Chapter 200 - Bitter Defeat

"Artillery strike incoming! Get dow... Arghh!!!"

Dageer didn't know who yelled that, but he was cut short when a barrage of lasers as thick as his waist landed on the walls of Lessu. A huge portion of the wall crumbled, falling into the city below, crushing several houses. More than ten soldiers went down with it, and the situation repeated itself on many portions of the wall.

Dageer stood up again, and fired several shots. He didn't even bother to aim, since the mass of droids outside Lessu was so compact that he was sure to hit something. However, no matter how many droids he killed, it was but a drop in the ocean. For the last four days - ever since the Separatist started a full-on attack all around Ryloth - several more C-9979s Landing Crafts landed on Ryloth, and now the Separatist had almost half a million troops on the planet.

Behind Dageer, Lessu was almost in ruins. Smoke and fire spread all around the city, thanks to the artillery barrage and the Hyena-class bombers of the seppies. Thankfully, most civilians were okay, since they had long hidden inside bunkers.

Tri-droids, MTTs, AATs, and Dwarf-Spider droids bombarded the city without stop, and most of the clones vehicles, which were basically AT-TEs, SHAP-Ts, and AT-APs, were destroyed. In hope of doing a last stand inside the city, General Di ordered the remaining five AT-TEs to retreat. Of course, that only accelerated the fall of Lessu.

Up till now, the 303rd had suffered severe losses under the Separatist attack. In fact, in four days, they lost more than on the entirety of the battle up to this moment.

Of the four cities they were protecting, only Lessu still was under the Republic. The other three - Kala'uun, Nabat, and Rhovari - had fallen to Separatist hands. In total, nine thousand clones died protecting those cities, although it was in vain. The survivors, who didn't amount much more than fifteen hundred, retreated together with the freedom fighters to one of their bases deep in the wilderness. After Lessu fell - and it was going to - the remaining clones would go there too.

That was the alternative that Commander Keeli had found. Since they couldn't win the battle, nor could they send General Di away as Dageer wanted, then they would all retreat. What would happen next, they didn't know.

"Sir! Lieutenant Fondor just died! His injuries were too great!"

Just when Dageer was thinking, a trooper touched his shoulder, and gave him the bad news. Yesterday, the section of the wall where Fondor was had been hit, and he fell down. Although he didn't die immediately, his skull cracked, and several of his bones broke, puncturing his organs. It was a miracle he didn't perish immediately, but the poor soldier couldn't hold on.

Dageer closed his eyes. Fondor had been a good soldier, and, above all else, a good brother. Unfortunately, war didn't wait for the people to grief.

Not only had Fondor died, but many of his closest brothers also had. Captain Narza had died two days before, when he and Bliar decided to stay behind to cover the retreat of the others in Nabat. When they realized that they wouldn't be able to leave, they strapped a bunch of thermal detonators to a speeder, and drove it straight to the droids. They were dead before the speeder blew up.

Thartam, the medic that helped Dageer on Mygeeto, had been blasted in the face by a Tri-droid. Sharp and Spike also died in battle in one of the other cities. Smit and Agil didn't resist their wounds. Lieutenant Jesper, Lieutenant Virgo, Sergeant Pride, Sergeant Vigil, and Captain Plasma also perished in battle.

One by one, everyone Dageer knew, the clones and brothers that he grew up with, were dying, and there was nothing he could do. That caused not only him, but also the others, to be reckless. It was almost impossible to find a trooper uninjured, but anyone who could carry a blaster was fighting. Dageer himself had many bruises and cuts, although the worst injury Hell Squad received was a laser wound on Brain's shoulder, which he totally ignored.

Dageer turned to the clone who warned him, a squad leader called Trapper. The clone was limping, and two black spots in his left leg showed where he had been hit. Still, Trapper acted as if the wound wasn't there.

"Get Sergeant Sannel to replace him in commanding his battalion."

"The sergeant is dead, sir."

"All right. Then you are in charge, Trapper. You are a sergeant now. Do your best."

"Understood, sir."

The newly-promoted sergeant died before he could even make it back to his men, shot in the head by a lucky droid. This time no one warned Dageer, because they couldn't stop fighting or they would die. It didn't matter really, because now each clone had one mission: fight, for as long as they could.

And then there was a pause in the battle. The droids stopped firing, and looked up to the sky. Dageer took the chance to grab an RPS-6 from a dead trooper, and fire at the legs of a Tri-droid. The giant thing tumbled down, and crushed several droids. Still, the Separatist army ignored him and the 303rd, which caused hundreds of clanckers to die in a few seconds.

He asked himself why the droids would act so weird, and the answer came almost instantly. He looked around, and saw Yate holding an injured arm. Next to him, the son of Cham Syndulla, Tae Boon, looked at Dageer in the eyes, and tried to yell something to the clone. Somehow, Dageer knew the freedom fighter discovered he was suspected of being a spy for the Separatist. But it wasn't him.

When Dageer understood what was happening, it was too late. Several things happened at the same time. Firstly, Dageer heard a clone scream on his communicator.

"It's Tram Cholq! It's Tram... Arghhhh!!!"

Then, he saw a young Twi'lek that was next to him turn around, and fire at him. Dageer dropped to the ground, barely dodging, grabbed his vibroblade, and cut off the hand that was holding the blaster. While the Twi'lek screamed, Dageer kicked him, and he fell in the abyss outside the city.

All around the city wall, several freedom fighters turned against the 303rd. Not all clones were as fast as Dageer to react, and dozens were executed on the spot by the people who were fighting side by side with them instants before. In fact, not only the 303rd was targeted, but several Twi'leks were also killed. Dageer couldn't imagine how the traitors could murder the people they knew and lived with for years, but it was happening.

And lastly, Dageer heard a small rumbling sound as the ray bridge that was the only connection between Lessu and the outside appeared. At the same time, the droid army also came back to life, and several vehicles concentrated their fire on the gate of the city.