Prologue: Shattered
It was almost over. Rex could hardly believe it, but it was true. Count Dooku was dead and General Kenobi was hot on the mechanical heels of General Grievous, readying to engage him on Utupau. The 332nd had captured Maul. They had taken him alive no less, and freed Mandalore from his grip and the Sith was ready and willing to talk, to lay bare all the vast details he knew upon the arrival of the Tribunal on Coruscant. In a matter of hours, the war would finally be over.
As he walked through the bridge alongside Ahsoka, he thought about his fallen brothers. How many had he lost since his life began? Had the Republic kept track? Did that theoretical record reflect their names rather than their numbers? Would the Republic honor their sacrifice and memorialize the brave men who gave their lives in the name of freedom? Or would they be a forgotten casualty, a tool that had served its purpose and waiting to be cast aside or left to decay from disuse? Even if the Senate wouldn't remember them, he was determined to honor his brothers, one way or another.
His thoughts drifted to Shepard. The months of silence had been unbearable, but he was forced to set his worry and longing aside for the sake of his duty. Like a good soldier. He had his orders and she had hers. With the war poised to end, he hoped to make contact with her to apologize, to ask her forgiveness and, if he was lucky, to be able to work through their unresolved fight and pick back up where they left off from the ellipsis in their relationship after Fives died. Maybe General Skywalker would even allow him to go to Kamino to speak to her in person.
Standing at the windows, shoulder to shoulder with Ahsoka, they watched as the stars became streaks with the activation of the hyperdrive. In a flash, they were underway in the final leg of their long journey. His eyes flicked to her, familiar with the expression of deep thought she wore. It hardly seemed possible the resilient young woman next to him was the same gangly youth that showed up on Christophsis without warning just three years prior and changed everything. Gone was her brash, inexperienced confidence, replaced with the wisdom from many hard lessons. She still had the same spark of mischief in her eyes, but the child, the padawan, was gone.
"Something…on your mind?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"As a Jedi," she answered softly, "we were trained to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers. But all I've been since I was a padawan is a soldier."
"Well, I've known no other way," he began, almost uncertain of his words. "Gives us clones all a mixed feeling about war. Many people wished it never happened, but without it…we clones wouldn't exist."
As he spoke, she turned to him, seeming to find comfort in his words, "Well, then perhaps some good has come from all of it. The Republic couldn't have asked for better soldiers, nor I a better friend."
The sparkle in her eye as she her lips pulled upward into a smile helped put both their uncertainties at ease. Ahsoka raised her right hand to her forehead, giving him protocol and respect as her equal, displaying it in a salute what she had always shown in practice in the field. He returned the gesture, the smile in his face reflexively stiffening from a lifetime of training, though inside he beamed. For better or worse they, and the Republic as a whole, stood at the cusp of a new era. There were wounds to heal, bonds to mend, but as long as they worked together, perhaps they could all prosper.
An officer approached from the adjoining comm room, "Commander Rex, the latest briefing has come in."
He nodded at the officer and turned to Ahsoka, eyes still smiling, "Want to have a look? It might have an update on General Kenobi's efforts."
There was a moment's hesitation, "You go. I'm sure it's more good news."
With a nod, he followed the officer through the blast door, feeling hopeful. As it slid shut, the holotable illuminated. He expected to see the familiar face of General Windu or Cody, he expected good news, but instead an ominous, hooded figure appeared. His stomach instinctively tensed and all the hairs on his body stood on end against his compression suit. Everything about the mysterious man staring at him with glowing eyes made adrenaline flood his suddenly cold bloodstream.
But instead of fighting, or even fleeing, Rex stood paralyzed at the holotable. His head was filled with a crescendo of static for a moment before a dense cloud fell over his mind. It felt like an inky anesthetic, as though he was being numbed and put under conscious sedation. He struggled against it, as he had when Ventress tried to invade his mind on Rotta at the start of the war. As he had during the private, unsettling conversation in Chancellor Palpatine's office before Shepard's return some six rotations prior.
Shepard!
He fought back against the veil, realizing all at once what was happening, but it was too late. It was what he had refused to hear from Kix as they were on route to Anaxes, stalled by the fear of losing yet another brother to whatever dark forces were at work. What Shepard had tried to tell him, tried to stop it well before any of them were the wiser. She tried to save Fives, knowing he held the truth that could have unraveled the entire plan. Fives…Fives was right.
The mastermind of it all stood glowing before him on the holotable. It was a face he recognized without ever seeing. A name he knew without ever speaking. The specter that haunted his dreams, his brother's dreams, on their never ending mission. His mental strength was fading, his inner voice dwindling as the phantom, their Sith Lord, their master, uttered the single command that wiped away all their individuality, independence, and free will in an instant. As though they never had it at all.
"Execute Order 66."
"Yes, Lord Sideous."
