Star Wars, The Clone Wars Minisodes

Compassion

juliatheawzom3274 

prompt 4: compassion

Vaughn was a soldier and a great warrior. Just like his brothers. Rex, his Captain, his older brother, and his other vods, Fives, Kix, Hardcase, basically the whole of Torrent company and his batchmate, Sterling were the people Vaugn always looked up to. 

Whenever he had a problem, whether in training or during the battle, his brothers were always there to protect him. The commander, Ahsoka Tano was his close friend. They always hung about together when the battalion was on a break. General Skywalker is Rex's greatest friend, and a friend of Rex is a friend of Vaughn. 

Kaminoans don't emphasize on the importance of having people to rely on. They see it as an obstacle in the development of any clone. They never showed any clone that having a family and caring for them, even if not related, is normal human nature. Then again, clones are expected to not form attachments. In fact, this 'brothers all' nature that the clones adopt are not welcomed by the long-necks. Clones were expected to show no feelings, reciprocate no feelings.

All of that expectation rested on Vaughn's shoulders, even if it hurt him emotionally. He must uphold the code. That is, until the day the code shattered him to a million pieces. 

The 501st just finished a fight in the mid-rim. Within the GAR the men in blue were the best of the best, minimum casualties and the best strategies. That was in their best days, best stories, but what about their worst?

Vaughn sat defeated underneath a tree, tightly gripping onto his blaster. Earlier, during battle, he bravely fought alongside his brothers. He shot down every droid insight making no mistake in his steps and turns. Sterling watched Vaughn's back as Vaughn did his. 

Even the greats blunder. In his peripheral vision, Vaughn saw a droid working its way to man an unmanned turret. While he focused to shot the droid down, he did not notice another aiming for his brother. 

Broken gasps and shock alerted Vaughn as he spun around to see his fellow comrade fallen to the ground. "No! NO!" 

Vaughn made sure to shoot the droid that shot Sterling before dropping on his knees and tossing his helmet off. 

"Stay with me, Sterling. Ya' hear me?" 

Sterling groaned when Vaughn carefully cradled his head and pulled him close. 

"Stay with me, vod. We're getting out of here alive, okay. Please." An explosion rang from behind the two and Vaughn was pulled out from his trance. In his mind, time slowed down. Everything became so sharp and clear. Left and right, screams of agony made way to his brain and echoed in it. He saw the field medics running to the injured and tending to the gory wounds. He saw smoke rise up from the burnt plastiod armour. 

His eyes darted at every dark corner of the battlefield that hid the gruesome view his brothers being shot right in the heart by the droids. He heard the unforgettable squelching sound of raw, burnt flesh from explosions.

Underneath his own armour, Vaughn's heart pounded relentlessly as he witnessed the horror of the battle. That day, the 501st lost their thrid fight of three rounds. The Republic would not be able to tame this section of the mid-rim any time soon. 

Countless bodies of lifeless and half-dead clones littered the field. Blood pooled under the bodies and the air reeked of it.

Vaughn saw to it that Sterling was given medical care before retiring for the night. The men were worn and sad, no celebrations were done that night. 

Vaughn walked on towards the camp of the Torrent Company. The men of the company sat quietly around the fire, no words exchanged among them. Jesse gave a nod to him as Vaughn approached and joined them.