The Cuyaniverse Collection

Cuyanir 1-10

Chapter 1

All in all, it was a bad night for Anakin. He kept waking up repeatedly with nightmares about Ahsoka, lost in a jungle. He also had the Second battle of Felucia to think about. He was worried about sending Ahsoka to the rear wall without him. Even though the jungle in his nightmares didn't look like Felucia, but he was still wary.

Sighing, he got to his feet and decided to head to the command center. He wanted to rework the plan one more time, just to be sure. To his surprise, Rex was already there, looking at the holomap of the Separatist fort.

"Burning the midnight oil, Captain?" Anakin asked. Rex jumped, snapping sharply to attention. "At ease, soldier. Whatcha working on?"

"The maps again. Gotta bad feeling about tomorrow, " Rex trailed off, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "It's probably nothing. Just..." He sighed.

"Just what Rex?" Anakin asked, watching his captain intently.

"I'm looking to see if we've covered every angle. Something tells me that something will happen." He said, looking a little timid at directly voicing his concerns to his General. Not that Skywalker scared him. He just always felt responsible for his men, and voicing his concern could mean changing the plan, and risking getting more men killed. Anakin understood that.

"I understand, and I think that that feeling is right. I think that I'm going to reassign you to stay with Ahsoka. I've been having nightmares about her getting lost, the kind that have a tendency to come true in my case. It's one of the things I hate about being a Jedi. I sometimes can see part of the future, but it's usually the worst possible outcome and a fraction of the picture." Anakin said. Rex could see how the stress of the upcoming battle weighed on the Jedi's shoulders.

"Yes sir." Rex nodded.

"Rex, when we're not at a formal meeting, Anakin will due, I've told you this. Sir makes me feel old. You can call Obi-Wan Sir." Anakin said, looking at the blond clone. At that point, he did seem old. Old and tired of this war. Anakin loved a good fight or mission, but the constant strain was catching up to him.

"Yes... Anakin." The clone said. Anakin gave a small smile.

"There, was that so hard?" He teased, glancing at the holomap. Rex fidgeted slightly, and Anakin raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Of course, seriously. Kaminoans are strict about that kinda thing. Saying stuff like that gets you punished for insubordination. Not as bad as being defective, but still." He supplied. Anakin shook his head.

"Kriffing Kaminoans and their rules. Ok. Let me phrase it like this. I order you to call me Anakin when not on official business." He smiled and tilted his head slightly. Rex chuckled.

"Understood, Anakin."

The jedi hesitated. "What did you mean, 'defective'?" He asked. His captain flinched slightly and his face darkened. "Sorry, I didn't know that struck a nerve." Anakin apologized. Rex shook himself slightly.

"No, it's fine. Kaminoans are very... particular about our genetics. They make us genetically perfect, but they also do some other stuff too. Mix some alternate genetics in to ensure that a virus won't kill us all in a month. Some of us have red hair, blue eyes, differences. If it was too bad, they decided you weren't worth wasting time on to train if you weren't the best. They euthanized the defective ones and fixed the genetic material to be used again." He made a face. "Or they just used you for spare parts."

Anakin was appalled. "They just... killed them?" Rex nodded, rubbing at the blond stubble at the base of his skull. "That's... that's horrible. I'm sorry, Rex. The jedi should be doing something about that."