Anakin had decided to give Ahsoka full control of the cruiser she was on. Only she and Rex and the crew plus troops were on it, while he and the others were on a separate cruiser.
"I hope we don't run into Death Watch," Ahsoka said to Rex.
They were both staring out the viewport in the bridge watching the blue and white streaks of hyperspace. It was easy to get lost in your own thoughts while watching all the swirls and listening to the silence.
"Yeah, me too," he agreed. "All right, well," he turned to her, "I should get the men ready, we'll be coming out of light speed soon,"
She nodded, "Okay," and she watched as he walked out of the bridge and she sighed to herself.
It was strangely peaceful in the bridge. The occasional clack and small beeps were typically the only sounds when all there was to do was sit around. The streaks quickly faded away and turned into the little white dots. They approached the white planet of Carlac, bringing back memories of when she— No. Don't. It's in the past, focus on the present.
The people in the bridge started to talk amongst themselves about the landing and deploying the shuttles, so she decided to head down to where all the clones were and to get ready for the cold that was to come. She left the bridge and chose to head to her quarters to pick up her things.
She neared her room and gasped. Something was wrong, she felt it. She swiftly pulled up her comm and entered Rex's number, "Rex, come in,"
"Ahsoka," he sounded out of breath.
"Something's happened—,"
"Yeah, I know. Listen to me, do not go down towards the barracks,"
She grimaced, oops. She turned around and jogged away from her room, "Why?"
"Do you have a gas mask of some sort?"
"I'm sure I can find one. What's going on, Rex, you're scaring me,"
"Some one got into the ventilation or something and made it so that something harmful has been released into the air of the cruiser. It's already killed more clones than I can count. Get a filtration mask, respirator, whatever, and meet me in the bridge. Hopefully it hasn't reached there yet. I'll contact Skywalker, just quickly get the protection you need,"
Ahsoka breathed heavy, "Copy that. Be safe,"
"You too," the line disconnected.
Mask. The Med Bay. She covered her nose and mouth with her hands and bolted to the Med Bay. She didn't know what the gas was or how quickly it affected people, or Togrutas for that matter. She didn't know anything except to get a mask. She made it to the bay and entered a room. Ahsoka rummaged through a bunch of drawers. Where is it, where is it? She thought to herself. Bingo. She found one. She pulled it out and strapped it around her face, turning on the small, holdable tank. Oxygen filled the mask and she inhaled, hoping she got to it in time.
Now Ahsoka needed to go to the bridge. Back the way she came. She started to run and look around too, hoping to see any clones or someone. But the halls were empty. Strange.
She finally made it to the bridge and she opened up the door. Rex was standing in the middle of the area and he turned around, letting out an audible sigh of relief. She jogged up to him, but then gasped when she fully took a look around, "Oh no," her voice was muffled through the mask. Everyone on the bridge was dead except for them. "Anakin?" She asked.
Rex shook his head, "I tried, but someone took out the transmitters, everything..... and Skywalker and them are no where to be seen. At least, with my eyes and HUD,"
Ahsoka's stomach somersaulted, "What do you mean?"
"We're the only cruiser out here. I don't know where everyone else is. We're also locked on autopilot, we're gonna roughly land on Carlac whether we like it or not. Turning off the power completely would not be a good idea, so don't suggest it, please," he was about to comb through his hair when he relaxed he had his helmet on.
"Wait. You don't have you're snow suit on..."
"No. I don't,"
"Escape pods!"
Rex shook his head, "All disabled,"
"...your brothers?"
"The barracks were struck first if I am correct, most, if not all, are no longer alive,"
"How come me and you are?"
"That, I do not know," he sighed.
"And what about the shuttles and gunships we have?"
Rex seemed to get agitated, "Everything is disabled. Someone had locked us out of everything. The escape pods, hangar doors, lights, engines—,"
"Okay, okay. Sorry I asked,"
"No. My bad, let's just.... let's just focus on gathering as much as we can, whether it's people still alive, med supplies, rations, the basic needs,"
She nodded, "How 'bout you get the kits from the barracks, I'll gather some other things I can find,"
Rex grabbed a gentle hold of her shoulders and pressed the forehead of his helmet against hers, "We'll be fine," he reassured, "We just need to survive, nothing we haven't done before,"
She chuckled dryly, "Yeah," she took a step back, "C'mon,"
Rex and Ahsoka gathered up as much supplies as they could before they entered Carlac's upper atmosphere. Ahsoka used her senses and Rex did a quick sweep of the cruiser to see if anyone else was alive. But they weren't. He found that whoever didn't die from the poison gas, died from other injuries, like a snapped neck or a ripped open torso. They were both cautious, knowing someone was on board killing, but they couldn't pick up anything.
*A while later*
Rex's alarm on his chrono beeped, reminding him that they needed to exit the cruiser before it crashed and they could die. He was with Ahsoka at the time, and she looked up at him and nodded, "Do we have everything?" She asked quickly.
"I hope so,"
She pulled on her furry coat quickly and gave Rex a hooded cloak that had fur in it as well. By now, the trees below were coming into view in Rex's video feed.
"We didn't plan how to get out," Ahsoka said.
He groaned quietly, "Damn it. Can you cut a hole with your 'saber and fling us out, then use the Force to stop the fall?"
She shrugged, "I don't have a better idea and if that's the plan, we should most likely go now, it'll take a while to cut through and get to a room on the edge,"
"Well let's go to the bridge, hurry!"
With pockets and backpacks full, they ran to the bridge, hearts pounding. They ran as fast as their legs could carry, knowing every second the cruiser was getting closer and closer to the snow covered ground.
Once in the bridge, Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and stabbed it into the wall. She cut a large hole, causing the piece to get sucked out and it nearly took her with it if Rex hadn't grabbed her arm. The wind whipped and was now coming into the room. She looked at him and nodded. He pressed his lips together and let go. They both jumped out and Ahsoka used the Force to do her best to push them as far away from the crashing cruiser as possible. She also pushed Rex upward, so she could land safely first, then support his landing.
He let out a small yelp as a chunk of metal nearly hit him. His helmet filtered out the loud wind, so for that he was grateful. He absolutely despised free falling, especially without a... jet pack. He could've grabbed a jet pack.
Rex controlled his decent through the air and started to get nervous as the tops of trees became closer and closer.
Ahsoka quickly went from a sprawled position to where she was straight up as if she was standing. She used the Force and slowed the fall, safely touching down, then she ripped off the respirator. She looked up and put her hands up in the air, slowing Rex down too. He touched the ground softly and let out a breath. Ahsoka didn't even give him time to recover as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the cruiser that was coming into contact with the planet.
The cruiser screeched and whined as it crashed. Rex looked over his shoulder and saw it creating multiple little explosions as it crushed into the ground. At first, he thought the explosions were gone, since it became quiet. But he was wrong. A loud blast came from the cruiser and they both took off into a sprint. Rex nearly tripped in the snow, and soon he face planted after the shock wave hit the both of them. With his face smushed again the inside of his helmet in the snow, he put his hand over his head as an instinct.
Sounds of shrapnel and debris hitting the ground were the only sounds he heard.
Rex felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up to see Ahsoka crouching next to him, "We have to move and try to find people," she stood and held out her hand.
He took it and stood up, brushing the snow off him, "Okay. But where would civvies be?"
"Dunno. Any fancy features in your helmet?"
"None that'll help with this— wait. You saw the bodies too, right? The badly damaged and bloody ones?"
"That was random, and yes I did,"
"There had to have been some sort of.... something, aboard the cruiser. Could it still be there?"
"Mmm, no. I don't feel anything, and nothing would've survived that crash,"
Rex nodded and Ahsoka grabbed his hand, "Let's just start walking. We'll find something eventually. And we should get into open space incase there's a rescue team,"
He took a deep breath, "We just crashed. I doubt there'll be a rescue team coming," he pulled up his comlink and tried to contact Anakin. But there was no answer. He tried everybody, but he couldn't get anyone on the line, "This is hopeless,"
"Hey, don't think like that. Let's just walk around, keep the blood flowing, and get to an open space. We'll be back in no time,"
Rex nodded, "All right,"
He grave her hand a light squeeze and they headed off in a random direction, mentally crossing their fingers it was the right way.