In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 24

Senna carefully made her way down the corridor in the dark, picking her way over debris from collapsed walls or ceiling paneling. Finally, she found the lift shaft she'd identified on the schematic. Holstering her datapad and clipping her lightsaber back to her belt, she stepped out onto the maintenance ladder to begin her climb. The rungs were cold beneath her fingers and her boots made a dull thud with each step up. Her unease was growing in the suffocating silence. Something's not right.

Without warning, a vision seared into her mind, and she gasped, falling against the ladder.

Rex knelt on the floor, his hands bound behind his back. He looked up at his assailant, a figure in the shadows. "You'll never get her," he spat. A large boot lunged out of the darkness, catching him in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground, blood pouring from a gash in his eyebrow. Suddenly, the entire room was aglow with red and she could hear the sound of a lightsaber buzzing.

Senna Aven, I know you're here.

Sweat trickled down her back and brow as she panted, clutching at the ladder frantically. The cold, tight feeling she'd had on Lothal was seeping into her body. Rex. She fumbled in her pocket to pull out her commlink and call Tech. Maybe he's on the bridge already. Maybe he's fine. She knew it wasn't true. Her hands shook as her fingers caught on the commlink, and before she could get a good grip, the small metal device tumbled from her pocket, clanking against the sides of the lift shaft as it tumbled downwards. Kriff.

As quickly as she could, she scrambled up the ladder, clawing her way onto the landing above as soon as it was within reach. She pushed herself up and took off running down the corridor, fear settling into her heart and squeezing her lungs. She skidded onto the bridge, and the four clones turned to look at her.

Seeing the look in her eyes, Hunter ripped off his helmet. "Senna, what's wrong?"

"Where's Rex?" she choked.

"He's not with you?" Echo asked.

"No, we got separated and-"

Her breath hitched as the vision flashed before her eyes again. Rex, his face contorted in pain, the red lightsaber blade glowing inches from his throat. She fell against the wall. "Senna, what is it?" Echo asked, but his voice was distant. No. Gathering herself, she stumbled back out into the corridor, breaking into a sprint. She couldn't breathe as she tore through the halls, her legs carrying her to a destination she did not know but somehow understood to be the place she needed to be. She ignored Echo and Hunter's calls behind her as she ran. I have to get to him.

Rounding a corner, she flew through a doorway into a wide control room. Walkways wove throughout to the various consoles and doorways, barely illuminated by the emergency lighting in the ceiling, and there, straight ahead, stood the Inquisitor, his eyes glowing yellow in the dim light. There was a figure kneeling before him, his hands bound behind his back, his head slumped forward. The Inquisitor's pointed teeth glinted in a sinister grin as he ignited his lightsaber, illuminating Rex's face. Blood trickled from a cut on Rex's eyebrow, covering one half of his face almost entirely in red and speckling onto his white armor. Senna raced forward, igniting her lightsaber. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

The Inquisitor said nothing as he pulled Rex's head up, bringing the lightsaber around to rest just above the place where his pauldron rested against his neck. "Not one more step, Master Aven, or you will watch him die." Senna skidded to a halt, her rage and fear blinding her as tears stabbed at the corners of her eyes.

The Inquisitor smiled, lowering the blade ever so slightly onto Rex's pauldron. Senna could smell the burning flesh and material and saw Rex gasp in pain. "STOP!" she screamed. She shut her lightsaber off and threw it at the Inquisitor's feet. The Inquisitor released his hold on Rex's head, pulling back the lightsaber, and Rex's chin fell forward onto his chest again. "How sentimental."