The Rising

Strange

Rex fiddled with the edge of his shirt, slightly unsure of how to break the now uncomfortable silence. 

Thankfully he didn't have to. 

"Commander Rex, you are awful quiet" 

Rex moved a little startled before he spoke "I'm just thinking about the mission General". 

Plo chuckled "Still slightly afraid of me hu? eh that's the point I guess, a father will always protect his children, even adoptive fathers".  

"Do you have any...biological children?" Rex asked slightly afraid of the answer. 

Plo just chuckled "yes I have three children, two who are Jedi and the other who is barely five and isn't showing any signs of the force........yet". 

Rex looked at the Jedi, slightly in shock, he had not been expecting that answer. 

"Um....." 

Plo laughed at Rex's dumbstruck look, "One of them is technically not my daughter, biologically speaking, but I'm just as protective over her as if she is one of my own".

"Ahsoka" Rex muttered as he turned back to the console in front of him. 

Plo chuckled again, "contact the Bad batch, id rather figure out if they are still alive before I figure out if I should throw them in the brig or let Obi-wan deal with them" 

Rex winced remembering the state they had left Obi-wan. He was routing for the brig, hands down. 

Then another thought crossed his mind. 

"Ahsoka would never get to being as bad as Obi-wan....would she?" 

"Well.....maybe.....but I suspect you could blame her father's hot blood for that one, Obi-wan is a different beast entirely"

Rex could stop the slight snort that he emitted, then he froze. 

Plo chuckled again, "don't worry, by the time we get back Satine will have either killed him or calmed him down". 

"why is he so protective of his kids anyway?" Rex asked. 

"He survived through a war with Satine and while the experience aged him and gave him a family he still hat to watch others lose theirs. It's why he was never properly able to train Anakin to control his emotions when it came to family." Plo explained as he flipped some switches on the flight console in front of him. 

Rex nodded understanding what he was saying as his mind rewound to the time Anakin had threatened him after PT. It seemed so long ago but it stood out vividly in Rex's mind. 

"Is that why Anakin was so....."

"Dark?" Plo supplied. 

Rex nodded.

"he had suffered greatly before he came to the Jedi order. And the luck he had after probably did not help. If anything I think he would have gone downhill even faster if it wasn't for Padme" Plo replied. 

Rex nodded his mind traveling back to his wife and his children. How happy his daughter was when she was playing with his brothers, and how he would feel if she was taken. 

He shuddered. 

His body felt unnaturally cold and dark like someone had retched into his chest and had stolen his warmth. 

It only lasted a second but he understood why Obi-Wan was acting as he was. Granted it didn't feel as horrible as when Ahsoka and he was being tortured but it was definitely something he did not want to experience twenty-four seven. 

"Bad Batch this is Commander Rex come in" Rex spoke into the comms unit. 

nothing. 

"Bad Batch come in" Rex stated again after five minutes had passed by. 

He gave it another ten and was about to speak into the coms again when Hunter's voice came roaring through the comms unit. 

"Commander Rex this is Bad Batch, we hear you loud and clear" Rex looked puzzled by his voice. 

It sounded raspy and hoarse, almost as if he had been holding his breath for a long time. 

Rex looked at the comms unit confused. This was not his normal voice, even after a battle. 

It took a moment before his brain connected the dots and had to hold back the urge to both laugh and gag. 

Plo looked at Rex confused before he understood as well. 

"Commander please send us your coordinates" Rex stated through the coms, still unsure if he should actually voice the question. 

"Just sent," Hunter replied his voice much more normal now. 

"right. we have received them, our eta will be only a couple of hours" Rex replied. 

"We will be expecting you" Hunter answered but Rex could have sworn he heard another voice, another female voice on the other end of the coms transition. 

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