Chapter 181 - Little Shouta

Some kids stumbled and fell before scrambling to get back up and run away. Dageer sighed. He knew that was going to happen, but it was still a little bit disappointing. He was sure that the scar was a lot scarier than the children thought it would be.

However, while most of the kids were still away, looking at his face curiously and fearfully, the same small girl approached him again.

"D-Does it hurt?"

Dageer was surprised, and unconsciously touched the scar on his face. It still hurt, especially when he got in battles a wounded clone shouldn't. And he got into a lot of those. However, he thought this wasn't the best idea to tell that to the child.

"No. Not anymore."

"I-I also have one. A scar. I got it when I was little."

The girl showed Dageer a small scar on her leg, barely five centimeters long. She looked at Dageer expectantly, waiting for him to do something. Smiling, he patted the girl on the head, and grabbed a fruit from the tray she was carrying.

"You are very brave. What is your name?"

"S-Shouta. My name is Shouta."

Before Dageer could say anything more, he was surrounded by the kids, asking all sorts of questions related to his scar.

"How did you get it?"

"Was it on a battle?"

"In how many battles you were?"

It appeared the kids didn't actually care for the answers, since they didn't stop to listen. Dageer was unsure of what to do, but fortunately, a mother saved him.

"Come on now, scatter, let's go. Let the soldier rest."

Dageer nodded gratefully to the woman. He really had no idea of what to do to free himself from the curious kids.

"Sir, I think I never saw you so scared."

Dageer sighed. He knew his squad would never let him forget this. Unless he ordered them to shut up, which he was seriously considering.

"Even you, Tech?"

"Hahahaha...!!!"

"Dageer. Come over here."

They were still laughing when Ragout called him. Instantly serious, Dageer grabbed his helmet and walked over to where the Jedi and Cham Syndulla were sitting.

"Yes, general?"

"I need you to go to Lessu. Our communications are being jammed. Find my master and talk to him about Gobi. I am sure you already know we were framed. You need to find whoever did it."

"Hell Squad is ready, general."

"No. Only one person can go, Jedi."

Syndulla spoke rudely. Dageer knew that although he told his people he trusted the Republic now, that wasn't really what he thought. He wanted to make sure that he had someone on his hideout, to make sure the Republic wouldn't attack it.

"Then you should be the one to go, general. We can stay here."

Dageer saw Syndulla's eyes dart from him to Ragout, waiting for his reaction. The padawan smiled to Dageer, understanding perfectly what the clone tried to do.

"No, Dageer. This has to be made in secret, and I will surely be recognized. You, however, won't.."

Syndulla nodded, and the suspicion on his eyes dimmed. Dageer acknowledged Ragout's command, and discussed with the two leaders briefly, before leaving the hideout.

Hell Squad got on their feet to follow him, but he told them to stay. Just when he was about to leave, someone tugged at his armor. He looked down and saw Shouta, the little Twi'lek.

"Are you leaving, mister clone?"

"My name is Dageer, Shouta. I'm only leaving for a little, then I will come back."

"Are you going to fight someone?"

"Haha... no, I'm not. I only need to talk with my general. He is in Lessu, so I have to go there."

Shouta looked at him and smiled happily. When she saw Dageer take his helmet and talk with Syndulla and Ragout, she had been worried he was going to leave to battle. But since he wasn't, everything was all right.

"But, you have to be careful, mister Dageer. There are gutkurrs out there. They are very dangerous."

Dageer had no idea what gutkurrs were, but he saw no reason to make Shouta worry, so he just smiled and assured her he would be careful.

Putting his helmet on, Dageer followed a bulky Twi'lek, who led him through a series of tunnels and out of the underground. Theirs BARC speeders were still there, so Dageer got on one of them, and was preparing to drive away when the Twi'lek stopped him.

"Clone. Cham trust you, but I don't. You better come back, and have Gobi with you. Otherwise..."

Dageer looked at the Twi'lek, and left without saying anything. He didn't need to prove anything to the freedom fighters, neither did he need their trust. He would come back because his general ordered him to do so. In his opinion, however, the Republic would be better off if they didn't bother with helping the freedom fighters. Surely, saving their planet was enough, right?

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It was night, but the outskirts of Lessu were well lit as dozens of clone vehicles patrolled. The bridge that connected the city to the other side of the crack circling it was turned off, but a speeder was approaching it regardless.

On his way to Lessu, Dageer had gone through several outposts and checkpoints, but for fear of alerting the enemy, he didn't contact General Di. He would follow Ragout's orders, and only talk with General Di personally.

An entire squad was guarding the bridge. They didn't have the switch to turn it on, but they would contact the command center if it was needed.

"Who is there?"

"It is me, Agil."

"Sub-commander! Sorry, we didn't see it was you."

"It is okay. Tell them to turn the bridge on. I need to enter the city."

"Yes, sir."

Soon after, the ray bridge was turned on, and Dageer quickly drove through it. It was clear he was in a hurry. One of the clones turned to Agil, his squad leader.

"Wasn't the sub-commander with General Ragout and Hell Squad when he left, sir?"

"Yeah. I wonder if something happened."

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Dageer jumped out of the BARC speeder as soon as he arrived in front of the 303rd headquarter. However, before he could enter the building, he hard a low, rumbling sound. It took a few seconds before he finally figured out where it was coming from. Like the hundreds of clones and civilians around him, Dageer looked up to the sky.

Massive sh.i.p.s appeared one after another, right in front of the 303rd fleet. Suddenly, the entire sky was filled with different sh.i.p.s, facing each other.

The design of the newly arrived sh.i.p.s was very different from the triangular Republic sh.i.p.s. They were cylindrical, and in tones of gray and green. The Republic fleet was dwarfed before the new fleet, outnumbered two or three to one.

Suddenly, without any warning or pause, many small dots appeared from the two fleets, and launched itself at one another. Red and blue intertwined in the sky, and here and there explosions happened.

The Separatist were here. The invasion had started, and it was much worse than they ever expected.