บท 217: For The Republic! For The Twi'leks!
Commander Keeli watched as General Di looked to the sky and muttered something, seemingly reminiscent. About what, the commander didn't know.
He looked back, at each of the clones. They were his men. They were his legion. And, above all else, they were his brothers. Now, although they were going to die, Commander Keeli smiled. If he could die together with his brothers and his general, then he would die happily.
"Sergent Ace, are the men ready?"
"You bet we are, commander. Let's show those damn seppies that the 303rd won't go down without a fight. Haha..."
The sergeant laughed wildly when he answered. He was the highest-ranking officer after Commander Keeli - Lieutenant Shield was gravely wounded, and escaped together with the others - and it was his job to represent the troopers. And, well, that was how they were feeling.
For the hundredth time in a few hours, Commander Keeli felt that he was lucky to have such men under him. He had no doubt they were the finest legion in the entire Republic Army. After all, they were the 303rd Attack Legion.
"Here they come!"
Commander Keeli looked forward again, and saw many black spots approaching their position. Lifting his binoculars, he zoomed in on the enemy.
"Steady. Stay low, and wait for them to get closer."
The droids were too far away to see them yet, and Commander Keeli didn't want to give up their position sooner than necessary. If they could catch the clanckers by surprise, it would be even better.
"Just like you said, general. Their B1 and B2 units are coming first. I can see a few AATs behind, but they won't have a shot on us."
"How many?"
"More than we can deal with."
It wasn't a precise answer, but at the same time, it was all General Di needed to hear to steel his resolve. When one was in a dangerous situation, that person would try everything to escape. However, when there was nowhere to go, then there were two options. Either that person would become a coward, and beg for their lives, or they would throw away all their fears, and become almost insane, not caring for anything. Clearly, the clones and General Di belonged to the last type.
Seeing the droids approach, General Di looked at his men, and they all gestured with a thumbs up, meaning the clanckers were in range of their blasters.
General Di glanced at Commander Keeli, and the clone smiled under his helmet, at the same time cocking his blasters. He was ready.
The first droids were very surprised to see an old Nikto come out from behind a rock, and aim a blue lightsaber at them.
"For the Republic! For the Twi'leks!"
General Di ran forward, slashing two droids in half with the same move, and, before the others could fire at him, he jumped and spun in the air, bringing his lightsaber down on a B2 unit.
As the symmetrical halves of the droid hit the ground, blue lasers flew from the trees and rocks, taking down more than a hundred droids in less than two seconds. Commander Keeli was somehow even more impressive than General Di. In less than ten seconds, he had to stop and reload his pistols. More than twenty clanckers have died by his hands in those few moments.
After reloading, Commander Keeli ducked behind a rock to avoid enemy fire, and then jumped out again as soon as there was a pause. Walking and firing his DC-17s, he approached the droids until he was able to put his pistols in their heads and fire point-blank. He was only able to do that because his men were covering his back, taking down any droids who turned their blasters to him.
That was the trust they had built over the course of months of war. Each clone knew exactly what to do, and how to do it. With the corner of his eyes, Commander Keeli saw Sergeant Ace lead six or seven clones forward - he could hear the clone laugh maniacally, and realized that he also had a mad grin on his face - to take cover in another position, from where they could keep an eye out for General Di, in case the Jedi needed help.
However, it was obvious that the Nikto was faring way better than any clone. He was running and jumping all over the place, and barely any laser could even get close to him. And the few who did were quickly deflected back to those who fired them.
General Di pierced a B2 super battle droid with his lightsaber, then lifted the dead body using the Force, and threw it at a group of clanckers. He was unstoppable.
Suddenly, the Jedi stopped, and turned off his lightsaber. Red lasers showered him, but they all seemed to be stopped by an invisible wall, and just stood there, frozen. Then, General Di stretched his hands, and several rocks fell from the canyon walls around them, crushing dozens of droids. The lasers around the Nikto were also reflected back, some even hitting droids.
Commander Keeli and the clones stopped firing for a second, surprised. They had never seen the Jedi do something so... powerful.
"What are you waiting for, Keeli?!"
"Let's go, boys! The fight is not over!"
Commander Keeli and the clones snapped out of their daze when they heard General Di, and fought with renewed effort.
For a few minutes, it seemed as if the battle was going on their favor. Almost a thousand droids had died, and the 303rd had only suffered a few dozen casualties. Unfortunately for them, the droids soon showed the advantage that their overwhelming numbers brought them.
"Arhh!!!"
Commander Keeli looked behind him when he heard Sergeant Ace yell in pain and alarm. The sergeant had been hit on his shoulder, but he still lifted his DC-15A, trying to get another shot off. However, before he could pull the trigger, two lasers hit his head, killing him immediately.
No matter how bravely they fought, the 303rd clones couldn't escape their destiny. One by one, they fell to the unrelenting torrent of lasers coming from the droids' E-5s.
As they got closer, their accuracy became better, and the clones were forced to keep their heads down. The moment they showed themselves to try and fire at the droids, tens of lasers hit them. The only one in the open was General Di, who seemed not to get tired at all, deflecting lasers and cutting down droids as if they were nothing.
Minutes and hours passed, and the three hundred clones had been reduced to just a bit more than a hundred, while the Separatist army still numbered in the thousands.
After another hour, the last few clones stood tall near Commander Keeli and General Di. Around them, dead droids and the corpses of their brothers piled up, and the small forest was destroyed.
Commander Keeli stopped to reload his pistols once again, for the hundredth time in the battle. At least they didn't have to worry about ammunition, because many of their brothers died without the chance of using their's.
Suddenly, he saw a small squad of droids drop their blasters, and pull out thermal detonators.
"Careful!"
He finished reloading as fast as he could, and fired his pistols wildly. He hit two of the detonators still in the hands of the droids, blowing them to pieces, and another two in the air. However, the last one got to them.
Looking down at the detonator who rolled to his feet, Commander Keeli felt as if time had stopped. His short but eventful life flashed before his eyes, mostly filled with images of his dead brothers, and especially with General Di, Ragout, and Dageer. He smiled.
The detonator exploded.
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Reis123
Reis123 Well... Yeah. I don't really know what to say, other than I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope I was able to honor Keeli enough when writing his death (I know it sounds weird, but you know what I mean) because this clone was a champ.
As always, may the Force be with you.
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