บท 245: Showcasing Your Skills

Dageer hit his head hard, and almost passed out. Thankfully, he was strapped to his seat, so he wasn't sent flying after the forceful landing. Well, it was more accurate to call it a forceful crash.

It was exactly one week after the Separatist arrived, and the battle began. Hell Squad partook in several skirmishes on the planet's surface, but they spent most of the time in the 41st capital ship, waiting for an opportunity to board the Recusant-class Destroyer.

When it finally came, it was at a high cost. Seven pilots died to open a path towards the ship. Only after that Tech was able to half land, half crash their gunship into the upper hangar.

Getting up, Dageer verified all the members of Hell Squad were all right. They sure were.

"Ugh... Tech, you seriously need to go back to Kamino and train with the shines. How can you be a pilot if every time you crash the ship? First Geonosis, and now here."

"Very funny, Metal. You know I am no pilot. However, we couldn't bring someone else with us."

"Tech is right. It would probably mean his death."

"You three, quiet. What is our next step, commander?"

After Brain put the clones in order, he turned to Dageer. To tell the truth, although they were joking and playing around - even though they were by themselves in an enemy ship - in no moment Hell Squad was distracted. Their gaze was darting around, and their weapons were ready. They didn't need a reminder to pay attention. They were too experienced for this.

"Follow the plan. Brain, Metal, Cell, and Dab, go to the first energy cell. Tech and Three-four, we will go to the second. When I say it, turn off the protection mechanism."

"What if they jam communications?"

"They won't, otherwise they will cause interference with their own clanckers. But, if they do that, you turn it off when you think it is time. If that happens, the first team to get to the escape pods go, don't wait for the other."

The clones nodded, acknowledging his orders, so Dageer moved out of the crashed Laat. Most of the droids were on the surface of Falleen, and the Vultures were fighting outside. That meant that aside from ten or so seppies, the upper hangar was empty. Needless to say, the poor B1 units didn't withstand a chance against Hell Squad.

After splitting up, Dageer led Tech and Three-four to the back of the destroyer. It didn't take long for them to encounter the first batch of droids, sent to investigate the gunship that crashed.

Five droids lost their heads before the others noticed what was happening. Without giving them any time to react, Dageer pressed the trigger of his DC-15A. Another three droids died in all hut a second, and the two clones who were with him took care of the remaining four.

"Anyone got hit?"

"No."

"Nope."

"Then let's keep moving."

The clones nodded, and ran. A few minutes after, Dageer suddenly felt a tingling sensation near his right ear, so he cranked his neck to the left. A laser scratched his cheek, leaving a black line on his helmet.

He dove to the side, hiding behind a door, and Tech and Three-four did the same. The three were pressed together, but it was the only thing that slightly resembled any kind of cover.

"How many?"

"Sixteen. No, eighteen. Two more just showed up."

"Okay. It will be just like Kamino. I distract, you attack."

"A lot of things happened on Kamino, but I don't remember that being one of them."

"Ah, shut up, Three-four. You are starting to sound just like Brain."

Dageer almost hit them both. They were pinned down, three against eighteen, and they were still joking. He traded his DC-15A by Tech's DC-15S, and put three fingers up.

"On three. One, two... Three!"

He slid out of the doorway, holding Tech's DC-15S on one hand and his own DC-17 on the other.

Several lasers flew over his head, and a dozen others hit the ground in front of him. Thankfully, the droids weren't able to adjust their aim too fast, otherwise he would be dead for sure.

He fired his blasters, killing three droids instantly. Two other clanckers fell to the floor, missing a leg, which had been busted up from their knee joint.

Their plan worked flawlessly. When the seppies aimed down to fire at Dageer, Three-four and Tech jumped out of cover, and returned it.

Twenty seconds later, all eighteen clanckers were dead on the floor, and the three clones were unscathed. If anyone saw it, they wouldn't believe, because the odds were terribly against them. However, for Hell Squad, that was just normal.

They had several encounters with clanckers on their way to the energy cell, but each and every one of the droids was quickly taken care of.

"Commander, we are in position."

Hearing Brain's voice through his comlink, Dageer briefly answered for him to wait, and ordered Tech and Three-four to quicken their pace.

It took another ten minutes for Dageer's group to get to the energy cell. What greeted them was a hole in the middle of the ship, one side connected to the other by bridges without railing. In the exact center of that hole was a giant, blue pillar.

Several shields kept a mass of blue lightning, almost liquid-like, apart from the outside. Past the shields, just before the center of the energy cell, was a control panel.

Dageer looked to the sides, and saw no droids. Glancing at his two brothers, he gestured at the energy cell.

"All right, let's go. Tech, you work your magic. Three-four, stay sharp."

"Yes, sir."

"Understood."

The three clones quickly ran over the bridge, and passed through the shields. Each layer held onto them for a few seconds before returning to their original position. Now, just one shield separated them and the raw energy. If they touched it, their entire body would be fried to a crisp in less than a second.

While Tech started tampering with the energy cell's controls, Dageer turned on his comlink.

"Brain, we are ready. Wait two minutes and deactivate the protection mechanism."

"With pleas..."

"Commander Dageer! Commander Dageer, come in! Commander!"

Brain was suddenly cut off by General Unduli. The urgency in her voice was clear.

"Dageer here. What is it, general?"

"Listen to me carefully. Abort your mission. Abort your mission now!"

"Wh-What? We are already at the energy cells, general. We just need a few more minutes!"

"You don't have time! We are in full retreat. The Separatist were much stronger than we expected! The Falleen king is dead. Ventress murdered him. His forces either ran away or were killed, and we suffered heavy casualties!"

His eyes opened wide when he heard that. They were so close, and it had been so easy so far, he couldn't accept Hell Squad had to run.

"How much time do we need, Tech?!"

"Ninety seconds!"

"We can do this, general."

"No, you can't, commander. Listen to me. We are retreating. If you don't get out off this ship in three minutes, we won't be there to pick you up! And that is not all. Grievous is up there. Retreat, Dageer. That's an order!"