KEYnote: I am basically rewriting the Clone Wars. None of this canon :D

AN: So I'm trying to learn French and Hindi, which means I watch all the animated shows in French. The more simple language of cartons makes listening to it a foreign language more compelling. It is why I enjoy the animated Star Wars shows as much as I do. That being said, the Clone Wars and the Bad Batch I find more horrific in content than anything in the franchise. More so even than Revenge of the Sith because you learn to love more of the characters who get mass slaughtered.

Hence fanfic, where I get to stop that from happening :D

Chapter 2 - The Good Captain

Rex watched with fond amusement as Waxer fretted over the ad'ika, and the usual sarcastic and flippant Appo watched on with the air of a man who had devoted his life to being his charge's honour guard.

Cody had been the one to badger everyone into eating and getting some rest, but in the morning light, Rex was amused to see his family's antics.

Very few clones ever complained about being awake early, at least not outwardly. As orderly as their life on Kamino had been, the Longnecks hadn't allowed them the luxury of a routine sleep schedule.

The same could not be said for either General Skywalker or Commander Tano. Whereas Rex wasn't sure General Kenobi ever slept, ever.

Cody was of the opinion that Skywalker was a pain in the sheb, but Rex liked chaos, liked the informality paired with Skywalker's instincts for leadership. It was the furthest thing from the Longnecks' coldness.

But then Rex only had to look after a Legion and Cody was basically in charge of the frontline. The latter bothered him greatly, a niggling thought that someone wanted Cody's General dead.

Okay, a lot of people wanted Kenobi dead, but it seemed someone in the Republic wanted the man dead. The young Jedi Master had more responsibilities than seemed humanly possible, no matter what magic sustained him, and was it really possible that Kenobi got all the worst assignments.

Rex felt like the 501st Legion got off easy compared to their 212th brothers. The 501st's success rate was abnormally high, and while Rex allowed his men to take pride in that, between himself, Jesse, and Appo, they knew that their assignments in compassion to the rest of the 7th Sky Corp were chaotic but easy.

Well, not easy, but they worked out better than they had any right to.

Rex let himself have a few more moments watching his sister help Waxer prepare first meal. Omega was like a captured star made human. Rex didn't know how anyone could remain so bright raised by a Longneck, but he was grateful for it.

Didn't they deserve a bit of hope?

General Kenobi looked more at peace and more energetic than was his norm while Skywalker and Tano were still waking up even as they sat upright, mostly.

Rex retreated a ways away from prying eyes in this field of rocks along a mountain ridge they were camped at. His com went through easily, to someone he had very little love for; Alpha-17.

The senior clone both respected Rex and hated him with a quiet passion.

Rex had basically ruined Alpha-17's career if not life in his bid to spite the Kaminoins. Their cloners had slaughtered his batchmates during a training exercise, for their own error, and Rex hadn't been able to save them. So he alone had walked out of that training room, a regular cadet no longer. He was a survivor.

Despite being blonde.

Years later, not a year before Kenobi arrived on Kamino, Rex had beaten Alpha-17 in hand to hand combat with the unforeseen consequences of retiring nearly half of the Alpha class who had been beginning to show their advanced ageing beyond their desired age. Rex had been given command of Alpha-17's personal Legion.

It was an uneasy respect between them.

Had Rex lost, Alpha-17 had been ordered to beat him to death. Rex's will to live, combined with his skill, had earned him the older man's respect.

It occurred to Rex that if what Omega had said was true, then Boba Fett would have been Alpha-1 and had Omega been a boy, Alpha-2.

The actual Alpha-2, Spar, had managed to survive training and likely had no idea of his possible alter ego.

Either they grow up loyal to the Republic, or they don't grow up at all, had been one of Alpha-17's favourite sayings, or threats.

Rex respected Alpha-17 but he still thought the man was bitchy as all hell and gratuitously morbid, even if that was well earned.

-Well, Captain, what do you want? To waste my time?

Rex sighed, knowing how pleased Alpha-17 would be at his next question, "Is Clone Force 99 on Kamino?"

Alpha-17 visibly bristled even over holocom, -Why?

"We found a batchmate of theirs, I wanted to confirm if they had any awareness of their fifth member."

-Fifth member? Alpha-17 with scorn so thick he could have chased off an entire battalion from their bunks.

It was a risk calling Alpha-17 who would have no qualms about confiding in the Kaminoans.

Rex thought it was worth the risk. Besides, within a few days, he doubted there would be any trooper who wouldn't know about Omega, or certainly anyone who wasn't on Kamino.

Gossip about the Jedi had to be kept subtle and never shared over coms save through coded language or tone, but gossip about the Bad Batch?

That was their only form of real entertainment.

If Omega was Nala Se's personal clone, then the Kaminoans knew she was gone and likely had footage to know exactly where she had escaped to.

Rex held onto Kenobi's quiet promise that he wouldn't let the Longnecks take her back.

Rex went on, "Yes, fifth member. And if they aren't engaged on a mission, General Kenobi requested Clone Force 99's presence."

That was a flat out lie, but unlike the 501st's success rate, there was nothing falsified about that squad's hundred percent success rate. Rex needed someone who would risk life and sanity to figure out if the 212th was being set up for failure. Needed to know who in the Republic wanted General Kenobi and Cody dead so badly.

If the Republic had an insider working for Dooku, the Bad Batch were who Rex wanted to be assigned to it. As much as he loved his own General, Skywalker's inner dramas made him blind to any real possible conspiracies happening around him.

Omega was the perfect excuse to bring the Bad Batch under Kenobi's guidance.

A moment passed in which the mere thought of General Kenobi having the Bad Batch at his side was enough to make Rex doubt himself.

Kenobi had about as much regard for his personal safety as them and Rex suddenly worried Cody might strangle Rex in his sleep for this.

Alpha-17 growled, -Who is the fifth member? What is their mutation?

Rex almost said lady parts, but restrained himself, "They are Alpha generation, like Boba, they have no advanced ageing."

-A cadet? Alpha-17 asked.

"I don't know about his mental advancement so I cannot say for certain, I was hoping Hunter might be able to tell me more."

-I am not your damned errand boy.

"No, but you are point-man for Kamino and I would rather follow General Kenobi's orders through with efficiency."

-Fine, they will call you, send me your coordinates and I'll have them on a transport within the hour, Alpha-17 snapped before hanging up.

Rex sighed with relief, messaging their coordinates through. When chasing conspiracy, best to avoid the Kaminoans, the Chancellor, and Jedi if at all possible.

Hunter and his squad were burning off steam in a training demo room as the Kaminoans continued to try to fail them out.

Or maybe it was just one of the Alphas.

He swore when the droid suddenly went active and he punched a clanker that was falling on him. He only just managed to spin out of the way.

Hunter took off his bucket to glare up at Alpha-17 who stepped into the rink with them.

Alpha-17 hated them, and Hunter hated the kriffar back just as fiercely.

Tech adjusted his glasses and Wrecker boomed, "Look who's come to ruin the fun."

"I have orders from the High General of the 7th Skycorp," Alpha-17 said without preamble.

Wrecker laughed, "Look at us, moving up in the galaxy!"

A-17's sneer was clear despite his helmet being on. "You are to depart immediately, your Rex's problem now."

Captain Rex was under General Kenobi, Hunter knew that, but he still had to ask, "What does Kenobi want with us?"

"High General Kenobi," Alpha-17 corrected. "And he doesn't, they found another one of Nala Se's mutants."

Hunter exchanged a glance with Crosshair who frowned before speaking.

"Who is it?"

"An Alpha generation with a subclass, Omega. I'm assuming you have been summoned to take care of the problem."

Hunter could have happily broken Alpha-17's face and slept just fine, but he signalled to his squad to move out.

Best not to tempt fate when it came to the Alphas, to be fair to them, any one of them who behaved as their squadron did would have been executed by the Longnecks.

However, being one of Nala Se's 'special ones' wasn't anything to envy.

They had all spent more time in tubes than the kriffing batchlings, and that was post-decant.

Alpha-17 tossed him a comm that had the coordinates of their destination and a waiting line for Captain Rex.

Hunter hadn't worked with the man directly but he knew of him.

And the holovideo of Rex kicking Alpha-17's sheb was among his favourite things in this life, even if it meant many of the Alpha's would never be allowed to fight in the GAR as they rightfully deserved.

"Aren't you going to call the good Captain?" Tech asked.

"Rex wouldn't call us for an execution, and if it was Kenobi who requested us, it would have been Cody who called A-17," Hunter said before adding, "Pack anything you want to keep."

"Why?" Crosshair asked, deeply suspicious.

"Rex might follow the rules, but he has a rebel heart," Hunter said. "Hurry up, Wrecker."

"Alright, alright, why are you in such a rush?" Wrecker asked, picking up Tech's bag along with his own, the packs looking like mere pillows over his overly broad shoulders.

"Our ori'vod is one of Nala Se's, and she has been frantic over the last few weeks, we need to move," Hunter said.

They made haste, and no sooner did Hunter have their ship into the skies, did a comm from none-other than Nala Se herself.

Hunter took the call even as he finished the coordinates for their jump to hyperspace.

"Clone Force 99, what is your destination?" she asked, voice having an uncommon amount of emotion.

"Mission," Hunter said with a smile and ended the call as Crosshair pushed them into hyperspace.

Ticking Nala Se off was their only truly fun pastime on Kamino.

Tech changed their frequency so she wouldn't be able to call them back. Smiling, Hunter commed the good Captain.

Rex picked up almost immediately, -Hunter.

"Rex," Hunter responded ryely. "What's this I hear of an ori'vod?"

Rex coughed, covering up a laugh, -Older, perhaps, but they have no advanced ageing.

"Huh," Hunter mused, sharing a look with Crosshair who leaned in to ask his own question.

"Is that the mutation then?"

-No. I think the mutation is perhaps Omega being a twin.

"So what?" Tech cut in. "Ghost Company has a twin pair, Boil and Waxer, isn't it?"

-Omega is Boba Fett's twin.

Hunter sat back in his seat, even Wrecker was rendered silent.

Their brothers all understood that they were different, but they didn't understand what it meant to be one of Nala Se's pets. They didn't know the medical exams or forced comas and experiments they had been made to endure.

Any of the regular clones who had experiments done on them were never left alive afterwards.

Many of their Reg brothers over the years had asked why they were so disobedient, as if they couldn't fathom challenging authority, but the truth was simple.

The clones of Kamino were part of mono-culture, essentially slaves, they went on with a united purpose. They knew no other way of life, fighting for the brothers beside them, for fear of what the Kaminoans would do to them. But it was fear of the unknown.

Fear of death.

But the Clone Force 99 knew there were worse things than death, and it wasn't some phantom unknown. Nala Se had taught them well, and there were only so many violations one could take before realising that whether they did as commanded or disobeyed, Nala Se would treat them the same.

Hunter pitied any brother that Nala Se had felt the need to keep hidden from everyone.

Well, any insights? Rex pushed.

"He's cadet age?" Hunter asked, exhausted.

Yeah, doesn't seem to have Boba's spoiled temper though.

"Nala Se isn't a gentle master, Captain," Hunter warned.

Rex bristled, -We aren't slaves, Sergeant.

"No," Hunter agreed, "We are less than that. Whoever your cadet is, Good Captain, if he was Nala Se's then understand that he's seen the worst Kamino has to offer."

Or a more scary thought; had taken part in Nala Se's crimes. It's not as if Hunter could know who was around him if he was in a drug induced coma.

Rex was quiet for a time but finally asked, -ETA?

"A few hours. Our ship is faster than most," Hunter said.

Rex nodded, then said something uncharacteristic for one of the Regs before signing off, -Have hope.

Tech huffed, "I guess this will prove interesting."

"I don't like it," Crosshair said.

Wrecker oddly seemed to agree, "This feels like a trap."

"Did you notice he didn't relay the General's orders?" Crosshair pointed out

Hunter couldn't argue that fact.

Crosshair added, "He was leaving too much out. Whatever this cadet's mutation is, it must be bad."

Hopefully, not bad for all of them, Hunter prayed. If the Jedi's Force listened to prayers, he hoped it heard them.

Rex was more than slightly disturbed at Hunter's report.

He hated thinking of himself as a slave, of his brothers as slaves. He knew the Jedi didn't see them like that. He knew the Jedi didn't even believe in this war, their hands as tied as the clones were.

The only way out of this war was through it.

But Omega's words, spoken so frankly and then Hunter, without even knowing Omega, had said the same.

Nala Se was supposed to be one of the good ones, a doctor not one of their butchers. She routinely spoke against decommissioning. But Rex had been in the real world long enough to know even those who appeared to be good weren't necessarily.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Rex startled, but he hid it well as he turned to face his General, "Sir."

Skywalker sighed, glancing back at the camp, to everyone else enjoying breakfast. Either something was very wrong because Skywalker had passed up on a meal, or he had inhaled it already.

"We need to talk," Skywalker said, his presence very much awake, his gaze intense.

Aside from the first few months, when Skywalker had been a Padawan Commander, when the young man had asked Rex and his officers endless personal questions, his natural curiosity had ebbed.

Back then, Rex hadn't been comfortable asking questions in turn or elaborating on his… not childhood, how he had grown up. After being promoted to General, Skywalker had put up professional and impersonal boundaries that Rex regretted cultivating.

This wasn't to say Skywalker didn't care about them or that they weren't friendly, but they were coworkers.

No matter how much they trusted each other, they were coworkers and comrades, not true friends who confided in personal matters with each other.

Rex wished they were though, wished that his General relied on him in the same way General Kenobi relied on Cody.

Hells, Cody was, unbeknownst to the other Jedi —Skywalker included— a functional Jedi High Council member.

It would be nice if Skywalker confided in something even as simple as his relationship with Senator Amidala.

It wasn't like anyone in the GAR didn't know, and Rex would rather share in gossip with Skywalker than be a part of the betting pool of when Skywalker would realise that his Jedi Master knew about his affair.

However, today, the look on Skywalker's face said this would be a personal conversation.

The problem being, Rex was pretty sure the conversation wouldn't be about barracks gossip and the trials and tribulations of the Bad Batch.

No, Rex knew for certain this conversation was going to push right into treasonous territory.

Something Rex —with his blonde hair and the red mark on his record that would forever prevent him from making Commander— had had to be careful of in ways others could skate by in.

So Rex kept his answers short, "Yes, Sir."

Skywalker sighed, running a hand through his hair in an aggressive motion, "I don't know how to ask this."

Do you see yourself as a slave?

If Skywalker asked that, Rex's response, the only response he could give and live with, was that he was a person.

Full stop.

End of conversation.

Because unless his general had a miraculous plan for citizenship and the right to willfully serve the GAR —which ninety-eight percent of their brothers would willingly choose to remain in if given a real choice— it was waste of breath and energy.

"How much do you know about my history?" Skywalker asked suddenly. He looked and sounded angry, pained.

The topic of slavery always set his general off, it was standard for the 501st, and the 212th for that matter, if you saw a slaver; kill it.

Rex could only assume Skywalker had been captured at some point, a mission gone wrong of some sort. But he shook his head, because he didn't know for certain or any details. "No, Sir."

"I was born on Tatooine," his general began. "Obi-Wan's Master, Qui-Gon Jinn was the one who found me and brought me to the Temple."

Tatooine was a Hutt planet.

Rex hesitated, his fingers tightening around his helmet.

"Ask," Skywalker commanded with no room for argument.

Rex swallowed, "Did the Jedi …buy you from slavers?"

"No," his general said. Although he was clearly upset, he wasn't upset with Rex, thank all that lived and breathed.

"No," Skywalker said. "Have you heard Obi-Wan referred to as the Perfect Jedi?"

Rex hesitated, aside from Skywalker himself, he had never seen Kenobi lose his cool with anyone. The pair could bicker, egged on by Skywalker's often black or white approach to things. For a man so resourceful in the heat of battle and so comfortable lying, Skywalker tended to be an all or nothing kind of guy.

At times, Skywalker spoke of Kenobi as if they were best friends attached at the hip, and then other days he would rage and brood, saying things that made it seem like he thought Kenobi was an enemy hellbent on destroying his life.

General Kenobi weathered those mood swings in a way that made Rex believe that if there hadn't been lives on the line, duties to uphold, the two —more often than not— could have ended in mutual comfort rather than at odds. But their messy relationship wasn't something he understood the depths of.

Away from Skywalker, Kenobi had a serene air to him, but when it came to being the 'Perfect Jedi,' Rex was of the opinion that Kenobi was a better General than Jedi.

Something the Order itself seemed to agree with, seeing as, from the start of the war, Kenobi's rank had been accelerated from Knight to Master, to High Council member, to the highest ranked officer of the GAR.

"I've heard it," Rex ventured, "but I don't understand your culture well enough to agree or disagree with it."

Skywalker smiled softly, "They say he is as wise as Master Yoda and as powerful as Mace Windu. He mastered Soresu, the defensive form, the epitome of Jedi ideals in under a decade. He became the Master of Soresu."

Rex was very fond of that form, every trooper was really, as it was best suited to blaster fire. Ghost Company used the man as a body shield and could cross a battlefield in record time. It was also another reason Rex worried for the man, someone that good at defence shouldn't be in the medical wing as often as he was.

Kix and Helix had been scheming for months how to help Cody take care of the High General's health.

On the battlefield, Skywalker and Tano were more like well aimed missiles that they never had to fear friendly fire from.

"Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan's Master, was nothing like him. Qui-Gon was different… A Master of the Living Force, more prone to cheating and bargaining than being a well-mannered diplomat."

Again, Rex disagreed, Kenobi was a good Negotiator because he was a well spoken cheat. He had a way of twisting words that meant he could always keep his word, because he always left himself a way to work things to their favour. It's why when General Kenobi spoke plainly, the troopers knew they were never being manipulated.

Sure, he would joke and sass anyone, but when it mattered, they could trust him.

"I was a slave," Skywalker went on, "and Qui-Gon made a bargain for my freedom. He bet on me and through my own actions, I won my own freedom."

Rex spoke before he knew what to say, "Sir… I'm sorry, but I don't quite follow. Win at what? I thought the Order only takes in babies and toddlers."

Skywalker's smile was bittersweet, "Podracing. I was the first human to ever win the Boonta-Eve Classic. And I was nine years old. I didn't win enough to save my mother, but Qui-Gon brought me to the Temple despite my 'being too old.'"

Rex was shocked, and a tiny part of him was sort of envious Skywalker had had a mother, known her. Relating with the Jedi hadn't been hard when they realized despite their varied backgrounds, they were a communal family of orphans, just like the clones. But Rex sorrowed that his General had known slavery and that he had lost family as Rex had to the cruelty of an apathetic galaxy.

"The Council didn't want me, I was too angry, too scared, which is bantha-shit because I'm certain every child, originally, would be spooked by standing in front of those people and going to a planet like Coruscant for the first time. Tatooine is nothing but a sand pit.

"But Qui-Gon fought for me. We returned to his mission. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought a Sith Lord. Qui-Gon didn't survive the encounter and Obi-Wan avenged him.

"That's why he's so famous in the Temple, by the way. He was a Padawan who had slain the first Sith in a thousand years."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Rex said, knowing there was more than met the surface of this story.

Skywalker bowed his head in acknowledgement, "Qui-Gon's last words were asking Obi-Wan to train me because he believed I was the Chosen One. The one who would bring balance to the Force."

Rex was disgusted and couldn't stop himself from saying, "That's cruel."

His general startled at his reaction, "What? What do you mean, cruel? Qui-Gon Jinn was a great man."

He was your liberator. Rex knew he would feel the same, but unlike with Skywalker, Rex was close friends with Commander Tano. He knew precisely how much she loved both her Master and Grandmaster.

"I'm not saying he wasn't a good man," Rex backtracked. "But that seems unreasonable to make a young boy out to be some saviour of the galaxy. General Kenobi must have been heartbroken to both lose his Master and have his last words be…" Rex didn't have the words. "Those wouldn't be the last words I would say to Commander Tano if I was dying in her arms."

Skywalker blinked, opened his mouth then shut it, "Obi-Wan moved on sooner than you would think."

Yeah, that Rex didn't believe.

Not at all.

Kenobi might not be outwardly emotive, not like Skywalker, but both men had large hearts and great compassion for those around them.

Especially for those under their care.

They just had different ways of showing it.

"Anyway, that's not my point. I know what it means to be owned, Rex, to be without choices, at someone else's mercy. There probably isn't much you are allowed to say, but if there is anything you ever need to say, or anything I can ever do for you or your brothers, please ask."

Rex felt gutted, the air struck from his lungs. Not at the words themselves but because Skywalker meant them; saw Rex and his brothers for who they were and was willing to risk himself for them.

"I promise I will keep your confidence, from the Kaminoans, the other Jedi, even your own brothers if need be. I know that you don't all view things the same, at least not at the onset. But I would protect your secrets from the Council if need be, Obi-Wan included."

Rex blinked fast, so many emotions, but what struck him, was Skywalker's mistrust in the man that would so willingly give his life for him.

It was a scary realisation that Rex trusted Kenobi more than his own Padawan did. He had known there was strife between them, he hadn't known things were this broken between them.

Finally, Rex managed to say, "Thank you, General. I will…" The words stuck in his throat. Admission of the intention to commit treason was something that went against his conditioning.

Skywalker put a hand on his shoulder, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you have so few choices."

Rex inclined his head, in a handful of words, Skywalker proved that he understood.

A slave was a slave.

A clone was a clone.

But those were outsiders' descriptions, not who they were.

They were people, and maybe they didn't have as many choices as some, but they weren't without choice.

They were still human enough, still had minds of their own to make those choices for themselves.

No matter how few they had, choice remained.

AN: Yes, I'm going to finish Significant Brain Damage, the last chapter is just monstrous and my head's in a bad place. Luminous We Are is ongoing as well, next update should be next week. I just had to take a break because I missed the clones.

Thoughts, tigers, or feedback on the chapter, pretty please?