Broke: A Clone Wars Tale - Volume 1 Chapter 271 The Aftermatch

Looking at the Jedi, Dageer realized General Kenobi had a bandage on his shoulder, and that his clothes and appearance, usually very tidy, were a mess. Clearly, the battle hadn’t been hard only to Hell Squad.

“General, sir.”

“Relax, Dageer. You deserve it. The Separatist retreated, and we are dealing with the few that were left behind. We won.”

“Did they get their hands on one of the samples?”

“I wouldn’t be here if they had. But it was close. They sent Ventress to the south facility. Deep Squad wasn’t able to hold her, and lost a few members. Luckily, Anakin was able to stop her, although she and Grievous slipped away once more.”

Dageer shrugged. He would let the Jedis handle Ventress. She was a Sith, whatever that meant, and he knew no clone – almost no clone – could stand on her way.

“Uff… You have to get patched up, commander. This was a hard battle, and we have lost many soldiers. I know you are wounded and tired, but I need a casualties and damage report as soon as possible.”

Dageer nodded, and called a medic to bandage his wounds. After a short while, he stood up, using his DC-15A as a crutch. One of the medics offered to help him, but there were more critically injured soldiers who needed medical attention more than him.

Following General Kenobi, he left the facility, and a gruesome sight greeted him. He was more than used to the aftermatch of a battle, but few were as brutal as this one had been. It had raged on for a day and a half straight, which was little compared to most battles, but just by looking at it, he knew it was one of the worst the Republic had ever been through.

Buildings were half-destroyed, and several platforms and bridges were missing pieces of it, or were even completely gone. The burning remains of sh.i.p.s and starfighters, as well as of the weird squid-like sh.i.p.s, laid in several places, and even the drizzle that was falling wasn’t enough to extinguish the fires.

Of course, the most impacting sign were the bodies. It always pained him to see the lifeless corpses of his brothers. In a somewhat small battlefield, like the bridges of Kamino, the dead clones and droids didn’t spread, but piled up. He was sure many even fell on the ocean, and would be reported as missing in action.

Stepping over the bodies, many of which he knew, Dageer found an officer – a captain – and ordered him to do a report. The captain would order his lieutenants to do the same, the lieutenants would order the sergeants, and so on. Soon, he would receive a detailed report, although, even without it, he could already tell that casualties were as high as forty percent. He estimated the droids had lost about the same, which explained their retreat.

The more he walked, the fewer bodies and less destruction Dageer saw, at least until they got to the south facility. Clearly, the seppies had focused all their efforts at the three facilities, and didn’t care much for the rest of the planet. Once they got to the south, though, the scenario was very similar to the west.

Half jumping, half skidding across the arm of one of the squid-like droids, which Dageer now knew were called Trident-class Assault Ship, he and General Kenobi entered a building, Dageer grimacing in pain.

They soon found the bodies of ARC Trooper Colt, and over a dozen members of Rancor Battalion. All of them had lightsaber wounds, Colt having been pierced in the heart, and several were dismembered. Looking at how his brothers had been killed, Dageer clenched his fist in anger. He knew only Ventress would do that.

Next, they found Deep Squad. Of the eleven members, only six had survived, Broodi included. The commander was tidying up the facility, sometimes looking at his fallen brothers. When he saw General Kenobi, his expression was of shame and anger, but he quickly hid it. Clones didn’t show emotions to their superiors. Of course, that wouldn’t work on a Jedi.

“General, I am sorry. I let those damn seppies take…”

“No need to apologize, Commander Broodi. You fought against a Sith. No one expected her, and the fact that you survived is already impressive on itself.”

“I understand, sir. Thank you, sir.”

General Kenobi turned around to leave, and Dageer followed him after tapping Broodi’s shoulder. He knew it wasn’t easy to lose someone from your squad, special unit or not.

Looking at General Kenobi’s back, all the while barking orders to the troopers around him, Dageer wondered what had happened to Commander Cody. Why would the Jedi ask him to do a report, and not the commander of his own legion?

His question was answered soon. Commander Cody, General Skywalker, and General Shaak Ti were all looking at a room. Troopers formed a perimeter around them, to keep others away. Not that it was necessary, because no clone would enter the room once they were given the order not to.

“Bastards… How could they do that?”

When he and General Kenobi looked inside, Dageer couldn’t help but let out a curse. Three dozen cadets were dead in the room, as well as a single B2 super battle droid. The cadets were only teenagers, and probably didn’t have time to evacuate before the battle started. One of them, responsible for the dead droid, was still holding a blaster, but that was all. The droids had executed the others, even though they were defenseless.

“This is too much, even for the Separatist.”

“Indeed. However, the best we can do now is give them a proper resting place, with the other clones. I will deal with them.”

General Shaak Ti spoke with a very low voice, barely audible. She was responsible for overseeing the training of the Clone Army, so her relationship with the cadets was almost as strong as the relationship between the clones.

Their bodies would be cremated, and their ashes spread through the sea of Kamino. Every clone, in death, returned to their home.

“All right. Commanders, once the reports are done, send them to me. As soon as our dead are taken care of, order the troops to rest. They deserve it. The Kaminoans will deal with the droids and the infrastructure.”

“Yes, general.”

“Understood, sir.”

Both clones nodded. They too were tired, and Dageer was wounded, but none of them uttered a complaint. Even if they didn’t need to do anything, they would still only rest after all their brothers had been taken proper care off. That was one of the responsibilities a commander had.

….

It took almost a week for Kamino to return to a semi-normal life. In total, almost two hundred thousand clones had given their lives to protect their home planet. About double that amount of droids had been killed. Those numbers were comparable to battles such as the First Battle Of Felucia, or the Second Battle Of Dantooine. The difference was that while those battles had lasted weeks and months, the battle that had come to be called Third Battle Of Kamino had lasted less than two days. That went to show just how brutal and intense it was.