Hey everyone, I'm back again. Another semester of college down with way too many essays written. I haven't abandoned this project, just had to step away. Figured this would be as good a time as any to get back into the swing of things. I don't have a lot to say info wise, just easing myself back in. As always, thank you guys for taking the time to read this little story. Feel free to leave a review if you'd like, let me know of any critiques you guys have. As always, may the force be with you.
"You failed me, Captain."
Rex's eyes snapped opened. He looked around, quickly acclimating to the area. This was 1313, in the warehouse where Fives had…
"Where I died? That's right Captain. This is where you killed me." Fives said, coming into Rex's range of vision. Rex tried to move, but he couldn't, it was like he was trapped in the force field again.
"Fives, what are you…? I didn't kill you." Rex stared wide-eyed at the trooper, his brother. Fives hadn't changed at all since he'd last seen him. He stood before Rex in his armor, helmet off, and a smoking blaster mark right dead center of his chest.
"Oh, Fox may have pulled the trigger. But you were the one that killed me. You could have stopped him from doing it, could have just let me explain." Fives spoke slowly as he paced in front of Rex's view. He didn't look sad or in pain, he just looked disappointed. "Instead, you did what good troopers do. You followed orders, and you let me die. Just like so many of our brothers. You. Let. Us. Die."
"No, no no. I did everything I could." Rex said, shaking his head. "I tried to save you Fives. I tried to stop the madness with what you told us!" Rex denied it vehemently. "I've always done everything I could to try and get my men through!" Rex barked back. Fives just laughed.
"Oh!? Really!? Everything, Captain?" He sneered. "Then what was Umbara? Following General Krell just as blindly as Dogma did." With a blink, Rex could see the fields of Umbara, the slight chill of a planet constantly in darkness. The flashes of blaster fire and the thunder of distant artillery. And before him, dead clone after dead clone clad in armor colored either blue or yellow. "What was Geonosis II? Or Christophsis?" Once again, the scene's changed and before Rex lay more of his dead brothers. "What? Was? Teth?" Fives finally growled. Rex closed his eyes, he couldn't take this, he couldn't stand to see anymore. Yet, almost against his will, they opened. He was back at that Force-forsaken monastery, and around him was Torrent Company, all dead. His unit wiped out like it had been on that blasted rock. Rex just stared in horror.
"N..no… no more, please." He said, looking to Fives. Around him, everything faded away to smoke, and they were back in the warehouse. "I… I am trying Fives." Rex borderline pleaded.
"Are you sure about that Rex? Sure, you might be trying to stop this… but you better not take too long." Fives gave him a grim smile. "After all… body count's starting to pile up. And it's only gonna get higher." Fives said, looking behind him. Out from behind the crates and from the darkness came troopers, all with various forms of battle damage, all in Five-oh Blue, all dead. They started to encircle him.
"No, wait. Fives. No! Please!" He started to shout as his dead men surrounded him, pulling him down to the floor. Rex thrashed, fighting to get free until he saw one of his brothers standing over him.
Appo looked down at him with a sneer, a blaster pistol leveled at Rex's chest. "I'll take care of them Rex. After all. Good troopers follow orders. Traitor." Appo fired, and Rex fell.
It was the fall that woke him up. Rex snapped awake to find himself laying on the floor beside his bed. After a moments panic, he let out a breath and tried to relax. Kriffing nightmares must've caused him to toss and turn. He'd had them before… hell, he'd been having them since the first time he lost men in combat, but they'd never made him toss and turn like this. Of course, they'd never included Fives like that… and they certainly hadn't included that osi'yaim Appo before now. Shoving them to the back of his mind, he checked his chrono and sighed some. It was earlier than he'd planned to be getting up, but he wouldn't be getting back to sleep after a dream like that.
Rex pushed himself up from the floor and stretched, trying to push the nightmare from his mind. After all, he had a mission today, a milk run of a mission, but that didn't mean anything when General Skywalker and General Kenobi were involved. This wouldn't be a normal mission either. He wasn't playing a soldier, he'd be playing bodyguard, the personal bodyguard of Jomekh and Lyribel Allnor, played by Senator Amidal- Skywalker's parents. Instead of his usual armor, he'd opted to make a disguise fit for a bodyguard, a regular outfit, with the only armor being a chest piece, shoulder pauldrons, and knee guards. It was all dark colored, simple, straightforward, and most importantly, unassuming. Finally, was the helmet, a half bucket job instead of the full helmet he was used to. At least it'd give him comms. It was also where he'd stenciled his Jaig Eyes on in white. They were something he'd earned, and he wasn't giving them up.
He took a moment to settle into the new outfit. It wasn't as snug as his armor, but it was close, and still comfortable enough. With one last inspection, he went ahead and attached his belt with both of his blasters and some extra ammo on it. With everything ready, Rex grabbed up the weapon they'd given him at the armory, an A-280, and headed towards the briefing room.
"Good Morning everyone. Feel free to keep eating, we'll have to leave after the briefing anyways as it is." Rex listened with intent between bites of powdered scrambled Nuna eggs as General Skywalker started the briefing. "I know a few of you already have a general idea of what this mission is, but today we'll be going over it in detail. Should be straight forward… but it does involve us having to go planetside. We plan to travel to Torque on Padme's personal ship and sell it in exchange for hopefully two freighters and some cargo. It's a Royal Naboo ship, extremely rare, and since Torque is a Hutt world… it's pretty easy to guess that someone will buy it without asking too many questions." General Skywalker said.
"Padme's parents will act as two wealthy Naboo who are looking to start up a shipping company. Their last name will be Allnor. Myself, Padme, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka will pose as crew for them on and off the ship, while Rex and Jessie will act as bodyguards. It's risky taking all of us… but this is a backwater planet, and I'd rather have the protection. R2 will be coming along to help with ferrying ships back if need be. In case things go south, Captain Fordo will be leading the QRF. The Liberation will drop in from hyperspace for a quick evacuation… Then we run halfway across the galaxy to lose any tails."
Commander Tano spoke up as well, "We… don't have a target seller in mind. Torque's somewhat off the map, important to the sector, but not terribly so past that." She told them. "In addition, we only have an idea of potential threats down there. Could be gangs, or thugs of the Hutt Clan there, pickpockets and things like that which we can handle. Or… if our cover gets blow, then we could have every bounty hunter on Torque after us. To try and avoid that, we're going to all be using blasters. We'll only use our lightsabers if we have to."
Rex couldn't help but smile a bit. There was a time where Commander Tano couldn't deliver a briefing to save her life. She'd grown into it though. He nodded in approval. The plan was as solid as it could be for their circumstances.
"Alright, any questions?" General Skywalker asked. When no one spoke up, he took a breath. "Then let's finish up breakfast and get loaded up."
The trip there had been uneventful, and even their entrance into the atmosphere was. But the landing… left a lot to be desired for Rex. As soon as they'd touched down, they'd started to draw a crowd. He could see people eyeing the ship when he stepped down its ramp. Some were clearly just there out of interest in such a sleek ship, but he spotted a few more who were looking at it in a far more malicious way. Seeing this, Rex charged his blaster rifle. 'Come on. Try it you di'kuts.'
Rex stepped to one side of the ramp, having to force himself to not take up a posture of attention like the military had trained him to. Instead, he kept his weapon at a carry position, scanning the crowd. Thankfully, Jessie was doing the same. He watched as the others stepped down off the ship, the 'Allnors' went first, followed by the others, all dressed in regular spacer outfits.
"You'll stay here and guard my ship. We'll be back. You, come with me." Senator Skywalker's father said. Jessie nodded and remained, Rex fell into step, walking alongside his 'employers' as they headed for the port authority official, a Rodian who had pushed his way through the crowd. Rex took up a position watching the crowd as General Skywalker conversed with the official in what he guessed was Huttese. He didn't like this. Battlefields were simple for the most part. You knew who your allies were, and you knew who the enemy was. Here, with all the crowd, and a lot of them undoubtedly armed, you had no idea who was who. It put him on edge. It didn't take long for them to get moving again, but it took longer than Rex liked.
"Alright, the port authority put us on a lead to a wealthy ship dealer. A Besalisk named Plun Kil." General Skywalker said as they moved into the crowd.
This was somewhat like what Rex expected of an industrial world. It wasn't quite the dustiness of a planet like Ryloth, and it was far more modern… but it wasn't clean either like some modern cities… like the upper levels of Coruscant. It was like the lower levels instead. Everything had a sort of aged grime covering it, practically all grey in color with only neon lights or graffiti to offset it. A smog hung over the city from distant factories and a bit of everything else, and it had that sort of noxious chemical undertone to the air. The air was so heavily polluted that it blocked out some of the light from getting down to the surface, causing everything to have a twilight haze to it.
"Well, let's hope the lead is solid… I'd rather we not stay here any longer than necessary." General Kenobi said.
"I must say that I agree, Ma… Ben." Mr. Amidala said. "The sooner we can get the ship sold and the others we need, the sooner we can get started."
"And the sooner we get off this rock the sooner I can feel like a blaster isn't pointed at us. I've lost count… but there are more people armed here than not." Rex said.
"Welcome to Outer Rim life Rex." General Skywalker said. "This is the norm. You're either a fool or too poor to afford one if you aren't carrying a blaster of some sort. And you're just asking for it if you don't at least carry a shiv." He admitted. "Besides, that gut feeling is what makes you a good bodyguard." He said.
Rex just nodded some at that, "I've felt it enough times after all." He said as he pressed on through the crowd beside General Skywalker. The city streets became more compacted as they moved away from the docking area, the crowds a bit tighter. More of the sun became blocked out as the buildings became taller. Rex watched as General Kenobi slipped up alongside General Skywalker.
"You do know where we're going? Right?" He asked.
"Of course. It shouldn't be too much farther." The general said.
It took them looking down some of the side streets to find the place, but Rex was relieved when they did. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Of course, this was a Hutt World. Chances are that any off-worlder was watched… especially when they land in a very fancy yacht. He hurried inside with the others.
"Welcome to Plun Kil's Ships!" Said a Besalisk, currently seated in a large chair behind a desk. "What can I do for you all today?"
Rex went ahead and positioned himself to keep an eye on the door as he watched the Naberrie's saddle up to the desk. "Yes, we were actually looking to sell a ship and buy some from you. We want to start a transport business."
"Some ships?" The Besalisk raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that's no small sum of credits? And what kind of ship do you have?"
Ruwee sat down and leaned in, removing a datapad from his pocket. "An H-Type Nubian Yacht… previously worked on by the Palace Engineering Corps of Theed."
There was dead silence in the room for a second until Plun Kil burst out laughing, a fist pounding on the table. "Y…You're trying to tell me y…you've got a Royal H-Type!? One of the rarest ships out there?" He managed to get out between his laughter. He took a moment to recover, and Rex could feel the irritation in the room. No one else laughed. The Besalisk narrowed his eyes.
"You're serious, aren't you?" He said after a moment. "If you seriously have a Royal H-Type, chromium armor plate and all… I'll let you have your pick of any three light freighters and a medium freighter on my lot." He said. "But I want to see it. You bring it here, to my personal landing yard, and we'll do business." He said. "I won't ask questions, and you'll walk out of here with all four ships I'm offering. Fully fueled too."
Ruwee looked back to General Skywalker, who nodded. "I think that would be fair. I'll have it brought over. Pilot. Contact your droid and the guard. Tell them to have the ship brought here." He said. General Skywalker nodded and got on his comms, reporting it in.
Kil stood and straightened his clothes, another hand running through his beard. "Alright, let's head outside."
It didn't take long for the ship to land out in the backlot area, and Rex smirked some as the Besalisk's mouth dropped and hung open. "Well I'll be a cheated Hutt…" He said, watching as it touched down. He looked back to them after a moment. "I ah… I'll go get the paperwork. Look around, see what you like." He said, still speechless.
General Kenobi spoke to him then, "Rex… stay and guard the ship while we look around. Don't allow them to mess with it until we've completed the deal." Rex nodded and went to post up next to Jesse. He kept an eye on his generals as they browsed around the ships. General Skywalker had almost immediately gone straight for a G9 Rigger.
"Looks like he wants a new Twilight." Jesse said as he scanned around, smirking some.
"Doesn't surprise me." Rex replied. "He was always fond of it." He watched as they selected the Rigger, and then followed that up with one of the YT class of ships, 1300 by the looks of it, followed by what looked like a Class 580 Ghtroc. Rex saw them start looking over the medium freighters, but he could tell they'd probably go with the GR-75. These were all ships that had been on their list of possible candidates. He wouldn't relax just yet, but it looked like this might go smoothly… until he started scanning the rooftops.
They were good, he could see that right away. They'd tucked themselves back into one of the darker areas nearby, a small alcove set near the top one of the apartments. Either they wanted to be seen… or they'd slipped up but there were three figures watching them. What bothered him though was that they all wore Mandalorian armor. He got on the comms quickly.
"General Skywalker… we got trouble." He breathed. "My one 'o'clock, on the upper levels of those buildings. Three figures. Mandalorian Armor, blue grey and black scheme." He said. "They've been watching us… not sure how long."
"Alright… I'm going to patch you through to Obi-Wan. He knows more about Mandalore than I do."
For a moment, the comms went down, and then Rex as in contact with General Kenobi.
"Rex, describe these Mandalorians for me."
"Black bodysuit, grey and blue armor… white decoration on the helmet… not Jaig eyes… Mandalorian Strike Owl." Rex said. "They're well-armed, and I can see jetpacks as well." Rex said.
Another moment of silence, "Understood Rex. Meet up with me. We have some business to handle… I just hope my assumption is correct.
Obi-Wan quickly linked up with Rex after the Captain's report. This left him feeling… mixed, about what this could be. He nodded to Rex as they slipped out. "Keep your safety on Captain… but be ready. I have a feeling who they might be, but I can't be sure." He said.
"I take it this is the usual way of finding out sir?" Rex asked.
"Yes." Obi-Wan replied. "If it's a trap, then the best way to find out is to spring it." He said, smiling some. Obi-Wan took a chance and looked directly at where their observers had been hiding. He then kept walking down the nearest alleyway, disappearing from the view of the main streets. His force sense now attuned to their presence; he could feel them moving on the rooftops overhead. It seemed he wasn't the only one, Rex's battle sense was coming in handy.
"Sounds like there's two coming up behind us." He muttered into their comms. "And… likely one on our left and right. Which means…" Two more Mandalorians jumped down from the roofs in front of them as they moved into a slightly more open area. "Two at our front." Rex finished.
Obi-Wan watched as Rex leveled his blaster on the ones behind him, their backs to one another. He then looked ahead, revealing his own lightsaber. "I know you're the Nite Owls… and I know you're under Bo Katan." He said calmly.
None of them spoke until one stepped forward, the painting of their helmet different.
"Kenobi… I had asked you to go get the Republic's help… not to betray it." Bo Katan said, removing her helmet. "Care to explain what happened there? My sister may have trusted you… but her trust isn't mine." She said.
Obi-Wan felt a momentary pang at the mention of Satine but let out a slow and steady release. "Because… The newly proclaimed Emperor of the Galactic Empire, Palpatine, is a Sith. He is no different from Maul. Except his ambitions are far larger" He said. "We tried to stop him… but he was warned beforehand."
"Where's your proof?" Bo Katan demanded. Obi-Wan nodded and removed the data chip from his own comms unit.
"Here, just some of the data we collected. The rest of my proof is the devastation of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and the fact that we didn't flee or try to kill you when Rex here spotted you."
She accepted the data chip from him and plugged it into her own comms, reading it over. "So, what? You're running now? Hiding away like this?"
Obi-Wan smiled slightly, "Not, necessarily. If you're willing to trust me… I can show you. And… maybe we can still help Mandalore. I take it Maul hasn't exactly left, has he?"
"No, he hasn't. But something did happen. There was a fight of some sort. His brother was killed during it. From the damage reports a spy brought me, it looked like they fought another force user." She said.
Obi-Wan nodded, "Possibly Dooku… maybe even Palpatine himself." He explained.
Bo nodded, "So, tell me. You want to help? You could help us now. Maul's forces are expected to pick up a weapons shipment here on Torque. You help us stop that from happening, and I'll hear you out Kenobi."
Obi-Wan smiled, "Well then, let me contact my allies, I'd rather them not think I'm late." He hadn't planned on it but having Mandalore as an ally would certainly benefit their cause.
Rex watched from his perch with the others as beings dressed in red and black armor loaded a transport ship with crates. Others were standing guard on this relatively quiet platform. Anyone who passed by kept their heads down and minded their own business.
"I count eleven in total. Six standing guard, four loading those crates. The last one is with the dealers." He said calmly, returning his Macro Binoculars to their normal vision.
"I agree." Bo Katan said in reply. "Possibly more on the transport. It's a new ship, Stathas class. Pilot and Co-pilot, one of which I'm guessing is handling the negotiations, and two gunners. In addition to 8 passengers plus cargo."
"Wonderful. So, I take it you have a plan for the assault?" The general asked.
She nodded, "One of my soldiers has slipped over into that warehouse there. Two more are waiting down in the supports that hold this landing bay up. While they draw attention, we attack from the front and overwhelm them."
Rex nodded some, given their limited resources, the plan was solid. He didn't like that they'd have to rush in with next to no long-range blaster fire to cover them… but beggars couldn't be choosers. He took a moment to check over his gear. "Alright then. Well… I'm ready to move." He noticed her nod in acceptance.
"Then let's see if you're worthy of those Jaig Eyes, clone. We've brought both of you a jetpack to make sure you can at least keep up." She said.
Rex grit his teeth and nodded. "Oh. I'll keep up." He said, securing the jetpack and settling into the added weight. He knew what they thought of him, he had Fett blood, and he'd been trained by the Cuy'val Dar. Hell, one of them had gifted him his Jaig Eyes. But he'd noticed it among some Mandalorians that they felt he wasn't a Mando. Well. He was going to prove them wrong. He stood up alongside General Kenobi and watched as Bo Katan gave the signal.
A lone figure stood up, and then slightly bent over. A rocket ripped from their jetpack, gained some altitude, and then slammed into the ground at the feet of two Deathwatch members. Without a moment's hesitation, the two on the far side began to fire at the opposition while they were still stunned. When Bo gave the order, Rex didn't hesitate. He felt the slightest bit of heat from the rockets engaging before lifting off. Angling forwards, he drew both his pistols and fired, dropping one of the dealers. He touched down next to General Kenobi, covering his left flank as they advanced. Red blaster bolts zipped past Rex as he returned fire. He could feel the heat from them. One of the Death Watch soldiers dropped to his fire.
"Heads up! The ship's going active!" A resistance member warned before a heavy blaster round cut him down.
"Don't let it get airborne!" Bo Katan shouted out over the weapons fire.
"I'm on it!" Rex shouted. Using the jetpack, Rex shot forward under the ships firing arc to its loading ramp. He was greeted by one of the crewmen who opened fire with a blaster pistol. Rex ducked behind one of the hydraulic jacks for the loading ramp, before popping back out and firing both of his blasters into the man. Rex pushed up the ramp and moved towards the center of the ship where the weapons access would be. He caught the ventral gunner first as he was climbing back up, unloading into him and sending him clattering back down the latter.
He hadn't expected the dorsal gunner to react so quickly. Before Rex could get close enough to fire up into the turret, the gunner dropped down and delivered a kick to his chest. Rex went flying back and impacted the bulkhead of the ship. He forced himself back up as the gunner charged him, his weapons knocked from his grip. Rex dodged, barely, and slammed the man's helmeted head against the bulkhead. He backed away, getting some distance from his attacker, both his hands raised to guard his face. The Mandalorian went for his sidearm. Rex pushed in, delivering a kick which connected with his opponent's hand, crunching it between both their legs and earning a grunt of pain from behind the cracked visor as the blaster clattered to the floor.
The Mandalorian snarled and punched Rex in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. Rex went for the kidney, which the man blocked. Rex pushed a follow-up punch out of the way before delivering a hit to his chin, knocking the helmet off. Glaring Rex down, the Mandalorian pulled a vibroknife from its scabbard on his left shoulder. Rex was tempted to grab his blaster rifle. Before he could, the Mandalorian charged again. Rex sidestepped and blocked a jab at his face before ducking a second slash. He sprung up, grabbed the man's arm as it was extended and delivered a punch to his armpit. With his opponent off balance, Rex swept one of his feet out from under him, forcing him to the ground. Rex dove on him, the man trying to block him with his free hand now and still still trying to kriffing stab him.
Rex seized his knife hand and started to force it down, towards the man's chest. The Mandalorian's eyes widened as he pushed back with both arms, trying to stop Rex. Rex put more of his weight on the arm, feeling him kick and struggle. The knife went down more. "Nayc, Nayc! Gev!" The man cried. Rex let out a shout and, putting his full weight on the knife, freed a hand to punch the man in the face. He then brought his fist down, hammering the vibroblade into the armor and the man's chest. A pained gasp escaped his opponent. Rex raised up both hands into a gathered fist. With another shout, he hammered the knife in up to the hilt. The man stopped struggling and went limp.
Panting, Rex pushed himself off the body and made to grab his blasters. He heard footfalls in the ship and turned them both towards the door, only lowering them when he noticed General Kenobi and Bo Katan there. Rex looked for a second and panted out, "Ships clear…" He said, standing up again.
"Are you okay Rex?" General Kenobi asked, to which Rex nodded.
Bo Katan nodded in approval. "Well, I may have been wrong about you, Captain. Seems you did earn those Jaig Eyes." She said, before looking to them both. "Come on. We're going to get these weapons loaded and take this ship, my ship will link up with us, then we'll rendezvous with your friends." She said.
Rex followed them both, willing to let them handle the rest. After all that, he just wanted a shower and his bunk.
"So, where are these allies of yours Kenobi? Remember, you've promised quite the force." Bo Katan said to Obi-Wan as they watched empty space.
"They should be arriving any moment now. I just sent the all clear signal to them." He said. He could feel them nearing in the force, even with their presence shielded as it was, he was so attuned to some of the signatures, Anakin's especially, that he could detect them. "Ah, here they are now."
Roughly a second later, the Liberation dropped out of hyperspace. Obi-Wan noticed Bo Katan nod some. "Well, you certainly don't disappoint Kenobi." She said. "They're already hailing us on comms."
Obi-Wan nodded and accepted it, a hologram of Master Yoda appearing. "Master Kenobi, Bo Katan. Some news, you have for us? Informed me, Master Skywalker has."
Obi-Wan nodded, but let Bo Katan speak. They'd discussed the possibility of an alliance, but now to see if they would commit. "Master Jedi. I know that your order and the people of Mandalore have… a history. But, if everything Master Kenobi has told me is true, then we both face a far greater threat. One that would see your order destroyed and Mandalore subjugated to the will of its Emperor. If you, your ship, and your soldiers will assist me in defeating Maul, and if the Empire is as dangerous as you say, then I will pledge Mandalore's support in the fight against it."
"My thanks, you have." Master Yoda replied. "Ready, we are."
Bo Katan nodded, "Thank you, but we are not. I need to gather more clans to our cause of overthrowing Darth Maul. Even if we beat him, it won't matter if the others do not support me." She said. "Send a shuttle over to collect Kenobi. He's given me a way of contacting you. We'll be in touch… when the time is right." She said. "I'm trusting you because of Kenobi… because my sister trusted him." She said.
"Understood. Ready, when the time comes, we will be." Master Yoda replied. "On the way, a shuttle for Master Kenobi, there is." And with that, the connection ended.
Obi-Wan took a breath of his own. "For Satine." He said softly and looked at Bo. "It… may not be the Mandalore she envisioned… but I am sure she would have preferred you leading it to someone like Maul."
Bo Katan stared at him for a moment and nodded, "For Mandalore… and for Satine."