Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

30

Rex sat back and watched as Cody greeted their squadmate with a firm handshake. Wolffe was actually smiling for once, seeing his brother. They were talking animatedly at one of the tables in the makeshift mess as they caught each other up on what had happened since their last rendezvous.

Rex sat by himself, going through the virtual mountain of paperwork left over from the battle while listening to his two older brothers reconnect. He sighed when he came to some requisition forms he needed Cody to sign off on as well.  Wolffe visibly jerked when he saw Rex, still in full armor. He whitened at quite literally looking at a ghost.

"Rex?" It came out as a gasp, both disbelieving and hopeful. Rex had gotten used to not reacting to his actual name, and just gave the other commander a quizzical look.

"Not Rex." He sighed heavily, removing his helmet to tuck under his arm and extend a hand to his older brother, hoping the pain in his chest at lying to Wolffe wasn't written obviously across his face. "I'm his replacement. Captain 7567, but I guess I should introduce myself as Flip now."

Wolffe shook his hand, looking like he had been smacked between the eyes with a board. Rex offered Cody the datapad and stylus, and Cody signed it with a slight smile. He rose and beckoned to Wolffe, nodding to the door. Rex moved out of the way to let them go and return to his paperwork, but Cody snagged him by the pauldron and dragged him with them out into the hallway, away from anybody who could possibly overhear them. He turned to face Rex.

"Ok, vod'ika. You can drop the act. Do you really think any of us would send you back to Kamino?" Cody chastised. Rex shrugged.

"Excuse me for being cautious." He grumbled. Cody rolled his eyes.

"Cautious? Try paranoid."

"You would be too, if the wrong person found out something about you that would get you killed and dissected." Rex pointed out. Wolffe was just standing there, his mouth open as he stare between them.

"Rex?" He asked again, a little shakily.

"Right here, ori'vod." Rex said quietly, meeting his eyes. Wolffe wasn't one for big shows of affection, and definitely not for sentimentality,  but that didn't stop him from nearly tackling his little brother in a bear... er... Wolf hug. Rex clung to his older brother as he trembled slightly, Cody joining in some time later. Wolffe sat back, scrubbing at is good eye and laughing.

"My brother is alive. My vod'ika is alive." He chanted softly to himself. Rex knew that feeling. They tried not to hold onto any one of their brothers, but that knowledge that they were here, they were alive, that will break you more than their 'deaths' did in the first place. Wolffe looked Rex in the eyes. "How?"

"A miracle." He answered. "A one in five million chance, according to Kix and Skywalker." Wolffe laughed, the sound catching in his throat.

"You always were a lucky one." He chuckled. Plo Koon rounded the corner ahead of the trio, and the muscles around his mask tightened in his version of a smile.

"Ah, there you are, Commanders. The latest briefing has arrived. You're needed in the command center. You better go to, Captain Tano." He said, looking at Rex, who choked on air for a second.

"You might want to call him Flip during the briefing, sir, because Rex Tano is supposed to be dead." Cody chuckled as Rex faltered and coughed.

"A, How did you know I was me? B, how do you know of my last name? C, Cody, you traitor." Rex growled the last bit, making Cody laugh out loud and Wolffe smile. Plo Koon snickered a little too.

"I can feel your force signature, and the fact that 'Soka said that her husband was being executed for aiding her in proving her innocence while she chewed us out was enough to put the pieces together." The kel dor said. Rex flushed scarlet.

"Yeah, that'll do it." He mumbled, snapping on his helmet as they entered the temporary command center. Wolffe and Cody followed suit. Anakin was already leaning on the holotable, actually taking notes about the separatist placements. That's when you knew it was serious, when Skywalker was actually writing.

"Skywalker. Report." Plo Koon ordered. Anakin raked his hand through his hair.

"To be blunt, Master, we're almost completely surrounded. We have a good defensive position, but our offence is severely limited. Worse, the clankers have started taking slave prisoners. The wookie resistance general is coming to negotiate with us for terms of aid for the both of us." He sighed heavily. "We're down men and weapons, unless we can find a way to weaponize the environment without damaging the wookies' home."

"How are we doing for other inventory items?" Asked Cody, all the humor from a few seconds ago gone from his voice.

"Such as?" Asked General Koon.

"Rations, parts for repairs to the weapons we do have, fuel cells, that sort of thing." Cody clarified. Rex frowned, thinking back to his paperwork.

"We have enough rations to last up to a month with us, we're short on basic repair parts but we can make due with what we have. Fuel is also in short supply, but we have plenty of electropower packs at our disposal. We also have a pretty decent amount of miscellaneous, such as rappelling lines, armor replacements, and clothing rations." Rex rattled off, pulling out his datapad to help his memory. "We're in high demand of medical supplies. Medication and equipment, bacta especially."

Anakin blew out a long breath. "Thank you, Captain. Cody, Wolffe, could you give us a new set of eyes on the map?"

The other two clones approached the holotable, muttering quietly in Mando'a between them as they scanned the enemy forces. Wolffe circled a couple places in red with his fingertip, and Cody nodded. He turned back to the generals and opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as the windows blew in, sending them all flying backwards.

Rex's head hit the wall behind them with a sharp CRACK and everything went black.