slip into the paper shredder with one hand while ordering coffee and pastries for Maze and staff with the other.)
This ensign is only here to power trip over people he has no respect for. The entire wardroom can smell it like a fuel leak, and they’re just waiting for it to blow up in his face.
He’s also wearing the symbol of a political group connected to the impression we get of his character-- somebody who jumps at the chance to wield power over others.
COMPOR’s goals fit with what we see of the ensign’s behavior and concerns, but the major thing here is that he’s permitted to display their symbol on his military uniform. Unlike countries in real life that don’t permit members of their armed services to wear political pins/statements like this on their uniforms/while on duty, the Republic in its final months does. Instead of presenting its forces as politically neutral, it’s allowing its representatives to openly advocate for the more authoritarian type of government that we get with the Empire.
Ordo only dwells on this for a few lines, but what this policy says about the state of the Republic and the direction its heading is big. You could easily write a post on this alone, because without giving you a lot of details about the political and societal situation, it lays the groundwork for an environment where you easily slide into the kind of surveillance-backed authoritarian government that Darman and Niner find themselves living under and working for in Imperial Commando.
