Chapter 322 - Crushing The Enemy

Ragout felt a laser aimed at the back of his head, and crouched. Reflecting two other lasers back to it's owners, he realized he had gone too deep into enemy lines. Even for a Jedi, it was easy to lose oneself to the emotion of the battle. Now, he found himself surrounded by dozens of B1 units, and at least ten B2 super battle droids.

He wasn't, however, considered one of the best lightsaber wielders of the Jedi Order for nothing. Only five or six Jedis, including General Yoda, could face him, and only to a draw.

He used the Force not to pull or push the droids, because that would be too tiring, but to slightly adjust the direction their blasters were pointing. The lasers that were aimed at him missed by a few centimeters, some even hitting other seppies. As for the lasers that still found their target, he used his lightsaber to deflect them.

This was just one of the many tricks Ragout had to learn to survive. War was very different from the usual challenges the Jedis had to face. Many Jedis fell in those short three years of Clone Wars, and a good part of them died because they couldn't adapt quickly enough.

Knowing that he couldn't stand still for too long, the Togruta ran towards one of the clanckers that encircled him, while spinning his lightsaber. He kicked the droid, and used it as a platform to launch himself over the seppies behind it.

Doing a flip, he cut one B2 super battle droid in half, and used a Force wave to push some clanckers to the ground. A laser grazed his left arm, but he ignored it. Two droids lost their heads when he slashed forward, and Ragout finally saw clones again.

When the troopers saw the Jedi running to them, they directed their fire at the seppies behind him. Many of them fell immediately, but the clones also paid quite a high price. Such was war. The side that held out for longer was the winner.

"Ah!"

Ragout let out a low groan of pain when a laser hit his right arm. He was forced to let go of his lightsaber, and the weapon flew out of his hand. Before he could use the Force to pick it up, another laser almost hit him, and he had to retreat.

Giving one last look at his lightsaber, he saw the droids trampling over it as they marched forward. As much as he hated having to leave it behind, he knew there was no way he could recover it, at least not for now. If they won the battle, then maybe.

"Captain Ink!"

"Yes, general?"

"Their left flank is faltering. We need to push forward! Get three companies and six AT-TEs on it."

"Understood, sir!"

"Also, move some troops from the rear to our left flank, and put them under Hell Squad's command. Tell Dageer to pierce through their frontlines, and advance towards us. We have to pincer them."

"I will send Tremor Battalion, general."

While the captain passed his orders to the others, Ragout let a medic bandage his arm and retreated to the mobile command post. From there, he would be able to direct the battle better, now that he didn't have a weapon anymore. Of course, he could always pick up a blaster, but another person, even if he was a Jedi, wouldn't make a difference in a battle of such proportions. Besides, he didn't like to use blasters.

Soon, his orders were carried out, and he watched from his vantage point as thousands of clones advanced like a single entity, crushing the Separatist's left flank. He couldn't see the other side of the battlefield properly, since it was too far, and the air was clouded with dust and smoke, but reports came in saying that Dageer had followed his orders flawlessly.

The balance of the battle, which was already leaning towards the Republic, now had completely tipped, as the seppies suffered devastating blow after devastating blow.

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"Lieutenant Yavin at your service, sir! General Ragout's orders are that you take Tremor Battalion and push back the clanckers, before cutting through them towards our right flank!"

Dageer barely acknowledged his brother's words. He was more worried about killing a bunch of droids that had been persistently firing at Hell Squad for the last few minutes.

"Brain, Dab! Take care of them! Metal, to our left!"

Only after directing his unit that Dageer turned to the lieutenant. He belonged to the 212th Legion, and his voice was steady. A veteran. Since a battalion usually had a captain as the leader, that meant Tremor Battalion probably lost it's commander.

"Say it again, brother."

"Yes, sir. General Ragout ordered that you take Tremor Battalion, and move towards our right flank, where we are pressing the tin cans. He wants to catch them between two fires."

Simple orders, but difficult to follow. Dageer couldn't see much of the battle besides what it was right in front of him, so, if Ragout was wrong, or the Separatist made a comeback, they would be the ones caught between two fires. However, he blindly trusted his general. There was no hesitation in his face as he nodded to Lieutenant Yavin.

"All right! Hell Squad, we got new orders! On me!"

His unit retreated while firing at the droids, and joined him and the lieutenant behind the burning carcass of an AAT. Only Cell wasn't there, having been taken to the medical center.

"What orders, sir?"

"We are to advance diagonally to the back of their left flank, while our right flank pressure them..."

"You are better just pointing to us which droids we have to kill, commander. Hahaha!"

"Haha..."

"Uff..."

Sighing at Metal's words, Dageer patted his helmet - Tech had recovered it - and got up. He knew it was just his brother's way of lightening the mood, even in the middle of a full-on battle.

"Yavin, Hell Squad will open a path, and you follow suit, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

Every soldier in the Clone Army had heard of Hell Squad before. They were legendary. No clone would question what they said, and would follow them blindly.

Dageer got out of his cover, and ran forward a few meters before jumping into a crater. From there, he aimed at the clanckers, and pressed the trigger several times before running again. His brothers followed closely.

From the ground what they were doing might just seem like a few hundred clones recklessly advancing more than they should. But, if one looked at it from the sky, they would be able to see the white armor of the clones piercing through the Separatist lines, severing it in two.

...

Four hours later, the clones stepped over the battlefield, this time looking for survivors, taking back bodies, and killing any stragglers that remained.

Almost seven thousand clones died, and their corpses were scattered all around. They would be cremated, and their ashes thrown in the seas of Kamino. But that high number of casualties was the price they had to pay for the entire annihilation of the enemy. None of the twenty-six thousand clanckers escaped.