Captain Rex: Never a Time

Chapter 8: Geonosis

After some time, we had tracked down Cad Bane. Obi-Wan and Mace Windu had found the holocron and Ahsoka and Anakin had found the two younglings that had been taken. However, the bounty hunter Cad Bane got away.

I walked the corridors of the cruiser, thankful to be home. I don't know when I mentally started calling this home instead of the Temple, but it felt right. We were getting supplies and more men for an attack on Geonosis. There was a droid factory there that needed to be taken out. I walked into the landing bay to see how preparations were going. It was packed in there with more Clones and more ships. There was also a new supply of tanks. It was stifling, so I didn't stay long. We also met up with Master Ki-Ad-Mundi to create a three-prong attack.

As the battle neared, I met with the other Jedi on the bridge to go over the plan. Afterwards, Cody, Rex, and Commander Jet joined. Jet was with Mundi and wore camouflaged armor. It was definitely different than the white uniforms. We went over the attack plan, with Cody showing us the rendezvous point. I knew it wouldn't go as smooth as they were making it seem, but I didn't want to seem like a downer, so I kept my mouth shut. I glanced up at Rex. We hadn't seen each other much due to preparations for war. He had his helmet on so I couldn't read his face. I reached out with the Force. He was tense, alert, ready for battle. I was waiting for a time to talk to him, but now didn't seem the time. I zoned back into the battle plan as Ahsoka was pointing out a heavily fortified wall.

"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere near that," Anakin said playfully.

"Come now, what happened to all the enthusiasm I saw earlier," Obi-Wan said joining in.

"Don't worry about us," Anakin said resting his elbow on his former master's shoulder, "you just worry about getting yourself to that landing zone in one piece."

"Yes, I should be waiting for you to finally arrive." Those two were always playing around. Master Luminara pulled them back to the conversation, reminding them of the battle. The boys were sent to prep the gunships and we were off. Rex told Anakin as he got in the gunship Obi-Wan was already on his way.

"He got a head-start; we'll just have to catch up." Ahsoka rolled her eyes and Rex chuckled.

The battle started while we were in air. I stood beside Rex as we were shaking to-and-fro from the assault. The sound of blasts surrounded us. We all held on, then our ship was hit. We were all jerked around, Rex grabbed my waist and pulled me close, holding on as we crashed. Once the ship stopped skidding, Anakin jumped up.

"Come on! We have to keep moving!" All the playfulness was gone. Now, it was time for war. He pushed open the side panel on the gunship and we all spilled out. Rex and the other Clones took cover behind the crashed ship while Anakin, Ahsoka, and I ran to deflect blaster shots. In front of us were hundreds of these ugly bug things. Anakin and I ran in to attack while Ahsoka stayed back with the troops. I heard her call the troops to follow us as we pushed them back. The bugs in the tower were going to be a problem. Rex ran and crouched behind a ridge. "Rex, what's the word? Can Obi-Wan send support or not?" Anakin and I jumped down to see where Obi-Wan was and if he could send support.

"I don't think so sir. Cody says General Kenobi never reached the landing zone. Their gunships got shot down."

"Great, the one time I actually ask Obi-Wan for help and he's nowhere to be found." I could sense his frustrations. Ahsoka jumped behind the ridge with us.

"Well, what if something happened to General Kenobi? He could be injured, or-"

"No time for that kind of talk," Anakin interjected. "Rex, we need to mobilize, now! Get the men together, we're gonna rush the guns."