Chapter 161 - Crimson Slug's Salute

Just when Dageer thought the crimson slug was dead, the creature came back to live, and floated near the ship. Now that it wasn't grabbing onto the corvette, it looked much more menacing, and it was blocking the little bit of light that a nearby star provided.

For the hundredth time in a few minutes, Dageer clenched his blaster tightly, and waited to see what the creature would do.

The reaction that the crimson slug had surprised him. Instead of becoming angry or fleeing, the crimson slug... bowed.

In a motion that seemed impossible, the creature dropped its horrendous head, and flicked its tail. No matter how impossible it seemed, what the crimson slug did could only be described as bowing.

Hell Squad stood dumbstruck, looking at the space creature. They couldn't believe their eyes. And then, Ragout jumped lightly, and floated towards the crimson slug.

The padawan floated for a few moments in the vacuum, and approached the crimson slug. When he stopped, the creature got closer to him on its own volition. Dageer looked at General Di, but the Jedi made no mention to stop it, so Dageer ordered Hell Squad to stay put.

Slowly, Ragout touched the gross head of the crimson slug. The sharp teeth of the creature appeared between the lips, enforcing how dangerously close Ragout was. But the crimson slug didn't move more than it already had.

After an eternity, the crimson slug retracted its head, and turned around. In a few minutes, the creature was far away, and Dageer soon lost sight of it against the black background.

General Di stretched his arm, and pulled Ragout back using the Force. The padawan floated to the ship, and landed next to Dageer. The clone couldn't help but look at him.

"You Jedis really are... impressive."

"Hahaha... Do you mean weird, Dageer?"

"I actually meant mad, general. Totally mad."

"Hahahaha!"

Dageer and Ragout joked around, but the clone was actually extremely impressed. The padawan had handled himself much better than the clones had, and, in the end, he even 'talked' to the crimson slug.

What Dageer didn't know was that Ragout was very scared. He might be a Jedi in training, however, nothing prepared someone to face a hundred meters long space worm. Still, after he and his master used the Force to influence it, he felt that the creature was just hungry, and nothing more. There was no need to kill, or even hurt it. Moreover, after it released the corvette, the crimson slug bowed. It might have been because it felt that Ragout and General Di didn't want to hurt it, or it might have been because it was still under the influence of the Force. Anyway, Ragout felt it was just right to return the respect the crimson slug gave them.

Only when they were returning to inside the ship did Dageer realize that they were, well, in space. He knew it before, of course, but he was so worried about the crimson slug that he kind of ignored it.

Now, walking on top of the ship, he was appreciating it, and he saw that Hell Squad and Ragout also were. It was weird. He felt he had never really enjoyed anything aside from being with his brothers. In fact, most of his life had either been filled with training or battles.

Of course, they weren't on a trip, so they soon got back inside. After confirming with Shep that the crimson slug didn't damage any important components of the corvette, they set off again.

For some parts of the journey, like the one they were now, they couldn't go into hyperspace because of obstacles like asteroids fields and nebulas. Hyperspace didn't mean that one was going through everything, but that one was cutting through the lanes of space, shortening the distance. Everything on the 'real space' had its shadow on hyperspace, meaning that a careless pilot could crash into something, and potentially erase their ship from existence.

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An inconspicuous CR90 Corvette came out of hyperspace on top of Coruscant. It was quite damaged, with a few missing plates. But this wasn't a new sight on Coruscant. Broken and tattered sh.i.p.s were common on the galaxy as a whole thanks to the war. Usually they didn't go to Coruscant, but for one of the satellite planets, but sometimes they stopped at Coruscant to drop someone off or complete a mission. And that was exactly what was happening.

The corvette landed on one of the peripheral districts of Coruscant, and two Jedis got out, together with seven clones. While one of the Jedis, a youngling, was calling a transport, one of the clones, who had an almost entirely brown armor, except for his belly and pieces of the arms, was talking to a clone in a pilot's attire.

"Shep, do a report on the damages, and repair time of the ship. If it isn't possible to fix it in about a week, contact me."

"Yes, sub-commander. Ermmm..."

"What is it?"

"I was wondering if I could let the crew have... some fun, go to the Revontre. I know they aren't on leave, but there is nothing they can do here, so they would just be bored all they long. I will stay with the ship, of course."

Dageer looked at Shep, and thought for a bit. The pilot was right. Since Coruscant was the heart of the Republic, the chances of it being attacked weren't that big, and a couple dozen men wouldn't make a difference if it was. Also, Shep had volunteered to look after the ship. If he had asked to go together with his men, Dageer probably wouldn't permit it, but the pilot knew his duty.

"All right. They can have three days off, then I want them back. You can't, Shep, you know why."

"Thanks, sir. That is the price we pay to be in command."

"Uff... Tell me about it."

"Hahaha!!!"

The clones joked around for a bit before the ship took off again, this time to one of the repair ports of Coruscant. Usually, merchant sh.i.p.s would use them, but now that the Clone Wars was at its maximum, the ports had been seized to help in the war's effort.

"Dageer!"

After watching the corvette take off, Ragout called the sub-commander. Sometimes, the padawan thought, Dageer forgot where he was, or what he was doing, and just stood still, thinking. Very unusual for a clone, but Ragout liked it.

As usual, after they entered the transport, Hell Squad formed lines next to the two Jedis. Even though they were in Coruscant, old habits still prevailed. Besides, Dageer didn't have that good of an impression of Coruscant.

"Dageer, there is no need to do this. You can stand down."

Ragout shook his head when he saw Hell Squad behaving like they were on a battlefield. Sometimes Dageer was too strict. Under his helmet, Dageer smiled when he heard the padawan.

"I know, general."

However, he didn't move. Ragout was about to speak again, but in the end he gave up, and returned to General Di's side.

...

A few minutes later, the transport arrived at a big construction in the middle of the planet. It towered over the nearby buildings, a massive edifice with five towers.

Despite its importance, only a few dozen people could be seen around the entrance, most of them wearing brown robes. A few hundred clones using the red colors of the Coruscant Guard patrolled the entire perimeter.

General Di walked towards the building, and stopped Dageer before they entered the defensive perimeter set by the Coruscant Guard.

"Gentlemen, welcome to the Jedi Temple."