In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 26

Rex kept his blaster level as he locked eyes with Senna. Her brow was furrowed, and she was staring hard at him. Suddenly, she flicked her eyes downward towards her hand, and he could see it subtly twitching as she flexed her fingers. She flicked her eyes over her shoulder, and following her glance, he could see her lightsaber dangling at the Inquisitor's waist. It was gently shaking. She's trying to grab it.

Rex snapped his eyes back to the Inquisitor, bringing his blaster back to aim directly at the Pau'an's head. "I was never really good at knowing when to back down from a fight."

"Obviously."

Senna was furiously chewing her lip in concentration and suddenly, she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. "NOW REX!" He fired his weapon, taking out the stormtrooper closest to the Inquisitor. The other clones all took their cue, opening fire on the Imperials. The Inquisitor instinctively went to his belt, grabbing his lightsaber and igniting it, deflecting some of the incoming shots. It was enough for his concentration to break, and Senna's lightsaber flew into her hand just as her feet hit the floor. She landed in a crouch, catching herself on her left hand as she extended her weapon in her right, igniting it.

Rex and the Bad Batch dove behind whatever they could find. Senna deflected blaster bolts as she stepped backwards, taking cover behind a set of crates with Rex. "Give me your commlink," she demanded. He handed it over without question.

"Tech, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can."

"Good, get on the ship and fire up the pre-flight. Then, I want you to calculate a jump to hyperspace from the hangar."

"Senna, that is-"

"I know, Tech. But we either die here, or we try this. I'd rather take the risk and maybe survive. Otherwise, they'll just tractor beam us right back in here."

"Understood."

She turned and saw Tech yell for cover fire and Hunter, Echo, and Wrecker obliged as he raced up the steps into the Marauder.

"I take it you've got a plan then?" Rex asked next to her as she tossed him back his comm.

"Yeah. Don't die," she grinned back at him.

"And you give us crap about not having a plan."

"What can I say, I'm impulsive. Or so I hear."

Her eyes were alight again, and Rex wasn't sure if it was Tech's medical concoction or just purely Senna that was staving off the pain and exhaustion she'd been feeling when they found her. As the blasterfire lit up the room around them and slammed into the crates they were crouched behind, for a moment, it was only Senna in Rex's universe. He caught her eyes one more time, slipping his hand behind her head to pull her into a kiss. "Just in case," he murmured as he released her.

"Sword and shield?" she asked as she rested her forehead against his.

"Sword and shield."

They stood at the same time, Senna deflecting the blaster bolts as Rex picked off the advancing stormtroopers one by one from behind her. It seemed as if more were pouring in every second, and with every one taken down by a blaster bolt, two more troopers appeared. Rex turned over his shoulder to shout, "ECHO! We have to get that door closed! Hunter, Wrecker, cover him!"

Echo nodded, crouching low to scan the hangar until he found what he was looking for on the far wall: a scomplink port. Ducking low, he raced across the width of the hangar with Wrecker following behind, firing at their advancing enemies. Diving behind a storage container, Echo plugged his scomp arm into the port and began working to shut the doors.