Turn Back Time
Author's Note: This is a gift for DeceasedBun on ao3. :)
~ Tirana Sorki
Anakin never really believed in an afterlife. People fading out with death always seemed so unfair, but he wasn't exactly surprised when he opened his eyes elsewhere after his what-should-have-been death.
Being in the past is what surprised him a little bit. He must have wished himself into the past instead of dying, from how much he wished he could've changed everything about his life from this point on.
Anakin's in the past, and he didn't quite think about what he'd do now. All he does know is that he's surrounded by his clones, all the 501st whom he'd taken to their nearly guaranteed deaths at the Temple. He'd tried as hard as he could to protect them, but he failed.
Just like he failed to protect the Jedi they're about to kill.
He's in the past.
Obi-Wan is still alive. He's alive, and now, Anakin can feel their bond bright and pulsing. He isn't ready to think about that yet.
Ahsoka's still here. Young and light and – and her.
Rex and all his boys should still be alive. The clones. They're – they're still here.
Padme's still alive, and Luke and Leia aren't even born yet. That's the part he thinks hurts the worst. Anakin is never going to get to see them again, to get to talk to them, or to know what it was Luke wanted him to be. He's never going to get to talk to Leia, to see her again, and – and he'll never be able to make up for what he did to her. For what he let happen to her.
He'll never see either of them again, and these versions of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka might be the ones he misses, but they're not the ones who know him. They don't know who he is, or what he's done. They don't know him, period.
And he's never going to get to see them again.
He's right at the part of his life where he lost everyone, everything, and Anakin can't let that happen again. He won't let them die here. He won't let the clones be abandoned and forever forgotten like they were in the nightmare he lived through.
His entire family is gone now, and that's something else Anakin can't quite wrap his mind around.
They're gone.
Everything is gone.
Everything he did can be undone or redone now, but that doesn't change how he lived it, or how he had a family who he'll never get to talk to again. He won't get closure, but if he's the only one who won't, that's what matters.
He hurt Leia. And Luke. He doesn't know how he's supposed to see them again after what happened before, not knowing how or if he'd really be able to take care of them. Not knowing if he's even worthy of it.
But they aren't born yet here, and he at least has the chance to make sure they don't go through what they did... before. He has the chance to change what he did to everyone, what happened to everyone.
The Force is crying with death and darkness – Sidious just sent him to the Temple before he time-traveled. And that means he can still save all of his boys. He'll never forget watching them all slaughtered at the Temple, just as much as he can never forget what he did himself there to the Jedi, either. He had known in that moment, when Sidious sent him to the Temple in his previous lifetime, that he couldn't save everyone, and he'd chosen his boys. He'd fought as hard as he could to save as many as he could, but... that doesn't change any of what happened or what he did.
It's too late to help the Jedi spread across the galaxy, but at least he can save the ones at the Temple and most of all, the 501st won't have to go there to be killed. Or to kill anyone else. He just has to find a way to stop it before it's too late because Sidious will send them there without him if he doesn't do something fast.
"Appo," Anakin says, unable to help how lightheaded he feels. The Commander is right beside him, though. The same as he last was when Anakin had seen him years ago. He still remembers him vividly, no matter how impossible that ought to be. "Wait."
"Sir?" he asks, turning to him. Actually, all the clones are looking at him now. Anakin has no idea if the shockwave that probably caused was something even non-Force-sensitives were able to pick up on acutely.
"Wait," he requests, "Stand down." He sounds like himself again. He almost forgot the sound of his own voice.
They're all looking at him now, and Anakin knows they won't be able to. He can feel it. They won't be able to stop, even if they want to. He remembers each and every one of them, and they –
Fives.
Fives told him about the chips, something that was meant to control the clones. With the Empire, he hardly remembers a time the clones were still around. His memories of the first few years are unbearably hazy, and then he was waking up, and they were all just gone. Forgotten, as though they never mattered. Fives had tried to warn him, and Anakin didn't listen because he trusted Palpatine.
He'll have to find a way to stop them.
Anakin reaches out towards Appo, lightly touching his mind. He can feel the darkness and uncharacteristic aggression in Appo's brain when he tries, but his presence has always been so overwhelming that connecting with things is hard.
The Force somehow feels stronger now, brighter and lighter and so crushingly overwhelming. Even if he's being careful, he won't be able to focus on one at a time, because he won't be fast enough, and the others will figure it out. He needs... something else.
Anakin reaches farther, deeper, touching everyone and gently working his way into their minds. He can see everyone, feel everything, every slight flicker and buzz as their mind works, and he can feel the source of the abnormality.
Anakin wraps the Force around them, cutting off the pathways of their chip to the rest of their brains. They're still pulsing against him, but without connections, they'll soon wither and die, and they will have to be removed before then, but the point... is that his boys will be fine. They won't have to kill anyone. None of them have to die or be hurt here. Not again.
Anakin looks up when he's done.
Everyone's still staring at him. There are some quiet, mumbled "what was that's" from some of the clones.
"We need to leave," Anakin decides, because he knows nothing better than to simply extract himself from the situation entirely. At least this way, he won't be used against anyone else in his family again. "Coruscant. The Empire. The – the Republic. All of it."
"What's happening?" Appo asks, and he looks worried. He's confused, no doubt, and it's a hard thing to explain.
"There's no time right now," Anakin answers with a shake of his head, "The Jedi might have committed treason, but they're not the ones we need to be concerning ourselves with. The Chancellor is a far greater danger than they ever could be."
"What do you mean?" It's Dogma who pushes forward to the front to talk about it. He's confused, no doubt – it was Palpatine whom Anakin asked specifically to help. After Umbara, Dogma had... been in a tight spot. Killing Krell was the right decision, but the fact that it was a clone who made that decision wasn't something many people wanted to let go of. Palpatine had ordered him not to be excused, per Anakin's request.
...Not that Dogma exactly trusts anybody anymore, anyway, and Anakin doesn't blame him in the slightest. He hardly remembers what trust is anymore. All he does know is that he still cares for his men, and he'll protect them, no matter what the cost.
"He's a Sith," Anakin answers, "I know it's hard to accept, but he's been working with Dooku since before the war. He orchestrated all of this."
"How do you know?" Dogma objects, disbelievingly. He can feel the incredulity of all the clones around him, some more willing to accept the outlandish claim than others.
"He exposed himself," Anakin replies, "That's why the Jedi were trying to stop him."
"But they still committed treason, didn't they?" Dogma asks.
After what happened with Krell, Anakin can't blame him in the slightest for not trusting the Jedi at all anymore. Anakin doesn't trust them either, and in many ways, a lot of that belief was also cemented after Umbara. "Yes, but only to stop the one behind everything. They were only trying to help, despite how they may have gone about it. Palpatine is going to destroy the galaxy if he's allowed to."
"What do we do, sir?" Appo queries.
"We leave," Anakin reiterates.
His boys are still hesitating.
"Shouldn't we be stopping the Chancellor, if he's guilty?" Dogma asks, uncertainly.
If only it was that simple. Even now, the mere thought of having to face Palpatine is terrifying. He can never forget all the times Sidious tortured him, or when he killed him or – or when he ripped his limbs off, leaving him on the banks of Mustafar after telling him that he was worth nothing to him but a tool and never had been anything more. "He's too powerful for you to handle," Anakin responds, "The best we can do is leave and prepare a rebellion from the shadows."
He doesn't have any intention of starting an actual rebel movement to tear apart the galaxy the way the Rebellion did, but he does have every intention of freeing all the clones. He once dreamed about having a chance to free all the slaves and maybe he finally does have that chance, even if it's not in a way he ever imagined. He can free the clones, all of them. Or at least, as many of them who understand their status enough to want to leave.
"But isn't that treason too, sir?" Dogma clarifies.
"Not if we're fighting for what we still believe in. The Republic is about to become an even more corrupted Empire, everything we fought against. For now, we will have to fight for it... differently." He still thinks an Empire might be able to help, but not one with Sidious in control. He'll have to be dealt with... later. "I understand it's difficult to accept, but the Chancellor has been using all of you. We have to make the choice to stop him and the best way we can do it is by leaving. It will destroy everything he has in motion."
"I'm coming with you, sir," Dogma concedes, after a long pause. Anakin can feel the sharp betrayal he's radiating – it probably feels to him exactly like it did for Krell. He blindly served him until he realized it was all a lie, and now it's happening all over again.
"We all are," Appo agrees, glancing back at the rest of his brothers for confirmation.
He can feel the other's agreement in the Force.
Good. Then they need to move fast before it's too late.
**w**
As soon as Anakin has everything under control with the rest of the 501st, he comms Rex. His heart is practically pounding as he waits for the call to go through. It's been so many years since he last saw Rex. It was that Council meeting when Rex came in briefly to report on how Ahsoka was doing on Mandalore, and then Anakin went to see Palpatine and he never saw him again. He's missed him, unspeakably. But he's still here and alive, like everyone.
So is Ahsoka.
And she could be in danger right now. He doesn't know if she was included in Order 66 or not, but looking back he doubts she wasn't. Sidious did have her on the most-wanted list for Jedi for a time. He can't think about her without remembering Malachor and everything that happened between them there. He won't let her be hurt this time if that's something he can truly help.
The call goes through abruptly, Rex's hologram materializing in front of him. "Rex?" Anakin breathes, emotion suddenly strangling him. Rex was by his side constantly for three years, and then he was just gone like everything and everyone.
"General?" the captain – err, new commander – asks, surprised. His Force presence feels of the same overwhelming anger and mindless focus on the mission that all the clones are radiating right now.
There's so much he wants to say to him, but right now he needs to focus on freeing everyone. "I do not know if you know, but I... am on your side, Rex," Anakin starts. The side he would be one if he was in his right mind, anyway.
"I know, sir," Rex replies, "The Chancellor told us."
Oh.
So he was thoughtful enough to do that, at least.
Anakin reaches out with the Force, for Rex's mind. He did this once already and doing it a second time isn't nearly as hard, even if Rex isn't here in person. He just has to cut off the erratic signaling, calming his brain. The chip could easily be reactivated but Rex should be fine for now. He'll have to deal with the others' chips in person when he gets there.
Rex's expression is torn with confusion and traces of horror when Anakin finally pulls back, letting his mind settle out.
"What... happened?" Rex asks, "We just received orders from the Chancellor that the Jedi are traitors, but –"
"The Chancellor is a traitor. He's a Sith, and he orchestrated the war from the beginning. I don't know what orders you received about Ahsoka but tell no one to hurt her."
A nearly haunted look flashes across Rex's face. "We were given direct orders to eliminate her. I – I told them to do it. I wasn't thinking. I couldn't make it stop. It's like – like what Fives said. I think. But I don't understand what... is different suddenly."
He's practically rambling, and Anakin can feel his horror. It makes him furious at Sidious all over again, both for nearly getting Ahsoka killed and for forcing the 501st to do it. Rex helped raise her nearly as much as Anakin himself did. "I deactivated the chip with the Force," Anakin says, struggling to keep control of his raging emotions, "Fives was right. But you need to give orders to the boys to stand down."
"I will," Rex assures, "But I don't know if they'll listen."
"I'm on my way there," Anakin promises, "Until then, tell them you have orders from me. And ensure Maul doesn't escape imprisonment."
He'll never forget the moment he found the crashed cruiser, that Maul must have destroyed. Nothing else explains what happened to it. Those were the last of his boys who weren't killed at the Temple, and nothing had destroyed him quite as much to know they were gone. He'd thought Rex had been killed there. He doesn't think anything had gutted him worse than that.
At least Ahsoka's lightsaber, lying by the clone's graves, was proof that she survived, and it had given him a small sliver of hope. He'd known then, that for whatever reason, they were all where they needed to be, no matter how much it was hurting him to have lost everything.
"I'll send troops to keep watch."
Anakin nods. "And leave hyperspace so I can come to your location."
Rex nods. "I'll do it, sir."
They'll have to talk more when they reunite. Anakin can't deny the overwhelming longing flooding him, as Rex's hologram flickers out. Seeing him for only a few minutes isn't near enough to make up for the year they've been apart, for how much he's missed him.
But before he can go, there's a few other things he needs to take care of first.
**w**
"You can leave if that is what you want to do," Anakin tells Fox, meeting his gaze firmly. He already knows the answer, but this is a choice he has to offer. He wished for years that someone would be willing to give him the same. He longed for someone, for there to be someone who loved him enough to free him, or maybe even someone who tried because they were foolish enough to believe it was the right thing to do.
For decades, he had nothing, no one, and every time he reached out, it just got... worse.
He knows he doesn't deserve it, never deserved to be free, but now that he is, he'll give the same chance to everyone he can.
Even to Fox.
Fox, who set everything in motion when he killed Fives.
Fives, who was the one person who could have saved everyone. He could have saved Anakin, the Jedi, the entire galaxy from the fate they endured.
Fives.
Anakin's best friend. His brother. His – he may not have been the one always at his side in the same way Rex was, but Fives was Fives, and he was a friend. Maybe the only one who hadn't held care for rank and status. Fives.
A genius, the one reckless and chaotic enough to match with Anakin's perfectly.
There hadn't been a single minute since his death that the image of Fives' falling body, a hole in his chest hasn't haunted Anakin.
That seeing Rex hold him, that feeling his warm presence fade away hasn't burned in the forefront of his mind.
Fives, who died trying to free his brothers, all the ones that Anakin unknowingly helped enslave.
"You don't have to stay here," Anakin repeats, "I know you don't know any other life, but you can learn if that is what you want. All of you."
In a different lifetime, he killed Fox in a moment of blind fury. He'd failed and he nearly had Vader killed. He had the clones fight him, and Vader had been... angry.
It was so soon after Mustafar.
The rage and pain were smothering, and nothing could stop him from lashing out. He knew it was a clone, and that he shouldn't hurt him, but that was just one of the many mistakes Vader made. He killed Fox. He kept him from the chance at survival and redemption – if the person who murdered Fives could truly be redeemed. That was Anakin's choice, and Fives would want him alive.
He would never have wanted any of his brothers hurt, no matter who they were or how awful they were. He was the one who stood by Dogma the entire time after Umbara, no matter how he was the one insisting on Fives' execution. Fives wouldn't want Fox dead, and Anakin – knows what it's like to kill people. He knows how it feels to kill those in his family, who deserve so much better than what he did to them.
He owes Fox this, and all of the Coruscant Guard deserve a chance at being free. They deserve a chance to live, and Anakin has to give them one. He's the only one who can.
He knows every minute here puts himself, the 501st, and maybe even the entire galaxy in danger, but he owed it to free them.
He couldn't walk away knowing the Coruscant Guard would still be in danger, especially not when they're likely the next ones Sidious will turn to, to send to the Temple. So, he came straight here from the 501st cruiser and deactivated their chips, too.
He already told them what he was doing, and why, but none of them really... get it. They've been treated the worst, and in many ways, Anakin suspects it'll be hardest for them to walk away, even if they want to far more than any of the other clones he's met over the years.
"I can't leave my brothers," Fox replies at last.
Anakin nods. He suspected as much, and he respects it. After what Fox did, the least he can do to make up for it is not abandon the rest of his brothers here. Anakin respects him for it.
"Why are you helping us?" Fox asks him bluntly as Anakin starts turning back to the speeder to leave.
He pauses at the clone's voice, turning back again. Talking to him is... hard. He's the one who killed Fives, and Fox might be far more than that, but that is always who Anakin remembers him as. "You deserve a chance," Anakin replies, "And so do they. That's – what Fives would have wanted."
It feels freeing to be able to give this to another, and Anakin leaves it at that as he walks away.
**w**
Leaving Padme and the unborn twins is one of the hardest things Anakin has ever had to do, but he understands why they had to be in the places they did. The Force would never have willed them apart if there wasn't a reason they had to be. That doesn't make it hurt any less. That doesn't mean leaving isn't destroying him, but as he always has for so many years, Anakin has a duty to focus on.
This, he knows, is what the Force saved him for. It's what Luke came back to him for, and when he already knows his children will be safe, he has other people who need his help.
And urgently. He needs to help Ahsoka and get all of the clones to safety far beyond Sidious's reach. Only then will the Jedi be safe, and will there be hope for the galaxy.
They will need a central network, something to oversee the surviving Jedi so many of them don't fall down the same path as the many Anakin fought as Vader, but all of that he'll worry about later. His focus is the clones, first and foremost.
Sidious has been comming Anakin repeatedly, no doubt demanding answers on where he went and what's happening, but Anakin ignores his transmission entirely. He can believe whatever he chooses to believe, and Anakin is not going to give him any reason to think that he's taking the clones off-world. The hope is to have them all safe and far from Sidious's reach before he even knows what's happening. He's still worried, though. But that has never been enough to stop him. Won't be now, either.
When Anakin reaches the cruiser Rex and Ahsoka are on, which is still in the middle of space, flames are burning across the hanger.
What happened?!
His anxiety spikes instantly as he looks around, clamoring out of his ship. He doesn't have to look far though, to spot Rex approaching. Ahsoka is a few paces behind him, keeping a pointed distance between herself and all the other clones in the hangar. Considering the looks they all keep giving her, even if none of them are moving to hurt her, Anakin can only guess why.
But this is the first time he's seen the younger her in so long. Emotion is strangling him, seeing her again so young, the way he always remembers her when he thinks of her. On Malachor, she'd been so much older. Different. Darker and more bitter.
He wants to pull her and Rex into a hug and never let go.
"Anakin," Ahsoka breathes, running forward, skidding to a stop in front of him.
Forget just wanting to hug her. He's missed her for so long, constantly, ceaselessly and it was gutting to have to accept forever on Malachor that they could never be together again. But now they can be.
Anakin pulls her into his arms. She lets out a slightly startled squeak, but she returns the embrace just as fiercely. "I don't understand what's going on," she mumbles, into his shoulder. He hasn't had human contact in so long. He's already being overwhelmed by the sensations of not being in the suit but he hasn't been touched by another person until right now.
He's forgotten what it's like to be so close to people, almost forgotten it was even possible, and he doesn't want to let her go.
"I won't leave you. Not this time."
"It is a long story," he replies, reluctantly letting go of her. But it's a story that Rex and Ahsoka deserve to hear. Even if he's afraid of how they're going to react to it, especially after Malachor, but whatever happens is... what he deserves.
Anakin turns to Rex next, pulling him into a hug. Rex seems slightly caught off guard, but he returns it. His guilt is radiating strongly into the Force – Anakin needs to talk to him privately, later.
Beyond Rex, he can feel the raging emotions of everyone on the ship, their anger, and single-minded focus on the mission. Anakin reaches out with the Force, to each of their minds and cuts off the connections to their chips, the same way he has repeatedly.
"What did you do?" Ahsoka inquires, wide-eyed.
"I deactivated the chips with the Force," Anakin explains.
"Chips?" she repeats, confused.
"You can do that, sir?" Rex asks, surprised.
"I did not realize I could until I tried," he admits, "You weren't here when it happened, Ahsoka, but Fives uncovered evidence that the Kaminoans placed inhibitor chips in all the clones to influence their actions. No one believed it at the time and Fives appeared to have lost his mind after the chip was removed, like the Kaminoans said he would, but there was more to it than any of us realized."
"I wish we could have looked into it more back then," Rex says, quietly.
Anakin can't say how much he agrees, but regrets won't change the past. Only the Force giving him a chance too can, apparently.
"So, the clones weren't in control when they... attacked me?" Ahsoka queries, expression shadowed. Now she feels guilty. What's he missing?
"No." Anakin throws a glance around the still-burning hanger. "What happened here?"
"Maul had already escaped when you warned us," Rex explains, "As soon as we came out of hyperspace, he went to the hangar and escaped before we could stop him."
That still happened?
"How did he escape?"
Ahsoka falters. "I let him out."
"What?" Rex demands, "Why?"
"Diversion."
"...That's one word for it."
Anakin can feel his muted horror, but he won't argue with her because she's Ahsoka. Anakin... has no idea what to say to what she said. He didn't realize that Ahsoka let out Maul on her own clones, that it's partly because of her that every single one of his boys died in the timeline he lived.
She's only seventeen and it's understandable that she panicked and wasn't thinking clearly when the clones tried to kill her, especially after her past experiences when she was framed. But he still feels a numb horror that she had some responsibility in it. At least most of them are still alive, here.
It's not like he's one to talk – Anakin made mistakes, too. Ahsoka's were hardly worse than any of what he did.
"How did you find out about the Chancellor? I thought no one knew who the Sith was," Rex says, turning back to Anakin. It seems half an attempt to distract himself from the Maul thing.
"I time-traveled," he replies, bluntly, "I saw the galaxy fall and all the destruction Sidious caused. I lived it. After everything I did in the future, the least I can do is... change it now."
Rex and Ahsoka are staring at him when he finishes, a mix of confused and incredulous.
"Is this a prank?" Ahsoka asks, warily.
"I would not have come here if it were, and it would have been too late."
"I'm not sure I understand how what you're saying is... possible?" Rex supplies.
"The Force brought me back to change the past. I cannot explain how it happened." Except that he willed it to happen too hard and then it somehow did.
"That's why you feel different," Ahsoka realizes slowly, studying him. She still seems disbelieving, but from how much he knows his Force has changed, there's no way she can't figure out there's something to it. "But what do you mean what you did in the future?"
It's hardly something he's eager to explain, but they deserve to know.
"I did not realize who Sidious was until it was too late. The Jedi were committing treason and I stood with him and what I thought was the Republic, before he destroyed it. I did not realize the chips were real either until... later." He doesn't want to keep thinking back to the horror of that day, the day he lost everything. It's too much. But having the chance to make different choices now is helping in more ways than he could ever say.
Rex and Ahsoka exchange glances, almost like a realization hit them.
"So, Maul wasn't lying," Rex realizes.
"...What?" What does Maul have to do with anything?
"He said Sidious was grooming you to be his apprentice. I didn't believe him." Ahsoka frowns. "I don't understand how that makes any sense. You don't feel dark, Skyguy. I've never felt you so Light before."
"I... let go of the Dark Side, after years, but not after I did much damage. I want to make it right now. I never freed the clones before, but this time, I will." And he won't stop until they're all free, whatever it takes.
"I need all these details about the future later," Ahsoka decides, flatly, "But I think we should focus on getting out of here right now. What's the plan?"
"I'll talk to the boys. If I explain the situation to them, I believe most of them will want to come. The Republic is gone."
"Are you sure they'll listen?"
Anakin touches her shoulder. "It was the chips that controlled them. None of them would ever dream of hurting you, Ahsoka, even if you had truly betrayed the Republic." They would be angry at her, yes, but they would never try to kill her in a blind rage. Not like that. Definitely not Rex.
Anakin can feel Rex's guilt flare again.
Ahsoka nods. "Then let's get to work," she agrees.
Anakin finds the chance to pull Rex aside as soon as he gets the rest of the 501st to agree to come. Convincing them isn't hard, which means they'll just take off with the entire cruiser, leaving Sidious with steadily fewer clones.
"What you did was not your fault, Rex," Anakin tells him, "I do not know how these chips work from an inside perspective, but..."
"It felt like me," Rex admits numbly, "But I know it couldn't have been. I would never – she's our kid."
"I know." He smiles faintly. "And you don't want to hurt her now. I'm sure you can see the difference now, despite how you may have felt when the chip was active."
"What if it... activates again?" Rex asks, uncertainly.
"It shouldn't unless you hear the order again." Or something. He doesn't know the details of how it works. "We will have to get them out later and... then you will be fine. And if anything does happen, I can always deactivate them again."
Rex nods, even if he's still visibly on edge from what happened. "Thank you, General. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't contacted us now."
Anakin looks away. "Nothing good."
Rex touches his shoulder. "Are you alright, sir? I know you had... difficulties sometimes, during the war. I was worried when I heard what the Commander said about Maul."
When was the last time someone asked him if he was alright? He doesn't think he even remembers. It's been a lifetime since... anyone showed him concern.
"I trusted Sidious," Anakin replies at length, "I thought he would help where the Republic and the Jedi had failed, but I was wrong. He used me as his weapon." Not that he's ever been anything but a weapon to anyone else. He was to the Jedi, too. He's never been more than that.
"It's still hard to believe the Chancellor would do what you're saying. It's not your fault you trusted him," Rex responds. "You weren't doing anything except following orders, the way... all of us always have."
Anakin nods numbly.
It's the truth, really. He's never known how to do anything else. Always listening to whatever master he presently has. He can see now how much pain that caused, but he still doesn't know anything less. The only reason he doesn't feel totally lost without one now is because he has a mission, something he knows he has to do, after everything that happened before. What happens 'after' he'll figure out when the time comes.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more for you in my time." This might not be the Rex who lived through what he did, but it still feels like he needs to say it. To be fair, he never met Rex again after this. That's probably why this version of Rex still feels like his. For Ahsoka, she's the one he always remembers but she's not his.
"You've always done everything you could for us. I can't believe that was any less true, even in this future you lived," Rex replies, firmly, "If there was more you could have done, you would have."
Maybe.
Doesn't really know what to say to that.
Most of what he remembers in the first couple of years following Mustafar is hazed over with never-ending pain. Sidious chose who he got to be around and the thought of being around any of the clones hurt too much, after everyone he lost. By the time he was able to think about it again, all the clones had already been phased out.
"What's the plan from here, sir?" Rex inquires before he can respond.
"There's a lot of your brothers left to free. Perhaps it's time we go to... Kamino."
**w**
It's one of those times he knows something's wrong even when he's unconscious, and consciousness comes back in very, very slowly. Someone's calling him, and it sounds far away but here at once, and it's weird. Different, but Crosshair knows that voice. He's heard it before.
It makes him think about Echo, and that's when it clicks.
General Skywalker?
"Crosshair –" There's a softness in the voice that he remembers it having before, but it feels like – it's been a long time since someone talked to him like that. "Come on. We have to go."
"Go?" he queries, pushing himself up.
"The clones are in danger by the Empire. I need to get you out."
Crosshair stares at him blankly for a moment, and maybe his mind is just struggling to process whatever is happening around him. He genuinely has no idea. Hunter was talking about leaving, too, though. The kid...
They were talking about leaving, deserting, and his heart flips a little at the thought again – all they've ever been is soldiers, and he can't imagine being anything else. He'll follow Hunter anywhere, though.
...
Something's...
Something's not right.
"How did you get here?" he demands, "I thought all the Jedi were dead?"
"Not all of us."
Oh – yeah, there was that padawan on Kaller that Hunter let go, and he was Wrecker's newfound best friend who Crosshair also tried to kill, and he actually has no idea why he did that. He was just a kid, and maybe the Jedi were accused of treason, but...
Something's not right.
General Skywalker being General Skywalker catches on something's wrong instantly. He was different like that. All the clones look up to him. Crosshair, too, even if he doesn't really look up to anybody but Hunter and sometimes Tech.
"It's okay," he assures, hands raised. "I know you've done things you don't understand, but it doesn't matter. It'll be fine. It's not something you can control. I will get you to your brothers, and you can figure it out from there."
None of this makes sense. But – his brothers usually manage to fix that. Still doesn't answer why everything feels so different, or why Crosshair suddenly feels way more genuinely confused than angry. He was angry before. At Hunter, for getting them into this situation, and maybe he still is a little bit, but not... really? It doesn't make sense.
Doesn't stop him from half blindly stumbling after General Skywalker into the hall, though. His head is throbbing, and he has no idea what's happening, just... everything on Kamino is in chaos.
There's countless groups of clones, even the young ones, moving through the halls, and it looks like the Coruscant guard are the ones directing them to go to... wherever they're going.
They're leaving Kamino, for whatever reason – or at least Crosshair thinks they are? There's still a lot going on he doesn't follow a word of.
They reach the hanger to see all the clones getting on transports, but what catches Crosshair's attention instantly is... his brothers. They're here, standing right by the Marauder waiting for him.
"Crosshair." Hunter's the first to see him, and for a fleeting moment, he forgets all the arguing they've done since Kaller. Forgets everything, except that his brothers are here, which means he's safe.
"You alright?" Wrecker asks as he approaches it.
He doesn't even know the answer to that. His head still feels weird, and nothing about the Republic or General Skywalker's presence makes an ounce of sense but at least his brothers are here.
"I'm fine," Crosshair assures, but that doesn't stop him from accepting Hunter's proffered hug, anyway, no matter how brief it is.
"We're leaving," Hunter tells him, "I don't know where we're going, but... everyone going."
Crosshair glances at Echo and Tech. "How can we be anything other than soldiers?"
"We'll figure it out," Hunter promises, and maybe somehow, Crosshair actually believes him a little. They're not doing this alone.
Things are... changing, and this is going to be hard for all of them, and he doesn't know that he likes it, either, but... it's happening, and they'll adapt like they always do.
**w**
Taking all the clones from Kamino was a little harder than Anakin expected because a lot of them didn't want to go, but it worked in the end. Taking care of all the babies and the unborn babies is going to be a little more difficult, though. The Kaminoans were too outnumbered to resist so they didn't even try.
None of the clones have enough medical knowledge to deal with the unborn babies, so Anakin settles for bringing Nala Se along until they are born.
She did decide to create an army of millions of slaves, born to die, and she doesn't even have any regrets about it so he doesn't have much sympathy that she's not happy at being taken along. It'll only be until all the youngest are born, anyway.
And no, coming along doesn't mean she gets to keep her apparently favorite creation – Omega – with her if she doesn't want to be.
All the clones there are free now, and Anakin has one more stop to make.
Utapau.
It didn't occur to him until right now that Obi-Wan could still be hiding out there. He doesn't really know what happened to him before. He didn't give much thought to what happened to him this time either, until right now when he's going to pick up Cody.
He's not ready to see Obi-Wan again. Not - not yet. It's going to happen inevitably eventually, but... right now, he's just going to keep his focus on freeing Cody.
The 212th is still cleaning up from the battle when Anakin gets there.
He's not going to think about the fact that Cody was no doubt ordered to fire on Obi-Wan recently. He doesn't sense his former master here, but the fact that he could be still isn't something Anakin is overly comfortable with.
"Why are you here?" Cody asks, mind-blown and visibly overwhelmed – once Anakin's done deactivating all the 212th's chips.
"I came here for you," Anakin replies, and goes on to explain the same thing he's told the rest of the clones, about how the Chancellor has been betraying the Republic from the start of the war and this essentially means that the war they were fighting was lost and they need to get out before it's too late.
Anakin was close with Cody before. Maybe not quite the same as he was with his own boys, but they still had a close friendship, and he knows Cody will believe him. Most of the clones he knows do, and from here, he'll have to start expanding outwards, because he's not letting any of them fall victim to whatever Sidious is planning, or will be planning from here.
His master – once master – always has contingencies, and Anakin has no idea if he had ever thought about or prepared for a scenario in which the clones were just... gone. And Anakin won't let them be hurt again, even if he has to take them by force. It's certainly not preferable, but it's not like he hasn't done far worse.
"I shouldn't be surprised you're doing this for us," Cody says dryly when he finishes, but there's a shadowed look in his eyes.
"Whatever you did here wasn't your fault," Anakin promises him. He doesn't know how Cody feels about whatever happened with Obi-Wan, but...
The truth is, it wasn't something he could control. None of them could, and Anakin won't stop until he gives them the chance that no one else did.
Anakin doesn't know what happened to the clones in his time. They were just... gone by the time he was conscious enough to do anything. He doesn't know if Rex ever saw Cody again. He doesn't even know what happened to Rex, just that he survived somehow, likely due to Ahsoka. And after everything Rex has done for him, after how loyally he stood by Anakin's side for so long, the least he can do for him is free one of the brothers he was closest with.
"I don't know what happened to him," Cody replies, looking away. Probably, he's extremely uncomfortable talking to Anakin about this at all, knowing the closeness he and Obi-Wan once shared. A lifetime ago. "I knew when the Order came through that all Council members would be in on treason, especially."
"They were. You didn't have a way to know it was the Chancellor who was committing treason." It is true that the Council committed treason, after all. It still hurts to remember that they were practically setting him up to take the fall for it if something went wrong. Even if he doesn't know if they would have actually done that.
"Where do we go from here?" Cody inquires.
"I will take all of you somewhere safe and everyone willing can aid me in freeing the rest of your brothers."
"But where are we going? Did you think about how we're going to hide so many Star Destroyers, especially if we're going to keep growing in number?"
...
...
"I did not."
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