Whispers of Rebellion
"Sometimes, I still can't believe the war is over." Ahsoka leans back on the couch where she's sitting next to Anakin.
Anakin looks up, from the machine he's tinkering with fixing – even though Padme gave him strict orders to keep this mess out of her living room. "I know," Anakin agrees, "There were times I wondered when we would ever get to this point." There were times he feared they never would.
It's been half a year since the Republic and the Jedi won and... the Sith lost.
He tries not to dwell too hard on the wild rush of grief that fills him every time he thinks about how Palpatine is gone. He was responsible for so much and yet Anakin can't make himself stop missing him.
Ahsoka frowns slightly, watching him. "Do you still miss him?" she asks quietly.
Anakin sighs quietly. Ahsoka is actually the only person he's ever admitted that too. Padme was so furious with Palpatine when she realized what he was doing... Anakin never wanted to mention it to her. Obi-Wan hates Palpatine and he's never liked his relationship with him. And the clones... Well, it didn't feel sensitive to even tell them that, when so many of Anakin's own boys are dead because of Sidious.
"I do," Anakin admits, "And I know I shouldn't."
Ahsoka reaches out, patting his leg. "Well, I still miss Barriss sometimes," she says, voice barely above a whisper. "Even if I never wanna see her again."
Anakin turns to look at her. That – Well, she has mentioned that before. And he can't really say it's different either – even if in some ways, it is.
"She was one of your only friends," Anakin points out finally.
"And he was one of yours," Ahsoka replies.
His attempt at coming up with a reply is cut off at the sound of someone knocking on the door to Padme's apartment. This is where he and Ahsoka both live now. After Luke and Leia were born, Anakin left the Order and Ahsoka came to stay with him.
"Captain Rex?" Anakin hears Threepio asking, "Oh – Oh my!" He sounds alarmed about something and with Threepio, it could be anything but –
Anakin rethinks that instantly when Rex comes into the room. He looks awful.
Well, Anakin's seen him injured worse, but he has a black and blue eye and he's limping just a little – and it takes an awful lot to make Rex limp.
"Rex?" Anakin asks, on his feet instantly, "Are you okay?"
"What happened to you?" Ahsoka demands, eye markings shooting up.
"I need to talk to you both urgently, sir," Rex replies, not really answering, "Somewhere... private?"
"It is private here," Anakin points out.
"Somewhere no one can hear. Without windows?"
Anakin frowns, worry instantly spiking but they go to a bedroom, and Rex turns on a device that momentarily seals the room from any outside security cameras.
"Wolffe just brought this to my attention," Rex starts, "He said he was looking into where so many of our brothers were being sent in the Senate's plan to have us retire and... once he started looking, it was turning up blank."
Part of the agreement to have the Separatist systems come back to the Republic was that both the droid and clone armies would be gotten rid of.
Anakin's glad they have the chance to live a different life but forcing them to leave when they don't want never sat well with him either. They were supposedly being given a place to stay and settle down and with the mess the Order was in, he never had much time to look into that, aside from making sure that his own boys were okay. But none of them have gone to wherever the Senate was allegedly sending the other clones. Anakin found other places for them to settle down, if they wanted it.
"What do you mean?"
"If they aren't going there, then where are they going?" Ahsoka reiterates.
"They're just... disappearing. A few of the clones have gone to the planet but most haven't," Rex replies, "And there's no explanation for where they have gone. But we think there's something going on there. Wolffe was looking into it. He took us to a private place in the Underworld to meet a couple of his boys. He was telling us about transports of clones that have just disappeared, though no one knows anything with certainty. While we were there, someone attacked us. He fought like an assassin but when we subdued him, we found out that he was a clone. We tried to question him but he killed himself before we got any answers."
That's –
A lot, to say the least. It takes him a moment for all the implications to settle in.
"Killed himself?" Ahsoka about yelps, "How? You couldn't stop him?"
"He had some kind of electric device in his mouth – it was planned if he was ever captured, I'm certain. And when we tried to identify who he was, he... didn't have any identification number. It's not possible to remove those. I don't understand what's happening, sir."
"Where is this assassin now?" Anakin inquires, frowning.
"Wolffe said he was taking his body to their base, to see if they could figure anything else out about him."
Anakin nods. "If I could see the body, I may be able to find answers."
"I can take you there right away, sir. But the base is on another planet."
"Essentially, you're planning a revolution and you never told me?" Anakin asks, a bit amused.
"Well, it's not really a revolution – "
"I doubt this is something the Senate is oblivious about," Ahsoka interjects, scowling, "So we can't be sure it won't need to be."
"And whatever it is, we'll stand with you every step of the way," Anakin vows and Ahsoka nods her firm agreement.
"Thank you, sir," Rex responds, though he seems a bit uneasy with line of discussion.
Anakin lets it drop for now but he can't help morbidly thinking that it may actually be something they have to consider. If the clones are really disappearing, then Anakin will stop at nothing to find out what's happening to them.
He just hopes it doesn't have to come down to any kind of fight. The galaxy is only just starting to find a semblance of peace.
**w**
They stop to pick up Jesse before they go, since he's one of the top in the 501st now.
Rex explains the situation to him.
"I can't believe this," Jesse says when he finishes, and Anakin can feel how angry he is, "First, they're gonna just get rid of us and then they're not even going to keep their word on where they're sending us?"
"I can't believe it either," Anakin admits, "But... I cannot say I am surprised either." The Senate is far more corrupt than many like to believe. That's why he lost faith in it long ago. If they don't send the clones to where they're supposed to be going, that would mean they can save money for something else. All this means is that corruption really isn't any better without Palpatine – not that he didn't already know that.
"This is reminding me of Umbara," Jesse grumbles.
Everyone stills.
He's not wrong, really.
For a moment, all Anakin can remember is Fives and the mere thought of him is always gutting. Especially now, because Fives was clearly right at least somewhat about Palpatine. And if Anakin had listened to him, maybe... They could've known sooner. At the very least, maybe Fives would still be alive. But there's nothing he can do to change any of that.
"You don't think they're just... decommissioning all the ones who are disappearing, do you?" Jesse asks warily.
Anakin never actually thought about that. It's beyond horrifying and yet... he doesn't know if he can entirely rule out the possibility. "I don't think they would see that as what they consider use of their resources," Anakin muses and it still makes him so angry for the clones to even be talked about like that. "Even if they have no right to see you as their resources at all."
Jesse huffs out a breath. "You're probably right. I just can't believe this is happening in the Republic. I know the civilians are annoying sometimes but I thought the only enemies we'd have would be the Separatists." Jesse was nearly executed on Umbara. Rex nearly had to do it and Anakin knows that's something Jesse and Rex have never forgotten.
"The Senate is greedy for power. And money," Anakin replies, "And providing you with what you more than deserve to live your own lives isn't something I imagine many wanted."
"Then they should have let us stay as soldiers."
"They certainly should have given you that choice," he agrees, "But... I must say that you deserve the chance to choose a different life, if that's what you want."
"I know you've said that before, sir. But this is what I want – to still be a soldier."
He sighs.
"I know. But maybe... There will still be a way things can change, if we find out what's actually going on here."
Though he has to say, he hopes at least some of the clones can find something they want other than fighting. That's all they've ever known and it's what they believe in but that doesn't mean they're any less slaves because of it. Even if it's what they think they want.
**w**
The last place Anakin expected to fly in to was Teth.
"You set up a base here?" Ahsoka asks, eyes widening.
"Wolffe didn't think anyone would think to look here," Rex replies.
"They're probably not wrong," Anakin admits. The sky is so familiar. And the monastery –
"This brings back a lot," Ahsoka comments, as they bring the shuttle in for landing.
"It does," Anakin agrees. He doesn't know why it makes him feel a weird sense of longing. He doesn't miss the war, not really, but he does miss when he worked so much more closely with the clones. He has Ahsoka back now too but he still misses back when she was... younger. Maybe that's a normal thing to feel about the child you raised as your own. "It reminds me of when you were tiny."
Ahsoka rolls her eyes at him. "Soon, I'll be taller than you."
"You sure of that, Commander?" Rex asks a bit dryly.
"Positive."
Rex throws a look at Anakin that can best be translated as help which he entirely seconds. He would rather Ahsoka stay small and snuggle-sized forever.
They get off the shuttle together. There's several clones milling about out here, none of whom he recognizes. But it's good to see that clones from numerous battalions are gathering together for this.
Wolffe comes out to greet them halfway into the building. "It's good to see you, General Skywalker," he greets, standing stiffly.
Wolffe has always been one of the more formal clones.
"And you. I'm glad you heard word of what was happening," Anakin says.
"It was General Koon who mentioned something to me about it first," Wolffe explains as he leads them deeper into the monastery, "He noticed some things weren't adding up. Then I started calling some of my brothers who were sent off but they were gone."
"Plo knows about this?" Anakin asks, a little surprised.
"He does, sir. He's our eyes on the Council."
Hmm.
That's... nice. Anakin didn't truthfully expect that but he knows there are a few of the Jedi who will help the clones sometimes.
He passes both Aayla Secura and Caleb Dume on the way in. Bly's standing next to Aayla, chatting to her. And Caleb is playing some kind of game with one of the other clones.
The familiarity of it is why he misses the war sometimes. Even if he could never miss having to see his boys die.
The room Wolffe takes them into is large, with multiple people milling about. There's a long narrow box laying on the table with a dead clone lying inside.
And – someone else very familiar is in the room, too.
"Mill?" Anakin asks, eyes widening.
The young, black haired Zabrak perks up instantly. "Master?" she asks, "It's been a long time."
He nods. "It has been."
He met Mill Alibeth on his first mission after he was Knighted. She was a youngling, and he ended up going on an extended mission with her to Cato Neimoida to rescue obi-Wan. She has a unique connection with the Force, the ability to strongly feel others emotions, and Anakin had helped her learn to accept it instead of trying to cut herself off the Force entirely like she was before. But she hadn't wanted to be a Knight in the end – she couldn't stand fighting She was trained as a healer instead of becoming an official padawan.
"I heard from Caleb," Mill replies, "And I thought I could help."
Anakin nods. "What do you sense about him?"
Mill goes back over to the body, holding her hand near his head. Her face flickers, obviously affected from the lingering emotion.
Anakin can feel a bit of it himself. The clone's death was turbulent. He can feel an echo of his last moments, being near him.
"He was afraid," Mill says quietly, eyes downcast, "But I don't know of what."
The clone killed himself.
"Something had him afraid enough to end his own life," Anakin points out grimly. He doesn't want to think about what he would've feared so much, to do that. And what was whoever employed him trying to hide so much, that he instructed the clone to do that if captured?
"And he's... He was in pain. Physically. And emotionally," she says, expression tight. "Maybe as though he was tortured? But I don't know."
Ahsoka breathes in sharply. "Well – I guess that's not too far-fetched."
"You've probably felt about all you can from him," Anakin concludes, motioning Mill away. He knows feeling other's pain isn't easy for her.
They start milling around a little more after that, so he finds a quiet moment to talk to her. "How have you been lately?" he asks her.
"I've been helping a lot of planets, recovering from after the war. It's... easier now that the war is over but so many planets have hardly rebuilt at all," she replies.
"That must be a lot for you."
She nods solemnly. "It can be. But... I guess I'm getting more used to feeling it. It helps me know who I need to help the most."
Anakin nods, smiling down at her. He's proud of her, truthfully, even if she's not even his padawan. "You've done a good job, Mill."
"So have you," she says, smiling back up at him.
"Most Jedi wouldn't say that, after I've left the Order." The last thing he did as a Jedi was kill Sidious – fulfill his destiny as the Chosen One and kill someone who he saw as his father while he was at it. It doesn't feel like he's done good at much of anything when it comes to being a Jedi.
"My place wasn't as a normal padawan or becoming a normal Knight," Mill says, a little shyly, "And you told me to follow my heart. That's what you did too. So I think you did that well."
That... actually leaves him at a momentary loss for words. That's never how he would put it and still isn't, but... it means a lot to hear, even from her. "Thank you, Mill," he tells her softly.
She's about to reply, but then Anakin hears a far-off explosion.
Danger is humming in the Force suddenly and Anakin reaches for his lightsaber. All the clones are scrambling into motion.
"I thought no one knew about this base?" he asks.
"No one does," Wolffe objects, and Anakin runs in the direction he feels the danger, Ahsoka close behind.
When Anakin runs into a room near the exit, it's to see some of the other clones fighting off a black clothed figure who looks eerily like the other one. Anakin draws his lightsaber, going to deflect the shots as he approaches him. The assassin draws a vibroblade abruptly when he's close enough, flinging it at him. He slashes it aside, tackling him.
But the operative is fast. And skilled. Almost as though he's trained to fight a Jedi but he still doesn't have the force or a metal arm and that gives Anakin an immediate advantage.
They trade blows and he can feel the operative trying to go for another knife – but Anakin moves to get his helmet off. It falls to the floor and then one of the other clones comes closer, firing several stunblasts at him. He slumps to the floor, unconscious.
Anakin rolls the operative onto his back to look at his face, as the others come over.
But -
Wait.
There's something about his face... It's not nearly as markless as the other operative's was.
The face is heavily scarred and it looks like the kind of pattern that would be there from removing a tattoo – but what stands out so well is that the general shape is so familiar. It looks like –
"Dogma?" Anakin asks incredulously, staring at the face.
He doesn't feel quite the same; there's a certain wildness to this clone's Force presence – something resulting from being hurt ceaselessly but that makes it seem even more likely that it may be him. It's been years since Anakin last saw him.
"What?" Jesse breathes, appearing at his side almost instantly. Rex comes over to his other.
"I don't know who else it could be," Anakin explains.
"But... Dogma was sent for maintenance duty," Jesse argues, though he's frowning down at the scarring, "But I know what you mean, sir. He looks exactly the same."
Dogma had been arrested for killing Krell – Anakin had gone to Palpatine about it, to make sure that he'd be okay. In the end, Anakin heard that was he being sent to a different battalion though getting more information on what had never been very forthcoming. And he'd been so busy with the war, he never really had time to look into it again. He'd just been content in the fact that he'd been able to get Dogma out of any possible punishment for what he did on Umbara.
"Maybe this is where he was reassigned too," Rex says, a bit darkly.
"Can't say this is out of character for Dogma," Jesse grumbles, "But... he seemed different after he killed Krell. Don't think he'd go back to blindly following orders and killing his own brothers again."
"I can't imagine him doing this anymore," Rex agrees, though Anakin can feel their raging emotions.
Dogma was the one who nearly executed Fives and Jesse.
Even if Anakin understands that Dogma didn't feel he had any other choice. He understands that mentality so well, to feel like there's no choice but to follow orders, even if he was far from happy to come back to Umbara to hear what nearly happened.
"Why don't we ask him before we make any judgements?" Anakin proposes, "Come on. We need to ensure he can't kill himself when he awakens."
**w**
Within half an hour, they have Dogma secured in a chair and the electric device in his mouth removed. Dogma finally starts to stir, slowly opening his eyes. Fear rushes through him wildly as he seems to realize he's trapped and he raises his head to level a glare at them.
"Dogma?" Anakin asks.
The clone's head tilts slightly. "Who's Dogma?"
What?
"What do you mean who's Dogma?" Jesse demands, jerking forwards, "That's your name."
His eyes narrow further. "I don't have a name."
What –
What did they do to him? He didn't have an identification number, just like the last operative, but Anakin's still certain they have his identity right. "Who are you working for?" Anakin inquires.
"The Republic."
He raises an eyebrow. "So are we."
"Your traitors," he spits.
"How are we traitors?" Ahsoka demands, "You were the one killing your own brothers."
"What they're involved in is none of their concern. They're considering committing treason and that is treason of itself."
"Your brothers are disappearing," Anakin argues, "Something is happening to them and I know that's something the Senate doesn't approve of. We are not the enemy."
"Good soldiers follow orders," Dogma replies, eyes narrowed.
Anakin can't tell if he believes them. He doesn't think it would matter anyway. He's been entirely brainwashed and he doesn't even remember them. He doesn't think he has a name at all. Anakin doesn't think a conversation with him is going to be very productive.
"You don't know what you're involved in, Dogma," Anakin argues, because he's certain of that.
Dogma twitches sharply. "Stop calling me that," he snaps.
"It's your name," Jesse repeats, "You have to remember that on some level."
"It doesn't matter," he snaps back.
"Is that what they've told you? That the past doesn't –"
"What I was doesn't matter. The mission is all there is."
He really has been mindlessly brainwashed and Anakin doesn't think he wants to know what it would take to reduce someone to this kind of numb state. All he does know is that he's going to stop at nothing to find this and stop it.
"Are there others like you?" Anakin tries asking instead.
"It doesn't matter. They are coming. For all of you."
Anakin doesn't like that tone.
But the truth is, whoever's behind this does know where they are and they need to get out of here while they still have the chance. "We need to clear out," Anakin warns, looking at the others.
Rex nods. "I'll tell Wolffe to start an evacuation. And we'll bring him along." He motions at Dogma.
Dogma just laughs and something about that has Anakin on edge, though he doesn't know what it is.
But then something else occurs to him – "Ahsoka? Jesse? You can keep questioning him. There's something else I need to verify."
He takes off out of the room without looking back, running into Wolffe along the way.
The boys already are scouring the area for the operative's ship, to see if there's anyone else on board they need to be concerned about – Anakin joins them in the hunt. They make their way to a cleft in the rocks a distance down.
He and Wolffe enter the ship together. The entire thing is full of all sorts of explosives and weapons, but Anakin goes to the navicomputer, to see if he can get coordinates of the operative's last location. "This is... unusual," he muses, as he studies it.
"What's wrong?" Wolffe asks.
"It's encrypted."
"I've got some knowledge in breaking through that," the clone offers.
"We can do it together," Anakin agrees. He knows a little about how to do that kind of thing but they're able to do it faster together.
And eventually, they come up with a planet – which Anakin quickly verifies in the galactic database. But nothing comes up. There's not even supposed to be any kind of base on that planet.
"Looks like we know where we're going next," Anakin muses, "But we're going to need more forces."
"Does this mean we're really about to attack a Republic base, sir?" Wolffe objects.
Does it?
He needs to seriously consider what this means they could be about to do.
"Are you in for a real revolution, Wolffe?" Anakin asks a bit teasingly but mostly serious, because that may just be what it's about to come down to. He already knows the 501st will go every step of the way, if he backs them.
"We are, sir," Wolffe answers, after only a beat, "That's... what we started this movement for."
"Next time, you can invite me from the start," Anakin assures, "Come on, let's tell the rest."
He doesn't know where this is going to go from here but nothing is going to stop him from fighting for the clones' safety, and he knows Ahsoka can say the same.
This isn't how he expected things to be with the Republic but if they won't be fair to the clones after everything sacrificed for the Republic to find freedom, then... he won't stop. He always wanted to free the slaves. It seems fitting that he's starting with the clones, the first real family he ever had after leaving Tatooine.
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