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***
“Brace for impact!” Rex shouted out over the comm as the Valor was hit with the electrical strikes from the space storm. His attention was drawn over to Ahsoka when she let out a scream as she was thrown into the bulkhead of the bridge. “Ahsoka!” he called out trying to get her to respond in order to see if she was injured from the impact, when he didn’t get a response, he forced himself to swallow his worry as he returned his attention toward the viewscreen and was greeted by a space battle between Separatists and Republic forces. “Launch all fighters!” he called out over the comm, “Enemy fighters dead ahead! Medical to the bridge!”
“Commander!” Jesse called out as he rushed into the bridge not long after Rex’s call for medical support, “Are you alright?” he questioned as he looked around and was shocked to see Rex kneeling next to Commander Tano who had a massive bruise forming on her montral. “Medical, get here ASAP, Commander Tano’s been injured,” he warned Coric as he moved to kneel next to Rex. “Commander?” he questioned Rex softly as the 332nd Commander moved to stand up but motioned for Jesse to remain with Ahsoka.
“I have to lead this battle,” Rex stated as he forced himself to tear his eyes away from the former Jedi, “Stay with her,” he ordered as he headed toward the control room in order to find out what exactly had happened to the Valor.
Jesse nodded in response; he knew that if he left the Commander’s side before Rex returned, he would kick his shebs.
Coric rushed onto the bridge with a medical team following closely behind him, “Get the Commander secured, we need to get her to medical,” he ordered the men behind as they quickly placed the Commander on a stretcher and waited for Coric to give his permission before removing her from the bridge. “Go,” he ordered as he and Jesse moved to follow Ahsoka down to the medical bay. “Jesse?” he questioned as the ARC followed behind the stretcher.
“The Commander ordered me to remain with her,” he muttered under his breath as he tossed a worried glance back toward Rex who was coordinating a space battle for the first time by himself with no Jedi standing beside him.
Coric merely shook his head as he mumbled, “I wouldn’t fight him on that order.”
***
Rex focused on the space battle that the Valor had ended up in the middle of, “Where are we?” he demanded as he glanced over to the technicians who were scrambling to find answers as to what had happened to them. For the first time, he cursed the fact that there was no Admiral on board the Valor and that he was the highest ranking member onboard the vessel.
“Sir, we’re in orbit of Ryloth!” Data called out as he pulled up the battle on the holotable in front of Rex, “The Resolute and Negotiator are here, as well as the Defender and Redeemer.”
“What?!” Rex was stunned. “The Redeemer?” he questioned as Jester pulled up the Redeemer’s ID on the screen. “We’re in 21BBY,” Rex stated stunned, causing the bridge crew to look at him in disbelief, “The Redeemer was destroyed in a battle over Ryloth in 21BBY,” he supplied to the Shinny’s who hadn’t been with the 501st in that time period.
“That’s impossible, Commander,” Data stated in disbelief.
“Well, it is,” Rex countered as he paused as he recalled something that had happened and should be occurring at the moment, “Night Squadron, locate Gold Squadron,” he ordered, “They should be heading straight for the blockade.”
“Copy, Commander,” Link replied, “Should we redirect them to the Valor?” he questioned.
Rex looked at the holotable and the location of the Separatist flight and Gold and Night Squadrons, “Bring them in,” Rex ordered as he moved to comm for security to meet the incoming Gold squadron, this should be interesting.
“Redeemer is going down!” Jester called out in warning, “The remaining Republic ships are preparing for hyperspace jump!”
“Jump as soon as our squadrons are onboard,” Rex ordered as he watched the squadrons conduct combat landings in the Valor’s hanger.
“Night, Dawn, Dusk and Gold Squadrons, are all onboard!”
“Jump!”
***
Ahsoka stood with her squad mates Axe, Slammer, Kickback, Tucker, and Swoop; they had been basically bullied into following Night Leader back to their ship and as soon as they had landed, they had been rounded up by a handful of Coruscant Guards, since when are they deployed to an active blockade, she wondered to herself as she tried to ignore the Clones who were actively staring at her.
“Commander Tano, if you could follow me?” a Clone wearing 501st blue walked up to her and gestured for her to follow him.
“Your 501st?” Ahsoka asked stunned.
“332nd,” Ridge replied over his shoulder as he led the group to the conference room.
“332nd?” Ahsoka was confused, she hadn’t heard of a 332nd Legion, and if he belonged to another Legion then why was he in 501st blue, not to mention why was there a mixture of 501st blue, Coruscant guard red and an orange color, which she hadn’t seen that closely yet but apparently Axe had seen it and he was still in a state of confusion because he merely shook his head when she asked him about it.
“Here you go,” Ridge gestured for them to go ahead and enter before him, as soon as Swoop passed over the threshold, he closed the door and locked it.
Ahsoka cursed in Huttesse as she realized that they were now locked in the conference room and their communicators were being blocked, since Axe merely shook his head and waved his communicator.
They were alone for about 15 minutes before the door opened and in walked Captain Rex and two unknown troopers at his back.
“Rex!” Ahsoka stood up in relief, but paused as she realized that his armor wasn’t right, it was his force presence and paint job but his armor wasn’t...right, and his presence in the force was slightly off as well.
“Commander Tano,” Rex acknowledged as he waved for her and her men to take a seat at the conference table, “Please have a seat,” he requested as he moved to sit down as his two men took up positions to his left and right in defense positions, Ahsoka realized with dread entering her stomach especially as she took in the unknown troopers’ paint job.
“You’re not, MY Rex,” Ahsoka blurted out causing Axe and her other pilots to turn at her in shock.
Rex chuckled as he nodded his head, “I’m not,” he stated as he waved off Vaughn and Sterling. “We were on a mission and the next thing we know we’re at the Blockade of Ryloth,” he shrugged.
“Force,” Ahsoka muttered as not-Rex and the two other Clones chuckled at her response.
Vaughn reached his hand up to his helmet before turning to face Rex, “Commander,” Vaughn’s tone of voice was all Rex needed to know as he grimaced in reply.
Ahsoka looked confused as she realized that he was referring to REX as Commander and not herself.
“Jesse?” Rex asked.
“Yes, sir,” Vaughn replied with ease as he moved to open the door.
Ahsoka was shocked to see herself enter the conference room with another clone at her side.
“Rexter,” the older Ahsoka scolded as she moved toward not-Rex and promptly sat in his lap with a grunt as he muttered, he would’ve moved.
“Ah, Captain Rex?” Axe was confused and he felt the younger Tano’s pain as she looked at the behavior of her older self with complete confusion on her face.
“Commander,” Jesse corrected.
“What?”
“Commander Rex,” Jesse replied as he ignored the glare that Ahsoka was giving him. “If you didn’t want me here you would’ve stayed in medical,” he dryly replied.
“Come on Jesse, you wanted to see little me as well!” she replied as she pointed at her younger self.
The door to the conference room opened again and Coric stormed in, glaring at Jesse before focusing on Ahsoka, “Ahsoka!” he fumed as he approached his patient, “You belong in the med bay!” he exclaimed as he glanced over at the guests in the conference room, quickly dismissing them as he turned his attention back to his patient.
“Coric,” Rex said dryly.
“Sorry, Commander,” Coric stated as he glared at the former Jedi who was cuddling on Rex’s lap and currently hiding her face from the medic’s wrath. “I can still see you,” he said dryly.
“Come on,” she muttered as she raised her head and pointed at little Ahsoka, “Like you aren’t interested!”
“Coric,” Rec sighed as he shifted Ahsoka in his arms gently as he grabbed a datapad in front of him.
“Fine,” Coric sighed as he moved to stand nearby.
“To make this easier for everyone, we’ll call the younger Ahsoka, Commander Tano and the older one Ahsoka,” he stated as he waved his hand toward Vaughn who made a discreet comm call. “I’m Commander Rex, my seconds Captain Jesse, Captain Vaughn, LT Coric, LT Sterling.”
“LT Coric?” Commander Tano looked at the medic.
“Commander,” Coric nodded his head in greeting.
“This is,” she muttered as she looked over at Axe.
“Confusing?” Axe replied with a grin as he glanced over his squad mates who were silently watching the interaction around them. “Interesting paintjob,” he gestured toward Vaughn’s helmet.
Vaughn merely nodded in reply, as he bent his head to the side as he received a comm from the bridge.
“Commander Rex, incoming shuttlecraft,” he reported. “General Skywalker, General Kenobi, Captain Rex and Commander Cody are onboard,” he reported.
“Jesse,” he ordered.
“Yes, Commander,” Jesse headed toward the hanger bay to pick up their visitors.
***
Jesse walked up to the disembarking Jedi, “Welcome to the Valor, General Kenobi, General Skywalker,” Jesse saluted as he turned his attention to the two Clones standing behind them, “Commander Cody, Captain Rex, welcome aboard.”
“Where’s Ahsoka and my men?” demanded Anakin.
Jesse merely gestured for the group to follow him as a squad of Clones formed up around them, “This way please,” he gestured over at Del to head to the Twilight and intercept R2D2 before the droid could cause any problems for the Valor or its personnel.
“Your men are in the conference room,” Jesse stated as he kept pace with the Generals.
Rex frowned at the unknown Trooper who was in 501st blue and the Clones who were around them, there was a mixture of blue, red and orange. It was almost like they had all been thrown together with no sense of order or design.
“Anakin, do you see the paint jobs?” Obi Wan said under his breath as he gestured toward the troopers in orange.
“I see it,” Anakin replied as he frowned at the sight of his Padawan’s facial markings on the Clone helmets.
Cody frowned as he spotted some familiar paint jobs but on completely different armor and shared a confused look with Rex who was as equally stunned.
“Here we are,” Jesse paused before he opened the door and gestured for them to enter the room, and waving their escorts to remain outside the room.
“Ahsoka!” Anakin called out warmly as he approached his Padawan with Obi Wan close behind him, Rex and Cody following at a more sedate pace, as they took in the Clones that were already in the room.
Rex was shocked to see someone in his paintjob and an older Commander Tano sitting in his lap.
“Hi,” the older Ahsoka smirked as she leaned into Rex’s arms slightly, she knew that she should really move to an empty chair, but she was enjoying messing with her and Rex’s younger selves too much and judging by Rex’s relaxed behavior he was too.
“If you could have a seat, then we can begin,” Rex stated as Anakin and Obi Wan both froze at the sight in front of them.
“Ahsoka?” Anakin glanced between the two Tortugas in confusion and then glanced between the two Rex’s next, “What?” he asked as he slammed down hard into a nearby chair.
“Force,” Ahsoka shrugged as she looked at her former Master in interest.
“We’re from the year 19BBY,” Rex stated bluntly, “We were on our way to deal with an…issue when our ship was hit by an unknown electrical storm in space. The next thing we know we’re in 21BBY at the Blockade of Ryloth,” he shrugged as he glanced down at Ahsoka to see if she wanted to add on anything, but she shook her head no.
“An electrical storm?” Obi Wan frowned, “I have never heard of one causing a temporal issue before,” he glanced over at the young Ahsoka and followed her gaze toward the older version of herself who was CUDDLING in Rex’s arms. “Ah, Captain Rex?”
“Commander,” the older Ahsoka corrected.
“Commander?” Cody asked surprised.
“Yes,” Rex replied, not volunteering any additional information to them.
The older Ahsoka introduced everyone, “We’re calling little me, Commander Tano, Captain Rex, Commander Rex and Ahsoka,” she pointed to each person as she called off their names. “For the rest of the men, they will utilize their ranks if required,” she glanced over at Coric who nodded in agreement at her idea. “Any questions?”
“Yes,” Anakin stated as he gestured between her and Commander Rex, “Why are you CUDDLING Commander Rex?!” He glanced between the younger Ahsoka and Captain with a questioning look forming on his face, but before he could ask them anything he was interrupted.
Surprisingly it was Coric who supplied an answer, “Because she escaped Medical and is using the Commander as a means to avoid being taken back,” he frowned at her as she sank further into Rex’s hold.
“Come on Coric!” she complained, “I’m fine!”
“You lost conscious,” he countered as he forced himself to remain calm, he didn’t want to reveal any information to the younger Ahsoka about her future.
“Rex help’s her escape medical?” Anakin looked at the younger Rex in surprise, he never would of thought that his dependable Captain would endorse rule breaking.
“Repeatedly,” Jesse supplied as he shrugged in reply to Ahsoka’s mock glare at his betrayal. “Everybody knows that it’s the truth, Rex lets you get away with EVERYTHING,” he raised his hands up in admitted defeat.
Captain Rex frowned at this news, since when would he allow the General’s Padawan that much leeway in the Legion and he apparently endorsed and actively helped her in her repeated rule breaking attempts in the very near future, but judging by the look Cody was giving him it was apparently true even if he hadn’t yet realized he was already doing it.
“Can we return to the issue at hand?” questioned Commander Rex as he took pity on his younger self who appeared he was about to have an aneurysm from the information overload.
“Of course,” Obi Wan interjected before Anakin could continue with his line of questioning. “Is there an older version of Anakin onboard that we should meet?” he questioned as he tossed an amused look at his former Padawan.
“No,” Commander Rex stated as he involuntary tighten his hold on Ahsoka for a moment before replying, “Ahsoka is the only Force user stationed onboard the Valor at the moment,” the clones around him noticed his wording and seemed to relax gently when they realized what he had implied with the wording he had used.
Ahsoka realized what Rex had just done he was letting her choose on what they would inform the younger versions of themselves about the future, could she really tell her younger self about the betrayal of Barriss and the secondary betrayal of the Jedi Council? “Rex is my…Commander,” she stated as she glanced around the men standing behind her, and her eyes stopped at Coric, Jesse, Sterling and Vaughn. “The 332nd is made from a composite of 501st…” she trailed off as she looked down unable to continue explaining, she was unsure if they would be fine with her claiming to be their General.
“Every Vod in the 332nd CHOOSE to join,” Commander Rex stated, “Everyone here requested to be assigned on the Valor.”
“We choose to work with her,” Vaughn stated as he paused before saying, “General Tano is highly thought of and it is an honor to work with her,” he gestured toward the paintjob on his helmet.
Ahsoka froze in shock at Vaughn’s words but she was stunned when Jesse, Sterling and Coric all voiced their agreement with the Captain.
“You abandon me Rex?” Anakin asked as he frowned and glanced between the Commander and Captain.
“Sorry, General,” Commander Rex shrugged as he ignored Jesse’s barely contained laughter. “I actually proposed it to you,” he glanced down when Ahsoka jolted in his arms at his statement.
“Really?” Anakin frowned as he gazed around the conference room.
“General,” Coric interjected with laughter evident in his voice, “When it came out that Ahsoka was going to be getting the 332nd for this mission, you lost 50% of the 501st in a span of an hour due to transfer requests.”
“Sorry, General,” Jesse added on while still laughing, “You got nothing on Ahsoka when it comes down to the 501st’s loyalty.”
Obi Wan laughed at the crest fallen face on his former Padawan as he turned to glare between his Padawan and Captain, “You two,” he stopped as he started to laugh as he realized that his men were more loyal to his Padawan then to him. “So, when does the 501st start being Ahsoka’s instead of mine?” he questioned with a smirk as he glanced between the General and Commander.
Surprisingly it was Captain Rex who supplied the answer to his General, “Do you really want to know the answer to that question, General?”
“No!” Obi Wan laughed as he realized that the Clones hadn’t just transferred their allegiances over time but probably not long after she became Anakin’s Padawan.
Anakin dropped his head down onto the table as he started to mumble about Clone stealing Padawan’s.
After everyone had calmed down somewhat it was decided that since whatever had caused the Valor to travel back in time was done, that the easiest method was to have the 332nd and the Valor to remain with the 501st and 212th. The 332nd were silent from what Captain Rex and Cody would see, they volunteered generic information but anything about the battles to come they remained silent on. Apparently, General Kenobi had cautioned the 332nd on the issues of interfering to much in the past, because in an attempt to stop something they could cause something worse to happen, so they needed to proceed with extreme caution and speak with the Jedi Council before talking about the future.
So, it was this in mind that Rex was surprised to see that Commander Rex had requested to speak with him in private.
“Commander?” Rex sounded confused. “Is there something that I can do for you?”
“Captain,” Rex smirked as he placed his helmet on his desk and gestured for his younger self to have a seat, “I think that you have some questions that you didn’t want to ask in front of the Jedi.”
“How? Right,” he muttered as he realized that his future self would’ve had questions in his position. “What happened?” he asked bluntly.
“What do you mean?”
“With the Commander…General,” he stated as he moved to sit across form himself. “She’s closed off and not in a good way.”
“You noticed,” he replied as he closed his eyes before opening them up to look at his younger self dead on, “Not even Skywalker or Kenobi realized it.”
Rex shrugged, “Not my problem,” he replied as he repeated his question as to what had happened in the future that had caused the youngling to become so harden.
“Barriss Offee,” Rex revealed.
“Who?”
“She’s General Luminara Unduli's Padawan. Her name is Barriss Offee,” Rex stated as he sighed, “She pretended to be Ahsoka’s friend and then set her up to take the blame when she blew up the Jedi Temple and killed half a dozen people.”
“Osik,” Rex muttered as he felt sick to his stomach.
“She was hunted down by everyone who she trusted,” Rex paused before pushing on, “Myself included,” he held up a hand in order to prevent the questions he knew was coming, “My choice was to either help in the manhunt or be placed on lockdown with the rest of the 501st and PRAY to the force that she wasn’t killed by a di’kut member of the Guard,” he noticed Rex’s look when he called out the Guard, “The Guard aren’t to be trusted,” he revealed hesitantly, “They develop the bad habit of shooting first and asking questions afterwards.”
“Osik,” Rex muttered under his breath. “What about the Guards that are onboard the Valor?”
“Shinny’s,” he shrugged, “No way was I going to allow Fox or his team on board with Ahsoka.”
“I can’t believe that Fox would do that,” he whispered under his breath in shock.
“Something started to go wrong a couple of months before we ended up back here,” Rex revealed. “There was an…incident with a Trooper and a Jedi ended up being killed. Not long afterwards another trooper discovered that there are…inhibitor chips in every single Clone and that they may have contingency orders in them that could cause a Clone to…kill their Jedi.”
“Have they been removed?” demanded Rex.
“Negative,” Rex sighed as he remembered the aftermath of Fives death, “The Kaminoans, GAR, Chancellor, Jedi and Senate all refused to believe that the Sith could be involved in the creation of the Clones.”
“Osik!” Rex cursed as he realized that the future was going to end up worst then he ever thought it could be. “We have to remove the chips and find out what exactly is on them,” he stated as he looked down as he realized that there wasn’t any other way to find out what was on the chips. “They may not have believed you in your time but at the moment whatever you say is going to be thought of as being truthful.”
“You mean lie to the Jedi Council?” he sounded amused at that.
“If you could get General Tano on your side, then the Council will believe that they had been looking into it in the future,” Rex supplied with a shrug.
“I’ll talk to Ahsoka,” Rex relented as he realized that his younger self was correct, if they could get them to listen then they may be able to stop so many deaths that were going to come.
“Would a Jedi Knight be willing to lie?” Rex paused as he thought about what he had stated.
“I think she wouldn’t have a problem with taking on any of them,” Commander Rex smirked as he glanced over at his younger self as he revealed, “The Council is the one who issued the bounty on her and endorsed the Senate’s death sentence.”
“She’s not actually a General, is she?”
“No, she’s not,” Rex paused before revealing, “She left the order not long after she was cleared of the charges. She said that she couldn’t trust the Jedi to do the right thing anymore.”
“Then why is she onboard the Valor?”
“She asked for help,” he shrugged. “And every Clone onboard the Valor decided to help her on this mission even though she is no longer a Jedi,” he paused as he looked straight into his younger self’s eyes. “She is our Commander and ALWAYS will be whether or not she’s a part of the Jedi Order.”
Rex realized what his older self-meant right then, that if they had to make a choice between protecting Ahsoka or the Republic they had already made their choice, and not one of them would falter in their decision. “I knew that she was trouble,” he stated as he realized that he would make the same choice at the current moment if it ever came down to it.
“She grows on you,” he shrugged as he redirected their conversation toward the best way to handle the inhibitor chip problem when Ahsoka and Jesse walked into Rex’s office without knocking.
“Hey Rexter,” she smiled as she glanced between the pair. “You requested my presence?” she asked as she grabbed a chair and brought it closer to the desk.
“We were discussing, Fives,” Rex stated as he glanced between Ahsoka and Jesse, at the mention of the fallen ARC trooper both felt a wave of grief at the thought of their fallen friend.
“What about Fives?” she asked with a frown.
“About the inhibitor chips he discovered and the fact that the Council refused to investigate the matter,” Rex supplied as he tossed a datapad in his desk. “Since we’re here we figure that we might as well see if Fives was right,” he suggested.
“You want to inform the Council,” Ahsoka realized as she thought about what that would mean, “You want to get them to open a full-on investigation into the possibility that the chips hold contingency orders.”
“Yes,” he nodded as he glanced over at Jesse to see what he thought of the idea.
“It’s a good idea, Ahsoka,” Jesse implied as he glanced around at the other occupants of the office. “Even if they don’t contain contingency orders, we know that they will start to degrade and brothers and Jedi will both die, if nothing is done.”
“We can tell them that the chips are degrading,” Rex suggested as they tossed around different ideas on the table. “That way they will have a valid reason to start looking into them, and if they happen to discover more? Then that’s all fine with me.”
“That might be better,” Ahsoka nodded, “That way we can keep the issue of the contingency orders close to only those we trust in order to prevent Sidious from finding out we know anything.”
“Sidious?” questioned the younger Rex who had listened to the three of them talk amongst themselves.
“The Sith Master,” Ahsoka replied as she frowned, “We might not want to tell Anakin though.”
“Why not inform the General?”
“It’s possible that the Chancellor or one of his staff are in league with the Sith Master,” Jesse stated as he frowned in thought. “Do you really think that Skywalker would tell Palpatine?”
“He’s known the Chancellor since he was nine,” Ahsoka replied dryly as she looked at Jesse, “He tells him EVERYTHING.”
“Then he can’t be told,” Rex stated as he assumed control of the meeting, “When are we meeting with the Council?” he glanced at Ahsoka who looked at the chrono on the desk before replying.
“Three hours,” as she and Jesse moved to stand up, “I promised little me, a tour around the Valor.”
After the duo left Captain Rex looked at his older self with a questioning look in his eyes, “What is it?”
“You weren’t invited to the Council meeting with her,” he stated, “so why are you going as well?”
“I don’t trust the Council around her,” Rex stated bluntly as he moved in order to stand up. “The last time she was around them…” he trailed off as he shook his head in order to clear the memories, “I will stand by her side until she asks me not too.”
Rex frowned at that news as he thought of the younger Ahsoka, she had never once asked him to remain when she was with the Generals or when she was in front of the Council. “Commander Tano, she…”
“She won’t ask you to stay with her,” he replied, “but she won’t turn you away if you request to remain by her side.”
***
Captain Rex paused as he approached the conference room that held the Generals, Commander Tano Gold squadron, and Cody, they were all interested in why his older self-requested to speak with him in private. What he knew was that he couldn’t tell them anything at the moment because of the risk to the brothers, if they were right in their theory about the Sith Master then he couldn’t say anything until it was either proven or disproven.
“Rex!” Ahsoka shouted as soon as she saw him enter the doorway to the room where they were currently being held. “You’re back,” she sounded relived to see him, he realized as he looked over at Cody in question. He merely gestured toward the Generals in response.
“General Skywalker, General Kenobi,” he acknowledged the pair as moved to stand near Cody and Ahsoka where they were standing near the back of the room. He positioned himself in order to ensure that she was between him and Cody, he didn’t know what had happened but if what his future self said was the truth then she wouldn’t force him to stand beside her if she thought that it might get him in trouble. Well, that was something he was going to nip in the bud right now, no way was he going to have her thinking that she was by herself, she had an entire Legion who would be more than willing to back her up if she gets in trouble. His thoughts started to darken as he recalled the story of how she had been hunted down after being accused of the Temple bombing, not this time. He was going to ensure that she had no reason to think that Barriss Offee was her only option in the friend’s department and that his men knew that they needed to ensure that they included the Padawan more often in their plans.
“What did your future self-discuss with you?” questioned Obi Wan as he turned his questioning gaze away from Ahsoka and toward the Clone Captain.
Rex glanced between the two Generals and then lied to them for the first time in his short life, “He wanted to make sure that the Commander was fine after he had his squadron brought hers onboard the Valor,” he stated, “I also saw General Tano and she said that she was going to take the Commander on a tour of the ship?” he turned a confused look on the Tortuga standing next to him, “Shouldn’t you be on the tour?”
“Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi felt it wouldn’t be appropriate,” she said softly as she clutched her hands at her side, as she turned her fearful eyes away from the Generals and tried to get him to stop talking to her.
“And your squadron members?” He asked as he ignored the impatiently waiting Generals who obviously wanted to debrief him on the closed-door meeting, he had with his future self.
“Ridge escorted them down to the hanger bay so they could run a maintenance check on their crafts,” Cody supplied, he realized what Rex was doing and that was to get the attention off of the Padawan.
“Ridge?!” Rex looked up at Cody in surprise.
Cody merely nodded, while the trooper may be one of the youngest of the 501st, here he was one of the most senior members of the command staff.
“Captain Rex,” Anakin sounded impatient as he interrupted his response. “If you could report what was said between you and Commander Rex?”
Rex turned his full attention to the obviously disgruntled Generals, neither of them were accustomed to being ignored by the Clone Officers. “We talked about Commander Tano,” he repeated his answer. “He wanted to ensure that she was fine and wanted to ensure that there wouldn’t be any issues for her,” he stated as he stuck to an off-handed comment made by Commander Rex when he had escorted his younger self back to his people.
“That’s all?” Obi Wan was confused, with everything that was going on, time travel included why would they be interested in discussing a Padawan Learner?
“That makes no sense,” Anakin frowned as he and Obi Wan retreated to the opposite side of the room in order to discuss this development in private.
“Maybe they were worried about the kid?” Cody muttered as he shifted slightly in order to brush his arm against her shoulder, he tossed a worried glance over at Rex, the kid was tense. Rex nodded as he took in her stiffen pose, hopefully he would be able to get her to relax somewhat and find out what exactly the Generals had said to her while he had been with Commander Rex.
Ahsoka tried to move away but was prevented when Rex grabbed her arm and held her in place, “Don’t even think of it, kid,” he muttered as he shifted slightly to keep her between himself and Cody, “The Commander was very vocal that I don’t let you go off on your own,” he muttered to her under his breath.
“What?” she turned confused eyes to the Captain at his words. “You-he said not to leave me?”
“He told me not to make his mistakes,” he added on with a frown as he revealed the next part, “To make sure that you knew that you weren’t alone and that the Jedi weren’t your only friends,” best plant that now, he mused inwardly as he thought of the Offee situation that the Commander had said would soon be entering their lives in the next couple of weeks.
“Why?”
Rex’s eyes cut over to the Generals who were turning back around, “Later,” he muttered to her as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the next round of questioning to begin.
Ahsoka frowned but decided to follow Rex’s lead and mirrored his stance, a covert glance toward Cody revealed he had as well. She thought about what the warning could foretell and she didn’t like what it could mean. Could she have been betrayed by a fellow Jedi because she hadn’t trusted Rex and the Clones to have her back? If that was true then she could understand Rex going off the rails at the moment, he must have been completely shocked at the idea that she hadn’t trusted him and that whoever she had trusted instead of him had betrayed her. Although, judging by the behavior of their future selves they must have made up at some point and Commander Rex had said that he had chosen to leave Anakin and the 501st in order to join her and the 332nd.
But a dire thought entered her mind as Obi Wan and Anakin started to question Rex again, what if the Jedi who had betrayed her had been the two Jedi Masters in this room? She forced herself to swallow the bile that tried to force its way out of her mouth, she relaxed her arms to her side and reached her hand out to Rex, she gasped in surprise when she felt his hand clasped hers in response.
She had a gut feeling that the arrival of the Valor had just set off a chain reaction that neither the Jedi nor the Sith could have foreseen coming their way.
***