//------------------------------// // 9. Sit and Dream // Story: Star Wars: Republic Commando: Brothers All // by TJAW //------------------------------// EYES ONLY BE ADVISED, LARGE FLEET OF CIS VESSELS INBOUND TO TARGET STAR SYSTEM. EXACT NUMBERS AND MAKEUP UNKNOWN. BEFORE MAKING HYPERSPACE JUMP, ADVISE ALL VESSELS IN TASK FORCE TO BE READY FOR IMMEDIATE COMBAT. ACCELERATE PREPARATION TO DEPART IN EIGHT DAYS. ADVANCE FORCES ON EQUIS BEING NOTIFIED. (MESSAGE ENDS) - Communique to Commanding officer of RAS Incorruptible “Oh yeah! Who won? I did!” Vinyl shouted with glee, cantering home with her friends close behind. “Well, technically Coruscant won, so…” Octavia replied. “Do you even have a single fact to back that up?” She asked, her voice suddenly gravelly. Coruscant looked at the golden trophy in his hand and back at her before realizing she must’ve been quoting her character. If only he knew lines from his own. “Anyway, the deal was whoever placed higher wins. And since I won, I get to live instead of wearing a red shirt and losing my shit from paranoia and dying. You have to wear a maid outfit. Suck it!” “Right. Well, it’s not a big deal as long as I just have to wear it at home, I suppose,” The charcoal mare said nervously. “Didn’t you read the fine print on the legally binding contract I made you sign? You have to wear it all day for the whole week.” As soon as they entered the house, Octavia pounced on her friend and began to throttle her. “No! I’m not doing that! Never!” “If you welch on the bet, I’ll tell everypony that you watch-” She choked out. “No! That’ll ruin my carefully cultivated reputation for refined taste! Why would you do such a thing?” “First of all, you’re still choking me.” “Sorry.” She released her friend and backed off. The DJ rubbed her throat. “Second, my dad always told me nothing’s lower than being a welcher on a bet.” “Fine. At least I can work past this issue. Everypony will have their chuckle and get past it. Nothing to worry about.” “Sure, whatever helps you sleep,” Coruscant said with a shrug. *** “Beta Squad, Saber platoon, the Separatists want to hold this moon, but Republic wants it more. There’s a battalion of clones from the 182nd ready to land and capture the mining facility as soon as you take out the frigate docked with it,” Beta Squad’s advisor said, present in the form of a ghostly hologram. The engines of the LAAT/i hummed as the craft approached the LZ, their vibrations felt and heard by the commandos and troopers in the hold. The normal troopers were there to assist them when they landed, providing cover fire and helping to secure the area. “After you land, the larty will pull back and provide close air support for as long as possible. If you don’t take out that frigate, we can’t send in any more support. We used our only opportunity to get you in quietly, and you’re too close to the facility for the ship to risk firing on you. For the same reason, we can’t risk firing on that frigate ourselves.” “Your objectives are as follows. First, enter the facility and secure a beachhead. Then locate a lift to enter the frigate. Make your way to the engine room and plant charges there, then exfil before the ship blows. We’ll send in the rest of the 182nd to secure the complex, at which point you’ll provide assistance as necessary. Out.” “Beta, Saber, we’re one minute from the LZ,” The co-pilot said over the vessel’s intercom. “Looks like it’s pretty hot. All kinds of clankers out there, some turrets too.” “Understood,” Coruscant replied. “Thermal, prep for explosive entry. Optic, eliminate long range targets. Bones, mark targets for the gunship. Saber platoon and I will hold them off until we get inside.” Thermal took a charge from his pack and punched a few buttons before attaching it to a magnetic strip on his hip. It would be partially programmed already, saving about five seconds of setting the blast parameters. At the same time, Optic switched from the normal muzzle of his blaster to the long-barreled sniper attachment and swapped the normal blaster clip for a magazine containing sniper rounds. The sniper mode differed from most weapons in that it used a solid slug coated with plasma, making it a sort of hybrid between slugthrowers and blasters. Wookie bowcasters worked on a similar principle. The pair of holographic lenses lit up and he cracked his neck. “Ten seconds out!” The passengers became dead silent as they neared the landing zone. The engines’ pitch changed as the ship slowed, and impacts could be heard on the port side of the hull. “Starboard door opening! Bail out!” The starboard door slid backwards and clones piled out while the far side of the gunship took a beating. There was enough atmosphere to transfer some sound, but everything still seemed muffled. The moon was barren and lifeless, an endless expanse of gray cliffs and craters. “We’re clear! Whirlwind, begin CAS!” Coruscant shouted over the comms. “Copy, moving to support position.” The craft ascended and began firing. Explosions surrounded them, the blasts kicking up soil that had been undisturbed for countless millennia. He could feel the pressure wave each one kicked up, but he focused on shooting droids. *** With a gasp Coruscant woke up, his face covered in sweat. Doesn’t matter. It was just a dream. And I already know how it ends. He walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, then dried it off. Returning to his room, he glanced at the clock. It was three in the morning, two hours before he would’ve gotten up normally. Unsure of what to do with the time, he decided to clear his mind and perform a simple check of his weapons, disassembling them, cleaning them, then putting them back together. *** “Thank you, Three-Eight. Tonight was enjoyable,” Luna said with a nod and a smile, as she and her escort returned to their tents. Boss entered his tent and removed his helmet, glad to be back with his brothers. “Anything interesting happen?” Scorch asked him. “No, not really. I think we should get some rest.” “You heard him, Scorch. It’s past your bedtime,” Sev chuckled. “But I’m not tired!” “Look, we’ll get some sleep now, because when we wake up we have to get back to coordinating with Tau Squad and the locals and searching for more Sep bases. Rest up ner’vode.” The commandos removed their armors’ outer shell and climbed into their bunks. Fixer extinguished the flame inside the lantern, and one by one Delta Squad fell asleep. *** Boss opened his eyes and found himself in what looked like a tightly packed asteroid field. He was wearing armor again, and when he looked it over, from his arms to his orange-painted knees is was his armor. “You left me, Boss…” Sev’s disembodied voice said. This dream again, He thought. Still, he was compelled to play along despite knowing it wasn’t real. He always knew it was a dream, and he always pleaded for forgiveness regardless. “I was following orders, I didn’t have a choice!” A Trandoshan mercenary appeared in front of him, holding Sev’s bloodied helmet. Two more appeared behind that one, carrying similarly bloody helmets belonging to Fixer and Scorch. “You’d sell us out because some aruetiise ordered you to?” Fixer asked. “Shut it!” “‘Brothers all’, right Boss?” Scorch said sarcastically. The one carrying Sev dropped him and lunged at Boss, thrusting out its wrist blade. He sidestepped and punched at the attackers elbow, then punched it twice in the side, once in the side of the neck, and performed a ridgehand strike against its gut. Bringing his arm up to wrap around its arm, he swept the lizard’s leg and threw it to the ground. Drawing his blaster, he shot the other two, then the one on the ground. How many kills would it take to make the guilt go away? If he killed a thousand Trandoshans as revenge for them kidnapping Sev, would he feel better? What about the other clones he couldn’t save? If he’d been fast enough, would Theta Squad still be around? What about Ko Sai, the Kaminoan geneticist his squad had failed to find? The times he’d been cruel to other clones? The possibilities, the what-ifs, the past sins, they all swirled around in his consciousness, forming a nightmare he couldn’t escape from. He started to run, going until he was at the edge of the rock he was standing on, and he jumped. He fell for a while before a field of silver energy engulfed him. The nightmare faded, and the dream ended. He was sound asleep. *** The sun rose on Trottingham, and Delta Squad awoke early. Not really early by their standards though. They put their armor on and headed for breakfast, where the Princess requested they join her. Her guards didn’t seem to happy about it, and Scorch knew it. The demolition specialist created a cruse catapult for his flapjacks using a fork as the arm and a spreader knife’s hilt as the fulcrum. Pounding his fist on the table, he fired a precision pancake strike at one of them. When it hit the target the guard in question tackled him, and they began to duke it out. Amused, the commandos and royal guard watched as they smacked each other to no effect. A first it was funny, but then it got sad, but then it got funny again. After a few minutes, their respective commanders pulled them away from each other and scolded them. Then breakfast resumed. “I know you had a nightmare last night,” Luna whispered to Boss. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He replied casually. “At night, I help keep peace in the dreams of ponies everywhere. When I sensed a disturbance, I followed it to you and ended it after I saw how severe it was,” She explained. “I’m glad you did that and all, but I’d rather not share what happens when I’m asleep and I’d rather you didn’t interfere. It was just a bad dream, It wasn’t a problem,” He quietly replied. “If you insist.” “On the other hand, I haven’t slept that well in a long time, so I guess I can thank you for that.” He grinned a little. *** Octavia crept downstairs in her maid outfit bright and early, probably wondering two things: how much she was going to be mocked, and how Vinyl knew her size. Coruscant was already downstairs, working on something on his datapad while the TV was on in the background. So she snuck outside and headed to work, or at least he assumed she would. “Morning,” He greeted her without looking. “’Sup Octy?” Vinyl said, revealing herself to be on the couch in front of the tube. “Wow, I’m really bad at sneaking, aren’t I?” Octavia asked semi-rhetorically. “That maid outfit really kills your Camo Index,” She replied. “I think she looks okay,” Coruscant said. “You’re not even looking at her.” “Don’t need to. My helmet simulates 360 degrees of vision, so I practically have eyes in the back of my head.” “Riiiight,” She said incredulously. Picking up the TV remote, she threw it at him. When he caught it without flinching, she released a “Huh.” He got up and walked over to sit next to her in the middle of the couch, and Octavia sat on his other side as she ate her cereal. “What’re we watching?” “Tears of the Sun. It’s just commercials right now. Oh, wait a sec, I haven’t seen this one before.” “I should go,” Octavia said before cantering away from them and exiting the house. “Yeah… I have to go finish that track I’m supposed to debut next week. So uh, bye!” She opened the window with her magic and jumped out before galloping away. Coruscant was all alone again. *** That night, Vinyl returned home to find somepony had gotten into her liquor stash. Octy must’ve had a real bad day. That'll teach her to bet against me. She shut the front door and followed the scent of alcohol upstairs. Tracing it to Octavia’s room, she pressed her ear against the door and discerned some very… interesting noises coming from her housemates. “Wow. I didn’t realize she was in that part of the fandom.” *** Coruscant opened his eyes the next morning and saw Octavia lying next to him, facing away. Slowly he closed his eyes, then it hit him and they shot open. He wasn’t wearing anything except his body glove. There was an empty bottle of rum on the nightstand. He was in Octavia’s bed. And he didn’t remember how he got there. Uh-oh. She rolled over to face him and opened her violet eyes. Seeing him in her bed, she blinked, and they stared at each other. Slowly, they got out of bed and got dressed, neither one saying a word to the other while they each tried to figure out what happened. Once they were cleaned up enough, they walked downstairs and began to silently eat breakfast. “So, you two have fun last night?” Vinyl asked, a smug grin on her muzzle. “I don’t know what happened last night, actually,” Octavia answered. “Well, let me refresh your memory.” She pressed a button and the TV turned on, showing camera footage of Octavia getting home and beginning to drink. “You got home at around six. Crying, you looked for something to surpress the shame, so you got into my stash of booze and started downing rum. A few minutes later, Cory joined in. You spent about an hour downing that stuff and getting hammered like a nail. I came home at around eight and traced the smell of booze to your room, and you two were kissing the shit out of each other.” Aghast, the two of them glanced at each other briefly and sat in silence. “Either of you gonna say anything?” “What can I say? The best choice is to pretend it didn't happen.” “…I agree,” The cellist replied. “Now deep tongue kiss,” Vinyl interjected. “...No,” They replied as one, though they seemed to consider it for a moment. After all, there must've been some attraction between them for the previous night's events to have taken place. “Okay, okay, jeez.” *** It was time. A week had passed since Nightmare Night, and the parade had begun. Hundreds of ponies in white and blue armor marched through the streets of Canterlot, with each corner of a given formation holding the blue-backed, golden-starred flag of Equestria erect. The national anthem played and ponies watched in awe as the soldiers marched towards the Royal Plaza. The thunder of their collective hooves could be heard halfway across the city, and word of mouth spread like wildfire. Within minutes, ENN was reporting on the surprise and asking for comments from the Princesses. They assured the media that all would be explained soon. As the battalion reached the Royal Plaza, news anchors broadcast the image around the world. Shortly after the soldiers stopped, Princess Celestia walked out to the balcony of her castle overlooking the plaza and began to speak for all to hear. “Today, the world has witnessed the fruition a grand undertaking. For too long, Equestria has been the victim of threats both internal and external, and groups like the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Royal Guards, who were ill-suited to many tasks were needed to perform missions they weren’t ready for. As the world has changed and become far more threatening, and violent crime has increased drastically, it’s become apparent that a new approach was needed.” “This in mind, Princess Luna proposed a radical solution: form a force dedicated to protecting Equestrian interests. Violent crime and prolific civilian ignorance of modern combat shall soon come to an end. Now, the first brigade of our Land Forces is ready to defend our nation. The 5th Internal Security Brigade, dedicated to combating threats on Equestrian soil only, is operational. With this force in place, we Equestrians may sleep safely in our beds, for strong ponies stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us.” “Soon, our armed forces will be fully operational, ready to protect us from all threats, foreign and domestic. Thank you, and good day.”