Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

41

"I've heard... mixed things about these guys." Kix commented as Rex and Cody lead him and Cavalry to the landing strip. The young girl frowned.

"They have a hundred percent success rate, what's 'mixed' about that?" She asked. Kix pressed his lips together as the PA echoed with a warning about the approaching ship.

"It's not that they win that worries me. It's how they win."

The ship came in fast, knocking over stacks of crates and giving several technicians heart attacks at the rough landing.

"So... What's so special about these clones anyways?" Kix asked, frowning.

"They're defective clones with uh... desirable mutations." Cody said slowly. All of the clones shuddered at the word 'defective.'

"Ninty-Nine, eh? Nice touch." Kix chuckled a little. They approached the ship, the dust kicked up from the fast and reckless entry silhouetted dramatically as it lowered. The first clone who walked out was wearing what looked kinda like standard issue plastoid, painted in a red and black that definitely didn't match regulations.

The second was much smaller than the average clone, only maybe an inch taller than Cavalry. He was hunched over some sort of modified datapad, tapping on it rapidly. His helmet was also drastically different, sporting a transparent visor that lifted to reveal a pair of thick lensed goggles.

The third was mostly normal, a helmet more like the phase ones but rounder, with a slim slit vertical instead of a tapered one. And then came the last. Well, there was no way to really describe him than 'big.' Everything about him was massive, from the way his shoulders barely cleared the edges of the doorway to him nearly having to duck under the top. He had to be at least a foot taller than your average clone, and they weren't small to begin with. The big guy, who must be the one called 'Wrecker,' yanked off his helmet with one massive paw and punched the air with an exuberant shout.

"The Cavalry has arrived!" He roared. The other Cavalry slouched a little at the edge of Rex's vision.

"That's my line." She grumbled with a slight glare. Kix's frown returned, deeper than before. As the clones moved in closer, the other three removed their helmets.

"These guys are clones?" Kix murmured. "They don't look like clones to me... no offence Cav."

"None taken." She muttered back, her eyes glued to the clone squad. The one in the lead saluted Cody, and they shook hands.

"Sargent, good to see you again." Cody greeted the one in front. He was a little on the tall side too, his hair longer than regulation and kept out of his face with a red bandana. A half skull tattoo covered the left side of his face.

"You to sir." The mutated clone's voice was different. Lower and raspy, like he had inhaled carbon smoke for fun. Cody turned back to the clones from the 501st.

"This is Hunter." He introduced the sargent. Rex nodded in greeting.

"Sorry we're late, Commander. We were putting down an insurrection on Yalbec Prime when your comm came in." He shifted a little. "Had a few unforeseen... complications."

Wrecker laughed. "Ever fought a male Yalbec?" He pointed at Kix.

"Uh...no. Can't say that I have." The clone in question said quietly.

"You're lucky! Only way to kill 'em is with one of these." He pulled out a knife from a sheath on his thigh and brandished it excitedly. Hunter sighed a little.

"That's right." The sargent said with a exasperated yet fond smile. "Wrecker here cut off the Queen's stinger while she was alive." He glared at the big clone. "That's why all those yalbec males tried to eat us."

"Actually," The short clone pushed his way past them to stand in front of the group. "They were trying to mate with us, then eat us. Did you know that the stinger of a Yalbec queen is a delicacy on some planets?"

"No, Tech. I'm sure they don't know a third of your useless facts that you rattle off for hours." Hunter broke in. "Crosshair, on the other hand, isn't much of a conversationalist." He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder to indicate the last member of their party standing in the back. "But when you have to hit a precise target from ten klicks away, he's you man"

A gunship swooped down low to hover next to them. Cody jerked his head. "Come on, I'll brief you on the way."

They all piled in, and the doors slid shut behind them. It was a tight fit, but it was something they were all used to. Rex made his way to the cockpit and stuck his head in. Hawk pulled his helmet off and grinned at him.

"I'm guessing my the drop point you're going after that nasty cybercenter?" He asked. Rex nodded.

"Yes. I presume you can get us there relatively safely?" Hawk was one of the best pilots in the GAR, and he knew it. Rex had served with him clear back from Teth. Hawk could fly smoothly through a war zone. Rex could count on one hand the number of times they had crashed, and none of those had been because they were shot down.

"Don't I always, Cap'n? Don't get your pauldron in a twist. I can get you there." Hawk promised. Rex nodded. There was a commotion behind him, and he left Hawk alone to face whatever argument had broken out.

"Go home, kid. This ain't a ride for you." Crosshair was growling. Cavalry was clearly furious, her voice tightly controlled.

"This 'ride' is something I was chosen for because of my unique skill set." She borderline snarled.

"Unique is our job. Why would we have need of a little slip of a girl? Are you some kinda jedi?" Crosshair taunted.

"Trooper Cavalry is here on my orders." Rex cut in. "I've served with her on many missions and campaigns. She is one of my best. It'd do you well not to underestimate her."

"She's a kid. I'd bet that if I were to yank on that pretty little ponytail of hers, she'd go crying to her mama about it." Crosshair sneared, getting into Rex's face. Rex just smirked a little.

"I'll take you up on that bet. I say, that if you so much as lay a finger on her she'd gut you like a swine before you could so much as blink. Whaddaya wager, fifteen credits?" Rex's small smile widened.

"Alright, stow it. Crosshair, out of line." Hunter barked.

"We're all on the same side here, so cut the attitude and listen up." Cody barked, holding up a hand held holoprojector. A picture of the cybercenter appeared. "This is our target, the cybercenter. It's the brains of the whole operation here. Our mission is to infiltrate it and find an algorithm to predict and give orders based on the republic's tactics."

Cody closed the holo down. "Once we've got what we need, we get out of there. It's not a demo job. It's strictly retrieval."

As he said this the ship lurched sharply. Hawk grunted from the cockpit, then there was an explosion. The next thing Rex knew, they were in free fall.