Landing on Onderon felt the same way as it had before. Rex had been interested to see things were being run, but quickly realised that things were failing badly. He remembered Ahsoka training Rebels. So many were years older than her, but her leadership had made her seem so... powerful. It really got Rex thinking about how much she grew. She also had a major crush for Bonteri. That had peeved Rex even though he didn't know why at the time.
Rex looked at Ahsoka beside him. She had a pained look on her face. She looked vunerable, defenceless and very scared, the complete opposite of what she looked like before. Rex felt awful. He and the kids had basically forced her to come, giving her the ultimatum of either coming with them or staying behind while they fought in the war. Ahsoka was no coward, but she definitely didn't want to be here.
"I'm right here with you," Rex told her. She merely nodded.
He walked along beside Ahsoka, Aleah behind them and Zeb, Archer and Bonteri leading. Zeb and Archer were playing twenty question with Bonteri.
"How many battles have you fought in?"
"What's your best battle scar?"
"Best moment on the battlefield?"
Ahsoka seemed anxious. She gripped her lightsabers tightly. Ahsoka had dug them up again, having buried it after Order 66, heavily pregnant, lost and broken hearted over the death of Padme and the loss of her master to the darkside. She had tried to remove the Jedi from herself because she was scared what she might become, like her Master. But she could never get rid of it. She often tried to shut it out, but it was part of who she was. Like being a soldier was to Rex.
"How far away is the Rebel camp?" Rex asked.
"A pretty long way, we don't want to draw attention to it. That's why we needed to land so far away." Lux replied.
As they walked, a shadow covered them from the air. They all looked up. A massive wild Ruping was flying up above them. It dived aiming for Archer, Zeb and Lux. They dived out of the way as its claws dug into to ground. It screeched and chased the boys and Lux as they ran from it.
Rex started shooting with his blaster, Aleah stood in shock screaming out to Zeb and Archer, and only Ahsoka started running towards them. She ignited both of her lightsabers and slashed the tips of it wings to scare it off.
It only aggravated the beast, which lunged at Ahsoka. She agilely leapt out of its path and onto its neck. Ahsoka kicked the Ruping in the right side of its head, causing it to turn right and move in that direction. She then squeezed both sides of its head to make it go straight. Using the Force, she calmed the animal down and persuaded it to take flight. It leapt up to the sky just as she slid off its back.
Ahsoka turned around and saw the group huddled around someone. She sprinted towards them only to see Archer lying unconscious with a massive gash on the side of his head. Both Rex and Ahsoka felt the weight crushing their hearts as they watched their son bleeding.
"Archer," Ahsoka croaked through tears.
Rex stared at him. It didn't seem real. Archer just lay there, pale and still, blood plastering his hair to his head. Rex felt a wave of guilt hit him. If Archer died, it would be all his fault.
"We have to get moving, we need to get him to base so they can fix his injuries," Lux said urgently.
And with that they bandaged Archer and they carried him toward camp. Rex kept looking over at him. Would his son make it?
