Ahsoka leaned against the rail of the catwalk overlooking the entrance to the sewers system. Caedus was down there. Somewhere. She trusted her men to handle themselves, but she couldn't shake a strange sort of guilt. As if she was purposefully sending them to die.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump, sucking in a breath. Rex removed his hand quickly, holding both up in front of him.
"Just me. Just me. Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you." He apologized. Ahsoka relaxed, taking her hand off of her lightsaber hilt. He moved to stand next to her, glancing around before casually looping his arm around her waist. Ahsoka leaned her head against his shoulder for a fraction of a second before straightening up.
"Vaughn reported in. He and his men have done a full sweep of the lower city, no sign of Caedus." Rex's voice hitched over the fallen general's name. She couldn't see his face through the helmet, but she knew the bitter expression he would be making. She let herself lean a little closer to him, not caring about the hard plastoid that kept her from really feeling him.
"Do you feel it too?" She blurted it out, pulling back. Rex tipped his helmet at her strangely. "The... I don't know. Dread?"
"That Vaughn is in trouble, even though he has yet to miss a check in and no distress calls have been sounded?" Rex sighed. Ahsoka nodded into his shoulder as he turned to hug her properly. Ahsoka relaxed, burying her head into the crook of his shoulder as he reached a gloved hand up to trace down her rear lekku. "Ahsoka, you're doing just fine. I know you're doubting your decisions, but believe me when I say there is nobody else I'd rather have as my general than you."
Ahsoka bit her lip and pulled back, meeting his eyes through the tinted visor. She looked at the ground, voice hitching slightly. "I don't want to have another Ryloth." She whispered. Rex reached up and took off his helmet, tucking it carefully under his arm. he reached up with his free hand to cup the side of her face, lifting her chin ever so slightly so she could see his face. He gave a sad half smile.
"That's what I'm here for. To be your guide. Do you trust me?" He asked softly. Ahsoka gave him a slightly watery grin.
"Of course I do."
"While I appreciate the entertainment," A new voice spoke up from behind them. Ahsoka chuckled as Rex jumped. Dogma raised a skeptical eyebrow at them. "You two do realize we're on the clock, right?" Ahsoka laughed harder as Rex jammed his helmet on to cover his rapidly reddening ears.
Ahsoka glanced at Dogma with a grin. "I guess we're just as bad as Skywalker."
Dogma's lips twitched upwards in a smile. "Having had to sit in a briefing with both Senator Amidala and Skywalker, at least you have the decency to find a somewhat secluded area." Rex just hung his head and gave a small groan in the back of his throat, although Ahsoka knew he was smiling beneath his helmet.
"We're dealing with the last of the bureaucrats, but Kryze thinks something's wrong. Cap-er...Commander Flip, sorry sir, is to reinforce Ursa at the docks while General Tano is aid Captain Vaughn. Me and the other Kryze will be backing you up." He reported, looking between the two of them. Ahsoka nodded, the unspoken words sticking in her throat as she glanced at Rex. Don't die out there. Don't let the men die out there.
Instead, all that came out was, "I'll see you tonight." Rex nodded, turning and walking away briskly off to where Storm company was waiting a few blocks away. It wasn't Torrent, but they respected the mysterious commander well enough.
Quin met her and Dogma at the entrance to the sewers. As usual, he kept silent. Dogma didn't know who he was. And there was no way he wouldn't recognize a clone's voice, even one heavily modulated through a helmet.
Vaughn radioed in, stating that there were no signs of the enemy. Then the line went dead. No sign-off, no blaster fire. Dead. Ahsoka lowered her wrist with the commlink.
"This is a trap." Dogma said softly. Ahsoka said nothing, her pulse pounding through her montrals. She drew her lightsabers and took off at a dead run, sprinting as fast as she could maintain to Vaughn's last reported location. Dogma and Quin were right behind her.
She skidded around a corner and dropped into a crossroads in the labyrinth of tunnels where she stopped, panting heavily. Scorch marks on the walls. A couple fragments of plastoid, and no bodies whatsoever. She closed her eyes, reaching out with the force. She shuddered at the feeling of death that seemed to permeate the planet and looked beyond it. A single signature, that's all she needed.
She couldn't feel Caedus. She kept looking deeper, searching for something, anything that could give her a clue as to where he was hidden. The force rebelled a bit, her body having not been used to going so deep after so long of only skimming the surface. A small wave of force-burn rolled through her, shoving her back. A warning. But not before she felt it.
Not Caedus, but the clones he had captured. Their fear.
Her eyes snapped open to stare at the ground below her. She had fallen to her knees at some point. Quin knelt next to her but she shook him off, standing quickly and swaying slightly as a wave of dizziness tried to bring her back to her knees.
"Come on!" She growled, forcing herself to move forward. Slower than she had taken off, but she was running. The others were right behind her as she pounded through the tunnels. She brought her sabers up to bear as shots fired at them from ahead. She redirected the bolts, but every movement seemed to make her limbs feel heavier and heavier.
She never saw their attackers, although they were presumably Death Watch. She was at another crossroads when she realized her mistake. Dogma and Quin split off from her, looping back around. Good, at least they got out of the trap she had sprung. She heard blasters being lifted around her as she crouched low to the ground, ready to cut her way through to get to the force signatures of the clones in distress when she heard soft foodsteps from behind her. She immediately turned, ony to come face to face with Caedus himself.
Because of the mask, she couldn't see his face. He cocked his head to the side.
"I was hoping for Anakin. Why... would the jedi send you?" He hissed. Ahsoka felt a low shiver go down her spine, a familiar pressure building up around her shields. She tightened them up, the force not liking that sending a stabbing pain through the back of her skull.
"Why don't you surrender and swap stories? Like what did you do with my men?" She growled, low and almost feline. Caedus laughed.
"The clones are quite alright I assure you. I'd never hurt them myself." He said lightly. Ahsoka's rage outweighed her pain, and she pressed a button on her commlink, hoping that the jamming was down.
"Hurt them physically or mentally?" She snarled, trying to keep him talking. Even if the jamming was in place still, Dogma and Quin could go get Rex.
Caedus shrugged. "Where is Anakin?" He asked. Ahsoka stared at that blank mask, and Caedus sighed. He stepped down into the center of the crossroads where Ahsoka was, circling her. "I'm going to ask again, and for every time you do not answer my questions, one of the clones dies." He said casually, as if they were discussing the weather. There was a grunt as one of the mandalorians shoved a familiar figure to his knees in front of her. Sterling.
"I thought you said you wouldn't hurt them." Ahsoka spat. Caedus chuckled.
"I won't. My men on the other hand...Where is Anakin Skywalker?"
Ahsoka stared at Sterling, who raised his head enough to give her the smallest shake. No.
"I don't know." She said. It was the truth. Last she heard he was rushing off to save the chancellor. Caedus's demeanor changed. Ahsoka felt that awful pressure again. Sterling flickered to Rex, his helmet in front of him, staring up at her with pleading in his eyes.
"Who sent you?"
"I sent myself." The truth again.
There was a small commotion off to her right. Caedus instinctively glanced over at it and Ahsoka took the chance. A force-push back and another wave of pain, and she was blocking blaster bolts.
The mandalorians began to scatter. Caedus snarled and picked up the first of the new attackers and threw the offending clone at Ahsoka. Rex slammed into her, sending them both sprawling. Ahsoka's sabers flew out of her hands. Caedus ran.
Rex rolled off of her almost immediately, offering her a hand and helping her up. She felt him brush her mind than pull back. The bond was getting stronger again.
"This time it was you who got burned on Mandalore." He said dryly as Ahsoka stumbled over to where Sterling had been knocked down in the chaos. She twisted the lock on the cuff and they fell off. Cheap design. Sterling took her hand and she pulled him to his feet.
"Thank you, General." He panted. Ahsoka nodded stiffly.
"Always."
"Are we going to go after Caedus?" Rex asked. Ahsoka shook her head.
"No. Pull all men back. He knows these tunnels. He'll vanish without a second thought and we'll be chasing our own butts looking for him." She sighed. "When we fight, it'll be on his term." She sighed.
"Understood. Giving the orders."