Star Wars the Clone Wars: Legends Never Die

Chapter 4

Ahsoka takes the hand that Rex holds out to her, allowing him to pull her onto the ship ramp seconds before the outpost explodes into a ball of flames.

"Successful mission, I would say." She laughs, dusting the ash off her lekku.

"One of our easier ones," he agrees, flicking some embers off her montrals as they walk to the cockpit where Ox and Ridge are flying the ship out of the atmosphere. "Troopers, put in the Coruscant hyperspace coordinates. Prepare to jump in ten."

It was one of Anakin's strategies to break into the facility with a big group and get out with a smaller one to avoid any problems during departure. Most of the clones have been on the shuttle for nearly an hour now- preparing for a quick take off once Rex and Ahsoka destroyed the outpost. She would have to compliment her Master for such an effective strategy.

"Yes, sir." Ridge nods, setting the coordinates.

"I'll call Master Skywalker- let him know we're on our way back," Ahsoka tells Rex, waiting for him to nod in confirmation before she leaves the cockpit.

She walks through the ship to get to a more private area, passing by the different groups of troopers. Fives and Echo are with Solo and Sixteen, showing them how to adjust their HUDs from the standard Kamino setup to something more personalised.

The three medics are huddled together, going over their post-mission gear checks. Only Ridge and Jesse walked away from the mission with injuries, and the aspiring ARC has to rest up a bit so his arm will heal whilst Ridge is all patched up. She's glad those are the worst of the wounded.

Hidden in the corner of the room are Chopper and Blinder. She and Rex were equally surprised when the closed off veteran showed an interest in befriending the 212th shiny. They've been inseparable since the start of the mission, and although they always talk to each other with their helmets on, Ahsoka's knows they have found comfort in each other's scars.

Maybe she can speak to Cody about transferring Blinder to the 501st. That way, Chopper will have some tolerable company and Blinder won't feel so isolated amongst his unscarred brothers.

Sure, Cody is scarred, but it's nothing compared to Chopper's injuries.

The back door opens, revealing the small bunk room which can only sleep half the troopers on board. Jesse and Hardcase are occupying one bunk, the latter curled into one corner whilst the injured vod lies out flat, his eyes closed.

"How is he?" Ahsoka asks quietly, not wanting to stir Jesse.

Hardcase glances up from cleaning what looks like Jesse's blaster, giving her a smile, "Knocked out, Commander. Kix gave him some strong pain meds."

Ahsoka nods, peering at the bandages around Jesse's bicep where a stray blaster bolt caught him. It wasn't bad enough to pull him out of the fight, but knowing Jesse, he would fight with two limbs hanging off.

She glances down at her commlink, frowning before stepping into the small fresher. Better she speaks to Anakin in an enclosed space instead of waking Jesse up with her Master's rather loud voice.

"Skywalker here." Ahsoka remembers it's early morning on Coruscant, and judging by Anakin's raspy voice, he was asleep. That's a good thing considering how bad his insomnia can get.

"Hey, Skyguy!" She says into the device, "Sorry for waking you."

"It's fine," he yawns loudly, "How's your mission going? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's great, Master." She rolls her eyes at the way he doubts her, "We're just setting our hyperspace coordinates."

"Successful mission, I assume?"