Rex and Cody's last day on Kamino had finally come. Each of them said their goodbyes, and then Omega and Crosshair helped turned off the lasers temporarily. This gave them just barely enough time to switch on their jetpacks and swim furiously upwards towards the surface. It was the right timing anyway, their jetpacks were nearly out of gas and needed to be refilled with oxygen.
By the time they broke through the waves, they were both completely winded. All they could do was nod at each other before they clambered onto the ruins of their damaged ship and contemplate in silence.
"How long do you reckon it'll take us to fix it?" Cody asked.
Rex shrugged. "Maybe a few days?"
Cody rolled back his sleeves. "I'll do you one even better," he declared. "After I quit the Empire, I spent years just by myself in Unknown Space. With nobody else to teach me how to re-wire a ship."
Rex nodded and stood back, giving him space to start working. Cody immediately unplugged a hole in the bottom of the ship, allowing it to drain faster while he fixed the broken window and reassessed its warp drive. Rex watched him from a respectful distance, silently admiring his handiwork.
Once it was all done, the both of them settled back inside. As Cody shuffled closer to Rex so he could strap himself into his seat, he suddenly became self-conscious of the awkward tension between them. However, Rex did not seem fazed at all.
"Cody," he said suddenly, startling him. "How long were you forced to stay with the Empire, exactly?"
Cody froze again, bracing himself. But Rex's tone was no longer indignant or accusatory. Instead, it carried something else. Something far worse than anger or hatred.
Compassion.
Pity.
Cody ducked his head down, pretending to pick something up. He knew he didn't deserve any sympathy. "I choose to stay with them," he said loudly. "And I don't remember. I just know it was for a long time until one day I woke up and suddenly whatever was controlling me didn't work anymore. So, I went off and decided to do my own thing. I tried to get Cross to come with me, but...he just wouldn't have any of it," he muttered bitterly.
As he spoke, Rex just watched him silently. The intensity of his stare made him uncomfortable and almost gave him the urge to crawl away. However, by the time he finished, Rex did not blow up at him. Instead he reached out and gently patted Cody's hand, much to his surprise.
"I see," he said softly. "It sounds like maybe your chip stopped working. Do you think you'd like me to take a look at it for you?"
Cody hesitated. "Are you sure that would even be possible?" he asked doubtfully. "How would you even know where to find it?"
"I wouldn't be able to," Rex admitted, "But I'm sure that with some help, we can. From Omega, perhaps."
Cody closed his mouth and went silent. A few more seconds trickled by before Rex spoke again.
"I'm sorry for my outburst earlier, Cody. I...didn't really understand what you meant when you said you never removed your chip. But I get it now. I want to apologize for making you feel that way...I could never hate you, and I hope you understand that. I hope you can also learn to forgive yourself after this."
Several thoughts crossed his mind. Crosshair, who had once ruthlessly killed so many innocent children and civilians in the name of the Empire, now working together with Omega to fix his mistakes. Omega, who was older than all of them, now grown up and forced to watch her younger brothers age into their early forties. Rex and his strange willingness to forgive.
When he looked down at his hands, comparing his mechanical to his flesh one, he no longer saw the distinction between them. As he turned to loom at Rex and saw the reassuring smile on his face, suddenly it became clear to him that he was no longer alone. There he was, a mirror of himself, a version that had gone through the same troubles and the same path of darkness and had come back as if to let him know that it was alright. That it was okay to be happy.
Cody turned to face him and smiled uncertainly back. It was hard trying to match his brother's expression, but he tried his best. They had once been identical, after all. They were part of the same batch.
"Ready, Commander?" Rex asked.
Cody nodded. "Ready, Captain," he replied.
Just then, they heard a loud splashing sound from outside
Expecting the saberjowl, Rex immediately whipped around. However, instead he saw two people in envirosuits waving at them from the water. Omega took off her helmet so they could see her face and waved, her face bright and ruddy. Beside her, Crosshair also took off his helmet and crossed his arms to let them know his displeasure. Cody silently wished he had just kept the helmet on.
"Bye!" Omega hollered.
Cody grinned.
"Bye!" he shouted back.
After that, they clambered back into their small spacecraft and strapped themselves in. Rex initiated the journey this time, muttering something about never trusting Cody with the controls again.
Cody shrugged, leaning back in his seat and staring out the transparisteel vitrine before them. He watched in silence as the navicomputer whirred to life and began counting down to takeoff. As their ship prepared itself for launch into hyperspace, he gazed out the newly repaired window into the Kaminoan ocean. All he could hear was the sound of rushing waves and flowing water.
When we arrive back on Alderaan in a few days, he thought to himself, We'll tell General Kenobi and Ahsoka about everything we found out. And then, I suppose, our next target will be the Empire.
He didn't know exactly how it would all pan out, but he trusted the Force. And although he didn't know if General Kenobi would ever trust him again, he trusted him.
For now, though, there was nothing to do but sit back and observe. As he watched the stars fly past them at lightspeed, he closed his eyes and tried to remember what it felt like to be back in the glass bubble room, looking out at the bioluminescence of the ocean with Omega.
So this is what it means like to feel the Force, he thought to himself. It's so big and so bright. And it is all alive.
It's beautiful.
Outside, the night of Coruscant was eerily still.
The once vibrant and tumultuous planet of a million blinking lights and cities was no longer. Instead, lifeless gray metal skyscrapers rose upwards with somber austerity. Air traffic proceeded as only a fraction of its former self, greatly reduced and heavily monitored by stormtroopers. Every night, the same lights blotted out the dark night of the sky, reminding all citizens to obey the curfew as a show of obedience to the Emperor. All those who were not in cohorts with the loathsome rebels would heartily agree that peace, security, and justice had finally been brought to the Core of the Galaxy.
And yet, there was something still deeply wrong with the Palace. It had once been a Temple where a million Jedi studied, ate, and lived together. Now it was a place of authority where the ratification of various imperial decrees and capital punishments (particularly, political executions) were both carried out. The Force, which one glowed brightly within its walls, had now become dark and corroded with all the screams of pain and death that were now associated with it. However, this did not bother the Emperor. If anything, this was exactly the course of its nature, a destiny that it simply had been waiting to fulfill.
It would seem that as the king of such a vast and powerful Empire, there would be no man who was happier or more satisfied than the Empire. Unfortunately though, this was not the case.
Within the heart of the palace, a tall and darkly looming figure paced back and forth relentlessly. The Emperor watched Vader from his corner, silently reclining against the cold hard stone of his throne.
"Patience, my Apprentice," Palpatine murmured. He was beginning to grow dizzy with all this pacing. if Vader kept this up, he would likely need another oil application for his prosthetic joints.
"I do not see what good patience is to me when I already have everything I want in sight," came the sordid reply.
Palpatine frowned.
"The Aeon Engine is dangerous. Once activated, it will consume the life force of all ordinary mortals around it. You should be careful with where you decide to place it."
"I already know exactly where it belongs," Vader hissed, "And that is on Mustafar, its very place of origin. The birthplace of the Bright Star."
Palpatine raised an eyebrow. "And the very last location where the wife of Anakin Skywalker was seen alive," he added carefully. Vader angrily clenched his fist and a crack appeared in the cold marble below his foot. "Yes, the significance of the location does not escape me. However, I-"
"Stop mocking me!" Vader thundered, and Palpatine blinked. "I know that you believe my endeavor to be impossible. I know that you doubt my abilities, that you think me to be a fool-"
"My boy, that is not true-"
"I know hatred! But I will not stand mockery," Vader snarled. "Don't try to hide it, the true reason why you have been sending me everywhere across the Galaxy. From the Core Worlds to the Unknown Regions. Doing your bidding here and there, acting as your dog, tending to the trash... Everywhere except for Tatooine, the only world that actually needs my attention."
Palpatine's eyes narrowed and his fingers curled slightly on the arms of his cold throne. The air around him began to crackle menacingly with static, the power in his veins thrumming and urging him to call forth a stroke of electricity. But he held himself back, cooling his mind and allowing his hands to relax.
"Doing my bidding? Acting as my dog? Who made you think that was what you were doing?"
Vader shuddered and stopped moving, unnerved by the quietness of the Emperor's voice.
"Was it unimportant when I asked you to supervise the construction of our Death Star? Was it unimportant when I asked you to ensure the safety of Fortress Inquisitorius? Was it unimportant when I asked you to contact the Grysk Hegemony so as to more easily facilitate the surrender of the Chiss Ascendancy?"
Vader turned around and faced Palpatine. The cold figure faced him back. Although they would have been much more different were they standing next to each other, the Emperor's throne granted him a height advantage over the seven-foot cyborg, forcing him for once in his life to look up as he made eye contact with seething yellow eyes. Vader held his tongue as the Emperor's fingers curled again, threatening to unleash their cruel power with the smallest snap.
"So, you think yourself to be quite important then? Are your personal desires something more important than the Empire itself?"
"No, Master..."
"Master this, Master that," Palpatine drawled. "You seem to have forgotten how to use that title. Let me refresh your memory."
Vader screamed as Palpatine raised his hand and a tendril of the Force stretched out, forcing Vader onto his knees in a facsimile of a bow. The half-metal man howled wretchedly as he was thrust forwards, his hands planting flat on the ground, feeling all of the air being squeezed violently out of his lungs as Palpatine wrenched his life force like a Tusken Raider squeezing the bitter juice from a black melon.
"If you are going to bow, at least do it properly," Palpatine sneered.
Vader groaned and nodded, too winded to speak. Palpatine closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"It is true that I have been sending you on various missions...but it is not to divert your attention. Rather, I am simply ensuring that you are not losing your commitment. I have, after all, good reason for concern especially considering your history of losing focus," he snarled.
Vader gasped for breath, bringing his hand to his neck instinctively to feel the lips that were no longer there. "I did not lose my focus," he protested, and Palpatine angrily swatted at the air. The effect was immediate; Vader screamed as a bolt of lightning caught him right in the knees, causing him to bowl over and lie on the floor seizing. As he writhed helplessly, Palpatine shook his head.
"It is just as I feared," he said slowly. "You once spoke to me of the same things, back when you said you had captured Kenobi. Now look at you."
"I had him!" Vader shouted, even as his limbs flailed uncontrollably and his eyes rolled back in their sockets from the excruciating pain.
"And you failed to keep him!" Palpatine growled. "Just as you failed to keep your daughter. And now look at what has happened to her!"
Vader let out a choked groan, half spurred by the stabbing pain of emotion and by the sensation of being flayed alive by Palpatine's Force Lightning. Palpatine watched him indifferently, not moving as Vader's hand made grabbing motions towards him.
"I hate to see you like this, my son," Palpatine said quietly. "And I should hate to see you like this because of Kenobi."
Vader squeezed his eyes tightly, attempting to stop a tear from falling down his necrotized cheeks. However, despite himself, he could feel a trail of moisture pressing against the cold steel shell of his helmet. The mask that was supposed to keep him from feeling.
"I promised myself I would never let it happen again. I told myself, I would not let such humiliation or horror come to you. I've been trying my best to protect you, my boy. Have I not done enough?"
At Palpatine's sudden change in tone, Vader shakily sat up and stared with wide eyes as the Emperor sighed mournfully.
"Perhaps I have not been the right Master for you," Palpatine murmured. "Perhaps...I should have left you in the hands of your previous one."
That did it. Vader immediately scrambled to his feet, ignoring the faint quivering in his joints. "No, Master," he said forcefully, "You are the only one for me. I'm sorry, I should have listened to you...you know what is best, after all. I am yours to command."
Palpatine sniffed. "Are you completely sure of that?"
"I am," Vader insisted. "I will be."
Palpatine looked down, surveying him. Vader felt embarrassed, immediately becoming acutely aware of his disheveled state. He did his best to straighten himself, although the loud clank of his metal limbs made his lack of dignity all the more noticeable. Palpatine's eyes narrowed but he averted his gaze, for which Vader felt extremely grateful.
"You know that I only punish you because I am trying to teach you. To help you learn the lesson which you should have known a long time ago."
"Yes, Master."
"Who is in control here?"
"You are, Master."
"Whose will is the Empire's?"
"Yours, Master."
"And he who must ensure that the Empire's will is fulfilled...upon whom does that responsibility fall?"
"On me," Vader said eagerly, "I am your servant. Tell me what to do."
"Very well then," Palpatine replied. "In that case, I have one more mission for you."
"What is it?"
"I wish for you to pay a visit to the realm of our ancestors," Palpatine replied. "The former Empire of the Sith. You are familiar, I presume." Vader paused. "Have you not heard of the Horuset System, home to our Sith homeworld?"
Vader closed his mouth and bowed his head. "No, Master."
"Hm. I suppose I should be grateful for your honesty," Palpatine muttered. "No matter. The planet which I would like you to investigate is called Korriban, my dear apprentice. Find it, and bring me the exact objects that I will instruct you retrieve. They are extremely crucial to ensuring our continued dominion over the Chiss, especially now that I have decided I will no longer be keeping them as an ally."
"But Master-"
"I did not ask you to speak," Palpatine snarled, curling his fingers menacingly and Vader flinched. "Bring me back the Dark Lord Nihilus' armor and death-mask," he said calmly. "When you have finished that, I will tell you what to do next."
"Yes, Master. I will. As fast as I can."
Rex and Cody's transmission to Alderaan was met with much joy and fanfare. However, the news that they delivered was much more sobering.
"The Empire has done something awful to the planet," Rex said gravely.
"Yes," Cody nodded.
They had agreed to not mention Crosshair or the Starkiller Base. After all, neither of them had proof of it. However, they still believed that it would be a good idea to return for the sake of the boy.
"The child that she rescued on Tatooine," Cody nodded at Reva, causing her to almost snap her neck as she looked up wildly. "He might be in danger again soon, especially if the Inquisitors that you mentioned are still after him."
"I agree," Obi-Wan said, his eyes downcast. He also already knew in his soul that it was time to return to Tatooine. But this time, it would be for Luke's sake.
"Kamino is not far from Tatooine," Rex said. "If you start traveling there now, we will meet you in about a week's time at Mos Eisley or the next major city."
"Of course," Obi-Wan said. "Reva and I are already familiar with the planet's layout." He decided not to mention that his current place of abode there was an unmarked cave with no internal plumbing. "I will see you there...stay in contact with us, please."
Kaeden turned her head to look at Ahsoka, her eyes now sad and baleful. Reva excused herself, leaving dinner early. Once she was back in her room, she immediately shut the door behind herself and began to pace around restlessly.
The prospect of leaving had brought both mixed feelings of excitement and concern. On one hand, she did not feel at home on Alderaan and was relieved for the opportunity to leave. On the other hand, she was not sure if she wished to return to Tatooine yet again.
There was also one more problem, one that she refused to speak out loud. She was not sure why she had been invited to come along in the guise of protecting Luke.
Owen Lars had trusted her with his son once. That didn't mean she wanted to put herself in that position again.
Once you return to Tatooine, you'll be walking right back into Vader and the rest of the Inquisitorius' hands, she reminded herself.
Reva startled as she registered the presence of someone else behind her.
Refusing to turn around, she felt the weight of the bed shift as Ahsoka sat down. She immediately looked around for Kaeden, Cody or any of the other annoying companions that the Jedi Generals had decided to keep around. But this time it was just the two of them. Reva stared back blankly as Ahsoka smiled brightly at her, attempting to disarm whatever wariness she assumed Reva felt towards her.
If only she knew the truth about what that stupid smile could do.
Reva shuddered and moved back, putting more distance between them.
"Ready for what?" Reva retorted.
"We're departing tomorrow," Ahsoka explained. "Obi-Wan and I agreed that we should also come to Tatooine. I'm sorry for pressuring you into joining us, by the way-"
"It's nothing." Being on Tatooine would be better than this stupidly cold planet, anyway. She had never particularly liked the dry sand or blistering hot weather, but it was quite welcome in comparison to the cumbersome snow and glacial winds that whipped at her face and messed up her hair whenever she went on a walk outside.
"Are you sure that you still want to come? You can stay here, if you want. Obi-Wan and I can handle this by ourselves."
"No, it's fine. I don't want to live here anyway. Much too cold," Reva grimaced.
"Well, we'll be glad to have you."
Reva snorted.
"I mean it," Ahsoka insisted, then her gaze suddenly turned to the window across from them.
Outside, the sky had gone dark. It was now nighttime, a period that lasted a little longer than the day and was twice as cold. From what they could see, it was still snowing. However, it was nothing not like the delicate little flakes that were falling earlier that morning. Now, there were snowflakes as large and blue as the starblossoms that dotted their windows. The ground outside had turned into a glittering landscape of mountainous slopes covered in icy white frost and snowcapped trees, each one taller than if nine men stood on each other's shoulders. Ahsoka stared out with wide eyes, watching as each snowflake fell and joined its comrades in the icy storm.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, and Reva found herself agreeing despite herself.
"Yes," she murmured, allowing an uncharacteristic softness to creep into her voice. When Ahsoka turned away from the snowflakes to look at her, she turned away.
The places where she could feel Ahsoka's gaze on her burned bright, as if they had been heated by an entire furnace of red coal straight from Mustafar's lava pits. When Ahsoka tried to say something, she squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fists.
"You should get back to your girlfriend," she mumbled through gritted teeth. "Why are you even here?"
Ahsoka blinked, confused. "Kaeden? Oh, she's sleeping," she said. "I came because I wanted to give you something-"
Reva shook her head, cutting her off.
"No?" Ahsoka asked quietly.
"No," Reva repeated. "I don't want anything from you."
The distance between them stretched on as the silence between them began to grow.
"Is...is something wrong?" Ahsoka asked.
"I'm cold."
Ahsoka took a deep breath and tried again.
"I don't want to offend you," she said gently, but the softness of her voice made it all the more painful to hear. Reva trembled, squeezing her fists tighter, afraid that her hands might betray her from how hard they were trembling. "I just...I'll leave it here, okay? You can decide if you want it or not."
She stood up.
"I'll...I'll get you some hot Mocoa," she murmured, her lekku crumpling slightly. It pained her to see the expression she was making so Reva forced herself to keep looking down. "See you."
She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of footsteps shuffling out of her room. After a few seconds, she breathed in and opened her eyes again.
Next to her was a box. Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, Reva reached out and grabbed it, pulling the strings open and flinging the lid back with a flick of the Force.
Inside, she found several translucent beads and a note.
A GIFT SUITABLE FOR A PADAWAN, it read. YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE THEM, BUT I HAPPEN TO HAVE A SOFT SPOT FOR THEM.
Reva choked back a sob as she reached in and pulled out the silka beads that Ahsoka had gifted her. When she held them to the light, they sparkled just like the snowflakes outside of her window. Where had she even found them? They looked as if they had been formed out of some sort of sand with extremely low impurities.
Reva clenched the beads possessively to her chest before she realized what she was doing and let go.
Immediately, they spilled out of her hand and onto the floor. "No, no, no!" she panicked. She jumped off her bed then started scrambling around, chasing after the little beads. After a moment, she remembered she could use the Force and summoned them back into her hand with a satisfying clinking sound.
Sighing, she threw herself back onto her bed and stared at the small handful of beads she had thrown herself onto the floor for.
They're nothing special, she scoffed to herself. They're just cheap glass trinkets. You can probably find these at any station within the Outer Rim, as a souvenir.
She frowned.
You should throw them away. Show her that you're not under her thumb.
When Ahsoka returned with a cup of steaming Mocoa, she found Reva sprawled across her bed dead asleep. Reaching out, she used the Force to rearrange the blankets so that she was properly covered and did not wake up in the middle of the night freezing cold. As she walked closer, she noticed an empty box on the floor. Ahsoka bent down and picked it up, placing it on the nightstand. For a second, she began to assume that just as she had expected, Reva did not accept her gift.
However, as she began to walk away, she heard a faint snore. Ahsoka turned and looked back at her sleeping form, noticing something sparkling in Reva's hair.
There, braided right next to her forehead, she could see the glint of three brand new glassy beads.