Chapter 121 - Crushing Clanckers Like It's Nothing

With the turret blasted to pieces, Hell Squad had only small firearms going against them. The lasers fired by the E-5s peppered the damaged AAT, but did nothing.

"We are approaching the trench, sir."

"Keep going, Tech."

Instead of stopping when they reached the fifth trench, Dageer ordered them to continue. The AAT bumped into some droids, and crushed them under its weight.

"Oh oh! That is not good."

"Heavy Vehicle AAT 398D, stop!"

"Whaaaaa!"

The only effect on the AAT when it ran over the droids and the trench was a slight shaking. Just like that, the fifth trench was left behind them. If they could use the AAT to Cross the sixth trench, then it was almost guaranteed that they would get to the Laat they were looking for.

"Sir! Are you there?"

"Captain."

Dageer was called by Captain Narza, but he only brought bad news.

"We recovered the two Laats assigned to us, but there is no sign of Commander Keeli. I also sent search groups for the two we left to the end, but the result was negative."

"Leave that to Hell Squad. We are approaching the last gunship. How long before we take the fourth trench?"

"Estimated time is twelve minutes."

"Lower it to eight. This battle already lasted too much. We need to take the hill before nightfall."

"Yes, sir."

"Dab, how is the path ahead?"

"Full of clanckers, but no big guns. We are clear to go."

"Good. Brain, take my place here. Blast every seppie on the way."

"With pleasure, sir."

Dageer lifted himself through the hatch, careful not to be shot by the multitude of red lasers, and slid through the back if the AAT until he hit the ground. The members of Hell Squad who were outside, namely Brain, Metal and Dab, made space for him, and Brain entered the tank.

The clones were firing at the droids in the sixth trench, showing only a part of their bodies, then hiding in the safety the AAT provided. Of course, it wasn't one hundred percent safe, since they had to deal with a few sporadic shots from the clanckers in the fifth trench. For that reason, Ragout had his green lightsaber turned on, and was facing the direction from which they came and was reflecting the lasers.

"General Ragout. The other gunsh.i.p.s had all been searched. Commander Keeli is either on the Laat we are heading to or in one we haven't found yet."

"How long... ufff... before we can get to that Laat?"

"If we continue like this, ten to twelve minutes. We only..."

"Wait. Master. Yes. Yeah, we are close. Ten minutes. No. All right."

Ragout interrupted Dageer, and answered someone Dageer couldn't hear, but figured it was General Di.

"Dageer, my master wants us to do something else after we rescue Keeli. He said you would be the only one crazy enough to do it."

"Hell Squad was created because we are willing to do all sorts of crazy things. And I am sure Commander Keeli will join us. What is it, general?"

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

Three hours after the battle for Dantooine had started, the 303rd Attack Legion had conquered five out of the seven trenches they had as a target. Without a minute of pause, the clones were now launching an offensive against the sixth trench line.

On the right flank of the clone forces, a jedi with dry, brown skin was swinging his lightsaber and leading the clones. On the left, the one commanding was a clone captain called Narza. And down in the middle of the battlefield, ahead of every other clone, was and AAT, crushing its way over the sixth trench and continuing without a stop.

"Left, left, left!!!"

Warned by Brain, Dageer turned the cannon to a group of droids which were preparing some thermal detonators. After he sent droid parts flying, his vision seemed to clear, and he saw a crashed Republic gunship.

The nose of the gunship was buried in the ground, and one of the wings had broken off and was nowhere to be seen.

"General! Straight ahead! Hell Squad, move up, form a defense line!"

As soon as Dageer warned him, Ragout left the cover provided by the AAT and ran to the Laat. His supernatural jedi instincts helped him dodge each and every laser fired his away.

Dageer jumped out of the tank and also went for the Laat. When he got to the crashed gunship, he saw Ragout was cutting a hole through the side of the Laat. Since the metal frame of the gunship wasn't that thick, he soon had cut an opening.

The interior of the Laat was originally dark, but a circle of light fell on the clones inside when Ragout cut the side of the gunship. Dageer entered the Laat, and saw a scene of destruction.

Clones were laying on the floor, some clearly dead, with their bodies twisted in impossible angles, and others whose status was unknown. One of those covered his eyes with his hand when Dageer entered.

"Brother! Are you all right?"

"Dageer! It's you!"

Dageer had knelt beside the clone when he heard Commander Keeli's voice behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the Commander was lowering one of his DC-17, which had been pointed to Dageer's back. His other DC-17 was somewhere under a metal plate that was covering the entire right side of his body. Dageer pulled the plate, and Commander Keeli was able to move his arm, although he seemed to be in pain.

"Take it easy, commander. Hell Squad is here to help."

"I know. It was just in case you were a clancker. General Ragout!"

"Stay down, Keeli."

When he saw the padawan coming in, the wounded clone commander tried to get up, but Ragout stopped him. While padawan and commander were talking, Brain got inside the Laat and helped Dageer move the wounded.

"Hey, Guard. Whoa, be careful, brother. Let me see this. Uhmm..."

Dageer found Lieutenant Guard, one of the finest men of the 303rd badly injured, but still breathing.

"Urhhh... sir."

"I think you broke three or four ribs, and your arm is also not very good. But you should get back in shape pretty soon. Wait for a minute, let me see the others."

In total, there were eleven surviving clones, including Commander Keeli. Some, like the commander, had minor injuries, and were able to get back to the fight. Others had medium wounds, and would need help to even walk. Guard was in this group. And two clones had heavy injuries. One of them, a pilot called Seeje had knocked his head on the crash, and was just barely alive. The other was Orluo, who had lost both legs at knee length. He had lost a lot of blood, and needed emergency treatment, which Hell Squad couldn't provide.

"General Ragout. We need to get these men back to a medical base as soon as possible."

"We still have my master's task. We will split into two groups. I will lead those who can fight, and the wounded will use the AAT to get back. With our forces advancing, they should meet the vanguard soon."

All of that was decisively said by Ragout, surprising Dageer, because that was what he was about to say. The padawan was growing at an impressive pace, and Dageer couldn't help but wonder if this had something to do with Kuvu's death.

"Yes, sir!"