Chapter 14 - part 12

Chapter 12: Trooper Shanties Part 2Notes:A new day, a new trooper song.

"The army goes rolling along" anyone?

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter TextThe camera focused to show five troopers with the signature 212th gold splashed across their armor. Waxer, Boil, and Wooley were the three recognizable faces, having their own Creche to Command Episodes to thank for that. But the other two were unfamiliar to those who had been following Creche to Command for a while. They may have been present in a few of the other videos, but no names were coming to mind.

"Hey guys," Waxer said, "Now, we don't normally do this sort of thing. But—"

"Those damn 501st di'kute think they got a better song than us!" Boil butted in.

"And they're wrong. Dead wrong," Waxer said.

"Absolutely," the unknown trooper on the left said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Doesn't even compare!" Wooley cried. "And to prove it, we're going to sing our best song and show you guys what actual good music is. Can't believe they thought The Battleships was a good song."

"And to help us out, Crys and Odd Ball are here," Boil said, gesturing to the two troopers.

Crys and Odd Ball waved.

"Alright, enough chatting," Waxer said. "Let's show the neverde an actual good song before they think we all have horrible taste."

And with that, the troopers started singing.

March along, sing our song, with the Army of the Rep

Count the brave, count the true, who have fought against the seps

We're the Republic and proud of our name

We're the Republic and proudly proclaim:

First to fight for the right

And to build Corrie's might

And the Army goes rolling along

Proud of all we have done

Fighting till the battle's won

And the army goes rolling along.

Then it's Hi! Hi! Hey!

The Troopers are on their way

Count off the cadence loud and strong

For where'er we go

You will always know

That the Army goes rolling along

They finished the song with cheering and clapping.

"And that, my dear audience, is an actual good song," Boil said, before shutting off the camera.

The number of people humming the song across the galaxy the next day increased by tenfold. General Grievous was most dismayed to hear it had spread like wildfire through his droid army. Eventually, Dooku had to tell him to just put up with it. They couldn't afford to replace the entire droid army.

*****

Ahsoka had spent much of the journey back to Coruscant fading in and out of consciousness. She did try to stay awake as much as possible, but her body just would not let her. She had tried to use the Force to speed the healing process along, but that ended in a disaster when she had a seizure instead. Coming to was probably the first time she had ever seen Kix frazzled and so very clearly afraid.

He had hugged her tightly and made her swear that she would never try such a thing again.

She promised and spent the rest of the journey mostly asleep with very short bouts of consciousness in between where Kix would shove cups of broth and water into her hands demanding she drink them all.

It annoyed her to no end. Ahsoka had always felt very in control of her body. She didn't know if it was a Jedi thing or a her thing. Either way, she knew how to move it to flip over blaster shots. She knew how hard she needed to push off the ground to make a jump. She knew where her arms were. Where her feet were. How fast her heart was beating. How heavy she was breathing. How high or low she was standing.

Aware of all of it. And able to control it down to the millimeter. Down to the heartbeat. Down to the breath.

Except now she had no control. She dropped off into sleep constantly, spilling soup and water all over her until a trooper had to literally sit with her and hold her hand up so she wouldn't spill anymore. Her hands were numb and tingly. Sometimes she couldn't feel her legs. Sometimes she woke up convinced that they weren't there anymore and tore at the blankets and quilts until she could see them. Just to make sure. Her vision went in and out of focus, sometimes blacking out completely even though she wasn't asleep.

Sometimes her heart and breathing were too fast and no amount of meditation could slow it down. Or sometimes it was too slow and she felt like she was suffocating, right on the edge of death, and unable to tell anyone what was wrong because not even she knew.

And the cold.

She had never felt more cold in her entire life.

Space was cold.

The ships they lived on were cold.

This cold was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It seemed that no matter how many troopers cuddled up with her or how many quilts they buried her in, she could never get warm. Kix finally banned them from putting any more blankets on her as it seemed like every trooper on the ship wanted to bury her in any they could get their hands on.

All in all, it was probably the worst experience Ahsoka had ever had in her life. Around Day 3 she was sick of sitting and sleeping all the time. Kix assured her that it was alright to sleep and that if they needed to get her fluids intravenously, they could do it. Rex practically begged her to sleep. The steady stream of troopers that filtered in and out of the med bay to sit with her said they didn't mind if she fell asleep during their shifts.

Ahsoka had never felt more loved.

And maybe for that reason, her emotions were all over the place. Forget trying to control her body, she couldn't even control her mind.

One time, while sitting and listening to Hardcase recount a particularly harrowing escape from Fox's men the last time he and Jesse went to Coruscant, she burst into tears, dropping her cup of broth and spilling the liquid all over her. Which only made her cry harder.

Poor Hardcase didn't know what to do and seemed torn between trying to convince Kix it wasn't his fault and trying to comfort her.

Kix simply calmed him down, took Ahsoka in his arms, and assured her that everything was alright.

And that was true. She knew that was true. She was fine! She survived! She was getting stronger every day! It would take more than Cad Bane to take her out!

But her hands still felt numb and her body still felt cold and sometimes when Kix was changing her bandages she caught sight of the ugly, twisted scar on her chest that would never go away and she couldn't walk and she couldn't control when she fell asleep and she couldn't even bathe herself because she couldn't stand and she felt like a live wire of emotion ready to spark and go off at a moments notice and she hated it.

She hated all of it.

She hated how the medbay smelled.

She hated that she couldn't move on her own.

She hated how everyone on the ship felt.

She hated that she couldn't go visit people.

She hated that she couldn't hold onto cups.

She hated that sometimes she just started crying for no reason and couldn't stop and she wanted everything to go back to normal!

But it wasn't going to go back to normal.

Not for a long time at least.

Because Kix was a miracle worker but even he couldn't get her battle ready with little-to-no medical supplies on a ship deep in separatist space in the outer rim. Her healing would be slow and painful. Her muscles had already started to atrophy despite Kix and Corric's best efforts to get her on some sort of physical therapy program. And it wasn't just the fact that her body needed to heal that was causing her stress either.

She had almost died.

Actually died.

There is no death. There is only the Force.

Yeah, that was a nice sentiment when you were meditating in the temple or trying to move on after a particularly hard campaign. But when it was you that was dying? A whole other issue.

She didn't remember much of the battle. But she remembered Rex being there. And how desperately she wanted to see him. He had his helmet on. But she wanted to see his face. She needed to see his face. She didn't want the last thing she saw to be his helmet. She couldn't remember if he had taken it off or not.

Now that she was a bit more cognizant, she hoped he didn't. It was dangerous to be in the middle of a battle with his head exposed.

But she needed to see his face.

She was glad Rex was the one who had stayed with her while Kix was there. All of the troopers were her vod. But Rex was different. Rex was more than that. He was her ori'vod. The one person she could count on to make everything okay. When Rex was with her, that meant that she was safe. No matter what happened.

Only, she hadn't been safe.

She had almost died.

And her mind refused to let go of that thought. Even as she slept, it sat there, whispering to her all that could have happened had Kix been a few minutes, a few seconds later.

There is no death. There is only the Force.

She felt guilty for even freaking out this much. There were actual people who died during the battle. She should be grateful and happy she had even survived. She was horrible for even reacting this badly. She should be assuring everyone that she was fine and joking with them about how bad of a shot Bane was and all that fun stuff.

After day four she finally felt like she had a good enough handle on her emotions to at least put up a front.

It didn't stop the feelings festering inside, but it seemed to make the rest of the men more relaxed so she counted that as a win.

Rex didn't seem convinced.

"Vod'ika,," he said one night as she desperately tried to fight sleep just a bit longer, "it's okay to not be okay. You went through a lot." His hand was running over her head, petting her. Doing a very good job at putting her to sleep.

"I'm fine, Rex," she mumbled, eyes drooping closed and letting her body relax against him. "I'll be back up in no time. And wiping the floor with Fives next time we spar."

Her chest ached and pulled at the thought of physical activity. Kix had her on a high amount of painkillers to make up for the fact that her body was basically left to its own devices to stitch itself back together. But sometimes she still got flashes of pain.

Rex just hmphed and hugged her tighter. "Remember, kid, if you fall we're here for you. Okay? You don't have to try and do this alone."

She nodded, yawned, and drifted off to sleep before she could formulate a response. Rex's words echoed in her head.

If you fall, we're here for you. It was a nice sentiment. One that Ahsoka so desperately wanted to be true.

But she was a Jedi. A commander. She should be at peace with the concept of death. She should be accepting when it happened to her.

So why did she wake up with sticky tear tracks down her face? Why did she have nightmares of Cad Bane looming over her and cutting off her legs before finishing the job with another blaster bolt to the heart? Why could she not accept the fact that she would take a longer time to heal?

And that is roughly how the rest of the trip to Coruscant went. Ahsoka fading in and out of consciousness. Troopers fussed about her. Her trying to make light of the situation. And her feeling as if she were slowly coming apart at the seams and desperately trying to keep herself together.

Things only became more chaotic once they got to Coruscant. While she wasn't fully aware of what was happening (thanks again, blood loss!), she did remember looking around her and thinking, 'When'd the 501st change their colors to red and gold?'

It was only when she saw Helix and Cas did she realize that she was now no longer surrounded by the 501st, but by the 212th and Coruscant guard as well. Anakin and Master Obi-Wan had also joined. There were a lot of hurried conversations between the medics about her stability. Bacta patches and injections were given to her along with a blood transfusion that Dice, the Corrie Medic, had somehow managed to get from Chap, the Rancor medic.

Rex and Cody were busy trying to coordinate with the Corries to transport her to the Halls of Healing. Apparently, Fox was worried whoever wanted Ahsoka dead would try a nice, good old-fashioned platform explosion if they landed the ship.

It was kind of funny, seeing everyone rushing about and panicking. She wasn't even dying (that she knew of, at least) but they were acting like she hadn't been perfectly fine and stable for the last… however many days she had been in hyperspace.

Eventually, they did figure out how to get Ahsoka off the ship and to the Halls of Healing. Master Obi-Wan and Anakin were right there the entire time, telling her in soft voices that everything was going to be alright and she was going to be alright. Rex and Cody stayed too. No one seemed to argue that they shouldn't. Kix and Corric went with, obviously, to both keep her stable on the ride over and to debrief the healers on what they needed to know.

Then, before she could blink, she had been shoved into the arms of the healers while Kix talked rapidly with one of them, making frantic gestures to his datapad with all her information on it. The healer didn't seem that annoyed with Kix's presence or the fact that he was being kind of bossy; nodding along solemnly to his instructions.

Eventually, and predictably, Ahsoka fell asleep once more. This time, instead of Rex's hand smoothing over her forehead to help her sleep, it was Anakin's. This time, she didn't have any dreams.

She woke up a few hours later feeling much better than she had since getting shot. She still felt emotionally drained and like she could fall apart at any second if she thought too much about what had almost happened. But she felt better. And she made quick work of telling everyone in the room (Cody, Rex, Anakin, and Master Obi-Wan hadn't left) that she was fine and everyone could stop fussing now.

She was in the Halls of Healing. Surrounded by Jedi and there was no way Bane would be stupid enough to try and kill her here.

If she could just convince them that she was fine, then maybe she could convince herself.

There was only one problem.

"No." She said, crossing her arms and pointedly glaring at Anakin.

Not long after she had woken up, two Corries had stepped into the room and introduced themselves as her guards for the foreseeable future. One of the Corries was named Archer. He had a pretty distinctive helmet design with notches carved out of the fin. The other Corrie, named Sol, had a sun motif bursting across the cheek of his helmet. She was sure they were nice guys, but she didn't want them guarding her like she was some sort of… damsel!

"Snips, it's not up for debate," Anakin said.

"I'm not having two guards follow me around everywhere while I'm on Coruscant," she said, making sure to keep her glares at Anakin and Master Obi-Wan. She didn't want the Corries to think that she was mad at them. They were probably ordered to be here and were just doing their job. But she was going to get mad at someone.

How was she supposed to forget she had almost died when she had two bright red reminders with her constantly?

"Someone tried to assassinate you, Ahsoka," Master Obi-Wan said. He sounded tired. He looked tired.

They all looked tired.

"And I survived."

"Barely," Rex muttered.

She felt guilt course through her body. Now that she had more blood in her body and the gaping hole in her chest had closed, she was more aware of things. And Rex looked terrible. If Ahsoka had done nothing but sleep on the way to Coruscant, Rex looked like he hadn't slept at all. He had dark circles under his eyes and his skin seemed waxy and pale. He hadn't shaved in a few days either. His armor had been scrubbed clean. So clean that it was practically shiny once again, complete with a fresh new coat of paint, but he didn't clean it. Ahsoka had overheard Tup telling Hawke that he had been the one to clean it off because he didn't want Rex to have to see her blood that was still coating it.

She was not the only one who had been affected by this.

Which could have been a sign to accept the help graciously and get comfortable with the idea that Sol and Archer were going to be her shadows for the foreseeable future.

Or…

"I'll be fine."

It could be a sign to argue even more until they accepted that she was fine (even though she wasn't) so they could leave her alone to break down in peace.

"My dear," Master Obi-Wan said, "argue all you'd like. I was Anakin's master, remember? It won't work."

Ahsoka kept glaring at him.

"If you're worried about us being annoying or getting in your way, don't worry, sir," Sol said. "We do this sort of thing all the time. You won't even know we're here."

Doubtful.

Ahsoka decided to switch tactics and break Cody instead. She turned to him. "Cody, tell them I don't need to be watched!"

Cody snorted. "Nice try, kid. If I can wrangle the vode, I can wrangle you. It's no use arguing. They're staying."

"You put them up to this, didn't you?" she accused. "You're the one who arranged for me to be babysat!"

"No, I did," another trooper said before Cody could respond.

They all turned to see Representative Commander Fox walking through the Halls of Healing. He had a datapad in one hand and another energy drink in the other. He also looked like he hadn't shaved or slept in days. Ahsoka was starting to think that was his default state.

"Sir!" Sol and Archer snapped into a salute.

Ahsoka found it telling that Rex didn't. She wondered if it was because he was too tired to recognize that Fox was a superior officer, or if he simply didn't care enough about Fox to show him some respect.

As soon as Fox stepped through the doors, Ahsoka felt a ripple of tension wash through the healers. Several of them snapped their heads up to look at them, gasping slightly.

One brave healer went up to him, stopping his march toward the group. "Sir, your heart rate is very high. Please, let us look you over. This is a place of healing and rest." She smiled at him softly, letting her calm presence lap at Fox's mental shields to relax him.

Fox stared at her. "Will 'healing' require me to sleep?"

Her smile dropped. "I mean… probably. When's the last time you slept?"

"Three days ago. And no to the healing." He tried to side-step around her but she was persistent.

She stepped in front of him once more and put a gentle hand on his bicep. "Sir, please. Relax. I worry for your heart. You are safe here. We can help you."

Once more she had a serene smile on her face and her calm Force presence radiated throughout the room. Ahsoka knew what she was doing before she felt it. The healer was tugging on the exhaustion Fox was feeling to convince him to go to sleep. She was really good at it. Everyone in the room started yawning and Ahsoka suddenly was not too opposed to sinking down on the soft bed with soft blankets and pillows and resting just for a bit. Even Master Obi-Wan and Cody looked like they could take a nap and Anakin slumped down in the chair, head jerking forward just a bit as his eyes slipped closed.

Without breaking eye contact, Fox tucked the datapad under his arm and opened the energy drink with a satisfying pop. He took a long swig from the can and stepped around the shocked healer.

Just like that, the calm feeling was gone. And the poor healer was left sputtering and looking around at her fellow healers, wide-eyed and wondering why her technique hadn't worked.

Archer went up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, sir. Our medic's got this whole process on how to get him to sleep. We'll tranq him later so he gets thirty minutes."

"No one has ever resisted my calming techniques before!" she said, sobbing into her hands.

Archer grimaced. "Um… yeah… can one of you like… help her? Before she has a breakdown. I promise you, it's not you, it's him."

A few other healers rushed to take the sobbing healer away.

Fox did not acknowledge the healer in any way, marching up to Ahsoka with a stony look on her face and a presence that made her want to shrink back against the pillows. Even though Cody had assured her he was nice and he had been nice to her during their talk the other day, he had a sense of presence about him that made her feel very small. It was even worse in person.

No wonder everyone in the GAR feared this man! He seemed to have the kind of glare that would light you on fire.

He stopped in front of her, staring down at her with a furrowed brow. The kind of furrow she recognized from Rex and Cody and other vode when they were trying to mentally work through a particularly difficult problem.

"You, commander, are being targeted by one of the best bounty hunters there is. A bounty hunter that has managed to evade our capture despite his extensive list of crimes putting him as one of the most wanted men in the galaxy. Furthermore, Bane does not come cheap. Which means that the person that wants you dead has a lot of money. And people with a lot of money have more than one way of making their problems disappear. This means that until such time that we either arrest Bane or arrest the people that hired him, you are going to be watched and guarded."

Despite the fact that Ahsoka wanted nothing more than to disappear from Fox's gaze, she was nothing if not stubborn. She was getting Archer and Sol removed from babysitting duty if it was the last thing she did.

She crossed her arms and did her best to level a glare at him. Fox didn't even seem to notice.

"Would you do this if it were Rex getting hunted by Bane?"

"Kid, I would protect comb if Bane had his sights set on it. You're not getting out of this. He is dangerous and I'm not messing around with your safety."

Man, and she thought Cody was difficult to argue with.

"Trust me, I would not be wasting my limited resources if I did not think this was necessary," Fox continued.

Ahsoka's shoulders slumped. She knew it was a pointless endeavor. It seemed like everyone in the room thought she needed to be protected. Maybe she did. She didn't know what Bane would try once he found out that she was still alive.

Actually… did he know she was still alive?

She shivered. Her eyes flickered out to the windows as speeders rushed by, as if she'd catch Bane going by with a blaster pointed at her. Was he good enough to shoot her from a moving vehicle?

"Besides," Archer said cheerfully, pulling Ahsoka's eyes away from the window and back to him. "We're the best!" He gave her a thumbs up.

"Sadly," Fox said. He studied Archer and Sol for a second with narrowed eyes and then turned back to Ahsoka. "Archer is not allowed to drive you anywhere."

"Um… okay?"

He turned to Archer. "If I find out you so much as glanced at the driver's seat, I will toss you to Commander Wolffe and let him deal with you as he sees fit."

Archer's hand dropped. "Got it, sir."

Fox nodded, seemingly content with Archer's reaction to his threat. "Any other questions, commander?"

"Can I at least leave the Temple or am I on house arrest too?" she grumbled.

"It's not house arrest. You can leave when the healers clear you," Anakin said. "But this is for your own safety. We don't know why Bane is after you or who hired him."

"More importantly, the circumstances surrounding the attempt are worrying," Master Obi-Wan said. There is a leak in our intel somewhere. The Senate. The Jedi. The GAR. Somehow, the Separatists knew you were going to be on that planet alone and moved accordingly. We need to find out where the leak is coming from."

Ahsoka did not miss the way Cody, Rex, and Fox all glanced at each other.

"Please, Ahsoka," Anakin said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Please do not try to ditch your guards. It's only going to be for a week or so. I promise."

Ahsoka groaned. "Fine. I won't ditch them. But I'm not happy about it either."

"People rarely are when we're around," Archer said.

Sol elbowed him in the stomach.

Cody shook his head fondly at their antics. "We'll figure this out, ner vod'ika." He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers. "Do not be mean to Sol and Archer."

"I won't."

Cody stood and turned to Anakin and Master Obi-Wan. "Generals, since our debrief on this whole incident isn't until the afternoon, permission to take a brief leave?"

Master Obi-Wan nodded. "Permission granted."

"Fantastic. "Cody put his helmet back on and then threw his hands over Rex and Fox's shoulders. "Come on, boys. Let's get you some actual food."

"No, no, no, Cody, no. I'm too busy!" Fox said, frantically tapping away at the data pad while Cody dragged him and Rex out of the room.

It was kind of amusing to see Fox go from a stoic scary man to, well, what everyone looked like when Cody got ahold of him.

"You need to eat something that isn't a ration bar and drink something that isn't an energy drink, Fox. I can't believe you. Dex gives all the Corries free food and you don't take advantage of it."

"Ori'vod," Rex whined, though he was fighting less than Fox.

"Don't ori'vod me, Rex. You look like crap. You need actual food."

Fox and Rex both continued to protest as Cody successfully managed to drag them out the door.

"I can't believe the Commander just went with him," Archer said; his voice in quiet shock and awe.

"No wonder everyone always calls Commander Cody when there's trouble," Sol whispered back.

It was kind of amazing to witness. It was less amazing to be on the receiving end of it, though. Which is where Ahsoka found herself now.

"We should get going as well," Master Obi-Wan said. "I'm sorry, my dear. I hope you won't be too bored without our company."

"I'll find ways to entertain myself," Ahsoka said.

Anakin definitely did not want to go. You didn't even have to have the Force to sense that. Still, it was clear that they both had other work they needed to be doing and there would be no more visiting for the time being.

He bent down and gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're alright, Snips."

"Me too, Master."

With that, they left the room. Now Ahsoka was completely alone with two unknown troopers who seemed more intent on staring out the window than actually watching her. She almost missed constantly falling asleep. That'd at least make the time pass faster and be less awkward.

She tried to ignore them for a bit. But the Healers hadn't given her anything else to do. Nothing to read. Nothing to watch. No datapads to scroll the holonet or message any of her boys on the chatlogs to see how they were doing.

She did try to meditate.

For about thirty seconds before her mind started to drift to Bane and how any of those speeders just outside her window might contain him.

She decided not to try again.

She tried to sleep.

Apparently, her body had had enough rest on the ride over and wanted to be awake for now.

She groaned and sat up to look back at the Archer and Sol, who still hadn't moved and were still staring out the window. Maybe they were the reason she couldn't get comfortable.

"You guys don't need to be right here," Ahsoka said. "Really, I'm safe. You can—I don't know— go check the perimeter or something?"

"No can do, sir," Archer said. "Coruscant is a death trap. We need to be near you at all times to make sure we react quickly."

"Honestly, don't know why they have all the politicians here," Sol scoffed. "You're practically inviting all manner of assassins with these buildings."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Oh yeah," Sol said. "I mean, just looking out of this building now I see at least forty-two different places a sniper could be lying in wait to take a headshot. And that's not even including all the speeders going by."

Oh, so they weren't just staring out the window for fun.

"You get that radio tower ten clicks east?"

"Forty-three places," Sol corrected.

"I'm safe in the Halls of Healing." She would be lying if she said she was trying to convince Sol and Archer. Nope. Instead, her arguments were all about trying to convince herself. It wasn't working. But, if the Corries left, then maybe she'd feel safer!

Or maybe she'd feel less safe.

She wouldn't know, though, unless they were gone.

"You guys do not have to be here," she continued. "I'm sure you have other things to do."

"Part of our job is keeping people safe," Sol said. "We're happy to help. Besides, it gets us out of evidence filing or nighttime patrols."

"And 'Fox Watch'." Archer shuddered.

"'Fox Watch'?"

"Yeah, I don't know if you've noticed, but the commander is a little… high-strung. Usually, two troopers are assigned to make sure he eats, sleeps, showers, and steps outside at least once per day. It's a pain to get him to that, though," Archer explained.

"Oh."

They lapsed back into silence.

Ahsoka had never had to be guarded before. Was it always this awkward?

"I like your helmet, Archer," she said, desperate for some sort of conversation to help the time pass.

Archer's hand brushed the notched fin on top. "Thank you, sir. Commander Fox thinks it looks stupid."

"Commander Fox is right," Sol said.

"Shut up. Like you're is much better."

"Infinitely better."

"Why is it notched?" Ahsoka asked, finally relaxing a bit at their bickering. Now this was familiar territory for her. Two troopers making jabs at one another to rile each other up. Just hearing it made her feel less like her entire world was imploding around her. And it gave her mind something to latch onto. Instead of the spiral of mixed emotions she had been dealing with.

"Oh, got caught up in a blaster fight with some gangsters," Archer said. "One of them shot at me and it nicked the fin. I was going to get another one but the replacement never came in so I decided to notch the rest so it'd match."

"That's really cool," she said, smiling. She loved hearing about how different troopers came up with their armor designs.

"Like I said, Commander Fox hates it. Thinks I look 'unprofessional'."

"You do," Sol said. Ahsoka imagined he was rolling his eyes under his helmet.

"None of us look professional, vod," Archer said, elbowing him.

Before Ahsoka could step in to stop them from bickering again, a Healer came up to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Padawan Tano, you have another visitor," he said.

Ahsoka pushed herself up on the cushions and furrowed her brow. "Another one? Who else could visit me?" Unless Anakin had somehow managed to shirk his duties with the Council or one of the 501st or 212th boys managed to sneak past security.

Actually, there was another option. "Oh, is it Barriss? I know she's supposed to be coming back to Coruscant sometime this week."

Archer and Sol had turned from their position at the window. There was a subtle difference in how they held their stance. Much less relaxed. Much more ready to attack. They seemed like they trusted that the Healer would not be so stupid as to let Cad Bane into her room, but were still ready to defend her if the need arose.

"It's not Padawan Offee," the healer said. "It's the Chancellor."

Archer and Sol froze and fear punched itself through Ahsoka so hard, she doubled over, gasping and clutching at her chest.

"Oh no! Padawan Tano!" The healer grasped her arms to steady her and called for backup.

Another healer came up to her, sensing her pain to see what was the issue.

"I'm fine. I'm fine," Ahsoka gasped, shooing them away. "I think I just twisted wrong trying to sit up. That's all."

"It does seem concentrated in your chest," the second healer said. She used the Force to ease Ahsoka's pain slightly.

The first healer tsked and helped her lean back on her pillows. "I told you to take it easy. Really, there is no need to rush your healing. In fact, trying to rush it will only prolong the process. I already heard from your medic you attempted to use the Force to heal yourself once. You shall not be doing that again, young one."

"I know. I'm sorry," she said, glancing back over at Archer and Sol. Their fear had dissipated somewhat, but they were still on edge.

"I'll tell the Chancellor he can come back later," the first healer said.

There was something here. Something that Ahsoka was missing. Something wrong in the Force. She didn't really want to see the Chancellor, but she was also curious.

"No, it's fine," she said. "He is the Chancellor. It'd be rude to send him away. Besides, company is always nice." She gave her best smile to the healers.

They both studied her for a moment. They must have trusted that she wasn't going to die from one more visitor because the first healer sighed and said, "Very well," before sweeping back out of the room.

"If he does interrupt your healing," the second healer said, "then I will have no problems kicking him out of here. I do not care if he is the Chancellor."

"Of course," Ahsoka said. So it wasn't just Kix and the other trooper medics that didn't seem to care about rank. It seemed to be a universal medical professional thing.

The second healer left her to go take care of other patients, which allowed Ahsoka to study Sol and Archer.

They were both still very much afraid, but now that she was used to it, she could handle their feelings. She had always been very attune to the emotions of others. More empathetic, one could say. It made the battlefield a pain to deal with because the fear, devastation, and pain could overwhelm her if she wasn't careful. During her first battle, it overwhelmed her to the point where she ended up curled over a toilet vomiting for an hour afterward because she didn't know how to block out all the negative emotions.

Thankfully, her boys knew how to shield well enough to keep their emotions from affecting her. And with the help of Master Obi-Wan and Anakin, she had managed to figure out ways to block out some of the stronger emotions when people either didn't know how to shield or couldn't shield.

Now, due to her injury and lack of strength, she felt like an initiate again. Completely open for everyone's emotions to shove their way into her head. And Archer and Sol weren't helping anything. They had, apparently, not had the training to shield and were practically a broadcast tower with everything they were feeling.

It made her anxious.

Not the fact that they were broadcasting, though. It was what they were broadcasting. Fear. Deep, overwhelming, all-consuming fear. The kind that had you waking up in the middle of the night screaming. The kind that felt like claws digging into your brain. The kind that stayed with you even when there was nothing to fear. They had been fine up until the healer had mentioned who was hear to visit her. As soon as she said it was the Chancellor, everything changed.

Why were Archer and Sol so afraid of him? Was it just because he was the Chancellor? Maybe. She'd be pretty nervous too if the leader of the entire Galactic Republic made an unexpected visit. But it didn't feel right. This didn't feel like the fear born out of uncertainty. They felt sure of their fear. They seemed to know exactly what to be afraid of and why.

She didn't like it.

She needed to get to the bottom of it.

"My dear, it is so good to see you up and about," a warm voice said.

She pulled her eyes away from Archer and Sol to look at the Chancellor. He seemed the same as always, wearing deep plum-colored robes with a soft smile on his face, flanked by several guards. Not Coruscant guards. His personal guards. Something about him wormed its way into her brain. She felt herself relax, almost involuntarily.

She didn't need to be afraid.

This was the Chancellor.

He was warm. Nice. Kind. Almost like a grandfather.

Ahsoka was safe here.

Archer and Sol snapped into a salute, and with their salute, Ahsoka was pulled from the Chancellor's emotions and back to theirs. Their fight or flight instincts were roaring and Ahsoka could practically smell their adrenaline soaking their blood.

Somehow, this made Ahsoka's head feel clearer.

"Chancellor, what are you doing here? I'm sure you're a very busy man," she said.

"I wanted to see how you were doing. You're being hailed as a hero, you know?" he said with a soft smile on his lips. "The people applaud your bravery in battle."

"Just doing my job," she said, laughing nervously.

She never could figure out what to do around the Chancellor. He seemed to really like Anakin, and Anakin really liked him. But he was colder to her. More distant. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Not everyone had to be her best friend. But sometimes, it felt weird. Like her presence was an obstacle to him.

Except now she could feel none of that. Instead, there was just warmth. Like when she, Echo, and Fives cuddled up under their favorite quilt to watch the latest episode of a fantasy series they had been pulled into recently.

"I feel awful for sending you out there like that. Had I known it was a trap, I never would have sent you there."

"I should hope not," Ahsoka said.

Ahsoka had never been drunk before, but she imagined it felt something like this. She felt pliant and loose. Drowsy, almost. But not, in the same way, she had felt after getting shot. This felt more natural. Calmer. She was safe here. Perfectly safe. And the Chancellor was a perfectly nice man. She really liked the Chancellor. He always had her best interest at heart.

"It wasn't your fault," she continued. She needed him to know it wasn't his fault. That felt really important for some reason. "We have faulty intel often. We did our best. And we completed the mission." She gave him what she could only assume was a dopey smile.

It felt right.

It felt nice.

"Indeed you did. But the guilt has been gnawing at me ever since I heard of your injury. Please, allow me to offer my personal guards for your protection until that dreadful bounty hunter can be brought to justice."

It felt like a bucket of ice had been dumped over her, snapping her out of whatever haze she had been in. It took her a second to figure out what had happened. But as her mind cleared, she realized that something had shifted in Archer and Sol. That war between fight or flight had tipped towards one side: "fight". In tipping in that one direction, it pulled Ahsoka with them.

What… what had just happened?

The Chancellor had offered his personal guards for her protection. No. No, she didn't want that. Archer and Sol, despite being strangers, were familiar. They were comforting. She knew who they were and what they stood for. The Chancellor's guards on the other hand felt blank.

Archer and Sol were afraid.

She needed to hold onto that no matter what other emotions came through her head.

Something was wrong here.

And it'd only get more wrong if she dismissed the Corries and accepted the Chancellor's offer.

"Oh, that won't be necessary," she said. "I have two of the best Corries watching out for me."

Palpatine's eyes narrowed slightly. She felt an odd tug at her mind. As if her body was desperately trying to get back to that calm, drunk state she had been in before. She fought it and held onto Archer and Sol's adrenaline to keep her grounded.

"And, while I agree that Cad Bane is dangerous, I think four guards is a little much. Besides, these are your personal guards. It's not their job to look after padawans getting hunted by bounty hunters. But thank you so much for the offer."

"I insist," Chancellor Palpatine said. The warmth in his voice was still there, but it was colder. Much like how he spoke to her when she tried to tag along to Anakin and his meetings. "Besides, I'm sure these clones have other work they could be doing."

Now Ahoska's smile dropped. Yes, Archer and Sol were technically clones, but she did not like it when people referred to them as such. They were troopers, not clones. Each with their own individual personalities, styles, patterns of speech, and sense of humor.

"Your guards also have a job they can be doing. Protecting you," Ahsoka said. "Besides, Representative Fox personally assigned them to me. And, as I'm sure you're aware from his debates on the senate floor, once he puts his mind to something, it's difficult to stop him."

Palpatine's smile was tight. "Of course. The Commander is very persuasive when he wants to be. Well, my dear, the offer still stands. As an apology for sending you on such a dangerous mission."

"I am fine, Chancellor. Thank you again, though."

"Of course. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a government to run. Please, recover quickly. We could use you in this fight against the Separatists."

"I don't plan on being here long, Chancellor," she replied with a smile.

She watched him and his guards leave. Once he was out of the room, she turned to Archer and Sol, ready to ask them what that was all about. They still hadn't relaxed even though he was out of the room. It was like every nerve in their bodies was alive and ready for a fight. She didn't like it. And that feeling from earlier was weird.

"Padawan Tano, it's time for your physical therapy," a healer said before she had a chance to formulate her question.

"Ok, okay."

Sol and Archer flanked her while she was helped into the wheelchair since she still couldn't walk. Or stand for more than five seconds. Probably for the best, she didn't ask them now. There were too many people around. She needed to be smart about this. She needed to be careful about how she investigated this. She needed to figure out what 'this' even was.

On the upside, it looked like she had something else to focus on instead of Bane.

She would get to the bottom of this problem. She may not be fighting with Rex and the others for the foreseeable future, but that didn't mean she couldn't help out in other ways.

*****

The past week was probably some of the worst for Cody in recent memory. The fear he had felt when he realized that Rex was drunk messaging him and Ahsoka wasn't answering was suffocating. It was only made worse when Jesse messaged him on Rex's chatlog. And then even worse when Cody had finally gotten the whole story as to what had happened.

He had somehow, miraculously, managed to hold himself together as he debriefed Obi-Wan before all three of them met with Jesse for a formal debrief. General Skywalker had managed to hold it together just long enough to finish the debrief. Only to immediately go to the nearest training room and trash the place once finished.

(Should they be more worried about General Skywalker's inability to control his emotions? Or was that a problem for another time?)

Cody had gotten right to work getting Helix and Fox up to speed on what had happened, coordinating between the 212th, 501st, and Coruscant guard to get Ahsoka off the Resolute and into the hands of literally anyone with more medical supplies as soon as possible.

Kix, Helix, and Dice had also started frantically coordinating, along with the CMO from Rancor for any way possible to stabilize Ahsoka even more on their trip to Coruscant. Cody had walked in on more than one tense meeting with his medic and the others, talking about Ahsoka. The problems they were having. Potential solutions. Lack of medical equipment. All of that stuff that went way over Cody's head.

The week it took for Ahsoka to get back to Coruscant had oscillated wildly between being the most boring week Cody had ever had, and the most frantic. When there was nothing to do, he felt restless, unable to sit still and pacing as he thought of everything that could go wrong. And when he was needed, it felt like he needed to do everything at the same time.

Thankfully, though, Ahsoka survived the trip and a select group of Corries and 212th members rushed to help her out.

Cody could still remember Helix's disbelief at how Dice managed to get the togruta blood for an emergency transfusion.

" How'd you get the blood?" Helix asked.

"Chap stopped by and got it to me," Dice said as they put the packs in coolers to keep them stable for transport.

"Did he get permission to leave Kamino?"

"Don't ask about it."

"How'd he even get here? Did someone drop him off?"

"Don't ask about it." And Helix did not ask about it.

Cody didn't ask about it either. Later he would hear from Fox that Blitz told him Chap had smuggled himself off Kamino with the Bad Batch, had been dumped at a spaceport somewhere in the mid-rim, and then hitched a ride with a drug smuggler the rest of the way to Coruscant and then back to the port to be picked up by Hunter's crew after they finished their mission.

Cody decided Dice was right. They shouldn't be asking about it.

He had thought things would get better once Ahsoka was in Coruscant where she had access to better help. He thought that he'd be able to relax some and let his anxieties over what happened go.

Laying eyes on her for the first time had made everything so much worse.

He hadn't actually seen her after she had gotten shot. And, fuck, she looked awful. Her skin was several shades too pale and her lips were tinged blue. Her eyes were open so she seemed to be awake, but she also didn't seem to be aware of much going on around her. She seemed so small and fragile against those blankets. And she kept shivering. Even though she was buried under quilts and cuddled up next to a trooper named Cato, she was still shivering.

If this is what Rex and the others had to look at for the past week, it was no wonder they all seemed ready to fall apart. Cody was surprised they were functioning as well as they were! Besides one near-fist-fight between Rex and Fives, and then Rex getting blackout drunk, they all seemed to be compartmentalizing rather well.

Which was a miracle because Cody had the benefit of being separated from the situation. Cody had the benefit of hearing after the fact after Kix was more certain that Ahsoka was going to survive, that something terrible had happened.

All those hours of not knowing. Those minutes Rex held her on the battlefield unsure of if Kix was going to be fast enough or not. That had to be hell.

And the eyes of his brother confirmed that it was.

Cody would have loved to give Rex a chance to sleep it off. To relax and recover. He would have loved to tell Rex that everything was going to be okay and to let Cody handle it.

But sadly they didn't live in a perfect world.

Obi-Wan was right, there was a leak somewhere in their system. And Cody wanted a chance to talk to his brothers about it somewhere where they wouldn't be watched. They needed the chance to speak freely with one another without worrying about who was listening in.

Which brought them to Dex's.

"I can't believe you are dragging me all the way out here," Fox grumbled, still not having pulled his nose out of whatever was going on with the Senate. His grumbling was mostly for show. He knew why Cody was bringing them here. It wasn't just to eat.

Cody shoved him and Rex through the door. "Work that is not going away any time soon."

The diner was busy like usual, but they weren't going to be sitting with the neverde. What would be the point?

"Dex, do you have the back room available? We got two celebrities here," he called.

Dex popped his head out from the kitchen and smiled when he realized it was Cody. "Of course, of course! Anything for my favorite troopers," he said. He clapped a hand over Cody's neck and led them to a small room in the back that was closed off from the rest of the restaurant. Right next to the walk-in freezer.

"Celebrities?" Rex said, wrinkling his nose.

"Yep. Fox is one of the best-loved politicians in the galaxy right now," Cody explained. "Hard to believe such a thing exists but people love watching 'Fox Talks'."

"I hate that stupid name," Fox grumbled, still tapping away on his datapad.

"Okay, that's one. Who's the other? Unless you're saying you're a celebrity."

"I did win the Senate Intern 'Hottest Trooper Poll," Cody grinned.

"They got a new one going," Fox said. "This or That Poll. I think you beat out Waxer but lost to Howzer."

"Everyone loses to Howzer," Cody said, rolling his eyes playfully. "But, no, Rex. The other celebrity isn't me. It's you, ner vod."

"Me?" Rex might be a little too sleep deprived to be having this conversation.

Cody pressed on, just in case anyone was listening in. "Yes, you. Your episode of Creche to Command was one of the most watched videos in the entire series. Maybe one of the most watched videos on the holonet of all time."

Rex choked and shook his head. "No! Why?"

"Because people love you and they think your interactions with Ahsoka are sweet." Cody grinned and forced Rex and Fox to sit down at the little table. "We'll get the usuals, Dex. Thanks."

Dex nodded. "Corries eat free. I'll put your two meals on Obi-Wan's tab. Be right back with your food. I scrubbed the place just this morning so you have nothing to worry about. It's clean."

Translation: I checked for bugs and found none. You're free to talk as you please.

"Thank you," Cody said.

"Your general has a tab for you?" Rex said. "So long as we don't abuse the privilege. Yep," Cody replied. "And I've been hearing more and more places have started offering Corrie discounts. Anything to share, Fox?"

"New thing," Fox grumbled, brow pinched as he tried to work out a problem on the pad. "A lot of local places have started giving discounts and free meals to the Corries as thanks for our work."

"Ah, finally getting the recognition you deserve then," Cody said.

He knew he was stalling. He needed to get this meeting up and running so they could figure out what the hell was going on. It was hard, though. Rarely did he and his brothers have the chance to sit and talk about their lives. He wanted to know what was going on with Fox. He wanted to know about Rex's latest mundane problems. But they couldn't have that. Because there was a leak. And someone powerful wanted Ahsoka dead.

"Seriously, can you stop working for ten minutes? It's not going to kill you," he said.

Fox shook his head. "I got put on two more committees this week and I'm currently the leader for four groups. And I have a feeling that number is about to jump to fifteen because we're having a change in leadership due to the end of the fiscal year. And, for some reason, Palpatine keeps recommending me for positions."

"Because you're good at what you do," Cody said.

Fox rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He wants me to burn out so I can quit. I refuse. I'll fucking run this government for him just to spite his shebs."

"Whatever you say, vod," Cody said. Maybe they should take Fox back to the healers after this and see if they couldn't get him to relax.

Or maybe Fox would finally be the thing that broke them completely and they'd never be welcome in the Halls of Healing ever again.

"Alright, boys," Dex said, walking back with trays ladened with food. "I've got your orders right here. Rex, it's good to see you. You should stop by more often. And bring Ahsoka when she's feeling better."

"Yeah, I will, Dex," Rex said softly.

"Cody, tell Wolffe he is welcome here anytime."

Cody choked on his drink, coughing and sputtering all over himself while giving Dex a weak thumbs up. Fox slapped him on the back, still not looking up from the datapad.

Dex shut the door behind them, cutting them off from the rest of the restaurant. 79s was good if you wanted some discretion, but it was too early in the day for Cody and the others to go there without looking like they might have a problem with alcohol. Especially since they were expected to give a debrief later. Besides, after Rex's black-out session a few days ago, he was probably avoiding the stuff as much as possible.

Dex's Diner was a little riskier because a lot of Jedi also frequented it, including Cody's Jedi. But, Dex was always willing to lend the troopers the back room so they could have more private meetings. Although, now that Cody thought about it, he wondered if Dex's willingness to lend out his back room had less to do with his altruism and more to do with how good Wolffe was in bed.

Nope.

Not even going to think about that.

That thought would scar him for life.

"Alright, Fox. You know the drill. Shut it down," Cody said, no longer able to stall.

Fox whined but did shut down the datapad.

Rex numbly pushed his food back and forth across the plate. Cody would deal with his younger brother's mental state later. Right now, they had a protocol to follow.

"You've scrubbed it?"

Fox nodded. "No bugs planted on it. It's clean."

"Right. Good. Rex, what happened? I thought Windu cleared the planet. There were only supposed to be a handful of droids left."

"He did," Rex said. "And we had Smoke and Havoc do a flyover to reconfirm. Those clankers were hiding out in a tunnel system under the two targets. And, for whatever reason, our scanners didn't pick them up. We were ambushed."

"I'm less concerned with the droids and more concerned with Bane," Fox said. "he was there, in position, waiting for Ahsoka. He knew she would be in the City and not the capital. He knew when she would be there. And he knew the ambush was going to happen."

Cody nodded. "Given the time constraints of the mission, it's a leak. It has to be a leak. There's no way someone hired Cad Bane and he just happened to be on the one planet Ahsoka would be on. I mean, he's good, but he's not that good."

"Unless he tracked you," Fox said.

Rex shrugged. "Maybe. We scrub the ships regularly to make sure that doesn't happen. But, if the clankers can hide, then so could a tracking beacon. But I think it was a leak. This whole setup was too perfect."

"Which begs the question of who hired him," Cody said. "Separatists are an easy answer. And we know he's been linked to Dooku in the past with Zero the Hutt's escape and the stolen Holocron."

Fox grunted. "I never liked the role Zero played in any of this. He's too stupid. He's a pawn. A cowardly pawn. We almost got him talking but then he broke out. Something tells me it's more than just separatists. Someone else is playing a game here."

"I agree. Separatists going after one padawan seems like a waste of resources. I know she's influential with her series and all, but not enough to warrant this much focus on the enemy," Cody said.

"Not only that, but they went out of their way to make it look random," Fox added. "The B1 blaster for ballistics, the ambush, the fact that you didn't have the appropriate medical supplies."

"It's the end of the cycle," Rex said, still pushing around food on his plate. Maybe Cody should have held off on this meeting until he was a bit more rested. "We're always running low at around this time."

"Exactly," Fox said. "It's perfect. Too perfect. I don't think it's a separatist attack. Or, at least, not completely."

"It's either the GAR, the Jedi, or the Senate," Cody said.

"Fives thinks it Palpatine," Rex mumbled. "I hate to say it, but—"

"I agree," Fox cut him off. "I think Palpatine is doing something else with this war."

Cody furrowed his brow and turned to look at him. "How can you be so sure?"

Because Fox was sure. Cody may not have been able to sense his intentions, but he could tell in the way he cut Rex off, in the way he held himself, he was sure that Palpatine was the one behind this.

Still, instead of answering, he hesitated.

"Look, if you got something, share it with us."

"I don't have concrete proof."

"The whole point of us meeting here is that we don't need concrete proof. We can share theories without fear of retaliation," Cody urged.

Fox sighed and massaged his brow. "Blitz and I have only accounted for about fifty percent of the war budget."

"Fifty percent?" Cody said, taken aback. "Where's the rest of it going?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I've dug up all the contracts and invoices for the Kaminoan cloning operations, the gunship production, how much it costs to make those venerator class ships, the salaries of the natborn officers, our medical supplies, all of it. And while I might be missing something because there are so many moving pieces and the budget gets increased constantly, there is still way too much money missing from the war fund for it to be the result of a few misplaced invoices. I'm hoping that with the new fiscal year coming up in a few weeks, I might have a clearer picture, but something is off."

"So, what? Palpatine is embezzling funds?" Cody asked. He wasn't sure what this had to do with Ahsoka's assassination attempt. Unless Fox was suggesting Palpatine used the funds to pay for Cad Bane.

"I don't think so," Fox replied. "I mean, yes, he is. But I don't think it's just about the money. He's doing something."

"Like paying assassins to kill children?" Rex muttered.

"I don't know how much something like this would cost Bane, but I'm guessing it's not in the quintillions of credits range," Fox said. "He's doing something else. I'm looking into it now, but he's very good at scrubbing things. I don't even know where to start or who to look into. And I don't want to dig too deep in case I tip Palpatine off that we're onto him."

"What about Blitz? Did he uncover something?" Cody asked.

"I asked him to bug the rooms to see if any discussions happen when he's not there, but he doesn't want to. And I can't force him," Fox said. "Other than that, I told him to back off. He's isolated on Kamino. I'm pretty certain I'm safe here because of how much of a stir it would cause. But Blitz isn't as big of a figure as I am. I don't even think the neverde know he exists. I want him to be careful."

"Ahsoka is still in danger from Bane," Rex said.

Once more, Fox shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure Palpatine won't try a blatant assassination attempt again. The last one was so thoroughly botched he knows we're going to be watching for another one."

"Let's not say 'Palpatine'," Cody said.

"Come on, you can't possibly think it's anyone else. Who has that kind of power?" Rex said, slumping back in his seat.

"I don't think that it's someone else. But I also don't want to focus solely on him and miss something else," Cody said.

There was something about Palpatine that always rubbed him the wrong way. And really, who else would have the power to pull something like this off? But if they focused too much on him, they might miss other things going on. Palpatine, if he was the mastermind behind all this, was good at hiding. And you were only good at hiding if you had people helping you. By expanding their focus, they might uncover more pieces.

"Fine," Fox sighed. "I don't think whoever hired Bane to kill Ahsoka is going to try again. They went out of their way to make it look random. The that the Jedi know she's a target, it'd be stupid to try again."

"Then why Sol and Archer?" Cody asked.

"Because I want to make it seem like I don't think that. Like I think Bane is still a threat. I want to distract our enemy with Sol and Archer so we can continue a more thorough investigation."

"Any luck tracking Bane down?" Cody asked.

"Of course not," Fox scoffed. "He's been on the most wanted list for years now. One does not blow up the Jedi temple, break out a high-profile prisoner, and take several senators hostage and not be one of the most sought-after criminals in the galaxy. I doubt we're going to get him."

"I've got Wolffe meeting up with a bounty hunter to see if he can get any information out of her," Cody said.

Rex wrinkled his nose. "I will kill myself if we figure out the conspiracy because of Wolffe's dick."

"Well, vod, he's the only slut we have who's actually planning the connections he's making," Cody said.

All and all, the conversation hadn't brought up a lot of answers, only more questions. But he supposed that was a good place to start. He felt like he had something a bit more solid to bring to Obi-Wan now. He also should wrap this up so Rex could get some sleep.

"Now, then, the biggest question I have right now is how do we tell the Jedi about this."

"We don't," Fox said.

This took Cody aback. "What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly that," Fox growled. "We don't tell the Jedi anything. We don't tell them that Blitz and I found evidence of embezzling. We don't tell them that Wolffe is meeting up with a bounty hunter. We don't tell them about Palpatine. None of it, Cody."

"Fox, come on. I know you don't trust authority—"

"Damn right I don't trust authority," Fox said. "Telling the Jedi now would be suicide. We'd all be sent for reconditioning at best or decommissioning at worst. We cannot tell the Jedi anything. I don't trust them."

Something hot and uncomfortable flared in Cody's gut. The need, the deep-seated desire to defend the Jedi. After all, they had been good to them. They had treated them like sentient creatures. They had allowed them names and to decorate their armor. How dare Fox say that they weren't trustworthy. If they weren't trustworthy, then why the hell was Cody following them into battle?

"We need their help."

"We don't need jack shit!" Fox said, slamming his hands on the table. "Think about it, Cody, the Jedi can't do anything without Senate approval. And Palpatine runs the Senate. They may be good people, but that does not mean who they work for is good. Let me ask you this. If you are so sure the Jedi are a good resource to help take down Palpatine, why did neither of you speak up with the mission was ordered?"

Cody didn't answer.

"Exactly." Fox hissed.

"It's not that simple. There were orders—"

"And who gave you those orders?" Fox shouted.

"Shut the hell up. You don't know what you're talking about, Fox!"

"You're the one who doesn't know a damn thing!"

Cody was taken aback by his reaction. The clone commanders didn't tend to have bouts of explosive anger. The worst of them was probably Wolffe, whose anger came quick and hot. But it burned out fast and faded to a much less noticeable level.

Make no mistake, the Clone Commanders did get angry. But they were very good at keeping themselves calm and level-headed as they worked through it. Just ask the man whose knees Gree smashed after he heard him making lewd comments about General Unduli. Gree had been calm and in control the entire time.

And Cody, while he did feel anger, often kept a cap on it because it might cloud his judgment in battle.

Out of all of them, however, Fox was the one who was least likely to showcase any sort of anger. He had a sort of cold, blank expression that he used when he was angry. And then he would ruin your life. He would ruin your life but be so subtle about it, you wouldn't even realize he was the one that ruined it.

Which was why his getting angry like this was such a shock. And because Cody was shocked, he couldn't keep a cap on his own emotions. So he got angry. Which then led to this feedback loop where they both seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with every traded insult.

In the back of his mind, Cody hoped Dex had soundproofed this room.

"We all know how you feel about Kenobi. You trust him with your life, but you still didn't speak up! And I know it's not because you thought this was a good mission. Every trooper that so much as glanced at the details knew it was a trap," Fox continued. "But you didn't say anything because you knew it didn't matter."

Fox knew the exact words to say to cut right to the heart of Cody's guilt. He didn't say anything. He didn't protest. He didn't pull Obi-Wan aside and refused to do the mission until some aid was sent to Ahsoka. And look at what had happened, she had gotten shot.

"Here's how this is going to play out," Fox continued. "We will report it to the Jedi. The Jedi will report it to the Council. The Council will report it to the Senate. And then one of two things will happen. One: They don't find any evidence that Palpatine is behind it because he's good at hiding and we're all accused of treason and executed. Or Two: They believe us and attempt to deal with Palpatine but because he's good at what he does it causes massive internal fighting and now we've got a civil war on our hands on top of fighting the Separatists, which he may or may not be involved in, and there will be massive bloodshed."

"You don't know that!"

"The Senate manipulates the Jedi so easily," Fox continued. "They cannot make decisions without the council. And the council, which was never built for war, defers to Palpatine and the Senate for the final say. Not only that, but not every Jedi is nice to their clones!"

Cody swallowed once more, Krell's face flashed in his mind. Yet another failure of his. One he still didn't know how to handle. One that he still hadn't told Obi-Wan about.

"And as for the council, what the hell were they thinking sending a fourteen-year-old with barely any military training out on her own? Other than Kenobi, they didn't even question the orders. And even Kenobi only half-heartedly tried. They roll over too easily when it comes to the Senate. That's how they were convinced to be generals. That's how they were convinced to let their untrained children be commanders. That's how a child got shot during an ambush. I do not trust them not to immediately roll over the next time the Senate demands them to do something."

Cody was losing the argument. Fox kept bringing up point after point and barely giving him any time to think of a rebuttal or a response. He was desperate to hold on, though. If they decided to move on without the Jedi, that would be completely uncharted territory. Possibly illegal territory depending on how far off the path they strayed. That scared Cody. Without a general to give him orders, who would make the decisions? Who would he defer to for the final say? What if he messed everything up? Then there would be no one to blame but himself.

By siding with Fox and doing this without the Jedi, he was taking responsibility for the fate of all his brothers, and possibly the entire Galaxy. He didn't know if he could handle the pressure.

"We cannot do this alone!" He argued.

"Why the fuck not? Why can't we do this alone, Cody? Give me one good reason why we shouldn't continue on like this?"

"Because this isn't our job."

"Being the fucking clone representative isn't my job either but I'm doing that!"

"No one asked you to do that!"

"That's not my point! My point is we cannot tell the Jedi because they're not going to know what to do. They're going to be manipulated by the Senate and then Ahsoka is going to die!"

"You can't know that!"

"I agree with him," Rex's soft voice broke through their shouting, cutting Cody off as they both looked toward him.

Rex was still sitting down, staring at his food.

"What?" Cody asked.

Rex looked up at him. "I said, I agree with him. With Fox. We don't get the Jedi involved. They're the ones who sent Ahsoka to die in the first place."

"Rex, don't make this decision because of what happened," he said. He was kind of shocked Rex wasn't taking his side on this. They were almost always in agreement.

Rex shook his head. "I can't trust them, anymore, Cody. Not after what happened. You weren't there. You didn't have to listen to her gasping for air. You didn't have to listen to Corric and Kix talk about how they might not have enough supplies to keep her alive. You didn't have to see that gaping hole in her chest. You didn't have to wash her blood off your armor."

"Rex—"

He wasn't finished, though. "I don't think the Jedi are bad people. I trust them individually. But if Palpatine is the one that ordered the hit on Ahsoka, that means they are working for the person who wants her dead. And now that he's failed with an assassin, what else is he going to try? What if he decides to frame her for a crime next? Do you think the Jedi are going to say 'Oh, well, Ahsoka would never so we're not going to arrest and execute her'? Or do you think they're just going to blindly follow whatever the Senate tells them to do? They are pawns, just like us. Except unlike us, they don't even know they're pawns."

Cody looked at Rex, really looked at him. Slumped in his chair. Dark circles under his eyes. Face pale and haunted from too much trauma.

When had his little brother gotten so old?

When had that mischievous cadet who was a constant source of pain for the Kaminoans and the Prime to control get replaced with someone so worn down by war Cody couldn't remember the last time he had smiled? Actually smiled. A real smile that reached his eyes.

When had they all become so broken and beaten down by the system that they argued and fought with one another?

Cody let the fight leave him and walked over to Rex. He hauled him out of his chair and wrapped him in a hug. A hug he should have given him back on the ship. Back before they had even set foot on Coruscant. Back when he had seen him for the first time and really understood just how bad things were.

Rex tightened his arms around his shoulders and let out a shuddering breath.

Cody didn't even know what to say at this point. Sorry didn't seem to cut it and wouldn't help.

Maybe he didn't need to say anything. Maybe he just needed to be here for his brother.

Fox stood up from his chair as well and walked around to join the hug, somehow getting both Cody and Rex in his arms.

"We'll be okay," Fox said softly. "We'll figure this out. We're not doing this alone, Cody. We've got the rest of the commanders to help and as soon as we have something concrete, we can bring it to the Jedi."

Cody nodded, giving Rex one last squeeze before releasing him.

They all sat back down. Cody felt calmer than before. Lighter, but heavier at the same time.

"You're always saying we need to move carefully," Rex said. "You always say we need to hold our positions and wait for more intel before we make our next move. So that's what we do. We wait until Wolffe's contact tells us what she knows. We wait until Blitz or Fox manage to uncover what Palpatine's doing with the money. And then we go from there."

They were both right. Panicking and getting the Jedi involved now would only lead to more trouble in the future. And it was clear that someone powerful in the Republic wanted Ahsoka gone. Until they figured out who (besides Palpatine, obviously) they had to assume that the Jedi could unknowingly be used to hurt Ahsoka. Cody would not let that happen.

"There will still be an investigation from the Jedi," Cody said.

"So do the investigation." Fox shrugged. "If their investigation also leads to Palpatine, the less work we need to do."

"Right. You're right," Cody said.

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right," Fox scoffed.

"Are there any other problems we should know about? Anything else either of you have?" Cody asked. He wanted to start this thing with as much information as possible. They were going into uncharted territory. He had to move carefully.

"Cody," Fox said, "we need a better way to get in contact with one another. Fox sighed heavily. "Cody, we need a better way to get in contact with one another. I mean, we have one room in 79s that we use and that's it. And even that's difficult to use because the person you're trying to contact may not have access to a secure line. I have reason to believe that Palpatine is monitoring Tano's and my transmissions. Possibly everyone's in the 501st, Coruscant Guard, and the 212th as well."

"What?" Rex asked. "How can you be so sure?"

"He wasn't surprised when I brought up the pension bill. He was prepared for it. He's never wanted me on that floor so it makes sense that he's tracking everything I do so if I step out of line, he's got a reason to have me removed from office. But even without that, trying to talk to anyone off the GAR network is a mess. We cannot continue on like this. Especially with this internal investigation. What if Wolffe needed to get in contact with us right now? What if Gree had some information but couldn't access an off-GAR chat log to give it to us? We need a better form of communication. Especially now that Palpatine's probably watching all of us and we're going to be looking into things he probably doesn't want us looking into."

"What did you have in mind, Fox?"

"Blitz managed to get Tech to find him a blindspot and work around on Kamino. I'm thinking he can do the same for the venerators. Maybe some datapads that are able to circumvent the GAR network as well. I'm trying to figure out a way to ask him to do it without getting caught. Blitz and I have a meeting next week off-network to discuss if he's found anything related to the embezzlement. I'll ask then."

Cody nodded. "Good point. We should get one in the hands of all commanders and at least a few captains. It would make the investigation easier and I want to talk to Gree more about those droids that also escaped his scans a few months back."

Fox nodded. "Then I'll get that on Blitz's radar. Are we done here? Because I do actually have a lot of work to do and I'm pretty sure you two just gave me more."

"Yes, we're done here," Cody said. "Go, run the government."

Fox grunted and turned back on his datapad. He frowned and didn't immediately get up to go do whatever it was he did now.

"What's wrong?" Rex asked.

Fox's eyes flickered to Rex and then over to Cody. "Archer says Palpatine offered to have his personal guards watch Ahsoka," he said carefully.

"What?" Rex growled. "if that hut'uun goes anywhere near her—"

"Easy, Rex," Fox said. "She managed to convince him she was fine with Sol and Archer. Besides, not even Palpatine is so stupid as to kill her under his personal guards' watch. My guess is he was trying to cover his shebs and make it seem like he was just as shocked and appalled by what happened as the rest of us. Like I said, I doubt he'll try anything so soon after failing so spectacularly the first time."

Rex was not convinced.

Cody wasn't convinced either. Palpatine might be panicking right now. He thought he had the perfect plan but failed to execute it properly. He might rush into another attempt just to finish the job.

Fox seemed to sense his trepidation. "Remember, I put my two best men on the job. They won't let anything happen to her. And if Palpatine tries something, they'll shoot him."

"Okay, thanks, Fox," Cody said.

"Of course." He stood up and squeezed Cody's shoulder for a brief moment before leaving him and Rex alone in the back room.

Now that they were alone, truly alone with no cameras watching them, and Cody had a bit of a better handle on the situation, he felt like he could deal with the next problem.

"You doing okay?" Cody asked.

Rex nodded. "I'm fine."

"You had me worried when you wouldn't answer. Ahsoka wasn't answering either. Couldn't get ahold of anyone," Cody said. "It's okay not to be okay. You all went through something very traumatic. It's going to take time."

"I'm fine," Rex said.

"You will be. We'll help you out." Because that was Cody's actual job. Helping his brothers out. Keeping all of them alive and with their heads on their shoulders. He herded them around, kept tabs on them, and knew their strengths and weaknesses. He knew how to tell when they were hurting and when they weren't. He knew how to help them. And he was going to help Rex now.

"I'm sorry, for getting drunk like that," Rex said. "It was unprofessional."

Cody scoffed. "Rex, fuck professionalism. A kid got shot in front of you. A kid you care about, that we all care about. It's fine to fall apart. Besides, you pulled yourself back together the next day and you should be proud of your men for holding down the fort so you could do that."

Rex wasn't convinced. "I just want to find that demagolka and make him pay for what he did."

"And we will find Bane and the person who hired him. Trust me. No trooper is going to let this slide. Especially not after everything Ahsoka's done for us. Now come on, we have our official debrief we need to go to."

Cody decided to pull him into another hug. Rex clung to him, shaking and shuddering. He couldn't tell if he was crying or not. He supposed it didn't matter.

"I tried to keep her awake, but I couldn't," Rex said, his voice cracking. "And Fives tried to tell me before we left that something was wrong, but I didn't listen."

"You couldn't have listened," Cody said. "You had orders and no way to ignore them."

"I could have… I could have—"

"No, you couldn't have. Fox is right. There's a reason neither of us spoke up. And that's okay. We know there's an enemy out there now. We'll figure out a way to stop him, just like we always do."

Rex didn't respond. He didn't have to.

Cody was exhausted just thinking about all the work he and the rest of the commanders were going to have to do. It felt like everything had changed in such a short amount of time. And now he was going to have to lead his brothers without input from the Jedi. He hoped he was up to the task.

He had to be. Because if Palpatine really did have the power to steal half the military budget and attempt to kill Ahsoka, then he had the power to do so much more. Cody was not going to give him the chance.

That man was never going to hurt his aliit so long as Cody breathed. He may not know what the hell he was doing. He may be working without a Jedi to lead him. But that didn't matter. Not anymore. He had made his choice. He was going to deal with this.

*****

Rex was not looking forward to yet another debrief where he had to explain in excruciating detail how Ahsoka had almost died in his arms. At this point, he was wondering if the Jedi were just fucking with him. Trying to see how many times he could repeat the story before he broke down completely.

At least he had had a chance to talk to Cody beforehand. Despite the less-than-ideal conversation Cody and Fox had had surrounding whether or not to include the Jedi in their own independent investigation, talking with his brother, hugging him, and listening to his words of encouragement did ground Rex slightly.

Maybe it was because Cody was his older brother that made Rex feel better. Jesse was great and all, but Rex was still his commanding officer. No matter how much he insisted Rex could lean on him, there was always a part of him that would pull back. Because it wasn't Jesse's job to carry him. It was Rex's job to carry the group. But it was Cody's job to carry him, so he allowed himself to let go just a bit more.

And he was so grateful for that chance because now he was talking to someone he hated more than Krell.

There were two groups of people that Rex hated. People like Bane and Palpatine had done something to make his life miserable. And people like Krell who hadn't done anything of note to him, but whom he still hated on principle.

Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin fell into this latter category.

He hadn't done anything that Rex could say with certainty was out of line. Why would he? Skywalker, Kenobi, Windu, and a handful of other Jedi were in the room with him. He was pretty sure they wouldn't stand for Tarking using numbers instead of their names. Or demanding that they put on their helmets because to have them off was 'out of uniform'.

But he still had an air about him.

He did not like Rex or Cody or Ponds.

He thought he was above them.

He thought they were wastes of space and money.

He, despite being shorter than all of them, still managed to look down his nose at them as if they were dung clinging to the bottom of his shoes.

And now Rex was forced to give him the debrief. Another debrief. A painful debrief that still left him with a sick feeling in his stomach.

And he had to be the one to do it because Skywalker and Kenobi weren't on the planet. Ahsoka was still with the healers and couldn't stand for more than a few seconds at a time. Which left Rex.

Maybe he should have taken a shot before coming to this damn thing. It might make the process more enjoyable.

Finally, he finished recounting the events for yet another time. The debrief was supposed to be for the Jedi council and several admirals so they could figure out what the hell had happened. But Rex was not under any illusion as to who was actually being debriefed here: Tarkin. For some reason, Rex just knew that he was the one leading this damn thing. He wondered if the Jedi felt it as well.

Tarkin's frown deepened. "How did you miss such a large army on the surface of the planet?"

Translation: You're a bit of a failure, aren't you? I don't see any reason why we shouldn't decommission you now.

Rex swallowed down his anger. "We are unsure, sir. But this isn't the first time the droids have somehow escaped our scans. Commander Gree had a similar problem a few months back. My guess is they've either found some way to avoid our scanners, or there's an issue with the GAR equipment that doesn't detect them. I refuse to believe General Windu would knowingly leave that many on the planet and not tell us."

"Troublesome, this is," General Yoda said. "If hidden, these armies are, much harder to fight, they will be."

Tarkin's frown somehow deepened even more and he turned to General Windu. "Could the droids have appeared after you left?"

This fucker was trying to figure out a way to pin this on Rex!

"Even if they did," General Windu said, "Captain Rex is still correct in saying they managed to hide from our scanners. The tunnel system also didn't appear on the scanners."

"This is most troubling," General Kenobi said. "Once might be a fluke in the equipment. But twice? I don't believe in coincidences. If the separatists have indeed found a way to avoid detection, we need to get confirmation. My guess is the technology is fairly new. That's why it's only been used twice that we know of. As soon as they perfect it, though, they'll completely shift the tide of the war."

"Hmph," Tarkin turned back to Skywalker. "And what did you manage to get off the data you retrieved?"

Rex somehow managed to keep his eye from twitching. The correct answer was 'nothing' because Skywalker hadn't even been there. Shouldn't he be asking Rex this? Wow, he hated Tarkin so much.

"Not much." Skywalker shook his head. "A few locations for outposts and some general troop movements."

"It appears," Cody said, daring to step in much to Tarkin's displeasure, "that the sole purpose of the ambush was to target Commander Tano. They were there to ensure her death. Either at the hands of a droid or the hands of Cad Bane."

"I see." Tarkin sniffed and turned back to the Jedi. Somehow managing to turn his back on Cody completely. "And we haven't gotten anything off the recovered blaster?"

"Psychometry hasn't been of much use," Windu said. "It seems Dooku was probably one of the ones behind it but other than that, we haven't gotten much."

"Clone slicers are trying their hand at it now," Ponds said, finding a weak spot in Tarkin's attempt to turn his back on them. You see, in turning away from Cody, that put him almost directly in Ponds' line of vision.

Tarkin did not like this. "If the Jedi cannot find anything, what makes you think your clones can?" He turned to face Skywalker.

Once more, he opened himself up to Rex's direct line of sight. Okay, this was kind of fun, making him turn in circles as he tried desperately to do everything in his power not to talk to a clone.

"We would like to exhaust all possibilities, sir," Rex said. "They may have forgotten to scrub something and we want to make sure we catch it."

Tarkin seemed to realize that no matter which direction he faced he would always be looking at a trooper and accepted his fate.

"Very well. This is troubling that the Separatists seem to have access to technology that can hide them along with information about where our troops will be."

Rex didn't know why, but he was offended by how little Tarkin seemed to care about Ahsoka. Everyone else in the room seemed horrified that she had almost died and was just as focused on finding Bane as they were on the hidden droids. Even General Windu, when they first stepped in the room, had asked about Ahsoka and how she was doing. Rex understood that this was a war and hidden clankers were a huge issue, but Tarkin hadn't once expressed concern over Ahsoka's well-being.

It left a bad taste in his mouth.

"The Jedi are launching a full investigation to find the leak," General Ki-Adi-Mundi said.

Tarkin's eyes narrowed. "And what if the leak came from the Jedi themselves?"

"Are you suggesting we were the ones that tried to kill Ahsoka?" Anakin said, stepping forward with fury blazing in his eyes.

Kenobi put a hand on his chest to push him back.

"I feel as though the GAR, Senate, and Jedi order should all be under investigation," Kenobi said. "I am certain that no one intentionally leaked Ahsoka's whereabouts to the Separatists, but until we figure out where the leak came from, we all need to be cautious. Admiral, if you feel that there is a conflict of interest with the Jedi investigating Jedi, then please feel free to conduct your own investigation."

"I think I shall take you up on your offer," Tarkin said.

" He's up to something. I know he's up to something."

Tarking looked at Rex for the first time this meeting. "I will also be investigating all the clones as well. We must ensure something like this does not happen again."

"We shall work together on that front," General Windu said. "I'm sure none of our men are the leak but we will get to the bottom of this."

Tarkin's eyes narrowed. "Very well. I shall put you in contact with a member of our staff to begin the review process."

Something twisted in Rex's gut.

That feeling he had on the battlefield.

That instinct that told him something was wrong.

It was flaring up again in full force.

He wondered if Cody or Ponds felt it too.

He glanced at them, but neither let anything slip if they were also realizing something was up with Tarkin.

He was not going to ignore this instinct.

He didn't ignore it and Ahsoka lived because of it.

He wasn't going to ignore it now.

Something was wrong with Tarkin. He didn't seem to care that a child had been shot and was now hunted by one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy. He didn't seem to care about why Ahsoka was shot. And he seemed to not want the Jedi investigating this independently.

Maybe it was because there might be a conflict of interest. Maybe he didn't make a big deal about Ahsoka because he didn't know how. Maybe he was a perfectly nice man who didn't have a nefarious bone in his body.

But Rex's gut told him something was wrong.

And he was not going to ignore it.

Cody had mentioned that there was no way Palpatine was working on all of this alone. Whatever this was. Maybe Tarkin was one of his lackeys.

That might not be the case.

Rex might be barking up the wrong tree here.

Or he might be dead on. His gut told him that something was wrong. He was going to investigate Tarkin.

But how could he possibly investigate the admiral without drawing attention to himself? Especially since Tarkin was probably going to be watching them like a hawk. Observing them. Making sure none of them stepped a toe out of line.

Fox was right. They needed a better way to communicate.

Wait a second, Fox!

Fox could look into Tarkin.

Or have one of his men do it.

The meeting finished and they all filed out of the room. Rex followed Cody and Ponds back toward the barracks so as not to draw attention to himself. He thought he could feel Tarkin's eyes on the back of his neck.

After a few minutes of walking, sure that Tarkin wasn't following them, he tapped on Cody's hand twice.

Cody gave him a subtle nod and shifted so that Rex could duck into an alcove, hopefully in the blind spot of the camera. He and Ponds stopped and started talking about something mundane. Rex wasn't listening. Instead, he was digging around for a scrap of paper and a pen. Most people didn't use paper and pens these days but it was an analog way to get around the monitored chatlogs so long as the person receiving the message destroyed it right away.

He didn't have a lot of space to write, so he just wrote Tarkin's name down and hoped Fox got the message.

Once the paper was in hand, he ducked out of the alcove and followed Cody and Ponds back to the barracks, all three chatting about nothing in particular.

He slipped away from Cody once there and set off to find a Corrie. Thankfully, he found one rather quickly sitting on a bench just outside of the barracks reader.

Not caring who it was, he sat next to him and shoved the paper as discretely as possible into his hand. Then, he tapped out in dadita Fox.

The Corrie got the message and tapped his foot twice to acknowledge. Message successfully passed, Rex stood up before people could question why he was sitting on a bench staring out at the busy street in front of him.

He hoped Fox would understand the message to look into Tarkin. He hoped there was something to look into in the first place. While he normally didn't want things to get more complicated, he couldn't help but feel in order to solve this, that's exactly what needed to happen.

"Doing all right there, Rex?" Skywalker asked.

He turned to see him in the barracks. "Sir, what are you doing here?"

"Wanted to see how the rest of the men are doing," he said. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to them, getting Ahsoka settled and all."

"I know what you mean. I feel like I haven't been able to sleep the past week there's been so much to do. But I also can't remember a thing I did."

Skywalker laughed. "Yeah, I feel you. Seriously, you're doing okay? I know Ahsoka was the one that got hurt, but you had to deal with it."

He nodded. "I'm better now that Ahsoka's got proper medical treatment. Not that Kix didn't do his best. It's just… well, you know."

Anakin sighed and walked with them toward their barracks. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that without me there. Next time the council tries something like that, I'm going to put my foot down. It should have never happened."

Rex swallowed down his thoughts on the council. He agreed with Fox. They should have said no. They should have put their foot down and refused to send Ahsoka out there. What was Palpatine going to do? Make a big show of it? That'd only look more suspicious.

Complacent.

The council had gotten too complacent in following orders and letting Ahsoka do the work. And they were serving a corrupt system that put money and power over people.

Rex was going to put an end to that. Something like this would never happen again if he had any say in it.

The council may have gotten complacent. Palpatine may have gotten complacent.

But Rex and his brothers had not.

They were going to fix this and he was going to keep Ahsoka safe no matter what.

*****

CommanderCody: Do you think Wolffe knows how many people he's slept with?

CommanderCody: Or do you think it's just a guess?

CommanderCody: Not that I really want the number

CommanderCody: Obi-Wan was talking about the different species humans are compatible with

CommanderCody: The thought of mini-Wolffe's running around out there

CommanderCody: That's something I don't want to think about

CommanderCody: At all

CommanderCody: Like, at all, at all

CommanderCody: Knowing just makes it all the worse. Don't you think?

CommanderGree: Roger, roger

CommanderPonds: 100% agree

CommanderBacara: Fully on board with not knowing

CommanderThorn: The less we know about Wolffe, the better

CommanderNeyo: I'm kind of curious, though.

CommanderGregor: Agreed

CommanderWilco: At least Wolffe gives us something to talk about.

CommanderDoom: Reading you loud and clear, Cody

CommanderMonnk: Agree with you. The less we talk about it, the better for all parties involved.

CommanderJet: Trying to keep up with all of this is exhausting.

CommanderWolffe: You people love me. Don't deny it.

CommanderCody: Just so long as we're clear.

Notes:I would just like to thank AnotherInternetUser for two things:

First, this awesome fanart of Fox looking somehow both pissed off and tired at the same time so please go check that out: https://www.tumblr.com/justanotherinterneruser/715536696136105984/creche-to-command-chapter-1-boredom-star

And second: The chat logs! She's been really inspired to make the chatlogs more ✨Aesthetic ✨Chapter 1 has already been updated and she's working on the rest right now and I am so happy. They look great. I love the pfps. So thank you so much to her!

Mando'a

Di'kute: Idiots

Neverde: Civilians

Hut'uun: Coward

Demagolka: Horrible person

Vod: Brother

Vod'ika: Little brother/sister

Ori'vod: Older Brother

Ner: My

Aliit: Family

Dadita: Morse code-like way of communication