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“What’s the plan?” Echo asked Rex. Rex sat staring into the dying flames of the breakfast campfire while he pulled together a battle strategy.
“I’ve got to go back to Yavin IV and collect the rest of our things. I’ll go with the Mand’alor, he’s got to drop his kid off at school. Cody will stay here in charge of the colony set up. He knows what he’s doing. I need a couple hands to help with loading up though.”
Echo held up his prosthetic. “Only got the one hand to lend you, I’m afraid.”
Rex snorted.
“You’re going to see the Jedi?” Omega plopped herself down beside Rex.
“Yeah,” Rex nodded. “We’ve been staying with him while we got all this organized.” Rex spread his hands to encompass the vast bliss of the newly established colony.
“I’ve never met a Jedi,” Omega said, unimpressed by Rex’s accomplishments.
“Omega,” Hunter walked over from his conference with the rest of Squad Ninety-Nine. He shot a glance at Din on his way over. Rex noted Hunter skirted far away from the Mandalorian. Rex wondered idly what that was about.
“Omega,” Hunter said again. “It’s time to make your birthday wishes.”
Rex watched in interest. He recalled the tradition of birthday wishes from the front lines when physical objects were hard to come by and even harder to collect with your kit. The result had been birthday wishes; the lucky kriffer got to request his brothers do a favour for him, or a game, or a song; whatever he could think of. Mostly Rex had used his wishes to get out of cleaning latrines.
“I get to choose my wishes now?” Omega bounced up and down. Rex’s knees were jealous. He couldn’t bounce like that since he’d taken shrapnel to his leg in the rebellion. Force help him, he was old.
“What’s the first wish?” Hunter sighed.
“I want to go with Rex to meet the Jedi,” Omega announced.
Rex held himself back from slapping his face into his palm, but just barely. “The Jedi’s not that impressive,” he tried.
“I’ve never met a Jedi,” Omega said again. She didn’t whine. Rex had no doubt Hunter wouldn’t stand for whining among his troops.
“Fine,” Hunter relented. Rex groaned, but let it pass. Birthday wishes were sacred. “What’s the second wish?”
“I want to spend the day with him,” Omega pointed at Din and the Master Yoda Bi-product. Rex wasn’t sure which she meant.
“If that’s okay with his dad,” Omega finished. Ah, so the Cuter Version of Master Yoda. Rex didn’t understand the request. The kid was adorable. But Rex had never had any desire to spend an entire day with the Spawn of Yoda. Maybe it had more appeal to people who’d never met the Original Master Yoda and his incredible ankle whacking stick.
Rex and Din shared a look as best they could with the beskar visor between them. Din shrugged. “I’ll take free babysitting where I can get it.”
Omega squealed. Din strode over and deposited Yoda the Minor in Omega’s arms.
“Be good,” Din admonished Newborn Yoda with a stern finger wagging. “No magic hand tricks.”
Magic hand tricks. Rex just about died. He was going to suffocate under the laughter he repressed.
Omega cooed at Yoda Junior, who blew a raspberry back. Omega collapsed into giggles. “We are going to have so much fun together.”
That phrase gave Rex a very bad feeling. Some days Rex felt as though he were rattling the universe like a giant magic eight ball, asking for just one normal day. But the only response the universe would give him was “Try again later”.
The general consensus finally decided on who would go where. Rex, Hunter, Omega, Din, and Yoda’s Prototype would go to Yavin IV. The rest would stay behind and begin setting up permanent shelters.
Din swept up into his ship, disappearing straight into the cockpit. Omega and Master Yoda’s Update plopped on the floor and started playing. Hunter leaned against the carbonite freezer. Rex approached his brother.
“You seem a little jumpy around our host,” Rex nodded to the ladder across the hold.
“He’s fine,” Hunter said shortly.
Rex raised an eyebrow. “Sure, and I’m a Tatooine Ronto. What’s bugging you?”
Hunter grumbled under his breath. “I don’t trust Mandalorians, is all.”
“He’s the most Mandalorian of them all,” Rex reminded Hunter. “The Mand’alor.”
“I know,” Hunter hunched his shoulders. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”
They arrived at Luke’s Jedi school just in time for lunch. Rex hoped there’d be pudding today. He felt like he deserved a treat. He climbed down the ship’s ramp. Omega followed. She had the Reproduction of Master Yoda in a sling across her chest. The child snored loudly.
Din and Hunter took the rear of their landing party. Rex noted Hunter waited for Din to step in front of him, rather than let Din walk behind Hunter where he couldn’t watch his back. Rex frowned. He’d have words with Hunter later.
Luke came bounding out of the school, a wide smile on his pale face. Rex introduced Luke to the newcomers.
“I thought you’d be back earlier this morning,” Luke admitted.
“We had a birthday to celebrate,” Rex explained.
“Oh?” Luke perked up. “Whose?”
“Mine,” Omega popped her head over Rex’s shoulder. He wished she wouldn’t do that. Her half inch over his regulation clone height managed to become a sore spot in the twenty-fours they’d spent together. It just wasn’t fair to have a little sister taller than him. He chalked it up to her floofy hair. If Rex grew his hair out and spiked it up, he’d be the same height as Omega. Absolutely.
“Happy Birthday,” Luke said cordially.
“I’m twenty-nine,” Omega informed him.
“Me too,” Luke exclaimed with the enthusiasm only nat-borns could have for finding someone the same age as them. Rex had a thousand brothers with the same birthday. Once upon a time.
“We’re like twins!” Omega gasped.
“I already have a twin,” Luke said sadly.
Omega thought. “I could be your evil twin?”
“No,” Hunter squashed that plan immediately. “No evil twins in this family.”
Omega and Luke pouted together.
“We’re on a mission here, aren’t we?” Hunter quirked an eyebrow. “Let’s get to it.”
“You’re no fun anymore,” Omega grumbled.
“What are you complaining about?” Hunter asked. “You got both your birthday wishes. You got a Jedi to pester and a baby slug to take care of.”
Omega immediately perked up. She rounded on Luke. “Can you test me for Force sensitivity?”
Luke blinked. “I mean, if you haven’t presented any abnormalities by now-.”
“Come on, I’m great at tests!” Omega exclaimed. She bounced on the balls of her feet, which bounced Master Yoda’s child against her front, who woke up and giggled at this exciting development.
Luke shrugged. “I suppose. Come with me, but don’t get you hopes up.”
Omega bounced beside Luke, chattering all the way up the steps of the school until the door closed behind them, cutting off their voices.
Hunter turned to Rex. “So, now what?”
“Now we grab all our gear and load up,” Rex answered. He looked to Din. “Are you helping?”
Din shook his head. “I got a whole afternoon without Grogu. If I don’t finish some reports for Mandalore, Bo Katan in going to come find me and lock me up in a cell until the work’s done.”
Hunter’s eyebrows climbed all the way up to his headband. “I thought you were the Mand’alor?”
“For now,” Din sighed. He unclipped the Darksaber from his belt. He extended the hilt to Hunter. “You want it?”
Hunter all but leaped back. “No!”
“Worth a try.” Din put the Darksaber away and wandered off back into his ship.
Hunter leaned towards Rex. “Is he okay?”
Rex leveled a stare back. “He just found out he was raised in a religious cult and now he’s forced to lead a group of people who don’t follow the same beliefs as him when all he actually wants to do is make a home for his adopted Jedi son.”
Hunter blinked. “Well, kriff. Somebody get that man a drink.”
Rex snickered. “Come on, we got work to do.”
Rex set Hunter the task of cleaning up the reclaimed X Wing they planned to take with them for aerial protection. Meanwhile, Rex went scouting through the school finding all the little bits of Rex and Cody’s lives that had found their way into the common living spaces. Mugs in cabinets. Data pads left on tables. A pistol in the bathroom. The usual.
Once Rex had all that packed up, he moved on to the rooms Luke had given Rex and Cody to sleep and work in.
Rex surveyed Cody’s room from the doorway. He hemmed and hawed over the best tactical approach. Cody had left data pads stacked on his desk and flimsies all over the bedsheets. His weapon cleaning kit laid open on the floor with a half-assembled rocket launcher beside it.
Rex shrugged. If Cody had wanted his stuff packed organized, he should have done it himself. Rex swept everything off the desk in one go into a box and sealed it. Something went clank inside the box. Rex decided that wasn’t his problem. He moved on to the drawers. The whole room got the same indiscriminate treatment. Soon enough, Cody’s room was piled in boxes beside the door. It only took Rex about ten minutes. Beat that.
He moved to his own room and gave his belongings only slightly more consideration. For instance, he didn’t put the grenades in the box with his dirty coffee mugs. That would be gross.
Finished with his tasks, Rex wandered the halls. He stumbled across Omega with Luke and Fresh Master Yoda by accident. They sat cross legged in a circle on the floor in a dim training room. The blinds over the windows cut the light into slashes on the floor. Omega wore a black blindfold covering her eyes and half her face. This must be the Force test Rex heard Omega and Luke discussing. Rex leaned against the doorframe to watch.
“Feel with your mind. Reach out when you’re ready,” Luke said in a calm, steadying voice. A set of metal cylinders lay on the floor in front of him. As he finished speaking, one of the cylinders rose off the ground. Master Yoda’s Tyke warbled and waved a hand. The cylinder followed his clawed fingers.
“Good,” Luke sounded slightly choked. Rex didn’t have time to examine that tone of voice. A hand landed on his shoulder.
“Can I talk to you?” Hunter whispered.
Rex raised an eyebrow. Hunter looked absolutely haunted. His eyes darted left and right and the hand on Rex’s shoulder shook almost imperceptibly.
“Of course,” Rex steered them away from the open doorway and into another empty classroom. This room was obviously for some of the younger children, with its finger paintings hanging on the walls and the toys strewn across the floor.
Hunter rubbed his hands together warily. Rex waited patiently.
“I don’t trust your Mando,” Hunter spit out.
Rex blinked. Okay, he could do this. He had expected to address this later, but now was good too.
“Okay,” Rex started. “Why not?”
“I get a weird vibe off of him,” Hunter answered. He kept rubbing his hands together like he was trying to grasp hold of his thoughts.
“What kind of vibe?” Rex wouldn’t discount Hunter’s feelings. The clone had been specially bred with enhanced instincts he couldn’t always explain.
Hunter’s fidgeting fingers stilled. His eyes drifted past Rex’s face as he spoke. “Like he’s got the ghosts of a thousand generations peering over his shoulder.”
Rex startled. Kriff, he hadn’t expected that. “Are you kriffing with me?”
Hunter frowned. “No. I don’t know how else to explain it. Something’s following him.”
“He’s a bounty hunter,” Rex reminded Hunter. “I’m sure he’s got plenty of things on his conscience.” Rex frowned. “I didn’t know you could sense stuff like that.”
Hunter shook his head. “Only sometimes. It’s got to be pretty kriffing bad for me to pick up on it. Rex,” he leaned closer. “I’ve never had a stronger feeling than the one coming off your Mando.”
A chill ran down Rex’s spine. He shook it aside. “I trust him with my life. He’s saved me, and Cody, more times than I can count. I trust him implicitly.”
Hunter’s jaw tensed. He nodded. “I just wanted you to know.”
Rex clapped Hunter on the shoulder. “I appreciate it, vod. Really. I believe you, I just think maybe what you’re feeling isn’t what you think it is.”
Hunter grumbled, but he nodded. “I’m not letting this rest, just so you know. I’m gonna keep and eye on him.”
Rex grinned. “I would expect nothing less from you.”
Luke suddenly poked his head through the door, breaking the spell of secrecy over the conversation. “There you are. Dinner is ready. I figured you’d all at least eat before you go.”
“Thank you,” Rex nodded.
Luke nodded. “Din’s already in the cafeteria.”
Rex frowned. “But he doesn’t eat with us.”
“I know,” Luke nodded. “I think he’s lonely tonight. That, or he wanted an excuse to avoid Bo Katan yelling on the holovid.”
Rex and Hunter trooped after Luke into the cafeteria. Rex crowed to see the bowls of pudding waiting in the buffet line. They loaded up their trays and then did the cliched scan of the room for a seat. All the baby jedis sat at their tables eating steaming plates of noodles. Din sat at a table by himself. He had one of his vambraces on the table and a set of tiny instruments in front of him while he made adjustments to the mechanisms.
Rex beelined for Din, in spite of Hunter’s reluctance to follow. They set down their trays across from Din. “What are you doing?”
Din lifted his visor. “The flamethrower’s been pulling to the left. I’m trying to re-align it.”
Rex glanced at Hunter out of the corner of his eye. Hunter squinted at Din like he was trying to see those ghosts over Din’s shoulder. Rex elbowed him in the side.
“How is Omega doing with the kid?” Hunter blurted out.
Din brightened. He laid down his tools. “She’s great with him. She has more energy than Grogu most of the time.”
Hunter snorted a laugh. “She does so. It takes all five of us to keep her occupied in between missions.”
Omega appeared in the doorway like saying her name had summoned her. Her face was ashen. She scanned the room. Rex lifted a hand. She came running over.
“Hey there,” Hunter greeted her.
Omega ignored him and addressed Din. “I lost Grogu,” she said. Her lip wobbled. “I turned my back and he was gone.”
Din sighed. “He does that.” Din’s chair scraped back. “Come on, let’s find him before he eats a frog whole.”
Omega’s eyes widened. “Is that bad for him?”
“No,” Din said. “But he’ll ruin his dinner and he knows it.”
Hunter stood suddenly. The movement startled Rex. For just a second Hunter and Din faced each other.
“I’ll go with you,” Hunter offered. “I’ve got some experience tracking wayward children.”
Din nodded, even as Omega said, “Hey!”
Rex bid them good luck and went back to his pudding. He appreciated Hunter’s attempts to accept Din, even if he still looked like a frightened Tooka every time he faced Din.
Rex savored his pudding and thought back on the day. All things considered, it had gone surprisingly normal.
He shouldn’t have put that thought out there. The universe, or the Force, or kriff itself answered. Luke came stumbling into the cafeteria only moments after Din and Omega left. He looked in a daze. Rex shoved a chair out for him, concerned he’d drop where he stood. Luke slumped into the seat. He put his head in his hands, tugging his blonde feathery hair.
“What’s wrong, Master Jedi?” Rex drawled.
Luke looked up. He pressed his hands flat to the tabletop. He took a deep breath. Rex got very nervous.
“Omega’s got Force powers,” Luke said.
Rex blinked. For kriff’s sake!