Chapter Text
Rex was exhausted.
He’d trekked through wind and rain and mud that clawed its way up to his chest, but the worst would always be desert.
The 501st was stationed on Ruusan, which was new for them, though early in the war they’d encountered General Grievous at a listening station atop one of the planet’s moons. When Ahsoka had taken on Grievous himself as a newly-minted Padawan.
He wondered whether she and Fives were still out there.
Communication was dangerous; he knew that. But it had been weeks without a word, and Rex was beginning to worry that something had happened to them.
The two of them were smart. They’d likely gotten the hell off Coruscant and were laying low on some backwater planet. He didn’t doubt for a second that Ahsoka had stuck with Fives. Even if he wished she’d stuck with the 501st.
The battalion was changed without her. Skywalker, for one, would probably never be the same. He acted like his usual self around the men, but it was easy enough for Rex to see past the facade after working with the man for years. Skywalker was distant, less grounded—more willing to take harebrained risks than he had ever been, even at the beginning of the war.
He registered Jesse approaching out of the corner of his eye and pulled free of his thoughts. “Report?”
Jesse frowned, removing his helmet and running a hand over his tattoo. “What we expected. The base is armed to the teeth—battle droids, droidekas, the works. I spotted six commandos, too. No sign of any superweapon, though.”
They’d been sent to Ruusan to investigate reports that the Seps were once again working on a new kind of weapon, specs unknown. Jesse had taken a squad to scout ahead for the base, which was about ten klicks ahead. Which meant they’d been lying low in the ferocious heat of day and freezing cold of night for two rotations, now. Ruusan wasn’t exactly known for its hospitality.
Rex sighed. “Better go inform the General.”
It was a Skywalker plan, alright.
They stopped just past the range of the base’s weapons. It was the middle of the night—darkness was one of the only semblances of cover a desert could provide, and they needed as much of that as they could get.
Skywalker stepped up beside where Rex laid on the ground. He crouched down, unwilling to lay against the sand. “Ready?”
If anyone hated the desert more than Rex, it was Skywalker.
Rex nodded, signaling the men to hold.
Skywalker stood up, eyes slipping closed, and outstretched his hand. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the sand started stirring.
“Sand will block their processing, at least partially,” Skywalker said, staring down at the ground with an expression of mild disgust. “And it’ll be nearly impossible for their targeting systems to find a mark if we can make a sandstorm.”
“Can you control all that sand, sir?” Rex asked.
“It’ll help if it’s windy. But yes. I’ve done it before.”
Rex had known not to push, not when Skywalker’s past was likely involved. But he trusted that it would work, and so far, so good.
The sand began rising higher and higher, swirling and undulating in fascinating patterns. They began to hear commotion from the base as the storm registered in their systems. Skywalker gritted his teeth and extended a second arm, beginning to walk forward. Columns of sand shot up to join the whirlwind, spinning faster and faster towards the base. Three, two, one…
Skywalker sped up, still controlling the sand. He was halfway to the base.
“Now!” Rex yelled, and the men surged forward after their General.
Just as they’d hoped, the droids weren’t able to target them through all the sand, and they reached the base entrance with only two injured from randomly aimed blaster bolts. Once the men had pressed against the base walls, Skywalker pushed back all the sand with a tremendous thump, and the real attack began in earnest.
They took out the first line of defense without much trouble, and Skywalker cut a hole through the blast doors for Rex to dive through and open for the rest of the troops.
Rex yelled out orders even as he worked to take out the dozens of droids before him. Skywalker jumped in front of him to block a hail of blasterfire, and Rex wheeled around to cover his six, nailing a commando droid with a blaster bolt to the head. The General was fighting like a man possessed, lightsaber an electric blue blur as it cut through a hail of metal. He wasn’t using the Force, likely having exhausted himself with the show outside, but it didn’t matter. A super battle droid was neatly cut in half, Skywalker not even slowing as he moved on to taking four battle droids at once.
Ridge went down with a shot to the shoulder, and Rex pulled away from the General to cover one of the assistant medics as they dragged the trooper back.
“Rex!” Skywalker called over his shoulder. “Give me a squads to take to the second floor!”
Rex signaled the affirmative, calling over comms: “Wave Company alpha squad, to the General!”
Wave Company men surged forward towards their General, and Rex did his best to clear a path for them. The horde of droids was thinning under an onslaught of blue, and soon after Skywalker disappeared they dispatched the last few clankers. Rex instructed Jesse to sweep the corridors for any stragglers, and took another squad up to the second floor.
Upstairs, most of the work was already done for them. Battle droids laid a smoking path down the main hallway, and Rex led the way to a cavernous chamber that was...empty.
Skywalker stood beside Kix as he worked over two men on the right side of the room, expression heavy. Kix looked up to Rex and shook his head.
“Two commandos came onto us in the hallway. No time to even react.” Kix’s tone was brusque, but his eyes betrayed him. Rex clapped him gently on the shoulder, and touched his fingers gently to the helmet of each trooper. After a moment, he turned to Skywalker, who swept the room with a considering expression.
“It looks like a place to hide a superweapon,” Rex mused. “But nobody’s home.”
Skywalker made a sound of agreement. “We found dustprints, though. Small crates, barrels. Ammunition, maybe. And something about this room…” He frowned, closing his eyes and concentrating. Rex waited until his eyes snapped open, satisfaction shining. “There’s an air current in here.” He turned ninety degrees to the right and walked forward. “Troopers, with me.”
The men gathered behind him and Rex, and Skywalker honed in on a single wall panel. “Here.”
“Kickback, do a scan.”
After a few moments, Kickback chuckled. “Definitely something behind that panel, sirs. It’s a different material than the others.”
Rex smiled beneath his helmet. “They probably know we’re coming.”
Skywalker grinned back. “In that case, we’d better give them a welcome present.”
BOOM.
The wall panel exploded into shrapnel, dust and smoke exploding into the air. In half a second, two droidekas surged out, but they were ready. Skywalker cut them both open before they could even uncurl. Panicked battle droid voices filled the air as Skywalker surged inside and they were quickly reduced to scrap. Behind the panel was an equally enormous room as the one they’d just vacated, and some sort of monstrous contraption.
Silver metal shone dully under the bright lights far above, pipes wider than Rex’s entire body curving outward in all directions from an enormous central hub. In the back of the hub, a large metal tube ran parallel to the ground and extended into the back wall. Rex had no idea what he was looking at.
Skywalker looked equally confused but recovered faster, opening his mouth to give orders. “Scan the per-”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” a new voice chimed in, and Skywalker went rigid.
All around them, battle droids emerged from behind wall panels until they were surrounded. From a panel in the back of the room, a human man emerged, smiling pleasantly. His white hair was pulled back into an immaculate bun, expensive fabric draped over his figure. “I couldn’t have you damaging my device.” He patted the weapon fondly. “Not when you are not even aware of its purpose!”
“Oh, I can guess its purpose just fine,” Skywalker said darkly. He raised his lightsaber.
“Weapons down, if you please, General Skywalker!” the man said, still smiling. Now that he was closer, Rex could see that the smile was not reaching his eyes. A cruel light glinted behind coronas of piercing green. “I would hate to make this....complicated.”
Skywalker’s free hand curled into a tight fist, but after glancing around at his surrounded men, he lowered his lightsaber. Rex and the others followed suit.
“Good, very good!” The man said, clapping twice. “Now, to explain.” He gestured proudly beside him. “I call it the Electrode. Perhaps it looks odd, but I assure you that this will turn the tide of the war! You see, this device disrupts specific electromagnetic wavelengths.” He laughed, high and cold. “Sounds unimpressive, no? But what makes this so interesting is that it can interrupt the magnetic induction system of your clone troopers’ favored blasters,” he said, gesturing to the blasters on the floor. “But it leaves a battle droid’s weapon quite unharmed!”
Uh oh.
“I have not had the opportunity to test on a lightsaber,” the man continued, “but I am quite excited to try.” He lifted a hand out of his robe and clicked a detonator device he had concealed there.
A piercing, screeching hum filled the room, and Rex clapped his hands to his ears. On the floor, his blaster let out a loud click. The battle droid’s weapons were silent, but Skywalker’s lightsaber twitched.
Shab.
Skywalker looked down at his weapon with an unreadable expression. The Sep scientists signaled to one of the battle droids to grab the lightsaber, which Skywalker allowed, fists curling and uncurling slowly. The battle droid handed the saber to the scientist, who quickly found the button to power it on.
Nothing happened.
The man gave a smile of triumph, holding the lightsaber over his head like a trophy. Anger filled Rex’s veins. “My battle droids! At last we have found the flaw in the Jedi’s armor! Now, we must make the preparations…”
The man continued on giving orders, oblivious to Skywalker craning his head toward Rex the barest amount, fists still curling and uncurling, but slightly different. Hand signals.
On mark. Drop.
Rex nodded, though he had no idea what Skywalker was going to do without his lightsaber. It didn’t matter, though. The longer they waited, the tighter the noose became around their neck. While the scientists talked, Rex relayed orders to the rest of the men. Stupid of the man, not to make them take their helmets off.
3, he signed. 2, 1, now.
The clone troopers dropped to the floor, and the lightsaber the scientist held suddenly powered on and whipped around the room, cutting into a third of the droids before they even stirred. The lightsaber rocketed into Skywalker’s hand, and he ran to engage, all the remaining droids honing in on the primary target, as was their programming. A mistake.
Rex rushed forward, still low to the ground, to the nearest battle droid, yanking the weapon out of its hands and blasting it in the core processing unit. All around him, his men did the same, most of them succeeding. Two fell beneath a hail of red before they could pry the weapons from the droid’s hands, but Rex didn’t let himself dwell on it, not yet. Skywalker was taking on the brunt of the droids, and the scientists had started running towards the exit in the chaos.
"Not so fast,” Rex growled. He dashed after the scientist, jumping between the man and the exit and leveling the blaster toward his chest. “You’re not getting off that easily.” He took the man into a headlock, blaster still pointed. “Call off the droids.” The man hesitated, and Rex released the safety of the blaster. “Do it!”
“Stand down!” the man yelled.
The droids ignored him. Great. Rex sighed heavily, and whacked the man in the head with the butt of his blaster, knocking him unconscious. He ran back to join the fight.
All told, casualties were low.
They lost three men total in the room with the Electrode—a stupid name, in Rex’s opinion—and eight more across the base. Twenty injured.
Once Rex had finished fielding reports and comforting empty-eyed troopers, he collapsed into the chair in his office, cushioning his head with a hand.
Skywalker had dismantled the weapon on-site, understanding the machinery enough to shut it down. He’d promised to fix their blasters, too.
“How’d you get your lightsaber to work, sir?” Rex asked.
Skywalker smiled sardonically. “It never malfunctioned, actually. I just separated one of the inner components with the Force once the scientist grabbed it.” He shrugged. “Then I just pushed it back together before I called it back.”
Rex laughed outright. “Bet our scientist didn’t see that coming.”
Skywalker chuckled alongside him. “I had no idea if it would work before I tried it. So, no, probably not.” He gestured to Rex’s holstered blasters. “I can fix those once we get back to the cruiser.”
“Thanks, sir.”
Skywalker clapped him on the shoulder. “Anytime.”
Rex came out of his reverie as his comm started flashing. He clicked to answer, but no voice came out, just an odd beeping. He frowned, clicking again, but the beeping continued. What?
The sounds were patterned oddly; some long, some short. Was it a message of some kind? Maybe–
The answer hit him in the gut, and he scrambled to remember the code.
Months ago, he and Fives had tried to devise a code for covert communication using an antiquated pulse system as a reference. They’d never put it into practice, because the messages were long and teaching the entire battalion would take time they never had. This was it.
The message was short, but Rex had to repeat it twice to make sure he understood what Fives wanted him to do.
We found something. Must make contact. Next assignment? Stay quiet.
Rex frowned. Found something? Found what?
It had to go back to Tup. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Fives had been accused of attempted assassination after returning from Kamino, without Tup. There was something there, Rex knew it. He just didn’t know what.
But… we found something. Ahsoka had stayed with Fives. The thought brought a warm feeling to his chest. It still hurt that she’d left the 501st, but this proved that she’d never meant it as a permanent goodbye. He just wished they’d been able to talk before she left.
But they would talk soon, if he’d translated this message correctly. If whatever they’d uncovered was big enough to warrant radio silence for weeks, only broken by a frustratingly vague message, then they’d need all the help they could get.
Whatever news Fives and Ahsoka had, they could deal with it. Together.
Rex began to formulate his response.