Twenty Nine
"We didn't even know this was down here!" Fives looked just as bewildered as Tash.
Rex had finally taken them to the area under the house that was once Tomas Gem's laboratory. It may have appeared cold and empty, but as soon as the lights switched on, the size of the room became apparent. Rex had intended to use it as a training area for both himself and Fives, setting up a course of exercise stations in an attempt to regain some fitness.
"This is all new equipment," Ahsoka noticed as she ran her hand across an auto analyser, "what exactly was going on down here Rex?"
"Gene therapy."
Fives took a step forward. The clones always smarted at the use of the word gene and therapy in the same sentence.
"Captain?"
"It's all right Fives. Gem set up this lab in an attempt to locate the gene manipulation responsible for the ageing process in all of us."
"What?"
"Gem and Dr Boll would acquire the equipment and get Reed to transport it here. They began the research but eventually drew a blank."
"Sinover Boll? The doctor who kept that Zillo beast alive on Corrie?"
"One and the same."
"Why?" Ahsoka's curiosity concerning the young representative had been piqued. She had never thought of Gem as being one who had an agenda other than that of the Senate. The fact that she had taken it upon herself to help the soldiers right under the Republic's nose demonstrated a tenacity she never would have given her credit for.
"Well for starters, Jango's dead. Sinover had plenty of the altered DNA from all of us, but she needed the original template to locate the genetic sequence that was altered so she could literally, switch it off."
"Fek, if they could do that, we could live for another twenty years!"
"Twenty? I was thinking more like another forty!" Rex laughed. "Anyway," he said looking at the equipment and flimsie work strewn over the benches, "it's no longer an option. Gem's dream died along with her."
There it was.
An acknowledgement.
Tash inwardly smiled. Rex had come along way from the angry man who alighted off a speeder three months earlier.
So there they all stood. Silently looking over the clinical white equipment, their minds all thinking over the conversation and the woman who dared make a difference. The promise of a full life, whist tempting, was now virtually impossible.
But what came next was even more unexpected.
"You're wrong Rex."
Three words that only one would dare say.
"Ahsoka?" Rex questioned.
"We can get the original DNA."
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"Remember that mission to Scillal Rex? You were there too Fives. The scar on your thigh? Think Rex, think," she implored.
Rex looked confused, his brow furrowing in thought until it all came rushing back. Along with the memory came a huge smile.
"It's all coming back isn't it?"
"Loud and clear."
Rex had all but forgotten the mission to Scillal. He had stored it amongst the others that required an afternoon dip in bacta. But then he remembered the meeting with the man who slashed his thigh open to all and sundry. He was rendered unconscious but his bucket had recorded the entire event. Following his recuperation he had sought out Ahsoka, and she had explained everything.
"Care to share?" Fives hated being the last to know anything.
"While you and Anakin were off downloading the shipyards information, Rex and I came across an interesting local inhabitant."
"Yeah, real interesting."
"This reeks of trouble," Fives couldn't help but be drawn in.
"I couldn't believe it myself, he was just like the both of you. I mean, he WAS you."
"Whoa whoa whoa! Hang on! If I remember correctly, that was a light sabre injury Rex?"
Both Ahsoka and Rex looked at one another knowingly.
"Yes," Rex said cautiously, "it was."
"It was," Ahsoka repeated slowly, "because he was attacked by a Jedi. And it was only when I returned to Coruscant and did some research that it all fell into place."
"That's it! No more riddles, just out with it." Rex could tell Fives was becoming increasingly annoyed with the toing and froing of the conversation.
"He was Jango-Fett's-identical-twin brother."
"Come again?"
"You heard Fives," Rex continued, "Jango had a twin, that was removed from his parents by the Jedi Order just after his birth on Concord Dawn."
"I think I need to sit." Fives looked around and hobbled over to a chair. "Did you just say Corellia?"
Fives felt the blood run from his face. The ARC may have appeared lassaire fair regarding his heritage but in reality he was fiercely proud of his Mandalorian ancestry.
It was the one thing all the men produced en mass could identify with. In a world where they were merely created to fight an unwinnable war there had been a culture, a language that was wholly theirs.
Until now, it seemed.
"I'm not even sure Jango knew about his brother Fives," Ahsoka could feel his anxiety levels rise.
"That's it, this can't be real."
"It is Fives," Rex said putting his arm on his friends shoulder.
Fives looked him in the eye. The arrival of Rex had been nothing short of a miracle for the former special forces soldier.
"Fekking Concordian?"
"'Fraid so. But it doesn't matter, not now. Jango considered himself Mando'a, he had no reason to think other."
It had been an afternoon of revelations, but with it came hope.
"Well," Fives felt his colour along with his strength return, "I guess that means we have a new objective sir?"
"Yep," Rex beamed, "you up to it?"
"Copy that."
"Rex?" Ahsoka could see the old spark in his eyes.
"We need to find a ship. We've got to go back to Scillal."
.
Gem looked at the diminishing credits on the bed.
"I need to get a job, we can't survive long term on this."
Jesse walked over and looked at the small pile of gold and copper tokens. She was right; they had spent more than two thirds of the meagre amount Olphina had given them when they left Coruscant.
"I noticed a sign in the cantina down the road advertising for a dishwasher. I'm going to head down there and see if it's been taken."
"I'll do it," Jesse whispered.
"No, you're too recognisable."
Jesse was disappointed that he couldn't pay his way.
He felt as though he had swapped one prison for another. Just like Fox's lock-up on Coruscant, Jesse felt disempowered to do anything that could contribute to their collective wellbeing. The thought of all the gold credits sitting in the bottom of his footlocker only compounded matters.
"Once we get enough, we can buy our passage to Oriis."
Jesse couldn't help but smile at her seemingly regained enthusiasm for life.
It was still there after all; simmering just under the surface.
Hope.
