Chapter Text
The mission was supposed to be simple.
That's what Rex had been told, just get in and get out before the Separatists had the chance to try and take over the planet.
But of course nothing was ever simple for the 501st or the 212th legions. Their Jedi Generals had long since taken off after Ventress.
Leaving the clones stood in front of the civilian building that was now in rubble in front of them. The seppies had dropped the bomb before anyone could even realise what was going on.
Cody's men were fanning out around the rubble to get to the other side. They were tasked with looking for survivors. Many of the men were grumbling as they lifted the occasional slab of concrete.
Rex shared their lack of motivation.
There was no way any civilian would be able to survive that bomb drop.
He looked out over the mess that the droid army had caused, his brows furrowed under his helmet. The Separatists had no reason to bomb this building. And they never did anything without reason.
The droids may be mindless but they weren't dumb.
What was in that building that the Separatists were getting rid of?
"Sir! Movement in the south-east section!" A young trooper's voice calls to his captain, the blue markings on his armour openly marking him as a 501st soldier.
Rex nods in response as he relays the information to Cody through the comms. "Let's head that way then. May as well check it out."
He signals for his men to move towards the location of the movement. The clones scuff their feet along the ground as they walk.
"This is pointless," Jesse mutters to another clone. "No-one will have survived, the Jedi are crazy if they think that a civilian could survive that."
Echoes of agreement sound through the men. Rex pointedly ignores them as he climbs over a slab of concrete.
If General Kenobi and Skywalker said to search for survivors then they would have reason to send us to do so. They wouldn't send us on a pointless side chore when we could be doing much more important stuff.
At least one survivor.
That's all they need.
"Sir!"
The click of blasters cocking just out of sight around the next pile of rubble makes his feet hurry.
Droids?
He turns around the corner, blaster raised only to find his men unconscious in the rubble. A hooded figure standing in the center of the fallen soldiers.
"Stand down!" His voice is harsh as he points his blaster at the figure. "Don't make us shoot."
A soft giggle sounds from the figure at his words, making him and the other men freeze in shock.
A girl?!
"You shoot me? Oh, clones. You are too funny." Her accent is light as she giggles.
The boys look between themselves, and even Rex finds himself glancing back at his brothers to make sure they're seeing the same thing as he was.
"Still," He raises his blaster again, trying to regain control of the situation. "Stand down and no-one else will get hurt."
"Really I should be telling you that," She muses as she pokes one of the unconscious clones with her boot. "It's pathetic honestly. How quickly they all lowered their weapons as soon as they saw I was female."
She pulls her hood down, revealing pale, freckled skin that tells the men she is barely out of her teenage years and a braid of ginger hair down her back. Her eyes are dark with something someone her age shouldn't have.
Fives whistles appreciatively as he eyes her up and down, Rex's groan of annoyance at his brother has the rest of them turning away to keep from laughing.
"Can I have your number, pretty lady?" Fives steps up next to Rex as he pulls his helmet off. "Pretty lass like you deserve someone willing to pay attention to you and can see that you don't need protection."
"Fives stop." Rex grits out as he watches the girl's reaction. Watching as her eyes narrow on the clone at his side with deadly focus.
"We could have plenty of fun, you and I," Fives continues, completely ignoring his Captain's warning.
She finally turns to face Rex, and he sees her eyes flickering between a deep blue and something else that he can't quite make out with the sun dipping behind her.
"Why did you bomb my home?" Her voice turns sharp as she steps over a clone towards the standing men. Any sign of the accent gone.
A spy? Maybe she's a bounty hunter? Or a changeling. That would make sense.
"We didn't bomb anything–" Echo gasps, peeking out from behind Rex. "And if we did, we would hit our targets, not civilian households."
"How did you survive that? You seem unscathed yet must have come from under the rubble." Kix's voice is soft as he tries to get her to share while also being curious enough to try and step closer to check her over for injuries. "I should make sure you're unharmed."
She steps back, her hand raising towards him with a knife held in her fingers tightly as she points it at him. "Don't come any closer."
"Woah!"
Everyone raises their weapons on the girl again as they spot the knife in her hand.
"We're here to help," Rex softens his voice as he slowly lowers his blaster but keeps his hand on it as he takes a small step towards her. "We can't do that if you don't cooperate."
"Back off!" Her voice cracks as she turns the knife towards the clone Captain. "Don't come any closer, I'm armed and dangerous."
"I'm sure you are," Rex holds out his hand in a light gesture of surrender. Gesturing for his men to lower their weapons as well. "You seem very dangerous. Come on, let's get you out of here and you can be checked over by a medic then you're free to go."
Her eyes flicker between them before shakily lowering the knife at the ground. "Is... there any others?" Her voice trembles as she glances towards the rubble.
"I'm sorry. We haven't found any other survivors yet."
Her exhale of air catches everyone off guard. As her tense shoulders finally seem to relax.
She's relieved by that? Why on Kamino would she be relieved that her family is dead?
"She's crazy." Someone whispers near the back but his words echo over the silent concrete.
"Idiot." Echo mutters as the girl's eyes snap up, searching the crowd for the perpetrator.
"Sorry." He whispers once he realizes what he did. "I didn't mean– I don't know you– You're probably a wonderful young lady–"
He's cut off as Jesse quickly covers the clone's mouth, shutting the shiny up swiftly before he can say anything else that will ruin any chance of the woman saying anything else.
"I'm Captain Rex, and this is Fives, Echo, Kix and Jesse." He gestures vaguely between the men, only bothering to name some of them. "What's your name, little lady?"
"None of your business. I don't care who you are." Her response is short and sharp, head turning away from the men.
Rex sighs, exasperated with her attitude already. He deals with Fives all the time as it is, and this new girl is making even Fives' attitude seem tame. "Listen, we're just trying to do our jobs. So could you please cooperate and let our medic check you for injuries?"
She glances between the group of clones anxiously. "Why should I? You bombed my home."
"And you seem perfectly okay with that." Kix retorts from where he is slowly sidling up to her step by step. "Just, let me check you out. Five minutes."
"Fine." She sits down on a slab of concrete as she continues to eye the troops as they stand around.
Kix kneels in front of her, checking all her vital signs one by one and murmuring findings as he goes.
"Pulse is slightly elevated... no sign of visible injury... no signs of concussion."
He shakes his head as he stands up, glancing between the girl in front of him and Rex.
"There is no sign that she was even under that rubble and was in the building when it dropped." The medic reports.
Murmurs spread through the troops as they whisper between themselves. But one thing is obvious.
She should not be uninjured if the building came down on her.
"She was under the rubble though!" A clone calls out, voice frantic. "I saw them remove the piece she was under!"
Rex nods, holding his hand up to silence his troops from the whispers. His gaze remained locked on where she was still sitting, her knife glinting under the purple light that was shining through the atmosphere of the planet.
But even a captain can't keep his men from wildly making assumptions. Loudly. Not even trying to hide their thoughts.
"Is she an immortal?!"
"I've read about those! They're rumored to have crazy powers!"
"Those aren't real, Hawk! You've been reading too many of those scifi holobooks again."
"Guys shut up. You're gonna get us all killed," Echo hisses, his eyes locked on the girl as her eyes follow the clones as they speculate.
The men shut their mouths quickly as they see the look in her eyes. "Shutting up now."
Rex watches as Kix scurries back behind the lines of men now that he had checked the girl for injuries. The captain watched this girl carefully. She had to be hiding something.
Her eyes found their way back to his, staring straight through his helmet and he felt like she was staring into his soul. Judging. Harshly.
Fives stifles a snort at the stare off, Jesse smacking him up the back of his head to shut the ARC Trooper up.
"What are you?" Is all Rex says as he stares her down in return.
"Human." She responds as she stands up again. Her eyes flickering with something again that Rex just can't make out. "Excuse me. I have to go."
She turns to go and one of the clones shoots a stun blast at her back. She sounds barely making it to the air before she's facing the squadron again. A violet shield around her. Matching the atmosphere.
The blast bounces off her shield and before anyone can do anything other than gasp in shock violet blasts fly from her fingertips into the cluster of clones, sending the men flying and hitting the ground hard.
"Holy–" Rex stares at her from where he’s on the floor, helmet askew from being blasted backwards. He looks at her in a new light, her eyes glowing a harsh violet to match the blast. His mind flying through questions and possible explanations.
But one thing was clear.
She would make a wonderful asset to the Grand Army of the Republic.
***
She stands in the center of the clones as they groan and complain from the ground. Her head held high as her eyes glow.
The men all stare at her as they tremble. They don't reach for their blasters again. Clearly seeing that if they look like a threat then she will do whatever that just was again. And probably kill them.
Her head tilts as she looks over them. Her eyes narrowed on them as they whisper and slide across the ground on their arses back towards the ships.
Until her eyes lock onto who she can only assume is the leader of this stupid group of men. He was looking at her in a way that had her skin crawling.
Like she was a weapon.
Hell no. The facility just came down and she was already being considered as a weapon again.
"Hey, kid. Don't do that again. I have a proposition for you." He calls out to her, pushing himself to his feet.
Her eyes turn to him coldly. "What do you want?" She scoffs, stalking over to him. Hips swaying in the perfect way she was taught to do when negotiating with anything of the male species.
She feels the eyes of all the other men in the area's eyes locking onto her hips as they move.
Typical.
"You can come with us back to Corusant and you can get a life every bounty hunter has dreamt of. Riches or whatever you want." He offers, and she immediately knows the offer is fake based on the whispers the rest of them start.
"Liar." She hisses and crouches down to his level and holds her knife to his throat under the tilted helmet. "Get me off this god's forsaken planet and I'll consider being merciful to this little get together."
He swallows and nods, pulling away from the knife pressed against his neck. "Okay, sounds good. You don't need to threaten us, kid."
"I'm not a kid." She scoffs and stands up again, shoving him with her boot.
"Okay then. Well let me reintroduce myself again. I'm Captain Rex of the 501st legion. And these are my soldiers. You are?" He asks carefully, choosing his words as though speaking to a wild animal.
"Elira Braide." She mutters. "At least that's what they told me my name was."
"Well Miss Braide, I'm sure my general will let you ride with us on the ship to get off-planet. But he might ask for some more information about that building you were in." Rex tells her carefully. "Unless you're willing to tell me and I can pass on the information."
"No." Her words come out panicked, almost terrified of speaking about the bombed site.
Rex nods, almost having expected that reaction to the request. "Well then just hang around here until the Generals come back. We'll finish the sweep of the area for anyone that's injured or still alive."
She reluctantly sits down on a slab of fallen concrete and her eyes follow every movement of the clones around her. They move with precision but she still finds weaknesses in their positions. Finding weak spots as they continue to search around her.
She can see the Captain talking to someone just outside of her earshot on a comms device. She stays there for a while, just watching the men around her and listening to their whispers as they shoot glances at her.
Finally the Generals return, both bearing a few bruises to both their egos and their bodies. Lightsabers hanging at their hilts. They speak with the Captain and a Yellow armoured clone who she can only assume is another captain or commander or whatever. She never did understand military rankings.
They glance her way as Rex explains what happened. They're eyes narrowing on her seemingly innocent female childish appearance.
She hears a snort from the taller, darker haired of the Generals. "That kid over there? Took down your whole squad? Rex did your men just let her. She doesn't look dangerous."
Her frown deepens as she listens to his doubtful words. Hating how she is immediately seen as weak, but she knows that's part of her whole cover up.
"No-one suspects a child."
The words echo in the back of her mind as she watches them talk for a while longer before coming over to her.
"Hey there," The dark haired man kneels down in front of her, a smile plastered onto his face. "I hear you were looking for a way off this planet. We can give you a ride–"
"Awesome, thanks." She cuts in before he can make any deals. "I don't care where, just off this planet and away from here."
"On one condition." He continues without a breath of shock at her interruption. "You have to tell me about that lovely building that was bombed."
"I don't want to do that." The girl shakes her head decisively.
"Well then I guess you'll be staying on this planet then. Good luck." He stands up and begins to walk back towards the ships, not looking back as she gawks in shock at the response.
Braide stumbles over her words for a few moments before deciding that she doesn't need these bastards to get her away from this planet. She'll find another way.
***
Rex follows his General back to the ship, his helmet tucked under his arm as his men bicker on the ship already.
Anakin steps onto the ship and grabs onto a hook. Glancing over his shoulder and expecting to see the girl following him, begging to be taken off the planet and that she will tell them anything. He does a double take when he doesn't see her.
"Rex, where's the kid?"
Rex smirks, enjoying seeing his General struggle with the fact that his strategy didn't work this time. "She didn't follow us, sir."
"What do you mean she didn't follow us?" He raises his voice, the clones surrounding the pair on the ship giggling at his reaction.
"She didn't move when we walked away, she just stayed where she was and stared at you in shock." Rex responds calmly, relaying what happened to his friend with a wide smile.
Anakin is trembling in annoyance as he stares past Rex to where the girl is still sitting on the concrete. "Go get her please. She will be telling us what she knows whether she likes it or not."
Rex sighs and climbs back off the ship and climbs over the rubble back to Elira. "Listen kid–"
"I ain't telling you nothing." She speaks before he finishes, waving her hand at him dismissively. "I'll find another way off this stupid planet. Have fun with whatever you do. Bye bye."
He grits his teeth together as he takes a deep breath. "That's not an option right now, Miss Braide."
"I don't care. I'm not interested in any offer you have for me."
The rubble under his boots crunch as Rex shifts his weight as he considers his options on what to do. He finally sighs and scribbles down his comms signal and shoves it into her hands. "Fine. But if you change your mind, need help or want to work in the Republic's army don't hesitate to call."
The redhead stares at the line of digits on the paper in front of her in disgust. "I won't be needing this." She mutters but shoves it into her pocket anyways.
"Whatever you say kid." Rex says and returns to the ship, ignoring Anakin's glare at not bringing her back.
"She'll show up." Rex tells Anakin before he can even get a word out. "She's a fighter. She'll either get bored of basic civilian life or get tired of bounty hunting and come to us."
The ship lifts off the ground and disappears past the atmosphere back to the larger ship that is waiting just outside of the atmosphere.