Broke: A Clone Wars Tale - Volume 1 Chapter 265 Super Weapon

“Do you know anything about what they are making you build?”

Guard shook his head to General Skywalker’s question. There was no way the seppies would tell the prisoners that, and no reason for. They only needed to work.

“No, sir. The clanckers only needed us for the jobs their broken circuits can’t process, like turning screws and so. You know us clones, general. We prefer to die than to do that, but…”

“They killed others as a warning.”

Guard and the other clones, including the members of Hell Squad, clenched their fists in anger, but Dageer knew it wasn’t that simple. Clones were born ready to die, and ready to witness their brothers die. Even if the seppies executed them one by one, they wouldn’t utter a word. They would rather die than yield. But there were worse ways to make a clone obey.

“Not only that. Every time we refused to do what they wanted, they would pull one of our brothers, and torture him for hours before throwing him back into the cell, almost dead. That happened again, and again, and again… We couldn’t watch them suffer.”

General Skywalker sighed. It wasn’t their fault.

“You did what you had to do to survive. Dead, you would be only numbers in the Republic’s reports. Alive, you can fight, and give the Separatist what they deserve.”

Hearing the Jedi, the clones straightened their backs, and their eyes flicked with determination. They had been feeling ashamed of themselves for giving in to the enemy, but they were true soldiers. They wouldn’t give up so easily, especially now that they had a chance to fight back.

“Just say what we have to do, General Skywalker. We have been waiting for quite some time to destroy those damn seppies.”

“I understand. However, for now, I need you to stay here, quietly. We will be back for you.”

The ex-prisoners nodded. They understood that a small group was needed for what General Skywalker and Hell Squad wanted to pull off.

After making sure there were no droids in the corridor, they left, and took the first elevators they found. They went down over forty floors before reaching the cells. Twenty floors of them, and countless clanckers as guards.

“Snips, how are you looking with the weapons system?”

A hushed voice answered General Skywalker. His padawan clearly was somewhere she had to be careful.

“We can deactivate it whenever you want us too, master. However, we will have to be fast, otherwise the droids will get it back up.”

“Okay. You stay put, Ahsoka. When it is time, I will tell you.”

After confirming that the other group was in position, General Skywalker turned to Dageer, and gestured towards the nearest patrol of clanckers. The droids were all B1 units, with red painting, and could also be called security droids.

Dageer nodded, showing he understood, and checked his blaster. Grinning, he made a signal for the two clones behind him. This was going to be fun.

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Brain was sitting on the ground, his back on the wall of the cell. Around him were twenty-one other clones, and a Sull.u.s.tan, member of a rebel group on the planet.

He had been in this prison, building whatever the Separatist were building, for over six months now. Like the others, he had refused at the start, but later, when his brothers were tortured one after another, he had given in.

Still, the spirit of a special unit had remained. He had used the few chances he got to find out about what the hell the clones were being forced to build, and, although he didn’t get a lot of information, he had a few bits and pieces of it. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to give that intel to the Republic. Or so he thought.

Suddenly, the sound of lasers being fired, and clanckers yelling, could be heard above him. He got up, and went to the front of the cell, just in time to watch three or four droids fall down, past his cell, and to the bottom floor.

After a few minutes of uninterrupted fighting, which only appeared to grow louder – he could only suppose it was because someone was freeing his brothers, and they were grabbing the blasters the droids left behind, and joining the battle – arrived near his cell.

When the two B1 units guarding the cell were cut down by a blue lightsaber, Brain knew who was rescuing them. When Three-four shot the lock, Brain discovered who was crazy enough to follow General Skywalker in such an impossible mission.

“Brain! Brother!”

“Three-four! I never thought I would see your ugly face again!”

The two clones laughed for a moment, before Three-four moved on, ducking behind a railing, and firing at an enemy out of Brain’s field of view.

Dageer appeared next, followed by Dab. The sniper nodded at Brain, while Dageer picked up the two E-5s that the clanckers had dropped, and threw them to Brain and another clone.

“Commander, sir.”

“It’s good to have you back, brother. All of you. Now, get up, and get moving! We are getting you out of this place, but we will have to fight our way out of it!”

The clones nodded, and followed Dageer out of the cell. On the entirety of the prison, where droids had once been, now were clones, who, even though they were outgunned, were cutting down the droids. The metallic bastards didn’t withstand a chance against a Jedi.

More than one trooper fell, victim of the red lasers fired by the clanckers, but most survived, and fought back. In less than half an hour, all the droids in the prison levels had been killed, and so were the small groups of reinforcements that had been sent. However, more would come, so they had to move fast.

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The Brain before Dageer’s eyes was a pitiful sight. Although the clone tried to hide it, his clothes were ragged, so Dageer could see the countless new scars that adorned his body. His eyes were cloudy and misty, and, although he was behaving like nothing was wrong, more than once he simply stopped moving, for no reason, and required Dageer to push him forward.

“What did they do to you, brother…”

His right-hand heard his whispers, and, for a moment, looked ashamed of himself.

“I told them what I knew, sir. I couldn’t stop myself. But they didn’t believe I only knew so much. So they picked our brothers, and tortured them in front of me, until they died…”

Anger and sadness were hidden in Brain’s explanation. Dageer knew how it was to see your brothers die because of you, and not be able to do anything about it. But the seppies were targeting the wrong spot with Brain. He was just a soldier, after all. Sure, he was a member of a special unit, and had access to more information than normal troopers, but not by much.

The chances of a member of Hell Squad being captured or killed were high, so, apart from Dageer, they were clueless about their missions and battle plans until they were already in the middle of it. And Dageer had proved he could resist a Sith interrogation.

“All right, boys! We are going to the hangar F3. Hell Squad, you get the front. The ones who got weapons, cover the rear. Let’s move!”

“Yes, sir!

Hearing General Skywalker, Dageer shook his head, and put a hand on Brain’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but his brother grinned madly, understanding.

“Snips, we got the prisoners. Wait two minutes, then deactivate their systems, and get to the hangar where we entered. Captain, we are ready to extract.”

“You got it, master.”

“Understood, General Skywalker. We will move in closer.”

After confirming they were good to go, General Skywalker started running, followed by a thousand clones, and about a hundred very confused insurgents and rebels of different species. They were joined along the way by other groups of prisoners, who had been working on the other parts of the prison.

“General, Brain says he knows something about what the seppies are building, although he has no idea of what it means.”

General Skywalker nodded, while deflecting two lasers, and using the Force to push two clanckers.

“Something about a prototype superweapon, using… Kyber Crystals as the core? Kyber Crystals?”

General Skywalker stumbled, clearly surprised by what he heard. Dageer, on the other hand, had no idea of what Kyber Crystals were.

“That is not possible. Only Jedis know the secret to using Kyber Crystals. And to make it into a superweapon. It would have to be gigantic, the size of a planet.”

As much as he was perturbed by those thoughts, General Skywalker quickly dismissed them. Brain said it was a prototype, and he was sure it was one impossible to make. The Separatist were walking to a dead end, and he was happy to let them do that.