Littlest General
Chapter III
Stronger
"In the darkest place is the faintest light."- Stronger, Finding Neverland the Musical
Rex heaved a sigh, feeling his lower back crack as he stood up with a crate in his arms. The stack on the Station's docking bay was gradually getting smaller, while the Cargo Hold was filling up. But that was the price to pay for passage these days. The ship wasn't much, it was only a XS Stock Freighter, but it would take the three Clones and the young child to their next planet.
Months had gone by and Jesse, Kix, and Rex kept traveling with Leia. The former commander of the 501st Legion knew their chances of re-finding Ahsoka were slipping from slim into the realm of near-impossible-possibly-closer-to-zero maybe finally hitting that we'll-never-find-her-but-we-aren't-going-to-admit-it-outloud-yet range. Even if that were the case, Rex wasn't going to admit that to their Verd'ika. Leia was six. She was already six, and already she had lost her mother and her father. Rex was not going to fekkin tell the child that her 'aunt' wasn't going to come back. Not if he could help it.
Rex didn't want to destroy her optimistic view. Not because she looked so innocent and young, but because it reminded the aging Clone so so much of his General that it hurts, but he also has to protect (guard) this tiny fierce thing because she is all that remains of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker of the 501st Legion.
Rex failed his General once. He failed when General Skywalker needed him the most by not being at his side and his General was gone because of it.
His Squad.
His Men
His General.
His Fault.
Rex's fault that he lost them. He hadn't been fast enough, strong enough, sure enough to protect them all in the Siege. And it hurt. It hurt Rex down to his bones and his heart gives that weird little odd stutter when he thinks of how they all died.
Did General Skywalker know his men turned on him? That the ones he fought with and laughed with and attempted and did the impossible with?-did he see them turn on him in those last moments? Did he even survive that first attack after Order 66 went out? Did he know what happened to his men?
Rex never found out and that made him hurt even worse on the bad days. Cause he didn't know how or where his General fell. (how many Clones fell before the General went down? How many of his Vod survived only to kill themselves later when they realized what happened?)
But he had Leia- sweet, precious, small, Leia. Rex had Leia and Jesse and Kix to protect now and he promised to not fail this time.
Force, he promised the Angels of Lego, and the Sand Spirits of Tatooine and the Old Queens of Naboo that he wouldn't fail them.
Not this time.
Cause tiny little Leia with her force abilities and her sharp intellegent words was something Rex could not loose.
Rex already lost the Torrent Company, his Squad, Carnivore and Execute Battalions, and Aurek company and unti Aurek-Seven and the ICS Unit. Rex lost hundreds of his brothers. He lost his Jettii.
His fault. Rex lost his Jettii, what kind of a Clone was he? It was his fault, couldn't they see that?
And Cody was out there somewhere in a Stormie armour…. But he had Jesse and Kix to look over as well, so maybe the good days could start to out number the bad days? But he still counted beds when it was a bad night and Rex didn't know to make things better except to keep searching for his Commander and hold this tiny possibly maybe they were a squad together til they found the Commander again?
So the three Clones and one small child bounced from the Hidian Way, stopping for a few short weeks on Kabal before dropping through Dravian Station then through the Llanic Spice Run. They switched ships passing through Tythe before heading to Arkanis and finally Ryloth. They stuck to planets in the Outer Rim, hoping to pass unnoticed and unseen. Not too far to be completely lawless like some worlds, but neither full of Imperial Troops and citizens to be suspicious either. It was hard at times to pass off as normal when they had three of the same faces.
Hoping beyond hope that the homeworld of the Twi'leks was going to be somewhere safe for them.
And it had been, for a few few short months. But Cham Syndulla and his group wanted freedom. And the Imperial Empire was not going to let second class citizens earn that freedom, if it meant they had to step in and burn the world to ash.
Which in large brought their small group to this specific docking bay and this specific falling apart beat up Freighter that looked like it was a one bad flight away from being space dust.
The ship gave all three of the Clones pause, but the riled up Twi'leks and Leaving Ryloth became an even bigger concern, so the three bartered with the Weequay captain for passage. A Crew that worked for safe passage off the Corellion Run.
The entire trip would up taking several weeks and Rex was not looking for to it at all.
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Captain Panva may have been a Weequay and she may have been odd and unquestioning of why three former Clone Troopers needed off Ryloth and oh by the way, this youngling also comes with us! But you get a crew for a short amount of time! But Captain Panva just knew something was up! It had been a number of years since she had heard from her sister's hushand's neice's son- that irritating notorious Hondo Onknaka and his gang, but she remembered the story of when he kept getting caught up with Jedi business.
Panva kept telling Hondo not to get caught up with Jedi! She told him that they were trouble and Jedi were insane and crazy and you couldn't profit at all with them all over your ship! So why had she let three former Clones and a youngling onto her ship?!
Panva mussed while flipping switches, reading her trustworthy Freighter to leave atmo and happened to glance at the undersized co-pilot sitting next to her. Panva thought it over as the stars began to streak across the bow and past the panes of her windows- she; Captain Panva of the Abandoned Lotus was a bleeding heart, senile, and starting to go down right potty in her old age.
That was the only explanation.
"Hit that toggle near your right elbow, Youngling."
Leia flipped the small switch, feeling the ship jolt and shudder and begin to hum like her insides. She felt the excite in the air, she could taste it and Leia stared out o the viewscreen with wide eyed wonder that always was on a youngling's face when the ship jumped.
Captain Panva smirked, braids clipping eachother as she finished hitting the last few switches. Younglings were all the same, it appeared.
"Come on, Little One. Let's go find your family, hmm?"
Yes, Jedi and Clones were trouble, she had told Her sister's husband's niece's son Hondo that all the time, but they were also full of adventure and you could almost always find a good deal of profiting somehow if you followed the right ones. And if you didn't? Well, she could always blame bad business on her bleeding, senile, aging heart. The Ohnaka gang were much too well known to not believe her when she claimed that.