Remembering What Once Was

by AndyHood

Rex saw the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire. He saw what the war did to his brothers, what they were forced to do. Rex carries on, saving the brothers he can, and mourning the ones he can't. And remembers a man that he had been proud to call brother. Post Order 66, clone feels. One-Shot

Rex knew it, as sure as he knew his own mind. Most of his brother's had not wanted to betray their Jedi Generals. He was not naïve enough to believe that a few had not minded. They were what they had been bred to be, good soldiers. And good soldiers followed orders.

But what the clones didn't know was the consequences of ending the war by the way of Order 66. When the war had ended, they had outlived their usefulness. Thousands of his brothers had been liquidated under the new Empire's regime. Finding the mass graves of his brother's on distant planets had prompted Rex to act to try to save as many brother's as he could.

He saw it every time he took a brother and removed the chip from their mind with the help of AZ, the droid that had taken Fives chip out so long ago. The denial of what they had done. He had seen his brother's weep in shame as their actions were fully realized. A few had been unable to deal with what they had done and ended their lives before Rex could stop them.

His older brother Cody had been one of his brothers he had managed to stop before he could end it. He had held Cody, as the older clone broke down in his arms in horror in what he had done to his General. General Kenobi, who had treated every clone like an individual instead of just another number. Every clone who served under the Jedi Master had respected him, loved him.

To many who had been a part of the 212th and the 501st, Kenobi had been an honorary brother. He had fought and bleed beside them. Had shared their grub, had never looked down on them. Every brother he had meet, Kenobi was sure to remember their names. It had been Kenobi who had started the small memorial to honor the fallen clones. A datapad with the list of the fallen, a helmet, and a few candles. He had promised at the end of the war to make sure the clones were properly remembered, both the living and the fallen. Many brothers had caught Kenobi meditating in front of the small memorial, with a look of sadness on his face.

Perhaps it was these small hidden moments. When the clones saw how human a Jedi could be. Not the brash, arrogant, angry man General Skywalker was. Or the cool, calm, emotionless faces of the Jedi Council. But the tiny ways General Kenobi showed his emotions. Though if any of the clones were unsure how the General was feeling. All they had to do was look in his eyes. Though General Kenobi's face was calm and collected, the clones could always tell what he was feeling by looking into his every changing eyes.

Green for happiness, blue for anger, and grey for loss. The Clones had seen these different emotions reflected in their Generals eyes. The clones would have done anything for their General to see his eyes light up in green. A color that they only saw a handful of times during the Clone Wars.

Mostly their Generals eyes had been a mixture of grey and blue. The only time the clones had seen them total blue was when the Jedi Master had learned what Krell had done on Umbara. Many brothers had felt a cold feeling when they saw those eyes, even when they knew that it was not directed at them. They had been like to shards of ice, hard and sharp.

But seeming to feel their fear, through the Force which all Jedi were connected to. Kenobi had just sighed, and almost instantly his eyes had changed from blue to grey. Any clone who doubt General Kenobi's compassion to the clones was proven wrong in that instant. Which made his loss all the more great.

Though there was always hope that one day they would stumble upon the General. Cody and two other brothers had delayed as much as possible in following the Order. They remembered that much during their time under the Order. And though he had fallen hundreds of feet, his body had never been recovered. Many prayed he had been able to use the Force to save himself. Some brothers swore they had seen a message broadcasted from the destroyed Jedi temple that spoke of Hope remaining from the mouth of their General.

So Rex continued in his mission, saving brothers and sabotaging the Empire. And carrying a torch, that one day things would get better, a new Hope would arise.