A MESSED UP DESTINY

A STAR WARS STORY

Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Disney owns everything and I make no profit from this.

Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 23 of the story! Today we take a few steps backwards and get to see the aftermath of Rishi from Anakin's perspective, before delving into his discussion with Dooku, which will be followed by a confrontation with Rex after he overhears their talk.

Also, the conversation between Anakin and Dooku contains spoilers for the finale of "Raging Wars" and for "In the Grip of a Tyrant", so I recommend you go and read those short stories if you care about spoilers.

Post-Edit Note: Hello there everyone! I almost forgot to tell you, I'm going on vacation for a week, so there won't be a chapter until at least Sunday the 18th, since I'll get back that night, but this chapter is a bit longer as compensation.

Now…without further ado…let's jump right into it!

Alliance with a Sith! After preventing the tragic end of Domino Squad on the Rishi moon and successfully faltering a Separatist attack on Kamino, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker receives a message from an old foe, who claims to wish the Emperor's defeat and demise. Meanwhile, Captain Rex, having overheard the conversation between the two former Sith, confronts his General in hopes of getting answers, but he may discover far more than he bargained for…

Resolute, General's quarters, Anakin's point of view:

I woke up to the softness of a bed beneath me and was momentarily confused by the lack of a Bacta Tank to keep me alive, but soon realized that I was in my quarters on the Resolute, with the days of being kept alive by machinery now being little more than a fading memory. Stifling a yawn, I stumbled my way off the bed and to the fresher, using the Force to turn the tap and toss cold water on my face to wake myself up properly.

Having just done so, I realized that some water had spilled on the floor, and quickly grabbed a towel to deal with the slight mess, making the majority of the water float to it so I wouldn't waste too much time with this. It took me a few seconds, but the fresher was now dry once more, and I exited the room, still feeling groggy after Rishi, which had just been the top of the iceberg when it came to things I had to deal with in the past couple of months, followed directly by the Sith spirits –or Phantoms, as Revan had taken to calling them- being a major pain in the behind on nearly every mission so far.

"Lost in thought again?", asked a familiar voice. I didn't have to turn around to know who it belonged to.

"Good morning to you too, Revan.", I replied seriously, hoping that this was a social call and nothing else, not in the mood to deal with any more undead Sith on top of having a Legion to run.

I turned around and could practically see the smile that his mask hid. It disappeared as he caught wind of my thoughts through the Force. "Oh, no. No Phantom this time.", Revan was quick to reassure me, shaking his hands awkwardly as he did so, perhaps for emphasis. "I get wanted to check in with you, make sure you aren't burning yourself out.", he added, elaborating on the reason behind his physical manifestation, which was apparently near impossible when the Force Ghost was manifesting outside of a Nexus point.

I was a bit confused by why he was going through the trouble of straining himself to materialize when he could just as easily talk to me through the Force, but I didn't address it, instead moving past him and sitting on my desk chair, opening up some files that come in yesterday and getting to work.

"What? Nothing else to say?", Revan asked in a joking manner, but I –unfortunately- didn't have time for distractions if I wanted to be there for Ahsoka's lesson later today.

Deciding to not be rude to him, I turned to face him. "Ahsoka and I have a lesson in the afternoon. I'll miss it if I don't get this work done now.", I explained to him, hoping he would understand that I simply didn't have time for social calls, even when I desperately wanted to take a break for one.

Revan sighed before shaking his head, in what I could sense was a mix of amusement and worry. He tilted his head ever so slightly, and I could easily picture him lifting a questioning eyebrow in my direction. "You…do know that the lesson was an hour ago, yes?", he inquired, and as his words set into my head, panic soon followed.

Throwing myself off the chair, I Force pulled my comm. to my hand and dialed Ahsoka's number, set on apologizing for mission out on our sparring session, but Revan immobilized it with the Force before I could, causing me something akin to puzzlement.

"Let me go!", I shouted to his face, suddenly angry for reasons I didn't know. "I have to apologize to her for-", I tried to tell him, but he raised his hand, cutting me off.

Revan then motioned for me to sit back down, which I reluctantly did, understanding that I wouldn't be allowed to leave unless we had talked. He seemed to approve of this as he took a seat on the corner of my bed, and adjusted his head so that I'd be staring at the lenses of his mask, where the eyes should be. "Anakin. You're losing your focus. Take a deep breath. Relax.", he instructed, sounding far too much like Obi Wan as he did so.

I did as he asked and repeated the action a few times, feeling a little better after each repetition. I stopped a few moments later, feeling more at ease than before. "Why are you stopping me from apologizing to Ahsoka?", I asked him calmly, patiently waiting for an answer when Revan stayed silent.

A few moment later, he finally replied, his tone showing satisfaction at my control over my anger and 'rashness', as Obi Wan would have put it. "It seems that I was right to check on you.", he remarked, not expecting me to respond. His tone then shifted, conveying worry and a bit of guilt, though I didn't know what he could possibly be guilty for. "You're burning yourself out.", he said to me.

I was –or at least pretended to be- genuinely confused as to why he thought so, but eventually relented, admitting that he was right to both him and myself. "Yeah…", I hesitated. "Things have been a bit…much, lately."

Revan's helmet tilted again, right before he nodded with understanding. "I see. I'm sorry for making you think you had to deal with all this by yourself.", he said, his voice nearly trembling. "It was wrong of me not to offer my assistance more often.", he then added, with that feeling of guilt coming back to him, and me, through the Force.

I lowered my head, not wanting to look my mentor in the eye as I contemplated the recent series of debacles we had all gone through in the past few months. Between having to face my fears on Mustafar, trying to convince Dooku of Sidious' true nature, training Ahsoka, accommodating new Clones as they became a part of the 501st, Rex getting shot back on Ryloth, hiding Darth Vader from the Jedi Council and ridding the Galaxy of Sith Phantoms in my spare time, things had gotten out of hand for even me to handle.

They had been that way for a while, really, but it hadn't occurred to me that I actually could ask for help this time, that I wasn't alone anymore. Revan reached out, placing a spectral hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me. I smiled at him, intent on speaking with Obi Wan as soon as possible. Revan smiled back from underneath his helmet, nodding once before fading into the Force, as he always did after our missions together.

Feeling a lot lighter than before, both in my mind and in the Force itself, I reached out for my comm. with my actual hand this time, but I didn't have time to call Obi Wan as it buzzed in my hand, indicating that I was receiving a call from someone. I reached out with the Force before answering and after sensing no danger from whoever was on the other end of the line, I picked up, collecting myself in case it was a Council Member, though none of them would have a reason to call on an encrypted frequency.

As I pressed the button to accept the call, the form of an elegant man frizzled on the device. It was Count Dooku, wearing his signature robes, complete with the dark brown cloak of his usual attire. He tried to hide it, but I could tell he was nervous, his eyes darting around the room he was in, probably checking for anyone still inside.

Dooku cleared his throat when he saw me looking at him, and I did him the favor of pretending to not have noticed his frantic looks, nor the sweat building up on his forehead. Stiff as Master Yoda's cane, he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Lightly probing his mind with the Force, I discovered that he wasn't sure how to bring his encounter with Qui Gon into the conversation, thinking that I was oblivious to his existence.

"I already know about your talk with him.", I said coldly, making my voice sound a bit deeper than it was and avoiding the use of names. Dooku seemed confused by the action, but he quickly understood and followed my lead, making himself sound a tad different as well, with an accent eerily similar to Obi Wan's.

"I am glad for that. I wasn't quite sure how to bring it up.", he said, visibly relieved.

I stifled a laugh at how odd he looked trying to have a 'normal' conversation with me, and opted to get to the point, if only to save us both the awkwardness.

"I assume you wish to help us?", I inquired in a tone I would later realize was far too reminiscent of Vader's.

Dooku nodded, still agitated and –wisely- not letting his guard down. "He showed me what will become of the Galaxy if Lord Sidious is allowed to destroy the Jedi Order, but together, we can stop him! The Council are all fools, not understanding that there is more to this War than merely politics, but you and I have a chance to end this madness my boy!", he said, delivering what I could only assumed to be an impromptu speech.

Biting my lower lip to avoid bursting into laughter in Dooku's face, who still clearly had no idea that I had already lived through the Fall of the Republic, I brought a hand in front of my face, carefully concealing a wide grin. He thinks he can turn me to the Dark Side! Obi Wan is going to lose his shit when I tell him about this!

When I turned my attention back to Dooku he looked dejected, afraid even. That was when I realized he had most likely practiced the speech before and didn't know what else to say now that I wasn't convinced. Feeling a bit sorry for him, I ignored it completely, turning his attention to the lingering problem at hand.

"The Council's idiocy aside, I have no intention of becoming your apprentice, though I gladly accept your assistance in my efforts.", I told him coldly, snapping him back to the present and away from whatever thoughts he had occupying himself with.

Dooku seemed to hesitate, or was perhaps unsure of how to respond to the statement, but he didn't have to, as I sensed someone rapidly approaching my door. He also seemed to notice, perhaps having heard the loud footsteps –was that stomping?- and with a nod from me, went back to a rephrased version of his previous speech, in what I knew was an effort to shock the individual outside –most likely a Clone Trooper- and make it easier for me to convince them that they had never heard us speak, through what he thought would be a Mind Trick, but what was actually a memory wiping technique that Ancient Jedi had used on Revan millennia ago.

I didn't know how to perform this feat myself, but Revan certainly did, having used it to wipe all trace of identity from a young man who had been brainwashed by a Sith Phantom on the Undercity of Coruscant. The thought of doing that –even to a lesser extend- to one of my men sickened me, but it was necessary if I was to save the Galaxy, and subsequently, all the Clones' lives from the Emperor.

In the couple of seconds it took for me to get my thoughts in order, Dooku was already midway through his improvised speech, and whichever one of my men was on the other side of the door was clearly dazed, stunned by what he was hearing.

"-and together, we shall stand against this evil that plagues the Galaxy, we will be unstoppable." Sensing that the trooper –I didn't have to figure out who- was already in shook just by hearing Dooku's voice, I nodded to him in affirmative, attempting to convey that we could speak freely for the time being.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?", I asked him, feeling oddly concerned about the elder man's fate. It wasn't something I could have ever expected, but I was actually more worried about Dooku than about having a spy in the Confederacy. Odd. Maybe part of Padme's idealism has rubbed off on me.

A moment passed before the reply came. "I am certain.", the Count replied. "I know the risks, but one cannot gain a high reward without taking some. We both know who is responsible for the Galaxy's state my boy, and he cannot go unpunished for what he has done.", Dooku, his anger at Sidious clear at last, added, assuring me that we were on the same side, though I still worried about what that meant, with the Dark Side clouding his vision and his years as a Sith having skewered his perspective.

"I assure you Count, he will pay the price of his insurgence when it comes to the Force's Will, but power not what I am looking to ensure. I know enough of the Dark Side as we speak. What I want is an ally, not someone who will stab me in the back the very moment I turn around, and I can't trust you like that. Not yet, at least.", came my response, though it wasn't in my own voice. Rather, it was Darth Vader speaking, and Dooku, somewhat realizing that I was darker now, chose his words carefully.

There was another pause before he spoke again. "Qui Gon believed in actions saying far more than words, and I share the sentiment. When the time comes for you to ask for my support, you will have it.", Dooku replied calmly, though I could detect some fear in his message, along with the feeling of existential dread that I had sensed from virtually everyone in my first year as Sidious' slave, with the deep tone not helping calm the aged Count's nerves.

Deciding to end this discussion before my anger at Sidious for what he had turned both me and Dooku into got the better of me, I spoke quickly, trying to bring forth the memory of the Count in Jedi robes once more, and grabbing on the Light as hard as I could to keep my feelings from overwhelming me. "I certainly hope so.", Vader's voice replied again, startling Dooku as I turned the comm. off and tugged at Obi Wan through our Bond.

I wasn't quite sure how long I stood there for, but I could feel him tug back repeatedly, and suddenly the world became a little brighter, but I didn't manage to speak to him as he had to leave in order to deal with a frantic Cody, who was –according to my brother- tripping over himself every few steps and seemed to have just arrived via gunship that was sent to bring him back to the Negotiator.

While this comment puzzled me since he should have been here on the Resolute with Rex, I didn't have time to think about it as I set eyes on an equally frantic and disturbed Rex, who seemed desperate to…hide from me? He was using two of his brothers as cover and I could feel a mess of emotions from him, with none overpowering the others, so I had no idea of what had gotten into him.

Seeing that he physically trembling, I stepped forward, trying to reach him, but he dashed away, leaving two befuddled Clones in his wake. I simply gave them a nonchalant shrug as a response, playing the fool, and begun to run after him, but it suddenly dawned on me. Rex had been the trooper who overheard Dooku and I talk!

Panic set into my mind as I used the Force to catch up to him, predicting his movements from having worked with him for years and quickly managed to outrun him, bolting into where I knew he'd go before he even got there. Sensing that I had approximately ten seconds before he managed to reach his quarters, I took a seat on the chair and waited for him. Sure, it was bound to give him a scare, but I knew he wouldn't listen unless I cornered him and I had to fix this before he told someone, which would be a complete disaster!

Rex walked in a few seconds later, looking behind his shoulder and even hesitating to enter for a moment, peeking around the corner to see if I was following him. He turned around in a split second, and –contrary to what I had expected- pulled a blaster on me. And in that moment, his emotions were clear, since there was only one. The cold, stinging pain of betrayal I knew all too well.

"Do-don't move!", he shouted, stuttering a bit. It was odd to hear, but I couldn't blame him. Force knows I'd done worse when feeling like he was.

"I'm not.", I replied calmly, the textbook picture of serenity clearly visible on my face.

Rex's eyes darted to my saber and I spared a glance at it as well, realizing that he thought I was a traitor, which –in his mind- meant that I wanted to hurt him. Not wanting to be serene anymore, I used the Force to gently lift it in the air and began picking it apart, leaving only the initial components and the kyber crystal floating about in the room.

Rex –like the good soldier he was- didn't allow himself to be distracted by the spectacle and kept his eyes on mine, managing to speak only one word through gritted teeth. "Why?", he asked, desperate for some kind of explanation or for me to tell him that he had misunderstood the situation. I wanted to, but I'm no lair, so I said nothing.

"Say something!", he suddenly screamed, his voice echoing across the room. I could sense the other Clones becoming worried and quickly diverted my attention to spreading Light energies around our vicinity, calming the men down before turning back to Rex.

"May I have a chance to explain myself?", I asked politely, knowing from personal experience that he'd ignore all I said until he was ready to hear it, though I was infinitely more used to being on the other side of this argument, with Obi Wan in my place during most of my teenage years.

A single tear slipped out of Rex's eye and fell to the floor, but he still nodded, his hands trembling. He wasn't able to keep aiming at me, and the blaster pistol fell to the floor unceremoniously as he collapsed along with it.

Very slowly –trying not to scare him- I got up from my spot and moved over to him, helping him to the chair where I could sense he had sat not that long ago. He was still shaking, but I could sense he yearned for an explanation, so I sat back down and began giving him one.

At first I hesitated, my voice was low, but I still managed to talk to him. "About Dooku…I think you might have misunderstood the situation.", I began, which caused Rex to look me in the eye, anger flashing across his face.

"What's there to misunderstand?", he asked, furious. "You're a darned spy for the enemy! What could I have been wrong about this time?", he added, his voice cracking as he yelled.

"I am not and will never be in Dooku's employ.", I told him honestly, opting to use a half-truth to calm him down. "We were talking yes, but I wasn't about to betray any of you. The topic of our…discussion, was a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious.", I added, and Rex seemed to divert his focus from screaming at me to actually paying attention.

He then gave me a nod to keep going, so I continued. "I've had nightmares of what will happen if Sidious wins this war, and I knew that Dooku was his apprentice, so I told him of them on Tatooine. That's why I let him leave. I took a gamble that day and it paid off, because today he contacted me, wanting to join forces in order to stop Sidious and end the Clone Wars.", I explained to him, leaving out the part with Qui Gon since it wasn't relevant.

"So…you aren't a spy?", Rex asked, hopeful but hesitant at the same time.

I nodded a negative. "No…I'm not.", I confirmed for him. "There are a lot of things I haven't told you about and you were right to act the way you did, but I promise I only have the best interests in mind, for everyone on and beyond this ship.", I added, tempted to tell him about Vader.

"I'm sorry sir.", Rex apologized in a hushed whisper. "I shouldn't have let Cody's nonsense get into my head." He hung his head low, ashamed of his rashness.

"Don't worry Rex, I'm pretty sure you got that from working with me all this time.", I dared to joke, and to my surprise, Rex smiled at me.

He seemed to want to speak, but hesitated, so I did the obvious and nodded, giving him permission. He didn't need it of course, but he wasn't quite used to the concept yet. "Sir…what about your other missions? On Jabiim, you destroyed those droids but didn't do the same on Christophsis, you disappeared after that battle and you dragged us all the way out to Mustafar for a reason sir, but never told us why.", Rex observed, not really asking, but also intrigued.

I chuckled at the question and how easy these would have been to answer if he had just asked me after those missions were over, but I still responded all the same. "In the same order, I'm pretty sure I almost killed myself on Jabiim so I didn't want to risk it, it was Sith-related, and Mustafar was where one of Sidious' many hideouts was. I wrecked the place and got the location of another hideout on Coruscant, but I couldn't tell you that then. Secret mission and all that.", I trailed off, knowing he got the gist of it.

Rex seemed to finally calm down for good, reaching out for a fist bump of all things which I returned with a smile. My gaze then fell on the still-floating components of my lightsaber and I glanced at Rex, asking the silent question. He grinned and sat back on his chair, watching as the different parts all shuffled together and then clicked in their respective places, eventually forming a lightsaber out of them. He failed to hide his awe as he watched with an open mouth, taking it all in. When the final part clicked in its place and the blade of light was ignited for Rex to see, he was focused was solely on it, having forgotten everything else in the room. I suppressed a chuckle as I observed him, now completely at ease with me, hoping that he would be the same once this dreadful War was over, because I intended to keep my friend in one piece, whether he like it or not.

And…scene! There you have it everyone, chapter 23 of a Messed Up Destiny! This one was…a doozey, what with Rex going off at Anakin and all that. I'll try to keep the epilogue short for you guys (and me since it's pretty late right now), so without further ado…let's dive right in.

Firstly, the opening segments. Honestly, I didn't intend to put this here. It was written as a first draft for another chapter, but I then figured that it would be too mild for that kind of situation, so I moved it a bit and used it to show that Anakin is kind of a wreck at the moment, or at least in the aftermath of Rishi. It's pretty self-explanatory, but the gist is that we can see Anakin relying on the Force and using it even for mundane things since he doesn't have the time to do them by hand, we see him missing lessons with Ahsoka (though I should note this hasn't happened a lot, maybe once or twice, he's still a good teacher to her) and all of his responsibilities causing him to burn out and crumble under the weight of doing it all by himself. This is an issue that will be present for the majority of the first act, but it will also be addressed accordingly.

Secondly, Revan's intervention. This scene was improvised to transition between the opening and the rest of the chapter, but I still think it does a pretty good job of showing that their relationship as Teacher and Student, but also as friends, has evolved since the last time they were on screen. They know how the other works and can understand each other even without words at times, but it still isn't quite the brotherly relationship that Anakin has with Obi Wan, because that can't ever be replicated. Also, as a side note, did anyone catch the idea for a future side story in this part? It has to do with the Phantoms.

Thirdly, the Sith Phantoms themselves. Okay, so this is where the side story "Shadows of the Sith" comes into play fully. For those who haven't read that short (it's only 5 chapters and on my profile) the gist of it is that Anakin and Revan discover that because of Anakin's return from the Dark Side during Book 1, the Force is out of balance and has attempted to course correct this by opening up thousands of Dark Side Nexus points, basically places where there is a lot of Dark Side energy.

Unfortunately, the Sith are always up to no good and this has created a sort of gateway for some (the strongest) Sith who have died in the past to slip through and manifest inside these Nexus points. They are trapped there for eternity so it shouldn't be a problem, except it is because if Sidious finds out about them, he'll have an army of nearly unbeatable Sith at his command, so Anakin and Revan (the only ones in the group who can use Force Light –this power is explained in Shadows of the Sith-) have to get rid of these Phantoms and dispel the Dark Side energy to stop more from coming back the same way.

Hope this cleared it up for those who didn't know what the kriff I was talking about.

Fourthly, Dooku. This…is complicated. I purposefully made it so that their conversation wouldn't really go anywhere besides them agreeing to be "allies", but with Dooku having a skewed perception of what that means, they won't be agreeing on anything more via holo call, so there's that and I just wanted Rex to hear their discussion, so it didn't necessarily have to pay off immediately, since logically, it wouldn't. Anakin would obviously go talk to Obi Wan about it before agreeing on anything or telling Dooku the plan since he could be compromised very easily, but the important thing from this conversation is what Dooku says about Qui Gon preferring actions over words and him feeling the same way, which basically means that until Dooku proves that he wants to be a part of the team and that they are all on the same page about what exactly that means, everything is at a halt.

Lastly, Rex. The poor man obviously had a lot of things going in the last two chapters, and everything tops off with his final confrontation with Anakin. It may not seem like much at first, but if you think about it from Rex's perspective, even so much as pulling a kriffing blaster on his General and friend means a lot here, since he's actually scared of Anakin in this scene. He is terrified of someone who he saw as a friend only hours ago and (to me at least) it's heartbreaking to see him act this way towards his friend, but the way Anakin handles the situation is also not the best, at least at the beginning.

He practically chases Rex down after noticing that something is wrong and doesn't stop to think that Rex is scared of him in those moments, only realizing it la few seconds later. He then proceeds to corner him, which is supposed to be a parallel with what Commander Fox did to Fives in the Clone Wars, but he thankfully realizes that he's been on the other side of this situation quite a few times and manages to handle it, but not before Rex collapses to the floor because he can't take the feeling of betrayal that is going through his head. All in all, the poor dude had a hard time, but it'll get better with time.

Next time: As Anakin and Rex try to recover from the massive hit to their friendship, Ahsoka feels like she'll never be as strong as her master and, frustrated, challenges his to a duel for all the 501st to see. A lot more than a simple victory is at stake here and Ahsoka is dangerously close to following a dark path with tremendous consequences, but will Anakin be able to save her, or will he suffer the fall of his apprentice…

That's all for now everyone! Reviews are always welcome, whether it be to ask a question or to chat, and I'll see you all next chapter, but until then, May the Force be with you!