Work Text:
Rex wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about their new commander.
She was young.
Well, she was technically older than him. The accelerated aging, however, made him an adult and her a fourteen year old child being thrust into a war zone. She was bright, and had a ferocious streak that matched General Skywalker’s. She was reckless, but wasn’t their entire legion like that?
She was also wearing a tube top in battle.
He needed to contact someone about that.
General Skywalker had waved him off when he had mentioned it, saying that she was a Jedi and could take care of herself. Besides, he had said, it was Togrutan culture.
Rex thought it wasn’t safe.
She’d only been with them for a month and they had spent most of it traveling, General Skywalker beginning to train her. Most of the shinies were awestruck by the two Jedi. To be perfectly honest, Rex was a little awestruck as well, but he didn’t put much faith in the force.
Did he believe it was real?
Sure.
Was he going to trust these two lightsaber wielding, jumping into chaos maniacs that were somehow above him in the chain of command?
Maybe.
She stood next to him now, barely coming up to his chest, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet as the ship they were in drew closer to the attack point. He understood why General Skywalker had paired her with him, but it was still uncomfortable.
It was hard enough watching his men, now he had to look after a child as well?
“Ready?”
General Skywalker’s voice crackled over the comn.
“Yes sir.”
Rex replied, giving a curt nod.
Commander Tano beamed and gave Rex and the men surrounding them a huge thumbs up, her teeth in a dangerous grin.
“We’re all good here, Skyguy!”
General Skywalker was leading a team towards the front gates of the separatist base while he and Commander Tano snuck into the back to blow the communications.
“And…go!”
There was the rumble of cannons firing at the main gate and the ship they were in touched down at the back. Rex leapt off first, hitting the ground and blasting the first two unsuspecting droids. Commander Tano was right at his heels, deflecting a blaster bolt with her lightsaber and flashing a grin at him.
More droids than they had expected were surrounding them.
Rex hissed a curse under his breath, spinning around and blasting the next droid quickly. Droidekas were appearing and Commander Tano lunged to take care of them, her lightsaber a deadly glow as the rest of his small team of men hurried to try and take out the droids.
There was a shout of pain and Rex cursed again, turning to see one of his men had gotten shot in the arm. Nothing fatal, but would definitely impact the team.
“Rex!”
Commander Tano was at his side now, her eyes narrowed in concentration.
“Have the men secure this part of the base. We’ll head in and take out the communications center.”
He stared at her.
“I’m not sure—”
“It’ll be faster! Come on!”
She shouted, shoving two droids away with the force and kicking the door open.
She wasn’t wrong.
The quicker they could get in and take out the communications and force shields, the quicker they could regroup and get medical attention.
“Secure the landing!” He shouted at his men. “We’ll take out the communications and then we can get out of here!”
There were various shouts of acknowledgment and he sprinted after the commander.
Up two stairs and down one hallway, the intel proving true as they were led directly into the communications center. Rex took watch at the door as Commander Tano reached the computers.
A droid appeared around the corner and Rex shot it before it had a chance to make a sound.
“Hurry, sir.”
He said over his shoulder, Commander Tano humming in acknowledgment.
Two minutes of nervous waiting before she finally let out a whoop of success. He felt a small grin spread across his face and turned to face her.
The lights suddenly powered down and they were cast into darkness.
“Commander?”
“Sorry.”
She said, clearly not having meant to cut the power to everything.
“Hang on.”
He said, trying to flick the night vision on in his helmet.
“Rex.”
Commander Tano said and he frowned.
Her voice sounded nervous.
“What is it, sir?”
There was a clanking sound.
Shit.
“Rex, move!”
He dove to the side on instinct as Commander Tano’s lightsaber flashed bright green and a shower of sparks erupted. He saw, in the light, a droid with its blaster pointed directly at him. Sliced in half as Commander Tano snarled ferociously.
There was no longer any ground beneath his feet.
He screamed but before he could plummet towards the ground Commander Tano had reached towards him.
He stared at her in the green light of her lightsaber, her brows and jaw clenched as he was suspended in midair by what had to be the force. This was nothing like when General Skywalker would shove him somewhere in the force. This was calm, and calculated, and, judging from the sweat beading on her forehead, extremely difficult.
She pulled him forward until he could feel the ground beneath his feet.
He let out a shaky sigh as he stood up straight, the only light still from Commander Tano’s lightsaber.
“Are you alright?”
She asked and he nodded.
“Thanks, Commander.”
She flashed a grin in the dim light.
“You can trust me, ya know.”
“I know, kid.”
She reached out and slid open the door to the hallway.
“Come on.”
He finally switched on his night vision and the two of them took off back towards the rest of the men, this part of the mission completed.
Rex grunted as he hauled himself up for his hundredth pull-up, the sweat running down his face. He didn’t normally get the gym to himself, so he always had to take advantage of it when the opportunity arose.
He dropped to the ground, shaking his hands before grabbing his water bottle.
The door slid open and he sighed, turning to see who was interrupting him.
Oh.
It was just Commander Tano.
She waved at him before wandering over to the other side of the gym, dropping into a stretch that should be impossible for anyone else.
He shook his head, suppressing a laugh before going for another round of pull-ups.
Commander Tano had been part of the 501st for about a year now and she had saved his life more times then he could count. No longer the youngling that he was nervous about protecting, she was probably more skilled than the rest of them.
He did about fifty more pull-ups before he was distracted by the fact that his water bottle was floating up by his head. He dropped to the ground and snatched it out of the air, turning to see that Commander Tano was now meditating, various items flying in the air around her.
“Commander.”
He said, watching as a heavy weight floated higher in the air.
“Commander!”
Her eyes flew open and everything in the air dropped.
“Sorry.”
She said and he smiled at her.
“What’re you doing?”
He asked and she rolled her eyes.
“Ugh. Master Kenobi says I need to meditate more and Anakin is actually agreeing with him.”
“Wow.”
“I know.”
She made a face and he laughed, sitting down next to her. His workout was interrupted anyway, he might as well just cut it short and stretch now.
She closed her eyes again and he watched as she tried to sink back into a meditative state. Her eyes flew open after five seconds and he raised his eyebrows at her.
“I don’t think you’re trying very hard.”
She made a face at him but he just looked at her.
“It’s boring.”
“What is?”
“Well…I accidentally mixed up Anakin and Master Kenobi’s force signatures and it’s not that big of a mistake! Their force signatures are similar and their force bond is insanely strong, I just—”
“Force signatures?”
He cut her off, having heard that term many times before but never having it explained.
“Oh.” Commander Tano said, clearly not expecting that. “Yeah. Force signatures.”
She adjusted her seat and sat up straighter, a spark in her eye.
“Every being has an unique force signature. I have one, Anakin has one, Master Kenobi has one, you have one. If you’re force sensitive you can read those force signatures, as long as someone isn’t shielding from you.”
He blinked at her and she grinned.
“Like you, right now.”
She closed her eyes and tilted his head and he froze, feeling distinctly like he was being studied, almost like a bug under a microscope.
“You’re…nervous. You don’t really understand what I’m going on about. You’re also curious, and now you’re just shocked.”
She laughed and he stared at her.
“So mind reading.”
“No. I can’t read your mind unless you open all of your shields—yes, you have automatic shields up—and even then, it’s super hard. It’s easier if both people are force sensitive and it works best if there’s some sort of force bond. Anakin and Master Kenobi have a force bond and I know they can have full conversations through the force. Anakin and I can talk to an extent, but it’s pretty full of grammar mistakes.”
“Oh.”
Rex said, absorbing new weird Jedi information.
Force, he had been working with them for how long, and he was still learning?
“Okay.” He said, grinning at her. “What’s General Skywalker thinking about right now?”
She grinned in response, closing her eyes.
“He’s…his shields are up, but he feels…happy. Love. Content. A little…secretive.”
Her eyes flew open and he laughed.
“Ugh. He’s with Padme, isn’t he.”
“Yeah.”
Rex said and she groaned, falling backwards.
“You tricked meeee.”
“Yup. What’s…What’s Fives thinking about?”
“Mischief. Hunger.”
“Wonderful.”
He said sarcastically and she laughed.
“And what am I thinking about?”
She sat back up and her eyes flicked over his face before shutting.
He smiled, putting all of his energy into thinking one thought at her.
Vod’ika.
Vod’ika.
Vod’ika.
Her eyes snapped open and she frowned at him.
“What does Vod’ika mean?”
“Look it up.”
He said, rubbing the top of her head between her montrals in the same exact way that he would give his brothers a noogie. She recognized the gesture and gasped in mock anger, lunging for him. He dodged her attack and flicked his hands at her in the universal gesture of a fight.
They spared for half an hour.
Apparently practicing that force thing with Commander Tano had either made her mental strength stronger or his shields so low that she was able to predict all of his moves and absolutely wipe the floor with his ass.
He would have been embarrassed if he wasn’t so proud.
Execute Order 66.
His hands were shaking.
Kill the Jedi.
His helmet hit the ground.
Execute Order 66.
“No!”
Kill Ahsoka Tano.
“I’ll do it.”
He spat the word out with gritted teeth as he turned to face her.
The Jedi.
Kill her.
Her eyes were wide as asked him what was wrong.
Execute Order 66.
No.
Please.
Good soldiers follow orders.
Execute Order 66.
Kill the Jedi.
“Rex?”
That was his sister.
Fives.
Fives knew about this.
The chips.
Fives.
Execute Order 66.
“Find him.”
He gasped out, her eyes widening.
Kill the Jedi.
“Fives.”
Kill the Jedi.
Fives.
Kill the Jedi.
Fives would know.
Kill the Jedi.
Fives knew.
Kill the Jedi.
Please.
Kill the Jedi.
“Find Fives!”
Kill the Jedi.
He shoved every single wall in his mind down.
Trust me.
Kill the Jedi.
Kill the Jedi.
Kill the Jedi.
Kill the Jedi.
Kill the Jedi.
Kill the Jedi.