Chapter Text
"With that said, finish your tasks, and do what you need to prepare for the landing. Dismissed!"
The Torrent company captain held his stance as his orders were met with a chorus of the usual "Sir, yes Sir!" before seeing the men disband and go off to their various activities.
Christophsis has been quite a… unique battle as he could so lightly put it.
A series of back and forth advantages to either sides. With them initially holding the onus with the cannons, and then the Separatists with the shield generator.
General Skywalker's incredibly insane yet effective tactics, one that he is still trying to catch up to as he recognizes that it'll be a common thing in the future.
And last but not least, the General's new Padawan. One that he initially denied of wanting, but he overheard him address the small Togrutan as Padawan earlier when they boarded the gunship, so something must have changed.
His thoughts were then interrupted by a call "Oi Rex!"
He turned to the source of the call to find Denal, one his only Sergeant Major marching over to him.
"Something you need Sarge?" the Captain purposely applying more pressure on his last word to remind the Sergeant of protocol, to which Denal notices.
"Ah yes" Denal almost bashfully replied "Sorry Captain, force of habit"
Habit it was, Denal had been a shiny that Rex kept a close eye on, seeing as Commander Colt viewed that the trooper had excellent potential as noted in his assignment form given to him. Ever since the two had become good friends and kept tabs on each other, making his habit understandable.
"It's alright Denal, you needed something?" the Captain continued his question, with Denal remembering his inquiry.
"Uh yeah, me and the Sarges of the other squads were just wondering who'd be our CO for the next mission" he asked.
Rex's eyebrows quirked in slight confusion "I thought Ward is the Lieutenant in charge?"
Denal's eyes dimmed "He didn't make the battle Sir" he relayed with a bit of sorrow in his voice.
"Oh, I see" Rex replied with a sombre tone. He hadn't had the time to review the casualties with the chain of missions that were occurring "Who's his second-in-command?"
"It was Thyrp sir" Denal replied quickly.
"How about him?"
"Also dead, Sir"
"Oh" Rex replied with a grim finality, mentally cursing himself for once again not checking the casualties sooner.
He then noted the Sergeants confused expression, to which he then realizes that it is a perfect opportunity to put his good friend to the test.
"How about you then?" he firmly suggests.
Denal's head immediately perked up "Uuhh, Sir?"
Rex chuckled at his expression "You heard me, how about it?"
"Me? Lieutenant?" Denal struggling to form his sentence "You kidding me Re- I mean, uh, Captain?"
"Why not?" the Captain said with a smile while crossing his arms "You've got the makings of a good one, besides that, I'd need one for Teth" he set his form and tone a bit more firmly "So, are you up for it?"
Denal immediately formalized his stance and got his head up "It would be an honor Sir!"
"Alright then Sarge" Rex then lighten his stance up "Congratulations on your promotion. Don't take this for granted son"
Denal had a beaming smile before Rex continues "After this you better get to your squad, pick out another Sarge. Notify the other Sergeants of the new platoon leadership. Try to get it sorted before we go out of hyperspace, you got that?"
"Sir yes Sir!" he proclaimed, before softening his stance "Thanks Rex, you won't regret this"
"I know I won't" the Captain replies, placing a hand on the newly promoted clone's shoulder "Just keep at what I've taught you and-"
His statements were then cut off by the blinking of his commlink, to which he immediately retracted his hand to talk to.
"Rex here"
The familiar voice of Anakin Skywalker sounds out through the device "Skywalker here, sorry to interrupt, you busy?"
Another unique quality of the new General, most of the others would just up and ordered him without asking. Skywalker on the other hand, would never forget to ask when they were in downtime.
"Not at all, need something General?"
He hears the Jedi sighing, seemingly almost exasperated "Have you seen Ahsoka anywhere, looks like she ran off again"
Rex shot a quick inquiring look to Denal, who only shrugged in response.
"Can't say I have General, you need assistance?"
"Huh, might as well" Anakin said "If you see her, tell her that I'm at the bridge, I'm going to need her here for briefing"
"I'll be sure to do that General" Rex acknowledged.
"You know what, just in case" Anakin continued "Why don't you make sure that she gets here? She seems to listen to you more than she does listen to me"
Rex chuckled internally at his General's quip, whilst noticing Denal's amused expression.
"Right away General, I'll keep you posted"
"Alright, thanks Rex. Skywalker out." And with that, the commlink ended its signal. Rex moved his hand down while Denal gave him a funny look.
"Being sent on a Jakrab hunt ey Captain?"
"More like a Padawan hunt" he shot back, scanning his surroundings for any signs of the teenager "Any idea where she is?"
"Nah not a clue" Denal answered, although his head was wondering elsewhere "Since when did the General decided to get a Padawan? I thought you said that he was never even considering on getting one"
"Well that's what he told me" he gave a scratch of his head to further implicate his confusion, while also having his memories flashback to just about a week ago.
It had been the walk back to the gunship in Arantara where he was knocked unconscious, surprising him with the fact that the good General had return to get him. They were having a little conversation when Anakin's holopad lit up, revealing the familiar shape of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Anakin are you- Rex? Is everything okay down there?" the worried Jedi asked.
"We're all fine down here Master" Anakin replied with a chuckle, repositioning Rex's arm to give him better support on his shoulders "Rex just took a bit of a knock, other than that all is clear"
Obi-Wan just gave him a silent look before Anakin cuts back in.
"So… You need help or something? Didn't just contact for no reason did ya?"
Obi-Wan feigned an offended expression "What? Can't a Master check on his Padawan every once in a while, just to see how he's doing?"
"Ex-Padawan" Anakin interjects with a mock annoyed expression "I'm a Knight now, remember?"
"Yes yes… whatever you say, and speaking of Padawans, I'm actually considering on taking another one, what do you think?"
Anakin just gave his master an incredulous look "At this time of the war? Really Master?" following with a sigh "Well whatever you say then. Hey, maybe this time you'll find someone who actually enjoys listening to your three hour- long lectures about protocol!"
Rex had a bit of a chuckle alongside his General's, but he stopped as soon as he noticed the other General's unamused look.
"Haha very funny Anakin" Obi-Wan then proceeded to look at Rex "Captain, if your good General here ever gets out of hand, feel free to reprimand him in any way you see fit. I'd be there to excuse you"
He wasn't sure of what to reply, but with the look that Anakin was giving him, he decided to come up with the safest answer, at least, for his benefits it was.
"I make no promises Sir"
Anakin gave the Captain a thumbs up while giving his old Master a wry smile, to which Obi-Wan could only sigh in resignation.
"Anakin please consider in NOT spreading your… exuberance to the rest of the men. I have enough trouble in dealing with one of you, no need another one hundred and forty-four men having the same mindset as you do"
And with that, the projection then fades away, with Anakin putting it back to his belt.
"That cranky old man, can't believe he's taking another Padawan in these days. May the Force help the unfortunate soul that they end up sending to him"
They continued walking for a bit, before Rex decided to bring up the Padawan topic "What about you Sir?"
"Hm?" Anakin perked up to his Captain "What about me?"
"You're not considering taking one of those Padawans thingy Sir?"
"Me!? Naah…" the Jedi laughed at the question "Probably never, a Padawan would really just slow me down"
The Captain murmured a hum understanding, before finally letting the silence come back in and focus on walking back to the gunship. Not knowing that his question would soon be brought up in a quick turn of events.
Rex smiled at the memory, before being interrupted by a light "Rex!"
He looked forward to see the Togrutan bounding over from a distance, slipping a quick "Speak of the devil" to Denal, who chuckled silently before straightening up to regulations, Ahsoka however, was having none of it.
"Um, as you were, uhhh" Ahsoka apologetically waved not knowing his name, to which by habit, Denal immediately perked up and replied.
"Clone Lieutenant designation CT-4373 Commander Tano!"
He didn't notice the silence, until he looked back at his Commander, who had a pretty confused face, causing Denal to think that he had made a mistake, in pronouncing his own designation no less, but the Togrutan assured him otherwise.
"Umm, not that exactly" she started "I meant like, do you have a name? Like Rex here?"
Ooh. Was his internal monologue, he gave Rex a quick inquisitive look, in which all he got was a smirk and a slight nod.
That's strange. He remarked to himself, but then realizing that this is a Padawan who's learning under General Skywalker, who always tried to remember every trooper by name. Albeit it's only been some hours, but it's no surprise that a few of the General's habits had bled into the student.
"Oh pardon me Commander, the name's Denal" he replied with finality.
"Ah, nice to meet you Denal" Ahsoka said while gesturing towards the two clones "Were you two busy? I can always come back later?"
Rex decided to step in "Not at all, I just finished promoting Denal here to Lieutenant" he gestured to Denal who showed a small smile "He was just getting back to his platoon to inform them of the change"
Ahsoka perked up in hearing the trooper's newest accomplishment, seeming genuinely happy for him.
"Really!? Wow congratulations then Denal! Oh and please, don't let me hold you up if you have matters to attend to"
"R-right" Denal then straightens his pose again "If you'd excuse me Commander, Sir" giving a brief salute to both COs before bounding back towards his waiting brothers.
The pair watched as he marches away, before Rex turns his attention back to Ahsoka.
"The General's looking for you, kid. He needs you in the bridge"
Ahsoka immediately let out a very audible groan "Really? But I had some questions that I wanted to ask you"
"Well then, Commander" he gestured to the door, allowing to fall in step with him "You can ask me on the way there"
"You're escorting me?" she complained whilst placing her hands on her hips "What, he thinks I'm gonna run off again?"
"Well, are you?"
She gave the Captain a half glare, and then looks away from him.
"Probably"
A small chuckle caught her attention as the Captain reemphasizes his gesture to escort her.
"Ugh fine! But it's only cause you had a fair point"
"Whatever you say kid"
He was about to start his walk when she stopped him once again.
"By the way, did I use it correctly?"
Rex's brows furrowed "Used what correctly Sir?"
"That as you were thing, did I use it correctly?"
"Oh" remembering that the Padawan is just familiarizing herself with the standard protocols "That was just fine kid"
The two then began their walk towards the bridge, at first accompanied by a comfortable silence between the two. Occasionally nodding and greeting acknowledging passing officers and troopers, which Rex noticed seemed to be all a bit weird for the militarily inexperienced Padawan.
His point was proven when she finally broke the silence.
"Do they always have to do that?"
"Always do what exactly Sir?"
"You know…" she waved at the myriad of officers and troopers who had passed them "All that greeting and what not, does it not annoy you all that you have to do it every time one of us just walks by?"
The Captain can't help but be amused that that particular aspect of military command was the one that had bugged her, prompting him to delve deeper into her questionings.
"Was this one of the questions that you wanted to ask me Commander?"
"Well… sort of," she replied with a sigh "It was kind of improvisatory, just cause it took me forever to get from my quarters all the way to the hangar with me trying to answer all their "commanders" and "Sirs" all the time"
Her statement took Rex by surprise "All of them?"
She nodded, not quite understanding his astonishment.
"You replied to every single greeting?"
Her eyebrows quirked up "Was I not supposed to?"
"Uhm, well…" Rex's pace slows as he was thinking of an answer "Not exactly… but most of the time, a nod would really suffice just as well"
"A nod!?" her expressions turn horrified, almost making Rex think that he had said the wrong thing "Wouldn't that just be rude!?"
"Uhh" At this point, the experienced Captain had run out of explainable replies to the abashed Togrutan. He then began explaining the case from his own personal view.
"We all kind of get used to it kid" he pauses, observing her expressions to see that it clearly wasn't enough of a reason "Even the General does it time-to-time"
Ahsoka sighed at his statement "Yeah, but at least Skyguy bothered remembering and telling me all your names" she gave him an assumptive look "But all the Generals do that don't they? Referring to you all by names?"
Rex strangely felt guilt slowly creeping in him as he stayed silent to her statement, all while seeing her grin slowly but surely fades away until she came to her own horrid realization.
"They don't!?"
"Well to be fair Commander-"
"And that too!" she pointed a finger to him, with Rex backing his head a bit, feeling the pressure of her pointing "Do you always have to call me Commander?"
"The protocol states that-"
"To hell with protocol Rex!" she made him halt to further focus her point "Do you think that it's fair for you and your brothers to be treated this way?"
For once in his highly situational life, Rex wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"I can't really say for sure Comm-"
Her glare prevented him from continuing his sentence, before he corrected it.
"Uh, I mean, can't say for sure, kid"
She kept her glare on him for a few more seconds, before exhaling a breath that even she didn't realize that she was keeping, and then proceeded to continue her walk, this time, at a slower pace.
Rex immediately fell in step with her, barely recovering from the slight outburst that the teenager had. Their walk continued with a silence that was somewhat constrictive, at least until she spoke up again, much to the relieve of the Captain.
"Is that why Denal gave me his designation number instead of his name?"
He winced at the memory, he forgot that he'd always enforced his friend to keep regs up when in the presence of commanding officer, he failed to realized how far his friend might go up on the regs on occasion.
"Yes"
"So, it's really only me and Master Skywalker who does it regularly?"
"Well not exactly" Rex began finding his ground again "Some of the other Generals try their best. General Kenobi in my experience, has really tried to keep up with General Skywalker's habit, at least Cody also says so"
"Cody?" she interjects for a bit "His legion Commander?"
He nodded in answer "Most of the other Generals try their best to their credit kid. At least I've never worked with those who refer to us by our numbers"
"Your numbers?"
He cringed, almost regretting on saying that, fully expecting another outburst from her, but only find her sighing to herself.
"I can't understand that"
"Sorry Sir?"
"I just can't!" placing one of her hand on her forehead, clearly being perturbed by the fact that's being laid in front of her "It's just, all of them are way more experienced than I am in the Force, but even I can tell the difference between all of you!"
She noticed his eyebrows raised somewhat inquisitively to her statement, she looked at him in the eyes to offer him to assurance.
"Yes, trust me, I can"
"Not that I doubt you kid" he states earnestly "I know that Force is nothing up my alley, but in all fairness, we are clones. We were bred from a single man's genetic code, and you can differentiate all of us?"
"Of course I can! You may physically look similar, but you all occupy the Force differently, or at least, that's what Master Yoda said"
Seeing that Rex was still questioning her statement, she decided to give him some evidence.
"Here, stop for a bit" they stopped right before a corner comes in, she stayed still for a bit, and pointed towards the corner. "I can tell you that Boost is coming up from that corner any second now"
They waited for a few seconds, and lo-and-behold the clone pilot rounded the corner and immediately took notice of the two COs.
"Sir!" he claims while saluting.
"Heading to the hangar Boost?" she replied while giving a smug grin to the Captain.
"Right you are Commander" he gave her an air fist action movement "Gotta make sure those ships are primed and ready to beat some clankers off the sky"
"That so? Alright then, don't want to be holding you up, don't we Captain?"
"Uhh, right" was all he could procure form being proven so wrong.
"I'll get right to it Commander" giving a final salute to the Togrutan and the Captain.
He waited until Boost rounded the corner before he concedes.
"Alright fine, so you can differentiate us"
"Ha, don't doubt me next time Rexster" giving him a sly wink in the process "Although in fairness, that was a bit lucky"
"How so?"
"I wasn't sure whether it was Boost or Torbin. They both have the same fiery sort of blasting off feeling from them, so I had to bet a little bit"
Rex couldn't really say anything. Here he is being confronted on his beliefs, by a teenager who had only been in the warfare for barely half a day, yet he never felt being confronted by someone as sure and as believing as she is, and she wasn't stopping.
He just had to chuckle to himself a little bit, noticing the irony of how he told her that experience outranks everything.
Yet here he is feeling so utterly inexperienced at the matter she had presented.
"Sorry Rex" her apology sounded foreign to him, as he looked at her to see that the Padawan looks somewhat dispirited "I'm just nervous, and all this is really a lot to take in"
The Captain can only nod in understanding. To her credit, she has proven at least to him that even though she's a fourteen-year-old, she's not one to cower behind the youthfulness of her age, and she's really not one to back away from matters of any kind of importance.
"To your credit kid," he gestured to her form "You've exceeded most of our expectations so far. The General practically threw you at me, and so far, you've seemed to be handling his… unique qualities pretty well"
"Still…"
Slowly, the confident and confronting Padawan he saw earlier was replaced by an anxious and abstinent teenager. One whom he has observed as being pressured almost all-to-quickly to endure her new responsibilities in a war that's beginning take its toll.
"This Teth mission, Master warned me that we'd be quite deep within enemy lines, albeit we won't be in a full-blown battlefield, mistakes can still come up from just about anything."
Rex continued his attentive gaze, encouraging her to continue, to which she does.
"I'm scared that somewhere in the mission, I'd mess up, get someone killed, and having to live with that shadow for the rest of my life"
It is the cruel reality of any war. One mistake can lead to your demise, or even worse, the demise of others. Rex alone had found himself in those scenarios, considering the "what ifs" and "I could've" parts of the aftermath, only to realize that it is to no avail.
Something that he'd want to share with the teenager.
"Look, Ahsoka"
The usage of her name certainly brought her full attention on him, enticing the proper reaction that he had wanted out of her.
"I would say with certainty that every soldier, clone or not, would always know the risk of going into battle" he began, carefully arranging his words hastily in his mind to make sure that it doesn't end up creating a misunderstanding of the advice he was trying to bestow.
Ahsoka kept her blue orbs on his brown ones, all while focusing to the new pace that they had slowed to.
"I know that but-"
Her sentence was cut-off by his softly raised hand, preempting her to go back to attentive silence.
"I wasn't finished Commander" his gruff voice starting to sound out a bit more "These men, our men, trust those of us within the higher command, with their, individual, life."
She noticed his emphasis on individual, which brought her to recognize his acknowledgement on her will to regard all of them as such.
"They all live their days and battles as if it were their last. But that's not to be discouraging; it is their way of wanting to live their potentially short lives to the fullest, without having any regrets to leave behind, should it come to their fall."
His words once again, cut deep into her young heart, wishing for things to be different.
"I wish they don't have to have that dawning feeling in their heads all the time"
"But that's just it kid, it's not only us" he continues on, gesturing to herself "You have that thought too, don't you?"
The question forced her to reached within the inner depths of her mind, silently wondering on whether or not she had pondered that question after only being in the field for such a short amount of time.
And in all honesty,
She had.
"With where I am now, I can't help but think about it as well"
Rex allowed a small smile of satisfaction to grace his features, finally being able to relay his point.
"Exactly" watching as the Padawan understood his message "You think about it, I think about it, the men thinks about it, kriff even the General thinks about it"
An inquisitive eyebrow was raised at the Captain's choice of word, but he was to indulged in his process of enlightening her that he didn't end up noticing, so choose to let it slide, thinking of asking him about it later on.
"So, whether it be a mistake, a trap, a false direction within the strategy, those men will always die believing that they were standing for what they believe in"
He suddenly went on a halt, prompting Ahsoka to realize that they were near the bridge command centre. She spared a glance towards the door, and then back to Rex, still having a shroud of doubt within her mind about the other matter.
"That's good to know" she sighed in somewhat of relieve "But it still bothers me that you and your men are subjected to such ridiculous treatments. I don't even think that I warrant any kind of respect from you guys!"
"Trust me kid" he awkwardly placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, obviously unfamiliar with the situation in hand "You've earned your share of respect from the men just by having that mindset"
He retracted his hand almost immediately to avoid any sort of breach in regs, crossing his arms instead.
"If the men didn't like you, you'd definitely have heard from either me, or the General"
"Not one to mince your words huh Cap?"
Rex gave a slight smirk "Not at all Commander, it's entertaining to see the General finally have someone to trade wits with"
"Oooh, so that's just it huh?" she emulated the stance that the Captain has, finally melting back to her playful self "I'm the new in-flight entertainment?"
A soft chuckle escaped his lips "Take it as our moniker for… appreciation, Commander"
"Appreciation…" she muttered those words as if they held a different meaning, then she locked her eyes on his, as if searching for anything hidden, any trickery or lies.
But all she found was truth, honesty, and sincerity.
One that she was eager to return.
All he saw was a slight blur of orange, before suddenly feeling a light enveloping sensation around his torso.
In a split second, she had wrapped her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes, and had rested her chin on his shoulder.
Rex stood frozen, unsure of what to do and how to respond except for a quiet "Uuhh, Sir?"
"Take this as my moniker of appreciation, Captain"
He didn't know what it was, but as soon as she gave a final squeeze and gently let go,
He finds himself not wanting to let go.
Which is strange, considering he didn't even know what just happened. Just something that is so unfamiliar, yet so gentle.
It felt natural.
His mind finally snaps back as soon as he heard the big door to the bridge open up, with the young Padawan beckoning him to follow suit, forcing him to fumble in his attempt to straighten his stance, eliciting a laugh from the girl, and go back to being the soldier that he is.
The two were then greeted by an energized Anakin Skywalker, who had just finished off speaking with Admiral Yularen.
"There you are Snips; I trust that you didn't give Rex any trouble?"
"Well…" Ahsoka started, slightly nudging the Captain with a playful glint in her eyes "Did I Captain?"
His ears suddenly felt a little hot, with his mouth struggling to form words "Uuh… not at all General"
Anakin however, noticed his Captain's slight unbalance "You sure? You're looking a bit red there Captain"
He mentally forced himself to put his stoic upfront back "Just had a bit of trouble reorganizing Denal's new platoon General, both his Lieutenants didn't make the last battle Sir"
As if he'd be troubled by that, was his inner monologue, and fortunately for him, Ahsoka remained shut during their exchange, only sparing him the occasional knowing glance, fully exposing his ploy.
The good General however, completely bought it "Oh, that's unfortunate" his tone laced with regret, but reverting back to neutral in an instant "Extend my congratulations to Denal later on, I'm sure he'll do fine under you"
Rex gave the Jedi a firm nod "Will do, General"
Anakin gave him a nod in reply and immediately turned his attention to Ahsoka "Now Ahsoka, here's some of the things that you should know about Teth"
The rest of the briefing became quite a blur for the Captain, with his thoughts still lingering on what just happened outside the bridge. Still trying to comprehend the unfamiliar feeling of the… gesture? He can call it a gesture can he?
Little did he know that during his own internal debate, a pair of green orbs observed quietly while splitting its attention to the Jedi Knight.
He knew then and there that she would become a Jedi not quite like any of the ones that he's ever met, or ever will.
And his convictions were further cemented when they reunite after safely returning Jabba's son, where she apologized profusely for not being able to help him when he was in need of assistance in Teth, telling him to blame her since it was her suggestion to aid Jabba's son instead of her Master's. Her apologies multiplied when she learned that he and Denal were the only two left before Obi-Wan managed to come in with reinforcements.
Her frantic attempts at forgiveness that he already deemed unnecessary were only met with chuckles from the two other Generals and amused laughter from himself, Denal, and Cody.
Marking the beginning of a relationship that only blossoms from there on.