Suicide Squad

"Light! There is the exit!"

After more than an hour of walking, Dageer, Metal, Tech, Timer, Bliar and Captain Hilix finally saw a pale light at the end of the corridor. The green mist had dissolved as soon as the red crystal had been trapped, and the once straight, neverending, path that they had been following turned into a normal one, filled with twists and turns.

Dageer looked at his soldiers, more specifically at Timer. With his haste, he had forgotten about the clone's wrist, which he had broken himself. Now, with the red crystal safely locked on the belt he was holding, and when they were almost out of the Temple of Asheress, Dageer thought it was appropriate to tell the trooper what happened.

"Timer."

"Yes, sir?"

"Your hand... It was me. I'm sorry."

"I... I don't quite understand, sir?"

"When we were at that hall, this damn crystal was controlling you all. You touched it, and started screaming. I had to get it out of your hand, fast."

"I understand, sir."

Dageer knew that he didn't. It wasn't easy to cope with the pain of broken bones, and knowing that it was Dageer that did it, all the clone could do was stay silent. Unless one saw for himself what Dageer saw, they would always believe there was a better option, even if they were brothers.

An awkward silence followed the small interlude, but Dageer had already put his attention on something else. He could see the dark sky of Mygeeto, and that the light they were seeing wasn't from the sun, but from the clones outside. That was, however, impossible, because they had spent at least five or six hours inside the temple, and it should have already been day outside.

Mygeeto had thirty-six hours of nighttime, and only six of daytime, so Dageer really wanted to take advantage of it, and got as far of the temple as they could during the day. They had many injured, limited equipment, and no vehicles, meaning that they would slow down a lot during the night, when even seeing one own hand was difficult.

As soon as they left the temple, Captain Narza and the rest of Hell Squad went to meet them. They were looking weirdly at the clones that came out of the temple.

"Is there something wrong, sir? Do you need more men?"

Dageer shook his head. If he needed more men, than he wouldn't be out of the temple unharmed.

"Call back everyone, we are moving out. Did you send anyone looking for us? If so, call them too."

Brain staggered, and spoke very carefully. He seemed to think his superior was having some kind of trouble, and Dageer didn't like that. They had gone through too much for his men to doubt him.

"Ermm... sir? Why would we send anyone looking for you? It hasn't been twenty minutes since you entered the building."

This time it was Dageer who staggered. Twenty minutes? That was impossible. They had been walking for hours and hours inside the temple. However, at this moment he realized that above the mountains, traces of light started to appear, and were growing stronger. While he looked, the sun appeared in the sky, and Dageer knew that something was wrong. It was possible for Brain to be wrong about the time, although improbable. However, no one could change the cycle of the sun.

"You said twenty minutes? We spent hours in that damn place!"

"Sir? If the crystal could trap us in that endless corridor, maybe it also has changed our sense of time."

"Crystal? What crystal?"

Dageer ignored Cell, who had just arrived and was listening attentively, and thought about what Tech had said. It was the only reasonable explanation. Reasonable after everything Dageer had seen Ventress do, of course.

"Narza, Hilix, get everyone moving. Cell, lead a patrol ahead, scout the path. I want to know if Ventress and her droids are coming back. Brain, find me a map, or anything like that. Dab, you will be leading the vanguard with Lieutenant Hawk. Thartam?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You are in command of the medical unit. I want wounded in the middle. Prioritize those who can't walk, and those who are too wounded to go fast. We have to hurry, but I want no men left behind. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Metal and Tech, you are the rearguard."

"Yes, sir."

While Dageer was giving orders, Brain returned with a hologram projector, and showed a big map, but lacking on details. Dageer frowned.

"Is this the best we had?"

"The logistics building caught on fire during the combat, sir. Almost everything was lost. That was all we could gather."

Dageer analyzed the map, and rotated it. It showed a quarter of the planet, but only the main roads, cities, canyons, and mountains appeared. Thankfully, the temple was marked on it, so at least they knew where they were.

"The last known position of our troops was on Yamala, right here. That is also the direction that Ventress and her clanckers went. According to our battle plans, if we lost Yamala, we would retreat to this valley here."

Dageer traced a red line connecting the city and the valley, then another one connecting their position to the valley, but going around Yamala.

"We will go here, and hope that they are still there. Tech, I want you to try and fix our long-distance communicators."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, we have to suppose that Ventress will come after us. So, we are going to take the big turn right around... here."

He circled an area where a city connected to one of the main roads of the planet. A giant bridge crossed over a canyon, and a few more, smaller, also connected the two sides of the massive gorge.

"We will blow this bridge, and the others around it, in this sequence. And, if Ventress troops catch us before we can do that..."

Dageer lowered his voice, and the officers around him got closer, so the normal soldiers couldn't hear them talking.

"... a small group will stay behind and hold them off. We will discuss who only if that ever comes to happen, understood?"

All of them nodded seriously. Staying behind was obviously a suicide mission, a last resort so the others could survive. Nobody wanted that to happen, and preferred to only think about it when it was strictly necessary.

"Moving on. Timer, give me the detonator, and go see a medic. Your hand needs treatment. All right, everyone, let's move!"

Dageer got a loudspeaker from one of the soldiers, and got up on a crate.

"Brothers! The seppies thought that they could use us to dig out their things. Well, they thought wrong! Not only we escaped, but we are also going to give them a little something to remember us. Clear the area, pack your things, and let's find the rest of our brothers! Move! Move! Move!"

The soldiers had been prepared for a long time before Dageer warned them, and they all moved towards the exit of the valley. When no one was close, Dageer pressed the trigger. A chain of explosions caused snow to flutter in the air, and with a resounding 'boom', the Temple of Asheress, where they had been forced to work, disappeared amidst a cloud of smoke.