Droid poppers. That was what Rex had planned for the rebels. Ahsoka thought that was a pretty good idea as droidekas were quite common along the streets of Isis according to what the scouts reported. "Droid poppers. Useful for disarming droids quickly and without fuss. These droidekas can be difficult though as their ray shields block fast, incoming attacks." Rex explained as he tossed Ahsoka a droid popper and continued. "However they are not designed to block slow or stationary objects as that would slow them down." He gestured to Ahsoka who grinned as she bent down and slowly rolled the droid popper under the shield and deactivated the droid. The rebels cheered her success despite Ahsoka finding it incredibly easy.
"If you combine an attack with a rear assault, you should be able to get an opening to strike. It's all about keeping your enemies occupied long enough for you to defeat them." Ahsoka motioned to the deactivated droids littering the ground beside her. She smiled as Lux clapped the loudest for her display. Rex ordered all the rebels to line up and prepare to try their hand at it.
Lux had somehow ended up at the front of the line purely because of where he had been standing. He wasn't overly worried or concerned about using a droid popper as they seemed pretty simple. Ahsoka caught another deactivater from Rex and was about to pass it on to Lux when Saw pushed in front of him and gestured for Ahsoka to pass it to him. Reluctantly, Ahsoka chucked the droid popper to him. Saw grinned at the chance to impress Anakin and shoved Lux's shoulder as he went into position. "Watch this Bonteri!" Saw jeered. He knelt down and rolled the popper with extreme speed as it went bouncing along the ground and careering into the shield way too fast.
Lux chuckled. "Quite brilliant." He mocked the older boy as Rex collected the droid popper that had bounced away from the shield by quite a distance. Ahsoka then tossed one to Lux with a smile. He was much more confident than his fellow fighters for he'd seen Ahsoka use many different devices over the course of their adventures and had actually paid attention to her demonstration. Lux bent his knees into a crouched position and then let the droid popper roll from his hand with slight speed and a spin, easily overtaking Saw's failed attempt. It then easily crossed through the ray shield barrier before activating and disabling the droideka.
Ahsoka along with some other rebels cheered at his success while Saw stood to the side grumbling and moping about being beaten. "Nice touch." Ahsoka mentioned with a small smile.
Lux grinned back at her. "Thanks." For a few moments the two teens lived in their own world where every other Jedi and rebel didn't exist. It was just them. Reality suddenly came crushing back into them in the form of Steela's playful punch on Lux's shoulder.
"Not bad." She teased and held her palm out for the incoming droid popper. Ahsoka frowned at her breaking the precious moment between the two of them. Rather forcefully, Ahsoka threw the device onto the outstreached palm and folded her arms, meanly waiting for the other girl to fail. Steela then went into a similar pose Saw did and let the popper skim across the dirt. Unfortunately for her, it went too fast and landed back in a similar position to where Saw's had landed. Steela stamped and sighed in frustration as Ahsoka was silently pleased with herself: She would never, ever admit it but the Force may have had something to do with why Steela's had sped up. It didn't matter too much as she would soon practise without Ahsoka's interference and the increase was too small for either of the other Jedi to notice. It was fine.
Scratch that, not fine. Lux then came up behind Steela with a gentle smile on his face and took her hand in his. "Here, do it like this. Let your arm swing." The next few moments were torturous to Ahsoka as, heart-broken, she watched the love of her life get rather close to a woman who had been hostile to Ahsoka since arriving despite doing nothing wrong. The other rebels watched, curious to watch Lux and Steela demonstrate despite ignoring Ahsoka's perfect example. It wasn't fair! Why was Lux suddenly disregarding her feelings? Had he forgotten all they went through? Did he think she wouldn't mind? Ahsoka was stood right there! Steela then tried again and because Ahsoka was too wounded to notice or care and Lux's technique did have a positive affect, she succeeded. The others cheered while the Togruta remained silent and stoic.
Anakin sensed deep unease and turmoil in his Padawan. Turning to look at Ahsoka, he saw the look of betrayal on her face. Her eyes were wide and never leaving Bonteri and Gerrera. Anakin immediately understood what was happening. "Snips?" He asked gently. "Are you losing focus?" That was the last thing they needed or else the Jedi Council would revoke their help instantly.
Ahsoka snapped out of her trance. "No Master, I'm fine." She stated emphatically yet anyone and everyone could see that she really was not fine.
Rex also looked over at his commander and saw the expression of pure hurt on her face. An anger grew inside him that someone would dare to hurt Ahsoka but he reminded himself that the Senator probably didn't mean to do that. After spending two years fighting alongside Anakin on and off the battlefield, the captain had become rather proficient in noticing the little indications of romance in Jedi. General Skywalker and Senator Amidala were hardly subtle if they were trying to be. Rex now wanted to help Ahsoka so he clapped his hands together and called out. "Okay everyone, get into pairs and continue to practice!" His hope was that Ahsoka and Lux would work together and restore the balance between them.
Scratch that as well for with a droid popper in hand, Ahsoka took a step forward and opened her mouth as though to ask Lux if he wanted to work with her when Steela jumped in and dragged Lux away to work. Deflated, the Jedi Padawan sighed and looked downcast when Saw's voice cut through her thoughts. "Hey Commander, do you want to work with me?" Ahsoka looked up at the earnest face of Saw and took a moment to appreciate that Onderonian boys weren't difficult on the eyes. At all. Bitterly, she thought about how Lux ditched her for Steela without a moment's hesitation or a backwards glance and nodded happily at Saw as they went to find a place to work.
Rex felt like a fool. Now Lux and Steela were getting closer than before and Ahsoka had gone off with Saw who clearly had fun taking the mick out of Lux. Still, it was worth a decent shot.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed writing it! I want to know what you guys thought of Rex's input there. I always love the scenes in Season 7, Episode 1 of TCW when Rex and Anakin argue over going to talk to Padme so it made sense to show he wasn't unaware of the romances blooming around him. I'll update on time again soon. Bye, bye.