Chapter 267 - A Threat At Home

"Thanks, Dageer. You can rest now."

The clone nodded to the young Togruta, Ahsoka, and stayed at ease, although he didn't leave the command bridge. As an officer, even when he wasn't doing anything, he had to be ready, even if that meant staying in the same position for hours.

After a few hours, he heard a transmission being received by one of the many crewmembers. Usually, he would only bother with it if the trooper came to him, but he recognized the pattern, so he went up to the clone, and grabbed the earpiece that he offered.

As he listened, his expression grew serious, and he put the helmet that was under his arm in the control panel. It didn't take long for Ahsoka to notice his reaction.

"Bad news, Dageer?"

"Very bad, Commander Tano. I haven't heard it entirely, but... Lacro, patch it through."

While the crewman was doing that, Dageer walked up to the hologram table, and, at the same time, ordered a trooper to find General Skywalker.

"They used the urgent codes to send the message, commander. That means the Separatist are planning a major attack on one of our core planets."

"Which one?"

Dageer took a deep breath, and showed a hologram of a planet he knew too well, made mostly of water, and raining all year.

"Kamino. Home."

...

"A massive Separatist fleet, bigger than any we have ever seen, is preparing to strike Kamino. If they destroy the cloning facilities, our entire army, and even the Republic, will be endangered. We need every free fleet to rendezvous at Kamino. That includes you, Anakin."

"I will be there, Master Kenobi. Do we know who is the Separatist leader responsible for the offensive?"

"Who could it be other than Grievous?"

After finishing talking to General Skywalker and Ahsoka, the hologram of General Kenobi turned to Dageer. He had basically just repeated the contents of the message they had received a few hours prior.

"Hell Squad also has been ordered to come to Kamino, Commander Dageer. I believe I don't have to tell you the importance of that planet."

"No, sir. Hell Squad won't let the seppies touch the facilities. No clone will, no matter the price."

General Kenobi nodded, and then bowed to General Skywalker and his padawan, who returned the gesture, before finishing the transmission.

"Commander, you better make the needed preparations. I would rather let the men rest and recover, however, seeing how most of them are just tired, but unharmed, we will need them."

Dageer nodded, and put on his helmet. The prisoners they had rescued wouldn't miss the battle that would come by any chance. Kamino was their home-planet, not to mention the dozens of millions of cadets in training, and wounded soldiers that were there. He would rather die than let the clanckers destroy a single building.

"Will do, general."

The commander left command bridge, and went to inform his squad and the soldiers. As he had expected, their reactions were of anger and anxiety. While waiting for them to calm down, Dageer felt his scar burn slightly. That always happened when a big battle was coming up.

----------------------------

Kamino was the image of a battlefield, even though the Separatist hadn't even arrived yet. Barricades were being built, ammunition and fuel were being moved, and troopers from several different legions were moving around, finishing the preparations to resist the invasion.

Dageer could also see a good number of clones wearing shining new armor, without any paint or ornaments. Some were soldiers who had completed their training, and were waiting to be deployed, while others had their training rushed. Either way, their first battle would be a difficult one, and Dageer didn't have much hope that a lot of them would survive. War was cruel, and it liked to crush inexperienced soldiers. The more battles one fought, the higher their chances of survival were. However, over thirty percent of the clones died in their first combat.

"Dageer! You are here too!"

A raspy voice called for Dageer, and he easily identified it's owner. 99, the deformed clone that helped young cadets. He was also a good friend of Dageer.

"Hello, 99. It is unfortunate that the only time I come home is to fight."

The hunchback clone excitedly shook Dageer's hand, and turned to the other members of Hell Squad. Of course, he couldn't recognize all of them, since there were millions of clones on Kamino, but he knew Brain.

"CT-2891! How is life on the battlefield?"

Brain chuckled, and put an arm around 99's shoulder. The clone might be deformed, or even defective, but he was still a brave soldier for every trooper that knew him.

"You will see it by yourself soon enough, brother. And I got a name now. Brain. Those are Cell, Metal, Three-four, Dab, and Tech. Hell Squad of the 303rd Attack Legion presenting itself. Hahaha!"

99 was more than happy to shake hands with Hell Squad. He thought for a moment about commenting about the destruction of the 303rd, but decided against it. He might not have the battle experience that other clones had, but, in comparison, he was much more emotionally mature than them. He knew when to talk, and when not to. And, he figured that Hell Squad had heard more than enough 'sorry for your loss'.

"You better try to stay safe during the battle, 99. The cadets will need you. I never would have gotten through training if it wasn't for your bits of advice."

The clone nodded, and bid his farewells to Dageer and the others. He, like many troopers, and even cadets, was moving blasters and ammunition around. From time to time, he would recognize someone, and greet him. All the clones were extremely polite to him, because they knew he was fighting as much as them, on his own way.

"Poor 99. He wishes to do more, but he can't."

"He already did a lot. I hope he survives this battle."

"Enough chatter. We need to talk to Broodi, of Deep Squad, and to an ARC Trooper named Colt, of a Rancor Battalion, and see what our duties will be."

Metal and Cell shrugged, and the former laughed, while patting his giant blaster as if it was a pet.

"Put a clancker in front of me, and you will see my duty, sir. I will see if they dare to step into our home."

"Haha..."

"By the way, do you think the record of fastest run on the training course is still ours?"

Talking and laughing, Hell Squad continued to walk towards their objective, occasionally passing by other clones. The soldiers would salute Dageer, and some from the 501st and 212th that knew Hell Squad would greet them. The cadets would look at the different armor that Hel Squad used, and all the battle marks on it, and quickly understand that they weren't normal clones. Especially when they saw the scratches that covered the entirety of Dageer's right shoulder pad, and a part of his arm.

...

Over twenty minutes later, Hell Squad arrived at the core of Tipoca City, a gigantic room, which could house over a thousand people. However, at the moment, only a dozen clones, and four Jedis, were there, waiting for them.

"Commander Dageer, I am glad you arrived. If everyone is here, now let's discuss how we can save Kamino."