Rex felt his heart sink when CT-3387 never returned to the troopers shared cell. According to the other shinies, he'd never adopted a name for himself. Rex sighed, knowing that now, he'd never get the chance to. A gnawing sense of fear had settled over the cell as soon as the droids had started their bio-scans. They all sensed something was wrong - it always was when the lives of his brothers were prioritised into numbers and rank. His gaze fell to the remaining shiny's, sitting flat against the cell wall as they shifted uncomfortably. Their heads would snap upwards in alert at the sounds of approaching footsteps. As he inspected their grimy faces, Rex recognised the shiny he recalled as Torq, looking pale and clammy. But despite this, his good arm was draped over his brothers in an attempt to calm their collective nerves.
"Kix," Rex muttered at the 501st medic. Kix was propped against the wall opposite himself, lingering just behind Cody. For the entire time of their imprisonment, the 212th commander had insisted on keeping track of the rotation of the guards and their patrolling patterns. His tired eyes remained fixed on the end of the corridor, diligent to note which direction the droids were going to and from. Rex had agreed to help in this endeavour by positioning himself on the other side of the entrance. But no one else had approached since the Separatist called "Phoenix 3" had summoned 3387. And by now, it was all but confirmed that he wasn't coming back.
"Captain Rex?" Kix responded. His formality set him apart in lax and loose 501st battalion. However, that pedantic nature could quickly turn into a spectacular disregard for the rule of command whenever his medical expertise wasn't heeded by his superiors. Even General Skywalker and Commander Tano were wary not to cross him - but Rex suspected that with the amount of times those two had ignored their own injuries during battle, that those they were likely the whole reason for Kix's diligence about it in the first place.
"Torq's looking a bit rough," Rex said, nodding his head in the Shiny's direction.
"We're all looking a bit rough," Fives sassed from beside him. "Torq looks half dead."
"But he's not," Tup piped up quietly. Fives turned to see his usually upbeat brother with his head between his legs, not even bothering to speak louder to compensate for the muffled sound. "He's not dead yet at least…"
It appeared that Fives had trouble responding with cynicism after that because he said nothing but an awkward, "Yeah."
"I'll check on him sir, though I doubt there's much more I can do," Kix responded, inspecting the trooper in question from afar. "It might be worth saving some extra water for him at the next meal, but I can't say for certain how much he'll improve."
Rex nodded, determined not to lose anymore of his men. "We'll do that then."
Kix gave him a quick salute, then marched over to check on the trooper in question.
Pity wasn't the right word for what Rex was experiencing; regret was closer. But these words failed to capture how deeply personal the weight on his chest was. He regretted the fact that these young men were doing the two things that they were born to do; to fight and to die. He wished that they'd gotten to experience more in their lives, beyond their programming. Like the things that he'd learnt from General Skywalker about tinkering with droids, or the nicknames he laughed about with Commander Tano or the sense of accomplishment he'd felt when he finally beat Cody at his own strategy games. Instead, these men would have the sum of their experiences outside of Kamino reduced to nothing but their duty to the Republic.
And although he was aware that it boarded on treason to feel such a way, he knew that wasn't right. He'd known this the moment he'd left the upper atmosphere of Umbarra. The hellish events on that planet had changed everything for them. Now, he found himself actively seeking reasons that they were fighting particular war fronts before his battalion were dispatched to them. It may have been that they were fighting to free Republic citizens from Separatist control or that he was actively protecting them from it. But for some battles, it was harder to justify than others.
On Umbarra, the citizens had been defending their home. They were the invaders. At the time, Rex hadn't thought to question the decision to target the planet. Even when he was on the surface of the planet, he was preoccupied trying to keep his men alive against the ferocity of a rogue Jedi. Now, his resolve faltered at the thought of invading another Separatist homeworld like it. He couldn't quite feel the same commitment to the reasons for capturing a planet like that. After Umbarra, his point of reference was skewed. His moral compass pointed in the opposite direction to where he was commanded to go. In those situations, the only justifiable reason he could come up with to push himself onwards, was that he was just following orders.
And if he was being brutally honest with himself, that scared him. For all that he believed in the Jedi and what the Republic stood for, he still couldn't tell which lines they were prepared to cross to win this war. A question he'd started asking himself was if the droid army weren't droids - if they were living, breathing soldiers like him - would he feel the same way? Would he go to the same lengths that Phoenix 3 went to in order to secure a Republic victory? He didn't think so, but the sliver of doubt that invaded his mind caused him more shame than the little thought experiment was worth.
"Two from the left this time," Cody piped up, nodding at the two commando droids just passing their cell on patrol. "That means the next patrol will have food and water."
"3 rotations…" Tup muttered to himself.
"Any plans to jump 'em then?" Fives asked, his head lolling back to look up at the ceiling out of boredom.
Rex glanced at Cody and for the first time in a while, the clone commander peeled his eyes away from the darkened corridors. His eyes flickered over Torq and Kix as the trooper's breathing quickened with the check up. Rex clenched his jaw. He wanted to bust out. He wanted to scheme some brilliant escape plan, find their Jedi and get the hell off of this ship. But doing so now with no idea of where the Generals or Commander were was a reckless move, even by his standards. And were they to do it now, Torq would inevitably fall behind in his current state.
He could accept the consequences of being recaptured or killed whilst trying to escape. He couldn't accept leaving a trooper behind with no choice in the matter.
"Easy, Fives," he replied. "We've waited before, we can wait again. Besides, no sense in starting a prison break on an empty stomach."
Fives heaved a sigh that sounded uncannily like a frustrated 14 year old Padawan Learner they'd adopted into their ranks just over 2 years ago.
"Fine… But we're gonna be the ones busting out first this time. Can't have the generals showing us up again."
That coaxed a laugh out of a few of the Shinies present. Rex smiled at the idea of busting out a grumpy General Skywalker.
"You bet," he finished.
To his surprise, there was no one else in the observation room when Haki arrived. He was certain that he'd be the last one to arrive after the exhausting interrogation he carried out with the Padawan Learner.
"My name's Ahsoka? Master Yoda sent me…"
Haki violently shook his head, trying to detangle himself from the Padawan's - Ahsoka's - lingering memories. His breath became shallow again as flashes of impossible events shocked his brain.
Three beings more powerful with the force than any Jedi could imagine…
The winged goddess of the light. The fanged god of the dark.
And the one chosen to keep their balance was now staring straight at him through the double sided window.
Haki shivered, his mind switching from memory to reality as Anakin Skywalker shifted in his restraints, seeming to notice his presence on the other side of the observation room. The boy quickly focused on building a defensive mist around his presence in the force. Yet as he poured more focus into the task, a flurry of intrusive thoughts that weren't his own begun to crowd his headspace.
An older woman, with pointed features and a wry yet warm smile. She wore green with short greying hair. "My husband thought as you do now…"
"A year ago today, he was defending the Argonar outpost. He fought valiantly in self defence… but was killed."
The boy's face he once recognised as polite and naive now contorted in spite in his vision.
"Count Dooku murdered my mother!"
No… no he can't have, it was a Jedi who murdered her…
"Haki?"
The boy woke with a start, swatting aside the hand that hovered just above his shoulder.
He backed away from the noise but as soon as he did, he calmed instantly, recognising the figure as Vance.
"What in the - Vance…" He heaved, clutching his chest. "Please don't do that when I'm concentrating."
The older woman stood back, arms folded and eyes skeptical.
"You normally notice me when I'm ten paces outside the room let alone when I'm three feet from you," she objected.
"Yeah, well I've been a little preoccupied today upon someone's request," he shot back, but the sentence held little of the bite that he'd intended it to have. Upon regaining his cool, he was grateful that it didn't.
"Of course..." She replied, a little more gentle with her tone this time. "Are you doing alright?"
Vance wasn't a stranger to softening her behaviour but the waver in her voice clued him in that perhaps she was the one who wasn't doing alright. But he held his tongue, confident that if it was anything major, that she'd tell him in her own time.
"I extracted what I could from the Pada - from Ahsoka," he said, keen for the flashes of memories to cease. "I think Skywalker is the nut we need to crack. But he's been resilient to say the least."
Haki finished his sentence as recollections of "The Chosen One" at his full potential rose once again - his eyes glowing, his voice bellowing with the echo of the force itself. Haki had initially pegged him as an overzealous brat of the order - his self importance blinding him to the true ways of the Jedi. But after seeing into Ahsoka's mind, his entire view of the man was turned upside-down. After seeing what he could be, Haki found his reluctance to enter the same room as the man increase ten fold, let alone his reluctance to provoke or interrogate him.
"Yes. After my interrogation with Kenobi, I doubt he'll bend with the other methods…" Vance confided quietly.
As Haki took a moment to truly inspect her, he noticed that her arms were folded to prevent her hands from shaking. Something had happened.
"Vance," he said, turning his body to face her. "What happened."
She held away from his proximity but eventually met his eyes. With the help of the sterile light leaking into the room, he could tell that hers were ever so slightly glossed over.
"I almost had him; Kenobi. But as soon as I cornered him, he shut off. I didn't know what else to do. Count Dooku instructed the droids to categorise the clones. He said to use them if all else failed but…" Her sentence trailed off as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Haki sighed, lifting his hand to her shoulder as she would've done for him just before. She continued on, her voice struggling to stay steady as her muscles tensed.
"I had the trooper in the cell. He didn't even have a name, just a number. But he was so scared and still Kenobi wouldn't - so I had to, I - "
"Vance, look at me," Haki instructed. "Three deep breaths, remember?"
She didn't breathe at all for a moment as she scrutinised his features. Then eventually, she followed his advice and with each breath her expression became more controlled again, more nuanced.
"When did you get good at this?" She asked with a chuckle. "I thought this was my job."
Haki let go of her, backing away to give her some space.
"That's just what happens when you're teacher and not the student - One day I was bound to get better at this than you."
She smiled, her sarcasm peeling away the layers of hurt in her next sentence.
"If only Bonteri could see us now, I wonder if he'd say the same."
The topic caught Haki off guard and he broke away from her gaze, willing away the memories of the man whom he'd come to see as an uncle.
"You know that Phoenix One wouldn't have used the clones," he confirmed.
"No. He was better than that," she sighed dejectedly. "But it's not like I could - " Vance stopped, preventing herself from saying more.
Haki tilted his head. "Could what?"
"I shouldn't say it here. He would sense it."
The boy stepped closer again, raising a curious eyebrow at Vance.
"So long as I'm here, he won't be able to. You're safe; Speak your mind."
Although she glanced back at the door, Haki was well aware that the Sith Lord was nowhere near the cell as of yet. Tardiness was an uncommon look for Count Dooku but being the leader of the Separatist Alliance meant that some calls were just that important.
"I didn't use the clones just because I was out of options. I was under direct orders to use them if I failed to obtain information any other way. But I knew that if a Jedi Master isn't going to budge for the life of one clone, he is unlikely to do so for the life of two or three or more…"
Her speech fell out from underneath her as her arms shivered. Vance took another deep breath, continuing with more vigour.
"Before summoning us here, he wanted me to use the same method again. I advised him that now we know Jedi's boundaries that it wouldn't be anything other than a waste of life. But he insisted. And now he wants to test the interrogation drones on Skywalker. It's - "
Her foot started tapping, apparently of its own accord. She looked over to the Jedi Knight, who was eyeing the window up and down as if trying to trace the outline of where his sabre would cut through it.
"It's unnerving," She finished.
Haki took a moment to process the information. Count Dooku was not necessarily a vitreous man. He was the person leading the Separatists into war - it hardly takes a man of sound virtue to do so. No; What Count Dooku was, was ambitious and disciplined. He's guidance was a huge reason why Haki was able to hone his mental manipulation skills as well as he had. But even he was becoming irked by the newest revelations of the man. His enjoyment of hurting others even more so than hunting them. His general nonchalant attitude towards the rights of living beings. He'd conducted himself without the proper weight or ceremony that such demoralising tasks required throughout this entire process.
Haki knew that he would be expected to pick apart Skywalker's mind from the inside with the aid of whatever new Republic or Separatist innovations the Count had to offer. But knowing that Ahsoka had done everything she could to help Bonteri's wife attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the war and had, on multiple occasions, helped to guide his son away from a path of danger made doing his job that much more difficult. Now everything he had once felt certain about the man who lead their government was coming into question. Was he actually responsible for Mina Bonteri's death? Or was that merely another piece of Jedi propaganda that Lux had fallen for? Whatever the truth was, if he was too busy trying to convince his own mind not to turn on their appointed leader, how could he convince Skywalker not to do the same?
Suddenly, his mind flashed him a warning as his senses picked up a darkened force signature walking down the nearest corridor.
"We'll discuss this later, he's almost here. For now, play along however you can but only ask him relevant questions while I'm around - that way we can tell if he's lying."
Vance stiffened but nodded solemnly. As they heard footsteps nearing the door, she picked up the end of could have been a feasible conversation between them.
"If it were me, I'd investigate Skywalker's relations to the Senator of Naboo. His psychological evaluation indicates that there may be something more to that friendship than meets the eye - "
The doors hissed open and Count Dooku waltzed into the room, flanked by two hulking Magna Guards as per usual. The two of them stood at attention, saluting as soon as he acknowledged their presence.
"An excellent observation Phoenix 3. At ease," he drawled, his eyes scanning the room to fixate on Skywalker. The two of them dropped their hands behind their backs in a formal manner.
"I've been advised to use Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker as a test subject for the latest interrogation technology stolen from Republic facilities. I leave this responsibility to you, Phoenix 4. The drone should have all of the tools and substances that you require. Determine what state you'll need Skywalker in where his mind will surrender the intel willingly and without question. Then proceed."
The Jedi Knight was now pitched forward against his restraints, glaring straight at the Count. It was the same expression as he'd seen across many of Ahsoka's darkest memories; one that seemed to burn him up from the inside. There was no chance for Haki to mask Count Dooku's swelling darkness through the force. But there was little reason to; Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one himself, understood that there was nothing he could do to prevent this unwanted visitation.
"Sedatives first," Haki replied. "We'll need to be on even ground for this battle. And I have a feeling the only way that's going to happen is if I he doesn't know he's in one."
Vance looked over at him, with what could've been read as intrigue but he knew her well enough to read her concern. Meanwhile, the Count finally broke off his staring contest with Skywalker to voice his approval.
"Good. Phoenix 3 will provide you with a full psychological analysis. Use it," the Sith Lord replied, sounding pleased with the idea. But as he begun to walking towards the doors, he stopped just by Haki's montrals, leaning in close. "Don't return from his cell until you have something of value. Is that understood?"
Haki bit his tongue and could do little else but nod. "Yes, my lord."
The elderly man hummed in response and exited the room, leaving Haki and Vance cornered between two terrifying force wielders and unsure of which one would rip them to pieces first.
Woah, is that an update one week apart? It really is the giving season it seems - hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always, I love reading your reviews and seeing you guys piece the connections together! Until next time!
