A MESSED UP DESTINY

A STAR WARS STORY

Chapter 46

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

Hello there everyone and welcome to chapter 46 of the story! First of all, my sincere apologies for the week-long delay on this chapter. I got caught up with the behind-the-scenes stuff, but also had another obligation in the form of a commissioned script for a comic in the Miraculous Ladybug fandom. Therefore, it took priority. Worry not however, the job is done and we're back on schedule!

Anyways, today we pick up only a few hours after we last saw our heroes, with Obi Wan making his way to Anakin, who will soon be called to lead the investigation into the LiMerge Building, since the commotion did not go unnoticed. As promised however, this chapter is a surprise Fox-centric one, because I feel like he deserves some love too. Besides, his is meant to be this chapter's MVP, and you'll see why soon enough.

[Obligatory note: Hi everyone. After much deliberation, I decided to take the time and fully fledge this chapter out, since it was done in a hurry and I was left greatly unsatisfied with it. Also, the Felucia Arc is more than half-done, so you can expect it to arrive soon. Working on these projects simultaneously is the reason for its delay.]

With that out of the way, and without further ado…let's jump right into it!

Coruscant, LiMerge Building, Commander Fox's point of view:

When we'd been called in to investigate a disturbance in the early hours of the morning, never in my life could I have expected what we were about to witness. The place was somewhere in the Works District, which according to our data was meant to be entirely abandoned. Of course, I was no shiny, and knew that there had to be people living there, but for me to be personally called in to check it out, it had to be important.

Upon arrival, I forced myself not to puke at the stench of the place. We'd just landed in what used to be the hangar bay, and everything smelled like rotting corpses. Worse, somehow. After a establishing a perimeter in the Hangar, I received a call from the Jedi Temple, with General Skywalker on the other side. Really, could I have expected anyone else after he called me in the middle of the night -just a few hours ago- to go and investigate some random Warehouse in the middle of nowhere?

And when Thorn and I had arrived, the first thing we'd found were dead Clones. The armor was the same as that of the group we knew wasn't part of the Republic Military, but after a quick search it seemed like a routine job, plus calming down a shiny or two who didn't have context on the whole thing. So I'd pulled everything I could from the flimsy security systems that were once in place –Force knows why they were even still running- and quickly went back to HQ, intending to check them out later. But for now, I had another mess to deal with.

Since Thorn had insisted he stay behind with the other Vod there to figure out what happened, I'd been forced to wake Stone from the first good sleep cycle the man had in ages, dragging him along to this hellhole. He stood next to me as I answered Skywalker's call, posture stiff and proper for a soldier. I was half-certain the Jedi might laugh at him.

Skywalker's face appeared on the comm. unit. He looked, refreshed, one could say. Good for him. "Commander Fox. It's good to see you.", he greeted in real honesty, and while I hadn't thought he'd forgotten about me –just as I hadn't forgotten about him- I hadn't expected him to actually be happy to see me. Wasn't Rex supposed to be his favorite?

"General.", I greeted professionally, trying to let him know I didn't have time for social calls. "With respect sir, I'm in the middle of a-", I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

Skywalker hid a grin. "I'm well aware Commander. In fact, the Council has sent me to assist you, since we believe a Sith was involved.", he said, and I tried not to curse. Of karking course a Darjet'ii was involved! Every time!

Seeing that I didn't respond, Stone took over, asking the General when we'd arrive, and in a flash, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Skywalker, and I couldn't help but scream as I jumped back in reflex. "Karking hell! Where did you come from?", I yelled at him, forgoing manners entirely. I knew he didn't mind, judging by that shit-eating grin he wore.

Rex's Jetii had the audacity to laugh, while Stone looked ready to faint after hearing me speak to a Jedi like I had. "Testing out a new Force Power. You'd be surprised how much one can learn if they know where to look.", he replied casually, as if he hadn't just…teleported? Did he teleport? Was that even possible?

"Ahem…" Stone cleared his throat, gesturing to the building around us. Skywalker seemed to get the memo, since he put on his 'General' face, as Rex called it. It wasn't quite the neutral expression, but a blind man could tell he was being serious, or at least looked the part. For a moment he looked like he was sensing something, but the instant passed and we all got down to business.

Skywalker then took the lead, using that Jetii Magic of his to guide our squads around the places that were about to collapse, as proven by the fact that most did so just moments after we walked around them, passing dozens of corpses along the way. With all the collapsed ceilings, floors, torn walls and destroyed…everything, we probably wouldn't have made it out without having at least a few of us fall to our deaths. It was a good thing he showed up really, maybe a little too good.

"Woah!", Shiny –a Vod who got the name by how clean his armor always was-, our resident health nut, exclaimed after he almost tripped over a rotting corpse in the hallway we were in. And the thing was rotting, even with having been here barely a few hours. At least Skywalker seemed to confirm my thoughts as he moved to examine it.

The General had managed to stop himself from gagging as he took a closer peek, a look of disgust spreading on his face when he was done. "Force Drain. Should've guessed.", he said absentmindedly, causing Stone to request a clarification.

"Sir? What exactly is 'Force Drain'?", my Vod asked, and I could swear that Skywalker's eyes flashed yellow.

"A powerful ability of the Sith, favorited by Sith for its cruelty. In layman's terms, it sucks the life out of your body, leaving you…well.", he cut himself off, gesturing at the corpse with his left hand. In his other one he lit his saber, using it as a light source to get a closer look at some of the thousand marks on the walls.

Upon further examination, I recognized the 'scratches' as lightsaber marks. Rex's Jetii asked us to stand back as he swung his saber around slowly, not putting any real force behind his moves as he tried to mime whatever the attacker had done. With some trial and error that is.

When he was done, Skywalker shut off his saber and moved back to us, accidentally bumping the blade into a corner. To everyone's momentary shock, it just…bounced off. The Jedi didn't bat an eye as a weapon that could cut through anything just failed to slice through a simple wall. Were they reinforced perhaps?

Probably sensing our confusion with that Force of his –an aspect of the Jedi few Vode would ever come to even slightly understand- Rex's Jetii stopped in his tracks, lit the saber again, and began a lecture. As if we were trainees. Dini'la Jetii…

"Gentlemen, a lightsaber doesn't produce heat, contrary to popular belief. In fact, the gyroscopic force of the blade's arc is what exerts heat into the environment, and what allows our weapons to cut through things. Only with significant force can the blade pass through an object, otherwise…", Skywalker trailed off, igniting his saber again and letting bounce off the walls a little.

"And the same repulsing effect that allows our blades to cut through things is also why they clash instead of passing through one another.", the Jetii finished, looking almost pleased at a chance to share this knowledge.

Some Vode nodded, Stone seemed to actually pay attention to what Skywalker was saying, jotting down notes on his datapad. My vod had always been interested in the Jedi when we were still on Kamino, and despite his newest fascination with Galactic History as a whole, the interest he had in our Jedi Commanders and their ways never left him.

"Now, I think we shouldn't stay in one place for long. This place reeks of the Dark Side, who knows what else is here for us to discover!", he exclaims, obviously interested in whatever secrets this place held. Personally, I just wanted to get this over with.

The more we advanced through the destroyed hallways, the more I got the sense that this hadn't been a battle, but a full-on slaughter. The bodies we passed were riddled with all sorts of damages, stuff that I'd never seen before. Soldiers burned alive and reduced to little more than skeletons, corpses fried by lightning strikes, snapped necks, bones having been pulled out of the bodies, breastplates crushed along with entire torsos…this was going to be one hell of a report to write when we got back.

And yet…it felt as if something was missing here. Stone got the same idea, as he started looking around the cracks of the walls or shinning his torch down what looked like endless chasms to see if there was something at the bottom. General Skywalker wasn't strictly leading us, leaving the actual investigating to 'the professionals' and only helping us navigate, tearing down walls or lowering troopers into holes we wanted to check out. And with that Jetii Magic of his, he'd just summon literal light in his hands to brighten up corridors, which made all of us feel a little warmer somehow…eh, I'd never understand the Jetii and their mysticisms.

While Stone personally investigated one of the literal chasms in this place, I took the opportunity to slide next to Skywalker, wanting to ask how he seemed to know this place so well. Had he been here before?

"General, if I may…", I hesitated, prompting him to give me the go-ahead to talk to him. Since he was the only one keeping Stone from falling to his death, I'd thought it wise to ask before possibly diverting his attention.

Whispering, I moved an inch closer to him. "Have you been here before?", I asked under my breath, but the Jetii still heard me.

Skywalker got a far-away expression on his face, the same kind some Vod would get if anyone asked about a friend who had passed. That pale look on their faces, eyes going dead for a mere moment, and his whole body twitching, as if remembering the pain. It took him a moment to compose himself, now breathing deeply, almost rhythmically.

"No, Fox. I, Anakin Skywalker, haven't been here before.", he answered mechanically, shaking off whatever memory I had unearthed. And with his answer, he'd certainly been here before, but with an alias. Skywalker was no liar after all.

Stone hollered for the Jetii to bring him back up, and tied to his leg was the body of a Clone Trooper, one of those traitors working with or for Sidious. There was a hole in his chest, but the interesting part were the scraps of a red clock stuck to the melted parts of his armor.

Stone said he saw no other corpse down there, but there had been too much blood for just one man. Had someone swept the place before we got here, removing bodies? Were they still here? Those questions I wanted answers to, so I ordered for all carcasses to be removed from the inner levels and brought to the hanger.

Within a few hours, we must have hauled two hundred bodies back to the hangar for the morgues to look into, except those the General had told us to put aside, for the Jedi Healers to take a look at. Darned if I know what they'd get out of those sacks of rotting, dried flesh, but to each his own, one could say. Even with all our progress, we'd only scratched the surface of whatever happened here, as there were no security rooms we could pull footage from according to the building plans that had been sent to the Guard upon request.

I'd told Skywalker so when he'd suggested the idea, and he immediately frowned, claiming it to be impossible. 'Surely a place this big would have at least one somewhere?', he'd murmured, but it was meant for us to hear. He looked at me as he said so, making the Vod Signal for 'up' with his left hand. I'd only known those because Rex and Cody had helped make them early on in the War, just one more thing to be grateful for, since the Guard often needed them to communicate without those pesky Senators noticing.

When I looked, my eyes went wide underneath the visor of my helmet, because there it was. The wiring for a security camera, manually removed, and judging by the good condition of the wires, it was recent. Could have happened yesterday, even. So someone had been here! And they must have been in a hurry too! They must have been good if they managed to sweep this much stuff under the rug, and I was certain we would have missed that, had Rex's Jetii not showed me. And so, I went to point it out to everyone.

That's when Skywalker closed his eyes for a moment, asking us to quiet down, and after a few seconds, began to lead us around the building, until we eventually hit a security room. The very thing we'd been told didn't exist in this place. Our slicers -two shinnies without names- had gotten to work immediately, pulling up the most recent footage. And it worked. We'd transferred the whole thing to three separate datapads -mine, Stone's and the General's- for safe keeping, and started playing some of the footage.

The things we found were…to be expected. After all this mess had to have been made somehow, but to see it happen…that was something else. By the looks of it, some cloaked figure had broken in the place, with another following closely behind. The video cut off for a moment before resuming. Some of the footage must have been corrupted.

The two figures were quickly spotted by a passing guard –these traitors weren't Vode- and he immediately opened fire…only for the blaster bolt to stop in mid-air, and fly back at him, ending up deep in his skull. This was…a development, one that no one in the room had time to consider, since the footage kept on going. Skywalker had said a Darjet'ii had been involved though. Looks like we found the perps…

More guards rushed to blast the intruders to pieces, and they revealed two red laser swords, like those the Jedi carried. They began to slice everything apart, and one of them unleashed some sort of electricity from his hand. Must have had an EMP. In the last frame, a red cloak was spotted as a blurry figure ran towards the intruders, one that most of us recognized immediately.

Stone was the first to break the silence that befell us. "One…one of the Chancellor's Guards? H-how?", he asked, stuttering in his shock.

General Skywalker's eyes narrowed, his featured darkened. A grin threatened to break open along his face, but he composed himself. Had I not been looking, I never would have guessed it.

Rex's Jetii spoke in a serious and collected tone, but those of us who'd worked with Senators knew his anger was barely controlled. It wasn't too hard to rile one of the old pricks up, so we weren't lacking in experience. "It appears the Chancellor has some explaining to do. This building was last owned by Hego Damask, Chancellor Palpatine's mentor in his early days as Senator. And his guards were the ones protecting it, along with men working for a known Separatist Leader."

More silence. A heartbeat passed. Then another, and the next. Skywalker cleared his throat. "The Jedi Council will send someone to speak with him. Mop up here, and try to find one of those corpses. Whoever removed them can't not have missed one.", he said with certainty in his, making it obvious that yes, this place had been tampered with.

Someone had removed evidence just as I suspected, which is why something felt missing the entire time. And with what Skywalker had told me about the Inhibitor Chips…the way he hadn't said a word about who was authorized to give those orders…

"General!", I exclaimed, surprising myself. "I'd like to see you in my office sir. It's about the…development in the Warehouse.", I told him, and he nodded, an understanding smile on his face.

"Sure thing Commander. Hey, hold on tight will you?", he asked offhandedly, offering his right hand. I took it, and a loud crack sounded in the air. Next thing I knew, everything was spinning, and I shut my eyes instinctively.

When I opened them, Skywalker and I were in my office! As if he'd just brought up here magically! Looking over at the Jetii, he seemed a bit dazed, the ceiling lights making his eyes appear slightly yellow. "Okay…two people is not a good idea…", the General let out, panting to catch his breath.

Suddenly, two shinnies opened the door, pushing a supply crate into my already cramped office. At least sitting on that would be better than the chair…Force how I hate that rusty thing! "Sir! Delivery for you from the Senate Building.", one reported, eyeing Skywalker in awe. The Jetii tensed as the crate came into his peripheral vision, then let out a long sigh.

The shinnies quickly fled, not knowing what else to do in the presence of a Jedi. I was about to take a seat on that comfortable crate, but Skywalker stopped me, using the Force to pry the lid open. A familiar woman peeked her head out of the crate, looking somewhat annoyed. The Jetii smiled once he saw her, and then it hit me. While difficult to recognize without the dresses and handmaidens, this was Senator Amidala! What the heck was she doing in a crate?

Skywalker casually lifted her out of the crate with the Force and plopped her down on the ground –the only place in my office that was actually not littered with datapads- and smiled softly at her. "Hey Angel. Didn't think Heaven had an express delivery system.", he joked, and the Senator stretched out.

"Oh shut up.", she half-whined, the same way a Vod would do when told a terrible joke by another Vod. Seeing the silence as my opportunity to speak, I did just that.

"General, with all due respect, will someone please explain what is happening?", I inquired, pretending I hadn't just half-begged the man.

Skywalker had the audacity to laugh, and loudly too. He locked the door with a flick of the wrist before sitting down on my chair, and immediately standing up. Seemed like even Jedi couldn't deal with that thing.

"Commander, the Force can grant someone abilities that many would consider to be…unnatural. And if one is to understand it's great mystery, they must study all its aspects.", the General explained in a warm tone, and I ignored the way he tensed, as Vod did when talking about difficult battles. I had no right to pry about whatever demons he was battling. We all did, one way or another, and it was Vode Code not to pry.

The Senator cleared her throat, slightly annoyed at the General. "What Anakin means is that he was messing around with something dangerous. Again. But alas, I also must apologize for sneaking in here Commander. There's some…urgent business to discuss.", Amidala said, in a tone we all knew should be reserved for the Senate Floor. Wasn't like we Clones didn't keep up with her speeches. She was the only one with half-interesting things to say, after all.

"Right.", Skywalker filled in, as if remembering just now. By what Rex would say about him, it wouldn't surprise me. "About that…I assume you figured something out Commander. About our benevolent leader?", he asked, tone dripping with malice at the Chancellor's title, the one bestowed by all the propaganda videos around the Holonet. As if we believed that crap.

Skywalker didn't seem demanding in his question, and his hate wasn't directed at me. Rather, an air of protectiveness hang around the man, the same feeling that I could recall Rex describing to me every time we'd speak in the first few months of the War, until right before Jabiim, if memory served. "He's working with the Sith Lord. This…Sidious person that Cody- I mean that I've heard about!", I corrected hastily, not wanting to throw my Vod under the speeder.

The Jetii let out a dry laugh. Even without that Force osik, I could still feel the room get colder, Skywalker's eyes now having a soft golden glow to them. I wasn't sure if I should even ask Rex about that, because looking into them made my mind scream in fear. He made no other moves, so the Senator chose to fill the silence.

"Commander, we're here for the security tapes from the Warehouse. This…entire operation, is much bigger than all of us. Palpatine and Sidious are…in league, yes, and neither of them will allow anyone to prevent the Sith Empire that plans to replace the Republic. The Jedi Council will deal with their Sith Lord, but it's the responsibility of people like us, citizens and servants of the Republic to hold the Chancellor accountable for his crimes. If we don't stop him…", she trailed off, lost in thought.

"Then the Separatists win.", I finished for her, as Skywalker gently guided me to the crate –now with its lid back on- so I could sit down. "Well sirs, I'm not letting some crazy space wizard or a pompous asshole take my brothers from me, Inhibitor Chips or no! I'm with you, the whole Guard is, if you need us!", I declared, for it was the truth. Once Thorn, Stone and Thire learned about what I'd figured out, they'd be in on the plot to take this traitorous Chancellor down! For the Republic! As it's always been!

Rex's Jetii let out a chuckle. It was soft, something about it spoke of hope, another part of admiration. Did he find us courageous? I hoped so. To have Skywalker's respect would be a dream for every Clone. The man was a hero. "Thank you Commander, but I'm afraid this war can't be fought on battlefronts with blasters and lightsabers. It's a mess of political intrigue that we are trying to unravel. The Jedi will handle Sidious, -I assure you, I'll cut him down myself- but your job is more delicate. Padme will explain the rest, but I should go report to our glorious leader. Wouldn't want to keep the devil waiting…", he said, muttering the last part under his breath, and took his leave, swiping the security footage from my desk.

This whole day had been filled with bad news…but to learn that the Chancellor was a Separatist…now that was big. And if he had control of the Inhibitor Chips and the protection of a powerful Sith Lord…General Skywalker was right. We'd have to proceed carefully. As the Jedi left, Senator Amidala –Padme, she insisted I call her- picked up her comm. and made a call. A few quick words later, I was sneaking her right back out of the base –telling the shinnies the crate wasn't meant for me- and to a secluded alleyway a few blocks down.

Once there, I could see two armored soldiers, wearing distinctly Republic gear, waiting for her, along with a third figure that I recognized instantly. Phantom. The assassin which had made life Hell for corrupt Senators. I had half a mind to blast him, but my mind flashed back to the time where Burtoni- where Skywalker had saved my life. The Chancellor had been behind that, and was the definition of corrupt by being a secret Separatist Leader, so I followed them, not at all prepared for everything I'd discover.

And…there you have it everyone! Chapter 46 of A Messed Up Destiny! Admittedly, this one didn't turn out as good as I wanted…but part of the reason is the other project I mentioned in the prologue, and that I haven't written Fox's POV before. Still, I did my best to give the dude some love, even if he also got a headache along with it.

Also, Mando'a translation for everyone:

Vod=Brother

Vode=Brothers

Darjet'ii= Sith

Jetii= Jedi

Osik= Shit

Anyhow! We have a lot to cover today (especially with me having added to this chapter) so let's jump right into the exposition!

Firstly, the LiMerge Building. For those unaware, it acted as Palpatine's primary base of operations when conducting Sith business during the Clone Wars, excluding his office of course. Made to look empty and abandoned, Sidious conducted many Sith rituals inside that place, like we see him do with Dooku in The Clone Wars show, to attack Yoda.

Secondly, Lightsaber Mechanics. That little segment was included mostly as filler, but I thought it would fit with Anakin's fascination of mechanics in general, so of course he'd know exactly how lightsabers work! And honestly, I absolutely wouldn't put it above him to start talking about it at the drop of a hat, just like speeders and other related stuff. Kinda my headcanon about Anakin.

Plus, Commander Stone is someone we very rarely see in Star Wars at all, so I wanted to make him stand out by giving him a vested interest in the Jedi and Galactic History, since not many Clones would bother with anything like this. And besides, just a generally cool thing that almost nobody knows about, so I thought I'd correct some misconceptions.

Thirdly, Sidious' intervention. Throughout this chapter it's heavily implied that he sent a cleanup crew to tamper with evidence and remove things that would connect his civilian persona to the scene, and the reference to Anakin sensing something right after his arrival is actually him sensing said crew flee.

Despite his best efforts, he won't emerge out of this entirely unscathed, because all actions (especially I-will-kill-the-Jedi-and-become-Galactic-Emperor actions) have consequences. However, she same goes for our heroes, and we'll be seeing the effects this Arc has sometime in the future!

Fourthly, Commander Fox. I think we can all agree that our Clone Boy is a bit over his head here. Even with his dedication to stopping Sidious and Palpatine (who he believes to be two different people), he simply has never had to deal with an enemy that can't be blasted to pieces on a battlefield.

Having dealt with Senators on Coruscant however, Fox is somewhat equipped to handle schemes, but only in the form of recognizing and steering clear from them as quickly as he can. Along with an impeccable control of his emotions due to decade-long training from the Kaminoans –and most importantly, having to deal with scumbag politicians all the time- it's not like he doesn't stand a chance, but surviving in the Senate will present a massive challenge to him in the near future.

Lastly, Padme and Angel. Despite her minor role in this chapter, Padme's inclusion was simply meant to cement the fact that she is part of Operation: Lord's Rise, the plan Revan and Anakin have put in place to destroy Sidious once and for all. She's actively participating and despite previous moral confliction, after what happened to Naboo she knows how inherently evil Palpatine is.

This of course doesn't mean that she isn't the same Padme we all know and love, but simply indicates that she isn't above using underhanded methods to fight for what she believes will achieve Galactic piece, an action entirely in character, given her 'exploits' on Scipio in the Clone Wars show, where she basically commits the biggest fraud crime ever seen in Star Wars media if you think about it. She's still a good person, just more willing to do what it takes to save lives and protect those who can't fend for themselves –in this almost everyone since we are talking about Sidious-.

Next time: The First Battle of Felucia! With a massive Separatist Force led by the despicable General Grievous dominating the Clones on the battlefront, Jedi Generals Plo Koon, Obi Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are dispatched to evacuate survivors and save as much resources as they can. But will the heroes succeed, or will they all fall victim to the menacing Cyborg's hands?

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!