Escape from Mandalore
Something felt wrong, ever since Rex answered his commlink a couple seconds earlier. Ahsoka could feel it There was a loud bang as an explosive went off. Dust filled the air as the rest of the clone troopers, entered the Mandalorian Throne Room. There was a blast from Rex's pistol, illuminating the room in a flash, and then a thud as Ahsoka's motionless body hit the floor.
"We're done here" said Rex to his clone brethren.
"Are you certain she's dead" asked one of the clones under his command.
"100%, now let's get out of here before Darth Maul returns, he's no longer our target, and I bet there are some Jedi out there just waiting to feel the wrath of the 501st. Now move out soldiers!" Ordered Rex as a collective
"Hoorah" arose from the crowd of clones that had just entered the citadel's throne room.
The clones turned around and filed out of the room. Rex took one last glance back at Ahsoka, the Jedi who he had served under for so long, and grown so close to, lying there, motionless next to the deceased body of Savage Opress, and then followed his men out of the building. It was a silent walk back to the transport ship. All the clones knew what needed to be done, for them to meet up with the rest of the 501st and storm the Jedi temple. None of the soldiers of the 501st hated the Jedi, they had received nothing but respect from their Jedi commanders, except for General Krell of course. Because of this they didn't like what they had been ordered to do, but good soldiers follow orders, and that was what they were doing. Following orders. Each squad boarded their respective LAATs, ready to fly them back up to the transport's waiting in orbit. Only the pilot and one other clone trooper had survived the siege if the citadel from Rex's ride back up to orbit, leaving him almost alone to dwell on what he had just done. Ahsoka had been his friend, she had saved his life on countless occasions, even if it meant likely death for herself. But good soldiers followed orders. Rex made sure that his ship was the last off the ground, no man was ever left behind in the 501st, Rex always made sure of that.
"Alright, let's take her up" Rex ordered after the last ship was airborne.
"Aye aye, captain" The pilot replied as he brought the bird up, spiinig it a half rotation so that it was the facing the transport. It began to accelerate up to the ship in orbit, just as it reached maximum velocity a loud bang come from the back of the craft.
"We're going down" yelled the pilot over the noise of various alerts and sirens in the cockpit, "brace for impact". The LAAT begin falling quickly towards the planet surface, leaving a plume of smopke trailing behind it. Within seconds, the gunship had smashed into the surface of Mandalore, and was engulfed in a fiery explosion.
"the Captain's ship is down, we're going to look for survivors" the pilot of the ship that was second to last to leave the citadel over the radio. The gunship circled around had headed down to Rex's crashed ship. All that was left was a burning wreckage, with no chance that anyone could have survived.
"It's hopeless, let's get out of here" the pilot said to his crew in defeat, and spun the LAAT back around for the last time and headed back up to the transport in preparation for their trip back to Coruscant.
From behind a tree, about a kilometre out from the wreckage stood Captain Rex, waiting for the final gunship that was searching for survivors of his own crash, headed back up to the ship. Once they left, Rex lit up a flare and waited for his ally.
"What was that about" Ahsoka asked once she reached Rex, "why did you pretend to kill me?".
"You might want to take a seat for this one" Rex sighed, "A while back we had a rogue clone in our battalion, you remember Tups, right? Well basically, out of nowhere, he shot and killed a Jedi knight, but once we apprehended him he was back to normal, and showing absolute remorse at what he had done, saying that something in his head had made him do it. So Fives ran away and investigated what was going on. He managed to find out that all of us clones were born, created, with these chips in our heads. Before he was able to discover the meaning of these chips, however, and whether they were connected to his actions, he was killed after he tried to take the life of chancellor Palpatine. To be safe, Wolffe, Gregor, and I all removed our chips, just in case they were connected to the Jedi's murder, but the chips were kept secret from the rest of the clones to prevent hysteria. I had started to forget about the incident, but when the chancellor contacted me directly with an directive to execute order 66, I remembered what that used to mean to me. And, well, I figured out that's what the chips must have been there for, to make sure we carried out our most questionable order; to wipe out the Jedi. I knew all my men still had their chips in their brains, so I had to fake your death, and my own too, which is why I got you to sneak out the back and sabotage my LAAT while I slowly walked my troopers back out the way we came in. But it seems like it's just you and me now, I don't know who we can trust, except for Gregor, and Wolffe. And there's something you must know Ahsoka, for some reason, I'm not sure why, but this order excludes the killing of General Skywalker, I fear it might be because he is in league with the chancellor, we cannot trust him".
"If Anakin is a part of this then it's all my fault. If I had just stayed with him at the Jedi Order, instead of abandoning him when he needed me most he would have never turned to the dark side. I know it". Ahsoka replied, tears of guilt welling up in her eyes.
"You can't blame yourself Ahsoka. He made this decision, all we can do is figure out a way to try and make this right. We need to find a way to get the clones back on our side, I f I go to Kamino, I believe somewhere there, I will be able to find a way to hack into these chips and find a way to switch them off. But I can't do this alone. I'll need your help Ahsoka."
"I'm sorry Rex but I can't do anything until I know for sure how my master is involved. I need to make contact with the surviving Jedi, find out who is left."
"I understand that. But the longer we spend not shutting down those chips, the more likely it is that they might have some sort of permanent effect on the clone's brains. My brothers' brains. And I can't break into Kamino alone"
"You said Wolffe and Gregor had removed their chips, if you track them down, they could help you in your mission. But I need to see who's left, and confront Anakin… I can't abandon him again" Ahsoka's mind was made up, she was going to confront her master with or without Rex. Rex conceded
"Sounds like a plan, but first we need to get off this planet. I'm sure one of the Mandalorian's who helped liberate this planet will have a ship they don't mind us using". Ahsoka agreed, and together they set out in search of a ship. It wasn't long before they had acquired a ship, free of charge, from a Mandalorian who was grateful for the Republic's help in freeing them from the rule of Darth Maul. With a few flicks of some buttons, Ahsoka had taken off and began her journey off the blue planet. The ship they were in was a high end private transport ship, with individual rooms for up to a dozen passengers, and a central living room where the passengers could eat and play games if they felt the need to. With the clone army believing that Rex and Ahsoka were dead, they were free to openly transmit, as the Republic would not be scanning their sector of space, for a long time. Ahsoka still remembered some of the Jedi emergency frequency and began to search through them, hoping find a distress call or glimmer of hope. She was about to give up when a familiar voice came through the transceiver,
"Emergency code 913, I have no contact on any frequencies".
Ahsoka knew that voice well, it was Obi Wan, one of her best friends at the Jedi Order, and a commander she had served under many times.
"Obi Wan! It's me, Ahsoka! Do you copy? Please respond" Ahsoka tried to send her message through to the Jedi master but something was blocking her signal. And then came through another transmission, from a senator who she recognised as a friend of Padme's.
"Master Kenobi"
"Senator Organa, my clone troops turned on my, I need help" Obi Wan informed the senator.
Ahsoka couldn't figure out why her transmission wasn't getting through, it seemed like her transmitter was too weak to cope with the multiple transmitters that were already involved in Obi Wan and Organa's conversation.
"We have just rescued master Yoda, it appears this has happened everywhere" Organa voice came through again.
"We're sending you our..." Organa was cut off by the noise of an explosion.
"Senator! Senator do you copy"
"Get as far… do not go to the co-ordinates we just sent… no matter what… don't let them track this transmi… Aaaaarggh!" yelled the senator into his transmitter, as he began to break up.
"Senator!"
A light blinked on the dashboard in front of Ahsoka as the senator's transmission was prematurely cut off. Despite the tragic events that had just unfolded over audio to her, she knew she had no time to mourn, she had to make a connection with Obi Wan before she lost him. She tried again to get through. There was a long pause but eventually Kenobi's voice came through the other end.
"Master Kenobi"
"Master, you have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice" Said Ahsoka, overwhelmed with joy that she had managed to make contact with the one man in the galaxy that gave her hope that perhaps there was still a chance.
"Ahsoka! Is that you" said Obi Wan, unable to believe what he was seeing. "So, I see you managed to defeat Darth Maul… Or at least escape him. Do you have any clue what is going on?"
"Unfortunately, I do master. Long story short; The clones have a chip in their brains that when activated, makes them turn on the Jedi on the chancellor's command"
"That's horrific, where are you now? We should meet up so that we can figure out what our response is"
"I agree. But Master there's something else" Ahsoka paused as she thought about what she was going to say "I think Master Skywalker has something to do with this as well. I fear he may have turned to the dark side, and may be helping Palpatine to destroy the Jedi."
Obi Wan stroked his beard, deep in thought.
"Alright" he finally said "wait where you are and I will be with you soon, but be on alert, don't trust anyone". And with that the transmission ended. Ahsoka stood up out of her chair and left the cockpit to return to Rex.
"Any luck reaching the other troopers?" asked Ahsoka.
"I got through to Gregor, but he's stuck with Cody and the 212th, he said it will be difficult for him to escape without being branded a traitor. He can't just fake his death like I did. He also said that there is a chance that General Kenobi is still alive. He said that he convinced Cody to leave without finding the Jedi's body, and knowing Kenobi, that almost definitely means he's alive. As for Wolffe, I haven't been able to get hold of him yet, but I'm still trying. How did things go on your end?"
"I made contact with Obi Wan, he'll be here shortly and then we'll figure out where to go from there". Ahsoka said and then sat down on one of the chairs in the living space on board their new ship. A long sigh escaped her lips, she was exhausted. Between the siege on the citadel, fighting Darth Maul, faking her own death and finding out about Palpatine's evil plot, it had been a long day. The moment she sat down she fell asleep. Rex sat there for a little while longer trying to contact Wolffe, without any luck. He looked at the sleeping Togruta, unable to believe the events that had just unfolded. He was now hiding away from the one thing in the galaxy he thought he could always trust. His brothers. And now here he was, alone with a Jedi defector, drifting through space with no idea of what to do next. All he knew was that he needed to find a way to get those chips turned off, and bring his brothers back to the light. However, it wasn't long before the hardened trooper drifted off to sleep too.
Rex was woken by a thud, as a starfighter docked in the vessel's docking bay. He knew that it was most likely Obi Wan, but he didn't want to take any chances, and backed up against the wall so that he could spring an ambush if it was a hostile boarding party. He waited with his blasters drawn. Finally, a foot stepped through the doorway, followed by the body of Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi. Kenobi entered the room and gave it a quick scan and saw Ahsoka Tano slumped in her chair. He drew his lightsabre and spun around, prepared for an ambush. He was greeted by Captain Rex with his blasters drawn. His eyes narrowed and he prepared to take a swing at the traitorous clone trooper. It was one thing to betray a fully-grown Jedi commander, but Ahsoka was only a padawan, still in her teens, and she had trusted Rex.
"Wait!" Yelled Rex, realising what Obi Wan was thinking "I haven't killed her! She's only asleep" Kenobi hesitated, unsure whether to believe the clone.
"If you're lying I'll kill you" warned Obi Wan as he moved over to Ahsoka, never taking his eyes off the clone captain. He placed two fingers to the Togruta's neck and felt a pulse beating.
"I removed my chip, along with Wolffe and Gregor after Fives tried to assassinate the chancellor. Oh, how I wish his attempt hadn't been stopped now"
"I'm sorry to startle you like that then old friend, it's just that I don't know who to trust anymore". Kenobi apologised, as he knelt down to lightly shake Ahsoka awake. A smile formed on Ahsoka's lips when she saw who it was and she jumped up to give the Jedi master a hug.
"Good to see this situation hasn't let you get your spirit down, young one". Kenobi greeted Ahsoka, happy to be back with the young padawan.
"We've been through worse" Ahsoka replied in a futile attempt to boost the morale of the ship.
"I'm afraid not, now can you tell me why you think Anakin is involved"
"I can sir" Rex interrupted "The directive that was ordered of us excluded General Skywalker from our hitlist, making him the only Jedi who isn't targeted by order 66. That, combined with the increasing amount of time that he has been spending with the chancellor has got me fearing that he may have turned to the dark side. What's more is that the entire 501st has been ordered back to Coruscant for a top-secret mission, to be led by a 'Darth Vader', one can only assume that it's to storm the Jedi Temple. And this 'Darth Vader', is General Skywalker's new title."
"You may well be right, I have sensed much darkness in him, but he has always done the right thing in the end. I believe that if we can get to him, we can convince him to return to the light. We need to reach the Jedi temple before he gets there. Before he can do anything that he will regret."
"Unlikely sir, the troop transports left a long time ago, chances re they're already being briefed on their mission as we speak."
"Then we had better get going."
"Aye aye, sir" Ahsoka said, apprehensive if the mission lying ahead of them. She went through into the cockpit and Kenobi followed. The trip through hyperspace would be a good chance for Obi Wan and Ahsoka to do some much needed catching up together. The whole way back Ahsoka and Kenobi discussed what had just happened, they each survived, whether Anakin really could be Darth Vader, and how they could try and put things right. Roughly an hour before they were due to arrive in Coruscant, Rex joined them in the cockpit.
"I just got a transmission from Gregor, apparently, Cody has been taken in by Chancellor Palpatine, who is now calling himself the first Emperor of the Galactic Empire, for questioning about the events on Utapau, and the rest of the 212th are now on indefinite leave from duty. I told him about my plan to go to Kamino, and he's agreed to join me. So, my question to you is, do you need me to help with Anakin, or can I pursue the freedom of my brothers?"
"No, we'll handle Anakin" replied Obi Wan "you go and do whatever you need to do on Kamino. But first, I want you to fly us directly over the Jedi temple, low altitude preferably. There's too many faces at the spaceport, Ahsoka and I will most certainly be spotted. Once you've landed, I hope you and Gregor find whatever you're looking for on Kamino". It dawned on all three of them that it was quite possible they would never see each other again. The odds were stacked against them. The Emperor had thousands of clone troopers at his disposal, and unrivalled power in the force. If they were to succeed in their respective missions, the force would need to be on their side. The ship they were on came out of hyperspace and Rex began his descent towards the spaceport, plotting a course that would bring them right over the Jedi temple. Ahsoka and Obi Wan made their way to the door. Rex accompanied them for a final farewell.
"Good luck out there, Rex" Ahsoka smiled up at her long-time friend and mentor "I look forward to hearing all about your mission" she added cheekily. Rex nodded back, unable to muster any words as the gravity of their farewell came crushing down on him. The door slid open behind the two Jedi, to reveal the cityscape rushing past underneath their feet like a flooded river. The sound of air rushing past was tremendous, Obi Wan had to shout to get his voice heard.
"It's been an honour serving with you Captain, may the force be with you"
"The honour's been all mine sir, give 'em hell". And with that the Jedi turned around and leapt out of the craft, that was still hurtling towards the spaceport.