A MESSED UP DESTINY

A STAR WARS STORY

Chapter 39

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

Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 39 of the story! Last chapter was ended on a rather somber note, so today I've decided to switch things up with a mystery-styled chapter featuring Cody and the Vode! Unfortunately, the Clone Commander in question isn't doing too well right now, having been worried sick about his Jedi General for the entire past week, and with the 501st and 212th being called back to Coruscant to receive orders for a top-secret operation, Cody knows that he needs to try and resolve the situation before Obi Wan works himself to the bone.

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

Murder Mystery! Having been tasked with investigating the identity of Darth Sidious by the Jedi Council, Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi refuses to leave his work unfinished, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker runs himself ragged trying to keep his friend from falling apart. Meanwhile, unwilling to let his General torture himself any longer, Commander Cody calls all his brothers together in an attempt to discover the identity of the mysterious Sith Lord, but will they succeed, and at what cost?

The Negotiator, Commander's Quarters, Cody's point of view:

Enough was enough. General Kenobi had been working himself to the bone for the entirety of the past week, and I wasn't going to stand by any longer. The General had always looked out for us Clones, and was a…friend, one could say. Not exactly Vod, but as close as a Jedi could get to it. The last I'd seen him, General Skywalker had been carrying him over his shoulder, mumbling something about a stubborn old fool. Kenobi –or Obi Wan as he kept on insisting I call him, even now- had passed out from exhaustion according to the medics, and Skywalker hadn't left his side since, not like that was any different from the past week.

Rex's Jedi had always been an odd one. We both could tell from the moment we'd laid eyes on the tall man in dark robes whose first attempt at introducing himself to me was playing a prank on my brother. Rex himself hadn't had it any better, no one had forgotten how the 501st's General had lashed out at Commander Fett that day, not with how often he'd do the same thing to droids while on the field. Skywalker was no ordinary Jedi, or so our brothers had been telling us from the start, not that Rex and I needed to hear it. We'd already seen for ourselves by that point.

Bly's Jedi was a blue-skinned Twi'lek, with a heart of gold or so he kept saying. I could recall a recounting of one of their early missions, where the two had gone out to scout a Separatist position. They'd found a little boy, no older than nine, roaming near there, lost. General Secura had taken him back to camp and personally delivered the boy to his worried parents. At the time, Bly had seen this as a risk to the mission and recommended the bare minimum deviation from their target, but that's just how my brother was. Always focusing on the mission, no matter the cost. Then again, Bly did seem more…at ease these days. As if he worried less for the War, somehow. Had Secura's drive to help others been passed down to him? Or had she influenced him in some other way, maybe made him realize that the mission isn't all there is?

Wolfe had it better than most of us by the regular standard. Only Rex's Jedi could ever match the level of compassion General Koon, since Wolfe wouldn't stop talking about how well he treated them. He'd even mentioned that the Kel Dor had refused to abandon Boost and Sinker while in mortal peril, if 'mentioned' is a synonym for 'wouldn't shut up about'. Really, at this point, it was an open secret amongst Clones that the 104th no longer fought for the Republic, but their Jedi Commander.

From my personal experiences with Skywalker, I could say he was much the same, but also different. It was no secret how compassionate the man was, nor was there a Brother fighting in the War that didn't know about his strength and miraculous victories, but what was left unsaid by many still was the kindness he showed to his men, even to those he'd be meeting for the first time. And to him, it didn't matter what legion you were from or how many droid kills you'd racked up, he saw us all in the same way, as people, and he was loyal to every single one of us, most of all Rex.

On the other hand, the man could be downright terrifying sometimes. It went entirely against his nature, but this odd behavior was what had caused me to suspect him as a spy, even though I knew he'd rather die than betray us. Still, the sheer power he exhibited, and the level of control he had over it…no Jedi was that powerful. Skywalker had taken the fantasies of the people who'd been taught the Jedi were epic heroes, and turned them all into Legends. By all accounts, he was just that. A living legend. And yet…Rex and I could tell he was hiding something still. It wasn't any of our business, but there seemed to be something dark deep down inside of him. Then again, War has its way of bringing out the worst in people, so maybe he's struggling with the Jedi version of that. It would explain why his eyes flashed yellow every time this 'Sidious' was mentioned, since the bastard was supposedly behind the whole War, or so I'd overheard Skywalker and Kenobi talk about a day after the fiasco on Naboo.

By all accounts, it was a victory. We'd gone in and out, quick and easy like always. No one had died during the operation itself and the bombs that crazy doctor had planted around the planet were all disarmed, and we had Rex's Jedi to thank for that. Naboo's citizens had prepared an entire feast in thanks, even though it wasn't needed. They all were kind like that. Maybe that's why Skywalker fancies their Senator so much. Unfortunately, it had only taken a few hours for the whole thing to turn into yet another bloody mess. When the boys and I had found General Kenobi on his knees inside one of the Palace's generator rooms, I could instantly tell that something was horribly wrong.

My suspicions had been confirmed a few moments later, when I'd asked the General if he was okay. He'd actually responded, but the tone of his voice was broken, and I knew his heart had been absolutely shattered by that day's events. The General hadn't let out another word for the next couple days, not a sound to anyone who wasn't Skywalker. I tried to approach him once, but as soon as he opened his door to find me standing there, he'd flicked his wrist immediately, and the door had shut itself in my face, locking instantly. When I or anyone else tried to speak to him, he'd just stay silent unless it was about the mission that the Jedi Council had assigned him. And really, how big a jerk does someone have to be in order to assign him the task of finding out who killed the person he loved? One day, when the War was over, I'd be sure to ask those karking idiots that question, but for right now, there was work to be done.

Stretching my arms, I got up from my bed –my quarters actually had a real bed unlike the mats in the barracks, and it was wonderful- and walked over to the desk, picking up my comm. If the General wasn't letting me help or granted himself any rest, then I'd just make sure he had nothing to work on anymore. That way, he'd have no excuse to hide behind and would start taking care of himself again, since Skywalker was the one to do everything for him these days, even bringing the caf, which was supposed to be my job!

Shaking my head in frustration, I pressed the corresponding button, sending out a call to all of my trusted friends and former squad mates from Kamino, which were Rex, Bly, Wolfe, Gree and Fox. A perfect squad of six, trained to be Commanders since our youth…which really was only five years ago, but still. Surprisingly, everyone picked up, all of them safe and sound, with no one being stupid enough to answer while dodging blaster fire. Rex had done that once, claiming it always seemed awesome when Skywalker did it. I'd yelled at him back then, but if I'm honest, it was absolutely wicked.

Speaking of Rex, the 501st's Captain –and my best friend- was currently in his own quarters, quietly sipping on a bottle of Alderaanian wine –of all things!- that he'd been gifted by Senator Amidala's family while the 501st was leaving Naboo. The Senator was also on the Resolute, keeping an eye on Skywalker's Padawan for him, even though Commander Tano believed it to be the other way around.

Gree, Bly and Wolfe were also at their desks, idly writing up reports or taking care of paperwork, but Fox…was eating pastries. The most serious of all of us, the Brother who'd once chastised me for munching on a ration I'd pocketed earlier during guard duty on Kamino, had the gall to eat pastries right in front of all of us! Upon seeing the questioning look I gave him, he innocently shrugged, as if he could ever come off as innocent. The man was no Waxer, even if he was trying.

"What?", Fox questioned as the rest of us prepared to chastise him for doing the same thing he'd pretended was above him years ago.

"Really, Vod?" Bly was the first to speak, adopting an accusatory tone.

This prompted Fox to defend himself, gulping down the last pastry as he threw the empty box in the trash bin besides his chair. "What?", he questioned, "Riyo says I don't eat enough!", he countered, and Rex peeked an eyebrow at the foreign name. Especially since it belonged to a female.

"…And just who is this 'Riyo'?", Rex inquired as the rest of us prepared to tease our brother about whatever answer he was about to give. Fox never had been good with arguments, so this was bound to be fun, if only to lighten the mood before I told everyone what was going on, not that Rex didn't already know.

Fox went scarlet, mimicking the color of the Guard's armor for a split second before clamming up, eventually relenting after being stared down by the rest of us. "…The…she…uh…", he tried to resist telling us, but it was futile in the end. "Oh, fine! She's the Senator of Pantora!", he admitted in slight frustration, but I saved him from the impending interrogation by speaking up, not that he would escape it forever, but General Kenobi's wellbeing was more important.

"Brothers! As much I'm enjoying the banter, this isn't a social call.", I said, cutting of Wolfe and whatever innuendo he going to tease our brother with. They honestly weren't that bad, just bland since all he knew was the stuff he'd seen in a really terrible holo-drama add while on Coruscant for downtime.

"Finally, we're getting to the point!", Gree exclaimed, and we could all hear the exhaustion in his voice. He'd been having a rough few weeks now and had fallen behind on work, so he didn't like it when too much time was spent on banter.

"Brothers, I need your help. General Kenobi is not doing well after Naboo, and he's working himself to the bone on the Jedi Council's new assignment. He's supposed to be investigating this 'Darth Sidious', but there's no leads to start from except the security footage on Naboo, and that trail has run cold. Does anyone know anything about this guy? Even a rumor could go a long way.", I told them, and everyone was already scrambling around in their rooms, pulling up old data files in the hopes that something would be mentioned, but I stopped them, already having checked every single file we had access to. And if we didn't have access to it, then it wasn't meant to be seen by anyone, not even the Jedi.

Rex was the only one who stood perfectly still, his eyes adopting a faraway look like he was remembering or realizing something big. The others hadn't noticed, but I refrained from asking after the made the Arc signal for 'later'. He knew something, so why wouldn't he say?

I hesitated for a moment, but eventually relented, and just as I was about to tell everyone to knock it off, Rex spoke up, startling all of us. "My General has been hunting this guy.", he says, voice dull like he's running on autopilot.

Everyone's eyes and ears are glued to Rex as he continues to talk, raising more questions in my head by the second. "General Skywalker had his suspicions about this whole War since the beginning. He only told me a day ago, but the Jedi Council has known about Sidious since Geonosis, but believed him to be a lie Count Dooku came up with. Skywalker is the only one who tried to do something about it, and it's why he's been nearly killed three times in the past couple weeks.

"Apparently, it gets worse. This Sidious guy, whoever he is, is big. Like, 'has a personal legion of ruthless soldiers under his command' big, and Skywalker only found out when they tried to kill him. Caused some kind of ruckus to lure him out and nearly blasted him to pieces, or so he says." Rex ignored all our shocked looks and was about to say more, but Fox cut him off, signaling that he had something to say.

Rex let him speak, and my blood started boiling just a little more with every word coming out of my Vod's mouth. "I was there.", Fox admits, surprising even Rex. "Those troopers were technically Clones, but Skywalker refused to call them that when he gave me his account of what happened. Said that our brothers would never do something like that. This 'Darth Sidious' has a lot of people to give orders to, and even bigger pockets. It would take that kind of thing to equip those kriffs with armor twice as good as what we have." Fox suddenly shakes his head, then clams up. There's more to the story of what happened on Coruscant, but no one pushes him. No need for that right now.

Bly, Gree and Wolfe have nothing to add, only some vague mention of him by General Koon to the Council after he'd taken up the task of running facial and vocal recognition scans with the available footage, as well as trying to get a better read on the scumbag. At least not all the Council were willing to let the General do this by himself. After Wolfe's promise to transmit those files to me and Bly swearing he'd do everything he could to get information out of Secura if she had any, Gree also promised to bring it up with his Jedi, but stated that he wasn't too sure whether General Unduli would help, since she more of a traditionalist and he didn't want us getting into trouble for doing this.

The three signed off after our regular promise to stay alive until the next meeting, I waited for Fox to do the same so that Rex could tell me whatever it was that he knew, but our Vod didn't do such thing. Instead, Fox's eyes were now darting around, as if looking for something. A moment later, he snatched something of the right side of his desk, and promptly transmitted everything the data chip had to our coms.

"Rex…Cody. What I've just sent you is my personal copy of the incident report regarding that event, along with everything else the Guard managed to get our hands on…which isn't much really…", Fox sighed, but Rex and I knew he'd made a habit out that, so we didn't interrupt him. "Adjacent to these files you'll find another one that I've written in Mando'a. It contains my own personal thoughts on the subject, and it's only for Vod eyes, along with Skywalker.", my brother finished, his last comment causing Rex to look at him curiously.

Upon seeing this, Fox physically twitched, his hand going towards the slot on his belt where his pistol should be, but stopping mid-way, stiffening as he did so. "Rex…your General saved my life. I…I trust him.", he said hesitantly, as if afraid that someone would hear. What was going on with him?

In response to this, Rex's eyes widened, a look of realization painting itself on my brother's face. "Fox…", Rex began, unsure of what to say. It wasn't often that this happened, so whatever he knew was clearly important. "…General Skywalker told me about a second incident on Coruscant. He let it slip if I'm honest, but he mentioned the Kaminoans. Do you-Do you know something about that?", Rex asked politely, in a tone suited for asking a lost child where their parents were.

Fox twitched at Rex's words, taking a sharp breath. It was obvious that he didn't want to say, or even think about whatever had happened, but then he inhaled again, this time more slowly. After a few more moments, he relented, and opened his mouth to speak. "Rex…I was told not to say. This…this could get us all killed, or-or worse.", he stuttered, trying to object. Even then, he continued, visibly pale now. "The Kaminoans…they did something to us. All of us, when we were still in the tubes. Skywalker knows, he knows what will happen if they or Sidious figure out that we know. I-I'm sorry. I can't…"

For a moment, Rex seems like he wants to say more, to pressure Fox into telling us. He decides against it, since Fox now looks like he wants to throw up. I can't bring myself to say anything either, not that I knew where to even begin. Fox then raises a shaking hand, his fingers trembling, and terminates the connection from his side. Only Rex and I are left now.

"Cody…do you think he'd tell me?", my vod asks, and I'm not sure. It wasn't that Skywalker was untrustworthy, quite the opposite in fact. But…if he thought that he was putting us in danger by telling us this, then was the secret really worth dying for?

"I…" I have no words to say to Rex, my mind busy raising questions by the thousands. What happened on Coruscant that everyone missed? Who were these advanced Clones? Why does Darth Sidious have control over them? Who is he? What could Fox be so afraid of, and what would cause him, the fearless of our group, to look like he'd seen a ghost? Eventually, I responded. I wasn't sure how long I'd left Rex hanging for, but I was certain of one thing, and it was this.

"I think he and Kenobi have some explaining to do."

And…scene! There you have it everyone! Chapter 39 of A Messed Up Destiny! This one was a bit shorter than usual yes, but I think it was worth it given what's been set in motion. Honestly, it's a shame there are so few stories of the Clones investigating Sidious or doing something about the Separatists on their own, without needing to be given pointers by the main characters. (As a side note, there is a really good one called "Dominoes" which I recommend if you want to read that kind of thing) Anyhow, it's a good thing that the Vode are taking this into their own hands, because with Anakin and Obi Wan both being a mess, not much is being done right now.

Anyways! We have a lot of analyses (yes this is the plural) to get through, so let's dive right in to the exposition!

Firstly, Cody's thoughts on Anakin. Throughout this chapter, we get a pretty complete look on how 'General Skywalker' is seen through Cody's eyes, as well the Clones who don't actually know him. He's someone to be admired, someone strong and with great power, who is dedicated to the cause. Cody has seen firsthand just how loyal Anakin is, and he isn't wrong in stating that he's taken the epic tales of the Jedi and turned them into Legends. After all, isn't he just that?

Secondly, the Squad. I have a headcanon that these six were batchmates while still in training, and nothing will make me change this, since so little is known about Rex, Cody and the others before the Clone Wars themselves. I did however try to include the characteristics of each and every one of them, as they can be described the way Cody says they are. I'm planning to focus on each of them (or at least their legions/Jedi Officers) for at least two chapters each, and since I've already done that with Rex, Cody, Wolfe and Fox, Bly and Gree are bound to be placed in the spotlight soon enough.

Thirdly, Fox and Riyo. Honestly…I don't know why this ship exists. It's entirely made of fanon, but it is quite fun and it doesn't hurt to hint at the beginning of a friendship between the two of them here. Senator Riyo, from what we know of her, is very compassionate and certainly seems like the type to try and help someone if they are hurting, or to thank the Guard for their work in protecting her and her colleagues from harm. Besides, one may never know if this will become important later on…

Fourthly, Fox's confession, or rather the lack of one. Commander Fox is many things, but he's also incredibly loyal to his brothers. It's not a lack of trust that causes him to remain silent on this matter, but rather his own personal –traumatic- experience in relation to the Inhibitor Chips. He was almost forced to shoot himself just because he was considered 'defective' and knew of them, so he dares not imagine what could happen to his brothers if the Kaminoans or Darth Sidious discover that anyone knows about the chips. He's trying to protect his Vod, and also just can't bring himself to think about it at all. It makes him sick, as we all saw.

Lastly, Rex and Cody's search for answers. These two have been privy to a great number of things –mostly Rex, but still-, but the impending confrontation with Anakin and Obi Wan is the final destination in their hunt for the truth. They will discover things they aren't ready to learn, and it will change their destinies forever, as well as find out more than they are ready to handle.

Next time: Now directly involved in the hunt for Darth Sidious' identity, Clone Commanders Rex and Cody confront the one man who can give them the truth, but they will discover so much more than they desired. Will they be able to withstand the harsh reality of the world, or will they crumble under the weight of forbidden knowledge?

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