"Come on man, best two out of three?" CT-7934, otherwise named "Nine", asks. The game they are playing is called Pazaak.
"No, I always lose man!" CT -1865, otherwise named "Jasper", retorted. Both of them are sitting in the lounge area of the recon base, dubbed Base "Theta 39". There are others in the room with them, but the three other clones in they are barely paying attention. The lieutenant walks in, shaking his head in disappointment of the argument before him.
"That can change if you want if to, mate." Nine said. Nine wasn't wearing traditional clone armor, rather he was wearing a white jumpsuit.
"Can it now? I think your cheating." Jasper said, reaching to grab Nines hand. Nine pulls away, a card fell out of his sleeve. Jasper stared at what just happened, anger filling his eyes. Nine looked down slowly, taking in a deep breath and closing his eyes. His heart rate escalated a little.
"Ok.... Now I can expl- Hagh!" Nine choked as Jasper grabbed him by his throat. He began to apply pressure.
"You cheat!" He yelled Onlooking clones just started laughing. These two had always hated each other.
"JASPER, shut the hell up! Both of you, front and center, on the double!" The Sergeant orders... CT - 9281, better known as Ebonheart, watches as Jasper drops Nine and they both assemble in front of him. At attention.
"Whats wrong with you two? Seriously, I've known you two don't like each other. But to escalate into physical violence? Maybe I should transfer one of you. To the front lines maybe?" Ebonheart said, smile a smile of glee under his helmet as he watched the two shift uncomfortably. It was no secret that these clones were cowards, the both of them. The front lines were not for them.
"Sir. Joker may want for the front lines, but we don't. If you wish to transfer someone, transfer.... Sorry." Jasper said, quieting down when he saw that the sergeant was looking at him.
"No. Joker remains here. As much as I hate his ego, his skill with terminals is too useful to waste on a droid. Now I expect the both of you are sorry for the little ruckus you've gone and created?" The sergeant said. The immature clones nodded for a yes.
"And I expect both of you will be cleaning the LAATs with Noobie, now eh?" He said. The outpost also had its own docking bay for rescue missions. It was mostly filled with LAATs.
"Sir... with all respect.... Noobie is..... well..... a noob. I can't stand him and his passiveness." Jasper said.
"I don't care. Go, and you two can sleep in there as well for the night." Ebonheart said, turning away with his hands at rest. He walks out the door.
"Good going jackass." Jasper said, starting for the door.
"Hey, asshole! Your the one who started choking me."
<><><>
Ebonheart left the lounge, and continued down the hallway. 'Those clones are going to drive me insane. I swear their development must've been messed or something.' He thought. He continued down the hallway, passing by some windows. He looked out to see the deck sergeant doing his job. CT-0956, or "Know-it-All", was logging in something for manifest. Going from crate to crate and opening each one as he went by, jotting whatever he saw down. There was a lot of crates, so he had help from another clone. But why they had to receive so many crates was beyond him.
"Next time the delivery droids and I are gonna have a talk." He said to no one in particular. But those two immature clones did pass by him. Bickering. He sighed and continued his walk with his hands behind his back. Flattened out like they would at rest. This post really was boring, but it was an important one. One that could determine if the Republic economy would become crippled or not. It monitored the shipping that the Republic needed. Trade. Money. It kept the troops paid, fed, equipped, and plentiful. Without trade, and at the rate that clones died, the Republic would be in trouble without this base.
Of course, they did have other routes...
In this base, there were twenty young and inexperienced, not to mention immature, clones. The five important of them were, from most important to least important, Ebonheart. The Clone sergeant who kept them in line. The Coms Corporal, CT- 2267, otherwise known as Jack. The Deck Sergeant, CT-0956... Know-it-all. True to his name, he thought he knew everything.
And to his credit he did know some things.
Then there was CT-8750. Joker, he liked to be called. Contrary to his name, he was not funny. He was a buzzkill. To serious, and too bloodthirsty.. That meaning he wanted to be on the front-lines. Ebonheart actually liked him and his personality to an extent. Reminded him of himself when he was younger. But Joker always caused problems so it was forbidden to talk about the war in his presence as to avoid his rants. His main job was monitoring for any anomalies or discrepancies in the terminals and such. The clankers knew of this base and the clones were always "ready" for an attack.
Then, the least important, was Noobie. He was the official pilot of base. He didn't talk much and he always chose flight over fight during training... Or so he was told. He spent most of his time in the docking bay, cleaning the LAATs. His job was to send word to other bases on the planet in case of attacks or low supplies. He excelled at his flight training, but not his combat. So, in a a nutshell, he would be terrible as a combat pilot so instead they sent him here because he was technically useless to the division he was assigned. Ebonheart had some respect for Noobie. Some. Not a lot. Another reason they called him Noobie was because of how green he was. He had not seen actual combat, let alone an actual brawl between clones.
Ebonheart continued down the hallway and turned to look out the window once again. Know-it-all and the other clone were chatting, judging by the fact they were looking at each other and occasionally a head would move or bob. The deck sergeant had a binocular visor, which could allow him see things at a great distance. Useful for his job. Ebonheart stopped and looked to a crate out on the deck, the two clones had not searched it yet from the looks of it. The one clone that was with Know-it-all had his hands on it but was refusing to open it. Their conversation must've been more interesting. But, none of this concerned the sergeant. Something felt off with that box at first, but the feeling subsided and Ebonheart went on his way. His hands still behind him.
He eventually arrived at the control center. This is where the majority of clones were. Joker was sitting as his terminal, reading something in it. Jack was at the coms, listening to who knows what. Two clones were at attention by the main door. The door led to the outside, the cold, the deck, the crates... Landing pad in general. Their BoO was situated on a nice icy mountain.... Far away from flat ground so they had heavy need of a landing pad. The real threat was calving. Or whatever it was called when the fucking ice broke off the mountain. Joker shot Ebonheart a glance and immediately stood up, his knees bent and his ankles together. He was at attention.
"Officer on deck!" He yelled. Every other clone in the room, besides Ebonheart and the two by the door (they were already at attention), went stiff as a board and stood up if they weren't already up. Ebonheart gave a wave that said" At ease." The clones knew this as he did this every time he walked in. Everyone sat down or went back to what they were doing besides Joker. He knew what Ebonheart was here for.
"Yeah, Ebonheart. I got nothing going on in the terminal. No spikes or detection or whatever your looking for." He said, sitting back down. Ebonheart kept quiet as he contemplated what to say.
"Proper response, Joker." He said after finding his words.
"Nothing to report, sir." He grumbled in response. Ebonheart smiled and walked up to Jack and and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Anything to report?" He asked.
<><><>
"No, i'm telling you. No matter how many times you say you did, I do not believe that you ripped a clankers head off. Your a fucking shiny." The Know-it-all said, looking at him with a little disgust. The clone decided to fire back.
"Oh yeah? What battle did you fight in?" The clone retorted, smirking. The was a nice cool breeze that they were all to familiar with. It would make sense that an Ice Planet would be freezing as fuck, but their distance from the surface actually keeps the cold air limited to a moderate coolness. Enough to get goosebumps and wish for heating, but also not enough to where you need specialized snow troopers. The clouds were above them and were as serene as alien clouds can get. Know-it-all crossed his arms.
"I was one of the clones to ride in and save Obi-wan and the others in that Geonosian arena. I was in the one of the laser turrets on the LAAT that Obi-wan rode out on." Know-it-all said, smirking under his helmet. He was, in fact, right about this.
"Your full of bantha fodder." The clone said.
"Whatever you say, Omega. Check that crate and you can go back inside." The deck sergeant said. "Ill handle whats left." Know-it-all said, turning and walking away to inspect some more crates. There wasn't many left. Omega grumbled and undid the latches on the crate, it was sorta of slow. But after a few minutes, he was able to get the top off. But he had little time to scream as a vibroblade gutted him and and he was thrown over the pad. The assailant darted behind a few crates. Its metal feet making slight clanks on the metal pad.
"And one more thing, Omega, I...." Know-it-all said, turning back to talk to his comrade. "Omega?" He called out, scratching his head. "Omega? Stop fooling around... Omega?" He said, advancing towards the open crate... After what seemed like an eternity he finally got to the crate and saw it was empty. He clicked on the radio.
"Jack, did Omega come inside?" Know-it-all asked, his eyes scanning the area around him. Omega wasn't fastest of individuals.
"No." Was the response. Know-it-all could hear a clone in the background say "Joker, go check on them." Ebonheart. Know-it-all dropped his manifest and drew his blaster pistol and spun around to meet a noise that sounded off. A few more crates were open, its inventory missing. He mentally scratched his head even more and advanced to investigate, the cold sending chills up his spine with every step. A loud whooosh sounded off that the door had opened and Joker had stepped onto the platform.
"Hey, whats going on out here?" Joker asked, his bald head out for everyone to see. His features were plain, like most clones. He wasn't sporting a weapon, but usually there was never a need to here. Know-it-all glanced over at Joker and lowered his weapon slightly. "Whats with the blaster?" Joker asked. "You know what. I don't care. What's going on with Omega?" He asked, taking a look around for him.
"I don't know where he is. I turned my back for a second and he just disappears." Know-it-all said, turning his gaze back to the opened crates. "And now those crates seemed to have opened themselves." He said. Joker gasped in annoyance.
"Do you know what caused it, Mr. Know-it-all?" Joker asked, being a smartass.
"Bite me." Know-it-all bit back. Joker smirked and walked over to the crates to inspect them. The cold air didn't play great with his bare facial skin, but it was better up here than down on the surface. He looked em over to see the contents missing, and turned back around to say more smartass things to Know-it-all, but something caught his eye. Something coming up behind Know-it-all, something metal looking... Joker immediately developed a fighting stance and warned Know-it-all.
"Know-it-all, behind you!" He yelled. The clone turned quickly only to receive a jab in the gut from the assailants metallic hands. Joker was able to get a better look at the attacker.
It was a commando droid!
Joker grinned and shouted a battle cry before charging to assist his comrade, but another droid dove at him and pinned him. It raised its vibroblade in preparation of a kill but Joker kicked it off. 'Finally. Some action!' He thought while trying to stand up. Know-it-all wasn't doing much better. He was the only one of them (besides Ebonheart) who had actual combat experience. Joker's stance was a result of his training. Know-it-all was trying to alert the rest of the base with a blaster shot, but the droid had knocked it out of his hand and was attempting to gut him. But Joker ended the attempt by tackling the droid and making it tumble off the edge of the platform.
"Thanks." Know-it-all said. Joker looked back and joined Know-it-all at his side. There was only one other droid. Two against one? Easy fight. But Jokers relief ended more droids stepped out of hiding. Some came out from behind crates, the rest came out of the crates. Jokers grin faltered only slightly. He was finally getting the action he wanted... but he doesn't want to die either. Joker turned to Know-it-all.
"Go! We need to alert everyone else!" He said. Know-it-all nodded and fired off a few rounds at the approaching commando droids before joining Joker in his retreat. Joker was unarmed and fighting a robot with your fists was never a good idea.... because they were made of metal. The door opened and two clones walked through and saw Joker and Know-it-all scrambling towards them. Behind them was five to ten commando droids, they froze for a second before waving on to the duo. If they were guarding the door, then why weren't they armed?
Joker and Know-it-all ran through the door and clones closed it behind them.
"What the hell is going on out there?" Ebonheart asked.
"We are under attack!" Joker said, but before he could utter his next words the door started being cut into. 'Fusion cutters!' Ebonheart thoughts raced as he tried to understand whats going on. "Who is attacking us?" He asked.
"Droids! Who the hell would be attacking us?!" One clone said. They had no weapons but the armory was a quick jog down the hall. Ebonheart pushed Jack out of his seat and hit a button marked "Reinforce Entrance". What it would do was it would quickly reinforce the door with armored plates, keeping the attackers outside for even longer as the fusion cutter worked through multiple layers of door. The clone lieutenant immediately looked at his comrades. "What are you all doing? You all know where the armory is, get some weapons now! I'm putting the base on alert!" He ordered. Joker and a few others nodded in understanding of the orders laid out before. Despite how green many of them are they all need to pitch in the defense. It wouldn't be easy. As only two of the twenty clones stationed there had any combat experience, and if everything went to shit then they could send a distress signal and get help in a few hours by nearby Republic cruisers. The clones raced down the corridor towards the armory, and once they arrived the clones armed themselves with what little arms they had.
Some had DC-15A blasters, and the rest were armed with DC-17 hand blasters. They returned to the control room and the door was they were halfway through.
"You always said you wanted to see action." Ebonheart said to Joker as hit a button marked "Emergency", an alarm sounded through the base. This alarm would inevitably reach the docking bay and lounge and other areas of the base. Clones would soon arrive to reinforce the defending group of seven clones. Ebonheart got behind a console and others immediately found their own cover. Some got behind terminals, some flattened themselves against the wall to make use of their limited exposure, one clone got next to the door with his blaster pistol and had it ready to hit the first one through the door. Then, they waited... All had their blasters ready, and Ebonheart was giving the orders.
It was simply: "When that door opens, let them have it. Shoot to kill." Minutes passed as the door was being sliced... It seemed like forever, every second was anticipated, and anxiety began to fill the nerves of the clones. One clone walked into the room and asked what was going on.
"Soldier, spread the word and get help up here now! Go! We are under attack, and this is not a drill!" Ebonheart ordered. The clone stood there for a second, seemingly wondering who would attack them before nodding and sprinting off to get help. Ebonheart returned his focus to the door. It was nearly cut through fully, many clones were tensing up and some were calm. Know-it-all was one of them, his binocular visor flipped up on his helmet casually. Out of all of them, Know-it-all seemed most professional, if not bull headed.
*BOOM*
The door blew open and the clones opened fire, laying a lot bolts through the door and some were jeering at the droids. Typical shiny thing to do. The lieutenant ordered a cease fire and looked at the door. None of them came through and its very unlikely that any of them was killed in the assault... His suspicions proved true as a bolt came out of the smoke and hit Jack in the shoulder. He screamed in pain and fell over as another Clone tended to him. Then, another commando droid came through the door. Vibroblade in one hand, a blaster pistol in the other. The clone by the door put a shiny blue bolt into the droids head but it had no effect, it turned ran the clone through. Joker yelled an insult and fired, prompting the others to fire at the droid as a result. The blasters were having no effect at first, but under enough sustained fire it collapsed.
More droids came through the door, their blasters firing accurately at the clones. Joker ducked to avoid get a bolt in the head (He is not wearing a helmet either) and rose to return fire. But they kept him down as they suppressed him with sustained fire. Ebonheart assisted Joker by drawing their fire. The droids were in the open and it wasn't hard to bait them into firing at you, just put a bolt or two into one of them and most would turn their attention on you. He ducked back under his terminal and looked over at Jack. His wound didn't look good and the clone trying to tend it had no medical supplies, and he possibly didn't even have medical training. Whatever, any help is appreciated right now. Ebonheart looked back just in time to dodge a thrust from a vibroblade. He strafed right and brought the butt of his pistol down on the droid. It fell to one knee and its CIS ways ended there as Ebonheart executed it with a bolt to the back of the head. More droids came through the door and some clones fell dead as blaster fire cut them down. Jack screamed as the clone helping him fell over dead from a bolt to the skull. More clones ran into the room, but they didn't last long as the were cut down by the droids.
Ebonheart looked back at the way they came and an idea came to him. They couldn't stay here, the droids would cut them down before anymore help was received, and that help stood no chance against these invaders. The lieutenant gave the order.
"Fall back! Fall back!" He ordered. Joker yelled back at him.
"No, we got this!" Joker yelled, rising from cover and putting a few blaster bolts (although unskillfully) in the nearest commando droid. It turned to meet him but Ebonheart drew his fire once more.
"Don't be an idiot! Go, get reinforcements! Ill take care of these bastards!" He yelled, and from his cover, he shot at the droids, injuring one by blowing off its leg.
"Sir. I-"
"That's an order soldier! Get help!" He ordered. Joker grunted in disagreement but obliged. His picked up Jack, sling his arm over his shoulders and his free hand on his waist to keep him balanced and retreated down the corridor. Know-it-all followed under orders from Ebonheart. They all continued down the hallway, eventually encountering a couple more clones running to reinforce.
"Joker! Whats going on up there?" One asked.
"We are under attack! Where is everybody else?" Joker asked, his voice calm but his face betraying emotion. It was a tint of fear. But its natural, in battle, to have fear.
"Everyone else is in the docking bay!" The clone said.
"Alright, go help the lieutenant. We will go get everyone else!" Know-it-all said and the clones obliged, running past them to the crescendo of blaster fire. Joker, carrying Jack, and Know-it-all kept going. They knew the base by heart at this point and knew where Noobie's hangout was. When they arrived at the docking bay the door was opened and there were clones inside. Noobie, Nine, Jasper, and somebody else. Joker never caught his name since he was a new arrival. But he had medical training so that's what mattered. Of course this was based on an assumption based on his medical jumpsuit. Nine turned to see the clones entering the bay.
"Joker! What the hell is going on topside? A party or something?" He asked, using his terrible comedy.
"We are under attack! Ebonheart requires all hands on deck!" He said, looking at the medic.
"Hey, you! Whats your name?"
"CT-5467, but call me "Stim"." He said. Joker smirked and walked up to him, Jack fading from consciousness. He was losing a lot of blood.
"Good. You must be a medic. Help him." Joker said as he laid Jack down next to the medic. He had a surprised look on his face.
"I don't have a medical supplies! I... I need.." He said, but the silence interrupted him. There was no noise echoing through the base. All blaster fire had ended. Joker looked visibly disturbed before going back to the door. He peeked out of the door and listened for a bit. Nothing. All was silent. Not a good sign. He closed the door and ran back to the group of clones. Noobie was sitting inside the LAAT while everyone else was standing around it. He gave Stim a shake of his head. It said it all.
There were no orders on the radio, no blaster fire, no nothing. It was perfectly reasonable to assume that Ebonheart had fallen. As had the rest of the defending force. He did a radio check to be sure. He go no response, nothing but static. That's it the, the lieutenant was dead. Joker looked at Know-it-all, who seemed concentrated on the door. Stim was busy trying to tend to Jacks wounds while Jasper was leaning against the LAAT, arms crossed. Noobie was still inside the LAAT, watching Joker.
"What now?" Know-it-all asked, his rifle leveled at the door. Nothing was coming through without some trouble. He looked back at the LAAT and he mulled over a thought in his head. Noobie used that LAAT all the time on supply runs to other bases and to deliver reports to other lieutenants at those bases. Those things were also built to travel in space (according to Know-it-all), albeit not for an exceptional amount of time. But a Republic fleet was always nearby, if they could break the atmosphere then they could navigate their way to the fleet for exodus. Then have a larger force sent down here to retrieve the base before any shipping was hurt.
"Noobie... you can fly that thing? Right?" He asked, Noobie simply nodded, ever his quiet self.
"What are you think Joker?" Know-it-all asked. He explained his plan and Noobie was the only one to agree outright. Stim simply didn't care as long as they could get out of here. Jack didn't give an answer. Jasper agreed after some thought as did Nine. But Know-it-all held his tongue. The plan wasn't great but he knew they had to do something.
"In that circumstance... wouldn't make more sense to go to the nearest base?" Know-it-all said after extended thought. Joker shook his head and sighed a weary sigh.
"No. Your not think... for once... Know-it-all. The other bases could've been hit too. We need to go to the fleet." He concluded. Know-it-all mumbled something but, from the tone, it was in agreement. "Alright, good. Noobie. Get that engine running. Jasper, see if you can get inside one of the turret pods. Stim..." Joker ordered. Jasper stopped him.
"Who died and made you leader?" He asked, approaching Joker.
"Ebonheart died, i'm sure you weren't originally bred for a leadership role... Were you?" Joker said, jabbing Jasper's armor with his index finger. Jasper grumbled a no and went to the turret. Know-it-all kept his aim on the door. "What do you mean you were bred for leadership? I thought you were a technician?" Nine asked. Joker sighed and looked in his direction.
"I went through half the courses before they discovered my aptitude for hacking, codecracking, and stuff such as that. So they transferred me and therefor changed my job and training." Joker said. "Now help Stim get Jack into the LAAT. It wont take long for those droids to find out where we are." He said just as the door opened. They focused their aim on the door, but it faltered as they watch what sauntered through. It was a clone and he was holding his gut.
"Help me!" He yelled, limping towards them. Jasper ran to assist. Joker and Know-it-all kept their aim on the door as Jasper shut it again, this time smashing the console to slow down the droids as the clone yelled out that the droids were coming.
"Who are you?" Joker asked, he couldn't recognize the shiny under all the armor. Most clones had a mark or some facial feature that differentiated them. Distinguished who they were. Jasper helped the clone to the LAAT and he sat down inside the machine. Jack was unconscious nearby in the vehicle as well and Stim was tending to his wounds. Nine decided to take a look at the new clones wounds.
"CT-1931. I work on perimeter patrol, with Know-it-all. You know me, man."
"Only blaster burns you'll be fine." Nine said, returning his focus on Jack. Know-it-all shifted.
"Hotshot? Where the hell were you?!" Know-it-all said, glancing back at his comrade.
"You mind telling me whats going on first?" Hotshot said turning his T-helmet to Joker. He briefed him on the situation and sighed. "Damn. You can't say this was my fault though, Know-it-all!" Hotshot said, referring to the fact Know-it-all interjected through the briefing, saying it was Hotshots fault. Know-it-all grumbled in anger and returned his focus on the door as a large orange light appeared on it. "Oh no! There're cutting through the door!" Jasper said, getting down low and stay behind some crates. Hotshot sat up and took the blaster rifle out of Jokers hands.
"I think i'm more qualified to use this then you, Joker." Hotshot said, referring to this infantry training. He had not seen combat, according to Know-it-all, but he had completed the training to qualify being on the battlefield. Joker mumbled something incoherant and forcefully gave the rifle to Hotshot. He just stared in response. He then walked into the LAAT to check on their pilot.
"Noobie, what's taking so long?!" Joker asked.
"Engine has to heat up. Cold isn't good for it... Give me a few minutes and we can get out of here." Noobie said, keeping his sentence short. Joker wanted to pry further on how it wasn't ready, but an explosion caught his attention, as did blaster fire. Joker peeked out of the LAAT to see that Know-it-all and Hotshot had the droids pinned down in the hallway. They conserved their ammo by only shooting when a limb presented itself. Joker chuckled at this and looked at Jasper, who continued to cower behind some crates.
"Jasper, get over here!" He ordered, Jasper complied. "See if Noobie needs any help! Keep your head down!" He ordered as receded into the LAAT to avoid blaster fire. The clone nodded and ran into the cockpit. The battle continued for a few good minutes. Nine and Stim had kept trying to keep Jack alive but it didn't look like their attempts were working. Jasper and Noobie were arguing, but it sounded like Jasper had a lot more to say. Know-it-all and Hotshot were in a blaster fight as the Droids pushed their way into the docking bay. Hotshot and Know-it-all were scoring hits but no kills and this worried Joker... But his worry turned to glee as Noobie announced that the engine has warmed up enough and all he needs is the bay doors to open.
Hotshot and Know-it-all heard this and backed up into the LAAT sitting down in the passenger area while continuing to fire at the enemy. No one made a move for the bay door control panel. Joker looked around and everyone seemed to be busy doing their own thing to contribute to the to effort of getting out of here. Noobie piped up on the coms.
"Joker, your only one not doing anything! Get the bay door open and we can get out of here!" Noobie had said. Joker looked at the droids, who were returning fire at the two blaster wielding clones. Nine and Stim were busy with Jack and Jasper was still arguing with the pilot, he sighed and got out of the LAAT and darted for the console that opened the bay doors. He ducked and kept his hands over his head as bolts flew at him, he dodged and danced through the red bolts until he reached the console. It took him a few seconds to put in the access code (all clones in the base had to know this), all the while under fire. His own relief was Hotshot and Know-it-all who tried to divert their fire. The console accepted the command with a cheerful bing and the doors hissed open, letting in even more cold air. The breeze would've felt good had Joker not been under fire. He sprinted back to the LAAT and jumped in. Hotshot and Know-it-all, while reloading and continuing to exchange fire with the enemy, fully entered the LAAT. The sliding doors slid shut. Joker felt the craft take off.
And soon they were in the air.
<><><>
Discord watched as the transport fled into the sky. Its course seemed to change midway and it diverted towards the mountain range. He chuckled, having watched the event unfold fully, this was not part of this "Jokers" plan. He continued to watch these "clones" bicker inside the craft. This "Joker" seemed to be calling the shots now that the "Ebonheart" had died. And Discord knew that he had died as he watched the clone be decapitated when he was locked in a melee engagement with the mechanical invaders.
Of course, the spirit of chaos had taken in interest in what was going on. It was very interesting. Discord was able to travel between planes of reality.... but this reality was something new to him. Things have happened without his intervention and he preferred it to remain this way as, while this universe did not particularly interest him (to him, it was all ice. Not very interesting), the small conflict had interested him. These creatures... clones... all wore almost the same thing, or if not the same thing, then it was white, and they were fighting mechanical beings called "Clankers". It got so interesting that he pulled a chair and popcorn out of thin air and began to watch. His presence was concealed by magic so as not to disturb the order of events... As Celestia had asked him time and time again to not do. He giggled at the thought.
Despite the enjoyment he is finding as he watches something akin to gladiators though, he found this plane of reality completely by mistake. And it was highly doubtful if he could find it again. Chaosville had so many twists and turns that occasionally even he would lose his way. And he was the one to create that reality! 'Oh well. No time for my thoughts to argue about this. This is getting more interesting by the minute, oh ho!' He thought.
The flying craft passed over the mountain range and he could hear the clone talking amongst themselves. The "Joker", an odd name to be sure of someone who is not funny, was bickering with the "Noobie". Demanding to know the reason why their course had changed. The "Noobie" said that the "fuel" is running low and they had no time to refuel. They are going to have to refuel, and that meant they would reach the fleet. And continued to say that he is taking them to the nearest base for rescue.
But the Joker had different ideas. Saying that if their base was hit, then the others were as well. Whatever they were talking about did not interest Discord, but rather, the fighting had. But it seemed over now so Discord yawned and prepared to return home when the craft rocked back and forth violently, clones began to stumble and fall over as one yelled a question.
"Who's shooting at us?!" One yelled. The Noobie decided to answer with: "Its not the enemy! Its our own damn triple-A!"
The flying craft soon filled with smoke and the clones without helmets coughed violently in response. The Jasper had asked the Noobie was had happened.
"We lost our left wing! The triple-A is tearing us up! Attempting.... oh fuck! Brace yourselves I can't pull us out of this!" The Noobie said as the window changed from sky blue to mountain ice. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand they were heading for the ground. Discord sighed wearily and mulled over his thoughts. He had wanted to leave and go have tea with Fluttershy, but he also wanted to see how this played out. They couldn't see his form, nor could they feel him as he was standing on the Jack. So the crash wouldn't hurt him. In one situation, the clones all die and Discord gets a good laugh, in another, he could do the right thing and save them. As Celestia wanted him to do whenever someone was in trouble.
And she would know about this too, she audited his activities every month...
"Oooh. Well that simply won't do, oh no sirree." He said as he snapped his fingers after a thought crossed his mind... and with that, the transport disappeared out of sight in a bright flash. And he went with it, but instead of going to see if they are alright, he teleported to Fluttershy's house for tea.
"They'll be alright." He muttered under his breath before he knocked on the door.
<><><>
The bright flash of light had disappeared, and in the place of the ice mountains and metal base. The anti-air was gone and in its place were clouds... Joker looked out the LAAT cockpit window to see that they were approaching a structure fast. It seemed to be made of stone or something, but either way, there were a lot of structures. All built into a mountain. 'Is there anything not built into a mountain? Seriously!' He thought. He demanded that Noobie pull up, take evasive maneuvers, whatever it was that pilots did to avoid crashing. Noobie simply stated that the were coming in to fast and there was no time... Jokers thoughts slumped.
There were going to crash.
"Brace for impact!" Joker yelled.
And soon, all that filled the soundwaves was a loud crash and identical screams. Some screams were less identical though, and more feminine.
