Chapter 221 - Paying Respect (1/2)

Dageer stopped beside a body. The clone was laying on a rock, facing the ground. His arms dangled around when Dageer moved him, and he almost seemed alive for a moment.

”Frit.”

The cheerful trooper had received almost ten lasers to the chest before he died. His blaster was next to him, and Dageer picked it up and put it on Frit's hands. No clone would like to die without his weapon. It was a representation of what they faced, and how they behaved before their deaths, and it was also a sort of superstition.

No one in this galaxy knew what happened after one died, and there were thousands of millions of theories. Clones didn't even have the time to create an explanation. It didn't matter. Frit and the others died a valiant death, and they deserved this kind of respect. Since he couldn't bring their bodies back to Kamino, that was the least Dageer could do.

”They... Did all of that?”

Miwy's shutter brought Hell Squad back to the present. They had all been roaming around, looking at their dead brothers, and remembering them. It wasn't the first time they saw something like this, and it wouldn't be the last. However, it was... different.

When the Twi'lek called them, they finally looked at the battlefield as a whole. It was true that the 303rd had gone down in battle, but they weren't alone. The price of their deaths was the destruction of more than a thousand clanckers.

The broken remains of B1 and B2 droids made for a sharp contrast with the white and brown armor of the 303rd. The more they walked, the more droids they saw. Their metallic carcasses pilled up, side by side with the clones they were fighting.

Suddenly, Metal stopped, and Miwy almost stumbled into him. Ignoring her, the clone knelt, and picked up a helmet. It was broken, scorched, and dirty. However, the two painted horns on it were unforgettable.

”S-Sir...”

Dageer walked over to him, and pulled the helmet of Metal's grasp. The clone's fingers held onto it for a moment, not willing to let go.

Dageer looked at the broken visor of Commander Keeli's helmet. The helmet he knew so well. Suppressing a sigh, he glanced around. It was easy to spot Commander Keeli's body. A pile of droids laid around him, bigger than any other.

His dear DC-17s were next to him, and he had his eyes closed. If it wasn't for the laser marks on his chest armor, he might look like he was just sleeping. Unfortunately, he wasn't.

General Di wasn't too far away from Commander Keeli. Contrarily to the commander, there were almost no droids near his body. They all seemed to have been pushed away, certainly by a last exhibition of the Force the Jedi used.

There was a peaceful smile on General Di's face. When Dageer got close to him, he noticed his comlink blinking. The Nikto must have received the news that the freedom fighters got their much-needed supplies.

”Let's go.”

Turning to the other clones, Dageer gestured towards the two bodies. They picked them up quietly, and left the valley. It was a place of death, and it would remain like that for a long time. Much later, the bodies would be rescued, not only there, but in all of Ryloth. Or at least what remained of them. There were many creatures on the planet that didn't care whether their prey was dead or alive.

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”Dageer. Are those... they?”

Ragout watched as Hell Squad entered the hideout in their speeders, two bodies hanging carefully on them.

Dageer stopped his BARC speeder in front of the young Togruta, lifting a cloud of dust. Clones and Twi'leks surrounded the speeders, the freedom fighters murmuring curiously, the troopers silent in respect and grief.

”Yes, general.”