Fives hated waiting.

Sly, the aptly named nuisance of a thief, had finally left, but at least promised to comm with a update on Echo. Fives watched him make his way through the cafeteria, greeting some of the other clones, and even a few natborns, as he worked his way to the exit. He seemed to know almost everyone who worked in this massive place. And, he seemed in no fekkin' hurry to return to work.

"I know that look," Kix said, interrupting his reverie.

"I don't like him," Fives said, gesturing with his caf cup toward the retreating form of Sly. "That food stealing di'kut."

"That is an unforgivable crime," Kix shook his head, selected the last two desserts off of his tray and loaded them onto Fives' tray. "Better?"

Fives' gave the desserts a speculative look and then gazed down into his caf cup. "Yes, but I'm out of caf. You can't have dessert without caf."

Kix snorted and grabbed his cup. "I'll get you caf, but only because I was headed to fill my own cup. Otherwise, I'd be more inclined to dump my caf on your head."

Fives' snorted in slight amusement and focused his attention on finishing off the remains off his meal. It had gone cold, and some of it had congealed slightly, but it was still a feast compared to what he had been eating lately. He watched Kix make his way across the large mess to refill their cups and then his gaze drifted over to some of the other clones. His eyes narrowed as he studied them.

Kix returned and slid a full caf cup in front of him. "Alright, now what is that look all about?"

Fivesraised his caf cup to Kix in a gesture of thanks before turning his attention to the desserts. He neatly split them both in half using his utiletensil and returned an even portion back to Kix. "There's something off about some of the clones here. The younger ones."

"Like Sly?" Kix's voice portrayed his confusion. He accepted the desserts and tucked in, obviously enjoying the rare treats.

"No," Fives said thoughtfully, as he continued to look around, mouth full of Aldeeraani cream pie. He was distracted for a moment by his food. "Whoa. This is good." He turned his attention back to a table full of sullen young clones, dressed as orderlies. "The clones younger than Sly. You see how they move? They look like Jangos, but don't move like them. "

Kix reluctantly put down his fork, and pivoted in his seat, caf cup in hand so he could casually look around in the direction Fives' indicated. "Alright, I'll admit they are a little stiff and awkward in their movements. They're... young."

"Even cadets on Kamino don't move like that," Fives continued to studied. "They also hardly talk to each other. Even young cadets can't shut up at mealtimes. There's something off about these clones. It's..." Fives continued to study them, head tilting to the side, like they were a puzzle he could not figure out, "... like they have no spark."

"Maybe they have a more subdued manner about them because of this posting," Kix suggested, pivoting back around so he could return to his food. Although, his tone of voice suggested he was not entirely convinced his theory was correct.

"Oh, I'll admit being stuck here on Corrie is no life for a clone. But, I think it's more than that..." Fives continued to study the clones, and then gestured for Kix to look again.

The medic sighed reluctantly and pivoted in his seat to observe the group of clone orderlies. They stood as one group and walked out of the mess hall, one after another, not speaking. They looked more like they were walking in formation than enjoying their lunch break. "OK, that is... odd."

Fives leaned in, his tone a conspiratorial whisper. "You don't think they're experimenting on them or something, do you?"

Kix rolled his eyes. "You're imagining things." He made a grab for Fives' cup. "No more caf for you."

Fives pulled his cup out of reach. "I'm telling you- those vod are different."

Kix rolled his eyes again and pulled out his datapad. He started reading, effectively ending the conversation.

Maybe Kix was a solid medic, but he wasn't as good as Echo at listening when Fives was onto one of his brilliant theories. Fives slid his bucket back on and activated the helmet cam so he could show Echo when he was feeling better. Echo would have numerous theories on it.

Rex warned us about this place, Fives mused, and something already seems off.

He checked his wrist comm several times, waiting for updates on Echo's second scan. When he couldn't take the waiting any longer, he tapped out a note to the comm code Sly had left for them. REQUEST UPDATING ON SCAN FOR CT- 21-0408

A response from Sly came back almost immediately. RESULTS COMING IN NOW. COME TO MY LOCATION. WE CAN REVIEW TOGETHER. The medic dropped a locator pin.

Fives tossed back the rest of his caf and picked up his tray, all thoughts of finishing his dessert forgotten. "Come on, results are in." He tilted his wrist slightly so Kix could see the message.

Kix tucked his datapad away, and hurried after Fives, who was already halfway across the mess hall. His body language was intimidating and both troopers and civvies stepped aside to make room for him. As they entered the corridor, staff continued to give him a wide berth.

# # #

Admiral Yularen had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, the Kaz'harian warbird was not to land on Coruscant.

Seems like someone in the upper ranks still doesn't trust either Cody, or me, or both.

After the last medical evac ship left, troop carriers arrived in the hangar, one after another. Rex and Ko had arranged a schedule, squad by squad, for the men to leave the warbird and head down to their trooper barracks on Corrie. The bridge crew and command team would head down in the last transport.

Three shuttles, bearing the Republic special forces logo, arrived shortly after the troop carriers. A number of natborns wearing the distinct white tunic of the Republic Inteliigence division departed the first shuttle. They were followed by a number of clones wearing their dress greys, and a squad of special ops clones. These weren't Republic Commandos, with their heavy keltarn and distinctive colors. No, these troopers were wearing gleaming black armor from head to toe.

"Get a load of those guys," Ko muttered to Rex over private channel, "I heard about them, but haven't seen any before."

Rex didn't comment, but there was something unsettling about the clones in black. Yularen walked over to greet the officers in white.

"You think he works with those guys?" Ko continued on with his steady stream of conversation.

"I don't know. Most likely." It was strange to think Yularen was part of Republic Intelligence now. So much had changed in the time Rex had been away.

Squads of troopers continued to pass by, most stopping to salute the two Captains before heading on to their transports. Rex nodded to them, but continued to watch Yularen using the side cam of his bucket.

He seems awfully friendly with those spooks. Several times during their conversation, Yularen and the other Intelligence officers glanced over toward Rex.

"They're watching us," Ko muttered, proving he was also observing Yularen out of his side cam, "no correction, they all seem to be interested in you."

Rex rolled his eyes. "No, it's all you, Ko. It's your stunning good folks and sparkling personality."

Ko tilted his head back, bursting into laughter. The movement caught the attention of Yularen and the others, but it worked out in Rex's favor. They looked like two Captains catching up with each other, enjoying a bit of humor, and animated conversation.

And, not spying on my Admiral, who is now a spy.

The black ops clones stood behind the officers, not quite at formal parade rest, but not moving either. They all stood still staring over at Rex and Ko.

"Those guys are creepy," Ko grumbled, "I heard they're all deconditioned clones."

"Ko," Rex chastised, "the men are bad enough in their gossip. You don't need to encourage any of these rumors."

"Encourage it? It's where I get my intel."

Troopers who were not battle injured, yet still deemed defective by Kaminoan standards, went through a different processing. They were told these clones were reassigned to other units with new CT numbers. This was a disturbing enough thought because it treated brothers like hardware that needed wiping and rebooting. But, with Ko was right, and these 'lost' clones were being turned into something else?

Yularen finished his conversation and walked back over to Rex and Ko. "Tell your bridge crew their replacements are on the way. They are to give these men a rundown of ship's operations and then come down here for transport to Coruscant."

Rex nodded, somewhat bothered by the word 'replacements.' He accompanied Yularen to the bridge while the transfer took place and was on the last shuttle off of the ship. He was surprised when Yularen stepped onto the shuttle with him.

"Sir?"

"You and your men have been assigned to my watch."

This made sense, from a certain point of view. With Kenobi, Skywalker, Cody, and Appo all out-of-commission, there were some glaring vacancies at the top of the Open Fleet Command Structure. It was a logical choice to put the 501st and 212th back under the command of their formal admiral.

So, why did Rex feel uneasy now around Yularen?

# # #

Cody could feel every eye on him as he walked the corridors next to Fox. They passed row after row of identical cells. The halls seemed to stretch on forever. All manner of prisoners were locked up in here, including some clones. Cody assumed all clones were automatically deconditioned or reconditioned.

"What's up with that?" he made a vague gesture with his chin, as they passed a clone in a cell.

"Better not to ask questions in here, Cody."

They continued to walk on. The silence started to grate on Cody. "Gah- the scale of this place. It's bigger than a cruiser."

Fox took off his bucket and tucked it under his arm. Cody noticed a slight flick of his hand as he did so. To someone who had not trained on armor their whole life the gesture would've been unnoticeable. But, Cody would bet Fox had rigged a kill switch for his helmet cam, and maybe even a short radius scrambler. "Building things on a grand scale seems to be the way of our Chancellor." He was silent for a long pause and then added in a low tone, "Ponds was right, you know."

"About what?"

"You're the first high ranking clone to be locked up in here. You need to be vigilant at all times, especially in public areas. If you want, I can keep you isolated-"

"Keep me in a cell all the time? No." As a brother, Cody could think of nothing worse than being alone all the time. "I can handle myself."

"You have no idea what you're up against in here, Cody. I know you've seen your share of action out there in the 'Rim, but the rules are different here." Fox sighed heavily. "Everything is different here." He stopped in front of a cell, that looked identical to all the others. "I'll do what I can for you, but my hands are tied." He palmed the controls for the cell and gave Cody a gentle shove inside. He activated the force shield and stared at Cody for a long moment at the other side of the shield.

Cody wished he knew what was going on inside his brother's head. Somehow during the war Fox had become a stranger to him. "Just go," Cody said, turning his back on Fox and walking into his cell. He listened to the sound of his brother's boots clicking against the polished floor. Part of him wanted to call out to Fox and come back. And, part of him was too angry at the whole situation, because Fox felt more like a tool of the system that had locked him up than the brother he knew from Kamino. He sank down to the floor, with his back to the wall of the cell, drawing his knees up to his chest. He stared out at the force shield feeling very alone.

# # #

Chancellor Palpatine shook his head as he studied the vid broadcast. "This is very disturbing."

"I agree," Mas Amedda, his Vice-Chancellor said, leaning in to get a better look at the broadcast, "it sets a dangerous precedent." He rewound the broadcast slightly. "This Commander Cody threatened a senior member of the Jedi Council."

Palpatine made a thoughtful 'hmmm' deep in his throat as he pressed his hands together. "Where is he now?"

"He has been locked up at the Republic Military Base, pending court-martial." Amedda called up some info on his datapad. "However, his court-martial is based upon charges of AWOL and desertion."

The Chancellor lifted up a brow in surprise. "AWOL and desertion, now that is surprising. He is Master Kenobi's commander, is he not?"

"Ah, yes, well, apparently, he deserted to rescue his General when Republic forces could not locate him."

"Yes, the missing Legions," the Chancellor reached his hand out for the datapad which Amedda dutifully handed over. He read through the information, the frown lines on his face growing deeper. "This shows a level of initiative unprecedented in clones. I will need to speak with the Kaminoans. I want a meeting with the Kaminoan senator."

"There's more."

Palpatine raised up an eyebrow in polite interest, but his eyes were hard and glittering. "I'm listening."

"The vid broadcast was seen by a large number of clones. I've heard rumors the clones are recirculating the broadcast among themselves. They find..." Amedda sneered up one lip as if he'd tasted something particularly sour, "... inspirational."

Palpatine pivoted in his chair, looking out the expansive windows of his office into the Coruscant night sky, his face pensive. He steepled his fingertips, tapping them together, and spoke without turning around. "I ask you, Mas Amedda, what good is an army which can think for itself?"

"My Lord?" Amedda frowned in confusion. "Is there something you wish me to do?"

Palpatine stared out for another long moment, before swiveling back around, and started the broadcast again. He froze on the image of Cody. "He's at the RMB, you say?"

Amedda nodded.

"I've heard that can be a dangerous place," the Chancellor said, his voice low and soft.

Amedda's lip curled up in an ugly smile.

"It would be most unfortunate if something were to happen to such a free-thinker," the Chancellor continued, his gaze still fixed on Cody.

Amedda nodded and bowed. "Yes, Chancellor. Most unfortunate." He quickly left the room.

Once he was gone, Palpatine continued on with the broadcast, once again freezing on the image of Cody. "Yes, Commander," his voice dropped to something dark and ugly, all pretense of the grandfatherly persona dropped as he murmured to himself, "your little clone rebellion ends now." He swiveled to stare back outside and watch darkness fall on Coruscant.

# # #