Chapter 351 - Arrival Of New Orders

Dageer pressed the trigger of his DC-15A, but was surprised to hear a dry sound as no laser came out. Cursing, he realized he was out of ammunition, and there was a droid aiming an E-5 directly at him.

Without thinking too much, he threw his blaster at the clancker, hoping to divert it's attention. He succeeded partly, and the laser that was supposed to hit his head put a hole on his right shoulder. For a split-second his thoughts traveled randomly, as he thought about how the seppies always managed to hit his shoulder, or break it.

Then, on the next moment, he was back at the battle, and advancing towards the clancker. Grunting, he smashed his left shoulder on the B1's chest, and reached out for his DC-17. Pressing it against the droid's torso, he pressed the trigger twice.

Using his momentum, he launched the droid carcass on top of two others, and pulled out his vibroblade. One quick slash managed to end them both.

Panting, he retreated a few steps, until he was once again back to back with his brothers. Three-four threw a quick glance at his shoulder and then ignored it. They had more important matters at hand, and the pain didn't bother Dageer.

It had been barely fifteen minutes since they had activated the bridge, meaning they still had a long time to go before they could leave the control room and join their brothers at the fight inside the city. Because Nabat was currently a full-on battlefield, with the Republic paying a heavy price for every meter they conquered.

They still had thousands of troops on the bridge and more behind it. While they were still there, Hell Squad would have to hold on.

"Here they... Bzzz... Are! Kill them!"

Without giving the seven clones a second to breathe, more clanckers appeared at the doorway, and were quickly taken care of. However, there were even more behind.

It didn't matter. They would just be an addition to the already big pile of bodies that was acc.u.mulating at the door and stairs. No matter how many came, Hell Squad would kill them all.

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

A flash of green light cut a B2 super battle droid in half. At the same time, the two symmetrical pieces of droid flew towards it's counterparts, pushed by an invisible hand.

Without wasting a moment, Ragout ran forward, using the wall as a trampoline to propel himself. Three quick swings later, all the clanckers in front of him had been cleared.

Groaning and panting, he pressed his hand over the left side of his body. A wrist rocket had thrown shards and pieces of the wall everywhere, and one of them had hit him. Even though the wound wasn't too deep, it was painful, and, unlike a laser, it left him weakened by the blood loss.

Looking at the blood in his palm, the Togruta furrowed his eyebrows. That could be a problem. He ripped a piece of his robes and made a makeshift bandage, which soon was dyed red. However, he ignored it, because he saw more droids incoming. Smiling savagely, he attacked.

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

An explosion shook the ray bridge, and Grey saw two or three of his brothers being launched into the abyss below them. One more fell near him, his visor broken by a laser. The freedom fighters weren't faring much better.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do other than urge his troops forward, and shoot at the clanckers on the wall.

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

"Argh!"

Gobi heard Syndulla yell in pain as a laser hit his friend's arm. They had been amongst the first to charge, and were now fighting in the streets they knew so well.

"Are you okay?"

"Uff... Yeah. Don't worry about me. We have to keep going."

The blue-skinned Twi'lek nodded, and gestured to his people to keep going. Seeing the freedom fighters battling for them made the people of Nabat find the courage they had buried when the Separatist arrived. They came out of their houses, wielding knives and sticks, or anything that could serve as a weapon.

"For freedom! For Ryloth!"

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

Dageer didn't know how much time had passed. All he knew was that he was exhausted. Up till now, he had been firing at the seppies that dared to poke their heads through the doorway. But now, it had been a few minutes since the last of them showed up, and he couldn't stand anymore.

The commander collapsed to the ground, panting. The rest of Hell Squad mimicked him, and sat down, laying their backs on the control panels or the walls.

"Do you think we got them all, sir?"

"Haha... Cough... Cough! Ha..."

Everyone laughed when they heard Metal. There were literally dozens, if not hundreds, of dead clanckers around them. It came to the point where the doorway was completely blocked by the piles of bodies. The bridge controls, and the room itself, were in shambles.

Even though only Dageer got slightly injured, their bodies were all sore, and they were sweating profusely.

"I don't think Metal is that wrong, to be honest. I don't hear fighting anymore."

Three-four, always the most cool-headed of the unit, pointed that out. Dageer quickly noticed he was right, but he was too tired to go check who won. Well, he was pretty certain of the result already.

Surely enough, after a few more minutes a figure dropped from the hole in the ceiling. Ragout looked at his friends, laying on the ground, and smiled.

"Had some trouble?"

"Nope. But you did, general. That cut isn't looking good."

"Hehe... Don't worry about it, it's nothing much. Three-four can take a look at it later. For now..."

As he said that, the Togruta used the Force to pull the droids that were blocking the stairs, and through them through the broken window.

"... We have a victory meeting to attend. Ryloth is ours."

...

Half an hour later, with his shoulder properly bandaged, Dageer was standing in the biggest building of Nabat, looking at a hologram table. On it were projections of Separatist movement around the planet, and all of them showed that the seppies were falling back to their sh.i.p.s.

Other than Dageer and Hell Squad, Grey, two of his captains, Syndulla, Gobi, and Ragout were all there too. The two freedom fighters could barely hide the excitement on their faces. After all, it was their home they had just freed.

"The price was great, but we pushed the Separatist sc.u.m back. Ryloth is free!"

"Yes, Gobi. It is. So let's try to keep it that way this time around. Grey, I want you to put pressure on the droids. No need to make risky moves, but just show them that if they don't leave, they are going to lose all their troops."

The clone nodded, and pulled out his comlink to talk to his men. Dageer also nodded to himself, thinking of Hell Squad's next step.

"Syndulla, Gobi, I want you to arrange a meeting between me and..."

The young Togruta kept talking while exposing his plans. Meanwhile, Dageer's hologram projector bipped, so he stepped back to answer it.

The moment the image appeared, the commander froze. The hologram showed a hooded person, with wrinkled skin. His voice was rough and low, like he hadn't spoken in years.

"Execute Order 66."