Droids, the approximate number of them? Too many. Dagger wasn't sure exactly how many were still approaching her but by the amount of noise they were making, it was definitely in the range of too many.
She rolled one of the droid poppers in between her palms, her heart was racing. She hoped Boost would make it in time to save the Senator. A selfish part of her wished he would be able to hurry back.
She cleared her head of any thoughts that were not about this moment, any distractions could cost Dagger her life. She took a deep breath and prepared herself. She contemplated calling the backup Boost said he had called to check on their status. With how close the droids sounded she wouldn't have time. She would be overrun before any meaningful conversation even happened.
She raised her blaster in her left hand and held the first droid popper in the right. In a quick motion, she started to fire on the droids, throwing the activated droid popper into the middle of them. The confusion of a direct assault gave her enough time to grab the other popper and toss it into the rest of them.
As soon as it detonated she took count and saw that there were still twenty droids or so. All focused on her. Those were not good odds. She didn't want to stick around to find out, she wanted to run. She knew that she couldn't, she had to hold the defenses.
Instead of giving into that feeling of running away, she channeled it and moved forwards instead. She gave a forceful yell, a battle cry, as she ran towards the enemy, firing repeatedly at the tinnies. She could feel her breath blowing back at her in her helmet from how hard she was breathing.
She drew her dagger and flipped it into the air. As the blade arced up into the air she transferred her blaster to her right hand and caught the dagger in her left. She spun the blade into a firm reverse grip as she rounded on the front line of the remaining droids.
Just as the tinnie rounded on her she plunged the dagger into the base of its neck. She ripped it free without looking and it crumpled to the ground. She kept firing and she danced through the ranks of the droids.
She was better at close combat than them, faster and able to move freely. They got confused and even managed to fire on themselves a few times, doing some of the work for her.
Dagger's throat felt tight. She knew if she stopped moving, even for a second, they would be able to catch up and shoot her. She couldn't stop, couldn't misstep. She took out droid after droid, but it didn't even seem to make a dent.
Suddenly she saw a blaster bolt wiz by and strike home in the chestplate of a droid. A blue blaster bolt. She almost sobbed in relief. Backup, someone was behind her, someone was here to help.
Her chest ached at the violent emotion of relief being held back. She had help, but she wasn't safe. The blaster kept firing with precise aim. She kept moving through the droids, firing her blaster and slashing through the droids.
The numbers continued to dwindle and that feeling of relief started to grow stronger and stronger, overpowering the panic and fear of death that still gripped her heart. She danced in a dangerous battle, hyper aware of everything around her. Her armor had never felt lighter and her feet felt like they were floating.
Finally, finally, she set her sights on the last battle droid. Jumping up into the air she planted a foot on its chest and forced it down to the ground. She followed the momentum down onto it and stabbed her dagger through its head.
With a quick scan, she confirmed all of the droids were dead. In her kneeled position, she tucked her head down until the bottom of her helmet rested on her cuirass. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. That had been far too close for her liking.
Without lifting her head, she turned it to the side and saw a figure standing in the hallway where the droids came from. Rex. Her captain stood with his dual blasters still raised but lowering now. He holstered them in his suit and made his way quickly towards her.
Dagger stood on slightly shaky legs and turned to him, "Captain Rex, thank you for the assist."
Before she could continue, before he even said anything, he barreled into her. His arms wrapped tightly around her, pulled her to his chest and off of her feet. He stumbled a few steps forward forcing her back slightly. Her hands instantly grasped his back to return the embrace.
"Rex?" she asked. She could hear his ragged breathing from where his face pressed down between her helmet and pauldron. Had he been hit in the fight?
"Don't," his words were gritted out as if he were talking with a clenched jaw, trying to maintain a semblance of control, "Don't do that again."
A bubble of nervous laughter forced its way out of her throat, "You didn't like the way I took out the droids? I thought I was pretty artful about it."
He scoffed and let her go looking at her eyes to vizor, "Not by yourself kid, you scared the shit out of me. We don't go into battle without backup."
She tensed, "Boost!"
Dagger took off down the hallway to find the backup she was supposed to have. He was the one alone now. The way that she ran off forced Rex to follow closely. She barely recognized the sounds of others coming from the same way Rex had.
Running at full speed and then stopping on a dime was not an easy thing to do, which was why Dagger almost lost her balance as she did it. Rex on the other hand wasn't able to stop and plowed right through her, sending them both sprawling on the ground.
Dagger wheezed as she hit the floor and all of the air in her chest was forced out by Rex landing on top of her. His hand accidentally planted on her helmet and sent it smacking against the ground. She groaned in pain.
"I'm so sorry!" he apologized as he rolled off of her immediately. She laid there, dazed, just a moment. She had just gotten her feet under her when he pulled her the rest of the way up so she could stand.
Dagger immediately circled back to what had caused her to stop in the first place. There was a narrow and shadowed hallway that led back into the palace. Just inside the hallway she could see a figure in white and grey crouched over something.
"Boost?" she called.
The helmeted soldier turned to look up at the sound of her voice. His shoulders immediately sagged in relief and he stood quickly, "Dagger! You are alive!"
He placed a hand on her shoulder and she returned the gesture. A reassurance that they were both safe, "The senator?"
Boost angled his body so she could see past him. The senator from earlier was sitting on the ground beyond where Boost had been crouched. He held out a hand to gesture towards her, "She sprained her ankle in the tussle, but they left without a fight as soon as I showed up. Probably wasn't worth the credits to take on the GAR, even if it was just me and not a whole squad."
"We need to get her to the medics then. Let's go find Kix," Rex said.
Dagger and Boost snapped into action, they knew an order when they heard one, "Yes sir!"
Dagger approached the Senator, "Ma'am? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine, it's just my ankle. Trust me I have been through a lot worse," she commented.
"I'm sure ma'am," Dagger was doubtful about the amount of action a senator got, but she didn't bother to say anything about it now, "Do you think you could walk with help?"
"You can call me Padme, and yes I think that would be best, thank you."
"Of course, ma'am," Dagger said, immediately forgetting that she had just been told to call her by her name.
Dagger pulled her up from the floor and stepped under her arm to support her weight on her right side to keep it off the injury. Rex scoffed lightly, "Don't take it personally Senator Amidala, Dagger is just being respectful."
"Well I do suppose that is better than the alternative," she replied lightly. They set off at a slow pace towards the medbay where they knew that Kix would be.
~B~
As they had neared the medbay, they had been intercepted by General Skywalker, who had insisted that he take the senator the rest of the way. Dagger wasn't one to argue with a commanding officer so she gently passed Senator Amidala into his awaiting arms. The trio of soldiers were just turning around when out of the corner of her eye she saw him scoop her into his arms.
That was a bit odd for him to do, but maybe once the jedi got there the senator became more dramatic and he had just decided to carry her. Either way it was none of her business and she continued to follow Rex.
The gala and the rest of the convention had been cancelled. The senators that had not immediately fled to ships were holed up in their rooms with security details as the Naboo guards swept the palace to get rid of the rest of the droids.
Dagger had assumed that they were on their way to assist with clearing out the droids. Which is why she was surprised when they ended up back where they had started the day. Rex knocked on the door loudly and they heard a quick shuffle from the inside, she could have sworn that she heard the sound of a blaster priming.
"It's Captain Rex, I'm with Dagger and one other, Boost."
The door opened slowly and Captain Kep looked up and down the hallway before ushering them inside quickly. With the door locked behind them, Dagger had the opportunity to look around. The Duchess sat at the head of the dinner table, writing something. All of her guards were scattered around the room and looked prepared to fight at a moment's notice.
They were all watching the newcomers, tense and coiled tightly. Dagger extended her arms in a nonthreatening manner, "Rough night boys?"
The guards seemed to relax marginally. Luckily enough, for all of them, the night did not get any rougher. The all clear was declared somewhere around midnight and it was like a blanket of relief over all of them.
Rex and Captain Keb had been in the middle of yet another battle strategy for getting out if the building unseen when it was called. Dagger immediately volunteered to go bring Boost back to his own unit. He agreed with a nonchalant wave of his hand.
Boost and Dagger scampered out of the room like little children, chasing each other down the halls playing some form of tag. At least some of them were having fun, Rex thought as he watched them leave.
He needed sleep, but he was unsure if his mind would get quiet enough to allow it even if he was given the opportunity. Today had been a crazy day. Rex's mind wandered back to everything that had happened. First the attack while Rex had been in the midst of the gala, the rush of getting the Duchess and others to safety. Then he had received a call that backup was needed in the halls.
With the Duchess in her room, he had bolted to help the one who had called for backup. As he had approached the sight of the battle between GAR soldiers and the droids he could hear blaster fire. It sounded like there were a lot of soldiers holding their own against the tin cans. With that thought in his head it had been a shock to turn the corner and see only one soldier amidst far too many droids.
His heart had seized as he took action. His blasters were drawn and he was firing as his mind began to process what he was seeing. Dagger was in the middle of a full platoon of droids. He could see the blue stripe on her helmet clear as day. She was weaving through them with deadly intent, cutting and shooting them down as fast as she could.
He provided as much cover for her as he could, which was hard when the targets he aimed at were so close to her. Rex was stunned at the way that she moved. It was like something else had taken over her and guided her movements.
She danced through the droids in complex and twirling patterns. He had never seen anything like it before, she certainly hadn't learned that from any GAR instructor or manual.
He could barely take any time to appreciate her skill with how hyped up on adrenaline he was. He was angry. At Dagger for not having backup, at whoever her partner was supposed to be for not backing her up. She was taking on so many droids, by herself!
When the last droid was finally taken out, Rex watched as Dagger kneeled over the scrap she had made out of the droids. He was jarred into action as he saw her look over to him, most likely the first time she had seen him in the entire fight.
He moved forward quickly after putting his blasters back into their shoulder holsters. It was his turn to be possessed by an unknown force. He needed to be closer, needed to make sure she was safe. He felt like his heart was going to race out of his chest and the only thoughts in his head were about Dagger and if she was safe.
He was calmed slightly as she stood on her own, but it wasn't enough. Unable to stop himself he rushed her and wrapped her in a tight hug. He clutched her body to his, as close as he could. He could hear her breathing, he could feel it.
Dagger was alive. Dagger was safe. Rex took a deep breath and pulled his thoughts back to the present. He pressed his hands into his thighs as he sat on his bed, trying to ground himself in the moment. He needed to stop thinking like that.
They were in the middle of a war and he couldn't panic every time Dagger got into a firefight. Granted, she had been up against steep odds on her own and he would have panicked with any of his men, but still. She had shown that she was incredibly competent and he needed to trust her. He wouldn't always be there to protect her like he wanted to be.
Rex looked up at the sound of some commotion at one of the back bunks. The mandalorian guards were all hovering around Miann who was sitting up on the edge of his bed holding something for them all to see.
Curious, Rex stood and made his way over to them. As he got closer he could tell that they were reacting to something that was playing on a datapad. They kept watching a clip play out over and over.
Rex put a hand on the closest guards shoulder, one he didn't know the name of, to announce his presence, "What are you watching?"
"Your boy, Dagger. Miaan was in the security room and downloaded the security footage from earlier. He absolutely destroyed those droids," the guard responded.
Rex peered over the shorter man's shoulder and watched the security camera footage of Dagger dancing through the droids and slicing them down with her blaster and dagger. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He nodded and watched along with the rest of them.
Miaan rewound the clip and played it again. As it neared the end he got all jittery and pointed at the screen, "This here, this is the best part!"
It was the point at which Dagger had kicked down the droid and plunged the dagger into it. They all cheered as the end of the clip played out, right up to where Rex hugged Dagger forcefully. The video ended and the image of them embracing froze on the screen.
Rex's face heated up at that, he hoped that no one got the wrong idea by seeing that. If they were anything like his own vod, he knew that he was about to get laughed at.
Miaan took a look down at the screen and back at Rex, a slow smile curving its way onto his face, oh boy, "So Captain Rex, this you?"
Rex kept his face decidedly neutral, "Yes."
Someone else spoke up, "That seems like a pretty friendly hug for just brothers."
Rex felt his entire body tense, he looked to see who had spoken and wasn't surprised when he saw it was Tenroh. The Mandalorian wore an expression of disdain on his face. Rex's jaw clenched at the implications that the man was making.
It would seem that some of the other Mandalorian guards also shared his opinion, as Miaan jumped up from his bed, "Hey! You can't just say things like that. Captain Rex was just happy that Dagger wasn't dead. You saw how many droids he had been facing, he shouldn't be alive right now and he was glad that he survived."
Rex was locked in a staredown with Tenroh, but he appreciated Miann's support. Tenroh seemed to be ignoring his own comrade, "You all are so desperate aren't you?"
"What are you talking about?" Rex asked through gritted teeth.
"You clones are so depraved that you turn to your own just to get laid?"
That statement was what snapped Rex, he lunged forward at him with a raised fist. How dare this man accuse Rex of using one of his subordinates. How dare he think that he knew anything about Rex or his brothers.
Tenroh flashed a satisfied smirk at the break in character and lunged forward himself. Before either of them could get at each other, they were stopped by multiple people grabbing them and holding them back.
Rex struggled against the hold on him, he really wanted to put his fist through Tenroh's face. He didn't know what made him more angry. The fact that he thought relationships between clones were a bad thing or the fact that he thought that Rex would stoop so low as to use a brother to get laid.
Tenroh was being hauled backwards by someone as Rex was yelling at him. Honestly, he had no idea what he was saying, but he was sure it was full of explicatives for the man. Captain Keb had a firm grip on Tenroh as he all but threw him out of the room, "Get the fuck out and don't come back until you get your act together! You know better and I expected better of you!"
Keb slammed the door behind the man and the room went quiet. Rex stopped yelling, but his heart was still racing in anger. He yanked his arms out of the hands of the guards. They let him go easily and he stalked back to his side of the room. The quicker he got away from everyone the better. Damn Mandalorians and their superiority complexes. If he never saw Tenroh again it would be too soon.
He practically threw himself onto his bed and he pulled out his blasters and cleaning kit. He scrubbed the weapons furiously, trying to channel his anger somewhere other than at anyone here. His fists still itched to go beat some sense into Tenroh.
Rex almost shot Miaan when he suddenly sat down next to him. Stopping himself at the last second, he just glared at the guard. Miaan didn't seem to take offence to this or leave like Rex wanted him to.
"No one else here thinks that you know?" He said.
The statement startled Rex, he had assumed that Miaan had come over to make fun of Rex even more. Maybe even insinuate that Rex took advantage of his brothers again, "What?"
"I know it doesn't help now that Tenroh already spouted his load of bantha shit, but I just wanted you to know that the rest of us don't agree with him. We don't care what you do or who you care about," Miaan explained.
Rex went to defend himself but the man put a hand on his knee to stop him, "Captain isn't gonna let him get away with it either. He has always been racist towards the clones. I heard Captain talking to the Duchess earlier in the mission, after the first time he made a problem with you boys. Keb wants him off the guard and I agree with him."
Rex looked up at him, trying to analyze the Mandalorian. It wasn't often that people stood up against their own. Even less often did people stand up for Rex or any of his brothers. They were clones, no one cared enough to worry about what they thought.
"I-," he cleared his throat, "Thank you, Miaan."
The man nodded with a light hum, taking his hand back into his own lap. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder into Rex's lightly, "Besides I think you and Dagger would be cute together."
Rex's face flamed a deep red color and he ducked his head, "It's not like that."
"No?" Miaan asked, "It sure looks like it might be, but I respect that. You are a good Captain Rex and a respectable man, nothing is going to change that."
With his bit said, Miaan rose from his seat and left Rex alone. Alone and confused that is. This day was not going well for Rex, hadn't been for a while. And now everyone thought that he had a crush on Dagger.
It didn't matter that it was the truth, Rex didn't need them to know that. He scrubbed his face with his palms, trying to make everything stop being so hot. Stars, had they never heard of air conditioning on this planet?
He pressed a button on his comlink and it chirped when it connected, "General Skywalker? When are we planning on leaving?"
"Had enough of Naboo already Rex?" he could hear the smile in his General's voice and it only served to frustrate him more, "We should be leaving first thing in the morning."
"Thank you sir," with his question answered he cut off the connection. Rex let out an exasperated sigh and flopped back on the bed. He didn't even bother to lay the right way and fell asleep with blaster parts next to him and his feet still planted on the ground.