"Captain Rex, you're needed on the bridge for a mission briefing," General Skywalker's voice rung loud and clear through his commlink. Bringing the communication device up to his mouth, Rex replied.

"Right away, General."

With that, Rex grabbed his bucket and put it in the crook of his arm and began to make his way to a turbo lift on the Resolute. He entered and rode all the way up to the bridge in silence. The doors opened and he exited. He took a right and strode down the corridor until he came to the bridge entrance.

Pausing, he composed himself before purposefully strolling in. He recognized several familiar figures, gathered around a Holo-table, preparing for the upcoming mission. He stood in between Jesse, and Fives, with Kix to the right of Fives. General Skywalker and Commander Tano stood opposite them. All troopers were at attention with their helmets in the crook of their arms, and Rex copied their gesture.

"Good to see you are here, Captain," Skywalker stated.

Rex merely dips his head. The clone sent a small grin in Ahsoka's direction that nobody, but Skywalker, seemed to pick up on. Skywalker quirked an eyebrow in confusion or something akin to that, but the Captain wasn't quite sure. Ahsoka returned the grin before focusing her attention on the Holo-table. Rex did the same and General Skywalker began the briefing.

"Alright, everybody, listen up. We're going to be heading to Felucia to stop a mass production of CIS armored tanks and droids. We'll be splitting into two different groups to divide their defenses."

The first time the Republic had been sent to Felucia, it hadn't ended well – forcing the Republic to retreat and the Separatists to have a victory. The Republic was now taking a second shot at gaining control of Felucia once more. The Separatists had already built a droid factory and were using the planet as a staging force.

Skywalker continued, "Fives and I will be the first group while Ahsoka and Rex will be the second group. My group will leave, followed shortly by the second group who will leave around ten standard minutes later. In theory, this will give us a big enough window to destroy the factory and push out Separatist control."

Anakin gestured to the map before finishing with, "Rex and Ahsoka will head in from the north while my group heads in from the south."

Skywalker looked up from the Holo-images and surveyed the assembled group. "Questions?"

There were head shakes from all around the group. Everyone understood what was going on. Hopefully, this time the Republic would be able to shut down the Separatists on this planet once and for all.

"Good," Anakin stated, satisfied. He turned to Fives who was waiting for orders. "Fives, get the troops –" the Jedi had started before being interrupted by Admiral Yularen.

"Sir, excuse me for the interruption, but we are dropping out of hyperspace."

"Very well, Admiral." Anakin once again turned to the ARC trooper beside him. "Fives, go get the troops prepared. I will be there shortly."

"Yes, sir." The trooper snapped to attention before hustling his way off the bridge.

Anakin looked to both Rex and Ahsoka and Rex could pick up on the fact that there was some weariness in the man's eyes, almost as if he knew something that they didn't. "May the Force be with you."

"As with you, Master," Ahsoka responded, bowing her head. Anakin turned and left.

"Kix, Tup, and Jesse, go prep the men. The Commander and I will meet up with you shortly," Rex ordered.

The men gave their understanding and put on their helmets before leaving the Captain and Commander at the Holo-table. Rex cast a glance to the lithe form to the right of him. She was studying the floating blue pictures above the Holo-table, clearly musing over something.

Just standing there was making him feel slightly awkward, so he decided to say something to break the awkward silence between them. "Are you prepared for the upcoming battle, Commander?"

There were a couple seconds of silence in response to his question before she looked up at him, startled. "What? Oh, yeah. I'm prepared."

He scrutinized her. He didn't buy what she was telling him. There definitely was something that she wasn't telling him. Rex sighed, knowing that he shouldn't push her, she would tell him in time. At the same time, he couldn't shake the fact that something just felt… wrong.

His thoughts were broken up when Yularen came to inform them, "Commander, General Skywalker's group is taking off in a couple of minutes. I would advise that you get your group together."

Ahsoka crossed her arms and shot Rex a look, telling him to follow her. He obliged. As they left the bridge, Ahsoka grabbed him by the elbow and pushed the two of them into a supply closet, once there were no signs of life in the corridor. Rex was too surprised to ask her what she was doing, so he let her lead him along.

Once they were safely inside, Ahsoka locked the door while he sat on a supply crate and gazed at her with concern when he caught the troubled expression on her face.

"What's wrong, kid?"

She sat down on another crate in front of him, and Rex was starting to grow more concerned with every passing second that she didn't say something. Rex reached out with a hand and took hers. She looked so vulnerable and he could feel a stab of pain in his heart.

She finally seemed to acknowledge his presence and looks up at him and the clone notes the excruciating amount of worry that swims in those normally bright, crystal eyes. He loved it when those eyes were full of happiness (after all, he cherished the feeling), and not this worried state.

He can see her working her throat before murmuring, "The Force feels very clouded around this battle."

He was starting to get that feeling of something being severely… wrong. Again. He didn't like it at all.

"Why is that?" he questioned, trying to understand this nameless feeling.

She tightened her grip in his hand and hopelessly shrugged, "I don't know, but I'm concerned."

Rex didn't know what to do, so he did the one thing he knew how to do. Hopefully, it would help keep their minds off this… complication.

He stood up, and helped Ahsoka to her feet, before gently pulling her into his chest and wrapping her up in a tight embrace. He could feel her small arms wrap around him and he rested his chin in the valley of her montrals. He rubbed her back in a comforting motion. "We'll figure this out, somehow, and we'll get through it."

He could feel her shake her head against his chest and jostle his chin around from the motion. They stood there, basking in the other's support and comfort, before Ahsoka pulled away, looking more at ease. She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he responded, ducking down to kiss her in a way of showing extra reassurance.

"We should probably get going before we're missed." Ahsoka joked. Rex gave her a low chuckle in response.

Rex unlocked the supply closet door before peeking out to make sure the corridor was void of life, before signaling for Ahsoka to follow him. Once out in the corridor, the clone closed the durasteel door, and they headed for the nearest turbo lift that would get them down to the hangar.

Reaching the hangar, both Captain and Commander headed for their assembled group of gunships. As they grew nearer, three familiar figures came into focus, who were all busy conversing amongst themselves. When Kix, Jesse, and Tup noticed them, they snapped to attention.

"At ease, troopers." At the command of their Captain, they all relaxed.

"Are the gunships prepped, yet?" Ahsoka asked.

Jesse responds with a confident, "Yes, sir."

Ahsoka gave the men a nod of approval, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at her lips. They all boarded and watched as the blast doors shut, and they began to take off for the mission below.

When the ships entered the atmosphere of Felucia, they all began to shake violently, making their passengers sway with the motion. As they were nearing the ground, Rex could see a full-blown battle raging on, no doubt caused by the General. The blast doors to the ship opened and everyone rushed out, blasters blazing.

Ahsoka pops out, lightsabers swinging in a violent display of green and yellow, as enemy fire assaults on their forces. Rex is on her six in an instant, dodging droid fire as he goes, not once hesitating to put a bolt in a droid that got to close to one of their men.

They still had a way to go before they would be at the entrance to the factory.

Rex turned his attention to a group of droids that were trying to flank them on the right. Rex let his DC-17's unload in a flurry of blue on the damn tin heads as Republic forces advanced. Unfortunately, while Rex had his attention diverted, Ahsoka was charging head on at a tank that was about to decimate some of their troops. The tank fired right as soon as Ahsoka was about to leap into the air and destroy it. The explosion caught her and the few unlucky men that were with her and threw their bodies in various directions. An AT-TE fired off a round, destroying the tank, and Rex desperately ran to the sight of the decimated tank, looking for Ahsoka.

Dread is roiling around in his stomach and he can feel the fear grip his racing heart as bile tries to rise in his throat. This couldn't be happening. He furiously looked in all directions, forgetting about the enemy fire and the battle raging around him. After spinning in circles, Rex caught sight of Ahsoka's body and the clone darted for her. When he got close, he could tell that it wasn't good.

When he finally got to her, he picked her up and dove behind some of the planet's endless plant life and pulled his helmet off and threw it to the side. He was breathing heavily, but he got down on his knees and folded his legs under himself, putting her head in the crook of his arm while the rest of her body was sprawled on the ground in front of him. She was covered in gashes, blood running everywhere, clothes torn beyond repair, pieces of shrapnel, and debris were buried deep in the wounds, and by some miracle she was still breathing, he observed after looking for her pulse. Her eyes were closed almost as if she was sleeping. Rex wished to all the gods that that was what she was doing, but he knew better. The fact that she was alive didn't relive much of the tension within him. "…'Soka."

Her eyes managed to open at the brokenness in his voice, and with great struggle, she finally managed to focus on him.

"Rex," she rasped.

Tears were falling from his eyes and his lip began to waver, and all he could think of was how unfair this was, and why did this have to happen to them? To Ahsoka?

"I'm right here, Ahsoka," he stated, trembling, shifting his position so that he had a better hold of her. She coughed once before letting her eyes close. Panic clawed at his heart and he desperately cried, "Ahsoka, please, please come back to me. I love you."

She opened her eyes once again and looked up at him with a pained smile that showed the barest hints of warmth for him. She had to have been going through so much pain and he wanted nothing more than to take that pain away. She put a calloused hand up against his cheek and rubbed small soothing circles over his rough skin with her thumb. "I love… you, too."

"I'm going to go get Kix so that we can patch you up." It would be futile, but he needed to say something to help put his mind at ease.

With a feeble shake of her head that indicated no, she looked at him, "Rex… you know… that you won't be able… to help me; neither… will Kix."

Oh, he knew, but he needed a sense of hope so badly. If he didn't get it now, he would shatter. Drawing in a shaky breath, she continued, "I…need you to take my… lightsabers and hold on to them. …Promise me. Don't give them… to anyone else, not even… Anakin."

The lightsabers were somewhere out in the battlefield, being covered by debris from the battle.

Rex shook his head in understanding and bent down to place one last tender kiss to her lips. She looked up at him with a pained expression written along her face. "My time is… up, Rexter, I have to… go. I promise… we'll meet again… soon."

With a grimace, she closed her eyes and breathed her last. The tears fully unleashed themselves and they rolled down his dirty cheeks in fat drops to land on Ahsoka's still face. He pulled her into his chest and held onto her, and his body shook from the misery and loss he was going through. He would have so many consequences to deal with after having loved her. Not to mention, hell to pay. Just then, Kix arrived, blaster at his side. Rex didn't even notice him until he gently shook his shoulder. Frankly, he didn't notice the battle still raging around them. "Vod?"

Rex looked up, his vision blurry from the tears in his eyes. "She's gone," he sobbed, "and she's never coming… back." His voice broke at the end, and fresh tears fell down his face.

Kix crouched down and looked at him, then to the small figure in his arms, and his face fell. He dropped his blaster and put his head in his hands, composing himself before turning to Jesse gravely. "Alert General Skywalker of the news. Tell him that Captain Rex will be unable to finish the battle. We're heading back to the cruiser."

Kix turned back to him, and Rex could feel the excruciating heaviness of exhaustion seeping into his bones. All he wanted to do was lay down and never wake up. Maybe death would come for him right now and save him from all the trouble that his future held. How he loved that idea. He collapsed onto his side as the exhaustion took its toll on him, and all he knew was darkness.

Had death finally come for him?

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