Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no money off this story. All rights go to Lucasfilms. Hope you enjoy my twist on this story.

The Resolute

This story starts the evening after Fives was shot by Commander Fox. CT-7567 lays down in his bunk. "What happened to you Fives? You said that the chancellor is part of this plot to kill the Jedi. You said that he orchestrated much of this. Where have I heard that before?" Suddenly it clicked. Back on Umbara when they had captured General Krell; Krell had said something similar. He had said a new power would rise and the republic would be ripped apart from the inside. No matter how crazy this idea was it was too terrifying to take lightly. He had to get to the bottom of this and it all started with this inhibitor chip.

He trusted General Skywalker with his life and with his deepest secrets but, for this, he needed to talk to Jesse. He contacted Jesse and asked to meet him privately in his quarters. Jesse agreed and made sure they were alone before asking "What's on your mind, Rex?" Rex hesitated for a few moments before he came out with it "I want to remove my inhibitor chip." Rex waited for a few moments before Jesse responded "Are you sure that's a good idea? Tup killed General Tiplar because something went wrong with his chip. What if removing yours makes you want to kill General Skywalker?" Rex thought of that and Jesse did raise a valid concern but he had another idea. He looked at Jesse and said "I don't think so. Fives had his removed and he didn't try and kill any Jedi. He had a great opportunity when General Skywalker and I had tracked him down but he simply activated a ray shield to make sure we just listened. There is a possibility that the inhibitor chips have a purpose that we don't yet fully understand. The only way to get to the bottom of it is to remove mine and study the effects. We have two weeks leave from the front and I am humbly asking you to watch over me. If I show any negative signs stun me and bring me before the Jedi Council."

Jesse looked apprehensive but he agreed to his friend's request. They both walked to the medical bay aboard the Resolute and Rex laid down on the table. He instructed the droid to perform a Phase Five Atomic Brain Scan. The droid complied while Jesse locked the door. Eventually, the droid found the chip and Rex told it to remove it. The droid put him under and started the surgery.

Five Hours Later, Resolute Medical Bay

Jesse had stayed in Rex's room the entire time and Rex had finally started to wake up. Jesse was by his side in an instant and asked him "Rex how are you feeling?" Rex focused on the voice and saw it was Jesse. He smiled and said, "I feel great man." He saw the droid holding his inhibitor chip encased in glass and decided to take it so they could study it further. They both left the Resolute and headed to their barracks on Coruscant.

Coruscant, Clone Barracks

They went about their daily training and any duty that they were assigned but over the next two weeks Rex hadn't had a nightmare. Usually, all the clones had the nightmare of a war that never ended. The same one that Fives had told him about before he passed. There was definitely something strange going on but there were no adverse effects so the removal of the chips was deemed safe. The day before they were scheduled to ship out to the front lines Jesse decided to remove his chip as well. There seemed to be no adverse effects and Rex would watch his back.

Resolute Medical Bay

Jesse got his chip removed and after waking up he decided to investigate further. He wasn't an expert hacker like Tech from Clone Force 99 but he could work his way around encryption. He sat down at a secured terminal and erased the records of his and Rex's surgery. He then started instructing the medical droid to scan the chip itself for any abnormalities. After a few minutes, the droid revealed there seemed to be a mechanical chip fused with the inhibitor chip. The mechanical chip had a list of raw data on it and Jesse instructed the droid to transfer it over to his terminal. After the droid had done so, he started to pour through the data. He looked increasingly appalled the deeper he got into the list and after a few minutes he just stopped and uttered "My God." Rex looked over at him asking "What is it?" Jesse looked back at Rex and said "I know what happened to Tup, I know why he seemed to snap into a trance and murdered General Tiplar. This mechanical chip has a large number of contingency orders. The most troubling thing is Order 66. It states that this order is given if the Jedi are acting in opposition to the Republic and the GAR is ordered to remove them from command by lethal force."

Rex was stunned "WHAT THE HELL? That means no trial, no jail, just execution? This is insane." Jesse agrees but a part of him understands the order. He looks at Rex and says "I agree it's excessive but that is a contingency order only given by the Chancellor himself. If it is given we have to follow it, orders are orders. We are good soldiers and good soldiers follow orders." Rex knows that to be true but his dogma had taken too many personal hits during this war to just blindly obey any order given. He thinks back to his time with Fives on Umbara and repeats what he was told. He has a faraway look in his eye as he responds to Jesse "We are good soldiers and we follow orders but we are not a bunch of unthinking droids. We are men and we must be trusted to make the right decision, especially when the orders we are given are wrong." Jesse gains a thoughtful look for a while before he cracks a smile and says "Maybe you're right Rex. This is bigger than any of us. We need to discuss this with the Jedi and show them what we found. While I am reluctant to sneak around the Chancellor, Fives was my friend too and he clearly didn't trust the Chancellor for a reason." Rex nodded and they both walked out of the medical bay with their chips in a secure compartment on their belts. They would get to the bottom of this and get justice for Fives.

Review: I ask that all reviews be constructive criticism with suggestions on how to improve my story and writing overall. If you have nothing constructive or nice to say please do not leave a review at all. Don't like the story, don't read it. If you have a suggestion on where you might want me to take the story leave a review or send me a private message; I am all ears. If I like it, I will let you know and I will give your username credit. Enjoy :)