Chapter 111 - Grave Injuries

The clones spent the remaining four days of their leave without worries, drinking and talking at the Revontre or playing at the headquarters.

Well, most of the clones did. Hell Squad and others of the 303rd Attack Legion spent most of the time in the infirmary, checking on Three-four. Needless to say, the wound on his side was pretty bad.

His armor protected him from a fraction of the damage, but the angle that the laser hit was terrible. Two ribs were hit and had fractured, and his left lung was perforated. Because laser fire was too hot, the wound had been cauterized immediately, but the damage was big. Three-four hadn't woke up yet, and although the doctors were confident that he would live, he might not be able to fight again.

Dageer and Brain stood side by side, looking at Three-four, who was floating in the bacta tank. His wound was wrapped in bandages, but Dageer had seen it without it, and knew Three-four had been lucky to be on Coruscant and not another planet.

In normal battles, that would have been a fatal injury, because it needed immediate treatment. But on Coruscant, it took mere minutes for Three-four to arrive in a medical center.

"Come on, Brain. Medic, get him in the cruiser."

"Yes, sir."

As the medic droids got Three-four on a transport, Dageer left Brain behind and went to The Sincerity. His week of rest had passed, but it felt like he was on a normal battlefield. In the heart of the Republic, the supposedly safest planet on the entire galaxy, seventy-seven clones lost their lives, including those who didn't resist their injuries.

"Dageer, sir."

"Berro. How you doing? Had fun on the capital?"

"I did. I heard you didn't. I am sorry about Three-four. I am sure he will be all right."

"That happens in battles. Besides, there is no need for us to feel down. He will be back on the battlefield before we know it. It just bothers me we didn't capture that Separatist bastard."

The man with blue skin, who had tricked Dageer and Commander Fox. The man who had escaped under their grasp. The man who was creating a poison, a virus, to kill all clones. Dageer swore he would catch that man no matter what. He swore it in front of his dying brothers.

"He can't escape the Republic. If we don't find him, some of our brothers will. But that is not the reason why I came after you, sir. General Di called all lieutenants and above to the command bridge."

"I am going. You can return now, Berro. Appreciate your last few hours without your armor."

"Yes, sir."

Dageer made his way to the command bridge, and cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts. One soldier had been hurt, but he couldn't falter because of it. The Clone Wars were far from ending.

He stood quietly at one corner of the command bridge, waiting for General Di and Commander Keeli. When they arrived, General Di first spent some time greeting the clones. When he arrived in front if Dageer, however, he said nothing, but patted his shoulder. It was Ragout, his padawan, that talked to Dageer.

"Dageer, we passed by the infirmary in our way here. Three-four's life force is strong. I sensed it. He will recover without problems."

Dageer eyes went wide, but Ragout couldn't see them, since they were covered by his helmet. Dageer didn't know jedis couldn't tell things like that. It appeared their skills didn't lie only with lightsabers.

"Dageer. Please, share with the rest of the officers our orders."

"Yes, general. Officers, we received our next destination from the army headquarters. We are to recover Dantooine from Separatist control. That is a planet-wide invasion. We can expect a long, tiring battle."

"Sir, we have a whole bunch of rookies with us."

"Valid considerations, captain, but we will have much more than a bunch of rookies with us. We will have a whole fleet of shinies. The 501st Legion is with us in this battle. The response the Separatist gave was much stronger than we expected, so we will have to make do with our two legions.

All right. We will attack Datooine from two different areas. We, the 303rd, will start here, two hundred kilometers from the capital city, Garang. The 501st will have the easy target, Khoonda. And by easy I mean they will face hell, and we double that amount."

Dageer showed the two cities on the hologram. Dantooine wasn't a big planet, and the only importance it held to the Republic was in terms of showing strength. But orders are orders, and Dageer was never going to contest them. Besides, he was born to do that.

"Now, let make things simple. The clanckers know we are coming, so it won't be an easy battle. But we are clones, and we don't shy away from a battle. Our men are rested, and we got the new troops we needed. Let's give the seppies a beating!"

"Ohhh, yeah!"

"You heard Dageer. Now, make the preparations to the embark. Our fleet sets out in six hours."

General Di ended the meeting, and called Dageer aside.

"Dageer, I need someone to stay here and organize things, and someone to go talk with the commander of the 501st legion. Commander Keeli decided you go to the 501st headquarters."

"Yes, general. I will go right away."

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Minutes later, Dageer was at the capital cruiser of the 501st fleet. Once he announced his purpose, he was immediately brought to the commander of the 501st Legion.

"Dageer! You came to discuss the invasion plans for Dantooine, I imagine?"

Dageer frowned. There were two irregularities in Captain Rex's words. The first was that he called Dageer by his name, even though his rank was lower. That was against military regulations. The second irregularity was that he was just a captain. The one to receive Dageer should have been the commander.

"Hello, Captain Rex. I need to talk to your commander."

"Ermmm... I am it."

"What do you mean?"

"I am the commander of the 501st. That is a normal confusion. I am the highest-ranking officer of the 501st Legion. We are a legion composed by the elites of the cadets, so our contingent is smaller than the normal. I am captain in name, but I work as the commander."

That was surprising and suspicious. Why would a legion that hadn't even gone to battle be formed in such a strange way?

"And why wasn't I informed of this? If you have fewer members, that can change our whole plan for Dantooine."

"I don't know. We were sent here without..."

"What is going on here?"