Chapter 188 - Rozal's Sacrifice

Of the ten pilots of Steel Battalion that followed the C-9979 Landing Crafts, six were left. Rozal watched the flames on his V-Wing start to burn his reactor, and knew he was out of time. The whole starfighter shook as screws fought to hold the ship together. Rozal grinned, and silently thanked the starfighter for fighting by his side for so long.

"Come on, boys! Two more and I will be happy!"

He heard a clone curse on the communicator, and saw one of Steel Battalion's sh.i.p.s spin wildly as it lost a wing. The starfighter crashed down on Ryloth. Now they had five pilots.

Finding his target, Rozal lowered his starfighter, which caused the V-Wing to shake even more, and pushed the trigger, sending wave after wave of blue lasers at the belly of one of the troop carriers. He was joined by the other four pilots, and soon a hole opened on the landing craft, spewing deactivated droids.

"Ahhh! Damn it! The Vultures got me, sir! See you soon! Hahaha!!!"

Spark, a rookie on Steel Battalion laughed maniacally. He had been sent to the 303rd very recently, and his first battle would also be his last, but the clone had proved himself to be an amazing pilot by surviving till today. Unfortunately, his time was over, but the rookie didn't seem to be sad.

Rozal turned his head in time to see Spark halt his V-Wing so abruptly that the starfighter cracked in two. Still, Spark got his revenge when three Vulture droids crashed into him in quick sequence, and blew up.

Four pilots remained.

"Even the rookie did something, boys! Let's go, one more time!"

As another C-9979 blew up in the sky, one of the V-Wings that was following it closely was hit by the pieces of it that flew off.

Three pilots were left.

The cost of the seventh troop carrier they took out was two starfighters. The clones piloting them refused to give up their pursuit even when they felt the impact of the Vultures' lasers

Rozal looked as the burning remains of his two last brothers crashed on the red soil of Ryloth. Now, only he was left. Memories flooded him. Memories of all the time he spent training with his brothers, of all the battles they thought, all the stories they shared. Now, all of those were over. They were all dead, and Steel Battalion was over.

"Come on, you metallic bastards. You want to kill me? Let's see if you are fast enough."

Now flying alone, he chased the C-9979s. With instincts even he didn't know he had, he dodged most of the lasers fired at him expertly, all the time holding down the trigger. An uninterrupted torrent of blue lasers left his starfighter, eventually mowing down the thick steel plates that made the troop transport. The entire left wing of the ship broke off, and Rozal dove just in time to avoid it. The giant metal piece hit half a dozen Vulture droids, creating a giant cloud of fire and smoke.

"That is eight!"

He flanked another C-9979 Landing Craft, fully aware that he didn't have enough time to bring it down. Suddenly, he felt an impact as a laser found its mark on the back if his V-Wing.

The impact, combined with the loss of integrity thanks to his reckless entry in the atmosphere, caused his entire right wing to be ripped off.

Rozal lost control of starfighter, and started spinning. His head hit the inside of the c.o.c.kpit, making him dizzy. After a lot of effort, he was able to stabilize the V-Wing, but his hands were hurting from holding the controls to strongly.

It was at this moment that he looked out of the window, and saw he was side by side with the troop carrier. Smiling, he muttered his last words.

"And now goes nine."

Rozal crashed himself in the C-9979. The ship lost control as a giant hole opened on its right side, and lost altitude. The droid pilot was unable to control the troop carrier, and crashed in one of the many pillars of rock that Ryloth had. The impact brought the pillar down, and several dozen Vulture droids that had been following Rozal weren't able to steer away in time.

Giving their lives, Steel Battalion destroyed nine C-9979 Landing Crafts. That's as equivalent to almost twenty thousand B1 units. To their last breath, Rozal and Steel Battalion had protected their brothers on the ground. Their efforts saved thousands of lives in the battles to come.

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"They are gone, admiral. Steel Battalion and Captain Rozal perished."

Admiral Dao blinked, pain appearing in his eyes as he thought of the cheerful clone. Rozal had been the best pilot the 303rd had, and his death would surely be a blow to morale. On the other hand, they wouldn't live long enough for morale to matter, so Admiral Dao had to focus on the battle.

"He did his job perfectly. We need to make sure his sacrifice wasn't on vain. Remember, each troop carrier that goes through us means thousands of clanckers that General Di has to fight down there. We have to hold them here!"

"Yes, admiral!"

The Sincerity shook once more as the laser cannons of the enemy fired at them. Surprisingly, that was the last volley they fired before turning around and retreating.

"Admiral! They are leaving!"

"I can see it. Ha! All they wanted was for their troops to land on the planet. Order all sh.i.p.s to come back. Don't chase them. I repeat, don't chase them. We don't have the firepower to do that. They will be back for more soon, and we have to get our defenses in place again."

"Yes, admiral."

As he watched the enemy retreat, Admiral Dao looked at Ryloth. He didn't even bother warning Ryloth, for he was sure they saw all that happened.

"We did our best, general. We will continue fighting up here, and we will go out in a blaze of glory. Let's just hope this blaze is strong enough to burn those damn seppies."

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Dageer watched as several C-9979 Landing Crafts finally broke through the Republic blockade. To tell the truth, they had held for much longer than Dageer thought it was possible.

And then, Dageer saw ten Republic starfighters following the C-9979s. Just ten, nothing compared to the number of Vulture droids after them. But those ten pilots were a force to be reckoned with.

Using their lives to stop the enemy, to the point of using their own sh.i.p.s to blow up some more Vulture droids, those ten pilots took down seven troop carriers. Even without being able to see the starfighters clearly, Dageer knew that only someone who had given up trying to survive could pull off such an impossible feat.

Watching the V-Wings blow up or crash one by one, Dageer stopped and saluted his brothers. Hell Squad was also standing still, looking at the battle. Even the Twi'leks couldn't stop but look at the suicidal efforts of those ten pilots.

And in the end, when Dageer saw one last pilot giving chase to several C-9979s, while at least a hundred Vulture droids followed him, Dageer knew that only one clone could engage in such mad pursuit.

"Rozal..."

Dageer's grip on his DC-15A was so strong that the blaster's handle cracked with a loud sound, scaring the nearby Twi'leks. They never saw Dageer get angry, and it was truly fearsome, especially with his scar.

As Rozal crashed his V-Wing on the ninth troop carrier, Dageer watched the destruction unfold. Rozal would be proud to know that even after he died, he still destroyed several dozen Vulture droids together with the C-9979.

"Goodbye, brother."