Marvel crosses Star Wars, and everyone attacks the galaxy

"Hey, Kenobi," Falcon called over the comms. "I think I found the escape pod."

"Any sign of Grievous?"

"Wait a minute. After dropping from the sky, Sam checked the escape pod and found it empty. "There's no one here, but I found some traces heading west."

“Where does it lead to?”

"Probably towards the second escape pod. That's all I can think of.

Kenobi nodded his understanding and activated his wrist comm to contact Anakin's clone captain. "Captain Rex, I got it."

There was no response at first, until...

"I'm Jesse, sir. Rex is injured.

This made Kenobi pause in surprise and worry. Cody looked at him, his eyes fixed on Kenobi and said to Jesse.

"How is he doing?"

“He’ll be fine, but we have to find him a place to stay for the night.

"Grievous is on the move," Obi-Wan told the clone. "We're going to go west. Circle around so we can meet at the last escape pod. We're going to need all the firepower we can muster."

"Roger that, sir. We're coming right up to you.

As the Republic forces regrouped, the Droid General grew increasingly annoyed at their apparent lack of progress against the droids' constant groaning and their waning power cells.

"We should be here by now!" Grievous said, clearly fed up with his current situation.

"Oops." said a B-1 robot as it lost power along with several others.

"You better interpret the coordinates correctly!" Grievous shouted threateningly.

Before the B-1 robot could reply, it deactivated and went into shutdown mode. As it crouched down into a prone position, the B1 closest to it took the data pad from its hands.

"We're almost there, sir. Go straight," the robot said, until it shut down a moment later.

As the robots lose power one by one, a clone captain lies in a barn when one of the residents gets a little curious.

It hovered over the clone, sniffing him with its trunk, which caused Rex to wake up and the creature licked his cheek several times.

"No, no, no, no, no! Aaaah!" said Rex, managing to push the creature away, even though his face was now completely covered in drool.

He groaned in irritation, wiped the saliva from his face, and tried to fall asleep again. As he did so, he heard something else.

Rex thought it was another farm animal, but it wasn't, because he heard footsteps getting closer. It was slow and careful. Not to mention he heard something scraping against the barn door, as if it was being picked up.

As the presence got closer, Rex's hand slowly made its way to his blaster. As soon as the newcomer came in, the clone captain pulled out his weapon. Before he could fire, it was knocked out of his hands by the farm implement.

"Who are you?" the man holding the farm implements said. He took a closer look at the clone captain and almost roared. "What are you doing here?"

It took Rex a moment to register who was holding the farm implement in front of him. "You're a clone."

After this announcement, the clones in front of Rex paused. "So... I see the war is finally over here. I think I'll have some droids visiting soon."

"What is your number and rank?" Rex asked.

"Hehe~Okay, my name is Lao Kun." The clone introduced himself. "Apart from my identity as Lao Kun, I am just an ordinary farmer."

"You're a deserter," Rex said accusingly.

"Well, I guess I'm just exercising my freedom of choice: choosing not to kill people for a living." Carter Lawkun calmly scolded as he turned on the lights in the barn.

"That's not your choice," Rex countered. "You swore an oath to the Republic. You have a duty.

"I have a responsibility, you're right," Carter said. "But it's for my family. Does that count, or are you still going to hand me over?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The tension in the air was broken when Shay burst into the barn with a huge smile. "Dad! You're home!

Carter simply crouched down and hugged her tightly.

"Look what I drew for you, Dad!" Shay's brother said.

Carter laughed when he saw his son's drawing and rubbed his head affectionately. "Well, okay, okay. That's great, Jack.

"I see you two have met," Sue pointed from the entrance of the barn.

“He looks just like you, Dad. I told him. Shay said with a smile.

"Ah~ You did it, didn't you? I just asked our guest, Captain... What's your number?

"Rex. I have a name too, believe it or not," the Clone Captain said, making Carter laugh.

"He was injured. His men brought him here. I told him he could stay overnight," Su said.

"Of course he can. We never turn away people who need help, do we?" Shay said.

"No, we always help anyone we can," Jack said and his sister nodded.

"Good." Carter turned to the captain. "You look hungry, Rex."

“No, I’m fine. I’m staying here.

Rex's arm was grabbed by Jack, who now shared a hopeful expression with Shay. "No! You have to eat with us. Please.

"Please?" Shea pleaded, eyes wide and lower lip pursed.

Carter laughed. "They'll never stop until you say yes."

Rex sighed, realizing that he had no suitable way out. "Okay, I'll go with you."

"Oh! Great!" both children shouted triumphantly.

Entering the Laukun home, the children were setting the table while their parents prepared dinner. All the while, Rex sat at the table, occasionally being stared at by the children.

As time went on, Rex paid more attention to the appearance of the Twi'lek children. They had basic Twi'lek physiology, but with some additions that made them look like hybrids.

This makes Rex wonder if the clone deserter is their father. But this only confuses him, as they seem too old for this to happen.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Carter came to the table with a roasted small animal. The deserter used fork and knife to start cutting it into small pieces and served it to the family.

"Now to continue our previous conversation...You and I may be clones, but we are still individuals. You have a name instead of a number, Captain. Why is that?" Carter asked, placing some food on Rex's plate.

"Perhaps our leaders feel this is a more effective way to differentiate us," Captain Rex said.

"More efficient than numbers? Hmm. I doubt the Kaminoans think so," Carter said in a knowing tone. "Have any Jedi ever referred to you by a number?"

Rex was about to argue that, frankly, only he knew, he had yet to meet a Jedi who called him by number in addition to his rank and name.

Dinner continued, unaware of Rex's internal dilemma. "Still, a name has to make you feel unique, especially in an army where everyone looks and talks like you."

"Actually, I never thought about it," Rex shot back.

"Yeah, you didn't." Carter waved his hand.

"How did you know?"

"Because I'm as close to you as any life form can be." Carter said as he approached the clone captain before leaving. "I've seen how you look at my family, our home. Rex's eyes lingered on the children. "Come on, Rex. You've thought about what your life would be like if you left the military too, choose the life you want to live.

"What if I choose the life I want?" Rex said, more determined now. "What if I stay in the military because it means something to me?"

"What's the point?" Che questioned.

"Because I am part of the most critical moment in the history of the Republic. If we fail, then our children and the children of so many others may be forced to live under evils that I cannot even imagine. Rex stood firm in his convictions.

"Of course, if you want to have the baby, but that's against the rules, isn't it?" Carter pointed out. "Captain, isn't that what you were led to believe?"

"No, Carter. That's what I believe. Whether it's my child or someone else's. Does that qualify with your approval?" Rex said bitterly.

"Well. To each his own. That's what I always say," Carter said, grinning at the captain's slightly frustrated mood.

"What does this mean, Dad?" Shay asked.

"It means you can do whatever you want with your life. Carter said kindly, locking eyes with the clone captain, who looked away after a moment.