This is my first fanfic in a while, so I'm hoping y'all will enjoy it! Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm, and The Walt Disney corporation, please support the official release.
...
The smell of ozone filled the air. Where was he? Flashes of blue and red light whizzed past him. That's right, the battlefield. He was leading a push against the separatist lines. The 501st were at his back and at his sides. Along with…
Ahsoka.
Where was she? What happened? As he pondered and wracked his brain for answers, dread washed over him in a tidal wave of realization.
The separatists had seen them before they could rush the flank. They had minimal cover. It was too easy for the spider droids.
Where was Ahsoka?
As the ringing in his ears began to fade, he heard a muffled voice.
"-al! GENERAL! WE NEED TO PULL BACK!"
He looked to the voice. His helmet was gone. The blue paint of his armor was scorched and the polymer was cracked. His face was bloodied.
"Rex?"
He looked to the figures near Rex. One was kneeling over the other. A medic… Kix. The one on the ground being treated…
"Ahsoka!"
Stumbling as he ran, he slid to the side of his Padawan. How had he not heard her screaming? He looked over her, searching for any way he could help. Her right arm was badly burned and her leg was twisted in an unnatural form. He looked up at Kix.
"We need to get her out of here. It'll hurt, but we have to move her."
Nodding, he steeled himself and hooked his arms under her legs and arms, his heart breaking when she tried to hold back her screams of agony. His eyes widened as he saw the shallow greyish purple pool she had laid in, and followed the drips in the dirt until they disappeared under her form again. She felt so small and cold.
Holding her in his arms, he stood, with Rex giving covering fire, and Kix doing what he can to stabilize the girl.
"INCOMING!"
Time seemed to slow, as Anakin looked to the sky, seeing the red inferno of an artillery shell flying to their position.
There was no time to move. Nowhere to go. No cover.
He was going to die. Himself, Rex, Kix, countless other clones… and Ahsoka.
He was failing to protect her. Failing to protect his daughter in all but blood.
Just like his mother, she would die in agony, in his arms, all because he wasn't strong enough.
In that moment, his fear, his anguish, his sorrow, and his rage flooded his mind.
In that moment he did all he could do with this precious girl in his arms.
In that moment he screamed and knew darkness.
...
Cool stone soothed his aching muscles. Not since his training on Kamino had Captain Rex felt so utterly defeated and sore.
Kix had woken up not long before him, and the information they had gathered in that time was disheartening to say the least.
Their weapons were gone. Their armor was gone. General Skywalker and Commander Tano were gone. They had no gear, and no way of knowing where they were. It looked to be a sealed stone room. Not even a discernible doorway. There were some vents, but they weren't even large enough to fit a fist.
They had no choice but to sit and wait.
...
She couldn't feel much. But from what sensation she did experience, it seemed as though she was in a bacta tank. She hadn't woken up long ago, but even if she did, she wasn't sure if she'd have been more aware. There seemed to be some mild sedatives in the liquid she was suspended in.
As she opened her eyes, she winced at the unfamiliar sensation of this liquid against her bare eyeballs, and blinked several times before her vision cleared.
The room was largely dark, illuminated lightly by the heat lamps that kept the bacta a comfortable temperature. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed a masked figure simply standing there, watching her.
Fear speared her heart when she noticed four saber hilts on his belt. Two were her own, one unfamiliar, and the last one... her master's.
She looked up at the mask, seeing it facing her directly. She could not see it, but she could feel the eyes that were locked with hers.
The figure walked up to the tank's controls and pressed a sequence of buttons.
Panic seized her and she desperately called to the Force to break the glass and free her... but in vain, as the unnatural fatigue of sedatives wiped her from consciousness.
...
Rex and Kix had awoken once more. Neither could tell whether it was night or day, as neither knew what time it was when they first awoke. Just as his stomach turned over for hunger, the sound of stone scraping against stone was heard.
Both looked to the source of the sound to see a section of the stone wall being pulled out and shifted to the side. A figure in black robes and wearing a mask walked in with a tray and two bowls.
A small loaf of bread glided behind him.
He set the tray on the ground and the loaf floated above before ripping itself in half.
A distorted voice broke the silence.
"Eat."
Rex grew resolute.
"Who are you? Where are we? Where are the Jedi?"
The masked figure seemed to stare at him, before turning and leaving.
Rex ran to the open passage, only to feel his feet leave the ground as the door began to seal.
"Please, eat."
With that, the door shut, and Rex gently floated to the ground.
Eventually, the two clones hesitantly ate, surprised that the broth was still warm even after they had waited some time.
Kix broke the silence.
"Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know... but I don't think it's a Jedi."
"Why not?"
"Because we're imprisoned. He wouldn't answer any of the questions."
"Think he's related to Dooku? Or Ventress?"
"I don't know, but we need to find the general and the comma-"
The shifting of stone cut the conversation short, as the same figure walked in.
"Please, follow me."
He simply turned and walked out, leaving the door open this time.
Rex and Kix looked at each other, their suspicions growing by the second, before resigning themselves to following this man.
They walked for some time before coming to an open room with a single bacta tank. Within the tank was a single Togruta woman. She was garbed in medical garments.
"COMMANDER TANO!"
Kix ran to the controls and began to try reading her diagnosis, when the masked figure interjected.
"Third degree burns on her right arm and torso. Two fractured ribs. Shattered tibia. And a concussion. I've done what I can with tissue cloning and grafting. I set the bone before immersing her. She'll be waking soon, and I felt it would be best for her to have some familiar faces."
He gestured to an actual door nearby.
"Behind that door is a small common room. There are four other doors. You are free to bunk in them, and when she awakes, I recommend moving her to one of them."
With that, he turned and walked away once more, leaving Rex and Kix feeling somewhat comforted... though more confused than ever.
...
She had the strangest dreams after that figure sedated her. She thought she saw Rex and Kix. They were safe and alive and she was overjoyed to see them, but soon the fatigue of healing got to her, and the dream ended.
When she awoke once more, fully conscious, she felt stiff, like having peeling skin after a sunburn. She looked around her slowly before her eyes caught the familiar face and posture of Clone Captain Rex.
Even when sleeping, he somehow managed to give this air of confidence and power.
She slowly sat up, the bed underneath her creaking lowly with her movement.
Rex's eyes shot open and he looked to her.
"Commander!"
He rushed to her side from his seat and helped her to sit up.
"Kix, get in here!"
Within moments, Kix came in as well, a few medical tools with him.
"How are you feeling, Commander?"
"I'm fine, Rex. Feel a little stiff and feeling like my skin is sliding around, but I'm fine. Where are we? Where's Anakin?"
Rex was about to speak when that distorted voice interrupted once more.
"Healing."
The masked figure.
Her senses had been dulled by the sedatives before, but now she could feel him clearly.
She could feel his darkness.