Seelos: The next morning
Anakin and Sabine worked on fixing the Phantom a bit before she contacted Kanan on her comm to update him on it's status. "The probe hit us pretty badly. Repairs are gonna take a little while longer." she told him.
"We don't have much time. There's no telling when the Empire will get here. We've got to get off the surface." he replied as his tone took on a worried edge before the ex-merc peeked around the left side of the shuttle and lowered his helmet's antenna. "Well, the Empire's not our only problem. There's a storm coming up behind us." he said over his girlfriend's comm before raising the antenna back up.
"If the Empire gets here before we take off, the storm will be the least of our problems." the Jedi replied grimly before cutting off as the couple went back to work on the shuttle.
Roughly ten minutes later the two teens heard the familiar sound of TIE engine and looked up to see one closing in on their position. "Shit! Inside, now!" Anakin said quickly before they exited the shuttle and hopped down to the back entrance of the AT-TE just as one of the TIE opened fire.
"They found us." Sabine warned as she and Anakin entered the command room. "Guess that search pattern paid off." Ezra commented. "Battle stations." Rex ordered his brothers before they opened a crate full of Republic weaponry.
Walking over to the crate, the former merc's eyes widened as he noticed a certain blaster inside before picking it up. 'Holy shit! A DC-17m? Dad's been looking everywhere for one of these!' the ex-merc inspected it for a few seconds before turning to Rex. "Mind if I use this?" he asked with a smile. "Be my guest, kid." the captain replied, mirroring his smile.
Once everyone was set, they all made their way to the top of the walker just as the TIE flew overhead. "Hurry! He's coming around for another pass." the Mandalorian girl warned before making her way to the front of the cannon as Zeb readied his borrowed Z-6 rotary blaster cannon and her boyfriend took aim with the DC-17m. "Ezra, protect the Phantom." Kanan ordered as he and his Padawan ignited their sabers. "What about the tank?" the younger Jedi asked.
"It can take a hit." he replied before mumbling mostly to himself, "I think.". A few seconds later the TIE was now flying towards them and opened fire before Sabine returned it with her borrowed DC-15A at the same time Anakin and Zeb started shooting.
"Try shortening your leads. You're wasting ammo." Rex said from the left front ladder as he climbed up while holding an RPS-6 rocket launcher. "You're welcome to help." the Lasat shot back as he continued shooting. "Eh, why spoil the fun? We haven't been shot at in years." Gregor said cheerfully after climbing up the right rear ladder.
"Seems to happen to us every day." Anakin said as the TIE stopped firing before passing overhead again. "Why doesn't someone man the big gun?" Ezra suggested to the two clones. "That's no good in this situation." Rex answered.
"Oh. Kinda like you guys." Kanan said sarcastically as he climbed to the top of the shuttle just before the TIE made its way towards them again.
Anakin quickly holstered the blaster before climbing up onto the shuttle then to everyones shock, Force-jumped onto the TIE. The pilot jumped in his seat from surprise as the teen held on with one hand while the other waved mockingly at the Imperial before climbing onto one of the wings.
The teen channeled the Force to give him a boost of strength and with all his might, pulled the TIE into an uncontrollable spin before pushing off while simultaneously letting go. Anakin backflipped through the air and landed on the top of the shuttle just as the TIE hit the ground and exploded.
The ex-merc wiped some dirt off his chest armor before noticing the shocked looks he was getting. "What?" he asked in confusion.
Seelos: An hour later
A little while later the couple were now back to working on the shuttle as they overheard Ezra and Rex talking. "So, um, what was it like to fight in the Clone War?" the younger teen asked. "I don't think the fighting ever got to Lothal. I tell ya, war was never dull. The general I fought with was among the greatest of the Jedi. I trusted him with my life more times than I can count. And I tried my best to keep that trust." the captain replied.
"All right. With any luck, we can get outta here soon." The Mandalorian girl said. "Well, we can't just leave Rex, Wolffe and Gregor here." Ezra said. "Well, the Empire is here because of us. We'll deal with the consequences." the captain replied as Zeb and Wolffe joined them.
"Wait. Listen. You hear that?" the Lasat asked as they started hearing loud clanking. "Enemy contact. Point-2-4." Wolffe said, pointing ahead where three large figures were seen before he, Kanan, Rex and Zeb took a look through their macrobinoculars and the two in Mandalorian armor lowered their antennas. 'Shit... Walkers.'
Rex and Wolffe climbed down the two ladders to join Gregor on front balcony while the rebels remained with the Phantom. After a few minutes Rex and Gregor came back up the front right ladder and while Gregor continued towards the opposite end ladder, Rex quickly took the main gun's seat.
"Gregor, drop the joopa. We gotta get moving." the captain said over the AT-TE's comm before Anakin saw the joopa hit the salted ground. "Wolffe, turn 180." Rex ordered. "Copy that." came the other clone's reply before the tank started turning right and towards the storm.
Anakin activated his green blade before casually swinging and deflecting an AT-AT blast into the sky. "Amateurs." the teen scoffed right before his girlfriend exited the shuttle without her helmet and holding a wrench.
"Kanan. I'm not sure how far we'll get, but I think she'll fly." she said while wiping her forehead. "Good enough for me." he replied before taking his comm out. "Zeb, we're going now." he said to the Lasat.
"Too late. The walkers are already on top of us." the captain said. "He's right. They'll shoot us down as soon as we take off." the ex-merc spoke in agreement. "How will going into that storm be any better?" the older Jedi asked, sounding frustrated.
"Well, the storm will scramble the scanners. We'll all be blind." Sabine said. "But a Jedi won't." Rex replied. Kanan looked at the ground for a moment before turing his attention back to the clone.
"All right, everybody inside." Kanan ordered before they made for the rear right ladder one at a time.
Seelos: AT-TE command room
"We're not gonna be able to hide in this storm forever." Ezra said. "Those things are practically impervious to blasters, but they have one weak point in their armor, the neck." Sabine explained.
"One well-placed shot from the main gun should destroy it." Gregor added. "That's all we might get, one shot." Rex replied. "I don't know how we're supposed to shoot something we can't see. I don't even know where the enemy is." Zeb grumbled as he looked at the scrambled image on the main console's screen.
"You don't always have to see something to know where it is. If you're willing to trust me, I can get us that shot." Kanan said, taking a few steps forward. "I always trust my general." the captain replied before the older Jedi closed his eyes and held his hand out.
Roughly a minute went by before Kanan spoke again. "Prepare to stop, now." he said before Wolffe pulled the tank into a full stop. The clones and rebels heard the sound of an AT-AT walk close-by as the older Jedi continued focusing.
"Commander Wolffe, circle left, double time." the Jedi ordered before the walker started to turn. "Full stop!" Kanan ordered as the walker stopped moving and the Jedi opened his eyes. "Shit. We're surrounded." Anakin swore grimly. "He's right." Kanan confirmed. "What?" the younger Jedi asked in surprise.
"You put us right in the middle of 'em to get us a shot. It's crazy, but it's probably our best chance." Rex said. "Once we fire, we'll reveal our location. If we miss, it's all over." Sabine warned. "I'll take the shot." Gregor said as he stood up from his seat. "No, Ezra should take the shot." Kanan said. "Uh, why not Anakin?" his Padawan asked, sounding somewhat nervous at the thought of shooting the neck of an AT-AT. "Yeah, sure. Why not?." the ex-merc replied.
"Sabine, spot him." the captain said, getting a nod and smile in return before she put her helmet back on and made for the exit with her boyfriend following. "Hey, kid."he called out, getting their attention "Do your dad proud." he said with a small smile while folding his arms and getting a nod in return before they continued out the door
Upon exiting to the roof, both held their arms up as they walked through the storm and made their way to the cannon before Anakin sat down in the chair. "Try not to miss." his girlfriend teased. "Very funny." he replied dryly.
"Anakin, there's a walker somewhere around Point-5." Kanan said over the teen's helmet comm. "'Somewhere around Point-5.'? Real helpful." he replied sarcastically before turning the cannon right.
Seeing two lights in the distance, the teen took aim and waited for the right moment to shoot. A few minutes passed before he saw an opening. "Beware my power, asshole." the ex-merc said before shooting a blast at the walker. "What? I heard it in a movie." he said to his girlfriend with a shrug after sensing some bewilderment from her.
The couple turned their attention back to the walker just in time to see an explosion appear right were its neck was. "It's down." Anakin said to the older Jedi over his comm after he and Sabine watched the walker fall over in a blaze of fire.
Seelos: Other side of the storm
"Great shot, kid. Now get yourself moving. This is your only chance." Rex said after he and the other rebels came out onto the platform. "What? We can't leave now." Ezra protested. "We have to get the information they gave us back to the Rebellion." Kanan replied sternly before the others entered the tank again.
"Ezra's right. Plus the other part of that mission is to bring Rex back with us. We can't just abandon them. He's family to me." Anakin said. "You're not abandoning anyone. We're covering your escape. Now, move." Rex ordered gently yet firmly while placing a hand on the shoulder of his former general and commander's son.
Kanan gave one last look at the clone before entering the tank with his Padawan reluctantly following. Once they were gone, the clone removed his hand before offering it to the teen. The two clasped forearms before Rex gave him a smile.
"We're soldiers, kid. This is what we were born to do." he assured, getting a solemn nod in return before pulling his hand away. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Rex..." Anakin said solemly. "Likewise, kid." the captain responded before the teen turned around. Anakin took one last look at the smiling clone before following after the others.
Seelos: Abord the Phantom
"Kanan, you know better than anyone. They won't give up. This fight is gonna be their last." Ezra said solemnly as the older Jedi piloted the shuttle. From where he sat beside his girlfriend, Anakin felt sick to his stomach at the thought of abandoning not only one of his parents' last remaining friends from the Clone War, but also a friend they considered family.
'Mom's gonna be devastated when she finds out about this. And there's no telling how dad'll react...' the ex-merc's thoughts drifted as Kanan contacted Hera and brought her up to speed.
"It's too bad about Captain Rex, but at least you got the intel. I'll rendezvous with you shortly." she said softly. "Copy that." he replied before cutting off. "What am I gonna tell my mom... Clone or not, she considers him family..." Anakin trailed off before Sabine gently grabbed his left hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"I hate it when you're right. I've got my problems with clones, but I don't want those men to die." the older man said, turning the autopilot on before spinning the chair around and standing up while earning a smile from everyone, even Anakin.
With Sabine now piloting the shuttle, she quickly flew them back towards the walker before shooting a few shots at the one shooting the AT-TE. Once overhead, Anakin and the Jedi jumped out and landed on the top before the later two activated their sabers and started cutting around the hatch.
Anakin grabbed the hatch once it was cut all the way around and tossed it away before jumping down into the cockpit. "What was that?" the pilot questioned the co-pilot before the ex-merc grabbed both by the helmets and slammed them together just as the Jedi joined him inside the cockpit.
"Uh-Uh, I'm doing driving." Anakin said, stopping Kanan from sitting in the pilot seat before sitting in it himself as the older Jedi instead took the co-pilot chair. The teen took aim before opening fire on the other walker. While the shots from their commandeered walker weren't quite enough to destroy the other one, it did give the the clones an opportunity to take a shot at the neck, which is exactly what Rex did a few seconds later.
The three Force-wielders watched as the neck exploded and the walker fall to the ground. The two teens smiled at the sight of it and the older teen even noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kanan seemed happy too. 'Hopefully he'll fully come around to being friends with them someday.'
Anakin snickered when he suddenly noticed Kallus driving away on a speeder bike with one of the pilots running behind and decided to take a few shots at them for fun. The ex-merc drove the walker over to the clones who were currently pulling themselves up onto the remains of their home before the three rebels exited to the roof of the walker.
As soon as the clones saw them they smiled and saluted before earning a nod in return from Kanan. Everyones attention soon turned to the Ghost once it descended close to Anakin and the Jedi before they noticed Hera smiling at them and Chopper waving. The teen chuckled at the droid's antics. "Come on, I think it's time to go home." he said, earning a smile and nod from the two Jedi.
Space: Phoenix squadron
The Ghost crew entered Ahsoka's corvette and turned one of the corners leading into a hallway with said woman at the other end. Ahsoka turned to face them, but before she could utter a word, the rebels moved aside to let Rex walk past them. The captain stopped in front of them and clasped his hands behind him.
"Commander." he greeted formally with a small smile on his face. The Togruta's surprised expression turned into a smirk that mirrored his before she walked up to him. "You got old." he joked as she shook her head and smiled. "Had to happen sometime, Rex." she replied, a sliver of snippiness in her tone before hugging him.
The crew watched the reunion with smiles on their face, even Kanan. "I'm glad you're still alive." he said, returning the hug. "You too." she replied while separating from the hug. "Well, I wouldn't be if it weren't for these guys. Especially your son." Rex praised, moving aside a bit.
"You and dad would never abandon family, and neither will I." her son replied, earning a brighter smile from her. "Speaking of. Where is General Revan?" the clone asked as her smile dimmed a bit. "He went searching for his heritage some years ago." she replied. Knowing her well, the captain decided not to pry and simply nodded.
"Thank you for trusting my friend." she said to Kanan after turning her attention to him. "It wasn't easy. It's still not..." he said, trailing off a bit. "Nothing worth doing ever is." she replied.
Chapter 15 done. Apologies it took so long, writers block just... it's hard to explain, you know? Don't worry though, I won't let it sink its claws into me, this story will be finished. Even if it takes years.
