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Chapter 1: Another Day, Another Fight4,650 words
Chapter 2: The Siege Of Nevarro6,299 words
Chapter 3: Shattered2,375 words
Chapter 4: Escape9,558 words

Chapter 4: Escape

“Execute Order 66.”

"It will be done, milady."

The hologram shut itself off. Derpy was hoping he would soon talk to her, at the very least acknowledge the fact she was in the same room as him. But very uncharacteristically, Bubbles didn’t move from his current position.

“Commander? Who was that?”

He still didn’t move. But his arm holding his helmet started shaking intensely until he dropped his helmet on the ground with a clatter. Derpy watched the trooper’s helmet bounce until he heard some coms go off on the troopers next to her. One second they were answering coms… until they suddenly turned around and looked at her, and cocked their guns.

“No.” Bubbles sternly said, getting his troopers to stand down. “I’ll do it.”

“Bubbles, who was that? What's happening?”

He drew his pistols out at her, but he didn’t fire. His entire body was shaking, like he was trying not to break down in front of her. “Stay back!”

Derpy moved slightly back, watching as Bubbles was constantly shaking. She could see a tear leak down his one working eye as he desperately tried to control himself. What was happening to him?

“Run… run... save yourself… run. Derpy, run!”

His fingers pulled the trigger, and Derpy immediately blocked the lasershots, and Force-pushed the troopers behind her against the control panels in the walls, knocking them out. The doors opened up, and as fast as she could, she made a run past two more troopers who opened fire on her, but missed her as she jumped into the elevator.

The elevator doors closed behind her, and she felt her heart pounding against her chest as she descended down to another level of the ship. Her body clinged to the elevator as she gripped the sides tightly, she didn't want to let go. What was happening? What could have changed? Why did they just turn on her? Who was that hooded figure Bubbles was talking to? And what did Order 66 mean? And why was he hesitating to kill her? It felt as if he didn't want to shoot her, but yet he still did.

Something felt wrong. Whatever this was, she had to find out. But she needed to find a place to hide first. Expecting more clone troopers to come, she pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it, gripping it tightly.

"It'll be okay, it'll be okay, just stay calm..." she said to herself, trying not to hyperventilate.

The elevator doors opened, and as expected, there were some clone troopers in front of her. Not holding back, she ran out of the elevator like a marathon runner, blocking their blasts as she did so. She wasn't stopping now! She ran down the hallway, with a group of clone troopers running after her, chasing her, and shooting at her like crazy.

"Stop it! Hey!" Derpy tried to speak over their blasters.

She deflected another shot, striking one of them in the shoulder but knocking him down. Two more came out to attack; Bounce and Coil who fired like crazy.

"Guys, please! Don't you recognize me?"

They didn't give her any form of response other than continued fire. She ran like hell, trying to dodge as many as she could. Her fingers pressed the button on one of the doors, locking it right behind her as the clones continued to give chase. Knowing it wasn't going to hold for long, she got ready to move again--

THWACK!

A heavy gun smacked the back of her head, knocking the wind out of her temporarily. When she looked back, she saw Mohawk was swinging at her, rather up close. She kicked the gun out of his arms and roundhouse kicked him in the stomach to push him back. But it wasn't enough. Her lightsaber was drawn out again and she was ready to defend herself, but she wasn't about to hack her brother like sushi.

"Mohawk, please! It's me, Derpy!"

The lightsaber was knocked out of her hand and it turned itself off once it hit the ground. She was about to grab it until Mohawk grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall, pinning her. Derpy tried to fight back, but it felt like Mohawk's grip was stronger. He was using much more strength than she had anticipated, and it made his hands feel like talons around her throat.

"M-Mo--" Derpy wheezed. "hawk! P-Please--ack, it'--Derpy! ha--ack, please!"

Mohawk didn't say anything as he kept her pinned against the wall, trying to choke the oxygen out of her lungs. Derpy's heart raced harder and she couldn't reach for her lightsaber, her hands were too busy trying to pull the ARC trooper's hands away. And it only got worse. It felt as if all lights around her were just leaving as her vision got darker, until she was suddenly dropped to the ground.

Derpy coughed and wheezed violently, trying to get oxygen back into her lungs. She felt her ears ringing as she tried to regain her strength. She felt the vibrations of the trooper near her, but he wasn't touching her or trying to attack her. But for a split second, she did see an ARC trooper gloved arm fall on the ground in front of her as she struggled to pull herself up. The doors next to her immediately then closed, and she scooted herself away from them. Her walleyes looked around and saw a friendly sight in front of her; R4-G4.

Derpy coughed again. "R4?"

"Bwoop boop."

Derpy pulled herself up and gave a soft hug to the astromech unit. "Thank you buddy."

"Brt de bep. Bwoop bwoop bwoop!" R4 jittered.

"I know buddy. I don't know what's going on with the clones either," Derpy answered.

"Bwoop bwoop bwooooop..."

"R4, we can't just leave. Something is going on with the clones, and we have to find out why. But I can't just take them on, there's too many. If they were unconscious, I could--" Derpy suddenly came to a realization. "Wait... I have an idea. R4, are you comfortable with helping me?"

R4 let out a series of beeps that definitely said 'Yes'.

"Okay great, come on, follow me!" Derpy opened up another door, and so the two raced off.

The doors that R4 had locked eventually opened, with Commander Bubbles and the Baker's Batch walking through. They saw Mohawk on the floor and watched as he got himself up, slowly.

"Trooper, are you alright?" Commander Bubbles asked.

"Yes Commander," Mohawk replied, shaking off his pain. "I don't know how or who, but someone knocked me out with an electroshock."

And eventually the rest of the doors opened up with more clone troopers arriving on the scene. And of course, no one had any idea where Derpy had run off. That didn't change Commander Bubbles' position in their situation though.

"Alright, listen up, because I'm only going to say this once. Derpy Hooves is marked for termination under special Order 66. Under this directive, any and all Jedi leadership must be executed for crimes of treason against the Republic. Any soldier that does not comply with the order will also be marked with treason. Understood?"

"YES SIR!" Everyone acknowledged.

"Excellent. Now I want everyone to split into parties; there is only so many places a Jedi can hide. Destroy the escape pods, lock down any ships you can, we cannot allow her to escape. Now move!" Bubbles ordered.

Just like that, the clones were on the move again. And Commander Bubbles pressed forward down the hallway to continue his search...

Sneaking by as best as they could, the two watched, listened, and waited as clone patrols dashed through the hallways. There was always the chance of security cameras, but Derpy didn't have the time to think about them right now. She had one priority, and that was finding the medical bay. The doors opened up as Derpy and R4 snuck inside, locking the door behind them. And as luck would have it, Bolt and Vargas hadn’t moved. They were still laying on the beds for examination.

“R4, activate the medic, we need to find out what’s going on.”

The medical scanner was activated, and it hovered over to Varga’s corner, and ran a scan up and down his body, checking for everything that would have possibly enacted the sudden turn. She payed close attention to the monitors, but nothing was blinking or alerting her of anything wrong.

“Nothing? That’s not right, something has to be wrong,” Derpy worried. “Wait, run a scan on Bolt, maybe we’ll find something from him.”

R4 did just that, running another scan, this time, moving the scanner up and down on Bolt. Once again, the scanners picked up nothing except for their vital signs.

“That’s impossible,” Derpy pouted. “Something isn’t right, I know it.”

“Brt beep bwoop bop.”

“We’re not leaving, R4. I’m not just going to leave my family. Besides, even if I tried, they probably have the parking boots locked onto my fighter, and they’ll block the escape pods before I get a chance,” Derpy replied. She paced back and forth, thinking. "There's something I'm missing, I know it."

She snapped her fingers, "Wait! The Flim Flam Brothers, maybe I can talk to them... except they aren't on this ship," Derpy facepalmed. "But I have to know what to do! Okay, think, think... what did they do, they did something to them, what could they have done? They did something to Bolt, whatever happened to him had to have happened to the others, but what?"

She leaned against the wall, head resting against the hard metal plating. Her wall-eyes lazily gazing at the monitors besides Bolt's bed, continuing to show his heart-rate and vital signs. And on another screen, there was a display of his inner cranium, showing no signs of damage. But as Derpy looked at the scanner, an idea formed in her head. Slowly she got up, looking at the scanners as she typed on the controls.

No signs of change, as per usual.

"They must have done something to him. Hmm... well, I don't know if this will work, but nothing else works, so..."

Derpy walked up to Bolt, looking straight at him as he laid there. Slowly but hesitantly, her hands reached down and felt the sides of his head. His skin was still nice and warm, and no signs of fever. Her eyes closed as she tried to focus all thoughts on only the hurt man in front of her, and quietly talked.

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me... I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me... I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me..."

R4's dome spun around, checking the door if anyone was coming through. And thankful that none of the clones could see them right now. Derpy kept her focus on the screen, until finally she heard a small alarm ding on the monitors. Opening her eyes, she walked over to the monitor to take a look. A small red glowing pattern was shown on the side of his skull, some foreign object that the scanners never picked up on the first try.

"What the heck is that? R4, activate the droid, we need to remove it. And the same goes for Vargas."

"Bwoop boop."

And so, the machines got to work...

A few minutes was all it took for the two men who were in an unconscious state, and thankfully the foreign objects were found and removed right away. Bandages were then wrapped over the sides of their heads to cover up the surgery. And once the objects were removed, Derpy collected them both in small glass tiles, holding them in her hands. A part of brain tissue had been extracted, but something very microscopic had also been found in them.

Running through the scanners helped identify some information regarding the foreign piece of tissue that had been extracted. And on the screens, it showed signs of 'activation' of some kind. But both pieces that were taken from them showed no signs of tumors, infections, or rotting. And it made quite a relief when Derpy saw the two clones slowly start to wake up.

Vargas’s fingers started to twitch and move, and his hand started to move soon after. Bolt’s hands were moving as well, as he pushed himself to lean up straight to look at the general he nearly shot. Vargas leaned up too, just barely. Both of their heads had a bandage on the right side, where the foreign pieces were found.

“Bolt? Vargas? Are… are you two okay?”

Bolt struggled to move. “Yeah, I’m… I’m okay. General, are… General, I’m so sorry. I-I couldn’t control it, and I—”

Derpy stopped him, moving in and giving him a hug. Her head leaned on his shoulder, and Bolt embraced her back. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” Derpy said, her words almost hurting as she spoke. When she broke from the embrace, she then gave a hug to Vargas as well, happy to see he was okay as well.

“I… General, where are we?” Bolt asked.

"We're back on the Axiom."

"Did we win?" Vargas asked.

"Yeah... we won," Derpy said, rather negatively.

"You don't sound happy."

"Because I'm not," Derpy looked up. "But I am happy that you two are okay."

"Okay, wha--what is happening, I don't understand," Vargas questioned.

"I don't know!" Derpy panicked, yanking her hair. "We won, we're supposed to be on our way to Arvala-7, I got a scary vision, and now all the clones want to kill me!"

Bolt and Vargas stared blankly, not even sure how to really take that news.

"Kill you? Why would they want to kill you?"

"I don't know. The last thing that happened was Commander Bubbles was talking to some woman who told him to execute some order, I don't even know what it means. What does Order 66 mean!?" Derpy sighed and threw her head back again, lightly hitting against the wall. "I don't know what to do."

"Well... what should we do then?" Bolt asked, getting up on his feet.

"I don't know. For the first time, I really don't know," Derpy cupped her face, trying to calm down, breathing in and out.

"Well, what does your gut say?" Bolt asked again.

Derpy looked at her friends (R4 included). "Bubbles told me to run and save myself. But I'm not going to leave, not now. Even if I tried, the troopers would no doubt block every exit and corridor, and they would kill me before I can leave. Besides, the only reason I'm not leaving is because of you guys. I'm not about to let this happen. Especially since I found this," Derpy raised the glass tiles containing the brain tissues. "Whatever the Stormies did to you, probably spread to everyone else on the ship."

“How did—I don’t understand, how could that have been in our heads without us knowing?” Vargas asked.

"I don't know. But I do know this," Derpy continued. The clones looked at each other again, thinking as they listened to her words. “If these things are making the clones evil, then we got to get them out. I love all of you, you all are family to me. I’m not going to leave and let this go, we need to capture every single clone and remove these chips. I don’t care if I have to run out in the open to attract their attention, I will do what I can to help you all! Now who is with me?” Derpy raised her hand up in a fist motion.

Awkward silence was in the room of the four individuals, with the astromech and clones just staring at each other.

Derpy’s hand slowly lowered down with a bashful grin. “Or maybe we should just go. Where did I park the shuttle?”

“Now, hang on. This idea is crazy, insane, it could get us killed… but I love my brothers. I don’t want my last memories to be my brothers turned to the dark,” Bolt said, pulling himself back on his two legs. “If you’re going out there to save them, then I’m joining you.”

“Count me in as well. We’re here to help, General," Vargas agreed.

Derpy softly smiled. “Bolt, Vargas, R4.”

All three of them gave her their undivided attention.

“Let’s go save our family.”

Patrols continued throughout the ship, and the clones continued constant surveillance. Troopers still were on the lookout for Derpy, but no one had came close to finding her, not yet. Corporal Mix kept searching, still not having any luck. Even with the aid of Tom and Crow, there wasn't anything.

"Check the the left wing of the ship. Perhaps she chose to flee on that side," Mix ordered.

"Understood," Crow acknowledged, with Tom right behind him.

Unbeknownst to Mix, he had done exactly what Vargas wanted him to do.

“Anyone out there?” Derpy asked.

“Hang on. Okay, I see Mix, he’s on his way. Tell R4 to activate the doors,” Vargas replied into the coms.

Mix darted through the hall until Vargas stepped in the way, making him slam into his shoulder and foot, almost tripping.

“Hey! Out of the way, yo—wait. Vargas? You’re injured, how are you on your feet?” Suddenly, the doors that Mix ran down closed on all sides, with all three of them boxing the two of them in. “What’s going on?” Mix asked, looking back to the doors. “Vargas, what are you doing?”

“It’s for your own good, brother,” Vargas said.

“Mix.”

Silence fell, as someone was walking down in her brown boots approached them. She looked at Mix with a serious face, calmly looking at him. Mix spun around and cocked his gun at Derpy, ready to shoot. And before he could act, Vargas pulled the trigger on his gun, stunning Mix. Mix felt the jolt hit his body and so he dropped to the floor.

"Huh. That worked," Vargas stated, not able to believe it.

The two of them yelped when a blaster bolt shot at the door behind them. Their gaze turned over to another man in the hallway; Commander Bubbles. He was slowly walking towards them with both his pistols with intent to shoot.

"Bubbles, listen to me--"

Another blast fired and Derpy blocked it with her lightsaber.

"Bubbles, I know you're in there! You got to fight it!"

And he fired again.

"I am not getting through to you, am I?"

Once again, no response, just another blaster bolt as he zeroed in closer.

"Vargas, now!"

Vargas shot right at Bubbles, stunning him as well. He dropped to the ground just like Mix, finally subdued. Quickly moving, Derpy ran over and dragged Bubbles across the ground like a corpse and pulled him into the middle of the corridor. The door behind Derpy sealed shut, and another one opened; revealing Bolt and R4 coming forward.

"Did anyone see you?" Bolt asked.

"No, we're safe. For now," Derpy said, still dragging the commander's body across the ground. "Come on! We gotta get to the medical bay!"

Vargas and Bolt picked up Mix, and together the group of four made their way down the hall straight back to the medical ward.

Once the two troopers were hauled into the medical ward, they were immediately placed on the examination tables. The equipment got right to work on removing the chips from their skulls just as they did with Bolt and Vargas. R4 kept his eye on outside surveillance, making sure none of the others were going to be coming their way.

The first to wake up was Mix who groaned as he felt a little headache hit his cranium. "Agh, oh--I--wait, where am I?"

His eyes locked onto Derpy. "Derpy, I... I'm so sorry, I did--"

Derpy stopped him as she gave him a much needed hug. She patted his back and rubbed him affectionately. "It's okay. It's okay. You're safe now."

Mix reciprocated back, still shaking a little from the experience. "I couldn't stop... I didn't want to shoot, but I was forced to, I couldn't control it, and then I just... forgot everything."

And Bubbles woke up not too long after that. He sat up, rubbing the side of his head, feeling the bandage that had been wrapped over the cuts. Derpy slowly approached him, cautiously but warmly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah Derpy, I'm alright. I'm sorry about earlier, I... I almost killed you," Bubbles apologized, sliding his feet off the board to sit up straight.

“Commander, how widespread is this?” Derpy asked. “Is it just our crew that's having this problem?"

“Derpy.”

That solemn tone in his voice grasped the attention of the entire room. And Derpy could see the fear and pain in his eyes as he spoke. “It’s all of us. Every clone in the Grand Army of the Republic had been bred with those chips in our heads with orders to hunt down the Jedi."

Derpy blinked. “I don’t understand, what do you mean?"

Bubbles rubbed his head, trying to compose himself. "Derpy, you know we were all cloned from birth, right?"

Derpy nodded. "From Jango Fett, but what does that have to do here?"

"Derpy. When we were being bred, they conditioned us to follow any orders that were given to us. I always believed that even when we were supposed to follow orders, we had to know what that really meant. Knowing what was truly right from wrong," Bubbles explained.

"But what about the inhibitors?" Derpy asked.

"I don't know everything... but I do know this. A few months ago, I read a grievance report from Captain Rex of the 501st. He reported an incident with clone trooper Tup and Fives. Apparently, Tup had snapped during a battle and killed Jedi Master Tiplar. When Fives investigated, he discovered inhibitor chips that had been implanted in us during birth. He said that they were dangerous, and that the entire clone army was compromised. I didn't know what to believe of it... but I have a feeling he was right."

Bubbles felt his body shaking again, this time out of anger and fear. He was trying hard not to scream or yell, and Derpy could feel the pain resonating in his body.

"And now, all of these things that are inside of us are taking over us to wipe out the entire Jedi Order..."

And he was right. Across the galaxy, the executive order was given to every single clone battalion wherever they were. 501st, 332nd, 212th, everywhere.

On Endor, Vinyl jumped through several trees, listening carefully on a com device that she always wore over her ears, listening for her troopers actions and precautions. But when she got back down to the ground, there was a strange interference over her earpieces, just as she faced an incoming army of Storm battle droids. It was eerily quiet, and then everything went black as she felt the hot sting of a laser hit her body, and multiple shots continued as she dropped to the ground...

Octavia blocked several shots that came her way on the grounds of Hoth, trying to fight back against an incoming army. She and her commander ducked in time from an explosion and were ready to start running. But as Octavia was about to run, she heard a click from several guns right behind her. She turned, and her commander without hesitation started firing at her, hitting her right in the heart enough times until she finally dropped.

On Ryloth, a heart sank as a a mid-twenties aged girl with yellow skin and fiery hair opened up her eyes and dropped to her knees, feeling heavy pain in her soul. She didn’t know what, but something just felt horribly wrong. And the poor R2 unit beside her didn't understand what was going on.

Jedi Master Sandalwood joined by a crew in space fought against several Storm Army ships that had formed a blockade around another planet. And Captain Planet had just received a message from the main hologram table, telling him to ‘Execute Order 66’, to which he simply said, ‘it will be done, my lord’. And without warning, he and the rest of his troops pulled out guns and opened fire on Sandalwood, shooting him in the back and still firing as he dropped to the floor.

"I don't know who gave me that order. The only thing I know is she ordered it, and now everyone is a fugitive of the Republic," Bubbles finished, practically shaking.

Derpy wasn't sure what to say. This was so much information to take in at once, she didn't know how or even if she should react. But she recovered from the massive info-dump and brought her focus back to the present. "But why did you tell me to run?"

“Because I don’t want to kill you!” Bubbles snapped. “I don’t want to kill you, I don’t want you dead, that’s why I was hesitating, I wanted to buy you some time! I wanted you to leave, why didn’t you take an escape pod?”

“Because I love you all and I don’t want to leave you guys!”

Derpy's body was visibly shaking, almost like she was on the verge of breaking down as well. The others in the room just looked at each other, unsure of what to say. None of them wanted any of this to happen, but there was no way any of them could have foreseen this event happening.

“So… now what?” Bolt asked.

“Well, now that we have more numbers, we just need to yank another clone as soon as he comes by, and just need to do that for, um… well, the rest of the crew,” Derpy said, not too confident in her plan.

The commander had a solemn expression on his face. “I hate to tell you this Derpy… but you can’t save everyone,” Bubbles with a bit of anger and sadness mixed in his voice. “You may have saved us from those chips, but you can’t save everyone else on board this vessel. This ship is about to arrive on another planet, bringing more battalions of clones who have already turned. And those soldiers who opened fire on you… they don’t care. You're not a person to them anymore! You are a fugitive, and those soldiers, my brothers are willing to die if it means taking you with them!”

Derpy’s hand limply raised up. She wanted to protest, she wanted to speak against, but then she gave his words another thought. It wouldn’t matter if she knew what was wrong with them. It didn’t matter if she wanted to save them, they were going to kill them all if they stayed here. She couldn’t save them all. And her heart snapped.

Bubbles looked beyond distraught, and she could visibly see one tear run down his face. Her finger went across his face, wiping it away as she leaned her head on his shoulder, embracing him.

“So what do we do?” Vargas asked.

Derpy felt a tear run down her face, but she stood up and gave the clones a serious gesture. She wiped the tear from her face and gazed at them with furled brows.

“We must blow up this cruiser. If we can’t save them all… then we have to stop them before we arrive on Arvala-7. We’ll set charges to the most crucial areas on the ship and get ourselves out of here before we all die.”

Derpy’s eyes slowly closed, and another tear escaped from her face. Bubbles slowly moved in and gave her a hug, holding her in another warm embrace. And all of them could hear her whimpering, trying not to cry.

“General. If it’s any consolation, I…”

“I really don’t think—” Bolt started.

“No, it’s okay Bolt,” Derpy sniffled, turning to look at Vargas. “W-What were you going to say?”

Vargas could see the eyes of his brothers now on him, especially from the walleyed Jedi and artificial intelligence of the astromech unit. Regardless of how they were judging him, he still spoke.

“General. I am not experienced like everyone else. When I was sent off for battle, I did not know if I would fit in with anyone, or if I would make it out of this situation alive. But then I met you, and I got to know my brothers. I felt like I was a part of your family, a real family. And when that order commenced, I… I know I was following orders, but I did not know if I could break free from the control. I thought my end had already came. But you saved me, you saved us.”

Derpy looked around her, looking at the four remaining brothers who exchanged agreeing nods.

“You may not be able to save everyone… but you did save us. And now, it’s our turn to try and save you,” Vargas said. “And that means, all six of us are getting off this ship and getting our tails out of here.”

Derpy looked at her still okay brothers and softly smiled. One small glimmer of hope came back to her, and it was enough to bring her back to the present.

“Okay. Then if we’re going to get out of here, we need to find a way to escape together. We probably can’t use the escape pods, can we?”

“I ordered them to be launched from the ship… sorry,” Bubbles said, shamefully.

“It’s not your fault. But let’s think, there has to be a way to get out of here,” Derpy thought, pacing back and forth. “What about the hangar bay? Shouldn’t there be a shuttle or two we could borrow?”

“No way, there are too many clones, they’d overrun the hangar bay before we even get there,” Mix said.

“I have an idea, if, you um, don’t mind me suggesting,” Vargas asked.

“Go on,” Bubbles said.

“There’s still a frigate attached to the bottom of the ship. What if we set the charges and run down there to escape. Once this ship is out of hyperspace, we’ll trigger the charges, detach from the docking port, and get ourselves the hell out of here,” Vargas explained.

Derpy and the others looked at each other.

"You know, that just might work," Derpy hoped.

Without anyone seeing them, the group of six walked into the armory room. Inside they could see spare clone helmets, extra rifles hanging on rocks with the safeties on, bombs, everything. Everything they could need was right here if they needed it, and now it was more important than ever. Quickly moving, Bolt, Vargas, and Mix grabbed some backpacks, loading them up with bombs and extra ammunition. And just as an additional, Bolt grabbed the Z-6 rotary blaster to bring a little more punch if he had to make a stand.

"Alright, here's what I'm going to do," Mix said. "I'm going to plant bombs in the hyperdrive room, I'll stick them in places where they won't be able to see right away."

"Excellent," Bubbles nodded. "Bolt?"

"I'll see if I can reach the frigate, hopefully before the others get any ideas on grabbing it first," Bolt replied.

"And what about you, Vargas?"

"I'm going to sneak up to the bridge and check on the situation up there, find out how much more time we have until we arrive at Arvala-7," Vargas nodded.

"Wait, what about me?" Derpy asked.

"You should be sneaking into the ventilation system and wait for our signal to come out. Everyone's going to be looking for you, our best bet is that you stay hidden," Bubbles explained.

Derpy wanted to protest, but she couldn't argue with his logic. The plan seemed reasonably sound to her. "Okay, I understand."

"Now let's move!"

One by one, the clones split up to set off on their missions. Derpy looked at Bubbles for a moment and yanked him into an affectionate hug, surprising him. Bubbles softly reciprocated back, not willing to fight it.

"I promise when we escape, I'll find us a safe place to hide. Somewhere far from war, far from battle. Somewhere where you can live as free men, and not drones. None of you deserve this," Derpy whispered before climbing up into the ventilation shaft. She closed the shutter behind her, and started to make her move, crawling through the ducts.

Bubbles and R4 looked at each other, nodding and walking off to begin their final mission as soldiers; possibly for the last time.

Elsewhere on the ship, Mohawk and Patch kept searching for Derpy and the missing troopers, they hadn't heard from them in a while. Frankly, it was starting to become concerning.

"Think there's a chance the commander is going against orders?" Patch asked.

"Let's hope not," Mohawk replied, still looking around him.

"Attention troopers," Bubbles spoke into their com channel. "Rest assured that I am alright, along with the others. We have not been harmed, and we're still on patrol. I believe I saw the Jedi make a run for the hangar bay, she may try to escape with one of the craft there. Make your move there and find her."

Mohawk and Patch looked at each other, nodding to one another.

"Looks like we got ourselves a plan," Mohawk acknowledged.

"Wait, what about the frigate? It's still docked underneath the ship, what if she tries to break for that?" Patch suggested.

"Then I say we go and stand guard before she can even think about taking it," Mohawk proposed, marching around the hallway towards the direct path to the frigate.

One by one, everyone was on the move to begin their mission. Mix ran down a few hallways with some urgency, still trying to make sure none of the bombs fell out of his backpack, and trying to avoid any suspicious clones nearby. Just up ahead was the entrance to the hyperdrive room, just where he needed to be. He pressed the button to open the door, and carefully walked on through. Inside, he could see a few of his brothers monitoring the engines and controls, and doing some patroling of their own. He would have to make this fast.

"CT-2983, have you found anything?" Mix asked, trying to stay inconspicuous as possible.

"Negative Corporal. There's no sign of the Jedi here," the trooper replied.

"Keep searching, she can't hide forever," Mix ordered, allowing the trooper to dash on past him. Looking around, he could see the coast was clear for now. Quietly, he pulled one of the bombs out of his backpack and slipped one underneath one of the panel controls where they wouldn't look right away.

Thankfully no one had seen him do it, and so he kept moving. He walked on the pathway around one of the hyperdrive engines and quickly slapped one of the bombs up high with a bit of a jump so it couldn't have been snatched out right away. And when the clones looked back, Mix was just seen casually walking as if he wasn't doing anything suspicious. And he walked past them towards the other hyperdrive engine pathway. Once again, he slapped a bomb to the engine where it couldn't have been seen right away.

And with no one even taking note of his actions, Mix just casually walked out of the hyperdrive room with no one following him. Once he knew the coast was clear, he pressed his comlink and spoke. "Commander, the bombs have been placed in the hyperdrive room."

"Good work. Meet me over near the barracks, I'm circling around with R4. Still have yet to hear from Vargas and Bolt."

Elsewhere, Vargas was taking the elevator up to the bridge. He felt a little anxious, knowing full and well that all of them could kill him the moment he walked in. But he wasn't about to let that stop him. So he just pushed himself to get his task done. The doors opened, and thankfully no one blasted him the minute he walked through.

But it didn't mean the others forgot about his injuries back on Nevarro.

"Vargas? What are you doing here? Are you alright?" One of the crewmen asked.

"Oh, I'm fine, Captain Torgo, thank you," Vargas nodded. "I just wanted to check up on the bridge, Commander's orders."

"Very well," the captain shrugged, going back to his post.

Relieved with the cover, Vargas soon got to work. Discreetly, he placed a bomb underneath the projection table, thankfully with no one noticing. And he walked towards one of the other consoles, hiding another explosive without anyone noticing. And one more for the other side of the bridge. All he had to do now was access the terminal.

He pressed the projection table, displaying a map of their next location; Arvala-7. And accessing another archive on the machine, he found a list of other jobs that needed to be done, nothing important.

"Ahem, Captain? How much longer until we arrive at Arvala-7?" Vargas asked, sheeply.

"We have fifteen minutes remaining, shouldn't be much longer," the captain replied.

"Understood. I'll go patrol the hallways, continue my search." Vargas said, stepping into the elevator. He closed the door behind him, and raised his comlink. "Commander, we have fifteen minutes until we arrive."

"Understood, Vargas. Meet me and Mix near the barracks, Derpy's on our way to come meet us," Bubbles responded.

Bolt was almost down to where the frigate was located. Just a few more hallways to walk down and he would make it. However as he made the last turn that would be directly to the elevator down to where he'd need to walk, the ARF trooper froze. The entire Baker's Batch crew was standing there, guns ready to shoot. They almost blasted Bolt, but stopped when they recognized their brother.

"Bolt? What are you doing here? Are you alright?" Mohawk asked.

"Yes Mohawk, I am okay. What are you all doing here?"

"We think General Hooves will try and make her way for the frigate; so until she does, we're standing guard," Mohawk said.

Bolt was now worried. Their only means of escape was blocked off, and if they tried to fight for it, they would no doubt be slaughtered. They had to find another way out of there, but how? The ARF trooper looked to the left and noticed something. Another long hallway connecting to more pathways. Maybe they couldn't take the direct path, but maybe they could still make it to the frigate...

Slowly he turned to the left hall and squatted down to the control panels. One of them took notice however.

"Bolt, what are you doing?"

"Trying to access the controls. If we can control the doors, we can box the Jedi in. I just need to enter in some commands," Bolt lied.

The ARC trooper just shrugged off and looked back down the hallway they were guarding. Without them noticing, Bolt raised his comlink...

"Commander, we have a problem," Bolt said over the coms.

"What is it?"

"I think Mohawk and Patch are onto you. They're blocking the only path that heads straight down to the frigate. The only way we're getting through them is if we take a longer way around."

"What do we do?" Derpy gulped.

"I have an idea," Bubbles suggested. "Bolt, you're on the left side of them, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Can you hack into the doors, seal them shut to buy us some time to run?"

"I'm trying," Bolt replied. "But you better distract them, I don't think I can fool them for long."

"We're on our way," Bubbles replied. "Here's my idea..."

The Baker's Batch stood together in the hall, waiting for their commander. They hadn't heard from him in a while, and that only meant one thing; possible betrayal. So Mohawk and Patch took charge, standing in front of the rest of the Baker's Batch, awaiting for Derpy to come running out. They were guarding the only way out.

"Mohawk! Stand down!"

Slowly moving down the hallway was R4, Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas. And Derpy Hooves was moving in front of them, hands behind her head like a prisoner. Of course she wasn't really cuffed, but it only added to the illusion to the troopers. All of the clones immediately pulled out their weapons and cocked them, ready to execute their former general on the spot. And even Mohawk and Patch pulled out their twin blasters with the others.

"I said stand down! I have the situation under control."

"You have your orders, Commander. Now execute it, or we will," Mohawk retorted, not moving from his position.

Derpy quivered to see Mohawk and Patch with so many men by their side. Even worse; Bounce, Tap, Coil, Fuse, Ace, Knight, and Stinger were all by their side. And with so many other clones on their side, Derpy felt even more alone. But then she looked at her sides, seeing Mix and Vargas standing there with her. Remembering that they were freed, she kept her attention off them to hopefully convince them of their plan.

"The order was intended to terminate any Jedi who committed treason against the Republic, Mohawk. The problem is, Derpy has not committed any treason whatsoever, so she does not deserve to be hunted and attacked like this."

Mohawk and Patch's gaze lowered slightly.

"Sir, you said yourself we're under special orders from Lady Midnight to eliminate Derpy Hooves, and any other clone who disobeys Order 66."

Derpy's eye rolled to look at Bolt who was still working on the doors. He needed more time, they had to distract them somehow! Derpy looked up at Bubbles who looked back at her, and he nodded, understanding her intention.

"Mohawk, Patch, listen to me. We've known each other for a long time. Don't tell me you're just going to disregard everything we've gone through. Please, tell me you're still in there," Bubbles insisted.

And Mix joined as well. "Come on, guys. Think of everything we've done together, doesn't that mean anything to you? I know you all are still in there, don't tell me you're just going to give in."

The entire hallway was quiet, and everyone was staring off at one another. The Baker's Batch staring off against the Derpy and the clones by her side. It didn't take long for them to think of what they had to do, but they needed the orders from the real good soldiers in charge right now. Mohawk and Patch looked at each other, thinking silently. Their gaze drew back to the group and their weapons were raised back up.

"Commander Bubbles, trooper Mix, and trooper Vargas. You all are in violation of Order 66. I accuse you of treason against the Grand Army of the Republic...."

Derpy glanced back to Bolt who was still working on trying to access the door panels. He was almost there, just needed a little bit longer...

"... you'll be demoted from ranks and subject to execution along with the traitor Derpy Hooves!" Mohawk declared.

Vargas saw a signal light up on his wrist control; the ship had finally arrived at Arvala-7. He nodded to the others, confirming to them, which they understood. Bolt meanwhile finally got the controls again and gave Derpy a thumbs up for them to go. Derpy then looked back over to Bubbles, whispering, "Ready?"

"Yeah... this wasn't going to work anyway," Bubbles sighed in agreement.

"Aim company and... fire!"

Just then, the doors slammed shut on them before they could make their shots out.

"Okay, time to run! Move, move, move!" Bubbles ordered, leading the group towards the freed hallway.

"Get these doors open, after them! Alert all troops to pursue the traitors!" Mohawk ordered from the sealed doors.

Booking it, the group of four ran as fast as they could down the hallway to make their escape. But it didn't stop the other clones who were moving in on their position to chase them. Worse, they were blasting at them, trying to kill them in their steps.

"What do we do?" Bolt asked, trying to keep the rotary blaster on his back.

"Set your weapons to stun, I don't want to kill them!" Derpy pleaded.

"Aren't they all going to die anyway? We're about to blow up the ship!" Mix argued.

"I still want to spare them! At least try!" The Jedi insisted.

Not wanting to argue with her, the troopers set their blasters to stun and fired a few shots back at the pursuing clones. Two of them dropped from the stuns, but the others were still chasing them. Looking at the directions they had, the group decided to book it for the lifts. Sliding their boots across the ground, they kept on running, but halted when they saw the astromech unit stop running. R4 accessed the panel on the wall, shutting the doors behind the group so the clones couldn't follow them.

The astromech unit chuckled to hear them yelling in anger on the other side, but he stopped laughing when he heard the gun clicking. His dome spun around and he whimpered. He forgot to shut the left door; and now he was surrounded.

They heard Mohawk's voice on the comlink, nodding to his orders. Derpy and the clones halted in their tracks to look back at the poor astromech unit, and could only look in horror as the R2 unit was shot on sight. R4 let out one last cry before he finally was executed.

"R4! NOOOO!!!" Derpy cried in agony.

She was about to run forward but Bubbles grabbed her arm before she could run after.

"Don't look, just keep moving!" Bubbles warned, trying to keep her head straight.

Derpy didn't want to, but she soon realized she had no choice. She turned around and ran with the group back down the hallway. The clones continued to chase the 'traitors', and continued to open fire.

"How much further til we get to the frigate?" Vargas cried out.

"We're almost there, we just need to go down the elevator!"

The clones made it to the elevator and Derpy's fingers kept spamming the down button, praying the doors would open up. All the while the four of them kept looking around, making sure no one was coming. Around the corner, two of the troopers fired but Bubbles quickly subdued them with his pistols.

The elevator finally opened and the five of them squeezed inside before anyone else could come. Once they had arrived on the floor they needed, the group ran once again. More clones started to chase them, and they blasted them with the stunners, taking a few of them down to the ground.

Derpy opened up the door to the frigate, allowing the clones to go through first. But one clone didn't go through, and he stood there in the middle of the hall, whipping out the rotary gun.

“Bolt, come on!” Derpy pleaded.

“General, go! I'll buy you all some time, you need to leave!"

Just then, the marching footsteps of angry clone troopers caught his attention. Bolt prepped the rotary gun and with one big breath he let out one final battle cry.

"For the Jediii!!!!"

Clone troopers emerged in front of him, and they started to drop like flies once he shot them. Derpy still wanted to bring him into the ship, but Bubbles held her back.

"Derpy, we have to go, now!"

"But what about the trigger for the bombs? How do we set them off?" Derpy finally realized.

"I'll take care of it, go! I can't hold them off forever!"

Bolt fired as much as he could, shooting down many more of his turned brothers. But there were too many of them. More and more kept coming, and it didn’t stop! Bubbles yanked Derpy, who struggled to fight back but it was no use. Bubbles shut the door of the frigate hall, and pulled the worried Jedi into the vessel.

“Mix! Launch!”

“I can’t! They magnetized us!” Mix panicked, trying to find any button or switch to deactivate it.

And back inside, Bolt was firing as much as he could, struggling to reach for the trigger to detonate all of the bombs. He kept his hands on the rotary gun and fired as much as he could, but it was slowly starting to run out of blaster ammunition. And a few of the clones were getting good shots in, hitting his shoulders and hitting a part of his gut, finally getting him to drop to the ground.

Believing that he was dead, Mohawk led the rest of the troops ran over him and tried to work on getting the doors open to annihilate the traitors. All of them ignored the freed man as he forcibly crawled on the floor, trying to reach the detonator. His fingers lightly tapped it, until it finally got under one and he clutched it tight.

He pulled it close to him, and pressed his com-link on his arm, panting heavily. He knew what was going to happen. He was going to die, and there was no way out. But he wasn’t about to let them kill what remained of his family.

“Bubbles. Mix. Vargas. … Derpy.” Bolt spoke into the com. “I just wanted to say… it has been an honor serving with you all. I know fighting against our own brothers isn’t how we planned to celebrate, but I believe the rules have changed.” Tears were now starting to form in his eyes as he was about to say his final words. “If you all get this…”

Which they did, judging by Derpy’s whimpering lips and the scared looks on the rest of his brothers inside.

“… I hope all of you find sanctuary, and the freedom you earned. This war is over. This ends… for all of us. May we live to fight another day boys. And Derpy?” His finger was over the button, and he looked at it with one small but heartfelt smile. “May the Force be with you.”

His finger went down, and the ship started to rumble and shake. Tremors were sent all over the inside of the ship, and fires were erupting in every section imaginable. The engine room started to go, the controls inside of the main bridge started to explode, killing admirals inside. The hangars started to go as well, hallways, cafeterias, ammunition rooms, everywhere was starting to explode in a fiery inferno.

Derpy and the boys felt it too, and they clamped onto anything inside of the ship that they could so they didn’t fall or hit their heads or anything. Just then, Mix saw something appear on the controls. “The magnets are gone, we can release!”

“LAUNCH!” Bubbles wheezed at the top of his lungs.

Vargas yanked the lever down, and the clamps underneath the ship finally let go. The Republic frigate was finally out of the underside of the ship and it started to descend to the ground as well. The thrusters activated, and with a powerful push, the frigate moved itself far away from the crashing ship as it could. Finally, they were far away from the downed ship, watching it explode as it hurled through the surface.

None of the four crew members on board were expressing joy, or happiness to be alive. In fact, everyone was looking solemn. Exhausted, tired, and more sad than before to watch as a symbol of the Republic, now reduced to a smoldering ship doomed to be destroyed. No longer were any of them heroes. And none of them felt heroic for their escape. How could they feel great, when only a handful escaped, and everyone else on board was turned by force?

There was no victory. There was only their escape, and death for their fallen brothers. Death.

The surface of Arvala-7 was quiet. The Republic cruiser that had crashed was now a smoldering mess, with smoke and flames all about. Pieces of the ship had fallen apart during the crash and had scattered about all around.

The frigate that was used to escape was still together, in pristine condition. And nearby, troopers Vargas and Mix were standing, waiting for Commander Bubbles and Master Derpy to return. Bubbles came back with the shovel in hand, ready to put it back inside with the rest of the tools. He turned around, looking back at Derpy who wasn’t ready to leave.

Master Derpy stood quietly, gazing upon rows and rows of troopers that had been buried. All of them died upon the crash. And so, she and Bubbles (with the help of Mix and Vargas) took the time and buried each deceased trooper, even marking a post above each one, with their helmet or hat posted above it. No sounds but the wind blowing in the air, making her hooded robe fly around. Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas watched from far away. All three of them were quiet, waiting for her.

Derpy took one last look at the burials, and at each name that she had written in the sands. It would be futile, considering if any storms would wipe it away, but she still felt compelled to do it. Tap, Patch, Stinger, Coil, Fuse, Knight, Ace, and Bolt’s. All of them still standing up right on the posts above their grounds, covered in dust and burn marks. And right beside them was another post, but only with the dome of R4’s, sitting on top of it’s buried body. She sniffled, and her eyes were watering. She pulled her lightsaber out, gazing at it one last time. Not even fumbling, she slowly set it down on the ground, in front of her former troopers.

With a tear finally dropping, she slowly turned around and walked towards the frigate. The clones said nothing, waiting for her to come on board. Her feet dragged as she got on and didn’t say a word. She sat on one of the chairs, head down and thinking back to so many battles.

Bubbles, Mix, and Vargas took one last look at their former comrades, and got on the the frigate. Vargas, taking control of the pilot chair, started to take off. The ship’s engines activated, and it thrusted into the air, leaving the planet.

Away from the planet’s atmosphere, Derpy’s eyes closed. Bubbles slowly walked over to her and sat on the space next to her, patting her shoulder. Derpy finally opened her eyes, and for a single moment, her eyes looked at the commander like a regular clear set of eyes. She felt his hand pat hers, and she looked back down to his, her eyes resetting back into the wall-eyes they always were. Slowly but surely, she closed her eyes and let her head rest back in her seat and tried to keep herself awake. But ultimately fell asleep, exhausted emotionally and physically.

15 Years Later...

Ajan Kloss; a secluded jungle planet in the Outer Rim territories. A few hours in hyperspace away from Yavin IV, and a perfect place to hide. Although for some people who were knowledgeable about anything, Ajan Kloss also made a sweet vacation spot to go to. But for a group of young Rebels who were on a mission, they weren't coming for any vacation time.

They made their way through the jungle, hearing all sorts of critters and wild animals about in the wildlife. Among this group was a minty Equestrian woman in Jedi robes, a Mandalorian in blue armor with pink marks on her helmet, a blue Griffon, an orange Draconoid, a Siren, and a roughly seventeen-year-old Equestrian girl with pale skin, and blue and light purple hair. She was dressed in Jedi robes like the minty green woman, and had a makeshift lightsaber hanging from her belt. The group stared up at a mansion in front of them, looking in awe.

This mansion had been made out of scrap parts, made from stripped Republic ships, walkers, and other sorts of tech that had been long abandoned on this jungle. They could see a few floors, judging by the railings and awnings that surrounded the house. Around this mansion were a few staffs with helmets sitting on top of, old clone trooper helmets at that. A hot springs, with some machines connected to harness the hot water, most likely for cooking or washing clothes. And they could even see some clothes hanging from some clotheslines, both on the outside and near some racks close to the hot springs.

Just on the second floor of the mansion, they could see a door open up and five bodies walk outside. All of them were the same in builds and height, even having the same faces. Only some different features on their faces; some had facial hair, some were balding, others had longer hair, etc. The sight made the minty green Jedi freeze in place as she held the Mandalorian's hand, squeezing gently. She did not like the look of this one bit...

"What do you want?" The middle man shouted.

The youngest person in the group stepped forward. "We're looking for someone. By any chance do you know someone named Derpy Hooves?"

To Be Continued...

Author's Note:

And so we come to our conclusion. I am sorry this took so long, real life issues and motivations were hindering progress. Not gonna win any awards for originality here, will be honest to myself.

But hey, it's done! And now that our 'third' entry is done.. I think we can now descend onto the real stories. This wasn't made just cause. I got some fun ideas cooking.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, and have a great night!