Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! I honestly thought I would have these chapters written a long time ago. Hopefully they'll be worth the wait. Thank you for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or any of its characters.

~~*~*~*~~

It was calm here. And warm. Calm and warm. It was like she was floating...or drowning, she couldn't be sure. She felt weightless, just...being for once. Just existing. It wasn't like anything she had ever experienced before. Her entire life had always been rushing to this place or that place...always chaotic, always busy. She had to deal with pain and loss. She had to sacrifice her life, her wishes.

It's for a good reason, she had told herself. I'm helping people, I'm saving the galaxy. But it was hard to gain satisfaction from the those words when she longed to be free to do as she wished. To leave and come when she wanted, to be angry when she needed to be angry, to speak her opinion to whoever she wished to tell...and of course, to love. And not just love, like her friends and family. She meant love. She had found that in Rex. That's when she realized it was time to leave the Order.

It was one of those moments where she felt like she shouldn't leave the Jedi but knew it was right to. They were, after all, her home. She had learned much from them, and her training there would be something that would last the rest of her life. It was strange to leave, but at the same time, she knew it was the right time. Her mind told her to stay, but her heart told her to leave. She had to follow what she wanted, for a change. But just when she thought she was done with that life, it would come back to haunt her. That's how she ended up here.

Here.

The warm, soothing feeling started to disappear as her mind made the connection. Here. The masquerade slowly faded away as she realized this dark, empty place was not a good thing.

She remembered Darth Vader threatening her, and the interrogation droids coming endlessly day after day. Now she remembers the pain as her eyes fill with hot tears. Searing agony shoots through her body as the blackness in front of her starts to lighten. Her eyelids peel open to a glaring, white light.

"No..." She whispers, the sound barely passing through her cracked lips to made an audible noise. "No..."

~~*~*~*~~

The quiet emptiness of space stared back at him. It was so beautiful out there, with the stars scattered across the skies and all the life that filled it. And yet, it was quiet, cold, and deadly. It took you silently, without a thought, without mercy. How often beauty was deceiving.

Rex willed himself to break away from the hypnotic gaze of space and focus on the enormous Command Ship that was now coming into view. Rex's expression darkened at the sight of it—to think that he could be one of them, one of those traitors, serving aboard that ship right now. Those people, who he had once called brothers.

He had grown up alone from the rest of the galaxy. They all had. They knew only how to fight—they didn't understand what it was like to live, or what these worlds that they defended were really like. They just followed orders.

Rex had become frustrated at how people never tried to understand them. Didn't they know how it could drive someone crazy to see your face everywhere? In fact, it wasn't even your face, since they all shared it. If he died that very moment, no one would care, since there were a couple hundred more to replace him, all with the same training and obedience.

That's why he was surprised when Ahsoka had taken a liking to him. He was a bit embarrassed at first, for she was just a young padawan with a bit of a crush. But he liked her because she could tell them all apart. She wanted to keep them inspired, and she never thought of them as anything less than an equal.

The first time Rex had told her "This is what we're made for...we're meant to be disposable", he could have sworn that she would have slapped him across the face, and hard, if he hadn't been wearing his helmet. He remembered how Ahsoka slowly turned her head to face him, her breathing hard, and her eyes slowly darkening as she told him in a harsh tone to "never say that again". Rex never brought up the subject since.

So when he realized he had fallen for her, he knew he had fallen hard. She was unlike the other Jedi in every way. He saw things in her that others easily overlooked. And in return, she did the same, recognizing his individuality and loving him for all the quirks he had. That's how he ended up here.

Here.

Here, in a cargo ship, on the way to Darth Vader's personal flagship. It had been easier than he thought to get this far.

He had figured he could get into landing bay 58 easy enough if he looked like a stormtrooper, and it was fairly simple to get armor on a planet swarming with Imperials. By the time they found the unconscious and half-naked man on the outskirts of town, it would be too late.

From there it was simple to slip into the landing bay and mingle with the rest of the troopers. Of course, the problem was that the cargo ship was right there, in the middle of the landing bay with all the other ships.

"Hey, uh, excuse me?" He nudged the soldier next to him to get his attention.

"Yeah, what?" The muted voice responded out of the helmet.

"I have orders to take the cargo ship back up to The Executor. Do you know if it's still cleared to go aboard?"

The trooper had shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. They're not really organized around here. They'll probably remove the codes in a month or two. Hey, let me check with our leading officer."

"No, no!" Rex reached out to grab the man's arm as the trooper turned to walk away. "I mean, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

The man turned to give him a strange look, but simply backed away and went back to looking at his datapad. Rex breathed out softly, relieved.

He would have to take a risk and assume that the ship would be safe to board The Executor. Of course, if he stole the cargo ship, they would soon realize that the ship wasn't really meant to go out on another run, and that he wasn't really one of them. In which case, they would make the connection and contact The Executor to warn them of his approach. That wouldn't work at all.

And while The Executor would be aware that the cargo ship wasn't scheduled to come when he tried to dock, it would certainly be able to buy him some time while they figured it out. He would have a better chance of sneaking in the hangar bay when they weren't aware of him coming and be able to shoot him down before he was fully in view.

Therefore, he would have to take some preliminary action.

Rex glanced around before edging his way to the nearest entryway that led into the landing bay's main control systems. His hard boots lightly scraped against the rocky sand as he slowly stepped in place next to the door. He faked nonchalance as he waited for the door to hiss open. As the door slid away from the wall and a trooper stepped out into the sunlight of the twin suns, Rex silently stepped backward into the building, searching the area with his eyes to make sure no one noticed him.

Adjusting his helmet, he walked down the corridor and saluted when he almost ran into an officer at the corner of the hallway. Ignoring him completely, the gray-clad man continued toward the direction Rex had just come from, his hands clasped behind his back.

Following the man with eyes, Rex watched him until he turned out of view. Rex went through several more corridors and a set of stairs before finding the communications control room.

From there on out, everything had been a little...chaotic.

He had destroyed the communications console easy enough—a few blaster shots can do a lot of damage, he had reminded himself—which, of course, had led to some alarms, some stormtroopers running to see what was the matter, and Rex making a dash for the cargo ship.

He remember vaguely some words—like, "Get him!" and "Over there!"—but he particularly remembered the way the leading officer stared at him as he ran for the cargo ship. Alarms were blaring and lights were flashing everywhere, and while all the troops rushed around helplessly trying to figure out what was going on, the main officer standing in the landing bay ignored the chaos around him and pierced Rex with his icy glare. He didn't move, but simply watched as Rex ran up the landing ramp, started up the ship, and took off. It was rather unsettling, the way the man seemed to know exactly what Rex was up to...yet no move was made. But he had made it out, and that was all that mattered at that moment.

And that was how he had ended up in the cargo ship, preparing to dock as he was hailed over the comm.

There was a crackle of static before the voice spoke. "Cargo ship VI, identify your shipment and wait for clearance."

Taking a deep breath in, Rex mentally prepared himself for the task ahead. "This is cargo ship VI. I'm bringing in food provisions and mechanical parts for the machinery. I'm sending my clearance codes now."

There was silence. The large command shop loomed before him, filling up the view from the cockpit and making Rex feel incredibly small and insignificant.

He waited patiently for several seconds before making his move. Slowly he steered the ship to the docking bay. As soon as they realized he was not scheduled for a shipment, he would be in trouble. If he could get on board before then, he might have a chance of surviving this rescue and be able to escape any stormtroopers wandering about.

"Cargo ship VI, please wait for clearance. Cargo ship VI! Wait for—!"

This is it, Rex thought. He started to pick up speed as he pulled closer to the docking bay entrance, keeping a watchful eye on the large weaponry attached to the outer hull of The Executor.

"I'm sorry," the comm crackled again. Rex gritted his teeth. They had figured it out too soon. He wasn't close enough—

"—for the delay," the voice finished. "You have clearance to dock."

Surprised, Rex paused momentarily before responding. "Understood. Cargo ship VI is landing."

He could feel all the anxiety rush out of him as he slowly pulled into the docking bay. He didn't know how they had decided to let him in, but it had worked.

Keep your focus on Ahsoka, he reminded himself.

~~*~*~*~~

"You have clearance to dock." The communications officer spoke confidently into the comm. He slowly turned to face the man standing behind him.

No, not really a man. More like a monster. A war machine. An impossibly tall, dark character stood behind him, watching the array of screens spread out before them as his mechanical breathing reverberated off the metal walls around them.

"Anything else, my lord?" he asked weakly to the imposing figure that stood like a silent statue.

"Leave him be. I will deal with him myself."

The man nodded nervously as Darth Vader suddenly turned and headed for the entranceway, his boots clanking against the metallic catwalk as his cloak billowed behind him.