Unstable Battle

"Go, go, go!!!"

Dageer felt the wind passing by his helmet as he looked outside the escape pod, now with it's door opened. Below him, just four meters away, was a massive Providence-class Dreadnought.

Although they had slowed down the pods as much as they could, they were still going pretty fast. Not enough to kill Hell Squad when they jumped, but it would still hurt.

After hesitating for a second, Dageer took a deep breath, and gave the order. A second later, he himself dropped down, already in a ball-like shape, so he could soft his landing.

It hurt like hell. Usually, falling a four meters drop would cause pain. Falling a four meters drop from a moving ship - or pod - caused a lot more pain. Air left his lungs because of the impact, and his ribs came dangerously close to cracking. Around him, Hell Squad's members felt the same.

However, no matter how much pain he felt, Dageer's decision to jump had been the right one. The moment the escape pods crashed on the dreadnought, they became piles of burning metal.

When he got up, Dageer's first reaction was to check his shoulder. He had dislocated and broken it once, so it wouldn't be a surprise if it happened again. Thankfully, it hadn't.

"Anyone hurt?"

"I don't think so."

"Tech, you don't have a helmet. How is your head?"

"I'm okay, commander. See, Metal? It wasn't so bad, was it?"

The moment Tech opened his mouth, a Republic starfighter fired two missiles, hitting the dreadnought. The entire ship shook, and tilted to the left.

Hell Squad was thrown off their feet by the sudden movement, and started sliding down the already curved exterior of the ship. Dageer had a glimpse of the ground, eleven kilometers below him.

"Grab something!"

His hand closed around a cable, and he came to an abrupt stop. Metal and Cell both grabbed the same cable as him, and the other members of Hell Squad found something to hold on to. Thankfully, although the dreadnought had tilted to the side, it soon got back into it's normal position. The missiles, mostly stopped by the shields, only left scorched marks on the ship.

"Dab, find us an entry point!"

Now that the Separatist ship was back to it's normal position, and they were all back on their feet, Dageer wanted to get inside as quickly as possible. It wasn't a nice feeling, staying outside a ship in the middle of a battle.

"There is a hatch over there. Tech?"

"On it."

Along every big ship, there were always several entrances or exits, used to effectuate emergency repairs. The hatch that Dab found was one of those. However, since it was a warship, the entrance was secured, and it would take a few seconds for Tech to open it.

"Clanckers incoming!"

Hearing Three-four yell, Dageer turned around, and saw several dozens of the new type of B2 droid flying towards them. The dreadnought's sensors had discovered them.

"Tech, hurry up!"

"It is encrypted, sir! I need a few more seconds!"

While he told Tech to work faster, Dageer turned to face the droids. Aside from being slimmer and having black paint - and jetpacks in their backs - they were very similar to the normal B2 units.

Facing dozens of them in an open space with no cover - the sky - Hell Squad would have problems if Tech didn't get them inside soon.

It was quite difficult to hit the seppies when they were flying, but Hell Squad almost never missed a shot. Metal was especially impressive. His blaster was spewing blue lasers, making up for the lack of aim in quantity. Seven or eight droids died to him alone, falling to the ground, kilometers away. Adding his kills to Hell Squad's, they had taken down almost two dozen B2-RPs before the clanckers could even get close to them.

Unfortunately, the moment they did, Hell Squad started to be overwhelmed by their numbers. With no cover available, it was just a matter of time before one of them got hit. To make matters worse, the dreadnought had started to move forward, to attack position, and their footing got even more unstable.

"Tech, we really need you to be quick!"

"I'm trying my best! The seppies don't leave their ships open for us!"

"Try harder!"

Dageer took a step to the side, dodging a red laser, and, at the same time, firing back, hitting the clancker who shot it in the thrusters, sending him spiraling in the sky before exploding.

"Come on, come on, come on... Yes! I got it! Three-four, pull that lever!"

The medic didn't hesitate, and kicked the lever. The hatch opened, and he dove inside, followed by Tech, Cell, and Dab.

"Your turn, commander!"

"All right. Don't try to be a hero, Metal."

Having said that, Dageer also jumped inside the hatch. Rolling on the ground to dampen his fall, he found himself in the midst of his brothers. They were paying attention to both sides of the corridor they ended up in, to make sure no clancker was after them.

After confirming they were safe - at least for now - he looked up worriedly for a moment, hearing the sound of Metal's double barrel repeating blaster. A second later, he saw the clone jump down, unharmed. The top of the hatch was showered in red lasers, and Dageer quickly closed it. He didn't want the B2 units coming in after them. He was sure there would already be more than enough clanckers inside the ship.

"Let's move. We don't have a lot of time. Dab, Cel, Tech, you go in the front. Metal, Three-four, and I will take the rearguard."

The troopers nodded, and started moving. The tactical droid they were looking for wouldn't be anywhere else than in the command bridge.

...

"Stop right there! Bzzz... You are under ar... Ahhh!!!"

The head of the droid sergeant popped off it's socket when Dageer fired his pistol at point-blank. His left hand grabbed the E-5 the clancker was holding before it even fell to the ground, and he used it to take out three more seppies. He would have preferred to have his vibroblade by his side - slicing droids was oddly satisfying - but he would make do with what he had.

The other five members of Hell Squad followed behind him, quickly destroying the patrol that had just turned a corner.

After stepping over the clancker bodies, they faced a circular door. It wasn't the first time Dageer had seen one of those.

"Okay, the tac clancker is behind that door. Only crew and two dozen B1s should be with him. We will do as usual. Tech, you open it up. Dab and Cell, cover the left. Metal, you take the right. Brain..."

Dageer suddenly trailed off as he realized what he was about to say. It would take to time to get used to Brain not being there with them.

Seeing that their commander had frozen, the clones looked at one another until Three-four finally broke the silence.

"I will give support."

"Good. I will be first to enter. Tech, you are up."

"All right."

The clone connected his datapad to the door panel. Unknowingly, he also got access to what was being said inside the command bridge. It was mostly clanckers reporting numbers, but one conversation caught his attention.

"Sir, you should listen to this."