Chapter Text
"We've almost got them!" Anakin shouted gleefully, deflecting a few blasts from enemy forces.
"We've taken sector three," Ahsoka announced proudly through the comm. Anakin grinned as he mowed through another group of the flimsy droids. So thin, so frail. He wondered at their success when it felt like a child could break them. This was almost too easy. Although some men had fallen, the death toll was minimal compared to other missions of its kind.
Rex's voice rang through his comms. "We've almost got them here, but they're getting backup. We need reinforcements."
"Fives, Hardcase, Tup!" Anakin called, "come with me!" He led the small team through the jungle to Rex's position, cutting through the droids and undergrowth in the same blows. It felt satisfying, all this matter giving way at his touch. He mounted a small hill to see a team of his men firing against a rapidly growing hoard of droids. After he arrived, they made quick work of them. After only a minute, the ground was littered with the jagged pieces of the machines while other fled to retreat.
"Master, we've taken the Base," Ahsoka informed him proudly. The battalion cheered. Anakin turned to them with a grin. He paused as he performed a quick head count of the remaining soldiers. His smile fell as he scanned the helmets for the iconic pattern.
"Where's Rex?"
Ahsoka mounted the hill behind him. "What?" Everyone began glancing around, repeating the question in confused mutters.
Anakin turned and squinted into the trees, lifting his comm. "Rex, what's your position?"
Silence. Anakin felt his heart drop. "Rex," he repeated, "where are you?"
After another moment, Ahsoka stepped forward, activating her own comm. "Rex!" she called, desperation tinging her voice. Anakin was scanning the battlefield, gaze frantically flitting from one dead body to another. No, he prayed. Please, please, no, not him.
Ringing static buzzed through her comm, then his muffled voice. "Get off me, you-!" Then more silence.
Ahsoka's eyes widened. Anakin turned and jumped as high as he could, scrambling into the branches of a nearby tree. He squinted in the bright sunlight.
He finally spotted the enemy ship, not too far away, ramp open as droids retreated desperately. Anakin's heart dropped.
Two droids dragged someone between them. Though it was far, Anakin knew him anywhere. The kilt of his uniform was recognizable enough, not to mention his uniquely pale hair. He was struggling weakly against his captors, blood pouring down the side of his face.
"Rex!" Anakin shouted, jumping down from the tree. He tore blindly through the jungle, unsheathing his lightsaber. He vaguely sensed Ahsoka following. The undergrowth snapped at his face, snagged his clothes as he ran, but he didn't care. He tore into the clearing just as the ramp began closing. "No!" He ran forward, but he wasn't fast enough. The ship powered up and began slowly rising from the ground.
Ahsoka skidded to a stop beside him and raised her arms, straining to keep hold of the ship, hold it down through the Force. Anakin joined her, straining desperately.
Please.
He felt his grip slipping.
Please, not him!
His grip broke. Ahsoka cried out in surprise and fell forward as the craft shot upwards.
"No!" Anakin screamed. But it was too late. It was long gone.
He was long gone.
He stood frozen for a long time, staring in shock at the empty sky above him. He eventually turned to see Ahsoka kneel on the ground and pick something up. She carefully wiped the mud off of Rex's helmet. Holding it in both hands, she turned to her Master with pain in her eyes.
"Master?" she whispered shakily.
He just stared at the helmet in her hands. Rex always kept it pristine and clean. Now it was covered in mud and dust. Anakin spotted blood near the bottom and felt his stomach turn. His gaze drifted to the tally marks on the side, and his resolve hardened.
He stepped forward and placed his hands over Ahsoka's. "We're going after him" he promised her firmly. "We won't leave him behind."
Ahsoka nodded in determination and handed him the helmet. Anakin took a deep breath and turned around. The rest of the battalion was emerging from the forest, clearly confused.
Fives pulled off his helmet, staring at Rex's helmet in Anakin's hands. He looked up in dismay. "What happened?" he murmured.
Anakin took a deep breath. "Captain Rex is alive," he announced loudly. "But he was captured." He nodded to Fives. "Fives, get the injured to the Base." He turned to Ahsoka as Fives nodded and turned away. "You get back to the ship and start tracking him."
She nodded and straightened up, clearly struggling to regain her composure. "What about you?"
He pulled his holocomm off his belt and turned away. "I need to make a call."
Rex wasn't entirely sure how he'd gotten onto the ship. He knew it wasn't his ship. He couldn't hear the voices of his men or his commanders. His vision was fuzzy and white around the edges, but he could see shapes that were too skinny and elongated to be clone troopers, meaning they must be droids. He could also feel warm blood trickling down the side of his face. That might account for part of the problem. Dank Farrik, his head hurt. What the kriff was going on? Everything was spinning, and he was still struggling to remember what had happened.
The shrill voice a battle droid rang out right next to him, making him wince. "Admiral Trench!" it announced gleefully. "We've captured a clone captain!"
Ah.
Farrik.
Rex heard a rough laugh as he was turned around and pushed to his knees, his hands held behind his back. He grit his teeth and looked up, squinting at the large silhouette in the fluorescent lights of the ship. Farrik, his head HURT.
The shape leaned closer, allowing Rex to make out his grotesque features. He was huge and bulky and covered with a thick fur. The two pincers and eight gleaming eyes on his face were only inches from Rex's.
"Excellent!" Admiral Trench sneered, grabbing Rex's face with one grotesque claw.
Rex couldn't help but recoil in disgust, glaring venomously at his captor.
Trench scoffed and straightened up, turning away. "Set a course for -"
He didn't finish his sentence. Rex shot to his feet and slammed his shoulder against the nearest battle droid, pinning it against the wall as he grabbed its blaster. As he wrenched it away and straightened up, though, his vision went completely white. His legs felt weak
No.
His knees buckled and he dropped the blaster, gasping for breath. It was so hard to breathe. He felt something grab his shoulder as Trench laughed loudly.
"Valiant effort, my friend!" he jeered. "Sedate him, lock him up. And do something about that head wound, we want him in good condition."
He tried to struggle, even as his vision remained blank, but something else grabbed his other shoulder and held him still.
NO.
He felt a needle in his neck and his head seemed to fill with sand. He felt himself falling and seemed to hear himself hit the ground from a mile away.
Rex was a proud man. He was raised as a soldier and given the title of a captain. He didn't ask for assistance unless he really needed it. He was strong and capable, and he didn't like admitting to weakness. Yet in his last moments before completely passing out, all he could do was silently beg for help. He only hoped someone could hear him.