Chapter 2 - Reunions
Author's Note: This is really focusing a lot on our second fav trio: Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex, so enjoy! :D
~ Amina Gila
Hopefully, the others are having more success than Anakin is, he thinks frustratedly as he tries – and fails – to reason with Nala Se. The Kaminoan is stubbornly refusing to let the information go, insisting that Fives is a threat.
Considering that, they don't have much choice short of sneaking off-planet. It's not ideal, but... it is.
Anakin is exhausted, to say the least, when everything with Nala Se is said and done. Shaak Ti refuses to let Anakin do anything without the Kaminoans agreement, of course. It's a good thing Fives already has the evidence, and even as hard as Anakin is arguing that they should do a test, she's refusing.
Hence why he finally leaves to find Ahsoka and Rex.
They've tracked Fives to the vents, predictably. That's always the ideal place the 501st goes to hide. It's good at an infinite list of things, including being a perfect place to hide and wait for a secret meeting.
"We need to take the evidence to Coruscant," Anakin tells them immediately.
"I suspect there's more here they're hiding, sir," Fives replies.
"We need to go higher up," Ahsoka objects, "Fighting from here clearly isn't getting us anywhere."
"We'll split up," Anakin answers, immediately – it's an obvious answer. "You're being searched for, anyway. We can't turn you in if you're not with us. You're safer here than there. This is your home, and you know it better than anyone. Rex, Ahsoka, and I will take the information to Coruscant."
He looks to Rex instinctively – back at the start, Anakin always looked to Rex, before he learned to take the role of a general himself. "Right beside you, sir," he promises, immediately.
Anakin nods, warmth swelling in his chest. "We won't be long," he assures. "It's time to go." The next, biggest problem is that they need someone they can trust that they can ask for help. Finally, at a complete lack of anything else to do, after they get back to the Twilight, Anakin comms Master Windu.
Yoda would be preferable, but he's on a mission somewhere. Kashyyyk, Anakin thought he heard. Maybe it was somewhere else – was it Anaxus? He doesn't remember. He must've really been falling asleep at the pre-Ringo Vinda briefing – and Windu is the next best choice.
"Skywalker," he answers curtly, shortly, no doubt already irritated.
Anakin swallows back his instinctive urge to coil in self-defense; now isn't the time to act on those feelings. "We... have a situation," he replies immediately, "It concerns the clones."
"What is it?" he inquires.
"It's complicated," Ahsoka says, leaning forwards. She senses Anakin's uncomfortableness, and she's interjecting before it becomes too much. He couldn't be more grateful for it. "I think it would be easier to explain in person, but we suspect there may be more going on than we realize."
"Meaning?" the Jedi Master inquires.
"We suspect the entire clone army may have been... sabotaged, for lack of a better term," Anakin replies. "We have evidence, and I think we need to act on it."
"Bring the evidence to me at the Temple," he tells them. Anakin is almost expecting more of a lecture, but instead, the line cuts.
Ahsoka whistles. "That went well."
"Yeah," Anakin agrees, blinking a few times. "It did."
"Are you alright, sir?" Rex inquires quietly. The question was sudden enough that it nearly throws him.
No. He's not. Ever since they lost Obi-Wan, since Anakin saw the destroyed area where everyone claims his master died, he's had a gaping hole in his heart that nothing has been able to fill.
Obi-Wan would, on occasion, try to keep the Council's eyes off him. Anakin has tried his best for Ahsoka. He tries as hard as he wished Obi-Wan had tried for him. It's so... easy for him to start brooding.
Anakin makes the hyperspace jump, leaning back against his seat.
He wants to say no. He wants to tell the truth, even if he should stay strong in front of Rex.
Rex is the one who has a literal mind-control chip in his brain. He's a slave. Anakin is free. He's his... Anakin has been complicit in that slavery for years, no matter how hard he's fighting it, and he hates himself for that. He can't stop.
But Rex is his brother.
"You can call me Anakin," he replies, suddenly being crushed by bone-deep exhaustion. "We're not on duty right now. I'm not trying to help you for a mission objective or strategy. I'm doing it because you're my friend." Brother, his mind whispers, but Anakin isn't quite ready to say that aloud yet.
"Working yourself to the ground to get him back won't change it," Ahsoka tells him quietly, reaching over to take his hand. Anakin can feel her feather-light touch through the pressure sensors on his prosthetic.
Anakin looks down at it, feeling oddly numb. "You don't understand," he argues roughly, "He's dead because of me. I should've stayed. I shouldn't have left him."
"It wasn't your fault you weren't there," Rex interjects softly. Anakin knows that, but he's never been able to accept it. And Rex would understand this, because Cody went through the same thing after Umbara. Umbara was... bad. Many 212th members died there.
It was hard for Cody to let it go, though it'd have been far, far worse if he hadn't called in Clone Force 99, which eliminated the threat early, even if not quite enough. Pong Krell had still killed many of them. Horror wasn't nearly strong enough to describe what Anakin felt when the 212th came back, and Cody relayed with the same calm façade he always uses that the Fallen Jedi had killed so many of them, that Krell had willingly led them into traps and gone as far as to plant them.
Anakin would have killed him himself if he'd known.
But what happened with Obi-Wan was different.
"I should have," Anakin replies numbly. "I should've stopped it."
More than anything, it's that he doesn't want to be in a world where Obi-Wan isn't, to try to keep moving when his master isn't right with him.
"I've seen many of my brothers die in this war," Rex ventures at last, "But we always expected it. We knew it would happen, even if we never understood it until Geonosis. I know letting them go is... always hard."
They have a mission to focus on, but Anakin doesn't want to address that topic. Even so... "We don't know how dangerous these inhibitor chips can be," Anakin says finally, turning his chair around so they can face each other. Ahsoka twists around also. "But it could risk everything we've fought for. We need to know how in depth these things are."
"It goes deep, that's for sure," Rex says, entirely unaffected by the wild spin in conversation. He's used to it. They do this all the time – what happened with Obi-Wan was enough that Anakin can't talk about it for long.
"Maybe you should've let me do the talking," Ahsoka suggests.
"Right," Anakin deadpans, "Because we all know how well that'd go."
She laughs, and Anakin cracks a smile despite the heaviness in his heart at the mental image of Nala Se and Shaak Ti's expressions when Ahsoka's temper finally snapped and his feral little Togruta sister pulled her lightsaber on them. It would've been effective, but it's not the Jedi way.
"How are you taking it?" Anakin asks Rex a few minutes later.
"I can't imagine how the Jedi could have... ordered the creation of these chips."
"I don't think it was us," Anakin replies, and he's almost afraid to voice it, because talking about it makes it all so much more real. "No Jedi would ever allow such a thing. We – we don't support slavery." He pauses a moment to recollect himself.
"We fight for the Republic because we believe in it," Rex responds immediately. Force, that feels so familiar.
"You're bought and sold, the same way I was," Anakin reminds bluntly, "You can't leave the army. You can't make choices for yourselves. It's not fair to any of you. I'm gonna find a way to change that." Idly, he wonders if he could talk to Senator Amidala about it – surely, she'd be willing to step up and help. Anakin hasn't seen her much, but she was so... kind when they were young. She still is, was when he was assigned to protect her briefly during the beginning of the war, though she's always willing to put duty ahead of everything else.
He could approach Riyo Chuchi, too – she's been fighting for clone rights already, though the Senate keeps pushing it off.
"Anyway," Ahsoka says, breaking up the awkward moment. "I'm sure Master Windu will understand how serious this is. Aside from the fact that we collected this information through illegal means, obviously."
"That doesn't really need to be told, does it?" he asks, nudging her.
She grins impishly at him. "Nope."
**w**
"Anything I could say would be pure speculation," Anakin says as they approach Master Windu together. Rex is shadowing behind them, though they'll be parting ways soon, now that they're at the Temple again.
Ahsoka is admittedly glad to be back, too. She's sore, and still tired. A long nap would be much appreciated.
"But we can't deny there is a deeper meaning to this."
"The Council has been informed of this situation already," the Jedi Master responds, "As has the Chancellor." Anakin's hands clench tighter behind his back – Ahsoka senses as much as sees it. He's holding his hands tight enough that it must hurt. He's always nervous, uncomfortable around Council members.
"We need to act on this," Ahsoka says, holding out the container Fives had given them, containing his and Tup's removed inhibitor chips. "When Tup's broke down, he turned on the Jedi. He would have no reason or motivation to do it. He thought someone told him to, and there must be some connection."
"The Council will look into it," he assures, "If you are correct, and there is a connection, we will find it."
Anakin nods. "Thank you."
"Leave this to the Council, Skywalker," Windu adds. Ahsoka bites her lip to withhold protest. She trusts the Council, but she also doesn't. They make mistakes, and she doesn't know if she can trust them to make the right choice in something this big. The entire galaxy could be at stake.
"Yes, Master," Anakin agrees, and she senses his discomfort and disappointment, even if his posture doesn't so much as twitch. He's good at that – at hiding. It's impressive, considering how much she knows this upsets him.
"For now, I am going to the Senate to speak with the Chancellor," Windu tells them, "I will address this upon my return."
They part ways there, pausing to say a brief goodbye to Rex before heading deeper inside the Temple to their rooms. He's from a different place, on a different level than them, like Anakin said. In truth, Ahsoka never thought about it until her master laid it out to her. And he's right that Rex deserves better. All the clones do.
"How are you?" Anakin asks her.
She hums contemplatively. "A bit tired, but mostly fine. Give me a few days, and I'll be back to normal."
"Good. I have the feeling we'll be needing that."
Ahsoka does, too. She's not sure why. But something is... wrong. Something terrible is about to happen, and she can only wait and dread to see what it is, whether about the Council, the inhibitor chips, or something else.
**w**
It was early morning when they returned, and Ahsoka spent a while in her room resting – not sleeping, because it's daytime and too bright for that – when she feels something. She can't hear it, but Ahsoka can vividly imagine the deafening explosion she knows caused the flare of pain and death in the Force she feels right now, with how often it's happened on the battlefield.
Ahsoka vaults out of bed, dropping her datapad on it before sprinting out of the room. It wasn't far off. Distant on Coruscant, but still, close by. Either it was some major transport crash, or... something far worse.
This wouldn't be the first time someone attacked the Temple – Cad Bane infiltrated it over a year ago – but it's farther away than that.
Ahsoka makes a beeline for the nearest window, even if it's a good distance away. Bedrooms in the Temple are in the center of the building, and the window-like structures on the wall are lights mimicking the natural cycles of the Coruscant sun.
An icy horror curls inside her when she sees smoke rising from the Senate building. It's still there, yes, but she could almost swear she sees a... hole in the building. On the side. It's hard to say from this angle.
Her fingers press against the windowsill as she tries to steady herself.
Ahsoka's comm beeps, and she answers without even checking the frequency.
"Did you feel it?" Anakin demands immediately.
"What happened?" Ahsoka asks. "I think someone attacked the Senate, but I'm not sure who or how. Have you heard anything?"
"Not yet. I don't have immediate access with the Council anymore."
They haven't. They did one time, when Obi-Wan was here. Ahsoka releases her grief into the Force. "I'll contact Rex and see what I can find out."
"Better get to the hangar," he replies, "I'm going over there."
"That sounds good." It's where they're needed, after all. The Jedi should've prevented it, but since they didn't, the best they can do instead is clean up what's gone.
**w**
Rex, unsurprisingly, knows nothing more than they do, though knowing the captain, he's already on his way, too.
Anakin's speeder is enclosed. A childish part of Ahsoka wishes it wasn't – she wants to know how far away she can smell the smoke.
It's visible when they approach, though. Someone bombed the Senate. They outright attacked the Republic capital building, and it's not hard to guess who. The Separatists, no doubt. Somehow, they made it on planet. Again.
"We need to find Master Windu," Anakin tells her.
Right. Ahsoka had been so caught up with the very fact that people were hurt and in danger that she entirely forgot about the other very major problem. The Jedi Master has the evidence. He took it, and for all they know, it could've been lost. He could have been lost, too. Suddenly, a panicking part of her whispers this could've been just as much to destroy the evidence, but Ahsoka dismisses that immediately – it's illogical. The Kaminoans clearly have something to hide, yes, as do the Sith – probably – but that doesn't mean they'd go to such extents. No one would. Right? But the Separatists were clearly involved, too, so she doesn't know that.
Someone is going to a great extent to hide it. Either way, they have to focus.
The Senate building is too massive to search, and everyone else is preoccupied with the after-effects of the explosion itself.
From the tightness on her master's expression, the death lingering heavily in the Force is clearly hurting him, but he keeps quiet the way he always does.
"I'll call him," Ahsoka suggests, dialing the Jedi Master's frequency. He doesn't pick up, and she looks up at Anakin.
"Again," he requests, practically orders, and she does.
He picks up on the last ring.
"There is a situation, Knight Tano," he says immediately – he's sitting, and she thinks he might be flying a speeder. Not one he usually uses, either. "Someone is trying to destroy the evidence."
"Someone?" Anakin asks before she can, moving into range.
"I believe it to be the Acolyte," Master Windu replies, "You have had past experience with him. With our combined efforts, we can overwhelm him."
Something explodes on the other end. The speeder, Ahsoka thinks, and she winces, gasping softly when the line cuts off again.
"I'm tracking the signal," Anakin tells her, "Let's get moving."
"I don't like this," Ahsoka hisses, jumping into the speeder, "Why is he acting like this? Couldn't he capture the Acolyte alone? This is Master Windu."
"I don't like it either," he replies, firing up the engine, "He wouldn't ask for our help unless he needed it."
Which is exactly what's terrifying Ahsoka so much, because how could someone be skilled enough for Master Windu to need help? She can't imagine it. Even knowing Anakin is better than him. But the Acolyte is also here on Coruscant – no doubt responsible for the bombing – and this is... Force. This is not good.
She shudders at the memory of his lightsaber burning into her, even if it's mostly hazed over. That was close, not that they have a choice.
"I know the direction," Anakin tells her, "But not the specific location."
"Go on and fly," Ahsoka orders, twisting around, scanning the skyline, "I'll be your eyes."
She can only thank the Force that this is Anakin's speeder when he slams on the speed, and they zip forwards at thrice the speed limit. Police droids will be all over them in seconds, but well, some things are far more important.
**w**
He hasn't felt this in so long. Anakin doesn't know what it is, but aside from the much too close darkness, something else is lingering in the back of his mind. He doesn't like it. It reminds him of... things long gone.
It reminds him of Obi-Wan.
But now is not the time to get distracted by memories, so he pushes them forwards cutting through traffic lanes, until his former padawan points to something just out of his view. "There!"
Anakin slams on the brakes, jolting the speeder to a stop. He senses it, too – the turmoil in the Force. But feeling is hard when his senses are so clouded by death. He hasn't even let himself think about who could have died in that explosion – Jedi were there, as were clones, and senators.
Even civilians.
And sure enough, he sees smoke. He senses the darkness, too. Anakin flies them in a bit closer, parking the speeder and jumping out. And something just out of his line of vision explodes.
He jolts back, instinctively shielding his face from the smoke and debris and sparks. Ahsoka inhales sharply, and he senses a twinge of fear. But right now, neither of them can afford to be afraid.
"Together," Anakin requests, silently begging that they not lose each other right here, right now.
"Together," Ahsoka echoes firmly, and lightsabers drawn, they round the corner.
The building – Anakin thinks it might be something like a warehouse – is burning. Anakin doesn't have time to look in more detail, but he doesn't see Master Windu. Silently, he just desperately hopes he wasn't caught in the explosion.
The Acolyte is silhouetted against it, red lightsaber in hand, standing out against the flames. The sight is enough to make his skin crawl.
Anakin doesn't want to think about what it'd mean for the galaxy, or the Jedi, if they lost another one of their Council members.
The Acolyte turns around, lightsaber raised, looking at them.
Ahsoka's grip on her hilts tighten, and Anakin can see her feral snarl.
Anakin just moves.
He's scared, yes, but they have to do this. For the Order. For the clones.
Their blades clash together, once, twice, then the Acolyte Force-shoves him. Anakin skids backwards but stays on his feet. When he stands, Ahsoka is already all over the Sith. Green and gold clash against red, and she backflips away to let Anakin charge again.
For a moment, he thinks it's working.
That is, until an assassin droid comes out of nowhere, shooting at him. Ahsoka jumps behind him to cover. Danger is coming from the other way, though – there's more of them. The Acolyte has help, of course, and they need to get somewhere the droids can't see them.
Anakin has no idea what the Sith is after, but they have to arrest him. They have to find out.
He can hear the distant sound of sirens now – police droids are catching up. That's either very good or very bad.
He flips around Ahsoka, Force-shoving the Acolyte back towards the blaze, and slashes the first droid in half. "We have to go," he says, shoving her towards the speeder.
Only for that, too, predictably, to blow up in his face. The explosion is enough to throw them both to the ground. Anakin rolls over, one-handedly parrying the Acolyte's attempt to relieve him of his head. He's a little winded, but otherwise fine. Ahsoka is still down though.
Beside him, one of the approaching droids is raising its blaster towards Ahsoka.
There's a single, terrifying moment before a blaster shot rings out and the droid falls, a smoking hole in its head.
Anakin shoves back against the Sith, standing.
Across from them, Rex approaches, blasters raised.
"I saw you passing," he says, dryly, "Then I saw the explosions, and I figured you were here."
"Good thinking, Rex," Ahsoka replies, panting slightly, though still smirking, and Force-jumps over to him so they can cover each other while moving at the droids.
Anakin watches just long enough to make sure they have their own before attacking the Acolyte again.
But the droids are too fast. There's too many. They're assassin droids, not battle droids. They're deadly.
"Fall back!" Anakin calls over the shooting and clashing lightsabers. They're being overwhelmed. Rex especially is at risk, and Anakin will not risk him. He won't throw his life away. The clones are skilled, and Rex is the best of them, but even he has a limit. Everyone does.
"On it," Ahsoka calls back, far too cheerfully, and they take off.
Anakin sends a Force shove at the approaching hostilities, throwing them all to the ground, and runs.
Rex is flying this time, and climbing onto a speeder bike is very tricky when it's meant for only one person, but by some miracle or other, they manage. They make it off, too, which is doing good, all things considered.
Ahsoka is covering in the back, deflecting the nearby blaster shots.
They've never done something like this on Coruscant before. It's... certainly not ideal, or expected, but Anakin knows the planet. He knows where to go, and he points Rex and thereby their pursuers – the Acolyte and some assassin droids have stolen speeders from police droids, unsurprisingly – towards the power couplings.
The Sith will make it.
The droids will not, and that's what counts.
He can't help remembering years ago, before the war, when Obi-Wan was here, and they –
No.
Not now.
One of the droids shoots out the engine, and they go careening down onto a nearby landing platform. Anakin jumps off, and Ahsoka a moment later. Rex jumps off right before the speeder crashes over the edge, rolling to cushion the landing. Anakin instinctively pulls him to his feet.
"So much for escaping," Ahsoka mutters, eyes narrowing on the approaching speeders.
"We're not escaping," Anakin objects, "We're buying time and trapping them."
"Really?" she snips back.
"Surprisingly," he assures. "This is going according to plan.
"For now."
"Yeah."
The Acolyte comes in first. He jumps towards Rex first, with what would've been a killing blow. Anakin tackles him without thinking. Not Rex – he will not let anyone else he loves die.
The angle made him drop his lightsaber, which was part of what Anakin was going for, anyway, even if he nearly ends up with a vibroblade in his gut for the efforts. He rips it away with his mechno hand, sending it clattering across the duracrete.
He's not sure why he has a sudden sense of sheer familiarity upon contact. Either way, the sudden inexplicable sense of déjà vu is distracting, though not enough to incapacitate him.
Anakin calls his lightsaber back to his hand and slashes at the Sith again, who reaches for his own. He parries the blow, but stumbles back, off balance, and Anakin slashes at him again. This time, it's close enough to slash through his mask.
And that is the moment everything freezes.
Not everything, exactly, because the Sith slashes at him, and Anakin blocks it on instinct, only to be kicked back a moment later. He rolls to his feet, stumbling unsteadily, staring.
He remembers with so much clarity a time so long ago when those eyes were blue-grey, when that presence had the same gentle softness of light rain no matter how harsh Obi-Wan often was, but it's...
It's him.
"Obi-Wan?" Anakin breathes. It comes out as a haunted whisper, devoid of all the hope he once thought it could have.
There's not even a hint of recognition in his former master's nearly glowing golden eyes, and seeing it makes his skin crawl.
This was Obi-Wan. This was his master, the one who raised and cared for him, who took care of him. Obi-Wan, who trained him and is the only reason he's still here and alive. Obi-Wan, who was all he ever had. Obi-Wan, who... died.
Except... he's not dead.
Because he's here, and that...
Anakin wanted to believe he survived. He just didn't know how it was possible, or that... there was anything to it. That it was more than a desperate hope. But Obi-Wan is here, somehow. Even if...
And now that he's not too afraid to feel, and maybe even if he is, he can't pretend he can't feel it anymore – Anakin senses a hauntingly familiar sensation of rain, just not the same light rain that Obi-Wan always used to feel like, but a stormy whirlwind of darkness. But it's – it's him, even if his presence has changed. Anakin has just been too afraid to feel it.
Anakin's already massive respect for Rex doubles when he tackles the Acolyte himself, almost too late to stop him from stabbing Anakin, who still hasn't moved. He's been standing here, frozen, from the moment he saw the Sith's face.
"Come on!" Ahsoka yells, grabbing Anakin's arm and pulling him towards a speeder. He stumbles, twisting back to look back at the Acolyte, who throws Rex off the edge of the landing platform. Literally. Instinctively, Anakin reaches out, catching him with the Force.
He feels numb, distant, empty, but not enough that he doesn't have the mind to pull Rex to safety. He thinks the clone is talking, but he's not sure what he's saying.
All Anakin knows when he turns around is that the Acolyte is gone.
And they're being surrounded by a group of very grumpy police droids.
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