Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Life kind of just takes us with it sometimes, doesn't it!

Good news is, I've mapped this out and it's now time to post! Enjoy! And please feel free to review. :)

~Shadowlight17

Chapter 3

I hadn't realized it had gotten late until, bless my past self, a chrono-timer started beeping frantically. It was a prewritten message.

'Assuming you've forgotten which briefing room and what it's about because you are always buried in datapads. Leave now to get there before General Skywalker.'

Briefing Room: 3. Duh.

Next mission. Also Duh. Reports of a Separatist super weapon. Briefing for investigations.

Trying to breathe evenly, I picked up my helmet and slid it into place. I started for the briefing room. I tried not to stare as many brothers I remembered as having given their lives were well and alive and talking. Each stopping to salute as I walked past. I tipped my head each time and tried hard to not hug any of them. You know, this is odd. I want to hug them. I've never wanted to do that before… My internal musings were interrupted by my arrival at briefing room three. I took a moment to gather myself and stepped up to the door. The sensor, recognizing the physical presence, slid the door open and admitted me to the room. Padawan Ahsoka Tano sat glumly on a bench looking bored.

"Oh, hi Rex."

"Commander."

I tried to respond indifferently, but internally I was jumping for joy. She was alive! I found myself really appreciating her former development over the course of the war. I never got a chance to thank her in my 'past life'. Not even a second later and interrupting my internal musings, Admiral Yularen and General Skywalker walked in the door. The Admiral seemed to have grabbed the General on his way, otherwise we would've been waiting at least another fifteen, if not thirty minutes for the General. I saluted crisply.

"At ease, Captain."

The hologram projector started up and we were interrupted halfway into our briefing. Oh yeah, the Jedi Council ends up in on this one too. We were ordered to report to the bridge and I followed both of my Jedi up to where the Jedi Council waited for us to make a connection. I had the weirdest sense of deja vu after that, everything was exactly as I remembered. I even remembered the aftereffects of General Skywalker's less than orthodox way of obeying orders. Commander Tano spoke out again and I winced as the same rebuttal was given for her disregard for protocol. I desperately wanted to reach out to her but restrained myself. This was a Jedi mission. As such, I shouldn't interfere. I knew where they were going before they knew. They'd gone to rescue a 'Master Plo' who had been tracking an early Separatist superweapon, the Ion cannon. Given that I didn't have anything to do but prepare for the next engagement, I went back to the office. Piles upon piles of paperwork and datapads were scattered on the desk. Mostly just casualty reports and new troops. The potential candidates from a list of cadets were expansive. Flashes of the past life passed before my eyes as I tried to scroll on the most recent report. With a huff, I put the datapad down and pulled out an empty flimsi and stylus and started writing everything down. The plot, as far as I knew it. I wasn't even aware I was that tired until I was waking up. The glow in the room had changed, it now reflected off of the datapads and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes only to stop. A glowing entity stood in the middle of my office. A female voice spoke out of the blur.

"Captain Rex, we need your help."

"My help? But I-"

"No buts, Captain. The force has seen fit to bring you back to this point for a reason. Now you need to know the full picture."

Without another word, the glowing entity took shape and formed into a much older, and wiser looking Ahsoka Tano. She reached forward and grasped my head in her hands.

"You must know everything."

She whispered quietly into my ear and then the images came.

The Jedi Temple, burning. The 501st on it's doors. Anakin Skywalker wielding his lightsaber against family and friends. Chancellor Palpatine fighting a Jedi Master and Anakin kneeling, pledging himself to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader. The images flashed and I saw Senator Padme Amidala, in pain and agony, giving in and General Kenobi carrying a baby boy through the rough winds on Tatooine while a Senator Organa took the baby girl to his wife. I saw myself joining a ragtag team of Rebels and doing my best to aid them, even with accelerated aging. I saw Anakin's daughter and son become the saving forces for the galaxy, and watched Luke help Anakin defeat Emperor Palpatine, and I saw what could be. But what wasn't.

Ahsoka's ghostly face came into focus and I found myself staring into her eyes.

"I don't understand…"

The images felt burned into my mind.

"You will in time understand. The force cannot stand for what has happened and for what will happen. As the conduit of the light side of the force in death, I have been tasked with helping you. My younger self doesn't know it yet, but she will be instrumental in your success, or your failure. The galaxies hopes rest on you now. May the force be with you."

The bluish light faded and darkness closed in. I sat up in a rush, the glow was coming from the datapads. And nothing seemed to have changed, except I knew it had.

Sorry for the excessive notes, but I just wanted to apologize about the shortness again. I've been having a lot of major writers block. Hopefully this will help me break free, but any feedback is always welcome. I love hearing that my writing can both be better and that it has potential. Thank you for reading!