Chapter 19 - Dominoes

DISCLAIMER: We (unfortunately) do not own Star Wars. :P

Author's Note: In which Anakin disobeys Obi-Wan by going to the Rishi outpost. :')

Many thanks to loldelegate here on ff. net who has been giving us advice and suggestions for this fic! We never could have made so many unique plans without you! :D

~ Amina Gila

The night is dark, not even the moon's radiance piercing through. Clones walk around the building, patrolling it, but something isn't right. The Force ripples, unbalanced, as decisions are made and paths rewritten. Then, everything begins to coalesce. Droid commandos leap onto the platform, swarming the facility and leaving no survivors. Anakin turns, seeing Cody lying face-down in a pool of blood, Rex a short distance away, armor singed and blackened from an explosion.

With a gasp, the Padawan jerks awake. He knows what that was. He has the gift of foresight, and it's as much a curse as it is anything else. Knowing the tragedies the future can bring is not easy, and many times, Anakin would rather not know. These... visions have been coming more frequently ever since the year before the Clone Wars broke out.

He settles himself, evening out his breathing, and calming himself in the Force's soothing currents, even as anxiety and fear twist in his gut. He knows that place; he's seen it before, and he's quite certain that it is the Rishi outpost. A listening post located on Rishi, the station is primarily designed to protect Kamino from falling victim to a Separatist attack. If the Separatists take control... they'll head to the clones' homeworld, and Anakin refuses to let that happen.

He's out of his bunk almost before he's decided what to do, scurrying through the halls to the bridge where his master is located. Before retiring for the night, Anakin had heard from Cody that he was supposed to be leaving in several hours - which was hours ago by now - to perform an inspection of a number of listening posts in the area. He can't let the commander die, or any clone, not if he can help it. "Master," he says, as he enters the conference room to see Obi-Wan standing over a map of the galaxy, probably making more battle plans for the future.

Obi-Wan starts slightly, shaking his head before turning towards him. He's clearly tired; he shouldn't be awake right now. "Anakin, why are you here? I thought you went to your cabin to get some rest."

"I - yes, Master, I did," he confirms, shifting, "But I had a vision. I think that the droids will be attacking the Rishi Outpost."

His master frowns, uncertainty flickering through his blue-gray eyes, at least Anakin thinks that's what it is. He's hardly known Obi-Wan for long, and he's so hard to read sometimes. "Are you certain?" he queries.

"Yes," Anakin replies, feeling the Force echo a soft confirmation. "Maybe -" he hesitates, "Maybe I can go there to make sure everything is alright." He can't get the images of Rex's and Cody's dead bodies out of his mind and resists the urge to shudder.

"That is hardly necessary, Padawan," his master assures him. "Commander Cody will be going there for an inspection. I can tell him to be cautious."

"But Master!" he protests. "If the droids attack, they'll do so in such a way so that the all-clear signal can't be deactivated. We'll never even know!"

Obi-Wan sighs. "Go back to your cabin and try to get some rest. I'll contact Cody."

Anakin knows what Ahsoka would have said. She would have sent him there immediately and probably come with him to be extra certain. She wouldn't have waited or trusted the clones to be able to fight off a sneak-attack with no help. "Yes, Master," he says obediently, turning and leaving the bridge. He walks slowly through the halls, wrestling with himself. Does it really matter if he disobeys and goes to give a quick check to put his mind at ease? It's not like he isn't already... toeing the line when he races in the underworld with Ahsoka to get credits.

By not going, he'll be putting lives at risk needlessly. It's not as if they'll be heading into another battle in the immediate future, not with Cody gone and them trying to hunt down General Grievous. Mind made up, Anakin sets out at a dead run towards the hanger, darting past clones as he goes. Cody is already gone; he can sense as much, and they could all be running out of time. Obi-Wan will be furious with him and for good reason, but if he saves lives, he's willing to take all the scolding he gets.

He leaps into his fighter after ensuring that his astromech, R3-S6, is secure. "Come on, buddy," he says as he fires up the engines, signaling the hyperspace ring for his arrival, "We need to go save some clones."

His master doesn't even realize what he's doing, probably because he's shielding himself for one, and for two, Obi-Wan was tired. He hasn't been with Anakin long enough to realize how deep his disobedient streak can run. The last thing he feels is a flare of alarm through his bond with Obi-Wan before he makes the jump to hyperspace.

**w**

Anakin lands his fighter on the platform after convincing the clone in charge that he is supposed to be here. It won't take any of them long to figure out the truth - he's not even sure that they bought his story in the first place - but the important thing is that he's here. Still, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel nervous as he walks into the outpost, past the sentries outside. The Force is tense, humming with an all too familiar sense of danger and tension. He's not too late; in fact, he might be right on time.

He makes his way into the main control room where a number of the clones are gathered, scanning the perimeter as he does so. Nothing seems out of place at the moment, but the Force gave him a warning for a reason.

"Sir," greets one of the five clones in the room. They're all part of a group called Domino Squad, and Anakin immediately makes sure to ask them for their names.

"Any activity?" Anakin inquires.

"Everything is quiet," Echo reports.

"No sign of anything," Hevy says, sounding almost... disappointed.

"Let's hope it stays that way," he murmurs gravely, but he knows it won't.

"Sir, incoming meteor shower," one of the clones suddenly reports, looking up from the screens.

"Raise the shields," Hevy orders.

"You wanted excitement, Hevy," Fives mutters.

"Right," he grumbles, moving over to the scanners. Four large objects are inbound for the base on the scanners, and Anakin instantly senses something off about them. The likelihood of a sudden meteor shower right now when he's already certain something is about to happen - like a creative droid attack - isn't very high. No, there must be a connection.

The ground beneath them trembles slightly from the force of the meteors hitting the ground, before everything on the scanners goes still again. It's only minutes later that Anakin suddenly senses a ripple in the Force, the feel of a life disappearing. Someone died, and that can only mean one thing.

"Something's happening. We need to get down there immediately," Anakin declares, spinning to head for the entrance.

"CT-327?" Hevy calls through his comm, and it's beyond jarring to hear one of them referring to another by their number, "Report in."

No response.

"Sentry! Do you copy?"

Still nothing.

"Cut the all-clear signal and sound the alarms," Anakin orders, running for the door.

"Come with me," Sergeant O'Niner orders, motioning to Droidbait as he turns to follow Anakin. Out of the corner of his eye, Anakin sees Arthree rolling out of the room after them but doesn't take the time to see where it's going as he runs.

They're under attack, and his focus is elsewhere. The familiar sound of clanking reaches his ears as they race for the main entrance. Anakin ignites his lightsabers, sprinting around the last corner only to come face to face with at least a dozen assassin droids, all of which instantly open fire.

He spins his lightsabers furiously, deflecting the droids' shots, and giving the two clones behind him some cover. There are simply way too many droids here. They swarm forwards, using the blast shields along the side of the hallway for protection as they advance. Several more clones join the fray at the end of the hall and join in trying to destroy the intruders.

A few of the assassin droids in the front promptly charge them. One of them goes down to the clones' fire, but the other three dodge the blaster bolts as they keep advancing. Anakin swings for the first one, and it jumps into the air, kicking itself off the ceiling and landing on the floor behind him. He throws up a hand, flinging the two in front of him back before whirling around and slashing its head off, twisting sideways to avoid getting shot.

He winces as one of the clones behind him – O'Niner – gets shot down. With so many clones here, it's hard to properly give them all cover, especially when the droids keep pressing forwards. Without risking all of the clones' lives, there's no way they'll be able to stop the droids. "We need to fall back!" Anakin calls. He knows when they're outnumbered, and assassin droids are especially difficult to defeat.

He slashes through the next assassin droid that comes too close, steadily backing towards the doors at the end of the hall as he continues blocking blaster bolts. A couple more of the clones go down before they finally reach the doors. The five remaining clones - are they really the only ones left, already? - run back into the room, as Arthree zooms into view, racing for the door. What? What is the droid doing?

Anakin doesn't even have the breath to ask anyway as it whizzes into the room, and one of the clones hits the button to start closing the blast doors. The Padawan jumps through at the last second before they slam closed, locking the droids on the outside. For the moment.

"We need to get a message through to Master Obi-Wan," Anakin decides, as he surveys the survivors. All of Domino Squad is still alive, but they're the only ones. They're rookies still, never having seen battle. This is something new to them, and he fears for their survival.

"We can't, sir," Cutup objects as he looks at the controls. "All transmissions have been jammed and the all-clear signal was turned back on almost immediately."

"It was jammed, so we can't turn it back off," Echo adds, his worry obvious.

That's weird. How could the systems be jammed so that the all-clear signal can't be deactivated? Anakin can understand the part about jamming all transmissions - of course the Separatists would do that - but how could they have? Unless they have more forces in space. But that doesn't explain about the all-clear signal. The only way to deactivate now will be to shut down all the power and restart the systems, something which will open all the blast doors, letting the droids right inside. They can't do that without taking the risk that they're all dead by the time the systems restart.

"That door isn't going to keep them long," Droidbait warns, eyeing it as something starts cutting through.

"We need to find a way out of here," Anakin declares, looking around the room. They weren't able to fight off all the droids before, and they definitely won't be able to now, not when they're cornered.

"I think I know just the way," Fives decides.

Of course, all bases have escape routes like this. Anakin warily watches the growing circle being cut in the door as the five clones climb into the ventilation shaft, before he finally follows, pulling the grate back into place behind them.

They climb out the opposite end into the cool night air some minutes later, the enveloping darkness surrounding them making it hard to even see each other. Which actually makes it easier to hide, because the droids have lights on them which they would see coming. It's probably less likely for them to get ambushed out here. Hopefully.

Still, Anakin can sense danger lurking in the shadows. Something is close. Something... dangerous. He reaches for his lightsaber. "What now, sir?" queries Hevy, oblivious to the danger.

"We need to retake the base, or send word to Master Obi-Wan," Anakin frowns.

"Commander Cody and Captain Rex were supposed to be coming for an inspection," Echo speaks up. Right. That was the very reason Anakin had come here in the first place. And now the two of them are going to show up completely unsuspecting – even if Obi-Wan had warned Cody – and they'll walk right into the droids. The images from Anakin's vision swim through his mind. No, he came here to stop this. He can't let this happen. He can't.

A low growling noise suddenly freezes all of Anakin's thoughts in place. "Did you hear that?" demands one of the clones urgently.

"Yeah, what is that? It doesn't sound like a droid?"

The Force suddenly screams in warning, and Anakin whirls around, as an enormous creature rises into view right behind them. Enormous glowing red eyes stare down at them as it's huge jaws open, silently swooping straight for Cutup.

"Cutup!" Anakin yells in warning, igniting his lightsaber and running for the back of the group. All the clones instantly whirl around, and Cutup dives out of the way barely in time. Anakin's blade collides with the creature's teeth instead and it jerks back, snarling furiously at him, as all the clones open fire at its head.

"What was that?!" exclaims Fives as the creature finally backs away from them, disappearing into whatever hole it came from.

"That was an eel," Hevy replies, sounding a bit shaky. "That's why we have regulations not to go outside."

"I think it was excusable this time," Anakin objects, "But let's keep moving before it comes back."

"Look!" Droidbait suddenly interjects, "It's Commander Cody."

They're too late. They'll never be able to find a way to take out the droids now. Rex and Cody are about to walk in there with no forewarning, and there's no way they'll be able to get up to the landing platform in time to stop them. "Arthree, can you contact that shuttle?" Anakin demands urgently.

Arthree beeps, extending an antenna from his dome, and then moments later, beeps again. "What do you mean you can't get a signal through?"

The droid beeps again. "You think your transmitter is damaged?" Anakin leans over to check the droid over. "It doesn't look damaged." What is wrong with the droid? It's acting extremely strange. Arthree whistles. "That... doesn't make any sense."

There have been times in the past that he's noticed Arthree acting extremely weird... and seeming to malfunction at all the most inconvenient times, but for whatever reason, right now he's beginning to get suspicious that something else is going on.

"This isn't good," Hevy murmurs, "Their comlinks are on a different scramble set so I can't signal them either."

"We can do it with this flare," Fives offers.

"Do it now," Anakin orders. Fives lets it off, and the red flash of light arcs across the sky. Anakin can only hope that Rex and Cody will get the message before it's too late.

In the meantime, the six of them take off for the landing platform. There will be droids swarming everywhere, and even if the other two figure out what's happening, that doesn't mean they're going to be able to get out of there. They're at a much lower elevation at this point, so it's going to take a lot longer to get up there.

An explosion suddenly rips through the landing platform up above them, debris flying everywhere. But no one died. Anakin can feel it. Maybe it was Rex or Cody who let off the bomb in the first place. He can only hope.

Flames burning not far off light up the night around them as two familiar figures move into view, instantly raising their blasters as they spot them. "Cody? Rex?" Anakin calls, darting forwards.

"Commander!" Cody exclaims, relief clear in his voice.

"I didn't realize you were going to be here, sir," Rex exclaims, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Because he wasn't supposed to be," Cody says flatly.

Anakin gives him a guilty smile. "I think it's a good thing I came anyway."

"That I would agree with, sir," Cody replies, clearly far more willing to let it go than Obi-Wan will be.

"What's the status?" Rex inquires.

"These are Fives, Hevy, Echo, Cutup, and Droidbait," Anakin introduces.

"Where's the Sergeant?"

"He's dead, sir," Hevy replies.

"We need to find a way to retake that base," Anakin declares. He still hasn't thought of anything. "The droids won't be expecting us, though, so that should give us an advantage."

"We need to find a way through the blast door first of all," Cody points out.

"I have a few ideas," Rex murmurs.

Obi-Wan would never approve of a plan like this. But really, droids are dumb. People don't give their dimwittedness enough credit. "This is never going to work." Cody facepalms where he sits crouched on the ground right by the door.

"Have some faith," Anakin chides with a grin, watching as Rex continues his act of pretending to be a droid in front of the small view-window.

Right on cue, the door slides open. Rex blasts the first of the droids as all the others jump up, shooting down the remainder.

They run into the facility making their way through the empty hall to the command center where the rest of the assassin droids are gathered. All of them look up in surprise as they burst into the room, opening fire. Anakin ignites his lightsabers, slashing through the droids right in the entrance. It isn't long before the droids are all taken down, with only a few of the clones having minor injuries and all of them still alive. Time to secure the base.

"It looks like we have more visitors," Echo reports from the window. "An entire Separatist fleet!"

"Of course," Anakin mutters grimly, "That's why the droids showed up in the first place."

"We have to warn command," Rex reminds.

"Looks like they might have already gotten a warning," Cody interjects. "A Republic fleet just came out of hyperspace."

"Master Obi-Wan is here," Anakin informs, as the familiar presence washes over him. Time to get out there and explain the situation. (And get a lecture.) He doesn't feel too bad about disobeying because he was able to save both Rex, Cody, and some other clones. And Kamino will be safe.

**w**

"What's going on?" Obi-Wan inquires as soon as he steps off the shuttle ramp, approaching them.

"Droids attacked, and temporarily got control of the base, but we defeated them, sir. The base is secure," Cody reports.

"We haven't had time for inspections yet, sir," Rex adds.

"Very well." Obi-Wan then turns his gaze on him. "Anakin," he scolds, "I specifically told you not to come here."

"Seeing as we won the battle, I think it's a good thing I came," Anakin objects, trying to ignore the sting of his words. He tried. He really, really did.

"You disobeyed direct orders."

"I saved them!" he argues. "How many more would have died if I hadn't come here?" He senses more than sees all the clones around them slowly moving away, likely remembering something very important that they need to do elsewhere.

"It might have worked out this time," Obi-Wan acknowledges, "But that won't always be true. I don't want this incident repeated."

He was trying! He's supposed to save as many lives as possible. He might not have listened to Obi-Wan, but if he had, they could have lost the entire base and all the clones would have been killed, not to mention Kamino could have been invaded without warning. "I understand, Master," he says finally, even though he doesn't. The reaction still stings far more than he could ever say.

Obi-Wan thankfully leaves it at that.

His mind elsewhere, Anakin almost doesn't notice it until he runs right into Cody. "Sorry," he mutters, because the near collision was plainly embarrassing, and moves to go past him.

"You did a good job today, kid," Cody praises, "The General is just worried."

He blinks in surprise at the unexpected statement. "I know... but thanks," he offers awkwardly.

Cody nods, then steps past to get on with his inspection of the base. Anakin tries to push the incident from mind, getting back to his own duties. It doesn't really work.

**w**

As soon as the immediate aftermath of the whole mess on Rishi has been cleaned up, Anakin decides to have Arthree's programming checked. As it turns out, the droid is literally a spy for the Separatists and was transmitting information to them the entire time. No wonder nothing was working. He knows it was the droid's programming, which is different now, but he's going to have a hard time actually relying on it in the future for a while.

On the bright side, tracing the last transmission to Grievous – in which Arthree informed him about Anakin's presence at the Rishi outpost – helped them find the secret Separatist listening post; Republic forces led by Ahsoka will be dispatched to destroy it by the end of the day.

Once Arthree is taken care of, Anakin is called to watch as Domino Squad is officially transferred to the 501st – Rex thought they would fit in better there, and they also need more clones to replace those who have died in recent battles. And so, Anakin finds himself standing next to Obi-Wan, Rex, and Cody as they speak to Domino Squad. "On behalf of the Republic," Cody declares, "We thank you for your valiant service, and we honor your comrades' sacrifices. Your new unit is lucky to have you."

"Congratulations," Rex adds with a smile, "You're not shinies anymore."

Obi-Wan turns to go after the clones receive their metals.

"With all due respect, sir," Echo speaks up. "We only succeeded in our mission because of the Jedi. We don't deserve this honor."

"No," Rex replies, "If it weren't for you, the Republic wouldn't have learned of the Separatist invasion until it was too late. You showed me something today. You're exactly the kind of men I need in the 501st." Although Anakin is admittedly a little disappointed that they won't be part of the 212th, but he has to admit that they do seem to fit better in the 501st anyway.

"Sir, yes sir!" all the clones instantly chorus.

Anakin approaches them as soon as Rex and Cody start to walk away. "We'll probably be seeing each other again before you know it," he says, "I'd be proud to fight beside you anytime, anywhere."

"It would be an honor for us too, sir," Hevy replies.

Anakin gives them all a smile and a wave as he turns to catch up with his master.

Final Notes: If you want to join our Discord to receive updates or just hang out, here's the invite link, and please delete the spaces! :) discord . gg / nqSxuz2

We also have a tumblr account (and delete the spaces): fanfictasia . tumblr . com

And! We have a YT channel for tributes! Please delete the spaces in the link. :D youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA

Finally, if you're interested, you can submit a SW gift fic request via the following form (delete the spaces): forms . gle / rmXWtRomMMaULuPa6