Author's Note: Double Chapter! The last one was happy so of course this one is... um... not. I'm interested to hear what you think of this chapter.

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Chapter 7: Guardians

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Rex had decided he no longer cared if Coric asked about the bruises, he needed the pain killers. Note to self: Don't piss of Commandos, he thought ruefully as he limped down the hall, his boot sliding across the expensive carpet with every limping step. Also, Su'ratiin and Kaden go easy on you. He punched in his code at the door when the panel opened.

"Welcome back, Captain," Ven greeted him, opening their helmet com channel. "So are the girls prettier in the political sector or do all the holo dramas lie to me?"

"They lie," Rex said and walked inside.

"Kark! What happened to you?" Ven asked, watching the way the Captain moved.

"Had drinks with an old friend," Rex replied.

"Up for another round?" Walli asked, uncertainly. Rex straightened up at the strange tone from the trooper. He noticed on his HUD that Walli was on a closed channel, his words were only for Rex.

"Why?" Rex asked, on the same private circuit.

"You should talk to Coric," was all Walli said. Rex frowned behind his visor. He limped down the steps of the landing and across the large main room as fast as he could. He glanced once at Nia, sitting on the sofa with Luke. Her expression was blank as always but her eyes were strangely red, as if she'd been crying again. Rex shoved that thought away for later and shuffled through the kitchen. Su'ratiin and Kaden had their riffles disassembled on the table, going over them meticulously. Fox was in his bunk with a book. He looked up when Rex entered and his gaze lingered on the dragging leg with open disapproval. Rex growled in the privacy of his helmet at the former-commander. He opened the door to the last room Coric could be in, Rex's private office.

The small windowless room was dark and orderly, just as Rex had left it but for the helmet on his desk. Coric was sitting against one wall, legs spread slightly and wrists on his knees, a blaster held loosely in his grip. He lifted his head when Rex opened the door and started shaking. The light from the doorway threw his face into sharp relief for a moment. His expression froze Rex in place.

"Sorry Captain," Coric said softly. Rex jumped into action, reaching out and stepping forward, all his own pain forgotten in an instant. In a flash Coric lifted the blaster and pulled the trigger.

Bzaap!

Rex heard heavy breathing, in and out, in and out, panting. Dimly he was aware of footsteps pounding on the floor and two armored bodies filling the space behind him. Kaden and Su'ratiin had their hold-out blasters raised and were sweeping the office like it were a training simulation.

Why? Rex wondered, there are no enemies here just me and…

Coric had fallen sideways down the wall, his arms limp at his sides and his legs splayed awkwardly. A pool of dark liquid surrounded his head and spread slowly outward as it ate up floor. A fine red mist hung in the office and coated everything around the fallen trooper. The blaster smoked faintly and the sulfuric stench of discharged plasma filtered slowly into Rex's helmet.

People were talking.

"What the frak happened?" Kaden asked.

"Oh, shab, the medics gone and offed himself!" Su'ratiin groaned.

"What the hell! Rex! What did you do?" Fox was yelling from behind Rex in the squad quarters.

"I heard a shot! Anyone hurt?" Ven called as he hurried in.

Rex couldn't tear his eyes away from the dark hole in Coric's skull. It was just a small shinny spot against the dark color of his brother's hair.

"It was Coric," Fox said.

"Coric? Who was he shooting at?"

"Kyr'ast!" Kaden hissed.

"I don't speak Mando'a, Bugslut!" Ven growled, his happy demeanor finally broken.

"It means suicide!" Fox snapped.

"No! He wouldn't!" Ven argued.

"He did! Hut'uun," Su'ratiin replied. Coward! Su'ratiin had called Coric a coward. Coric had stood up to Teth. Coric had survived Umbara. Coric had turned his back on enemy fire to save his brothers over and over… Coward?

"Enough!" Rex snapped, over comms and speakers. "Everyone out! Out!" The Commando's jumped to and filed through the door without a backward glance.

"Did you see this coming?" Fox asked Rex, standing in the doorway, feet spread evenly and his arms crossed. Did I? Rex wondered. I don't think I did but… I thought I cared about Ahsoka and I shot her. Maybe I didn't care about Coric either? Or maybe I did and I just can't remember. He didn't like the questions in his own mind.

"Get out!" Rex snapped at Fox and stepped right up into the other man's face. In his helmet and boots Rex had almost an inch on his identical brother. Ven reached out to put a hand on Fox's shoulder. Fox shook it off sharply.

"Did you? He was always looking out for you when it should have been the other way round, Captain!" The title sounded like a slap in the face.

"Leave it, Fox," Ven growled angrily and grabbed the former commander, dragging him back out of the doorway.

Rex didn't wait to listen to Fox's comeback. He punched the door controls hard and turned away. The door hissed shut and the soundproofing sealed Rex inside with his dead brother. Rex looked up at the ceiling and leaned back against the door so his shaking legs wouldn't give out. Slowly he slid down, plastoid squeaking against the durasteel. Rex kept his eyes uplifted so he wouldn't see the corpse.

His breath was suddenly too loud in his helmet and he fumbled with the release and dragged it off. He breathed deep and nearly hurled at the smell of death. Death had a smell. It was plasma discharge, sweet blood, sick, urine, sweat, burning plastoid and engine exhaust. Rex swallowed bile and scrubbed at the moisture in his eyes.

"Shab, shab, SHAB! Coric! Why?" Rex looked at his brother and the pooling blood. Coric stared at him with wide, unseeing eyes. They were brown like Rex's but dull. Rex had to look away. Usually he didn't have to see their eyes. Their helmets allowed him that luxury. He only had to listen to their deaths on his comms. He didn't have to see the agony and terror in their faces the moment before the hot bolt liquefied their brains. Suddenly he saw Ahsoka's face in his memory, her eyes wide and face lit in harsh relief just as Coric's had been but in his memory the light was his blaster bolt. He saw Ahsoka in his memory and his chest ached. He felt her loss like a hole was open in his ribcage. Coric was another hole in him. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Fives, Tup, Echo, Dogma, Slick… They were all scars more painful than the acid burns across his back.

Rex cried for all of them alone with the cooling body. He felt something inside of himself break, like a dam and release a torrent of emotions he could barely name. His hands shook and his stomach churned. Sweat broke out on his forehead and ran down his back. He shuddered and gasped for breath, fighting his own body. He wondered vaguely if Coric felt this way.

Is that my fate? He thought in horror, seeing his own face with sightless, dull eyes instead of Coric's in front of him. He lost his battle with nausea and barely made it to his trashcan before his stomach expelled the dry rations he'd eaten for breakfast. They tasted worse coming back up. For a moment the distinct smell of vomit overwhelmed him and drove out the death. Rex gasped and sat back, against his desk now, right beside Coric.

He looked down at the body and reached over with a shaking hand to close his brother's eyes. Coric didn't look peaceful even then. Neither had Fives.

"It's alright, ner vod." Rex said to the empty office. "The nightmare is over. Ca'jurkad jaon. Kyr ge'kaan."

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Anakin awoke from his nightmare silently but suddenly, as if jolted. His heart was pounding hard and his mouth was uncomfortably dry. Painfully he swallowed and forced himself to breath deeply and evenly like he was meditating. When the sound of pumping blood ebbed from his ears he turned slowly to look at his wife. She was curled up on the bed beside him, her dark curls splayed across the white sheets. She looked beautifully peaceful in the soft moonlight falling from the open window. The fragrance of the summer night was drifting in with the light and the sounds of insects and babbling water. Anakin closed his eyes and just reveled in the serenity of the place, thankful for the sharp contrast to his nightmares of loud battlefields and the harsh, industrial, Coruscanti landscapes.

One sound though was not peaceful. There was a rustling of hurried movement from down the hall. As Anakin reached out in the Force toward the room he felt Ahsoka's trepidations and anxiety.

Slowly and gently he got up, careful not to wake his wife and slipped on a light robe. The sounds were clearer in the hallway. He caught the rustling of clothing and the snaps of a bag being closed. Light shone under Ahsoka's door from a single flickering candle. The newly oiled hinges didn't even squeak as they opened.

His former apprentice was packing her small bag. Her bed was stripped, and the sheets neatly folded at the foot. She was buckling her belt on as Anakin came in. He noted the two blaster holsters on her hips and the flash of chromium on the familiar weapons. She spun around when he came in.

"Going somewhere Snipps?" He asked softly, unwilling to wake the rest of the house.

"Ma—Anakin," She said in surprise that quickly became stubborn anger. "Don't even try—"

"I'm not going to stop you," Anakin cut her off. "I didn't try to stop you going after Obi-Wan either."

That brought her up short and her anger melted as quickly as it flared.

"No, you didn't," she agreed.

"You're still not happy here," Anakin didn't need to ask. He knew that his former student had found none of the contentment at Varikino Minor that he and Obi-Wan had. They had found the things missing from their lives previously: love, passion, freedom, assurance, and companionship. Ahsoka had lost all of those somewhere on Shili.

"I just…" the young Togruta struggled to explain. She turned away from him, wrapping her hands around her elbows.

"Last time you left you said you needed to see what had happened to the galaxy and find your purpose in it. Did you?"

"I think so," she said nodding. "I saw what the Empire has done on Coruscant and in the Senate. There are so many people who just go along with it—ignorant and happy that way! But seeing Dex and his friends—people the Empire has abandoned and hunted—it made me realize that I have a duty to protect them. That's what a Jedi would do right?"

"Is that what you want to be, Ahsoka? A Jedi?"

"That's what I've always wanted to be," she countered. "I didn't understand what that meant until now though. I want to protect others. I don't want to fight a war like we did. I don't want to be a Commander or a General. I want to protect those that I can; like the people of Kiros; like Jinx, O-Mer and Kalifa on Wasskah; like the villagers on Carlac. That's the kind of Jedi I want to be." She stood a little taller, her shoulders coming back in the proud posture he'd always known her to have. For the first time he saw the strong Jedi she was becoming not the military Commander he'd been training her to be.

Even as Anakin felt a warm surge of pride, he felt fear. Beneath her conviction he sensed a pain she was hiding away—a wound she was neglecting. Wounds like that would fester and poison her if she wasn't careful. His had. His pain at his mother's loss and having to hide his love and marriage had been rotting away inside him for a long time. He'd come so close to falling into a terrible darkness that even now he questioned himself. That was the terror that lurked in his dreams and woke him up at night. He wasn't like Ahsoka or Obi-Wan. They were planted firmly in the light and kept there by some internal compass that he knew he didn't possess.

"You already are a great Jedi," Anakin said. "You never needed the Council to tell you that." She looked at him surprised.

"Thank you, Master," she said and bowed.

"You've earned it, Ahsoka," he returned the gesture as if he were wearing the Jedi robes instead of his dressing gown. "Just be careful out there," he warned her. "And maybe call us every now and then, you know. 'Hi Anakin. How's Obi-Wan enjoying matrimony? I'm still alive by the way.' That kind of thing." He said and got a small chuckle out of her.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Where are you going to go? Not back to Coruscant I hope."

"No," Ahsoka said, sitting down and checking the fasteners on her boots. "I asked Senator Organa where he thought I should go. He said the situation on Kashyyyk was looking grim. There's been a lot of illegal cargo moving from there."

"What kind of 'illegal cargo'?" That phrase had many meanings. It could now mean anything from drugs to refugees. It could also mean slaves.

"He didn't say, but he suspects the Empire is involved somehow—either enabling or turning a blind eye to what ever is happening."

Anakin frowned. He knew the kind of people who would be involved. They tended to shoot anything that wasn't making them money, but Ahsoka had met Hondo and survived. She caught his expression and concluded the bent of his thoughts.

"I'll be careful, Anakin. I know what these people can be like. Besides, I'm not unarmed," She stood up and tapped the twin blasters at her belt. They were battle scared, high-powered and pinpoint accurate. Captain Rex had spent a good deal of time customizing those weapons. It was strange to see them where her lightsabers used to be.

"I know you can take care of yourself, Snipps."

"Well you should by now," she agreed and hoisted up her bag onto her shoulders.

"Ahsoka," Anakin said, his tone stopping her in mid motion. "I didn't ever say I'm sorry… about Rex." He felt her pain flair in the Force at the name, confirming his suspicions.

"It's not your fault, Master. It's mine," she said, eyes downcast and her shoulders slumping again under more than just the weight of her pack. "I really thought that… that he cared for me."

"He did once, I know that," Anakin said firmly.

"Did he ever actually say that?" She asked the question rhetorically and Anakins serious answer surprised her.

"He did."

"What? When?" Ahsoka's eyes widened and her lip trembled.

"Before you left the army. He didn't think that his feelings were… appropriate for the subordinate position he had."

Anakin could see her turning over his words and trying to reconcile them with what she knew of the man. Rex had been loyal to her ever since Teth as a Captain, willing to follow her anywhere and back her up in the most dire situations. After her refusal to return to the Order though Anakin had never breached the subject with his Captain, it was too raw of a wound then. He couldn't remember feeling hurt or loss from the Captain either. Perhaps Rex's feelings had changed. Ahsoka's had. She'd once looked up to the Captain as a military role model. The clone had been a teacher to her as much as Anakin and a protector whenever Anakin wasn't around. But somewhere along the way she had become closer to him, their mutual respect becoming a close friendship. Now… It was clear that outside of the military there might have been a chance for something else between them, or at least Ahsoka thought there might have been. The Purge had destroyed all of that, snatching the possibility out of her reach and taking so much more with it.

"It doesn't mater anymore," Ahsoka said, half to herself. Anakin felt his heart sink. He tried not to see the image his imagination was painting for him: Rex struggling in mid-air as an invisible grip choked the life out of him and Ahsoka's outstretched hand guiding the Force.

"Did you…" a lump of dread cut off his question.

"No," she whispered. "I didn't kill him. But… I think I should have." Her words weren't angry or regretful, only pained. "What if he hurts someone else? Isn't that partly my fault now? I let him go back to the Empire and… He's the reason Obi-Wan was captured. He told the Chancelor where Padme and Satine were. He shot me." Her voice threatened to break and she cut herself off sharply, snapping her jaw shut and gritting her teeth for a silent moment. One of her hands moved unconsciously to the weapon strapped to her hip, the weapon that had left the comet shapped scar across her shoulder.

"He was my enemy. Shouldn't I have killed him?" She asked at last when she had control of herself again.

"No." Anakin's answer was firm. "If you killed him out of anger you would regretted it later. Rex made his choices. His actions then and now are his own."

"Thank you, Master," she said softly. The well of pain within her was still deep, but at least she didn't have to face it alone the way he had chosen to.

"Anytime you want to talk Ahsoka, I'm here." That was what a Master was supposed to be, what Obi-Wan had been to him in the last months of the war. Looking back Anakin realized how vitally important the shift in their relationship had been to keep him from falling under Palpatine's influence. He only hoped he could do the same for Ahsoka.

"Will you tell Padme and the others goodbye for me?" She asked, fiddling with the straps of her bag nervously.

"You're not really one for goodbyes," Anakin observed. She just frowned deeper. He wondered what her goodbye to Rex had been, if anything. "I'll tell them for you, Snipps. Take care." He stood back from the door to let her pass.

"You too… Skyguy," she said and gave him a quirk of a smile.

"May the Force be with you," he added gravely. To his own surprise he heard Obi-Wan.

"And with you," she replied and turned to leave. He watched her recede down the hallway, hoping it wasn't the last time.

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Rex packed his few belongings from around the small windowless office, trying to ignore the lingering red stain on the floor. Soon he would be leaving for good and the stain would only be a memory. His reassignment orders had arrived that morning and the transport was scheduled for the afternoon to pick him up. With the assignment came his demotion, effective immediately after his transferal out of Luke's guard.

It was the second time he'd been stripped of his rank but the failure hurt so much more now than the acid burns had ever pained him. This time he hadn't saved his brothers, his men, or his General. This time he'd failed his brother, failed Coric. He'd failed to see what was eating at the medic. He'd been too slow and too absorbed in his own problems to look beyond himself. The first time he was stripped of his rank Rex could hate the Seperatists or the General. This time he could only hate himself.

The worst part though was Luke. Rex was failing Padme now because he would no longer be able to protect her child. If Walli was right he wouldn't even be alive to worry about Luke's fate or his own failures. Walli seemed to be right about a lot of things. Rex was almost comforted by the idea. At least I won't end up shooting myself, he thought with a little satisfaction. But it's still not how I wanted to go out. I'd rather die like the rest of my brothers. He'd told her that night in the Coruscanti bar, "Most of us die before we get decommissioned. We prefer it that way." She'd admonished him for sounding jealous. He was. It would have been simpler just to die on that sinking Seperatist base in an acid ocean. Not even his body would have been left for anyone to mourn over. Would she have mourned? Rex wondered. Forcefully he pushed back that thought and returned to his task. Thinking about those things now wouldn't help anyone.

He packed his bag with methodical precision. Apart from his standard kit he had only a few personal items but still more than most troopers. A change of civilian clothes, a small book of Mandalorian history Jaina had given him, a holo projector with some sentimental images—mostly of his brothers, and a data pad where he logged the names—not the numbers—of every brother who'd died under his command ordered by date. Corric's name was already entered in a long list of casualties from a battle Rex barely remembered. Other than those items, there was only the empty bottle of alcohol from his desk drawer to dispose of and the assorted pile of reports from various people and places to clear and recycle. It was in the pile of flimsy reports that he found Walli's.

CONFIDENTIAL

BEHAVIORAL REPORT ON NIA KAHN BETWEEN ASSIGNMENT TO THE DETAIL OF CAPTAIN IT-7567 AND PRESENT

Rex frowned. He hardly remembered asking Walli for the written report. Between Darman and Coric his mind had been completely occupied or intoxicated. Now he was kicking himself for not digging up the papers earlier. Quickly he flipped through the thick stack. Walli was nothing if not thorough.

He documented all of Nia's usage of the Force with such striking detail Rex concluded that Walli either had an eidetic memory or he'd been writing all this down before Rex asked for the report. Walli wrote:

Kahn displays what the former Jedi Council might have considered a reasonable strength with the Force. Kahn manipulates small to mid size objects with ease and practice. The logical conclusion is that Kahn has been trained. In the absence of other organized Force users otherwise known of at the time of writing, it can be assumed it was at the hands of a Jedi and/or the Jedi Order.

Rex nodded at this. He'd thought as much himself.

Walli scrutinized her accept: upper Coruscanti. Her diction: educated, upper Coruscanti, non-indicative of religious or political affiliations. Her health: well maintained, access to medical care throughout childhood, few recent scars all within the past four to five years. Walli did note one prominent scar from her right shoulder to the left side of her back midway down. He described it as a curved, indented burn. Rex wondered how Walli had even seen such a scar and how thorough his investigation of Nia had been. He frowned but read on.

Walli focused on the incidents when she apparently forgot or failed to recognize her own name. He tallied them and did everything but graph their growing frequency. Sometimes she outright told him "that's not my name" and other's she was merely confused.

On 907.8039.6 Kahn entered the main living room from her quarters and requested a glass of water from Trooper Walli. Trooper Walli provided the glass of water and enquired as to quality of her sleep that night. Kahn replied it was refreshing. She smiled and acted more amiable and excited than previously observed. She smiled showing teeth and stood contrapposto while looking around the room. Kahn enquired about the weather. This may have been a joke on the controlled climate of Coruscant. Kahn has not been observed making jokes previous to this incident. Trooper Walli responded in the affirmative and addressed her respectfully as "Ms. Kahn." Kahn replied: You can just call me. Then she began to say a word that began with a vowel 'i', 'e', or 'a'. Kahn continued: No, that's not right. Kahn looked visibly shaken. Kahn's shoulders hunched and her eyes lowered. She stilled and returned to normal observed posture and actions. Kahn cited duties, returned the water glass, and proceeded to the child's quarters. Kahn has not referenced this incident since and it has no apparent effect on her actions currently. End Incident.

Rex frowned. He was no more convinced that 'Nia Kahn' was her name any more than she was Luke's mother. Walli had a section on that subject as well. It began with a phenotype comparison of the mother and child that threw into doubt the genetic possibility of, not only their relationship, but Luke's relationship to either of his supposed parents. This was old news to Rex so he prepared to skip the entire section when a list at the end caught his eye.

Names Observed In Use for the Child by Kahn:

-Luke – most commonly used when behavior is normal

-Baby – more common when behavior is normal

-Sweetheart – more common when behavior is normal

-Ahdeeca – more common when behavior is abnormal

-My little boy – more common when behavior is abnormal

-Cahdeeca – only when behavior is abnormal

-Venku – once when behavior was abnormal on 807.8021.10

Rex frowned. Venku sounded like Vencu, which was a Mando'a name from the word vencuyot meaning future. It was possible it had another origin but something nagged at Rex as he read the list. Ahdeeca could be ad'ika meaning little child in Mando'a but maybe Rex was just seeing what he knew in the information not what was actually there. He shook it off and read on.

Walli logged incident after incident of Nia's strange behavior. Sometimes she would pop out a word of military jargon. Sometimes she was overly kind to the troopers or the times Walli saw her looking at them pityingly. Walli recorded an overheard conversation between Kaden and Su'rattin—probably on a hacked personal comm between the two Commando's—about feeling Nia's voice was familiar, like they'd heard it somewhere before being assigned to Luke's guard. Rex frowned at this and he didn't need Walli to point out that the only place Kaden and Su'ratiin might have heard a female voice was on HNN or within the GAR command structure. It was another feather on the scales that tipped in favor of Nia Kahn being a Jedi. The evidence was becoming overwhelming.

Rex came finally to the end of the exhaustive report and found a single incident tacked onto the back. It was dated the evening before his arrival, the same time he had been out with Darman at Dul's bar.

Kahn entered the main room at 1100 hours. Her behavior was notably abnormal. Kahn appeared distressed and recently awoken. Troopers Coric and Walli were on shift at the entrance to the apartment. Kahn said: Good evening, Troopers. Trooper Coric responded: Good evening, ma'am. Are you feeling aright? Do you need a sleeping pill? Kahn replied: No. Thank you, Fi. Trooper Coric replied: My name isn't Fi, ma'am. Are you alright? Are you confused? Do you remember hitting your head recently? Kahn paused and appeared confused. Kahn said, distressed: Not Fi? Where is Dar? He was here before. Trooper Coric replied: There is no one named 'Dar' on this guard. Kahn replied: What do you mean? He was here. I made him caf. Trooper Coric replied: I don't know who you're talking about, ma'am. Kahn replied: Why are you calling me ma'am Fi? Trooper Coric replied: I'm not Fi. Do you remember where you are, Ms. Kahn. Kahn replied, more distressed: No. Where am. Kahn preceded to faint. Troopers Coric and Walli returned her to her bed. Effect of incident yet to be observed. End incident.

Rex felt his blood run cold. The name 'Dar' seemed to echo in his head. He put down Walli's report and folded his hands under his chin.

'Nia Kahn' was a Jedi, of that Rex was almost positive. She knew someone, perhaps a trooper, who was called Dar. 'Nia' said she had made caf for 'Dar'. She had also made caf for Rex, if the sickeningly sweet glop she made could still be called caf. Rex had a sudden memory of Niner scooping spoons of sugar into his cup in the 501st mess the last time he'd seen the Commando. Could Darman have the same habit? He found himself wondering. From the way Kaden and Su'ratiin acted it wasn't a long stretch of the imagination. The two commando's under Rex's command—former command—were almost identical in all their mannerisms. Food was no different.

Then there were the names—vaguely Mandaloiran names like Ahdeeca and Venku. In Mandalorian culture your child was your future so the name Vencu would make sense. Cahdeeca could be Cahd'ika with the Mando'a diminutive suffix. Cahd could be kad meaning saber. Rex frowned. It sounded familiar somehow. He wracked his brain to remember where he'd heard that used as a name. Had he known brothers named Kad? Yes, he'd served with a few. They were dead now but that wasn't where he remembered it from. The feeling of the memory was more recent and the only brothers he'd been around were his squad and… Darman! Rex dragged the memory out of his hazy recollections of the night in Dul's bar.

"It's more complicated than that! Kad is… special, like Etain." Darman had said in the bar. Kad was his son's name. "I won't let them take my son away like they took my wife."

Rex could remember his own response to Darman's twisted quest. "Killing every Force-sensative you can get your hands on won't change that. It won't bring back your son's mother, it's just going to get his father killed for something equally jare'la!" Darman's wife had died stupidly and now her husband and child were paying the price. She'd followed the selfless Jedi teachings to her death. Darman had married a Jedi—one of his Commanding officers. That would make her in charge of Republic Commando Squads all across the outer rim and perhaps even Kaden and Su'ratiin's commanding officer as well. They would definitely recognize the voice that passed down their missions.

"It was a Jedi. A Jedi killed her by accident because she was protecting a clone, a shinny nobody." Niner had explained Etain's death in that one sentence. The burn scar Walli had seen on 'Nia's' back could have easily come from a lightsaber, Rex had seen those wounds before. He'd seen Anakin cut down wets with his lightsaber. It cleaved through flesh as if the bone and muscle were just wet tissue flimsy. Could Etain have survived that? With the Empire's unlimited resources… Rex wondered. Niner's words about Dar's grief came back to him like an echo.

"He's been like this ever since. Half the time he's normal, like it never happened. Then sometimes he's just angry and he doesn't seemed to remember who she was or… what they had. But he doesn't grieve." Rex frowned. He knew that. He knew that all too well because he couldn't grieve either. But so did 'Nia.' He'd seen that on her first day.

"You're crying." Walli had told her.

"Oh," she had reached up to feel her cheek. "So I am." Nia had turned back to the window, unaffected and resumed her strange silent vigil.

Rex pulled up Nia Kahn's personnel file on a nearby pad. He looked closely at the picture. Her brown hair was duller, as if neglected while it left the streaks of red more prominent, her face more tanned than it was now and her freckles more visible, her eyes brighter and more focused, less watery and vacant. They shone out of the picture, green and piercing. Even the little stubborn jut of her chin was more pronounced in the picture. It was almost like looking at a stranger despite the resemblance to the woman he saw daily.

'Nia' had worn that expression the evening she made him caf. It was like her abnormal times (to use Walli's terms) were when she was most alive. He remembered vividly the feel of her lips on his cheek even from the fleeting moment of touch it had been. It was a gesture of comfortable familiarity and affection, a gesture of love.

Rex frowned at the picture of Darman's wife looking back at him from the screen and felt his heart sink with dread. He wasn't just failing Coric and Padme now but Darman as well. He couldn't save Coric from his nightmares and the horrors in his past. He couldn't protect Padme's son from the Empire and the Sith that wanted to use him as a weapon. He couldn't protect Darman's wife who was literally stolen away from him and twisted into someone who wouldn't even recognize him.

"Haar'chak!" Rex hissed and rubbed a hand over his face. He threw down the pad and collapsed against the back of his chair.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked the empty room. "What can I do? I'm as much a slave as any of them!" I don't have a home to run to on Mandalore like you do, Dar! He thought bitterly. Rex wasn't even sure he would run if he could. What kind of life would be waiting for him outside of the Empire and the Army, without her? Just more pain, he knew. At least Darman is with Kad, assuming he made it to Kyrimorut.

Kyrimorut! Rex remembered suddenly where he'd heard that name. It was from the droid and the human who had given him the innocuous comm link. Rex quickly rummaged in his utility belt for the little device. He pulled it out and stared at it.

"It's secure, frequency is plugged in, but tell your buddies it was a rush job, only good for one call," the man had said.

One call to Kyrimorut was all Rex needed. He was still Captain of Luke's guard for a few more hours and he was going to make them count. Quickly he gathered all the necessary information, pulling flight plans and assignments. (He noted Fox was going to be promoted into his place and it irked him more than he wanted to admit.) Rex laid out the information on the desk before him and took a deep breath. He pressed the call button on the comm link and waited.

"Is this Rex?" A brother's voice answered, not one that Rex knew but thick with the Mando accent he'd heard in the other Commandos.

"Yes."

"Do you have proof?" the voice asked and Rex smiled. Caution meant that he wasn't talking to an idiot. Dar and Kad were well protected.

"Was Kad happy to see his father?"

"Overjoyed." The voice replied. "You've only got the one call, ner vod. You want out? Tell us where and when. We'll be there."

"Casper-class transport, ID Papa-Indigo-six-four-eight-eight-Bravo-niner, rough heading 68.3 by 130.2 by 30.7 at coordinates 778.5621, 392.5568, 278.947. Got all that, vod?"

"Do I need to repeat it?"

"Just be there and bring fire-power."

"When?"

"Six hours."

"Shab! Cutting it a bit close!" His brother sounded less than happy.

"Darman does not want to miss that ship, vod. Bic ori'jaonyc!" It's vital.

"Alright. We'll be there. Any chance of help from the inside?"

"Negative."

"Not making this easy for us."

"If it were easy I wouldn't have called." You have no idea how hard this is going to be, brother. It's going to be hard in all the ways you don't expect.

"I know. Niner said you were ori'ramikadyc. If you could get out yourself, I'm sure you would."

Rex shook his head. It was high praise, but he found he didn't want it. Being Commando worthy didn't save Coric. Being able to fight didn't change Ahsoka's fate. It wasn't going to save his life even now and he didn't want it to.

"Six hours, vod," the voice on the other end of the line said.

"Look before you shoot."

"Got a location so we know where not to shoot?"

"Main crew cabin with the package."

"So right behind the biggest defenses. Ori'jatne!" Perfect! His last word oozed with sarcasm. Rex smirked; he liked this brother. He was sorry they'd never meet face to face.

"Got a name, vod?" Rex asked.

"Kom'rk," the voice replied.

"Koyacyi Kom'rk," Rex said.

"You too. Stay alive for six hours at least. It's a long way to go for nothing if you're dead." The call ended with a soft beep and Kom'rk was gone.

Rex leaned back. He wondered where he would be in six hours. It didn't mater so long as Kom'rk and Darman made the RV. It didn't mater so long as Etain and Luke were safe. Then Rex had done something right. At least he hadn't failed everyone.

I'll be with you soon, Ahsoka. Ge'jii, cyare. He allowed himself to think of her even if the emotions it brought up were conflicted and contrary. Maybe in death they'd make sense.

.

Author's Note: Ca'jurkad is a term I got from AtinBralor. It's a mash up of ca meaning night and jurkadir, which means to attack; so roughly it means nightmare. Seems logical to me so I borrowed it. I hope she doesn't mind.

Kyr'ast is another mashed up term. Kyr means end and ast meaning itself.

Ge'jii is ge meaning almost and jii meaning now; together to make soon.

Oh so much fun. :) Here's a little game since Rex has now sent the Kyrimorut aliit after his own squad: predict who I'm going to kill off next! (But seriously, I have to resist my love of tragedies at times like this.) As always leave me a review if you liked it or have questions, or you want to point out a mistake, or you just want to tell me how much you love Mandalorians, that's cool too. –Em