Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's. Kaori Galium belongs to Angelblue1852.
A/N: This chapter picks up just before Fives' death in season 6. It takes some pretty interesting turns. Also, light swearing ahead. But other than that, enjoy.
Commander Fox raised his blaster, leveling it on the trooper. He had his orders, and he needed to see them through. His finger slid towards the trigger, and...
"Stop right there!" Kaori yelled. She jumped out, putting herself between Fives and his pursuers. "Wha' are ya, blind? You were about to kill your own brother, Commander."
"General Galium." Fox said after a minute. "What...What are you doing here?"
"Protectin' my friend, tha's what I'm doin'." She replied. "Wha' are you thinkin', Fox, aimin' a blaster at your own brother?"
"I have orders to capture ARC trooper Fives," Fox replied nervously. "And...kill him if the need arises."
"Which it never should." Kaori snapped. Anakin, who was still trapped in a ray shield with Rex, was shocked. He'd never seen her snap at anyone like this before. He wasn't sure how to react. Kaori turned to Rex and asked, "Captain, you remember wha' happened on Umbara, right?"
"How can I forget?" Rex replied.
"Exactly. You were basically given orders to kill your own brothers." Kaori went on. "Granted, I was never very trusting of you clones at first, but as this bloody war has dragged on, I've seen how you interact. You look out for each other, and you care for one another. Maybe tha's why I still feel skeptical of you Clones; I envy your freedom to have the kinds of emotional bonds that the Jedi like me and Skywalker can't have..." She sent a look at Anakin, who pondered what she meant, as she added, "Or at least, that we shouldn't have.
"But choosing loyalty to your superiors over your fellow Clones? Unbelievable. You're brothers, damn it!"
The troopers began removing their helmets. "With all due respect, General," Commander Fox said. "ARC Trooper Fives is responsible for attacking the Supreme Chancellor."
"And you decided tha' Fives' side of the story doesn't matter?" Kaori asked. The Clones looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Kaori adjusted her outfit, in a way that Anakin recognized as her way of showing that she was right. Then, she turned to Fives, who was shaking from nervousness. "Alright, trooper. Wha's your side of this story?"
Fives nervously sat down, and began to explain what happened. When he was finished, Kaori stood up again. "As I thought." She said. "So the Kaminoans drugged you right before you saw the Chancellor. I 'ad a feeling tha' was the case."
"But what does this mean?" Anakin asked.
"I think it's safe to say that this means the Kaminoans know something, and they're hidin' it from us." Kaori replied.
"What should we do now, General?" Fox asked.
"I suppose these biochips Fives mentioned have something to do with all this." Kaori sighed. "As such, the first order of business is seeing to it that as many of them are removed as possible. Rex, go let the rest of the 501st know to have their chips removed right away." As Rex stood up, he nodded and turned to leave.
Anakin said, "I guess I'll go with him to make sure they all have their chips taken out." He and Rex left. Kaori turned to Fives.
"Go with 'em, Fives. They ought to hear your story too." She said. Fives nodded and went to accompany them.
"And what about us?" Fox asked.
"I think it's pretty obvious." Kaori replied. "You an' your men are due to have 'em removed as well. Right away."
"Yes, General." Fox answered in his most official voice. He and the others turned to leave, when Fox turned back to Kaori. "And what are you going to be doing?"
Kaori replied, "I'm going to try to get to the bottom of this mystery."
Later, she sought out her former Master, Shaak Ti. Fortunately, the Togrutan Jedi Master had not left Coruscant yet. "Kaori," She said, as her former Padawan approached. "Where have you been?"
"Good evenin', Master." Kaori replied. "I was just lookin' for you."
"What is on your mind, young one?" Shaak Ti asked.
"I feel like the Kaminoans are hiding something from us." Kaori replied. "I found out that they had drugged Fives jus' before his meetin' with the Chancellor. I think that's why he lashed out."
Shaak Ti grew concerned. "I see." She said, contemplating her former apprentice's words. "And what is it that you suppose they are hiding from us?"
"I...don't know, yet." Kaori replied. "But, I intend to find out. I'm convinced that there's more to this mess than we've been lead to believe, master."
Shaak pondered this for a moment. "I think we should continue to look into this. If there is something greater at work that we have yet to learn, then we must find out what it is."
(A/N: Skip ahead to just after the episode, "The Lost One")
Kaori had had enough. She had recently learned through the grapevine that Count Dooku had a hand in the creation of the Clone Army. Pieced together with the fact that he had left the Order around the same time that the production of the Clone Army, Kaori knew something serious was on hand. Even though she sensed that something bad would happen in the near future, she felt at ease knowing what she had accomplished thus far.
In addition to the 501st, the majority of the 327th Star Corps and a handful of troops in the 212th had their biochips removed, including her mentor, Commander Cody.
Looking back, she realized that she did trust a few clones. The 501st in particular, she couldn't help but respect. However, there were still a vast number of Clones that had yet to remove their chips. Which was why, despite the amount of time she spent alongside her former Master on Kamino, she preferred the assistance of her non-clone militia to the Clones, much like her fellow Jedi, General Kota.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she bumped into another Jedi. "Oops, sorry." She said, as she recognized the other Jedi. "My deepest apologies, Master Billaba."
"No worries, child." Depa Billaba replied. "I did not see you. I should be the one apologizing to you."
Kaori sighed, as she straightened herself out. A second Jedi walked over and extended a hand to help her up. "Oh, thank you, young one." Kaori said. "Don't think we've met, luv. I'm Kaori Galium. And you would be?"
"My name is Caleb," replied the young Jedi. "Caleb Dume."
"Nice to meet'cha, Caleb Dume." Kaori replied, shaking the younger Jedi's hand. He looked to be either 13 or 14. Then Kaori turned to Depa Billaba and said, "I didn't know you took on a new Padawan."
"I took him in just the other day, actually." Depa replied.
"Well, congratulations to both of you." Kaori said. "I can tell that you two will do well together."
Depa Billaba nodded. "Well," Kaori said. "I need to meet with someone in a bit. Good day, Master."
"And to you as well." Master Billaba replied, as she and her Padawan left. Kaori sighed. She couldn't help but feel that there was more to the young Jedi, as if he was somehow going to play a large role in the future of the Galaxy.
Once again, she allowed her thoughts to wander to the point where she was practically blind. She bumped into yet another Jedi, only this time, she had been looking for him.
"Nazo," She replied. "I'm so sorry. I was-"
"Thinking about Master Billaba's Padawan, I know." Nazo replied. "Though, is he not a tad bit too young for you, Kaori?"
The Corellian Jedi smirked, though she resisted the ever so common urge to punch him in the arm like Anakin, and until he died, Nadhar, did whenever Nazo made this kind of joke.
"Well, did you find anything out on Kamino?" Kaori asked.
"It would seem your suspicions were correct, Kaori." Nazo replied. "I questioned several of the Kaminoan scientists concerning the recent discovery of Count Dooku's involvement in the creation of the Clones. Predictably, they denied everything. I, inevitably, learned the truth anyway. And before you ask, yes, I have seen to it that the soldiers of Hurricane Squadron have all had their biochips removed."
"You didn't kill anyone this time, did ya?" Kaori asked.
Nazo sighed. "You know that I wouldn't do that to the Kaminoans. To a greedy sleemo like Nute Gunray, yes. But not to the scientists of Kamino, though I do not hold them in very high regard anymore. Even with my ability to extract information, there are still many things concerning this mess that I've yet to uncover."
"Well, wha' have you figured out so far?" Kaori wondered.
"With everything that I have gathered," He replied. "I can tell that this can all be traced back to Dooku's master, Darth Sidious."
That name, Kaori thought. I've heard it before. Master Kenobi mentioned something about Dooku claiming that the Senate was under the control of someone by that name.
"So you have figured it out as well, then." Nazo said. Kaori's confusion lasted a mere few seconds before she remembered how skilled her friend was at reading minds.
"Do you think that what Dooku told master Kenobi all those years ago on Geonosis is true?"
"If this is true, then the Republic, and the Jedi, are in grave danger." Nazo said. "But you raise a good point. Why would Dooku so willingly reveal something like that to his enemy? Perhaps he was lying, or perhaps he was relying on Master Kenobi to see it as a lie. Of course, there is still the possibility that he plans to have his master removed from power, in the fashion of the Sith, so he can take control."
"Wha' should we do?" Kaori wondered.
"Unless we can provide solid, irrefutable evidence to the idea that this entire mess can be linked back to the Supreme Chancellor, we can't afford to move against him." Nazo sighed. "And even if we did, neither of us would be able to contend with him if we were to confront him."
"Wha' makes ya say that, luv?" Kaori asked.
"Consider this," Nazo explained. "If he truly is the Sith Lord we've been after since the war started, he has to be extremely powerful. Even I have not been able to see deep enough into his mind to determine anything. If he can hide his presence from even the wisest of the Jedi, he must be extremely dangerous. I admit, you and I would be a challenge, but unless we were to get word to the other Jedi in time, we would quickly die."
Kaori sighed. "We're going to have to tread carefully, then." She said. "I guess I'm headin' back to Kamino with Master Ti soon."
"Actually," Nazo replied. "I hear that Master Ti is going to remain here on Coruscant. I do not know who, but another Jedi is going to supervise the clones on Kamino."
"Oh," Kaori replied. "Then I guess I'm stayin' 'ere. Wha' about you?"
"I'm not sure." Nazo answered. "I've been told that there is a conflict on Mandalore that could escalate into full scale civil-war. Perhaps I will investigate that."
"Well, wha'ever you end up doing, may the Force be with you, my friend." Kaori said.
"And with you as well, Kaori." He replied.
A/N: Okay, this chapter was a bit rushed. But I'm bored. With College breathing down my back, I have less time to myself. And whenever I do catch a break, I'm out of ideas for putting together a substantial chapter. Note that in this story as well as Altered Destinies (minus chapter 18) and Fates Rewritten, I've worked towards producing chapters that are at least 1000 words long. It might not seem like much of a challenge for most Fanfiction writers, but for someone like me, it can be hard at times to find enough material to go that far. Of course, my record so far is just under 7000 words for Chapter 11 of Fates Rewritten.
Props to Starwarshobbitfics for guessing that Cody was a mentor to Kaori. Although I'm trying to stay true to Angelblue1852's information, I can't help but have her at least respect some of the clones, such as Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo, etc. After all, she has spent much of the war on Kamino alongside her master, Shaak Ti.
Anyway, Fives is still alive, obviously. And he and Echo do reunite, though if I forgot to include Fives in the Battle of Yavin for Fates Rewritten, then I'm sorry. He was there, though. I just forgot to mention him.
One chapter left. And it concerns Order 66 from Barriss, Kaori, and Nazo's perspectives. I'm probably going to do my best to hold off writing it until I can get Fates Rewritten completed. If not, then it's likely out of boredom, as I have a substantial amount of material left in Fates Rewritten to write. Like I've said before, I need to get through all of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi first.
Until then, please RRF&F, and I'll see you all next time. Peace out, and may the Force be with you. Always.
p.s., I'm also going to begin working on ideas for the follow up story to Fates Rewritten, which will concern the Sequel Trilogy generation of characters, namely Ben Solo, Rey, Finn, and the like. I will probably not begin production until after I have seen The Last Jedi, assuming we get any solid information on Rey's parentage. I still need input on how Ben and Myrcella would consider each other as family. Should I consider Myrcella as his aunt, or his cousin? Please let me know.