Chapter 149 - The Disturbance In The Force (1/2)
When the dust settled, the Temple of Asheress has tilted to one side, and was half-buried under snow and dirt. Debris covered the whole area around it, and the nearby buildings had all been pelted with stones, and some had even collapsed.
Dageer felt nothing but satisfaction when he saw the already damaged columns that sustained the temple crack and break, furthering the destruction. He couldn't think of a better way to get his revenge against Ventress for what she did to him and his brothers.
Unknowingly to him, when he turned around and led the clones away from the valley where the temple was, the red crystal that he had trapped inside a box glowed stronger.
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Ventress made a grabbing motion with her hand, and an unlucky clone that was firing at her from meters away suddenly discovered that his feet weren't touching the ground, and that he was being pulled towards the dangerous woman. His last memory was of the smile on her lips as a red lightsaber pierced his heart, killing him immediately.
Usually, she wouldn't mind playing with her victims a little, but now she was in the middle of an intense battle, and even with her arrogant self couldn't be careless.
Using the information that the clone officer she captured gave to her, she had intercepted the main Republic force on Mygeeto. She frowned when she remembered the resilient officer. She had been able to squeeze some very interesting information from him, but when she asked about the battle plans of the Republic, he had closed his mind.
Somehow, he hid from her that the Republic had not one or two AT-TEs, but half a dozen of them, plus, a myriad of smaller vehicles. She didn't want to admit, but she had to order a retreat, otherwise a whole slew of her troops would be lost, impacting the Separatist campaign on Mygeeto.
She jumped forward, and sliced two clones with one move. She despised the clones. They were weak, emotional, and persistent like bugs. Suddenly, her expression of disgust became one of astonishment. Like a wave, she felt something hit her mind, and affect the balance of the Force. She turned around, and looked to the mountains, but her mind was on the Temple of Asheress. Something had happened.
So absorbed on her thoughts, she didn't notice a clone sergeant aiming his blaster at her back until a droid captain warned her. Spinning around, her lightsaber moved at inhuman speed, deflecting the blue laser back to its origin. The clone sergeant tumbled to the ground surprised, and soon life vanished from his eyes.
Ventress ignored the man she just killed, and stopped in her tracks, letting the droid vanguard engulf her. She grabbed a droid with yellow markings.
”Captain, order total retreat.”
”But, madam! Bzzz... We are winning!”
”Total retreat, captain. Now.”
”Yes, madam. Bzzz... All units, retreat back to quadrant 86-909. I repeat... Bzzz... Retreat to quadrant 86-909.”
As if they were one single machine, the droid army stopped dead on its tracks, and turned around, rearguard becoming vanguard, and vanguard becoming rearguard. Orderly, they started their retreat, but the Republic soldiers, seeing their enemy run, became even more audacious, and countless droid units were shot on their backs. Some of the clones even started chasing after the retreating army, only to be called back by their superior officers. However, nothing could extinguish the satisfaction of winning the battle.
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General Di was on the frontlines, fighting side by side with Commander Keeli. Both clone and Jedi were exhausted, but neither was willing to give up and retreat. A little to the left, Ragout seemed much better than them, jumping and dashing amidst the droids, cutting them down and reflecting their lasers.
”General! They are breaking through the left flank!”
Quickly, General Do analyzed their options in his head. There was a mountain range to their right, so they were safe from attacks from that direction, at least until the right flank held strong. However, if the left flank fell, the droid army would be able to split the Republic's troops, and systematically eliminate them. It was one of the favorite Separatist strategies.