Chapter 253 - Here We Go Again (1/2)

”What is it, Dageer?”

Boss looked at the commander, impatiently waiting for him to say why he wanted to talk in particular. There was an invasion going on, and they couldn't waste time.

Dageer, on the other hand, seemed almost absent-minded, which was very uncommon. Boss rarely saw a clone more focused than Dageer. The commander could face an entire droid company without even flinching, and more than once, had sustained a wound in exchange for killing a clancker. To see him now, daydreaming, was surprising, to say the least.

”Dageer?”

”Yes. Sorry, brother. It's just... You felt it too, didn't you? The chancellor, there is something about him...”

”Careful, Dageer. Those are dangerous grounds.”

Dageer shook his head. By Boss' reaction, he was sure the clone commando had the same doubts as him. Still, none of them could put the finger on what it was, exactly.

”Forget it. Let's go.”

...

”Here you are! Boss, Delta Squad is waiting for you the other gunship. Dageer, Hell Squad is on this one.”

The lower hangar was bustling with activity, as pilots, crewmen, engineers, troopers, Jedis, and droids walked from one side to the other, prepping Laats, Y-Wings, and V-Wings.

Many sh.i.p.s were already taking off, and Dageer quickly got into his, while Boss nodded to Ragout , and entered another Laat.

”We are ready to go. Oddball, take off. Fly low, you will just drop us and return.”

”Yes, general.”

The doors of the gunship closed, and it left the Venator-class cruiser. Several calculated attacks were hitting many parts of Geonosis, all so the main force could strike the factories where Poggle the Lesser was hiding. However, if Hell Squad and Delta Squad didn't deal with the anti-aircraft turrets, hundreds, maybe even thousands of sh.i.p.s would be shot down before they could even get near the rendezvous point.

Dageer put on his helmet, and held onto the straps hanging from the ceiling. It would be a rough landing, that was for sure. The red lights flashed, indicating that they had entered the atmosphere.

”Here we go again.”

Dageer grinned when he heard Cell. All the members of Hell Squad had been in the First Battle Of Geonosis, so this brought back memories. Even though only a year and a half had passed, it seemed a lifetime away.

”Just like the old times. Let's just hope we don't crash this time.”

”Crash? You never talked about the start of the war. What happened?”

Ragout couldn't help but ask. He only met Hell Squad after Mon Cala, and that was a few months after the Clone Wars had started. Before that, he was still training at the Jedi Temple, and wasn't even a padawan yet.

”You weren't at the first assault, right, general? Back then, Hell Squad wasn't a special unit yet. Me, Brain, Tech, and Three-four were already on Hell Squad, but we were just a normal unit. Cell, Dab, and Metal only joined us later.”

”And what about the crash?”

”Even though the seppies weren't expecting us, they still had a lot of defenses in position. Our Laat was hit, and we lost our sergeant. Pilots were also down. We did our best to hold on, but we still lost many men when we crashed. To tell the truth, we were lucky anybody survived at all. And, to make matters worse, there were countless clanckers between us and the command post where we were supposed to land.”

”Well, that sounds like it was fun.”

”It had its moments. The commander took down an AAT, and I had to put his shoulder back in place. Haha...”

Dageer felt like cursing Three-four and the others when he heard them laughing. Back then, it hadn't been so simple as they made it sound now. It was only after a battle was over that one could be so carefree about it. In the midst of it, all Dageer could think was about his brothers dying, and the seppies in front of him.