"The entire building's about to collapse!" His general's frantic voice tested the limits of the comlink speaker. "I want everyone out of there five minutes ago!"
Right.
With a quick flick of his fingers, Rex opened all channels and began shouting orders through the mic in his helmet. "Fives! Tup! I want a complete evac of the third floor! Jesse, Kix, help the general get that first floor clear! Move it, people! We don't have all day!"
Several affirmatives echoed through his comm, along with Commander Tano's motivational words as she ferried the last of the civvies to the lift.
"We can do this, guys! We're almost there!"
Almost there…
Right.
He shot his commander a quick nod before the lift doors separated them and he was forced to return to his final scan of the second level.
The heat was quickly becoming unbearable, even with the aid of his amour's built-in cooling system. Layers of sweat coated his face, neck, and back, making it difficult to concentrate. The smoke was growing thicker; his energy was growing lower.
And above all, they were running out of time.
Rex blazed through the halls of the medcenter at a speed he never thought himself capable of achieving. Almost there. Almost there…
His floor was clear, that was proving to be the only bright aspect of this mission. Now, to get out of here…
Having circled back around to the front, Rex punched the pad on the wall, summoning the lift from the depths of the burning building.
And the building was burning. Separatist explosives had quickly turned a peaceful medcenter on Pantora into a hellish inferno.
The 501st had been the closest response team available.
Just as the lift doors swished upon and Rex was thanking the stars that it was still operational, everything considered, Fives' voice filtered through his comlink.
"Captain, I have a situation."
Rex's heart skipped a beat. "A civvie?"
"I can't find Tup," the ARC trooper blurted, sounding the slightest bit hysterical. "He was just here, right behind me. Now, I can't… He's not—"
The communication crackled, making it hard for Rex to decipher the rest of the message. Fortunately, he didn't need to. He'd heard enough.
Leaping into the lift, he hit the button combo that would take him to the third floor and mere seconds later, he was soaring up into the heights of the building.
Come on, come on! Can't this thing go any faster?
"Fives?" He tried, keeping his voice level. "Fives, respond. Fives!"
Nothing.
And the captain's stomach dropped.
"Fives! What's your situation, trooper?"
Still no reply.
As if the action would make the elevator go faster, Rex pushed the button again. And again. And agai—
A sudden shudder stopped the transport altogether.
Rex cursed and tried the keypad. Nothing. No button he smashed had any effect on the lift's motion. It remained where it sat between levels.
"Oh, come on!"
A final vicious slam of the pad successfully opened the doors, revealing the fiery chaos that was Level Three.
"Fives!" He tried again. "Fives!"
Kriff.
Wasting no more time standing around like an idiot, Rex hoisted himself up through the thin opening. It was a tight squeeze, but Rex was running through the blazing halls in no time.
It was worse up there than it was on the lower levels for some odd reason Rex couldn't quite figure. Nevertheless, he pressed on, screaming out the names of his comrades until his throat was raw.
"Fives! Tup! Fives! Where—"
A hoarse shout had him sprinting down a side hall. Please be okay. Please be okay!
He heard pieces of the ceiling smash to the floor behind him as the entire building trembled.
"First floor is clear, Captain!" Jesse's disembodied voice declared.
Rex was too out of breath to respond.
General Skywalker was next, checking in on every trooper; taking stock of everyone not accounted for.
"Rex, where are you? We're missing Fives and Tup. They're not responding to—"
"I know, sir," Rex panted, cutting off his general in a rare show of impatience. "I'm looking for them now."
"You have less than two minutes," his general informed him with a voice drenched in stress. "The flames are eating up the first floor. You've got—"
But Rex was no longer paying attention, his sole focus placed on navigating the searing obstacle course ahead.
Leap once over a flaming gurney.
Duck under a falling block of wall.
Trip across a messy strip of loose medical supplies.
Go, go, go!
And then he saw him: Fives caught beneath a flaming chunk of ceiling. The sight nearly took his breath away.
No. Oh, please, no!
"Fives!" He cried and collapsed beside his fallen brother. "No, not another one. Please not—"
The ragged cough that escaped Fives' throat was equally as sickening as it was the most glorious sound Rex had ever heard.
"Fives! Fives, stay with me, vod. Stay with me!"
Another few coughs quickly spiraled into a coughing fit that scared Rex more than he would care to admit. Lifting the wreckage off his friend's legs zapped a good portion of his remaining energy, but he got it off all the same.
It was only as he sat trying to catch his breath and preparing for their imminent escape that he realized it. Fives' filtration system had stopped working.
That explains the coughing, he thought absently as he pried his brother's helmet off. But how long ago?
Despite the way the smoke was settling further down upon them in heavy clouds, Rex yanked off his own helmet and situated it over a coughing Fives.
Moments later, his efforts were rewarded.
"... R-Rex…?"
"I'm here, Fives," Rex replied, willing his voice not to quiver. "Just breathe, all right? I'm gonna get you out of here—" A small cough of his own nearly derailed his train of thought. "Can… Can you walk?"
"Yeah," Fives said, though he didn't sound very certain. "Y-Yeah. I can walk. I can—"
"Right. Then let's get going already."
Heaving his brother to his feet proved a difficult task, but soon they were both on their feet.
And then, they weren't.
"I can't," Fives' choked out, still trying to regulate his breathing through the helmet. "My leg, I don't think—"
"I'll help you—"
"No… Just… Just leave me."
"Not an option, soldier."
Once more, Rex drained his energy getting himself and his friend into a more-or-less standing position. Slowly, but surely, they both began hobbling their way back down the hall.
Just a little further, Rex kept repeating to himself as he supported Fives, who limped beside him. Just a little…
"Tup…" Fives' breath was a bit more even now, but that didn't account for the grunts and groans that escaped his lips every few minutes. "We have to…"
"Where—" A cough took hold of Rex's throat before he could continue and he cursed the relentless smoke. "Where is he?"
Fives shook his head. "I don't know."
Kriff.
"I-I thought I heard him call out somewhere on the north side of the building…"
Rex was calculating their next move before Fives had even finished his ragged sentence. Nothing was adding up the way he wanted it to. No. No. No!
Then, he felt Fives go slack against his weary body. Oh, no you don't!
"Leave me here while you go find him," Fives said as Rex fought to keep the injured trooper upright.
"Not happening, Fives." He gritted his teeth against another rising fit of burning coughs.
"We won't make it in time!"
As if on some sort of morbid cue, the general's voice burst through the comlink. Rex had to strain to hear over the crackle of the flames.
"Two minutes are up, Captain! You need to get out of there now!"
"Just get yourself out of here, Rex!"
"No!" The captain snapped. "I'm not leaving you here to die! I'm not leaving Tup here to die either, so straighten up and help me get down this hall!"
Picking up the pace, Rex drove them forward, his watery gaze fixed on the flaming road ahead. He could tell Fives was biting down hard on his tongue beneath the helmet to keep from crying out in pain.
"Just a little further, Fives. We're gonna make it."
"What about Tup?"
Rex choked on a fresh cloud of smoke. "We'll find him."
A sharp crack was their only warning before the roof began to cave in on top of them.
"Rex!"
At Fives' cry, he swung his arm under the ARC trooper's arms and hefted him over the back of his shoulders.
And then, Rex ran.
Racing against time and his own draining energy, Rex sped through the crumbling hallway, choking and coughing as though his life depended on it. Because it does, you di'kut!
Not only his life, but Fives and Tup's as well.
Tup.
Where are you?
Rex was getting to a point where he couldn't go more than a minute without coughing in a desperate attempt to clear his throat. Then, he heard Fives cry out again and it took several moments for him to realize he had hit the floor.
And there he lay with Fives resting on top of him, just breathing. Breathing. Breathing.
"Rex…" Fives' voice was barely audible over the loud pulsing in his ears. "You have to leave me here and get Tup before we all get swallowed by the building."
"No," Rex rasped after a moment. "I told… you. That's n-not—" Another ragged cough. "Not an option."
"Why?"
Rex gritted his teeth as he gathered strength enough to stand. "You might not be here when… When I get back."
"If it'll help Tup—"
"No! I am not…" With a gasp, Rex heaved himself and Fives off the ground, his every muscle protesting. "Leaving… you. I can't…" And here, his voice broke. "I can't lose anyone else."
Fives' labored breathing was the only reply he received.
I can't lose anyone else… Not after Echo.
And Heavy.
Dogma.
Hardcase…
"So," Rex ground out as he pressed forward, "I don't want to hear another… word about… it. That's… That's an order."
And Fives didn't say another word, though whether that was out of obedience or exhaustion, Rex was in no state to decipher.
Keeping low enough to avoid the billowing smoke was no longer an option, so Rex squinted his burning eyes and stumbled forward as fast as he possibly could. And still, it didn't seem fast enough.
He was just beginning to lose hope when he saw them round the corner: Tup carrying two young Pantorans, one on his back and the other in his arms. Small air masks were strapped to their faces.
"Captain!" The private called out with barely restrained joy and relief. "Captain, this building's coming down! We have to—"
He cut himself off short when he caught sight of Fives.
"My-My comlink's broken," was all the trooper could manage. "I couldn't contact… Couldn't c-call…"
"Tup, we need to get out of here," Rex pressed. "The lift is,"—Another cough—"broken. And there's… There's no way out the way we came."
Tup shook his head. "Nothing back th-there, either."
"Great." Blinking back smoky tears, Rex scanned the surrounding area, his inflamed eyes coming to rest on a small window. Bingo.
"General Skywalker!" He coughed into the comlink on his wrist. "We're on the north side of the building… Stuck on the third floor… Three troopers and two civvies… Kids… Right… Rex out."
"A-are they coming?" Tup inquired, the tremble in his voice thickening with each moment he kept his gaze fixed on his fallen brother.
Rex could only nod, his throat too clogged to do much else.
Time seemed to drag by until the general and Commander Tano showed up in a hovering gunship.
"You'll need to jump!" His general called.
Rex nodded at Tup, who prepared the children for their free fall into the open ship.
Soon, it was just him and Fives.
"Rex!" General Skywalker was frantic now. "You need to get out of there!"
He was in halfway through the painstaking task of shifting Fives from his back into his arms when the ARC trooper coughed again.
"For the last time, just leav…"
But he never got a chance to finish because Rex was on his feet and sprinting towards the open window.
"I told you, Fives," Rex said through tightly clenched teeth, "I am not going to lose anyone else."
With Fives tucked securely to his chest, Rex jumped.
His general used the Force to slow their fall, catching the duo and bringing them to a cushioned halt inside the gunship. Just as Rex knew he would.
Seconds later, the building caved completely in on itself.
But Fives and Tup were safe at last.
As darkness ate at Rex's tunneling vision; as Kix's arms wrapped around his own, keeping his exposed head from smashing onto the floor, one final thought echoed through his mind:
I will not lose any more brothers.
Not if I can help it.
Not if I can…
When he awoke in the medbay hours later, lungs cleared of any remaining wisps of smoke, Fives' hand was curled around his own.
And Rex grinned.
Not if I can help it.