Captain Rex entered the cockpit of the Twilight for the third time. Oddball was still kneeling beside the comms station, fiddling with the wires. Switch stood next to him, keeping his weight off his injured leg as he watched.

"Captain." Wooley greeted him from the pilot's seat. "We just located one of the jammers."

"One of them? How many are there?"

Oddball got up and turned to him. "Two, sir. One of them's blocking our off-planet transmissions, but the other's a local."

"Hmm." Rex joined them and stared down at Switch's screen. "So, if we take it out, we'll have ground comms again. How close is it?"

Oddball adjusted another setting, glanced at the screen, and smirked. "Close enough that we can take it out with the Twilight's gun."

He pointed out the viewport at the low-lying building the generals and clones had used to enter the castle.

"Any lifeforms present?"

Switch turned to another screen. "Several in the left wing of the castle; none in the storage building."

"Sergeant?" Rex invited.

Wooley limped over to the main gun and swung it down from the ceiling. There were three double-blasts of laser fire, evenly spaced, and the building dissolved into rubble.

"Local comms coming back online," reported Oddball.

"Captain," said Switch. "We've got a lot of lifeforms around the front gate."

"At least one of our problems was easy to solve," said Rex, tilting his head toward the wreckage. "Get our comms synced. You three stay here. Be ready to use the gun, if I tell you."

"We'll charge it up, sir," said Wooley.

Rex nodded and left, heading aft. His commlink blinked twice, signaling a reset, as he entered the cargo hold. Ventress was still unconscious. Despite that, the four clones around her had their guns pointed unwaveringly at her head and torso, and Kix stood next to her, another hypo of sedative ready. Lying on a large crate behind the medic was Boomer, who was still recovering, having been hit the hardest by Dooku's Force-lightning attack.

"We might have trouble," Rex told his men. "There's a large crowd outside the wall."

"Can they get in?" asked Fives.

"The wall isn't that high," said Trap. "Is the general back yet?"

"No. And he's only been gone an hour, so we can't expect him back any time soon."

Longshot tapped his hand against his gun. "So . . . we're in trouble again."

"If they intend to attack, yes we are." Rex tapped his comm. "Men, report to the cargo hold for orders. Switch, Wooley, stay where you are. Keep an eye on the crowd and let me know if anything changes."

"Got it."

It took perhaps half a minute for everyone to gather. Sergeant Boomer started to join the others, but when he staggered sideways, Kix marched over and made him sit on a crate. "You can listen from there," he said.

Boomer grumbled and Jesse snickered.

As Trap and Flash, who had been on guard, entered, Rex glanced over the men, evaluating the situation. One ship with guns; nineteen men – twelve who hadn't been injured and seven who had, in one way or another; one dangerous prisoner, still unconscious; a large crowd of potential hostiles outside the wall; two missing Jedi and one missing commander; no reinforcements; and Grievous was still unaccounted for.

Well, it wasn't the worst situation they'd ever been in. . .

It sure as fate wasn't the best, either. Rex locked his hands behind his back and stood upright.

"There might be an attack soon – possibly to rescue the prisoner," he said. "Since the generals aren't back yet, and we have no idea when they will be, it's up to us to stop the attack. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"We've got one thing in our favor. Ground comms are back online. Everyone, check in and make sure you've got a signal. Kix? I want anyone unfit for battle stationed inside."

The medic nodded. "Sergeant Wooley, Sergeant Boomer, and Switch are the most seriously injured. Longshot is injured, but shouldn't have trouble. Trap and Flash are a little stiff. Jesse is knocked up, and so are you."

"Right," said Rex, ignoring the last sentence. 'Knocked up' was not at all the same as injured. "Trap and Flash, I want you two outside, guarding the ramp. If things get too hot, retreat inside and help guard the prisoner."

They saluted and left.

Rex glanced over the other men. He wasn't quite as familiar with the strengths of Cody's men. Then again, this should be a straight-up firefight, so there probably weren't any wrong choices.

"Namer, take Det, Waxer and Boil. Take cover across the courtyard – we just knocked down the storage building; you might have luck there. We'll try to split their fire between two fronts."

"Yes, captain." Namer gestured to the other three. "Let's find a good position."

"Oddball, you'll stay here," Rex continued. "You know the launch codes – if it looks like we're going to be overwhelmed, I want you to lock down all the ship systems. Put Switch and Wooley on the guns."

"Yes, sir." Oddball put on his helmet's pilot and headed back to the cockpit.

"Boomer –"

"I'm fine, sir."

Rex ignored him. "You'll stay here as a last line of defense. If the prisoner is rescued, the mission fails."

". . . Yes, sir." His sergeant was obviously not fooled by Rex's attempt to make his 'job' sound more important than it was, but then, neither was Rex fooled by his attempt to stand up straight.

"Snap, I want you here also. Gadget, you too."

Snap, whom Rex knew was a veteran of many battles, looked disappointed, but he nodded without comment.

"Ghost, Longshot – Cody tells me you're good snipers. Take Fives and Echo with you. Two snipers on each side of the gate. Get up top."

Ghost tapped Echo on the arm. "You're with me, kid," he said. "Let's see how good you are."

Echo glanced at Fives almost uncertainly before following. Fives simply shrugged a little and trailed after Longshot. Rex decided he should separate the two of them in battle more frequently. They were good, but they couldn't just work with each other. They had to get used to working closely with other brothers – especially since this was their first mission since Rishi.

Rex glanced at the last two clones. "Kix, you keep an eye on the men. Jesse – you keep an eye on Kix."
"Yes, sir." Jesse clapped his helmet on.

Kix checked Ventress' vitals, jabbed another shot – how much of that stuff was it taking to keep her unconscious? – into her neck, and slung his medic pack onto his shoulders. Picking up his rifle, he said, "We'll take cover in front of the ship."

Rex turned to the three guarding Ventress. "You have any trouble, you call for help immediately, got it?"

Boomer switched the safety on his gun off. "Yes, sir. We won't let them take her."

"Nope," said Snap easily. "If they take her, it'll be after they lose a lot of men."

Rex nodded to them and left. He checked on the three in the cockpit, ordered Wooley and Switch to keep on the guns, and tried the generals' comm channels. There was no response, so he tried to contact Cody. No response from him, either.

I wonder what the commander has gotten himself into this time. He discarded the thought immediately. There was a battle to be fought. If they survived, they could go after the others. If not – well, they wouldn't be around to worry about it.

Rex entered the courtyard and glanced around, locating each of the men and marking their positions. He stood on the side of the ship nearest the gate and waited, both pistols drawn. "What's it looking like out there?" he asked.

Wooley replied. "We've got a few hundred people outside, sir. One group of about fifty is close to the gate, the rest seem to be hanging back."

So, civilians were in the background; they would probably stay back unless the clones seemed to be winning. The immediate threat was the group closest to them, and they appeared to be preparing for a headlong rush.

"Captain –"

Then there was an explosion. Pieces of the large gate blew outwards, and Rex ducked, already firing through the dust and smoke that filled the gap in the wall.

A volley of blue lasers flew through the courtyard – in both directions. Rex's mind went to high alert and he listened more carefully. Sure enough, the rapid sound of the clones' blasters was interspersed with the high-pitched sound of stun lasers. The enemy wanted to take them captive. Not good.

The turret guns on the ship fired into the opening left by the gate, and there was an outbreak of cries and cursing. The incoming shots died down for a moment.

Ducking behind the wing, Rex lifted his comm to his helmet, still firing with his left hand. "Oddball! Change of plans. Warm up the engines."

"On it, captain."

"They're behind us!" Namer exclaimed.

Longshot's voice broke in. "Captain, they're splitting up. I've got a group coming up this side. They're climbing!"

Rex sent a few more shots towards the dust-filled opening in the wall and glanced to his left. Longshot had gotten to his feet and now stood, firing calmly downwards. Fives knelt beside him – and then he jerked and fell off the wall, landing hard twelve feet below.

Echo shouted his name, momentarily distracted, but he turned back to his own battle immediately and continued shooting. Beside him, Ghost was lying flat on the wall, firing off single shots, one after the other.

Rex had known the enemy wouldn't try rushing the gate a second time – not with the Twilight's guns guarding it – but he hadn't realized how well-organized they were. They had spread along the entire wall. On the other hand, half of Rex's men didn't have targets to shoot at yet, and they wouldn't until the enemy got over the wall. . . At which point it would be too late.

"Namer!" he ordered. "Get your men over here. We'll have to take off!"

"On our way, sir!"

A glint of sunlight caught his eye. On the roof of a nearby building, a Weequay was just lifting a long rifle to his shoulder. Rex came to a full stop, lifted both pistols, and fired them simultaneously. The Weequay jolted to his feet, staggered, and pitched headlong off the roof with a scream.

Rex took a running start and climbed the wall in two steps, clutching at the top to pull himself up. Beside him, Longshot's rifle clicked on an empty cartridge, and he brought it down hard on the nearest attacker's head. There was a sudden flicker of red, and Longshot fell, a hole smoking in the shoulder of his armor.

Another Weequay sniper – Rex killed him, too, then grabbed Longshot's arm and shoved him unceremoniously off the wall. As he jumped down, landing unsteadily in the sand, the Twilight fired another blast, sending whirls of smoke and grit flying through the courtyard.

"Keep your head down!" said a voice, and Kix was there, firing over Rex, then pulling Longshot to his feet and hurrying toward the ship.

Jesse fell back to cover him, firing every time he saw a target. "We can't hold 'em off, Rex."

"I know. We'll have to take off and hope they don't have any heavy artillery nearby."

Jesse nodded and ran to the front of the ship, using it for cover as he shouted for Echo and Ghost to get down. He was still speaking when the entire wall shook with an explosion, and the two snipers were sent flying. Another hole appeared on the side facing the boarding ramp, not twenty meters away the ship.

Rex jumped forward. "They've breached the wall! Everyone, fall back to the ship!"

Trap and Flash, still guarding the ramp, were the first to fall under the onslaught of stun blasts that filled the air. Jesse flung himself to the ground, rolled under the ship and continued shooting.

"Captain!" shouted Boil as he charged out of the ship, followed by Waxer. "They just took Echo and Ghost!"

"Nothing we can do!" replied Rex. "Keep blasting!"

Wooley was quick to swing the Twilight's gun around and fire on the new breach, but as soon as he did the gate was left exposed and a second rush of men joined the first.

The courtyard was in chaos. As Rex ducked under the ship's extended wing, he saw Det taken captive, then Waxer. There was only one chance left to salvage this mission, but Rex knew he and the others wouldn't be getting out. "Oddball! Get this ship to the Negotiator!"

The engines, already active, fired up. Jesse scrambled out from underneath the ship, and Rex rushed the enemies crowding their way up the ramp. The enemy soldiers had stopped using their guns, probably because they were in such close quarters now. It was foolish of them – a stun blast wasn't lethal – but Rex was never one to question luck. He fired over and over, until his pistols could scarcely recharge in time for each shot. Behind him, Jesse was using his empty rifle like a club. They were on the boarding ramp, still trying to fight his way through the press of aliens to the door, when the ship lifted off. Rex lost his balance, and a wiry blue Twi'lek jumped on his back, nearly sending him over the edge. Obviously, thought Rex, as he tossed the Twi'lek over the side, the alien had lost his weapon.

"Captain!" shouted Snap's voice. "They've broken through –"

His voice cut off with a fizzle of static just as Kix appeared in the doorway and joined Rex and Jesse.

Oddball's calm voice came through next. "Captain, we're too high for anyone to board. I can hold this position until you're inside."

"Wait for my order," he replied breathlessly. He jammed his useless pistol into a Rodian's stomach and shoved him off the ramp. Jesse kicked the last enemy in the knee, collapsing it, just as a double shot from the ground hit him in the back.

Kix lunged forward and caught his wrists before he fell off, but a flicker of movement behind him caught Rex's attention. "Kix, look out!"

He fired and hit one of the assailants, but the other two grabbed the medic's arms and shoved him sideways, over the edge of the ramp. "Seal the doors!" shouted Rex into his comm. "Trap them inside –!"

It was too late. Two fully armored Weequay, obviously more skilled than the average thugs they'd been dealing with, dragged Ventress out onto the ramp just as the door hissed shut behind them. A hovercraft, full of more enemies, rose into the air beside them, coming to pick up their rescued prisoner. Rex, his balance wavering as the ship moved, fired again – but his pistols' weakened charges did little more than make them angry.

One of the Weequay lifted his rifle and pointed it at Rex's head. "We don't need all of you alive," he snarled in a guttural voice. "Surrender, clone."

Rex slowly put his hands in the air, simultaneously bringing his commlink closer to his mouth. He had failed his mission, but General Kenobi and Cody might still have a chance. "Stay within range of local comms if you can," he said.

"What?" snarled the bigger of the two Weequay.

"Roger that," said Oddball. "We'll wait for the generals. Good luck, sir."

Rex had every intention of making his own luck. As the Weequay stepped forward to take his guns, he turned and flung himself into the air, falling between the hovercraft and the Twilight towards the sand below.

Okay, now everyone's in trouble. The commandos and Kit Fisto are still on Vassek III, setting more charges. Anakin and Cody are in prison; Obi-Wan is in a different prison; Rex has just decided to jump off a ship that's fifteen or twenty feet off the ground; a few clones are on the Twilight; and most of the clones have been captured.

Now, I have an offer to make all of you. If you have a particular 'scene' that you'd like in this story, I can try to fit it in. For example (though I sort of already did this one), you could ask to have Obi-Wan and Dooku making Anakin be quiet. The nice thing about stories with a loose outline is that I can maneuver things around a bit. :)

You can either leave a suggestion in a review, or PM me - but if you leave it in a review, please make sure you're signed in so I can reply. :) Thanks!