The Varactyl Squadron Commander (A Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Fourteen

(Quick Warning: If you haven't read my Assassin series, this chapter is going to contain a lot of spoilers since this book will be based around that same universe. So I strongly recommend that you read those if you want to know about the battle mentioned in this story.)

The gunship ride down from the Resilience was nothing different than any other; the same hum of the engines, same grip on the handlebars hanging from the ceiling, same dull glow from the white lights in the corners of the ship. Rex noted the casual banter from his men under the list of normal things, as well. Nothing out of the ordinary. But, regardless of the ease around him, the newly-ranked Commander couldn't shake the feeling that something was up. Rex tightened his hold on the handlebar above him.

"Isn't that right, Rex?" General Skywalker chuckled as he tried to bring his second in command into the conversation he was having with the other soldiers around them, a conversation Rex hadn't been paying the least bit of attention to. Rex smirked and nodded his head, though the man wouldn't have been able to see the look on his face anyway due to the helmet that covered his facial features.

The General had been through so much in the last few months, Rex began to recall. Even now, weeks after the attack on Alderaan, troopers were still whispering about the events that occurred there, the sith General Skywalker defeated and the woman who tried to bring peace through words instead of violence, but was turned down by General Windu and ultimately slaughtered in the process. It was obvious to everyone that General Skywalker had held feelings for her, feelings that went against everything he was taught to believe in.

And then, only a few days after losing her, he lost his old mentor to a darkness Rex and his brothers had seen only on a few occasions when they encountered individuals worse than the droids on the battlefield. No one would've thought that General Kenobi could turn into a traitor. He was too...good. The man was so intelligent, so kind and compassionate. The soldiers that fought by his side would've given their lives for him. But with the loss of Denali Bleway came the loss of Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well. Especially after the start of a rumor floating around, saying that the two had been in a secret relationship for more than ten years.

Adding the loss of his student should've driven him mad. Stronger men than him would've gone to bed and never gotten back up, would've given up on the war and retired so they could grieve properly, maybe even turn to alcohol to drown their sorrows away. General Skywalker had lost it all, and yet here he was, trying his best to cheer up the troopers around him when everyone knew he was still broken inside.

How he did it, Rex couldn't figure it out. Maybe it was the fact that he was on the Jedi Council now, or that he'd been given more responsibility. Within a week, he'd be returning to the Jedi Temple to aid Master Yoda in training younglings for a period of time. Maybe that's what was getting him through the days, the idea of continuing his teachings through the next generation of Jedi, to know that he still had a purpose regardless of his losses.

"Hey, you alright?"

Rex looked up from the ground, now self-conscious of his thoughts, and saw that the General was looking back at him, a joking smile still on his face but a look of genuine concern in his eyes. The Commander straightened his posture and nodded in reply.

"Yes, General. Just a bit run down from the last fight, sir." He hated to admit it when he was tired, but they were on their way to a rest stop anyways. The previous battle had taken a lot out of him, maybe he was still getting used to not have Commander Tano around. Or he was getting old. Either way, after they met with Commander Rino and his squadron, Rex had decided that he'd check himself into the nearest available barracks and sleep as long and hard as he possibly could. Anakin smiled in understanding, but it didn't seem like he truly believed what his friend was telling him.

"What do you know about this 'Commander Rino'?" General Skywalker questioned him, deciding to start a conversation with him instead of returning to the soldiers he'd been talking to earlier. Rex shrugged his shoulders.

"Not a lot, sir. I'm not from the same facility as him; I wouldn't have known him during training. I've heard nothing but good things, though. Nearly every mission he's been in charge of has been a success, and the men he's worked with have nothing but praise for the guy." The clone told him.

"The Commander's right," One of the troopers the General had been talking to minute prior joined in on the conversation. Rocket, Rex believed, was his nickname. "Rino's a legend. Only one failed mission in his entire career as a soldier, and it was bound to be a failure from the start."

"What do you mean it was bound to be a failure?" General Skywalker questioned and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Rocket glanced at the other troopers, a strange almost fearful look in his pupils, before opening his mouth to speak again.

"Have you heard of the cannibals on Ganta-Nego?"

Both Anakin and Rex shook their heads.

"A year ago, Commander Rino and his squad were making a supply-run to one of the abandoned bases in the Livivitan sector. Rumor has it that that sector is cursed, haunted, whatever you wanna call it. Anyway, they took a small shuttle to Ganta-Nego's surface and started scanning the place for any sort of supplies they could use for their current mission. Less than twenty-four hours after landing, communication with their ship was lost and no one could reach them. No one knew what happened or why they weren't responding. Three months after their mysterious disappearance, a crew of soldiers were sent to investigate where the squadron was seen last. When they landed, this figure comes running out of the jungle, covered in dirt and sweat and blood, and sprints straight at them. They nearly shot 'em, 'thought he was one of the fabled cannibals said to roam Ganta-Nego. Turns out it was Rino."

Everyone on the ship was silent as the dead while they listened to Rocket speak.

"He was pretty much unrecognizable, but they figured out it was him after they cleaned up his armor and saw the lizard-looking yellow mark on his shoulder plate. They didn't stay long after that."

"I can imagine why." General Skywalker muttered under his breath in shock. "That's...intense."

"It was just him?" One of the other soldiers asked. "What happened to the rest of his squad?"

"On a planet full of cannibals?" Rocket scoffed, folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall of the gunship. "I think you're smart enough to fit the pieces together, Slides. I'm not going to spell it out for you." The red lights indicating that they were about to land suddenly began to flash, and they all knew they were about to meet the survivor of one of the worst disasters in the clone army's history.

Rex felt his mouth go dry and his knees begin to weaken.

This was going to be interesting.