Chapter 170 - The Beginning Of The End

In the end, Hiigi was actually very helpful. That is, after he tried to break free from his chains and kill Dageer. Twice. But after the mon calamari discovered that all Dageer wanted was Sing, he was glad to tell him her whereabouts.

But it was all for nothing. A group of clones raided the compound where she was supposed to meet with Bossk, Castas, and Hiigi, but she was nowhere to be found.

Dageer was still in the middle of interrogating Hiigi when his comlink bipped. Dageer looked at Hiigi one last time, and left the room. Meeting the mon calamari on Coruscant had been a big coincidence, but Dageer was almost sure that he would never see the mon calamari again. Hiigi would spend a deserved lifetime in prison, and Dageer couldn't be more happy about it.

"Sub-commander Dageer here."

"Dageer. Return to the ship immediately. We are departing."

"Yes, general."

Hearing the urgency in General Di's voice, Dageer didn't question him or asked for reasons, but simply cut communications and went back to the platform. In the meantime, he contacted Brain, ordering him to talk to Shep, and get back to the corvette.

...

"Hell Squad is here, General Di. Everything necessary has been loaded into the ship."

"Good. Ragout, give Shep the coordinates to our destination."

"Yes, master."

"Hell Squad, follow me."

Even before the lower rampart was fully closed, the ship was already taking off. Wherever they had to go, they need to go fast.

General Di turned on the hologram table, and put in some coordinates, bringing up a map. Dageer easily recognized the sector, and, most importantly, the only important planet in it.

"Gaulus Sector, Ryloth System. Why the hurry, general? Ryloth has been fighting without the Republic for months. Besides, there are no Separatist forces there. They are facing their own government. "

"Until now. And now they can't hold on anymore. The freedom fighters there finally gave up, and asked for our help. But our primary target isn't Ryloth."

Typing on the hologram table rapidly, General Di brought up information on a Separatist convoy.

"Admiral Dao, together with Commander Keeli, are already directed to Ryloth. We are on a race against the Separatist fleet led by the Separatist commander, Wat Tambor. The fleet has to get there before them and establish a blockade. That, however, brings us to our second problem."

"Supplies."

"Exactly. Our fleet didn't have time to restock before being reassigned. The urgency of these orders took top priority."

Tech looked over the map, and showed the convoy that General Di mentioned. It was protected by several Separatist sh.i.p.s, including one Providence-class Dreadnought and three Munificent-class Frigates.

"I suppose we are going to take their supplies then."

"You are right, Tech. The nearest Republic planet is weeks away from Ryloth. By the time any supplies get sent from there, the Separatist will have an entire fleet on Ryloth. However, if we attack, and take over that convoy, we might just arrive before them."

Most of the clones didn't see a problem with the plan, and nodded, except Dageer. His time as a sub-commander reached him to always look for flaws.

"General, how are we going to attack the convoy? We have one CR90 Corvette. Our blaster cannons wouldn't even scratch their escort. Even if we are able to board the convoy, and take control of it, how are we supposed to take care of the frigates and the dreadnought?"

Dageer wasn't worried about taking over the ship, because he fully believed Hell Squad alone could do it. However, the escort could simply wreck them after they hijacked it.

However, General Di gave them one of his rare smiles after hearing Dageer's concerns.

"Master Skywalker's fleet will support us, and engage the escort while we infiltrate the cargo sh.i.p.s. There are two of them. We will be in charge of one, while the second will be the target of our second group of reinforcements, Delta Squad."

"Ugh..."

"Ohhh no..."

"Seriously?"

General Di looked dumbfounded at Hell Squad. When he gave them the news that the best unit on the entirety of the Republic Army was going to aid them, the last thing he expected were groans of discontentment.

Even Dageer, who barely showed any emotion when on duty, complained. Ragout, who had just returned from the c.o.c.kpit, stood looking at them, not understanding what was going on.

"Quiet, you all."

Seeing the beliwered looks on the faces of both Jedis, Dageer quickly ordered Hell Squad to shut up. General Di looked at him questioningly, and Dageer had to explain.

"Clone commandos can be... difficult to work with, general."

"They are a pain in the ass."

"Shut up, Cell. The thing is that they... tend to believe that normal clones, like us, or as the rest of the army, aren't capable enough. With special units like us, even more so. They seen to think that since we started as normal troopers, then we can't partake in the dangerous operations that they were designed to."

That was exactly the truth. More than once, Dageer and Hell Squad had discussed with Delta Squad when they met them. That is, when Delta Squad considered them worthy enough to talk to. They were very arrogant. There was no other way of putting it. Since they were genetically modified to have more independence, they also had certain emotions and feelings that other clones didn't, like excessive pride.

"You can't be serious! I've never seen any of you discuss, even more look down upon one another."

Dageer grinned. General Di already understood what Dageer meant, but Ragout apparently didn't. The padawan was still too innocent in some aspects.

"With all due respect, General Ragout, but we wouldn't discuss in front of you, or even while we are on duty. Clone commandos might be a little too proud, but they are still fighting for the Republic, just like us."

General Di ended the discussion right there, and turned it back to the battle plans, but there was one clone who have something more to say.

"If only we had an ARC trooper, then things would be really fun."

Dageer almost facepalmed when he heard Cell, who seemed to be unable to shut his mouth. Clone commandos and ARC troopers disliked each other even more than they disliked special units. Before he had to order the scout to stay silent, a stare from General Di did it for him.

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

One hyperspace travel later, the corvette met General Skywalker's fleet behind a moon, where they could hide from the sensors of the convoy. The corvette would join the attack, but Hell Squad would realize their infiltration through another point, so they moved to the capital ship of the 501st fleet.

Hell Squad followed General Di and his padawan through the corridors of the ship, their armor catching even more attention now that they were in a legion with different colors than them.

General Skywalker's padawan, Ahsoka Tano, was in the command bridge to greet them. She respectfully bowed to General Di, and it was clear that she and Ragout already knew which other.

"My master should be arriving soon, Master Di. He has a talent to always be late."

"Hey hey hey, Snips! I already told you to not talk bad about me behind my back."