Brothers Forever

Princess Luna's P.O.V.

"What are you?" said Echo.

"How did you get here?" said Fives.

"Perhaps it's an indigenous life form, like the eels," said Echo.

"I'll take it from here," said Captain Rex. He turned to me and said, "Listen, miss. We don't know who you are or where you came from, but what we need to know is if you're working for the clankers. And answer me, the more your resist the more suspicious I get."

"No, I'm not a Separatist agent," I said. "I don't know exactly why I'm here, anyways."

"Then what's with your title? Are you actual royalty?" said Hevy.

"Yes, but not here. I must say that this is a bit of an ambiguous situation for all of us, and I certainly wasn't expecting this to happen. But I do know that you need help... and... I normally wouldn't do this, but I will offer my assistance," I said. I didn't know what to expect, tampering with a dream like this could lead to disastrous consequences, but for once, I decided to lay my fears aside and hope everything went well. Pretty stupid, but I wanted to know more, and this was the only way. Being a hidden observer only got you so much in a dream like this.

Rex and Cody exchanged uneasy glances, but they agreed for me to join their team.

"Alright, now that we have a new member, let's get going..." said Rex. "We're climbing up to the platform."

I smirked, spread my wings and took off before any of the clones could react. I then decided to blow their minds further by grabbing Rex and carefully lifting him up to my position.

"Whoa! What the?!" said Rex as he was enveloped in a dark blue bubble of magic and began floating towards me.

"Wow. You're gonna be handy," said Rex quietly as he put on his helmet. "Can you get the others up here?"

"Of course, Rex," I said in a low voice, grabbing Commander Cody.

"I... had been watching in secrecy until I somehow lost my balance and I was discovered by you," I responded.

"For some reason, I'm okay with that..." said Captain Rex.

Commander Cody only shot a mildly displeased countenance when he landed next to me. "Thank you," he said.

"Hold on!" said a voice.

We then observed Echo, Hevy, and Fives reaching for us and we helped them over the ledge.

"Look sharp, rookies. As long as those tweezers occupy that post, our homeplanet of Kamino is at risk," said Captain Rex, handing out a weapon to Echo.

Commander Cody handed out two weapons to Fives and Hevy.

"But there's so many of them!" said Echo.

"Doesn't matter, kid. We have to retake this base, so we will retake this base," said Captain Rex.

Echo, Hevy, and Fives responded by priming their weapons.

"How do you propose we get through those blast doors, Rex old boy?" asked Commander Cody.

"I have a few ideas..." Rex responded.

We walked up to the platform and saw that no droids were on the platform. Except for one, which was quickly gunned down by Cody.

"Get it's head," said Captain Rex.

"Why?" said Commander Cody, tearing off the head of the droid.

"I'm gonna pose as a clanker in disguise," said Captain Rex, taking the head sliding it towards the door.

"Do you really think they'll buy it?" said Echo.

"Their droids, of course they'll buy it," said Hevy.

"Here I go," said Captain Rex. "Wait, get out of sight! If they see any of you with the visual identifier, our plan is compromised."

We did as Rex instructed and hid by standing up flat right against the door as Rex approached a small panel next to the door of the station, walking in a droid like manner.

We suddenly heard a droid voice say, "Unit 2 6, is that you?" as what I could only assume was a camera of some kind began extending out to get a better look at Captain Rex.

"Rodger rodger," replied Captain Rex.

"You sound strange... is there something wrong with your vocabulator?" responded the droid voice.

"Rodger rodger,"  said Captain Rex.

"Take off your helmet. Let me see your faceplate," said the droid voice.

"Rodger rodger," responded Captain Rex grabbing his helmet as if to take it off and crouching out of view from the camera before picking up the droid head and holding it up to the camera.

"This is never gonna work," said Commander Cody worriedly and incredulously as he made what meant to be a facepalm.

However, it seemed luck was on our side as the door suddenly opened to reveal three Commando Droids.

"CLONE!" yelled the closest Commando Droid.

"RODGER, RODGER," said Captain Rex before he shot the Commando Droid in the head.

Okay, I'll say it. That was badass.

Anyways, the other two Commando Droids were quickly gunned down and Captain Rex said, "Alright, let's move!"

We rushed forward and before we entered what I now guessed to be the control room of the station,  Fives said, "Permission to take point, sir?"

"I'm always first, kid," said Captain Rex. With that, we charged into the room. The fight was short but intense. The Commando Droid's only major weakness was  the head. You could probably sneeze on its head and it would collapse.  Anyways, me and Rex teamed up to take on the white marked Commando Droid while Cody and the other took out his buddies. I managed to disarm the droid but it had a sword of some kind and I jumped back to avoid the swing at me. However, I gave it a lightning fast Canterlot Buck and sent it reeling over to Rex, where he finished the job by twisting its head.

By the time we were done the other droids had been taken care of.

"I got one!" yelled Echo triumphantly.

"Sorry Echo, but I junked that one," responded Hevy.

"Like hell you did," mumbled Echo.

I wanted to congratulate everyone, but Commander Cody cut me off unintentionally, "Get to the window,  it looks like we have visitors."

We all ran up and Echo used his helmet to scan the night sky. "It looks like Separatist fleet!" Echo exclaimed.

"That's why they commandeered to outpost; they're mounting a full scale invasion!" said Commander Cody.

"We have to warn command," said Captain Rex.

"Not to ruin the mood, but... may I ask why this planet Kamino is so important, besides the facilities there?" I asked.

"That's exactly why it's so important," said Commander Cody. "Every single one of us, including me and Rex came from Kamino, the entire Republic Army does. Every Clone Trooper in the GAR is born and raised there. If the Separatists can get to Kamino, launch an invasion and capture Kamino, the war will be lost for us. If they get past this post, it won't be long before they hit Kamino, which is virtually undefended right now."

Before I could respond, Commander Cody rushed down to began to attempt communications, but things got suddenly worse when he said, "Those clankers sabotaged our transmitter and they hardwired the all-clear signal, it'll take time to repair..."

"We don't have time. Look!" said Captain Rex.

I turned back to the window and observed a large four-winged craft approaching the station.

"Well buddy, you always said you'd wanted to be in the front lines!" said Fives to Hevy.

I observed the craft land, open a pair of large doors, and saw a large group of whitish droids, I counted about two to four dozen at the most.

"We can't protect the outpost long against that army of clankers," said Commander Cody.

A few dozen droids was hardly an army, but it was more than we could fend off single-hoofedly.

"Then we'll destroy the outpost instead!" said Captain Rex.

We turned with shocked faces to Captain Rex.

"Ah but sir, our mission is to defend this facility, at all costs!" said Echo.

"We have to warn the Republic about the invasion. They'll take notice as soon as the all clear signal stops," said Captain Rex.

"That's right! When they stop recieving the beacon, they'll get the message something's wrong!" said Hevy.

"We'll need every Thermal Detonator in the inventory," said Captain Rex.

"It'll take more than a few detonators to destroy this outpost," stated Commander Cody.

"We can use the LT!" said Echo excitedly from below. He then backed up his idea by stating,"This moon freezes for more than half the year; we use Liquid Tibanna as fuel to heat the base."

"Liquid Tibanna... highly explosive," said Commander Cody.

"Good! Bring the tanks here and prime the detonators," said Captain Rex.

"Wait, what?" I thought. "Did they just say that stuff is highly explosive?! Then why the heck do they use it as fuel there?! If they're storing and using this in a place where they keep explosives, this just practically screams bad idea!" However, I realized that this detail wasn't very important at the moment. It was just my commons sense picking out a potential danger. Nonetheless, it sounded like they would be detonating it from a distance or shelter, so I didn't worry about it.

Anyways, all the clones turned towards the door and I followed. Cody and Rex turned to Echo, Fives, and Hevy.

"Alright, listen up! There's only one target of interest in this sector: Kamino. It's the closest thing we clones have to a home. Today we fight for more than the Republic,  today we fight for all our brothers back home. Understood?" said Captain Rex.

"SIR YES SIR!" responded the other Clones.

They each grabbed their respective helmets and put them on, one by one. Hevy then directed us to what appeared to be an armory.

"I think we can even the odds a bit, Commander; 'specially since they don't know we're here," said Hevy, grabbing  large, six-barreled weapon. "This on here is mine. Heheh!" said Hevy as he spun the barrels of his new toy.

"A big gun doesn't make a big man," said Commander Cody as he and the other soldiers grabbed new weapons and Rex began gathering the LT for detonation.

"I'll take this one, then," I said, standing bipedal and grabbing another six-barreled weapon. I actually could hold it comfortably, it's weight kept me balanced.

Me, Commander Cody, Fives, Echo, and Hevy then went out to greet our new guests.

"Reinforcements reporting, open up!" said a droid in a distinct voice. The door opened to reveal me and Hevy, both of us sprouting the line,"Didn't say please!"

"Clones! Get 'em!" yelled a droid in its distinct voice.

And then, all Tartarus broke loose. Thanks to ours weapons and combined firepower, we managed to mow down a fair amount of droids, but more kept coming.

"Could use a Jedi about now!" said Commander Cody.

As soon as we'd pulled back far enough we closed the door and paused for a moment. However, after a few moments the door was blown open and droids started pouring in like water flowing from a busted dam.

"Time to go!" I said as we fell back, the droids a few feet behind us.

"Rex, time's wasting!" said Commander Cody into (presumably) his comlink.

"Almost ready," replied Captain Rex. We quickly arrived, but it seemed Rex was having trouble, "The handset isn't linking up with the detonator," said Captain Rex. He stood up and called out,"Hevy!"

"Yes sir!" responded Hevy, running to Rex.

"This detonator isn't working," said Captain Rex.

"I'll take care of it. It'll be fixed in no time. You guys get out of here," said Hevy, grabbing the handset from Rex.

"Alright, but make it fast, those droids are getting close," said Captain Rex.

For some reason, I felt compelled to stay behind.

"I'm gonna cover Hevy," I said.

"You can't! I'm not risking losing you. Wherever you come from, your government is probably looking for you! We need to keep you safe!" Captain Rex.

"There's no time for discussion! Go, we'll be fine!" I yelled.

Captain Rex gave we what I sensed was a pained look, but he and the other soldiers left through the tunnel.

Hevy was tinkering with the detonator and gave me hope when he said,"There, that should fix it." However, it seemed nothing happened and the droids were getting very close to our position. Hevy fiddled with it a bit more, but the result was still the same: the handset and detonator weren't linking. "This isn't good," mumbled Hevy. "There's gotta be another way..." He ran over to the tunnel where the others had exited and put it back in place so as not to arouse suspicion from the droids. "Follow me," Hevy hissed quietly, and we went behind a wall a few feet away from the LT tanks which had been set up. From our hiding spot, we could hear the droids enter the room we'd just been in.

"The base is ours again, sir," we heard a droid say. "The clones are fleeing!"

"Cowards... Secure the area!" responded another droid in a slightly lower pitch.

Suddenly, Hevy got a message on his comlink He turned it on and the voice of Captain Rex said, "Hevy, get out of there!"

"The remote isn't working, I'll have to detonate it manually," replied Hevy.

"Hey, hold on there!" said a droid. "Blast him!"

I returned fire as I heard the voice of Captain Rex say, "Heeeevy!" I also overhead some more dialogue directed towards the other clones,"We've got to get up there; back to the maintenance pipe!"

"It's no use!" Hevy exclaimed. "I know what I have to do!" With that, he drew his weapon and we both fired on the droids.

"I don't like your tone rookie," came Captain Rex's voice from Hevy's comlink.

We mowed down the first few droids in sight, but they just kept coming. Then, droids from behind us fired, one landing a grazing shot on Hevy's shoulder. I took care of them and he fired at the droids behind me. But they still kept coming, and we knew that our weapons wouldn't last forever. They would eventually overrun us.

"Soldier, come in! Are you there?" said Captain Rex nervously over Hevy's comlink as he kept firing. Hevy remained silent, taking down a few more droids. I was doing alright, but a few shots had already grazed my forelegs and I dodged one that would've nailed me in the head. Why was I doing this? I can't be sure, I was endangering myself in a vivid dream, but part of me says that it was the right thing to do; I was helping a soldier in a hopeless battle... a final battle.

"Soldier, where are you? Respond!" yelled Captain Rex frantically over Hevy's comlink as he limped towards the LT.

Hevy and I arrived at the main room and he was able to fire a few shots before his weapon ran out of ammo. He threw it at some of droids behind him (and succeeded in taking out two of them), but he took multiple shots in the back and fell face first to the ground; and while that was happening a shot hit me in the side and I dropped weapon, letting out a loud grunt of pain. I knew I couldn't die, but the pain felt very real. We both fell a few inches short of the LT tanks' detonator.

Hevy laid still as the droids surrounded us. I thought I heard Echo trying to frantically contact Hevy, but i couldn't be sure, I was caught up in the immense pain.

One droid asked as Hevy slowly inched forwards towards the detonator, "Do we take prisoners?"

"I don't," said Hevy as he pressed two small buttons on the detonator.

Somehow, in the millisecond before the station exploded, I was able to create a shield around me and Hevy and then I did something I thought was impossible: transport a person from a dream out of the dream. Hevy being that person. Where he was sent, I couldn't be sure. But at least he was alive: if barely. The station then exploded in a massive and I orange fireball, and I had managed to leave the station before it went up, just like Hevy had (albeit by my magic).

I observed Captain Rex, Commander Cody, Fives and Echo as they avoided some falling debris on fire and ran to the safety of a large overhanging ledge. They then watched the flaming wreckage of the station in silence.

"Hevy always did hate that place," said Echo to Commander Cody. Echo suddenly looked up and said, "We've got those tinnies on the run!"

"Thanks to Hevy..." said Commander Cody. "And Luna."

With that, I left the dream. When I finally had caught my breath,  I saw the dreamer: a strange pony in some kind of ponified clone armor. of some sort. When the pony turned over, I saw a bluish-purple horseshoe mark stamped on the chestplate of the armor... just like the handprint on Echo's armor. "Wait... no, it can't be!" I thought. "Echo?!?!" I looked at the other pony and I guessed it was Fives, because the markings on the pony's armor didn't match Captain Rex's. Then, something else hit me: I had just discovered the first alien lifeforms, albeit in pony form, on Equestria. I soared straight back to the castle; tomorrow was going to be a long day...