Chapter Text
The cool durasteel of Rex’s blaster chills the back of her montral as they make their way into the hangar. It's the third time today she’s had his blasters aimed at her. It had taken some convincing to get him to agree to it, more to get him to hold her lightsabers, and even more to make him keep the safety off so he could still fire as soon as he needed to. She felt slightly bad for asking him to do it, but it was the only way she could see them getting into that hangar without it immediately turning into a firefight. If it could buy the droids enough time to do their part, it would be worth it.
Every last clone in the hangar snaps into a ready position, blasters drawn, as soon as they come in sight, prompting Rex to call out, lest the situation get away from them immediately and they lose whatever advantage of time they have.
“Hold your fire!” His natural authority gives all the clones pause, except Jesse, who’s always been one of the best. “I said hold your fire, Jesse! I have the situation under control.”
“You have your orders, sir.” Jesse’s voice is hard. “Now execute it, or I will.”
“The order was to execute the Jedi for treason against the Republic.” Rex responds. Ahsoka had planned this one with him on their way into the hangar. He steps in front of her as he talks, putting himself between her and the soldiers. “The problem is, Ahsoka Tano is no longer a Jedi - hasn’t been for some time.”
Jesse lowers his blasters a fraction and his voice goes cold.
“Sir, you said it yourself that we are under special order from Darth Sidious to eliminate Ahsoka Tano, and any other clone that disobeys Order 66.”
Rex has never been a good liar, and she doesn’t want this to trip him up. Out of the corner of her eye she spots the droids sneaking their way to their target, a control panel for the lifts used to transport ships across hangar levels. The same lifts that around half of the clone troopers have positioned themselves on.
“Just keep him talking, cyare, a little bit longer,” she whispers to Rex.
“Jesse! Jesse, listen to me! We’ve known each other a long time. If we don’t get this right, we will be the ones committing treason, not her!”
For a moment, Jesse’s grip on his blasters falter, like there might be a small part of him that wants to listen to what Rex is saying. The moment doesn’t last long.
“Commander Rex, you are in violation of Order 66. I accuse you of treason against the Grand Army of the Republic. You are to be demoted from rank of commander and subject to execution, along with the traitor Ahsoka Tano.”
They both knew this was inevitable, but it still feels like a dagger to the chest to hear. There’s no more talking to Jesse. In the distance, one of the droids signals to her.
“Ready?” She asks Rex.
“Yeah,” he sighs. “I didn’t much like being a commander anyways.”
The quip almost makes her smile. She wants to rib something back to him, and fall back into the rhythm of past battles, where they would trade friendship and black humor to make the fights more bearable. But how do you make this bearable? Their friends are quickly aiming their blasters at them, the droids are signaling that the trap is ready, and to waste any more seconds reminiscing would be a death fatal mistake.
“Now!” She yells to Rex and the droids, spurring them into action. Panels of the floor drop away, taking half of the squadron with them out of the fight and into the lower hangar. Jesse just has time to make a shot before Ahsoka pushes him with the force into the lower hangar with the rest. Without taking her eyes off the remaining clones, she pulls her lightsabers back into her hands from Rex’s safekeeping. As Ahsoka draws her sabers to deflect the blaster fire, purpose and destruction rolls across the force and presses on her mind. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a red and black figure enter the hangar. Maul has found the fight.
Instinctively she knows that his goal is the same as theirs: take the remaining shuttle. Barely tempered anger towards the would-be-Sith burns inside her. She needs that shuttle. He had turned the ship into a wreck, and he can go down with it.
“Rex! The ship!”
Ahsoka leaps with the force over the battle. Rex follows without hesitation, covering her with blaster fire.
Maul snarls as she approaches. Crates and machinery fly towards her.
“You wanted this chaos!”
Anger pierces her chest. She runs towards him, blades swinging. Eyes fixed on his face, she’s unprepared for the sudden push in the force against her chest. Ahsoka flies backwards into the air, unable to stop herself. She hits the ground with speed and continues to fall into the pit to the lower hangar. Her sabers slow her down just enough to catch the line Gee-gee sends towards her as she falls.
Rex and Gee-gee lean over the ledge to pull her up. Below her, half a squadron is starting to stir. Jesse’s voice rises above the chaos.
“Fire on them!”
Ahsoka climbs the chord as fast as she can while dodging blaster fire. Rex pulls her up to stand when, but she has no moment to catch her breath. Maul has the shuttle in the air.
Ahsoka sees red as she runs after it. The Force rushes through her like a storm. Arms raised, she channels it towards the shuttle. The ship groans as it’s engines fight her pull. Something ugly inside her rises up to meet it. Her arms tremble and her feet start to slip as the engines pull away. A hand grips her arm. No! She has to get that shuttle! Cold fear and burning anger mixes with the agonizing cries still ringing ringing ringing through the force. She pulls harder and slips out of his grasp. She could still get it! She could pull it down!
A blaster bolt hits armor.
Rex cries out.
Ice runs through Ahsoka’s body at the sound. What was she doing? Stopping Maul, catching the shuttle, it’s not worth this. It’s not worth losing herself. It’s not worth losing Rex.
She drops her arms without a second thought. Choosing to release Maul may be a mistake, but choosing Rex never is. She’s not getting out of this without him.
Ahsoka dashes towards Rex and places herself in front of him, blades swinging to protect them both from the oncoming blasts. In moments they’re surrounded. Luckily, Ahsoka was trained by some rather creative jedi. She flings down both of her sabers and spins. The floor drops out from under them.
The lower hanger, unfortunately, is also full of clones, blasters raised. Fortunately, they still have the droids. The floor beneath the clones jerks upwards, lifting them back to the upper hangar. The remaining soldiers are easily pushed down with the force.
Rows of Y-wing bombers fill the lower hangar. Most of them are in pieces. But not all. Rex spots it before she does, and together they run towards it.
A blast comes from behind them. The clone troopers she knocked down haven’t stayed down. Rex can’t defend himself from the blasts like she can. Her blades swing with each blast, and as soon as he’s behind her, she shoves. With a startled yell, Rex goes flying towards the ship.
More clones swarm the lower hangar and fire at her. A blast slips by and strikes her arm. More clones. A blast strikes her shin.
A metallic groan echoes through the ship. The ship has entered the atmosphere. Foreign gravity pulls down the crates and unanchored bombers. The clones fall with them. Ahsoka thrusts her sabers into the floor to anchor herself.
“Ahsoka! Come on!”
Rex is in the seat of the Y-wing, helmet off, arms outstretched. The ground tilts even steeper underneath her as she runs towards him. She propels herself forward and leaps.
An explosion in the hangar forces the bomber to break loose from the ship. Rex is pulled away, disappearing into the smoke and debris. Ahsoka is left in freefall.
She knows not to panic. She knows not to feed her fear. Ahsoka knows the force. And Ahsoka knows Rex.
Her mind quiets and her body stills. The force guides her around the falling debris as she centers herself on one thing. A force signature that shines like gold, and radiates warmth like the sun.
It's only moments until they’ve found each other. Together, safe in the Y-Wing, they pull away from the wreckage into safety.