"Any updates?"

"I need to test it, but I think I have something that will work," Echo told Anakin and Soph. "Which means I need to use it on someone and then remove the chip to see if it's still active."

"Well, I guess we have to find someone willing to undergo brain surgery," Soph sighed. "Someone we trust with this information."

"I'll do it," Echo shrugged. "The problem is figuring out the trigger words."

Soph looked between Echo and Anakin and sighed. "I know the trigger words for one order, but… it's dangerous."

"We have to test it somehow," Anakin reasoned. "We'll do it."

Reluctantly, Soph agreed. The device Echo, Coric, and Kix designed was exactly what Echo had described - it was like an EMP pulse that permanently disabled the chip. It was a prototype, and they'd already said that they would have to do some adjustments to make sure that it could work for large groups of clones, but it was enough for a few at a time, should it work.

It didn't hurt, which was something Soph had worried about. Kix had pressed the button, aiming it at Echo. A pulse shot out toward Echo, but it wasn't visible. The only sign it had happened was a low hum as the device worked.

They took some scans of Echo's brain and the chip before surgery, and then quickly after, they scanned the chip again, and then Echo himself.

It was a day later when he'd had time to rest that he stood in front of Soph, Anakin, and Obi Wan when they'd decided to finally test it. Soph looked at Echo nervously. "Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, sir."

"This could go very poorly," Obi Wan warned. "If it does, we'll have to stun you."

"Of course," Echo agreed. "If what we've learned is right, I'll be relentlessly trying to kill you."

"Cheery," Anakin commented. "Go ahead, Soph."

Soph nodded and breathed in and out slowly. She took a moment to center herself before she spoke. "Echo… execute Order 66."

Echo stood there, frozen. They waited a beat before the man breathed out in relief. "Nothing."

"On our end, the chip is no longer active," Coric told them, rolling over from his spot behind a computer. "You're free, Echo."

The relief on Echo's face was bone deep, and it only told Soph that they needed to keep going, and as quickly as possible.

"What's the next step?" Kix wondered.

"Well," Obi Wan rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "We need to get as many chips disabled as possible, as quickly as possible."

"I say we tell the Council," Anakin said. Soph looked at him hesitantly. "What?"

"A few select Jedi would be good," she allowed. "Master Yoda, Master Windu. Plo Koon, Luminara. Oh, and Shaak Ti. She can help with the cadets."

"I think that's a good place to start," Obi Wan agreed. "After we get a few battalions liberated, we'll branch out."

"Liberation means they can choose not to be in the war," Anakin said. "I think it's only right that we give them that choice."

"I don't think that'll be a problem," Kix told them. "Every man I know here is loyal to the Republic. Would and does fight for it every day."

"Yes, but… how much of that loyalty is… is programmed?" Anakin wondered. "How do we know that you're truly free until you're free?"

"I don't feel like I have to do anything," Echo offered. He looked contemplative. "Before… it was like a small pressure on my mind, pushing me forward. Now, it's gone. I think that must've been the loyalty part of the chip. I'd still fight and die for the Republic."

"Regardless, if we lose men, we lose men," Anakin insisted. "I'd much prefer that to the GAR being enslaved."

"We all would," Obi Wan promised him, touching his arm to calm him. Anakin took in a deep breath. The situation had caused him many nights of lost sleep, and it plagued his thoughts constantly. Soph knew it was bringing up old trauma. "I'll call a meeting to discuss the chips. In the meantime, let's get started on freeing the 501st and the 212th."

"We can do that, sir," Coric promised.

"You'd best get to work, then," Obi Wan suggested. "We'll give you an update when we have one."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"What's bothering you?"

Soph looked up. She hadn't noticed Rex walking in, but she found him in front of her with a worried frown on his face. "Slick."

He hummed. "What about him?"

"I just thought… how much would have been different if he had known… if he knew about the chips and what we're doing to stop it," she admitted. "Would he have…?"

Rex sighed and sat next to her, setting his helmet down at the end of the bed. "He said he was dealing a blow for all clones, but he betrayed us in doing so. He got good men killed. I think it would have been worse if he'd known the truth. To him, it would've validated everything he said. We don't know what that would've been, but we can work with what we have now."

"You're right," she sighed, leaning over to drop her head on his shoulder. He leaned into her slightly. "I'm sorry about your men. They deserved better. I know Striker was being eyed for ARC training."

Rex hummed. "I hadn't gotten the chance to approach him about it yet. I knew… he wouldn't have gone without Oak. I was prepared to ask him, as well."

"Ask him," she suggested softly. "After they lost their brothers, Fives and Echo leaned heavily into the ARC training they got. It helped. If you think he can handle it, ask him."

"I will."

There was a small knock on the door and they took a second to separate. Rex got to his feet and put some distance between them before she opened the door.

"Soph! I was- oh, Captain Rex," Ahsoka stopped, surprised. "Am I interrupting?"

"No, 'Soka," Soph assured her. "We were just talking about Slick. Did the transfer go okay?"

"He's headed back to Coruscant now," Ahsoka nodded. "I was just wondering… why you haven't been around lately."

"Oh," Soph said softly. It was true - while she'd been working on the chips with Echo, Coric, and Kix, she'd had Anakin and Obi Wan focus on the war. It had gotten them kidnapped, nearly killed, and tied up with Dooku. She'd laughed at them for a solid five minutes for that fact alone. Staring at the young padawan, she frowned. "Has Anakin not told you why I've been staying on the Resolute?"

"He's been kind of busy," Ahsoka shrugged. "And you haven't been around the command deck."

"It might be best to tell her, General," Rex suggested. "It doesn't seem like General Skywalker has."

Soph grimaced. She wanted to say that Ahsoka was too young to realize that she was leading enslaved soldiers, but she also thought Ahsoka was too young to be fighting in the front lines of a war, too. It was a moot point, anyway. There was nothing she could do about Ahsoka fighting, which meant Ahsoka had to know the truth of what was going on. "You might be right."

"Is everything okay?" Ahsoka looked between them with a frown.

"Sit down," Soph suggested. Ahsoka cared a great deal for her men, and it had been absolutely horrifying to the young girl when some of them had been killed. She knew how devastated she was going to be. "'Soka, there's something you should know. About your men. All of the clones."

"What?" Ahsoka frowned at her.

"The Kaminoans put inhibitor chips inside their brains," she said slowly. "Which means that they control loyalty and, according to the Kaminoans, aggression. It's believed to be untrue, though. These chips force them to carry out specific orders, one of which being to kill all Jedi."

Ahsoka stared at her. "That's… not possible."

"Unfortunately, it is," Rex disagreed. "Cody and I got ours out, and one of Soph's men, Echo, got his out and tested as well."

"We've found a solid way to deactivate these chips without doing surgery on every single clone," Soph promised. "But it'll take some time. We're working on long-range prototypes to make it easier and quicker to destroy these chips."

Ahsoka was staring down at her hands, horrified. "But… they have no choice. That's not freedom."

"No, it isn't," Soph agreed. She touched Ahsoka's arm gently. Ahsoka looked up at her with wide eyes. "But we're doing everything in our power to set this right."

"I want to help," Ahsoka told her firmly. "How can I help? This isn't right."

"You can help by helping Anakin when I'm taking care of this," Soph told her. "This is why I've been staying here. We should have a few of these devices soon, and someone's going to have to deliver them. We've given this information to Master Windu, Master Yoda, Master Ti, Master Koon, and Master Luminara. We'll deliver the devices and they'll set to work on freeing their battalions. We're not telling the men as of now, but we will tell them once they're free. This is a large betrayal of their trust, and it's important to set things right before we tell them."

"How will they know it worked?" Ahsoka wondered. "When you tell them, how would they know that the chips aren't active anymore?"

"Anyone who wants to undergo the testing to confirm the chips are no longer active can do so," Soph answered. "A level six atomic scan is dangerous, but we found it can detect whether the chips are active or not. It's up to them individually. These scans don't take any extra resources, just time and some pain."

"Okay," Ahsoka nodded firmly. "Okay, but if there's anything I can do…"

"I'll talk to you. I promise."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Are you going to tell me?"

Soph looked up from her datapad, confused. "Huh?"

Anakin came to lean against the crate she was leaning against. She passed her datapad to Cutup.

"Those are looking pretty good. Where's Droidbait?"

"In our barracks, sir," Cutup answered. Soph rolled her eyes.

"For the millionth time, Cutup, you can call me Soph."

Cutup hesitated. "It's not…"

"Rex calls me Soph," she pointed out.

"Respectfully, sir, he's…" Cutup trailed off. He remembered the way she'd interrupted Jinx when he'd gone to point out the close relationship between the Captain and General.

"Soph," she said firmly. "I won't have you thinking I'm any better than you because I'm a General. You're my equals. I don't know anyone who fights harder or with more passion than you and your brothers, Cutup."

"Yes, sir," he winced slightly. "Soph."

Anakin snickered at the way the clone squirmed uncomfortably. "Don't give him a complex, Soph."

"The way Rex gives you a complex?" she raised an eyebrow. "What were you talking about, anyway?"

"Right," he nodded. He glanced at Cutup. "Maybe we should talk alone."

"I should get this back to my squad," Cutup said, nodding at the datapad. "I'll send Droidbait here."

"Thanks," she smiled at him as he walked away. Once he was gone, she elbowed Anakin in the ribs. "You made him uncomfortable."

"You made him uncomfortable," Anakin disagreed. He quickly changed gears. "What's with the cloak?"

Soph raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you questioning my fashion choices right now? Out of everything going on, that's important?"

"You started wearing that after Rishi," he explained. "Did something happen there?"

"Aside from the attack, no," she shrugged. "You're worrying too much, Ani. Everything's fine."

"I still want to know how you got information about the chips," he pressed. "Fives is one of your men, and he was a shiny before Rishi. How would he have found out about the chips?"

"Do you not think there's a reason I sent them to ARC training immediately? There's some things I just cannot tell you about yet. You're going to have to be okay with that."

Anakin frowned. "Do you… not trust me?"

Soph held back a grimace. It was a fair question, and one that she wasn't sure how to answer. She did trust him, but she also couldn't stop thinking about his eyes as he killed her. She was afraid of giving him information at the wrong time. "Of course I trust you. It isn't about trust. It's about the Force."

He made a face at her, but he didn't push. Everyone knew the Force worked in mysterious ways. He left it, and they moved on. He helped her work for a few minutes before Obi Wan commed them and brought them up to the command deck.

"They're planning an attack on Naboo," Bail Organa told them. "It's the only explanation."

"Delicate, the situation is," Yoda commented thoughtfully. "Three Jedi, we will send."

"May I recommend Generals Kenobi, Skywalker, and Sizre? Relations with the Gungans are a little tense right now, but they trust General Kenobi and General Sizre like their own."

Soph smiled softly. She remembered being on Naboo with Qui Gon and Obi Wan when Padme had revealed herself as the true queen. The Gungans had celebrated, and they'd taken a liking to the three Jedi.

"Send them, we will," Yoda agreed.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Calm down," Soph nudged Anakin. "She'll be okay."

Anakin shot her a look. As far as he knew, Obi Wan hadn't put the pieces together about his relationship with the senator. Soph, however, knew that their master wasn't an idiot. He clearly knew about both of their relationships and kept quiet for their sakes. "I'm worried the senator has gotten in over her head."

"She'll be fine, Anakin," Obi Wan assured him. The ship landed gently. Jinx leaned back to look at them.

"I need to fuel up and then I'll be ready to take you wherever you need to go."

"Thanks, Jinx," Soph called. "Don't get in too much trouble while we're gone."

"Wouldn't dream of it, sir," he grinned at her. He pressed the button for the doors, and she sighed as Anakin rushed out to meet Bail Organa.

"General Kenobi, Soph, Anakin, we're so glad-,"

"Where's Senator Amidala?" Anakin asked sharply. No one was surprised.

"She went to look for the lab."

"And you let her go?" Anakin asked, outraged. Soph put a hand on his arm.

"You know as well as I do that Padme will want to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible. She can handle herself, Anakin."

"She shouldn't have to," he brushed her hand off. Soph rolled her eyes. He really was rather dramatic.

"Senator Padme can be very hard to stop once she's made up her mind," C3PO said, walking over.

"Good point," Anakin sighed. "I know what you mean."

"This is Peppi Bow," Bail said, waving at a Gungan woman. "She was the last person to see them. Padme sent her here to safety."

Peppi stepped up. "Theysa looking for the sick-maker."

"They?" Obi Wan asked.

"Representative Binks was with her."

"Oh, Force," Soph tilted her head back. She hadn't been with them the last time - she'd stayed back with the Jedi council. "That is not good."

"Go with the Gungan, see if you can find them," Anakin told Soph and Ahsoka.

"You've got it, Master," Ahsoka nodded, walking over to Peppi. Soph followed, and they made their way back to Jinx's ship.

"Done filling up?" Soph asked. Jinx nodded.

"Where're we headed?"

"Good question," Ahsoka said, turning to Peppi. "Where to?"

"Do you know anything about this?" Hevy asked Soph quietly. She stepped back toward her men, letting Peppi and Ahsoka talk to and direct Jinx.

"I know that this is going to be rough," she shrugged. "Keep your helmets on."

"Droids?" Fives wondered.

"Worse," she shook her head. "A virus."

They quieted. If she thought a virus was worse than battle droids, it had to be bad.

Jinx set them down outside some trees. They followed some tracks, but they ended in the middle of a small clearing.

"Their tracks end here," Ahsoka made a face at the ground. The ground beneath Peppi rose, and Ahsoka and Soph dashed out of view. "Peppi, it's a scope."

"Stay there," Soph warned the Gungan. "You're out of sight right now."

They danced around the scope before Ahsoka practically tackled Peppi to the ground. Soph dove after her, waving Domino back.

They stayed hidden for a long time as the scopes occasionally popped up, looked around, and dropped. It was clear they popped up with pressure, as they appeared whenever small animals landed on them or walked over them, frequently scaring the poor animals.

Ahsoka took a breath and Soph nodded. Ahsoka pulled up a bomb using the Force and floated it over to the middle of the scopes. "Now!" she said, dropping the bomb and jumping back. Soph did as well, eyeing her boys and the Gungan. The bomb went off, doing its job well. They could hear alarms blaring beneath them.

"Meesa come too!"

"No," Soph and Ahsoka said together. Soph shook her head. "You need to go home. We don't know what'll happen down there, but you need to be safe."

"Hmph!" Peppi made a face. "Okeyday."

"Come on," Soph waved Domino forward. They jumped down alongside Soph and Ahsoka, using ropes to get down while the Jedi jumped.

Droids were waiting for them, shooting even before they managed to hit the ground. Soph whirled around, her lightsaber out and rapidly deflecting the shots. One got a little too close to Droidbait, so she shot over in front of him and deflected it.

"Thanks, General," he muttered, relieved.

"Anytime, Bait," she grinned as she kept fighting, shooting the bolts back at the droids. She dropped seven of them in two minutes. Between her, Ahsoka, and the clones - more had jumped down after Jinx had run back to pick them up - the droids were all destroyed. They could hear bombs dropping in various places outside and Soph laughed. "Sounds like Master Kenobi and Anakin made it here alright."

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Things are going well," Obi Wan said as they ran. "The lab is secure and hopefully Anakin has reached Padme by now."

"I'd be shocked if he hadn't," Soph called.

"I'll get the bombs," Obi Wan told them, running in the opposite direction as they engaged more droids.

"We'll keep 'em occupied," Soph grinned.

"You're enjoying this far too much!" Obi Wan yelled back.

They kept fighting, downing more droids every minute, but more kept coming. Soph dodged shots, protected her men, and kept an eye on Ahsoka as she flipped around, jumping over droidekas to push her lightsaber inside and turn it on, destroying the horrible things.

She was onto the last one, jumping over it, as it took a shot. Soph tried to dodge, watching Ahsoka closely as she jumped. Distracted, she didn't see the shot coming.

She didn't make a sound as it hit her in her stomach. She froze, her lightsaber falling from her hand in shock. She stood there for a moment before it hit her and she collapsed, falling into someone's arms.

"The General's down!" someone called out. Her head rested in his lap - she thought it might've been Echo, based on his armor, but her vision was blurry and she wasn't entirely sure. She supposed that was the least of her worries.

Ahsoka rushed over after destroying the last droid, dropping to her knees. Her comm went off and she let out a frustrated noise as she leaned down to put pressure on Soph's stomach. Soph cried out in pain at the pressure.

"Ahsoka, we've got a situation!" Anakin called through the comms.

"So do we," Ahsoka snapped. "Soph's down!"

The comms went silent for a moment. "What do you mean, she's down?"

"She was shot," Ahsoka told him, her voice cracking. "Master, hurry. I don't- I don't think she can hold out long."

"Let me through," someone called from the back. Clones parted until one came to land on his knees. He pulled off his helmet and began working, injecting Soph with something - a blood clotter, probably - and leaning over to look at the wound. Soph was pretty sure it was Kix, but she couldn't tell for sure. "This- this is bad. We need to get the General somewhere safe."

Anakin came to a short stop behind Ahsoka, his eyes wide. "Kix, tell me something good."

Kix was silent as he worked. No one wanted to disturb him. Anakin got a good look at the wound, open and bleeding freely, and cursed loudly.

"I need men searching the facility," Anakin said sharply, still staring down at his friend as he gave orders. "Domino, stay with Soph. Everyone else spread out. We've got a missing bomb and a trigger-happy mad doctor on the loose. Find him and defuse those bombs."

"Missing bomb?" Padme asked quietly from behind Anakin. "I saw Dr. Vindi give a little droid a bomb."

"You guys split up," Anakin ordered the clones around them. "Everyone but Domino. Find that droid and find that bomb."

They split off. Anakin hesitated. "Ahsoka, stay with Soph. I'm going to find that bomb."

"Yes, Master." Once Anakin ran off, she looked at Kix. "Is she safe to move?"

"Not far, but yes," Kix shook his head. "Let's hurry. It's bad."

OoOoOoOoOoOo