Chapter 3 - Investigation
Anakin leaves the Senate building with Fives, flying back for the 501st cruiser. It's so relieving to be with him without this constant threat of his death hanging over their heads. Nothing's going to happen to him – not for now, at least.
There's obviously a much bigger conspiracy-something going on with the Kaminoans, and especially after seeing how Halli Burtoni was handling her arguments, it... feels like she was hiding something. There's something to it and it's extremely unsettling but at least Fives is going to be fine. That's what matters most.
"Thank you for speaking up for me, General," Fives is the first to speak.
"You deserve far better than how they were treating you," Anakin tells him sincerely.
Fives shifts in the passenger's seat next to him. "General, I know what you said about not emphasizing the things I uncovered during my trial, but now that it's over, I want to keep looking into it. I know there's something more going on, something that led to Tup's death. I can't just drop it. He shouldn't have had to die." There's an underlying grief there and it hurts. Fives had turned his focus to Tup after Echo was lost. It was the one thing that kept him stable and now he lost that.
Anakin throws a sideways glance at him, wishing there was something he could do to make this better. "I want answers too," Anakin confesses, even if something twists tightly inside of him as he thinks about what Fives said about Palpatine. There's something to that – he couldn't have imagined it up entirely, even if he misinterpreted something. He needs to know what's going on. "I... I'm going to talk to Palpatine."
Fives twitches a little, tensing.
"I want to know what he has to say about what he... said. I don't understand what's happening. I've known him for years, Fives."
"I know," he agrees, sighing, "I can't understand it either, but I know what I heard."
"I don't doubt it. I just don't understand how it makes any sense."
**w**
Anakin goes to meet Palpatine as soon as he's dropped Fives off with his brothers. "It's good to see you, my boy," the Chancellor greets when he enters his office.
There's more security here than he's seen in a while. Because of Fives.
He hates thinking about how that even happened. Palpatine is his mentor and Fives is his friend and he doesn't want to lose either.
"It's good to see that you're alright, Your Excellency," Anakin replies quietly.
"I thought that would be why you were here," Palpatine replies, circling around behind the desk to lay a hand on his shoulder.
To think if – if the Coruscant guard hadn't been faster, Palpatine would be gone now because of Fives.
And Fives could have been gone, executed, for something that wasn't even his fault.
He wants this to just be over. It's too – too much. How does he handle his family being so at odds with each other?
"I still don't understand what happened," Anakin confesses.
"I was trying to understand what he was saying. I wanted to give him a fair say that he wouldn't get with anyone else present but then he attacked me," Palpatine replies.
Of course Palpatine would do that – give one of his boys that chance.
But something still doesn't make sense. "He says – I think he interpreted something you said to him as a threat. I just don't understand... what. Or why."
Palpatine nods, thoughtfully. "All I said to him was that a Jedi created the clones to serve a purpose and he didn't need to be concerned with them being using for anything but that purpose."
That's... similar to what Fives said but it's not exactly the same. And something feels off. Anakin can't say what it is, but this entire situation is confusing and frustrating. It's hard to believe sometimes that a Jedi created a slave army like this to begin with. "Do you think Fives is right that there's something more to the clone's creation and that the Kaminoans are hiding something?" he asks.
"A Separatist plot against the Republic from before the war even started? From perhaps before even the Separatist movement began?" Palpatine inquires, "It seems... unlikely."
"I know," Anakin agrees, unease churning in his gut. But he can't deny that there has to be some truth to this. "But... I know the Senate didn't believe that Fives was drugged by the Kaminoans but I do. He's my friend. I know his mind was unclear, but I don't think it could have been some kind of mistake by a medical droid." That just sounds ridiculous. And too convenient.
The Chancellor seems thoughtful. "If there is something more going on, the Republic investigators will find it," he says, at length, "You needn't concern yourself with it when you already have so much on your hands, Anakin."
He nods, unable to deny a small flare of gratitude that Palpatine's worried about it. But this isn't something he can drop, no matter how worn out he is with the war and all.
"As of now, I don't see much point in disputing the reason the chips were implanted in the clones," Palpatine adds, "And if the Kaminoans did implant them for some other means, what would it be? What purpose would it serve? Their main source of profit is from the Republic. Aiding the Separatists in some conspiracy that I cannot quite fathom wouldn't aid them at all, especially not if they were found to be traitors."
That's... also true.
But the Force is whispering a quiet warning deep inside of him that Anakin doesn't think he can just shrug off. Frankly, even if he wanted to, he knows he's not going to get Fives to back down until they have conclusive proof about what's really going on.
**w**
Anakin sends a message to Salvo after leaving Palpatine's office, asking if he's planning to look any further into the case. The investigator messages back to confirm that he is, and also that he'll give him any updates on anything that's happening.
The next update comes only a couple days later, Salvo asking him to come talk in his office.
"The Grand Republic Medical Facility studied Tup's body to see if there was any other cause of his condition. They claim to have found a parasite that was obviously overlooked in the Kaminoan investigation."
"So they're saying the parasite caused his inhibitor chip to decay?" Anakin asks slowly.
It's possible but it doesn't really explain anything about Fives. He doesn't really know what these chips are either, but he can't stop thinking about the chip he once had in himself. It's not the same because these are partly organic, not something meant to blow them up, but it still feels like a similar concept.
It drives home even further how much they are slaves like he was.
"That's what they say but it doesn't explain how the Kaminoans are obviously trying to hide something about the chips or they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to stop Fives from investigating," Salvo replies.
That's what he was thinking, too.
"What next steps would you take?" Anakin asks.
"I would like to take a look at one of these chips myself. If they really have the purpose Fives claims they do, there must be something that triggers them to act."
The claim that the clones have something in them to make them turn on the Jedi is downright outlandish but he can't stop thinking about it. Who would even have done that? If the Jedi made them, they wouldn't make chips that could be used against them, so it doesn't make... sense. But Salvo is right. "That will be a place to start," Anakin agrees, "But we will have to get permission from a clone who is willing to have the chip removed. We don't know if the surgeries are fully safe." The Kaminoans claimed Tup died because of it and it's possible. They're talking about an extremely invasive brain surgery. Maybe they need to get to the bottom of this, but he's not going to outright murder one of his boys to do it.
"See what you can arrange," Salvo requests, "But we need to keep this matter strictly confidential. I already tried to push for the Senate to further investigate Kamino but no one is taking Fives' word about being drugged seriously."
"The Senate's just going to drop it?" He's not even surprised. It shows how incompetent they always are. And to be fair, they do have pressing matters with the war to deal with, but if the Kaminoans are doing something... sinister against them, that's more important than anything.
"I believe they will. I would say that there are forces in the Senate who are pushing for the case to be dropped entirely."
Are there?
To be fair, if the Kaminoans were really involved in something, it's obvious Burtoni knows about it which means other Senators probably do too.
"I'll talk to my men and see what I can arrange," Anakin settles for. He doesn't want to push anyone into doing it simply because they want answers when they don't know if the surgeries are safe. But they'll have to find some way to deal with this. Somehow.
**w**
Anakin explains the situation to Fives, Rex, and Kix at the same time – Rex and Fives because they've both been impatiently waiting for an update and Kix because he's the primary medic and they need his input.
"This isn't something we can let get out among the boys right now either," Anakin adds.
"Won't be a problem," Rex assures.
"We can keep secrets," Fives snips, though he doesn't sound nearly as chipper as he often does.
"What's the risk of these surgeries?" Rex queries, turning to Kix.
"If there was a mistake, it could result in... permanent damage. Most of it would be behavioral, but at the center of the brain, the slightest damage could affect signaling anywhere in the brain" Kix responds.
Behavioral?
So maybe Tup's chip malfunctioning could have been caused by a parasite and affecting his behavior. Maybe. It's time to find out for sure.
"But if it it's done precisely, there shouldn't be any side effects... unless the chip is directly connected to portions of the brain in a way we don't understand. You're certain Tup's death had nothing do with its removal?"
"Yes," Fives says firmly, "I... think the Kaminoans might have done something to him. And they said he was already weak. It could have been anything."
Anakin feels the sharp flare of grief from Fives again, and he reaches out, touching his shoulder. "I don't want any of you being hurt by a potential surgery like this," he starts.
"It's a risk all of us are willing to take. If this is a potential plot against the Jedi and the Republic, it's our duty to uncover it," Rex interjects.
"I don't want you to make a decision with such serious repercussions simply because you feel you... have to." He wishes that was a choice they got to make more, but it's not. It never has been.
Just like it never was for Anakin on Tatooine. He knows that feeling far too well.
"We don't have many options if we don't want to spread the word among the boys to get volunteers," Rex points out, "I'm willing to go through the surgery."
His gut twists uneasily at the suggestion. Rex is – He's maybe the closest friend Anakin's ever had. He doesn't want anything to happen to him. Not that he wants anything to happen to any of his boys, but –
Fives exchanges a look with him, nodding his approval. He doesn't seem quite as afraid as Anakin himself but Fives is convinced Tup's death had nothing to do with it and Anakin doesn't know that. He wasn't there.
"Are you... certain?"
"Yes," Rex replies, with conviction.
So it's settled, then
It's hardly ideal to have their captain temporarily out of order, for other military reasons too, but it'll have to do.
Kix does the surgery himself. Anakin and Fives stay out of the way until it's finished. Anakin tries to sense the progress with the Force, trying to feel if Rex's earthly rock like Force presence is stable. It is, even if the stillness of it is keeping him on edge.
"How is he?" Fives demands, the moment Kix looks up from checking the scans.
"He appears to be stable and here is the... chip." The medic holds up what he removed.
It's even more unsettling to be looking at something that was inside Rex's brain. It makes him a little sick to think about, actually.
Anakin takes the chip, wavering between staying with Rex and going to work on investigating the chip while he has time to do it because he doesn't know how much he'll have.
"I'll stay with him," Fives promises, obviously catching the flux of his expression.
"Thank you," Anakin tells him, smiling faintly. His gaze lingers on Rex's still unconscious form a moment longer before he heads for the door. Time to get to work.
**w**
Breaking through the chip's programming is a lot harder than Anakin was expecting. It's heavily encrypted and it takes him hours – especially between the occasional military matters he has to stop and deal with.
Ahsoka could have helped him with this once. He can't stop his eyes from drifting to where she'd be standing next to his desk – if she wasn't fooling around, climbing into his lap – but no one's there.
No one will be again.
Hopefully she's alright wherever she's gone. The longing that floods him when he thinks about it is always overwhelming. He misses her. It never stops, a constant ceaseless ache in his heart. His padawan, his – his little sister, is gone and he has no idea where she is or if she's alright. But he can't let himself get distracted right now so he tries to shake the thought from mind, refocusing on the chip.
It's late into the night when he hears someone knock on the door of his General quarters.
"Come in," Anakin calls distractedly, still focused on his work.
Fives steps inside, crossing the room and circling around the table to lean against the edge of his desk. "Any luck, General?"
"I broke through, but the data doesn't make sense," Anakin replies, spinning around the datapad he has it on, pushing it Fives' direction.
The clone picks it up, frowning as he studies it. "It has orders on it?"
"Sixty-six of them," Anakin agrees. But it doesn't say what the orders are. There's just encoded programming, indicating that something will activate each of them to influence the clone's behavior in a specific way.
And that means...
"They were hiding this!" Fives exclaims, obviously reaching the same conclusion, "They said the Jedi had those things put in to – to make more obedient but then what are these? It's to make us follow orders that we never would otherwise. It has to be."
Considering that each thing is literally listed as an order, there's nothing else this could mean. The Kaminoans were trying to hide this for some reason. Maybe it also serves the purpose they claimed, he doesn't know, but it's far more complicated than anything they explained and they've been acting so strange about it this entire time. He can't deny how unnerved he is, just looking at the order numbers. Even if he has no idea what they mean. He also can't stop thinking about the sheer awfulness of what this is. These things really can influence the clone's behavior. It's not just a physical modification from before they were born. It's something worse than that, much worse.
"You were on the right track," Anakin replies, giving him as much of a reassuring smile as he can manage.
Sometimes, it's hard not to still think of Fives as a little boy.
He was only sixteen – technically eight – when Anakin first met him. He might look as old as Anakin himself now but he's still so young. He used to hero-worship him back in the day, until they became much closer.
"We need to find out what these are," Anakin asserts, taking the datapad back, "Something must activate them, but I don't understand what. The only way we'll be getting any more information is... by going to Kamino."
"When do we go?" Fives asks, straightening.
"Either we'll have to see if Detective Salvo can get us there by more legal means or we'll have to do something discreet."
"Doesn't sound like an issue. We do that all the time," he says, cheerily.
Anakin pats his shoulder. "I think we'll have to be more careful about this one. We can't let it backfire on us."
"There's not much they could do to you, sir."
"They could get an order from the Senate to make us stop entirely, if they can convince the Senate they're innocent." Which is what he's a little worried about. No one is taking the situation seriously in the Senate because it was a clone who brought it up.
"What about an excuse to go to Kamino and then take a diversion?" Fives proposes.
"...That gives me an idea."
**w**
Salvo tells him that he's pushing the investigation from more legal means first, but he doesn't think it'll go anywhere so he asks Anakin to look into finding a way to get there himself, because he doesn't have any jurisdiction to just go there if he feels like it. Only the Jedi do.
"I scheduled a visit to Kamino," Anakin comments,
"I don't doubt that you can pull this off but are you certain they aren't going to catch on to what you're doing?" Rex asks.
"No but we don't have any other choice." He could go to Palpatine personally to push for the investigation but... he can't quite say what's stopping him. To be fair, Palpatine already assured him this wasn't something he needs to be involved in and that the Republic investigators can handle it. Which is probably true, but the more Anakin thinks about these chips, the more all he can do is remember Tatooine.
He remembers knowing that the slightest wrong move would lead to him being blown up – though, he knew Watto wouldn't do that because of property damage and expense but it doesn't change that he knew it could happen. It was that chip that kept him from freedom, that kept his mother from being able to leave with him. It was because of that that she died.
It was those chips that – he saw people blown up in front of him all the time. It was normal.
And the clones have the exact same thing in them, even if it doesn't serve an identical purpose. Probably. It's not like he knows that it couldn't be used to kill them.
"Something about the situation is troubling you," Rex observes, shifting the helmet under his arm. Anakin's not surprised that he noticed so fast. They've done nearly everything together for three years, after all.
"It's not about the mission itself. It is... about what they've done to you," Anakin admits, looking up. He knows the clones are slaves and he's always known but it feels like all of this is rubbing it in even further. The Kaminoans were going to kill Fives for literally nothing. Except that he was 'property' so they didn't even care. "On Tatooine, there... were chips in all the slaves."
"You had a chip in you?" Fives realizes, shock and a horrified realization dawning in his eyes.
"Yes, I did. They took it out after I was taken to the Temple."
"Then why would the Jedi have that done to us?" Fives demands, hurt flaring into the Force.
Rex shifts uncomfortably next to Anakin, though he doesn't outright voice any complaints but Anakin doesn't doubt that he has similar questions even if he's less vocal about it.
"I can't say but I do know the Council never commissioned the clones. The Jedi behind it did it of his own. I couldn't say what his intentions were."
Fives nods though he doesn't look like he understands it any more than Anakin does.
"I understand what it means to have a chip in you, even if mine had a different purpose. I don't know why the Kaminoans installed them but I – I don't like the idea of it any more than you do," he goes on.
"I know you don't, sir," Rex agrees, subdued, "Thank you for helping us with it."
"I wish I could have known about it long ago."
"What was your chip for?" Fives blurts.
Rex shoots him a look. Which Fives seems to be carefully pretending he didn't see.
Not as if Anakin minds talking about himself, especially not to those who actually... understand. "It was a detonator. The masters would use it if any of us went past a specific distance without their permission. Some just did it if they were angry about something."
He can feel Rex's horror.
"...What about cutting them out to use them as bombs in an escape?" Fives proposes.
"Oh, I thought about it," Anakin replies dryly, "But I hadn't figured out where it was or a way to remove it. yet."
"You were already working on a way to get it out?" Rex queries. Whether he's more surprised or awed, he can't really tell.
"I was building a scanner," Anakin replies, "But I hadn't gotten it to work yet. I... wanted to free all the slaves." It had been one of his greatest dreams and now... he knows he's not going to get that chance even if he still dreams about it sometimes. The Jedi won't let him get involved in things like that.
That's not to even mention the Republic's deal with Jabba which would make it literally treason or something close to that to do anything against the Hutts. Sometimes when he thinks about it, the deep overwhelming bitterness inside of him is strong enough that it scares even him because he doesn't know how to keep repressing it. Maybe he understands why that deal with the Hutts was necessary for the war, but... it doesn't change that it feels like the Republic never helps anyone unless it benefits them and the Jedi always do what the Senate demands of them.
They try to help. They can't always help everyone. He knows that, but...
"But maybe I can help free you now," Anakin finishes, quietly.
"We still have a duty to the Republic, even if we do have our chips out," Rex objects, though he looks subdued. Once, Anakin knows Rex would have instantly disputed the indication that they were slaves but after Umbara and Zyggeria, he's been... different. Even if he certainly doesn't like to talk about it.
"That's a choice you should get to make, with or without these chips," Anakin replies firmly.
"But what's the point of all this? If they're going to do something like this to all of our brothers?" Fives asks.
Rex says nothing.
Anakin wishes he had an answer too. Sometimes the war feels so senseless to him too but after everything they've lost, he has to believe they're fighting for something. "We'll figure it out," he promises. It's the most he can try to offer even if he doesn't think he knows the answer himself. He's afraid of where this is going to take them. More than he wants to think about.
He can't stand back forever and watch as the clones are kept enslaved. But if the Senate isn't going to do anything about it, then what is he going to do?
He doesn't know how to do anything without following orders. That's all he's ever done, no matter how much he's dreamed about being free. He still doesn't think he truly knows what that means. But he definitely knows when he sees how much the clones truly are slaves and no one cares. He doesn't know that anyone is going to care about the chips either, not if it's a "safety precaution" to prevent them from turning traitor or whatever. As if controlling their minds because they're property is a choice anyone should get to make. And he can't just do nothing, but... what can he do?
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