Author's Note- Sorry it took so long guys! I had a gigantic calculus project, but now that is finished... Chapter 10!

Previously on Song of the Negotiator...

_Cut-Rex_

"Oh come off it, mate. You're preaching to the choir here. Don't forget I was in the GAR."

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten."

_Cody-Rex_

"Turn him in!... Dammit Rex, I know you're different from the rest of us in that you don't necessarily like following orders as much as the rest of us, but that doesn't mean you get to go around doing whatever the hell you want!"

"He's a good man, Cody. A real good man, with a family!"

"Slick was a real good man, too. Wasn't he?"

_Satine-Group-Obi-Wan_

"Yes, and the air smelled of wild roses and berries-"

"It sounds like you all had quite an eventful day whilst I was stuck here with Anakin, of all people..."

_Rex-Cody_

"Cut has a working transmitter that we used to contact the Resolute during chow. They said one rotation."

Chapter 10. A Static Reunion

The silence resonated as the realization of Obi-Wan's now conscious presence reached the members of the team. Anakin, completely oblivious to the snide comment by his master, was the first to his side. He was quickly followed by his own padawan, Ahsoka, and Padme who knelt at Obi-Wan's feet. Finally the silence was broken by Anakin.

"Good to have you back with us, Master."

"We all were really worried about you," Padme interjected. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she could see Ahsoka with her best I-wasn't-worried-at-all look.

"Well I wasn't worried at all, Master... At least not after we got here," Ahsoka finally conceded.

After taking in everyone around him, Obi-Wan added, "Very good, Ahsoka. Faith is an important virtue for a padawan to learn. However, where exactly is 'here'?"

Sensing that was his cue to add to what he thought was a rather dull conversation, Rex took his attention away from Cody who was sifting through his gear for the small amount of medical supplies, most of which would do Kenobi no good, but both himself and Cody thought was a necessity for a Clone in command to carry and understand.

"On a family farm about six clicks west of where we crashed," Rex stated noticing Anakin's head turn.

"We didn't crash, Captain. I landed that big flying scrap heap," Anakin corrected.

"Of course, Sir. Uh, my mistake," Rex reassured his general, then turned to Kenobi and said, "A farm, 'bout six clicks west of where we crash-landed." Rex said nothing else, but shot Anakin his best kiss-my-shebs smirk, and Obi-Wan couldn't help a small chuckle. Noting the small span of silence where nobody, Satine especially, which Rex thought was quite odd, had anything to say. Rex decided to fill it with details of their time on the planet and the logistics of getting off.

"General Kenobi, we called the Resolute for transport but they had their hands tied up on the far side of the Outer Rim. They said they would double-time it out here, but at best it would be one standard rotation before they got here. That was about two and a half days ago, so we'll keep an ear out for 'em starting at daybreak tomorrow, and with all due respect, Senator, it would be greatly appreciated if you wouldn't move the General until Cody can get a scan on him." Padme stopped dead in the middle of trying to help Obi-Wan sit up and laid him back down. Of course she did it without question because she knew Clones would no about injuries better than she would, but mainly it was the fluidity in Rex's voice, his immediate ability to switch his train of thought from one thing to another without so much of a breath in between, that made her stop. Finally, she realized that Cody would need room to work, so she stood up and advised Ahsoka and Anakin to do the same. After the three had moved, Cody stepped in to fill their spot and pulled out a small hand-held device that looked like a datapad attached to a handle and diverging sensors. He immediately started running it over Obi-Wan's body and it began beeping. It was at this point that Satine, who had silently changed clothes and slipped onto her bedmat, finally spoke.

"And what does that thing do, Commander," she asked.

"Well, Duchess, it's an MDS-50 scanner. You run it over the body and it takes basic vital signs," Cody explained.

"It doesn't have the capacity of the ECM-598 MedPacs they issue to trained medics, but it's small and cheap, which makes it great for field triage," added Rex who was now on his knees opposite of Cody. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Padme had too retreated to their bedmats, but listened intently.

"And quite frankly Commander Tano, I think every Jedi should learn the basics of field triage. You wanna be a respected leader, learn how to take care of your men," Cody interjected as he pressed a couple of buttons on the scanner after which he added, "Well Sir, your vitals are good. Hopefully they'll be better by tomorrow so I will feel comfortable moving you."

"You want the RFX/K, Codes?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Cody responded as Rex turned around and unclipped something from the belt of his own armor and handed it to Cody as he continued explaining. "Now the RFX/K is just a medisensor that you hook to the person and it scans the injuries, diagnoses, then suggests treatment. And just like the MDS- thanks mate," Cody paused as he took the scanner from Rex, " and just like the MDS, it's easy to carry around."

"The problem comes," Rex added, "when the scanner runs out of memory space. It's only good for five scans which doesn't really make it useful in the field when you have a lot more than five guys to treat."

As Cody and Rex continued the work on Obi-Wan, Ahsoka started asking questions about field medicine, taking to heart what they said about taking care of her men. After a while, the questions finally stopped, and Cody was able to read the scanner.

"What do you think, Cody," Kenobi asked enthusiastically.

Worried by the General's sudden burst of energy, but not wanting to worry anyone about the General's condition, Cody merely responded, "I think everyone needs to get some rest so we can hopefully be ready for evac tomorrow, and-"

At that moment, the barn door creaked open. Standing just outside was Cut, who managed to stop all conversation when he interjected, "Rex, Cody, you two are gonna wanna come hear this."

Cody and Rex stood next to Cut in his kitchen. The room was dimly lit with candles as the rest of family was already in bed. On the table was a small GAR comlink, one that was obviously Cut's personal one from his armor. After a minute, the comlink beeped and Cody gestured for Rex to answer it. He did so hesitantly.

"This is Captain Rex, 501st." The room was filled with nothing but static, and after several long seconds, Rex called again. "Repeat, this is Captain Rex, CC-7567, 501st." There was a few more moments of static until finally, a distinctive voice slipped in.

"Captain, this is Admiral Yularin. The Resolute is-" More static.

"Repeat Admiral. We're losing you. Admiral! Where are you?" Rex waited until finally the static was gone completely and Yularin was transmitting clear.

"Sorry about that, Captain. The Resolute is in hyperspace. We're on our way to give you transport. If we don't run into any more trouble, we should-"

"Any more trouble, Sir?" Rex's tension caused him to grip the edge of the table with white knuckles while Cut sat to his left and Cody stared at the ground while rubbing the back of the chair to Rex's right.

"We ran into some stray fighters a couple of planets away from Handooine. They seemed to be looking for something," Yularin clarified.

"Or someone," Cody added.

"What was that Captain," Yularin asked after hearing Cody interject in the background. Rex explained Cody's sentiment by describing their adventure on Handooine.

"Those stray fighters, Admiral. They're looking for us. We were attacked at the diplomatic ball. I can only assume they were after the Duchess and Senator, but that's how we wound up on Salucami."

"We'll be sure to relay that information to the Chancellor. He will not stand for such an attack. In the mean time, Captain, get everyone ready. We should arrive around Salucami's midday tomorrow. Yularin out."

Silence followed the end of the transmission as the three brothers contemplated exactly the kind of trouble the crew had run into.

"Haar'chak," Cody mumbled under his breath as he continued gripping the top of the chair and turning his knuckles white.

"What is it brother," Cut asked when he recognized such a strong use of Mando'a.

Cody waited a moment before explaining. "I hope for the General's sake they don't run into any more trouble." He paused, then looked Rex grimly in the eyes and continued. "It's 'the surge', Rex. Without proper medical supplies... I can't promise Kenobi making it past midday."

Author's Note- "The Surge" is a common medical term surgeons use to describe the phenomena that happens to terminally ill patients when they wake up from a long period of unconsciousness or a coma and feel 100% better for a short period of time, about a week, only to become worse than before. Also, "Haar'chak" is a less commonly used Mando'a phrase than "kriff" or "shebs", and basically translates to "dammit." Hope you enjoyed! R&R :)