Cuyanir (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

27

"I say we go ahead with our plan and forget the consequences. Krells tactics may be useful in some situations. But they don't win wars." Fives sneered when Rex relayed that Krell had denied their request to blow up the supply ships. He sat on a bed by the door to the barracks and pinched his brow. 

"If we had the time and the training, I would say go for it." Rex sighed. "You would be court marshalled at best. Krell doesn't go for the best. He would execute you on the spot."

"I'd rather I die than the entire republic because we lost Umbara." He said quietly. 

"Who would fly them?" Rex asked sullenly. "You're no pilots." Jesse scoffed.

"If Hardcase can fly one, then I think we all could." He smiled grimly to himself.

"Yeah... I wouldn't call that flying... more like avoiding crashing." Tup smirked from behind Jesse's knees. Jesse aimed a kick at his face, but Tup dodged, flinging himself back onto his bunk. The door slid open and Dogma walked in. Everyone shut up without being told. 

"Uh, what's going on?" He asked, looking at the troops scattered around Rex in a loose semicircle. 

"Everything." Fives answered flippantly. "I'm going to the mess. Anyone want to join?" He asked, turning to look at the men over his shoulder as he pushed past Dogma to the door. Everyone but Jesse and Tup filed out of the room, minus the sleeping soldiers at the other end that had just gotten off of patrol. Fives was the life of any party, and the others flocked to him like Mynocks to a shipyard. 

Rex followed Fives out too, and fell into step with him. The rest of the clones took this as their que to go on ahead, and they left the pair standing there. "This is about more than following orders." Fives's mouth twisted unpleasantly. 

"You're right, it's about honor." Rex gritted his teeth as he saw a flash of angry confusion and frustration in Five's dark eyes. 

"In what system is it considered honorable to march blindly to our deaths for no reason other than a corrupt and shrewd leader forced us too?" He barked out a laugh. "And don't you dare say in the Mandalore system, 'cause we both know that that's not true."

"It is not our call." He said evenly, his voice hiding the turmoil in his chest. "We are a part of something larger. We... We aren't independent of one another. " He gritted his teeth. 

"I'm sorry, I cannot just follow orders when I know that they are wrong." Fives erupted. "Especially when lives are at stake." His voice dropped from a shout to a deadly whisper in seconds. 

"You will if you support the system we fight for." Rex growled back. His voice sounded strange in his own ears. Where had those words come from, because they felt like a lie against his lips. 

"I do support it, I do." Fives scowled, like he had noticed the shift in Rex too. "But I am not just another number. None. Of. Us. Are." He turned on his heel and stalked into the mess. 

"Fives?"

"I'm going to round up some pilots." He bit out over his shoulder. Rex wanted to sink into a crate and be shipped back to Corascant, to have Ahsoka put one of her small hands on his shoulder and kiss him and tell him that everything would be ok. He rubbed at the old blaster scar that she had healed again, wondering what this war had made him into. 

He sighed and turned to go back to his room. He wanted to get some rest while he could. On the way there, he heard an explosion from one of the hangers. Krell was marching down the hall, and he just stepped into line behind him with a sigh. They main their way to the hanger with the Umbaran hardware, and the hanger doors were smoldering from what looked like a torpedo blast. He didn't need to see the guilty party to know who it was. 

"Explain this... NOW!" Krell roared, throwing a hand back to indicate the smoldering remains of the doors. He almost smacked Rex in the face. 

"We...Uh..." Hardcase stuttered. Fives, always playing Mr. Smooth, jumped in to help him. 

"We were decrypting the hardware when I accidentally set off a booby trap of sorts. Hardcase here managed to gain control of the malfunctioning craft and aim the torpedo away from the troopers and into the hangar doors, which are blast... resistant?" He tried. Krell didn't look like he bought it in the slightest. 

"Booby...Trapped?" He repeated softly. Dangerously soft. 

"Yes sir." Hardcase said meekly. The hyperactive clone was staring at his boots and trying not to fidget under the generals gaze. Krell rounded on Rex. 

"You see captain? This hardware is dangerous. I was right to deny the request to use them for recon. I want all fighters locked down, understood, CT 7567?" He ordered. Rex flinched at being called by his number, but he nodded. 

"Sir yes sir." Krell shoved him out of the way and marched out of the hanger. Rex stumbled and fell, it took him a while to pick himself off of the floor. His ribs must be hurting him worse than he had let on after being treated by Kix. 

He staggered out of the gaping hole in the doors and back to his quarters. he trudged up the ladder wearily, flopping down on his bunk. He was just closing his eyes when his commlink went off. 

"Rex here." He groaned. 

"Where are you captain, I needed you on the perimeter." Krells voice growled. Rex looked at a chrono, he wasn't on duty for another two hours. 

"Sir? I'm off duty right now, I thought I had to get some rest before-"Krell cut him off. 

"I need you on perimeter, captain." He growled. Rex gritted his teeth. "Yes. Sir." He forced out, before cutting the connection. He sighed, before all but rolling off his lofted bunk as he made his way out to perimeter. After about an hour, instructions started to blur together. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He finished giving instructions to the troopers that had the next patrol sweep when he was approached by Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase.

"I found my pilots." Fives said quietly. 

"Are you out of your mind? It's a suicide mission, not to mention against orders." He asked incredulously, suddenly feeling very, very awake. 

"It's the right thing to do." Fives countered. "I've got to try. You know me, vod." Rex shook his head. 

"Unfortunately. It... sounds like you intend to go through with it." He said cautiously.

"I need to know if you're gonna try to stop us." Fives said, all joking manner gone from his voice. Rex removed his helmet and sighed.

"I can't help you when you get caught." He put a hand on Fives's shoulder. "May the force be with you." He said. 

Fives nodded. "You're beginning to sound like a jedi. A good jedi, mind." He didn't need to see his face to know Fives was grinning at him. He smirked back.

"If I was a jedi, I wouldn't be stuck in this hell-hole with you."Rex replied, putting his helmet back on. Fives walked back, and for a second, Rex wished he actually was a jedi. At least then he could openly challenge Krell and not have to worry about court martialing or reconditioning. 

But he was a captain. He would do everything in his power to make sure that those men who did defy Krells direct orders made it out of here alive.