Framed (John Smith 10)

Story
The battlefield was decimated. Everything within a five mile radius of the bomb was destroyed. The field is motionless, littered with broken Droids and downed clones. The clone camp was destroyed. The clones that had made it behind the factory walls were unable to cover the hole in the wall, and are still hit. Then, Droid reinforcements appear, going across the field.

Droid 1: Search the clones. Kill any survivors.

Droid 2: Roger, roger.

The Droids march around the field, shooting the bodies of clones that they past. Droids eventually make it to the sight of the bomb. Nothing was left of it, and John and Gwen lay unconscious nearby. A Droid prepares to fire at them, when it’s hit by blaster fire, destroying it. The Droids look up, and see Lucy with a blaster. She was relatively unharmed, besides the destruction of her Plumber suit.

Lucy: Hands off them.

Lucy raises her blaster, firing at the Droids. She hits a few Droids before they respond, several shots hitting Lucy, the hit spots exploding in purple sludge. Her body loses its form, as she turns into her blob form. She stretches and swings her arm, swiping down several Droids. The Droids fire at her, her being unaffected. Her body then reforms into a humanoid sludge form. Her eyes are still bright purple, and the whiskers point backwards.

Droid: Blast it! (The Droids fire, the shots hitting her body, having no effect.)

Lucy: (Sighs.) I wish it didn’t come to this. But since no one’s looking.

Lucy charges in, closing the distance while being fired at. She reaches a Droid, and forms a mallet hand, destroying the Droid. She then spins, her leg stretching and breaking through several Droids. Lucy then stretches both arms, and spins in a circle, her arms acting as scythes to cut through the Droids.

The battle is over, Lucy having wiped out the reinforcement Droids. Lucy stops, going down on one knee, panting.

Lucy: Ha. I, did it. I saved all those who are still alive. (Then, a laser blast hits her in the shoulder, surprising her and causing her to stumble back. She turns, and sees Inspector Milhil standing there, blaster raised.) Inspector? What?

Milhil: By the authority granted to me, I place you under arrest for treason, sludge.

Milhil opens fire at Lucy, as she tries to run away. Milhil chases after her, and gets in front of her, and punches her back. She stumbles backwards, as Milhil swings another punch. She raises her arm and blocks the attack.

Lucy: You don’t understand! I am not the traitor.

Milhil: Ha! As if I’ll believe that, sludge. (Lucy gets angry at these words, and goes to punch him. Milhil catches it, and puts her in a head lock.)

Milhil: You can’t even control your aggression.

Milhil chokes her, and she grabs his arms, trying to pull herself free. However, he tightens his hold, and she passes out, falling to the ground. He then pulls out a capsule, and throws it at her. A force field forms around Lucy. She wakes up, and pounds on the force field, trying to break free.

Milhil: Try all you like. You can’t break it. Now, to deliver you to justice. (Milhil goes to pick up the force field, when he’s hit from behind by a steel mallet. He turns, and sees Kevin covered in metal.) Attacking me is an offense for arrest.

Lucy: General!

Milhil: General?

Kevin: Let her go, Milhil. She isn’t the traitor. Someone else did this.

Milhil: As her commanding officer, you must’ve learned that she was a sludge. You should’ve reported this the moment you learned. If you did, then thousands of lives could’ve been saved.

Kevin: All those lives would’ve been lost either way. She’s not it. So let her go now, before I show what a real Plumber can do.

Milhil: You’re going to regret this. You don’t know the authority that I have. You’re under arrest for attacking me, and for being a conspirator in the destruction of the Plumbers, as the sludge is the real villain here. And with your record, you’ll be sent to Incarcecon for the rest of your life.

Kevin: Threatening me is the biggest mistake of your life. But fighting me is the stupidest decision you’ll ever make.

Kevin charges in, forming a mace hand. He swings it at Milhil, but Milhil blocks it, kneeing Kevin in the stomach. Kevin morphs his fist back, and goes to punch Milhil. Milhil blocks it, and gets behind Kevin, twisting his arm.

Kevin: Agh! (Kevin grows spikes on his arm, forcing Milhil to let go. Kevin turns, punching Milhil with a spiked fist.) How’s that? (Then, Kevin is hit by a gold energy blast, knocking him down. Milhil throws a capsule at Kevin, which forms a force field around him.) What?!

Milhil: (Clears throat) Thank you for the assistance, Michael.

Michael: Of course, sir.

Kevin: You?

Milhil: Yes. Michael here was the one who informed me that Lucy was the traitor.

Kevin: You’ll regret this. Both of you. If you do this, you’ll obtain the rath of John Smith and Gwen Tennyson. You’re not losing one general, you’re losing a general and two heroes, people who actually care about the people affected by this war.

Milhil: Don’t mistake me. I care for them too. But orders are orders, and traitors must be eliminated.

Gwen wakes up, extremely sore.

Gwen: Ugh. What, what happened? (She looks around, seeing the destroyed battlefield, Lucy and Kevin captured, and Milhil and Michael standing unharmed. Gwen stands up.) What are you doing?!

Milhil: These two traitors are to be taken to Coruscant. There they will be a trial, and justice will be served.

Gwen: What? Kevin is not a traitor. He’s a good guy, a changed man. He would not allow this to happen.

Milhil: He had prior knowledge that Lucy was a spy to the Separatists. (Milhil pulls outs a device, and it activates. It releases a beam of energy, which lifts the energy cages.)

John wakes up, extremely groggy.

John: Ugh. That was not a good idea. Who merges with a bomb, anyway? (Looks around.) Look like it didn’t help much. (He then sees the incident between Gwen and Milhil.) What the? (He stands up, and heads over.) What’s going on?

Gwen: They think Kevin and Lucy are traitors.

John: What?! No, you’re making a mistake.

Kevin: Forget it, John. He ain’t listening.

Milhil: These two will be charged with treason. There have been.

John: Yeah, yeah. Spare me the details. Let them go, and come on. I need all of you to check for survivors.

Milhil: What does it matter? They are just clones, disposable. If they’re all dead, then you’ll be given a new army. If the Plumbers are dead, well that’s a casualty of war. You’ll get replacement of them too, agh! (John was choking Milhil, his face stern with anger.)

John: Each clone is a living, breathing thing. They are alive, and if you are so willing to throw their lives away. (John lets go, pushing Milhil away.) You’re the scum. They are all irreplaceable. Either assist us, or wait for me at camp. We can discuss this later, when there are no lives at risk, and when I don’t have the urge to pound your face in. (John walks off, Gwen following. She looks back at Kevin, and sees him smile and nod. Milhil takes them away.) End Scene

John is searching the field, removing the helmets of the clones and checking the vitals. He sighs at each deceased clone that he goes past. He sighs a lot. Suddenly, John sees a pile of big red armor. He heads over, and starts moving the armor. Then, someone under the armor pushes out, and Ahsoka gasps.

Ahsoka: Finally! Air!

John: Ahsoka! (He goes over, and pushes more armor off, helping her up.) You alright?

Ahsoka: Yeah, fine now. Eddy took the blunt of the force.

John: Eddy?! (Then, Tack breaks out, Eddy on his shoulder. John and Ahsoka help dig them out, as Tack gets them out.) He alright?

Tack: He’s out cold. I’m not sure how bad he is.

John: What happened?

Ahsoka: We were leading the clones back on a full retreat, when the bomb went off. Eddy grabbed us, and activated his armor, his back to the explosion. His armor was destroyed, and we were buried.

Tack: He saved us. If we were hit by the full force of that, we’d be dead, no question.

John: Take him back to the camp. Or what’s left of it. Ahsoka, begin to treat him, see if there is anything wrong. Tack, once you get him there, search for survivors. Anyone that isn’t severely injured, have them help. Everyone else, get them to camp. Gwen is getting as many survivors as she can at once to the camp, and she’s going to her powers to start healing everyone. Once she’s there, Ahsoka, you organize the search parties of all who can search. Tack, you manage that with those who need no immediate care.

Tack and Ahsoka: Yes sir!

It’s hours later, the sun almost down. John has traveled far from the camp, leaning over from exhaustion. Then, Commander Gerald approaches him.

Gerald: General. The sun is almost down.

John: Understood. I’ll be in soon.

Gerald: Right. General, a quick question. Why haven’t you transformed?

John: No real reason. I guess, I don’t have the will to do it. It feels good to do this by hand, like everyone else.

Gerald: Sorry for questioning you, General. (Gerald starts to walk away.)

John: Gerald. (Gerald turns to look at him.) Always question what you’re uncomfortable with. You may be a clone, but that doesn’t mean you’re not human.

Gerald: Hm. Once this is over, I’ll spread that notion to the others. (Gerald leaves.)

John walks on, and finds something surprising, Sevenseven’s body.

John: What? He detonated while still in range? (John looks around, then spots Ninja. He runs over, and removes his helmet. He gasps and steps back, looking at the spot where Ninja’s face should be. There is nothing but dust.) Turned to dust. What could do this? It wasn’t the bomb.

John then sees blood on Ninja’s gauntlet, and on the ground. John reaches over, and chips the blood off. He then sees something engraved on the palm of his hand.

John: MM? End Scene

It’s nighttime, and John arrives back at the camp. John passes William, the clone with the big scratch on his helmet.

John: How you doing, William?

Clone: That’s not my name, sir.

John: (Troubled.) You’re not? But, that’s his helmet.

Clone: I just grabbed this helmet from the inventory.

John: Was it left on the field?

Clone: No. The lost gear hasn’t been recovered yet.

John: (Looking confused.) Thank you. Carry on.

Clone: Of course. (John walks off. John then finds Gwen, with Commander Cody.)

John: Gwen, how is everything?

Gwen: Poorly. The soldiers are doing well, but there are still many injured.

John: How bad’s the casualty rate?

Cody: Not good. In retrospect, the number of our combined forces is less than what we had when you first joined our army.

John: That’s several thousand dead.

Cody: I’m sorry, but those are the numbers. If you’ll excuse me. (Cody leaves, and John collapses, sitting on the floor.)

Gwen: You okay?

John: No. I’m not. (A thought occurs to John.) Where’s Milhil?

Gwen: He and Michael left hours ago, taking Kevin and Lucy away. I figured it wasn’t best to tell you yet. I can’t believe that Michael. He was one of us, and he just leaves us. And Ninja has been nowhere to be found.

John: He’s dead. His body was not too far from Sevenseven.

Gwen: What? No. (Gwen falls down, landing besides John.) He was, so loyal. You know, he never said one word. He, he. (She releases a big sigh.)

John: Michael. What’s his last name?

Gwen: (Puzzled.) Morningstar, why?

John: Nothing. Just piecing the day together. (John stands.) I need to walk. (Gwen stands up.)

Gwen: You need to rest. You’ve been in human form all day after the battle. The soldiers are inspired by it, but it’s more exhausting to you than transforming. You’re only human. Rest.

John: Fine. I’m going to find a place to crash. (John walks off. Then, he sees Eddy working on a computer.) Eddy! You’re alright!

Eddy: Try and keep me down. Anyway, I found something that you need to know.

John: What?

Eddy: One of the few things to survive the explosion was our defense systems. Apparently, last night, it was disabled. That’s the reason we didn’t know about the attack until they were on our doorstep.

John: Thanks, Eddy. That’s, really helpful.

Eddy: Rest, commander. You need it. (John walks off, and stops, thinking about the day. Then, he shouts at the top of his lungs.)

John: FRIENDS! ALLIES! BROTHERS! LEND ME YOUR EARS! (Everyone in the camp turn to look at him, and Gwen looks in concern.) TODAY HAS BEEN TROUBLING FOR ALL OF US. OUR FRIENDS AND BROTHERS WERE KILLED, AND NOW, I WILL GIVE YOU THE REASON WHY! (The clones start muttering amongst themselves.)

Clone 1: Reason?

Clone 2: This wasn’t a simple attack?

John: INSPECTOR MILHIL CAME TO OUR CAMP, TO FIND A SPY, A TRAITOR AMONG US! DURING THE NIGHT, THAT SAID SPY DEACTIVATED OUR SENSORS, SO WE WOULD BE AMBUSHED! THE BOMB WAS SET OFF TO KILL OUR BROTHERS, AND ONE OF OUR OWN WAS SET UP TO TAKE THE BLAME! AND WHILE TWO OF OUR BROTHERS ARE NOW ON DEATHROW, THE REAL SPY IS GONE, TO BE TREATED LIKE A HERO! TOMORROW, WE FINISH EVERYTHING WE NEED, AND RETURN TO OUR SHIPS. I PLAN ON MARCHING TO CORUSCANT, AND FREEING MY FRIENDS, MY FAMILY.

The area was silent, the clones staring at John. A clone then begins to clap, and the others join in. Soon, the entire camp was cheering. Satisfied, John lays down where he was standing, and falls asleep. Gwen stands over him, shaking her head.

Gwen: Didn’t think he could be so dramatic. Gerald!

Gerald: Yes sir!

Gwen: Bring him a blanket. Let him rest easy.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin
 * Tack
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Red Ninja (dead)
 * Eddy
 * Lucy Mann
 * Commander Cody
 * Commander Gerald
 * Clones

Villains

 * Battle Droids
 * Inspector Milhil
 * Michael Morningstar
 * Sevenseven (dead)

Trivia

 * It's revealed that Ninja and Sevenseven were killed in the explosion.
 * John doesn't transform, saying that he didn't have the will to transform.
 * Kevin and Lucy are arrested for treason.
 * John figures out what really happened.