Chapter 34 After the Battle
"And now, we wait."
Moment Aflame
Alonso Centaire
Maree did not have to wonder at what she was looking at.
The meaning of the eagle's presence was clear.
For the time being, she could do nothing more than hope that this was the only one. Any action would have to come later, for almost as soon as she saw the eagle, there came roaring into view through the destroyed dome, a whole flock of flying things.
But these were not birds. Or rather, they were – but of a completely different sort. These birds were made of metal.
Warships – dozens of them.
And Maree had no way of knowing if they were Separatist or Republic. Seeing only the underbellies, she could not tell; and even if she'd been able to see the ships from a fuller angle, she still would have been no wiser, for ship identification was nowhere in her realm of need-to-know.
What she did know was that the ships were headed towards the fighting. She struggled for a moment as to whether she should return to the battle or remain where she was. Rex's command had been clear, but she was not one of his troops to be ordered about. Her heart pounded with an urgent desire to return to the fighting and see what was happening.
But Me'Ente Loge's words had been compelling. "The brothers will do their jobs. The sisters will do their jobs. The clones will do their jobs. You do yours."
And her job, at the moment, was not to race back to the battle. It was not to tend to the injured. It was not to coordinate any kind of resistance or rescue efforts.
It was to pray and lead the others in praying with her.
Her gaze went once more to the eagle, and another of Me'Ente Loge's statements reverberated in her mind.
"You will know what to do when you see the result of your actions."
There, settling on the ruined parapets, was one result.
Perhaps the gravest.
"I won't make that mistake again," Maree said out loud, as if speaking the words would cement her conviction. "I will be the servant you have asked me to be."
"General Kenobi!" Little Ride exclaimed, startled by the sudden arrival of his Jedi commanding officer.
The general had appeared—as Jedi so often did—without warning and even without a clear indication of where he'd come from. As far as Little Ride was concerned, Kenobi could have vaulted in over the smoking ruins of the assembly hall or dropped hundreds of meters from a hovering gunship. There was simply no telling.
"Welcome to the party, Sir," Jesse added grimly.
"And what a welcome," General Kenobi replied with his usual cool manner, a demeanor that was almost dismissive of the danger surrounding him, but a demeanor that gave his men confidence and enabled them to keep their focus on the enemy, even when the odds weren't good.
"Cody and the others made it?" Little Ride asked immediately, concern for his battalion mates taking precedence for a moment. He hadn't forgotten Admiral Vrehnke's assertion that Cody and the others had been killed.
"They did," Obiwan replied.
"I knew Vrehnke had to be lying," Little Ride breathed. "The commander was too smart to fall to him."
"Yes, well, I see someone here was too smart, as well," the general noted. "Who killed him?"
"We don't know, Sir," Jesse replied. "We didn't see where the shot came from."
"Unh, no matter, I suppose," Obiwan said. "A good deed well done no matter who fired the shot." A pause. "Looks like we've still got a fair number of enemy to eliminate. Shall we get to it, gentlemen?"
"We're right behind you, General."
"Sergeant Denal, grab five or six men and come with me!" Ahsoka ordered as she backtracked her way to where more gunships were still unloading their trooper cargo.
The sergeant complied, snagging the six men nearest to his position; and together, they followed the commander through the sparse wood.
Ahsoka scampered aboard a gunship that had just offloaded its troops. She hit the comm panel. "Pilot, this is Commander Tano, I need you to take us out on a rescue mission."
"Yes, Ma'am," came the crisp, no-nonsense reply, and Ahsoka could tell right away that it was BB at the controls. BB was the shortened version of the clone's nickname, and it was a nickname that was never spoken in its entirety – at least, not in mixed company. BB was mainly an extraction pilot whose specialty was executing rescue missions that often involved getting in and out under enemy fire. He was unflappable and fearless, earning him his moniker. The first "B" stood for Blue. The second "B" for a part of his anatomy, the utterance of which was best left to the wonderful world of male bonding and the occasional bawdiness of warriors existing in a world that was primarily without women.
For her own part, Ahsoka thought it was a funny and endearing nickname. And in fact, she liked BB very much. Very much, indeed. He made her feel more adult, more worthy of the respect afforded to a person in a position of leadership. He was the only clone to call her 'Ma'am' instead of 'Sir'; and although she could not account for it, she liked the way it made her feel. She was, after all, a woman—well, almost a woman. Maybe not a ma'am yet, but definitely not a sir! Customs and courtesies aside, Ahsoka never understood why female officers were referred to with a masculine title.
And as far as BB was concerned, Ahsoka's appreciation went perhaps a little bit beyond mere soldierly camaraderie. She admired a great many things about him, from his serious nature to his dry wit, from his steel nerves to his ability to listen in thoughtful silence when the situation warranted it.
He lacked only one thing.
He wasn't Rex.
Rex could call her 'sir' all day long. He could call her 'kid'. He could be patronizing. He could be over-protective. He could gripe over her decisions across a dozen star systems. But none of that mattered to Ahsoka, for in her eyes, he was everything a man should be: devoted to his men, dedicated to General Skywalker and the Republic, and determined to do his best in every instance. He cared about his men far more than he was willing to acknowledge – even to himself. He was honest to a fault and had a magnanimity that often puzzled people who did not know him well. Like BB, he, too, was fearless – or if he had fears, he never allowed it to show. He always went first, whether into or out of danger. He was confident, a bit vain, but unpredictable enough to pop a few surprises when she least expected it.
Ahsoka knew that he would always be there for her. He'd always have her back. He'd always support her publicly, even when disagreeing with her privately. He held no animus towards her for outperforming him on the battlefield – she was, after all, a Jedi. Almost a Jedi.
Yes, she was chronologically older than he was; but she could not even pretend that they were equals from a maturity standpoint.
Rex was a man and behaved like one. Ahsoka was still a teenaged girl . . . and behaved like one.
Still, she was not willing to label what she felt for the captain as a crush; and properly so, for it was not the sort of girlish whimsy that came and went with the changing of the seasons. There was an enduring aspect to her affection that went beyond physical attraction, beyond shared dangers and hardships. There was something about Rex that she loved, but she had yet to put her finger on it. She allowed him to occupy her thoughts more than she should, but she could not feel embarrassed by that fact. Quite the contrary, she wondered that any woman would not feel the same way about him as she did. It was her youth and inexperience holding sway, but such a love—artless and sprung from youth—often has no reason behind it. It comes as it will, with the power to color every scene in hues that exist only in the lover's eye. Such intensity tends to make for a fleeting passion, foremost one moment and forgotten the next.
But Ahsoka's love for Rex was different. There was a purity to it, and it was hardly fleeting. It was that love, undefined as it was, that had driven her to insist she lead the search for him now. And if what she discovered was tragic, she wanted to be the first to know and to see for herself. She could not bear the idea of someone telling her bad news – not where Rex was concerned.
Then again, she could barely conceive of any possible scenario where Rex would not prevail. He'd beaten the odds so many times.
Her attention snapped back to the moment as Denal and his team hopped on board.
"Lift off," Ahsoka ordered.
"Heading, ma'am?" BB asked from the cockpit.
"North," she replied. "We're looking for the Perfidio that was shot down."
"Finishing it off, Commander?" This from Denal.
Ahsoka grimaced. "No, Sergeant. Rescue mission." A pause. "Rex and two others took the ship up to try and take out the enemy."
There was a moment of stunned silence, then Denal spoke lightly, clearly in an attempt to dispel the gloom. "Sounds like something the captain would do."
"He becomes more like my master every day," Ahsoka replied, but there was no humor in her voice. "I hope that's a good thing."
Anakin stepped over the super battle droid he had just dropped. "Looks like that's the last of them," he announced.
"We'd better make a sweep through the area," Obiwan replied, erring on the side of caution. "Some of them may have sneaked off."
Anakin turned to another one of his lieutenants, a clone named Slinger. "Lieutenant, take two squads and make a sweep to the north and east. Send two more to sweep south and west."
"Yes, General!"
He then turned to Au-Ogusta who was standing nearby with Hardcase.
"Many thanks to you and your brothers," he said with a respectful nod. "I wouldn't have thought that religious brothers could be such good fighters."
"It is always our last resort," Ogusta replied. "Ah, here comes Au-Mikiel. He is really the one you should be thanking. It has always been his philosophy that a man of peace must also be prepared to wield the sword when peace fails."
As Au-Mikiel approached, Anakin found himself gazing at the man with genuine admiration. Had he not known that he was looking at a holy man, he would have taken him for a warrior. There was nothing soft or delicate about him. He was begrimed with dirt and blast residue, his clothing torn and stained. And he toted a formidable piece of hardware over his shoulder.
"Master Jedi," he said, dipping his head. "Creator be praised that you made it to our aid in time."
Hardcase spoke up. "General Skywalker, General Kenobi, this is Fels Au-Mikiel. He's the head of the Austenien Order."
Both Anakin and Obiwan showed the proper deference.
"I'm just glad we weren't too late," Obiwan stated. "Fortunately, we were already enroute to this area in search of our missing ship when Cody's transmission came in."
"And not a moment too soon," Anakin added. "We had no idea where to begin our search. It might have taken us weeks or even months to get to this planet."
"It's a great relief to know Au-Trava and your men made it across the desert," Mikiel said, and the relief of which he spoke also came through in his voice. "After the Separatists' first visit here, I feared the worst, that they would find them in the desert."
"Apparently, they did," Obiwan put forth, "But they managed to escape. They can fill you in on the details once we've secured the area." A pause. "There won't be any more troops coming down from the main ship. Admiral Yularen sent word that the Dreadnaught's been destroyed. We just want to make sure none of the enemy sneaked off into the surrounding area."
Mikiel nodded. "Good, good." He looked to Ogusta. "Behind those rocks there, you will find Au-Ypres and Au-Stogne standing guard over Au-Gehen. Instruct them to take him back to a holding cell. Where is the Doma?"
"Captain Rex ordered her back to the caves," Ogusta replied.
"Send someone to bring her here and then round up as many brothers as you can find to help with the rescue efforts. Send word to the healing houses to dispatch mobile teams."
"Yes, First Servant," Ogusta replied, then daring to ask, "Why is Au-Gehen being put in a holding cell?"
"He was our betrayer. He set up this entire thing in order to turn the clones over to the Separatists."
Ogusta was stunned. "Im-impossible."
"It's true. He admitted it."
It took Ogusta a moment to come to himself, but then he drew in a deep breath. "I will do as you have instructed me." With that, he was off.
Obiwan spoke up. "Cody told us the Doma is the spiritual leader here."
"She is head over both orders," Mikiel replied.
Just then, Jesse appeared, a messy abrasion on one side of his head and a deep gouge in his chin. His armor was streaked with blood and dirt. But he did not appear to be seriously injured.
"Generals."
"Lieutenant," Anakin acknowledged. "Are you okay? You look like you've taken a few hits."
"I'll survive, Sir," Jesse replied. "I can give you a situation brief."
"Let's hear it."
Jesse then went through the key points of what had happened since arriving at the assembly hall that morning, ending with, "There are hundreds of children and teachers trapped in there. And I have no idea how many might have been injured or trapped when they struck the Taber."
"Go do a headcount of your men," Anakin replied. "Report back to me in five."
"Yes, General," Jesse snapped off a salute.
As he watched him go, Anakin wondered what the numbers would be when he came back. And would those numbers decrease by three when Ahsoka returned from her mission?
"Wreckage left, zero-two-zero for fifteen," BB announced.
Ahsoka and the others immediately trained their vision in the direction.
"I see it," Denal stated. "There's a lot of smoke but I don't see any flames. It's still mostly intact. That's a good sign."
Ahsoka's pulse was racing. Denal was right, and the crash site was not a complete disaster. She and Rex had been in much worse crashes before. There was every reason to believe he was still alive.
BB brought the gunship down at a safe distance.
Ahsoka was on the ground before the ship even touched down.
After almost three weeks of uncertainty, of not seeing Rex, not knowing where he was or if he was even still alive, she couldn't stave off her anxiety one more minute. She had to find him. She had to know if he was alright.
She had to put her fear to rest.
"Doma, this is General Kenobi, General Skywalker," Au-Mikiel introduced Maree to the two men.
Immediately, Anakin felt something both powerful and unfamiliar in the presence of the woman now standing before him – a woman who, like Au-Mikiel, managed to carry herself with authority and gravity, despite her disheveled appearance. She had elements of softness and firmness in her temperament – he could sense that much before she even said a word. She possessed a strength, a power, the likes of which he had never before come into contact with; and it was not the amorphous power of will or body. It was a supernatural power, though whether she was its source or merely its vessel, Anakin could not decipher.
And he needed no more than a stolen glance at Obiwan to see that his former master was perceiving the very same indications.
"Master Jedi," Maree acknowledged, and all three of them exchanged shallow bows.
"We are at your service, my lady," Anakin stated. "I only wish we had gotten here sooner."
"I thank the Creator you were able to get here at all," she replied.
"The Separatists have been defeated, and we're just making some final sweeps now to secure the area. We've got two combat engineering battalions on the way down to help with the search and rescue efforts. I've also asked for a field medical team to be sent down."
"Your help is greatly appreciated," Maree replied.
Hardcase, who was sticking close to his general's side out of fear that the enemy might have one or two still at large, interjected. "Generals, it might be best to leave the medical side of things to the brothers and sisters. They're a healing order, and their skills are way beyond ours."
Obiwan was proper. "This is your land and your place. We will defer to you in these matters, Doma Maree."
"Hardcase is right," Maree replied. "We are well-equipped to handle the injured. But any assistance your medical personnel would care to offer will be welcome. And I think it's best if your men are in charge of the rescue operation. I'm sure you have equipment better suited to that task than we do."
"I promise we'll do everything we can, Doma Maree," Anakin assured her.
"Our fleet commander, Admiral Yularen, is contacting the Military Defense Committee back on Coruscant even as we speak, to request emergency measures be put in place to render assistance and protection during recovery activities. They will take the matter before the Senate; but in the meantime, our battle group will remain in Bertegad's orbit," Obiwan informed her. "With the approval of your planetary government, of course."
"Do they even know what's gone on out here?" Mikiel asked. "We have always existed independent of any nation-state or government. While I am sure they will approve of your presence, I wouldn't think their agreement necessary."
"We don't like to ruffle any feathers, if we can help it," Obiwan replied. "A little courtesy goes a long way."
Mikiel smiled. "So does prayer." He looked to Maree. "Would you not agree, Doma?"
Maree was surveying the destruction surrounding her on all sides. She was little concerned with the formalities of inter-planetary visitors, Republic, Separatist or otherwise. It would have been easy, at that moment, to give into despair, to be frozen into perpetual mourning. But that would not do.
There were lives to be saved, wreckage to be moved, and an accounting of all the damage to be taken. This was no time to be overcome with grief. There was work to be done. Urgent work.
At that moment, Jesse returned from taking account of his men.
"Looks like everyone made it, Sir," he reported. "Sixer's been taken back to the healing rooms. I sent Sempe to check on him. Lots of bruises and cuts, but nothing life-threatening."
"Where is Captain Rex?" Maree asked.
"I sent my padawan out to search for him," Anakin replied.
"To search for him? He's missing?" There was some small change in Maree's voice that betrayed the worry this announcement had wrought in her.
"We didn't know he was in the enemy's ship when we shot it down," Anakin said.
Maree blanched. "Shot down? What—what are you—what happened after I left here?"
It was Hardcase who filled in the details. "The captain came up with a plan to take the enemy ship up to try and destroy the Dreadnaught, so no more reinforcements could be sent down. He took Bounce and Tip, and they managed to sneak onboard and take control of the ship."
"But when they got airborne, we didn't know they had commandeered the ship," Anakin explained. "We thought they were the enemy, and we shot them down."
The veiled expression that crept into the Doma's face was unmistakable to Anakin. It was fear. But not the kind of stark fear that rises up in the face of a life-threatening situation. Not the vague and general fear that hovers on the outskirts of uncertainty. No, this fear was specific, focused, and being kept under very tight control.
"It's Rex. She's worried about Rex," Anakin said to himself. Of course, he had no reason to think such a thing. The Doma had made only the most basic of inquiries after him, and she was not giving any indication that her fear was due any more to the fact that Rex was involved than the fact of the crash itself involving clones.
Still, he was certain he was right.
And that raised a whole slew of other potential questions and issues, none of which he could afford to entertain right now.
"But Commander Tano—my padawan—she's out searching for them now," Anakin repeated. "She's very capable."
Maree nodded, then with the perfect manners of centuries of practiced etiquette, she said, "I will go check on what is being done to get to the children while we wait for your engineers to arrive." She turned and ran full-tilt into Cody.
"Commander!"
Somehow, the sight of the commander not only made her happy and grateful for his safety, but it offered a sense of comfort and reassurance. The Doma even went so far as to give him a hug.
"I had faith you would make it," she said.
"Your faith was well-founded," Cody replied. "We owe it all to Au-Trava. He was brilliant."
"Is he come back safely, as well?"
"We're all back safely. He got us all through it," Cody said. "And believe me, there was quite an adventure near by the end, but that'll have to wait for another time. I need to see General Kenobi."
Maree nodded. "I praise the Creator for your safe return."
Anakin watched this brief exchange, trying to discern what kind of religious figure he was dealing with. His wrist comm buzzed.
"Master, this is Ahsoka."
Anakin was surprised at the degree to which his own heart began racing in anticipation of her report. After all, Rex might be the finest officer Kamino had ever produced – although other Jedi generals might disagree with that assessment in favor of their own officers – but he a subordinate nonetheless, and military protocol was very clear on the proper relationships between rank. Not to mention, the Jedi Code's prohibition against attachment. However, Anakin had thus far done an abysmal job of upholding that part of the code; and truth be told, his relationships with his troops often crossed the line, and he tended to give the matter little more than passing consideration.
Rex was too good a man to view simply through the narrow lens of chain-of-command. Anakin considered him a friend – a friend in the best sense of the word, the masculine sense. No gossipy, schmaltzy banter. No coddling or weak-kneed mewling. No, Sir. Rex was not the sort of talkative, busy man that wore on Anakin's nerves. Rex only spoke when doing so served a purpose. He had made war and its waging his primary focus, and he left little room for foolishness or trifling.
Cocky, often arrogant, and always ready to take a risk. These were only enhancements in Anakin's eyes, adding to Rex's qualifications as the best the GAR had to offer.
Jedi Code be damned; Anakin was not going to abandon his attachment to Rex any more than he was going to abandon his attachment to Obiwan or Ahsoka.
Or the woman he loved.
And if that made his fellow Jedi judge him harshly, so be it.
He raised his comm. "Go ahead, Ahsoka."
So, a little cryptic stuff about the bird and all. All will be made clear next chapter. And some light shed on Ahsoka's feelings regarding Rex, as well as some exposition on Anakin's feelings for his captain, too. Next chapter is one of my favorites (for a number of reasons!)