You're going to love this, Simp4CaptainRex and Sun-Fl0w3r_

Tw: Death, violence, sexual references, injuries.

Blaster fire erupted everywhere.

They charged across the battlefield, kicking up dirt and mud.

Clones fell as bolts hit them, and droids sparked before collapsing.

Rex glanced at Kara before joining his brothers in the fray. Kara hid behind a tree as she tried to send out a distress signal, fingers desperately pressing at the transmitter.

After being shot down and ambushed, they were fighting a losing battle against a bigger force. There were too many droids for them to make it out of there alive. The droids were slowly approaching the crashed cruiser.

Anakin sliced a droid in half, using the Force to send another into the one beside it. He paused to wipe at his forehead, tiredly looking at the droids ahead.

Ahsoka glanced up at his face, concern on her features. When he noticed her stare, he smiled at her, using the Force to lift her up. When she laughed, his face brightened.

Then he deflected another shot, his focus returning to the battle.

Kara managed to get a weak signal, opening a channel to Anakin's master as ordered. "Hello? Someone? We need help!"

A voice crackled a response. "Anakin? Is that you?"

"Send reinforcements or help of any kind! We've been ambushed and-" Kara stopped talking as the signal disappeared, the transmitter shutting off. She groaned and rubbed her face, frustrated tears nearly coming to the surface.

A clone crouched next to her. "Need help?"

"I can't figure out how to make this work!" Kara handed it to him, desperate for assistance. "It's the one thing I was told to do since Kix hasn't cleared me for the field yet!"

The clone held it up to his visor to inspect it before nodding and putting it on the ground. "I see what the problem is."

"Can you make it work?" Kara hopefully asked.

He crushed it under his foot. "Not anymore."

Kara's jaw dropped. "You idiot! Now we can't get help!"

He removed his helmet, revealed a familiar tattoo. "That's the point."

Kara launched herself at him, punching his face. "How kriffing dare you show your face around here! You killed Tup! You murdered my family!"

Coda grinned, his split lip bleeding. He grabbed Kara's arm and twisted it. "Dooku wants to speak with you."

"And?" Kara pulled out of his grip and delivered a kick to his abdomen. He fell backwards and she stood over him with her hands on her hips. "I don't care about Dooku anymore. I don't work for him."

Coda tilted his head. "Doesn't this seem familiar? The droids shooting down a cruiser and ambushing them? A Separatist soldier creeping up on an unsuspecting Republic soldier?"

Kara placed a finger on her chin. "You're right. It does seem familiar."

Coda swept her legs out from under her. "And this time, you're the victim."

Kara held up a hand. "Wait. I think we're forgetting something..."

Coda frowned. "Does it matter? I'm about to bring you to Dooku."

"I believe it was the Separatist that was defeated," Kara said and stood, rolling up her sleeves. "Or am I mistaken?"

Coda narrowed his eyes and sprung to his feet, holding up his fists. "Then let's change that."

Kara got ready to fight, when Coda froze. His arms lowered, and he fell to his knees.

"How dare you wear that armour after what you've done to betray your brothers!" Rex furiously shouted. "How dare you kill my brother! Tup was a better man than you'll ever be!"

Coda's mouth opened in a silent scream before he went limp, falling to the ground with a blaster wound in his back.

Kara and Rex stared at him for a moment before looking up at each other. 

"That's one thing off my to-do list," Kara quietly said.

"The droids have been pushed back for now, but they're regathering" .Rex used his pistol to point at the transmitter. "What happened to that?"

"Coda broke it," Kara explained, picking up the ruined pieces. "And now we can't call for back up."

"You couldn't get out a message to General Kenobi?" Rex's shoulders slumped and he removed his helmet.

"I could, but I'm not sure if it was enough for them to track our location." Kara threw the pieces down and buried her face in her hands. "We're done for."

Rex put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll be okay, don't worry."

"How do you do this?" Kara sunk to the ground. "How do you deal with this as your life?"

"War is hard." Rex joined her on the dirt. "Some break under the pressure. Coda, for example. But you learn to push through it. You learn to focus on the good things."

"Like what?" Kara leaned her head on his shoulder. 

"Like my brothers and their ridiculous antics. Like you and your silly attempts to grab my ass." Rex smirked teasingly.

"It's not silly." Kara huffed and crossed her arms. 

"You're right." Rex's lips twitched before he chuckled. "I'm sorry I can't handle it. It's hilarious."

"Fine. We're done." Kara pushed herself up, but his arms latching around her and dragged her down. 

"I'm sorry, okay?" Rex laughed. He wrapped his arms tightly around her so she couldn't escape. "It's not silly."

"So you'll let me grab your ass?" Kara batted her eyes at him. "Please, pretty boy?"

His head dipped and he gave her a soft smile. "No."

"Come on!" Kara whined. "I'll do anything!"

Rex raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Anything?"

Kara held up a hand and corrected herself, "Almost anything."

"Will you let me have an extra blanket in bed? For when you steal mine?" Rex requested.

"Sure. Now will you let me grab your ass?" Kara eagerly asked.

"Fine," Rex reluctantly agreed.

Kara cheered and reached out and-

"General Skywalker is hurt!" Echo said as he ran to them. "It's serious."

Rex's face settled into a serious one. "What happened?"

"There was an explosion that he deflected with the Force, and he was too focused on that to defend himself from a shot. It hit him on the back and... he can't move," Echo said gravely. "Commander Tano is with him now."

Rex stood up and helped Kara up, hurrying to follow Echo to the fallen Jedi. Kix was on his knees next to Anakin, a bag pulled out with supplies everywhere. Kix looked calm, but his frantic movements gave his panic away.

"General Skywalker." Rex's voice wavered. 

"Rex." Anakin grinned, his eyes pained. "We blew up the main control room. The droids won't be bothering us anymore."

"That's great." Rex glanced at Kix, who flashed him a grim look. "General Kenobi would be proud."

Fives grasped Hardcase's arm. "Commander Tano, are you okay?"

Ahsoka sniffled and nodded. "Yeah. Anakin's going to be fine."

Kix's face said otherwise.

"I'll try to contact General Kenobi," Jesse cut in. "I'm sure he's been looking for us since he lost contact with us anyway."

"Good idea," Rex said and took Kix aside. He lowered his voice. "Tell me everything."

"He's lost feeling in his lower body. He's paralyzed and if he doesn't get treatment immediately, it's permanent," Kix said in a hushed tone.

Rex swallowed and thought for a moment. "Okay. Okay, I can deal with this. Jesse will contact General Kenobi and you'll keep General Skywalker stable until help arrives. I want a small group to make sure the droids are decommissioned."

"Understood, sir." Kix snapped his fingers at Fives and Hardcase to ease Anakin into a better placement so his neck wasn't in an odd position.

Rex stood straight as he overlooked the scene, putting on a confident facade when he felt anything but.