Wake Up William
You're not done yet
You still have a job to do
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William's eyes shot open, breathing heavily trying to fill his lungs with air. He looked around, seeing that the front portion of the tank had been turned into nothing but slag, the hand of the driver the only thing he could see of his two troopers that had been there. He then looked to the left, seeing the gunner slowly stirring as he began to wake up from the explosion. Looking to his right, he saw the tech lifting her head up from the terminal she had been operating.
William began to calm himself, his senses returning to him fully. He looked out towards where the AT-AT had been, only to see the rear end in the air. The AT-AT had taken a powerful hit to its undercarriage, Both of the front legs destroyed. He sat back into his seat, seeing that the last two of his troops were looking back to him.
"Let's get out of this thing." Was all William said, the two troops replying with a nod. William tried to open the hatch right above him, only to not have it open easily. William sighed, then reeled his fist back. Punching the jammed hatch, he broke the opening off, the hatch flying off into the distance. He climbed out and saw the surrounding area.
The command center had been destroyed, and William could make out the scattered remains of the Droidekas where they had been ordered to wait. William assumed that the base had been hit with a bombing run to disable those defensive turrets. His suspicion was confirmed as he could catch the faint scream of TIE Fighters growing closer. William collected himself and stood on top of the turret, facing the direction of the sound. He raised both of his arms, the dual blaster raising from his right arm, a single blaster from his new left arm.
The speed of his breathing picked up as the shriek of the TIEs grew louder, the only indication of where his enemies were coming from. He grunted, pointing his arms towards the central area of the noise and opened fire, sending a stream of bolts through the air. The bolts flew through the mist, and illuminated the TIEs as they flew by. He began tracking the first TIE, his assault battering the cockpit and tearing through the viewpoint, causing the fighter to explode as his fire damaged the equipment from inside. With that TIE eliminated, he turned his focus to a second TIE, which began a strafe run on William. The fighter firing at the ground as it approached was it's undoing as it revealed its position to William, who turned to fire at the fighter with one arm while readying his last wrist rocket. He fired the projectile and watched as the fighter went up in flames as the rocket struck the fighter, separating it from one of its wings.
William then saw the last fighter which was heading straight for him. He thought this pilot was smart not revealing his presence by holding his fire, but when the TIE continued to approach without opening fire, William realized that he was planning to crash right on them. "Go to the hangar! NOW!" William shouted, his two troops finally getting out and staggering towards the base. They were both still somewhat incoherent, the way they were running seeming more like a drunken jog. William ran the other direction, testing to see if the pilot was just going for the tank. When he saw that the TIE altered its course towards William, he smiled, turning to run towards the TIE.
Panting as he ran, William saw that there was a new addition to his armor simply labeled "Flight" That had not been there when the Empire gave him the armor, nor when he fought Drekar. He assumed Draxacon had something to do with this. The TIE almost right on him, he activated it and yelped as he shot into the air and past the TIE, which crashed onto the ground where William had been moments before. Fumbling in the air for a moment, William soon stabilized himself, keeping his feet aimed towards the surface and figuring out he could control the power of this "Flight". He began to hover, looking back towards the base, seeing his two Red Death catching their breath, leaning against the wall of the hangar. He altered the power of the propulsion and began to fly towards the base.
Landing near the base, he staggered as his momentum died down. The two troopers were standing at attention despite still appearing fatigued. William raised his hand as he collected himself, the two troopers lowering their guns and relaxing their bodies. William looked up into the hangar, a small victory cheer emitting in his mind as he sat the AT-ST waiting patiently. His radio came to life as he heard one of the pilots talking to him.
"Good to see you alive, sir. We thought you perished." The static made it difficult to hear what exactly he was saying, but William heard the sentence.
"Yeah. I should have, but I guess that's I have some protector or something..." William replied, looking up to the sky. That voice...
"Sir, before TS-15 got destroyed, he reported that there were a number of drop ships approaching the surface and that all of the turrets were destroyed." The pilot said, causing William to sigh to this small defeat. He had a feeling that the droid had been destroyed with the command center. Then he began to wonder something that should have bothered him when they arrived.
Where was TS-14?
His thought process was interrupted by the sound of more TIEs, but he assumed that these were only escorting the drop ships. Turning around, his assumption was confirmed when the drop ships began to land, their wings folding and landing gear coming out. there were five drop ships, and he was getting a strange feeling from one of them.
"Go inside now. I bet they'll send some Storm Troopers first as a scouting group." William began, moving into the hangar. The two troopers nodded, slowly shuffling into the hangar. The AT-ST tracked them as they moved. "Wait till you see them enter." The AT-ST shifted its gaze back to the opening.
William joined his troops who had taken cover behind one of the Vulture legs lying in the hangar, kneeling behind the make shift defense. All that was left to do now was wait.
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Vader walked down the ramp, his left arm twitching slightly. He was still getting used to this. He looked around, seeing the four groups of soldiers that had came down with him on the other drop ships. Two of them were basic Storm troopers, two of them were Death trooper squads. Looking back behind him he saw the still figures of Gideon's Dark Troopers, deactivated. Only when the Death Troopers fell would they activate and storm the base.
The Storm Trooper Officer walked up to Vader, saluting. "Sir, out forces are prepped and ready to assault the base." Vader simply nodded, the Officer returning to his squads and ordering them to move up. The Death Troopers slowly moved up to where the Storm Troopers had been, silently watching through green visors as their inferior counterparts moved up to the hangar William had entered.
Vader watched as the Storm Troopers regrouped around the hangar, using the wall as cover. Vader slowly walked across the surface and towards the destroyed tank, spotting something of interest. He grabbed the front of the tank and ripped it off of the still intact rear section, throwing the hunk of metal aside.
Laying on the floor of the tank was the Eleventh Sister's saber, causing Vader to sigh. Not only had she died, but William had taken the saber. As a prize or as a useful tool, he could not tell. He reached out and grabbed the saber, clipping it to his hip.
Vader's peace was interrupted when he heard the sound of an AT-ST firing and the screams of the Storm Troopers. He turned toward the base and saw the vehicle slowly walking out of the base, firing down on the fleeing Storm Troopers. His body tensed up when he saw the Imperial vehicle, and he ran back to the group. "Move Troopers. Take out that AT-ST." He commanded, two of the Death Troopers preparing Ion weapons to disable the walker. As the Death Troopers moved up to assist the rapidly dying Storm Troopers, Vader went back into the drop ship and contacted Gideon. The High Admiral appeared on screen, straightening his uniform.
"Lord Vader?" Was all he said, officers in the back typing away. Gideon himself looked as if he was being bothered from something important, glaring at Vader.
"Activate the Dark Troopers and prepare to leave. No one is going to return." Vader said, his voice harsh and assertive. Gideon smiled, nodding to someone off screen, then looking back at Vader.
"Then I suppose I will get your report once William is dealt with." Gideon said, and before Vader could reply, the screen deactivated. Vader turned when he saw the droids straightening up as they were activated. They looked exactly like William's original armor, except for being the same black as Death Troopers and open section that clearly indicated they were droids. The dark eyes lit up, a threatening red glow facing forward. The two rows of droids slowly began to march out of the drop ship. Vader quickly moved to the cock pit, the two pilots looking back to him.
"Once I walk off this ship, leave."
"But, sir, we can't leave you-"
"Do not worry about me. I'll be fine." Vader replied, leaving the cock pit an exiting the ship. Walking past the last droid, he saw that the AT-ST was taking a beating, smoke rising from the side. It slowly turned away from the Death Troopers and fired at one of the drop ships that was lifting off, destroying the vehicle. The other drop ships quickly took off, and before the AT-ST could destroy any more, the Death Troopers destroyed it, the interior exploding and setting the machinery on fire. The screams of the pilots filled the emptiness of the battlefield. The Dark Troopers and Vader rejoined the survivors of that surprise attack, only six Death Troopers remaining. All of the Storm troopers had been killed and four of the Death Troopers fell fighting the vehicle. Vader shook his head, looking to the hangar. "The traitorous captain is in there. Exterminate him." The Death Troopers nodded, moving to the hangar. The Dark troopers marched towards the hangar as well, their marching reminding Vader of the past. He was tempted to destroy these droids, but Gideon needed data on how to improve them. Vader waited till the last Dark Trooper walked past him before moving towards the hangar.
William could see the Death Trooper poking their head into the hangar, trying to spot any hostiles. The two Red Death checked their weapons and prepared to fire. William held his hand up, ordering them to wait. The Death Trooper moved up, weapon raised and flashlight active, the beam cutting through the darkness and illuminating where the weapon was aimed. Seeing six troopers moving up, all six Death Troopers, William wanted to try something out. He looked to his left arm, a small panel sliding up and revealing a small launcher, blue lights locking into place. He raised his arm and a whistling sound filled the hangar, the small projectiles soaring into the empty space. The Death Troopers looked around to try and find the source of this noise, only for them to fall one by one as multiple projectiles broke through their helmets.
"Draxacon, you beautiful man." William whispered, the panel sliding back on his arm. The Red Death stood up along with William, looking at the Death Troopers. William smiled under his helmet and began to remove it.
He soon stopped when he saw the figure of a man slowly marching into the hangar, their right arm raised and firing bolts towards William and his troops. William knelt back down, his two men mirroring his movement. William poked his head back up, seeing that the assailant looked identical to him. "What? I thought this was the only model..." He then focused on how the attacker was moving comparing the rigid motions to a B2 battle droid. "So that's how it is..." William shook his head, preparing his blasters. "They were gonna replace me any way." He jumped back up and fired both weapons at the droid, his relentless assault tearing punching the droid and tearing its armor apart, exposing its wiring and mechanical components. Taking his gaze off of the first copy, William saw nine other droid copies aiming their weapons at him, both their arms and a small shoulder weapon.
Before William could comment, the shoulder weapons fired, small missiles flying out and towards him. He began running towards the group of droids, his superior blasters tearing apart the cheap droid's armor, taking out two of the droids. The missiles were shot out by his two troops, which drew the attention of a few of the droids, William could see these droids firing at his last two troopers, and he yelled, driven to save these last two. He wanted to make sure that this collective consciousness could survive since he was unable to save the people that it once was. He shot down one of the droids, reducing them to six, the he pulled out the sword and chopped the droids arm off. The droid rotated its head, but the head was cut off when William swung his sword. He was starting to like this sword. He turned to see that one of the troopers had fallen, and the other was wounded, but to these droids, she might as well be dead. The remaining five droids focused entirely on William, firing endlessly at the captain. William moved towards them, the bolts deflecting the incoming fire. He raised his left arm and fired as the farthest droid in this group, simultaneously raising his right arm and chopping into the closest droid, the blade cleanly cutting through the droid. The two halves fell to the floor and William continued, seeing that his target was stumbling to the floor having taken enough fire.
He slashed at one droid and punched another, the droid that got cut twitching and malfunctioning. Sparks began to ark out from the joints and the eyes flickered before the head popped off, the cut damaging a number of systems and caused the droid to malfunction. The droid he had punched staggered, but did not fall. It turned its head to look directly at William only to have the blade stab through its head right between its eyes. The lights faded and William punched the droid again, freeing his blade from the disabled robot. He turned his attention to the final droid and yelled, reeling his left arm back and punching the droid in the face, this punch going through the droids face plate and embedding itself in the droid's systems. William tugged on his fist, wires and parts jetting out of the newly formed fist shaped hole. The droid fell onto the floor, the fight concluding.
"Well, I thought those would have lasted longer." William jumped, turning to see Vader standing in the opening, the outside shrouded by a crystalline wind. But wait, something was off. He seemed taller the last time he met Vader, this person had a smaller shape. Then William realized something else.
He was not picking up any life signatures from Vader.
"Ah, you see the truth?" Vader said, William focusing on the Dark Lord once more. Vader threw his arm out removing the cloak he had been wearing and revealing his body. He had moved in a way that seemed too lively and fast, and last William met him, he was slow and methodical. He could see why this Vader seemed different.
It was a droid. A sleek body that looked like a human body, but where the joints connected were obviously robotic. His feet were also more similar to boots rather than feet. William had heard of the things Vader could do, and that was with his normal body, what could he do now that he could move freely.
"This does remind me of my past, yet it is a completely new existence." Vader said rolling his shoulders. William slowly moved, holding the beskar sword with both hands. Vader's right hand wrapped around the Inquisitor's saber and he ignited it, holding it off to the side. "Now, Jaeger, Let us end this."