Dark Between The Stars
Author's Note: This is based off a nightmare I had one night, in case anyone's wondering where this kind of nonsensical horror crawled out of. xD
Warning: Anakin and Ahsoka acting very loopy and weird. I just feel like that needs a warning...
This is also for the second day of the Haunted Clone Week. :)
~ Tirana Sorki
They were supposed to be checking the crashed Star Destroyer for survivors. They've been looking for it for weeks now, and from how damaged and deserted the thing looks, Rex is pretty sure they're far too late.
He watches as General Skywalker and Commander Tano cut a hole in the side with their lightsabers and they all duck inside together.
A rush of greenish gas floods them full force the moment they step into the darkened, slanted hallway.
Anakin and Ahsoka instantly suck in a breathe and hold it, but there's no way they didn't already breathe it in.
"Toxic?" Rex asks uncertainly. His helmet's filtering it out, for now at least.
He doesn't have a way to tell, but he feels something slightly staticky and warm in the air, the way he always does when Anakin is using the Force. He can always feel it, the sheer brightness of it. It's... weird, because he doesn't even understand this 'Force' at all.
"I don't think so," Ahsoka says after a moment, as they both stop holding their breath.
Anakin's frowning still, though.
"Something wrong, sir?" Rex inquires warily.
"There's something off about this place," he replies, looking around.
Rex shines the spotlight on his helmet down the hall.
The gas makes it too hard to see much of anything. But it's eerily silent here. Too quiet. Everyone's already dead. He can guess that much.
"I feel death," Anakin replies, "But... something else."
"We need to keep going," the Commander says.
Anakin nods, moving forward.
Rex keeps his hand on his blaster as they move through the hallways. He could swear the gas is starting to get thicker as they go.
How can they even breathe?
He doesn't know if it's a Jedi thing or if he needs to be worried. General Skywalker always pushes himself to the limit for them and Rex respects that so much, but sometimes it just worries him.
With the Commander here, though, he doubts the General would be taking her somewhere he thinks is dangerous.
"Where's this gas coming from?" Rex wonders. He doesn't understand.
The other two don't reply for some reason.
Maybe they don't have an answer.
They're approaching what was once the mess hall. Anakin raises a hand, shoving the doors open forcefully and they enter together. The air is even thicker in here somehow.
Rex tries to shine his light around, trying to see something but it's nearly impossible. The most he can make out is that there's still some dishes on some of the tables, as though the people who put them there aren't already dead and gone.
How did they not get knocked off in the crash?
There's a sudden loud screeching sound and Rex whips around just as one of the plates moves across the table on its own.
He jerks, hand closing over his blasters. "What was that?" He rather doubts either of the other two used the Force on it for no reason.
The Commander shrugs. "I dunno. Looked funny."
...What?
The plate moves again, spinning in a circle before it crashes to the floor.
Neither of them are moving their hands like they're using the Force.
Ahsoka giggles.
"Did you do that?" Rex demands, unsure if he's more confused or annoyed. Now is not a good time for pranks, if that's what this is. This place is giving him the creeps.
General Skywalker laughs. It sounds off. Weird. "Neither of us did."
"I wanna hear another dish break!" the Commander says gleefully, waving a hand and knocking a bunch more of them on the floor.
Rex jumps at the crash, even if he was expecting it. The noise is just too loud in the otherwise silence of the ship.
Anakin laughs again, as though that's somehow funny.
Rex turns to look at them, shining his light at them, just – He has no idea what's going on. They both act insane all the time but not like this. Something's off about it. "Sir?" Rex asks uncertainly.
"What's wrong?" the General asks cheerfully.
How does he even answer that without being downright rude? "Shouldn't we keep moving?" he inquires instead. There's obviously nothing to see in here.
"Why'd we do that? We have plenty of time," Anakin replies, completely unconcerned.
"Yeah, like all day," Ahsoka agrees, Force-flipping through the air and jumping onto one of the tables. She's far enough away that all he can see is her ghostly outline now, no thanks to the gas.
...The gas.
Is it doing something to them?
Are they being poisoned? Oh no.
"General," Rex says, tensing, "I think the gas is affecting you. We should leave."
"Affecting us? Rex, we're just fine," the General replies.
Okay, something is very wrong here.
Maybe if he tries to go himself, the others will follow. He can hope.
Rex turns to go, moving back out into the hallway and after a moment he hears the others following, though they're wandering slowly after him like they really do have all day. They keep getting distracted to look at random things.
"These gray halls are soooo annoying," the Commander says.
Anakin snorts. "You'd never shut up about them, Snips. How could I forget?"
She giggles again. "I hateeee them. I'd get sooooo lost at first."
Okay seriously, the Commander never talks like that.
"I got used to remembering directions. I had to on Tatooine because people would chase me sometimes. No idea if they were going to sell me or hurt me but I could run way faster than them. It was actually really funny," the General replies.
Um.
For one, Rex has heard a little of the General's past, enough to know that he was a slave and that it was dark. And he might joke about it sometimes but not like this.
Can they please just stop?
But speaking of halls that all look the same, no thanks to the gas, he feels like he's getting hopelessly lost here. And instead of finding the way to get out, he ends up finding a control room instead.
The rush of gas that hits them when he opens that door is nearly overpowering. It's far stronger in here, and –
Wait.
Is the filtration system on the ship in here?
He has no idea if it's still operational but he can hope.
The General and Commander are too busy laughing about how short Ahsoka's second lightsaber is too pay Rex any attention, so he steps into the room himself.
The entire place is falling apart, the walls crumbling.
There's crates piled up in the room and only half concealed behind them is a mirror.
Why the kriff is there a mirror in here?
A sharp wave of panic runs through him at the sight of it. He doesn't know why but there's something wrong with it. It –
For a moment, despite the fogginess of the room, he could swear he actually sees a very vivid reflection in it.
And he sees –
The General and Commander's bodies lying on the ground of some ship somewhere, blaster holes in their bodies.
And he sees it as though form his own perspective, but he's holding a blaster. A smoking blaster.
The General twitches a little, weakly opening his eyes. "Why?" he rasps and he sounds so broken, so betrayed. He reaches out a hand slowly, with barely enough strength to do it, taking the Commander's hand. She doesn't twitch.
Already dead.
Rex freezes, just staring.
"She was our kid," he croaks out, before he goes motionless.
Dead.
And Rex –
He killed them. He can't say how he knows that. He just does.
Rex wrenches his gaze away from the mirror with a stuttering breathe, heart pounding wildly. What was that? How can he see something like that in a mirror that shouldn't even be there in the first place? Or – or is the problem that he's starting to hallucinate too? Is the gas affecting him?
Is what he just saw what he's going to do if the gas gets to him?
Oh stars.
He has to get out of here.
Or just get this thing turned on.
Rex stumbles forward, trying to get past the crates. He's so weak suddenly. Can't say what it is. It's almost like the helmet isn't filtering the gas out anymore or maybe the problem is that there's no air here, period, so his helmet doesn't have enough to filter out anymore.
He just has to get a few more steps and get to the controls, and then –
Stars swim in his vision and he nearly blacks out for a moment. Maybe he actually did because he doesn't remember how he got a few steps closer.
He has to stop. If he gets any closer, it's going to be too late. He's never going to be able to turn off.
Rex turns and runs, the only thing he knows to do at this point. Air fills his helmet again as he steps back out into the hall, letting him breathe again.
The General's spinning his and the Commander's ignited lightsabers in the air in front of him with the Force, a crazed gleeful look on his face.
"Lalalala!" the Commander sings, flopped on her back on the floor, "Lalala – "
Oh come on.
"General!" Rex calls, desperately, "This isn't you. It's the gas. We need to leave."
He actually does look up at the desperation in his voice. Deactivating the lightsabers, he just drops them to the floor.
"Nothing's wrong, Rex. Why don't we stay here?"
"We're on a mission."
Then Anakin straight up hugs him.
Rex freezes, arms hovering awkwardly. What in the –
How did what he said warrant this kind of response? And it's not as if Anakin's never hugged him before but never quite so...
"All you know are missions. That's not fair. You should have more. You're not slaves – well you are but you shouldn't be. We can have fun here." Anakin steps back, looking at him hopefully.
Anakin's said things like that to him before, just not so bluntly.
"Lalala!" the Commander continues to sing.
Seriously, stop it.
But they very obviously have no intention of coming with him and he doesn't know what to do. He can't leave them here but he can't stay. Not if he's going to lose it, too.
Maybe what he needs is backup. Badly.
He just wants the General and Commander in their right minds back.
Rex turns to go, hoping it'll make them follow but it doesn't. He doesn't want to leave them here but he makes sure he remembers exactly where they are as he scrambles through the halls back to the exit to the ship.
He ducks out of the hole, expecting relieving fresh air to hit him, but the gas has entirely flooded the area out here too, and it's still pouring out of the ship.
The sun has already set and he can't see anything anymore, not even with his helmet's spotlight. The night sky is too dark to see a single star or – anything.
He just starts moving, trying to follow what he remembers about where they left the shuttle they came here on. Once he gets there, he can send out a signal for help.
The gas starts to let up a little as he gets further away, finally enough that he can see again. He finally sees the shuttle and runs the rest of the way to the ramp. Something moves on the ramp and Rex jerks to a stop, already raising his blaster before he even sees what it is.
There's someone tiny sitting here, wearing one of the General's outer Jedi robes.
"Who are you?" he demands warily, taking a few steps closer.
The head raises and Rex gets a look at it's face.
And no, it's not a person. It's just – some kind of monkey. Must've raided their ship while they were away.
"Get out of here," Rex warns, taking a step closer.
The monkey doesn't move.
Fine.
Rex stalks up to it, grabbing ahold of the robe and yanking it off. Or tries to, at least, because the tiny creature grabs onto it with one hand, trying to yank it back. And then the monkey just slaps him.
Which doesn't hurt since he's wearing a helmet but it certainly would've if not for that.
He rips the robe free out of sheer annoyance, reaching for his blaster but the creature runs down the ramp. It pauses at the base, staring at the gas and starts shrieking loudly as it disappears into the night.
For a moment, he thinks it's just being annoying but an unsettling feeling settles in his gut suddenly. Rex turns around slowly, shining the spotlight on his helmet into the gas-filled darkness.
He can see two shapes moving through the gas toward him.
Finally.
"General!" Rex calls, relieved, "Commander?"
But there's no answer.
Rex moves a little closer, pausing when the light from his helmet shines onto the figures. The gas is still too thick to properly see but – those don't look his general or commander.
The figures are much taller, shadowy and towering. Almost like Wookies or something, but more of something else. He's not sure.
A steadily rising chill settles in his gut as he looks at them.
What –
What's happening? What's wrong with this place?
Are those animals or Wookies or something much worse?
All he knows is that he's had enough of this place. They need to get out of here.
Rex scrambles for cover, keeping his blaster raised and ready. If these creatures are a threat, he will fight them. And then he's going to get in there and get them out. He has no idea how but he's not leaving them there. Ever.
Anakin would never leave him behind and he knows the Commander wouldn't either.
But now, all he can do is wait as the figures continue striding closer.
Author's Note: For anyone who wants more, well me too. My brain decided to wake me up right here lol.
Final Notes: Reviews are always appreciated! ^-^
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