Clone Wars Memes

            “I’m fine.” Fox manages with the same amount of defiance as he usually has. Cody decides to drop it. They can’t do anything about it right now anyway. Fox glances up at one of their destroyed AT-ET’s. A few clones have climbed inside to use it as a vantage point. Thire’s in there somewhere. Every now and then in the corner of his eye, he’ll see a clone drop. Fox and Cody look to each other. Both reach out, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder, squeezing it before taking their blasters in hand and preparing to get back to the battle.

            At least until they hear footsteps charging from behind. Before they can turn and react, Neyo calls out, “Coming through!”

            He places a foot on Fox’s right shoulder while pressing down on Cody’s helmet to boost him up onto the debris that they use as cover.

            “Neyo!” they both yell in unison. Neyo stands on the debris holding a rocket launcher.

            “Who gave him that?” Fox rubs his shoulder while Cody readjusts his helmet and stretches his neck side to side. Neyo gives a gleeful little laugh before firing the rocket at a horde of droids coming their way. Droid bits explode in all directions in a cloud of fumes and dust. Neyo gives a maniacal laugh before Cody and Fox each grab one of his arms and yanks him down to their level. He lands on his back staring at the sky just as another canon fires on their position. Dirt and rock rains over them, hitting their armor with little clinks.

            “Do you want to explode again?” Cody shouts over the battle. Neyo tilts his head considering it.

            “That wasn’t a literal question you moron!” Fox kicks his side in frustration. They would have continued shouting if weren’t for a loud explosion coming from behind the droid army. The three troopers stare at the black smoke rising in the city.

            Neyo sits up, crossing his legs as he stares, “They did it.”

            Rex. Cody grips his blaster. Please still be alive.

            “Troopers,” the sudden voice in his ears makes Cody jump. It takes a second to remind himself it’s his communicator. General Kenobi goes on, “Regroup at my location.”

            They start to head back to the main control hub set up just behind the front lines when Fox stops and stares up at the AT-TE where Thire still is.

            “Thire, we’re regrouping,” he repeats the orders when Thire doesn’t appear from the wreckage. They wait, ears straining over the coms for Thire’s voice. An image of the tower back on Kamino flashes behind Cody’s eyes. The blood stain where Thire had been standing.

            Finally, Thire’s voice comes over the coms, “Go ahead without me. I don’t think I can get away just this second.”

            Fox looks like he’s about to argue with him but stops when Cody pats his shoulder. He doesn’t have to say what they already know. Thire can handle himself. Fox reluctantly follows Cody and Neyo back to General Kenobi.

            They hop over the small wall to the control hub. General Kenobi stands behind some troopers with arms crossed and brown Jedi robe flowing in the wind. Cody’s foot snags on the wall as he steps over it making him stumble to the other side catching the General’s attention. He’s suddenly grateful for his helmet as a new type of heat spreads across his face.

            “Glad you made it. Where’s the fourth?” he arches a brow at them.

            “He’s taken a sniper position in a wrecked AT-ET and couldn’t get away. He’ll be here when he can.” Fox explains through heavy breaths. The sun beats down on Fox and Cody. Cody blinks away the spots in his vision and tries not to draw anymore attention to himself. Neyo sits on the wall staring between the two of them. He hops off and strolls over to them and with one fluid motion pulls both Cody and Fox’s helmets off, exposing their faces to the General. General Kenobi’s eyebrows rise as a little smirk pulls at the corner of his lips. Cody and Fox are both horrified by this.

            “Sorry sir, it seems their cooling systems are down. I’ll patch it for them.” Neyo explains with more professionalism than Cody thought him possible.  

            “Very good trooper.” General Kenobi nods still holding his smirk. Cody and Fox stand to the side feeling naked. The other troopers give a few chuckles and laughs their way but otherwise stay focused on the battle. Fox and Cody decide to slump against the walls surrounding the control hub while waiting for Neyo fix their helmets. An explosion comes from close by sending a cloud to wash over them. It hits the back of Cody’s throat making him fall into a coughing fit. Fox does the same though he tries to hide it.

            “How does he stand not having a helmet?” Fox stifles a cough while looking at the General. Cody shrugs. So far, nothing seems to bother the General. He stays cool and collected even in the most dire situation. Cody feels the heat from before growing hotter on his face.

            Fox’s head turns towards Cody before gently reaching up and pulling at one of Cody’s ears while saying, “Your ears are turning pink.”

            Cody instinctively covers his ears with his hands. Two troopers at the control desk struggle to hold in laughter only making Cody’s face burn brighter. He awkwardly clears his throat and turns his attention to Neyo, “Are you almost done?”

Neyo hums a little tune while continuing to tinker with their helmets and says nothing. Cody rolls his eyes and pulls his knees up so he can rest his arms on them. He carefully glances at Fox who has thankfully lost interest in teasing Cody and now fans his face with his hand. His hair is matted and dripping with sweat. He looks older than he had before leaving Kamino. Cody rubs the back of his neck discovering a layer of dirt that’s quickly turning to a thin coat of mud thanks to his sweat. He assumes he must look the same.  

            When Neyo is finished, he tosses them their helmets and says, “There, now maybe you two won’t be panting so hard into your coms every time you have to move. It was getting annoying.”

            “Oh, and here I thought you fixed them out of the goodness of your heart.” Cody smirks while gladly pulling the helmet on. A refreshing burst of coolness rushes over his body making him shiver. He lets his head rest against the wall enjoying the relief from the heat. Neyo gives a snort and mumbles something that Cody doesn’t catch.

They’re silent after that, waiting for the General’s next set of orders. That is until Thire’s voice comes over the coms, “General! We got a problem.”

They’re on their feet in an instant and moving with the General to look out towards Thire’s position.

“There’s a—” he’s cut off by blaster fire. Cody holds his breath. The familiar sound of blaster bolts hitting armor rings in his ears.

“Thire!” Fox shouts into the coms. Once again, they wait for their brother to come over the comes. When a gasp breaks the silence, they all give a collective sigh of relief.

“I’m—I’m alright. My armor actually held.” Thire laughs shakily.

“Get back here at once trooper. That’s an order.” The General says into his com. Thire doesn’t argue and starts for their position. They continue to look out towards the battle where a giant cloud obstructs their view. Cody struggles to get his visor to work and eventually gives up, not wanting to screw his vision up completely. The General stares through a pair of macrobinoculars as the rest wait in anticipation.

Within the dense cloud come sounds of metal scraping metal amongst the constant canon fire followed by screams. A chill runs up his spine and not because of his newly fixed cooling system. He squints when rows of black dots form in the smoke before a fleet of droids atop speeders break through. He frown’s when he realizes that they aren’t holding blasters but long javelins. He’s never seen anything like this before. They watch, expecting the troopers on the ground to easily take them out only for the droids to cut them down with relative ease. It’s not until they reach the canons—slicing through their sides like butter—does the gravity of the situation set in.

“They’re destroying our canons with sticks.” Fox snarls with hands ball into fists. Cody sets his jaw.

Thire emerges hopping over the wall to their side. His white armor has black blaster residue but no sign of any real damage. He says, “That’s what I was trying to tell you. They came out of nowhere and just decimated the front lines. The one leading the droids is different. I’ve never seen anything like it.”   

The senior troopers go over possible battle plans while General Kenobi strokes his beard, deep in thought. Fox frets over Thire like a mother tip-yip while Thire struggles to reassure his brother that he’s fine. Cody lets out a deep breath and tries to collect his thoughts. This fails entirely when he realizes that Neyo is missing. He tries not to make it obvious but a small part of him is screaming inside. Neyo missing is different than if Thire or Fox is missing. Neyo missing means trouble for both troopers and droids.

“What is he doing?” Fox stares down the bank as he and Thire freeze. Cody follows their gaze to find Neyo bounding towards them, arms full of the javelins from the few droids the army was able to take out. He hops over the wall forcing all attention to be on him.

“General, I have an idea!” he announces, arms still full of javelins. Cody knows they’re doomed when the General smiles.

“Mount up!” is the last thing said after Neyo explains his bright idea.

Now, Fox, Cody, and Thire stand next to their assigned speeders all emanating a cloud of dread.

“Yeah, no—don’t worry everyone! The cavalry has arrived but with sticks!” Fox growls down at the javelin in his hands. Cody grumbles some choice words under his breath while mounting his bike. Neyo sits on his speeder next to Cody practically exuding excitement.

“I suppose things could be worse,” Thire mumbles next to Fox, “I don’t know how but they could.”

Cody gives a remorseful ugh and prepares himself for the most asinine plan he’s ever heard.

            Commander Fordo is the first to poke his head out of the opening where the ship door flew off in the crash. Rex waits, watching the other ARC Troopers to gage their reactions. They all watch the Commander intently until finally, he gives the signal. Bacara and Gree are the first ones out. If he asked them why they would probably say because they were the closest to the opening or because they were eager to see some action. But Rex knew that crash stirred up some unpleasant memories still fresh in all their minds. They wait again when Commander Fordo is out of the gunship. After he assesses the area he gives another signal for everyone else to follow. Its all surreal to Rex. The ARC Troopers are dead silent making the sound of every step, every gesture, every shift of the blaster feel deafening.

            Rex takes position near the nose of the ship, blaster ready for any sign of movement. Captain Alpha stands near him in a similar stance as Commander Fordo continues to scan the area. Rex wants to ask why they aren’t advancing but he already knows why. Their ship was shot down meaning the droids aren’t far behind. Rex swallows and adjusts his blaster so he has a better grip. Then a blaster fires. At first, he thinks he’s set his off on accident but then he hears a blood chilling thud behind him. he glances back only for a second to see Trooper in white gear on the ground, red pooling beneath his head.

            Rex opens fires along with the rest of their squad. He’s not aiming at anything in particular. His eyes are blurry with from another surge of adrenaline. Bacara and Gree are on the other side of the ship. Wolffe is towards the aft end of the ship. that wasn’t one of us. But that’s wrong and he knows it. Just because that Trooper didn’t train with him didn’t make him any less of a brother. A sour taste coats his mouth and he grits his teeth. His eyes adjust and focuses on movement from a balcony of the building in front of him. He lines up his shot and fires, not lowering his blaster until he hears metal hitting cement.

            Captain Alpha moves drawing Rex’s attention to fall back with the rest. The huddle behind the gunship with Commander Fordo still near the nose of the ship. Rex and the others don’t stop firing until the Commander turns and gives another signal. Rex and Trooper from the group assigned with the ARC Troopers step out from their cover and draw the droids fire. Behind him he hears someone move close aiming a scope at the building where most of the enemy fire is coming from. When he falls back, Colt rushes forward, falling to one knee and fires a missile. He fires wherever the Trooper with scope points until the fire ceases. Commander Fordo scans the area again before finally giving the ‘move forward’ signal.

            Rex wants to speak so bad it almost hurt but even if he could he didn’t know what he would say. He wanted to ask about the Trooper who survived the crash only to be shot down the second he stepped into the light. Who was he? How many battles has he fought in? How close was he to the others assigned to the squad? Why him and not Rex? That thought punches Rex square in the chest. He feels out of breath and has to fight to get his breathing under control. He forces his eyes to focus on Havoc walking right in front of him. when Commander Fordo holds up his hand telling them to stop, he then motions for someone to move forward. Gree’s right behind him and moves to his side. Rex’s ears ring as he tries to make out what he’s hearing. It’s not until it turns the corner heading in their direction does, he realizes it’s a tank. They immediately open fire on it even though it was futile. Commander Fordo lowers and gives another signal but it was too low for anyone in the back to see clearly. It’s not until he sees the rope fall from one of the buildings and Captain Alpha repels down does he realize the Commander wasn’t signaling them. Rex hadn’t even realized the Captain was gone. The Captain moves so quickly as he rolls towards the tank, leaps up the side, climbing to the top, jumps, fires down creating an opening, before falling through. They cease fire and wait until blaster fire shoots from within the tank in all directions. Rex grits his teeth unable to tear his eyes away from the tank until Captain Alpha leaps back out of the tank and dashes away before the tank explodes.

            Commander Fordo must have given the advance signal but Rex doesn’t see it. he’s still focused on the black spot that used to be a tank. Blitz knocks his shoulder in passing snapping Rex out of his daze. The other non-ARC’s seemed to be in a similar daze as they struggle to move their feet. When the Captain joins their line snaking their way through the city, he gives a look back at Rex and the others. Rex just knows he’s grinning ear to ear which nearly makes Rex audibly laugh. Luckily, he swallows that laugh before he makes any noise. When they move further into the city, they finally spot their target. A giant heavy canon that is placed at the top of the banking clan headquarters. They stop so Commander Fordo can pull out his com and message General Kenobi.

            “General Kenobi, target sighted.” The Commander says as little as possible.

            “Very good, Commander. Proceed with the next phase.” The General is just as brief before the transmission is gone and the Commander gives them their next signal.

            Scaling the side of a building is a first for Rex. They’ve practiced with the citadel, once outside on a platform above the sea, and that one time Neyo threw Fox’s shoe at the ceiling with a big glob of glue stuck to its sole. But a building that seemed to stretch all the way to the sky? This had Rex checking five times to make sure he had a firm hold before letting himself get pulled up. Commander Fordo, Captain Alpha, and Colt were the first ones up and immediately opened fire. Rex was a little embarrassed to say he was one of the last and his legs trembled for at least three steps before returning to normal. Things were moving smoothly with the ARC’s leading the way. Rex felt like every time he lines up his shot, one of the ARC’s would take it out before he could pull the trigger. Two times it was Captain Alpha who would give a look his direction. Rex couldn’t tell if it was a “Gotta be faster then that, cadet.” Or a “Beat you.” Look. Only after Colt fires another missile at the control tower of the building and all the droids are put down do they lower their blasters. Rex spots Commander Fordo holster his left blaster but gives his right one a spin before holstering that one. Rex immediately wanted to try that but he doesn’t have his dual blasters and would be really embarrassed if anyone saw him try the first time.

            When they finally scale up to the giant heavy canon, they get busy setting the charges. Rex is kneeling to keep the shaking to a minimum. He could just see himself tripping on thin air and plummeting to his death. He tries to focus on the charge in front of him. When Havoc walks towards them carrying two more charges, the canon fires with a deafening crack that sends a shock through Rex’s body. Even with the hearing protection in their helmets his ears still ring from the blast. Havoc’s arms sway from the shifting of the canon beneath his feat. He gives an aggravated “Ugh.” Earning him a few glares from Commander Fordo and Captain Alpha. He looks back at them, noting their glares before facing forward again and going even louder, “Ugh!”

            This time Rex lets out a laugh and doesn’t feel to bad about it. it wasn’t like the droids didn’t know they were here, and it was to late for the droids to stop them from blowing the canon. When they’re all set and armed, they shoot their extension cables once more to the top of the control tower. This time Rex doesn’t waste time checking and rechecking his cord. He races up the side with others desperate to get off the canon. When the bombs go off the blast is almost as loud as the canon itself. The heat burns through Rex’s gear and seems to push Rex faster to the top. that or the shear fear and getting caught in the blast. When they finally reach the top, they take up position looking out over the city. Smoke can be seen lifting to the sky in several parts of the city as gunships continue to lower to the surface. Somewhere out there Cody is fighting on the frontlines. Rex’s ringing ears struggle to make out the fighting from the main horde. He hopes Cody is having as smooth of a time as they are.

Cody

            Cody knew they were doomed when Neyo shouts, “I have an idea!” and the General smiles.