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lamaenthel · 8 months

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Obedience

[read on ao3][masterlist][Febuwhump prompt: obedience]

Jesse tries to hold out against the flaying of his mind, but Darth Maul won't be denied what he wants to know about Ahsoka Tano.

Characters: CT-5597|Jesse, Darth Maul, Original Mandalorian Character Wordcount: 1942

Jesse spat into the sewer water at Maul's feet and fixed him with a glare. "We can go round and round in this circle if you want," he snarled. His blood was still burning from the battle—from the humiliation of being captured—but the commander was safe. As long as Rex kept her from doing something stupid, like trying to come after him, she'd stay that way. "I ain't telling you anything."

"It is not up to you." A shiver went down Jesse's spine at the look in Maul's burning eyes. "Your mind will speak, or it will break." He raised his hand and flexed his fingers; a cold sensation like icewater spread out under Jesse's skin and shocked him. While he twitched, Maul started rifling through his brain like a holodex. Jesse pushed him out with everything he had, falling back on the tricks that his commander and general had taught him in order to resist mental manipulation. Enclose yourself in a box. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. The only thing that exists are those walls. Make them sharp, make them cut whoever reaches in. With every breath in, your walls are fortified. With every breath out, your intruder is repelled.

"Tell me."

Jesse tried to breathe in and fortify, but the Sith's intrusion squeezed his brain like a vice. His eyes rolled back in his head with the effort of trying to breathe and push the bastard away at the same time. He clenched his teeth and shoved to no avail; the weak mental walls he'd erected were effortlessly swept away by an icy red tide.

Maul breathed out the heavy scent of old blood and sulfur inches away from his face. "Who is this Ahsoka Tano?"

Jesse threw his head back and screamed, helplessly pulled under by the Sith's wave. It forced the air from his lungs and left him violently shaking in its wake, memories rising to the surface like a school of dead fish.

"That's our commanding officer? Shabla haran, she's barely out of diapers." Jesse stared at the little Togruta that stood at attention behind General Skywalker, all gangly limbs like a newborn orbak and eyes half the size of her face. Those oversized eyes snapped to his through his visor. His cheeks went hot and he squirmed, suddenly afraid that she could hear helmet comms with those horns of hers.

"We coat them in metal to protect them,” Ahsoka said proudly, removing her headdress for the three troopers to see. Jesse leaned in to get a better look at the iron-coated trophies. “Akul teeth are sharp but break easily. They’re like lampreys, they’ve got something like ten rows of teeth and are constantly regrowing them.”

Jesse punctured the hydropouch with a straw and handed it to Ahsoka. She was still too dizzy to stand. The static burn his stunner bolt had left on her big forehead was getting redder by the second. "I'm sorry, Commander," he said, too ashamed to meet her eyes. She laughed and patted him right on his fresh ink as payback for tagging her.

"Bobi!" Ahsoka piled out of the larty tumbling over her gangly legs, eager to dive into the arms of General Kenobi. She frantically rubbed her head on his weary, ash-smudged face. Jesse raised an eyebrow under his bucket. "Give you ten warra nuts if you call him General Bobi," he whispered over comms, making Kix snort.

Maul growled like a rabid massiff. "She is of his lineage. Of course."

"Kix said you're going to be on bedrest for at least two weeks while your nerves regenerate, so I brought something to keep you from going totally insane." Ahsoka set up the holoprojector at the foot of the medbay cot and slid onto the covers, stretching out beside him like a sleepy tooka. "Ever watched a sholo—erm, a Shilian holovid? Shili makes the best in the galaxy. This one is a series, it was only released off-world a few months ago. It's called Princess For A Year. The premise is a little sketchy, but the reviews are good." She rested her big head on his chest and dimmed the overhead light with a wave of her hand.

"Let me be very clear with you, Ahsoka." Dol Sylen rested his chin on folded hands and fixed the commander with a hungry look. "I am no fool. I'm sure you already have a plan brewing in that pretty head of yours. You're going to play nice, do your best to convince me that you return my affection and try to gain my trust." He fondled Ahsoka's lek. "It's not going to work. You're going to do whatever I want you to do. Not because you like me and want to be obedient, but because if you don't, I'll hit this button—" he held up a small remote, " —and shock your pet until he pisses himself. If I want you to dance, you'll dance. If I want you to bend over this table and let me fuck you, you'll get fucked." Ahsoka inhaled sharply as he yanked hard on her lek. "Or maybe I'll watch your clone fuck you."

Jesse screamed and shoved Maul out of his mind. The Commander's humiliated, tearstained face swam in his vision, her mutilated lek dripping blood, the wild-eyed look of a prey animal that she didn't shake for a full month afterwards…��

"Stop fighting and obey, clone." Maul spat the words like they burned him. "Give me what I seek, or I will return you to your beloved Commander as a drooling husk."

"I'll die before I let you touch her." Jesse spat a thick glob of saliva in the Zabrak's eye and tried to headbutt him. The Mando dalgaan holding him kneed him hard in the spine. He fell to the ground gasping.

"As you wish." Maul's eyes brightened, burning with hatred. "But you will show me what I want to know before you do."

Maul peeled Jesse's brain apart like an onion to get at what was hidden in the meat. His vision went black around the edges as Maul ripped him open with tooth and claw, spitting out the memories like viscera.

Jesse held Ahsoka tight and desperately begged the Force that she trusted so dearly to not let her die. "I think you need a transfusion," he said. She purred weakly and shivered, cold despite the humid heat of Xior-Cal. He helplessly watched another drop of blood leak from the tip of her right lek. She nodded off in his arms for the second time.

He dragged Ahsoka to the ground and started chest compressions. He felt her ribs crack and swallowed down a sob. Kix always said that if they didn't break, you weren't doing it right, but he was still terrified that he was driving shards of bone into her heart.

They'd brought an oversized bed into the halls of healing to accommodate Ahsoka's need for physical touch while she recovered from surgery. Jesse lay at her front while General Skywalker curled around her from behind; he met Jesse's eyes between her montrals and smiled gratefully.

"S-stop…" Jesse said weakly. "You…"

"Quiet." Maul flexed his hand. "Your childish affection for Skywalker is of no importance to me. What happened to this Mandalorian?"

"She killed him." Jesse caught his breath, fixed him with a glare. "She'll do the same to you, demagolka."

"His name was… Sylen. That was your kinsman, Ijaan, was it not?"

The hulking blue Mandalorian behind Maul removed his helmet and smirked at Jesse. "He was."

Jesse snarled at the sight of Dol Sylen's lone surviving clanmate. "Shabuir. Naasade ru'partayli gar."

"Ni'cuy mav. Gar vi'tayc, ara'goten."

Jesse flinched at the slur; stillbirth, the most favored word by the Deathwatch to describe him and his brothers.

"He was the one that suggested you." Maul clenched his fist. "More."

"I thought Appo was joking when he said you adopted that little shabuir, Commander!" Jesse stepped forward and put his hands on her shoulders with a pleading look. "Tell me you're joking, Commander." Her big eyes filled up with desperate tears. "I couldn't just leave him in there, Jess!"

"Sentiment." The bastard snorted. "She adopted the brat of your progenitor? How compassionate of her."

"Get down!" Jesse blasted the first two Weequays in the face, caught the knife of the third and shoved it into his own throat. The fourth got flipped and a gutshot from Tup. Boba plugged the next two that ran in and cried out for help as long, spidery white arms wrapped around him like a flytrap and disappeared behind the tent flap. "Boba!" Jesse cried, stepping forward without seeing the Nikto break off from the three fighting Tup behind him. Scaly fingers yanked his head back and a long knife opened his throat.

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." Skywalker held his hands on either side of Jesse's neck. The tissue rapidly closed, forcing Tup's finger out of his artery as it knitted back together with the Force. He sank back once the wound closed with a final tingle, panting and pale. "Aurra Sing," Jesse croaked as soon as he drew enough breath to speak. "It… it was Aurra Sing."

Ahsoka sat with her legs dangling over the side of the catwalk and picked at her cuticles miserably. "I… I love him. I'm in love with him." She closed her eyes and squeezed out a trail of tears. "I am so kriffing in love with that man that it hurts, Jess, and I can never, ever tell him."

"Adorable," Maul said, his voice a sickening coo of mockery. He kept going, shredding Jesse's mind in search of what he sought. He flipped through memories like picturebooks and examined every tiny cranny that Jesse kept his deepest, darkest thoughts in. By the time Maul's hunger for knowledge was finally sated, Jesse could barely kneel upright. He'd pissed himself long ago and tasted vomit, though he didn't remember throwing up. His whole body dripped with sweat. When he looked down, he saw a small puddle of blood. He sniffed and choked on coagulated clots.

Maul finally withdrew his choking, oily presence from Jesse's mind. "Take him away. Ensure he is fed and watered. We do not want our hostage to perish before it is time."

"Yes, Lord Maul." Ijaan Sylen yanked him to nerveless feet with one massive hand and shoved him forward. "Move it, chakaar."

Jesse stumbled over his clumsy feet. Maul…Maul knew everything. Every memory that Jesse had ever shared with Ahsoka had been sucked up and devoured for analysis, then spit back out with the meat cleaned from the bones. He knew about her Empathy and how her synesthesia turned people's emotions into colored auras. He knew that she left the Order after Barriss Offee had framed her for bombing the Temple and the Council had let her hang. He knew that she had a soft spot for the clones, that she had a deep adoration for General Skywalker and General Kenobi, that she believed in justice and in helping people and doing what was right even if it killed her.

He knew she was in love with Rex.

He knew everything. Jesse had given Maul everything he needed to know in order to destroy her. He hung his head and wept as he was led away, wondering if it was possible to die of shame.

MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS Shabla haran: fucking hell Demagolka: monster Shabuir. Naasade ru'partayli gar: Motherfucker. Nobody will remember you. Ni'cuy mav. Gar vi'tayc, ara'goten: I'm free. You're a slave, stillbirth. Chakaar: asshole

Taglist: @starwarsficnetwork, @febuwhump, @soliloquy-of-nemo

Divider: @saradika-graphics

#arc trooper jesse #darth maul #ahsoka tano #captain rex #anakin skywalker #my writing #febuwhump #febuwhump2024 #star wars #the clone wars #dngg #febuwhumpday4

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khaohomies · 1 year

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More silly space cats! + headcanon and ideas for them down below 👇

Ryloth shorthair

Inspired by oriental shorthair

Developed in ryloth

Loth-cat

This one is canon!

Headcanon : The Tooka first start off as Loth cat before evolving separately outside of lothal

Pantoran point

Inspired By cat breeds with point coloration

Developed in Pantora

Hairless felucian

Inspired by hairless cat breeds

developed in felucia

Naboo bobtail

Inspired by japanes Bobtail

developed in Naboo, They’re popular as a lap pet among Naboo higher class

Kaminoan blue

Inspired by Russian blue

unlike the other breeds here, these Tooka were developed in Kaminoan’s lab

Exotic shilian

Inspired by those creatures in tale of the jedi

Developed in shili, The local togruta have them as guard pet to keep out small predators

#star wars #sw #headcanon #tooka #lothcat #loth-cat #star wars creatures #my art

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ahsokathegray · 8 months

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Pent Up in the Skywalker Penthouse || Part Two

Pairings: Rexsoka, Anidala

Prompt: Rexsoka Monthly Oct. ‘23 - Body Heat

Summary: The war is won and the holidays have arrived. Ahsoka's plans for the solstice have fallen through, but Anakin's made it his business to make sure she isn't spending them alone while house sitting.

Tags: 18+, language, explicit sexual content, accidental voyeurism(?), accidental drug use, angst

Word Count: 7,613

A/N: If you haven’t already, go give @rexsoka-monthly a follow and join us in supporting and creating prompt-based Rexsoka content! 🫶

read on ao3! / masterlist

Ahsoka didn’t recall much of what happened after that. In fact, most of Rex’s words had been swept away by the spice.

She was almost certain that her response to so much honesty was to rip open several bags of snacks and demolish what she could before passing out cold — literally.

Evidently, to be able to stomach a truth that she’d been racking her brain over for months, she had to fill it.

Poetic, really.

Her memory was foggy and her head felt like it was still plunged beneath the surface of the bath water. But the snack wrappers littering the floor told her she was connecting the right dots. She blinked lazily, reminding herself how to see properly after suffering a long night of dry eyes and unreliable vision.

The Shilian film Anakin had put on had reached the end and the music from the title screen was playing faintly throughout the room.

Twisting in the sheets— When had she gotten under the sheets?

Twisting in the sheets, she found that Rex was no longer occupying the bed. Ahsoka found that the apartment was now significantly colder than it was when she had last been awake. Her teeth chattered together and drew the tie around her housecoat tighter, watching as her unsteady breaths appeared in front of her.

Her bare feet met the cold floor and she hissed, any lingering remnants of her high now fully vanished — or gone up in smoke, rather.

Huddling into herself, Ahsoka padded out of the bedroom and into the hall in search of Rex. The entire penthouse was encased in darkness and Ahsoka found her trembling hands feeling up the walls, having never needed to be acquainted with where the light switches were.

Luck was out of her grasp and had been since Rex…

Oh.

Her breaths ceased to appear in the air but her mouth stayed open as the horror settled in. The icy temperature of the apartment began to seep into her veins, creeping into her chest.

Oh Anakin would have to more than make this up to her. She never would’ve used the master refresher had she known Rex would be accompanying her during the holiday. She never would’ve…

Rex had walked in her while— during— Oh, Rex!

And she hadn’t even had the decency to stop! Hadn’t even so much as apologized! Had made everything that much harder for him. A blush crept up the length of her lekku… Hard was an understatement if she recalled what had happened in the bath correctly, specifically how tight his pants had been.

She had to apologize. She had to find Rex and make things right.

Had he just up and left? An immense amount of guilt flooded her system. She couldn’t very well blame him if he had.

On top of that, it was quite possibly the worst weather in history to have broken a jar of spice and have it travel through the ventilation system. But one glance out the frosted windows answered her question. Coruscant was buried under a thick blanket of fresh snow and it was still falling, heavily at that. Very few speeders dotted the air traffic lanes.

Rex had to be here somewhere.

Her heart had lodged itself in her throat, frantic to find him yet dreading it completely. Adrenaline pumped furiously through her bloodstream as she padded briskly into the opposite wing of the residence to check the sofas.

Please don’t be gone. Please.

Something touched her shoulder and Ahsoka jumped, fighting the urge to clutch her chest and instead backing into the nearest wall. On instinct she reached for lightsabers, finding instead the large empty pockets of her robe.

“Ahsoka,” a voice spoke from somewhere in the darkness. His voice was hoarse… husky.

Force.

Ahsoka swallowed and took a step closer. This was the laundry room if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Did I wake you?” Rex asked, his dark silhouette appearing in the doorway.

She shook her head before deciding he probably couldn’t see her very well. “No. I don’t think so,” she corrected herself. It was only now that she’d settled could she hear the low rumble of the dryer.

Another piece of her memory snapped into place. Rex had gone to put their clothes in the wash while she was busy stuffing her face in an attempt to process his words through her high. It must’ve been before he returned that she’d fallen asleep.

Rex leaned against the doorway and crossed his arms. “Well, I just put everything in to dry. Should only take a little while,” he explained.

Ahsoka cleared her throat, speaking quietly and fighting her chattering teeth, “Thank you. W-Why didn’t you turn any lights on?”

He laughed, “Couldn’t find them. And at any rate, I didn’t want to disturb you.”

A heavy pause permeated the air.

“H-Hold on. I might actually—” Ahsoka started, leaving her thought unfinished as she stepped past Rex and into the narrow room. She’d looked after the twins one night and, in an unfortunate dinner mishap, Leia had managed to get food all down Ahsoka’s dress. “You know, with the dryer going it’s actually kind of warm in here— Ha!” she said, having located the pull-switch through the Force.

A single, vintage bulb lit the space between them and she looked up at Rex, finding that he didn’t share her same triumphant expression.

His eyes were red-rimmed and glassy.

Large arms tightened across his chest and he looked away as she said his name. Ahsoka could see the way his jaw flexed in an effort to combat a fresh round of tears.

While she’d been sleeping so soundly in the next room, Rex had been in here crying.

“I…” she started, not knowing how to begin. A sigh fell shakily from her cracked lips. “I’m so sorry for earlier. I didn’t know you were going to be here. Anakin had me under the impression that it would just be me. Never in a million years would I have… done what I did if I knew. And then I just continued to make it worse with the spice and the… This is such a mess. I’m so sorry, Rex.”

The silence between them weighed heavily on her montrals. She leaned against the humming dryer to maintain warmth, composure, and control of herself — failing at all three. This was a disaster.

He refused to look her in the eye and her heart was breaking all over again because of it.

Things between them were already difficult and she’d made them insurmountably worse. At his silence, Ahsoka continued to speak. “I know we don’t talk anymore and— and I’m not sure why, but I would understand now, because of this, if—”

“You don’t know?” Rex asked abruptly, his eyes finding hers and taking them hostage. With the amount of crying he’d been doing, he still looked high.

Months. It had been months. She’d craved the honest truth, craved the answer, craved to have him in her life again. Months spent longing for what she didn’t know was now moments away from spilling off of his tongue.

He uncrossed his arms. “Ahsoka after you came back, I knew it was all over for me — the war, the man I used to be, all of it. The war was being won all around us and when we got word back that the Chancellor had been arrested… it just solidified what I’d been battling within myself during the entirety of the siege. I chose myself over my duty as a soldier — what I wanted.”

How was she supposed to breathe when her heart was in her throat?

“Rex, I know. Many men chose not to continue service to the Republic and left to pursue a life of their own. I don’t blame you for that.”

“No. That’s not it. I— Maybe you don’t remember earlier. I could no longer be the soldier they expected me to be. No longer could I serve as a Captain, or Commander, at the standard we clones are upheld to. Ahsoka, you rejoined the Order. Skywalker would’ve made my reassignment to you permanent.”

Ahsoka’s brow markings furrowed. It still didn’t make sense. Rex began to pace in the small room, rubbing his hands over his face. “I don’t understand. Did you not want to stay on as my Commander?” she asked.

He stopped in front of her and leaned his head back against the wall. “I did.” His throat bobbed, voice breaking.

Rex swallowed and half scoffed, half laughed. “Kriff, it’s probably the spice talking,” he said more to himself than to her, knowing its effects had long worn off by now. “But my resignation was effective as soon as we did what we did that night after handing Maul over. I’d made my choice as soon as I stepped into your quarters. And after… I submitted the paperwork before I even went to bed, not knowing—”

“Not knowing that I’d be asked to rejoin so soon,” Ahsoka finished.

It had been a blow to the gut for both of them.

That night after their rendezvous in the Tribunal, Ahsoka had woken in the early hours of the morning to an urgent assignment to the planet Mustafar. The 332nd had performed so exemplary on Mandalore with the capture of Maul, that Windu had given them the time sensitive mission of arresting the Separatist leaders in league with the apprehended Sith Lord. They were all gathered in one place. It couldn’t afford to wait. Immediate action was imperative lest the Separatists discover their leader had been killed — and that his leader would soon follow.

Anakin had made the arrest of the Chancellor, Obi-Wan had killed General Grievous, and she’d apprehended Maul. With her Masters’ positions on the Council and their presence required on Coruscant, of course she was the next choice for the mission.

Ahsoka had arrived at the hangar expecting Rex, only to find his position had been vacated just hours prior, with Vaughn taking his place as Commander.

She hadn’t felt something so devastating since leaving the Order. The irony of it was cruel — to rejoin with a hole in her heart the way she’d left with one.

But she accepted Yoda’s earlier offer despite this, effectively dropping her status of citizen and advisor. She was knighted before dawn, unceremoniously, in a bustling hangar with men shouting and running to board the Venator.

And no Rex.

Her first mission as a General and it was without Rex.

The mission had been successful but Ahsoka still felt like the galaxy’s scales hadn’t been tipped back into balance. Something was missing. He was missing. And he hadn’t even discussed the idea of leaving with her before he’d done it.

They did what they did and he just left.

Until tonight, she’d convinced herself that he’d achieved some sort of goal and no longer had any interest. It was easier to cope that way.

The aftermath of winning a war was far busier than either of them had anticipated. There was no pocket of time to discuss it. There was no asking why. There was no pleading for answers or explanations. There were trials, Senate hearings, elections, and missions into (formerly) Separatist space.

She didn’t know where to find him anymore and he didn’t know where to find her.

Ahsoka shivered and leaned further into the dryer, hoping by some miracle it could find a way to warm her cracked heart.

It all had to pick up before it could slow down. Dinner with Anakin and his family was all she could manage during leave in the beginning. She’d finally understood her Master’s frustration on trying to nurture relationships while being constantly called away. It was easier said than done.

Only with time did she find herself able to stay on Coruscant for longer periods. Having Anakin notice this and begin mentioning Rex had brought up a pain she thought she’d buried.

“Everything and yet nothing changed,” he said after a while. “I tried to go back, to resume as Skywalker’s Captain or Commander, but he’d resigned as well — to see to his duty as a father and a husband. But even if I’d stayed and fought by your side, nothing could’ve changed. In the end, it didn’t matter that I left. You’re a Jedi again. In choosing myself, I chose you, Ahsoka. I thought since you weren’t— that by not being a Jedi anymore, we— But next I hear, you’re Knighted and I’d made the biggest mistake of my life.”

Ahsoka took immense interest in the floor, “The universe has a cruel sense of humor.”

Rex shook his head, “I’m sorry, Ahsoka. I’ve been sorry since it happened.”

Another silence slotted itself between them, only the rumble of the dryer creating a barrier for the tension.

“Do you regret it?”

Rex looked bewildered. “What? No. No. I’ll regret everything I’ve ever done before I regret that. I regret not trying harder to find you. I regret not comming you. I regret stepping down from my position. I regret not indulging Skywalker at dinners. I regret not saying more hours ago when I should have, while we were still high and I wouldn’t feel the full weight of this conversation. I regret not just getting in that karking bath with you and—”

Ahsoka separated herself from the dryer and closed the distance between them, kissing Rex hard, cutting him off and just barely grazing his teeth with her own.

Her hands shot out and her fingers pressed desperately into the nape of his neck and he met her equally urgent mouth.

Something between a sigh and a whimper escaped Rex and he pulled her further into him by the loops of her borrowed housecoat. Her frigidity was long forgotten as their body heat tangled and Rex backed her up against the dryer once more.

His knee pressed between her legs, nudging the fluffy pink robe open at the bottom. Ahsoka gasped into his mouth and he swallowed the noise. His lips traveled lower, tongue slipping against the pulse point under her jaw. Rex pressed his knee against her core and sucked. Ahsoka clung to his robe, verging on words.

I love you.

The words were on her tongue but she bit them back, allowing a frustrated moan to echo around them instead.

I love you.

She conveyed it to him in the way her hands slipped inside his housecoat, running up his fevered chest and along his shoulders. She told him in the way she pushed the material off of him. She said it in the way her fingers desperately urged him to come back to her lips, moving her mouth against his in a chaotic excuse of synchronicity.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

She could see it in the way he helped her remove the tie keeping his robe up. She could hear it in the way he grabbed her face and showered her in kisses, worshiping her lips and neck and collar bones. She could feel it in the way he moved his knee against her.

Rex ravenously kissed her and she gripped him tightly, giving a low whine as he lightly tugged at her bottom lip. His hands slid up her throat to cradle her jaw, worshiping the tender spot he’d created on her neck before drawing back, eyes a rich dark amber — waiting. Waiting for her to push him off and demand her half damp clothes.

Their combined heavy breathing filled the air, challenging the speed of the dryer behind her.

“‘Soka… Tell me to stop,” Rex pleaded, his voice raw. She could see the pain in his eyes.

Shaking her head, Ahsoka tried tugging him closer by the forearms. He planted them firmly onto the dryer beside her, remaining stationary. Ahsoka didn’t dare look anywhere else, especially down. “Rex, the Jedi, they’re quite different than you and I last remember,” she breathed, repeating the first words she’d said to him when he’d arrived earlier that night.

Rex’s eyes flashed, lightening in color as the meaning behind her words snapped into place. His forehead fell against hers and his brows knitted together, the revelation and relief flowing through him at once.

With more urgency than before, Rex’s mouth connected with hers, hungry to make up for months of what they’d lost out on. His hands traveled to the once tightly secured tie of her robe and pulled it free from the loops on her waist, letting it fall onto the floor. Strong, hot palms settled on the skin of Ahsoka’s hips, causing her to jump at the contact. His fingers pressed into her fevered flesh, guiding her into a rocking movement against his thigh.

He drank in her soft moans, letting his hands roam higher. His thumb grazed the underside of her left breast. She squeaked and Rex’s hold around her tightened. He lifted her and sat her atop of the dryer, the vibrations of the machine meeting her core and pulling a sharp gasp from her swollen lips.

Rex slotted himself between her legs and looked up at her. It was Ahsoka’s turn to cradle his jaw. He nuzzled into the touch, peppering kisses to her inner wrist. “How many of them?” Rex asked her breathlessly, stars in his eyes.

The question needn’t any context. She understood his meaning perfectly. How many Jedi were with their clones? How many had developed feelings just as they had?

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she sighed, pressing her core into the vibrating surface and feeling Rex rock himself against her calf, wetting her skin.

“So much time wasted,” he murmured against her forearm, journeying up in search of her lips again.

She smiled against them, “So much time to make up for, you mean.”

A low growl emanated from the back of his throat and he pressed a kiss between the valley of her breasts, uncoordinated in his moments but trailing ever downward. His hands took on a mind of their own, one massaging small circles into her hip and the other brushing over a hardened nipple.

Ahsoka’s hands flew to his head when she realized what he was about to do, grasping at hairs that weren’t long enough to latch onto. Rex laughed against her thigh and the added vibrations caused that spot behind her navel to coil. He kissed her thighs, lovingly nipping at the sensitive skin as he moved her hands to his shoulders.

Tracing his nose against the white markings that framed her opening, Rex inhaled before blowing hot air over her. She gasped his name and her nails bit into his skin.

His eyelashes grazed the sensitive flesh of her inner thigh as he looked down, seeing just how wet she’d become. The shoulders under her hands relaxed as Rex groaned, met her gaze, and attached his mouth to her soaked center.

Ahsoka yelped, one of her hands flying to take hold of the dryer itself. The feeling was unreal… it… “Ahhng,” was all she could manage. Every swipe of his tongue, every bump of his nose against her clit was a religion in and of itself.

In a swift movement, Rex took hold of her ankles. One was guided over his shoulder for her leg to rest there, and the other he used to place her foot on the edge of the dryer. She was completely exposed to him.

For a split second, he pulled away to guide her into a leaned back position. When he did, Ahsoka could see that his nose was glistening in a thin sheen of her excitement. His eyes were dark as he looked up at her, never ceasing the movements of his tongue.

Her vision was beginning to blur. And she quite preferred it as a result of this rather than that of the spice.

Every bit of this was better than the spice.

Ahsoka’s legs began to shake, her thighs involuntarily jerking to clamp shut.

Strong hands held her in place, bruising fingertips spreading her wider so he could get a better taste. Ahsoka’s eyes had just fluttered shut when Rex kissed her center and then put his mouth over her clit — sucking hard.

“Rex!” she squealed, her toes curling.

Dangerous amber eyes met hers and he hummed his satisfaction against her engorged bundle of nerves. He took hold of her hip once more and squeezed, licking a hot stripe against her throbbing cunt in a moment of sweet relief before doubling down on her clit again. Her breaths grew scattered but she was determined to hold eye contact.

But in a moment of nothing but daze and bliss, her eyes fell to the hollowing in and out of Rex’s cheeks, the movement of his jaw, and she shattered against his mouth.

Lazily, Rex continued his affections as Ahsoka came down from her high, smiling and whispering things she couldn’t hear against her throbbing sex.

Soft orange fingers found their way back into his hair as he pulled away. They shared shy laughs and their eyes met.

The dryer beneath her came to a sudden halt and buzzed loudly, causing them both to startle.

Rex rose to his feet, ignoring the machine’s signal of dry clothes, and picked Ahsoka up with ease, carrying her back to their bedroom (Yes, their bedroom. In his search for the laundry room, Rex had discovered that no other guest rooms had been quite as prepared. Anakin’s intent had become quite clear).

The temperature was drastically lower in the rest of the apartment and they both hoped that the bed still retained some of Ahsoka’s warmth from earlier — not that it would matter much soon.

Hot kisses were planted along the smooth cords of muscle lining Rex’s throat as he carried her. She felt him kneel onto the mattress and draw the gauzy canopy closed haphazardly around them. He was reluctant to let her go — desperate to keep her close lest she slip from him so far again. Ahsoka could feel it in the pressure of his fingertips.

Her own knees made contact with the bed, but she didn’t turn on her back. Instead, she kept her back pressed firmly into his, lolling her head to rest on his shoulder. Rex’s cock throbbed at the proximity of her heat, understanding immediately what she was asking.

It had never occurred to him that this was an option.

Kriff.

Rex lifted Ahsoka’s hips in his lap and angled himself at her hot entrance. She had just successfully encased them inside the sheets when Rex sank into her aching cunt.

A sharp gasp rattled out of her throat, making her arch her back. Strong, tanned arms wrapped themselves around her middle and pulled her flush against him. She relaxed into him, shifting to invite him even deeper inside.

He moaned next to her montral, causing the electricity in her body to reach her toes and bringing on a fresh wave of arousal.

Oh, how she’d missed his broken sounds — missed the effect she had on him as well as the one he had on her.

Rex kissed and licked at the place where her jaw met her lekku. He remembered how to work her. The action made her squirm in pleasure, writhe in his lap and clench his thick cock with her walls. She could feel his thighs tremble beneath her because of it and Rex rewarded her with another strangled groan.

His hot palms found her breasts, squeezing, cradling, pushing them together. He rolled a nipple between his fingers and let his other hand dive where her knees were spread.

“Rex— please, I—” Ahsoka cried, lurching forward and clutching her abdomen.

She leaned forward and he went with her. The rhythm of his hips stuttered before picking back up again. Harder. Faster. Shockwaves began to tickle at her spine.

Again, she attempted words, “I’m not going to last if you keep— ah—”

Rex’s hips paused, their rhythm becoming slow and tortuous. “Tell me” he said breathlessly, his voice raw. The desire to kiss her, to see her face, had become too great. He knew she wanted the same thing he did.

Ahsoka hissed, the drag of his cock making her thoughts fog up again. “I want to see you. I want—”

“To watch?” he finished, panting between peppered kisses.

His only response was a desperate mewl and something that resembled a nod.

They both cried out at the loss when Rex pulled away. Ahsoka fell gracelessly onto her back, bucking her hips in an attempt to satiate her needs until Rex was back in. He pressed a loving thumb to her entrance, coating it in her excitement and sliding up to rub cruelly slow circles around her clit.

She choked back moans and offered up little cries as she pressed herself against him.

“So beautiful,” Rex whispered, taking hold of himself and rubbing the head between her folds. Ahsoka could only watch for so long before the pleasure erupting within her became too much to bear. Her head flew back at the sensation and she wrapped a leg around him before he could do much more teasing.

He drives into her at a pace that aches. The throb behind her navel starts to build again. She throws her arms around him, tugging him closer to the mattress. They are a blur of kisses, hips, teeth — a tangle of skin, limbs, love.

Ahsoka tenses. Rex’s muscles coil. Her toes curl. His breath hitches.

“Come for me, ‘Soka,” he rasped.

With a sharp cry, she wraps herself around Rex, thighs trembling and hips spasming. Ahsoka pulsed, shakes, clutches at him to make it last just a little while longer. Rex sheaths himself deeper than she thought he could, both of them coming utterly undone.

His forehead pressed against hers. Their cheeks were flushed. Sweat trickled down his back. They were warm and sticky between the legs.

All that existed in the galaxy was them — something neither one of them thought they’d experience again. Everything in the universe ceased to exist but this quiet moment, their staggered breathing, and the fall of snow outside the window.

No, they would not go cold tonight.

The Coruscant skyline was gone, blanketed in layer upon layer of thick snow. It was a brighter morning than it should’ve been due to the stark amount of white outside the window. Visibility was low and it didn’t look as if the air traffic were there at all. If anything made it look less like Coruscant, it was that. Traffic never stopped.

It felt as if the universe had stood still — if only just for them, to make up for all the time they’d lost out on.

Frost clung to the transparisteel and Ahsoka decided there’d be a slim to none chance that anyone would be willing to come solve their vent issue.

She might be able to handle it with the Force, but that ran the risk of inhaling it yet again.

Rex shifted behind her and blew hot air on her exposed shoulder, kissing the skin as she turned to face him. Warm hands slinked around her waist and dragged her back under the sheets. Soft lips kissed her on the chin and Rex adjusted the covers to encase them completely, tucking them under a lone montral.

“Is it cold out there?” he murmured against her neck.

Ahsoka hummed, “You can barely see out the window.”

A few more kisses were peppered along her lekku. He sighed, “We never got our clothes out of the dryer.”

Something warm spread from behind her navel as his breath ghosted over her sensitive flesh.

“Our robes are on the floor last I remember,” Ahsoka said, pausing. “You are not going to take these sheets and leave me here to freeze.”

Her neck received a kiss. “What makes you think I’d do that? You’re coming with me,” he growled suddenly, nipping at her jaw and hoisting her up into his arms.

She yelped, desperately helping him claw at the sheets and toss them over their naked bodies to retain warmth.

Rex took off flying down the hall, just about slipping on his forgotten housecoat as he pummeled towards the laundry. Ahsoka squeaked the whole way, laughing into his chest and relishing in his strength and warmth. He held her tightly to him as he yanked open the dryer, quickly fishing out their items and deciding they had to brave the cold.

“On three?”

“One.”

“Two.”

Ahsoka kicked the sheets away before Rex could say ‘three’ and threw her clothes on at record speed.

“Hey!” Rex laughed, rushing alongside her to cover himself and regain the body heat they’d lost.

Their clothes were wrinkled but neither one of them could be bothered to care. Ahsoka was gathering the sheets back up and wrapping them around herself, inviting Rex inside and looking up at him.

“Beat you,” she said, taking him right back to those many moons ago on Mandalore.

“Some things never change.”

The reference wasn’t lost on her. She narrowed her eyes, appraising him, “Others do. Say for instance, us. Or, better yet, Naboo Senators hiding recreational spice in their bath cabinets.”

“Kriffing hells! I— I was so caught up in everything else that I didn’t make that connection!” Rex’s face was now tinged pink.

“Caught up in me, you mean,” she smirked.

Flashes of a very naked, very touching herself, Ahsoka were conjured up in his mind. Fuck.

“How could I not be?” he asked, attempting to sound nonchalant. His voice betrayed him.

“We have to replace it.”

“Fuck me.”

“I will later.”

Rex blushed furiously. “How do we go about this? Have you ever purchased drugs before?”

It was Ahsoka’s turn to blush, “Once.”

“Wh— Ahsoka—”

“I’ll tell you all about it later, but it’s not in the way you’re thinking.”

“I thought you were kriffing me later. In what way?”

“It’s a long story.”

“What way, Ahsoka?”

“It wasn't for me, it was for the Pykes.”

“The Pykes?”

“Yes, the Pykes. I’ll tell you later. Now, we need to find coats before we go out.”

“We’re really going out in that?”

“Yes and no.”

“Explain,” he said, following her towards Anakin and Padmé’s wing of the suite.

“The snow won’t have gotten much into the Underworld,” Ahsoka answered simply.

“We have to go down into the Uscru District?”

“Where else do you find spice? And yes, possibly lower. We need coats. Did you happen to see any?”

“You’re the one that rifles through drawers that don’t belong to you.”

She liked the way Rex was teasing her, but it takes a whole lot more to get all flustered than it does for him. “And what would I find in your drawers, Captain?” she asked sweetly, running a finger down the panel of his vest.

Rex swallowed. Visibly. But he came back quick, “Would you like to find out?”

Ahsoka eyed the massive bed in the room with them. “It can wait,” she replied sheepishly.

Oh, he had her now.

“I’ve done my waiting.” His eyes flicked to the bed and then back to her. He cocked an eyebrow.

“No. As much as I love you, I will not be having sex with you in—”

Rex’s jaw fell slack. His shoulders dropped. Huge brown eyes gaped at her. “You love me?”

Apparently, Ahsoka hadn’t realized she’d said it. Her head poked from behind a closet door, somehow both pale and flushed.

“You just said— You love me,” he repeated the words, as if doing so would make them feel less like a dream.

A puffy woman's coat went limp in her hands. She fiddled nervously with her fingers.

He didn’t dare step closer and crowd her. “Do you mean that?”

“I’ve meant it since—”

“Don’t say since that night on the Tribunal.”

“I should’ve said it then. I wanted to. I almost did.”

Rex clenched his teeth and sighed. After all this time. Both of their timing was terrible.

Ahsoka held her chin up high, “If you don’t want me to love you, then I have some bad news for you.”

“All I’ve wanted since that night was for you to love me back.”

Her heart rate had tripled.

“Why do I have the sudden feeling that we won’t be visiting the Underworld until later?” she asked, setting the coat on the perfectly tucked duvet.

“Because we won’t. Because I’m going to take you back to our bedroom and fuck you and show you just how much I fucking love you.”

“And?”

“And you’re going to tell me about the Pykes as I’m doing it.”

Her core clenched around nothing as she whimpered, running willingly into Rex’s arms.

“It’s warmer down here,” Rex commented as they stepped out of the air taxi.

They had indeed ventured further down into the planet past the Uscru District. Coruscant’s inhabitants that normally roamed the upper levels had all taken shelter further down where they’d be closer to the planet’s center.

This worked in their favor. With more people milling about, everyone was out of their normal routine. It would be easier to slip in amongst them without the police droids batting an eye. They’d be more focused on helping direct people and manage chaos than they would be looking for shady deals happening in an alleyway.

“Baby’s first drug deal,” Ahsoka said seductively as they meandered through the level.

“And last,” Rex replied, squeezing the hand that was entwined with his.

They stopped and grabbed a bite to eat and began to people-watch. It took a bit of time to find what they were looking for, but sure enough, their training had paid off yet again. Four separate people on four separate occasions (all shady in nature) were seen entering an alley near the restaurant and emerging a short while later with pockets larger than they’d been upon going in.

Ahsoka glanced up at Rex to make sure they were on the same page.

He gave her a sharp nod and left a few credit chits on the table, following her outside and into the alley. She wouldn’t allow him to hold her hand as they approached, but he took comfort in knowing that both of her lightsabers were on the inside pocket of her borrowed coat. Rex was nothing if not protective of her.

Rounding the corner, they found an older Patrolian woman leaning against a wall, blue smoke glittering around her.

“Haven’t seen you two here before,” she rasped, appraising them and looking unimpressed. “How’d he pull you, honey?”

“Oh, I— We—” Ahsoka stammered.

The woman’s eyes narrowed, “Hey, you’re a clone. Yeah, I get some of you every now and then.” She turned back to Ahsoka, “I get it, sweetheart. Since the war ended — these smoke shows have been a hot commodity. What’ll it be for you kids?”

Ahsoka produced the shards of the spice container, “I’m not sure what was in here, but we’ll take whatever pink spice was in it.”

The Patrolian laughed, “Oh you two are dirty. Yeah, alright. One G-spot Glitterstim will run you fifty credits.”

Rex and Ahsoka both blanched, not daring to look at one another as the credits were transferred. The older woman laughed again and took a drag of her own spice of choice, wished them luck, and told them to come see her again.

“G-spot Glitterstim,” Ahsoka repeated, still in shock as they walked away.

“Explains a lot,” Rex said in response, the corners of his mouth turning upward.

Ahsoka squeezed her eyes in embarrassment. “How was I supposed to know? There’s no label!”

Silence passed between them as they made their way back to the taxis.

“I can’t help but wonder though…” she trailed, stealing a look at Rex to see if they were making the same conclusion.

He pressed his tongue into the pocket of his cheek, “If it’s the reason the twins are here.”

She began to giggle hysterically, in shock more than anything. “Can you imagine Anakin and Padmé coming down here for this stuff?”

“Do you think they ever imagined us coming together to replace it?”

Her face was beginning to redden with laughter when she stopped suddenly, her feet halting in their tracks.

“What?” he asked her.

“The vents. We need someone to clear the vents.”

“We have to go back to Mrs. G-spot Glitterstim, don't we?” he sighed in defeat.

Rex thought the woman was going to cough up a lung with how hard she laughed at them. Several more suggestive comments were made.

Wow, you two really got into it. His little clone must’ve been up for hours. How are either of you walking? Bless you babies. Young love at its finest. How was his stamina before versus after the spice?

It felt decidedly wrong that the woman who dealt them the drug was now following them back to the Skywalker apartment. Even worse, she sat in between them on the taxi ride back up. But she owned a speciality vacuum (this thing happened very often and was a common issue that needed resolving) that wouldn’t spread the spice further throughout the penthouse.

Of course it was just their luck that the spice was… spicy in nature.

Within a matter of minutes of their arrival, the spice was gone and contained.

“Shame that the vents were so dusty, it might’ve still been usable,” the woman — who they learned was named Mabel — sighed. “Anyway, you two lovers are set. Close the vents next time you decide to get freaky, alright?”

She placed the contaminated spice into her pack and held out her open palm for payment.

They didn’t have enough.

“Look, you two are sweet. I’ll tell you what, since you were freezing your bits off up here, I’ll take pity on you and knock off a percentage. Judging by the looks of your high-rise, I’m being too generous, but you’re good kids. Just keep getting your spice from me and we won’t have any issues. Agnes on level 3204 will pickpocket you and Mildred on level 3007 next to the cleaners will sell you out to the police quicker than you can turn the corner.”

Rex placed his remaining chits in her hand and Ahsoka added her only two pieces into the mix. They were still short three chits.

Sighing again, Mabel cut them some slack, “Alright, here, let me leave with the bowl of candied bofa fruits over there and I’ll consider us even. They were my favorites as a lass.”

Ahsoka remembered Anakin’s warning about the bofa fruit, but figured it would be easier to explain that over the missing spice. He was already under the impression that she had a sweet tooth for them and if she and Rex had to go off on some risky adventure to obtain replacements, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

She could think of a few ways that they could make it into a memorable trip.

“Cuties. Many thanks. You take care now. Pace yourselves. I don’t want to see you back needing more spice anytime soon,” Mabel said, walking out the door before pausing to admire a framed photograph of Anakin and Padmé. “Oh! The most adorable couple! Are you friends with them? Regulars of mine for a few years now — buy exactly what you two did today. And look at these precious youngsters! Twins! Well, I better be off now. Lovely to meet you.”

With that, the door slid shut and Mabel was gone.

A heavy silence filled the air, both Rex and Ahsoka not daring to speak until they were sure Mrs. Mabel, dealer of G-spot Glitterstim, was well out of earshot. The heat kicked on just then and they burst into a fit of snickering.

“I don’t even know how to process that information,” Ahsoka wheezed, tears forming in her eyes.

Rex fought for breath, “I don’t ever want to picture any of that again. Hell. And she took all that candied bofa fruit? I was gonna get into those! This isn’t at all how I imagined my holiday panning out.”

“Oh, you mean to tell me you don’t normally fall into baths with women, inhale secondhand spice, casually purchase more, and find out more about your friends than you ever wanted to know?”

“No, not normally. No. Only on the rare occasion, I’d say,” Rex laughed out his response.

“Just like how, on rare occasions, you eat entire bowls of candied bofa fruits?” Ahsoka asked, raising a single brow marking.

“Who told you?”

“You. Just now. Anakin has blamed me for that for years!”

Rex only laughed.

She rolled her eyes and did the same, “You have to replace them to make it up to me.”

“I’ll make it up to you, just as I’ll make up for all of our lost time for as long as you allow me to.”

“And if that takes forever?”

“Forever with you? I’m counting on it.”

It was three days later when the Skywalker’s returned home. True to their word, they were en route as soon as celebrations on Naboo had ended. They’d arrived just in time for the Winter Solstice.

Dinner with all of Anakin’s favorite people went off without a hitch. Everyone showed. Snow had even covered Coruscant for the occasion.

He wasn’t sure if he was more shocked that Obi-Wan and Cody could make it or if it was because Ahsoka and Rex were in the same room together.

“Did you two stay warm in here?” Anakin asked, testing the waters.

The waves between them had been crashing — violent in nature when he’d departed for Naboo.

“Oh, yes. Quite cozy,” was Ahsoka’s response.

“The vent system gets in all the nooks and crannies,” Rex added.

Ahsoka choked briefly. Padmé asked if she was alright. Kenobi cocked an eyebrow. Anakin shrugged.

Were the waves between them calm? Or was there some other sort of rift in the waters?

Her cough was remedied by a hefty sip of water and Rex placed a hand to her back that no one seemed to notice. Anakin tried not to notice. But the list of things Not To Notice only grew longer over the course of the meal.

His old Padawan had taken a slice of roast nuna from Rex’s plate.

The former Captain’s eyes lingered on Ahsoka, even when she was speaking to someone else.

Rex sat restlessly when she left to use the refresher.

When she returned, her hand appeared to occupy his thigh. She must’ve realized that display of affection could be seen, so she moved her hand to his knee instead.

Ahsoka left first out of the two of them and Rex not long after. They claimed to park together but, through the screen of falling snow, Anakin swore he saw them catch the same taxi.

It wasn’t until a week later that Anakin got the opportunity to speak with one of them alone.

Padmé had been in need of a clone escort to attend an ongoing trial for one of the last Separatist leaders in league with Dooku.

Anakin was confused when he opened the door for Rex, dressed in full Captain’s gear.

“Rex?”

“Sir,” the man responded, his soldier’s voice having returned to him with full professionalism.

“Have anything you want to tell me?”

“Ahsoka hasn’t told you? I’ve been reinstated as her Captain. Commander Vaughn had no issue vacating the position. I’m here to escort Senator Amidala to the Senate,” he stated simply.

“I’m not talking about that.”

Rex wished he had the walls of his bucket to disguise the heat creeping into his face. That earlier professionalism was now gone. He was never good at lying.

“We will replace your candied bofa fruits as soon as we return. Ahsoka didn’t have anything to do with their disappearance either time they went missing. I have quite the taste bud for them. The blame can be placed solely on me.”

Anakin’s brows twitched together.

That was, evidently, not what he’d been talking about.

“That’s not what I meant, Rex.”

The Captain was now fully red. “I did my best to clean it up, sir. The vents were shut off almost instantly and all the rooms were clear. I had wanted to empty the new jar of spice to be at the amount that was in the original one, but Ahsoka didn’t remember how much had been in there before she mistook it for bath crystals.”

It was Anakin’s turn to become red in the face — not out of anger, but sheer embarrassment that Rex and Ahsoka had discovered the pink spice and purchased more to replace it.

What else had they found?

Anakin stammered, drawing his own conclusions as to how Rex and Ahsoka… No. No, he wasn’t going to think about it. Had he planned it? Sure. Had he set them up in the same bedroom? Of course. Did the knowledge that his match-making skills were still impeccable boost his ego? Obviously.

But he refused to think about it.

It worked. They were together. He and Padmé (apparently, he’d have to check) had more spice than they did when they’d left. And the bofa fruits were scheduled for replacement.

Anakin called for Padmé, letting her know that Rex had arrived as her escort.

“Uh, well…” Anakin trailed. “I’m glad to know…”

Rex spoke at the same time, “Sorry about…”

“…as a Captain…”

“…where the bofa…”

Anakin swallowed and clapped the man’s back. “I’ll see you and Ahsoka both for dinner later, then — as a couple.”

Rex relaxed, smiling at the mention of her, “We’ll be here.”

Pent Up in the Skywalker Penthouse (Part One)

#rexsoka #rexsoka fic #rexsoka monthly #october 2023: body heat #my fic #pent up in the skywalker penthouse #ahsokathegray

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reneeofthestars · 2 years

Text

Peril on Patrol!

Forgot to post this! This is a fic that I had the privilege to write for @vodeanzine , a Clone Trooper Zine!

This piece features Sister, a clone trooper of the 212th!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45644128

word count: 2226

* * *

Sister could never decide if she loved or loathed being on patrol.

On the one hand, it was critical for the security of the base. She was proud that Commander Cody trusted her skills to be among the first line of defense.

On the other hand, it was painfully boring.

Well, “boring” wasn’t quite the right word. Patrolling the perimeter of the hastily-established base required Sister to be focused and disciplined, alert for anything that might signal a hostile presence. But a good patrol meant nothing happened, which often led to strung-out nerves for no reason. So, every clone regularly on patrol duty had developed the skill of keeping watch for anything out-of-place, while also using the opportunity to relax.

Now, Sister uttered a quiet laugh, filtered through her helmet.

“Don’t tell me you actually watch those Jedi romance holos?”

“Sure,” Wooley said, inclining his own bucket towards her. “Jedi romance, Deep Space horrors, Wild Space adventures, Shilian dramas – I haven’t found a genre I don’t like.”

Sister shook her head. “Romances are fine, but I can’t watch the Jedi ones with a straight face. Not now that I know they’re only people.” She pivoted suddenly and scanned the land behind them, hands tight on her blaster rifle. Rusty-red scrubgrass, arching silicone formations, and looming crimson plants surrounded them, but her HUD didn’t detect any movement, heat signatures, or electromagnetic signals. No sign of any Separatists or local fauna following them through the Anaxes forest. She walked backwards for a few paces before turning around again. “Still clear.”

“Figures.” Wooley did a brief scan of the foliage to the right before looking up as they passed beneath one of the red plants. “Y’know, those remind me of the piona jellyfish back on Kamino.”

Once he mentioned it, Sister couldn’t help but agree. Long, undulating tendrils dangled from the bulbous, blossoming tops; so similar to the frills that dragged lazily behind the incredibly toxic – and absurdly large – languid invertebrates that drifted through the Kaminoan seas.

“Uh, they are plants, right? Not some sort of creature lying in wait for a tasty clone to devour?” She deliberately maneuvered around a particularly long tendril.

Wooley shrugged. “Could be a clone-eating plant, too. You never know with this galaxy.”

And what a galaxy it was. In the short time she’d been outside of Kamino’s torrential storms, Sister had seen more creatures, people, and landscapes than her studies had prepared her for. She did another sweep of their surroundings. Still no droids or lifeforms around. The creatures here seemed skittish.

They lapsed back into silence as they climbed a particularly rocky slope. It proved to be a hill, set at a higher elevation than the land around it. They paused to catch their breath, and Sister gazed around. A light mist wrapped around their legs, hugging the ground and stretching as far as she could see, weaving among the stalks and trunks of the reddish land. Spires of rounded rocks dotted the landscape, casting long shadows as the sun sunk lower behind hazy mountains.

“Do you ever miss Kamino?” Wooley asked, staring at the sunset.

“No.”

Sister was surprised how quickly she answered. She’d answered so seriously, without thought, that her voice dropped nearly to her brothers’ pitch.

Wooley’s helmet tilted slightly. “Not even a little?”

She cleared her throat. “No,” she said again, raising her voice to a more comfortable pitch. “I never felt… safe. I don’t know about your division, but in Tipoca City, to be different was to risk disappearing. The Kaminoans didn’t like ‘different’.”

Wooley nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“But my brothers took care of me. They always protected me, always made me feel safe.” Kamino was never home to Sister; home was wherever her brothers were. She pulled herself out of her reverie. “Do you miss it?”

Wooley sounded sheepish as he admitted, “Sometimes. But I might just miss the idea of it. Life was so slow and steady back then, and now it’s nothing but movement, you know? Sometimes, I just want to have a chance to rest like we used to.”

“Rest will come.” She didn’t bother to say more; they were both thinking it. Sister adjusted some controls on her HUD and did another sweep. The Republic base was well-concealed in the distance, and only came up because she knew what she was looking for. Beyond that, no structures pinged on her scanners.

A comm notice popped up on Sister’s HUD. Moments later, Trapper’s voice crackled in her ear. “You two are standing out like sunburnt taun-tauns up there. If you’re done with your sightseeing, it looks like our patrol loops are about to intersect. Want to join up for the last leg?”

Wooley nodded, and Sister replied, “It’ll be good to have you.”

“See you in three minutes, vod.”

Together, Sister and Wooley began their descent down the other side of the hill. It was considerably steeper than what they’d just climbed, so it took some careful maneuvering.

As they got back below the treeline, Sister asked, “Where do you want to retire to?”

Wooley gave a startled laugh. “Retire to? I think we need to survive the war first.”

“C’mon, you’ve thought about it.” Sister bumped him gently with her shoulder. “We’ve all thought about it. Don’t get bogged down with the existentialism.” She paused, considering the landscape bathed in red sunset. “I’d get a bunch of brothers to settle on Christophsis. The land’s covered in these gorgeous turquoise crystals. The way the light catches at dawn and sunset – I’ve never seen so many colors.” After nearly a decade of the stark white walls of Kaminoan cities, she was determined to experience as many colors as her vision spectrum would allow.

Wooley was quiet as he thought. He parted a particularly dense patch of scrubgrass with his rifle before moving on. “Of the places I’ve been,” he said at length, “I think I’d like to live on Ryloth. The area we were in was hot, but there are a bunch of different biomes to roam between. I like the Twi’leks. They’re good people, and, I dunno … I’d like to help them, if I can.”

Heat signatures registered on Sister’s HUD. She held up a hand to quiet Wooley and adjusted the specs. She relaxed; the forms were clones.

“Trapper, how goes the western bank?” Wooley asked as the other two came around a low-grown plant. He took a moment to lean his blaster against a boulder and shake the stiffness out of his arms. Sister followed his lead; the tightness in her limbs relaxed and she took in a steadying breath.

“Nothing to report,” Trapper answered as he approached. “Unless you count a nesting viper that Longshot tripped over.”

“You said you wouldn’t bring it up,” Longshot grumbled from behind him, squaring his shoulders.

“I lied,” Trapper replied mildly.

Sister grinned at Longshot, even though he couldn’t see it. “I didn’t know you were here! You get reassigned?”

“My squad just got back from a survey on one of the orbital moons.” Her batchmate took off his bucket and wiped his brow. “Nothing there but a bunch of rocks.” Longshot pulled out his canteen and took a swig before offering it to Trapper.

“We’re not supposed to take our armor off –” Wooley started nervously, before Trapper thumped the canteen against his chestplate.

“Drink,” Trapper ordered. And Wooley removed his helmet to drink.

Sister removed her bucket too, shaking out her thick dark hair. The elastic holding her hair in place had broken an hour ago, and had been falling into her eyes.

As she fished around in her utility belt for a replacement, Trapper grinned. “It’s grown out a lot, eh? Looks good.”

“Grew fast at first,” she answered as she wound her hair around into a knot to fit under her helmet, “but it’s slowed down now. Hasn’t gone past my shoulders yet.” She fastened the elastic just as Wooley handed off the canteen. She took it gladly; she hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. As she lowered the container, she spied an odd expression on Longshot’s face. “What?”

He shook his head, smiling. “Nothing. Just – I was looking at a holo I have of us on Kamino. Your face is a lot softer – rounder, maybe – than it was then.”

“The rest of my weight’s redistributed too. I thought the saying about food going straight to the hips was an expression, but apparently not.” Sister toasted him with the canteen. “Hormones work wonders.”

Longshot took the canteen back from her, but before he pulled away, he clapped her on the shoulder and inclined his head. “I’m happy for you, Sister. We all are.”

Sister beamed and pressed her forehead against his. “Thank you, vod.”

They stood a moment more before Sister gave him a slightly-less-gentle headbutt. “I guess we’ve loitered long enough.” She donned her helmet, and the others followed suit. As they resumed their joint patrols, she said, “So, Wooley and I were talking about where we’d like to retire. He says Ryloth, I say Christophsis. What about you two?”

“Naboo,” Longshot answered immediately.

“You’ve been?”

He raised a shoulder in a half-shrug. “No. But you’ve seen the holos. It’s beautiful, peaceful. I think it would be nice to learn about art… or whatever else they teach there.”

“I suppose our education of the arts is severely lacking.”

“I could get used to life on Coruscant,” Trapper mused, trodding through a tangle of scrubgrass. “Plenty of nightlife, drinks, opportunities – never a dull moment.”

“This is your retirement, Trapper,” Wooley reminded him. “We’re talking about when we’re old and not good for fighting.”

Trapper shrugged. “Fighting’s what we’re for. I’m never not going to be good at it.”

Sister checked behind them for any movement. “Now I’m imagining Ninety-Nine in a fistfight in some seedy cantina with neon lights.”

“I’ll be lucky if I’m in Ninety-Nine’s shape by the time this war’s over.”

Sister laughed as she pushed aside a short tendrilled plant –

And almost walked right into a probe droid.

Sister reeled back as the droid let out a high mechanical whine of surprise, its numerous dangling limbs convulsing instinctively. Its black-domed head spun on its axis, bulbous lenses flashing as it swiveled to each of the clones.

“Blast it!” Trapper shouted.

Sister didn’t need to be told twice; adrenaline surged through her veins. She felt a smug satisfaction that the stress of patrol wasn’t unwarranted this time. She sprinted to the right as Wooley lunged left, Trapper charging forward as Longshot backed up to get a better aim.

But the droid recovered as quickly as the clones. It spun into the air, red blaster bolts screaming down around them. Sister dove behind a boulder for cover, rock fragments splintering around her, and spotted Longshot taking a defensive position in a shallow crevasse, Wooley darting through a thick grove of the red plants.

Trapper didn’t look for cover; he raced straight towards the droid, trying to draw its fire.

It worked.

The droid’s lens narrowed in on Trapper, its extra blaster ports recalibrating –

Sister raised her blaster rifle and fired. The antenna comm system jutting from the dome exploded, Wooley’s shot disabled the main blaster with a spark and a flash of blue, and Longshot’s careful aim left the droid short-circuiting, broken shards where its main photo receptor had been.

The probe droid sputtered in the air a moment more, then tumbled to the ground with the groan of electronics and the crash of metal.

Trapper didn’t take any chances. He put one, two, three more bolts through the droid’s chassis in quick succession.

The silence was almost as deafening as the sudden blasterfire. Sister pivoted, narrowing her scanners, sweeping the area for any more droids. There were none.

“A scout?” Longshot growled as they gathered around the husk of metal.

Wooley was already tapping into the comms. “Patrol Osk to Base, come in, Base.”

Squatting down, Sister knocked more of the chassis apart, peering into the sparking wires and metal bits. The comms crackled a moment more before Commander Cody’s voice sounded in their helmets. “Base here. Status report.”

“We just ran across a Separatist probe droid,” Wooley said above her. “It’s destroyed now, but we don’t know where it came from.”

“Did it transmit a signal?”

They all exchanged a look. “No way to tell, sir.”

There was a pause, then the Commander switched to full-range comms. “I want all patrols back to Base immediately. All forces are to pull back while we evaluate a new situation.”

“Yes, sir,” all four of them said at once.

Her brothers made as if to start moving, but Sister didn’t stand; she plunged her hands into the depths of the droid, doing her best to avoid the still-live wiring.

Longshot looked down at her. “What are you doing?”

“Getting its brain,” she replied as her gloved fingers found their target. She gave a sharp twist, and the processor fell into her hands. She withdrew it, holding the rectangular object up. “Might have something useful on it.”

Trapper nodded. “Good thinking, Sister. C’mon. Let’s get moving.”

They set out at a brisk pace, keeping alert as they moved through the strange red forest.

Sister wasn’t worried; not when she had her brothers with her. Whatever happened, they’d face it together.

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