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Chapter 47: Part 2

Considering the circumstances, things were actually going pretty well until Rex took his helmet off. General Skywalker's lightsaber shot out faster than a lightning bolt, but he paused, a note of recognition in his face when his eyes actually met his old captain's.

Rex swallowed, forcing himself not to show fear. "Sir."

"Anakin, wait!" Kadalia dove between them. "Sorry, we should've explained this earlier. Rex is still on our side."

The general—somehow, Rex still thought of him that way—quirked an eyebrow, but his lightsaber didn't waver. Rex hadn't seen the man look this manic and deadly since... well, ever. "You sure?" Anakin asked.

"Positive," Kadalia replied. "Now could you turn the saber off? We'll explain everything when no one's in imminent danger of death." Something flitted across Skywalker's face, and it occurred to Rex that the general probably didn't appreciate receiving orders from someone half his age and three-quarters his size; but, apparently sensing no intended injury from his former captain, General Skywalker sheathed his lightsaber. He staggered a step backward and then nodded at Rex. "Okay, go ahead. Explain."

"Sir!" Captain Rex snapped a salute and began. "All of the clones knew about Order 66 from our creation; it was a way of reminding us that our loyalties lay with the Chancellor alone and with the Jedi only as long as you served his purposes. We were told that you were hypocrites, that your Order represented all that was wrong with the Galaxy, and that when the time came to end you, we would be doing a service to every innocent in the systems.

"Then I and my legion spent three years fighting alongside you, General Kenobi, and Commander Lars, and many of us grew, well, fond of you, sir, for lack of a better word. You represented the only right left in the Galaxy, and so we, along with Commander Cody and a few of his men, resolved to do everything in our power to protect you when the Chancellor called for Order 66.

"As you know, the 501st wasn't with you when the order was issued; but to the best of our abilities, we protected other Jedi, then deserted to escape our own execution. We began to gather troopers from other legions who'd refused to execute the order, and eventually, our group grew too large to remain hidden. So we stole a ship and traveled to the Outer Rim. While we were plotting our next step, we came across the Defenders on an outlying Imperial base and allied with them to search for more Jedi and to find a way to bring the Emperor's reign to an end."

General Skywalker nodded, exactly like he used to when Rex gave his reports. "So you never betrayed us."

"That's right, sir."

"Well." Skywalker gave a slight chuckle. "That's nice to know."

Rex finally let himself relax. "Indeed, Sir."

"So, all you guys..." Acacia gestured to the beings in the crowded room, all dressed in clone armor, leaning against a barrel of equipment or lounging on the coarse sand floor. "I thought you were all Defenders kids in disguise."

"Some of us are," one of the clones said, as he and the others followed Rex's example and finally removed their helmets. "But obviously, some of us are clone troopers too."

"So not everyone is against us," Acacia quipped, slumping against the shelf behind her. "Yay. I guess this is the part where we figure out how to take care of the people that are against us."

Kadalia chuckled. "Sounds fair. And as my Master used to say, always start with what you know."

Acacia raised an eyebrow. "What exactly is that?"

"There's something going on with the Imperial clones."

"We noticed," Anakin deadpanned.

Kadalia rolled her eyes. "I mean... Well, it'll be easier if I start from the beginning. We had just met up with these clones—" She gestured to the ones around her—"while raiding one of the Imperial clones' training facilities—"

"You went all the way to Kamino?"

"No, that's what I was trying to tell you. Chet and Exra, our hackers, they were intercepting comms from all over the Outer Rim, trying to find some hiJedi or Corps kids, when they heard about a new set of clone factories on an uninhabited system near here. We decided to check it out—you know, steal some equipment and info—but while we were there, we stumbled across one of their training sessions. They're not just... breeding clones out there—sorry if that's insensitive, you guys—they're training most of them to be actual Sith."

Acacia nodded. "Like we saw today."

"Yeah! And the others, the ones that don't get into 'Sith school' for whatever reason, they're getting some sort of chip implant."

"I'd heard about that before," one of the clones piped up, his eyes narrowed, accenting the twisted line of tattoos along his temple. "Before I deserted, there were a lotta rumors going around my regiment about the development of a new implant to make us more compliant." He quirked a half-smile at Rex and the other clones who'd been a part of Anakin's legion. "I guess because we proved to be a little hard-headed from time to time." Chuckles sprang up around the room, but exhaustion killed them before they could grow too loud.

"Anyways," Kadalia went on, "we were going to go to Coruscant and warn the Council, but Imperials saw us on the way out and almost shot one of our ships down. We were able to get out without being traced, but our main transport had taken some pretty heavy fire, and the closest place we could find for repairs was Tatooine.

"Ahsoka and most of the others wanted to stay with the first ship to make sure the repairs got done, but it was just too many of us congregating in one place to not raise suspicion, so I took half our crew and the other ship and flew halfway across the planet." Kadalia paused, then gave a quick chuckle, but Acacia noticed that her eyes had fixed on the ground and that, somewhere in her storytelling, her voice has lost its animation. "It wasn't just because of that, though. The minute we landed on Tatooine, I had this... this feeling, like something was happening to my family. I didn't know if they were being attacked by Tuskens or if the crops had gone bad and they were starving or what, but I knew I had to help them. Chet and Clayton thought I was being crazy, but they couldn't talk me out of it or and they couldn't stop me from going." Kady shrugged, and Acacia could sense her friend's barely-there control beginning to fray. "In the end, I just wish I'd got the feeling earlier."

"The clones had already been to your homestead." Anakin's voice was gentler than it had been all day.

Kadalia nodded. "Burned it to the ground. Then I checked my aunt and uncle's place." She shook her head and gulped, using her fist to dash away a tear. "Only things left were their bodies and the ashes.

"So I... I raced to check on your homestead, hoping we could somehow beat them here." She forced a smile to smother her grief. "Didn't expect two Jedi to have already beat us here."

Acacia gave a soft laugh. "Seems like it's been a day for surprising things."

Kadalia scoffed and nodded. "Amen to that."

"So," Clayton said, after a moment of silence, "what now?"

"Now," Anakin said slowly, "we figure out a way to fight back."


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