Chapter 229 - A Treacherous Path

"Not necessarily..."

General Kenobi's eyebrows arched even more when he heard Dageer. He couldn't help but think that the commander was a little out of his mind when he pulled out his DC-17. What could the pistol do to help them?

"What do you have in mind, Dageer?"

"I don't think you were in the battles of Thule and Alaris Prime, were you, Cody?"

"No. I was in Felucia at the time, on a special mission."

"Well, Commander Keeli and I used the grappling hooks a lot on those battles, to climb up the walls the seppies built. From there on, it became quite natural for Hell Squad, but I know other legions don't use them nearly as much."

"I see. You know, Dageer, you and Anakin would get along pretty well."

Commander Cody opened his mouth. He already knew what Dageer's plan was, and he didn't like it. However, before he could say anything, General Kenobi was already agreeing, and Commander Cody had to go along.

"Get a few men ready, Cody. No more than five. Together with Hell Squad, we will be more than ten, and I don't want to risk getting the droids' attention with a large group."

"You are coming too, general?"

"Well, of course I am. This is our best chance, and I have no doubt a Jedi will come in handy. Right, Dageer?"

"Sure thing, General Kenobi."

"Good. Well, no time to waste. As soon as you are ready, let's go."

"Yes, sir. Kickback, Stock, Dingo, come here! Waxer and Boil, you too!"

Soon, five 212th troopers approached them. They saluted Commander Cody and General Kenobi, then turned and did the same to Dageer and Hell Squad. Judging by how they held themselves, and by how beaten up their armors were, Dageer knew they were veteran soldiers.

"Grab grappling hooks, you five. General Kenobi has a mission for us."

"Yes, sir!"

General Kenobi left to talk to some of his men. Since he and Commander Cody would be climbing the cliffs around Lessu, he had to leave someone in command of the offensive on the outside, to keep the droids distracted.

That left the clones alone, and they could speak more freely with each other. Or, at least, Commander Cody and Dageer, who had the same rank, could.

"You know you are crazy, right?"

"Haha! We have to be. Otherwise we wouldn't be a special unit."

Commander Cody laughed. He and Dageer had known each other for a long time, and got along very well.

"It's good to have you back, brother. And... I will talk to General Kenobi, to see if we could get the men from the 303rd to join us. We lost some troopers, and I would be glad to have elite like them on our ranks."

The smile on Dageer's face faded, but he knew Commander Cody meant good. After all, even after the troopers who were injured healed, the 303rd would have less than a hundred clones who could fight. It wasn't official yet, but the 303rd Attack Legion would certainly be disbanded soon, and the few surviving troopers would be scattered around several legions.

"Thank you, Cody. Hell Squad, on me. We are going to check the best place to go down."

Commander Cody nodded, and watched Hell Squad follow Dageer to the border of the abyss between them and Lessu. Midway, he saw their sniper, Dab, pull out his DC-15x, while the scout, Cell, used his binoculars to keep a lookout for any clancker aiming at them.

"Are they really as good as it is said, commander?"

Boil approached Commander Cody, and couldn't help but ask. They all had heard of Hell Squad. In fact, almost every clone in the Republic Army had. They were an elite force, created in Geonosis. They had been to every corner of the galaxy, and faced everything from droids to the creatures of Scarif and from bounty hunters to Ventress. Sometimes, it was almost impossible to believe what was said about them.

"They are more than good, Boil. The fact that they survived the annihilation of the 303rd proves it."

"But can they still fight? I mean... They look really bad right now."

Kickback intertwined, gesturing to the figures of Hell Squad. It was understandable why he asked that. Three-four was still limping slightly, Brain had bandages wrapped all around his head, and Tech's entire chest was bruised, and he had at least three broken ribs. Metal and Dab both had been shot in their shoulders and arms, and Cell in the thigh. Dageer also wasn't looking too good. Thanks to the piece of metal that pierced his leg, also due to being shot, he too was limping. Of course, none of the bandages and wounds could be seen under the armor, but seasoned soldiers could tell that the clones under them were hurt. Not only that, but their armors looked like it had been thrown under a Banta.

"That is because they are. You have been through a lot of battles yourself. You know that sometimes you have no option other than to fight, even when you are hurt. And Hell Squad had been doing that for more than a month. Don't worry about them. You will see what I mean when the time comes."

...

General Kenobi loomed over the abyss, looking down. Behind him, Commander Cody, five clones from the 212th, and Hell Squad waited.

"Are you sure that is the best spot?"

"Yes, general. Dageer scouted it earlier. From here, we will be out of sight from the clanckers in the walls. Before we use the cables, we need to go down a little, so they won't see us while we are crossing."

General Kenobi looked down at the dark abyss once again. He could barely see the bottom of it. It would be a long, long fall.

"All right then. Let's get to it. No sense in wasting time."

Saying so, he grabbed the cable that was hanging over the edge, and started climbing down, using it to steady himself. The others followed suit. At least to go down here, they wouldn't have to do free climbing. Going up on the other side, however, was an entirely different story.

Dageer was the last one to go. He grabbed the cable with one hand, and used his feet and his other hand to find grooves and slits to steady himself.

This continued for more than half an hour, and the group kept going down without saying anything. Any wrong step could cause one of them to fall to their deaths, so they had to pay a lot of attention. At one time, Dageer put his foot in the wrong spot, and slipped, forcing him to put his weight on his injured leg. He groaned in pain, but, but steadied himself.

"I think this should be enough."

After another twenty minutes, he heard General Kenobi's voice. Stopping, he looked down, and saw the Jedi annalize the opposing wall of the abyss. Above General Kenobi, the clones flexed their fingers one hand at a time, trying to relax the tensed muscles.

"What do you think, Cody?"

"That should do it, general. We are low enough so the seppies won't see the cable when we launch it."

"Good. Dageer, you did this before. Would you do the honors?"

"Yes, general."

Dageer thought for a moment that he never did something quite like that, but now wasn't the time to hesitate. Grabbing the DC-15A that was strapped to his back, he hooked his foot around the cable that he was holding, and took his hand off it.