Chapter 223 - Discipline (1/2)

A few hours before Syndulla and the survivors returned, Dageer was startled to see his comlink suddenly light up. For the past few days, it had been inactive, since the seppies were jamming long-distance communications, but the comlink clearly indicated that the transmission was from far away.

He tapped it quickly, and transferred the message to his hologram projector. An image of General Skywalker appeared. It wasn't live, and there were several moments when interference made it almost impossible to understand, but Dageer was sure it was real. The codes used were known only to a few, himself included.

”Padawan... Out. Hold tight, there are... Fleets going to... Loth. Help will arr... Soon.”

At this moment the transmission broke off really badly, probably a sign that the Separatist blockade had discovered it, and was trying to intercept the contents.

”... Outside Nabat. You... Garrison... Clear landi...”

The hologram disappeared. Judging by how long the transmission was, General Skywalker probably had been alerted that the seppies were about to eavesdrop his message, and ended it.

Although it was very fragmented, and most parts were impossible to understand, the purpose of the transmission was still clear. General Skywalker, and possibly another Jedi, had finally arrived to help Ryloth. Unfortunately, they were a few days too late. The 303rd was gone, and, although Dageer didn't know that at the moment, so were the freedom fighters. The battles that General Skywalker was going to fight would be to conquer Ryloth, not protect it.

Shaking his head, Dageer quickly found Ragout, and showed him the message. From what General Skywalker said at the start, Ragout fished out something that Dageer hadn't noticed. General Skywalker talked specifically to Ragout, not General Di. That meant the Jedi Council - and, consequently, the Republic - already knew that the Jedi was dead. And General Di's death meant the death of the 303rd. As such, the Jedi Council had to be confident in their ability to take back Ryloth, knowing that they wouldn't have a lot of support from the ground.

”What do you think about Master Skywalker's request?”

The newly-appointed commander frowned hard, and grimaced in pain when the small movement caused the cuts and wounds in his head hurt. His scar was red and swollen, because it had opened again more than once during the many battles. That was one of the reasons why he was using his helmet less recently.

”It is dangerous. We have fifty-eight troopers in condition to fight. It probably is enough to take on a small garrison. Besides, we don't have to hold it, just make sure that gunsh.i.p.s can land. From there onwards, the job will be in the 501st hands.”

”I feel a but. What is it?”

”We will have to time it perfectly.”

Dageer pulled out his hologram projector again, and showed a diagram and a map of Nabat. The city wasn't as big as Lessu, but it was still huge. However, Dageer wasn't focused on it, but on the relay station outside it. It was fifty kilometers away from the town, and would be ideal for the Republic troops to land.

”If we take it too late, the gunsh.i.p.s will be gunned down. If we attack too early, Tambor's forces on Nabat will come to reinforce it, and we will all be killed.”

”Uhmm... Is it possible to take down the clanckers in there without alerting Nabat?”

”I doubt it. According to our data - and that is a few days old, so a lot could have changed - there should be roughly one hundred and twenty seppies. With sixty clones, we can take them easily, but it will be difficult to do that silently. If it is just Hell Squad, though...”

”No. With Brain and Three-four badly wounded, you are two men short. Besides, you are a commander now. I need you here. No. We will do as you said, and attack it when the time is right. For now... Uhm... We have to leave. We are too far from Nabat, and we need to be ready to invade that relay base at any moment. Also...”

”Syndulla is probably going to be angry with you, right? You shouldn't bother with him, general.”

”I know. But you also know I can't do that. I'm a Jedi, Dageer. Or I will be someday.”