Before he leaves, Captain Rex has a meeting with Sergeant Appo. Ostensibly it is to give him the run down on his new responsibilities as second in command of the 501st, but in reality it is a briefing on the General.

Appo has been around for a while, but nobody knows General Skywalker as well as Rex, except possibly General Kenobi. And even then, Rex knows things even Skywalker's former Master is ignorant of. Rex knows Skywalker is different, and Appo needs to know... "Expect the unexpected," he says and while once those words were positive, almost whimsical, they have recently taken a darker turn. After all, nobody had expected General Skywalker to try and kill himself. Not that any of them say it in so many words, of course. But that's what had happened, what Rex had, at the time, promised to prevent.

His transfer, he tells himself, has nothing to do with that.

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It all started with Fives. While the General's emotional state had been deteriorating since Commander Tano's departure - and maybe before, but it was her loss that threw it all into sharp relief - Rex didn't start doubting until Fives died. It had been a terrifying prospect, the idea that all he is and all he's been trained for boiled down to one terrible purpose. And sure enough, he and Kix and Coric removed the chips, and things changed.

Fives came to him in his dreams, those awful nightmares that Rex now knows they all have. Fives warns him, tells him to get away from the General. At first Rex resists; Skywalker is doing a good job of pretending he didn't poison himself, but that doesn't make Rex any more comfortable leaving him to his own devices. Besides, he'd made a promise, and he couldn't very well keep it if he left, especially the way Skywalker has been taking on the kinds of missions he has been.

"It's a suicide mission," he'd heard Kenobi say, just before they'd gone to rescue Echo.

"So what?" he'd heard the General respond, and wishes then they had told Kenobi the truth months ago. But then Skywalker remembers himself and adds, "When has that ever stopped us?" It's enough to make Kenobi's shoulders relax, but Rex knows better.

He wishes it made his decision any easier.

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He's a chuff-sucking coward for not telling Skywalker to his face. Instead he goes through strictly military channels, requesting a transfer, recommending his replacement. The process takes a couple of weeks and he can barely look his General in the eye in all that time. He's a little surprised Skywalker doesn't sense something is wrong, but he supposes it's possible that SO MUCH is wrong it's hard for the Jedi to differentiate between one wrong thing and another.

He doesn't even have it in him to say goodbye. Instead, at the end of the mission, he salutes and says, "An honor to serve with you, Sir." And then he walks away before he can see the expression on Skywalker's face, leaving Kenobi to explain what has happened.

He thinks, as he walks away, that he really should have warned Kenobi.

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He doesn't see Skywalker again for months. His new battalion doesn't take on anywhere near the number or complexity of missions as the 501st, but anything new is always a challenge. The Jedi General is fine, but no one understands the men like Skywalker. Sometimes he has to remind himself that he made this decision himself.

It's reinforced when he does come across the 501st again, on some far-flung Outer Rim cess pit of a planet. Skywalker pretends not to notice him; it's not like he's unrecognizable now - still got the jaig eyes and kama, just in a different legion's colors. His former General looks rough, Rex thinks, and it's when he realizes that Skywalker - though clearly trying to hide it (and succeeding, apparently) - is drunk throughout the entire engagement that he realizes he made the right decision. Maybe.

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He hears about the accident through Kix at 79's, some more months after the last time he'd seen Skywalker. "It's been rough without you, Captain," Kix admits. "General Skywalker needs help and nobody's doing anything about it. And he's stopped listening to me, anyway." The medic lets out a sharp sigh. "Explosion was probably the best thing that could have happened."

Rex raises an eyebrow. "And how's that?" Last time he checked, nearly getting blown to pieces wasn't a good thing.

"He's grounded until the Jedi clear him," Kix explains. "And I told their people about... well, I told them everything." The suicide attempt, the recklessness, the drinking, he means. "He's gonna get what he needs from them, I think." He shrugs. "I hope, anyway."

Rex hopes so too; Skywalker is a good man, despite his flaws, and while his decision to leave had a lot to do with the General's behavior, Rex has never wished him ill. Still doesn't. "Think he'd be receptive to visitors?" he asks.

Kix shrugs. "Who knows?" he replies. "Can't hurt to try." His tone suggests Kix himself is tired of trying.

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As it happens, Skywalker isn't able to have visitors, even if he'd wanted them.

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When Order 66 comes through, Rex is deployed to the mid-rim. He, and the few others who had removed their chips, do what they can but they're too late to save their Jedi General and her Padawan. Rex feels a pang of grief; he's sure somewhere out there in the Galaxy, General Skywalker is fighting against the men he'd fought beside for so long. He wonders if Skywalker ever really recovered, if he's got Kenobi with him. Of all the Jedi in the galaxy, Rex would bet money those two are going down fighting, together, or not going down at all.

He vows to go look for them, once the dust settles.

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Skywalker, he learns years later, apparently never did fully recover himself and Rex realizes with a shock that makes him have to sit down, and for Wolff to ask if he's all right, that he'd been right all along.