Saga Clone Wars 'Dignity' *Chopper fic/pic*

Title: Dignity
Author: Jody (BetaReject)
Warnings/Rating: M for dark themes and graphic imagery of violence
Characters: Chopper Jester mention of Ahsoka, Gus and Anakin
Summary: As Chopper contemplates the price of war as he collects droid digits for his necklace.
Disclaimer: Clearly I own nothing.
Author's notes: The line 'Death has a dignity of its own' comes from the Metallica song/vid 'One'
Also the image of Chopper coincides with this tale.

Chopper used to hate the acrid smell of burning metal. The way the stale stench of machine oil, intermingled with the sickening scents of burned flesh and rot. It got into everything, his armour, and his weapon; even the pores of his flesh, which remained hidden from the horrors of the frontlines.

Now it just reminded him of the slow death. The numb sensations, the fine lines one walked to keep it together and the madness that always loomed at the edge of ones thoughts. The pungent smell held a silent warning that everyone knew, but would never admit. The truth bound the clones and their non-conscripted masters together. They all feared the slow death.

The gunfire slowed now just as the mist from the morning began to clear. The seemingly endless battle was finally ending. The realization filled Chopper with a mixed sense of regret and relief.

At his feet laid the bodies of both man and machine. Their blank faces stared up at him in silent accusation, as though demanding to know why he remained while they were lost. Their broken forms were mangled almost beyond recognition-shrapnel had a way of stripping even the dead of their dignity. Leaving disjointed limbs and remains all over the muddy field.

The macabre image reminded him of Sketch?s drawings. He knew his brother would be working relentlessly on them the first chance he had. It was Sketch?s way of keeping it together, of ensuring that the dead remained dead.

With great care, Chopper sidestepped the broken bodies of his fallen brothers. He told himself not to look-to really look. He did not want to end up like Fives, whose rest was so tormented by the ghosts that he became addicted to stims. His good eye still put it all to memory.

Death has a dignity of its own.

Chopper frowned to the memory of Gus?s attempts to glorify their inevitable fates. Now his headless body laid half buried in the clay-like mud.

?Still think death?s dignified?? he softly asked the lifeless form at his feet.

?Nothings dignified about this Echuta,? Chopper in equally soft tones. The phantom soldiers that watched on from the lingering mists seemed to agree.

He might not have gotten along with Gus, but even Chopper knew his brother did not deserve this fate. None of them did.

Solemnly he slipped to his knees, as he rested his gun neatly by his leg. Chopper did not expect any further action but he preferred to be prepared. Removing the cutters from his utility belt, he carefully set about his task. The droids may be dead, but their circuitry was very much alive.

With a few sparks, the wires disconnected. The bolts too, came off easily. Shoddy engineering General Skywalker would have said had he been a witness.

Chopper wondered what their commanders said of the men when they were not around. Would they speak well of his brothers, more importantly, would they be regarded as men, or just mere weapons?

Suddenly he froze in mid-action. He could feel another?s eyes watching him. Cautiously Chopper took in his surroundings without looking up. From the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of Commander Ahsoka. The young togruta was also avoiding making eye contact.

He wondered if her mentor-General Skywalker-was aware of the fact that his student was already showing symptoms of

 

omg, that was an AWESOME vig! I loved the concept of the slow death. A very dramatic look into one soldier's view of war...

 

Great writing, giving a vivid description of the horrors of war.

 

This is beautiful.

 

Dramatically accurate!

The phantom soldiers that watched on from the lingering mists seemed to agree....
From the corner of Chopper's eye he could see the phantom figure of Gus standing in the mists, watching them in silence. As soon as Chopper caught sight of him, the clone soldier was gone. Only the memory of his cocky smirk and the message it carried lingered in Chopper?s mind.

Unlike them, Gus was free.


Excellent!

 

That was the best fic ever. Of all time. It was very dramatic, and it depicted the horrors of war very well.

 

Vivid_Scripts: Thank you so much I'm really glad I was able to portray the struggles of war properly. I admit the idea of the 'slow death' came from Apocalypse Now though the meaning behind it was used in a different context (referring to Malaria).

earlybird-obi-wan: Thank you so much for reading this tale. I'm so glad I was able to show the darkness of war without it coming across as either campy or emo *blushes*

MsLanna: Oh gosh, thank you!

Corellian_Ale: Thank you so much! I admit I was really inspired by the rawness of Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried which led to this tale's creation. If your into war stories or tales that reveal the ugliness of war this book is definitely worth a read.

KotORBF2Female_Revan: Oh gosh I don't know about that but I'm really glad you enjoyed it *blushes* I'm so relieved too that I was able to portray the ugliness of war accurately as well *blushes*