"The dark is generous, and it is patient, and it always wins. It always wins because it is everywhere. […] The brightest light casts the darkest shadow."
- Revenge of the Sith novelization
Rex stared at his reflection in the mirror. He clicked the flashlight in his hand back on and shined it into the reflection of his eyes. His pupils contracted once more, and when they light was pulled away again they began to slowly dilate to a normal size. The influence of the chip was gone. Rex rubbed his eyes and reached for his comm. Ridge should have checked in by now. His check-in time had come and passed in the last minute and while Rex wasn't one to berate his men over a minute, it was concerning.
"This is Commander Rex, Ridge come in." He waited for a response and received none. "Ridge, please acknowledge." He was already moving to the barracks door. He'd been a fool to listen to Jesse. "Jesse, come in."
"You don't sound like you're asleep, sir."
"Where is Ridge?"
"Guarding the Temple entrance as you ordered. I'm going over there now for a breath of fresh air. He didn't check in with you?"
"No. Be careful, Jesse." Rex had to stop himself from pleading with the man. Jesse was an ARC now, he'd gone through the same training Rex had and more recently at that. He didn't need a lecture on precautions. Rex made his way to the speeder hanger and vaulted into the one closest to the door. He didn't hear from Jesse again until he was in the air.
"Rex, they're dead. If I had to guess, I'd say a lightsaber killed them."
"I'm nearly there, don't approach the Jedi alone."
"I'm going to regroup with the others in the lower atrium. We'll be there when you arrive."
Rex landed the speeder outside the door of the Jedi Temple, leaping out before its momentum had ceased. He knelt by his nearest brother, searching for signs of life among the fallen bodies. He found none. But Jesse's observation had been correct. They were killed by a lightsaber. Rex scowled and drew his blasters before entering the Temple.
— — —
Ahsoka looked down onto the burning wastes of Mustafar as they landed. In times before, she would have surely said a little quip like 'why do the bad guys always have to pick scary bases?' In times before, one of the clones would have surely responded 'aesthetic.' In times before, Anakin would have surely laughed at them. But there was no laughter, no jokes, and no clones today. Not for the first time, she reached for her comm and rolled it between her fingers. All she would have to do was press a button and she would know if Rex was alive. Not even that, if she'd reached out far enough into the Force she would be given the same answer. But she did neither. It was better to not know. Ahsoka had always associated fear with the gut-clenching adrenaline rush of falling, but now she could understand fear as a cold dread creeping over her shoulders. She shuddered and pulled her cloak tighter. It wasn't hers, but it smelled like her clothes anyways. Maybe her men weren't physically with her, but she still wore their bodysuit and cloak and she knew that they would be there in spirit if they knew where she was.
When their landing gear touched down she dismounted after Anakin, flinching back at the wave of heat that greeted her. While she had sought a hot shower for sensation yesterday, she now found it overwhelming.
"Artoo, stay with the ship." Anakin commanded as he strode ahead.
Ahsoka looked back and gave the astromech a fond shrug in response to his less than affectionate string of beeps. Once out of R2's hearing she spoke for the first time in hours. "We're not going to negotiate with these sleemos are we?"
Anakin stopped and looked back at her. "No. The Confederacy of Independent Systems has refused to negotiate for peace. The Chancellor has ordered us to eradicate them before they regroup and strike against the Republic."
"Their new superweapon?"
"Our spies indicate that it's nearly complete. But if we act now, we can end this before we're drawn back into the war."
If they didn't end the war now, more clones would die. Her friends, her brothers, would die if she and Anakin failed. "I understand, Master."
— — —
Obi-Wan was reeling from the footage he had just seen. Anakin… it wasn't possible. He took a small amount of solace that he hadn't seen Ahsoka at his side, but that was only one recording. But it was just as likely that she was dead, if not by Anakin blade then perhaps at Rex's hands. He had seen a set of jaig eyes in the periphery of the recording. Of course, when Anakin had fallen, he had brought the entire 501st with him.
Obi-Wan faltered when Yoda stopped before him. He looked up to follow Yoda's gaze. Between them and the doors stood Rex, dual blasters drawn at his hips, blocking their path. Obi-Wan hadn't sensed his presence in the building before. He must have just arrived.
"Captain Rex." Obi-Wan greeted sourly.
"Commander Rex, now." Obi-Wan took notice of Rex's missing pauldron. He hoped that Ahsoka hadn't been killed for Rex's gain.
"I see. Master Yoda, l would suggest that you take another route to our destination."
"That would seem wise, Obi-Wan. Meet you at the ship, I will." Obi-Wan drew his lightsaber as the small Jedi Master went back to a staircase into the lower auditorium they had just passed.
"I don't want to do this, Rex." But Obi-Wan knew that Rex didn't have a choice. Just like Cody. CT-7567 raised his blaster and began firing upon Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan reached into the Force and shoved him backwards, sending him flying across the walkway before them. CT-7567 rolled to his feet and resumed fire before his momentum had ceased. He was accustomed to being thrown by the Force.
"Is that what you told my men before you slaughtered them? That you didn't want to do it? I saw the carnage you left behind." Obi-Wan continued to block CT-7567's shots. He had yet to send any back in the commander's direction, but he was afraid that that might soon change.
"I didn't have a choice, Rex."
"Jedi always have a choice." Not clones. Clones didn't get the final say in the matter. Obi-Wan sent a bolt back at CT-7567, knocking one of the blasters from his hands. Using the Force, Obi-Wan sent it over the edge of the walkway. He advanced towards the clone. It was time to end this.
CT-7567 raised his remaining blaster and fired once more at Obi-Wan. They were too close. Obi-Wan made a choice. He swung his lightsaber in an arc, deflecting the blast. For the last time that day Obi-Wan heard the sound of boiling plastoid as a wound opened up from the clone's waist to his shoulder. CT-7567 fell to the ground with a cry of pain. Obi-Wan kicked the remaining gun aside and advanced on the fallen clone. He used the Force to remove the man's helmet, he needed to know if he had killed him. With the helmet gone, Obi-Wan found himself staring into CT-7567's eyes. Except they weren't. They weren't the eyes of CT-7567, nor of CC-2224, nor any of the helmetless clones guarding the Temple entry. Rex raised his head to look at Obi-Wan and bared his teeth in a snarl.
"Cody is dead." It wasn't a question.
"Yes." There wasn't anything else to say. Nothing Obi-Wan could have said would've helped. They were far beyond that.
"You killed him."
"Yes." There was no point in denying it.
"Traitor." Rex's head fell back against the temple floor. The single word burned into Obi-Wan, joining the day's pain. In a way, it was Rex's death. The death of the captain he had known before, had fought beside over the last three years. Perhaps Rex's physical death as well. His hands never reached for the gash across his torso, remaining limp at his side. Obi-Wan didn't know if that was good or bad, he didn't want to know how deeply his blade had cut into the clone's chest. He suspected that either way, the pain of the wound was dulled by the pain of his betrayal. Order 66 was over, maybe for Rex it had been over from before their confrontation, but it didn't matter anymore. Obi-Wan had betrayed the clones just as they had betrayed him. First Cody, then the many who had stood in his path as he and Master Yoda entered the Temple, and now Rex. "Anakin was right about the Jedi." The words were soft, not snarled through bared teeth like the others, but Rex's eyes seethed in quiet rage and pain.
Obi-Wan knew what he should've done. He should've set his blade into Rex's heart, watched as his chest stopped heaving and the light left his eyes, watched his pain end. He wished Rex would've fought back after he'd fallen, made it easier for Obi-Wan to end his life. But Obi-Wan found himself unable to raise his lightsaber. So instead he turned to follow Yoda out of the ruins of the place he had once called home.
He was nearly to the doors when he heard the anguished scream. He turned back to the temple to see a clone, an ARC trooper, running up a flight of stairs onto the walkway. Obi-Wan's grip tightened on his lightsaber, but the clone didn't turn towards him. He stopped by Rex's body, pulling off his own helmet as he crashed to his knees. "Rex, Rex, stay with me." The clone pulled his limp commander into his lap, cradling him close. "Not like this."
Obi-Wan knew the clone. His name was Jesse. Maybe it still was, maybe he was CT-5597 now. Either way, he was fiercely loyal to Rex. Obi-Wan watched for a moment, listening to Jesse's pleas for Rex to stay awake, to stay alive, hoping to see the commander stir, but Rex remained limp and unmoving in his brother's arms. Jesse screamed for a medic and that was when Obi-Wan knew he had to go. He had killed enough clones today. Obi-Wan whispered a silent apology before he crossed the threshold of the temple, stepping out of the smoky air into the weak sunlight of Coruscant.
— — —
Ahsoka stumbled as new wave of agony reached her. Rex. He was alive, and he was in pain. A battle droid took notice of her panic and advanced towards her. She growled and pulled it into the blade of her lightsaber. She should have stayed on Coruscant. She should have stayed with Rex. The galaxy just had to fall apart when she was in the shower.
Another Separatist made a break for the door. She halted his forward momentum and with a few strides was able to strike him down with her lightsaber. Frustration churned within her at their feeble attempts to flee.
"Cowards." She spat under her breath. She couldn't imagine the clones giving up and running in the face of defeat, nor even the battle droids that the Separatists employed to do their dirty work. Her frustration was at a boiling point. It boiled over at the next Separatist who tried to run from Anakin. Ahsoka reached into the Force to stop her and the Geonosian stopped in her tracks, reaching for her throat. This time, Ahsoka did not step forward. Instead she squeezed her fingers together and watched the Geonosian's neck crumple under her power. The Geonosian hit the floor and Ahsoka felt the sickening feeling of satisfaction. For a moment, guilt surged within her as she thought about what the clones or Master Plo would have said, but only for a moment. In her position, she thought, they would do the same.
She stepped forward to prevent the coward Nute Gunray from scrambling towards the doors. He backed into the table instead, looking back and forth between her and the advancing Anakin.
"The war is over." He tried to plead. "Lord Sidious promised us peace. We only want-." His pleas were cut off by Anakin's lightsaber and he fell to the floor.
"Master, Tambor." Ahsoka pointed to the conference room door that the Skakoan was fleeing through. Anakin nodded and strode after him, leaving Ahsoka alone.
She examined the empty room around her. Or, at least, it was empty if one didn't count the corpses. A little voice inside her head that sometimes sounded like Master Yoda, other times Master Windu, but often Master Plo, reproached her for her loss of control with the Geonosian. But there was another voice in her head now, a voice that didn't belong to any being that she knew or had ever heard. That voice purred approval. Despite the heat of the planet, despite the warm cloak that enveloped her, despite the temperature-controlled bodysuit, she felt a shiver run up her spine into her headtail. Then again, perhaps the warmth of the planet and the insulation of her clothing did not matter. It wasn't a cold shiver, but one of excitement.