Ninety

They just... kept... coming.

Once the first shot was fired it was a race to maintain the upper hand, only the fekking Krish wouldn't give in.

Darman cursed violently as a pulse hit him square in the shin, the one not protected by his missing greave.

"Fek it."

Corr yelled at him for a response, "can you walk? Dar, Dar? Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. I knew taking those greaves off was a bad idea."

"Suck it the fek up Dar, and keep moving." Darman shot his sarge a look.

He knew Niner would be taking the heat of this mission if they got back to triple zero alive. He was guarding the woman the entire time, continually moving forward, his voice constantly talking down the comm.

"Left, move left. Watch your six Corr. Atin any fekking news from Intrepid? That's a negative Atin. Do not move from your vantage spot. You're our eyes in the sky. Move right, move right. Head to the higher ground, higher ground. Darman, you keeping up?"

"Yeah, I'd be faster if I hadn't been shot in the fekking leg."

Niner ignored the comment. He knew Dar was in pain and felt bad, but right then, there was nothing anyone could do.

The Krish were pushing them towards a rock edge.

Atin called it in, "Sarge, you're heading towards a cliff edge do you copy?"

Things were going from bad to worse.

"Copy that Atin, I see it."

The four stood on the edge and craned their heads to ascertain the terrain below.

"You're not thinking of heading over, are you?" Corr was the one who asked the question, a lump developing in his throat.

Niner had made a calculated assessment. There was a small dirt trail that they could slide down, but not being aware of how deep the drop was, they would be going down blind.

There was no choice, it was their only choice.

Niner looked at the agent they had be sent in to retrieve; he was damned if she wasn't making it out alive. He moved forward and shouted "cover me" as he lifted up his gauntlets and opened both vibroblades.

"Sarge?" Corr questioned the use of the razor sharp blades that glinted innocently in the eerie dawn light.

Niner swung her around and moved in close behind her, his voice boomed in her ears. "Put your hands up around my neck, that's it. Now clasp them together, tight." He was talking quickly and she could tell he was in no mood to repeat any of the orders coming out from under the helmet.

Then to everyone's surprise, Niner shucked both the vibroblades into the makeshift greave armour she had at her chest.

The sickening sound unmistakable as he pulled her further into him and stood at the edge.

"Hang on," was the last thing he said as he took a step and slipped down the dirt track, his armour hiding her small frame as they disappeared together.

"Fek, Niner's full of it, this hop," Corr remarked.

Darman couldn't resist having the final word, "yeah, he's just a barrel of tricks the ole sarge. You go next and I'll cover."

Corr hugged his deece to his chest and slipped into nothingness, the last thing he heard was a yelp of pain from Darman, who came down hard behind him.

.

"Anakin! There you are."

"Not like I have any other place to be Master." The 501st had been picked up from their mission to Timora.

A resounding Republic success; as predicted.

Anakin had been recalled back to Coruscant on another whim of the Chancellor. These little side trips were beginning to annoy the young general, although he wasn't disappointed at the extra time he would get to spend with Padmè.

The war was wearing thin on them all, but none so much as the forbidden lovers.

Obi-Wan tucked his hands in his sleeves and Anakin could sense his old Masters need to talk.

"Anakin, I have a run to do in the mid rim and I was wondering if I might borrow the Twilight?"

The young general remained seated and continued to stare at the screen flickering in front of him. Obi-Wan stood for a moment waiting for a response.

Anakin couldn't resist making his old friend squirm and refused to make eye contact. "Now, why would I do that? You and I both remember the last time I let you have the Twilight on your own."

"Anakin, you know that wasn't my fault!" Obi-Wan turned to leave the briefing room when he heard his old Padawan talk.

"Captain Rex."

"General."

Anakin watched his old Master as he spoke, a smile crossing his mouth as he continued. "General Kenobi requires the use of the Twilight. Assemble a skeleton crew and meet him down in the hanger bay immediately."

"Copy that general."

Obi-Wan was amazed.

"See, I'm not as insensitive as you think." Anakin stood and extended his hand. "Good luck Master and let Rex fly. We don't want a repeat of last time now, do we?"

.

Rex looked at the men standing in front of him in the rec room. They had all heard the comm from the general and the subsequent look on their captain's face.

"Sir, I'll accompany you."

"Thanks Kix," Rex rubbed his eyes and checked his chrono.

The medic then looked over at Jesse and raised an eyebrow.

Jess got the message and swayed his head in disdain, "oh all right," he muttered under his breath and then more loudly, "count me in too, Cap."

Rex stood and looked at his men. They looked tired, they all were, but a quick trip with Kenobi wouldn't be so bad, could it?

"Grab your kits and meet at the Twilight in ten."

.

Obi-Wan walked up the ramp and made his way to the cockpit. Rex was already on board and seated behind the controls beginning the pre flight sequence.

"Welcome aboard sir. We'll be ready to take off as soon as I plug in the coordinates."

The captain watched as Obi-Wan sat back and placed his hands under his sleeves and smiled. "We are heading to Oriis."

Rex swung around and stared at the general who met it with a steady gaze.

"It's time captain."

.

[Ooomph.]

"My deece! I've dropped my deece!" Corr scrambled back behind him and looked for the one thing he couldn't live without.

They had all survived the fall, their armour keeping them safe inside the suit. The agent had even fared reasonably well; a cut on her forehead the only visible sign of injury.

"Are you alright?" Niner asked as he retracted the blades from the katarn armour at her chest, and watched as she nodded quickly, rubbing her right elbow as she did. "Alright, keep moving, keep moving."

The Krish had a team positioned on the western side of the mountain, and were ready when the commando team regained their footing.

Fek, why won't they just give up?

"Thought you said they were dumb Ner'ika," Dar grunted out. The sarge noticed a splash of something dark stain Darman's left rerebrace.

"You alright Dar?"

"Yeah," he said, "just as well their eyesight is bad," and looked down at the damage from another lucky shot a Krish had managed to sneak in.

"Atin, anything, tell me anything from Intrepid."

"That's a negative Sarge. You have a group bearing down at ten o'clock, ten o'clock!"

They all swung around but it was Corr who reacted first and lunged to take the full impact of the shot from the Krish soldier hiding behind a tree.

Darman made short work of him. He then began firing systematically; taking down one humanoid alien after another.

He was silent and methodical.

Niner could see the determination by his stance and watched proud as he protected Corr who was writhing in pain beneath his feet.

Niner then heard the guttural sound of two Krish speak and turned to see a portable shoulder-fired flash cannon aimed directly at him.

"Fek," was all he could say as he watched the red light come hurtling towards him.

.

"I want all available gun crews in the air now, any non essential personal get the fek out." Commander Wolffe stood tall on the flight deck barking out the orders, and watched as his men scrambled to their transports.

"We have the grid location of Omega and I want immediate extraction, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," resonated down the internal comms.

Wolffe wasn't too concerned about the commandos dirt side.

He knew Niner was a brilliant tactician, as they all were, but was acutely aware that the men had been engaged by a group of separatist Krish rebels.

It would be a nice way to finish the day; taking out a Sep frigate followed by some Sep sympathizers.

The larty to transport the men and the Intelligence Agent left and was flanked immediately by four V19's. He smiled to himself and turned to General Koon.

"We have pick up underway, General."

"Excellent commander, excellent. I'll be in my chambers if you require me further."

"Sir," he said turning back to the radar image in front of him and continued to wait for news from his men.

.

Rex felt the heat rising up to his cheeks.

He nodded his head and silently set the coordinates before he deployed the repulsors and took the Twilight off the hanger deck of the Resolute.

Kenobi settled back in his chair and closed his eyes, happy that the captain was taking charge of the piloting this time around. He knew Anakin was right, he wasn't as gifted in aeronautical acrobatics as his young friend and was looking forward to a long overdue rest enroute to the mid rim planet.

It was four hours into the flight before the general spoke again.

"Captain."

"Sir." Rex had been growing increasingly anxious about the generals last comment.

It's time, was all he said.

Does he know?

They had made a deal not to tell anyone about the baby, other than Olphina, Rex thought no one else knew their secret.

Secrets, they had more than one.

Not being as familiar with the Jedi Master as his friend Cody, Rex felt out of his depth yet again. He exhaled silently and waited for the general to continue. The Jedi could feel the anxiety in the seasoned captain sitting just to his right, but continued non the less.

"Rex I understand you and Gem were married recently, the Mandalorian way I believe."

Rex sat straighter than he ever had in his life.

"Yes sir."

"You are of course aware of the unique relationship I share with the young representative."

"I believe so sir."

"Well, then you are well aware that my mother was also, very fond of Skylar and considered her as close as a daughter in fact."

"Yes sir."

Obi-Wan softened and smiled at the nervous soldier. "Rex, being a Jedi I have nothing of my own to offer but I thought you might like to consider what I am about to say."

Rex swallowed hard, this was the most difficult conversation he had ever had in his short adult life. It was then he noticed something flash in between the generals fingers.

"This is all I have of my previous life," Rex watched as Obi-Wan ran his thumb over the smooth gold surface and smile again, "my mother's wedding band. I understand that it is Oriian tradition to give one when you are married. If you would Rex, I know this is something my mother would have wanted."

He handed over the small gold ring and Rex studied it carefully before slipping it over his little finger.

"It would be an honour general."

Obi-Wan stood and extended his hand. "We are united now as brothers for life my friend," he then pulled Rex into him, their foreheads touching out of respect to the captains Mandalorian heritage.

Rex had never understood the relationship between Cody and Kenobi. He always thought they made a good pair; running a campaign by the book, ticking all the boxes.

But now, he could understand and was finally privy to the unique humanity and empathy the Jedi shared with his best friend.

"Aliit ori'shya tal'din ner vod."

"Aliit ori'shya tal'din."

.