Seizing The Initiative

"Goodbye, brother."

Dageer closed his eyes, and then opened them again. He ended his salute, and turned around to Hell Squad. They all had their helmets on, but Dageer could feel their sadness. Not only had Rozal been a good friend, but his death also meant that the fight finally got to Ryloth.

Looking at the C-9979 Landing Crafts, Dageer quickly counted. Initially, there were fifty of them, but Steel Battalion had taken down nine, at the cost of their lives. If each C-9979 carried between fifteen hundred and two thousand B1 battle droids, then they had to cope with just less than ninety thousand clanckers. Plus, there would also be B2 super battle droids, Droidekas, AATs, MTTs and what else.

That meant each trooper had to kill seven or eight droids, and that was without the Separatist reinforcing their troops on the ground, which was highly probable.

"Dageer!"

"Here, general."

Dageer pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, and walked to the front of the freedom fighters. Lessu was already in sight, and Dageer could see a group of clone transports going towards them.

General Di had a serious look on his face as he talked with Cham Syndulla.

"Prepare your people, Syndulla. The battle will start today."

For once, Syndulla didn't disagree. He urged his people to walk faster, and soon, most of them were on the Republic transports.

"Master Di, I will distribute my people to your defenses. I hope that together we can stop the Separatist."

"That is all I hope for too, Syndulla. Dageer!"

"Yes, general?"

"Prepare Hell Squad. I'm sure you already saw how many droids we are up against. If we can dwindle their numbers before they can set up a proper outpost, then things will be easier."

"I understand, general. I think we should choose a few more soldiers to go with us."

"Do it."

Dageer turned on his comlink, and contacted Lieutenant Fondor.

"Sub-commander, sir."

"Fondor, the seppies arrived. We are going to give them a welcome party. I need twenty troopers. You have ten minutes. Also, tell that to Commander Keeli. He might wanna join."

"Yes, sir."

Syndulla looked surprised. He saw with his own eyes the 303rd fleet being torn apart, and the number of troops the Separatist had thrown into the planet. He couldn't believe that the Nikto actually wanted to attack them, instead of taking a passive position.

"Wh-What? Master Di, are you crazy? There must be fifty thousand droids there! How can you even think of attacking them?"

"More like a hundred thousand, Syndulla. But they won't all be in the same place. Instead, they will scatter around the planet, and try to conquer the major cities. Dageer, contact our troops and order them to do the same. Hit and run tactics, just like on Mon Cala."

"Yes, general."

"That is still craziness! You will all be killed!"

"No, we won't. Our objective is to blow up a few ships, kill a few droids. The longer we delay, the better our odds at receiving reinforcements and winning."

At this moment, a group of clones came from Lessu on a Laat. Leading them was Commander Keeli, his armor brown and dusty thanks to all the time he spent on the outposts in the last few days.

Dageer saluted Commander Keeli from a certain distance while General Di went to speak with him. Cham Syndulla held Dageer back to ask him a question.

"Do we really have a chance at winning?"

Dageer looked at the freedom fighter, and saw fear in his eyes for the first time ever. Maybe before, when he hadn't seen the might of the Separatist, he thought they were just tin cans. Now, however, he knew what they were up against, and, for the first time, Syndulla realized that maybe they couldn't win.

"No. But I guarantee you, Syndulla, we won't let them take Ryloth so easily. Now, even if we were ordered to retreat and leave Ryloth, I don't believe we would be able to escape. But remember, don't tell your people that. We are soldiers, dying in battle is normal for us. But for your freedom fighters, they might crumble if they know there is no hope."

Dageer said all that whispering, making sure that the surrounding Twi'leks didn't hear them talking. Syndulla looked at him surprised. He clearly wasn't expecting Dageer to be this harsh.

"Aren't you afraid that I will just take my people and leave you all by yourselves?"

"Ha! To tell you the truth, Syndulla, you could leave me alone, and I would still fight the clanckers."

"Why?"

Dageer sneered, and looked up to the sky, where the Separatist fleet was now retreating. They had clearly completed their first objective, which was to get droids on the ground, but they would be back soon.

"Because I knew every clone on those ships up there. I fought side by side with them countless times. They were my brothers. And no one kills my brothers and get away like that."

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"Twelve troop carriers came our way, general."

General Di nodded to Lieutenant Fondor. Since Lessu was the capital, it would surely be heavily targeted. Commander Keeli turned to Dageer.

"Get Cell to scout ahead."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait. Miwy will go too."

Syndulla interrupted them, and pushed the Twi'lek forward. Although she seemed unhappy to work with a clone, she didn't complain.

Syndulla had decided to go with the Republic to ambush the newly arrived droids. To do that, he brought ten of his freedom fighters. Dageer suspected he only wanted to make sure the Republic was telling the truth, and that the number if clanckers really was this overwhelming.

"Okay, but she has to follow Cell's orders. He is the best scout the 303rd have. If she does as he says, the chances of them being captured are smaller."

General Di quickly agreed to Syndulla's request. It was clear he wasn't in the mood to discuss.

"I am not going to follo..."

"Yes, you are, Miwy."

The beautiful Twi'lek looked angry, but only scoffed. She knew better than to disobey Syndulla.

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Cell gave a side glance to Miwy, and turned back to the path. The woman hadn't said anything since they left the others behind. However, he had to admit she was a good scout, since she made almost no sound when she moved. If she had received proper training, then she would be better than Cell.

"R8-V6, secure the... perimeter."

"What is th..."

"Shhh!!!"

Cell used his left hand to shut Miwy's mouth, while aiming his DC-15S at the direction of the sound. A patrol of six B1 units passed right past them, but since they hid in time, they weren't detected.

After the patrol was gone, Cell released Miwy, who looked ashamed. Apparently, she knew her mistake could have killed them.

Going on quietly, Cell and the Twi'lek soon arrived at the Separatist outpost after dodging several patrols.

"Oh no!"

This time Cell didn't stop Miwy. Things really were looking grim. Cell used his binoculars to do a quick count on the number of enemies.

"Let's go."

"Already?"

"I know what we are against. We need to tell the general quickly."

Using some techniques he learned when he trained to be a scout, Cell was able to tell almost exactly how many droids there were.

...

As soon as the two returned, all the officers in the mixed group surrounded them. General Di motioned for Cell to talk.

"Eighteen thousand B1 units and a couple hundred B2 super battle droids. I didn't see any Droidekas nor commandos, but there is a weird crab-like droid."

"What about vehicles?"

"Then things get really bad, general. They brought out the big toys."