Coruscant Spaceport

Rex's ship touched down in the spaceport about ten minutes after the two Jedi had jumped out. Going through customs had been quick and painless. As a clone trooper, it never took long getting through customs, and the spaceport wasn't very busy at the moment. Rex picked up the few possessions he had with him and left the ship. He gave Gregor a call.

The commando was on his way to the spaceport and they agreed to meet on the ground floor. Walking through the large corridors and foyers of the spaceport, things seemed eerily quiet. Normally at any given moment, the spaceport would be alive with the commotion of commercial transport and passenger flights constantly coming and going, and the halls would be flooded with people trying to get on their flight, or new arrivals to the planet. Before he had landed, Rex had decided that he would keep a low profile. The clones thought he was dead, and therefore so did the Emperor. He decided it was best if it stayed that way.

He had changed out of his usual personalised combat suit, and into a clean pair of civilian clothes he had found on board the ship. Faded blue jeans and a grey hoodie, a colour combo he was more than familiar with. He carried his armour and blasters in a duffle bag in his left hand, and had a backpack full of ammunition, supplies and other bits and pieces that could come in handy on Kamino. Rex hated being in civilian clothing, this was one of the very few times he had felt the urge to wear them, and he felt vulnerable without his armour on. Walking out onto a balcony that overlooked the entrance plaza, he looked down to see if he could spot Gregor.

Sure enough, he saw the clone commando standing in his yellow tinted armour, covered in tally marks; one for every high ranked clanker he had ever put out of service. Due to what was now the Empire knowing he had survived and returned to Coruscant, there was no reason for him to don civilian clothing. Rex made his way to the elevator and descended the two storeys separating him from Gregor.

"Rex, it's good to see you" Gregor said, patting his friend on the back and walking him over to a bench to sit on.

"You too mate. A brother I can actually talk to rather than hide from is a rare thing to come by at the moment".

"I know what you mean. It's strange in the camp, everyone is acting so normal. It's like nothing has even happened. Until you mention a Jedi. Then everyone gets this look on their face, like they lose all emotion except for hate. Whatever those chips have done, our brothers need us to undo it."

"I'm glad we see eye to eye on this. We're not doing this for ourselves, we're doing it for our family. You'll be pleased to hear that I've seen Obi Wan. I dropped him and Ahsoka off at the temple on my way here. They're going to try and see if anyone has survived. I'm assuming my legion has been and gone by now?"

"Yeah for the most part. There's a few guards left but nothing Obi Wan can't manage. It was strange though. They raided it in the middle of the night, like they didn't want anyone to know, and I could've sworn they were being led by a Jedi"

"I fear Anakin has joined the Emperor. Oh well, we have our own mission. How are we getting to Kamino, we need something with a hyperdrive, but weapons as well in case things get hairy. And not too big either, any ideas?"

"I know just the ship. The Emperor is holding a special session in congress, to formalise the creation of the new Empire, that's why this place is so deserted, everyone is waiting outside the senate building to hear all about it. As soon as that's over he's planning to head off world somewhere. I don't know what for. But that's not important. What is important, is that this means he has a shuttle fuelled and ready for take off here in the spaceport."

"If it means inconveniencing Palpatine at the same time, then this ship really is perfect" Rex smiled at Gregor's plan. The two clones stood up together.

"You take the lead Gregor"

"Alright, follow me then. It's on the top floor, my bet would be that it's surrounded by guards, hopefully my rank is enough to get us through, with you as my prisoner. But if not, be ready for a fight." Gregor said as he slipped a pair of handcuffs around Rex's wrists.

Together they stepped in the lift and started heading up. The elevator ascended up to the second to last floor until it stopped. The doors slid open to reveal two senatorial guards, clad in their traditional cobalt armour, pointing blasters at the clones' chest.

"Halt, top two floors are closed today. Turn around right now and leave" ordered the guard in the middle.

"I've got orders to deliver this prisoner to the Imperial shuttle." Gregor flashed his ID to the guards and took a step forward out of the confined elevator and into the room the guards were standing in, pushing Rex in front him.

"If you take another step I will shoot!" Yelled the same guard. Gregor stopped moving. "What does the emperor want with this prisoner?"

"He wouldn't tell me sir, just that he wanted him tied up and in his shuttle. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to take him there now."

"I don't think so clone. We'll take it from here. Ben, Jameson, frisk the prisoner" The guard commanded the men on either side of him. "You'll be on your way now" he continued, beckoning with his gun for Gregor to step back inside the elevator.

"Alright, alright." Replied Gregor. He turned around and took one step inside the elevator. Then, grabbing a knife from his belt he spun back around and with the so much speed that the guard didn't even have time to make a noise, he plunged his knife into the guard's throat, and held his body up, so that no one would hear the body hitting the ground. The other two guards, who were still frisking Rex, met a similar fate as Rex whipped around and pulled his cuffs tightly around the guard on his right's neck, strangling him to the floor. At the same time, Gregor had removed his knife from the first guard's windpipe and stuck it through the final guards back with precision, puncturing his lungs, and twisting to increase the hole. All that could be heard from the whole commotion was a hiss as the air escaped out the side of the last guard's body, where his lungs had been punctured. Gregor undid Rex's handcuffs and together, they carried the guard's bodies into the elevator. Together, the two of them headed off to the stairwell. The spaceport used a wide spiral staircase, with a waterfall running down the middle of it. Normally it was only used in emergencies or if the lifts were being worked on, but every now and again people would decide to use it if they didn't want to wait for a lift or wanted a bit of exercise. Rex and Gregor reached door that was leads into the stairwell and stopped.

"There will be guards waiting on the other side, in case anyone tried to go up the stairs. The second they see us come the door without a guard escort, they'll know we're hostile" Gregor whispered to Rex.

"I've got an idea" Rex said, dashing back off to the elevator. He returned a minute later in the senatorial uniform. "I'll go in first and go down past them, then I'll get their attention so you can slip on past. Once you're through, I'll follow you up".

"Sounds like a plan"

Rex pushed open the door and nodded to the guard's, who were surprised to see anyone coming through that door, but quickly returned to their duties of making sure no one came up the stairs. Rex walked down the stairs, around the curve to the point where he was almost out of sight of the guards, and then stopped.

"Is this supposed to be here?" Rex called out to the guards above him. They looked at each other before coming down to take a look at whatever Rex was pointing at. Gregor seized the opportunity and snuck out through the door and up the stairs, until he was safely far enough around that the waterfall would block the guards' view of him once they returned to their post.

"Don't worry actually. I just got confused, I'm meant to be going up, not down". Rex said as the guards got closer. "sorry about that". Rex spun around and headed back up the stairs to meet up with Gregor.

"There's bound to be more guards at the entrance to the top floor, and I don't think that ploy will work twice".

"Then I guess we only have one choice don't we" Rex said with a smirk as he unclipped his pistols from his belt. Gregor looked at his good friend in agreement, and readied his own pistols.

"Remember, we do this silently, and we won't get caught" Gregor reminded Rex before leading the charge up the stairs. The only way they could be silent is if they were quick and efficient. Gregor took the lead and charged around the corner and slammed into the guard furthest away from where the clones came from, before any of the guards even saw him coming. He jammed one of his pistols into the guard's exposed skin round his neck, using the contact of the pistol on the guard to muffle the sound of his blaster shot. The other two guards whipped around to aim at the clone commando. But as they did this Rex came running up behind them and slammed one pistol into each of their necks, using the same method as Gregor to muffle the sound of the blaster fire.

"Too easy" commented Rex, dusting himself off and pushing open the door to the top floor landing bay. Right in front of them was the Imperial shuttle. And on board were six highly trained security clones, part of the Emperor's personal guard. They were all sitting on the benches that lined the inner walls of the shuttle, three on each bench. Rex and Gregor knew that they were close enough to fleeing the city now, it didn't matter if these guards alerted anyone else, because by then, Gregor and Rex would be long gone. Rex gave the nod, and together, the two clones opened fire. In a flurry of blaster shots, the six guards inside the shuttle were dead, unaware of who their assailants even were. Rex and Gregor boarded the ship in a hurry, their blaster shots were sure to alert the remaining guards posted around the building, and reinforcements would be arriving any minute. Gregor slammed the button closing the shuttle doors, whilst Rex made his way to the cockpit. Being on the top floor meant that it would be an easy take off. Rex lifted the shuttle off the ground and folded in the landing gear. Just as he started to ascend, the whole shuttle shook to the left. Rex quickly steadied it back up, but it was hit again, this time shaking more violently.

"Gregor! Sort out that AA gun!" Rex yelled.

"This shuttle isn't equipped with any weaponry! We don't have anything big enough to take it out!" Gregor yelled back, looking around for a weapon capable of taking out an AA gun.

"When has that ever stopped you" Replied Rex, struggling to stop the lopsided shuttle from tipping over under the heavy starboard fire it was receiving.

Gregor opened the shuttle door again, and instantly came under heavy fire from some ground troops that were waiting underneath them. He tossed out a grenade and pressed himself up against the back of the shuttle, taking cover from the fire he was receiving. The grenade exploded, and he used the chaos to poke out from his cover and fire off a couple of rounds, systematically taking out the guards on the ground before turning his attention to the AA gun.

It was the same type of AA turret that the LAATs used, but on a larger scale. It was a large clear dome on top of the Spaceport's spire, that swivelled around and was capable of firing in any direction, and could adjust its aim with speed, making it ideal for taking out moving targets. Another green beam left its cannon, slamming into the side of the shuttle again, causing Gregor to slip and fall. He slid back into the wall and quickly rose back onto his feet, grabbing the control panel for support. He eyed up his target. A well-placed shot to the base of the cannon would cause the ball to lose any function in the pivot point, leaving it firing in the same spot. Gregor eyed up his shot. Another beam slammed into the side of the shuttle, rocking it even more. The Emperor's personal shuttle was strong, one of the most shielded ships in the whole republic fleet, but Gregor knew it wouldn't be long until the AA gun penetrated the shield, and ripped a hole in the side of the ship, making space flight impossible. But still Gregor remained calm. He took a deep breath, waited for the ship to stabilize and pulled the trigger.

A singular bolt of energy left the nozzle of his pistol and flew towards the cannon. The shot was perfect. It burned a hole in the hinge that allowed the turret to spin around, rendering it useless against moving targets. Now that the shuttle was free of the anti-air fire, Rex could take his time to plot a course through hyperspace.

About thirty seconds later the shuttle was leaving Coruscant, and heading straight towards the clone home world; Kamino.