The battle on Marisa was not the best Ahsoka had taken part in.

The mostly rural planet had little to offer in terms of recourses or strategic value, but when a cry for help had reached the republic Palpatine had not hesitated to send the 501st for help. With their decimated numbers after Teth they were a lot smaller than they were used to, but they had just enough men to defeat the Separatist troops.

Closely packed houses provided plenty of opportunity for a decent ambush for the local troops before the GAR had arrived.

Unfortunately it still made for impressive death traps as Ahsoka had to discover.

"I don`t like this area." Rex noted. The small alley gave little to no cover, the houses too high to keep both the roofs and the entrances to the street in view, but Ahsoka was her usual carefree-self.

"Don`t worry Rex, there are no droids left here and even if, we will take them on."

The clone briefly wondered how it was possible that a shiny fresh from Kamino and a Jedi- even if she was just a Padawan - could be so similar in terms of overconfidence. The Kaminoans had taught them that the Jedi were near perfect beings. So far, he had a lot to rectify about that description. Not that his General and Commander weren't decent, no by far not.

They cared about him and his men in a way they had not experienced before, the Jedi were worried not only about the clone's physical wellbeing, but also offered words of praise and heartfelt condolences, whichever was needed. It was just; they were so different from what the flash-training had painted them to be like. Rex shook himself out of his musings. There would be time to ponder on the differences between training and reality later. For now, at least he had to stay level headed. Only because the day had been quiet didn't mean it had to stay that way.

The young Padawan and Captain Rex lead a small squad of clone troopers for a last sweep of the city as a group of droidekas rolled seemingly out of no-where and blocked both ends of the streets they were in. A row of shots forced her into defensive, the shock travelling through her arms into her upper body.

"We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack." Rex radioed and felt immediately grateful for Coric`s presence as the more experienced medic pushed the shinies into a more defensive pattern.

"Hold your position Ahsoka, the speeders are on their way." The reassuring voice of her master sounded in Ahsoka's ear.

"We could take them Master." The Togrutan protested while the droid continued to blanket the group with laser shots.

Life decided to prove her wrong as an assassin droid leaped from the next roof. Being already intensely focused on the droidekas Ahsoka failed to evade. It tackled her to the ground, the shock of a taser made her body go numb and loose her grip on the light sabres, her life.

Rex was only aware of the commander's too proud answer and a choked growl before she hit the ground. She was grappling with a droid, too close, too erratic movement to shoot…

"We need cover!" Rex kicked the droid in it's midriff, dislodging it's death-grip on the commander.

Seeing as now there was enough space he levelled his pistol and pulled the trigger. Seemingly at the same time the speeders arrived, forcing the rollies to retreat.

"Everything alright commander?" Rex stored one blaster , keeping the other in hand as he knelt down next to his Commander.

"Are you injured?" He waved Coric over as Ahsoka didn`t react immediately. She was still lying on the floor, face crunched up in discomfort. The medic hurried over to them, mouthing a short, "no-one seriously hurt Sir", before running the scanner over Ahsoka`s body. She groaned, but stayed still as Coric placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I think so Rex. He stabbed me, I think."

"Where Commander? Can you specify the area?"

Ahsoka moved slightly, pushing herself up until her weight rested on her elbows. Rex could see several bruises forming on her right cheek, alongside with several gashes from the uneven packed dirt in the alley.

"In my back. It felt as if he pushed something in my spine." She shuddered. Rex placed a hand on her arm, hoping to keep her calm. He had been so close to letting his Commander get killed. There were so few Jedi, the Republic needed them, so much more then they needed a single clone. . It was just settling in how close.

Coric ran another scan over Ahsoka`s spine.

"The scanner does not pick anything up Ma'am." Coric placed the scanner in his belt and pushed off his gloves. He pulled his commander's shirt up to her shoulders, no thoughts about modesty, as he clinically ran his fingers over her spine, searching for something and found it. Both in the flinch and violent hiss of his commander and in a track mark just between her thoracic and lumbar vertebrae.

"There is a track mark in the region of your lower spine commander. I would recommend an examination on the Resolute."

"But I feel fine Coric. I am sore, but I am fine, really." Ahsoka protested, but Coric was adamant. The Legion was still being re-built after Teth and he would not take any chances.

"The droid targeted you Commander. We do not know what he injected, or if he managed to at all."

He carefully pushed his Commander`s clothing back in place and supported her with a hand on her lower back while he helped her over to one of the speeders, hopefully it would be alright.