Chapter 283 - Enraged Rancor

Dageer and Dab hit the left eye of the Rancor at the same time, making the creature screech in pain, and stomp the ground, leveling two tents. Another two unfortunate troopers were caught by it's giant hands, and thrown over a hundred meters away, crashing and rolling in the ground, long dead. The death toll was now already at over ten clones.

"Gree! We need the cannons!"

Dageer kept firing at the Rancor, trying to blind it completely, but the creature wasn't stupid, and was covering it's good eyes with it's hand. While the clones tried to keep their distance, the Rancor was quick, and another soldier was eaten in the few seconds that Dageer turned to yell at Commander Gree.

"On it! Razor, King, Gyts, with me!"

The three clones the commander had chosen followed him, but the Rancor picked one of them before he could move, the sharp claws piercing him through his back.

Trying his hardest to ignore the screams of his brothers, Dageer, the closest one to Commander Gree, put Brain in charge of Hell Squad, and followed the commander.

"I will be the gunner! Come on, move, move, move!"

Commander Gree nodded, and they ran towards the nearest AT-TE. It was the only one in optimal firing position, while the others would have to be moved.

Climbing the ladder on one of the front legs of the vehicle, Dageer sat at the enormous mass-drive laser cannon on top of it. An AT-TE needed a crew of six troopers if one wanted it to function properly, but four were enough to just fire the cannon. The gunner - Dageer - had to press the trigger, but two clone - King and Gyts - had to control the vehicle, and power it up, while a spotter - Commander Gree - aimed.

The number of clones necessary to man an AT-TE was one of the reasons why the Separatist and the Republic were evenly matched, even though an AT-TE could take out multiple AATs before going down.

Feeling the cannon move, and turn around, Dageer got ready to press the trigger. He was only a few dozen meters away, and the Rancor was a big target, so he could hardly miss.

The creature, however, had sensed the danger, and was glaring at him with a murderous glint in it's remaining eye.

Ignoring the other soldiers, the Rancor ran towards the AT-TE, almost crushing Metal and Cell under it's feet. The two clones had to jump to the side, barely dodging their deaths.

"Gree..."

"Almost there! Come on... Almost, almost... Ready!"

The Rancor was just twenty meters away, it's hand stretched to grab Dageer, or the AT-TE, when the commander pressed the trigger. A blue laser with a diameter of almost two meters left the cannon's barrel, hitting the open hand.

The arm of the creature, up to it's elbow, disappeared, and pieces of flesh fell from the sky, covering a wide area. Black blood showered the AT-TE, and Dageer, who was on top of it.

The creature held what was left of it's right arm with his other hand, letting out guttural noises of pain. The anger in it's face disappeared, replaced by fear, and it turned around and ran away. It had faced many enemies before, and defeated all of them, but it had never seen anything like this. It's instincts told it that it was no match for the cannon, and even the pain it was feeling subsided, since all it could do now was fear for it's life.

The clone only bothered about wiping the blood off his helmet, before preparing to fire again. The recharge time, however, was long enough for the Rancor to escape, and he missed, only hitting trees, and creating a small crater.

Sliding down from the AT-TE, Dageer grabbed his DC-15A, and shook his body, cleaning himself of most of the black substance. The base was a scenery of destruction, with destroyed buildings, dead troopers, craters on the ground, and pieces of the Rancor. Remembering who was responsible for this, Dageer clenched his fists in fury. This time, he wouldn't make the mistake of leaving Hiigi alive.

"Gree! Put the camp in order, I will go help the Jedis. Brain, Tech, Three-four, Dab, Metal, Cell, with me."

Running towards the forest, Dageer only now realized that the Rancor fled in the same direction that Hiigi, General Unduli, and Ragout had gone. Quickening his pace, he ordered Hell Squad to move faster, throwing caution to the wind. Without the AT-TEs, even the two Jedis would have trouble dealing with a Rancor.

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Hiigi was running through the forest, pushing aside a group of jelly-like bushes, when suddenly his feet left the ground. He started levitating, and, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't free himself.

He felt his body being turned around for a force he couldn't control, and was put face-to-face with the two Jedis. One of them, the woman, had her arms stretched, and her palms faced up. Clearly, she was the one holding him, using the Force. The other Jedi, a Togruta, pointed his lightsaber at him.

"Come with us without resisting."

Hiigi only looked at him, without saying a word, an expression of despise on his face. Suddenly, he heard something, and his gaze fixated in the air behind the Jedis.

They probably noticed that, or maybe they felt the creature, because they turned around, but it was too late. A giant hand grabbed the woman, lifting her up, and threatening to crush her.

With her distracted, Hiigi was freed from his invisible shackles, and fell to the ground. Quickly getting up, he got away from the Rancor and the Jedis, although he stood near to see how it would play out.

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Ragout saw his fellow Jedi being grabbed, and witnessed the Rancor pull her close to his mouth, and howl, covering her in saliva. He also noticed that one of the arms of the monster was missing, probably because of the explosions they hear a few minutes prior.

"Master Unduli!"

"Agh!"

He jumped up, on the Rancor's leg, and used it as a trampoline to propel himself higher. Then, he slashed with his lightsaber, cutting a gash on the creature's hand, making it drop General Unduli.

The Mirialan fell down, holding her right side, and panting in pain. Her lightsaber was on the ground a few meters away from her, but before she could reach it with the Force, the Rancor trampled over it. All that was left was a crushed metal stick and sparks.

Ragout landed next to her, doing a backflip, and helped her get up, to escape the injured monster. He could see Hiigi looking at the battle, but if he stopped paying attention to the creature, he would probably die. That is, if it was just him and General Unduli.

Suddenly, blue lasers flew from the trees, most heading towards the Rancor, catching it's attention. Two of the lasers, however, were sent after Hiigi, hitting the mon calamari on the legs, and making him fall face-first on the ground.

"Dageer! Go after Hiigi! I will keep the Rancor occupied!"

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After seeing that he hit the target, Dageer led Hell Squad out of the cover of the trees, and onto the area that was being trampled by the Rancor. The clones spread out, keeping as much distance between them and the creature as possible.

"Three-four, go help General Unduli! The others, help General Ragout fight that thing!"

"Got it, sir."

"Understood, commander!"

Running towards the mon calamari, Dageer saw the familiar hatred burning on Hiigi's eyes.