Admiral Yularen looked around at the Resolute command staff assembled around the conference room. "All of you know what's at stake here. The Anaxes shipyard is one of the Republic's largest and most important facilities. Both General Skywalker and I agree we should do a simultaneous two-pronged assault on the ground and in the air. We have multiple targets we need to hit on the ground and will need air support as cover." He projected an image on the holoprojector and pointed deep into the map. "We drop out of hyperspace here tomorrow at 0500 into the Azure system. We will take cover here in the nebula, while we complete deployment planning with the other ships."

Rex was seated next to Appo, with Jesse on his other side. Appo looked at ease in this environment, as if he was far better suited to a planning room than a battlefield. Having Appo as his commander had worked out better than he'd expected. Rex was content with the arrangement. He was getting assigned less flimsiwork and expected to do more time out in the field, which is where he always wanted to be anyway.

He and Jesse both leaned in to study the map, memorizing all of the proposed targets on the ground. It was a lot of area to cover, but thankfully they did not have to do it all alone. There was comfort in knowing they were going in with sufficient forces this time. "How long do we have for our deployment planning, Admiral?" Rex asked, eyeing the sheer number of targets they'd have to take on the ground.

"We will be in the nebula for three rotations before we commence the assault. This should give us sufficient time to coordinate all of the final details between command teams," Admiral Yularen met the gaze of everyone in the room, "This is not going to be an easy siege."

That I believe, Rex thought still eyeing the map.

"Sir, can we assume the Seppies are entrenched at all of these target locations?" Jesse asked, pointing into the map.

"Yes," Yularen confirmed, "with their heaviest fortifications around the shipyards and around a large data center. Since they have put such emphasis on defending it, we can only assume there is some key intel being stored in the facility. These will be our primary two targets in the initial assault."

They spent the next several hours outlining their strategies for deploying their forces by air and moving in their ground forces. Rex and Jesse kept the number of ground forces conservative, both having agreed the Spaartis were simply not ready to be deployed to the front lines.

"You could give me and Fives a whole year to train those shinies," Jesse grumbled over a private channel, "and I still don't think the majority of them will turn out to be a decent soldier. It's like they didn't care if they could shoot or not when they churned them out. They were just going for sheer numbers."

"Sheer numbers of what?" Rex grumbled in frustration. "Are we just supposed to intimate the droids with our numbers? I don't think that works on them."

"It's odd. I'll give you that," Jesse muttered back. "Massive number of troopers would intimidate civvies, whether they could shoot or not. You know, like a show of force. But, they're not much good on the front lines. They just won't last against someone who can actually shoot. They'll be more like…"

"Don't say it…" Rex muttered.

"Target practice," Jesse insisted.

Rex shook his head. He'd been thinking the same thing. But, after nearly a full week of training with the Spaartis, Jesse wasn't pulling any punches.

They worked for hours to come up with calculations of numbers, both of just the 501st forces, and also incorporating the forces of the combined fleet.

Deployment planning was difficult to do over hyperspace communications, which was reserved for only very brief comms. The numerous meetings that would take place over the next three rotations offered Rex a unique opportunity. He could check in with Wolffe on the status of his investigations and also check up on Cody again. He'd had minimal contact with him since the shooting by his 2IC, a disturbing incident that remained unresolved, and he needed to know Cody was doing alright. Rex wasn't sure if his head would be in the right place if Jesse, Echo or Fives turned on him. He couldn't begin to imagine what Cody was going through.

# # #

Cody scrubbed at his face tiredly and stared at the stack of datapads on his desk. He'd finished his reports and was working through the 212th's strategy for Anaxes. Normally, he would work on such things together with Captain Ko. But, that wasn't an option for him anymore. He'd considered consulting Waxer and asking for his help, but Waxer was so new in his position as Captain. He had enough on his plate with training the new troopers. Ko had been the perfect 2IC. Why had he turned on him without warning? It still made no sense. The only way he'd found to deal with it was to not think about it. He threw himself back into it, staring at the datapad in front of him. But, darn it all, his vision was starting to blur. He rubbed his eyes in annoyance and tried again. He huffed out a sigh of annoyance at himself. He was about to strip down and jump in the sonic, intending to blast himself awake a bit, when there was a knock at the door.

Cody closed his eyes, immensely relieved for the distraction. He knew who it was immediately. There was only one person on the ship who had that sort of knock. "Come in," he called, as he exited his tiny fresher and stared in dismay at the mess of his desk.

Kenobi entered, balancing two trays from the mess and his own stack of datapads tucked under his arm. "I didn't think you'd eaten, and I have some more thoughts for our deployment strategies on Anaxes."

Cody quickly stacked his datapads into a tall, perilous stack to make room for his tray and Kenobi's. "Thanks for the food, General."

Kenobi sank down into the chair across from him, depositing his tray on the desk. And, then to Cody's alarm, he added his datapads to the towering stack by his elbow. He gave the pile a nervous glance, convinced it was going to topple. But, it stayed perfectly balanced.

"Oh, I think it's stretching a bit to categorize what they serve here as food," Kenobi said, drawing his attention back to their simple, shared meal.

Cody huffed lightly with amusement. It was the same type of banter he and his brothers did all the time in the mess, as they speculated about the colorless lumps lobbed onto their trays by the service droids. He poked at his food a few times, before taking a bite. "Veg-meat and sticky pasta, I think."

"It's always some variation of veg-meat or synth-meat or texturized protein," Kenobi sighed.

"Ah, but don't forget about the tasteless, overcooked vegetables," Cody stabbed at his food and held up an oversized limp purplish mass. I think this is a root vegetable. The only thing I know about food prep is what we learned in our ARC survival training, but it's actually difficult to overcook one of these things."

Kenobi gave him a speculative look. "Trying to picture you cooking roots over an open flame."

"Buried in the ground under the fire pit, actually," Cody corrected. "They're not half bad." He scowled at the purple mass on his plate, "Eh, if you prepare them correctly, that is."

"I'll put you in charge of cooking next time we are out in the wilds," Kenobi teased.

"For an entire battalion? No thank you, sir. Tasteless mush and ration bars will do nicely."

Kenobi took a bite of his food and grimaced. "Would it hurt the GAR to distribute more appetizing rations to those of us in the field? It would be good for morale."

"Not arguing with you, sir," Cody started shoveling in his food, not really caring what he was eating. "But, if you're taking requests, the boys and I would love some desserts. You know, something sweet to go with our caf," his voice took on an almost wistful tone as if he knew he was asking for things they would never get. He cast his General an almost teasing look as he pointed to him with his spork. "You should take that up with the Council, sir."

"Oh, I have," Kenobi said, deadpan.

Cody stared at him, confused, hand-frozen in mid-air with a bite of food still on his spork.

Kenobi shook his head with amusement. "Go on and eat, Cody. What I mean is that Master Plo and I have been campaigning hard for better treatment of the troops at every Council meeting, both in person and through holo-receiver. Better food. Better gear. More medical supplies. More support during campaigns. More rest between campaigns." He waved a hand in the air, realizing he was getting off-topic. "But, yes, the topic of improved rations is always on the agenda. Both Plo and I have been waging a constant campaign for the welfare and treatment of the clones"

"I had no idea. Thank you, sir."

"All of you deserve better," he made a vague gesture, and stared off, his gaze distant as if he could see a troubling future. "Better treatment. Better living conditions. A better life."

A better life? Cody's head swam at the thought. They were soldiers. What other kind of life for them was there. Better rations and improved armor were one thing, but what other life was there for men who were bred only to fight? Whenever he'd tried to speculate about such things before, it made his headache, as if he was delving into areas that went against his programming by the Kaminoans. The time he'd spent with Barriss had been the closest he'd ever gotten to experiencing some kind of other life. But, that had always been with the understanding it was temporary. He was recovering from injuries, as fast as he possibly could, with the goal of returning to his General and his troops. That had been the only way he'd been able to balance that other life in his mind. Now, he'd achieved his objective and was back to being the marshall commander of the 212th Airborne. Everything was as it should be, wasn't it?

"Cody, what are you thinking?" Kenobi asked, his voice drawing him back again. He'd covered his food, and set the tray down on the floor.

Cody sighed and set his food aside, suddenly not hungry anymore. "Eh… nothing. It's not important…. Just thinking about the men, I guess."

Kenobi gave him a long look, but let it go. He reached into his pocket and slid something across the desk toward Cody, carefully avoiding the towering stacks of datapads. "While I wish I had one of these for every trooper on board this ship, regrettably that is not the case. I believe this flavor with the Chooka nuts is a particular favorite of yours."

Cody's eyes widened and it took all of his discipline to not dive on the gold-wrapped bar like he was taking a landmine for one of his brothers. "Chocolate? Chocolate with Choooka Nuts?" He gripped the bar and stared at it in wonder. "Sir, I've not had one of these since…" He rubbed his hands up and down the package, feeling the large nuts underneath the smooth, shiny packaging.

"I believe it was before the Battle of Darkknell," Obi-Wan said quietly.

Cody stared at him. "Yes, you're correct. We were up most of the night planning our deployment strategy. I made caf and you produced some of these… bars." He suddenly wondered if his General had done this on purpose and wondered why he would want to bring back memories of that horrible battle. Cody's face fell and he set the bar down, pushing the chocolate away. "For all of our planning, we still walked right into a trap. Those that weren't injured or killed outright were captured. It was our worst defeat since Saresh."

"Our strategy was solid, Cody," he placed a hand on top of Cody's.

A sense of warmth and calm flowed into Cody, and he knew Kenobi was doing some force osik. Normally he would object, but the calm was soothing. He needed it. He sank into the feeling and relished the momentary connection with his General. He didn't pull his hand away, "I still feel responsible," Cody insisted, raising pain-filled eyes to Kenobi, willing him to understand. "I was leading those men. I let them down as their commander."

"And, I was their General. But, we had no way of knowing we were walking into a trap. We were given a set of intel that was wrong. Somehow, we were set up. Republic Intelligence refuses to provide any further information on exactly how that happened and said it is classified. But, despite everything that happened, you saved so many lives, Cody."

Cody shook his head. "You're mistaken, sir. The only lives that were saved were by you. You warned us about the minefield."

"I'm referring to what happened after the battle, Cody. You defied both the GAR and the Council to come after us. It was incredibly brave."

"I disobeyed orders," Cody tried to tug his hand away from Kenobi's, but the General held fast. The pressing pain in his head was back. "I was wrong. I see that now."

Kenobi frowned and studied him intently. "How often do you get these… headaches of yours?" He reached up with his free hand to touch Cody's temple. Instinctively, Cody tried to rear back. Some part of him that he could not control told him to keep Kenobi away, but he was still held fast by the General's grip. "Relax, Cody. I'm only trying to help." He sent soothing energy toward Cody again, and it took everything in his power to fight the urge to fight back against his General's ministrations. The pain in his head flared slightly before it began to subside. Cody sucked in a deep breath as it became easier to think clearly again.

"Odd," Kenobi muttered, his voice a study in concentration.

What was odd? He desperately wanted to know. He also desperately didn't want to know. Cody opened his eyes. When had he shut them? He hadn't realized. Kenobi was staring off into the distance, like he did when he was focusing on doing some Force thing.

Kenobi's blue eyes suddenly focused on him again, a puzzled frown on his face. "You have these often, don't you?"

Cody wondered why he was so insistent upon knowing. "There's nothing to it, General. Every brother I know gets headaches. It's probably just something we inherited from Prime. The Kaminoans must've missed a gene." Even as he said the words, he knew it was unlikely. They were the product of so much selective genetic manipulation, there was nothing accidental about them.

"Ah, perhaps you're right," the General said agreeably, although his voice didn't sound convincing either. Sensing he was feeling better, Kenobi released his hand. He nudged the chocolate bar toward him again. "Go on. It's your favorite. I actually bought you quite a number of them." The General flushed with this admission, his cheeks turning pinkish like they did when he exerted himself heavily in battle.

Odd.

"But, sir, you already thanked me with a cup of caf on Coruscant." Although, admittedly, the thought his General had purchased something just for him warmed him in a way he could not begin to explain.

Kenobi laughed, the sound warm and genuine. "Oh, I owe you much more than that." His expression turned serious again. "I owe everything to you, Cody. I wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for you."

Cody warmed up to the topic. "Ah, yes, well, I'll admit the GAR and the Jedi Council were doing a piss poor job of rescuing you."

Kenobi laughed again, and Cody smiled, reveling in the sound. He picked up the Chooka-Nut bar, sliding open the gold wrapping ever-so-carefully. The delicacy assaulted his senses and he brought the whole bar up to his nose and took a long appreciative sniff. "Oh, fek, that smells good." He quickly glanced over at the General, and issued a quick apology for his language. "Sorry, sir."

Kenobi put up a hand to forestall any further apology. "Oh- I've heard much worse language, sometimes out of my own padawan. I'm not as prim as I'm made out to be."

"As you say, sir," Cody's focus was more now on the chocolate than the conversation. He carefully broke off a square and studied it appreciatively.

"Obi-Wan."

"Sir?" Cody paused, mid-bite, a square of chocolate hovering over his open mouth.

"When it's just the two of us, call me Obi-Wan. And, Cody, please just eat your chocolate."

Cody furrowed his brow, the chocolate still held suspended in his fingers. "That… would take some getting used to… Gen… er… Obi-Wan," he enunciated the name slowly and carefully, afraid he would somehow mess it up.

Kenobi beamed with pleasure. "Much better." He rolled his eyes slightly. "Cody, would you please eat your chocolate? I've held you up long enough."

"Of course, sir...eh...orders are orders…" Cody popped the square in his mouth, and then his mouth full corrected himself, "eh… I mean… Obi-Wan." He stared down at his glove thoughtfully, noticing chocolate that had accumulated there and licked it off, sucking his thumb and forefinger into his mouth briefly.

Kenobi coughed.

Cody looked up and noticed his General was flushed again. "Are you alright, sir?"

Kenobi shook his head. "Yes, of course." He straightened up, brushing an unseen speck off of his tunic, before gesturing toward the chocolate in Cody's grasp. "And, between you and me, I may have stocked up on an unseemly amount of this stuff for the campaign. Might have even gone over my cargo allowance."

"Your secret is safe with me," Cody mumbled around another bite of chocolate, realizing just then how ridiculously easy he was to bribe. In an act he thought might seal Jedi-clone relations forever, he split the rest of the bar in two and handed half to Kenobi.

"I assume you came by so you could talk about the status of the new troops?"

Kenobi gave a gracious nod of his head, accepting the precious gift from Cody. "Yes, how are they coming along?"

Cody grimaced, the action smearing a bit of chocolate along his lip. Obi-Wan gestured and Cody reached up and brushed it off, sucking once again on his gloves.

Chooka-nut bars and tactical gloves are not a good combination.

Satisfied he would pass inspection again, he turned his attention back to the conversation. "Right, well, Waxer and Boil have been working with the new troopers since they came on board. But, they're different. It's more than just being shinies. They're missing key skills that we learned as third and fourth years at Kamino, not to mention the advanced combat and specialization we learned in our final year. They may be more of a hindrance than a help in their current state."

Obi-Wan studied Cody carefully. "Yet, we still have to deploy them on Anaxes."

"Yes," Cody breathed out heavily. He tugged a datapad out of the tall stack. "I've run the numbers several ways and we'll fall short unless we utilize the new troopers." He leaned over the desk so he could point onto the screen, swiping through numbers, maps and scenarios. "This is where our air support will deploy, and the jetpack troopers, and then our ground forces. Because of the numbers we lost at Kaz'haria, we needed these replacements. We have to utilize them or we'll fall short. But, I don't see any outcome that ends well for these new recruits. They're just so green. They're not going to hold up in battle."

Obi-Wan stroked his chin thoughtfully with one-hand as he studied the numbers on the datapad, reaching down occasionally to swipe between screens and zoom in to get a better look at maps and analytical data.. "That's…. not... good." He leaned back in his chair after a long moment, and pushed out a long breath. "Alright, I agree with your approach. We'll keep them as far back behind our other troops as possible. Maybe they won't see much action."

Cody gave his General a hard look. They both knew the odds of that happening were very low. Anaxes was expected to be a long, difficult, drawn-out battle. It would be nothing like the easy planetary takeover they had just done.

"And, there's no chance we could take Anaxes without them?" Kenobi asked hopefully. It was a very Jedi thing to ask, always showing compassion. On the one hand, Cody admired the General for wanting to spare the shinies. But, on the other hand, it made no strategic sense.

"Well, yes, of course. We've done a lot more with a lot less," Cody straightened up a little taller in his seat. Like when we took on an entire fortress of Kaz'harians and rescued two Legions worth of troopers. "But, I don't know what else we would do with them. It makes no sense to leave them behind here on the ship. They're not going to get any better sitting around on their shebse."

"Maybe with enough training," Obi-Wan said hopefully, "we can bring them up to standard."

"Sir, they either make it or they don't. There's no space in the Army for a trooper who can't make the cut. Sometimes troopers die and that's the hard reality of it." The words felt harsh and bitter on his tongue, but he was only speaking the truth.

Obi-Wan changed the topic again, throwing him off-guard. He studied Cody with an intensity that made him uncomfortable. "How are you doing? Both you and I have been constantly busy since you returned to active duty. We haven't had a chance to specifically discuss what happened."

To discuss the shooting.

Why did everybody want to talk about it?

It was the last thing Cody wanted to talk about. He just wanted to forget it happened.

"There's nothing to discuss," Cody deflected. "Ko shot me and we don't know why, and then he disappeared, and we don't know why that happened either. He's just… gone. There's nothing more to it." A twinge at his temples warned of a new headache forming. "We shouldn't discuss it anymore."

Yes, if we could just stop talking about the flippin' shooting, I wouldn't get these damn headaches. Let it go!

"Yes, we should talk about it," Obi-Wan insisted, studying Cody, "you and Ko were very close."

"He was an excellent Captain," Cody allowed, his voice growing increasingly bitter as he spoke. "And, now he's gone because he shot me."

"You trusted him. His shooting you was an ultimate act of betrayal."

Trying to maintain some semblance of control, Cody squeezed his hands so hard his gloves creaked. He had no idea why it was so hard for him to talk about the incident with Ko. "None of it makes sense," Cody said, shaking his head.

"And, there were no warning signs?"

"He complained of a headache, but he said he was fine," Cody's eyes widened as he briefly wondered if there could be a connection between his headaches and what happened to Ko. But, no, that was impossible. He pushed the thought away. "Maybe he had some head injury from Kaz'haria or Darkknell that the medics didn't catch on their exams."

"Possibly," Kenobi said, but he didn't sound convinced. "What else do you remember?"

"He was irritable and snapped at me, and his responses were off." Warning bells started going off in his head, pushing him to make a connection. But again, he rejected the possibility. His headaches were nothing like what happened with Ko. "He was… not himself." Cody gritted out the explanation. "At the time he shot me, there was something very wrong with him. It was Ko, but it wasn't Ko."

Obi-Wan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Like some sort of mind control?"

Cody shook his head helplessly. "I don't know."

"Could something have happened to him on Darkknell? You said they were experimenting on troopers."

"Ko told me he was never taken from his cell. If they experimented on him, he has no memory of it. Or, had no memory of it." Cody rubbed a hand at his temples, trying to scrub away his headache.

Kenobi reached forward again and this time Cody leaned into his touch. A moment later he sighed in relief as the pain eased up. "Something must have happened to him," Obi-Wan mused, his hands still lingering on the sides of Cody's head. "I worked with Captain Ko many times and I never sensed any darkness in him. He always followed orders to the letter."

Orders? Before Ko had shot him, he'd mumbled something about orders. Cody hadn't put it into his report because it didn't seem important. But, did Ko think he was somehow following orders?

"With Ko missing, we may never know what truly happened. All we have our theories and conjectures. We should get back to reviewing strategies for tomorrow's meetings." He gestured toward the tall stack of datapads.

Cody nodded and pulled several datapads from the stack.

But, his mind was still buzzing from the conversation. Had someone controlled Ko? Is that why he shot him?! It was a much better explanation than his 2IC suddenly turning on him without reason.

As much, though, as he wanted to solve the mystery of why a clone would go mad and then disappear, the General was right. They had a great deal of work to do if they were going to take Anaxes.

# # #

After several hours, Jesse left the session to return to his duties training the Spaartis. Rex stood over a holographic planning table, projecting all the strategic sites of interest on Anaxes. He added in the tally of their available forces, including the Spaartis, and started sliding them around to the various sites.

Ahsoka joined him a moment later, leaning in close to him to take a look. She'd been working together with Skywalker most of the morning, likely planning some sort of Jedi side mission. They often had one of those going on and didn't let Rex know about it until the last moment.

"I'd add more ground support over here," Ahsoka swiped her hand into the map, moving pieces around, "so we have additional troopers to help take the data center."

Rex studied the changes, nodding thoughtfully, forcing himself not to react to her near presence. "Do you know something I don't about the data center?" Perhaps he could nudge her into revealing some information sooner rather than the later.

"Yes, well, Anakin and I are hoping the Seppies are storing something interesting in there. Perhaps we could find something that will help us end this war a little sooner."

"That's the hope," Rex agreed, "however, we need enough troops to decisively take Fort Anaxes. It's a key strategic location and the base will act as a staging ground for our forces."

"I don't disagree with you, but-" Ahsoka started.

"Actually, you are disagreeing with me," Rex pointed out.

"Yes, but the scouting reports from the commando team we sent in said that data control center was unusually well guarded. Aren't you curious what they're guarding?"

Rex looked thoughtful. "Yes, actually I am." He zoomed in on the map and studied the control center, tapping on the facility to enlarge it several times. As he stared at the center, his daze went distant and a spike of alarm flared through his system.

"What is it, Rex?" she asked, studying him carefully.

He blinked hard and focused on her again. "I think you're right," Rex murmured thoughtfully, "there's more to that control center than meets the eye." He moved forces around on the map, balancing them out in different combinations. "I can't describe it exactly, it's just a feeling. But, we need to capture that facility and quickly. They are storing something there that we need."

Ahsoka gave Rex a long thoughtful look. "A feeling, huh?"

"What I know, comes from experience," Rex said, standing up straighter and pulling his shoulders back. "And, it's those experiences that give me such good instincts when it comes to planning these battle strategies."

"You do have an uncanny way of figuring these things out," Ahsoka admitted. She turned her attention back to the map, and started dividing up their forces again. "Let's run the numbers again."

# # #

"What is it?" Kix asked, reclining back against the medbay bunk and holding a hand against the bacta bandage on his skull.

Sly handed him a medi-ice pack.

Kix placed it against the surgery site and breathed out a relieved sigh. He pointed again with his other hand to the lab slide in Iron's hand. "What have you learned about that thing?"

"You were only out a few minutes. We were able to ascertain a few things about it, but it seems to be raising more questions than answers," Sly admitted with a frown.

Kix breathed out another sigh. He was not in the mood for riddles. He was queasy from the procedure and his head felt… odd. He felt both better, and sick, at the same , he couldn't begin to quantify the "better" part since the nausea and head pain were starting to overwhelm all other sensations. He grabbed his stomach and groaned.

Iron ran a scanner over him, frowned, and then filled a hypo.

A moment later, the nausea and head pain eased considerably. "Thanks," Kix said, straightening up again.

Sly stared down at the lab slide in his hand as he composed his thoughts. "This mass we removed from your cingulate cortex looks biological in origin. But, the characteristics are slightly different to what we scanned in Echo. Except..." he handed Kix the slide to hold while he pulled up images on his datapad. "...it's not just a tumor."

Kix handed the slide off to Iron, so he'd have a free hand and continue to hold the blissful ice pack to his skull. He pointed at Sly's datapad. "What am I looking at here? That looks like some sort of processing chip."

"We're calling it a bio-chip, actually," Sly corrected. "These are just preliminary scans, mind you. We've only just begun to explore what we pulled out of your head. However, we can say for certain, your 'tumor' is not naturally occurring."

Kix's jaw dropped. "Not naturally occurring?!"

"It's clear the cells are genetically-engineered. Actually, that's not even the right term, as that would imply it is part of our gene code and this is not. Near as I can tell, this chip was implanted in your brain. You weren't born with it." He flipped to another image with even higher resolution. "It's very cleverly done. "It closely mimics brain tissue, but it's not an exact match. Without the intensive scans, we never would have found it."

"The type of scans we were told never to do," Iron reminded him.

"The cingulate cortex is part of the limbic motor cortex," Kix mused thoughtfully. He set his ice pack down, as the pain receded more. "That whole area of the brain regulates movements and guides voluntary choices."

"Yes, movements and voluntary choices based on previous actions and outcomes," Iron supplied, "but, a chip placed in this area could theoretically override voluntary choices, and bypass behavior based on previous outcomes."

Kix stared at the image, and reaching one hand in to zoom in one the image more clearly. "The edges of the tumor touch the anterior cingulate cortex. If this bio-chip is tapping into the AAC, cognition and emotional functions would be impacted or impaired."

"You can't possibly be suggesting these chips are controlling us," Iron stared at Kix like the very idea was just not possible.

Sly was more open to the possibility. "Kix, how do you feel now that it's removed? Do you feel more emotional? Or, the way you process your decisions is any different? Like you are maybe more in control than you were before?"

Kix took a long moment to consider the question. "I don't feel too much different than I did before. Maybe my mood is a bit lighter? And, I can think a little more clearly, like I just had a few cups of caf."

"We could run cognition tests to see if-" Sly started.

"No," Kix immediately disagreed, "we don't have much time before Anaxes. For the most part, I think these chips have just been sitting dormant."

"Why place dormant chups in our heads?" Iron frowned, "This is a complex feat of bioengineering. The Kaminoans went to a lot of trouble for something that doesn't contribute anything to our function as soldiers."

"You're right," Kix admitted, "it makes no sense to place something in us that has no function."

"And, what if we just haven't discovered their function yet?" Sly challenged.

"What function could that be?" Iron asked, skeptically. "We are getting close to winning the war. If these chips offered some benefit to us as soldiers, wouldn't they have been activated already? Like when we initially deployed to Geonosis?"

"Admittedly, it makes no sense. I see no strategic value in these dormant chips."

"We need more data," Iron pushed. "Remove mine."

"It's not a good idea for all of us to have brain surgery right before the start of a major campaign," Kix warned.

"It's worth the risk. We need answers," Iron insisted.

Kix scowled. "I don't know if Commander Wolffe would be pleased knowing his CMB had brain surgery while on loan to the 501st

"Let me deal with him. We need answers. Now let's get this thing out of my head so we can start comparing chips."

# # #

Sly, Kix and Iron stood together huddled around the micro-electroscope, three slides in front of them.

"That confirms it," Sly said, projecting up a holo-image from the last slide. He reached up to smooth the bacta bandage on his own skull. "All of our tumors are identical and bio-chips are identical." He typed rapidly on the terminal attached to the electroscope and a holo-image of all three of their scans appeared together.

"What is our next step?" Iron asked, looking to Kix.

"Is there anything in the Kaminoan database about these chips?" Kix asked Sly.

The younger medic typed furiously into his datapad and then shook his head. "There's no record here in the medic database of biochips being part of our DNA."

"That database is selectively incomplete," Iron grumbled. "The Kaminoans are notoriously guarded about their trade secrets. There is just enough information in there to allow us medics to perform out duties in the field, but no extra data the Kaminoans do not want us to have. Normally, I rely upon Sinker and Boost to dig up intel like that for me, but since I can't easily contact them while we're in hyperspace, we'll need use someone in the 501st." He looked at Kix thoughtfully. "Who do you use on your crew when you need to hack into records you shouldn't be seeing?"

Kix's lips twisted slightly with amusement at the thought this was a somewhat standard clone practice. "That would be Fives. Echo is talented with it, too. I'll need to clear it with the Captain first."

# # #

Kix was surprised how calm Rex was as he took in the information about the biological chips. "Alright, I'll call Fives and Echo in on this one. Jesse can take charge of our new shinies for a while."

"The new troopers settling in alright?" Kix asked curiously.

Rex sighed. "They have a ways to go before I'd call them battle ready."

"I heard they can't hit the broadside of a battlecruiser," Kix said bluntly.

"Basically, yes," he couldn't lie to Kix. They'd been through too much together. "But, they're now 501st. We either make troopers out of them, or they're not going to survive Anaxes. I'm headed down to the sim room to give Jesse a hand. Comm me the moment you find anything else."

"Rex," Kix said, stopping his longtime friend with a hand on his arm, "if they can't shoot, why send them out to the battlefield, at all?"

Rex's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't follow."

"They may have other skills. If they can follow orders well, they may be able to work other jobs around the cruiser, freeing up the Kaminoan-trained clones to act as an infantry."

"You're saying we pull mechanics and let these guys fix ships?"

"I'm saying these Spaartis have some skills we're probably just not seeing yet. When these new troopers aren't in training, set them up in apprenticeship roles around the ship. Make everyone around the ship adopt one as a vod'ika and train them in what they do. We can find out what they are skilled at doing."

Rex nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll bring it up with Appo and the General immediately."

Kix watched him go, pleased Rex liked the suggestion, but slightly disturbed Rex had to run everything through another layer of command before he could get anything done. Skywalker generally gave Rex free reign, but Appo and Rex didn't always see eye-to-eye.

# # #

"No," Appo said immediately, "the Spaartis will be deployed on Anaxes as planned."

"But, Kix's idea is a good one," Rex objected. "I'd like to bring it up with General Skywalker. It could save a lot of lives. The Spaartis aren't ready for action."

"Then, get them ready."

"You've seen them, Appo. They'd require a decade of training to get to our skill level, and even then, I don't know if they could do it. They're not like us. But, just because they're different from other shinies doesn't mean they can't be useful."

Appo shook his head again. "We need numbers on our front lines. We don't have time for experimental training programs. Focus your energies on getting these troopers ready to deploy."

"Yes, but-"

"Rex, I appreciate your initiative, but you have your orders." The finality of Appo's tone made it clear Rex was dismissed.

Rex stared at Appo another long moment, considering arguing his case again, but figured it was best he keep his mouth shut before he said something he would regret. He made that mistake in front of the Jedi Council and it cost him dearly. Yes, he had his own ideas about things, but that didn't mean he was allowed to voice them. His job was to follow orders.

He turned crisply on his heel and walked out of Appo's office, unable to stifle feelings of disappointment and a sinking feeling in his gut whenever he thought of the new troopers.

Anaxes was going to be a bloodbath.

# # #

A/N: OK, I need to start writing shorter chapters. These longer ones take forever to edit.

This chapter has a healthy dose of Obi-Wan and Cody since they have great chemistry together.

Cody's headaches are not a sign his chip is about to go haywire, (like Ko's chip.) It is a reflection of the "nightmares" Fives and Tup referenced. If they were both cognizant enough of their chips it was giving them nightmares even before it activated, there must be something about this artificial tumor that irritates and agitates the brain.

Can comms be sent while traveling in hyperspace? Yes and no. Rex receives 066 while traveling in hyperspace. Usually, it is thought you cannot receive comms in hyperspace because you are essentially traveling in another dimension. So, the in-universe explanation is the comm channel makes its' own hyperspace route. So, the answer is: "You can communicate in hyperspace with great difficulty." If the plot demands the characters receive a comm, they will receive a comm. For the purposes of this story, the characters were not regularly communicating while en-route and need to finish their deployment planning after dropping out of hyperspace.

"Generation Tech" had an interesting video a few weeks back where he talked about the Spaartis. In the "Bad Batch," we see generic, identical, white-armored clones. In the food fight scene on Kamino, these clones had no face tattoos, no scars and no unique hair cuts. Could these be Spaarti clones? It is too soon after 066 for haircuts to have grown out and just removing paint from armor would not explain the lack of scarring, (ex: Captain Howzer.) It's an interesting question. If there are Spaarti clones, and Kaminoan clones, would they all still consider themselves brothers?

"Whatever to Captain Rex?" just hit over 1,000,000 story views. (The exact number is 1,005,799.) I'll post a screenshot of it on my Tumblr. A very fun milestone. Thank you all for reading and being part of the journey.