From within the Phantom, Sabine was working on fixing the damage. "The probe hit us pretty badly," she explained as a precursor to the bad news. "Repairs are going to take a little while longer."

"We don't have time," Kanan reminded her. "No telling when the Empire will get here. We've got to get off the surface."

"Well, the Empire's not our only problem," she announced, leaning around the side of the ship and lowering her helmet scope. "There's a storm coming up behind us."

"If the Empire gets here before we take off, the storm will be the least of our problems." He would have said more, but he was distracted by movement behind him. Rex had returned with Sabine's data tape.

"Here they are," he told Ezra, handing it to him. "The coordinates of every Republic base, separatist installation, pirate hideout, and smuggler's den in the Outer Rim."

From behind him, Wolffe added, "Plus a few Mandalorian bases they've forgotten about."

Every little bit helped, so Ezra didn't complain. "Thank you, Commander. Sure you won't come with us?"

"Yeah, you're probably not bad in a fight," Zeb affirmed, hoping it would encourage them.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," Jesse hollered from the hallway. "If those repairs take long enough, you'll see a fight when those turdbuckets show up."

Rex closed his eyes, looking extremely disappointed. Right on cue, Ezra asked, "Turdbucket?"

Grinning a bit too proudly, Jesse nodded. "Yep. Because one of those helmet filled with rancor dung would be a bigger threat than the idiots they call 'soldiers'. At least the dung helmet would give you a concussion if it hit you."

"And the dung helmet might actually hit you," Gregor added, leaning against the wall. "Unlike a turdbucket."

Even Kanan had to admit it was kind of funny. It was the same deprecating humor that had gotten him through the clone war. It was like calling battle droids 'clankers,' although Padawans had taken to calling them 'tinnies.' 

"All the same, our war's over, kid," Rex told Ezra, trying to bring the conversation back around. "Don't much care to get mixed up in another. We probably wouldn't be welcomed. Say hello to General Skywalker for me, though."

"But the Empire's on its way, and they will find you," Ezra warned. 

"Like Jesse said, we can take care of ourselves," he assured him.

After ending the chat with Sabine, Kanan called Hera next. "Spectre-1 to Spectre-2, gonna be down here a while longer. Give me some good news. Has the Empire showed up yet?"

Kanan always hated the pause between the first and second communication. Why did it have to be so tense? Still, Hera replied eventually. "I'm a little busy finishing repairs on the Ghost, but Chopper's been scanning. So far, nothing."

He breathed a little easier at that. They still had breathing roo-

"Just had to say that."

Oh, no. That wasn't good.

"Star Destroyer just came out of hyperspace," Hera told the rebels and clones on the ground, who were all listening now. "Gonna power down so they can't scan me. Once I finish my repairs, I'll come get you. Good luck down there.

That was literally the last thing Kanan wanted to hear right now, but it was the hand he was dealt. Couldn't change that now. 

Rex was already strategizing. "If they follow anything close to Republic procedure, they'll fly search patterns based on our last confirmed position."

"Or they'll call," Kix announced from behind them, pointing at the communication console. "We're receiving a broadcast from that Destroyer. I doubt they're stopping to chat."

"Oh, this is going to be good," Kanan complained. "Rebels, clones, and Jedi. We're a three-in-one deal for the Empire."

The rebels moved out of frame of the camera system while Wolffe took the call. To the rebels' dismay, Agent Kallus was the one to appear on the screen. "Attention Imperial citiz-" he began, until he saw who had answered the call. As everyone knew, clones are not Imperial citizens.

He looked stunned for a moment, before chuckling to himself. "And here I had an official statement ready, asking you to surrender the rebels or be destroyed. Clearly, that won't be necessary."

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard the speech," Wolffe groaned, crossing his arms. "'Any individual able to be identified as a Kaminoin clone of the mandalorian Jango Fett can be executed under Imperial law'...we get it."

"You wanna know what I don't get?" Jesse asked through a mouthful of food, walking into frame to Kallus could see him and his fork in all their glory. "We're hunted for killing Jedi, but the Empire kills Jedi anyway, so what's the deal anymore? Pick a side, you prick. Go one way or the other, just to make it easier on everyone."

Kallus seemed highly offended by the casual presence of Jesse's fork, but he recovered quickly. "Oh, I will make it easier. All of you will be destroyed at once."

"If it's a fight you want," Rex told him, pounding his fists together, "I hope you brought a better class of soldier than those stormtroopers."

"They serve the Empire well, and I have a great many of them."

"You're gonna need all of them."

~

When all was said and done, Rex decided to come with the Ghost crew. After promising to keep in touch with his brothers, they sent him off in the Phantom. Hera and Chopper finally finished their repairs, and all the rebels were soon docking with the rebel transport they had come from.

They walked on board and almost immediately ran into Skywalker, who turned at the sound of their footsteps. After a moment, they parted to reveal the clone commander standing behind them, and Rex couldn't help but grin when he saw his old general.

The long hair was a bit of a shock, and he wasn't used to seeing him without Jedi robes on, but he looked better than ever. Older too, so much older. Then again, so was Rex. The scar over his eye had faded in fifteen years, but his eyes had grown kinder. All the harshness from the Clone Wars had softened. Or maybe that was only obvious to Rex. 

To his surprise, Skywalker's Force signature seemed familiar. Rex hadn't seen him since before he started noticing his sensitivity, but there was no doubt, he recognized Skywalker's presence in the Force. It had aged like wine, refining itself and strengthening as he got older. 

Walking through the Ghost crew, he stood at attention and folded his hands behind his back. "General."

Anakin smiled and walked up to him, offering a hand out to his old friend. Rex took it, clasping his forearm tightly. The familiar sense of trust rushed through both of them, and it inspired Rex enough to crack a joke. "Should've known you would be here."

"Was always going to happen sooner or later," he agreed, before pulling Rex into a quick hug, still holding onto his arm. A soldier's hug, one Rex had once exchanged often with his brothers. 

"I'm glad you're still alive," Rex told him quietly, letting his gaze drop a bit as they split apart.

Skywalker nodded, understanding things he hadn't said. "You too."

"Well, I wouldn't be if it weren't for these guys," Rex remembered, gesturing back to the Ghost crew who were still standing behind him. For once, Kanan was smiling (at Skywalker, but it was more than he had done for the past day). 

Anakin seemed to recognize this. "Thank you for trusting him."

"It wasn't easy," Kanan admitting, and after a glance at Rex, he added. "It's still not."

"Nothing easy ever is," he reminded him, before walking toward the command center of the ship with all of them. Despite the disconnection between Kanan and Rex, they were able to set that aside long enough to work together. In that way, this lesson had been learned: I will not allow my emotions to cloud my judgement.