The space battle over the Bith homeworld had been little more than a pretense.
The Bith had only reluctantly turned against the Republic and lacking any real resources or industry, their system had been of secondary importance to the Separatists. Accordingly, the small supply station and handful of vulture droids they'd left to monitor the planet's orbit had been handily destroyed when the Republic fleet had arrived in the system a few hours ago.
Preparations had been well underway to begin landing troops when the Bith government had requested a ceasefire in order to negotiate the terms of their surrender.
"I've got the landing platform in sight." The shuttle pilot announced over the intercom. "Looks like the Bith delegation is waiting for us. I see a speeder and six personnel."
"Alright men, look sharp." Rex instructed over internal comms, his own hands falling to his hips to double-check his twin DC-17s. The shuttle bay echoed with a chorus of acknowledgments and the muffled clatter of equipment as the escort squad made last minute checks. "We're not expecting any trouble, but sometimes it has a way of finding us."
There were huffs and murmurs of amusement from the men, who were a mixture of 501st and 212th troopers. Rex wanted to set them at ease. Normally, this escort duty would fall to Cody and they were all feeling his absence.
With Cody still recovering from his injuries, the task of commanding the escort for Skywalker and Kenobi as they met the Bith had been given to Rex, which was a mixed blessing. Escorting peace delegations was easily one of his least favorite assignments. If things went badly, they'd find themselves outnumbered deep behind enemy lines and if they went well, he could look forward to standing around for hours as his shebs went numb.
Appo had been left behind on the bridge of the Resolute with Admiral Yularen. Rex didn't know if it rankled Appo to be left be out, or if he preferred the posting, but Rex was glad to have him out of the way. He still wasn't sure how Appo would handle himself as a commander in battle. All he knew was Appo's first true command, Kaz'haria, had been a cluster. He was much better off up on the ship and under the watchful eye of Yularen. Rex was fine with handling all of the groundwork.
The shuttle lurched slightly as it touched down, the harsh glare of violet daylight filling the interior as the ramp lowered. The planet had once been filled with great cities in the jungles and mountains. But, a conflict in 300 BBY between two of the largest cities devastated both the populace and the ecosystem. The surviving Bith now lived in domed cities, proclaiming themselves pacifists. Unfortunately, these pacifists had joined ranks with the CIS, creating a messy situation for the Republic.
A tall Bith stepped forward, hands by his sides in a non-threatening manner. Rex quickly swept him for hidden weapons and then nodded to the generals.
"I am Thal K'Sar of the Commerce Guild," the lead Bith introduced himself, and immediately launched into laying out his terms.
Rex walked away, focusing instead on sweeping the environment for any signs of threats. They'd landed outside Weogar, one of the domed cities, and their intel briefings told them these regions were now home to irradiated swamp creatures known as Ghhhnk. He could do without seeing one in person and hoped the negotiations would be brief.
He occasionally heard the soft soothing tones of General Kenobi, punctuated by the more animated voice of Skywalker. Things were getting heated. He walked closer to listen in.
"...you're on the wrong side of this war. Your entire species," Skywalker punctuated his words with emphasis, leaning in toward the Bith leader.
"Clak'dor Seven had little choice," objected K'Sar. "The Separatists were offering unrestricted access to hyperspace routes and better deals on trade goods with no interference."
"Little choice?" Skywalker questioned, the disbelief clear in his tone. "We offered you our protection and in return you sided with the Separatists."
"What good is your protection if we are drowning under Republic rules and regulations? We cannot survive without access to proper trade routes."
"Trade goods? Better deals? That is all you care about?" Skywalker challenged, his increasing agitation clear in his tone. "You invited the Separatists in and allowed them a foothold in this region. Now, their forces are spreading rapidly throughout the area!"
"Republic? Separatists? What difference is it to us?" K'Sar challenged. "In the end, it is all the same."
General Kenobi put up a restraining hand on Skywalker's arm and spoke to him in a voice too low to be overheard.
Ahsoka was right. Skywalker was unusually tense these days. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his men taking a great interest in the negotiations. Clones thrived on gossip. He didn't want Skywalker to be the main topic of discussion in the mess tonight. Again.
"Back on patrol," Rex growled to the men. He followed suit and joined them, leaving the Jedi to their negotiations.
# # #
Cody stood on the bridge of the Negotiator, arms tucked behind his back as he gazed down at the Bith planet. The atmosphere of the planet was a hazy and swirling violet, evidence of the disastrous conflict that had long ago reduced much of the planet to a toxic wasteland.
He tugged at the neck of his staff officer uniform. Silver had released him back to "light duty," but he was limited to bridge duty and supervising training. It was better than being confined to quarters, but he'd much rather be part of the action on the planet. He never liked being in a soft uniform. The layers of cloth didn't feel natural resting against his chest. He'd much rather be down on the planet than relaying orders from the safety of the bridge.
But, this was an easy enough mission. They'd arrived in the Bith system with overwhelming forces. They would be done here soon enough, and the moment their relief forces arrived, they would move on to their next assignment in the Outer Rim.
His thoughts strayed back to the conversation with Trapper. He'd reacted strongly to the news his men were meeting in secret to take things into their own hands. It had caught him off-guard and worried his men would end up in the RMB or worse, he'd told Trapper everything they were doing was wrong.
But, Ko's shooting wasn't an isolated incident. There had been an attempt on his life when he'd been in the RMB. Someone was clearly trying to kill him. Why? He was only a clone. What difference could he make?
His comm station chimed with an incoming message from the ground. He read it out loud to Admiral Blank. "Negotiations are completed. The Bith have surrendered."
The Admiral nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. Advise General Kenobi I will send down the additional ground forces. Sweep the cities for hidden weapons."
## #
Rex stood next to his General, while squadrons of troopers continued their search of civilian homes. It was all standard stuff. Arduous. Boring even. He shot a glance over at Skywalker who had a distant look on his face as if he'd rather be somewhere else.
"Everything alright, General?" Rex ventured.
He blinked and refocused on Rex. "They won't find anything," he muttered, waving a distracted hand toward the troopers.
"Do you want us to call off the search?"
"All of this is a waste of time," he muttered under his breath, this time making a more vague hand gesture toward all of the troopers and military hardware in the area.
Rex would be thrilled to call off the search. They could get off this boring rock even sooner. But, he needed clearer instructions. "I don't understand, General."
What was a waste of time? Searching for weapons? Being here on the Bith planet? Their entire mission to the Outer Rim?
Skywalker shook his head again and walked away. Rex watched him go, wanting to follow him and see if he could maybe connect with the General and find out what was wrong. He was not the best with words, but he and Skywalker had been through a lot together. While they didn't always agree on strategy, Rex always respected his General. He was a good man and if Rex could somehow help, he wanted to be there for him. It was his duty to be there for him.
But, now was probably not the time or the place. They had a city to search. He blew out a long breath and shook his head. There would be another time, right?
He turned back to check on his troopers. They would continue their searching, then, indefinitely. He tapped out a quick status update on his comm pad to Appo up on the deck of the Resolute.
CONTINUING THE SEARCH. NOTHING NOTABLE TO REPORT.
# # #
Fives and Echo confronted Rex outside of the town square, pulling him aside into a small alleyway. Like everything in the domed cities of the Bith, it was orderly. The Bith may have had their wars in the past, but now they prized precision above all else.
"What are we even doing here, then?" demanded Fives, frustration echoing in every word.
He was saying what Rex was feeling, and it was strangely reminiscent of Skywalker's vague statement of a few minutes earlier. He couldn't say these things, though. He walked a fine line between his friendship with Fives and his role as Captain.
"Report, Fives."
"Report?" Fives leaned up against the alley wall. "There's nothing here."
"These people are scientists. Not fighters," Echo added.
"And, musicians," Fives tossed in. "You want a great band. You call on the Bith."
Fives wasn't wrong, but Rex's role as Captain compelled him to defend the Republic. "They chose the wrong side in the war."
"And for that we are occupying their planet?"
"That is not our decision to make. We just carry out the orders."
Fives shook his head. "And, who the fek is making all of these orders? Some of them don't make sense. What if we start getting orders that just don't make sense anymore? Rex, look at these people. I mean, really, look at them. What the fek are we doing here?"
His words once again strangely echoed Skywalker's vague mysterious sentiment, even if Fives was approaching from a clone point-of-view.
Rex didn't want to look. It was better not to think about what they were doing. It was better not to see. But, he couldn't deny the truth of Fives' words. There was something definitely not right about all of this.
Fives pressed on. "Why are we going through civilian homes and treating them criminals?"
"It's standard operating procedure-" Rex started and then stopped as the words turned to ash on his tongue.
Fives was right.
They were supposed to be protecting civilians.
Off to his right, he heard the sound of a crash and a child crying. The sound pierced through him. He stared across the square and saw two troopers from the 91st Recon, some of Nash's men, emerge from a Bith dwelling. Rex immediately moved across the square to confront them, but Nash beat him there. He put up a hand to forestall Rex's advance, and spoke to his men in quiet tones, before dismissing them.
He turned and addressed Rex alone. "You need assistance?"
Rex leaned in toward Nash. "We are not here to make these people miserable. Our orders are to secure the planet. That does not extend to harassing younglings."
"The Bith are easily startled, especially the young ones. This is not the fault of my troopers," Nash defended. "They were only carrying out their orders."
Rex stared Nash down making it clear with a look he wasn't buying any of the Bantha fodder his fellow Captain was peddling. "I'm making it my personal mission to keep an eye on you."
# # #
Author's Notes: Many thanks to Suffering Soldier, TimeLiner, MoonWatcher, CodyKote, Sued13, Dark Knight Discord, and CaptainRexBest for your comments and suggestions on Chapter 54.
The domed cities of the Bith, the capital city of Weogar, Thal K'Sar, the great environmental disaster, and the irradiated swamp creatures (the Ghhhnk) are all canon.
Bonus nerd trivia for the week: Ghhhnk are represented as a holomonster playing piece in the game of dejarik.