p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'GNU Unifont'; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Fives fell in line behind Rex, the thudding of their boots on the pavement the only sound that accompanied them in the eerie silence of Coruscant's air field. They were on leave after the Citadel mission, Anakin ensuring they had as much time as possible to recover, regardless of how little that time was. Rex was grateful for it; the Citadel had done a number on him, and he wasn't sure why this mission was different from the rest. As he asked himself that sleep continued to evade him, and he woke from nightmares soaked in sweat and screaming his throat raw. Eating was a challenge, having thrown up a few times since his return. He'd been to see Kix but he was as healthy as a wampa. He knew Fives was down the same path, he and Jesse silent beside him. Anakin had summoned them, maybe whatever he had for them would distract them for a while. Regardless, the rock in Rex's stomach was still /They walked into the meeting room, Anakin, another jedi, and a temple guard waiting. Rex faltered a moment before resuming. They were never a good /"Master Drallig this is my Second in Command Captain Rex, and Arc troopers Fives and Jesse." Anakin introduced with that proud smirk on his face. Rex felt ill. If only he /"It's a pleasure. This is my Second in Command, Captain Kolloma Ree."br /He bowed his helmeted head /"What is it we can do for you, sirs?" Fives /"We've received intelligence from an anonymous source that an attack is planned on the living quarters of the Jedi Temple, specifically, the living quarters of the guard. This person, supposedly, knows their routine. Rather than change it and alert whoever this is, we thought we would add a few people a beat off, hopefully throwing the attempt and catching them."br /Rex nodded. "Do we know when this will be?"br /"This week or next," Master Drallig said. During the circulation of three particular guards."br /"So we will be shadowing these three guards?" Jesse clarified, "For two weeks?"br /Anakin nodded, "If anything would notice something off it would be you three. I trust the three of you to catch and disable the attacker before they're able to accomplish whatever their goal is. It could be to murder guards, or steal something in the wing or on their person. You're free to investigate and ask questions that may help you figure that out. Master Drallig has set you up with quarters for the three of you, but you should stay with your assigned guard whenever they are not in their own quarters to learn their routine and look out for clues."br /Rex was pleased. Investigation was interesting and distracting, and the guards were a source of great mystery for clones and Jedi alike. It would be interesting to see what it was they /"Understood, sir."br /Anakin nodded to Master Drallig and Master Ree. "We'll be sure to meet you early tomorrow."br /They nodded and left the meeting room, and Anakin gestured to the /"I wanted to brief you on the guard a bit, they're not your typical Jedi. They've turned themselves and their identities over to the force entirely. They are quite extreme, often taking vows of silence or fasting for long periods of time. They are the finest fighters in the order, and are so in tune with the force they can often predict things or even heal themselves. They will only speak to you if they have to, and they will not tell you their names, because, by extension, they have no names. They are The Force."br /"So how do we get answers?"br /"How do we keep them straight?"br /Anakin smirked, "They'll answer your questions regarding the mission, not much more. I'd also ask them their schedules so you'll know how long you can leave them for breaks or meals. When you get your assigned guard, keep your eye on the ball. They're identical, even the captains, so you'll have to really watch them to see any differences."br /"Can we have full clearance?"br /"Granted. You'll have arm bands as well so the other guards know you're permitted." He smirked, "You'll be the first clones back there."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'GNU Unifont'; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were up before dawn and met Anakin at the front entrance. He gave them arm bands with a gold jedi emblem and they followed him up into the top of the temple. It was the very first floor, but intricately woven through a series of halls to hide them from the public. Behind several locked, guarded doors, they were let into a sweeping corridor with frescos of jedi and towering columns. Master Drallig stood waiting, and took Anakin's arm in greeting before leading them. As they walked they noticed no common area, no mess or kitchen, simply spaces for meditation, gardens, and even bare spaces of nothing with guards seated facing the wall in meditation. The following hallway was black marble, the columns framing doors to individual rooms. Master Drallig stopped there, turning toward /"The guards do not share their names, but for your purposes I have given them a letter to differentiate them for you."br /The three doors before them opened in unison, and the guards stood at attention before /"Captain Rex, you'll be shadowing Captain M." He said, pointing subtly at the small 'M' on his neck guard. "He is the Captain of this quadrant and plans any comings and goings." Rex nodded, unsure of any /"Jesse, this is A, she is one of the guards of the Hall of Holocrons." He swallowed and /"Fives, R is an entrance guard. He often must escort people out but you are not to interfere unless you genuinely believe his life is in danger or he is in contact with our suspect."br /"Understood."br /Master Drallig nodded, "Let me show you your own quarters and then we'll be underway."br /They followed him a few doors down and he unlocked it. It had two bunks and a bed with an attached fresher and small cooking area. "Its stocked with some basic foods, but once your guard is on break you're welcome to leave and eat a meal. All guards eat rations alone in their quarters."br /Rex nodded. "The door is biolocked?"br /Master Drallig nodded, "They all are. The three of you will be able to enter with fingerprints." He smiled. "Thank you, men, and good luck."br /They salute him and Anakin followed him out, waving. They returned to their guards, still waiting at /"R will go first." Captain M said in his modulated voice. R bowed his head and began down the hall, quietly telling Fives his schedule. A got the hint and bowed as well, taking off in the opposite direction with Jesse. Rex waited, staring at the Captain. After a moment he began down the hallway, Rex falling in /He was as tall as Anakin but felt taller in the lofty robes. He could hear scrambled chatter in his helmet, and made /The Captain went to every station ensuring the guard was present and presentable, often adjusting a robe or helmet. He was approached by civilians in the main lobby but ignored them, being led away by other guards. He checked each and every exterior door and every single key on his belt, the quadra-locked doors the most intense Rex had seen. The chatter in the Captain's ear never ceased, but he never answered any of it. He turned abruptly halfway down one hall, catching a jedi knight walking the /"You do not have clearance to be back here," He stated, his hand on his hinged /"I'm sorry, sir, I was looking for a holocron-"br /"You must go to the library for accessible holocrons. You do not have clearance to be back here."br /Rex watched with his hand on his blaster, and the knight turned. "A clone can be back here but a jedi can't?"br /Captain M lit his sabers, encroaching on the man with his /"You. Do not have clearance. To be back here. You must leave."br /The knight looked fearfully up at him and nodded, dashing away. M put his saber away as if nothing had happened, and picked up pace to get back on his schedule, touching the earpiece in his /"A civilian is exiting sector 4. Search and secure."br /Chatter followed, and the Captain checked a few more doors. He made another round with the guards and stood guard at the furthest door for a time before heading back to his /"Are you done for the day or will you be back?" Rex /"I am finished for the evening except in the event of an emergency with the overnight guard. I rise at oh five hundred."br /"Understood, sir."br /He shut the door, Rex staring incredulously. He had questions. The other two were out so he head to the library to read. There was precious little, and when he returned Fives was entering their /"They're kriffin' weird." Fives murmured, taking off his helmet and collapsing on the /"Agreed." Rex said, examining the /"They're ancient. Too ancient. They have physical keys for rooms full of Holocrons and force knows what else."br /Fives nodded, "This is going to be a very boring two weeks."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'GNU Unifont'; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They followed them for two more days, and the three of them sat and discussed their /"They only have those 4 locked rooms, the last guarded by A constantly before changing guard with two for the evening, so, they clearly have concerns about the night shift."br /"The captain checks every door twice and knows who has what key. He also gets all chatter, even irrelevant."br /"Yeah they scramble in and out, so whoever intercepted their chatter has to be a guard."br /Rex shook his head. "I think it's a droid, the interference he's getting is rhythmic, like a /They shook their heads, "I think it's just him, Rex."br /Rex looked at Fives. "Its him they want."br /Rex met the Captain outside his room, falling in line a little closer than usual. "Sir, are there any droids among the guards?"br /"I-"br /"There are droids in the library. Those are the droids closest to us."br /Rex nodded. "Do they interact with you at all? With the holocrons?"br /He prepared himself for the /"They sometimes glean information from the holocrons with permission. For the librarians." He said, answering Rex's next /"How do you know these droids are the droids from the library? Are they marked or known?"br /The captain didn't reply, and Rex knew he was listening to the /"Yes, there are only two permitted, and they have biokeys installed in their systems. A standard droid would be caught."br /Rex nodded. "Sir, these metal keys-"br /The captain spun around, a key in his hand. "Take it."br /Rex stared at him, but obliged. The key fell apart in his /"Its not a key. Its dust, you know the-"br /"Pins, throating, bits and collars. Length of the stem, the shaft and bow."br /Rex nodded. "Understood."br /He followed the Captain silently for the rest of the day, watching, and called R2. R2 was analyzing every civilian and droid in the surveillance data for both the lobby and the library for the past month. He also returned to the library, researching the droids and asking about the holocrons. The holocrons had encrypted data about force sensitive children, force sensitive locations and hidden temples. The droids would update the holocrons or glean information from them for the masters. They were old temple droids, not widely available but not impossible to get in the black market. He brought this information back to Jesse and Fives and waited for R2. There was a different person in the lobby every day with a pod droid. The pod droid would sit on his shoulder and stare at the entrance to the guard's quarters. That was the captain's /"You approach them tomorrow. See what they want. If you're feeling like it, try to apprehend that pod droid. R2, while he's distracted, scan that droid for all you've got. I'm going to get Charger in a sniper's position on the lower roof to follow when they leave."br /He whistled in agreement and Fives and Jesse agreed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'GNU Unifont'; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They were up before dawn and met Anakin at the front entrance. He gave them arm bands with a gold jedi emblem and they followed him up into the top of the temple. It was the very first floor, but intricately woven through a series of halls to hide them from the public. Behind several locked, guarded doors, they were let into a sweeping corridor with frescos of jedi and towering columns. Master Drallig stood waiting, and took Anakin's arm in greeting before leading them. As they walked they noticed no common area, no mess or kitchen, simply spaces for meditation, gardens, and even bare spaces of nothing with guards seated facing the wall in meditation. The following hallway was black marble, the columns framing doors to individual rooms. Master Drallig stopped there, turning toward /"The guards do not share their names, but for your purposes I have given them a letter to differentiate them for you."br /The three doors before them opened in unison, and the guards stood at attention before /"Captain Rex, you'll be shadowing Captain M." He said, pointing subtly at the small 'M' on his neck guard. "He is the Captain of this quadrant and plans any comings and goings." Rex nodded, unsure of any /"Jesse, this is A, she is one of the guards of the Hall of Holocrons." He swallowed and /"Fives, R is an entrance guard. He often must escort people out but you are not to interfere unless you genuinely believe his life is in danger or he is in contact with our suspect."br /"Understood."br /Master Drallig nodded, "Let me show you your own quarters and then we'll be underway."br /They followed him a few doors down and he unlocked it. It had two bunks and a bed with an attached fresher and small cooking area. "Its stocked with some basic foods, but once your guard is on break you're welcome to leave and eat a meal. All guards eat rations alone in their quarters."br /Rex nodded. "The door is biolocked?"br /Master Drallig nodded, "They all are. The three of you will be able to enter with fingerprints." He smiled. "Thank you, men, and good luck."br /They salute him and Anakin followed him out, waving. They returned to their guards, still waiting at /"R will go first." Captain M said in his modulated voice. R bowed his head and began down the hall, quietly telling Fives his schedule. A got the hint and bowed as well, taking off in the opposite direction with Jesse. Rex waited, staring at the Captain. After a moment he began down the hallway, Rex falling in /He was as tall as Anakin but felt taller in the lofty robes. He could hear scrambled chatter in his helmet, and made /The Captain went to every station ensuring the guard was present and presentable, often adjusting a robe or helmet. He was approached by civilians in the main lobby but ignored them, being led away by other guards. He checked each and every exterior door and every single key on his belt, the quadra-locked doors the most intense Rex had seen. The chatter in the Captain's ear never ceased, but he never answered any of it. He turned abruptly halfway down one hall, catching a jedi knight walking the /"You do not have clearance to be back here," He stated, his hand on his hinged /"I'm sorry, sir, I was looking for a holocron-"br /"You must go to the library for accessible holocrons. You do not have clearance to be back here."br /Rex watched with his hand on his blaster, and the knight turned. "A clone can be back here but a jedi can't?"br /Captain M lit his sabers, encroaching on the man with his /"You. Do not have clearance. To be back here. You must leave."br /The knight looked fearfully up at him and nodded, dashing away. M put his saber away as if nothing had happened, and picked up pace to get back on his schedule, touching the earpiece in his /"A civilian is exiting sector 4. Search and secure."br /Chatter followed, and the Captain checked a few more doors. He made another round with the guards and stood guard at the furthest door for a time before heading back to his /"Are you done for the day or will you be back?" Rex /"I am finished for the evening except in the event of an emergency with the overnight guard. I rise at oh five hundred."br /"Understood, sir."br /He shut the door, Rex staring incredulously. He had questions. The other two were out so he head to the library to read. There was precious little, and when he returned Fives was entering their /"They're kriffin' weird." Fives murmured, taking off his helmet and collapsing on the /"Agreed." Rex said, examining the /"They're ancient. Too ancient. They have physical keys for rooms full of Holocrons and force knows what else."br /Fives nodded, "This is going to be a very boring two weeks."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'GNU Unifont'; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They followed them for two more days, and the three of them sat and discussed their /"They only have those 4 locked rooms, the last guarded by A constantly before changing guard with two for the evening, so, they clearly have concerns about the night shift."br /"The captain checks every door twice and knows who has what key. He also gets all chatter, even irrelevant."br /"Yeah they scramble in and out, so whoever intercepted their chatter has to be a guard."br /Rex shook his head. "I think it's a droid, the interference he's getting is rhythmic, like a /They shook their heads, "I think it's just him, Rex."br /Rex looked at Fives. "Its him they want."br /Rex met the Captain outside his room, falling in line a little closer than usual. "Sir, are there any droids among the guards?"br /"I-"br /"There are droids in the library. Those are the droids closest to us."br /Rex nodded. "Do they interact with you at all? With the holocrons?"br /He prepared himself for the /"They sometimes glean information from the holocrons with permission. For the librarians." He said, answering Rex's next /"How do you know these droids are the droids from the library? Are they marked or known?"br /The captain didn't reply, and Rex knew he was listening to the /"Yes, there are only two permitted, and they have biokeys installed in their systems. A standard droid would be caught."br /Rex nodded. "Sir, these metal keys-"br /The captain spun around, a key in his hand. "Take it."br /Rex stared at him, but obliged. The key fell apart in his /"Its not a key. Its dust, you know the-"br /"Pins, throating, bits and collars. Length of the stem, the shaft and bow."br /Rex nodded. "Understood."br /He followed the Captain silently for the rest of the day, watching, and called R2. R2 was analyzing every civilian and droid in the surveillance data for both the lobby and the library for the past month. He also returned to the library, researching the droids and asking about the holocrons. The holocrons had encrypted data about force sensitive children, force sensitive locations and hidden temples. The droids would update the holocrons or glean information from them for the masters. They were old temple droids, not widely available but not impossible to get in the black market. He brought this information back to Jesse and Fives and waited for R2. There was a different person in the lobby every day with a pod droid. The pod droid would sit on his shoulder and stare at the entrance to the guard's quarters. That was the captain's /"You approach them tomorrow. See what they want. If you're feeling like it, try to apprehend that pod droid. R2, while he's distracted, scan that droid for all you've got. I'm going to get Charger in a sniper's position on the lower roof to follow when they leave."br /He whistled in agreement and Fives and Jesse agreed./p