Afterglow II | The Clone Wars

Rise

The shuttle Rex and Dakota used to sneak into the planet suctioned itself to the bottom of an isolated platform, invisible in the endless web of New Barenth's gravity lanes, its exterior cloaking field bending the city's pale lights around the hull until it disappeared into the steel shadows below.

Rex kept a firm hand on Ava's shoulder slim, guiding, or, more accurately, dragging, her toward the boarding ramp.

The scatter-brained Twi-lek teenager protested every step of the way. "I'm not getting in!"

"You are."

"I'm not!" She planted both boots against the grated walkway with surprising determination.

Rex barely slowed his pace. If anything, he moved faster. They didn't have time for this. She gridded another foot across the metal, resisting in every way possible. "Commander, let go of me!"

"It's Captain."

"Whatever!"

She twisted and pried at his gloved fingers, trying to wrench herself free. Her dad taught her the basics of self defense, but not enough to take on a seasoned clone trooper. "We're leaving her behind!"

His jaw tightened beneath his helmet. "I know."

"No, you don't. Because if you did we'd be running the other way! Back to her!" She dug in harder, arms flailing as she grabbed at pipes, cables, anything bolted down.

Rex simply lifted her under one arm like she weighed nothing, drawing closer to the open transport ramp with every step. "Hey!" She kicked uselessly at the air. "Put me down! This is kidnapping!" He ignored the protest and climbed the boarding ramp. Ava asserted dramatically. "I object!"

"This isn't a senate debate on Coruscant, kid." God, she was worse than Caleb Dume. The hatch sealed behind them with a metallic hiss. The little transport was barely large enough for six passengers. Crates lined one wall, emergency rations another. The moment Rex set her down in the cramped cockpit, she tore away from him.

"How could you leave her?" She spat, the question stopping him cold. His fingers curled into his palms. "Don't you care about Master Ky?"

The words hit harder than she'd intended. Rex slowly turned. His helmet hid his face, but not the weight in his voice. "Of course I do."

He would paint the walls of the universe with her eye color, if he could.

"Then why are we here?" Ava demanded, stomping her foot into the floor. The sound echoed around them.

"Because she ordered me to get you out."

"That doesn't mean you have to listen."

He almost laughed at that. Now this girl sounded like his General. Both General's, actually. Skywalker and Dakota's unorthodox style to governing the battalion never fail to spring up elsewhere, even in the people their methods save. He cleared his throat, collecting himself. "She is my commanding officer and I follow her lead. If she tells me to go, I go."

Ava threw her hands into the air. "I know you'd rather not." Silence met her in response, and she frowned, unafraid to make her point clear to this soldier. "I've seen you."