Cejanr (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

46

As the ship sank lower and lower through the soupy yellow clouds of Skako minor, Rex suppressed a shiver of anticipation. Tech, who was at the pilot seat currently, glanced over his shoulder at the others as he guided the ship down.

"Be warned, the natives of this place are extremely primitive." Rex cautioned. Tech laughed.

"That's being gracious, captain. They worship flying reptiles, and have barely mastered the concept of the wheel." The ship landed with a gentle bump.

"Alright, how far are we from the city?" Anakin asked.

"Purkoll is about seven klicks from where we stand." Tech replied. There was a commotion outside as a giant winged creature landed on the front viewport. It vaguely reminded Rex of the creatures on Onderon. "It's one of the reptiles!" Tech announced. The others all gave him a deadpan stare as he stated the obvious.

"Get that thing off my ship!" Hunter snapped, slamming down the hatchway before they could even verify if the atmo was breathable. It seemed to be, but Rex snapped his helmet on anyways as he ran out after the others.

A second creature swooped down out of the yellow sky and, neatly, plucked Anakin up. The bad batch was moving within seconds, firing a cable that caught the creature's leg. Crosshair passed the reel of cable to Hunter, who clipped it on his belt.

"What are you doing?" Asked Rex, frowning as the cable wound further and further out.

"Going for a ride." Was all Hunter got out before the line ran out and he was pulled up into the sky after the general. A little blip lit up on the internal map of Rex's HUD, indicating where Hunter was.

"Everyone got the tracker?" Tech asked. "Good let's go." They took off in the direction the way that Anakin and Hunter were being taken at a fast pace, and soon enough came up on a settlement.

"Tech, I'm with the general." Hunter's voice crackled in their ears. "Up on the cliff. Wrecker, Crosshair, Rockslide. Disarm, don't kill."

"Got it." Wrecker replied, already scaling the rocky hillside. Rex sighed softly, feeling his still sore muscles complain a little at the prospect of the climb. He ducked his head wearily before climbing up behind Wrecker, silently praying the massive clone didn't fall.

They made it up to the top of the hill, and Wrecker instantly made his way over to the biggest, roundest boulder he could find. Slowly, painstakingly, he began to roll it off the edge of the cliff. As the huge stone rolled down. The mutated clones began to slide down the hillside in it's wake.

It smashed through the main road of the primitive village before coming to a stop. Large melee weapons that looked like giant crab claws were raised at them, but they fired at the weapons, knocking them out of the native's grasp.

Crosshair fired a small electrodart at the creature, who Tech had identified as a Keerdak, holding down the general. The creature let out a screech of pain and let go of the jedi, flapping its wings and hopping a few paces back. Anakin dusted himself off as he clambered to his feet.

The leader poletec said something in that weird echoey language that they speak. Hunter, also regaining his feet, glanced at Tech. "Translate."

"He said that he does not want our war on his planet, that is why they took our leader." Tech translated.

"Tell him that we do not wish to bring the war. We are a merely a scouting party who is looking for the source of a weapon used against our forces." Anakin said. Tech nodded, and when he spoke, it was odd, disjointed sounds and jerked head movements that held nothing of the resonant speech of the native poletecs. They seemed to understand, however, as a murmur went up among the gathered crowd.

The leader spoke again, and Tech translated once more. "He will provide us with guides to show us the way to the city. As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we are to leave immediately."

"Understood. Any help is better than no help."

They walked the remaining four klicks in relative silence. At the top of a rock spire, Purkoll came into view. The guides left without a word, seeming to vanish into the surrounding landscape.

"Well, I hope no body is afraid of heights." Anakin commented. The bad batch all turned as one to look back at Wrecker.

"I'm not afraid of anything!" He boarder line shouted. He glanced over the edge of the rockspire and shuddered. "It's just.. when I get up high, I got a real problem with gravity." He rubbed at the back of his neck

Hunter chuckled as they went single file back down the spire. "Don't worry, Wrecker. I'll hold your hand."

"Flip." Anakin said, putting a hand on Rex's shoulder. Rex almost didn't respond to his 'name.' "I know you're focused on rescuing the ARC trooper. But if this turns out that it's not actually him..."

"Then I'll deal with it, sir." Rex said. Anakin raised an eyebrow and Rex elaborated, feeling his throat constrict slightly as he continued. "If it is a trap, then we know that we're getting close. Echo or not, we still need to put an end to this 'algorithm.' ... if that means putting a bullet through Echo's head to spare him the misery of living to help the enemy's side, so be it" He lowered his voice as they talked.

Anakin nodded, accepting this. They came to the base of the city, and the wind whipped around them, even on the ground.

"Strange, I've lost Echo's signal." Tech said. "Could be because of all the atmospheric disturbances... strange. We'll have to see if I can find it again once we reach the top."

The door at the base of the pillar holding up part of the city slid open. Crosshair went first to check it out. He spin around and called over his shoulder as the others approached.

"Yeah, it's a lift."

Wrecker looked up towards the sky. "Wait, how high up are we going?" He asked. Rex shook his head.

"Too kriffing far." The doors slid shut, and the elevator began to rise.