Chapter Text
His ears were full of screaming.
Not human or organic screaming, mind you - the 501st were much too well trained for that, even if the auras of some of the younger vode were thrashing with silent panic. No, his ears were full of screaming that only he could hear, screaming that echoed only in his mind, the screaming and buzzing and wailing of electricity and electronics utilized in warfare.
It was a sound-without-sound that he was rapidly getting used to.
The plasma cannons bellowed as they fired, the electronics in the hull of their cruisers wailing as they were fired upon. The enemy fighters roared as they pursued their targets, and shrieked when they themselves were pursued. All around him, a deafening orchestra silent to everyone else played out, the music of war that he had only just become attuned to.
He enveloped himself in the cacophony, tracking how well the battle was going by measuring the noise.
It was not going well.
Luckily, that’s what he was there for.
Aayla Secura had been one of his only friends, growing up in the Temple, so when she had called for his help, desperate and facing certain defeat at the hands of the Separatists, he had ordered an immediate race to their aid, haring from one side of the Outer Rim to the other, leaving Obi-Wan’s capable forces defending their previous position.
Obi-Wan, who seemed to be avoiding him.
This isn’t the time to think about that, he scolded himself, the whipping wind stinging his face.
The gunship he, Ahsoka, Rex, Kix, Smoke, and Coyote - the surviving vod who had helped them rescue R2 - were on raced downwards, Peregrine piloting them smoothly through the chaos, at least, until the Separatists noticed they had arrived.
“Rocket droids, incoming!” Peregrine called, and Anakin dilated his pupils despite the blinding sunlight, staring down at the smoking hull of Aayla’s cruiser, analyzing the situation.
“Those droids are boarding Aayla’s ship!” He snarled, his voice raised to be heard above the screaming wind.
Across from them, a droid landed on top of another gunship, peeling apart the cockpit with ease, an otter peeling open a mollusc to consume the meaty insides.
A growl rose deep in his chest.
“Take care of that clanker!” He ordered, baring his teeth at it. “I’ll be onboard Aayla’s cruiser!”
Ahsoka began to protest, her words lost to the swirling, whirling wind as Anakin leapt, trusting the Force, landing atop a rocket droid a moment later, clinging on as it clicked and spat, writhing to get him off.
Throwing his weight to the side, he forced it to turn, sending a surge of energy through its arm using the Force that fired off its blaster right at another rocket droid, before driving it down, down towards an open wound in the cruiser’s hull, landing with a crash, using the droid’s body to cushion his fall.
Leaping to his feet, he ignited his blade, facing the onwards-marching B2s that had landed before him. With a wordless snarl, he lunged forwards, something ancient singing in his blood as he swiftly dispatched droid after droid, so quickly that by time the ones in front had turned to see what the disturbance was, he was already on top of them, his blade like sharp claws tearing through meat that was steel.
Slashing and cutting, he spun like a whirlwind, the tight confines of the hall serving as a killbox for the droids as they found themselves trapped onboard with him, a wild-eyed predator with a taste for mechanical blood.
His senses hummed as Ahsoka and the others boarded behind him.
Anakin paid little mind to them, focusing instead on the droids that had finally registered his presence, banthas turning their horns towards a threat, but he was fast and powerful, and he cut through them with ease.
The sharp tang of fear reached him from up ahead.
Reaching out his hand, he pulled the closest B2 towards him, skewering it with his ‘saber, before throwing it down the hall with the Force, the strength behind the throw utterly decimating the remaining lines of droids, revealing Aayla’s amused yet grim expression as she turned to glance at him, still deflecting shots away from her and the commander standing at her side.
“Nice entrance, Skywalker,” she greeted, turning to race down the hall, deflecting shots all the way, Anakin and his group at her heels. “How do you plan to get us out of this mess?”
“Well, I have a ship docking in the lower hangar as we speak,” he told her, deflecting shots alongside her, his blood churning with fire as the plasma heated the confined halls.
They turned the corner, coming face to face with a lone B1.
“Uh, hold it!” The droid nervously squeaked, leveling them with its blaster.
Anakin grinned with all his teeth.
The doors behind the droid opened, revealing rows and rows more droids, and Anakin hissed in frustration as they were forced to turn, retreating back the way they came to try another way.
The ship shook with tremors as they turned another corner, the heat rising, and Anakin’s hindbrain lurched - something bad was about to happen.
“We made it!” Ahsoka cried, sounding as though she were underwater, activating the docking port that would lead them to the ship, turning to beam at the vode and him, but Anakin was too busy casting out his Sight, feeling for the source of the wrongness he felt, even as the others continued onwards, their figures muddying in his vision as the world in front of him blurred, his focus set on Seeing and not seeing.
Explosion.
The word echoed in his mind like a heartbeat.
The others were saying something, but Anakin saw the gaseous inferno racing towards them before he even turned around, the blindingly bright blaze mirrored in his mind’s eye, a tidal wave of flame that would sear flesh from bones and bones into ash and ash into nothingness, and he didn’t even think before he used the Force to shove the others into the tunnel, slamming shut the doors separating them, spinning as the heat reached him seconds before the fire itself did, his blood roaring to burn alongside with it, bracing himself as the blast doors in front of him slid shut, but it wouldn’t be enough, he knew it wouldn’t be enough.
He held them anyway, grinding his teeth as they groaned under the pressure of the explosion, but his Sight cut out, and he knew then what was about to happen, even as he continued holding on.
The doors shattered, sending him flying backwards, a dizzying array of gray-red-orange-black as he was thrown, world spinning around him, into the second set of doors, the wind knocked out of him as something deep in his torso snapped, the fragments of the first set flying towards him and burying him in torn, superheated steel, the world going red around him as the flames swallowed him whole, before going black, black as the ash he would surely burn into.
“This damned di’kut!” Kix snarled as he and Ahsoka dragged the limp body of one Anakin Skywalker onto the ship, ignoring General Secura as she said something about having to leave, and he cursed at how heavy his Jedi was.
“I’m going to turn on the deflector shields!” Commander Bly called, racing away, General Secura casting one last glance at them before she moved to follow.
“Is he…?” Ahsoka asked, turning wide eyes to him as they leaned over Skywalker’s motionless form.
Kix removed his scanner from his belt, moving it over Skywalker’s battered body.
No life detected.
Kix resisted the urge to groan.
“This damned di’kut,” he repeated, scowling, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what they needed to do to ensure that the others didn’t realize that Skywalker had perished in the blast. “Come on, let’s get him to the MedBay.”
“But he’s…” Ahsoka began, then cut herself off with a nervous glance around.
“Yes, but they can’t know that,” Kix growled in response, jerking his head in the direction that Commander Bly and General Secura had run off in. “So, we take him to the MedBay.”
Ahsoka nodded, watching as Kix placed his arms under Skywalker’s, hauling the corpse up. He glanced expectantly at her, but paused when he saw her wide, horrified eyes.
Osik, this is probably traumatizing for a cadet, he realized, glancing around for anything that would help him get his behemoth of a General to the MedBay.
“I got him,” Rex called, materializing from thin air, scooping up Skywalker’s lower end. “Is he-”
“Yes,” Kix said. “Where did you run off to?”
“I was helping in the cockpit,” Rex informed him, grunting as they awkwardly maneuvered their way down the hall. “Commander, get the door, please.”
“And the others?” Kix questioned, gritting his teeth as his muscles protested the awkward position he had shifted into as they tried not to throw their General’s corpse around like a ragdoll - it felt disrespectful to do so, even if the man himself would probably find it funny.
“No idea,” Rex grunted as they finally managed to maneuver Skywalker onto the MedBay bed. “Peregrine, Smoke, and Coyote all made it onboard, though.”
Kix didn’t reply, quickly getting to work, performing all the treatments he would if the patient he was caring for had actually been alive, even going so far as to hook up an oxygen mask to his face and a heart monitor.
“What are we going to do about that?” Rex asked, raising a brow at the obvious flatline.
Kix pulled the device closer to him, paused, and then punched it a few times with all his strength.
“Hate these kriffing things,” he muttered, kicking it under the nearest shelf, ignoring the wide-eyed open-mouthed looks the other two were giving him. “So kriffing loud.”
“I… suppose that works,” Rex said, blinking.
The ship shuddered in a very distinctive way.
“Did we just jump to hyperspace?” Ahsoka squeaked, glancing at them in confusion.
“We weren’t supposed to,” Rex replied, frowning.
A few moments of silence passed, admittedly eerie without the beeping heart monitor, no matter how much Kix had hated it.
Ahsoka approached the body, staring at it with wide eyes.
“Ah,” Rex said, something gentle in his voice. “This is your first time seeing him like this, isn’t it?”
Ahsoka nodded.
“It’s…” She shook her head. “I don’t have the words for it.”
Bizarre, Kix wanted to suggest, but didn’t. Grotesque. Unnatural. Traumatizing.
“He’ll come back,” Rex assured her.
“I know,” she murmured, gazing at Skywalker’s face with a torn expression. “But still…”
“It gets easier,” Rex said.
Is that true? Kix wondered, tilting his head at the body. Yes, it’s easier in that we’re not grieving, in that we know he’ll come back, but dealing with the corpse itself…
“Commander,” Rex began. “I know this may be difficult, but we need to pretend that we’re all worried for him.”
“Like, worried that he could actually die and not come back,” Kix elaborated.
Ahsoka nodded, a determined glint in her eye.
As if on cue, General Secura entered the room, her gaze fixing on Ahsoka.
Rex and Kix snapped off quick salutes, retreating to the outskirts of the room to give the two of them space.
“I need you with Commander Bly up on the bridge right now,” the Jedi General said, sparing a glance at Skywalker’s body and grimacing at the bandages and oxygen mask Kix had applied.
“I should stay,” Ahsoka protested, playing the part of worried Padawan perfectly, her gaze tormented as she stared up at the older Jedi. “Commander Bly doesn’t need my help, Anakin does!”
She’s good, Kix signed, admittedly impressed.
“You can help Anakin by getting this ship to safety,” General Secura retorted, sparing another glance at Skywalker.
“General Secura, we have a problem,” Commander Bly barked as he entered the room.
Have you heard the rumors? Rex asked Kix in sign, piquing his interest. Kix was, admittedly, a bit of an incurable gossip.
“What is it, Commander?” General Secura asked, turning to face the commander fully.
What rumors? Kix replied.
“In our haste to escape, the navicomputer’s coordinates were inputted incorrectly,” Bly informed her. “And, well, we’re headed right for a star.”
Well, that’s not good, Rex signed. Anyway, apparently Bly is in love with his Jedi.
Kix blinked at him.
Her? He asked, his eyes darting to General Secura for a brief moment. Rex nodded.
He didn’t even notice us signing, he was focused entirely on her, the Captain added as the others rushed out of the room.
Who else knows? Kix questioned, grinning.
Oh, just the entirety of their squadron, as well as every other commander, including Cody and Appo, plus a few others, Rex replied, grinning as well. My ori’vode told me.
Does she know? Kix inquired.
Oh, she more than knows, Rex informed him, eyes shining in delight. Apparently, she returns his feelings.
No way, Kix signed, his grin deepening. They are breaking so many rules.
That didn’t stop Skywalker, Rex retorted, mashing together the sign for ‘sky’ and ‘walk’ to form the name. Anyway, now you and Bly can be Jedi-dating buddies.
Kix punched him in the arm.
“Not you too!” Kix bemoaned aloud, and Rex snickered. “Fives is the one with the actual crush, go make fun of him!”
“We tried,” Rex reminded him, striding out of the room. “Appo stopped us.”
“Where’s Appo when you need him?” Kix muttered, following him.
Entering the bridge, they were just in time to see Bly slam his fist down on the console in frustration.
“It’s no use,” the Commander said morosely. “The navigation computer’s completely fried.”
Melodramatic much? Kix signed.
Rex just gave him a look that insinuated that he was a hypocrite. Kix didn’t know what Rex meant by that.
“Shut down all power circuits to reset the coordinates!” General Secura ordered, turning to them.
Rex nodded, turning to go do that.
“We’re switching off primary power units!” Ahsoka called a moment later as the console in front of them flashed and trilled.
“Cutting it awfully close,” Kix growled, eyeing their trajectory map.
“Ready to shut off auxiliary power!” General Secura said, moving to stand near the back of the cockpit, where the auxiliary power controls were.
“On three!” Ahsoka called. “One, two… Three!”
Kix had braced himself, grabbing the back of their chairs, and even still, the force of them exiting hyperspace so suddenly had him clinging on for dear life, the swirling lights blinking away into the blinding orange glow of the star that they had nearly been tossed into, the ship shaking violently as they continued to hurtle towards it, Kix still clinging to the seats as the momentum seemed intent on throwing him against a wall.
“We’re out of hyperspace!” Commander Bly shouted. “Resume all power!”
As he spoke, the part of the seat that Kix had been hanging onto broke off, and he went flying back into General Secura, the two of them pinned against the wall by the crushing weight of gravity.
“Switch the power back on!” Bly cried. “What are you waiting for?!”
General Secura cast out her hand, presumably reaching out in the Force, as Bly shouted at them to hurry, the light of the star growing brighter and brighter still, the cockpit shaking more and more violently.
This better not be how I die! Kix thought, before falling to the ground with a thud and a grunt as the Jedi finally managed to turn the power back on.
Pushing himself back onto his feet with a groan, Kix blinked away the spots in his vision as the view from the cockpit shifted to a sulphuric yellow planet.
“Well, we’re not going to crash into the star, but we’re definitely going to hit that planet,” Ahsoka chirped, sounding far too cheerful for their situation.
Rex raced back into the cockpit as flames blurred their vision, the friction of the atmosphere against their ship blinding them.
“Are we seriously crashing again?” Rex yelped, to which Kix shrugged.
“She’s Skywalker’s Padawan, what did you expect?” He asked the captain, to which Rex just shook his head fondly.
“I take… great offense to that!” Ahsoka groaned, straining to control the ship as they careened closer and closer to the ground, her teeth gritting as she pulled at the controls, the engine whirring noisily and explosions rocking their ship as bits and pieces broke off.
Kix braced himself once more, and seconds later, his world was filled with deafening noise, transparisteel shattering all around him as they impacted the ground, bouncing a few times before sliding to a halt, the acrid tang of smoke quickly filling the cockpit.
“Everybody, out!” Rex called as soon as they had stopped, shoving Kix forwards. “We’ve got Skywalker!”
Not needing to be told twice, Kix raced towards the MedBay, passing Smoke and Coyote as they helped a limping Peregrine towards the exit. Surging into the room like a tidal wave, Rex grabbed the body’s shoulders while Kix took the legs, a reversal of earlier, booking it out of there as fast as they could, leaping from the burning ship a moment before it exploded.
“Well, we made it,” Rex groaned, gently lowering Skywalker’s corpse before flopping down next to it, Ahsoka approaching them.
“I’m just glad he wasn’t awake to see that landing,” the young commander huffed, flopping down next to them.
They both glanced at her, then at each other.
“He would have been proud,” Rex told her, earnestly, and Kix just snorted in agreement.
“I’ve certainly perfected the art of demolishing ships,” she sniffed, gazing up at the burning wreckage with an odd expression.
“Come,” General Secura called, approaching them. “We must set up camp before night falls.”
Kix took a deep breath.
Duty calls, he thought, arranging his supplies on his belt and taking stock of what was still usable and what was damaged beyond salvage.
No rest for the wicked, I suppose.