The climax officially begins here.


Kanari gripped her rifle in her hands, waiting for the Lizard to step in first.

"We have to hurry," he said. "The next patrol shift will be starting soon." Still on all fours, he scuttled into the mouth of the tunnels, keeping close to the walls as he hurried down the dirt floor of the hallway.

The path they were taking tapered off into a "t" shape; one direction went left, the other went right, and the third path continued forward into a patch of darkness.

Kanari recognized this place. It had been a mining factory before the Battle of Osano, where she'd worked laborious hours as a teenager. She remembered the place well.

Ri'van didn't look back to see if the soldiers and the female were following. He knew that if they didn't hurry, they might not save the prisoners in time. He ran around another corner without checking to see if any guards were coming, slamming into a thick pair of legs.

"Ay, Ri'van!" the guard yelled, stepping back a moment. "Where've you been—"

Just then, the group that had been following him rounded the corner, stopping dead when they saw the tall, heavy guards standing in the way.

The two guards—Dra'sum and Si'rin—had been walking back from break, ready to start patrolling the outer perimeter of tunnels. When Ri'van crashed into Dra'sum on all fours, they'd both been surprised. They were wondering where he'd disappeared to for the last hour, since he'd skipped his favorite dinner and had rushed outside. They were both contemplating disobeying orders for a bit and searching outside for their little cousin.

A barrage of laser fire immediately plowed into the two armored Kirzmin Lizards, knocking them over in a pile of charred, smoking meat. They'd barely had any time to draw their weapons.

Ri'van sat stunned for a second before quickly snapping himself out of it and scurrying forward, maneuvering over the charred bodies of his comrades. He couldn't believe that they'd killed his cousins so quickly. Ri'van was still contemplating this when he arrived at the hall, the heavy scent of blood flooding his nostrils and almost making him gag.

Directly behind the Lizard, Kanari stopped, smelling the exact same thing he did. The air was noticeably chilled around the ominous, rusty door that stood in the flickering dim light of the hallway.

"I have to make sure the path ahead of you is clear," Ri'van said, rushing forward down the hall. "This is the door." Ri'van pushed it open with one hand, using his other to hand her a rusty pair of keys. He dropped to the ground again and ran away.

Kanari was the first to step into the prison cell, the cold air immediately raising goose bumps on her arms. Her foot splashed in something, but she ignored it, her breath catching at the horrendous sight that lay before her.

The smell was the first thing that hit her. The stale air smelled heavily of blood, but underneath was a layer of frozen sweat and human waste that hadn't been take care of. She knew what her foot had splashed in.

Rex was the first person she saw, emaciated and covered in his own blood and waste as he sat with his arms held above his head. His fingertips, lips, and ears were blue, his breath barely visible in the freezing room.

"Rex!" Kanari rushed forward, dropping to her knees on the bloody ground and pushing the key into the lock at his wrists.

Rex's entire body stiffened, and he unconsciously pressed himself firmer into the cold wall at his back. He kept his eyes shut, face turning away from the light that spilled from the hall.

"Rex?" Kanari said softly, pressing a hand to the side of his face. Her fingers came away in sticky partially-congealed blood. She didn't miss the gasp that came from him as she touched his wound. "Rex, it's me. It's Kanari, Rex. Open your eyes!" She could only imagine what tortures he'd been put through that would prevent him from trusting someone he knew.

Almost reluctantly, Rex cracked his eyes open, turning his head to the woman in front of him. "K-Kanari?" he said, unbelieving. His voice cracked from lack of use other than screaming. "Y-You s-shouldn't be here…"

Kanari finished unlocking his hands, his cold, numb arms dropping with a loud pop to his sides. Rex hissed and closed his eyes again.

Gently, Kanari took Rex's frail body into her arms, hugging his head to her chest as she dug in her pouch for water.

Rex didn't believe anything he heard or saw anymore, not after what he'd gone through, but he decided it best to relish the moments of the mild warmth radiating from "Kanari" before he was rudely awakened. It was only a matter of seconds now until he was electrocuted awake, the Lizards laughing and hissing as they poked and prodded his most private memories. Through her breast, Rex could hear a strong, steady heartbeat—most likely fake—that rang pleasantly in his head and through his limbs.

"Rex, open your mouth," Kanari said, putting a small flask of water to his lips.

Rex continued to keep his eyes closed, letting Kanari's fake heartbeat wash over him as the water was pressed to his lips.

Clean, safe water.

With numb, shaking hands, Rex grabbed the bottle, pouring more down his throat as he struggled it grip it tighter. The more logical side of him protested. Don't drink too quickly!

And sure enough, more than half the water he'd chugged came back up all over him, leaving him in a painful coughing fit in Kanari's arms.

As Rex's body shook, Kanari could feel the sharp bones in his shoulders and back press into her arms, the thread-bare black bodysuit normally worn under his armor hanging off of his body. "You have to be careful, Rex," Kanari said, pushing him into a more upright position. She took the flask from his cadaverous hands and reattached it to her belt.

"Ma'am, we don't have much time left." Dice came up behind her, giving her a stim shot to inject in Rex. "That Lizard said we would only have about ten minutes." He shouldered the medic's pack he'd brought with him.

Dice still wasn't even entirely sure how they would get out of the tunnels alive. The place as riddled with Lizards, and they were going to be laid down with injured people who could barely stand as it was. Their chances of survival were beginning to get slimmer and slimmer in his eyes.

"Rex, can you stand?" Kanari asked, pushing the needle into his arm. She could believe she was actually hitting muscle and not bone.

Artificial adrenaline pumped through Rex's system, forcing his eyes open. "Y-Yes," he answered shakily, sitting up a bit more. He braced his hands on either side of him, the pain ebbing away from his body.

As Rex sat up on his own, Kanari got a solid look at his back. The barely-there cloth clung to his skin with blood, shreds of fabric embedding themselves in the torn flesh. Why the wounds weren't infected completely baffled Kanari.

Carefully, so as not to upset anything, Kanari slipped Rex's arm over her shoulders and stood, taking the majority of Rex's weight. Together, they took a shaky step forward, Rex's boots scuffling against the stone floor.

From what she remembered of the hasty explanation of the tunnels Ri'van had given her, the rooms holding the Padawans and Anakin were somewhere farther down the hall.

Rex's heavily labored breathing cut off her thinking process, causing her to stop in the middle of the hall. "Rex, I'm going to put you down for a moment," said Kanari, bracing her arm around his chest as she lowered him to rest against the wall.

The walls of the tunnel were warmer than the walls of the cell, Rex could tell that much. He only wished that he wasn't having drug-induced hallucinations and that they were actually escaping. Rex gazed absently at Kanari, silently wondering when the pleasant little hallucination would end and the torture would begin again. He recognized her, but he didn't believe she was real.

That was impossible—this "Kanari" being real. Every single time a person he knew or loved appeared, they were ripped from his arms and murdered right before him.

Every single time, Rex heard the Lizard's laughter in the background.

So Rex sat, motionless, as he watched what "Kanari" did, pulling a small green pill from a pocket and holding it in her fisted hand. "Open your mouth again, Rex," she said, locking onto him with her bright green gaze.

Rex kept his mouth shut, casting his steady gaze down to her hand, then back up. Whatever it was, it would most likely knock him back to the real world, and Rex would rather have stayed there, injured, in pain, and barely even able to move.

But he was with Kanari, and she wasn't screaming.

"Rex, please, this is going to help you," "Kanari" said, pressing the small green pill to his lips. "You don't have to chew it, I have water."

Rex didn't want to take the pill, but he wanted the water—needed the water. So he opened his mouth to ask for the water itself. "T-The w-water…"

The small green pill was immediately placed on his tongue, the water following soon after. Rex felt the object as it went down his throat, and fought the urge to cough it up on "Kanari".

"There, that's better…" "Kanari" said soothingly, cupping the side of his head.

Rex almost couldn't believe that "Kanari" was being so…gentle. Whenever the Lizards had created images in his brain, there was always a sort of distance to her voice. Despite his solid belief that what was happening was all a lie, Rex felt a little warmth spread through his gut, a nice change to the constant gnawing hunger he felt.

Maybe she was real.

"It was just a vitamin pill. You'll feel better in no time, Rex. Trust me." Kanari pulled Rex's arm over her shoulders again, this time with him on her right instead of left. She didn't like how quiet he was being—Rex certainly wasn't the talkative type, but she knew him enough to know that this completely dead silence was uncharacteristic of him.

As they hobbled along, Dice physically carrying an unconscious Kiki in his arms, the group approached a second heavy metal door, rust coating the bolts as Kanari forced the equally rusty key in.

The door swung inward, lighting the completely dark cell that held Anakin Skywalker.

"General!" One of Anakin's men stepped in, releasing Anakin's wrists with the key and catching him before the Jedi hit the floor. "I need a stim shot!"

Another man pulled the hypo out of Dice's med pack and handed it to the trooper. The clone injected it in Anakin's neck and waited for the stimulants to go through his system.

Anakin's eyes flew open, gasping slightly as he caught sight of his surroundings. "Wha…"

"General, there's no time to waste. We're busting you out of here. Can you stand?" The trooper didn't wait for an answer, pulling Anakin up by his arm and supporting most of his weight.

Anakin still had a dazed look about him, blinking a few times as if to figure out whether he was dreaming or not. "Wha…what's going on?" Anakin wearily lifted his head.

"Like I said, sir, we're going to try and get out of here." The trooper nudged Anakin's foot with his boot to get him moving. "Do you know where the Commanders are?"

"Ahsoka!" Anakin was suddenly awake, fumbling to take faster steps toward the door. "Where is she? Did you find her—" Anakin lost his footing, almost pulling the clone down with him.

"Sir, I need you to stay still for a moment—" The trooper was desperately trying to get Anakin to calm down—and maybe quiet down. Any more noise and they'd alert the entire cave system of Lizards where they were.

"But the Padawans—" Anakin clumsily stood up, looking frantically about him. "Rex? Rex!"

Rex painfully lifted his head, eyes widening when he saw General Skywalker standing in front of him. He almost let go of Kanari to stand up straight on habit.

"Anakin, you need to let the soldier support you—you can barely walk as it is, do you understand me?" Kanari secured her grip on Rex, taking a small step back.

The clone that had been helping Anakin took his arm again, helping the Jedi up. "We need to leave now, ma'am."

Kanari nodded and headed back through the door, Rex trying hard to support his own weight.

The next door they reached didn't have much difference from the others. Kanari opened it, expecting to find the two young Padawans chained inside like their Master had been.

The door opened to racks upon racks of plastoid armor and grenades, a few shelves lining the walls with grenades and blasters.

They'd found the armory.

Rex tugged Kanari forward, reaching out to his chest armor plates stacked neatly on a rack next to his pauldron, kama, and DC-17s. Rex brushed his fingers against the scratches on the chest plates, wrapping a hand around it. "Help me get this on," said Rex, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible. He wrapped his hands around the chest plate, pulling it off the rack and closer to him.

Kanari had to wrap her arms around Rex's waist to keep him from tipping forward into the rack. "Alright, but hold still!"

It took almost thirty minutes to get the injured clones re-armored. Their once snug plastoid plating was loose and hung off their bodies, partially swishing against their bodies as they moved.

Kanari had to allow Rex to wear the heavy pauldron despite the injuries to his shoulders. He refused to leave without the ornament, so she obliged under the rule that he would do as she said without trying to find a way out. She had medicine on her that needed to be distributed to him and the others evenly, and she couldn't have him constantly trying to spit it out whenever it hit his tongue—he'd spat out three already, and she was running out of pills.

Rex seemed glad to finally have his armor back, however useless it was on him. Kanari saw his face soften for a bit before it turned into solid determination.

They'd found armor, which meant they had weapons a better defense.

All they had to do was find the Padawans.


So, yep, they're going to escape. What Rex was seeing was actually happening, he just thought he was going crazy. Next chapter should be out soon.

~AAx