Chapter 9: Brother to Brother

"Alright, Ponds. Here we go, the mission that we've all been waiting for at Rebellion home base," Aurra bickered. Ponds felt his neck crack and muscles collide together in his back. Aurra just let out a huge smile. "I sense your tension? Why?"

"It's just one of those things, ma'am. This is it - the big mission," Ponds replied, looking at the floor. Aurra picked Ponds' chin up, looking for a kiss goodbye but Ponds physically denied. Right then, Coach, who was utmost carefully piloting Slave I docked it a few miles out from the Rebellion home base on Onderaan. A hatch opened and automatic steps popped out from a compartment on Slave I. Ponds was the first to exit and then Coach, leaving a relaxed Aurra Sing behind to man the ship. Ponds frustratingly followed Coach who was sprinting just a little bit slower than a cheetah. Once the two bounty hunters got into position, Coach debriefed the commander on what exactly he was supposed to do when he entered.

"Listen up, clone. I'll create a diversion for you and you casually walk in to get that gold. Kill anyone and everyone who gets in your way," Coach snickered. Ponds quickly removed his helmet and sort of in a way countered Coach.

"And what if they don't get in my way? Should I kill them too?"

"Don't get wise or I'll snipe you instead of the rebels."

Ponds got his helmet back on his head and moved out. He sneaked behind some leaves and bushes and noticed a small monitoring station a few meters to the North. He only spotted one rebel trooper - Captain Crane. He delicately polished his 300 Winchester Magnum bolt action rifle. He heard a gun cock but it wasn't his bolt action. "Don't move," a voice ordered.

"Look, I don't have a clue on who you are but I ain't like you. I could tell through your damn voice- a stressed, rogue clone," Crane said, dropping his beloved gun. That obnoxious noise when his gun made contact with the ground was the exact same right before Blitz got gunned down.

"I am not a clone anymore. Not like your corrupt buddies," Ponds replied.

"Ya know, there are two things you have to know before engagin' an enemy - their weaknesses and their strengths, you failed at both," Crane informed before tackling him. He grabbed his gun back and stuck it at Ponds' face. Ponds kept shaking his head. Crane tried to figure out why but heard a gunshot go off from afar. Crane had that forceful feeling to look down and saw a bloody hole in his gut. He fell to his knees and then to his face. Ponds, surprised that Coach did that, moved on. Coach fired some more shots at uncovered rebel troopers like Mackenroy, Major Johnson, and Wedge Antilles. Rahr pulled them to safety.

Ponds finally entered the base and immediately shot Captain Ranger right in the leg. He raced up to him, tackled him, and aimed a gun at Ranger until he heard someone yell stop. He looked up and saw Commander Stone. "You are all corrupt. You killed the Jedi!" Ponds screeched. Stone put down his dual guns.

"I wish I can say that wasn't true. But you are playing the propaganda card. You were no doubt told that the Rebellion is bad, but that is just a call-sign for us, we are really called the Alliance to Restore the Republic. We are here to restore peace from the Imperial Army. They are the bad ones; the chancellor issued an order for all malfunctioned clones to turn on their own Jedi generals. We made our own free will. Aurra Sing, right? Have you forgotten who she is? She is the manipulator of justice. Look at Patrick Rahr," Stone tried to convince to Ponds.

"Hi," Patrick waved, clearly oblivious on what was happening.

"He's still with us." Stone ever so slowly moved his arm with his gun downwards a bit.

A young rebel trooper named Timin was scouting the area until he came across Coach. "Put your hands up!" Timin said in his squealing voice. Coach did so but Timin shot him in the heart anyway. "I got his back-up," he said through a wrist-communicator.

"Ponds listen to me, brother to brother. We remaining rebel clones got our inhibitor chip removed. That explains it, Ponds. It has to," Stone informed, showing Ponds a scar on his temple.

"Okay, but how can I come back from all the chaos I've been bestowing upon you guys?" Ponds questioned.

"We all get to come back. I know for a fact that you did not kill Blitz. It was Coach wasn't it?" Stone replied and Ponds nodded his head, still full of shame. More rebel troopers including Gold Leader, a wing commander moved in on them. What they did not know was Aurra was listening in through a built in listening set in Ponds' gear. All of those sentences were enough for her to press her own assault on home base. Can it finally be over?