"Where are we going?"

Soph glanced up and smiled at Fives. She was sitting in Rex's office with her legs up on the desk. Rex was at the other desk doing paperwork. He glanced up before looking back down to focus. "We're on leave right now. Take the time to relax."

Fives frowned. "The men are getting restless. There's nothing we can do for now?"

Soph shrugged. "Nothing I can tell you to do. We've just been going over everything I remember will happen in the near future."

Fives seemed to perk up at the thought. "Do you know what'll happen next?"

"Well, Anakin is heading to Coruscant with Obi Wan. Duchess Satine from Mandalore is trying to convince them that they're not involved in the war, but Death Watch is making things difficult. I find that stuff boring, so I told them to go without me. Duchess Satine and I never really got along too well last time. Figured I'd avoid the whole thing entirely."

"What will you be doing?"

Soph flashed a smile. "I am going to visit an old friend. I suppose if Domino is really restless, you can come along. I just thought it would be best if you relax for now."

Fives grinned. "We'll be ready when it's time to leave, Soph."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head fondly. "We leave in an hour. Tell Echo he can come if he feels up to it."

If it was possible, Fives looked even more excited. She quickly realized that they were not men that liked to rest- they were men of action.

Fives nodded firmly. "We'll see you at the Twilight."

Soph waved shortly as he left the room. She turned to Rex and raised an eyebrow. "Wanna come?"

Rex snorted. "That man is a menace, Kat."

"He's just… eccentric," she reasoned. "It'll be fine."

"I'll come with only to make sure he doesn't do something stupid that gets you hurt," he decided. She rolled her eyes.

"You're overreacting. Master Vos is perfectly responsible and careful."

"As responsible and careful as you and General Skywalker," he shot back. She looked offended.

"I'm responsible and careful!"

"Mm," he hummed noncommittally.

"As long as you come along, I don't care why you come along," she said. She offered a soft smile. "I, personally, have enjoyed the time off we've had."

"We're getting less and less secretive about this," he warned her. "The men know."

"And the men don't care. They trust us to do our jobs and do them well despite this, the same as we do."

"You mentioned your death in front of Epsilon."

"Del said-,"

"Del is a good man, but can you truly tell me you trust every member of Epsilon to keep quiet? There's bound to be questions. How do you plan to answer them?"

"They're good men, the same as their leader," she insisted. "They won't say anything. Besides, you're too tense. Try to relax for a moment. It's just us, and I don't think I've seen you truly relax since I got back."

"It's difficult to relax when I know something could happen to you, and I have no control over it," he admitted. "If I let my guard down at the wrong moment, we never know what could happen."

"Oh, love," she moved forward to touch his face gently. "I won't be leaving you."

"You don't know that."

"I know I'll fight with everything I have if it comes down to it," she promised. "All I want is for us to come out the other end of this war together. Nothing will happen to either of us."

Rex pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. He peppered kisses down her hand and arm. She smiled at him with adoration in her eyes. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we did what Skywalker and Senator Amidala did?"

Soph's eyes widened. She knew what he meant, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the question. "Constantly."

"Maybe I don't want to wait until the end of this war," he said quietly. "If I could lose you anytime… I want to know I've done everything I can to show you my love. I never want you to be in a position in which you die unaware of how I feel."

"Rex," she whispered. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that… maybe we should consider it."

"Say the word, ask the question, and I'll say yes," she promised. "Whenever you're ready, love."

He smiled softly and let out a small laugh. "I've been ready. It didn't seem like a feasible option at the time."

"We can make anything work together," Soph grabbed his hand within her own and squeezed it gently. "You really want to do this?"

"More than anything, Kat, I want to prove to you that I'll be by your side for the rest of our lives."

Soph did her best not to cry, she really did. It was difficult, however, with the way he looked at her in amazement and love. When a couple tears fell, he reached up and wiped them away with his thumb. "I love you, Rex."

"You're my world," he stroked her cheek with his thumb. "You're my reason to stay. I want to win this war for you. When it's over, we'll have the life we always wanted."

"Trips for negotiations and peacekeeping?" she laughed. "I don't know how well I'll do at that. Half my training was the lead up to the beginning of this war."

"You'll do well," he disagreed. "There's a reason they named you a Jedi Master, Kat. You're good at what you do, and you're good at mediating."

Soph found herself smiling. Rex was always good at reminding her of her accomplishments.

Being named a master had been a shock, but she'd been deeply appreciative. Anakin had been irked, but he'd also congratulated her. She'd promised him that she'd fight to get him the same honor, but last time, it had never amounted to anything. She saw why now, though. She thought back to what Master Yoda had said when Obi Wan went to ask about Anakin's training - horrible things would happen.

"Where'd you go?" he asked her quietly.

"Thinking about Anakin's future," she replied. Her eyes drifted to her datapad and she sighed. "We should get ready to go. Master Vos is expecting us."

Soph leaned back as Rex grumbled about Vos as he grabbed his helmet. She smirked at the sight, and he gave her a very unimpressed stare. "Ready?"

"Not in the least," he said, though he moved with her toward the door. The trip to the Twilight was a bit long as it was in the hangar while they were near the upper deck. When they finally got there, Domino and Jinx were waiting.

"You look happy," Cutup grinned. Soph matched the grin.

"I am," she confirmed. "Something I've been hoping for just happened. Are you guys ready?"

"More than."

They boarded the Twilight and Soph came to sit next to Rex. She leaned back in her seat and eyed Domino. She was still smiling brightly as she glanced between her men. "Master Vos is…"

"A menace," Rex said. She rolled her eyes.

"He's excitable. He's… eccentric," she repeated. "He's like an uncle. Rex doesn't like him much."

"He gets you in trouble," Rex grumbled. She laughed.

"I get me in trouble."

"Quite a bit," he agreed.

Hevy shifted in his seat. "Who is he?"

"Quinlan Vos," she resisted the urge to lean into Rex. While her men knew, she didn't need to make it even more obvious. It was a difficult task to stay separated from him, considering their conversation. "Master Vos was Obi Wan's best friend. If Obi Wan is like Anakin and I's father, Quinlan is our uncle. I will admit that we do tend to get in trouble when we're together."

"And what are we meeting him for, if you don't mind me asking?" Echo wondered.

"Mm, we're going because he needs help with capturing Nute Gunray… again. We're headed to Geonosis again, so prepare yourself for the bugs."

Cutup screwed up his face. "Reminds me of the eels."

Soph winced. "Do you want to sit this one out?"

"No, I'll be okay."

She nodded. "There's not many men with him, since he's trying to sneak in," she warned. "He said he brought two men, but he said since you're all ARCs he trusts you to be careful."

The rest of the trip was spent relatively quietly as they all prepared themselves for the mission ahead. Soph remembered Geonosis well. She hadn't expected to go back so soon, but Quinlan had asked for her assistance and she'd been more than happy to help - she hadn't seen him since she'd come back, and he was on her list of Jedi to deliver transmitters to, so it worked out well.

When they landed, they unloaded quickly. Soph told Jinx to stand by just in case they needed emergency extraction.

Turning, Soph looked out over the rocky terrain and towards the rendezvous point. It was about a half mile away from them, and they started the quick walk toward them. When they reached the small camp that had been set up, Soph grinned. She approached Quinlan and was unsurprised when he turned, saw her, grinned, and wrapped her up in a hug.

"Little one, you've grown!"

Soph laughed and pulled out of the hug. "I'm 21, Master Vos. I was bound to grow up sometime."

"Oh, you're not all that grown," he disagreed. "But a Master at 21, that's a record."

She couldn't help but smile brightly. "Close to when you became a master."

"Ah, I was 24," he waved her off. "Thanks for coming, kiddo. These are your men?"

"That's Captain Rex," she waved. Her gaze turned to Domino, and she pointed at them in order. "Fives, Cutup, Droidbait, Echo, and Hevy. My ARCs."

"Amazing, five ARCs in one squad," Quinlan commented. "Must be good men."

"The best," she confirmed. She saw Fives grin out of the corner of her eye. "I do have some… unfortunate news that we're working to rectify. Do you have a minute before we go?"

He nodded. "Sure thing. C'mon, let's sit."

They followed him back to a small tent. Domino posted themselves outside while Rex followed them inside to sit. Soph leaned forward and put her elbows on her knees. "I won't sugarcoat it, Master. The men have chips inside them that force them to do whatever Tambor wants."

Quinlan's eyes widened in horror. "Chips? Who the hell put them there?"

"You likely heard that Palpatine was the Sith lord, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, Dooku used Master Sifo Dyas to have the clones made, and Palpatine was using Dooku. They had the Kaminoans plant the chips. Echo worked with two medics to create a device that deactivates them. I've got one for you to use to free your men - because they're absolutely not free men right now."

"Force," he whispered. "How did you find out about them?"

"That… is a long story," she laughed shortly. "And I'll tell you about it later. For now, let's get Gunray."

"Sounds good to me," he replied. "I'm ready to get this slippery toad."

Soph snorted. He certainly wasn't wrong.

It didn't take long for the group to begin moving. They went south towards the buildings in the distance. Gunray was said to be in the large tower to the left of the field before them.

There were bugs everywhere. Cutup flinched every time they had to hide from one. He worked just as efficiently, but Soph was worried anyway.

They took out a few patrol droids on their way into the tower. Inside, they moved stealthily through the rooms and up the stairs.

Soph slowed down when they got to the fourth floor. She put her hand up and closed her eyes. Her voice was a whisper when she spoke. "Top floor. Of course."

"How do you know?" Droidbait wondered as they began moving again.

"Little Soph here actually listened to Master Sinube's lessons," Quinlan explained. "She knows how to slow down."

"Really?" Rex sounded disbelieving. Soph scoffed.

"Rude."

"You rush into things as quickly as General Skywalker," Hevy snickered. "Uh, no offense."

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes. "You're lucky I consider you friends. Some would call you insubordinate."

"I am insubordinate," he agreed. Droidbait snorted.

"That's not a good thing, brother."

"It is when she's our general."

"Fair point."

Quinlan raised an eyebrow at Soph. "Your men are very…"

"Familiar?" He nodded and she smiled. "The 501st is family, Master. They respect me and I respect them and their individuality. We're friends. If they can't make fun of me, then I've done something wrong."

"Master Krell would have an aneurysm if he saw," Quinlan snorted. "I, personally, think you've done well with your men. They trust you."

Soph's carefree smile faded at the mention of Krell. It was a problem she hadn't been able to come up with a solution to. Krell was working for the Separatists, but she had no proof. She wasn't comfortable telling the Council how she knew, and she wasn't even entirely sure they'd believe her if she did tell them.

It was a problem for later, she knew, so she stopped short at the top of the stairs. The door to the left opened into a large hall that held multiple doors. Soph closed her eyes again, but she found herself too distracted by the thought of Krell getting her men killed. "Can you feel him, Master?"

"I've never been good at that," he reminded her. "I suppose we'll just have to figure it out ourselves."

"How can we do that other than going into every single room?" one of Quinlan's men - Struck, Soph thought - wondered.

"We can't," Quinlan laughed. "So be prepared to fight."

It took them no time at all to engage in a fight. The first door they opened had a commando droid with around twenty regular battle droids. Cursing, Soph flicked on her lightsaber and began deflecting shots while her men took them out.

Unfortunately for them, two more doors opened and it wasn't long before they were nearly surrounded. Soph glanced around as she fought and frowned. "Rex, take Domino and get Gunray. My guess is that he's hidden in the third door on the left - it hasn't opened yet and there's two droids positioned outside of it. He's being protected - ow - he's being protected, so take care of them, get him, and get out."

"We can't leave you-,"

"That is an order," she snapped. "We'll be fine, Captain."

Rex was stiff as he gave orders to the men to move. She knew he was annoyed and disapproved of her plan, but it didn't matter. "Don't do anything stupid," he called as he slammed the door opened after Echo and Droidbait took out the guards.

With Struck and Darnel retreating under Quinlan's orders, she and her friend truly got into it since they had no one to protect but themselves. They covered Domino and Rex as they dragged Gunray out of the room and down the stairs. Once they were gone, Soph dashed forward and sliced two super battle droids in half. More took their place, along with a droideka.

"Wanna get out of here?" Soph called.

"I have an idea!" he yelled back. His eyes darted to the window nearby and she grinned. She picked up a fallen blaster while Quinlan covered her and turned to shoot the glass out of the window. It worked perfectly, so she dropped the blaster and nodded.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he laughed. "On three! One-,"

"Two-,"

"Three!"

Soph and Quinlan dove out of the window together. They were about nine floors up, and Soph laughed as they plummeted toward the ground. She could see Rex, Domino, Struck, Darnel, and Gunray staring at them in disbelief.

As they rapidly fell to the ground, she considered the lecture she was going to get. Soph and Quinlan put their hands out at the same time and quickly slowed their fall until, finally, they reached the ground gently and on their feet. "Let's get going! They'll be on their way soon."

"You are an idiot," Rex told her sharply. She snorted, and he turned. "You heard the general. Move!"

The group ran together. Gunray struggled, trying to get out of their grasp, but Fives held him tightly, practically dragging him along.

Soph had been right - the droids did make quick work of chasing them. They had barely any cover, but the ARCs did a wonderful job of protecting them until they reached the Twilight. The ten of them ran inside and as someone shoved Gunray into a seat, Soph ran to the cockpit. "Jinx, we need to move!"

Jinx said nothing. He wasted no time getting them out of there, focusing entirely on getting them to safety. Only when they'd left the atmosphere did Soph finally let out a breath of relief. "Good. Thank you."

"Anytime, boss."

She sighed and turned toward the small seated area. She made her way over and wasn't surprised at all when Rex spun to look at her. He'd taken off his helmet and looked deeply pissed. "Before you yell at me, just know I was never really in danger."

"You jumped out of a building."

"I'm a Jedi," she shrugged. "I had it under control."

"You're always more reckless with him, but I didn't think you'd take a ridiculous risk like jumping out of a building."

"You clearly don't respect genius," Quinlan joked, looking deeply amused. "How else were we meant to get down?"

Rex stared. "The stairs?"

"That would've taken longer. Any of you could've been hurt or killed in the time it took to reach you," Soph argued.

"If the droids were smart, they would've shot you down," Gunray added unhelpfully.

"Hey, shut up," Echo told him sharply.

"Just trying to help."

"Seriously," Rex stepped closer. "You didn't think it through. There's a million ways that could've ended where you were hurt or killed. You said you'd be careful."

Quinlan looked between them and hummed. "Soph, is this… dynamic similar to Obi Wan and Duchess Satine's?"

Soph's eyes shot to his. "You know about that?"

"Of course. I wasn't sure if you did."

"He's not great at hiding it," she muttered. He stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Neither are you, kiddo."

"Master-,"

"I'm not going to run to Master Yoda and tell on you," he laughed. "Not forming any attachments is impossible, Soph. I, personally, am happy for you. I'm also happy that you found someone that cares more for your safety than you do. You clearly need it."

She scoffed. "But it was your idea!"

Quinlan snorted and backed up. "It wasn't flawless. We could've died. It's the will of the Force that we didn't."

"So, uh," Cutup said slowly. He hesitated but he spoke anyway. "It seems like… everyone knows, so… why not be open about it?"

Soph rubbed her temples to fight the oncoming migraine that the conversation was turning into. "It wouldn't matter as much if I were a Jedi knight, but Masters are held to a higher standard. If we can't follow our own rules, why should anyone else?"

"Even without that, she's his general," Echo pointed out. "They'd be punished."

"Our… relationship is the best kept secret of the 501st, and we're going to keep it that way, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Domino called together. She'd used her commanding tone and they knew it wasn't a request.

"Can I ask… how it happened?" Hevy wondered.

"Cody's the only one that knows and we aren't changing that today," Rex told him firmly.

Soph rolled her eyes. "We've worked together very closely since Geonosis at the beginning of the war. We got close and I… fell in love.

"One day, we were on Perka to free them from the droid occupation. We were in different gunships - Rex was with Anakin - and mine got shot down. Rex jumped straight out of his to find me. I was half dead, but aware enough to tell him how I felt. I didn't want to die without him knowing. Turns out, he felt the same way."

"Is that what happened on Perka? Anakin thought you'd concussed yourself into delusional happiness," Quinlan grinned.

Soph rolled her eyes. "Of course, he did."

Rex looked at Domino with a frown. "I don't want to hear that you've discussed this with anyone. This is between us and Cody, understand?"

"Yes, sir," they called.

"Good men," he nodded firmly before turning toward the cockpit. "How long, Jinx?"

"We'll be back at the Resolute in a few hours," he replied. "Sit back and relax, boys. It'll be a smooth ride."

OoOoOoOoOoOo