Chapter 21: A Potential Conspiracy DiscoveredNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextThere was something stuffed down his nose and throat.
That was the first thing Rex realized.
And with that realization came the reaction.
The thrashing.
He couldn't breathe.
There was a tube down his throat.
He needed to get it out.
Get it out.
Get it out.
He thought he opened his eyes. They felt like they were open at any rate, but he couldn't see anything.
Get it out.
One of his hands smacked into his face. Uncoordinated like when you slept on it for a few hours and it was dead until the blood came rushing back. He smacked his other arm into his face.
Or tried to.
It seemed to be strapped to his body.
He arched off the bed, struggling and kicking and thrashing to try and figure out what was going on.
The one hand that wasn't strapped to his body finally managed to close its fingers around the tubes.
Who put them in there?
Where was he?
He needed to get it out.
He needed to attack the people who took him out.
Where was he?
Get it out.
The hand squeezed the tubes. He choked and gasped as oxygen was cut from his system.
Then, he pulled.
"If you pull that fucking tube out of your throat, I will cut off your goddamn hands," a voice growled. Someone grabbed his hand and yanked it away from the tubes.
Vision started to come back. Slowly. Blurry. But clear enough that he could see the person holding him down; holding his hands down. A target. That's all he needed.
He relaxed just a fraction, enough for the person holding him to also relax; believing Rex was no longer fighting.
Rex jerked up and slammed his head into the person's nose.
"Fuck, Rex!" He jerked back, holding his face and letting go of him in the process.
Rex took this opportunity to roll off whatever he was currently on (bed, maybe?). Not his brightest idea. The tubes wrapped around his body. Once more oxygen disappeared from his lungs and he landed on the bound arm. Sharp, stabbing pain shot up his left side. It felt like someone had put his arm through a meat grinder and then stepped on the mangled remains.
"Captain, calm down! Stop before you hurt yourself," the person said, rushing to untangle Rex from the tubes and wires that seemed to be all over him. "It's me. It's Kix. I don't want to have to sedate you again. Just relax," the person said.
Kix…. It… it sounded like Kix. The threat of cutting his hands off fit the man, at the very least.
He turned his head towards him and did his best to focus. The image was still blurry beyond belief; like he had opened his eyes underwater. But… it did look like Kix. At the very least, Rex had woken up enough times with blurry vision and a pissed-off medic to know what Kix looked like when out of focus.
Was he in a med-bay? That'd make sense since Kix was here. It didn't seem like their med-bay, though. It was grey. And dark. And the humming engines of the ship seemed off.
"K-x". He tried to speak, though the tube in his throat made that impossible.
"Yeah, it's me. Try not to talk. I'm going to lift you back up on the bed, okay? One, two, three."
Rex let out a grunt of pain as his body was hauled up off the floor and back onto whatever he had been lying on before. It certainly didn't feel like a bed. It wasn't soft enough, even compared to the shit they had in the barracks.
"Calm now?" Kix asked.
Rex didn't know if he would describe his state of mind as 'calm'. From what he could gather, though, he was in some sort of medical facility getting treatment. And Kix was the one providing it to him. Which meant someone wanted him alive. Not exactly comforting though since POWs existed, but Kix didn't seem that panicked at the moment. Rex could work with that.
Kix chuckled. "Yeah, I figured. You're calmer, though. Not trying to headbutt me." He started fiddling with the wires and tubes. "How many times do I have to tell you guys not to use your heads as weapons? Every time. Every time! Fives did the same thing when he woke up. You're teaching them bad habits. Anyways, you're stable enough for now so I'm going to pull the tube out of your throat. I need you to cough as hard as you can. It'll hurt like a bitch. We don't have a ton of painkillers so I need to ration them. Understood?"
Rex hesitated. If Kix said it was going to hurt, then it was going to hurt . But, Rex was already in extraordinary amounts of pain on his left side from when he fell and it felt like someone was trying to split his head open with a knife. At this point, how much more pain could it possibly inflict?
He nodded.
"Alright, on three. One. Two." A hand grasped the tube while the other braced itself on Rex's uninjured (read: less injured) shoulder. Damn, how hard was this going to be that Kix needed leverage? "Three."
Rex did his best to cough as hard as he could. At first, it was the cough that hurt. It rattled his ribcage and caused muscle spasms in his back. He didn't even notice the tube. And then Kix started to pull.
Wow.
He was not kidding.
It felt like the man was trying to rip out his esophagus and windpipe. He could feel the long tube pulling against the walls, scraping them, catching on the ridges. It felt like little wires were being pulled from every individual artery and vein in his body. And it just kept going. Rex was not that tall nor did he have that long of a torso. But it kept going. Seemed to drag on for miles. And he could feel every inch. Scrapping. Scratching. Pulling.
And then it was out.
But the torment wasn't over yet.
Rex started gagging. Body seizing once more as vomit made its way up his torn-up esophagus and out his mouth.
Kix acted quickly. He leaned Rex over his arm so he could vomit his guts out and not choke on it. Force that hurt! Were his ribs free-floating in his body? Was that why every movement seemed to aggravate them so much?
And was he puking into a bucket, or just on the floor? He tried to open his eyes to see but was met with still blurry vision, now made even blurrier by the tears leaking out of his eyes. And if that wasn't bad enough, there was also snot coming out of his nose. Great. Just what he needed.
"Disgusting," Kix said as Rex finished up. He sat him back on the bed. "Sorry, Captain. They don't have a bacta tank so I basically had to turn you into one. Quite a feat, I must say. When all this is sorted out, I'm going to write up a paper on it and submit it to the Coruscant Medical Society. I wasn't even sure if it was going to work. But, well, you're alive right now and some of your more critical injuries are less critical. At the very least it stabilized you. Your chest isn't caved in anymore, which is nice."
"They?" Rex rasped. He decided not to comment on anything else Kix said. The less he knew about the procedure, the less he had to think about how he had come inches from death. He went to pull at the tube in his nose.
"I swear," Kix said, batting his hand away once more. "I just tell you your chest was caved in and you still try to yank things out of your body. That tube stays in for a little longer. Don't test me. I will sedate you if I have to."
" Me'vaar ti gar? The men? Where are they? You mentioned Fives?" Rex asked.
"Well aren't you chatty now that you're not trying to use your head as a weapon," Kix huffed. "They're around here somewhere. Most of us got away with mild injuries because we were all strapped in. You, on the other hand, turned into a human projectile and launched yourself out the window. It's a miracle you survived. And by miracle, I mean only someone as talented as me was capable of keeping you from dying."
Rex rolled his eyes. Ow. "Thank you for your impeccable skills. I'll put it in your annual report." He snarked. "How long?"
"About a week is how long you've been out. You still have to take it easy. We're working with scrapped medical equipment from crashed ships."
Rex squeezed his eyes shut and gave himself a moment to center himself. Now that he knew the rest of the men were alive and not on the brink of death, he had to gather as much information as possible before he started deciding his next moves.
"Can you start at the beginning? Where are we? Who is 'they'? What happened to the ship? The mission?"
"Yeah, sorry about that," Kix said. "The basic story is that our ship crashed on a moon. Echo thinks it was sabotaged. Some scrappers caught us on their scanners and went to go see what they could scavenge when they found us. And you're not going to believe this."
He leaned so he was poking his head out the door. "Shiny, get your shebs in here!"
"Yes, sir!" Someone called. It didn't sound like any of the men Rex had been with when they had crashed. Maybe the scrappers were nice enough to drop them off with a nearby battalion. Though, the more his vision came back the more he saw how very much not a part of the GAR this ship was.
He seemed to be in some sort of spare parts room. There were piles of junked mechanical parts scattered around that would put General Skywalker's hoard to shame. And if they were with a battalion or company, why wouldn't Kix just tell him the Commander or Captain in charge? Unless they were trying to keep their survival on the down low since the ship was purposefully messed with.
His questions were not answered as a trooper skidded through the door. And, oh. He was a very shiny, shiny. Practically a tubie with how young he was. And if Rex could tell that with his current, shitty vision, then he had to assume the kid was even younger when he could see clearly.
"Who the fuck are you? Who's battalion are we with?" Rex asked.
The shiny snapped into a salute. "CT-8895, sir! My name is Robin, sir! You aren't with any battalion, sir! You're with some scrappers, sir!" Yup, a very shiny, shiny indeed. Only shinies who had been fresh off Kamino still stuck 'sirs' onto the end of every sentence. Unless you were Dominoes. Then it seemed like a requirement to be as insubordinate as possible.
But that's not what caught Rex's attention. "What do you mean we're not with a battalion? You abandoned your post?"
It wasn't the first time he had run into such a thing. Was this kid like Cut? Losing all his brothers with no choice but to run or be killed?
The shiny flinched, though never dropped the salute, still in perfect, upright military posture. "I… I didn't have any other choice, sir. Commander Fox didn't want me to get decommissioned, so he had me join Captain Mian's crew, sir. I didn't want to go, sir. Really, I didn't want to abandon my posts or my brothers, sir. But the Commanders said I had no other choice."
Rex pinched his brow and took a very deep breath. "What happened? Who's Mian and why did Commander Fox send you here?"
The shiny flinched again. "I can't really remember, sir. I think I killed Cad Bane when he was in Guard Custody, sir. That's what I was told, anyway, sir. I don't really remember.
Now this got his attention. He turned to Kix, who just shrugged.
"Yeah, looks like we weren't the only ones here dealing with a shit show. From what I can gather, Robin here blacked out and when he blacked back in, Bane was dead and another brother had been attacked.
"Crescent," Robin said softly.
"And you've had no history of this sort of thing beforehand?" Rex asked.
Robin shook his head. "I can't remember much. There was a voice, though. I remember a voice. It sounded familiar. It wanted me to do it. I didn't want to, but I couldn't resist."
"Yeah, there are a couple of mental health issues that could be pointing to," Kix said.
"I'm not crazy!" Robin snapped.
"Never said you were."
"I don't think he's crazy either," Rex said. "If it was just a psychotic break, I don't see Commander Fox going out of his way to get him off of Coruscant. If anything, the long necks would want to get ahold of him to make sure this sort of thing isn't going to happen to the rest of us."
Robin paled at the implication of being cut apart by the Kamioans for research purposes.
Kix sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Commander Fox and Commander Wolffe found some people willing to take him and then smuggled him off of Coruscant. It sounded like it was a real production, complete with a daring prison escape, the attempted murder of Commander Stone, and a morgue visit."
Rex felt like the longer Kix spoke, the more questions he had.
Robin flinched as Kix ran through the details. "We must have left right after you did, sir. Captain Mian's got this tracker that can find freshly crashed ships. She stopped to scrap yours and, well, I recognized you. She did too. She and the rest of the crew like Commander Tano's series. And I think… I think she and Commander Wolffe are in a relationship? Or something? It was unclear."
Rex grimaced. "I will kill myself if Wolffe's dick is the reason we're alive right now."
Kix laughed and nudged his shoulder. "Well, his dick, Commander Fox's flair for the dramatic, and Ahsoka's series all worked together to make sure we're alive right now. You should thank all of them. Maybe with a nice fruit basket?"
Rex wrinkled his nose. "Ahsoka can get a fruit basket. The rest of them have some explaining to do."
"Whatever you say." He turned to Robin. "Can you get Captain Mian? I think the Captain would like to talk to her and now that he's up, we can start making plans. And if you run into the other brothers, send them my way."
"Yes, sir!" Robin practically sprinted out of the room.
"And you can drop the 'sir' at the end of every sentence," Rex shouted after him.
"Sorry, sir!"
"Quit apologizing," Kix yelled.
"Sorry, sir!"
Kix shook his head. "That is one high-strung cadet. I can't imagine how Commander Fox handled him. Now that you're a little more conscious, how are you feeling? Where's the bulk of the pain at?"
"My chest," Rex said, complete with a rattling cough that ripped through his muscles. "Feels like the bones and muscles went through a juicer." He tried to adjust himself to a position that put less pressure on the left side where the pain was the greatest. It didn't help much.
"Yeah, I'm worried about pneumonia. We're going to have to keep an eye on that. Anything else?"
"My vision's a bit blurry. It's better than when I woke up but still not great."
Kix hummed thoughtfully and shined a light in his eyes. "That's to be expected due to the head trauma. It's not worrying just yet, given how injured you were. But, if it's not better in a few hours let me know. You might be the first trooper that needs glasses."
Rex made a face. "I would rather die."
"Don't be so dramatic," Kix scolded. "I'm glad you are alive. It was very touch and go there for a while. Like I said, I was doing a weird technique I had only read about theoretically working with a bunch of scrapped and damaged equipment. It's a miracle you're even awake right now."
"I know," Rex said.
There was a knock at the door.
"Sirs, this is Captain Mian, sir," Robin said, coming into the room followed by what looked like a Cathar. Damn, Wolffe. Was there anyone he wouldn't fuck? Was he trying to sleep with every sentient species in the galaxy or something?
Captain Mian laughed. "I like how he says 'sir' at end of every sentence! Very cute! Not cute like Wollfe though. Cute like little baby!"
Rex wrinkled his nose. He felt like vomiting again. The less he knew about what his ori'vod got up to on shore leave, the better.
"We are very happy you are awake, Captain Rex. We are big fans of your series. Creche to Command! So happy to meet you in person," she said cheerfully. "You are as handsome as on screen. Very handsome!"
"Thank you, sir. And thank you for helping us out," Rex said.
"Ah, you call me 'sir' too! Very cute. Very cute. And it is no problem, helping you." Captain Mian waved a hand at him. "We get lots of money from your ship. Lots of money. Good materials. You have paid us well for transport."
Nice to know she was in it for the money and considered their mangled ship 'payment' for not dying horrible deaths. At least she was honest.
"How long are you willing to let us stay with you?" Rex asked.
Captain Mian hummed and tapped her chin. "There is moon coming up. A day or two. We drop you off there. You do not provide more money, so you go. You use medical supplies, so you go." She was still smiling at them.
"Thank you," Kix said, "for letting us stay and use your medical supplies for now."
"It is no problem! Your ship provides payment for us, so it is okay. But soon, it will not be enough. So, you go."
"And the rest of the men? How have they been?" Rex asked.
Captain Mian beamed and clapped her hands together. "I have them clean and maintain ship! That is why I do not kick you off right away. They are able-bodied. But, I do not have room on my crew. I only have room on my crew for Robin. So, you go."
Fair enough. Rex supposed even scrappers had to make a living. And medical supplies were expensive. Not to mention they were probably eating into Mian's rations and water.
"We're grateful for the help you've already given us," Rex said as sincerely as he could manage through the pain. "Thank you."
"It is no problem. You tell Ahsoka Tano we are big fans of her series, yes? I like Med Bay episode, very fun!"
"Lady, you just saved us from dying on a deserted moon. I will do whatever the fuck you want," Rex said.
Captain Mian beamed again. "Good! I go manage crew now. And rest of your crew will be down in few minutes. They are cleaning cargo hold. Goodbye!"
She waved to them and stepped out of the room.
"She sure is something," Rex said.
"Yeah. And you only had to deal with her for a few minutes. Try a full week." Kix grumbled.
"She's very nice, though. And smiley." Robin said.
"Yeah, no. She's not smiling. She's showing off her teeth. She's a predator. She's threatening us," Kix explained.
Robin paled. "Do I have to be worried about that?"
"Fuck if I know. Just don't piss her off. If Commander Wolffe says she's fine then she's probably fine," Kix replied.
He picked up a scanner and ran it over Rex. He then cursed, smacked it on the wall a few times, and did it again. Then he dropped his head into his hands and asked why the universe hated him. Then, he took a deep breath and straightened back up.
"Shiny?"
Robin jumped into another salute. "Yes, sir!"
"I swear," he muttered, pinching his brow, "you can stop saluting us. We aren't with the GAR. We're all AWOL. What are we going to do? Court martial you?"
"Sorry, sir!"
Rex stifled a laugh. How he wished he could have observed stoic, chronically stressed Fox trying to deal with an over-eager, loud, by-the-books Shiny.
"Can you get me a scanner that actually works? The one I used on Fives should still be in the same place," Kix said.
"Right away, sir!" And just like that, Robin was off to the races, sprinting back down the hall like lives depended on him.
"How long was he off of Kamino for?" Rex asked.
"My guess is maybe a week or two," Kix replied. "Look, Captain, about the ship. Like I was saying, it was sabotaged."
"Yeah, no shit," Rex said. He tried to shift again to take pressure off his injured shoulder. Now the pressure was on his lower back. Was there any position that wasn't completely painful? "It had to be the Corries. I just don't get why they would sabotage the ship like that. No one checked it before we took off. They could have pretended to sabotage it. Maybe planted a message or something."
Kix shrugged. "You and I both know they were acting strange. I tried to ask Robin about it, but he couldn't come up with an answer. He hadn't been with the Guard long enough. But then I hear he blacks out, kills a man, and attacks a brother because some voice told him to? I ran scans and did the tests, Rex. He wasn't suffering from a psychotic break."
"You think the Corries messing with the ship blacked out too?" Rex asked. If that was the case, then that had very big implications that were also very worrying.
"Can't say for sure. They seemed conscious and aware of where they were at. At least, when I saw them."
Rex hummed. "They didn't give us their names, though. Only a number. And the way they were speaking… it was stilted. Almost as if someone was feeding them words."
"Alright," Kix sat down next to him. "Let's say that both Robin and the Corries blacked out in the same way. Some voice came in and told them to sabotage the ship and they couldn't disobey the order. How does that happen? How far does it extend? Who's giving the orders? And what else can they do? Is it just the Corries or is it all of us?
"And does Fox know?" Rex added.
"He has to. His men can't be regularly blacking out without his knowledge."
"Is it regular though? Or is it this the first time it's happened?"
"Good point," Kix said. "I still say he has to. He went through a lot of trouble to get Robin off the planet. If Robin was the first person to blackout, I don't know if he'd react the same way."
"Why wouldn't Fox tell us, though?" Rex said. "This seems like a big thing to leave out. What if it happened to one of my men?"
"Who knows? There are a lot of questions, though. And not a lot of answers," Kix said.
"Here's a scanner, sir!" Robin said, practically skidding through the door in his haste to get it to them.
"Easy there, rookie. No need to break a bone getting this to me," Kix said, taking it from him. He frowned. "Where's the one I used on Fives? This isn't it."
"Oh, that exploded, sir," Robin said. Now that the scanner was out of his hands, he dropped back into a salute.
Rex was starting to think the gesture had less to do with the reg manual and more to do with the need for a familiar motion. It made sense. Robin hadn't gotten a chance to adjust to life off of Kamino and now he was expected to be completely isolated from his brothers and doing a job he wasn't prepared to do with people he wasn't prepared to serve. It was probably a lot for the kid.
"It… exploded?" Kix deadpanned.
"Yes, sir! Poof."
Kix once more groaned and pinched his brow. "Things that explode don't go 'poof'."
"Well, this one did, sir. Sorry sir. But this scanner does work, sir. Mind you, it's stuck on Scan Level 5, but it'll tell if there's anything wrong with the captain, sir!"
Kix took a deep breath. Rex could almost hear him say 'Force help me'. When Kix no longer looked like he was going to cry from frustration, he fiddled with the scanner and turned his attention back towards Rex.
"Whatever. If it tells me how close you are to dying, then it works for me. Hopefully, once we're back with the GAR, we can get you into an actual Bacta tank. I'm a miracle worker, but even my miracles have limits."
He started running the scanner over parts of Rex's body.
"Do you think it's a good idea for us to go back to the GAR?" Rex asked. "Palpatine and/or Tarkin just tried to kill us. And they damn near succeeded."
Kix hummed. "That's a good point. What do you think, Captain?"
Rex thought for a minute. "Let's not make any hasty decisions," he finally decided. "I just woke up. I feel like shit. I haven't had a chance to check in with any of the men yet. If Captain Mian says the moon is hospitable, at least for a few days, then we can use that time to figure out our next steps. On one hand, I don't want to put us in Palpatine's line of sight again. On the other hand, I don't want to leave Cody or the others in the dark. Someone, maybe not Palpatine, but someone has gone out of their way to try and kill Ahsoka and now us. If we had a secure way to contact Cody, then I say we lay low. But we don't. Unless…"
He turned to Robin, who shook his head. "Sorry, sir, I don't know any unofficial comm codes."
"It's okay," Rex said. Well, there goes that plan.
Really though, both options he had out in front of him looked like shit.
Option A: They return to the GAR and put up bright, flashing neon signs over their heads that they had survived, leading whoever (probably Palpatine) had tried to kill them to maybe try again. And again. And again. And again.
Option B: Don't return to the GAR but also be completely on their own with no way of contacting Cody or the others to help run an investigation on Palpatine. They had no credits. No ship. No comms. No nothing. Who knew if this moon Mian was taking them to even had people on it?
It was times like these when Rex hated being the captain. Let someone else make the decision. Let someone else potentially fuck up the entire war by making the wrong move. He did not want the responsibility. No sir.
Kix ran the scanner over Rex's head. It beeped at him. He frowned and ran it over again.
"What is it?" Rex asked, pulled from his thoughts and back to the present. Nothing good ever came from a beeping scanner and a frowning Kix.
"It's saying you have… a tumor?" Kix said.
Despite the pain in his chest, Rex sat up straight. "Shit, seriously?"
Kix ran it over his head again. "No, no that can't be," he muttered to himself. "I've been scanning you constantly for the past week. Maybe the scanners were all on the fritz and that's why they didn't catch it? No, but Corric scanned you five weeks ago when you got blackout drunk. The size of it suggests that it's been there for a while. He should have caught it. It's the scanner. It has to be the scanner. Shiny! Get over here!"
"Yes, sir!" Robin said. He dropped the salute, trotted over to them, and then immediately snapped back into a salute.
"For Force's sake, quit," Kix said, pulling his hand down. "I need to scan your karking head."
The scanner beeped once more.
"Right temple. Both are in the right temple," Kix muttered. He scanned it again. It beeped again.
"Same size. It shouldn't be the same size. It's the scanner. It has to be the scanner."
"Oh, hey look who's finally alive!" Fives said, ducking through the door along with Echo, Tup, and Hardcase. "Finally up and about, Captain? Had a nice long rest while the rest of us have been slaving away cleaning this ship! Also, I know Commander Wolffe fucked the captain, but I'm pretty sure he also fucked the first mate and I don't know if they know."
Echo groaned. "Can we please stop gossiping about our Commanders' sex lives?"
"Commanders? Plural? Yeah, I don't think so, Echo. Commander Wolffe appears to be the only one with a sex life. Don't know how he finds the time. Think he'd give me pointers."
"Fives, brother, there aren't enough pointers in the world that would help your game," Echo said seriously. He looked at Kix, brow furrowed. "What's up with you?"
Kix practically pounced on them, scanning each of their brains despite the protests. "It's all in there. Why is it in each of us? Same size. Same place."
"What's in each of us?" Hardcase asked, trying and failing to twist away from Kix's grip.
"Some sort of brain tumor. But that can't be." He finally let Hardcase go.
"Well, we don't know Prime's whole medical history," Tup said. "Maybe when he was in his twenties, he got a brain tumor."
Kix shook his head. "Do you really think the long necks would hire a guy with a history of brain cancer to be their template?"
"Maybe he didn't tell them," Tup said.
"Or maybe the Kaminoans thought we'd all be dead by the time it showed up," Fives added.
"Or maybe, the whole operation was illegal and off-the-books, and trying to find someone who wouldn't blab to the whole Galaxy narrowed the pool of potential candidates," Echo said.
"No," Kix said. "No, because even if that was true, we're all different ages. Rex is the oldest, therefore he should be the furthest along. Robin is the youngest, so it should be the smallest or not even present." He turned to Robin. "Go, get the other human on board. I want to see if it's the scanner."
"Yes, sir!" Robin saluted once more before running off.
"Were that annoying when we were shiny?" Fives asked.
"Fives, you're still annoying," Echo sighed and pinched his brow. "Kix, it's probably just the scanner. All the medical equipment you've been using the past week has been scrapped, melded together, and repurposed. The scanner's faulty. That's all it is."
"I don't think so. Every other scan I've done hasn't been level five, but this one has. It only appears on level five scans and the scanner picks up the rest of the injuries very accurately. I know how to read scanners. And I know what faulty scanners look like. This isn't it."
They sat in silence, the upbeat mood the men had when they first walked in now subdued and worried. Rex probably should be saying something to rally the troops and their spirits, but he was too busy trying to think through the problem. Hopefully, Echo was right. The scanner was faulty. The other human would have the same tumor-like shape in his head and then they could start discussing if they should go back to the GAR or stay away.
Robin came back a few minutes later with a man named Harrison. Adult human male. Only a few standard years older than them. Apparently, a fan of Ahsoka's series (unclear about being a fan of Wolffe). He seemed nice enough. Kix scanned him. The scanner detected no tumors in his head.
"Cut back on the death sticks. You're going to get lung cancer," Kix said as he shooed him out of the room. He turned back to them. "Stay. I'll be back."
"Where are you going?" Hardcase asked.
"I'm scanning the rest of the crew just to make sure."
"There are no other humans on board," Echo said.
"Wow, I never would have figured that out, thank you Echo." Kix turned and pointed a threatening finger at them. "If any of you so much as step a toe out of this room, I will make your lives a living hell."
The door slid shut with a hiss.
Robin was the first to speak. "Dice was also really scary. Do medics get extra training on how to be scary back on Kamino?"
"Fuck if I know," Fives said. He sat down next to Rex. "How are you doing?"
"I'm alive. Right now that seems like all I need. You haven't contacted anyone in the GAR yet, right?"
"No. Wanted to wait until you woke up. Didn't want to alert Tarkin to the fact that we were still alive and kicking. We also think we figured out why we were targeted specifically."
"Oh?"
"We're all close to Ahsoka," Echo said. "Probably the closest brothers. Including Jesse, but, well, he was too injured to come. You especially, Captain, are close to her. Someone tried to kill her, but when that didn't work—"
"They went after us instead," Rex said, a sinking, sick feeling in his gut. "And if we go back, they're just going to try something else until she's finally dead."
"Maybe not," Tup said. "After all, we think it's her series that's what's making her a target. If she stops making it, then they'll stop going after her."
"But how do you tell a kid that they're the reason you almost died?" Fives asked. "Because if we do go back and tell her to stop making the series, she's going to want to know why."
"We'll figure it out," Rex said. Even though, truthfully, he had no fucking idea what he was doing. Every option was the bad option.
Kix came back about twenty minutes later. His face was grim.
"Nothing?" Echo asked.
Kix nodded. "Nothing."
"So, we all have brain cancer?" Fives asked.
"Not just any brain cancer, late stage, potentially terminal brain cancer. Only, I don't know if we do. No one here has reported any weakness or paralysis on one side of the body. Or loss of hearing or difficulty speaking. Rex has some vision problems but he was also launched through the windshield of a crashing ship. Robin just got off Kamino so they should have run every test under the sun and caught this. And it has not appeared in any scans we've done in the past. Something this big should have shown up a long time ago."
"Are you sure it's a brain tumor?" Echo asked.
Kix shrugged. "Not really. The fact that it's all uniform in size and shape despite all of us being different ages is throwing me off. The scan is only telling me that something's there that shouldn't be there. It's not telling me if it's organic or inorganic."
"That's not what worries me," Rex said. Damn, just when he was starting to work through the problem of whether to go back or stay away, the universe threw another wrench in the plan. "It didn't show up in any of our previous scans. It didn't come up with GAR scans. It's almost like…" He didn't want to say it out loud.
Saying it out loud would make it real.
Making it real meant he had to deal with it.
"It's almost like the long necks didn't want us to find them," Fives growled.
Kix nodded. "Someone didn't want us to find it, at the very least."
"Is there any way you can figure out what it is?" Rex asked.
"Not without taking it out of the head and analyzing it."
"Then take mine out," he said. Acceptance of the situation bled into his body and he felt almost… relaxed? Maybe resigned was the better word. Whatever the case, this was his burden to bear. He was the captain. He should be the one to take the risk if it meant keeping his men safe.
"Absolutely not!" Kix cried, tearing Rex from his calm acceptance of the situation.
Rude.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't even know what it does. It could be keeping you alive. It could be medicine that could be keeping you healthy. It could be a vaccine. It could be something that monitors your vital functions. I'm not risking taking it out of you."
"All those things are benign, innocent. There'd be no reason to hide these tumors behind a level five scan. And if it was medicine or a vaccine, shouldn't you, as the CMO, know it's there? What if you prescribe something that interacts with it in a negative way?" Rex argued. "You can't figure out what this thing is until it's out of our heads. So, take it out of my head."
"I don't feel comfortable putting you under the knife when you've barely survived your last set of injuries, especially for something that's not actively harming you," Kix argued back. He must have been taking lessons from Fives on how to be a stubborn bastard. "Brain surgery is very dangerous. One wrong move and I could lobotomize you. And, unlike the rest of your body, it's very hard for you to heal from even minor brain injuries."
"We need to know what it is and what it's doing." Rex snapped. "And the only way is to take it out."
"Take mine out then," Tup said quietly.
Everyone turned to him.
"What?" Rex asked.
He shrugged. "Take mine out. I'm relatively uninjured. And the Captain's right. It needs to come out. Someone wanted these things hidden. If we start doing brain surgery at the GAR, it will raise red flags. Someone already tried to kill us. Us poking around in our heads will only be more suspicious. And if we don't go back to the GAR, we'd have to find a clinic to take them out. But more than that, we'd have to trust that they won't turn us over to either side. We know Captain Mian won't. She's already proven that she's willing to not turn in troopers going AWOL. And they have medical equipment here that works well enough. So, let's use them while we're here. Take my tumor out."
Kix and Rex glanced at each other.
"You could die," Kix said. "This thing could be vital to keeping you alive and even if it's not, something could go wrong during surgery."
"Then it's better for me to die here in pursuit of the truth than to survive but lose the opportunity to find it," Tup said.
Kix sighed again. "Fine. Robin, ask Captain Mian if we can use the machine on level three for brain surgery. Just one. We're going to figure out what's happening."
Robin saluted. "Yes, sir!"
"I could take your place," Fives said. "You don't have to be the one to do it, Tup."
Tup shook his head. "No. I've made my choice. And I trust our medic."
"Maybe don't trust me until after you've woken up," Kix grunted.
*****
Surprisingly (and also maybe a sign that the Force or Universe or ka'ra or whatever was finally taking pity on them), Tup's surgery went smoothly. He was back on his feet in less than fifteen minutes. Whatever was in his head was large enough and easy enough for the machines to get out without damaging the rest of the brain. Kix had disappeared as soon as whatever was in his head was out of it to run some tests, leaving the rest of the crew (and Robin) huddling around Tup nervously; anxious to see if he would wake up.
Thankfully, he did. Groaning and sitting up with his own strength, rubbing a hand over his head, a patch of hair shaved and a white bandage slapped on to keep the rest of his brain from leaking out of his skull.
"How do you feel?" Fives asked as Echo came to his other side to scan him.
"Fine, I guess." Tup shrugged.
"Still have full control over your body?" Fives pressed.
Tup didn't answer right away. He sat there, brow furrowed, and thinking. "Actually… actually I feel better. Like there was this low-grade headache that was constant. And now it's gone. I don't feel so… weighted down? If that makes sense? My head's clearer."
"Well, your vitals are fine," Echo said. "I guess time will tell if what we took out of your head was necessary or not."
Kix came back in. His face was even grimmer than before, which was saying something. "It's a chip," he said.
"A chip?" Rex asked, turning towards him. "What kind of chip?"
Kix tossed him a small vial with an unassuming blob in it. "Technically, a chip like this could be used a couple of different ways. For people that have chemical imbalances in their heads, like depression or schizophrenia, it can monitor the chemicals your brain is producing. If one, like dopamine, gets too low or too high, it can send artificial signals or maybe even the chemicals themselves to balance things out. It can also be used for prosthetics like what Commander Wolffe and General Skywalker have. It's a way to send signals from the brain to the prosthetic so it reacts in real time just like a normal limb would. It has also shown some promise in helping people who have been paralyzed or had strokes in regaining some mobility, but that sort of use is still early research."
"But—" Rex urged.
"Why are we worried about a 'but'?" Hardcase asked. "That doesn't sound too bad. Force knows Prime wasn't the most stable guy in the world. And, with how much shit we go through, maybe the long necks just didn't want us offing ourselves after every hard mission. PTSD can be a bitch to deal with."
"But if that was the case," Kix said, "then they wouldn't need to hide it. If I were to do a scan of Commander Wolffe or General Skywalker's heads, I'd find their prosthetic chips on just a normal level one, maybe level two scan. If I were to pull some random person with bipolar depression off the street, I'd be able to find their chips. Someone went out of their way to hide this. And that's what makes me worried."
"I don't get it," Robin said. "How much damage could a chip that helps control our brain chemicals cause?"
"A lot," Kix replied. "Technically, and this is all theoretical because no ethics board would ever consent to tests, but technically chips like these could be used to completely erase a person's free will. These chips are designed to interrupt brain signals and create different ones. It's not out of the question that if someone were a good enough scientist, they could create something that completely overrides our ability to control our bodies."
"Like having someone kill a high-profile prisoner," Rex said, looking toward Robin.
Robin blanched. "You think I was controlled by one of those things?" The poor kid looked like he was about to puke. Hardcase patted his back and handed him a bucket.
"I don't know." Kix sighed. "I don't have the tools here to do a deep dive into the programming. What I do know is that it's suspicious. And there's already evidence that they may have already been used to erase a trooper's free will. So, Captain, what is our next move."
Yes. Right. Their next move. He was the captain so ultimately it would be his decision what they did next. He had to think through this carefully. Things had gotten more complicated. Before, the only thing he needed to worry about was potentially getting targeted again, or Palpatine and Tarkin escalating their attacks until Ahsoka finally did quit the series. Now there were chips, in their heads, that may force their bodies to kill people without their consent.
They needed to figure out what the chips did and who was in control of them. Was it the Kaminoans? Was it Palpatine? Was it a Jedi? And they probably needed to tell someone about them. They couldn't stay with Captain Mian. She had been very clear that she had no room for them on her ship and they didn't have money to pay to stay. In a few days, they were landing on the moon and they were getting off this ship and on their own.
If they decided not to go back to the GAR, they'd be on their own to get a ship and find facilities. They had recognizable faces and might be discovered. If they were sent back to the GAR, they'd be charged with abandoning their posts. If they were lucky, they'd spend the rest of their lives in prison. If they were unlucky (and Rex believed they were very unlucky) they'd be sent back to Kamino and decommissioned. If they were caught and sent to the Separatists, they'd be tortured for information until they were ultimately killed.
Even if they didn't get caught, they'd still have to figure out a way to get in contact with Cody, Fox, or Wolffe and tell them what they found. Not to mention that just getting materials would be next to impossible. They didn't have credits so they'd either have to steal a ship and break into facilities, or work and put off analyzing the chip. If they broke into facilities and stole ships, that would put them on the map, with possible bounties on their heads. If they worked, they'd have to likely do less than legal work. Again, they were abandoning their posts and had no documents to suggest they were even citizens. Less than legal work was dangerous. It'd put them in contact with people who might not think twice about stabbing them in the back. And working in general might take too long to save enough money to test the chips.
If they decided to go back to the GAR, on the other hand, Palpatine and Tarkin would know that their attempts to kill them had failed. He might try again. He might get desperate and wipe out the whole battalion. He might frame Rex and the others for something and have them arrested and decommissioned. And even if he didn't do all of that, he'd be watching them. There were cameras everywhere. And where there weren't cameras, there were listening devices. All of their datapads and comms and consoles were monitored by the GAR. All of Kix's equipment automatically sent reports to the GAR for record keeping. They didn't get shore leave often. And their stipends probably weren't enough to pay for a testing facility. There would be no way for them to analyze the chips if they went back to the GAR.
Unless…
Unless they weren't the ones analyzing the chips. They could be the red herrings. Whoever tried to kill them, be it Tarkin or Palpatine or some random mob boss Rex had never met, would be distracted by their sudden and miraculous survival. They'd be focused on Rex and his men, not what the rest of the GAR was doing. And, if they were attacked again and the attack did succeed, the investigations into the chips wouldn't die with them. It would be dangerous for Rex, but he was willing to take that chance.
He cleared his throat. "If anyone wishes to remain presumed KIA, I will not stop them. I'll fill out the paperwork and you can be free. I will understand. I am going back to the GAR."
"Then I'm going back too," Fives said. "Someone needs to keep your ego from getting too big."
"I should go back too," Kix said. "I know where the chips are, how to find them, and how to remove them. It'll be faster if and when we tell the other medics if I'm there to train them."
"I should head back too," Tup said. "I'm the only trooper that we know of without a chip. If these things activate, I can at least stun you or something."
"I'll go back too. Mostly to keep Fives in line," Echo said.
Fives elbowed his gut.
"I'm not getting left behind," Hardcase said. "If all of you are working on this conspiracy, then I want to work on it too."
It warmed Rex's heart to see how loyal his men were. "We might be targeted again by the people who tried to kill us and Ahsoka. And they'll watch us like hawks."
"So, then nothing will change," Fives said.
"Um," Robin piped up, "I don't suppose I could tag along."
"No, shiny. You can't tag along. Fox went out of his way to get you off Coruscant. How are we going to explain it when you show back up?" Rex said.
"Right. Just thought I'd ask."
"What about the chips? If we're going back, we won't be able to investigate them." Echo said.
"We won't be the ones investigating them." Rex turned to Robin.
Before he could get a word in edgewise, the kid blanched once more and shook his head. "Oh… no… no, that's not a good idea no. I'm not trained enough for that. No."
Rex groaned. Alright. There went Plan A.
"What about Commander Cody?" Fives suggested.
"No, he's too close to us. If Palpatine wants us gone, he'll be watching Cody closely," Rex said. "Especially if he's looking for ways to stop Ahsoka from posting. She's close to him too."
"What about Hunter's crew?" Echo suggested.
"Clone Force 99? The batshit insane crew?" Tup asked.
"You mean the totally awesome crew," Hardcase scoffed. "I've always wanted to do a mission with them."
"They were weird when I was on Kamino. And Crosshair was mean," Robin shuddered.
Echo stood up and started to pace. "No, but think about it. The nature of their missions requires them to be away from prying eyes. They're some of the least monitored troopers in all the GAR. Half the time no one knows where the fuck they're at. Not only that, but Tech has a shit ton of stuff he tinkers with in their ship and their bunks. Something like this wouldn't even be looked at with all the garbage they have scattered around. And the long necks pretty much have given up on trying to stop him from hacking into the systems and running his own tests. They could hide in plain sight."
"That's not a bad idea," Rex said. "We'll need to get in contact with them. Figure out some reason for them to land in one of our war camps or on the Resolute."
"Shouldn't be that much of a problem," Echo said. "Like I said, no one knows where they are or what they're doing half the time. If they show up for a quick resupply, it'd be believable. They do that sort of shit all the time."
"Then it's settled. We give the chip to Hunter's crew and have them contact us when they've found something."
"Will we tell anyone else about this?" Hardcase asked. "Commander Cody or General Skywalker?"
Rex shook his head. "Not until we know what they do. If they are mind control chips, we cannot risk them getting activated. And, the more people that know, the more likely the person who put them in our heads is to find out. We'll keep it between us for now. As soon as we know more, we'll bring Cody in. For now, let's just focus on getting to the moon and getting in contact with the GAR."
"Yes, sir."
Rex hoped he was making the right decision. This was big, and potentially could completely shift the tides of the war. If he made one wrong move, they would be done for.
*****
The moon Captain Mian dropped them off on was decent enough. It had a breathable atmosphere with grasslands that turned into dense coniferous forests as you went up in elevation. There were no signs of other sentients on the moon, not even an abandoned base. There were a few animals for Rex and the men to hunt if they needed to while waiting for pickup (Thank the Force all those hunting trips with Ahsoka were paying off).
In the two days it took for them to get to the moon, Rex's condition had improved rapidly. His vision was almost completely back to normal, though he still had trouble focusing on things very far away and sometimes got black spots dancing in his line of sight. Kix had continued to pump him with a truly worrying amount of bacta, but it did the trick and healed up most of his injuries almost all the way. His shoulder and collarbone were still shot and he struggled to take deep breaths. But he was better, and that was good enough for now.
He was surprised at how sad he was to see Robin go. The kid was still very anxious about leaving with Captain Mian, twisting his hands together and shuffling closer to Fives and Tup as if he could just blend in and stay with them. He felt bad, truly, he did.
He was reminded of Cut once more, only Robin's situation was worse in many ways. Cut had made a decision to leave his life behind. He had made a decision to stop fighting and live. Robin didn't have that choice. For as long as he lived, he'd probably never get to see his brothers again, forced to live with smugglers and scrappers and only hear about what was going on through snippets on the news. He did almost break down and allow the kid to stay, certain they could come up with some reason why there was an extra shiny tagging along.
But, if Wolffe and Fox thought it necessary to smuggle him off of Coruscant and stick him with some criminals, then Rex should abide by their wishes. Besides, now with the kid's new comm code in hand, it was good to have someone outside of the GAR monitoring the chip situation. Things could get sketchy fast and they may need to use Robin's position. Who knows, they may be using Captain Mian's stash of medical equipment to get these chips out.
Mind you, Mian was very clear that if they wanted to use the equipment, they were going to have to pay next time. That sounded like future Rex's problem.
In the meantime, he said goodbye to Robin. Fives, Tup, Echo, and Hardcase all hugged the kid tightly and told him they'd keep in touch.
All and all, very touching.
Then, just like that, Rex and his men were alone on an isolated moon somewhere on the outer edges of the mid-rim. Not another human in sight. Not another droid either. Just the call of bird-like creatures and the rustling of rat-like creatures whose names he didn't know. If they even had names, that is.
"Signal's too weak from down here," Echo said as he and Fives tried to get their transmission tower working; made up of more trash from crashed ships. Luckily for them, Skywalker was such a gearhead that most people in the 501st knew how to cobble together equipment with parts that were well past their prime.
"I think it's the mountain ranges, they're blocking us in the valley," Tup said, sliding down a small embankment from where he had been scouting. "We're going to have to get up on the mountains and above the tree line."
"That's got to be at least thirty-five hundred meters," Hardcase said.
"Not up for a little hike?" Fives punched his arm. "Come on, this should be a walk in the park for you. Besides, we're not starting from sea level. You don't even have any big guns to haul around and you've been complaining for the past week about how you don't have anywhere to run. So, run, Hardcase, run."
"It's not me I'm worried about," Hardcase said. His eyes slid over to Rex for a split second before quickly breaking the eye contact.
"Go. I'll be fine down here," Rex said, knowing what he was getting at. His lung capacity sucked, his knees hurt if he stood for more than ten minutes, and his balance was off because his arm was still strapped to his chest.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," Echo said as he wandered around with a scanner. "Scans didn't pick up large animals, but things don't have to be large to be deadly."
"Besides, we'll want a fast extraction." Fives added. "Once we send out a signal to The Negotiator it'll also alert the Seppies that we're over here. Or someone is. And we don't know who owns this moon. It's better if we stick together as a group."
"And, while we may be in better shape than you, we all were injured in the crash. Kix should be around all of us to keep monitoring. Especially since this will be our first real test of fitness since we crashed," Tup added.
Rex attempted to glare them into submission. Sadly, they were all getting immune to his glares and didn't seem bothered by it.
"Come on, Captain, we're burning daylight," Fives said, smacking Rex on the back. "Tup, which of these mountains is going to be the easiest to get up?"
Despite Rex's frustration with the knowledge that he was going to swell, he also felt proud of Fives. He was coming into his own as a leader, A far cry from the shiny he had met on Rishi. Maybe one day he'd make captain.
Tup directed them towards a mountain about ten clicks east that seemed to have a more gentle slope and more stable terrain.
They had gone back and forth about whether to contact The Resolute or The Negotiator. In the end, Rex was worried that Skywalker would have problems controlling his emotions and might muck up the whole operation. Or call Palpatine to give them the good news. The man was going to find out eventually, but they wanted to put that off for as long as possible. Kenobi, on the other hand, knew how to break rules without really breaking them and could be trusted to keep a clear head during the extraction.
Of course, that meant that Rex was going to have to go longer without seeing Ahsoka, which killed him. They had left things on such a bad note, and he knew her well enough to know she would probably blame herself for this. Even if, logically, she had nothing to do with it. He wanted to hug her tightly and tell her everything was okay. He wanted to apologize for being overprotective and not telling her about Jesse. He wanted to assure her that he trusted her with his life and that he overreacted out of his own fear, not because of anything she did.
That would have to wait.
Hopefully, in a few days, he'd be back home and could tell her everything he had wanted to tell her the day he left Coruscant.
It took them another two days to get above the tree line. With the increase in elevation also came less oxygen and Tup was right. None of them were in great shape. Rex was still the worst of the bunch, but at least he wasn't the only one panting and asking for breaks.
They reached the tree line in the morning of the second day. It took them another hour to find a stable enough place to set up the communications tower and camp.
"What time do you think it is on the ship?" Echo asked. "Would we be waking them up?"
"I don't know and I don't care," Rex said. "I doubt they would either."
It took another four hours of tinkering around with the comms before the signal was finally strong enough and stable enough to try contacting The Negotiator.
When Rex first saw the trooper answer, he thought he might cry, even if the image was fuzzy and cutting in and out with static.
"Who are you and how do you have this code?" The trooper demanded.
"This is Captain Rex of the 501st, is Commander Cody there?"
The trooper leaned in, trying to see Rex's face through the static to see if he was a commando droid in disguise. None of them had their full kits, especially not Rex's helmet, which was good because that meant the trooper could see his face.
When the image stabilized enough, the trooper let out a shocked gasp and called for someone to get the commander and the general.
"Sir, you've been MIA for a week and a half. Presumed KIA," the trooper said. "Is your squad all alive?"
Rex bit the inside of his cheek. This was the GAR network which meant everything was being recorded. What he wanted to say was 'Seriously? It only took a week before Palpatine declared them dead? Could the man be any more obvious?'
What he actually said was. "We're all alive. Fives, Tup, Echo, Hardcase, and Kix. All injured, though I got the worst of it. Sorry about that, trooper. Pirates attacked us, we think."
"You think?"
"Someone attacked us and crashed our ship. According to the scrappers that picked us up, it was pirates. But who knows? We weren't able to confirm before we crashed."
That was the story they had decided on. No need to let Palpatine and Tarkin know that they knew the ship had been sabotaged.
"Scrappers?"
"It's a long story, trooper. You can listen in when the commander and general get here."
"Yes, sir. I look forward to it. Sounds like you boys had a terrible week."
"Oh, it was."
Not long after, a very bedraggled-looking General Kenobi stepped into the frame. This proved that they were calling in the middle of the night cycle for him. It was almost comical to see the normally put-together man looking so frumpled. His hair wasn't brushed neatly back. His robes were all askew. He wasn't wearing any of his armor and Rex was pretty sure the ties that kept his outer robe together were tied to the wrong ties, leaving weird gaps and folds in the cloth.
"Captain Rex, is that you?" he asked, squinting at the image. His voice was rough and he ran a hand through his hair with a yawn.
"Yes, sir. I hear we gave everyone a scare. Sorry about that, sir."
General Kenobi waved a hand at him and yawned again. "Don't apologize. I'm sure things were out of your control. You're safe now, and that's all that matters. Though, I do hope you know where you're at. We've been sending out scouting teams for the past week and haven't found any evidence of you."
"Yes, sir. Sorry about that." Rex rattled off the coordinates of the moon.
General Kenobi looked much more awake. He narrowed his eyes. "What in the blazes were you doing all the way out there?"
Rex winced. "To be fair, sir, we were picked up by scrappers and spent the week recovering on their ship. We didn't crash on this moon and that's probably why you couldn't find us with your scouting teams."
General Kenobi stroked his beard. "I see." There was something about the way he spoke that told Rex he was very suspicious of something. Maybe Tarkin hadn't covered his tracks as well as he thought. In which case, Rex was glad they decided to call General Kenobi instead of Skywalker.
Someone called that there was a commander on deck and Rex felt his entire body relax. Even as a cadet, he firmly believed that so long as Cody was there, everything would be okay. As he grew older, he knew that Cody wasn't powerful enough to stop every bad thing from happening, but that belief still bled over. So long as Cody was there, on the line, Rex would be fine. Everything would be fine. Now he was safe. Now the nightmare was over.
Cody stepped into the frame and froze when he saw Rex.
"Commander," Rex said.
Then, Cody did something Rex didn't think he was capable of. He shoved Kenobi out of the frame and leaned in close.
"Listen here, you little shit, do you have any idea how worried I've been?" he growled.
Behind him, Hardcase and Fives snickered.
Any sense of professionalism that Rex was still holding onto in the presence of General Kenobi dropped. "Why are you pissed at me? This wasn't my fault!"
"I don't care whose fault it was! You know what? I'm calling Seventeen and getting a full list of drills he'd have you run in this situation."
"Um, Cody," General Kenobi said, sheepishly peaking into the frame.
"Not now! I'm not done yelling at Rex."
"Okay then. I'll let you finish." He ducked out of the frame.
"Cody, come on, Don't call Seventeen. He'll make me do ten rounds of Soul Crusher and Leg Destroyer."
"Good idea. Ten rounds of Soul Crush and ten rounds of Leg Destroyer." Cody said.
Fives couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and was hunched over, clutching his stomach and slapping his thigh. "He's yelling at you like a cadet." He gasped in between laughs.
"I don't know why you're laughing. That includes you, trooper," Cody said.
Fives' laughter immediately died down. "Come on! The Captain's right. It's not our fault."
"Nice to know you'll jump to my defense when it also impacts you," Rex grumbled.
"That's the funny thing, I don't care whose fault it is," Cody said. He glared at them for another beat before his expression softened. "Hang tight. We'll be there in a few hours."
"Thanks, ori'vod," Rex said.
The call ended, leaving him feeling a bit anxious but otherwise okay. Cody was on his way. This was almost over. Kix helped him sit down on the ground and ran a scanner over his body.
"Are we worried about Palpatine launching an attack on us in the meantime?" Tup asked.
"Not really," Rex said. "It'd look suspicious if we get attacked when the only people who know where we currently are are General Kenobi's crew."
"Could make it look like pirates or slavers," Fives said. "Especially if these are control chips in our heads. He can make brothers come to attack us without their consent."
Rex hummed. "I know. But we don't have any other choice. Mian dropped us off here and the only way to get off this moon is to call for someone. Besides, we need to get the chip to Tech. It's the only way we can know for sure what's going on. Pair up for watch. I want two people circling and monitoring the atmosphere at all times. The minute a ship hits, contact them and request their codes. If we don't know them or they're brothers answering to numbers and not names, we'll make for the valley on the west side and corral them through the opening. Set blasters to stun for brothers. If they can't control themselves, I don't want to kill them unless we have to."
"Yes, sir," they replied.
The moon was small enough so that days only lasted a few hours. Rex had gone through approximately three day/night cycles. The pain medication Kix had given him had worn off on the second one. He gritted his teeth and attempted to breathe through the pain.
Just as dawn was peaking on the fourth day, Echo called that there was a ship entering the atmosphere. Their communicator lit up and it was Cody on the other end, saying they were inbound, and responding to his name.
And then, a few minutes later, an LAAT landed right in front of them. The side slid open to reveal Cody, General Kenobi, their medic Helix, Waxer, Boil, Wooley, and a few other members of Ghost, jumping out to help them.
"Gentlemen, good to see you alive," General Kenobi said, coming up to greet them. "Though, 'well' remains to be seen."
"Thank you, sir," Rex said as Wooley and Boil helped haul him off the ground. "You didn't have to come get us yourself, though. Ghost alone would have been fine."
Actually, Ghost alone would have still been overkill. Kenobi had decided to send the best of the best.
"Nonsense," General Kenobi said, helping Echo off the ground. "Since this was such a top-secret mission, it only made sense that you be properly protected in case the Separatists were still after you. After all, while our assumption is that you were attacked by pirates because we were unable to recover the black box from the crash, there's no way to know exactly who targeted you."
All his words made sense, but it was the way he said them that threw Rex through a loop. They were said so pointedly that Rex was having a hard time believing that Kenobi didn't know this was a trap. Did Cody tell him? Or did he figure it out for himself?
Great, just what Rex needed. More complications! Palpatine was trying to kill them. There were chips in their heads that might be mind-control chips. And now Kenobi might be onto them. He needed to ask the quartermaster for pins and red string so he could make a conspiracy board at this rate.
"And rest assured," General Kenobi's eyes narrowed and his voice took on a dangerous edge. "I will be having words with the Chancellor about proper military protocol when it comes to these sorts of things. You should have never been sent on this mission without Anakin or Yularen's knowledge, even if it was top secret. The GAR may serve the Republic, but that doesn't mean the Chancellor can reassign men whenever he wants with little regard to how that impacts the rest of the battalion."
Okay, so Kenobi was about to get into a shouting match with the leader of the Galactic Republic. That would be… entertaining. Rex glanced at his brother, trying to get a read on this situation. But Cody was busy directing his men to do a quick scouting trip of the planet.
"Well, thank you, sir," Rex replied, not knowing how else to reply.
"Come on, on the ship, all of you," Helix shouted. "What kind of backwater medical treatment did you give them, Kix? I've never seen stitches so messy in my life!" He cried as he wrenched Fives' head around to look at him.
"Hey, I did the best I could!" Kix shouted back. "You should have seen the shitty equipment I was working with. And I invented a new bacta technique with the Captain."
"Oh, yeah?" Helix said.
"Yeah, so shut your mouth before I stick you on a ship made up of only spare parts from thirty years ago and see how nice your stitches look!"
General Kenobi sighed. "I'll go make sure Helix doesn't work himself up too much. Glad to see you're alright, Captain." He briefly placed a hand on Rex's shoulder before heading back to the LAAT to give more orders.
Once he was gone, Cody came up to Rex. For a minute, he said nothing.
Then, he pulled off his bucket. "Smugglers?" He asked, quirking a brow.
"They're big fans of Ahsoka's series. And of Wolffe. In two very different ways," Rex said, shuddering.
"Oh, ka'ra," Cody hissed. "Really?"
Rex nodded. "Captain and her second confirmed. Not sure about the rest of the crew though. Well, except for one. A newbie named Robin hasn't had a chance to meet the Commander yet."
Cody froze ever so slightly. Then he relaxed and let out an almost hysterical-sounding laugh. The kind of laugh where you're relieved but also still reeling from everything that's happened. "Talk about Force osik."
"I know. It's almost as if the universe planned this." His smile dropped. "How's Ahsoka by the way?"
"Like you'd expect. Jesse's been keeping an eye on her. She'll be happy you're back."
Rex nodded, still feeling very awkward standing here and acting like Palpatine hadn't just tried to kill him (and almost succeeded). Standing here like there weren't these strange chips in their heads. He wanted to tell Cody but was desperate so that his brother could give him some advice or tell him if his plan was a good one or not. But Kix didn't know how they were activated. There were cameras everywhere. They were going to be watched like hawks. He needed to wait. He needed to be patient.
"You look like shit," he finally said. It was true. Cody looked rough . Like he hadn't slept in several weeks and had been busy puking his guts out. Like he had been the one that almost died and not Rex.
"Like you're one to talk." He stepped forward, grabbed the back of Rex's head, and pulled him into a keldabe kiss. "I'm glad you're alright. We're going to figure this out so it won't happen again," he said softly.
"Yeah, sounds like the General is going to put those negotiator skills to work to yell at a Galactic leader."
Cody didn't answer him right away.
Rex felt his heart rate increase. He knew his brother well enough to know he was planning something else. He didn't know about the chips, though. And, if they made their move without all the information, they might risk activating them.
"Hopefully that's not until I get out of the bacta, though," Rex said cheerfully. "I want to see Kenobi tear Tarkin a new asshole."
Cody pulled back, a puzzled expression on his face. "Rex—"
"Just… just slow down. I just got back and I want to make sure no one's rushing into anything."
"Slow down? Rex, you almost died. So did Ahsoka. If we go any slower—"
"I know. But, you should slow down." He then signed out "Two months."
Cody studied him for a moment. "One." He signed back.
" Vor'e, ori'vod," Rex said.
"Don't mention it. Now come on, before Helix hurts himself trying to get Hardcase to lie down."
Rex laughed. "I can't believe him. We hike up a mountain and he's still bouncing off the walls."
Cody wrapped an arm around Rex's shoulder and led him to the LAAT. "I'm glad you're alright. Don't get in over your head."
"I won't." He hoped that was the truth.
Even through the pain, he could feel the tiny vial with the tiny chip pressing against his leg. It felt like it weighed a million pounds like the bulge in his pocket could be noticed by all. No one said anything.
One month.
One month to get in contact with Tech and figure out what the hell these things were. It was going to be tough but he could do it. He would get to the bottom of this conspiracy no matter what.
*****
Cody: You guys won't believe this
Cody: We found Rex
Wolffe: Alive?
Cody: Very much alive.
Fox: Thank the ka'ra. I'm glad, Codes.
Cody: There's more. You know that kid you smuggled off Coruscant?
Fox: Robin?
Cody: He and Wolffe's growing harem were the ones that picked them up.
Fox: Seriously? How's Robin doing? Is he doing okay? Did he have a panic attack?
Cody: He didn't tell me that.
Cody: What he did tell me was to wait a month before we kill Palpatine.
Wolffe: Did he hit his head? Why do we need to wait?
Cody: Didn't say. But we are still working on this. I don't care what Rex found, this needs to be dealt with.
Fox: You know, vod, if you want me to sleep, maybe you shouldn't keep finding things to investigate.
Cody: I'm being hands off on this one. I'll let Rex handle it. You focus on Palpatine.
Wolffe: Copy that.
Wolffe: I'm glad he's alive, vod.
Cody: Me too.
Notes:Mandoa:
Vor'e: Thanks
Ori'vod: Older Brother
Ka'ra: Stars
Me'vaar ti gar: Sit rep? How are you
Osik: Shit
Shebs: ass
Poor Cody, man. He just got to a point of acceptance and then Rex rolls in 20 minutes late with a Starbucks, acting like he's not been stressing out the ENTIRE GAR for the past week in a half.