Jarik POV...

Obi-Wan continued to stare at us in shock for another few moments, Ahsoka equally as surprised, although not as much since I had told her that Obi-Wan was living on Tatooine. He finally came out of his shocked state and lowered his hand from his belt, where his lightsaber was resting.

"Jarik... Ahsoka," he said slowly. "I must admit I, wasn't expecting visitors," he managed to say with a small smile. His hair and beard were mostly grey and white, although there were still bits of the reddish brown remaining. I managed a small smile at his response. master Kenobi still hasn't changed a bit, even after so long.

"Yeah, I did turn this visit into a surprise for both of you," I admitted, gesturing between him and Ahsoka. Speaking of which, she stood up and walked over to Obi-Wan, and they shared a brief hug.

"It's good to see you again Master Kenobi," she said sincerely.

"And you as well young Ahsoka, although I suppose 'young' no longer applies to you," he replies warmly.

Ahsoka laughed lightly. "I suppose not."

Obi-Wan hums before gesturing towards the couch. "Well, sit down, sit! Would you like some Jawa Juice?" he asks politely.

"Sure, thank you," Ahsoka says, sitting back down on the couch.

"Yeah, I'll take a cup, thanks," I tell him.

Obi-Wan moves over to a nearby counter a opens a small cabinet. He pulls out three glasses and then opens another cabinet, pulling out a carton of Jawa Juice. He pours the drink into the cups and then carefully holds all three of them, walking over and distributing the cups on the coffee table. We each grab a cup, and he then sits down in his chair with a sigh.

"Well, while I can't say I'm glad to see you both still alive and a one piece, what brings you out here?" Obi-Wan asks.

Ahsoka and I share a glance before looking back at Obi-Wan, and I set my cup down after taking a sip, giving off a small sigh. "Oh... where to a start," I manage to say.

He raises an eyebrow at me in response.


Mara POV...

We were all on the platforms surrounding the tank, and Wolffe was in the cockpit, driving the thing forwards. Rex was sitting in the turret, which had an electric line connected to Zeb, who was walking in front of the tank with his bow rifle. Gregor was watching him eagerly with excitement, and Boil leaned against the rail nearby, an impassive look on his face.

"If we're lucky, we'll catch Big Bongo today!" Gregor calls out. Zeb seemed to say something back, but he was too far away to hear. "Keep on going forward. Just a little bit more. We're coming up on a hot spot!"

"Your hot spot looks like everywhere else on this desolate rock!" Zeb yells back.

"Oh believe me, the underground is much different," Boil says, and I look at him in confusion. He simply shrugs.

Just then, a small boom of breaking rock sounds in the distance, as well as a small explosion of dust. Sabine points in its direction. "Out there!" she says.

"All right, full stop." Rex orders, and Wolffe brings the walker to a halt.

"All right. Just a little bit more. Little more!" Gregor calls out,

The annoyance from Zeb is easy to sense, but he marches forwards, gripping his bow rifle tightly for any sign of danger. Gregor then turns to us, a wild look in his eyes.

"You know, we really appreciate this. I mean, we, we should do well today, with your friend here," he says, gesturing to Zeb.

"Yeah, well, Zeb packs quite a punch!" Ezra replies confidently.

"And a temper," I add in.

Gregor then laughs quickly, like a maniac and I raise an eyebrow at him, glancing at Boil. He gestures towards his head. "He's a little loose in the head," he explains.

"Oh, oh. I'm sure, I'm sure. But really, I mean, joopa supposedly love Lasats," Gregor says dramatically.

"They love them? What do you mean?" Sabine asks in confusion.

A frown comes onto my face and I narrow my eyes, glancing at the line connected to Zeb... how he was all alone in the middle of nothing... oh Force.

"Well, they say they love the smell, or I guess they love the taste as well," he rambles on. "And maybe it's about the texture. You know..."

Boil sighs in exasperation. "Oh stop with the dramatics Gregor, Zeb is the bait," he says, rolling his eyes.

"What?!" Ezra exclaims in alarm, and Gregor chuckles nervously. "Oh, hunter, bait, it's all the same."

"No, it's not!" Kanan yells furiously.

Just then, a loud, booming noise echoes from the ground, almost like thunder. "Zeb, you better get back here right now!" Kanan yells.

A series of underground implosions start to move towards Zeb at frighteningly quick pace, and he backs up nervously.

"Are you kidding me?!" I yell out in disbelief.

Boil rubs his head sheepishly. "Sorry about this, but he should be fine," he says in an attempt to reassure us.

"Fine?!" I ask incredulously.

"Buddy, run! You're the bait!" Ezra yells. "Zeb, it's gonna eat you!"

"Zeb, run!"

"Get out of there!"

"What are you doing?"

"Run!"

Just then, the ground beneath Zeb cracks and a large, pink and slimy tongue whips out of the ground, latching onto Zeb and wrapping around him. He yells in surprise and glances back at us in fear.

"Zeb, no!" Ezra yells.

The tongue then yanks Zeb underground, and whatever it was, the joopa, began digging away at an immensely fast pace, bringing the line with him. Gregor watches easily and turns around, a crazy look on his face. "Whoo-hoo! This could be him! Our Big Bongo!" he yells excitedly.

Wolffe then presses the walker into motion, and we start charging after the joopa. "Hey, I bet you know a thing or two about mechanics!" Rex calls out to Sabine.

"Yeah, good bet," she replies, climbing up to him.

"Keep an eye on this regulator. The line can overheat and shut down. No line, no joopa, no Zeb!" he explains, and she nods in understanding.

"Got it," she says.

"Well, what about me?" Ezra says, before noticing us. "And them?"

Gregor and Boil then come around the corner, carrying electric poles. I think those are magna guard staffs, but I don't really know. "Ha, you got the best job of all!" Gregor exclaims happily. "When the line swings around, you'll charge it with the electro-poles. Hit the line with the rod, and it'll send a bolt of energy down to the joopa. Do it enough, and you should bring it up to the surface!"

Ezra takes one with a grin, and boil hands me another. I hold it in my hands, testing its weigh before grinning to myself. I then jump up and stand on top of the railing, balancing rather easily despite the thing shaking around.

"Here's one for you, General!" Gregor says, handing a pole to Kanan.

"Don't call me that. I was never a general." Kanan replies irritably.

"Oh, my mistake. Sorry, Commander!" Gregor corrects himself, and I snicker to myself, while Boil lets out an amused laugh.

"No, it's not-" he starts to say before growling to himself in frustration, moving forwards to the railing beside Ezra. I stand on top of the railing to their right, holding the pole with my hand.

The joopa turns to the side and Rex follows it with the turret, while Wolffe angles the walker in its direction. Once the line was right in front of us, Rex calls out to us.

"Hit it! Now!" he exclaims.

Me, Kanan and Ezra all slam our electro-poles into the line, causing a surge to travel through it and into the ground. Once it hits the joopa, more rocky explosions erupt from beneath it and it speeds forwards quicker and more erratically.

"That's it! That's it! Ooh! He didn't like that! Hit him again!" Gregor exclaims.

We do so, and the joopa gets even crazier than before, probably yanking the walker along slightly as well.

"He's a runnin!'" Rex calls outs. "Hit that line! Bring him up!"

However, with the way the joopa was pulling on the line, it was too far out of our reach, even with me standing on top of the railing. Ezra tried climbing onto the railing, but he couldn't reach it either. To make matter worse, the regulator began to sputter a little bit.

"We're losing the regulator!" Sabine calls out in alarm.

"Full stop, Wolffe! Dig in! This is where we finish the battle!" Rex calls out.

Wolffe brings the walker to a halt, yanking up on the throttle. The whole walker comes to an immediate stop, throwing off our balance slightly. Ezra and I almost topple over, but Kanan grabs Ezra and keeps him upright, while Boil does the same for me.

"Thanks," I tell him.

"Ah don't mention it. This is just where the fun begins!" Boil says with a grin.

"Like it wasn't fun already?" I retort back, and look at the line again. The joopa was slowly pulling the walker along and downwards, and the ground beneath the walker began to crack from the strain.

"I can't reach it! Kanan, lift me up!" Ezra yelled, and he stepped onto his shoulders, Kanan supporting him while he kept his balance. "Sabine!" he called out.

"I know, I know. Working on it!" she yelled back. The walker came even lower to the ground, and steam began to stream forth out from the exhaust under the amount of pressure. "Got it!" Sabine said.

Thank the Force. I looked at the line again, then back at the turret with a frown on my face. An idea then popped into my head, and with a grin, I jumped up and twisted in the air, grabbing onto the end of the turret. Hanging upside down and holding onto the turret with my legs, I prepared to jab the line with the electro-pole while Kanan tossed the pole he dropped upwards.

"Ezra?" Kanan called out, but luckily, he caught the pole in his other hand and twisted to face the line, spinning his poles. At the same time, we both jabbed our electro-poles into the line, causing another large surge of energy to travel down into the ground.

Moments later, the ground erupted again, but this time the joopa itself came slithering out of the rock and into the sky, roaring in rage and pain. I widened my eyes at the sight, it being one of the most repulsive things I had ever seen. I let go of the turret and dropped back down to the ground with a flip, landing right side up.

"That thing is uglier than the Red Death!" I exclaimed in disgust.

"The what?!" Boil asked in confusion.

"Nevermind!" I told him back.

"It is Big Bongo!" Gregor exclaimed giddily in excitement.

Ezra flipped backwards off of Kanan's shoulders, and Rex then directed the turret to take aim at the joopa. The giant worm roared again, but with a single shot of the cannon, it's roars came to a stop. I thrashed about in the air before collapsing onto the ground with a massive boom, dead in an instant.

We all rushed to the side of the tank and stared down at the dead joopa, waiting for any sign of Zeb. A few moments went by, and I was starting to get worried when a yell came from inside, and the beasts mouth began to open.

"Ah! What a smell!" Zeb exclaimed in pure disgust. We all sighed in relief.

"Ah, Zeb!" Ezra yelled happily.

"Nice catch, old-timers." Sabine comments, glancing back at Rex. He gives us a simple wave in response a grin on his face.

"Well I have to admit, despite the terror for Zeb, that was fun," I said with a small grin.

Boil laughed. "Just wait till you here what kind of trouble Commander Shan got into!"

"I'm betting me and Commander Tano could top that Boil," Rex calls out challengingly.

"Yeah! Way to go!" Gregor yells excitedly with a giddy laugh, climbing down the ladder and rushing over to Zeb. "Now that, that was impressive!" he says with a grin, helping Zeb climb out of the bongo, not at all disgusted by the slime.

"Impressive? You almost got my friend eaten!" Kanan shouted angrily.

"Yeah." Zeb says, pushing Gregor away with a disgusted groan. He then glares at him angrily. "Ugh. I was in that thing's mouth!" he yells in his face.

Gregor flinches from the yell before grinning again, nodding his head in agreement. "Oh! Head to toe!" he says, turning Zeb to face the joopa. "But look at you. You brought in our biggest catch ever!"

"I- I did?" Zeb questions, his mood suddenly changing. "Actually, it wasn't so bad, Kanan. I- I knew I had the beast from the beginning!" he calls out. Gregor smirks, waving his hand casually.

Ezra gives him a thumbs up, and I snickered in amusement while Kanan just crossed his arms with an annoyed sigh.

"And you, are a natural!" Rex says, climbing down the ladder to meet us. "Especially you Mara, kinda reminded me of Commander Tano's first days. You're about the same age," he comments, and I smile happily at him.

"Thanks," I reply.

"Fight like her, and you're witty like Commander Shan. I love it!" Boil says, and both he and Rex laugh with each other.

I cross my arms and glance back at Kanan with a smug smirk, and he rolls his eyes in reply, turning away.

"Sounds like something I'd love to hear about," Ezra says with interest.

"Oh believe me, the stories we could tell," Rex says. Before they could continue any longer, Kanan steps forwards.

"We held up our end of the deal, Captain. Now it's time to get us those coordinates so we can go," he says sternly, and I frown at him.

Rex and Boil however aren't fazed, and simply smile at him. "I'll get 'em. But you might consider staying for dinner," he suggests.

"It's gonna be delicious!" Gregor cries out joyfully. Sabine and Wolffe have now joined them as well down by the joopa.

"That thing tried to eat me. Only fair I get to see how it tastes," Zeb decides with a grin.

"Can't say no to that. Right, Kanan?" Ezra asks hopefully.

He doesn't respond, which is slightly annoying. At least he isn't saying no, I suppose. The door to the back of the walker then opens up, and the much younger looking clone, Kix I believe, steps out, rubbing his head.

He squints from the sunlight and then heads over to us. Now that I have a better look at him, I can see that he doesn't have a beard, and his skin is healthier looking than the others, probably because he's much younger. His head has some sort of lightning bolt tattoo on it, as well as writing that reads 'a good droid is a dead droid.' At the sight of him, Kanan tenses up even more, and I can only assume that it's because Kix is around the age the clones were when his master died.

"What's been going on around here?" he asks, and it sounds like he just woke up.

Apparently, Boil realized the same thing. "Did you really just sleep through all of that?" Boil says incredulously.

"What? I've been in stasis for fifteen years so excuse me for not being awake," Kix retorts.

Boil sighs. "Sorry Kix," he apologizes.

"Wait, you've been in stasis?" Ezra asks in surprise.

Kix doesn't answer, and I can tell the question is bothering him immensely, which Ezra and the others seemed to realize.

"Hey Kix, why don't you go check on Zeb, the Lasat down there? He was just the bait for the joopa," Rex suggests.

Kix glances at him, and then down at Zeb. He furrows his brow before nodding. "y- yeah, sure. I'll do that," he mutters, climbing down the ladder. Me, Rex and Boil watch him with sad expressions.

"What happened to him?" Ezra asks in concern.

Rex sighs, but goes on to explain. "Probably a month or two before the end of the war, one of our fellow soldiers and a good friend, Fives, uncovered information on a plot to destroy the Jedi, involving us clones. Of course, we now know it was the chips implanted in our heads before birth that made us kill the Jedi, but Fives was killed before he could warn us."

Boil looks down sadly, and we listened in, even Kanan showing interst, although he tried not to show it. "After Fives' death, several others, including myself and your father," he continued, gesturing to me. "...became suspicious about the truth. Commander Shan attempted to find information, but all details were blocked under the Office of the Supreme Chancellor," he says the last part in distain, and Boil and Kanan's eyes darken at the mention.

"Kix however, managed to also uncover physical proof of the conspiracy, following what Fives had found. However, as he was on his way to meet up with our Generals, Count Dooku had set an ambushed, and then locked him in stasis to prevent him from revealing the truth." Rex finished, looking down at Kix and the others. "We found him only a few weeks ago."

We all looked down at Kix as well in sympathy, and I was once again reminded of how the clone's were probably the biggest victims of all, apart from the Jedi.


Jarik POV...

"You have a daughter named Mara?" Obi-Wan questions in surprise.

"Well, adopted technically, but yeah. She's very talented." I tell him.

"And one of the best things to ever happen to us," Ahsoka adds.

"How did the two of you come about raising an adopted daughter to become a Jedi?" Obi-Wan asks curiously, leaning back in his seat.

"I rescued her from one of the Emperor's Inquisitors when she was just three years old. Sadly her parents didn't make it, so we took her in," I explained.

He frowns slightly in regret. "I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard for her."

"It was. She used to have nightmares constantly," Ahsoka recalled sadly.

"I can only imagine..." Obi-Wan muttered, and it was pretty easy to guess what he was talking about. "By the way, I suppose congratulations on your marriage are in order," he suddenly says.

We look at him in a small amount of surprise. "How'd you find out?" she asks him.

He gestures towards her ring. "Well, the ring for starters," he admits. "Also, some time ago I could sense the Force revolve around you two very strongly, even from all the way out here. It was full of warmth and love, and I could sense a pact between the both of you," he says with a smile.

Ahsoka and I both glanced at each other, and gave small smiles, scootching closer to each other without realizing it. "Well, thanks. It was definitely something I don't think we'll ever forget," I say softly, before we both glanced at him.

"And you're not upset by this?" Ahsoka asks with a raised eyebrow.

He sighs. "I think all three of us know by this point that the old ways of the Order can no longer apply again, even if we ever wanted them too," he says.

We both nod in understanding. "Thank you, Master Kenobi," Ahsoka says gratefully.

"Oh please, just call me Obi-Wan, or old Ben," he says dismissively. "Love and peace are a rare sight in the galaxy these days," he says sadly.

Ahsoka and I share a glance, and I figured it was time to get started with why we really came. "About that, there's a really big reason for why we came here, and I can guarantee you aren't going to like it," I tell him.

He frowns in response, but nods his head, listening.

Ahsoka sighs before looking at him seriously. "I know why you're living on Tatooine, and about what happened to him," she says. "To Anakin."

Obi-Wan goes stiff in alarm, glancing at me, and I shake my head slowly. After a few moments, he lets out a big sigh of regret, glancing at the ground. "How long have you known?" he asks quietly.

"I just found out when I sensed his presence in the husk of Darth Vader during a fighter chase," she replies stiffly, the room already becoming tense again. "I confronted Jarik, and he finally admitted to me that Anakin did become Darth Vader, and that he had children."

Obi-Wan glances at me, a hint of disapproval in his stare. I meet his gaze evenly, just as firm. There was no going back now, and I wasn't going to regret telling Ahsoka. The only regret I have on the subject at this point is that I didn't tell her sooner.

"He did," Obi-Wan finally says. "Padmé's children. Luke and Leia. Twins. The boy lives here with his aunt and uncle, while Leia resides with Senator Organa."

Ahsoka narrows her eyes at him, and I lean back, already knowing what was coming. "Why did I not know about this then?" she asks quietly.

"We didn't want the truth reaching Vader or the Emperor," he responds, and our gazes flash slightly when he just says Vader, and not Anakin. "If they found out that his children lived, then they would be hunted down and taken, forced to become Sith. We could not let that happen so I, Yoda, Bail and Jarik all swore ourselves to secrecy."

"So only you four knew about it this whole time?" Ahsoka demands. "Not any other close friends, or their family?"

"We couldn't take the risk that Vader would find them," Obi-Wan says sternly.

Ahsoka exhales in frustration, leaning back with her arms crossed, glaring at Obi-Wan. "I see your blind Jedi stubbornness is still there," she mutters bitterly. I don't know if she saw it, but at that comment Obi-Wan flinched slightly, probably recalling her whole ordeal with being expelled.

"If you won't get anywhere with that, then tell us, how did Anakin survive?" Ahsoka questions. "Jarik told me that you and him both confronted him when he... choked Padmé," she says, stopping briefly before continuing. "But then you were separated when Barriss showed up. So how did Anakin survive if you came back with much injury, while he now has to wear a suit?"

I lean forward in my seat, staring at Obi-Wan. This is the part that I missed, and the part that Obi-Wan avoided answering all those years ago. He remains quiet for some time, unsure of how to answer, or considering whether or not to answer.

"Obi-Wan... please, can you tell the truth this time?" I ask him.

He glances at me, then at Ahsoka, who is staring at him with narrowed eyes. Finally, he lets out a sigh, staring at the ground.

"After you and Barriss parted with us, me and-" he cuts himself off, before continuing. "...Anakin... we continued our duel. The combat was fierce, and we nearly killed each other several times throughout the fight, otherwise never gaining the upper hand."

We listen intently, desperate to know why Anakin turned into the way he is today.

"Towards the end of our battle, I confronted him about his actions, but he refused to listen to reason, despite my pleas. I knew then that he was lost," he said in regret.

Ahsoka's eyes flashed, and I had to admit I was surprised at how quickly he gave up on Anakin ever returning back to the light. We barely had time to even reason with him at the start before the battle began, which admittedly was Obi-Wan's fault now that I think about it.

"To finish our battle, I used his rage and arrogance against him, and jumped towards the high ground on the slopes of the lava river. He attempted to follow... and I cut him down, removing his legs and remaining arm," he says.

I widen my eyes in shock, and Ahsoka gasps, bringing a hand to her mouth before narrowing her eyes again.

"He fell down the hill, very close to the lava river..." he said quietly, and I also brought a hand to my mouth in horror, widening my eyes. It didn't take much to realize what he was saying. "The last I saw of him were yellows eyes full of hatred, while his body burned," he finished quietly, lowering his head in regret.

I couldn't believe it. The whole reason that Anakin now had to wear a suit as Darth Vader... was because of Obi-Wan. He just left him there, hoping he would... that he would die?!"

"What...?" Ahsoka said quietly, her gaze on Obi-Wan turning towards one of fury. "You just left him to burn to death?! You didn't help him?!" she exclaims, leaping to his feet.

"I loved him Ahsoka!" he replies, looking up at her. "I loved him like a brother, but at the end of the day I failed him. I wasn't a good enough master, and he was lost."

"So you decided to leave him to die an agonizing death by the side of a lava river?" I ask, a hint of anger in my voice.

"I can't believe you!" Ahsoka yells furiously, tears coming from her eyes. "All of those years you spent training him, fighting side-by-side and you still just gave up any hope of him returning that quickly?! How could you!?"

He doesn't answer, and I quickly stand up, holding Ahsoka back, sensing her very close to physically showing her fury. "If you really believed he was gone, the least you could've done was end his misery before he was burnt to a crisp!" she continued to scream.

Obi-Wan flinches, looking away in regret. "I'm sorry Ahsoka..." he mutters quietly.

"'Sorry', doesn't save my Master, and 'sorry' doesn't change the fact that you made him into a monster! He was always compassionate, caring for everyone! Did you even think to consider why he turned to the dark side? There's no way it was just because of a lust for power, Palpatine lied to him!" Ahsoka yells.

She then rips her arms from my grasp and then storms out of the hut, the sound of her sobs fading away. I watch her go and then look back down at Obi-Wan, an angry and disbelieving look on my face. He just looks down, quietly with nothing to say.

"She is right you know," I tell him. "I can almost surely bet that the reason he turned to the dark side was for Padmé."

He looks up at me in bewilderment. "What? How could that possibly make sense?" he asks incredulously.

"Think about it Obi-Wan!" I exclaim. "The two were married with each other for years, yet the entire marriage was kept a secret for fear of what the Council, or anyone else would do! If Sidious was able to sense the Force bond between me and Ahsoka, then I can surely bet he also knew of their marriage as well. You know how much Anakin cared about his friends, doing anything to make sure we were safe!"

Obi-Wan looks down again in realization, and guilt seeps off of him in waves. "I... I never even considered..." he whispers quietly in shame.

I soften my gaze slightly, knowing that it wasn't entirely his fault, considering he was raised to an adult with the old Jedi Code. "She won't forgive you, at least for a long time," I tell him.

"I wouldn't blame her," he replies quietly.

I glance out the door again, and let out a sigh, sensing Ahsoka's grief and heartbreak, along with feelings of betrayal rivaling even those during her expulsion.

"I should go, make sure she's alright," I told him.

"Probably for the best," Obi-Wan replies. "I don't think I deserve to be around her at the moment."

I glance back at him with a sense of pity. "Maybe," I tell him, heading out the door.


Ezra, Sabine and I were leaning against the railing at the back of the walker as the sun began to set when the door opened, revealing Rex.

"I've assembled a list of potential bases and clearance codes and a few protocols the Imperials still use. Should be of some use." Rex tells us.

"Thanks, Rex." Ezra says gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks," I tel him with a smile.

"They're on our main computer. You're gonna need-" he starts to say before Sabine interrupts him.

"Data tapes? I got this," she says confidently, brushing past Rex and into the walker. Rex comes up to us.

"You were brave today, kid. You as well Mara. You jumped right in there to help," he says proudly, leaning against the railing beside us.

"Thanks," I told him. "I do have to admit it's awesome to finally meet you in person after the stories my parents told me."

He chuckles in amusement. "Heh, I do miss those two. When I first met your mother, she and her master never seemed to get along, but they eventually grew on each other, same for me as well. You remind me a lot of her."

I smile at him, and he smiles back, looking out at the desert. "A great Jedi once told me that the best leaders lead by example. You do that well," he tells us.

"Thanks. I've learned from a great Jedi too, Kanan." Ezra says gratefully, looking behind him to where Kanan was standing.

"Mmm," Rex replies with a nod before glancing at us. "You know, I don't think he likes me. Or ever will.

He scoffs lightly. "Can't say I blame him. The war left its scars on all of us."

"Yeah, quite a lot," another clone mutters, and we look over to see Boil standing against the wall, gazing at the sky. I look at him sadly.

"Would you guys ever reconsider joining us?" I ask them.

"You know, I've outserved my purpose for that kind of fighting, I'm afraid," Rex admits. "After the war, I questioned the point of the whole thing. All those men died, and for what?"

"I guess... what they thought was right," Ezra offers.

Wolffe then comes up the ladder nearby, and out of the corner of my eye I can see Kanan glance in our direction, before sighing. Maybe he was finally coming around. However, that hope was shattered when Sabine came out of the tank waving a datapad around, and angry expression on her face.

"The clones gave us up. They warned the Empire we're here!" she called out.

"Huh?" I ask in surprise.

"Wait, what?" Ezra asks.

"You're mistaken. We would never do that," Rex protests, confusion obvious on his face.

"I'd rather die before speaking to even a Stormtrooper," Boil adds with annoyance.

"Oh, I found the binary transmission to the Empire!" Sabine says, waving the datapad in his face. "And there are messages Ahsoka sent to Rex and Boil, and they never answered her!"

"What?!" Rex and Boil both asked in shock, and Rex grabbed the datapad, scrolling through it. I never got any messages from Commander Tano!" he exclaimed.

"When did they start sending us messages?!" Boil demanded, looking over Rex's shoulder.

"You're saying that's why they never answered? My dad thought it was because of a broken transponder considering how old the tank is!" I told them.

"Our transponder is working just fine!" Boil argues.

"I knew it! I told you, they can't be trusted!" Kanan exclaimed angrily, marching towards the clones threateningly.

Ezra and I both stopped him from advancing any further. "Kanan, wait. Is this true?" he asks.

Rex and boil both frown, before the latter widens his eyes and then whips around to face the other clone in their midst. "Wolffe. What did you do? Did you keep these messages from us!?" Boil demands angrily.

"I- I contacted the Empire!" Wolffe admits, and we widen our eyes in disbelief. "If they found out that we were helping Jedi, especially Shan's daughter they'd wipe us out!"

"Sabine, go warn Hera. Tell her to scan for incoming ships." Kanan orders her, and she rushes away quickly.

"I wanted to protect you guys, protect our squad!" Wolffe argues.

Boil scowls at him. "I fought against my own squad to protect my commander during the Temple attack! And you go and do this?!" he exclaims, moving forwards.

Rex holds him back before turning to Wolffe, putting his hands on his shoulders. "The war is over. We are free men. We can't live under the fear of the Empire for the rest of our lives, Wolffe. That's not freedom!" Rex tells him.

Wolffe looks down shamefully. "You're right. They're not our enemy... I'm sorry," he apologizes.

Just then, a series of shots sound from above us, followed by Sabine's yell. "Kanan!"

Kanan jumps up towards her, and I quickly follow. We both land behind Sabine, facing down a probe. It beeps in alarm and begins to quickly fire at us. I duck to the side as the side of the Phantom is hit, causing a small explosion. it then ducks down underneath the tank, and I rush towards the side of the tank, seeing it fleeing into the desert.

Narrowing my eyes, I jump off of the tank and into the air with a flip, landing on the desert in a crouch. Getting up, I activate my lightsaber and chase after the droid, which continues to fire back at me in an attempt to get away. Kanan fires at it from behind me, but misses, the distance too far for a pistol.

I deflect the shots sent after me, getting closer and closer. Before I could reach it though, a blue laser bolt sails through the air and slams into the droid. It immediately sputters and collapses around the ground, convulsing as its circuits were fried. I stop running and turn around to find Rex holding a blaster rifle, and I give him a thumbs up. I then look down at the probe several feet away and approach it, deactivating my lightsaber.

Some time later, we were all gathered around the smoking wreak, frowns on our faces as Sabine approached.

"How long has this thing been watching us?" Ezra asks in concern.

Kanan sighs. "Long enough. How's the Phantom?" he asks.

"Well, engine took a direct hit. We're not going anywhere until I can fix it," she replies grimly.

"Wait. You mean we're stranded?" Zeb asks in alarm.

"Yep. And the Empire's on its way." Rex says grimly.

We all turn and look up at the sky, and I get the feeling that we're about to have company rather soon.


Well... what a chapter.