Dar'solus [Captain Rex x reader]

Chapter 15 - Troubled waters

Mando'a used in chapter:

"Su cuy'gar!" - literally; "So you're still alive!"

"Kov'nyn" - headbutt, Keldabe kiss. Because Mandalorians wear their helmets all the time (especially in battle), they touch foreheads instead of giving a kiss. It can be romantic but also as a way for them to tell each other that they're brother in arms, a.k.a. they have each others back when needed.

We were just about done with setting up all the pods as a defensive wall around the village when Rex called out from on top of it,

"Clankers inbound! Eight minutes tops!"

jumping down from the pod he had been standing on, he joined the rest of us behind the pods. Both him and Commander Bly were wearing their helmets now and Rex reported that they indeed had the new cannon with them. Just as Master Secura was about to speak up, the village chief beat her to it,

"I will not stand for this! You must stop what you're doing!"

I turned to him and replied first in a gentle, yet firm voice,

"We're not asking you or forcing you to go against your beliefs, so let us stand by ours."

he kept his eyes on me until he eventually walked away, not satisfied. Anakin and Ahsoka gave me a look but I just shrugged it off and let Master Secura finish telling us the plan again. Using my vambrace I powered up the shield generators and waited for the signal to activate the shields that Commander Bly would call out. He stood on one of the pods and used his helmet binocs to see when they fired the cannon towards us. I heard an explosion go off and then he finally called out the signal. Acting quickly I activated the shields that simultaneously shot up a beacon of swirling blue and purple light into the sky. They spread out into a see-through dome that enclosed around the entire village just as the rapid fire came charging at us. The fire was stopped by the shield but it still climbed up on the outside of it as the pressure of the bomb itself pushed it forward. The Lurmen watched the fire burn bright like a star before it died down and left us with the scorched land outside the shield. The three AAT's were standing still but soon we heard the rhythmic clanking of droids marching towards us. Rex climbed up the wall of pods and yelled down,

"Clankers closing in!"

we all made our way to the other side and walked out from the shields protective barrier. The droids started to blast us and Anakin, Ahsoka and Master Secura ran towards them whilst deflecting their blasters. I stayed back with Commander Bly to my left and Rex to my right as we used our own blasters to take them out. The three Jedi flew around between them as more and more droids fell to the ground. The first wave of droids was quickly dealt with and soon the next one started charging towards us, fast. I saw Anakin run off to the AAT's and called out to the men on either side of me,

"Anakin is going for the cannon! We just have to hold them off for as long as we can!"

dodging incoming blaster fire and shooting back at them, we were being forced backwards. The droids were advancing faster than we could take them out. I covered Rex and Commander Bly as they climbed back over the pods. Commander Bly yelled for me to climb back over as he stood on top of the pods now with Rex beside him giving me cover fire. Once we were on the village side we got a few seconds to catch our breaths before the droids blasted their way through the wall of pods. I looked behind us to see the Lurmen watching out in the open with big eyes. Rex and Commander Bly started shooting again and I holstered my blasters as I yelled to the Lurmen,

"Find cover!"

they hurried away inside their pods or behind them just as the droids broke through the wall. Rex and Commander Bly ran with me to the nearest pods to use as cover. I was behind one of the pods with Rex to my right as I peaked the corner and fired back. When I did I didn't notice the grenade rolling in between our pod and Commander Bly's. Suddenly I was pulled back and down on the ground as Rex got down on top of me to shield me from the explosion with his armour. His hands that were gripping his dual blasters were on either side of my head and his helmet was hovering so close to my face that I could hear his breaths from inside of it. Dirt flew over us and I felt his chest plate push down slightly on my chest before it went up again. He had never turned his head as his black visor was trained on me. I couldn't see his eyes but I felt them bore into mine a little longer than usual before he pushed himself off of me and helped me up. It took me a second to get my head back into the fight after being so close to him when the explosion went off. But I shook my head and just as I moved to start blasting the droids again I was stopped by the sight of a handful of Lurmen running around and in between the droids' feet with a long rope. Ahsoka had now also joined us and fought off some droids further back whilst the Lurmen did, whatever it was that they were doing. Before we could even help them out they shot down one of the rope ends into the ground and started pulling it to bring the droids down. Me, Rex and Commander Bly quickly holstered our blasters and started pulling the rope with them. The tied-up droids fell and Ahsoka wasted no time in running along the line of fallen droids with her lightsaber slicing their metallic necks. Letting go of the rope I stood and looked around at the now finished battle. There were destroyed droids littered everywhere on the ground and the two pods we had used as cover were damaged from the explosion. Small amounts of grey smoke wafted up into the air from the fire that burned a massive circle where it had landed earlier. The Lurmen that had hidden slowly started to come out as it was now silent again for the most part. I saw Master Secura walk over to Commander Bly and check if he was hurt before making her way over to Ahsoka. Feeling a hand on my shoulder I turned around to see Rex looking at me. He used his other hand and removed his helmet so his eyes could meet mine properly without a visor in between. They were tired but he pushed it aside as they filled with a softness and worry,