To Christophsis Once More

"How is your hand, general?"

Ragout lifted his arm, and showed his right hand dangling uselessly. There was no pain on his face, only a deep frown, as if the broken wrist was an inconvenience more than anything.

"Nothing much. Also, those were some pretty impressive skills, back there. Maybe I should convince Master Yoda to give you a lightsaber. Haha..."

"Hum..."

Dageer grinned when he heard Ragout joking. A lightsaber was an impressive weapon, that's for sure. However, Dageer still preferred his vibroblade. There was almost no resistance when slicing something with a lightsaber, so it wasn't as pleasant as the blunt impact of a vibroblade.

"Haha... Oh, I wish I could have seen it."

"Commander Dageer, of Hell Squad, uses a lightsaber to beat a Sith. Imagine what the others will think when we tell them."

"Imagine what Hunter will think! Haha!"

"He ought to be jealous, that's for sure."

"Hahahaha..."

By the way his brothers were talking, Dageer knew it would be useless to tell then to shut up. Even Ragout laughed out loud when he saw the stern commander shaking his head powerless.

"You won't let me forget that, will you?"

"Nope."

"Not a chance, sir."

Hell Squad laughed, and Dageer let them have their fun for a few seconds. It was rare for clones to have such carefree moments. Then, he helped Ragout up, and told the Jedi to go to the medical bay.

"As for the rest of you, clean this mess up. Lieutenant, we probably killed or captured all of them, but search the rest of the ship to make sure."

"Yes, sir. Spir, Tompt, with me!"

While his orders were followed, Dageer picked up the two halves of his vibroblade, and stared at them for a moment. This was his fourth one - maybe fifth? Anyway, he needed to find a new one, since this one was now scrap metal. Throwing it to the side, he left the cargo bay.

------------------------

Christophsis was a beautiful planet. Dageer had never thought of anywhere other than Kamino as beautiful before. For him, no matter where, it was just another battlefield. However, with it's high buildings, made of dark blue crystal, and the streets made of the same material, Christophsis was a sight to behold. It would have been better if there weren't columns of smoke rising every few hundred meters, collapsed buildings, and dead clones and droids everywhere.

Like many others, the planet was in shambles because of the constant bombardments and clashes between the Republic and the Separatist. In fact, it got to a point where a meeting was held between the two sides, and the use of Hyena-class bombers and Y-Wings was forbidden. Although there were no rules in war, if one side broke this small treaty, the other would retaliate tenfold. And Christophsis was too important to both of them, so none could afford to provoke the anger of the natives more than the countless civilian deaths already did.

"Land there!"

Dageer tapped the Laat's pilot's shoulder, and pointed to some kind of garden. The plants were all dead, and the ground was covered by clone footprints. The fountain that once adorned the garden was broken in half.

Before the gunship touched the ground, Dageer swung the door open, and jumped out. Hell Squad followed him, and Dageer made a circle with his fingers, signaling the pilot to take off again.

"With me."

Quietly, the seven soldiers made their way through the destroyed city. Even though they were in Republic controlled territory, they were very careful. They were nearing the advanced command center - they couldn't land straight there or their aircraft would get shot down - which was very close to the frontlines, so groups of clanckers could sometimes appear.

"We are being watched, commander."

"Civilians. Ignore them."

Dageer had also noticed it. After so many battles, veterans gained some kind of sixth-sense. It was easy to notice when they were being stared at. However, he had long lowered his macrobinoculars and found that several natives were peeking at them from their half-destroyed homes. Even if some of them looked at the clones in anger, it didn't affect Dageer.

"I thought the city had been evacuated?"

"The rich and powerful were. As for the average people, apparently their government thought they weren't important enough. Also, where would they go? The entire planet is a battlefield."

Hell Squad was all too familiar with this kind of situation. They had seen it in Mon Cala, Kashyyyk, Ryloth, Felucia, and many other places. While those with power and connections went to enjoy their lives somewhere else, the rest of the population had to suffer the consequences of war on their own. When the battle was over, and things returned to a somewhat normal state, those who left would come back, and grab the chance to take over businesses, properties, and everything else, from those who died or had their lives destroyed.

If he was asked, Dageer couldn't tell what he thought about all this. It was all another unfortunate consequence of the terrible war, while he was but a soldier in it. All he needed was that someone gave him a blaster and pointed him at the enemy. He has no interest in politics or anything of the like. And he didn't have time to help those who lost something because of the war, no matter how much pity they invoked.

Walking through the destroyed city, they started to see more and more of their brothers. They all saluted Hell Squad before returning to what they were doing.

Eventually, they arrived at the moving platform that was the command center. A captain named Arbol was waiting for them.

"I had been informed General Ragout would be with you, Commander Dageer."

"One of the natives wanted to have a meeting with him. A governor or something like that. He will come when he is finished. What is the situation here?"

"Complicated, sir. The seppies have retreated for the day, but they managed to take back fourteen kilometers today. They switched tactics, and we were caught by surprise."

Dageer frowned when he heard Captain Arbol. Fourteen kilometers didn't seem like much in a battle of planetary scale, but any meter lost was a huge blow to morale.

"For how long has this been going on?"

"Almost a week, sir. It's always something different, and we don't have enough men or time to prepare for everything. Today they left groups of seppies ambushed in buildings we had already searched, and they attacked us from behind. Yesterday two commando droids suicide bombed our vehicles, putting four AT-TEs out of use. And the day before that they let us advance a little to then ambush our rearguard. And it goes on. Every day they do something different. Even if we can predict all their options, we can't be sure of which one they are going to choose, and we don't have enough resources to create countermeasures for everything."

The captain seemed to be in distress, and his voice got louder as he talked. Dageer could understand the pressure he was on.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, Dageer squeezed it slightly, and told Captain Arbol to go rest that he would take control for now. After hesitating a little, he obeyed.

"So, what do you think?"

"Probably the same as you, sir. Either the seppies got better at building tactical droids, or they got a new strategist."

"Yup."

"I agree. Cell, when the battle resumes tomorrow, I want you and Dab to take a platoon and clean one of the buildings. It doesn't matter which, as long as you have a line of sight to their frontlines. After you get to the top, send the platoon back, and stay put. Don't show yourselves unless necessary."

"Roger that, commander. What's the plan?"

"I'm not sure yet. The others, we will try to capture a high-ranking clancker. A captain or something. After Tech hacks it, we will decide our next move."