The last call: Boots of freedom. Men of war.

by gameninja

Rating: everyone
Tags:
Length: 2807

No

The last call: Boots of freedom.
Men of war.
“In the time of war, keep your friends close, and your brothers closer.”
- Yours truly

It was the year 2099, halfway through the war on the separatists. We almost had ‘em too… then everything went to shit. BOOM. Bombs were exploding, the smell of laser mixed with charred rock sent a smell in the air any warfighter was familiar with, as you tread the unforgiving grounds full of broken boulders, sand, wet grass, and the dreads of all who fight and die on that land. It didn’t have to be this way. It could’ve had a different turnout, but this was kind of gods great way of saying f#ck you. So here we are. Fighting for what we don’t even know anymore. I’m just a simple clone, fighting in the 101’st squad, A.K.A, first ones in, last ones out. Now, I ain’t no profit, and I can’t remember too much of the past, but I can tell you now, this is going to be one hell of a war.

And to think, it all started on a ship…

“Hey, I bet all of you I can get a higher kill count then ya’ll.” Bouncer said. Bouncer was the muscle of the team, with his PLX - 1 missile launcher and standard clone rifle. “Oh sure” said Boiler sarcastically. Boiler, was the arson of our trio, with his bt - x 42 flamethrower and custom flame grenades. And me? I was just a regular radio-man. We were no ARC-trooper squad, and we didn’t exactly have lightsabers, but we were going to put up one hell of a fight if needed. There were 3 other clones with us on that ship, Pots, Wolfsbane, and Crow. We were to go guard the Pony/Jedi council meeting that was happening. As you know, the Republic, and “Princess Celestia’s” army have been working together to take own the separatists that have been harassing both sides. However, that soon could change. My thoughts soon collided with the hum of the engine and the blast of the fiery jets blasting through the crisp, cold air, creating almost a sort of disturbance… BOOM. Before we even arrive, we hear and explosion. “Hey what the-” I start, but then I get cut off by the sudden jerk of the craft, swaying from side to side, as though it were a ship, fighting against the raging storm, cracking at the cherry colored cedar wood, however, in this case, it was a flying republic transport with guns the size of cannons, and the storm? Hailfire lasers. “What the hell are hailfire droids doing here?!” Yelled Bouncer as he tried to keep his calm. “No idea, but it ain’t good!” Boiler had yelled back. “Nooo, really?!” I said sarcastically. Yes I know, at a time like this, it probably wasn’t a good time to be sarcastic, but hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, right? “Oh cut it out and work on fixing the problem!” Crow had yelled. “What problem is there to fix? Were going to war!” Bouncer yelled excitedly. Then the engines shut down. Bweep, bweep. We all heard. We all saw it. No we weren’t hit, but our bird had just failed. “Move it, move it, move it!!!” Boiler yelled. “We need to get the crap off this thing, and fast!” “I have a plan!” I yelled. I grabbed the jetpacks of the compartment. “We haven't been trained to use those yet!” Bouncer yelled. Then, a laser shredded the side of the craft like asiago on a war day. “AAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!!” Wolfsbane had just been thrown off the side by the fierce, rushing wind that pounded the side of our ship, creating a bigger shockwave each time. “Aw crap, we lost Wolfsbane !” Yelled boiler. But I caught him and pulled him aboard. “Listen up, ladies! These jetpacks are gonna save our lives!” “But like I said, we haven’t been trained to use those yet!!” yelled boiler. “I know, but just hear me out! OK, were gonna leap off the ship, and aim ourselves towards the building! Then, just before impact, we press the ignition on our jetpacks, and then jump of in the middle of the battlefield! Any objections?” Bouncer raised his hands. “Good! Then let’s go!” We all got our jetpacks on, and on my command, leaped off into the piercing cold, unforgiving wind. Then Wolfbane was knocked off course. “ Crow!!!” Screamed Pots. “Guys, I have plan inside of a plan!” I said. “Oh boy” Boiler said, regrettingly. “We're gonna form a human chain! Ready? Too bad! Go! Go! Go!” Bouncer grabbed Boilers leg, and Boiler grabbed Potts's leg, who grabbed Crow's leg, who grabbed mine. I then reached out, and grabbed wolfsbane just in the knick of time. “Alright team!” I yelled. Then the building came around. Or we came around the building? Ah, whatever, the building came nonetheless. However, Potts’s jetpack couldn’t come around. “Alright everyone!” I yelled. “ Let’s do this!” We all ignited our jetpacks… all but pots. As we landed, or, crashed, to the ground, with a thud to the solid hard cement, cracking like dried cay under our battle worn boots. “Move it! Move- wait, where’s Wolfsbane?!!?” slam. Then, a dirty white clone helmet dropped in front of us. It had a crack across the face. You couldn't see it, but you could tell through the smoke, the mortar fire, and the smell of rusted clankers that Crow was crying inside for his fallen brother, and I think we were too. Inside Princess Celestia's castle, you could tell she was quite sad. “And to think” the princess said, shedding a tear, “The ‘hoo-mans’ were gonna help us end this war…” “Miss” said one of the guards. “I don’t think it was them. It could be another ploy by the separatists.” “As much as I hate to say it” Princess celestia said regrettingly. “It is. All the evidence points to it. The so called ‘security’ they were sending, is probably just an attack force sent to finish off our guards. And to think, we don’t even have the necessary weapons to fight them, other than the unicorns with their laser magic, but our pegasi? Our earth ponies?? They’re the main ones who have bravely put themselves at risk, charging through to save our kingdom… But it’s hopeless… We’re outnumbered, outgunned, and we don’t have the hand-to-hand combat training or weapons training they do. It’s hopeless. We will not fight a war. We will be lucky to survive. BOOM. “Go! Go! Go!” Yelled a clone officer. BOOM. The fierce heat of combat, feeling as though they were inside an oven that never went out, and they were the pastry. “C’mon men! Take cover behind this debris!” I yelled as we slid into the busted metal. We were the only troopers sent here for the security, so we were the only ones to fight. “Warlord, Warlord, this is foxtrot!” I yelled. “We are outnumbered 10 to 1, and it don’t look like it’s ending anytime soon!” “Foxtrot, this is Warlord, I read you. We are 01 hours away from your position, hang in there Foxtrot.” “Crap” Bouncer said, just before a droid came into his sight, as he rammed it down, stomped on it’s head, and shot a rocket, taking down 4 of the bastards, and crippling one. Boiler burns the crippled one, and takes down two more. I hop on top of the metal, and take down 2 droids nearing the front, as I hop down, and judo flip another, shooting him when he hits the ground. I then grab one of boilers grenades, and toss it in the air, as I shoot it in mid-air, taking down a vulture droid, which crash landed on the rest of the droids. “Job well done m-” I started to say, but I was cut off when boiler was hit by a laser. Then bouncer got a spear to the head, and and explosion wounded potts’s ankle, and sent us all into the air. Waking up, I remember the air, heavier than san francisco fog. I felt as if I could hardly breathe, as though death had given me a sock in the gut for dodging him this time. And the clomp of weird shaped boots hitting the ground with a sense of purpose that rattle the earth each time it took a step. Then, I got up. I no longer had my helmet on, and a gigantic scar was across my face. My head hurt worse than when my ex cried after I broke up with her. I felt nauseous, as though I would give in any moment, to the cruelty of the battlefield. And then Pots woke me. “Augh!” I screamed waking up. “Pots! POTS!!” “I’m here” I heard him say, in a deep groan. “Pots! Where are we-” Ponies. Ponies marching. Ponies marching toward us. I hurried up to my feet, and grabbed my blaster rifle, which was know broken. I switched to the bowie knife in my hilt, as I ran over to pots, whose entire leg was GONE. “Auuggh… Sir…!” He said with a silent scream. Now, I’m no officer, but pots was a rook, so to him, I might as well be. “Don’t worry pots, I’ve got you!” I said, as I helped him up. Then Pots received a spear through the gut. “POTS NO!!!” “It’s fine sir, I’m just a little… kebabed.. Hehe. Oh, and by the way, my kill count was 3…heh…” “Pots, I’ve got you, I-” Then, Pots died. “NOOOOO!!!” I screamed in a vicious rage. Then I charged down the ponies. I stabbed, sliced and killed over 15, kicking and stomping the rest, and then I made it to the officer, wearing a red coat, dark blue hair with light blue stripes, and a shield on the side of his @$$. “RAAAGH! I WILL KILL YOU!!!” screamed, charging him down. “Not today” He said, as he fired a bolt right at me, tearing through my chest, but I didn’t care. I was ENRAGED. I then leaped on top of him like the horse he is, and put my bowie knife in his neck. I then hopped off, and kicked him into a pile of debris. Then pony reinforcements came on the scene. I charged in a rage that not even the sith lord himself would recognize. I kicked one on them in the eye, sending him into a shard, impaling him, then punched one in the throat, gagging him. But one got a lucky shot with his spear in my side. I fell over as they surrounded me, prepared to die. If my brothers were to die, I die with them. In as a unit, down as brothers.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-07 17:24:15 UTC

Chapter 2: The last call. Sword of life. The shield of death.

Chapter 2: The last call. Sword of life. The shield of death.

                                   “Be rain or shine, day or night, soldiers will win, but brothers won’t

                                                                            Die.’”

                                                                     -Yours truly

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. “Wha-” BOOM! “Oh crap!” I yelled, jumping up to my cold dead feet. KA-KOW! Gunships. Republic gunships, blasting away at the ponies like scissors through paper. Accept this paper, had much more screams. “H#ll yeah!” I yelled as I grabbed my bowie knife, and tore through the field, slicing whatever I could get my steeling knife on. As I looked up, Republic gunships, looking like sand covered rocks, on the brink of the creamy orange sky, laid waste to the unforgiving ground of the council building. Augh! I thought, My side hurt from the the stab from the one @$$hole pony. How can I move like this when I’m injured? Ah whatever, I’ll get it fixed up later. As I looked around, what I saw was pure and total destruction. Rugged maned ponies, with spears of sharpened steel and burnt wood, smelling like a fresh fire in the air, and their golden armor shining brighter Gods might warning sign, fought to the death with the gunships… at least they tried. The gun ships were simply hovering above, using their front mounted swivel cannons to put holes in the grainy Death Coliseum we called the ground, with ease. Then, ARC trooper Alpha 14, roped down with a few clones, and put holes in those flea bitten goat#ckers. I ran over to the battle, and slid underneath one, slicing it across the belly as I went by, and threw my knife into the head of one of the four legged f#ck machines, and grabbed his spear. I received a kick to the back from one of them soldiers, and then, quite p#ssed, I turned around and poked him in the eye with the back of my spear, then got beside him, wrapped him around the neck with it, and tossed him into a spot on the battlefield. He got up to come back at me, but was blasted into chunky, gut-filled smithereens. I then tossed my spear into the eye of another one, then grabbed a spear from one of the pony soldiers, and stuck the back end of the spear down it’s throat. I then went over to eye spear over there, and kicked him into the spear that was hanging out of the choking, dying pony. Alph 14 and the other clones had finished killing the ponies over there side, and watched. Then, with a swift motion, snapped the neck of yet another one. I searched around for more… enemies, to kill, but I saw I had pretty much gone on a violent rampage. I saw Alpha 14, and the other clones, just stare at me. My burnt, cracked, white armor, gleamed in the crimson red blood of the ponies I had just defeated. “Slow down there, killer.” Alpha 14 said with a chuckle. “You did good out there, but you seem to have more skill than your fallen comrades. Your murderous killing spree certainly proved that. So, what is it, separate training?” “Just the Mule-Headed part of me, not wanting to die, sir.” I joked back. “ Heh, heh.” Alpha 14 chuckled. “Well, come with me, were going back to the base” “You mean you don’t want me to search the rest of the grounds?” I asked hopefully. “Nah, Desert snake, Eagle, and Jungle falcon will take care of it, as well as some other clones, so hop aboard clone.” Yes! I thought, as I stepped onto the levitating vehicle, the blue flames coming out of the rocket boosters, lighting a special glow in the noon sky. And we were off. A medic patched me up on the way. The soft purr of the engine reminded of when we were headed to the council meeting for “security”. Then, the looks of death upon my fallen comrades came into mind. I looked down, with a look of sadness, and a slight tear dropped down onto the cold, metal floor of the gunship. “Hey,” Alpha 14 said to me, calmly. “We’ve all been there at one point or another. You know, you’re not the only one to lose your comrades in the midst of a seemingly pointless battle. We all know that pain, and I can empathise with you. Trust me, brothers never truly die. They’re living in here.” He pointed to my heart. “Close your eyes, breathe in the cold air, and clear your mind… and then listen. Listen to what your brothers are saying, listen to what they want you to hear.” And I did. I breathed the refreshing air, I cleared my  mind of the battle that happened, of the slight smell of oil burning as the ship went by, which was now taking up my nice refreshing air. I even cleared my mind of what I was gonna have for dinner, and I listened. And what I heard, was none less than terrifying. “Uh, s-sir?” I asked, with a hint of fear in my voice. “Is there something wrong?” He asked back. “Well, you remember when you said, ‘listen to your brothers’ or some sh#t?” “Uh… yes…”

“Well,” I said uncertain. “Lets just say they said something.” “What.” Alpha 14 said sarcastically. “Did they insult you?” “No sir” I replied. “I think it was more of a warning.” “A warning? A warning about what?” Alpha 14 said, now with uncertainty in his voice too. “Here are their exact words: .sraey dnasuoht a revo fo niaP .gnireffuS .htaeD.”

“Sraeya hatta-tatta what now?” Alpha 14 stuttered. “I personally have no idea what language it is, or what it means, but it gave me a feeling of regret, and pain.” “AAUGH!” Twilight screamed, laying in her bed. “It’s OK twilight, we’re with you. It’s probably just another headache.” Spike said, with a bowl of warm water and a towel in his hands. “ Y-yeah” Applejack said, standing near them. “M-maybe i-i-it was a m-m-m-monster” said fluttershy nervously. “Ugh, whatever it is, it’s happening through the portal to the Equestria girl thing, where teh Princess sent those soldiers.” Twilight said. “So let’s go.”

As we docked on the ship we pretty much lived on, I thought about what I heard. “Good afternoon, sir!” a clone guard said as we got off the ship and headed to our cotts. Well, as I headed to my cott, as alpha 14 had a room of his own. But before I even got remotely near room 18, the room me and my late squad stay in, alpha 14 grabbed my shoulder. “Yes sir?” I said, unsure of what was gonna happen. “Come with me” He said. “I need to show you something.” “Yes sir, I just need to get something from my crate.” “Alrighy.” He replied. “Just come and see me afterwards in my room.” “Yes sir!” As he walked away, I went into room 18 and walked to the crate I have assigned to the end of my bed. I unlocked it with my key, and opened it. In it were 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of shirts, a pair of socks, a laser pistol, a data pad, and a small, shiny silver dragon relic. I took out the relic, closed up my crate, and walked out to go to alpha 14’s room.

On they way there, I recognized new painting along the walls. Oh whatever. I thought. It’s Probably just some new decoration. But there was one thing eating at me. The paint was red. But before I could think about it anymore, I wound up in front of alpha 14’s door. The doors opened for me. Huh. I thought as I walked in. He must’ve unlocked the door for me. But I didn’t think about it for long, as when I got into his room, I almost jaw. Actually, I think I did. To the right as I walked in, was a desk with a comfy looking leather chair, and a personal laptop on it with some documents next to it. Then there was a rack with models of every flagship in our fleet behind it. As I walked  down the 3-step stairs, I saw a comfy and well made king size bed, with a clock and a sound system of the nightstand next to it. As I looked to the left I saw a coset with a ton of different armor combos, and clothes. Dang. I thought. He’s got a good set up in here. “Ah, you’re here!” Alpha 14 said, kind of scaring me. But something was different. His mask was off. He was holding it in his arms. His hair was raven black, and he had a chiseled chin. His cheekbones were slightly pushed in, and he had a burn mark on the lower left cheek. “Sir!” I said. “Oh cut that sir crap.” He said, kind of surprising me. “In my room, we go by names, so what’s yours?” “My name” I started. “Is bunsen sir!” “No, no.” he said, shaking his head. “Real name.” “Ah.” I said, now aware. “ It’s Connor, sir. Er, not sir! Er…” “Hehe” He chuckled. “Well then, Connor, mine is Barrack. Welcome to my room.” “Thank you.” I said. “But what was it you needed me to come here for, sir?” “Oh nevermind.” He said. “I’ll find time for that later, when I get their approval. I just wanted to know your name.” “Very well then, sir.” I said, screwing the no sir stuff, and walked out. But what does “their approval” mean? I thought. Ah whatever, I’ll just get to bed. But, I lie there, I Thought more about it. Like, what he be talking about, or, who or what is “them”? Then, slowly but surely, I fell asleep.  “Aye yaye yaye!” Twilight said. “I don’t know what’s more confusing, the fact that I forget how to walk on these, these, sausages, or the fact that we seem to be, like, 20 now, instead of 16.” “Yeah.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “Or what these things are?!” She said, poking her chest. “Augh! Are they parasites!??!” Fluttershy screeched. “No, there boobs.” Spike said, looking at a tablet. “This site says they’re like some sort of way to feed the offsprings they had in this… world.” Spike added, looking around at the different species of alien or human, and the cars that floated by. “Apparently they are also used for…” Spike made a face. “For what??” Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity simultaneously. “Well, for… sexual arousal, if you..” Hrrph. Spike almost barfed. “S-squeeze ‘em…” “WHA??!!??” They all said blushing and clutching themselves. “Okay, okay, let’s just keep on going.” Twilight said, walking along the Walkway. Still, she was as curious as the other girls what that feel like. “WAKE UP MAGGOT!!!!” Sarge screamed as I hopped out of bed. I looked over the clock, and it read 6:00. I didn’t sleep in, so that’s good. But sarge was looking as p#ssy as ever. “Sir yes sir!” I said, straightening my form and saluting, such as protocol. “Well, private,  you’ll be happy to know, I will not be with you today, but you will be with general Kenobi right here.” He was right. I was happy about that. “Reporting for duty, General!” I said, once again saluting. “This way, Bunsen. You’ll be meeting your new squad today.” “Yes sir” To be honest, I was a bit nervous, after all, we’ve never met, but they probably already trained together. “I think you’ll be happy to know, that you’re going to be the Captain of this squad. Congratulations on the promotion, Captain Bunsen. Well. There went the drag of the day. Right out the window. I felt like king of the world when I heard that, and I was not going to f#uck it up either. Not for me, or anyone else. “Right this way.” He said, pointing to a door. “You’re not going with me sir?” I asked. “Don’t be silly, Bunsen, of course I am, but only to tell you there codenames. They get to tell you their real names, and I’ll leave so you can get acquainted with your new squad.” And then we walked in. 3 clone troopers sitting in a chairs at a bright brown ebony wood table, looked over to me as I walked in. Naturally, to be respectful, we had our helmets off. One of the clones, what looked the heavy weapons man, had a sidewinder Minigun, a rare and ideal gun that had tons of power. He had Yellow armor. The one next to him was an obvious sniper, as he had an A295 sniper rifle. Those things could shoot about 3 miles off. Greatest distance in the galaxy. He had Green armor. And the one on the other side of the table? He appeared to be the demolitionist, as he had an HH-4 grenade launcher. His armor was blue. My armor was just plain frikin white. “Well, here they are!” Obi-wan said. “The heavy weapon expert here, is Sandbag. The sniper is Long-arm. And the Demolitionist over here is Lobo. Gentlemen, this is Bunsen. Alright, I shall leave you too it. Come see me at the bridge when you are all done.” “Yes sir!!” We said. Then he left out the doors and they closed behind him. It’s just us now. I thought. They all had mixed looks. Sandbag looked fine with the whole thing, in fact, it seemed everyone but lobo was fine with the transition. Not that I was too pleased either, though. But Lobo’s expression change to a smile as a he raised his and shook mine. “The names Jace sir.” He said politely. In fact, he seemed to be happy to meet me. “Mine is Jhon.” Said Sandbag. “ And mine is Dean.” Said Long-arm. “And mine is Connor. Nice to meet you gentlemen.” “Are you kidding?!” Said Jhon. “The pleasure is ours! We heard how to bravely took on the forces of equestria and was ready to die for your fallen comrades. They say your kill count of all your battles is 66! Is it true?” “Well-” I said before cut off by Dean. “Oh quit being a frikin fanboy Jhon. Sorry about that sir, but it really is an honor to meet you.” “It’s fine” I said, confused. How am I so popular? “But how do you all know me?” Well.” Jhon started. “Alpha 14 told us about how to fought them all alone, until one of ‘em stabbed you in the side, then they came to rescue you. But apparently then, right after they came, they say your eyes turned a bright blue glow, and you leaped up with your knife, slashing and killing at speeds faster than a sprint.” “Huh” I said. I Don’t remember that part, all I remember is being furious and killing. Oh well, It’s time for us to go back up to the bridge. General Obi-wan is expecting us.” As soon as we got there, Obi-wan was waiting with a smile of his face. He was also holding Orange armor. He handed it to me. “Go change into that and then meet me and the boys in the briefing room.” As I changed in room 18, I wondered why I was getting this armor. When I put it on, I was glad I did. I was very comfortable, but was also very sturdy and tight. It had paint of the same places the others did. On the top of the legs, the new shoulderpads, and my helmet. I felt like a commando. I walked into the briefing room and sat down. Obi-wan had a holomap up and was explaining our destination and mission. “Your destination, troopers, is Endor, the home of the Ewoks. There, you will find the base of Burin Nwython. He is one one of the top arms dealers in the galaxy. Normally we would ignore this, but he tends to sell to those who would like to see the Republic burn. Your mission is simple. Locate his base of operations, infiltrate taking out anyone you need, and bring him here. He tends to keep it well hidden, but it was said to be somewhere on Endor, as no one would suspect it to be there. Just, try, to keep the Ewoks out of it, OK? Understood soldiers?” “Sir yes sir!!” We said. “Well then.” Obi-wan continued. “Get to your drop pods. I’ve input the location on the minimap in your helmets, however, the minimap is only useful for places we charted, it won’t help you find Burin Nwython, so don’t get any ideas.” We chuckled a bit. “Now then, Off to it, H.O.P.E squad.