Struggle To Survive

A very surprised droid watched as a clone climbed the trench, and appeared before him. Even more surprised, the B1 unit saw a black blade, almost a sword, stab his chest, and appear on his back.

The vibroblade wasn't a lightsaber, so it couldn't cut through metal like it was nothing. It was also quite short, about thirty centimeters long. But it was sharp enough to cut into the B1 battle droid and server it's circuits.

So, after Dageer stabbed the droid, he turned it around, and hid behind it. At the same time, he grabbed the E-5 the clancker was holding. E-5s were inferior to the DC-15As or DC-15Ss of the Republic, but it would get the job done.

Dragging the dead droid with him to cover his body, Dageer advanced, following the trench line. Every second, dozens of lasers hit the droid, almost dismembering it. However, it wasn't the first time Dageer had done that, and he knew exactly what he had to do to keep his body hidden.

He killed two dozen droids, and walked a good one hundred meters before he ran out of ammunition. He was using the E-5 with just one hand, so he wasn't able to reload.

Dropping the droid, he rolled back into the trench. His arm and shoulder ached as he put weight on them to get up, but he once more ignored it. It would make the wound worse in the long run, but now he didn't have how or where to bandage it.

The trench line wasn't very big, about three hundred meters long. Both sides of it ended in a cliff wall, so there was no risk of the Republic being flanked by the seppies. Therefore, when Dageer killed the droids in this hundred meters of land - at least the ones on the front, because there were a few thousand following behind them - the clones found the window they needed to fight back.

The AT-TEs and AT-APs were wreaking havoc in the clanckers' ranks, the skilled gunners taking down AATs one after another. Surprisingly accurate Twi'leks sharpshooters laid on top of crates and rocks and fired their blasters without stop.

"Sir! Good to see you here? Are you having fun?"

Dageer saw the rest of Hell Squad crowded together inside a deep part of the trench as several Dwarf-Spider droids and Crab-droids concentrated their fire on their position. Cell, as always, seemed unaffected by the situation.

"Some. Keep the defense going. Yate, Tae, I need you to go along the trench line, and talk to the freedom fighters. They are losing their will to fight."

The blue Twi'lek, Yate, spit on the ground. Clearly, he didn't like the idea of following Dageer's orders. Tae Boon, however, pushed Yate. He knew how important it was for them to keep fighting, and as leaders of the freedom fighters, it was their job to motivate the freedom fighters.

"Leave it to..."

The head of Tae swung to the side, as if he had been punched. His body stayed up for a few seconds, while the clones and Yate watched without reaction. Then, Tae crumbled, and fell to the ground. A scorched circle appeared in the side of his head, and the smell of burned meat drifted into their noses.

"Tae!!!"

Clearly, Yate and Syndulla's son were much closer than Dageer initially thought. The Twi'lek knelt beside the dead body of his friend, and cried. The surrounding freedom fighters seemed lost, their eyes fixed in the serious expression in the face of who was once a leader of their people.

"Dab!"

"On it!"

"Metal, Brain, Tech, with me!"

Dageer quickly gave orders, almost ignoring the death of Tae. He quite liked the Twi'lek, and if he had the chance, he wouldn't be so heartless, but they were in the middle of a battle. So, Dageer ruthlessly pulled Yate up, while Dab found the killer of Tae and shot him down.

The clones that Dageer called followed him, bringing Yate with them, all the while covering their sub-commander.

Before Yate could complain or say anything, Dageer put a blaster in his hands, and aimed it at the droids.

"Tae is gone, Yate! You need to go around the trench, get your people to fight, or more will die just like him!"

However, Yate seemed to be in shock. He just stared straight ahead, and mumbled, so the clones had to pull him back down before he was killed.

"All hope is lost... All hope..."

"I think he isn't going to help, sir."

"I can see it. Forget him, let's move. Brain and Tech, fire at will. Cell, Three-four!"

"Over here, sir!"

"Any seppie that gets near us will be your responsibility."

"It's our pleasure. Haha..."

"Dab, use your charged shot and anything else you have, and kill the Dwarf-Spiders and crabs. If you can't do that, then aim at the B2s."

"Yes, sir."

"Metal, remember our training? When a window opens, blast those damn clanckers."

"Hahaha... Leave it to me."

Dageer looked around, and saw Hell Squad getting in position. Whenever the droids stopped firing for a second, Dab and the others would cover Metal as the heavy machine gunner swiped the front rows of the Separatist army, killing dozens of droids each time. If one watched the battle from above, they would be able to see that the droid army, which looked like a compact block before, now had a big incision on one of the sides, as hundreds of droids were killed by the coordination of Hell Squad, 303rd clones, and Twi'leks.

"Shield, I need a report. How are we looking?"

Dageer walked towards Lieutenant Shield, and crouched beside him. The clone had a nasty wound in his neck, and the white bandage on top of it was red with his blood.

"Not too good, sir. We have about fifteen hundred troops remaining, between freedom fighters and us. The clanckers probably lost two to three thousand units, so they have about five thousand remaining. Those bombers got us bad."

"All right. Keep fighting, but organize the troops. We will fall back soon."

"Understood."

To tell the truth, Dageer wasn't sure they were going to retreat soon or anything, but it wasn't General Di's style to fight till the very bitter end. Usually, they would retreat and ambush the droids, or fight where they had better defenses.

"They are here again!"

"Get down! Find cover!"

He was pulled back from his thoughts as two Hyena-class bombers appeared once more. This time, however, they had a clear objective, and weren't just aimlessly dropping bombs.

Dageer watched in despair as a portion of their supply deposit was blasted into nothingness. They were already low on medical supplies before, now, those were mostly gone, and for a time, even food and water would become a problem.

One of the bombers received a direct hit from an AT-TE, and exploded in midair. Its debris fell on the Separatist troops below, crushing a few of them. Unfortunately, they had already done their job.

To make things worse, the second bomber was hit on it's left wing, and spun out of control, crashing in the cliffside directly behind the AT-TE that fired at it. A huge piece of rock crumbled, and fell on top of the vehicle. The six legs weren't able to hold, and broke one after another. Both pilot, crew, and gunner were dead before the AT-TE blew up.