This is the third story in my Clone Wars/Bonanza Novella Collection, however, this one ended up surpassing the novella word count and turned into a full length novel. It takes place after My Brother's Keeper, but reading that one isn't necessary to understand this fic's plot. I hope you enjoy!

Also, I WILL be finishing My Brother's Keeper soon, I simply need to get inspired to write the last two chapters. For anyone following that fic, I greatly appreciate your patience. 3

Mando'a Translations

Vod'ika—Little Brother

Ori'vod—Big brother

Vod—Brother

Vode—Brothers

Di'kut—Idiot

Someone once told him that time was relative, and if he was honest, it was probably a Jedi. But during his short career as Captain of the 501st, he'd learned that time was actually the most solid, most absolute aspect of life.

It changed, but in ways that were predictable, familiar. It was the one constant of the war, the only thing he could truly depend upon.

And they were all running out of it—every last one of them.

"We need to break the line before nightfall!" General Skywalker's agitated voice blasted through Rex's comlink. "Come on, boys, let's move it, here!"

"Copy that, sir," Rex replied, keeping his own tone steady. "Keep this line clear!"

And just like that, Fives and Jesse ended their frivolous conversation. This was no time for sarcastic comments and witty banter.

Not that Rex truly blamed them. The campaign had been a long one already and they were only halfway through their mission.

Dodging a string of blaster fire, blue and white armored captain pressed on.

Time. We're running out of time.

The comlink on his arm crackled with commands and calls for backup, clashing against the agonizing screams that pierced the air every other minute. Kix and Helix would have their hands full, that was certain.

"Captain, look out!"

Fives' frantic warning came just in time and Rex dove out of the way of an oncoming missile.

From his place on the chilled patch of dirt, the seasoned trooper shouted his next orders into his comlink. "We need to take out their tanks!"

"Way ahead of you, Rex." How General Skywalker always managed to sound so confident in the heat of battle still amazed him.

It was adrenaline that forced him back into his feet, and Cody's helping hand that kept him there.

"You all right?"

"Fine." Rex brushed himself off, an instinctive motion that served practically no use to his grime-coated plates of armor. Still, it made him feel better nonetheless. "We're running out of time."

The commander simply nodded, a grim movement that set what little hair Rex had on his nearly clean-shaven head on edge.

It hadn't taken the troopers long to figure out that the nights on Daelic were deadly. With no moon to light the thick blanket of black that choked every living thing on the planet's surface, it was impossible to fight a battle past sunset—or even plan sneak attacks into enemy territory.

As if that's not enough, Rex thought as his brother answered his own general's incoming comm, we have just over a week before our supplies run out.

And without their supply of oxygen tanks to battle the toxic night air, they would be hard pressed to activate their ray shield before sundown.

Which meant they had to get the Seppies off their backs first.

"This is by far the wackiest planet I've ever been to."

"Fives!" Rex snapped into his comm. "I told you to keep this line clear!"

No reply.

Rex turned to Cody. "Well? Any ideas?"

"What? You don't think General Skywalker's plan is going to work?"

"No, I don't think he can take out three tanks on his own, Jedi or not. Cody, we're running out of time." Rex paused to fire several blind shots into the gathering darkness. "If we don't break through this line in the next ten minutes, most of us aren't gonna make it back to shelter before nightfall."

"Right."

Back-to-back, the two soldiers fought their way through a thick group of battle droids, making for the row of tanks several klicks ahead. It was a nimble dance the duo had practiced to perfection, so much so that it had become mindless to them both, leaving room for much more important brain activity.

Such as coming up with a new plan.

The plan had been simple at the start: General Kenobi would lead an advance on the far left of the Separatist line while General Skywalker took the middle. General of the 323rd, Bastian Styrne, and his Padawan would destroy the forces on the far right, leaving Cody and Rex's team to take care of the gaps. As Rex led Torrent Company through the rocky terrain, however, he realized all too quickly that this would be anything but simple.

"We need to disable that tank before it tramples any more troopers," Rex continued and he felt Cody stiffen behind him.

That was never a good sign.

"I've got an idea," the gold painted commander said.

Rex resisted the urge to roll his eyes, then gave into his annoyance as his thick helmet would hide the look anyway.

"If you're about to say what I think you're about to say, don't."

"Do you see any other options?"

Dodging a blaster bolt that nearly had his name on it, Rex fought the urge to groan. "Well, no, but that doesn't mean—"

"I promise I'll make it quick this time."

"That's what you said last time."

"And we did it in record time. Come on, vod'ika."

Rex double checked his comm status, breathing a sigh of relief only when he was certain he was offline. That just left Cody's…

Blast it! If one of his men had heard the commander referring to him as "baby brother," they would never let him live it down. And they might never take me seriously again.

"Cody," he ground out through clenched teeth, though he could already feel his resolve weakening, "we're the same age."

"Not by my calculations."

Another wild blast of red had Rex knocking into his comrade in a desperate attempt to keep Cody's neck from turning hollow. "Have you ever thought that maybe—oh, I don't know—your calculations might be a bit off? Or are you just delusional?"

"I always thought you were a better sport than this, Rex."

"Not"—A grunt slipped past his lips as a disarmed assassin droid dove at his midsection, shoving him backwards into Cody—"when I'm playing a rigged game!" With a sharp kick, he drove the droid into the ground, blasting a hole in its chest on the way down. "And right now, we're losing."

"Not if we do it."

"No."

He felt Cody whip out a small thermal detonator and send it flying towards the nearest cluster of droids. "It's our best bet."

"It's embarrassing!"

"What other choice do we have?"

Rex's sigh almost cleared his lungs of all oxygen, but he found himself relenting. "Fine. But… can't you be the captive this time?"

Cody shook his head. "We have it practiced the other way around."

"What's to practice?"

"We're wasting daylight debating this, vod'ika," Cody replied, his understanding tone doing nothing to ease Rex's annoyance. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

Another sigh.

"All right. Let's just get it over with, then."

Cody's comm was activated in seconds. "Boil, Crys. Prepare the grenades. We're doing Surrender."

"Copy that, Commander."

Flicking his own comlink on, Rex waited for the channel to clear before giving out his own orders. "Fives! I need you and Jesse to cover Boil and Crys. They're gonna make a break for the tank."

"Copy that," Fives returned, his voice overlapping with a distance scream. "But are you crazy? It's surrounded by clankers. There's no way they can take it out alone!"

"They won't be alone."

With that, he turned back to Cody, who nodded.

"Ready?"

"Yeah." If it came out more as a grumble, that wasn't his intention. He could almost see Cody's raised eyebrow behind the mask. "Sure."

"Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it."

Rex slapped his blaster into Cody's hand. "It'd better work."

"It always does."

Resigned to his fate, Rex clasped his hands over his head in the perfect surrender position. Cody's gloved fingers curled around his shoulder and they were off, dreading through the battlefield as if they were invincible.

And for a brief moment, Rex almost felt like they were. Then, a blast of red singed the top of his helmet and he was cruelly reminded that he could perish at any moment.

Any one of them could vanish without a single word. Just a piercing shriek or a dull grunt.

Rex fixed his eyes firmly on the target ahead. Not today.

"Hold your fire!" Cody's booming voice cut through the chaos and Rex held his breath. "Hold your fire! I've come to surrender!"

A beat, then another. This was the moment Rex hated the most: the moment of waiting.

Waiting to find out whether their plan was going to work, or if they would fall to the ground with blaster bolts searing holes through their chests.

Surrender was a ruse they had developed towards the beginning of the war, shortly following the 501st and 212th's first few missions together. Playing on the inherent stupidity and lack of critical thinking found in B-1 battle droids was key, but sometimes—though very rarely—the thin little things surprised Rex with an unexpected flash of ingenuity.

It was in those moments that the two brothers were forced to make a hasty retreat.

We can't afford that this time around, Rex realized grimly as Cody marched him forward. Come on, come on! Take the bait…

All they needed to do was buy enough time for Boil and Crys to slip around the back of the tank undetected and plant the explosives.

Several painful seconds later, during which Rex had quite forgotten to breathe, the droid in charge cocked his head, the closest thing to "quizzical" the metal soldier could achieve.

"Hold your fire!" He commanded, looking to his fellow droids for input. Rex released the breath he'd been holding.

Finally.

As the droids ceased fire, Cody pressed on with the charade. "You've proven there's no way for us to win this, so it thought to myself: why even try?" With a light shove, he pushed Rex forward. "I brought you a prisoner in exchange for my release from this battle. You let me walk away unharmed and he's yours."

"Wait…" The head droid turned to his comrades. "Do we take prisoners?"

Their squeaky metallic voices ground against Rex's nerves, but he held his position, his fingers itching to put a few holes through their pointed heads.

"I don't think so…" another replied.

"Yeah? Well, at least take this one!" And with that, he felt Cody grip his shoulder and utility belt mere seconds before propelling him through the air…

… Into the cluster of bewildered battle droids.

With a somersault that almost rivaled the acrobatics of a Jedi, Rex barreled through the line, knocking the clankers down before their circuits could reroute.

Before they realized they'd been had.

Using his legs, Rex took out as many droids as he could before jumping to his feet and snapping a few necks.

"Rex!"

He turned just in time to catch his DC-17s, one for each hand, as Cody tossed them into the air.

Then the real battle began.

"Boil!" Cody's muted voice crackled through the air. "How's it coming?"

The lieutenant's reply must have gone through a private channel because the conversation seemed very one-sided to Rex.

"What do you mean by complication?"

Rex's blood froze over, making it harder to move; harder to fight.

"What's going—?" But his words vanished, stolen off his tongue by a low rumble. Oh, kriff…

Seconds later, Cody was racing towards him like a madman. "We have to get out of here!"

"What?" Rex took down a nearby droid before it blasted his brother's head off.

But Cody didn't appear to be listening. Instead, his orders blasted through the main comm channel. "Retreat! I want everyone within twenty feet of tank four to fall back! Now!"

Fire now melted the ice, blazing through his veins and spiking red-hot blood into his heart until he was sure it would explode.

"Cody! We can't leave without—!" The ground rumbled again, and Rex finally began to realize it wasn't the earth that was shaking—it was the massive tank behind him.

"There's no time!"

No. No! They couldn't give up without a fight. And yet, as Rex fired off another volley of charges, he wondered if he was truly willing to give his life to take out a single tank.

It won't bring you any closer to winning the war…

Yeah. Rex fixed his blasters on the shuddering vehicle. But every little bit counts.

Cody's arms were around him, flinging him backwards; dragging him away from the chaos.

Away from victory.

"Cody, we can't—!"

A sudden weight slammed onto his back and, not being able to withstand the pressure, Rex fell to his knees as pain shot through his left arm.

"Get down!"

A breath later, his helmet was biting the dust.

Heart hammering, Rex threw his hands over his head for the second time that evening, as if their frail presence would shield him from whatever was to come.

He had barely registered Cody's body slammed against his own when the blast came.

The sky exploded in a flash of white light.

Gasping for air, Rex closed his eyes and knew no more.