Rex felt Wolffe's watchful eyes on him as he shouted to his troops. He was hovering overhead in his LAAT, and there was comfort knowing his brother was there. Wolffe likely had someplace he needed to be, but he was still taking a few moments to make sure Rex was alright.

The troopers of the 501st continued to spill out of the 104th support ships, a dozen ships in all. It was amazing as many of his troopers survived the sinkhole as they did. It could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for Wolffe.

As the last of his men jumped from the transports, and formed up, he did a count. He still had nearly 500 men. It was half what he'd begun with, but Wolffe had promised to get the surviving troopers to the RMSUs. Rex refused to spend time thinking now of the overcrowded conditions in the portable surgfical units, or the troopers he could not retrieve at the bottom of that smoking sinkhole. There was no time for regrets. He'd done what he could and he had to move on.

His men took up half the mountain. He signaled to his men to hydrate and check their gear while he put in a call to Fives.

"Fives, we're coming up on your six."

"Rex!" Fives sounded immensely relieved to hear his voice, blasterfire almost overpowering his words.

"Fives…coming up on your six…" Echo muttered thoughtfully, repeating Rex's words, even as the blasterfire continued.

"Echo!" Fives chastised. "Not funny. Yes, Rex, we could use the help. We're in a… uh… bit of a bind here. Hold on…. Shab!" An alarm amount of blasterfire echoed through the open comm, followed by several droid poppers.

Rex was tempted to just go charging over the hill. He could see the smoke wafting upwards, but didn't want to risk his remaining troops without intel. He'd lost enough men today. "Fives, show me what's going on."

Fives shared his helmet cam, sending a plethora of battle data and coordinates.
"We're… pinned down. They've got spider droids. Our repurposed commando squad, eh… Echo Squad… took out a few of them, but they've got the high ground-"

Rex analyzed the footage, already seeing openings. . "Alright, we'll flush them out. Be ready."

"Flank the tanks around from behind them so we can-"

"No tanks," Rex cut him off bitterly, acutely feeling the loss of the equipment sitting in the bottom of the smoldering sinkhole.

"No tanks?! Nevermind, we… lost equipment ourselves. This command stuff is hard, Rex."

Rex snorted at Fives' understatement. "Hang in there. We're on our way. It'll take a few minutes, but I have an idea."

"We can hold out, but don't make it too long. These fekkers are persistent."

"They always are. Rex out." He turned to Hardcase. The gunner was carefully checking over his heavy weapon, adding a few drops of blaster lube to the moving parts. "Hardcase!"

With impressive speed, the gunner shoved the lube back in his belt pouch and scrambled to his feet. "Captain!"

"How good are you with a jetpack?"

The happiness in Hardase's voice was evident as he replied, already eying the pack on Rex's back. "Oh, very good, Captain. Couldn't get me down once I was up there."

"Not surprised. Turn around."

He slid the jetpack off his back and clipped it into place on Hardcase's backplate.

"Good?"

Hardcase flexed his shoulder blades, getting used to the extra 20 kilo of durasteel on his back. He reached back to double-check the magclamps. "Very good."

"You've flown carrying your heavy gun, right?"

Hardcase hesitated. "Well…"

"Hardcase," Rex growled.

"It wasn't an option in flight training. Rex, I know I can do this!"

Rex closed his eyes briefly. While their training at Kamino was thorough, it was by no means perfect.

However, clones were resourceful and resilient. It was why clones were preferred a fighters over droids. They could think and adapt.

Rex needed to believe in his men. He laid a gloved hand on Hardcase's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "I know you can do this, Hardcase. You're one of my best men. Here's what I need you to do…"

# # #

Flying Hardcase worked so well in taking out the spider droids, it reinforced Rex's belief that jetpacks were criminally underused.

After Skywalker finished ripping him a new one for losing all their tanks, he planned on asking for jetpacks– for all of the Torrent squadron. No, for all of his ground forces. Cody wouldn't be the only airborne legion anymore.

Our boys were meant to fly. We're descendants from Mandalorian stock. Hardcase is up there like he was born with that pack on his back.

The flying heavy gunner, coming in from behind, took the spider droids by surprise. They couldn't pivot fast enough to respond. The distraction allowed Rex's men to move in on the rest of the spider droids from the back, while Fives' men focused exclusively on the rest of the droids.

They had to carefully coordinate their attack to avoid catching each other in the crossfire. Rex had given strict orders not to fire in the direction of Fives' battle group lest they get in friendly fire. With Hardcase flying coverfire and a large number of droid poppers, Rex's men were able to create an opening large enough to join up with Fives' battle group.

The droids had caught on by now that the lone jetpack trooper was a threat.

"Hardcase, take cover!"

"I can do this, Captain!" Hardcase responded breathlessly, the loud retort of his heavy gun audible even through the dampeners of his helmet.

"'Case, get down!" Kix ordered, using his medic's override to cut into the conversation.

Few people had the balls to interrupt Rex when he was barking orders. Jesse did, from the beginning, and so did Fives, which is how Rex knew they both had command
potential. Kix, on the other hand, had been surprising him more and more lately. But, maybe he shouldn't have been surprised, considering how close Jesse and Kix had become. The stress of constantly losing brothers on the battlefield took a huge toll on the compassionate medic and Jesse always seemed to have the right words to talk Kix down. If their relationship had grown into something more, Rex wasn't going to judge. If he'd learned anything in his short life, it was happiness was fleeting and was to be grasped whatever small places it could be found in a clone's otherwise harsh existence.

Hardcase swooped into a graceful descent and Rex breathed a sigh of relief. He swept his gaze over his remaining forces. He'd lost enough men today-

"No!"

Kix's anguished cry tore through him. Rex spun back toward Hardcase. He was surrounded by commando droids and they'd pounced upon him before he could get his feet under him again.

"Echo Squad! Get in there!" Fives ordered, even before he could react.

Echo Squad? The reprogrammed commando droids, all with the rishi eel handprint on their chest, and some now with crudely drawn Jaig eyes, charged into the fight. Rex and Kix followed, determined to extract Hardcase out of there. They were not leaving a man behind.

Rex had never seen a commando droids locked in battle before. They were too close combat to use blasters, so they were fiercely dueling with vibroblades and long staffs.

If he weren't so concerned about Hardcase, he'd be impressed with their fighting skills. They were very, very good. Krek. They were almost metallic Jedi knights in their blade fighting skills.

The commando droids had been created by Dooku as his personal guard. Had he personally programmed them with Jedi fighting styles?

Rex ducked under the blade of an enemy commando droid and fought back-to-back with one of Echo's commando droids.

Definitely one of the stranger things I've ever done.

Rex liked the idea of Echo having a squad, but the name could get confusing. They needed a different name. He buried his vibroblade deep in the neck of the enemy commando droid, and ducked down to avoid having his head taken off by a blade.

Maybe Rishi squad? It would still be a tribute to Echo, Fives and their first posting on the Rishi moon.

He leaped up to avoid an electrostaff before coming down on top of the droid with both blasters firing. As the droid fell, he grabbed its electrostaff and buried it in the eye of a third droid.

It would be a good way to honor the Dominoes. Echo and Fives spoke often of their first squad. It was always with fondness, but Rex could tell how much they still missed them.

Between Rex's efforts and the newly dubbed 'Rishi Squad,' they were making fast work of the commando droids. He wasn't considering keeping them, was he?

He hated these things, more than any other type of droid in the army. Commando droids had seriously wounded him. Twice.

He leapt up again to avoid a staff swung at his kneecaps. The commando droids didn't seem to react well to anything above their head. He briefly considered using a popper. But, that would take out the good droids.

There were no good droids.

He sighed, dropped the electrostaff, and started firing off shots as fast as he could with his blasters. Was there no end to these things? The blaster he borrowed from Wolffe had perfect weight and heft to it. If he survived this day, he'd have to thank Wolffe again for the loan. He wouldn't have gotten through on a single blaster. Juno had recovered enough to return to the fight and was somewhere off in the fray, using Rex's borrowed blaster.

Two droids came at him at once, electrostaffs crackling. Now he wished he hadn't dropped the electrostaff.

He took one down with a neat shot to the neck and pivoted to avoid a swipe at him from behind. It was all the opening a third droid needed to come at him from the front.

All the air left his lungs as he was hit in the chest full-on with an electrostaff.

His armor gave a telltale crack of plastoid being damaged, but the staff didn't penetrate the flesh beneath. However, the electrical shock had no issues penetrating through to his system. He sank to his knees with a cry as electricity coursed through his system.

The droid pulled back, recharged the weapon, and prepared to strike him again directly in the heart.

His chest plate wouldn't be able to take another blow. Not only would the spear puncture his chest chamber, but the electricity would stop his heart immediately.

Rex tried to force his hands into a firing position, but his muscles were cramped and seized. He couldn't react fast enough.

As always happened in times like this, his mind flew to Ahsoka. He sent her all the feelings of love and comfort he could wishing he'd had more time.

Love?

He had no time to explore the confusing jumble of emotions. Ahsoka sent back a torrent of affection, warmth, and fiery strength. It was so… Ahsoka.

And, as that crackling blade came toward his chest, Rex found the strength to roll away.

His attacker was yanked back into the fray by a member of Rishi Squad and lost interest in Rex. He struggled to his feet and caught sight of-

"Hardcase!" Rex gasped out, still struggling to catch his breath after the harsh blow to the chest. Hardcase was splayed out on his side on the ground, heavy gun discarded, jetpack still securely on his back.

"Probably not my brightest idea," Rex muttered to himself, as he slipped the pack on, and gathered Hardcase into his arms. He ran the obligatory two steps required to launch into the air and took off for the relative safety of their front lines.

"Kix! I've got him. I'm coming in fast and hot." His instincts screamed a warning as he dove to the side to avoid incoming missile fire. Unlike Hardcase's approach from behind enemy lines, Rex was in front of them. As he headed back to the relative safety of the 501st, he was directly in the line of sight of the spider droids. He dove, and twisted, gripping the injured Hardcase as tightly as he could to avoid dropping him.

Although, di'kut that he was, Hardcase would probably find that funny.

Don't be dead, Hardcase. The 501st needs you and your reckless brand of idiocy.

There's too much fire. I can't -

Rex yelped as a stray shot caught him on the hand, and he nearly lost his grip on Hardcase.

No, no, no. He blocked out the pain and adjusted his grip to balance him a little further up his forearms.

The sound of heavy gunner repeating fire had never been more welcome. Rex glanced down and blinked in surprise at the sight of Kix wielding Hardcase's dropped heavy weapon, taking out spider droids to provide them cover fire. The spider droids couldn't pivot in time to avoid the fire and went down one after another in a chain-reaction explosion.

Hardcase, you're missing this, but you better live so I can show you this cam footage later.

Kix gave a quick two-fingered salute to Rex and sprinted back to 501st lines.

But, he was exposed as he ran. Rex opened up his comm to give orders to Fives-

But, Fives was already there, barking orders with his men in position. He was a born leader.

'Rishi' Squad retreated from their commando droid battle, sprinting after Kix in their disturbing wraith-like running style. The rest of the droids took off in pursuit.

In a move Rex had never seen before, a member of Rishi squad flipped a droid popper at those pursuing them. It was an effective move taking down the enemy combatants, but it was also droid-suicide.

Another droid ran toward enemy lines and then self-destructed once he was in the thick of it.

And, Rex was sorry to see him go.

Sorry to see it go.

That was… a hell of a move.

"Rex, are you going to come down? You're a bit of a target up there," Echo's calm voice cut into the comms, drawing him back to reality.

"Yes," Rex's voice was a croak, still winded from the blow to the chest. He touched down just as Kix safely made it back down to 501st lines, setting down right next to the medic.

Kix's shoulders were heaving with exhaustion, but he didn't hesitate before snapping into medic mode. His eyes scanned the area, looking for the best but of available cover.

"There," he pointed to the shadow of a burnt-out tank that had taken a hit early in the battle.

Skywalker was going to have his head with all the equipment he'd lost in this battle. No, not Skywalker.

Krell.

A cold chill came over him.

He pushed it away.

No time for that now.

He followed Kix over to the backside of the burnt-out tank and laid Hardcase out in front of a giant tread. If they came under air attack, the tread would act as a decent shelter.

Kix slid off his pack, his breathing fast from his hard run. Rex went to place a hand on Kix's shoulder, and hissed as he moved his burnt hand. He tucked it by his side, and reached for Kix with his other hand. "Take care of yourself first. Hydrate."

"Turning my words back on me," Kix muttered with winded amusement, as he popped off his bucket. As he took a long swig of water, he gave Rex a long assessing gaze.

"I'm fine," Rex glanced down at his hand. "I'll put bacta on it."

"See that you do." Kix mopped at his brow with the back of his glove, pushing at his hair.

Rex still wasn't used to seeing Kix with hair, but the medic had decided it was a necessary move to cover up his chip removal scar.

Rex reached for his own canteen and then hesitated. Opening it would be a two-handed affair-

Kix handed over his canteen.

"Thanks," Rex said gratefully, taking a long drink.

"You can finish it." Kix already had his scanner out and was getting to work on Hardcase. He waved the scanner in Rex's general direction.

Rex glanced down at himself. A burn mark had formed in the middle, surrounded by spider-like cracking of the plastoid.

"Don't get in the chest again. Your armor won't be able to take the blow."

"Not planning on it... but... thanks." He rose to his feet, trying to avoid groaning as he did so. "I'll check in with you later. Keep me informed about Hardcase." As Rex stepped away, he could hear the medic talking to the injured gunner in soft, steady tones. From the times he'd been wounded, too many times, Rex knew how ground it was to hear the medic's voice. Those calm tones always seemed to keep him tethered even when his body was overblown with adrenaline from the shock of an injury.

He glanced down at his burnt hand and tried to move his fingers. Not good. Everything was numb.

"Rex, over here," Fives waved him over to where he and Echo were meeting behind a pile of rubble.

"Fives, status update?"

"Tinnies are on the run. We're just mopping up. How's Hardcase?"

"I think he'll be alright. You know Hardcase."

"I've sent our new squad of droids-"

"Rishi Squad," Rex interrupted.

Fives and Echo both huffed with amused approval.

"Right, then, Rishi Squad. I've sent Rishi Squad on a little mission." Fives pointed out into the smoke-filled battlefield.

"Care to elaborate?" Rex pressed.

"Ah… you'll see… here they are now…" Only half of Rishi Squad remained, but they'd charged in again to enemy lines. One of the droids came rushing back again, clutching the head of a tactical droid. He dropped it at Fives' feet, like an obedient pet before sprinting back toward enemy lines. Fives handed the droid head to Rex. "Thought this might come in handy." Rex carefully balanced it on top of his gauntlet on one arm, and gripped it with one hand.

Sensing Rex wanted to talk to Fives, Echo cleared his throat. "I'm going to help Jesse with the mop-up efforts."

Fives tugged out his medkit. "Assuming Kix told you to get some bacta on that hand." He gestured for Rex to hold out his hand.

Rex snorted. "He did."

Fives glanced at his chest plate. "And, to not get hit in the chest again. Krek, that's from an electrostaff, isn't it?"

Rex hissed as Fives removed his glove and tried to distract himself with studying the battle droid head, balancing it in his other hand. "This is in good shape. We should be able to get intel off of it." Fives made quick work of wrapping his hand and replaced Rex's glove. "Thanks, brother."

Fives nodded and the two stood side-by-side for several long minutes as they surveyed the battlefield, watching as Torrent Squadron and the newly named Rishi Squad finished off the remnants of the enemy forces.

Rex spoke first. "You did well, Fives."

Fives was uncharacteristically quiet, taking in the rare words of praise from Rex. "I'm sorry I went against your orders. Twice. I get it now– the pressures you are under with command."

Rex huffed out a laugh. He tugged off his lid with his uninjured hand to wipe sweat from his brow. Anaxes was a hellishly hot place.

"Put your bucket on!" Fives snapped. "We're on an active battlefield."

Rex raised up an eyebrow at him, but immediately tugged his helmet back in place. "You're a natural at this, you know."

Fives put his head down. "Sorry, that was probably out of line."

"No, Fives, I mean it. Your command of this battle made all the difference."

"Echo had the idea about the droids. I can't take credit for that, Rex."

"A good command clone knows when to listen to others."

Fives looked sharply at Rex. "You mean it? I thought I was sucking at this."

"I do. Getting those extra armaments was the right call. And, repurposing the droids was tactically brilliant."

Fives gestured back behind him to where more battlefield wreckage had been set up as a barricade. "Echo is linked into all of them via his HUD. He's sending them orders. They don't seem to care who they are working for as long as you feed them orders."

Fives pushed out a long sigh. "It all worked out, but I was still wrong to go behind your back. The outcome didn't justify my actions."

Rex stared at Fives. "That's about the most mature thing I've ever heard coming out of you."

Fives' snorted. "You're a bad influence."

"Come on, Lieutenant, let's walk the lines and check the men."

# # #

"Getting into the Fort should be relatively easy compared to breaking through the defensive perimeter," Rex shared a map of the fort with Fives, Echo, and Jesse.

"No part of this has been easy," Jesse pointed out.

"It'll be boobey trapped," Fives said, highlighting places in the map where the traps would be most likely.

"Send the droids in. Let them spring the traps," Echo said, working on repairs of a dismembered limb of a commando droid. The droid stood patiently waiting several meters off for his limb to be returned. "Be right back."

"It's a good idea," Fives chimed in, watching as Echo reattached the arm to the repurposed droid.

The commando droid tested the repaired limb before saluting sharply. It was an odd sight on the commando droid.

"Techs just finished the analysis on the tactical droid," Jesse reported. "I think we just found a back door into the facility."

# # #

You're right, destroying the entire fort doesn't fit with the later details. Here's an adjusted version focusing only on demolishing the section where the droids are swarming:

Torrent Company charged, with Rishi Squad scouting ahead. The reprogrammed droids triggered traps safely, paving the way for the clones into the heart of the fortress.

Rex's pulse pounded. No defenders emerged yet, but he remained vigilant for ambush. "Fives, Echo, plant charges along the western wall. Jesse, take your men right. I'll go left. We'll meet back here."

They divided, strategically placing explosives throughout the droid-controlled section. Rex disliked the eerie lack of resistance. His unease proved warranted—blast doors sealed shut as they reconvened, dividing them.

"I knew it was too quiet!" Fives exclaimed over comms.

Suddenly, battle droids poured out from all directions, unleashing a barrage. "Ambush!" Rex bellowed. "Stand firm!"

Although outnumbered, the clones claimed defendable positions. Hardcase cackled wildly, cannon blasting. Rex gunned down droids from behind debris.

"Pinned down! Can't make rendezvous!" Jesse reported.

Rex calmly reassessed. "Hold position, we're coming to you."

Step-by-step they fought through, rejoining Jesse. But the doors stayed locked.

Rex made a decision. "Fives, detonate the charges! Bring this section down!"

"We're still inside, sir!"

"Just do it!" Rex commanded.

Reluctantly, Fives triggered the explosives. Stone crashed around them. Rex's men took shelter under sturdy columns and rubble slabs. Dust choked the air.

When the debris settled, Rex checked for injuries, but his men reported in safely. It had been risky, but it worked.

Torrent Company clambered over smoldering wreckage, reassembling atop the demolished section. Their part of the fort was destroyed—a critical blow against the Separatists. Rex allowed himself a flicker of satisfaction.

They'd beaten steep odds, but the war still loomed ahead.

"Well done, Captain," Fives said, clasping Rex's shoulder. Together they surveyed the rubble-strewn battlefield.

Rex lifted his chin. "Let's go end this war."

# # #
They lost most of their repurposed droids and damaged the back of the Fort on their way in, but Torrent Squadron completed the final stage of Fort Anaxes with minimal casualties on both sides.

They'd done it.

Fort Anaxes was now in Republic hands.

# # #