Hey everyone, happy Juneteenth! (or celebrated Juneteenth) I'm so glad to be having this day off, let me tell you.
OneLittleSpark18: Appreciating your comments as always!
IrisTurner: Merci!
On to save Hackjob and Neya Ha!
Mando'a translations at the end!
A rough shake of the shoulder jostled Rex awake. He immediately jerked his head up, cracking it into another. His curses joined another voice as he pulled away.
"Jeez, Captain!" Fives said. "Watch where you're swinging that thing!"
Rex gave him a short look as he rubbed his head.
"What's our ETA?" He asked.
"Half an hour." Ahsoka replied promptly. "I thought you'd like a minute to get ready. Tup is going to contact the base soon."
Rex nodded. He didn't know how he would feel when he saw the base again. It had been a place of complete darkness for him, but also a place of healing and hope. Neya Ha and Hackjob had been instrumental for that. He would be dead without them. It was his chance now to pay them back.
Rex donned his armor, blackened near the shoulder and on his thigh plate. He went over his blasters and did a quick calibration.
"Keep them on stun." He said aloud.
"What about the long necks?" Jesse asked.
Rex hesitated.
"Even for them." He said. "You wouldn't recognize Neya Ha if you saw him. I don't want to risk that."
The others glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. They still didn't understand. Rex didn't need them to.
"Let's go over the plan." Rex said. "Tup will hail the station and let them know we're coming. Kix will take us out and hand us over to the medics. Hopefully we'll be able to find Hackjob with the medics. Kix will go to Neya Ha's office. If he's not there, he's with the medics and I'll be able to recognize him. He'll know me. I trust him to get us out of the main med bay. We meet back here. Got it?"
It was a simple plan, but it was the best Rex could do with their information and resources.
"And Fives, keep your mouth shut." Jesse put in.
The others gave dry chuckles at that as Fives' mouth twisted into a scowl.
"And what am I doing, Rex?" Ahsoka asked.
Rex hesitated. The clones could blend in, but she'd stick out like a sore thumb.
"You're back up." Rex finally said. "And our radar. Come get us if we're not back within an hour and make sure that there's no one else there that could cause us trouble."
"I should be able to sense Neya Ha, since he's so different from the other Kaminoans." Ahsoka pointed out. "Kix can come back here and we can go find him."
Rex tightened his lips. It wasn't a terrible idea, but if she was seen or worse, recognized, things could go badly for them and the Rebellion.
"If we can't find him." Rex finally said. "We'll let you know."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow at him but didn't protest.
"Ready, Tup?" Rex asked.
Tup nodded and went to the cockpit.
"This is Nu-class attack shuttle, requesting to land at Kaliida Shores Medical Center." Tup said. "We have injured from Naboo."
His flat tone sent shivers down Rex's spine. It reminded him too much of when Rex himself had been smothered by the chips.
"Nu-class shuttle, send chain code." An equally flat voice replied.
Tup hit a button and they waited with held breaths.
"You are clear to land." The voice said. "Bay 04."
Rex closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. The first deception had worked. Ahsoka guided the shuttle to the indicated bay and they landed with a sigh of hydraulics. Rex nodded to her and she jumped up into one of the storage sections. The others put their helmets on and Rex did the same.
"We'll be in touch." He said to the storage section above them. "Let's go. Kix, you go first."
They crowded out of the shuttle. The bay was empty at first, but a few stone-faced medics came in.
"How many injured?" The first medic said.
Rex scanned the medics. Hackjob was not among them. He recognized one, Kuir. Rex almost signalled the men to stun these medics, but it was too early. They needed to wait.
"Four." Kix said. He managed to copy the chipped clones' tone fairly well.
The first medic nodded.
"You will stay here." He said to Kix. "The rest will follow."
Kix stepped aside and gave a tiny nod to Rex. Things were already going to plan. Rex, Jesse, Fives, and Tup followed the medics obediently, all faking some injury. Rex felt odd as they walked through the white halls. They were familiar, but brought dark memories back.
Can you sense him? He asked Ahsoka.
Yes, I'm trying to pinpoint him now. She replied.
Kix is still by the shuttle. Tell him to wait until you find him.
Right. Be careful.
I will.
Rex refocused on where they were going. He limped along and glanced around. The halls were empty, save for a few guards. Soon they were in the main examination area, a large room filled with rows of beds. There were only a few examinations going on. Rex looked around, trying to find each medic.
One limped.
Rex's heart leapt as Hackjob mechanically led Fives to an examination table. Rex blinked, activating their comms to the agreed frequency.
"Fives, the medic you're with is the target." Rex whispered, though his medic couldn't hear.
"Acknowledged." Fives replied.
Rex glanced around the room. There were only six or seven medics here. None were visibly armed. He saw Sawbones, Kuir, and Fixit. Was he supposed to leave them behind too?
"Change of plans." Rex muttered to the others. "Get ready."
Rex, I've got his location. Kix is on his way now. Ahsoka's message was sudden but Rex didn't react.
"Remove your armor." The medic in front of Rex said.
"Go go go!" Rex ordered.
He stunned the medic and turned his blaster on the rest of the room. Fives, Tup, and Jesse had easily stunned their medics and turned their blasters on the remaining clones. Within seconds they had taken the room.
"Get all of them on an examination bed." Rex ordered. "We're taking them all."
As he bent to lift the medic he stunned, the lights turned red and alarms began to blare. Rex cursed.
"On the double!" Rex said.
"Rex!" Fives said. "These are Republic machines! We might be able to get the chips out, so we don't have to drag all of them."
"Do it!" Rex snapped. "Tup, help him. Jesse, help me guard the door!"
They moved at once, Tup and Fives lifting medics onto tables and Jesse and Rex dashing to the door. Rex slammed the locking mechanism. It would slow the troopers for a few minutes. Luckily, the procedure for removing the chips took less than one.
By the time Rex could hear troopers on the other side of the door, one of the medics had begun to stir.
"What?" Rex heard the medic say. "What's going on-"
"You heard the 501st chip rumor?" Fives asked.
There was a beat.
"Oh, kriff." The medic swore.
"We can get you out. Now help with your brothers."
Rex turned his attention back to the door. The troopers on the other side were muttering, probably slicing into the security system. Rex tightened his grip on his blaster. He met Jesse's eye and nodded.
The door slid open. Rex stepped over and started blasting. The first two troopers collapsed. Rex could see three more, but he and Jesse took care of them easily.
Rex looked down at their prone figures. Did they have time to help these brothers too?
"How many troopers are on the station?" He asked aloud.
"We've got around twenty medics, three dozen guards, and around a hundred injured." The medic said.
"Long necks?" Rex asked.
"Three." The medic said promptly.
Rex decided to take the risk.
"Get these troopers de-chipped." He said. "We'll need their help. What's your name, vod?"
"Soot, er-"
"Captain Rex." Rex said. "Soot, do you know the protocols for an attack here?"
Some of the other medics were beginning to wake as well, mumbling with confusion.
"We're supposed to stall until reinforcements arrive." Soot said. "The closest are on Naboo. It should take a half hour."
Rex nodded. He could work with that. He noticed one of the medics struggling to sit up. His eyelid was half closed and one side of his mouth drooped. Rex went to him and helped him up.
"Rex?" Hackjob asked. "Thought it sounded like you. What're you doing here?"
"Neya Ha asked for my help." Rex said. "He thought you were in danger."
"Worrywart." Hackjob mumbled, but then half of his mouth stretched into a smile. "You sound like a real Captain. It's good to hear."
Rex smiled and patted Hackjob on the shoulder.
"Fives, show the medics how to do the procedure." Rex ordered. "Then you're with me, Jesse, and Tup."
"Rex, you don't plan on trying to save all the troopers here, are you?" Jesse asked.
"We have a half hour. I'm going to do my best." Rex said firmly. "When those five wake up, send them out to stun and bring back any trooper they find. Once we're done with the fighting fit, we move onto the wounded. Let's move!"
It took fifteen minutes for Rex and his group to take out a dozen of the remaining guards. He was starting to get worried. Kix hadn't checked back in and there was no sign of Neya Ha or the other Kaminoans. They were running out of time. Luckily, all the guards were coming to the source of the disturbance.
"Sir, that's all but two of the on duty troopers." Soot told him when they brought back their latest catch. "We don't know where they'd be."
"Keep an eye out." Rex said. "But get started on the wounded and the remaining medics. Have all troopers learn the procedure and get it done."
Soot nodded. The bustle of activity continued.
"Jesse, Tup, Fives." Rex said. "Go and find what ships are in the bays."
They were off immediately.
Ahsoka, where is Neya Ha? Rex asked.
Kix hasn't contacted you yet? Ahsoka sounded surprised. He should have found him by now.
He hasn't. Rex said.
Before he could say anything else, Ahsoka sent him an image of Neya Ha's office
I can guide you-
No. Rex interrupted. I know where it is.
Hurry, Rex. Ahsoka said. I think something's happened to Kix.
Rex grit his teeth at her words. Things had been going so well. He ran from the examination room and sprinted down the hallways. He skidded to a stop when he saw a slumped figure on the ground right outside Neya Ha's office.
"Kix!" Rex yelled.
The medic didn't stir when Rex reached him, but he was breathing. Rex took in Kix's condition. He had several new scorch marks on his armor, including one that had punched clean through Kix's side. From what Rex could tell, it wasn't life threatening. The blast had cauterized the wound. Kix seemed to have passed out from the pain.
"I need a medic near the head doctor offices." Rex said into his comm. "We've got an injured trooper. Bring a guard, I think the missing troopers are nearby."
Rex froze as he heard blaster shots from inside Neya Ha's office. He sprang to his feet and bolted for the door. It was locked, but Rex just shot the mechanism and it slid open. The two missing troopers were inside, their blasters smoking.
Three Kaminoan bodies were sprawled on the floor.
Rex didn't think twice before stunning the troopers. He stumbled past their collapsed forms to the three long necks.
Two were female, and the third-
The third was still breathing.
"Neya Ha!" Rex hissed, kneeling by the doctor's head.
Neya Ha's large yellow eyes opened a crack.
"Rex." He mumbled. "You received my message."
"Shut up." Rex said as he glanced over his friend's body.
Neya Ha had been hit in the stomach twice. Rex had no idea what Kaminoan biology was like, no idea how to help.
"What do I do?" He demanded.
"Nothing." Neya Ha said. His voice was faint. "It is fatal."
Rex's next words caught in his throat.
"No." He said softly. "Not- not you."
"It was inevitable." Neya Ha said. "The others were becoming suspicious. I was going to be killed either way."
Neya Ha struggled to move.
"Don't-" Rex said. "Let me get a medic-"
"One of my vital organs was hit." Neya Ha said. "It is impossible to repair. I am glad that you are here. I can- pass on what I have found."
His words were becoming more strained. He finally reached inside a pocket and withdrew a data stick.
"This is my research on the inhibitor chips." He whispered. "I was nearing- a way to fight their influence from afar. And- your accelerated aging. Perhaps someone can finish my work."
Rex took the data stick and grabbed Neya Ha's hand. It was clammier than usual.
"You saved me." Rex said. "Thank you. I wish- I could do the same for you."
Neya Ha's breathing had become shallow.
"I always thought I would die alone." He said. "You are here. It is- enough."
He took one more shuddering breath and was still. His hand went limp in Rex's. The light went from his eyes.
Rex didn't move. He knelt by Neya Ha's body, his friend's body, still clutching his clammy hand.
"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum." Rex whispered. "Neya Ha."
The Kaminoan race had lost its only redeeming member. Without Neya Ha, it was worthless. Rex hated them all the more for Neya Ha's suffering.
Rex, I'm sorry. Ahsoka's voice was jarring.
He didn't deserve this. Rex replied.
Rex could hear the medic and trooper he'd called in the hallway. He took a deep breath and shut Neya Ha's eyes. Then he stood and walked out. As always, he would grieve later.
"What the hell was that?" Rex demanded of the troopers outside the door."
He struggled to keep the tremble out of his voice.
The two guards exchanged looks, obviously confused.
"Sir, we were given orders after Order 66 to execute the Kaminoans if we were ever compromised."
The words fell on Rex like blows. He nearly buckled under them. If that was true, then Rex had-
No. He had work to do.
"Get those two back." He said. "And get Kix treated."
He waited only to make sure that Kix was getting the help he needed before moving again.
"Jesse, Tup, Fives, what have you found?" He asked as he started back to the examination room.
"We've got two Nu-classes and a LAAT/i." Fives reported.
Rex grimaced. It wasn't enough space to take everyone on the station. The LAAT/i was useless to them. That meant they could take less than one hundred of the men on the station.
"Captain." Soot's voice came through the comm. "Sir, some of the injured- they're not surviving the procedure."
Rex nearly slowed his pace at the news.
"Which ones?" Rex asked. "What do they have in common?"
"The most injured, sir." Soot said. "It's just too much for their systems."
"How many have you gone through?"
"About forty, sir. We stopped doing the more injured after four didn't survive. We- we have to only do moderately injured troopers."
Rex, the reinforcements are coming! Ahsoka's voice pierced through Rex's thoughts.
For a moment Rex was overwhelmed. Neya Ha was dead. More men were dying in their attempts to help them. And now they would have to leave men behind.
He couldn't save them all and it almost broke him.
"Load everyone we can up." Rex said. "We need to go."
They ended leaving sixty-seven injured men behind.
Rex waited by Kix's side as Hackjob checked him over in a quiet corner of the shuttle.
"How is he?" Rex asked.
"He'll live." Hackjob said with a grunt.
He looked up at Rex.
"Rex." He said. "What happened to Neya Ha? Why isn't he here?"
Rex was silent, looking down at Kix's pale face.
"He's dead." He said.
He didn't look up. He couldn't meet Hackjob's gaze.
"How?" Hackjob asked.
"Some of the chipped clones." Rex said. "They killed all of the long necks. Following orders."
Rex's voice broke at the last word. Everything began rushing down at him at once.
He had done this. Neya Ha's death was on his hands. His choice to try and save the other clones had doomed the doctor. He should have just taken Hackjob.
Darkness seemed to fall around him. If he weren't already on his knees, he would have fallen to them. His shaking hands came to his face.
"Don't!" Hackjob's voice was harsh. "Don't blame yourself! I know what you're doing. I know where it will lead you. Do you think he would have wanted that?"
Rex numbly shook his head. A hand rested on his shoulder. Ahsoka was with him, both in mind and body. He clung to her mental touch blindly.
I killed him. Rex told her. He was my friend.
It wasn't your fault. Ahsoka said gently.
Rex didn't believe her.
"Let him grieve." Ahsoka said aloud. "He's spent too much time holding it back."
"You don't know where he could go." Hackjob said.
"I do, actually." Ahsoka said. "We can worry about that later. You clones need to learn to let yourselves mourn."
She was prodding at Rex's emotions, trying to get him to release them fully.
No. He told her. Not now. Not in front of everyone.
Rex, it doesn't matter. You need to let it out.
No. Rex repeated.
He took a shuddering breath and looked up. Hackjob looked relieved as Rex forced himself to his feet. Ahsoka, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at him.
Rex ignored her. He drew on every ounce of training he had to pull his breaking pieces back together. He could be Captain Rex for a few more hours.
Ahsoka did not leave his side for the rest of the trip back. As the troopers began offloading, she drew him aside.
"Rex." She said. "Come with me."
Any resistance he had drained from his body as she gently put a hand on his back. He was so kriffing tired. He let her urge him away, uncaring of where she was taking him. He could not dismiss Neya Ha's body from his mind, crumpled on the floor. Rex felt as if he had taken the shot himself.
When Ahsoka shut the door behind them in her quiet quarters, Rex went straight for her datapad.
"Rex." Ahsoka said. "I know what you're feeling."
"What I'm feeling doesn't matter." Rex said hoarsely. "What matters is the information Neya Ha gave us."
He plugged the data stick into the data pad. Files filled the screen, mostly a series of holo logs. Rex hesitated. Ahsoka reached over him to open a random file. Rex's breath caught painfully in his throat as Neya Ha's head and neck appeared in holo form.
Today's tests were unsuccessful. It said. My hypothesis was incorrect and the changes in the test genome have no correlation with the advanced aging of the clones. I grow discouraged at times, but I remember Rex and Hackjob. They deserve to live, like all clones do. Like my sister did.
The guilt rose into Rex's throat, choking him as Ahsoka opened another log. Neya Ha had been working on a cure for their aging this entire time.
The inhibitor chips have been activated. I could not have conceived that this was their true purpose. We were told that it was to prevent aggression, not allow complete control. Hackjob has fallen under its influence. He does not look at me. He does not greet me. It is as if he is dead. I can only hope that Rex has escaped it. It is unfeasible to remove the chip. It would be noticed. I must discover another way.
Rex didn't know if he was angry or grateful as Ahsoka continued to open the snippets of Neya Ha's work.
The other Kaminoans are becoming suspicious.
It is possible that Leru Ko has noticed the subject of my work.
I have isolated the precise way the inhibitor chips affect the clones' will.
Each log told of Neya Ha's progress, his determination, and the growing suspicion of the other Kaminoans. It was clear that this was to be Neya Ha's final project, something that he himself seemed to know.
They eventually reached the final few entries.
The Empire has begun to purge troopers that were previously cleared for duty. I fear for Hackjob. I have an old frequency that Rex once used to communicate with Commander Cody. I can only hope it is still in his possession.
Leru Ko and Osa Re have ordered a meeting with me. They have not said what it is about, but I know. I have used what influence I have left to save Hackjob, if only for a few more days. It has confirmed their suspicions. I am deviant and must be eliminated. But through my efforts, I have saved some. I only wish that my work could continue.
Rex put the data pad down with trembling hands. This research had been important- important enough for Neya Ha to make sure it was passed on in his final moments.
Ahsoka's arms wrapped around Rex, pulling him to her.
"It wasn't your fault." She whispered.
Rex believed her.
In Ahsoka's arms, Rex let himself cry for Neya Ha, grateful for his friend's final acts of service.
Mando'a:
Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum: Daily remembrance of those passed on *I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.* Followed by repetition of loved ones' names
So, um, I'm sorry. Neya Ha is a casualty of me deciding that these missions have been going too well. It's unrealistic that they pull everything off so well. This mission is to correct that, in part. It's not the entire purpose: Neya Ha passed on vital information and Rex learned to not blame himself for everything bad that happens.
I received two opinions when I was editing this. One was: KILL HACKJOB AND BRING BACK NEYA HA. The other was: Neya Ha had a good, meaningful death. My editors were a little divided lol. I do hope that his death was meaningful and didn't feel cheap. I love Neya Ha and I want him to have a legacy. (If you follow me on Tumblr, he was what my one post about killing an OC was about)
I'm fairly proud of the pacing in this chapter. I'm always worried about actiony missions like these. But I think it's pretty snappy and makes enough sense. Logistics are a butt though and I hate figuring them out.
Don't worry, Rex isn't going to go through a chapters long self-hatred fest. He actually manages to realize he is not to blame here. He'll still grieve for Neya Ha, and be effected by his death, but he's not going to shut down and freak out. We've had enough of his self-blame, lol.
Anyway, stay safe, remember to review, and have a great few weeks!