Chapter 117 - Rescue Mission

"Commander Keeli, do you copy?"

"Bzzz... zzz... bzzz..."

There was only static coming from his comlink. Five minutes of the thirty Dageer proposed had passed.

Dageer used his macrobinoculars, and saw the smoke clearing out from the battlefield. There were five trenches waiting for them to conquer it. Still, the clones had taken a huge chunk out of the Separatist defenses.

The AT-TEs blew holes in the droid defenses, and without the AA turrets, more and more troopers were being deployed. Sporadic laser shots could still be heard, when the snipers on both sides found someone being too bold.

"Dab, anything?"

"Still nothing, sir. There are just too many gunsh.i.p.s on the ground. But, sir... I identified at least six Laats with survivors, all of them uphill. Commander Keeli can be on any of them, or in none."

"This is better than nothing. Transfer their location to my comlink, and we will see what we can do."

Using the positions Dab gave him, Dageer compared them to where Commander Keeli should have landed.

"Those two are quite far from his last known position. We will leave them to the end. Then we have two gunsh.i.p.s crashed roughly two hundred meters from us, both on the left. They are his most probable location. On our right, fifty meters, there is also a downed gunship, in between this trench and the next. The last one is the worst. It crashed just before the top of the hill. Getting there will cost us a lot."

As Dageer analyzed the hologram map, he used his fingers to trace red lines between their position and the Laats.

"We will split into three groups. When we start our attack, nineteen minutes from now, Lieutenant Fondor will aim for the closest one. If Commander Keeli is there, prioritize bringing him back. If he isn't, rescue our troopers. Captain Narza, your target is the two gunsh.i.p.s on the left. They are pretty close to each other. The problem will be getting to them."

"If we can bring in some fresh troops, I can take the third and fourth trenches in a row, and aim for the Laats in the chaos."

"Good plan, we will do that. Now, as for the last Laat, Hell Squad will take care of it. No comments."

"Yes, sir."

"You have your orders. We have seventeen minutes to take back the wounded, no more. After that, I want every available trooper on the front. We can't lose our momentum."

"Yes, sir."

The clones scattered, each following their orders. A line of injured clones was created, protected by the unharmed ones, starting on the second trench and going to the temporary headquarters the clone army built.

"Hell Squad, replenish your ammunitions and anything we need. Especially you, Kuvu. If we are going after that last gunship, we will need a well-equipped medic."

"Yes, sir."

"Brain, bring some ammo for me. Dab, get up here. I want all of Hell Squad together."

Brain nodded and Dab made an affirmative noise. Dageer looked at his comlink. Fifteen minutes left.

He wanted to sit down and rest, but didn't do it. He expanded the hologram map to show the whole hill, then zoomed in again. Hell Squad needed a plan if they wanted to get to the top of the hill and come back with the rescued clones.

There were five trenches in their path. The higher they went, the smaller the trenches were, but the defenders were closely packed.

Hell Squad had two options to get to the gunship. They could either go by the surface or by the tunnels. Both ways, they would face a lot of problems. On the surface, the most obvious flaw was that the instant they tried to advance any further than the rest of the clones, they would become a target. And if they followed the tunnels, it would take to much time, and the Separatist barricades wouldn't be any easier than the ones on the surface. Besides, the tunnels were a maze for which they didn't have a map.

Dageer racked his brain, but still couldn't think of any solution. He looked at the time. Twelve minutes. They would have to force their way through, the best they could.

"Dageer. I don't know how you plan to rescue Keeli, but you have to. Ragout is going with you."

"Yes, general."

Immediately after Dageer ended his transmission with Commander Keeli, he informed General Di. The jedi ordered them to keep pushing the attack, and to find Commander Keeli.

If Ragout, the padawan, could come with Hell Squad, it would be easier. Dageer knew that because from the start of the battle till now, Hell Squad had always been the second group to arrive at the enemy trenches. Long before they did it, the jedi were already there. Even if he wasn't together with them, Dageer could imagine General Di and Ragout swinging their lightsabers and deflecting lasers. Ragout would be a welcomed addition to their rescue mission.

Three minutes later, Ragout arrived at where Hell Squad was. Dageer was, at this moment, grabbing the magazines Brain brought for him, and strapping them to this belt. One magazine of a DC-15A had five hundred rounds, but it was still depleting quite quickly on the battlefield. Anyway, when Ragout arrived, Dageer stopped and gave him the standard military salute.

"General Ragout."

"I will let you lead, Dageer. What is the plan?"

"There is no real plan, general. I was originally thinking of going by the tunnels, but the chance of we getting lost is high, and I am not sure Commander Keeli has that much time. Since we now have you with us, advancing straight up might be the best choice."

"It is quite a distance. We won't rescue Keeli if we are dead."

"That is why I hope you can block the clanckers' lasers. But it is your call, general."

"Jedi are strong, not invincible. I might be able to deflect the lasers coming from the front, but what about the droids we leave on our back. We can't destroy them all."

"That is our biggest problem, and to be honest, I don't have a solution for it. The AT-TEs can't back us up. They have neither the angle nor the range to duel with their AATs. But the seppies have the high ground. That gives them a boost in range, and they can oversee the whole hill."

Six minutes left till they commenced the attack again. Dageer ordered Captain Narza to get the men ready.

"What do you think, general? By the tunnels or the surface?"

The Togruta looked pensively at Dageer.

"If we follow your plan, do you think we can make it back alive?"

"This isn't the craziest thing Hell Squad had done, neither it is the worst. We can pull this off."

Dageer answered confidently. He knew it would be hard, but he never doubted Hell Squad could do it. Seeing Dageer answer without hesitation, Ragout smiled.

"Then let's do it."