Chapter 133 - Title at the end, otherwise it's spoiler

"Sir, I think I found something. Permission to shoot?"

Dab asked Dageer one of the weirdest questions he ever had heard.

"Hold. Let me see it."

Asking to shoot directly, without even identifying what it was. According to Clone Army regulations, a sniper would only ask that question when he thought that the unknown object was of a higher risk than alerting the enemies. And Dageer knew Dab for a long time. He wasn't a rash soldier, otherwise he wouldn't have been trained to be a sniper.

Without wasting time, Dageer got to Dab's position. He and two other clones were on top of a hill, directly facing the Separatist outpost. But there was something wrong. Their blasters weren't aiming at the enemy base, but the huge open field between the 303rd and the outpost.

"What is it, Dab?"

"Look at the snow, sir. Anywhere you want."

Dageer lowered his macrobinoculars, and swept his glare over the ground. As it was expected, it was all white, because of the snow. He could see droid footprints, and even signs of where the Dwarf-Spider droids had passed, following a path to the gate of the outpost.

"I don't see anything unusual. The snow seems clean. What do you want to shoot?"

"That's what I thought, sir. The snow is too clean. Why did they worry to follow all in the same trail? They even did some turns, when the gate was meters away from them."

Dageer frowned, and looked at the outpost again. It was really as Dab said. The path the droid footprints created didn't make sense. If Dab hadn't warned him, he wouldn't have noticed, and he doubted the others would.

He searched in his mind what that could signify, and he arrived at only one conclusion. One he didn't like.

"A minefield."

Dab nodded.

"That is what I think. I locked onto something that could be a mine. Or just a stone. We can't be sure."

"Let me look at it."

Dab got up, and Dageer took his place. He laid down with his belly on the ground, and looked at the so-called mine through the scope of Dab's DC-15x.

It was a gray spot in the middle of the snow, about forty meters away from the path. It was very inconspicuous, and out of the way. Unless someone - like Dab - was looking for it, it would be very hard to find. Dageer also couldn't identify if it was really a mine or not.

"Permission to shoot?"

Hell Squad's leader got up, and Dab asked again.

"Wait. All troops, halt!"

Dageer ordered a stop in the open channel, his order going to every clone, without even passing by the officers. Instants later, Commander Keeli contacted him.

"What happened?"

"We found what might be a minefield. You should get up here and see it by yourself, commander."

"A minefield? That is bad news. Wait for me. Lieutenant Shield, bring the scanners."

Soon, Commander Keeli arrived together with General Di and Ragout, as well as Lieutenant Shield.

Dageer showed Commander Keeli where the mines were, and then showed it to the others. Lieutenant Shield programmed the scanners, but they captured nothing. Dageer wasn't surprised, because he had the time to analyze the mines.

"If it really is a mine, then it is most probably an ion mine."

Commander Keeli went silent. The clones knew that ion mines were bad news, but the two jedis appeared quite confused. Well, Ragout appeared confused, and General Di frowned in a different way than he usually did. The clones already knew that this was his way to show he didn't know or understand something.

"What is an ion mine, and is it so bad?"

Dageer was surprised, but then remembered that Ragout wasn't a soldier, and ion mines were quite rare. It was normal that he and General Di didn't know about it.

"There are three types of military mines. The first are the big ones, used on space, usually on asteroid rings. The second are normal short-range mines. And the third are ion mines. They have a bigger radius than the normal ones, and they also send an electromagnetic wave that turns off communicators and vehicles. They are quite rare, mostly because they are expensive, and secondly because clanckers are also included in the things it turns off."

Dageer gave a short but detailed explanation. He did this not because he wanted to show off, but because knowing more about your enemy and their weapons were always better. But General Di still wasn't satisfied.

"The scanners showed nothing, but I can sense you are still worried."

Commander Keeli answered for Dageer.

"Ion mines also have another feature. They are almost undetectable, unless you are very close to them. In that case, they usually had already blown up. But they also have a downside, aside from the costs. Because of their design, they have to be very close to the surface, so they only work only soft grounds, like snow or mud, where they can be buried with a small portion of soil. Also, as Dageer said, they are expensive. I doubt the clanckers here have more than a few of them."

"You were discussing before we arrived, Dageer. How do you plan to get past them, even if they are what you think they are?"

The jedi answered immediately, without needing to think much to arrive at a conclusion. Dab looked at Dageer, and when he saw his squad leader nodding, answered General Di.

"I can shoot it, general, sir. It is the best way to know. If it explodes, it will alert them, but..."

"But at least we will know what we are dealing with. Do it."

General Di was very decisive. After getting a confirmation from Dageer and Commander Keeli, Dab aimed at mine, and shot.

An explosion with a three meters radius happened, and it blew snow everywhere. Then, a blue circle about five meters followed, but since there was no one in the area, nothing more happened.

With their suspicions comproved, the 303rd came to a total halt. The droids on the outpost obviously detected the explosion, but decided to stay barricaded in the walls.

"Find and destroy all that you can."

...

For the next hour, scattered explosions happened as the sharpshooters found and destroyed every ion mine they could find. When half an hour had passed without them finding anything more, Commander Keeli went to General Di with two options.

There was still a battle happening in space, and the clones didn't have that much time to spare. As Commander Keeli said, they could either come to a total halt, and risk losing Mygeeto, or they could advance, even if they lost some soldiers.

The way Commander Keeli laid down the options didn't really give much if a choice, and in the end, General Di choose the only real option he had.

TITLE: MINEFIELD