Author's Note

Okay so here is the next chapter of Connected. I hope you guys like it.

Connected

Chapter Two: Where Is She?

Main View: Rex

Secondary View: Anakin

Rex was enjoying a quiet lunch with Anakin and Obi-Wan. The two Jedi Generals were discussing some new battle strategies while Rex gave his opinion on them. Suddenly Rex felt worried about Ashoka. He had a feeling that something had gone wrong with her mission.

"General when is Commander Tano supposed to report back?" He asked.

"Um, well she should have returned an hour ago." Anakin said looking at his crono, his brown furrowed slightly in worry.

"Maybe she decided to stop and get some lunch." Obi-Wan suggested.

"No, Ashoka knows that I get nervous when she doesn't check in." Anakin said, "This isn't like her. Ashoka has always checked in."

It was true. Rex knew that it was one of the few things that the General required of his padawan. Ashoka knew that too and respected the requirement. Which caused him to worry more about her.

"Do you think something happened?" Rex asked. Anakin was quiet for a while. He closed his eyes in concentration. Rex knew that he was searching for Ashoka with the Force. Then the General's eyes snapped open.

"I can't sense Ashoka in the Force!" He said looking first at Obi-Wan and then at Rex. Rex had hardly ever seen him look so panicked.

"Let's not panic yet Anakin." Obi-Wan said, trying to calm his former padawan.

"Right, something could just be blocking my Force powers." Anakin said nervously. Rex was worried. He knew something must have happened to Ashoka, but what could it have been? This was supposed to be an easy mission. Meet the informant, get the needed information from said informant, then transport the informant to the safety of the ship. Unless the informant had more dangerous information then they had thought!

"We can call Ashoka threw the COM. If we can't reach her then we can probably reach on of the clones that went with her." Obi-wan suggested. The three of them left the mess hall and went up to the war room. Anakin found the frequency for Ashoka's COM.

"Ashoka this is General Anakin Skywalker do you copy?" He asked trying to sound calm. There was only static. Rex didn't like the looks of this.

"Ashoka this is General Skywalker do you copy?"

More Static.

"Ashoka this is Anakin are you alright?" It was no use, there was only static.

"Try one of the clones." Obi-wan suggested. Anakin nodded and tried the others.

"This is General Skywalker, Tank, Gunner, Ace are you guys there? Is everyone alright?" Anakin waited for a response. It seemed like hours to Rex before his brothers responded.

"We're here but we're definitely not alright. Sir the informant was assassinated. We all went after the killer but me and Blaze got separated from Ashoka and Ace. I'm not sure what happened but it looks like they crashed. Ace needs medical attention STAT! And General we can't find Commander Tano. Please send help as soon as possible!" Tank replied sounding out of breath. Rex couldn't remember the last time he had been so worried. What if Ashoka had been hurt in the crash?

"Tank stay where you are we're coming to help." Anakin said, his voice broke in an unfamiliar way. Obi-Wan took over for Anakin. He started barking orders and making preparations for them to embark to the planet below them. Rex just hoped that Ashoka would be alright and that she would turn up soon.

It wasn't long until they were on the planet with a group of troupers to help them. When they got to the ally it was apparent that two speeders had indeed crashed. There were scorch marks and ruble all over the place. Anakin led them toward the three troopers on the side of the road. Two of them stood up and saluted. They must have been Tank and Blaze. The third man was laid out on the ground and looked like he had just been in a wreck. Rex noticed that a gang insignia was graffitied on the trooper's armor.

"Thank you for coming Sir." Tank said as the med-team put Ace on a stretcher.

"Have there been any signs of Ashoka?" Anakin asked. Rex had almost asked that himself but had managed just enough self control not to.

"No, I'm sorry Sir." Gunner said wearily.

"Sir we weren't able to do a thorough search. Ashoka might still be around here." Tank suggested.

"No, she's not anywhere near here." Rex said looking at the trooper's armor more closely.

"How do you know that Rex?" General Skywalker asked.

"Ace's armor General, it has a gang insignia graffitied on it." He said gesturing to Ace's chest plate.

"So?" Anakin asked a little impatiently. Rex didn't take any offense, Anakin had a tendency to take his anger out on the people around him. He had comforted Ashoka a couple of times because of that tendency. And he was a previous victim of the General's anger himself.

"That's the insignia of the Arapido. The informant must have had information about them." Rex hadn't heard a lot about them but something about the Arapido bothered him. He just couldn't remember what it was.

"Wait did you say the Arapido?" Obi-Wan asked. Rex nodded his head slowly.

"I've heard about them too. They're infamous for kidnapping young women. Especially young jedi women." Obi-Wan said looking from him to Anakin.

To Rex it seemed like time stopped when it clicked that Ashoka had been taken. He didn't hear what Anakin was yelling. Everything around him blurred. The only thing that ran threw his mind was, Ashoka is gone?

It ran again and again and again in Rex's head. Soon other things spun into his mind, tearing down Rex's world.

Ashoka is gone.

She's missing.

She's been kidnapped.

What am I going to do without her?

I've got to find her.

Before he knew what he was doing Rex tore off his helmet. He didn't know why but he needed air. Then he started walking. He didn't know how long he had walked for but suddenly Rex found himself at a small outdoor area with tables and chairs. It was completely abandoned. On the ground near one of the chairs a dead body lay cold and stiff.

This was where Ashoka had met the informant. Rex walked past a couple of troopers who wee guarding the area. They saw the blue insignia on his shoulder that signified him as a caption and let him pass without question. It was one of the perks of being a caption, almost no questions were asked. Right now though that didn't matter to him. At that moment he felt his world crashing down around him. Right then Rex was just worried about a girl that he liked more than just a friend.

He tried to shake the thought about liking Ashoka as more than just a friend out of his head. He shouldn't have thoughts like that. Rex was trying to get his thoughts straitened out when his foot caught on something. He almost kicked it away but by chance he looked down. The fabric wrapped around his foot was a brown color and looked slightly worn. He recognized it immediately, it was Ashoka's jedi cloak!

Rex bent down and pick the cloak up. He caught a slight whiff of Ashoka's scent. It made him miss her more. Rex also worried more about what had happened to her. What if Ashoka had been hurt? What if she was dead? No, if she was dead they would have left her body laying in the middle of the street like Ace's.

Rex shook the thought from his head before they could become darker. He gently folded her cloak up. Rex then borrowed a speeder to get back to the Generals. He parked the speeder and walked over to the two jedi. Anakin noticed him first. Rex briefly wondered if that was a good thing.

"Rex where...Are you okay?" He asked. Rex could remember only one time he had seen Anakin look so worried and that was when Cad Bane had captured Ashoka. He couldn't blame the sandy-haired jedi though. Anakin cared for Ashoka like a daughter. Well from what Rex could discern as a parent's relationship with their kids since he had only seen a few families and interacted with even fewer. Cut came to mind for a second before he pushed the thoughts away.

"I decided to check out where Ashoka and her team were supposed to meet the informant. And I found this Sir," Rex said handing Anakin the folded cloak and avoiding the previous question, "it's Ashoka's."

Anakin gently took his padawan's cloak from Rex. He took careful notice of how carefully Rex had folded it. Anakin looked at the familiar brown fabric. He knew that this wasn't his fault, but Ashoka was like a daughter to him. He wondered what he was going to tell Padme. She had taken a liking to Ashoka. She would be just as devastated as him when he told her what had happened.

Then he looked back at Rex. The Caption wasn't wearing his helmet. While Rex managed to keep a strait face Anakin could tell that he could break down at any second. Anakin looked at Ashoka's cloak again. Ashoka didn't have too many things, her Jedi cloak was one of the few things that she owned. Anakin didn't need it. But Rex looked like he could use something to remind him of his best friend.

While Anakin had at first debated on weather or not to allow Rex and Ashoka to become so close the horrors of war had soon over ruled him. He had known the two of them to talk about the battles they had been in, the men they had lost in those battles. So he let them become close friends, they needed someone to talk to about what they had seen. They had both stubbornly refused to talk to anyone about what they were going threw. Both believed that they needed to be strong for their troops and to not show weakness in front of their superiors. Anakin was very relieved that they started confiding in each other.

"Rex could you look after this until we find Ashoka? She'd be pretty mad at me if I lost it while she was gone." He said handing the cloak back to Rex.

"I don't mind looking after Ashoka's cloak for a while." Rex said as he gently took the cloak back.

"I think that we found all that is here to find. Let's go back to the ship, I need to do more research about the Arapido." Obi-Wan said thumbing his beard in thought.

"I want to look around some more. I'll meet up with you when I'm done." Rex offered. He felt like he needed to continue looking.

"No Rex you need to rest. Today was definitely stressful and we could all use some sleep. And that includes you." General Skywalker said sternly. He couldn't have his best man exhausted when they looked for Ashoka later.

"But General-"

"Rex go back to the ship and get some sleep, that's an order." Anakin said strictly. Rex looked depressed at leaving without another sweep of the crime scene, even if it would be useless.

"Rex if you don't rest and keep your strength up you won't be able to save Ashoka when we find her." He said in a softer voice. Rex knew that the General was right. He sighed and followed the Jedi and his brothers back to the ship.

When they got to the Saline Rex went back to his room. He was rooming alone because Cody was on a mission somewhere in the outer rim. It was probably for the best, Rex needed some time alone to think. He laid down on his bed and pulled Ashoka's cloak close to him. The cloak smelled like Ashoka, vanilla and brown sugar. It was a heavenly scent.

"Where are you Ashoka?" Rex asked out loud before falling into a fitful sleep.

Next time on Connected:

Rex will find me.

"It is the most sympathy and compassion you will ever know in this place."

"Is there anyone you care for greatly? Someone you love?"

Without the Force she would only last so long.

"Ashoka..come back...please."

Chapter Three: Shattered Beliefs and New Realizations

Author's End Note

So how did everyone like my new chapter? I'll have Chapter Three up on Friday next week. Oh and I'm extra happy today because Sunday, the 18th is my Birthday! Yippee for me! :-D

Until next time, live, laugh, and rock on.