Cuyanir (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

6

Rex and Ahsoka met with Kalifa and the other younglings by the stream. They were all nervous, but they needed to start making headway against their captors. 

"Alright, listen up me- er... Younglings. I guess I can't call you men, you're not the soldiers I usually work with." Great, Rex. You're off to an awesome start. Stilling himself, he considered how best give a pep talk. He was a captain in the GAR, not a rebellion leader. Most of the people he worked with were trained with some sort of military experience. Not to mention there were normally more than five of them. "Ahsoka was right. First things first, we need to find their base, and come up with a plan. Kalifa, you've been here longer than anyone. Where should we start?" He addressed the girl. This seemed to surprise Kalifa, she clearly wasn't planning on his needing anything of her. She recovered quickly, and mimicked his commanding tone. 

"I think we can rule the beach area out of the equation, it's too open and I've been there a thousand times without noticing anything. Then again, I was usually too busy hunting for food or running from trandoshans to notice anything. Covering it again wouldn't hurt. We could start there and work our way inland." She said, making it sound like an actual plan. She shot a glance at Rex though, silently asking the question of whether or not her suggestion was a good one or not. He gave a small not, wordlessly affirming her. 

Ahsoka watched this exchange, a flicker of jealousy crossing her face. "Remember, if their base was easy to find, you would have found it by now. So we'll to keep an eye on the most obscure and unlikely locations." She counseled, deliberately keeping her voice as even as possible.

Rex nodded. "Kalifa, you've been here the longest, so most of this stuff that I have to ask will be up for you to decide. Should we split up, covering more ground? The trandoshans would probably smell us if we all stayed in one group." He inquired. 

"Yes, splitting up would probably be best. In fact, we've probably been together for too long already." She agreed. 

"Alright." He paused, thinking of how best to split them up. He winced at his solution. Ahsoka's gonna love this. "Ahsoka, you go with Jinx and O-Mer. I'll go with Kalifa." He said slowly. Ahsoka's reaction was immediate. 

"What!? But-" She demanded, miffed at his suggestion. Rex cut her off. 

"Ahsoka, you're better trained in the ways of the force than anybody here. We need to split into two parties, so that nobody's left alone and we're not in one big group. As we both have actual combat experience, on of us will need to go with each party." He explained patiently. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'll be ok, Cyare. It's the best way." He locked eyes with her. 

"It's just..." She huffed, some of her anger draining away. "You're right." She sighed eventually, failing to think of a better way. "Just... Be safe, Rexie." He smiled softly at the pet name. 

She leapt off into the trees with Jinx and O-Mer close behind. Rex and Kalifa moved in the opposite direction, going to the other end of the beach area. They would scour the area, trying to avoid the trandoshans as much as possible, and rendezvous at the stream by noon. If all went well. If the trandoshans found them, then all plans flew off the table in favor of survival.

Ahsoka led the way through the jungle, finally reaching the beach. They hid once at the whine of the trandoshan hovercar, but it was hurrying after other prey. As they made their way down the beach, Ahsoka remembered something. "The prisoner transport. How often does it come?" She asked suddenly. Jinx paused, but O-Mer spoke up for the first time in Ahsoka's memory.

"Every three to four days or so." He replied softly. "Are you suggesting..." He trailed off. Ahsoka shook her head.

 "That that's their base, no. That we should try to target it as our next step... possibly." She tried to remember all of the strategy meetings that she had attended with Anakin. "We can talk it over with Rex and... and Kalifa." She said, jealousy pinching her chest. Why are you jealous. He was just being friendly. She's never been in a battle before. Much less lead it.  She argued with herself.