In which Ahsoka and Rex reform the 501st Legion and annoy the living daylights out of the Empire and Darth Vader.

Ahsoka hadn't wanted to lie to Kanan and Ezra about the identity of Darth Vader (the name made her want to laugh, because it sounded so stupid, and cry, because it showed that her master was indeed dead). Phoenix Squadron and the rebellion were used to her keeping secrets close to her chest and, thus, shrugged off any thoughts about the identity with the knowledge that she simply wouldn't share it.

Sabine and Zeb weren't happy, viewing her secret as a lack of trust. Hera, bless her, did the same as Phoenix Squad and kept the conversations with the Togruta focused more on the rebellion's movements. Ezra somewhat shared the same view as Sabine and Zeb but used more under-hand tactics to get her to spill the answer while Kanan gave her a look that suggested he had a vague idea but decided to keep out of her business.

The only person that pushed it was Rex. It was only hours after he'd joined the rebellion that he cornered her adding adjustments to her Starcraft. She had been fixing the landing gear when Rex bent down next to her and poked his head underneath. "What did you do, Commander?"

Ahsoka, tightening a bolt as she spoke, gave him a smile. "I'll have you know this was not my fault. And you can call me Ahsoka, Rex. We're no longer in the Clones Wars."

The clone sat cross-legged and patiently waited for her to finish her repairs. "It's more of a habit than anything else."

"It's something you can break," Ahsoka chided.

"Wolffe is worse than I am."

"Wolffe's a stickler." Ahsoka countered with a smile. She slid herself out from under the Starcraft and gave the clone a smile, picking up a cloth to wipe her hands with. Rex stood with her. "Do you know what happened to General Skywalker?"

Ahsoka allowed herself to glare. "You already know the answer to that."

Rex nodded. "We thought you would, even after you left the Order."

From the way Ahsoka bristled Rex could tell it was still a sensitive subject, but the Togruta brushed it off. "I do know what happened. I just don't know why."

"Turns out the general were married." Rex said bluntly. Ahsoka snorted. "Yeah, that was easy to work out. They were dead obvious."

"Anyway," Rex continued, ignoring Ahsoka's comment, even though he had worked it out as well, "Padmé turned out to be pregnant. Apparently the general kept seeing visions of her dying and it drove him over the edge eventually."

Ahsoka leant against the craft, crossing her arms. "Well that would explain quite a bit. The idiot."

"The Sith was found, too late obviously." Rex informed her. Ahsoka tilted her head. "Who?"

"Chancellor Palpatine."

The raised eye-marking that he received in return showed Ahsoka's disbelief. "Palpatine? Really?"

Rex nodded and Ahsoka groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Well now I'm angry at him."

"Have you not paid any attention to the Empire at all?"

"I find them annoying and not really worth any time." Ahsoka shot back. "I had assumed that whoever the Sith was simply offered Palpatine the spot as Emperor for power and the suchlike."

Rex nodded again, agreeing with the idea. There were very few who knew of Darth Vader's identity. He only discovered it through continuously sneaking into record rooms and the suchlike. Ahsoka had found in a different way.

"Are you going to tell your friends?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "Not yet. There will be time for them to find out, but it's not now. They already have enough fighting between them and the last thing I want to do is make it worse."

"They won't be happy that you kept it from them." Rex pointed out.

Ahsoka's lips twitched. "No, they won't." She raised her head, placing the oil soaked cloth into the toolbox she was using. "Who have you kept in touch with? Aside from Wolffe and Gregor, was it?"

Rex shared a grin. "Kix is on Ryloth along with Dogma and Coric. The rest I've heard rumours about but nothing concrete."

Ahsoka nodded. "Same here; merely rumours." She paused, her eye markings furrowing in thought. Rex gave her a patient look. The expression was long one that most of the clones had feared, especially when shared with Anakin Skywalker. That look meant a really stupid plan.

"What are you thinking?"

"Just that a reunion would be nice." Ahsoka reassured him before giving him an excuse and leaving. Rex stared after her and snorted. That look was dangerous. One of the first times he saw it, she and Anakin Skywalker had thrown him off a massive wall. Something he still hadn't entirely forgiven them for.

Rex enjoyed spending time on the Ghost. Hera was lovely, often more than content to give Rex something to do. Sabine often challenged him to blaster practise and he was happy to see that the Mandalorian could give him a run for his money. Zeb was close to the same as Sabine, often challenging Rex to fights and the such while Ezra reminded Rex of a younger Ahsoka (quickly teaching the clone to stay out of pick-pocketing range and look before you do pretty much anything). Kanan was a little harder to get in touch with, obviously still holding guilt and anger in regard to Order 66 (not that Rex blamed him). But eventually the Jedi and the clone worked through the problem and Rex was happily feeling like a member of the team.

Ahsoka came aboard, talking idly with Kanan and followed by Ezra (obviously the young Padawan thought he was being sneaky. Rex could see the light grin on Ahsoka's face and the exasperation on Kanan's). Within half an hour, Kanan, Zeb and Ezra left and Ahsoka slid into the booth next to Rex in the kitchen. "The Inquisitors are searching for something."

"They're led by Skywalker, aren't they?"

"From what I've gathered, yes." Ahsoka nodded. She paused before sighing. "Master Kenobi said that he hadn't wanted to take on another apprentice after me."

Rex stared down at the glass of water resting in his hands. "Well he is kind of a different person now."

"True." Ahsoka conceded. "I have a proposal."

"I thought you might," Rex replied.

"What gave me away?"

"The look."

Ahsoka stared at him, confusion on her face. "What look?"

Rex couldn't prevent a bark of a laugh. "Don't sound so indignant, Ahsoka. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Is this about the wall on Geonosis?"

"Yes."

Ahsoka groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Rex! We both apologised for that. And we happened to catch you."

"You could've just said jump!"

"What are you two arguing about?" Hera called as she walked past to grab something from the bench top.

Ahsoka smirked at Rex. "We're just discussing the Clone Wars and Rex was complaining about something that happened nearly twenty years ago."

The Twi'lek lent against the bench top, watching as the Togruta and clone continued to argue about what appeared to be petty memories, shaking her head. "You two are worse than Zeb and Ezra."

She turned to leave. "And I'll keep Sabine away from your secret meeting. Though you might want to find somewhere more discreet."

"We'll be quick." Ahsoka promised, not the least bit surprised the Twi'lek had an idea as to what they were doing. She waited until the pilot had left before turning to Rex. "I want to reform the 501st."

Rex blinked. "To fight for the rebellion?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "No, to fight Anakin."

"Kanan told me what happened when they went against him." Rex argued. "How would a bunch of clones beat that? And the majority will be like Wolffe, Gregor and I were; wanting to stay out of a fight with the Empire."

Ahsoka closed her eyes, rubbing her forehead. "I know, I know. But the Empire can chuck it for all I care. And I know that Anakin is strong. I can feel it, even now."

"Then why would you want us to fight him?" Rex pointed out, watching as the Togruta folded her arms and rested her chin on top of them.

"Because you remember that when he gets angry, he gets sloppy. When he realised I was nearby, I could feel his anger. I don't aim to beat him in a fight, with or without backup. What I intend to do is frustrate him, egg him on and make his moves sloppy. He leads the Inquisitors so if we get his anger up, his abilities will fall."

Rex paused. "You want us to prank the Empire and one of its strongest members?" His voice was riddled with disbelief but he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. "I like it."

They spent a good galactic month or so searching for surviving members of the 501st, accompanied by Gregor and Wolffe. Most of that time was dedicated to actually pinpointing where they were; sorting through rumours and working out who was alive, where they were and what the possibility of them joining the group they had started.

They approached members of the 501st first due to the relationship already built. Kix and Coric had greeted them with a warm smile and an even warmer dinner, happily explaining that they had decided to perform relief work on any planet that needed it. Ryloth was well known for rebel activity against the Empire and they had Twi'leks and other species coming to get patched up on a daily basis. Ahsoka explained the basic premise but promised one thing to the clones.

"You are free men now. Instead of being honour bound to do as I say, this is a job opportunity instead. You don't have to take the job but we want to keep in contact anyway. For old time's sakes."

The majority of the 501st clones had agreed to join the reformation and rebellion straight away and both Ahsoka and Rex worked out a plan so that the clones could return to the homes they came from to visit the families and friends they had made.

Members of other clone battalions, such as Cody, Fox and Threepwood, were a little harder to convince. The majority were worried about keeping Ahsoka as far away from them as possible, having not removed their internal chips. Ahsoka had simply rested a hand on her lightsaber and said, "Anything you try, I can stop you."

After that, conversations went smoother. Many of the clones they found took them up on the idea of pranking the living daylights out of the Empire and Kix soon had a number of them calling him to get their inhibitor chips removed. The few that didn't want to cause any more trouble gave them the promise of support if they needed it and an agreement to keep the word quiet. All were given the time when their decision had to be made and the coordinates to meet them if they wanted to join the cause.

However, there were a few trouble causes. And Dogma was one of them. They had found the clone in the back of a seedy bar in the Outer Rim, drinking himself to death. As Ahsoka and Rex slid into the booth across from him, Dogma groaned. "I don't want to join any god damn cause."

Ahsoka arched an eye marking. "You'd rather drink until you die?"

"We've been decommissioned." Dogma explained carelessly. "I think I've earned the right."

"And you're not worried about your brothers?" Rex asked.

"I think I'd rather avoid killing another Jedi." Dogma snapped, slamming his drink onto the table. Ahsoka pursed her lips. "By technicality, I am no longer a Jedi. And we can remove your chip if that helps."

"The last time I blindly followed a Jedi, I ended up killing him." Dogma spat. Ahsoka shot a confused glance to Rex, who rubbed his eyes. "You killed that scum for the greater good, Dogma. That wasn't because of the chips."

"Could've been." The clone mumbled into his beer, taking a large gulp. Ahsoka gave him an understanding glance. "Dogma, you can't kill me."

The clone arched an eyebrow back at her. "On yeah? The Order seemed to fall rather quickly before."

"Honestly, if you could get more than five hits on me, I'd promote you to Rex's position." Ahsoka snorted, ignoring the elbow dig to her ribs from the disgruntled captain next to her. Dogma peered at her. "That sounds like a challenge."

"One you can take up when you're not drunk." Rex cut in.

Ahsoka reached forward and clasped one of Dogma's hands in her own. "I know what happened. I felt the pain; not just from the Jedi but the second wave from the clones when they came out of the trance. But rest assured; you cannot hurt me, Dogma. And I'm not implying that there's a fault in your chip. If any one of you felt compromised and told me so, I could stop you from taking moves that you do not want. You have nothing to fear."

Dogma shook her hand off him. "Krell used me. How do I know you're not doing the same thing?"

Ahsoka frowned. "I lost what you lost when the Order fell. The Jedi were my family, yes. But so were the clones." She stood and slid a commlink across the table. "You don't have to join, Dogma. I have told the others exactly the same thing. This is simply a job and you have the right to turn it down."

As they left the bar and walked to the shuttle, Rex glanced sideways at her. "How many do you think will join?"

Ahsoka sighed as they slipped into the cockpit and took their seats. "We found and met with, what? Forty clones?"

"Around about."

"Maybe half will join; a bit more."

Rex gave her a sympathetic look. "It's not the forces you were hoping for."

"No." Ahsoka agreed. "But it's better than just the four of us. We have to wait and see."

Almost a galactic standard month passed since they had gone recruiting before messages of agreement or denial came flooding in. They met on a moon in the Outer Rim after sending everyone the time and coordinates. Ahsoka studied the sky, both hands resting on her lightsabers while Rex tracked any and all incoming ships. By the end of the day, twenty five decided to join; n early every member of the 501st joined the new formation, with clones such as Cody and Hawk joining as well. Kix and Coric were running around, finding out who had their chip removed, who hadn't and who had attempted it, before settling down to write out a schedule of when to perform each and every surgery.

Rex and the other commanders and captains went into a meeting, pinpointing and locating the perfect land base to occupy that would be far enough from anywhere so that the rebels wouldn't accidentally try to set up stage in the same place while Hawk and any mechanics and engineers, such as Ridge, Threepwood, Nax and Del, went searching for the 'perfect ship'. Ahsoka wasn't planning to see them for the next few rotations; Hawk was extremely picky and Nax had an itchy trigger finger when it came to any form of blaster, including cannons.

She spent the evening on the surface of the moon, meditating and opening herself up to the Force. Due to the extreme distance between herself and Darth Vader (which still successfully made her snort and her eyes tear up), she wasn't too afraid of releasing her emotions; she just had to keep tabs on her own force signature to prevent it from growing too large.

"Commander?"

Ahsoka opened her eyes and looked up at the clone in front of her. Dogma stood, looking rather sheepish, and scratched the back of his head. "Are the auditions still open?"

Ahsoka smiled, climbing to her feet. "Of course, Dogma." She looped an arm through his own and led him towards the ship that was currently their base. "You stopped drinking."

"I didn't need to anymore." Dogma grinned. "I found my purpose."

"You are prepared to annoy any and all Imperials we may come across?"

"That's not why you started this, was it?"

Ahsoka smiled sadly. "Of course I want to get Anakin back. But he's currently lost in a storm of negative emotions. So the rest of the family has to stick together until he finds his way out."

Dogma paused, considering her words, while they entered the ship. Wolffe gave them a gruff look, nodding to the trooper, before there was an explosion of sound and the clones stampeded over to greet their brother. Rex pulled the Togruta from the pile and smiled. "It feels like the old days again."

Ahsoka returned the smile. "Family reunions often have that effect, Rex."

The new members of the 501st/212th are Rex, Wolffe, Gregor, Fox (not the dude that shot Fives), Dogma, Coric, Ridge, Attie, Del, Jesse, Boro, Joc, Ross, Kano, Rookie, Boomer, Kix, Boil, Nax, Zeer, Bow, Cody, Barlex, Threepwood, Bly and Hawk.

Okay, the basis behind this was merely a thought on family. Ahsoka pretty much went through the 'family attachment' stage surrounded more by clones and Anakin that Jedi so I figured that she would consider them family. The other part was 'what if Ahsoka went somewhere with her realisation about Anakin?' And thus, this was born. It's going to be multi-chaptered that will border on family and humor.