Chapter 54
Rex held his helmet loosely in his right hand as he walked down the long corridor leading to his office. It was far away from everything, located in the midst of secondary ammo storage and beneath the lateral quad laser battery, but somehow he liked the remoteness of it.
Maybe he'd gotten used to a bit of quiet time when he was on Ando.
He pushed out a sigh. They were just three rotations out from the Battle of Clak'dor VII. Not that he was too concerned about this particular battle. He knew his troopers were ready and didn't think the Bith would put up much resistance. They were coming in with a full battle group of four heavy cruisers to settle what amounted to little more than a trade dispute.
It was more the battles after which concerned him. They had yet to receive reinforcements, and a prolonged siege in the Outer Rim would weigh heavily on their numbers.
"Rex!"
He spun around and his face split into a smile. "Ahsoka!" He glanced up and down the corridor. There was no one around. Of course there wasn't. Unless they were seriously low on ammo, or the lateral quad laser battery needed servicing, nobody would be coming down here.
"What are you doing here?" he asked in a low tone.
Ahsoka rolled her eyes in a manner which reminded him of her younger padawan days. "I came to see you. I heard you'd been banished to parts unknown."
Rex huffed slightly with amusement. "I haven't been banished. It's just a slight reallocation of resources. I don't mind it." He gestured toward the entrance of his office. "Can I make you a cup of caf?"
Ahsoka pursed her lips as if she were evaluating the offer. "Is it the type so terrible you can use it to strip the paint off a LAAT?"
"It's also how we strip and re-finish our armor," Rex said, knocking on his chest plates for dramatic emphasis.
Ahsoka smiled. "Alright, then, I accept."
There was only one standard issue utilitarian desk and chair in the cramped space. Ahsoka made herself at home, perching at the edge of the desk while Rex operated the caf dispenser. "I only have the one cup," he said apologetically, handing over a durasteel mug full of steaming caf.
She accepted the caf with a gracious nod. "Thank you. We will share, as we have always done with rations."
Rex smiled, wondering why it was always so easy to be around Ahsoka. "I haven't seen you around much."
He didn't want to say it aloud, but he missed her. It was hard enough being separated from Ahsoka while he was on Ando, but somehow knowing they were on the same ship and not seeing her was even worse.
"Anakin has been keeping me busy constantly with training." She blew her lips across the caf, chasing away the steam and Rex found himself staring in fascination. Ahsoka pursed her lips, as if trying to decide how much to reveal. "He's been… upset since we left Coruscant. He's not... the same person when he's upset. I've been trying to spend as much time with him, even if it's just spending all day training. I think it helps that I'm around." She pushed out a regretful sigh and handed the mug back over to him. "I should go." She paused at the entrance, a sad smile on her lips. "I've missed you, too, Rex."
She slipped back out into the corridor in that quiet way she had of moving without a sound.
# # #
Cody twisted restlessly in his sleep. His eyes snapped open and he stared around his darkened
quarters.
He groaned and pushed out a long breath. It was that dream again. Every fekkin' time he closed his eyes, he saw… Barriss. It didn't make sense.
He'd been allowed to return to his quarters after a short stay in medbay. He was currently off-duty with orders to "rest as much as possible."
Easy for the medic to say. He wasn't the one being taunted by dreams of the one person he was trying so hard to forget. Although, admittedly, this dream was different than some of the others he'd had of her in the past. She was a vision of powerful light and she was healing him.
It made no sense. He'd been saved by a crack team of clone medics. He could see the surgery scars and knew a whole team had been sent down with him. He'd been at the finest surgical suite at ArmyMed with the latest in technology at their disposal.
Just my brain fekkin' with me after what happened with Ko. I need to pull myself together, if I am to get back on duty.
"Lights," he muttered irritably, scrubbing at his face. He winced as he moved too quickly and his still healing wounds pulled.
Cody didn't want to just lie here. There was so much to do before the Battle at Clak'dor VII. They were currently on the last phase of their "shakedown cruise." After some minor adjustments in the early stages, the engines had been cleared to be put through their paces. They were headed into battle with the fastest fleet ever assembled.
It was no time for the 212th to be without their commander.
# # #
"Gah!" Rex hissed as he was thrown down onto a flexi-foam mat by Wolffe. Portions of the 104th and 501st were cross-training together. Wolffe was taking the idea to heart, a bit too much so.
"You've gone soft, " Wolffe said, pushing Rex's shoulder down into the mat. "A few months back, I couldn't have pinned you." He dug in harder, eliciting another yelp from Rex. "If that knee of yours is bothering you, we can call it a match."
Wolffe knew fekkin' well he wasn't pressing on Rex's knee. A number of troopers were gathering around to watch the match. Rex didn't mind learning from Wolffe, but he'd learned a thing or two during the time he was away.
"I passed all my med evals," Rex said, and continued the conversation to distract Wolffe as he carefully worked to reposition their limbs. "Not only am I fit for duty, I'd go so far to say I'm in top fighting form these days."
Wolffe snorted at the taunt. "Says the trooper pinned on the bottom."
"Mmmm… well, it is hard to match up the level of the Wolfpack," Rex admitted. Wolffe's troopers snorted at the comment. Rex continued to slowly move Wolffe's limbs around. He may have been recovering from a shatter round while he was on Ando, but he had not gone soft.
If anything, he was a much better fighter for having been exposed to the most diverse group of troopers ever assembled. From the two Marines stranded on Ando, Catcher and Travis, he'd learned about speed and doing the unexpected. From Blaze, the commando as fiery as his name, Rex had learned the importance of staying limber. From his reliable medic Mako, he'd learned to always breathe properly and look at everything from a different point-of-view.
"Give up?" Wolffe taunted again, confident of victory.
"You see, I wouldn't say I'm pinned, exactly." Rex reached up without warning and yanked Wolffe's shoulder, twisting as he hooked him up and over, and flipping him down on the over side of the mat with a 'thwap' so resounding there was a stunned silence in the gym for a moment. Wolffe blinked up in surprise.
The move earned a burst of surprised laughter from the assembled troopers.
"Well done," Wolffe coughed, gasping for air, and still laying flat out on his back. "That was… different."
Rex reached down and extended a hand, hauling Wolffe back to his feet. He leaned in and asked quietly: "You okay?"
Wolffe glanced at him sideways, annoyed at the question. "Of course I'm alright." His bold statement was belied by a fit of coughing.
Rex quirked up an eyebrow, but kept a straight face.
He checked his chrono and then gave a quick hand signal to Wolffe. As the clones around them dispersed, the two worked their way back to the repulsor weights at the rear of the gym. Several other troopers were already there, cycling through strength-training.
Both Rex and Wolffe did a credible job of turning a blind eye as the clones working through the routine slipped away to disappear down a darkened corridor. Rex glanced around. It was close to dinnertime and the gym had emptied out. He gave a quick all-clear signal to Wolffe, and they, too, disappeared down the corridor.
# # #
Rex studied the troopers perched on cargo containers crammed into every space available. There were a dozen clones in a room already stuffed full of storage crates containing spare ammo and DC-15A charger packs. The troopers assembled had clambered atop the crates and were gazing at him expectantly waiting for him to speak. Trapper, Boil, Sinker, Boost, Comet, Echo, Fives, Sly, Kix and Coric. Wolffe was standing directly beside him.
He'd delivered hundreds of tactical briefings, but this one was different. He knew why they were here, but it was still difficult to find the right words.
He stopped, and sucked in a deep breath, stalling for time. Gah. There were too many clones pressed into this space. This was not a good smell. He took a moment to study the clones in the room. Some of the clones in the 501st who were closest to him were present in this room. Wolffe had brought his most trusted Wolfpack members with him. Other than Cody, these were the top folks in the 212th. If they were going to get something accomplished, these were the clones to do it. "As we mentioned in our previous meeting, we are investigating… uh... a series of suspicious activities."
Wolffe jumped in and stared down every trooper in the room with a piercing stare. "But, if you decide this is not for you, you can walk out of this room and never speak of it again. There will be no penalties for doing so."
Fives met Wolffe's gaze with cool, calm assurance. It was his 'let's-go-on-with-it look.' "With all due respect, Commander, we understand what you're asking of us. The Captain already asked us to track down leads on Captain Ko. We are already part of this thing."
It was true. He'd already dragged his ARCs into wherever this was leading and there was no backing down now.
Wolffe met Fives' gaze full on. "I understand, Fives. But, this is uncharted territory for us as troopers. We're talking about doing an investigation on our own which means we bear full responsibility for any penalties which may come because of our actions."
Rex addressed Fives directly, but then leveled his gaze on all of the troopers present. "We're offering all of you the chance now, including you, Fives and Echo, to decide on your own, how much you want to be a part of this investigation. I will not order you to do something that will get you court-martialed, or worse. You are here because you choose to be a part of an investigation into what we see as a series of suspicious activities."
"And, based on what we've seen so far, we think it's possible our own Republic is involved in whatever this… is… that may or may not be going on," Fives clarified in his slightly sarcastic yet matter-of-fact manner.
"Yes, that is one of the possibilities we need to consider." It hurt to admit it. As much as Rex still bore a deep-rooted pain from having been sent away to Kamino, he was still a very loyal soldier. Investigating his own Republic pained him to the core. He was not sure anymore about what it meant to be a 'loyal' soldier. Did it mean following orders blindly, or doing what was right?
"This is your opportunity to walk away," Wolffe emphasized.
Trapper, Boil, Sinker, Boost, Comet, Echo, Fives, Sly, Kix and Coric all stared back at him with steely resolve.
Wolffe nodded his chin deeply, looking at each of the troopers with respect. "Alright, then, we move ahead."
Rex focused on his two ARC troopers. "What is the status of your investigation into Ko's disappearance?"
"We are pursuing leads based on the pattern of trace and hide signals at ArmyMed. Before Commander Cody was even out of surgery, there were numerous requests to transfer him. We kept re-routing these requests. But, there was something familiar about the signature. I'm running a trace on them now," Echo reported.
"You're running a trace on a trace?" Rex clarified.
Echo nodded. "Don't worry, Captain, my methods are discreet. No one will know I've been in the system. It takes a little longer this way, but it will be undetectable."
"I think I may have a solid lead on the men who chased us through ArmyMed and up onto the rooftop. I was able to get an ID lock on one of the men. I'd just like a little more time to confirm the scan," Fives said.
"What about Ko's helmet?" Wolffe addressed both Fives and Boost. "What have you learned?"
"Ko received a transmission right before he snapped," Boost said. "But, the receiver in his helmet left no trace of the sender. All we've been able to ascertain is he received a very short data burst and then he shot Cody."
Wolffe grimaced. "What kind of data burst makes a clone shoot another clone?"
"We need more hard data on what happened," Rex agreed, trying not to let his frustration bleed through into his tone.
"We'll continue to dig further," Boost promised.
"Sinker, Boost, provide whatever assistance you can to tracking down leads on what caused Ko to snap, and also finding leads on his current whereabouts," Wolffe ordered. "If we can track him down, we can figure out if this was an isolated incident, or…"
"Or, what?" Rex demanded.
Sly's eyes lit up understanding what Wolffe was implying. "We all share the same genetic engineering." He muttered, and then reached down to tug his datapad off his belt, furiously tapping in notes.
"Who are you again?" Wolffe demanded.
"Huh?" Sly looked up, still lost in mid-thought with his notes. "I'm… uh… Sly. New transfer to the 501st."
Wolffe's eyebrows narrowed thoughtfully. "Right. Another new medic. Work with them. See what you can figure out about this data burst."
Rex's stomach growled, reminded him it was nearly halfway through mealtime. They needed to dismiss these troopers so they could grab something to eat.
"What about Cody?" Trapper demanded. "He started all of this, and we're leaving him out of everything."
Rex exchanged a quick glance with Wolffe.
"We'll need to bring him back in, "Wolffe conceded, "but not yet. He's still recovering."
Trapper wouldn't be dissuaded. "He came to rescue us at Darkknell and stood up for us when we returned home. We shouldn't be making plans like this without him."
Rex looked around the room at the other clones gauging their reaction. Cody was very liked by all of the other clones, and keeping him out of it would not go down well with his 212th troopers. But, despite his experiences, Cody was a different sort of trooper. He took a deep breath before replying. "We may have to proceed slowly with Cody. He rescued the 212th and General Kenobi out of loyalty. He is undoubtedly the finest type of soldier and sets a high standard for following orders. But, what we are talking about doing crosses some grey lines."
Trapper hopped down off of his crate. "Cody crossed those grey lines when he gathered together a group of troopers to leave Ord Cestus. This is no different."
It was different and Rex knew Cody would see it immediately. When the 501st and 212th were imprisoned at Darknell, they had nothing more to lose. Their Jedi Generals and two full Legions had been captured. They risked everything because they had everything to gain in return. This was very different.
"I'll talk to him and get him onboard," Trapper said confidently.
"See what you can do. We'll meet again here in two rotations." He looked over to Rex who gave a hand signal indicating he had nothing more to add.
The troopers dispersed quietly out of the small storage room and back into the darkened corridor.
# # #
Cody hissed and grabbed at his mid-section as he rose from his bunk. Once he was up, he was fine. But, he was definitely healing, and faster than he'd ever thought possible. He would be back on duty soon. He was sure of it.
His door buzzed. "Come in," he said.
Silver entered, carrying his medic bag. "Ah, you're up again. Good. All this exercise of yours will help with the healing."
Cody liked his new medic's easy-going manner. He wasn't sure why Fox had been willing to part with a medic, but he was grateful for the transfer. Good medics were hard to come by.
Silver peeled back the bacta patch off of Cody's lung wound, inspecting the surgical site carefully. He nodded with satisfaction and took out his medscanner. "Take a deep breath. Any pain?"
"Not much. I think I'm ready to go back on duty."
"Still experiencing shortness of breath?" his warm friendly gaze was so inviting Cody couldn't lie to him.
"Yes," Cody admitted.
"Completely normal," Silver said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Give it a bit more time. You're definitely healing and very quickly, too." He continued to take scans and his smile changed to a frown of puzzlement. "I still don't understand these readings, though."
"Why?" Cody leaned in to see the readings. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong. I've just never seen healing like this before for such a severe blaster wound." He peeled back the larger bacta patch covering Cody's abdomen. A faded red starburst site marked the site of the blast point, surrounded by small lines and dots left by the entry points of various surgical instruments. Silver cleaned the wound with quick, efficient swipes and pressed a new bacta bandage in place. He shrugged in bemused puzzlement. "Ab wounds don't normally heal like this."
Silver's words struck a chord with Cody. He only knew of one person capable of such miracles. He needed to make a comm call, and he needed Silver out of his quarters.
"Thanks for coming by," he subtly started nudging the medic toward the door.
Silver didn't budge. He crossed his arms across his chest and stared down Cody.
"Commander, it is normal for a trooper to experience PTSD after an incident like this one. It's a new field medics like myself are starting to delve into since it wasn't covered in our flash training, but I'd like to talk to you about-"
Not now, Silver.
Cody put a hand on Silver's shoulder to guide him toward the door. "I'll take that under advisement. Maybe we can schedule some time." Before the medic could object he pushed him out to the corridor.
He sighed with relief and settled down carefully at his desk and activated his desk comm unit. His hand trembled and he hesitated.
Coward, he chastised himself. Just make the call.
There was only one being in the galaxy who thrilled him and terrified him so much. Before he could lose all sense of courage, he punched in the code for the 41st Elite Corps. He quickly typed in the substring for the particular commander he was trying to reach-
His door buzzer chimed. He slammed the connection shut the microsecond before it went through.
"Fek it all!" Cody hissed, glaring at the door. He glanced quickly back down at his darkened screen, heart still pounding in his chest.
He blew out a deep breath, and tried to bring his breathing back to a semblance of normal.
"Is that how you greet visitors these days?" Trapper entered, sweaty, disheveled and dressed only in his blacks. "Are you okay, Codes? You look pale. Should I call for a medic?"
Cody shook his head. "No. I just saw the medic. Why are you here?"
"All of this off the record. We need to talk."
# # #
Cody stared back at Trapper aghast. "What? No. Absolutely not. What you are describing is nothing short of a clone trooper revolution. I have no intention of being part of any of it."
"You are a part of it, Cody," Trapper said. "You have been since the beginning."
Cody shook his head. "No. I'm a commander. My only interest is in following orders. And, that is what I am going to do and what I have always done." He shook his head to the side, reconsidering his words. "OK, most of the time."
"Cody, you were the voice which started it all. When we came back from Darkknell, you made that broadcast to the Jedi Council which was heard by the entire fleet around Coruscant. Clones are still replaying the message. It has become legendary. All of us here in the 212th are so proud to have you as our commanding officer."
Trapper's words echoed what Wolffe and Fox said when he was locked up in the RMB. Somehow his words had consequences beyond what he'd intended.
Cody shook his head. Maybe he could make this thing go away. "What? No, I'm no... not trying to change anything. I was only trying to keep our troopers safe. The troopers from Ord Cestus were following my orders. It was my responsibility as their commanding officer to accept the consequences for the rescue at Darkknell. That was my only intent, Trapper. I was not trying to start anything. It's finished. Done."
Trapper continued to regard him quietly without speaking. This alone was completely unnerving to Cody. Trapper was never quiet and let him speak. Even worse, there was something about his eyes which spoke disappointment and Trapper had never looked at him that way before. Even when they'd argued he'd never given Cody that sort of look.
Cody hissed out a breath of frustration. "This is Wolffe's doing, isn't it?" He pointed an accusing finger at Trapper. "He put you up to this?"
"I agree with him," Trapper said.
"You agree with him," Cody shook his head, aghast.
"Not just Wolffe. There's a whole crew of us who agree with him. There is a series of events which we believe may be tied together. It could possibly even go into the higher echelons of the Republic."
"Where? What? What kind of something?" Cody's eyebrows arched together in disbelief.
"We don't have all of the pieces yet. I just came from a meeting of a few of us who want to look into these things. This is why we are banding together to investigate. I mean there is a big enough something going on that someone shot you and took Captain Ko."
"Who did?"
"We don't know," admitted Trapper. "But, we aim to figure all of that out."
"No," Cody said firmly, "absolutely not. You don't have anything. Just a bunch of suspicions. You need to drop this thing, Trapper. You are talking about treason. You could be arrested. That is not a route you want to go down." His voice dropped down low. "I barely made it out of the RMB. A lot of clones don't." He blew out a frustrated breath, and then admitted in a pained voice. "Look, Trap, I don't know why Ko shot me. Maybe it's related to something which happened to him when he was in the prisons. But, it's over now. Unfortunately, he is gone so we can't get any answers."
"But, Cody, we need to look into this further-"
"No, we don't!" Cody exploded. "You need to drop this thing!"
"But, there has to be a connection between-"
"We are clones and clones follow orders!" Cody shouted. He stared Trapper down. "Whomever you are meeting with to discuss all of this, and I don't what to know anything, just end all of it. Now."
Trapper met his gaze cooly, spun on his heel and left the room. The tension between them so thick the room was filled with an icy chill.
Cody stared at the closed door after he left. He sank back down onto his bunk and sucked in a deep breath. Everything would be alright. He could keep this whole thing under wraps and no one would need to know some of his men had been considering treason against the Republic.
They'd get through the Battle at Clak'dor VII, continue to keep order in the Rim and everything would be fine.
# # #
Author's Note:
-
2020 has been a long and difficult year, but I have a very good feeling about 2021.
Hope you enjoyed this double-length chapter with a bit of Rex-Ahsoka in it, and a lot of Cody angst.
Our clone rebellion is starting to come together. Our heroes have more questions than answers and they are about to embark on a major campaign into the Outer Rim. But, I've always wanted to write a long story told almost exclusively from the clone point-of-view. It's been great fun to bring you this story.
A huge thank you to 'Suffering Soldier' who has been assisting with the story outline and providing edits on the rough drafts. His support on this story has been tremendously helpful.
Many thanks to all of you who have been taking the time to read and review. Many of your comments make me smile, and some of the comments inspire new content and ideas in future chapters. Onward to 2021!
