Never Again

"Don't you think you were a bit too harsh with him, general? He almost fainted with fear. Haha!"

"Bah! He deserves it. Who knows how many more of us would have to fight and die because of his little schemes. He wouldn't last a minute in a battle."

Hell Squad laughed loudly, while Ragout limited himself to a grin. The clones knew him all too well. Not for a moment had they believed that the Togruta would imprison Omé based on false accusations. He had too much of his master's righteousness and the Jedi Order's mentality to do so. In fact, of all the threats he made to the Christophsian governor, the only real one was that he had already talked to the officers in his army.

"Commander, what do you think?"

"That we have a battle tomorrow that we are almost certainly going to lose. Quit joking around, and go prepare. Now."

Dageer's words were like a bucket of cold water being poured on one of their rare moments of fun. They were so unprepared for it that they had to stop and look at him. The seriousness in his voice, and the darkness in his eyes assured them he wasn't joking. Something had made Dageer very angry, although they didn't know what.

"Yes, sir!"

Not daring to disobey, Hell Squad left. Before they did so, Brain knocked on his helmet, a worried and questioning look on his face. To that, Dageer only nodded.

When there was no one else in sight, the commander turned to face Ragout. He knew that from the moment his mood had taken a turn, the Jedi had sensed it. It was inevitable that he would make inquiries.

"Something has been troubling you, Dageer, from the moment Omé opened his mouth. What is it? And don't tell me it's just your normal worries. I know you too well."

"Haha... You really do, general... It's... Uff..."

"Say it."

Dageer's eyes were on Ragout, but it was obvious to the Jedi that his mind was elsewhere entirely.

"This is too similar to Ryloth, Ragout. Once again we are outnumbered, outgunned, and about to be decimated. The Twi'leks we fought and died for left us that time, and the Christophsians almost did the same. Heck, they did do the same! Two hundred thousand poorly trained soldiers are the same as nothing."

The number of times Dageer called Ragout by his name, without his rank, could be counted in one hand. Each time it was when Hell Squad and he were at their lowest. That was enough to show the Jedi how overwhelmed the commander was feeling. And, unfortunately, he was right, like always.

"What will we do this time, sir? Run again? Leaving my brothers to die? You know Hell Squad can't do that. Not again. Not for a people that won't even fight for their own planet. At least Syndulla had the courage to do that."

"No... We won't run. This time we will fight to the very last man. If we are to die, we will do so together, and we will take as many of them as we can with us. A memorable end."

Dageer's eyes focused, and he took a deep breath. He was losing control of his emotions more and more often recently. He didn't care if Ragout saw it, but the others couldn't. For them, he had to, and he would, always be Commander Dageer, the one recognized as the best soldier in the Clone Army.

"Don't you try to convince me to escape once again, understood, trooper?"

"Hahaha... I wouldn't dare, general. Where you go, Hell Squad follows. Where you make your last stand, it's also where ours will be."

"It's good to hear that. And, Dageer? I swear to you, I won't let Ryloth happen again. Never."

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The next morning, the battle started as usual. Republic and Separatist clashed once again, dozens falling every minute. There was no sign of the Christophsian Army.

Surprisingly enough, the Republic was winning. That happened because Ragout had committed all their troops, including the rearguard and the reserve, to the defense. A dangerous tactic, because if even a single clancker squad pierced through their lines, they could cause a lot of damage. But it seemed to be working, since the droids were pushed back, row after row of B1 units being trashed, and vehicles being destroyed. Still, following Dageer's orders, the Clone Army didn't advance, but held their defensive positions.

As for the second Separatist army, that planned on attacking the clones from behind, only eight people waited for them.

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Hell Squad and Ragout waited for the enemy on one of the main roads. It was large enough for several AT-TEs to walk side by side, so when just the eight of them stood there, it looked quite empty.

They could feel hidden eyes staring at them from every direction. The civilians inside their apartments must be wondering why they were there, when the battle was raging a few kilometers away.

Finally, after over an hour, Cell whistled, and put down his binoculars.

"Here they come. A lot of them. But at least I only see B1s and B2s, no vehicles or anything bigger."

"Sixty thousand droids already make a lot of noise, vehicles would be detected easily."

Dageer and Ragout looked at each other, and the clone let out one of his rare grins. Putting on his helmet, he ran his fingers through the markings on his armor.

"You know we are probably going to die, right, general?"

"Yep. So what?"

"Nothing. Let's do it."

Laughing, Ragout dropped his robe, revealing the Jedi clothes underneath, and his lightsaber. Next to him, Hell Squad put on their helmets. He could feel their excitement, their desire for battle.

And so, all by themselves, they started walking towards the enemy army, under the astonished gazes of the civilians, and also from Omé, who was watching from afar.

"For the 303rd..."

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A blue-skinned Chiss watched as seven clones and a Togruta walked towards them. His expression was contorted into a frown. It didn't make sense. Nothing of it did.

"Bzzz... General Thrawn? Do we open... Bzzz... Fire?"

"No. Something is very wrong. Send an emissary. I want to hear the Jedi."

He was a brilliant strategist, but he couldn't see what the Jedi wanted to accomplish. He already had checked all the buildings dozens of blocks to either side, and no clones were hiding there. He also knew that all the Republic troopers were engaged with his own troops on the frontlines. Unless the Togruta wanted to parlay, he was just walking to his death. Still, that bothered Thrawn. He liked to be in control, and know everything, but this time this wasn't possible.

While he was furiously thinking, he first ordered his army to stop, for fear of walking into a trap. A B1 unit had already reached the eight enemies, and showed his hologram to them. The safest way to talk to a Jedi was over a distance.

"Master Ragout, I must admit you intrigue me. What exactly do you think you will accomplish by..."

"You are?"

Thrawn stuttered, not used to being so rudely interrupted. Still, he was a man of culture, and who cared a lot about his demeanor, so he recovered quickly.

"I am General Mitth'raw'nuroudo. You can call me General Thrawn."

"I suppose you are the one who has been giving me and my troops so much trouble this last month?"

"I am simply using some unorthodox tactics, Jedi Master. The soldiers under you aren't easy to deal with."

"Unorthodox tactics? Haha... That was a bit low, even for a seppie."

"There is no honor in war, Jedi."

"You are right on that. Dab?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Shoot him."