Dear Reader, Thank you so much to my reviewers: The Unnamed Guest, Freedom Phantom, Shadow Wanderer, Abuv the Clouds, Meridan Pony, Lilith, Katyln, Oaky the Oak Tree, and Guest 1 and Guest 2! Your comments are much appreciated and help keep me motivated. I'd hoped to have this up Thanksgiving, but better late than never. This one moves pretty quickly. I know it's hard to keep up with all these clones! Hard for me, too! I hope you enjoy. I will be heading off to Germany for Christmas Markets the first two weeks of December. I hope to have another chapter up before leaving that closes out this little adventure (or misadventure, as the case may be). Also, it's so much fun to read people's guesses about what's going to happen or see when they catch how I'm trying to tie in these stories with the cannon stories. The question came up if I was going to do the Citadel episode in my story. The answer is yes, but not in the degree of detail of the series. I can tell you that this story will contain bits of the episodes where Echo "dies", Fives dies, Ahsoka leaves, Umbara, Echo's "return". Anything that I look at as having a strong impact on Rex gets into the tale. Needless to say . . . long tale! Peace, CS

Chapter 83 Pursuit and Decision

"Bigwig was racing back across the field, looking more agitated than he had at any time since the encounter with Captain Holly. He ran into the water almost headlong and paddled over fast, leaving an arrowhead ripple on the calm brown surface. He was speaking as he jerked himself out on the sandy foreshore. 'Well, Hazel, if I were you I shouldn't wait until ni-Frith to cross. I should go now. In fact, I think you'll have to. There's a large dog loose in the wood."

Watership Down
Richard Adams

Cody could hear the sound of his own breathing. And somewhere beyond that . . . Rex's voice.

"Cody. Cody, come in. Cody, respond. Cody!"

"Crying out loud, Rex, calm down," the commander said in the silence of his own mind. "What the hell happened . . . " He sat up slowly, carefully. While his body seemed to be intact, he was beginning to feel diffuse pain in various places. Around him dust and smoke were swirling, but as they settled, he became aware that he was no longer in the same place where he had been only moments earlier. If he were judging correctly, he'd been thrown at least thirty meters from his previous spot.

"Commander!"

A voice was suddenly at his shoulder. Turning, he saw Echo and Kix crouching down beside him. It was Kix who had spoken.

"Commander, are you alright?" the medic was asking in precise, persistent syllables.

"I'm okay," Cody replied. "Just . . . give me a second. What happened?"

Kix, focused on the commander's condition, ignored the question and reached out to remove his helmet, leaving it to Echo to answer.

"It was a rocket-propelled grenade," Echo explained.

"Where did it come from?"

"While we were waiting, a group of seven or eight men passed below us, heading back towards the camp," Echo began. "We could see they were in a hurry. They weren't speaking Basic, but we got the impression that our team had been discovered. We didn't want to break radio silence, so we decided to follow them a bit to see if we should stop them, and when they came over that rise back there, they saw you. They were going to shoot you, so we opened fire. One of them was carrying a shoulder launcher. When he went down, the weapon went off and hit about fifteen meters from where you were hiding."

"So . . . safe to say our secret is definitely out," Cody presumed.

"Yes, I think that's true,"

"Where are the men you were following?"

"All dead, Sir."

Here, Kix interjected. "Can you stand, Commander?"

"I think so," Cody stated, starting to his feet, but right away, he knew something was wrong. Not only would his right leg support no weight, but his vision began to blur and swim.

"Woah, take it slow, Commander. Sit back down," Kix cautioned, easing him back to the ground.

"My right leg can't hold my weight," Cody stated.

Kix took a quick look and saw a line of deep red forming a streak down the side of the armor covering the commander's thigh; and tracing it up to the juncture between the pelvic armor and the leg armor, he identified a deep gash that was oozing forth a swell of blood.

"You've got a pretty serious injury here, Commander," Kix said, pulling out his mediscan and running it over the area. "Your TFL is partially torn, and there's a lot of fraying. A bacta tank will handle it, but you won't be able to walk until it's fixed. I'm going to inject coag to help stem the bleeding until we can get you out of here."

For Cody, this news was little more than a nuisance. He had other more important things on his mind than his own pain and the danger his injury put him in.

"Dragon Two, this is Dragon One," he said into his comm, using the mission call signs.

Rex responded, disregarding radio protocol. "Cody! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," came the dishonest reply. "DS the mission." DS was code for "Deep Six" – or abort – the mission. "Eyes open," he concluded, referring to the fact that their presence had been discovered.

"Copy that," Rex replied. "Team One, Huttlet." Again, code for indicating that the explosives were in place. "All, report."

Each of the other teams reported that they had planted the explosives and were enroute to the rendez-vous.

"Negative," Cody ordered. "Use secondary rendez-vous coordinates."

As the acknowledgments came in, Kix pressed the commander to begin moving. "Commander, we need to start moving now if we're going to make it to the extraction point. You're going to need extra time."

Cody nodded his understanding, then to Echo, "Go to the secondary rendez-vous and report as the others pass through."

"Yes, Commander. Shall I call in the aircrew?"

"No. I'll do that myself as we get closer. I don't want them showing up too soon," Cody replied. "We know the enemy has shoulder-launch munitions that could take out the ship. I don't want them coming in until the last possible second."

"Understood, Commander."

"It sounds like we have quite a mess on our hands," Ki'weya stated.

"Nothing we can't handle," Top replied gamely. "I've been in much worse circumstances." A pause. "The captain's ordered us to pull back."

"Good thing we're already on our way out," Ki'weya said with a semblance of a smile. "Let's, uh, just make sure we don't attract any more unwanted attention."

"I've got your back, Sir. Lead the way."

Denal and Blackie were the first to arrive at the rendez-vous.

"Where are the others?" Denal asked immediately.

"You're the first," Echo replied.

"Commander Cody? Kix?"

"They're on their way to the extraction point," Echo explained. "The commander was hurt pretty badly. Kix wanted to get a head start getting him out of here."

"What the hell happened?" Blackie asked. "What was that explosion?"

Echo explained what had happened, concluding with, "I just hope we get to blow this place before they send out more men to look for us."

As he spoke, Pitch and Fives emerged from the jungle.

Fives, in his usual graceless manner, blurted out, "Fek and all, this is a *combi. What happened out here? What was that explosion?"

Again, Echo explained.

"How did we not know that there was rhydonium on site?" Pitch fumed.

Fives picked up his line of venting. "How did we not know the jungle would be full of terrorists out training and running patrols?"

Denal, ever reasonable and on-point, spoke up. "Good questions, but not our top priority right now." He looked to Echo. "Did the captain still want us to hold here and detonate when the last team arrives?"

"He didn't say any differently," Echo replied.

"Well, with all the activity going on now, it might be a good idea for us to hand over our detonators to one man and set up a leap-frog defensive retreat," the sergeant proposed. He raised his wrist and was about to contact his captain when the latter arrived at the rendez-vous, along with Bads.

Rex wasted no time. "Who are we missing?"

"Hardcase and Fuse. Top and Commander Ki'weya," Echo replied.

"Contact them, get their status and—"

Rex did not finish the sentence.

A burst of blaster fire tore through the leaves above his head.

"Get down!" he shouted, leaping behind a moss-covered rock outcropping to his left. He needn't have given the order, for at the sound of the fire and the sight of it shredding the leaves and peppering the ground, everyone dove for cover.

Over the noise of the continuing barrage, Rex called out, "Return fire!" Into his helmet comm, he spoke calmly. "This is Dragon Two. We are under fire. Repeat. We are under fire."

A scream of anguish drew Rex's attention. He turned to see Blackie writhing on the ground not far from where Pitch and Fives were taking cover behind a large, twisted tree. Blackie was clutching at his right leg.

Without hesitation, Fives belly-crawled out to the injured man, grabbed him under the arms, and dragged him to the relative safety of the tree.

"We've got one man down," Rex said into his comm.

"We can hear it, Dragon Two. We're coming to assist." This was Hardcase's voice.

Rex pushed up onto his elbow and peered around the edge of the rocks behind which he was taking cover, just as another voice rose in pain, but this time it came from the jungle beyond. His own men were finding a few targets at least. He could see three of the enemy poking their heads out from behind trees and clusters green-covered rocks and earthen mounds.

"I can make out at least three!" He shouted. He was not worried about picking off three snipers as much as he was afraid of how many more there were and where they would pop up, for it was highly likely that the camp had dispatched a number of patrols to squash the enemy incursion.

The exchange went on for several minutes, then the sound of increased and dissonant blaster-fire rose from behind the enemy.

"Hold your fire!" Rex commanded his gaggle.

There were a few more bursts of fire from in front of them, then all was silent until a familiar voice rose loudly.

"Captain! It's us!"

"Hardcase," Rex smiled to himself. "I can always depend on you to bring the fight."

Rex got up and looked out from his cover. His eyes fell on the sight of Fuse leaning over a dead body. Hardcase was strolling among his handiwork, at least a dozen of the enemy.

"Hardcase!"

"They're all dead," came the reply.

"Hurry up here, then!" Rex moved over to drop down on one knee where Fives was tending to Blackie's injury.

"He's been hit in the thigh," Fives reported. "It doesn't look the artery was hit, but he won't be able to walk."

"I can make it with some help," Blackie ground out between clenched teeth. "But fek, I need something for the pain."

"I've got low-dose hypo," Echo offered.

"Do what you need to," Rex interjected, "And do it quick. We're not going to be alone for much longer. We've got to get out of here."

"What about Top and Commander Ki'weya?" Pitch asked.

"Let me worry about that," Rex replied. He raised communications again. "Dragon Three, this is Dragon Two. Top, come in."

"Dragon Two, this is Three. I read you."

"Location?"

"Approximately one minute from the rendez-vous."

"Pursuit?"

"Negative, Sir. Not that I can detect. But . . . the alarm has definitely gone up. It looked like they were scrambling teams to send out."

"Copy. Continue to the rendez-vous." Rex paused. He needed only a moment to organize his thoughts and come up with a plan. Spur-of-the-moment decision-making was one of his strongest assets, and once he made a decision, he never second-guessed himself.

He pulled out his HOPO and projected the recon survey map of the area. "Echo, get Blackie back to the extraction point. Follow this route. We're all going to follow this route. Denal, you and Fuse take up a leap position in this area. Fives, you and Bads take up the second leap position here. It'll be up to you two to stop anyone that gets past the first position. Hardcase, to the edge of the plains. Keep it clear until we get there. Pitch, you're with me. Our number one priority, after blowing this place, is to make sure the extraction team can get in safely. We want to eliminate as much ground-fire as possible."

"I understand, Captain," Fives replied. "We won't let you down."

Rex nodded once and held out his hand. "Give me your detonators."

As they turned over the devices, Denal drew in close and spoke quietly. "Are you sure about this, Captain? Would you rather one of us stay to wait for the rest of the team and blow the place?"

Rex was never surprised by Denal's selflessness. The sergeant would have done anything for him, anything for the team, for the success of the mission. And Rex congratulated himself every time he was reminded of what a good decision he'd made in requesting "First Escort" be reassigned to the 501st.

"I've got it," the captain answered. "I need the rest of you to cover our escape route."

"Very good, Sir," Denal acknowledged. "We'll be ready."

Anakin would be pleased to never hear the name of Cad Bane again.

The bounty hunter's attempt to free Ziro the Hutt by taking members of the Senate hostage had succeeded, leaving a trail of dead in its wake.

Anakin had managed to save the Senators, but not before Bane and his crew of bounty hunters had secured Ziro's freedom and escaped to unknown destinations. In that sense, it was only a partial success; and Anakin did not like partial successes.

"You're being too hard on yourself, Anakin." Such was Obi-wan's admonishment, given in the aftermath of the ordeal as Anakin had delivered his report on what had happened. "Bane may have gotten away with the Hutt, but you saved the lives of the Senators. That is the most important thing."

Anakin could not be so forgiving, and he knew he dared not reveal that he'd been without his light saber, entrusted to Padme the night before as a symbol of how important she was to him.

Obi-wan continued. "The important thing now is to find Ziro and bring him back." Seeing Anakin's utter disinterest and his clear preoccupation with his failure, Obi-wan changed direction. "Weren't you supposed to go on a meditative retreat for part of our shore leave?"

"I decided against it."

Obi-wan sighed. "Anakin, that might be part of your problem. You do tend to dwell on the negative. Meditation can help you come back to the center. The Force allows you to calm your mind. It's not good for you to neglect honing your meditative skills."

Anakin thought for a moment, swallowing down troubling memories. At last, he said, "Meditation isn't always a . . . positive experience for me."

Obi-wan had some inkling of what his former padawan was referring to. "I thought the alarming images only came to you in your sleep."

"The ones of my mother . . . those were in my sleep," Anakin replied. "But not the ones I see now."

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow and waited for him to go on.

"I have visions when I'm wide awake now, whether I'm trying to meditate or not," Anakin explained.

"What are they visions of?"

"I'm not sure," Anakin admitted. "But I . . . I think . . . Rex is part of them."

"Rex?"

"Yeah."

Obi-wan eyed him curiously. "What do you see?"

"Sand . . . canyons. It looks the Dungan Wastes, but I can't tell. I can't see anything clearly. I just hear a lot of screaming and yelling and weapons going off." He paused. "I want to stay and you want to go. It feels like a . . . a decision I can't make." He drew in a deep breath. "There's more. I'm somewhere . . . grey and cold. It feels sterile, and I can tell it's an evil place. There's glass breaking, the ground is cracking. Everything's coming apart."

"In everything you just described, you didn't mention Rex once," Obi-wan pointed out. "What makes you think it has something to do with him?"

Anakin shook his head. "I don't know. It's just a sense I have. In the visions, I know—I can tell that he's just beyond the scene that I'm seeing." He clenched his fists. "When I went to see them off on this last mission, I got the strangest feeling when I looked at him."

"You're afraid he's in danger on this mission?"

"We're all in danger whenever we go on any mission," Anakin replied reasonably. "But it just felt so odd."

"Well . . . the location of this mission isn't anywhere near a desert or sand," Obi-wan pointed out. "They're in the jungle."

Anakin was silent.

"Are you still worried about him?" Obi-wan inquired.

"It's not exactly worry," Anakin replied. "More of a . . . concern."

Obi-wan studied his apprentice for several seconds, noting the furrowed brow and grim expression.

"I have a concern, too, Anakin—"

Anakin cut him off. "You're going to tell me—again—that I'm developing too much of an attachment to Rex. Master, I've heard it plenty of times. And I've never denied it. But it's no different than how I feel about you or Ahsoka or . . . any of my soldiers."

"It is different, Anakin," Obi-wan disagreed. "I've warned you, but you just don't listen to me. Whatever bond we have as Jedi is based on our shared vocation. What you have with your troopers—and especially Rex—is—"

"Based on our shared vocation as soldiers," Anakin interrupted.

"No, Anakin," Obi-wan said firmly. "It's more than just the bond between brothers-in-arms. You're so attached to them that we fear you would choose them and their safety over your commitment to the Order."

"We? The Jedi Council has an opinion on this? On my relationship with my soldiers?"

"You know it's come up before."

"It's called being a good commanding officer," Anakin asserted.

"I would never argue that point," Obi-wan conceded. "Your men are devoted to you. I'm just cautioning you against this attachment you've formed."

"Warning acknowledged," Anakin said. "Trust me, Master." A wry grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "And that being said, I'm going to Kettrun."

Obi-wan's jaw almost dropped. "What?"

"I have to know what's happening," Anakin replied.

"Anakin—this is precisely what I was talking about," Obi-wan stressed. "You can't go after them. This is their mission."

"I've got nothing going on here, Obi-wan," Anakin replied. "I can be there in one standard rotation if I take the hyperspace lanes."

"Anakin—"

"You said yourself, this is our shore leave," Anakin jumped in right away. "I've got nothing going on here. You can handle the hunt for Ziro yourself, can't you?"

"Anakin, you have no reason to go after them," Obi-wan persisted. "You need to trust them."

"I do trust them. It's just . . . "

" . . . the vision?"

"I'd feel better if I were there," Anakin stated.

"They've probably already concluded that mission," Obi-wan pointed out. "You'd probably be getting there after the fact."

"Then I'll be there to congratulate them on their success," Anakin rejoined.

"Anakin, you can't go rushing off any time you get a bad feeling about something," Obi-wan warned.

"I won't," came the reply. "But I am this time."

Rex heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of Top and Commander Ki'weya emerging from the jungle.

"Captain," Top reported in. "We saw a lot of men arming up. Some of them were leaving the camp and heading in this general direction."

"Let's turn their attention elsewhere," Rex said, tossing one of the detonators to Top and another to Ki'weya. He and Pitch kept the last two. "Blow 'em."

In the next instant, the night was torn to pieces, going up in flashes of light and plumes of smoke. There was a moment of breath-holding nervousness as the foursome waited to see if their calculations had been accurate in not setting off the rhydonium.

"Looks like it worked," Top stated.

"Right. Let's get going," Rex nodded. "Be aware. We've got two leap teams up ahead, ready to take down any pursuit."

They pushed their way up the lower slope of the ridge, coming again to the treeline, then they began the trek back towards the extraction point, Rex leading the way, following the clear signs of the team members that had preceded his own group.

They had gone perhaps half a kilometer with no sign of pursuit when Top caught sight of movement in front of them. "Captain," he said in a whisper, reaching his arm out to halt their progress. "Ahead, fifty meters at 350 degrees."

Rex followed the line of direction and spotted the aberration of white against the lush green backdrop, growing even more visible in the increasing light of sunrise.

"They're ours," Top announced.

"It's Echo and Blackie," Rex stated, then adding under his breath, "Damn, this is as far as they've gone?" He spoke into his helmet comm, himself disregarding radio protocol. "Echo, this is Rex. We're coming up right behind you."

"Copy that, Sir."

It took less than a minute for Rex's team to catch up to the two men.

"You've got to move faster," Rex pressed. "Pitch, take his other arm and let's pick up the pace."

"I could carry him," Ki'weya offered. "That would be faster than this."

"No offense, Commander," Rex deferred, "But I'd rather have you and your light saber at the ready."

"The goal at this point is to outrun them, Captain, not to outfight them," Ki'weya replied. A pause. "It's a given that they've sent out men to find us. Speed is critical now."

Rex considered his words. The padawan was right. "Agreed. I'll lead. Top, you cover the rear." As they began moving again, Rex asked, "Where are the others?"

"They outpaced us and went ahead to take up their positions, Sir," Echo replied.

"Good, good. I just hope they're ready, because we're leaving a trail through this wood that even a blind woofjat could follow."

"Maybe the chaos of the explosions will slow them down," Echo offered.

"If it does, it will only be for a few seconds," Rex said. "These are terrorists. They're used to chaos, and the loss of life of their own doesn't even mean anything to them. They'll be coming."

And he was correct. Despite the good pace they were able to set with Ki'weya carrying their injured man, it was not long before Rex could hear the faint sound of a foreign tongue coming from behind them, in the jungle through which they had just passed. Every anxious glance over his shoulder revealed nothing, but Rex knew they were being tracked. Just how far behind them their pursuers were, Rex could not discern. No heat signatures showed up in his HUD 360 display. But he knew one thing with certainty: the voices were growing louder, coming nearer. The enemy was gaining on them.

Rex checked his HUD coordinates. He and his men were roughly two kilometers from the edge of the plains. At this rate, they would be overtaken before reaching the relative safety of the extraction point. And even worse, if they did not somehow manage to evade their pursuers, they could not risk calling in the ship and exposing them to enemy fire at close range.

Rex spoke into the frequency he shared with Cody. "Cody, this is Rex."

"Go ahead, Rex."

"We are being pursued. We're roughly two kilometers from the edge of the plain," he reported, then gave their coordinates. "I'm not sure if they've spotted us, but they're definitely tracking us. We have one injured. We can't outrun them, but I've got teams that might be able to slow them down."

"I'll relay a request for assistance to the 808th," Cody replied. "Radio again when you're at the edge of the plains, and I'll order the aircrew in."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, Commander," Rex replied. "It will depend on how close behind us the enemy is."

"That's my call, Rex," Cody replied.

"Are you onboard now?"

"Negative," came the reply. "Kix and I are at the extraction point. I haven't called in the ship yet. When you get here, we'll all leave together."

Rex sighed, knowing how hard-headed Cody could be. This was no time to argue. "Copy that." He then sidled up next to Ki'weya. "Commander, they're going to overtake us. We have to give you a chance to get Blackie back to the extraction point. I'm going to hold back me and my three men to try and slow them down, at least until you get to the first leap position, about another half kilometer."

"Captain, five of us could make it at the cost of one man," the commander pointed out with shocking indifference.

"That's not an option," Rex replied.

He was followed by an angry confirmation.

"You're fekking right it's not an option." This from Top. "And you're a fekking bastard for suggesting it."

Ki'weya was not moved. "As commander of this mission, I could order he be left behind—"

"And every one of us would disobey that order," Rex pointed out. "You even volunteered to carry him. Are you changing your mind now? We're all ready to die to protect even one brother."

Top interjected again, "Don't waste your breath, Captain. He doesn't feel loyalty even to his fellow Jedi, much less a clone."

"If you are both finished carrying on, then let me say that I am willing to do as you ask," Ki'weya replied. "I have the information I need. My mission is complete, though not in the way I would have liked. Still, I will consider it to be a success if I get back to the fleet with the information I have obtained. If the rest of you want to cover my retreat so you can save one man, I will not argue that. I was merely stating that if we leave him behind, the five of us have a better chance of escaping."

Here, Blackie, slung over the padawan's shoulder, spoke up. "Uh, not meaning to interrupt, but as the one being talked about, I don't particularly want to be left behind—"

"No one's leaving anyone behind-" Rex began.

"—but if worse comes to worst—" Blackie attempted to finish, but this time it was Top who cut him off.

"No one is being left behind! Over my dead body."

"That very well may end up being the case," Ki'weya noted. "And that would be a waste."

Top ignored him. "What are your orders, Captain?"

"You, me, Pitch, and Echo are going to hang back and buy them some time," Rex replied. "We're going to try and buy time for the ship to get in or at least for help to arrive."

The three clones acknowledged with grim determination.

"Commander Ki'weya, all I want from you is to get him back to the extraction point," Rex stated. "Will you make sure that happens?"

Ki'weya nodded once. "I'll make sure. You're a brave man, Captain, with brave men serving under you. Foolish and unreasonable, but brave."

Rex watched as the padawan bounded off into the jungle, carrying his wounded bundle. He then opened a channel to his leap teams to let them know the circumstances. Lastly, he turned to Top, Pitch, and Echo. "We've got to give these assholes behind us a serious enough reason to divert from the trail we're leaving," he said, starting to head further up the slope of the ridge. "And we're going to do that by killing as many of them as possible. If we ambush them here, that will be all the fewer for our leap teams."

They broke above the tree line where a stone gully ran as far as the eye could see in either direction. Heading south towards the plain, keeping in the gully, they came to a spot that afforded a fair view and relatively unobstructed line-of-fire into the area through which the enemy would be passing.

"When they come through, just spray the place and don't stop firing until I tell you to," Rex instructed. "I'll radio Cody and let him know what we're doing."

"How's the pain, Commander?"

Cody answered truthfully. "Not so bad, but I think once the adrenaline wears off and we're out of this situation, I'll probably feel it a lot more."

Kix noted the growing palor in the commander's face, but it was cause for only minimal concern. Kix had managed to stop most of the bleeding, and that was the main thing. Now, he had only to keep his charge still and the wound clean and protected.

"But it sounds like you've got another injury coming in," Cody went on. "Good thing we brought you with us."

"My opinion, exactly," Kix said, and Cody could hear the earnestness in his voice. Now, in these few moments of waiting, of uncertainty, the commander took the opportunity to study the man tending to him, a man whose life had hung in the balance not so long ago. Without his helmet, there was little to disguise the medic's sentiments. Even when he wore the helmet, Kix had a way of conveying his emotions and opinions without the benefit of facial expression.

At the moment, un-helmeted, he appeared focused on the task at hand, tending to an injured team member. But etched into the corners of his eyes, discernible in the taut, drawn mouth, was an unmistakable fear. It wasn't fear of capture or failure or death. It was the fear he felt on account of his squad mates. He might trust them with his life, but he feared for their own lives.

Even though Kix was not one of his own soldiers, Cody had recognized very early on that there was a strange dichotomy at work in the medic. Kix was as tough as any other trooper in the 501st—or any other unit, for that matter. Cody was of the opinion that Kix was, in fact, tougher than the vast majority of soldiers—clone or otherwise. Yet, knowing his history, knowing how Kix—and the rest of Saber Squad—had come to be a part of the 501st, Cody was also fully cognizant of a hazy weakness, a peculiar fragility where Kix was concerned. And while most quarters of society would consider the medic's sensitivities admirable and desirable, such was not the case in an army of soldiers creating for the sole purpose of waging war. Those sensitivities had brought Kix—and his squad mates—close to disaster. Had it not been for Kix's own perseverance and that of Saber Squad, they may never have made it into Rex's 501st. Even worse, Kix probably would never have made it off Kamino.

"Look at him now. One of the best medics in the entire army. But it's still there. It will always be there." Cody allowed himself a small grin, a scoff at the supposed wisdom of the Kaminoans. "The fatal flaw."

"Cody, this is Rex."

Cody raised his wrist comm. "Go ahead, Rex."

"I've sent the commander ahead with Blackie. We're going to buy them time."

"Copy that," Cody replied. "I've contacted the 808th. They're going to try and get us some help."

"I think it would be a good idea to get the ship down now," Rex suggested. "She can land before the fighting gets too close. It's easier to just take off under fire than to try landing and taking off."

"I've already called her in. I knew you were getting close," Cody replied, not at all surprised that he and Rex were on the same wavelength when it came to such things. "She's about five minutes out."

"Good." A pause. "Cody, I don't know how many are following us or how many will make it to the plains. Be ready to fight. Tell your men, be ready to fight."

"We're always ready, Rex," came the reply. "Just give us warning. We don't need any friendly fire incidents."

Rex heard the steady approach of the pursuers long before he saw the first of them. At first, when he had peered over the lip of the gully in which he'd taken up a position, he had seen only one or two. Then, the jungle was suddenly filled with them. They seemed to emerge from nowhere, one after the other, like pudu beetles crawling up from a drain. Rex spent half a minute counting them as they drew nearer.

Thirty . . . thirty-six . . . forty-one . . .

Rex had not expected there to be so many.

There was no sense in waiting any longer. He had clear shots on quite a number of them. He and his three companions could take down a sizeable portion of the group in the initial burst, if they were lucky.

He held up his arm as a signal to his men to take aim. A slashing motion, and they opened fire.

Immediately, the targets sprang for cover; but Rex could tell, from the manner in which several of them had fallen, that they would not be getting back up, at least not in any useful capacity. In these first moments, there seemed to be a great deal of confusion among the ambushed men. They looked about wildly, trying to locate the direction from which the assault was coming. It occurred to Rex that the rock gully and the overhanging walls of stone were reflecting the sound of blaster fire all over the area, making it hard to pinpoint the source. But in the meantime, the enemy fired blindly in all directions. When it became apparent the attack was coming from one side, they focused their attention and their efforts, but not before at least of dozen of them had been dropped.

And yet, it seemed that each one downed was just as quickly replaced. The air around the troopers' hiding place was now so thick with blaster fire and projectile fire that the clones dared not raise their heads for fear of having them blown from their shoulders. They could hear the attackers moving up the hillside, and they were not going to wait around to meet them. When something with more explosive power than a blaster or rifle landed on the ground just below the clones' hiding place, kicking up a shower of dirt and rocks, that was the deciding factor.

"Let's get out of here!" he ordered. "Follow the gully! Stay low!" A pause. "Leap One! Denal, we're on the move!"

"Copy that, Captain. We're ready."

Rex followed his men along the floor of the gully, but he had only gone a few meters when a violent force smashed him from behind, knocking him and the others to the ground. Pieces of rock and other debris rained down around and on top of him. With a dull flash of shock, Rex's mind immediately categorized the explosion as a grenade, and he was absolutely positive there were more to follow.

He got to his feet, snatched up his blaster, and prodded his men. "Go! Go!" They began to run again. Rex knew they could not stay in the gully the whole way, for once their pursuers crested the top, they would see which direction the clones had run and have a straight shot down the gully and into their backs. After a wind sprint of nearly a hundred meters, the clones could hear the sharp, cacophonous ping of blaster and bullet shots hitting the rock surfaces around them.

"Out! Go back down below the treeline! Out of the gully!" Rex ordered.

It took no more than two powerful leaps for the clones to exit the gully, and then they began weaving their way through the jungle, running full tilt, while all around them, a hailstorm of fire tore through the undergrowth.

"They're right behind us!" Rex gasped breathlessly into his helmet comm.

"We're tracking you, Sir," Denal said calmly. "Another fifty meters and we'll be in range. How many are following you?"

"I—at least thirty! Maybe—more!"

"Keep coming this way, Captain. When you cross over the little stream, break to either side."

They came upon the stream within seconds. It was shallow, less than knee-high, and no more than five meters across. Once on the other side, Rex broke right; Top and Echo broke left.

"Captain!"

Rex turned to see Bads behind him, waving from behind a large tree. Rex picked his way through the undergrowth.

"Where's Denal?"

"On the other side, Sir."

It was then that Rex noticed two dead men—terrorists—lying on the ground just beyond where Bads was standing.

Bads, seeing where his captain was looking, stated, "We ran into a little action of our own." He then reached down to his waist and produced a hand-grenade. "These deadies provided us with a little token of their affection. Denal has one, too."

Beneath his helmet, Rex smiled. "I love you both." Into his helmet comm, he ordered, "When they come through here, toss those grenades into the biggest concentrations. You both have to throw within seconds of each other before they have a chance to disperse. Then I want you to run like hell. Head for the plains. Pass through Leap Two. We'll lay down cover fire and get Leap Two back to the plains." A brief pause. "Did you see Commander Ki'weya and Blackie come through?"

"Yes, Sir, about seven minutes before you got here."

Rex nodded. "Good. That's giving them a good lead."

Cody had a reputation for being composed in any situation. He considered that this reputation, while understandably earned, was not completely accurate. It would be more truthful to say that the commander had mastered the ability to appear unflappable no matter how nervous or what turmoil was going on inside his head.

Now was a perfect example.

BB had landed the ship at the far end of the plain, where the man-high grass did a fairly good job of concealing it from distant eyes. The entire aircrew—BB, Tenby, Strings and Coze—had been listening to the communications of the other teams, while Kix had made use of the ship's expanded medical supplies to further treat Commander Cody's injury.

Cody felt a sense of relief and security to have the ship on the ground, but he also felt a heightened sense of anxiousness in that now, their primary means of escape—and a somewhat large target once detected—was on the ground in waiting mode.

This was the sort of nerve-wracking situation that had earned Cody his reputation.

As he listened to Rex's frantic plight, he made a decision.

"Strings, Coze, I want you to go to the other side of the plain and wait for them," he ordered. "They may need more cover fire. Tenby, charge the ship's weapons and swing 'em round towards the plain. We may need all the firepower we can muster."

The men acknowledged their tasks.

Now, all Cody could do was wait.

Rex watched as the terrorists came into view. He held his breath as they passed by the place where he and Bads were lying motionless in the undergrowth. When the front man drew even with Denal's location, Rex held up his hand in a fist, thumb pressed flat. When he lifted his thumb, both Bad and Denal pulled the pins.

One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand.

The two men tossed in unison into different parts of the group.

Neither Denal nor Bads stayed to see the results. They had their orders, and they both followed them by immediately breaking and running like fop-rabbits. They could hear blaster fire behind them, but they continued running.

Nearly three minutes later, Fives' voice came over their comms. "We see you now. You're passing through. It's less than five hundred meters to the edge of the plains."

"Do—you-see—the captain?!" Denal shouted.

"Yes," Fives answered. "They're not too far behind. Just keep running."

Bads drew up beside Denal, turned off his comm, and blurted out between pounding footfalls, "We should pull up here and add our firepower to the ambush!"

"Rex said to go straight through," Denal replied. "We have our orders!"

"But we can help stop them—"

"His goal is to get us out of here! Now, keep running!"

In just over a minute, they had come to the edge of the plain where Hardcase stepped out to greet them.

"Where are the others?" Hardcase asked.

"They're all coming," Denal replied, leaning over to catch his breath.

Bads nodded towards the plain. "Here come Strings and Coze."

As the two aircrew members approached, Strings—always the kind of jumpmaster who took a personal responsibility for those under his auspices—put a hand on Denal's shoulder. "Everyone okay?"

"We're alright."

"Sounds like we've got some action coming this way," Strings continued.

"Have you seen Commander Ki'weya and Blackie?" Bads asked.

"We passed them on the way out here." Again, it was Strings who answered. Coze had his attention firmly fixed on the treeline. "They're probably at the ship by now. It's clear behind us. You can keep on straight across the plain. The ship's on the far side at the designated extraction point. You three go on. We'll wait here for the rest."

"The captain ordered me to stay here," Hardcase replied. "He'd blow a gasket if I weren't here when he shows up."

"He wants as many of us aboard that ship and ready to go as possible," Denal stated.

"Well . . . he didn't tell us to run to the ship," Bads hemmed. "Technically, he said to just go to the plains. And, uh, you can never have enough firepower in an ambush."

"They also need bodies to protect the ship," Strings said firmly. "Commander Cody ordered us out here. And I will order you both back to guard the ship, if I must."

"No orders necessary, Master Sergeant. We're on our way back," Denal said. "Hardcase, we'll see you in a little bit. Try not to overdo it."

Rex was not convinced it was such a good idea to lead the enemy towards Leap Two's position anymore. The number of pursuers only seemed to grow, despite how many of them had been taken down. Had the entire fekking camp been emptied out to chase them down? Or had the jungle been full of patrols throughout the entire operation, and now they were simply joining in the pursuit?

Either way, Rex had only three men with him. He had two men waiting ahead in the jungle. And then there was Hardcase. True, Hardcase alone had the grit and weapons lust of an entire battalion all rolled into one body; but these were not good odds.

"Leap Two, abandon position and make for the extraction point," he ordered, trying to sound unhurried and at least as composed as Cody.

"Sir?" Fives sounded incredulous, as if he'd heard incorrectly.

"We won't be coming past your position," Rex replied.

"Captain—"

"That's an order, Fives."

"But we can see you, Captain! We can take out some of the—"

"Follow orders, Fives! Get back and defend the ship!"

From across the ambush lane, Fuse stood up, leaving his cover. "Fives, we need to do as he tells us. He must have a reason. I won't disobey the captain."

Fives hung for a moment, then muttered under his breath. "Fek and all . . . let's go." Into his comm, he simply acknowledged, "On our way to the ship."

Rex turned to his three companions. "We need to lead them away, in the wrong direction. We're going to have to split up. Pitch, you're with me. We're going to head back up the ridge, make them think the extraction point is above the treeline. Top, you and Bads go to ground here until we draw them off, then make for the extraction point. Pick up Hardcase on the way."

"Yes, Captain. But let us lead them off."

"Negative. Find someplace to go to ground. Pitch, let's go."

Over his helmet comm, Rex heard Cody's voice. "You two make it to the top of the ridge, and we'll come and get you."

"Too dangerous," Rex replied. "That would be exposing the ship in the wide open—"

Now, Commander Ki'weya's voice broke in. "I concur with Commander Cody. You're overruled, Captain. Get to the top of the ridge, and we'll come for you."

Rex sighed and gave a grudging, "Copy that."

Before they set off up the hillside, Pitch turned off his comm and snagged Rex by the elbow. "I have an idea. It's risky, but we're in a bit of a bind."

"I think we're ready to take any risk," Rex replied. "Let's hear it."

They weren't dispersing.

Fek and all, this did not look good.

Not only were the pursuers not following the signs of passage up towards the ridge, but they were milling around no more than fifty meters from where Top and Bads were hiding. They were jabbering amongst themselves, pointing, arguing with zealous gestures. It seemed as if they recognized that the trail led uphill, but that they weren't convinced that was the way they should go.

Eventually, a smaller group broke off and was dispatched up the hillside. At a motion from one who appeared to be a leader, the rest fanned out in the area, while another gaggle of about ten continued on towards the plain.

Top used a hand signal to communicate to Bads they were might have to make a run for it.

Up above on the hillside, Rex and Pitch had both seen that they were not being followed by the full body, but that was of little concern to them. Pitch's plan would take care of that. They just needed to reach the protection of the gully and hope that time did not run out for Tops and Bads.

Yet, that was precisely what was happening down below.

As the terrorists spread through the jungle, both men knew they had only seconds before they were spotted. If they didn't make a break for it now, they would be killed where they stood.

Top swallowed hard and steeled his determination. He knew breaking radio silence when the enemy was this close was akin to signing his own death certificate, but it had to be done.

"We're breaking," he announced.

"Fifteen more seconds!" Pitch implored.

"We don't have fifteen seconds!"

Tops and Bads sprang from their hiding place and were immediately spotted by the enemy. They squeezed off a quick round, sending the terrorists running for cover, before turning themselves to flee. Immediately, the jungle was filled with the sounds of fire.

Up above, Rex yelled into his comm. "Top! Bads! Get down! Get down!" He turned his head sharply to Pitch. "Do it!"

Pitch looked up the hillside at the gully, not ten meters away. "Get in the gully, Captain."

"Pitch! Do it!"

"Get in the damned gully, Captain!"

Rex scrambled up the last few meters. As he tumbled into the gully, he felt the air around him vibrate, then the sound of an explosion. Looking over the lip of the gully, he saw smoke and fire and debris billowing below, racing up the hillside. He reached out his hand to Pitch.

"Hurry!"

Pitch climbed over the shifting, trembling rocks.

"Give me your hand! Hurry!" Rex cried.

Pitched stretched his arm as far as he could and felt Rex's fingers wrap around his own. In the next instant, he was tumbling into the gully. A second later, the wave of combustion rolled over the top of them with searing heat. They hunkered down as low as they could get as destruction roiled around them. And then, five seconds later . . . it was over.

Pitch's plan had worked. A modified repro cap explosion, small radius, the deactivation of volatile proto-stile. Hastily concocted and perhaps a bit more devastating than anticipated. But now the only question was . . . had it stopped the pursuit? And at what cost?

Pitch sat up slowly. "You alright, Captain?"

"I'll know in a minute." He got to his feet and looked over the lip of the gully.

* combi - slang for FUBAR (otherwise known as Fekked Up Beyond All Recognition)