Dear Reader, thank you to my reviewers, Christina TM, Jessica Wolffe, ichkak, thaismarendaz, Galaxy000, Sued 13, Princess Rey-Tano, DojoYoYo, HarpforHim, and Guest. As always, I appreciate your reviews, especially after waiting so long for the previous chapter. This chapter is short as we transition into the next section of the story. Hopefully, for my American readers, this will either comfort you if your candidate didn't win election or add to your joy if he did. What a rollercoaster. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Peace, CS

Chapter 134 Last Leaf

"Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens."

The Fellowship of the Ring
J.R.R. Tolkien

He had no time to indulge fear. No time to bemoan his situation.

The gunships were gone. Communications were still down. He had no idea if there were more of his fellow soldiers still on the planet, fighting elsewhere, taking cover, awaiting extraction at other locations. For all he knew, there might still be troopers there in the valley, within a stone's throw. He didn't know. He didn't dare move out into the open to try and spot them. The entire place was filled with the enemy.

Yet, he couldn't stay where he was, in the mouth of the tunnel. Separatist forces were coming from behind him, led by Count Dooku.

He'd not forgotten the Sith Lord's ominous warning.

"I'm here for you."

As a threat, it was terrifying; yet, it made no sense.

Rex was just one soldier among millions. What could he possess that made him a target worth the attention of a Sith Lord? Even his knowledge of tactics did not merit this kind of pursuit. He was not an indispensable part of the war effort. Every clone – every person, for that matter – could be replaced. Even the Jedi generals.

So, what did Dooku want with him?

He did not want to find out.

It was too late to turn back into the tunnel in search of other passageways. Rex could hear the sounds of approaching droids echoing behind him.

It suddenly occurred to him that he might, in fact, have a chance, however slim.

Dooku had seemed intent on taking him alive. Therefore, it stood to reason that the droid troops were operating under the same constraint. If lethal force was not the order of the day, it was worth taking the chance to escape through the valley.

He grit his teeth, surveyed the scene, and left the cover of the passageway.

He had gone perhaps fifty meters, following the canyon's near wall, when his presence was noticed by the droids, forcing him to take cover behind a cluster of boulders where he picked off the encroaching enemy one-by-one.

But he could see it was only a matter of time. There were too many of them. He would be overwhelmed eventually.

And then the shooting stopped. The droids stopped their advance.

There could be only one reason.

A glance in the direction from which he had just come showed Rex that answer in full, terrifying clarity.

Count Dooku strode with gliding steps over the dry, cracked ground.

Rex made a split-second decision. He was not going to win this encounter, and he had to find a way to leave a trail of what had happened here. Removing his helmet, he activated the recording feature and set it on the ground. He then took aim from between two boulders and began firing.

Dooku approached slowly, almost disinterestedly, brushing aside the blaster bolts without effort. Unfulfilling as this errand was, he had to admire this clone's tenacity. Surely, it was a trait he'd picked up from Skywalker.

The thought of Skywalker brought a thin, momentary smile to the Count's face. The Jedi was in for a horrifying surprise. Looking at the stalwart captain of the 501st, Dooku almost pitied him for the role he was about to play in the corruption of his commanding officer. Pitied him his ignorance of what was about to befall him. Pitied him his readiness, his willingness to believe that his existence had a noble purpose. For a purpose, it did have; yet there was no nobility in the turn his life was about to take.

There had been a time, very long ago, when Dooku might have thought that such a devoted and loyal soldier deserved better than to be no more than a pawn in the plans of greater men. But those days were long gone, and Dooku now regarded Skywalker's captain as merely a task to be completed.

"I've wasted enough time," the Count sighed. He touched a controller on his wrist, summoning his ship; then he held up his hand and pinched his thumb and forefinger together.

Rex could not breathe. He'd known this was coming. He'd try to prepare himself mentally for it. But it was nevertheless terrifying. For a few seconds, he maintained his wits and continued firing. But as the lack of air continued, panic set in. He dropped the weapon and grasped at his throat. He heard a rushing sound in his ears . . .

"This is it. General Skywalker . . . "

He could breathe . . . he could breathe . . .

"You're back," he said in the silence of his mind.

"I had to save you."

"The captain . . . "

"I am only concerned with you right now. You are not safe yet."

"Did he make it out?"

"He made it to an opening."

"Go . . . find out . . . "

"I will not. You need my strength. All our time together, and you still have not taken the strength I offer you," the eagle chastised in his puffed up manner. "And so I must now force you to take it. I will not let you die."

"Stubborn . . . bird."

"DB? DB?" This sounded like Ajax's voice.

"He's breathing a lot better." Was that . . . Pitch?

"Thank God . . ."

"God? Ajax, thanking God? That's new . . . "

"You should be thankful, too. Any power that I have to give you comes from the Creator."

"I am thankful," Double Barrel conceded. "But . . . the captain . . . "

"I will find out," the eagle assured him. "But only when you are safe."

"General Skywalker? Take it easy, Sir."

Anakin felt as if he'd been caught in the middle of a bantha stampede. Someone was helping him sit up.

He opened his eyes. He was aboard a gunship, and he could tell from the smooth movement that they were no longer under the sway of gravitational pull. Crouched down beside him was a trooper from the 212th, nicknamed Arrow. And beyond him, the bay was filled with a mix of 212th and 501st soldiers.

"What happened?" Anakin asked, raising his hand to his head.

"A shell landed near where you were standing," Arrow replied. "You were caught by the impact and knocked unconscious. We got you on board and we're enroute to Challenger."

Slowly, images began coming into Anakin's recollection.

The retreat. The valley. The approach of the gunships. Cody.

"Did we . . . get everyone . . . off the surface?" he asked.

"We don't know, Sir," Arrow replied. "Comm is still down."

The mention of communications spurred another memory.

Rex.

The flight through the tunnels.

The sense of seeing through someone else's eyes.

"The eagle," he murmured under his breath. Then the realization edged to the forefront – if communications were still down, that meant Rex's team had not succeeded in their task.

He raised his wrist com. "Rex? Rex, do you copy?"

When he received no answer, he turned fiercely to Arrow. "Do we have comm?"

"Only beyond the atmosphere," Arrow replied. "We can contact Challenger and other gunships that have cleared the atmosphere. We can only hope everyone got off."

Anakin got to his feet and directed his voice inward. "How did you do it? What were you showing me?"

There was no response, and less than a minute later, the gunship was entering Challenger's landing bay.

The moment the door slid open, Anakin noticed more gunships landing. He jumped down then took a moment to brace himself. He still felt somewhat unsteady.

"General!"

Arrow was still at his elbow. "You need to take it easy, Sir. You've been injured."

"I'm okay," Anakin replied curtly, his eyes sweeping quickly over the troopers emerging from the arriving ships. He spotted Sixer and headed for him immediately.

"Lieutenant!"

"General Skywalker."

"What's the status of our men? Did everyone make it off the surface?"

"I don't know, General," Sixer replied. "It was . . . complete chaos—"

"Start getting a head-count," Anakin ordered.

"Yes, General—"

"Lieutenant, he needs medical attention," Arrow piped up. He had followed his general across the bay.

"No, no, I don't," Anakin protested, even as he swayed on his feet.

"Yes, you do, General," Sixer replied firmly. "I can see that with my own eyes. You need to be looked at by a medic—"

"That can wait," Anakin cut him off, his voice such that both Sixer and Arrow knew it was not a good idea to argue with him. "Get me a head-count. Find Rex."

Sixer gave a slight nod. "Yes, General." He motioned to Arrow to accompany him as he took off to begin collecting numbers.

Left alone, Anakin realized he was facing a terrible anxiety. He had no idea what had happened in the tunnels once Rex and his team had split off from the rest of the platoon. He only knew they had failed their mission. He knew the eagle had been trying to show him something.

He knew he had to find DB.

If he couldn't find Rex, he had to find DB.

"Get a stretcher over here," Pitch ordered. "He needs to be taken to the medbay."

A pair of troopers went to bring a stretcher. Pitch put a hand on DB's arm. "You're going to be okay."

Double Barrel opened his eyes.

Ajax was hunkered down beside him.

"Hey, birdman," Ajax smiled.

"Fek, don't call me . . . that," DB protested.

"Sorry," Ajax apologized unapologetically. "We're back on the Challenger. We'll get you to the medbay."

"I feel a lot better," DB said, drawing a long, slow breath. "He's . . . he's taking care of it."

"Pretty nifty advantage to have," Ajax noted.

"Enh," came the noncommittal response. "The captain?"

"We don't know," Ajax replied. "We haven't seen him. You said the eagle was with him."

Double Barrel tried to focus his memory. "He . . . was with him but I don't know . . . when I was injured, he came back to me."

Pitch grimaced. "We have to find General Skywalker. We have to tell him about Count Dooku." A foreboding hesitation. "We have to tell him what Dooku said . . . that he was there for the captain."

"Do you think he took him?" Ajax asked.

"I don't know," Pitch replied. "But I think it's clear that was his intention." He saw two troopers approaching with a stretcher. He turned to Ajax. "Stay with him. I'll go find the general." Then to DB, "See if the eagle knows anything else."

"I will."

"General Skywalker!"

Anakin had been going through the hangar, from ship to ship, doing his own informal assessment. The chaos was not as bad as it had been planet-side, but there appeared to be a general confusion. No one knew the status of the gunships and troopers. Who was still on the surface? Who was enroute to Challenger?

He'd tried time and again to raise Rex on his wrist comm. He'd asked dozens of troopers if they'd seen the captain since leaving the surface. At last, he saw Obi-wan climbing down from an arriving gunship, even as it was still moving.

He had been about to go greet him when a voice caught his attention. He turned to see Pitch approaching. The sight of him gave him both a small sense of relief, as well as a bolt of fear, knowing that he had been part of Rex's team.

"Pitch, where's Rex? What happened down there?"

"General—we—we ran into serious trouble down there," Pitch began. "Count Dooku."

Anakin scowled. "What?"

"We found the transmitter, we attached the patches. And Count Dooku showed up," Pitch replied, his voice filled with dread. "He said . . . he was there for the captain. We were only able to escape because the eagle attacked him. But we were almost to the valley when we got separated from the captain. The eagle went with him, but when DB was injured, the eagle returned. We don't know what happened to the captain."

This was unfathomable. "What do you mean, he said he was there for Rex?"

"I think . . . I think he was there to take the captain prisoner," Pitch replied. "He wasn't interested in the rest of us. Only the captain."

Anakin began to fear what the eagle had been trying to show him. "Where is DB now?"

"On his way to the medical bay."

"Come with me," Anakin ordered. "I need to see him, and we need some answers. Fast."

He couldn't move his arms.

His wrists were bound behind him.

He knew why. He recalled in perfect detail what had led him to this point. Opening his eyes, he was dismayed but not surprised to discover he was a prisoner. And he immediately began to plan his escape.

He was sitting on the floor of a small cage, barely large enough for him to sit without slouching over. Through the bars, he could see a ceiling-to-floor rounded cockpit window, easily recognizable as a feature of the Punworcca 116 Interstellar Sloop. And the unmistakable silhouette of Count Dooku at the helm. The count appeared completely unconcerned with his passenger; and why should he be otherwise? A Sith Lord versus a clone captain? There was no contest, no concern that binders and a barred cage couldn't handle.

"Good. Let him keeps his attention forward," Rex said silently. He began scanning the rest of his surroundings. His prison cage was situated just past the bulkhead between the cockpit and the console galley. One of the drawbacks of the Sloop was its lack of cargo space. The opposite end of the galley opened into a private quarters, a cuddy of sorts; and beyond that was the boarding ramp. There were no cargo bays, no holding bays.

Now, Rex found himself in a cage that took up most of the width of the galley, within arm's reach of many of the consoles. The fact that his arms were bound and the space between the bars of his prison too narrow to reach through, even if his arms were free, did not dissuade him from trying to see if there were any useful consoles close to him.

He made as little movement as possible, not wanting to draw attention.

Yet, within seconds, Dooku spoke back over his shoulder, as if he'd sensed his captive had awakened.

"I hope you're not getting too comfortable," the Count droned in his deep, rolling voice. "We are almost at our destination."

This statement admittedly rattled Rex some small bit, but he did not show it. Either their destination was a very short distance from Tralgaria or he'd been unconscious for longer than he'd thought. He said nothing in response, and his silence prompted Dooku to come back into the galley.

The Count stared at the man in the cage and could not help but feel doubt about the effectiveness of his master's plan. Jedi were not supposed to form attachments. Sith Lords definitely didn't. If there was some connection between Skywalker and this soldier, Dooku imagined it could be no more than the affinity fighting men had for each other, the bond between a general and his most relied upon officer. He'd seen them together many times, and he'd never noticed any particularity on either man's part. Not that, as a Sith Lord, he was attuned to such things. In Count Dooku's life, there was only one relationship that mattered, and that was the one with his master. He had long since lost the ability to gauge those things that unified other living beings.

"Of course, those dimwitted battle droids almost ruined everything," Dooku went on, as if his captive gave a damn. "They were supposed to block the passageway. Instead, they almost brought the roof down on top of you. If I hadn't pulled you back, you'd be dead. And my master would be . . . very unforgiving."

Rex was stone-faced.

The thought of breaking this stoic clone captain into pieces was strangely titillating at the same time as almost inspiring pity. But the Count had already gone through those thoughts; and besides, he wouldn't be there to see it. His mission was to make a delivery and that tasking would be completed shortly. Then he could focus his attention on other matters more worthy of his stature. But he was not opposed to a final shot.

He stared at his prisoner for one long, assessing moment. "You're very good at hiding your fear, Captain."

Rex was silent until Dooku turned to go back to the cockpit. Then he said with venom, "So are you." He paused a moment. "You're afraid of your master."

Dooku actually sneered a grin. "If you knew him, you would be, too."

"DB?"

"General Skywalker." DB started to sit up in the bed he occupied in the medbay's triage area.

"No, don't get up," Anakin insisted.

"I'm okay, General," DB replied, and he certainly sounded okay. "I think they'll be releasing me soon." He did not hesitate. "Did Captain Rex make it back?"

"It doesn't look like it," Anakin replied gravely. "I need to know . . . Pitch said Count Dooku was down there."

"That's true," both DB and Ajax confirmed.

"We all saw him," Ajax added. "He confronted the captain. He said he was there for him, like he . . . wanted to take him prisoner or something. He could have killed all of us outright, but he didn't."

Anakin looked to Double Barrel. "The eagle showed me something. Somehow, he was able to show me as he was going through the tunnels. I could hear his thoughts. But he left before I could see what happened."

"We got separated from the captain when the ceiling caved in," DB explained. "He told us to get out, that he would find another way. I sent the eagle to go with him, but when I was hit, I lost that connection."

"Can he . . . can you send him to find Rex now?"

"I can try," DB replied.

A klaxon began to blare, and a shudder went through the ship.

Anakin raised his wrist comm. "Admiral Yularen! What's happening?"

"We're under attack," came the harried reply. "Stand by for the jump to light speed."

"Wait! Are all our men back on board?!" Anakin demanded.

No response was forthcoming.

"Admiral!" Anakin barked harshly into his wrist comm.

Again, no response. Frustrated, Anakin turned to head to the bridge, but first he pressed Double Barrel. "See if the eagle can find him."

"I'll do what I can, General."

Rex felt the ship set down. A tightness twisted his insides. What awaited him on the other side of the doors? Would he come face-to-face with Dooku's master? To what end? What could he possibly have or know that was so important that a Sith Lord had been dispatched to capture him? Even his extensive knowledge of Republic tactics could not account for this.

His prison cage hovered up off the galley floor.

"It is time for us to part ways," Dooku said, levitating the cage through the galley and through the rear hatch. "Welcome to your new home."

They were on a tarmac of gleaming black, and beyond that rose the façade of an imposing structure made of the same material.

Standing on the tarmac were three men. One, clearly in charge, stood slightly in front of the other two, who flanked him in the manner of guards.

And at that moment, Rex knew where he was. He knew what awaited him.

The men were Copians.

Rex's mind flashed back to the Monastica and Admiral Vrehnka. The Copians were notorious for one thing: torture.

Rex was being delivered to master torturers.

His blood ran cold. This was worse than anything he could have expected. Thoughts of ARC training's escape and evasion exercise and his failure as a mock prisoner-of-war arose unbidden, and it took a concerted effort for him to maintain his countenance. This was not a training scenario. This would not be brutalization with an end date.

And again . . . what information could he possibly have that they felt it necessary to turn him over to a society that prided itself on inflicting pain and extracting information?

"Captain," Dooku said with a cruel snideness. "I leave you in their capable hands."

With that, the Count turned on his heel and within seconds, his ship lifted off.

Now came the horror.

"How could you withdraw when we might still have had men on the surface?" Anakin demanded.

"Anakin, calm down," Obi-wan chided gently.

"We were under attack, General Skywalker," Admiral Yularen said calmly. "Three dreadnaughts dropped out of hyperspace. We saw no more gunships enroute from the surface—"

"There might have been men still down there!"

"We were outgunned," Yularen said forcefully. "As commanding officer of this battleship, the call was mine to make."

"We need to go back," Anakin insisted. "We can't leave our men behind—"

"We will go back when we can ascertain that it's safe—"

Anakin was reaching his limit. "We're a warship. We don't wait until it's safe. We also don't abandon our men."

Obi-wan could see the tension, and he knew he had to head it off. "Anakin, be patient."

Anakin scowled. "When did Republic officers become cowards?" He stormed off the bridge. In the lift, he raised his wrist comm. "Rex?"

No response.

Anakin grit his teeth against the anger he felt growing inside him. "Sixer, this is General Skywalker."

After a brief silence, "Sixer here, Sir."

"Do you have that headcount?"

"202 out of 220," Sixer replied. "That includes 18 injured and 4 confirmed dead. 18 unaccounted for. I've only been checking the 501st, General. I don't have numbers for the 212th."

"Is Rex accounted for?"

"I haven't seen him, General. No one has," Sixer replied.

Anakin began to fear the worst. "What about Jesse? Is he on board?"

"Yes, Sir. He was in one of the last ships to get in."

These words came as a relief. "Good, good. I want a by-name list of our missing men. Have it for me within 30 minutes."

"Yes, General."

Anakin now comm'd Jesse. "Jesse, this is General Skywalker. Meet me in the medbay."

"I'm on my way, Sir."

As Anakin made his way back to the medbay. His mind was already working.

Because there was no way he was going to leave Rex behind.

He was on the threshold of entering the medbay when he was met by DB and Ajax on their way out.

"General Skywalker, we were on our way to find you," Ajax announced.

Anakin eyed DB skeptically. "The doc cleared you to leave?"

"Yes, Sir. I, uh . . . heal quickly these days, you know."

Anakin nodded. "I see that. Was the eagle able to find him?"

"No, General." DB replied. "I don't know if we're too far away or what, but he couldn't see him."

"What are we going to do, General?" Ajax inquired.

Anakin recognized the tone of his trooper's voice. His men were men of action. If their captain was missing, they would not tolerate the uncertainty for long.

And that was what Anakin was counting on.