Saga Those Who Carry the Rifle (clone trooper vignette)

Title: Those Who Carry the Rifle

Author: Kudzu

Timeframe: Clone Wars, Year Three

Characters: Commander Keller, OCs

Genre: Action/Philosophy

Summary: Commander Keller leads an army of clone troopers to capture the Separatist-held world of Varisor. They are the last vestiges of a Republic, and an unaware vanguard of something new yet to come.

Disclaimer: Unofficial, Commander Keller property of Lucasfilm, etc etc.

Epigraph: "It's the man, not the machine" - Chuck Yeager



?To be a clone trooper, you have to be strong,? Commander Keller reminded his soldiers, walking back and forth in front of the rigid row of men in white armor. ?You have to be prepared for all eventualities. You have to fight through them.

?No soldier of mine will lay down their blaster and give up the battle.?

?Yes, sir!? the clones chorused in their almost perfectly identical voices. They were created and conditioned to follow the orders of their superiors. They responded in unison, without hesitation, utterly devoted to carrying out Keller?s commands to their last exhalations of breath and beyond if they could.

They, like their commander, were tools for the Republic to wield, that many-armed monstrosity battling another many-armed monstrosity. The Clone Wars were clashes between titans. Keller understood what it was that he and his men were fighting for, and went under fire in its service gladly. They had no other choice. They didn?t want any other choice. War was their domain.

Keller roared, ?You must have the greatest discipline, the finest mentality, and the clearest of mind! You must not dwell on past errors if you should make them - and you will! We are no omnipotent gods - but we are the closest to them, and the Republic has us. You do not fail when you should die: you fail when you lose. Never lose.?

?Yes, sir!?

?Never hesitate to sacrifice yourself for the Republic! Never fear to die! You are but parts of a greater fight, and the rest live to replace you. We seed the stars!?

?We seed the stars!?

And so it was, just as it was always.

The assault ship dipped lower.

* * * * *

Binis Jusns stared blankly at the tactical display. A holographic depiction of a landed Acclamator-class assault ship (Mark II) glowed blue on the circular board in front of him. The walls of the room seemed to press in around him as he watched transparent blue clone troopers march down the vessel?s ramps, spilling out neatly onto the terrain surrounding it. Holographic gunships and starfighters buzzed across the display board.

We?re in trouble.

?Commodore Gate demands that we immediately deploy our forces, sir,? his aide said from his console.

Binis glared down at the man. ?Is Commodore Gate aware that the number of troops aboard that assault transport is enough to overwhelm this garrison three times over, Shaa??

Shaa shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. ?I don?t know, sir,? he replied. The Ennthian was not one of the Confederacy?s brightest officers, but he was smart enough to keep himself in check when speaking to a superior. He had given the honest soldier?s response.

Binis pounced on it. ?Well,? he snarled. ?Why don?t you find out, then??

He nodded formally. ?Yes, sir.? Shaa busied himself with the transmissions as Binis turned away.

* * * * *

?Can you explain the concept of peace, Commander?? asked CT-106/7855.

Keller frowned. ?It?s an absence of war,? he said. ?Nobody fights one another. They all mostly tolerate each other and get along.?

?Does anybody ever kill each other in peace??

?Well,? the clone commander replied slowly, choosing his words carefully, ?violent crimes happen all the time, no matter where you go in the Republic. But there are no two factions trying to destroy each other.?

?What about ?gang wars??? the inquisitive trooper queried. ?I?ve heard about them from Clone Intelligence reports.?

This was tricky. Keller hardly considered himself a definitive expert on this sort of subject to begin with - he was a warrior, he thou

 

Garrison forts were blasted into ruin. Bombs turned columns of battle droids into scrap. Missiles scattered the segmented bodies of AT-TEs across the green land. Blasters burned holes through droid, mercenary, and clone alike. They marched on.

The clone infantry of the Grand Army of the Republic seeded the stars.

This was some really cool imagery, nicely phrased!

The last little snippet of technical info was an interesting addition. I liked how it linked back up to the quote at the beginning.

 

Very nice vignette, Kudzu. You certainly do clone troopers justice, that's for sure.

Blue bolts - standard blaster plasma discharge combined with an additional EMP punch for additional effectiveness against droid adversaries - whine from its mouth, ripping through the robotic centurions of the Confederacy.

What a cool line.

I especially liked the Yeager quote. Great stuff

 

I admit it, I'm not a huge fan of Clone troopers. But this viggie might almost make me change my mind! Bravo! Very well done!

 

I love this viggie!! Great imagery throughout, and I really liked the way you structured it, with the technical specs of the rifle at the end. It gave it a very chilling quality at the end - brilliant!!

 

HEY! SAVE IT FOR AIDW, DAMNIT!

(yes, yes, I'm a hypocrite, heh)

 

Glad you liked it, Antilles. Thanks all. It's not much, but it's something to get me out of the "vignette slump".

 

"Pity can be constructive in warfare,? Keller agreed. ?Perhaps it is cruel to leave them alive - those valorless hut?uune.?

That's a scary thought, coming from those thousands of troopers. Your trooper vigs are always excellent, Kudzu - this one's no exception.

 

Well, sorry I don't leave my usual feedback, but I think with the words "great viggie, as usual" everything is said...

So, great viggie, ner vod, as usual