Obi-Wan stood by the dock and watched as his former Padawan fly his ship out. He crossed his arms, before spinning on his heels to leave the dock to return to the Council Chambers. A smile crept on his face, thinking of Anakin.
Always on the move.
He paused slightly before entering the room again. What am I going to tell the Council about Anakin. What can I tell them? Obi-Wan was worried about him, he wasn't used to hearing Anakin doubt himself so much. He suspected Anakin was filled with doubt, he suspected it for years. There was a hidden darkness inside that never melted away, and as hard as he tried to cheer up his brother nothing erased it entirely. If he had to guess, he probably told much of his innermost thoughts to Palpatine, making the council nervous, and the very reason for his mission to spy on the chancellor. But now instead of Palpatine, the only person Anakin had to open up to completly was Obi-Wan. Still it was a nightmare he often had, on his darkest nights, of Anakin falling to the dark side. A fear many Jedi had about themselves. He spoke to the small knot in his stomach, he didn't think he could stop him if he had to, no, Obi-Wan thought, it would kill him.
The Jedi Council were all talking amongst themselves, Obi-Wan walked towards an empty seat, everyone became silent. Master Windu spoke first, leaning forward his elbow on one knee, "Obi-Wan, before the Clone Wars you uncovered a conspiracy of Kamino and the Clone Troopers."
Most of the council members knew the tale, but he explained his knowledge again to refresh the memory,"Yes, Count Dooku had removed all trace of the planet from the holocrons. It was on Kamino I discovered the thousands of clones of the former bounty hunter Jango Fett."
Yoda, speaking still from Kashyyk added, "Under the instruction of Sifo-Dyas, they were."
Obi-Wan raised his brow, "Indeed" "But Council, this was all discovered years ago, why go over it again?"
Master Windu began, "After Darth Sidious was defeated I found a Kaminoan communicator in a drawer in his office. I thought little off it, if perhaps a bit odd. It was a direct line to the clones, Commander Cody, your regiment."
Shaak Ti lifted her chin and silently spoke, the entire room turned to meet her, "I also became aware of another anomaly amongst the Clones."
Obi-Wan was intrigued, he leaned in to hear her better. Shaak Ti noticed her audience was captivated and spoke up, "The Clone CT-5385, known as Tup had a moment of mental confusion and shot Jedi Tiplar. His comrades noted that he mentioned something about "good soldiers follow orders."" Shaak Ti continued her story, "Fives, became convinced that there was a larger conspiracy. I thought nothing of this at first, but I trusted in Five's concern. I ordered a sample of Tup's tumour for research here at the Temple, but the Chancellor had instead directed the sample back to the medical facility."
Shaak Ti took a breath, "Fives told Captain Rex that he believed that there was a larger plot involving the Chancellor. He uncovered that the tumour removed from Tup was actually an inhibitor chip, Fives removed his own chip, and he became erratic and incoherent. Thinking on this now...both Dooku and Palpatine must have been involved together."
"And where is Captain Rex now?" Plo Koon asked. "Stationed back on Coruscant I would imagine, near Skywalker." Shaak Ti proposed. It was as good a guess as any, but regiments often got pulled to where they were needed most. The 501st was attached to Anakin, but as Obi-Wan and Anakin often fought together, they rarely needed all their resources. Late in the Clone Wars, with resources stretched thin, often to the breaking point regiments would be called away from their attached general. Obi-Wan recalled before tracking Dooku to the Invisible Hand that the 501st had been called to aid another front.
Yoda pointed to Obi-Wan, "And Obi-Wan, Skywalker's thoughts, on his promotion, asked have you?"
Obi-Wan shook his head, "I'm afraid Anakin is still conflicted. He is...surprised that after the Council's remarks on him being too impetuous, and conflicted he is suddenly given the rank he so desired. I fear he suspects that this is further political maneuvering." Obi-Wan neglected to add that these were his own thoughts, and not Anakin's. Master Windu seemed to reflect on those words, "We will further discuss this. You should speak with the clones, and see what else you can recover on this matter." He knew the Council wasn't happy, he felt like a Padawan having to explain why Qui-Gon had gone against the Council's wishes again. It was then he wished he had Qui-Gon to ask advice again.
The chances of the 501st being on Coruscant were as high as any, Obi-Wan punched the coordinates to the lower level of the city, and made his way to 79's, the well known clone bar. The music could be heard long before the place appeared in view, filled with clones and the women who frequented it. It was definitely a place where no one would reprimand a clone for imbibing too much Andorian ale. He approached a clone out of uniform standing akimbo watching a pazaak game in front of him. Obi-Wan tapped him on his shoulder, before the clone had turned around he grunted, "Listen Wire, I don't care how much cre- oh...General Kenobi Sir.. I didn't see you there." The blond clone quickly reacted with a salute, at full attention. He had a blond slightly grown out buzz cut, with 4 small squares tattooed on his left temple, Obi-Wan noticed, he laughed off the confusion. "No, not to worry. I'm looking for Captain Rex of the 501st. Have you seen him?"
"Uh, no sir. But I overheard the guys over there" and the clone pointed to a far corner booth, "I heard them talking about the 501st, or something. I dunno." "Thank you..." Obi-Wan squinted his eyes, the clone then jumping slightly to answer, "Zees sir"
"Ah, yes, thank you Zees."Zees then quickly scratched his head and continued to intently watch his pazaak game, continuing his shouting.
Obi-Wan moved through the crowded bar filled with the familiar faces and voices of clones, he spotted the table pointed out by Zees and walked up to it. One of them recognized the Jedi coming up towards them and rose to salute, "General Kenobi, an honour sir."
Obi-Wan gestured for him to sit. "I'm looking for Captain Rex, from the 501st. I was told you would know something about that" Obi-Wan recognized a clone from Plo Koon's regiment, Commander Wolffe, he spoke first. "Kenobi sir, Captain Rex has gone AWOL"
"What?" Obi-Wan had no words, "Are you sure?"
Wolffe nodded, "Positive sir, after Fives...he just wasn't the same. Talked a lot about not being a droid. Me and boost here," Wolffe thumbed over at a blonde haired clone, "we were talking about the last mission the 501st went to, in the Suolriep sector."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard, thinking back, "Ah yes, I remember that system. We had tracked General Grievous to a planet there, Saleucami I believe" Wolffe nods, "Yeah so apparently last week the 501st lands on Saleucami to remove a holdout Separatist camp. They go through this one section of the planet and apparently Rex is muttering something or other. Overnight, Rex goes missing."
"Rex could have been taken captive by Separatist forces," Obi-Wan adds, Wolffe shakes his head, his one good eye looks left and right and speaks a little lower, "Me and Boost here thought so too, but odd thing was...no ransom or demands appeared. Rex took his blasters, but left his helmet behind." Obi-Wan pulled up a chair, and took it all in, "Interesting...I do remember an order from Coruscant calling the 501st back, some time ago, said we had enough backup with my own regiment. But why Saleucami?"
"I don't know sir, all I know is that they received orders to aid in wiping out a holdout Sep outpost." Obi-Wan thought to himself, Of course it wasn't simple, when was anything simple, Boost spoke up, "It just doesn't seem like Rex. I don't know him as well as you General, but he wouldn't run away from a fight. You know?"
Obi-Wan nodded, "I agree, it's not like him. But as I'm discovering, no one is who you think they are. I have a bad feeling about this Wolffe"
"You and me both sir"
Obi-Wan excused himself and left 79's, he walked out back and into an alley, the music muffled, Obi-Wan muttered to himself, "Saleucami..."
What in the force was on Saleucami. Besides trees, scattered farmland and more trees.
Obi-Wan struggled to think back, one or two weeks ago. Were we on Cato Nemoida? Obi-Wan reached further, both he and Anakin had been gone for months in the outer rim fighting separatists with the Open Circle Fleet. Obi-Wan decided that he and Anakin must have been out in the Savareen Sector, when they had tracked Grievous to the planet Nelvaan. It was shortly after that he remembered the 501st being called back, he remembered Anakin being furious with the order. He loved fighting with his men, Obi-Wan felt a little nostalgic for those days, travelling with Anakin across the Outer Rim. Although with the current events, he wondered how all these pieces would connect.
Walking down the alley towards his borrowed Eta-2, Obi-Wan got into his seat. "R4, plot a course to the Suolriep sector". Obi-Wan lamented the loss of his old R4 unit, and believed it a very competent droid, however his new R4-G9 astromech was perfectly acceptable. The astromech beeped away, and plotted a course towards a hyperspace docking ring above Coruscant, and then towards his destination.
Obi-Wan leaned back and got himself comfortable and brought up his records of his time on Saleucami. Obi-Wan made a noise of discovery, breaking the monotony of travelling through hyperspace. Speaking aloud to himself he shouted, "Yes of course!". Yes of course, Obi-Wan had forgotten that this was the planet where Captain Rex was badly injured and had to be left behind. Reading further, he read a report from Kix, the squad's medic.
Captain Rex (CT-7567) was badly injured due to a blaster shot to the manibrium, causing a small fracture to the 4th and 6th rib, and there appeared to be nerve damage causing his left arm to be partially paralyzed. I was able to mend him the best I could with a bacta patch, but the rest of the team agreed it would be best if the captain stayed behind at a farm we came across which seemed to be owned by a Twi'lek woman with two small children. We asked this woman if we may leave the captain behind, she was not pleased with our request but allowed the captain to remain behind. The rest of the squad continued onwards tracking General Grievous.
Obi-Wan broke from reading the report, he vaguely remembered being aware of this, why the connection to this and Rex stood out he was unsure, he felt a feeling through the force that it was important. What happened to Rex on this planet? He was still confused as to what could have possibly happened to cause captain Rex to abandon his men, and his post months later. Desertion wasn't unheard of during the Clone War, even among clones, but it was rare. Clones were trained from birth to be obedient, and if what Shaak Ti said was true...programmed, but he knew Rex. Rex was obedient, loyal, and a good friend, Obi-Wan thought to himself. What was it that Wolffe said, something about how Rex wasn't the same after Fives died, in his arms, he talked about not being a droid. Obi-Wan needed to know, what did Rex know and why did he leave his post, he had a feeling that it would be revealed soon. It would be a while yet until he reached the planet, so Obi-Wan relaxed, left the ship under the control of his astromech droid and fell asleep.