DISCLAIMER:I only own my OC's every other character is owned by Disney, Lucas and everyone else who has ever written anything for Star Wars. This is for entertainment only. My own and anyone who cares to read it.

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CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

Atollon Base

Ana stepped off the craft unsteadily, still feeling nauseous, even though she had emptied her stomach. Twice. Much to Gregor's disgust and Wolffe's amusement, as it had been once into Gregor's helmet. The hyperspace sickness was unexpected and she now felt shaky, due to low blood sugar, she thought; although apprehension at what state she would find Rex in, was also playing its part.

Rex was always strong.

The Clones secured the small craft, then Wolffe led her through the jungle of makeshift buildings, that constituted Atollon Base, onto the outskirts where Rex sat. When she saw him, all those feelings that she had carefully, resolutely, pushed down and kept down, in the months since he left, came rushing to the surface.

She felt Wolffe's hand in the small of her back, guiding her gently but firmly towards Rex, "He needs you. Don't take no for an answer. He can be an atin'la di'kut."

Taking her bag off her, he pushed her again; she glanced back once, as she walked slowly up to Rex. He was looking outwards, desperately searching the Night sky. He looked devastated, broken; she hoped she would be able to help him in some way. His head moved a fraction, as her footsteps crunched in the gravelly earth. She sat next to him and slid her arm in his, intertwining her small fingers with his large ones and squeezed.

He squeezed back.

"Rex. Do you want to talk?" She asked softly, he turned and looked, shook his head, then rested it on her shoulder; the bristle on his head brushed against her cheek. He hadn't shaved it; he normally did that every other day at least. They sat, Rex looking at the stars, his hand never moved from hers.

She couldn't tell how long it was but then he suddenly started talking.

"She was tiny when I first met her, and cocky. Thought she knew everything about fighting. About war."

"Ahsoka?" She asked gently.

He nodded.

"I don't know why, but she listened to me."

Ana knew why.

He talked for hours, proudly, lovingly, animatedly at times, about this woman whom he had known and fought with since she was a child.

Since the Clone Wars.

Since Christophsis.

"I taught her and she made mistakes, some bad ones sometimes. But she cared about the men and she learned through those mistakes."

Ana felt a pang of jealousy, over the time, he and Ahsoka, had spent together, time she would never be able to have with him.

It was selfish.

"She taught me too. Taught me to question things. Not to accept the status quo. She also made me who I am."

Rex stopped, looking at Ana.

"You know we had inhibitor chips implanted in our brains, at some point while we were...growing, as embryos."

"Yes, you said." Her voice was low, soft, like a caress.

"They were put there to control us, to ensure we were loyal to the Chancellor, and only the Chancellor, when he gave his order."

"Yes. But you didn't obey, did you, you'd removed yours?"

"Fives, discovered them and was killed because of that. By one of our own."

Rex had never fully explained this; he had called the Clones slaves but she thought it was just because the army had been bought. But they had been more than slaves; they had been hired assassins.

Hired to kill the Jedi.

"It was Fives death that finally pushed me to have the chip removed. Kix did it and I persuaded others to have theirs done."

Some of this was new to Ana. She knew about the chip, although at first she had assumed it was just another battle scar on his head.

"The Jedi Council deserted Ahsoka, when she needed them most; they left her in the clutches of Tarkin."

She had heard of him, Grand Moff Tarkin, assuming it was one and the same.

"But I knew she hadn't killed that woman or the Clones. I didn't care what evidence they produced. I just knew." Rex spat out the last three words and was then silent.

She let him be; he would talk when he wanted to.

"The next time I saw her was on Mandalore."

"By then, I had, mixed feelings about the war. I wouldn't be here without it; hundreds and thousands of men created, grown and killed just for that war."

He went quiet again until his memories moved on, "Maul had taken control of Mandalore, with his criminal gang and we were fighting him to regain the planet for the Republic. Capture him - that was the mission and then Order 66 was issued."

"Order 66?" She had to ask, even though Wolffe had explained.

"In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established."

Rex recited the specific words of the Order from memory, even now.

"The Jedi weren't traitors; Ahsoka wasn't a traitor. The Chancellor was."

"Mandalore turned into chaos. Maul escaped. Ahsoka and I made it look like we had both died, killing each other, then we split up and found our own ways off planet."

He slumped, "I never killed a Jedi."

Ana continued to hold him, just as she had on Seelos, in the midst of his nightmares. He had never told her everything that happened but names were always involved, so she knew about his brothers, and friends that he had lost. Even now, years later, it still affected him. She had been there for him then and if he still wanted her, she would be here for him now.

"We found each other again."

Ana didn't say anything, not sure what he meant, waiting for him to continue.

"I was supposed to help but I failed her."

He ran out of words.

They sat.

The sun or whatever star it was that lit this …...planet, was rising; she heard footsteps in the gravel and Wolfe appeared next to her. He tapped his chrono. She shivered, she hadn't realised how cold it had become or how long they had been sitting there.

"Let's go inside, Rex? Let's warm up." She pulled him upstanding and linking arms with him, walked him inside. Wolfe took control, and she saw the Commander, the one he had once been, taking control; he made the arrangements.

Rex pulled her to him, touching his forehead to hers; it felt the most intimate action he had ever taken with her, until Wolfe pulled him away and whispered in his ear. He nodded, turned and put a hand on her cheek, then straightened up and left. She wanted to shout, stop him but Wolfe stood in front of her and shook his head.

Wolffe had arranged accommodation for her on Atollon. He said that was what the moon, planet or whatever they were on, was called. She lay on the bunk, her body ached from head to toe through tiredness, stress, hunger, cold, you name it; try as she might, she could not keep her eyes open and content that she would see Rex soon, sleep claimed her.

.

A few hours sleep later and Ana woke slightly refreshed, anticipating seeing Rex again soon. She showered, thankful that there was a small fresher attached to the room. She had been so tired, she had not noticed it earlier. The feeling of cleanliness was appreciated and she went to find Rex but was told he was consulting with Commander Sato and another General.

She was barred from that meeting. In fact, she was barred from any number of places on the base; she had to be interviewed before they would allow her to stay. The thought that she may not be able to stay had never crossed her mind. An officious protocol Droid informed her of this and directed her to the mess hall, as it was one of the only places she could go.

Entering the Mess Hall she was faced with a few beings but the only ones she recognised were Wolfe and Gregor, most of the others she couldn't even identify the species, although she thought one may be a Sullustan. She'd seen one when she was training but that was years ago. Seelos had a predominantly human immigrant population. Her splitting headache told her that she desperately needed a Caf; both clones were sitting studying theirs, as if they were the most interesting beverages in the galaxy. Gregor was an acquired taste but she quite liked Wolffe, even if he did pretend to be gruff, both were unlike Jesse, who she had never seen again.

Wolffe pulled a chair out for her, pushed a Caf towards her and they sat quietly drinking, Gregor giggling nervously at times, at nothing in particular. The three sat without talking, Ana sipping the Caf and being observed by other users of the Mess Hall.

"So. What do you want to know about me and when can I see Rex again?"

Wolffe and Gregor exchanged glances.

"Not us. We know all we need to know about you from Rex." Replied Wolffe.

"It's Captain Syndulla who wants to see you."

"Who?" Ana had seen none other than the droid, and the Clones since she arrived.

Gregor rolled his eyes. "Hera. Come on. I'll take you. Commander Sato has asked that you be accompanied on the base until you've been checked out by the Captain."

"Wolffe?"

"New orders, Sorry."

What have I gotten myself into?

.

The hangar was reasonably full of varying types of spacecraft ranging from sleek fast pleasure craft and plain shuttles to freighters. The fighter craft were housed elsewhere. The 'Ghost' was the one she was looking for, according to Gregor, to meet Captain Syndulla; Gregor handed her over to a huge purple alien with green eyes, and a beard, who towered over her and boomed out instructions to various beings and droids he met. She saw several humanoids in what appeared to be Rebel uniforms, if there was such a thing and a teenage girl, in brightly coloured armour; they all seemed very interested in her. She could feel their eyes follow her. There weren't a lot of people here and only those, the ones in uniform and the purple one, looked anything like soldiers.

The purple one introduced himself as Zeb, and led her to a ship.

"That's the Ghost." he virtually growled when he spoke quietly. "And there's Captain Syndulla." he pointed to a Twi'lek in the cockpit.

Hera.

She had heard them talk in the Mess Hall, Wolffe and Gregor, and they were obviously impressed by her.

Gods. She was beautiful. She knew what Gregor's expression had been now.

He said that she had been fighting the Empire since her teens.

Brave.

A pilot.

What do I have to offer?

Arms, legs and a decent brain. Nothing special.

"Come up…...mind Chopper." An authoritative feminine voice called out.

She looked around but could only see an Orange Droid with very animated arms, that must be Chopper. It beeped at her. She thought it said "Go in." But she couldn't be certain.

"Thanks." She replied, gently touching its top, it swung around and bent its manipulators to its sides. It looked just like it had its hands on its hips. Inexplicably she wanted to laugh. She went forward slowly.

"Sorry."

It replied with beeps that seemed to indicate it was okay but it still looked like she had offended it, as more beeping came from behind her and little jabs on her butt.

"Ok. Ok." she muttered. More beeps and trills followed her now. She cautiously walked through the ship towards the cockpit; it seemed bigger on the inside. It had a living area with seating and a Sabacc table. She brushed her hand across the back of the seat, perhaps Rex had sat there with Ashoka.

"In here. The cockpit, straight ahead." the female voice instructed, more beeps and screeches, "Leave her alone, chop" another beep. She looked around but could see nobody until she saw the heavy work boots sticking out from under the instrument panel. "I'll be with you in a minute, but can you pass me the 3m hydrospanner please"

"Here." Ana picked it up immediately and handed it down. She noticed it was a top of the line tool for a serious mechanic; her father had had the same make.

I might have known, she even repairs her own ship. Ana felt even more inadequate.

"I'll be just a minute."

Her voice isn't like Tula's.

"I can come back later." offered Ana.

"No, just be a minute…..there done."

Ana watched as the console released the Captain from her task, and she slid out from under it. She stood up, slim, petite, pale green, pale green eyes, like Ana's but there was no other similarities, in fact, Ana felt frumpy in comparison. The green eyes appeared to bore into her.

"Caf?" Asked Hera, "Er, Yes please." Answered Ana , following Hera to the living area. Relieved, she finally sat, her knees were beginning to feel shaky. She assumed this was to allow her to stay, so felt under pressure to give the correct answers but what were they?

"Why did you come here?" Hera asked, although she already knew; Wolffe had fetched her, Rex was having a bad time, they all were after Ashoka but it hit the old clone harder than most. It had almost seemed the final straw for him but Wolffe and Gregor had fetched this woman, as a last resort. Apparently Rex and she had had a relationship, quite serious, until he joined them full time. They needed as many trained people as possible and Rex was a good Commander and trainer, one of the best, an asset they needed to keep, Commander Sato had told her. The woman in front of her looked nervous, Hera wasn't at all sure about her, yet.

"I only came for Rex, to help him. I knew him on Seelos."

"So you're not rebelling?"

"I don't like the Empire and what it's doing, if that's what you mean, no right minded person would. But.."

"You only came for Rex?"

"Yes."

"That leaves us with a problem."

"Why?"

"This is a secret base."

"I don't even know where we are?"

"Do you want to leave?"

There was hesitation, "No. Not while Rex is here."

"What are you going to bring to us as a Rebel then?"

Ana's mind went blank. Hera sipped her Caf and pushed the other cup towards her, Ana picked it up immediately to give her chance to think.

Hera had taken seconds to make her decision, after she had said she didn't like the Empire but she had time, so she wanted to find out a few more things.

"I don't know. I'm not a soldier."

"What did you do on Seelos." Hera remembered it from when Kanan, Ezra and Sabine went looking for Rex at Ahsoka's behest.

"I had a small holding, a few animals, grew some crops, not huge amounts but I did most things myself. I'm a hard worker."

"We can always use labour. Report to Chief Lorgan, in the main hangar. He'll allocate you to some duties."

The interview was over.

Hera pulled herself back under the cockpit; this Ana, she was here for Rex. She was putting herself in danger for him.

Just like Kanan did for her.

And then Maul had blinded him.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet." Hera replied from under the cockpit.