Precipice by shadowsong26

Milestones: Chapter 10

Rex was far from idle after General Kenobi and Ohnaka disappeared upstairs.

True, he couldn't do anything overt until he saw an actual move from their enemies-and, for all the pirate insisted otherwise, Rex knew damn well that's what they were-but there were some initial steps he could take.

Steps like gradually maneuvering himself into a better position to take out the guards between him and the stairs-not optimal, perhaps, not without tipping his hand, but it would suffice.

Or like making a quick scan with the infrared scanners on his HUD to better detect anyone coming at him from outside his ordinary visual range-they weren't as good as the ones on the helmet he'd left behind on Coruscant when he'd deserted, but they were serviceable..

Or priming one of the smoke grenades he'd clipped to his belt to give him room to work.

A man could always find a use for a smoke grenade, when things got dangerous.

So, when he heard that first, inevitable shot from upstairs, he sprang into action almost immediately.

First, the grenade; no real cover in this room but he could invent some; then fire off a few shots into the smoke to keep everyone busy while he ran for the stairs.

Atii shouted through the smoke and he heard an explosion; switched filters just in time to keep from getting blinded and dove to the side to avoid the debris from the stairs. Which he mostly managed; the armor had a few new dents in it, but it had held up and done its job.

Kriff. Okay, new plan-if she was willing to do that, there's gonna be an alternate route. I just gotta find it.

Ideally, before anyone he cared about got killed.

"Find him!" Atii yelled in Ryl; good, they'd lost him in the explosion; that bought him a second or two.

He flicked through the filters on his helmet again and found the night vision, which pointed out a door just past him, to the right of where the stairs used to be. It was guarded by two beings of indeterminate near-Human species; he fired twice as he closed the distance, taking out the kneecaps of the one on the left; and laid out the second with a quick strike at what would be the solar plexus on a Human with the butt of his gun. He heard bone crack and moved on, wrenching the door open and plowing through.

No one immediately in sight; he slammed the door behind him and shot through the lock to provide a split second to get his bearings.

All right. First job done. Now. If I were a back way up in a criminal's secret hideout, where would I be…

Before he could answer that question, he heard running footsteps heading his direction; saw a shadow approaching along the opposite wall. Fortunately, there was a hell of a lot better cover out here than in the entryway; Rex ducked into a convenient doorway on hsi right, holding his guns at the ready and waiting for a clear shot.

The newcomer was Human, about his height; wearing armor not that different from what Rex had on.

Rex took the initiative and fired two shots in his direction-which didn't connect; he didn't expect them to; hadn't wanted to wait for a clear shot.

The enemy soldier ducked to the side and fired a warning shot of his own.

This was…not ideal.

That same convenient cover that had saved Rex's skin was as much a hindrance as a help at this point-there were enough recessed doorways and nooks and crannies in this hallway that they could play this game for a good ten minutes or more, which time Rex doubted Ohnaka and General Kenobi had to spare.

So, time for a new tactic.

Rex pulled another smoke grenade and rolled it into the center of the hallway; gave the other half a second to switch the filter on his helmet and then followed it with a flashbang.

He heard someone swearing and grinned to himself before launching out of cover just as the smoke began to dissipate, ready to fight past this next obstacle.

Except-the shooter had pulled off his helmet; a risky trick, but sometimes it helped your eyes recover faster while the filters rebooted.

Which meant Rex could see his face.

His extremely, intimately, personally familiar face.

But this time...this time, it wasn't like looking into a mirror.

It was like looking through a window into the past.

Because that was his face-but not as it was now. Not even as it had been the last time he'd shot at it, four years ago; something that was fortunately getting a hell of a lot rarer as the years ticked by.

No, this was his face as it had been a decade ago. During the War.

This-this-this person was maybe half of Rex's apparent age.

So, of course, his first thought was- Boba?

Except that was wrong. He knew before he even said the name. Because, sure, there were some things that were bred into them, and Boba Fett came from the same progenitor Rex and his brothers had.

But some things had to be taught. And Boba had been raised different from the rest of them. He had never moved like they did, not unless he was making a concentrated effort to disappear among them.

And this person, this-this too-young, too-familiar stranger-he did. Rex hadn't seen much, but he'd seen that shadow tracking across the wall-he moved like a soldier.

Rex took a breath and placed a bet, raising the visor on his own helmet and lowering his blaster.

The stranger stopped short, studying him for a second.

Neither of them moved. Neither of them even breathed.

"…your friends are pinned down upstairs," the stranger finally said, shortly. "The Weequay's been shot. Nonfatally, far as I know. The Human's covering him. Keep going down this hall, turn right at the end, first door on your left's gonna be a back way up. I'm guessing you can find your way home from there."

"Yeah, of course," Rex said, then hesitated. "…vod'ika-"

"Don't," he cut him off. "Just-go."

He stood aside, and Rex hesitated for half a second more, because this-finding one of his youngest brothers like this was something he had never expected to happen.

But he had a larger purpose. He had a duty here.

One of his Jedi was in danger, and needed him now.

He nodded once and moved down the hallway, quick as he could, following his little brother's directions until he found the back stairs.

There had been an explosion downstairs two minutes ago, which was not...not ideal.

Obi-Wan continued firing from behind the crate, considering trying to make a break for the window, which-no, too many enemy fighters between here and there; the increase in the faint hum of warning buzzing behind his eyes made that perfectly clear.

So, he and Hondo were stuck, for the moment, until he could think of something better. And quickly; this was not a pattern he could maintain for long; and Hondo had stopped firing.

Obi-Wan was not quite out of hope, but he was nearly out of charges, and Hondo was nearly out of consciousness, when the wall behind them shifted.

He swore under his breath, turning to face what was probably a new threat, but-

"Sir," Rex hissed.

"You're certainly timely," he said, relieved.

"Sorry, ran into more resistance than I thought," he said. "You all right?"

"I'm fine. Hondo's been shot. Slugthrower."

Rex nodded. "There's a door to the outside at the bottom of these stairs. You want me to cover up here, or clear the way?"

"Clear the way," Obi-Wan said. As close as they were to the exit, and as badly as Hondo was bleeding-he could use the crate to seal off the exit behind them, at least temporarily. Better to avoid further delays of their own after that.

"Copy that."

"Thank you," he said, then frowned a little. There was something- "Are you all right?"

"Fine, sir," Rex said, shortly. "We should move."

He's not wrong. I can ask again later. Or mention it to Anakin or Ahsoka, it might be better coming from one of them.

Obi-Wan nodded, and nudged Hondo as Rex disappeared back through the hidden panel. "Still with me?"

"Of course," Hondo slurred. "Am I drunk or bleeding?"

"I can't speak to the first, but you have lost quite a bit of blood," he said. "We're moving, I'm going to help you."

"Ah, you are so good at that, my friend," Hondo said, then his head rolled to the side and he lost consciousness completely.

Obi-Wan slung his arm over his shoulder and crawled through the opening in the wall, firing a few blind shots behind him before using the Force to drag the crate of cultures across the opening.

He was able to straighten up on the other side, which made carrying-or, well, half-dragging-the pirate significantly easier. He heard a few crisp, precise shots down below, and then saw Rex's head pop around the corner.

"Need a hand?"

He shook his head, and picked up the pace.

When they reached the ground outside, he passed Hondo off to Rex and pulled out his lightsaber-the value of keeping his identity secret now came in a very distant second to getting them across the open ground to Hondo's ship unshot. And, barring several more slugthrowers…

"Ready?" he asked Rex.

"Always, sir," he said, shifting his grip on Hondo.

Obi-Wan nodded, and moved, doing his best to keep to a pace that Rex could match while carrying Hondo-he felt a bolt come perilously close to his ear, and another was partially absorbed by the treated fabric of his jacket, leaving a minor burn across his forearm; he was fairly certain another two or three had gotten past his guard completely and grazed Rex's armor.

About the only thing one could say for the experience was that, between the bolts Obi-Wan successfully reflected and Rex's consistent barrage of cover fire, no one was able to get close enough to truly bar their way.

Still, the compound gate-and Hondo's shuttle, waiting outside-was one of the more welcome sights Obi-Wan had seen in quite some time. He shoved the gate open with the Force, and let Rex precede him, using Hondo's prints to unlock and extend the ramp.

"Find a gun," he said, already on his way to the cockpit. Hondo's injuries would have to wait another few moments until they cleared the compound's airspace. Possibly even the planet's atmosphere.

Rex nodded and darted off in another direction; he seemed to know exactly where he was going-which made perfect sense. He would have used the opportunity of their transit time to memorize the ship's layout.

As luck would have it, Hondo's console was fairly intuitive; Obi-Wan got the engines activated and the shields up within seconds-and, whether or not Jeth and his people had weapons capable of piercing said shields, they didn't have them immediately accessible. If Rex could just hold off the smaller guns and any attempted boarders long enough for them to get out of range-

Forty-five seconds later, they burst through the cloudline slightly singed, but very much alive, and Obi-Wan let out a breath and relaxed a little. Nearly there now.

He input a course for spaceport where they'd met Hondo the day before, and leaned back in the chair while the navicomputer ran the calculations.

"Sir?" Rex said, poking his head in.

"We seem to be clear, for the moment," he said.

He nodded. "Pity we didn't get any of the cultures."

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "But we are alive, and mostly unscathed, which is rather more important, I think. ...although we may want to check Hondo's pockets. I wouldn't put it past him to have grabbed a few." And we'll renegotiate our split, depending on how many he has.

Rex laughed a little. "Fair enough," he said.

Obi-Wan hit the lever to send them into hyperspace, and switched on the autopilot for this first jump. He let out a faint sigh of relief when the stars swirled around them.

True, the faint hum hadn't quite dissipated, but at this point it could be merely lingering adrenaline. Such things sometimes took a few moments to fade completely.

"We should check on him either way, now we're clear," he added, unstrapping himself and standing up.

"Yeah."

Side by side, they started down the narrow hallway again; Obi-Wan reached into his pocket for his comm, to switch it back to its usual channel now that their mission, however unsuccessful, was complete.

It lit up right away, collecting a message that had been sitting there for-who knew how long.

That warning hum increased ever so slightly in pitch.

...I have a bad feeling about this, he thought, pushing the button to pick it up.

He was right.

"Sir?" Rex said, turning to see where he'd stopped.

The message was very brief-a coded set of coordinates, for one of their set rendezvous points, and a single word- hurry.

And it had come from Leia.

He took a breath and forcibly dislodged his heart from his throat. They're alive. They're alive, remember how it was with Specter, I would know if-

"Sir?" Rex said again, eyes on the message now.

"...get Hondo's bleeding under control," Obi-Wan said. "And then sedate him, I'll make it right later."

Rex nodded and ran to the hold, as Obi-Wan turned back to the cockpit at speed; dropped them out of hyperspace; input the new coordinates; held his breath while the navicomputer reran its calculations; and hoped, beyond all reason, that they somehow made it in time.

Original Author's Notes: A while ago, someone asked me if Rex would ever get his own plotline-the Last Batch is something I was playing with for a Leverage crossover I never got around to actually writing, and giving Rex something of his own to look into seemed like a good place to put them. Rex's new friend will absolutely turn up again, and become particularly relevant if and when Boba Fett becomes a problem for Our Heroes.

Also, the bonus fics I mentioned the other day are up on my writing tumblr! One and Two. I'll crosspost them here over the weekend, as well. If you sent in a request that didn't get filled, I will probably fill it at some point! (Possibly even Soon, if I need to beef up my NaNo wordcount, lol...)

Anyway, Happy Halloween, y'all! Thanks for stopping by ~3 shadowsong