Captain Rex: Never a Time

Chapter 17: Water World

Rex and I stood shoulder to shoulder looking out at the vast waves below. Around us, other Republic ships were hovering. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme were below the sea helping ease tensions between two aquatic people. The King had been murdered mysteriously and his son, Prince Lee-Char, was to take his spot. But the other tribe did not see him as King. Now, the Separatist were stepping in and wreaking havoc. "Reminds me of Kamino," Rex said gazing out at the water. There was a storm, so the waves were barely touching the bottoms of the cruisers.

"It does. I'm glad I'm up here, and not down there."

"Me too. I'm not a big fan of swimming. Slows everything down."

"It's fun when you're not fighting. Ever try swinging a lightsaber through water?" He grinned at that. The bridge was nearly empty. The men were getting ready to go under to help Anakin. Apparently, a civil war was inevitable. But as we stood there, it felt like there wasn't a war. Just the two of us, looking out at the incoming storm. Neither of us worried about what was going on under those waves.

"I guess I should go make sure the men are ready."

"I'll come with." We both turned and made our way to the ship bay. Inside was a staging area, where aquatic suits and air tanks were being handed out. This would be a hard mission, both physically and mentally. Despite this, many of the men were excited for something new. A few were talking about how they never fought underwater before. I chuckled as I walked through, checking supplies, and making sure that those going down had eaten plenty and had water. They wouldn't be able to eat in their suits so now was the time to make sure they were set. The call came in from Ani and the boys were off. Rex and I helped them off the loading bay. Once the last group was out, we went to the Command center.

"How long you think this will last?" Rex asked, his arms crossed as he looked at the underwater scans we had.

"Hopefully not more than a few days. If Padme's down there, there's hope of diplomacy."

"You ever get the feeling that her and the General are close?" I laughed at that.

"You must not know their history."

"History?" This got his attention. I told him about when Anakin first met her, how they reunited. I left out the romantic part though, that was for Anakin to tell him.

"So, they've been friends for a while. I don't know, sometimes I just get the feeling there's more to it than that. You should see him on missions where she's in danger. He'll tear apart thousands of droids."

"You wouldn't do the same for me?" I toyed crossing my arms and leaning on the command center.

"You know I would," he wasn't able to finish. We had a transmission asking for reinforcements. We reached out to Master Yoda, requesting aid.

"Master, we've sent all the troops we have. If more are not sent, we could lose this planet."

"Troubling, this is," Master Yoda retorted. "I will see what I can do. Wait, you must." The transmission ended.

"How fast do you think they'll get reinforcements?" Rex asked.

"It'll take a while. There's no one near us. Let's just hope they can hold out." Before, I was glad to be on the ship; now, I felt useless. I started pacing, waiting for Master Yoda to call back saying they found someone.

"You're making me anxious," Rex said, watching me pace.

"I feel useless! I can't do anything! They have Master Fisto, Anakin, and Ahsoka and they're being overrun. I should've gone down too."

"But they needed us here for this reason exactly." I smirked at that.

"Anakin wanted to give us some alone time." It was true, we had been on mission after mission and Ani could tell we hadn't seen each other much. He wanted us to have time together, plus he wanted time with Padme. He would've hated being up here. And young Ahsoka would've driven Rex nuts if we tried to keep her up here. I was the best choice.

"Well, I'm glad he did," he said walking closer to me. He put his hands on my hips and pulled me in, gently kissing me. Thankfully, no one else was there to see. Our time was interrupted by an incoming transmission. We pulled apart and I opened it. Master Yoda had found reinforcements. It wasn't long before the Gungan armies arrived. We watched from the bridge as hundreds of them dove into the waters below. "This should bring this to an end faster." Turns out, it would not. They were again quickly overrun and the final report from Anakin was that everyone had nearly been captured. We sat in the command center; it had been hours since Ani's last transmission.

"We just have to have faith in them." I said, mostly to convince myself.

"But, if they're all captured, how can they win?"

"Are you losing faith in Anakin?"

"Never. I'm just trying to figure out how he'll do it this time." We both smiled at that. If anyone could make the impossible possible, it was Ani. A whole rotation went by with still no word. I was sitting on the floor, my back against the command center, dozing in and out. Rex came in with coffee. "Still nothing?"

"Nope. I'm starting to think we'll need more help." I was just about to take a sip of my coffee when the command center blinked. I nearly dropped my cup going over to turn on the transmission. In the blue light of the hologram, there was Anakin.

"The city is retaken; the war is over. Get ready, you're about to have a lot of hungry people on that cruiser."

"Glad to see you're still alive. You'll have to tell me how you figured out this one."

"Actually, it wasn't me. You can ask Ahsoka when we get onboard." The transmission ended and I looked at Rex. He was smiling over his cup of coffee.

"See, nothing to worry about." Within the next few hours, the men were hauled back on board. Ahsoka was following Rex and I, telling us how the Prince had rallied the people against the Separatist.

"He was a good man, and he'll be an even better King." I could sense the friendship she had gained in those waters.

"I'm glad you learned something young one."

"Yeah, I would've hated being up here. It was probably so boring." I glanced over at Rex, who was getting tallies of men from Jessie.

"It wasn't too bad."