Chapter 173 - Fluid Battle

Dageer fell to the ground when the Laat crashed in the hangar. Having to squeeze between the emergency doors, Hawk had nor time nor conditions to land properly.

Dageer got up groaning, and looked out of the window of the c.o.c.kpit. An entire platoon of B1 battle droids was surrounding the downed gunship. Dageer saw Hawk on the ground, his helmet had been knocked off, and his head was bleeding, but he was alive.

"Stay here, Hawk. We are going to overtake the ship, but if we fail, try to get the Laat back up. It never hurts to be prepared."

Dageer went back to his squad, and saw the clones waiting anxiously. He turned to General Di and Ragout, who already had their lightsabers out.

"They are out there, general. Just waiting for us to show ourselves."

"Then we will do as they wan..."

"Master Di! Are you there?! What happened? Why didn't we contact us?!"

"Master Skywalker! We had some problems with our landing, but we are here! Don't forget your mission!"

"We will be waiting for you, Master Di."

After turning off the comlink, General Di signaled something to Dageer. The clone and the Jedi had worked together for quite some time now, and understood each other very well.

"Brain, prepare the droid poppers. Metal, when we open this door, Brain is going to throw some droid poppers to clear the way, and you will blast the clanckers on the left. Tech, support him. The others will focus on the right. We get out and take cover. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

The clones cleared the door, waiting for General Di's move. The Jedi did it by leaning his body forward, and putting both his hands near his belly. Then, suddenly, he pushed his hands forward, and the door was sent flying.

While it was happening, Dageer quickly thought that now their backup plan of fleeing in the Laat was busted.

The door crashed down on a group of clanckers, crushing them, and stunning the others, who didn't expect it. Brain threw a handful of Electromagnetic Pulse Grenades, the famous droid poppers. In an area of about twenty meters, every droid convulsed as blue chains of electricity zapped through them.

Metal got into the action, every shot of his repeating blaster shoving droids back, or ripping them apart. The Double-barrel repeating blaster was so powerful that even the shots that missed did some damage as they caused small explosions.

Not to be outdone, the rest of Hell Squad also burst into action, cutting down droids left and right. More feeling than seeing a burst of lasers coming towards him, Dageer turned his body sideways, and felt the red energy rays heat up his face.

He moved his DC-15A quickly, changing his target even before the shot connected. Each and every laser he fired found its mark on a droid's head or chest.

Suddenly, he saw that Brain had taken a step too far, and two droids found the time to shoot at him. Dageer knew that they would hit.

Without thinking, the leader of Hell Squad jumped forward, and pushed Brain down. The lasers that went to the grenadier would now hit him. Even knowing this, Dageer still managed to return fire, and one of the droids went down.

He looked at the incoming lasers, and, surprisingly, smiled. He knew what was going to happen long before it did.

With a blue flash, the lasers were deflected, hitting some unlucky clanckers. General Di used the Force to push Dageer forward, and the clone used the impulse to surprise some of the droids. He used one hand to support his DC-15A, and pulled out his DC-17 with the other. The long blaster lost its balance, but with General Di's help, Dageer had gotten so close to the droids that accuracy didn't matter.

The head of the first droid burst out of its sockets when it received a round of Dageer's blasters point-blank. The second and third clanckers were dead before they could react. Only the ones behind those had a shot at reacting, but before they need, Ragout jumped over Dageer's head, cutting three droids in half with just one move.

Then, the padawan used the Force to push another group of droids, and the B1 units flew as if they were light as a feather, and ended in a broken mess near one of the hangar's walls.

The battle was over when General Di pulled over the last droid directly towards his lightsaber. When he deactivated it, the clancker fell to the droid, breaking the silence that reigned after the battle.

In a matter of seconds, an entire platoon of droids, about forty B1 units, laid dead on the ground, while the Republic's side had no wounds whatsoever. Hawk looked over from the Laat, a DC-15S in his hands that he never got the chance to use. He had never seen anyone fight like that, neither had he ever witnessed Jedis and clones work so fluidly together. Dageer ignored the surprised clone, and stepped over the droids towards a lift.

"The lifts aren't working, general. They must have turned them off as soon as we landed. Tech, try to get them moving."

"No need, Dageer."

Ragout stepped forward, and stabbed his lightsaber on the life's door. The weapon penetrated until only the handle was off, and Ragout made a circle with it. Melted metal dripped of the borders of the circle, and when Ragout kicked it, the cut off part fell down, thundering as it crashed into the sides of the lift shaft.

The padawan put his head inside the hole, and looked upwards. Then, he jumped inside the lift shaft, and grabbed the cables. General Di followed him, and, after looking hesitantly to their leader, Hell Squad followed.

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Anakin Skywalker slashed downwards, literally cutting a B2 super battle droid in half. As the droid fell, he saw his captain, Rex shooting down the last droid on the corridor using his DC-17s.

The Jedi turned to his padawan, Ahsoka Tano, and nodded. The group, composed of two Jedis, one clone and four clone commandos went forward, looking for the command bridge of the cargo ship.

"General, Fixer's scanners detected a huge group of droids."

Boss, the leader of Delta Squad, warned the Jedi. Under his helmet, he was frowning. The number of clanckers inside the ship was bigger than they expected. He quickly calculated their odds, deciding for the best battle plan.

"We should split up, general. You, Commander Tano and Captain Rex follow this corridor till the end, and you should arrive at the command bridge."

"What about you?"

Scorch, the explosives expert, and battle maniac answered for Boss.

"We will prepare the seppies a nice surprise. One that they won't forget for as long as they live, which won't be much longer. Hehehe..."

The Jedi looked at them, thinking carefully. He didn't like the idea of splitting up, but it seemed rather logical in this situation. The reason Delta Squad was chosen to come with them was exactly for moments like this.

"All right, but be careful. If you can't stop them here, retreat to the command bridge. We will think of something there."

"Yes, general."

Watching the three people run, Boss wondered how Hell Squad was doing on the other ship. The clones from the 303rd were a little bit too arrogant for him, trying to compare themselves to clone commandos while being normal soldiers, but even Boss had to admit that they had some abilities.

"Here they come, sir!"

Forcing his thoughts to the back of his mind, Boss concentrated on the fight that was about to start. It was going to be tough and dangerous, just how Delta Squad liked it.