//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Siege Of Nevarro // Story: Final Wars // by FourShadow //------------------------------// The Storm Army capital was guarded and armed to the teeth as Brawn had said. Several cannons were spread, a few turrets on the towers, including masses of the armies themselves. Battle droids, Stormtroopers, even the hairy beasts that served under the Storm King himself. All of them had been tasked to keep an eye out for intruders, they didn't want anyone coming inside anytime soon, since they knew the Republic had sent an army here. Inside the capital, Bolt had indeed been captured. Fortunately, he was alright, but he was strapped to an examination table in a prison cell, knocked out. He was currently sitting inside what looked like a mad scientist's laboratory, with guards posted at the doors, and a medic droid overseeing him. Soon enough, the head scientists of this laboratory came into the room, with the two battle droid guards moving out of the way. Said scientists were a pair of brothers; with pear-like colored skin, both sharing similar builds and figures, only difference was that one had a mustache and the other had no facial hair of any kind. The two brothers were scientists, dedicated to the Storm Army so they could get a good cut of cash. They knew how to work the system without facing repercussions, and if the Storm King took over, it meant they could be completely untouchable. Right now, their hands were typing on the main computer, sending a call to their boss. The two waited momentarily, hearing a dial-up tone coming from the screen which screeched an awful lot whenever they sent him a call. And soon on screen with his chest right in the middle of the screen, was the Storm King. And judging by the conversation, he was clearly not having the most wonderful day right now. --My BIDDING!? How about I bid thee, to stop ramming the ship into blasted asteroid fields, can you handle that?" "I'm trying--" "--Yeah, well there is no try, there's do, and then there's fragged up royally, and you have fragged up royally! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting right now, and I'd appreciate it if you stop wrecking my ships, and my merchandise!" The Storm King yelled. He sighed momentarily, chest still close to the camera. "Sorry about that, agh... alright, wait. Can you see me?" "Uhh, move a bit down, sir," the first brother asked. "Like this?" He lowered himself a bit, capturing his jaw on camera, but it wasn't enough. "No, a little bit more," the second brother asked. Finally, the Storm King was in perfect view of the Flim Flam brothers, giving them both his attention. "Oh, there you are," the Storm King deadpanned. "Alright, here's the deal, I'm in the middle of a shift in plans, I've got several bills and payments to make to produce more battle droids and enlist more Stormtroopers, but you know what, I really need to back up my power, know what I need to back it up with? A STORM! THAT WOULD BE GREAT!" He yelled, flashing his fangs. "I've been fighting in a long, tiring, and frankly boring war for over three years now, and I kind of want to step things up a notch, you know what I mean?" "Of course, good King sir," Flim nodded. "Absolutely, couldn't agree more," Flam added. "But uhhhh what are you going to do about it?" The Storm King scrunched his face, making his eyes stretch with his jaw as he did so. "Look, I got a message from Shelia, she said something about you two ordered troops to capture one of the uh look-alike whatchamacallit things," The Storm King stuttered, trying not to slip on words. "Clones, good king," the first brother said. "Yes, yes, of course. Expendable, but easy to replace, just another face no one cares--alright, listen, I've got a big plan I want to unleash on the Equestrians, you know what I mean? These Jedi saps don't even know I got a little weapon I've wanted to spring on them for some time. I wanted to save it for a special occasion, but you know what, I'm getting BORED!" He slammed his fist down on the console. "Now, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to tell Shelia to send you a fax, a code, whatever it is, the instructions for what you're going to do to that copy of a man. I want you guys to run a little test. The Jedi will no doubt come back to rescue the expendable man, and when they do... let their brother come back with new orders." The two brothers scratched their heads. "But, King sir, what if the Jedi doesn't come back? I mean these clones, aren't they made to be expendable?" The Storm King slowly glared at them, growling softly. "Who is the Jedi that your troops spotted?" "Um, Ditzy, Clutzy, something uhhh--Derpy, Derpy Hooves, yes, that's her," Flim said, getting a nod from his brother. "Then I know for a fact she will come," the Storm King grinned evilly. "I received multiple reports from some of our fellow officers and co-workers, it seems this Jedi values these lab rats as living beings. I know she will come to perform a rescue. Now, do your little test, I have a city bombing to join in a few," he said casually, shutting off the monitor. The two brothers looked at each other with curiosity and shrugged. Flim tapped on the console, speaking to one of the guards. "Please bring the clone trooper down to our laboratory. We have some work to do." All Flim got was a grunt for a response, but it was an acknowledgement either way. And on a holopad, a set of instructions and pictures were on display for them to analyze. Flam picked up the pad, looking at some of the various pictures that they had to study from. "Hmm... ohhh, oh now this is interesting," Flam observed. "What is, good brother?" Flim asked, adjusting his mustache. "Look," Flam showed the pad in his hand, getting a mischievous grin off Flim's face. "Ohohoho, I think the Storm King's going to make effective use with this." Just then, the doors opened, with one of the Storm Guards pushing Bolt inside. The clone was strapped down to an examination table, and he couldn't move any of his limbs. Bolt tried to break himself free, but of course, none of his attempts worked. The Storm Guard didn't even pay any mind. "Just leave him right over there," Flim pointed to the left of their lab, near some equipment. The guard did just that, pushing the clone towards the equipment, then walking away and leaving. Once he was gone, the two brothers examined the notes and information that had been sent to them, looking with evil grins and curiosity. Knowing what they were going to do, they walked over to the clone with the holopad. "Hello trooper," Flim greeted with a faux friendly greeting. "Are you excited? We're going to be doing some work today." "Whatever it is you're after, you aren't going to get it out of me!" Bolt growled as he glared at him. "Oh, don't worry trooper. We'll be getting it out of you, one way or another," Flam smirked. "Nothing too personal, it's all part of the business, you cannot get too attached!" "I'd rather die," Bolt sneered. "That can easily be arranged," Flim sneered back. "However, you're not going to. We have something much more fun planned. And since we know your master is going to come back to save you, we're going to get started. And don't worry, this will only hurt a little..." None of the Storm Guards got a look inside the lab as the Flim Flam brothers got to work, but judging by the flashing lights and the sounds of electricity, they could only imagine what horrors went on in there. Only the battle droids posted inside could watch, and they barely had any reaction to the inhumane things they were doing. The screaming of the poor man in pain and terror only added further as they stood at their posts, ready to guard and defend... With Brawn patched up, and the wounded brought back to their campsite, Derpy and the clones gathered around a table, looking over a holographic projection of the entire capital. "Judging by how fortified this capital is, it's not going to be easy to just storm in and break through into the fortress. Those tanks aren't going to let us come through, and we only have two functional walkers. They'll wipe them out before we can even get there," trooper Bounce observed, looking at the map. "We'll figure out how to deal with the tanks later. Right now, our priority should be finding a way inside to rescue Bolt," Derpy shook her head. "General, what if they killed him? He's probably dead by now," one trooper asked out of concern. "Breaking into that place is going to be suicide!" "I don't care how risky it will be, I'm not going to leave him," Derpy said, frowning. She looked at the rest of the troops with concern. "I know we've lost many of our brothers along the way. Not our platoon, but... everywhere. Fives. Waxer. Hardcase. Keeli. Axe. Thorn. And many others. But there's no reason they would just capture a clone unless they had some plan with him, and I for one do not want him experimented. If any of you want to come with me, please say so now. But I should note that if you don't want to, you don't have to. Volunteer only." No one said a word, though frankly, no one was feeling much confidence in her lackluster plan to begin with. That is until Mohawk and Patch stepped up. "If I may, General, I think we might have a possible solution that could benefit us all; taking out some of their defenses and getting Bolt out of there," Mohawk proposed. "Yeah? What is it?" Derpy asked, curiously. Another projection displayed on the holotable, showing a massive pipeline connected to areas of the capital. "We send in two teams; one team to rescue Bolt, and the other to take out a few of their defenses," Patch began. "We can sneak past a few guards, security droids, and we can plant bombs on the tanks in a region they'll never think to look outside the main doors and walls." "Then, once we're ready to fight, we'll blow them up, catching them by surprise. Thus letting our troops push forward and break into the capital," Mohawk finished. "Once we're finished, Tracks will come in with the gunship to pick us up and take us back to camp." Derpy rubbed her chin, but that smile on her face was enough to confirm her agreement. "Okay, I'm in. Let's assemble our infiltration teams." -- Much later, Mohawk and Patch started calling for a few troopers to come join their mission involving the tanks; Stinger, Ace, Knight, Bounce, Coil, Tom, Crow, and Spartan. Derpy looked over her troops, looking for the best soldiers to tag along for her mission to free Bolt. "You can count on me, General," Commander Bubbles said, stepping forward. "Me too, Bolt and I have been through a lot together," Mix added, joining Derpy and the commander. "I'll lend a hand," another voice piped up. This time it was Vargas, stepping forward. "I want to give them a little reminder of what happens when you mess with our brothers." The last call had been made, and so the infiltration team sped off on a series of speeder bikes, racing off to the capital, kicking rocks and dust behind them. Derpy felt stronger with all of her troopers together; just knowing they were by her side was enough to bring confidence back in her to make this mission a success. They were going to get Bolt free, and they were going to win this fight, no matter what. Soon enough, the team arrived at a massive pipeline. Incredibly smelly inside, but it was the perfect way to sneak inside without being seen. One by one, everyone climbed inside and marched through. Everyone's guns were locked with the safety on for their own concern, no one wanted to be blown up before they got there. Derpy held a hand over her nose to try and block the smell, but it still made it through. "Should have brought a mask like you guys," Derpy quipped, nearing the pinpointed spot to leave the pipe. Derpy climbed up the ladder and opened up the hatch with the circular valve. Slowly she pushed it up, peaking her eyes out to look for any guards or patrols. No one was in sight as she slowly got out, just making sure. "See anyone, General?" Mohawk called out. Derpy kept looking, even using the Force to try and feel for any guards. "No one. Your team should be okay for now, but you should still take cover!" One by one, Mohawk's group climbed out of the pipeline and back into the open, now standing on the grounds surrounding the capital. Only one way across without the pipeline; a bridge. A bridge that connected to a massive set of doors that led inside. And lined up against the capital's walls were series of cannons, ready to be used in the event of an attack. "We'll be in and out, now let's move it boys," Mohawk ordered. Mohawk's team got out and started to sneak along the walls, ready to get to work on planting the bombs. Derpy just pressed on with Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas right behind her. Together the group of four kept moving down the pipeline, leading further and further underground until Derpy raised her hand up to tell the group to freeze in their tracks. "We should be right underneath one of the floors," Bubbles said, looking up at the ladder and valve hatch. Derpy climbed up first and once again, opened up the valve and peaked out with her eyes to check for any possible threats. No one in sight, and she pushed it open all the way, slowly getting out and checking for any threats. Seeing no one around, the Jedi signaled for her clones to come out and join her. "Okay, if I remember the holoplans, the laboratory should be down this way," Bubbles pointed to the hallway in front of them. "Great. But first thing's first, shoot the cameras. We can't let them know we're here, not yet," Derpy advised. "Roger that," Mix acknowledged, shooting a camera that stood out. And Vargas shot at another camera. Bubbles was the last to fire, shooting cameras like a gunslinger in a showdown. Derpy poked her head out, quietly squeeing at the fact no one was around. However she did not stop from looking around, no way this could have been so easy. The team stood together, watching each other's backs as they made their way towards the main doors. Derpy's fingers pressed the buttons, and the doors slid open. Inside they could see the two Flim Flam brothers with Bolt still strapped to their examination table. The two scientists nearly yelped when they saw Derpy barge in with Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas at her side. Their weapons were cocked to kill, and the clones fired at the battle droids that were guarding the room, destroying them instantly. “Alright Stormies. Give us our brother back, now,” Mix warned, cocking his blaster again, just for good measure. The two scientists did so, unstrapping the restraints that held Bolt's body to the table. But just as he was about to get back up, one of the brothers slowly moved in close to his ear and whispered something. Derpy, nor the other clones could hear it, but they knew it couldn’t have been good. “Bolt, they didn’t do anything to you, right?” Bubbles asked, concerned. Bolt slowly got back on his feet, finally getting the strength to stand back up again. Although the blank expression on his face said otherwise. Derpy didn’t need to be told a thing to learn something wasn’t right. Bolt wasn’t responding to any of his brother's concerns. But then they saw his arms shaking and he let go of his ARF helmet which dropped on the ground. “Bolt? Are you okay buddy?” Derpy worried. “What’s wrong?” She took one step forward, and without warning, Bolt quickly raised his weapon, pointed at her. He didn’t fire, and it was only more concerning thanks to his worried face. “Stay back! All of you!” Derpy put her weapon away and raised her hands up, as if to silently protest ‘we’re not going to hurt you’. Bolt didn’t move his weapon away, he couldn’t. Something was forcing him to hold it up, but he couldn’t say what it was. But as he trembled in place, his brothers could see one small tear run down his face as he desperately tried not to shoot at them. “Run… run… run…” Derpy didn’t understand. Run? Run from what? From him? From the enemy? What was happening!? “All of you, run!” He pulled the trigger and Derpy deflected the blast at one of the walls. Seizing their chance, the Flim Flam brothers escaped the lab to leave their work with the Jedi and the clones. Bolt kept shooting, and Derpy kept blocking the blasts, trying to keep them away from her troopers and the man currently firing. "Bolt, stop! Please!" Derpy begged as she deflected another shot. Vargas took his chance while he was distracted, charging at Bolt and tackling him to the ground. Bolt however, with more experience in the war than the younger clone, got back up and pushed Vargas off his body. He gripped Vargas and kneed him in the groin and the gut, and finished by slamming him against some of the scientist equipment hard enough to knock him out. Until finally Bubbles switched his blaster to stun and he fired a shot at Bolt, finally knocking him to the ground. The remaining three members standing looked at each other with worry. "Wh... what happened?" Derpy quivered. "I don't understand. Why would he just attack us?" Mix asked. "I don't think he had any choice," Bubbles said, walking over and picking up Vargas. "Is he still breathing?" Derpy asked, worried. Bubbles sighed in relief. "He's still alive. But I recommend we get these two out of here as soon as possible." With all of his strength, he carried Vargas back to the hallway with Mix carrying Bolt with him. Derpy ran with them, keeping her lightsaber out to defend the troopers while they got their brothers out. Derpy tapped on her comlink, calling the ARC troopers. "Mohawk, Patch, we have Bolt, we're on our way out! Where are you?" "We just finished placing the bombs, we're heading down into the pipelines!" "Wait for us, we're on our way out!" Derpy ordered. "Roger that, General!" Right at that very moment, a loud alarm system echoed throughout the entire capital. Realizing they had to run, the group booked it back to where they had entered before, sealing the doors behind them. Bubbles climbed down the hatch first, with Derpy carefully moving Bolt down to the commander so he could grab him. Mix was next to climb down, and he got ahold of Vargas as Derpy carefully moved him down as well. Derpy was the last to leave as she slammed the hatch behind her, running with the group down the pipeline to escape. Everyone darted down the pipeline until they saw Mohawk and the rest of the clones who were there, waiting for them. Seeing that everyone was together, Bubbles led the clones out of the pipeline first, making sure that everyone made it out, one by one. Derpy was the last to leave, also making sure that no battle droids or Storm Guards were on their tail. But the moment they were outside, they were seen. Battle droids fired their blasters at them to try and stop them, but like most of the battle droids and Stormtroopers of the Storm Army; their shots were incredibly lackluster and poor. Derpy blocked a few of their laserblasts right back at them, hitting a few in the process. Soon enough, a Republic gunship came hovering down for them to get on board, and everyone leapt onto the gunship to get themselves moving. Bolt and Vargas were held carefully by Mix and Mohawk once they got one, and Derpy kept deflecting their blasts the moment they got on. "Tracks, punch it!" Bubbles ordered. "Roger that," the pilot replied. The gunship spun itself around and took off from the field, far away from the vicinity of the capital. Derpy glared back at the capital, and her walleyes turned into sorrow when she looked at her two brothers. She could only hope that they would be okay... Once everyone was back at base, Patch put the two in a tent with some medical equipment nearby to monitor their vitals. Derpy could only pace back and forth out of fear, worrying that they came too late. And just then, Patch exited the tent. "Are they going to be okay?" Derpy worried. "They'll be right. Vargas got hit, but he'll manage. But he's not going to be combat ready, he has a concussion." "What about Bolt? Is he going to be alright?" "That I don't know. I don't think I've ever had a case like this before," Patch said, unsure. He led her inside the tent where Bolt was still laying. But the two could very audibly hear the trooper mumbling words. "Good soldiers follow orders... good soldiers follow orders... good soldiers follow orders..." Derpy and Patch looked at each other with fear. "What does he mean?" "I don't know. This isn't any condition I've seen before. I think he might have snapped, possibly some form of combat stress," Patch hypothesized. "But that doesn't add up, it can't. Before the two Flim Flam brothers left, they did something to make him attack. I don't know what it was, but it felt like Bolt didn't want to attack us. He kept telling us to run, and then he just... turned. It was like something was controlling him, but he couldn't fight it." "Well either way, he is in no condition to fight," Patch summised. "Understood. Just uh... give me a moment," Derpy said, walking off. She walked over to her side of the campsite, with a big rock to use as a seat and her trunk set in front of it to use as a small table. Upset, her body collapsed onto her rock seat as she scrunched her face. She sighed in her hands as she looked across the canyons in front of her. Her head lightly turned back so she could look at the clones who were all busy doing their own things; chatting amongst themselves, studying plans, doing some quick exercises, the usual. "General, are you okay?" "Hmm?" Derpy raised her head. Commander Bubbles was standing next to her. The Jedi scooted so her commander could take a seat with her as well. "Oh, uh, please, sit." Bubbles sat beside her. "Are you feeling alright?" "I... I don't know. I just feel awful, Bubbles. I don't know what went wrong with Bolt, and now I don't know how to help him," Derpy whimpered. Reaching over on her left, she pulled out a small basket that she managed to bring with her on the trip. Naturally, of course, inside the basket were some muffins. "Muffin?" she offered. "Yes please, thank you." Bubbles accepted a muffin, taking a bite into the sweet cinnamon tasting pastry. Derpy had one herself, and the two sat in silence for a moment as they stared down the canyon. Hoping to ease her mind on the trooper's condition, Bubbles changed the subject. "So General. If you don't mind me asking, did you have any plans for when the war's over? When all of this is done?" Derpy took another bite of her muffin and thought for a second. "I don't know. I was honestly thinking of retiring when this is all over. Maybe settle down. Get married. Maybe find a nice house in a beautiful forest, maybe something like a jungle. Somewhere far from war, but still have nice people I can talk to. What about you?" "I'll be honest, General. I haven't thought that far ahead. I mean, I thought I was going to die at one point during many of our battles. That's what we were made for, we're made to be expendable." Derpy looked at Bubbles softly, patting his hand. "Not to me. None of you are expendable." Another moment of silence passed as the two sat there. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Derpy jumped on her two feet like a man ready to hunt down a wild animal. "You know what? I've had enough. I think it's time we finish this battle. We go out to random planets to fight more battles, only to lose more and more men, and I think enough is enough. We're ending this battle, once and for all." "But we have two men down," Bubbles pointed out. "It hasn't stopped us before. We rescued a Jedi with only 13 clones, and we still made it out okay." Derpy popped the lid of the trunk, pulling out some black spandex and white and blue armor. And out of the trunk came a massive screen to hide herself. Bubbles couldn't see, but he did only see her shadow as she started to disrobe. "Um, General, what are you doing?" "I've waited for years to wear this outfit, and I don't think there's a better time. I want to mess with their heads," Derpy said, putting her hands on her hips behind the screen. "How, uh, ma'am? I don't understand." All he saw were clothes flying in the air as she got dressed. And eventually, he saw what looked like shapes of some kind of armor being put on, and spandex stretching around her body. Once she was done, the screen was pushed aside and Bubbles finally got a good look at what she was talking about. "What do you think?" Derpy asked with a sheepish grin. "General, I... I think it looks great," Bubbles smiled. "Did you make that?" "I had some help from Master Rarity. I wanted to wear it since I made it, and I don't think there's any other time." Derpy grabbed two blaster pistols from the trunk as well, pushing them down in her holsters. Finally, she picked up a helmet from the trunk and placed it on top of her head. "Assemble the troops. We're winning this last battle." Back at the capital, the battle droids and Storm Guards were standing in positions, ready for another attack. They weren't going to let them sneak past their defenses again, not this time. Now everyone had their cannons charged and ready to fire, blasters loaded, everyone was ready to fight. Just then, they felt the ground start to shake and rumble. Powerful thuds tremored underneath their feet, making small rocks jiggle. One of the droids raised a set of binoculars, gazing off in the distance. "Republic troops are approaching, commander." Off in the distance, two Republic walkers were marching across the grounds towards the capital, with a handful of clone troopers walking with them. Some soldiers stood on top of the walkers as well to provide additional fire from above. Two people led the troopers towards the capital. Commander Bubbles, naturally. And the other was Derpy Hooves. Although Derpy no longer looked like a Jedi. She was now dressed like the clones; in a custom-made female clone trooper outfit, with colors to resemble the 197th Battalion. A kama with holsters reached down to her heeled boots, her bubbly graphic was blazed on her shoulders, and her helmet resembled a Phase I clone trooper helmet with bigger lenses in the eye region. "As cool as the armor is, General, I'm not sure they'll fall for the trick," Mix piped up, marching behind her. "It'll work for a few seconds. But this is our final battle, and I want to look like all of you," she said, looking back. "Why? We all look the same," Mix frowned under the helmet. "Not to me. And I want to be like all of you guys, that's why I made this armor," she squeaked. "I'm happy with the Derpy Hooves we have," Bubbles said back. "And there's no other Derpy Hooves I'd fight beside." Derpy squeaked with joy under the helmet, making the commander chuckle a bit. There was no way anyone could not smile at her innocent demeanor. "Uh, sirs? The Republic troops are approaching. Do we attack them?" The battle droid commander asked. "Destroy them all!" The Flim Flam brothers ordered in unison. The tactical droid stood out the top of one of the armored assault tanks, and gave the order. "Go. Go!" The battle droids and Storm Guards immediately began firing towards the incoming clones, preparing for their incoming assault. And just like the Storm Army, the clones immediately stepped into action. Troopers started to fire at the droids, running and taking cover behind several rocks and other obstructions that were in the field. Derpy, now equipped with her new suit started to make a mad dash through the battlefield. Some of the Storm Guards saw the running clone trooper and opened fire on her with their spear-blasters. But none of their shots hit her, and she kept on running. She was moving so fast, the clones swore she could have challenged Rainbow Dash in a leg race. "How is that clone running so fast?" One of the droids asked. "It's the Jedi, you fools! Open fire," the tactical droid ordered. Derpy still charged towards them, and when the time was right she jumped into the air, landing on top of the tank and yanking the tactical droid out of the seat. The tactical droid was tossed to the ground, and Derpy quickly responded by firing a blaster bolt into the central processor with the small pistol clipped to her thigh. Taking her chance, she jumped further into the tank, sending a lot of screams from the droids inside. One of them opened the back door and tried to run, but Derpy Force-pulled him straight back into the tank and destroyed it. Some of the Storm Guards turned around and started to shoot at her, but she didn't kill them. She blocked some of their shots, yes, but she didn't shank her lightsaber through their bodies. She Force-pushed them against other Storm Guards, knocking the wind out of some, and then shooting others with the stun function on the blaster gun. With a few of the soldiers distracted, it gave the clones a chance to keep pushing forward. The walkers fired at the battle droids, destroying several battalions from the blast radius. Trooper Fuse who was clinging to one of the walkers held the detonator in his hand, ready to pull the trigger at the call. He still partook in the battle, shooting at a few battle droids that were in the distance; with the help of Ace of course, who held a sniper rifle on the other side of the walker. Bubbles and a few of the Bakers Batch members ran into the field together, firing all at once as droids tried to stampede them. But more and more droids just dropped thanks to their combined numbers and effort. Knight whipped out a gatling gun and started unloading a hailstorm of blasts against the droids. "Suck hot laser, clankers!" Knight cackled as he wiped the ground with the droids. Coil and Tap took cover behind one of the massive rocks, nailing a few targets along the way. "General, how much longer until we can storm the capital?" Tap asked in the coms. "We can do it now! Tell Fuse to blow them up!" Derpy ordered, slicing and hacking away at more of the battle droids. Fuse got the call, and so he held the detonator ready in his fingers. "Stuka u noleeya hell, clankers," Fuse grinned as he pressed the button. Several powerful explosions went off around the edges of the capital, cannons being blown up to smithereens and sending parts and metal flying in the air. Battle droids got hit by the falling debris, and clones took cover from the explosions. So many of them went off, it was almost like a domino effect of explosions. Only a few cannons remained, and it was enough for their walkers to demolish from their distance. "Fire!" The two walkers fired the heavy cannons towards the cannons. Two of the cannons got destroyed, and another was blasted into smithereens instantly. And as the turrets fired, more of the Storm Guards and battle droids got obliterated in the blasts. But as the battle continued, a straight path became much more clear for them to run straight inside. Taking her chance, Derpy started to make a run across the bridge, slicing up battle droids along her run. Bubbles, seeing her lead the charge, hollered for a couple of troops to come along with them. Stinger flew in the air, shooting at some droids from the skies, avoiding them as lasers flew all over. But his aid, along with Knight's spinning of the gatling gun helped clear a path for the rest of the Baker's Batch to come with Commander Bubbles. "Go, go, go!" Derpy shouted, leading her troopers with her lightsaber blade straight inside the capital. Troopers came running in behind her, shooting at more battle droids who stood in guard positions. The clones had come prepared for this fight, and barely any of them were getting taken out. Sure they were taking losses, but it wasn't heavy ones. Even as they ran up the stairs, they still didn't slow down. This was scaring the two Flim Flam brothers as they tried to lock the doors with as much as they could. Flam's hands slammed against the keyboard controls, trying to contact any other Storm Army allies for help. Eventually, a transmission came through on screen; a woman with dark lavender skin and a magenta mohawk. "Tempest, thank goodness, we need reinforcements! The clone troopers are overrunning the capital, we need help now!" Tempest looked at the commander briefly, then closed her eyes with a heavy sigh. “Escape if you can, but right now I have much bigger priorities than this. I am afraid the rules of the war have changed.” “Why?” Tempest grimaced as she looked at the commander. “Because the Storm King is dead.” The leaders swore they didn’t hear her words correctly, but Tempest’s facial reactions said otherwise. “How can that be?” “If you find a way to escape, I will tell you everything on Saleucami. But right now, I have a murderer to find and--sev--lead--t--fi--" and the transmission cut itself right off. "They're jamming our signals, brother!" "Blasted clones!" Their hearts dropped to the pits of their stomachs when they heard the tapping on the doors. There was no way of escape. Windows were too high, they had no alternative means of escape, they were trapped. And it only got worse when Derpy's lightsaber cut through the door, starting to slide it around to cut a hole for the clones to push through. Once her cut had been made, she slammed the metal with her foot down and jumped inside with the rest of her clones. All of them surrounded the two Flim Flam brothers, holding them all at gunpoint. The two held their hands up, and looked at the clone-armored woman in front of them. “Surrender! Surrender now!” Derpy declared. “Wait, you have to listen to us,” Flim begged. “You must listen to us!” “Why would we listen to you, Stormie?” Mohawk questioned. “We are all in grave danger! All of us!” Flam added. “Why?” Derpy asked, raising a brow. “The Storm King is dead!” "I find that hard to believe," Bubbles glared. "You aren't listening! He's dead! We're all--" "--I've heard enough," Derpy snarled. "You did something to one of their brothers, what did you do?" The two of them looked at each other and back at the Jedi who looked like she would have no regret killing them on the spot. But the two of them didn't say anything. "They're not going to talk. We'll just have to take them to Equestria or Coruscant, maybe the Jedi can deal with them," Bubbles said, his arms dropping to his sides. "Take them away boys." Derpy's eyes stared at the screens on the wall, showing radar scans of all the Republic forces. The entire radar was clouded with Republic dots on them, no longer minor. And then she heard a transmission come from Patch outside in the battle-zone. "General, we've won! The Storm Army's been defeated out here, we won! We finally won!" That sentence was enough to make Derpy's worried frown turn upside down. Derpy looked over at the control systems for one last time, and took another look at her troops who hauled away the Flim Flam Brothers. For one moment, she had a small smile on her face as she took in the situation. She won. Her brothers won. They finally won this battle. This was the turning point for the war. If they won, then it would mean the rest of the Jedi would win. This war would finally be over. And it would only be a matter of time before she could deliver the good news.