Unresponsive:

"Clone Masters! Have you seen my Master?! He usually meets me at his fighter whenever the big ship is blowing up!" the astromech beeped in rapid-fire binary as he rolled towards them.

"Artoo!" Rex called, a little startled but happy to see the droid as he smiled at the intelligent machine's unintentional humour; he didn't have enough fingers to count how many times the 'big ship' had blown up in the last couple of years. "The General's fine. He's on a pod. You might want to come with us, though."

"Oh, okay. I can do that," Artoo somehow managed to sound both relieved and disappointed as he turned around and powered up the tilted hallway beside the clones. "What about Master's new starfighter? He just finished modifying it."

"You can retrieve it for General Skywalker if you want, Artoo," Cody said as they ran. "But Rex and I won't both fit in it."

The droid was silent, mulling that over.

Ahsoka's alarmed voice popped back into the dyed blond clone's head. "Rexxxxxx. Why do I get the impression you're not in any of those escape pods?"

Rex sent her a picture of him with an apologetic wince. "Because I'm not?"

"REX!" Ahsoka wailed in his mind.

He flinched as he ran up the slanted hallway, calves straining. "I'm sorry, Ahsoka. I don't know if I'm actually going to make it out of this one, but I sure am trying."

"Oh, Rexi," Ahsoka whispered across his mind. "Don't say that. You know I can't lose you. I…"

Rex never knew if she finished that thought or not because Cody whooped, "Yes!" as they entered the fighter hanger and found most of them still intact and docked, as expected.

"Thank frag," Rex said to Cody as they ran to the first available ship in the line and jumped nimbly up into the yellow painted Y-Wing. Cody took the cockpit and started flipping switches and Rex jumped in the gunner's seat in the bubble turret. Artoo waffled for a moment, his dome rotating between their chosen vehicle and the yellow and grey interceptor he'd left running and magnetically locked to the floor.

After two more swivels of indecision, he flew up into the droid's spot and helped get the fighter going faster than recommended by the manufacturer. "Master would want me to take care of his Captain before his starfighter," Artoo beeped by way of explanation.

"That's…" Cody's voice trailed off then finished with, "Good." Then on their private comm he said to Rex. "I never give that astromech enough credit for how smart and caring he actually is. I've never met another one like him. Any other astro would have gotten in the starfighter because that's what they were programmed to do."

"I know," Rex replied solemnly as the Y-Wing flew through the shield. "I think it's because Anakin actually treats the droid like he's his family, so he's learned more human emotions."

"That makes sense."

Ahsoka temporarily lost track of Rex's thoughts as she reeled with the shock of what she'd almost told him.

I almost confessed that I love him. Holy poodoo. Now really isn't the time for that mess to make itself known. Not when he needs to concentrate on whatever the kriff he's doing to save himself and Cody. And Artoo, apparently.

Force, what a mess.

But… I think… When all of this is over, I'm just going to tell him. I want what Anakin has. And I just know that Rex is my perfect mate. He can't reject me. He won't want to once he knows how I feel.

Right?

"Ahsoka!"

The togrutan girl startled when Dormè shook her shoulder gently. She stared at Padmè's handmaiden with unseeing eyes for two blinks before she brought herself back to the here and now. "What?"

"We're leaving now. Are you coming or are you just going to stand here in the dining room?" the older girl teased gently.

"Sorry. I'm coming. I'm just a little distracted trying to be in two places at once."

"You want me to make sure your body is heading in the right direction for you if you try and run through a wall or something?" Dormè offered with an amused smile.

Ahsoka laughed quietly. Once. "Sure, that would be great. Thanks."

The girls exchanged fleeting smiles and then took off running for the exit of the massive dining room and Ahsoka tuned back into Rex's thoughts just in time to hear him say, "Now we're getting somewhere!"

"Now we're getting where?" Ahsoka demanded, the subtle pressure of her presence popping back into his mind.

"Now we're getting out of this mess," Rex replied happily. "The Reckless is done for, but Cody, Artoo, and I have left it behind. All that's left is to get out of this shabla wormhole."

"You had bloody well better!"

"We're trying. Honest," Rex thought to her as Cody cursed and fought the controls as the space storm flung the Y-Wing in random directions. Pieces of the Reckless were flying dangerously close to them, caught in the same storm. Artoo kept beeping out notes of alarm and demanding that Cody let him fly.

Off to their left, the flaming cruiser suddenly burst into a ball of white light as the hyperdrive fuel exploded. Pieces of the Reckless were flung in thousands of directions. Oh shit!

"Oh shit, what?!" Ahsoka screeched in his mind.

Rex winced. "The Reckless just exploded. We're…"

Inevitably, and before he could finish his thought, their Y-Wing was struck, sending them spinning even further out of control and one of the engines burst into flames. Not yet strapped into his seat, Rex was flung into the glass bubble, his helmet smacking into it with skull crushing force and making a spider web of cracks in the transparisteel.

"REX!" Ahsoka cried out loud as her sense of his mind suddenly went blank. She held onto the tenuous connection she had with his essence, barely reassured that he seemed to still be alive, but freaking out nonetheless.

Oh frag. Oh stars. Rex! He's hurt!

And then, maybe half a minute later, even that disappeared.

Ahsoka nearly fell to her knees at the sudden loss, her heart feeling like it had been torn out of her chest and then stabbed through. She staggered to the wall of the hallway she'd been running down, using it to hold her up. Losing the only man she'd ever considered for a mate was beyond devastating to her, even if she'd never actually acted on it because she was a Jedi. Mate or not, he was still her best friend. She honestly didn't know how she was going to continue on without him.

"Rex, Rex, Rex," she moaned under her breath over and over, without even realizing it. She didn't hear Dormè call her name in alarm, or hear her yell for Padmè. All she heard was the white noise of her grief turning her mind into mush.

Hands cupped her shoulders and pulled her into a soft bosom and rocked her gently from side to side. At the familiar scent and presence of her friend and Anakin's mate, Ahsoka started crying silent tears and wrapped her arms around Padmè, holding on maybe a little harder than she should have, so grateful to not be alone right now.

The older woman stroked her back lek gently for a minute until Ahsoka somehow found the strength to lift her heavy head and look at her. Ahsoka inhaled her first real breath of air in over a minute as she took in Padmè's concerned features. "What's wrong with Rex, Ahsoka?" Padmè asked gently of her young friend, her wide brown eyes filled with concern and sympathy.

"Gone," Ahsoka croaked out through her tight throat. "He's gone."

Padmè exchanged worried glances with Dormè at how defeated Ahsoka looked. She tightened her arms around Ahsoka as the girl blinked back the stubborn tears that refused to stop. "Hey. You said he was in a wormhole, right?"

Ahsoka sucked in a breath and blinked, her mind starting to make the connection that Padmè was getting at. "Right."

"Well, wouldn't it make sense that you wouldn't be able to feel him anymore if the wormhole just spit him out into another place really really far from here?"

The air in Ahsoka's lungs caught and held as hope dawned through her. Of course! The same thing happens when Anakin is on the opposite side of the galaxy from me. I can barely feel him. And my bond with Anakin is so much stronger than the wimpy one I have with Rex. "You're right, Padmè. Thank you." She pulled back from the older woman's arms and gave her a wavering but genuine smile of determination as she swiped at the moisture on her face. "Let's go. I have a clone Captain to rescue from wherever he's ended up. He's not allowed to be gone."

Padmè and Dormè gave her identical smiles of relief to see her back to herself. "That's the spirit. And I have a hus… um… friend to rescue."

Ahsoka raised a brow marking, barely holding back the urge to snicker. I knew it! "Right. A friend. With benefits."

"Ahsoka." Padmè chided, shooting her a look as they all started moving briskly down the hallway again in a graceful jog. (Because Padmè was incapable of doing anything that wasn't graceful .)

The girl grinned back, unremorseful. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. But seriously, pretty much everyone knows you and Anakin are a thing anyway."

"What?! Everyone?"

"Well, maybe not the press and the galaxy at large, but at least half of the clone army and everyone in the Order that live at the Temple."

Padmè paused for half a step, eyes widening almost comically. "Hunh. Wow. I thought Anakin was supposed to get in trouble or banished or something if they found out."

Ahsoka snorted as they reached the ramp of Padmè's sleek, chromium plated, H-type Nubian yacht. "As if. He's the freaking Chosen One. No one's going to kick him out unless he falls to the Dark side or something equally terrible."

Dormè closed the ramp behind them and Captain Typho flew the ship up into the sky to join the other ships already headed towards the spacial disaster before they'd even taken their seats in the cockpit. Padmè kind of fell into her chair, still looking a bit stunned. "This changes everything. I'm so tired of the secrets."

I bet you are. Ahsoka reached over and squeezed her forearm gently in support. "Secrets are never good for anyone."

And if I get my Rex back, I am definitely telling him mine.

"Rex! Rex!" Cody called after he and Artoo got the fighter back under some semblance of control, having heard him cry out and then go silent. The lack of answer over his helmet comm worried him greatly, but he didn't have time to check on his brother just yet. Even as he watched in disbelief, the fighter was dragged deeper into the wormhole, the somehow swirling black space around him nauseating to look at even through his visor.

Rex is unconscious, Artoo sent him over the fighter's computer.

"Great," Cody mumbled, worried.

And then the air pressure in the cockpit went insane, making it feel as though Cody was being crushed from the inside out. His brain screamed as his bones whimpered. And then there was nothing as his eyes closed involuntarily and he blacked out.

Cody gasped as consciousness returned. He looked around him frantically for a moment and saw that he was still in the edges of the wormhole, but it seemed to be swirling him out now instead of pulling him in. Cody grabbed the controls again, but nothing was responsive. "Artoo?"

Working on it, the droid printed back on the screen.

The man breathed a sigh of relief only seconds later as the remaining engine sputtered to life. This time, Cody let the droid fly.

"Rex?" he tried again, craning a look backwards over his shoulder, but he couldn't see his brother in the gun turret. The bubble was severely cracked but still intact, which meant that Rex had to be in there somewhere; probably on the floor. The bad news was that with the cracked bubble, Rex (if he was still alive) was probably relying on his helmet's limited supply of air right now. Rex didn't have long before he'd become starved for oxygen.

Setting his jaw in resignation at the worst, he still hoped for the best. "Faster, Artoo."

The ship picked up a little speed while Artoo flew in as straight a line as possible towards the peaceful looking opening of the wormhole. The fighter bucked and fought him every kilometre he gained, but Cody was impressed by how the droid was winning the argument.

And then they were spit out into normal space, and Cody almost cheered. Spotting a hospitable looking blue and green planet not too far away, Cody did cheer. "Head for the planet, Artoo, as fast as you can." If they could land on that planet within the next minute or so, Rex still had a chance of surviving without brain damage.

Feeling the urgency of the moment, Cody grabbed the controls again. "Actually, I'll fly, Artoo. You do whatever you can do to get this poor bucket of bolts going faster," Cody said, thanking the Force that they had been lucky enough to have an astromech along to help boost things along. And the fact that the General's favourite droid wasn't a pile of flaming bits right now was definitely a good thing. If they ever got home, Cody was looking forward to seeing Skywalker's reaction to being reunited with a droid he probably assumed was permanently lost by now.

Artoo sent another, Working on it.

"Thanks."

A couple of seconds later, the ship picked up speed even as it whined alarmingly and warning lights flashed all over the console.

Cody ignored them as he flew past a... weird metal thing that might be a satellite and entered the atmosphere of the planet. More systems crashed as they plummeted in a vaguely controlled fashion towards the earth below.

The clouds parted and Cody was now looking at a green mountainous region beside a long ocean coastline. The ground approached much too quickly as the fighter continued to essentially fall from the sky, the last engine sputtering badly. "Kay, Artoo, whatever you can do to help me out here, that would be shabla fantastic," Cody muttered, tension radiating through him as he held the fighter's nose up out of sheer determination.

Working on it, the droid printed out yet again. Cody could practically read the implied eye roll in the aurebesh writing on the screen.

"Thanks," Cody said again with real feeling as the flight of the Y-Wing smoothed out and Cody felt like he had something resembling control again.

Which was a good thing, because they were almost on top of the mountain range now. Cody flew around it, looking for a good place to land. Spotting a cleared pasture, he aimed for that and flicked the button to activate the landing gear.

Nothing happened.

"Artoo... Landing gear?"

Unresponsive, came back the reply a few seconds later.

Cody grunted as he flew over the tops of pointed green trees, startling some sort of four-legged animals into flight below him. Suddenly spotting a large rectangle of what looked like sand with strange obstacles scattered throughout, Cody aimed for that instead. Sand would make a much better crash landing than the grass he'd originally been aiming for.

The bottom of the fighter skimmed over the fence surrounding the sand and hit the white stuff with too much momentum for Cody's liking, but he went with it, having no other choice.

White particles flew up into the air, and some of the strange colourful obstacles flew too, as the Y-Wing skidded a deep groove into the sand and finally came to a stop only a metre or two from the far fenceline.

Cody shuddered out a sigh of relief, slumping in his chair for a moment before he jolted himself back into action.

Rex!

Releasing his safety straps, he popped the cockpit hatch and clambered back to the gun turret. As he suspected, his brother was crumpled up on the floor of the space, more or less wrapped around the base of the chair.

Grimacing in sympathy at the awkward position, Cody punched the button to open the bubble. It sprang back with a groan and promptly fell apart in a shower of transparisteel pieces. Gaping at how close Rex had come to being spaced, he thanked the Force again and climbed down onto the seat of the chair. Kneeling on it so as not to step on his brother, he reached down and took off Rex's helmet. There was a fair amount of blood coating the side of his head and seeping into the neck of his black bodysuit, but he was visibly breathing. Cody closed his eyes in relief for a moment before shaking his head. "You're getting just as reckless and stupid as your general, vod. Would it have been that much of a bother to actually use your safety harness?"

"Yes," Rex mumbled as he cracked an eye open and turned his head slightly to look up at his brother. Putting a hand to his pounding head, he struggled to a sitting position in the tight space on the floor. Squinting up at the blue sky with an occasional fluffy cloud floating past a bright sun, a single eyebrow twitched upwards for half a second. "Where are we?"

Cody laughed once as he climbed onto the top of the fighter and helped Rex out. "I have no idea, vod."

Earth, United States of America, Washington D.C., May 18, 2150

The command room of NASA Headquarters was in a state of barely organized chaos as more information came in from the International Space Station, various satellites, and the data probes that had been sent to investigate the wormhole.

The excitement and stress in the room increased tenfold when the wormhole started to spit out what looked like pieces of metal debris. And then one of the pieces of debris turned out to be an actual spaceship and it flew right towards Earth.

The room went nuts.

"Sir, its flying right towards us!"

"Someone track its course!"

"Where'd it go?!"

"Did it survive the atmospheric burn?!"

"Come on, people. Tell me where it landed!"

"British Columbia, Sir. About two hundred kilometres north of the Canadian border."

"Wilderness then?"

"Essentially, yes. There's only a few farms up there."

"Good. That's good. No need to panic people any more than they already are. Let's try and keep this under wraps, people. Someone get a containment team up there, ASAP!"

"Already sent, Sir."

"Good. You're in charge of that mess, Gibson. Everyone else, let's get a move on gathering up all that debris for examination. It looks like we've finally got an answer to the age old question of whether or not we're alone in the universe."