Chapter 231 - Carving A Path (1/2)

General Kenobi analyzed their options. Dageer was right when he said they couldn't totally believe the Twi'leks. He could feel a lot of fear in Lessu, and fear was a path to many darker emotions.

”Dageer is right, general. Civilians are too easily swayed. Before we take the city, they won't believe us, and will prefer to trust the seppies, even if that means living in fear. That happened more than once since the war started.”

The Jedi caressed his beard, frowning. Neither plan was perfect, but he trusted Commander Cody. If the clone was telling him that it was better to use brute strength to get past, then he believed him.

”Let's not waste any time then. Commander Dageer, you will lead the way. Cody, Waxer, and Kickback, you are the rearguard. Pay attention to any droids that might come behind us. Still, the big threat should be the droids in front of us.”

”Understood, general.”

”Yes, sir.”

Dageer grabbed his blaster, and crouched. He started running, staying as low as possible. Behind him, Hell Squad and General Kenobi followed. A few seconds later, he saw a section of the wall - already damaged from the battle when the Republic was on the defending side - crumble and fall, taking down several dozen droids with it.

It was almost at this moment too that the first droids came to their sight. There were seven of them, B1 units. Apparently, fearing an all-out attack by the Republic, the droids had concentrated near the gates of the city. Just a few scattered patrols remained on the way. On one hand, it was good, because it meant that they would face less opposition until they got near the bridge controls. On the other hand, they would have to face all those droids before they could get to the control room.

Well, there was nothing they could do other than go along with the flow. Dageer gestured for them to slow down, and the members of Hell Squad instinctively walked forward, leaving General Kenobi behind. The Jedi looked at them quite surprised, since he would usually be the one on the front, after all, he had a lightsaber.

Hell Squad, however, didn't need his help. Seven droids, seven clones. Dageer pulled out his vibroblade, and, when he was twenty meters away from the unsuspecting droids, started running. The clanckers heard him, and turned around, but Hell Squad was already on them.

Slashing down, Dageer sent the head of one of the droids flying in the air. The other clones used their normal strategy of putting their blasters around the droids necks, and twisting, breaking their joints.

In a few seconds, the seven droids were dead, and it was all done without a noise. The clones from the 212th watched in awe, finally understanding why Commander Cody said they shouldn't underestimate Hell Squad just because they were hurt.

Six more groups of droids were killed using the same tactic before something went wrong. One of the droids was able to let a shot out of his blaster before being killed, and that alerted the other clanckers. Usually, a laser fired in the midst of a battle of this proportion wouldn't attract much attention, after all, there were laser cannon shots being fired, and explosions happening everywhere. Bu not even the clanckers were stupid enough not to notice when a laser was randomly fired in a portion of the wall where the battle hadn't even arrived yet.

Seeing the red lasers coming in their direction in droves, General Kenobi took the lead, his blue lightsaber spinning. There was little to no cover on the wall, and in a situation like that, the best option was to advance, and don't look back.

”Keep going!”

The Jedi ran forward, his weapon slashing down, cutting three droids in half. Behind him, the clones pressed their triggers, taking down one droid after another.

...

Dageer saw a laser getting past General Kenobi's lightsaber, and pushed Waxer down. The laser, which would have hit the clone in the head, scratched his shoulder.

”Ugh... Thank you, commander.”

”On your feet, trooper. Keep moving!”

”Arghh!”

”Cody! Are you all right?!”

Dageer looked back to see that Commander Cody had been hit in the leg. With how many droids were in front of them now, Dageer doubted they could even arrive at the bridge controls building.