Nossor Ri was never found. The Republic assumed he was either buried or had run early in the fight.
The clones pressed the droids, and stopped for nothing. In the end the battle was considered to be a brilliant victory. Republic casualties were only a small fraction of what was expected, and CIS casualties were three times the estimated.
But that were just the numbers. For the clones who fought, it wasn't so simple. Victory or not, they still lost many brothers. Besides that, the statistics didn't account for the civilians. Intended or not, the Crab Cannons had caused massive damage to the buildings, razing many of them to the ground. Thousands of mon calamarians died and became 'collateral damage'.
A meeting was conducted after the battle, to decide what would be done with the clones. Other planets required them, so not all could be kept at Mon Cala. Also, the droids had fled, but the defeated quarrens were still there. A lot of political moves would be needed to make them accept the Republic.
Using the excuse that he was still clearing some resisting droids - which wasn't a total lie - Dageer didn't go to the meeting. In the end, many hours later, he got to know what had been decided.
First of all, the planet of Mon Cala as a whole joined the Republic, and although the quarren representatives complained, as the defeated party they didn't have much of a choice.
Secondly, Hell Squad and the 303rd clones who took part in the battle would return to The Sincerity. With Hell Squad intervention, they haven't suffered many deaths, and their losses would be replenished soon.
Thirdly was what Dageer considered the dumbest and unnecessary decision of the meeting. Yos Tivos, brother of the king, was considered a traitor for actively going against his king's orders. As such, his name would be erased from the royal family, and all his closest relatives would lose their positions in the royal court.
Anyway, neither of those points above were for Dageer to worry. For him that was just another battle. Surely, not one to be forgotten, but still just a battle.
Before leaving, Dageer found Kit Fisto and Monnk to say his goodbyes. They would stay on Mon Cala at least until the planet stabilized, and all Separatist resistance pockets were exterminated.
"Well Dageer, you crazy clone, take care, alright?"
"Don't worry about me, Monnk. You are the one who fights in the water. Compared to that, Geonosis was easy."
While Monnk and Dageer were bickering, the jedi said nothing. It was only when Dageer was about to go that the jedi talked.
"Dageer. You are a weird clone. I can tell you disagree with my methods, but dove into danger to save me even when it wasn't your job. You are a commander, but you didn't stay out of the fight, where it was secure, but jumped in the action."
"You are mistaken on this one, general. It is not that I am a weird clone, but just that I am a clone. Every one of my brothers would have done the same. The longer you fight by Commander Monnk's side, the more you will understand that. After all, we are the same."
Dageer saluted the clone and the jedi, and turned on the thruster on his back, going back to the surface. There a cruiser from General Di's fleet was waiting to pick up the soldiers.
Kit Fisto looked at Monnk, who got a little scared by the stare. He had never seen his general so surprised.
"Clones, hummm..."
-----------------------
Dageer did his job as sub-commander, seeing each of his men out of the transports, and following the injured to the infirmary. It was only after that that he reported to General Di. As always, the jedi was on the command bridge, looking to the vacuum outside.
Together with him were Admiral Dao, Commander Keeli and a small hooded figure that Dageer didn't recognize. The first to greet him was Commander Keeli with a handshake and Admiral Dao with a nod. Neither General Di nor the figure turned around, so Dageer started his report.
"General. Sub-commander Dageer reporting. During the battle on Mon Cala, of the two regiments sent, two hundred and eighty-two clones died. Another three hundred and forty will need some time to recover."
General Di turned, as did the hooded person, but Dageer still couldn't see his or her face.
"You did a good job commanding your men down there. We already received confirmation that our forces will be replenished soon. For now, I would like to introduce you to someone. You will work with him a lot from now on."
The hooded person stepped forward, and took off his hood. A young face was revealed, with light blue skin and red eyes. Two large protuberances sprouted out of his head, blue as his skin, but with white stripes.
Togruta. That was the specie of the newcomer. They lived in a planet called Shili and took the t
Republic side as soon as the war started. Not only that, but the planet had a significantly larger number of Force-sensitive children.
"Dageer, this is Ragout Latte, the new padawan sent to me by the Jedi Council. He is still young, and learning, so you will have to look after him in the following battles."
Ragout made a gracious jedi posture.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, sub-commander Dageer. Commander Keeli already told me about your achievements. I look forward to fighting alongside Hell Squad."
The young face was filled with expectations. Dageer felt pity for the kid, as he would soon face the dark and not so glamorous side of war. Still, Dageer answered him without giving away his thoughts.
"It will be good to have another jedi by our side. Welcome, kid."
--------------------------
Kalee, Grievous base.
General Grievous was watching Hiigi with his hands behind his back. A few weeks had passed since he started training Hiigi, and the body of the mon calamari was riddled with scars.
Hiigi was at the moment just looking at the empty air, his eyes blank. Grievous coughed and slammed his metallic leg on the floor to capture his attention.
"Insect, your planet just fell for the Republic. Cough! Cough... cough!"
Hiigi said nothing, and just looked at Grievous, who laughed maniacally.
"Kakakakaka! I forgot, you can't say anything anymore. Cough! Cough... cough... cough! Kakakakaka! The insect lost his tongue! Kakakakakaka!"
Somewhere in the space.
Ragout and Dageer were walking alongside. It was the day after the battle of Mon Cala, and the padawan had asked Dageer to show him around.
The Togruta was still a kid, although his mind was much stronger than the one of a normal child. It was obviously something new to him, seeing all the military pieces of equipment, and the serious-looking soldiers.
"Here is the main hangar, where most of the Laats are stored."
"That is the weapon deposit. I'm afraid you can enter there. It is a controlled area."
"Why? I am a jedi padawan. Isn't my rank even above yours? When they sent me here they told me that I am only under my master."
"That is not how things work here, kid. You might be a jedi apprentice, but that doesn't mean much to us. We were trained to follow your orders, however, you still have to earn our respect. Of course, if you order me to take you to the deposit, I will have to obey."
Ragout frowned, obviously dissatisfied with the way Dageer put things. Dageer sighed. He forgot he was talking to a young and most probably full of pride padawan.
"I am sorry, I phrased that wrong. I didn't mean to diminish you. It is hard to explain just with words, you will understand way better when you fight your first battle."
Ragout expression got a little better. Dageer decided that it was time to show the infirmary to the padawan He was sure that when the padawan saw the injured clones, he would understand what Dageer meant.
He guided Ragout in the corridors, getting saluted by each clone they saw. Dageer's helmet was very distinctive and a symbol that he carried with pride.
Two clones were guarding the doors to the infirmary, but they gave passage to Dageer and Ragout without saying a word. Medical droids and some medic clones were walking amongst the beds.
The infirmary of The Sincerity was the biggest of General Di's fleet, and as such, it was the best equipped. Because of that, it was also where the most badly injured clones were.
Lost limbs, debilitating wounds, all of those were being treated there. No matter how good the medical technology of the Republic was, there were still some clones who lost their lives. When that happened, they were sent to the crematorium, and their ashes were later sent to Kamino, home of all clones.
It was on such an occasion that Dageer and Ragout arrived. One clone that was missing his left leg had lost too much blood before being brought to the medical base, and didn't resist. Medical droids put the body in a litter, and when they passed, Dageer took off his helmet and mourned for another lost brother.
Ragout had a serious face when they left the infirmary, and Dageer thought that maybe he was being too harsh, showing such scenes to the padawan. But when he thought about how a battlefield was, he knew the padawan would face much worse.
"Ragout, do you know the reason why we respect General Di so much? It isn't just because he is our general. Every clone legion has one, and we all respect them. The reason is because of what you saw inside there. General Di wasn't only commanding us. He fought alongside us, and saved many of us. In war injuries and deaths are inevitable. What a soldier respect the most isn't some hero who killed thousands of enemies, but some unknown person who did his best to save as many as possible. Of course, General Di isn't unknown."
"I... I think I understand now. At least a little. I guess... Ohhhhhhh! What is that?!"
The now-familiar alarms went off in the ship. Dageer put his helmet again, and ran, letting the padawan behind. He could recognize from where the alarms were going off, the cargo bay. He checked with Brain with he got something.
"Brain, it is the cargo bay. Do we have anything of value there?"
"Besides the AT-TEs worth millions of credits? I don't think so."
"Than it is probably a decoy. I am already near there, so I will go check anyway. Get Cell and Dab there too. Three-four is in the infirmary, keep him there. Find Tech and send him to the weaponry. You and Metal, I want you besides General Di at all times, no matter what he says. Also, any free trooper you can find, I want them patrolling five floors up and down from the cargo bay."
"Yes, sir."
Dageer ran, and other clones joined him. The cargo bay wasn't too far from where he was, but he was quite sure there would be no trespassers there.
Clank!
There was a loud sound above Dageer head. He looked up, but there was only the ceiling. He probably was imagining things. Dageer shook his head and looked forward while giving orders to the clones who were with him.
----------------------
In the ventilation ducts above Dageer.
A women's voice was scolding someone quietly.
"Idiot! You almost screwed everything!"
"It is not my fault! How did you expect me to pass through those ducts? Not everyone is as slim as you!"
Those last words were said in a low voice, so the female didn't hear it. There were also some traces of lust on it.
"Shut up! I swear that I will kill you if you mess up."
-----------------------
As expected, Dageer didn't find any intruders on the cargo bay. He did find, however, what set off the alarm. A lot of crates had fallen down to the floor, and one of them had crossed the invisible line the alarms had.
If it was just that, Dageer might have considered it to be an accident, maybe someone bumped into it, or the ship turned too fast. But on the floor there were also two dead clones, their necks snapped like twigs. Dageer cursed.
"Trooper, I want a full search on the whole ship. We have trespassers. I repeat, we have trespassers. Two dead soldiers accounted for, every trooper, confirm your position, follow standard procedure."
The last sentences were said in his comlink, and transmitted to the whole ship. Clones started to check-in, first to their squad leaders, who then passed the information to their sergeants and so on. That way there wouldn't be any chaos, and it was faster.
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