Chapter Text
When he opened his eyes, everything was red and he couldn’t breathe.
There were tubes everywhere and he started struggling. His muscles started burning right away. He heard something open and he managed to sit up, before pulling one of the tubes out of his mouth. As soon as the tube was pulled out of his mouth, and he took his first free breath, the smell of bacta hit his nostrils.
He was in a bacta tank. A red, horizontal bacta tank protruding from a large pillar. He looked around. His eyes hurt, despite the fact that there was very little light.
Around him, there were several other large towers with similar tanks lining them, as far as his eyes could see. They reminded him of the towers on which the Kaminoans stored the incubator tanks, though they looked somehow more malicious.
His lungs still burned, struggling with every breath. He wanted to lay back down in the pod, and let his aching muscles rest, but he wasn’t sure how to move with all the cables plugged into his body, and the pod was filled with bacta.
Suddenly, a machine came soaring upwards, stopping just in front of him. It was not like any droid he had ever seen, though its face had a vague resemblance to a spider droid, but instead of strong legs and a cannon it had too many tentacles to count and a lot of manipulators.
He immediately reached for his blasters, but he realized he was naked and unarmed.
A second later, the manipulators were around his throat and he struggled against it weakly. His arms were definitely too weak, but the fact that he was so slippery that his hands couldn’t get any grip didn't help either.
It was getting hard to breath and there was a buzzing noise behind him, followed by a hissing sound and the sound of something popping out.
Then, the machine let him go, and the other plugs popped off with a series of hisses.
He sank to his knees, gasping for air.
Then, he heard a sound like one of the suction toilets on the Resolute activating, and the tank started emptying rapidly. Before he could really react, he was sucked down a tube, along with the bacta he had been kept in.
Being sucked down the tube with the terrifying experience, no he was too disoriented to think about where he was going. All he knew is that he was going down, and if you had to guess it was towards some kind of waste management facility.
Suddenly, there was a steep drop and he fell several meters until he hit the water.
He immediately swam to the surface, but he could tell it was futile. His muscles were burning with the effort he was making. He didn’t understand how he got here or what was happening, but he knew water, and he knew exhaustion, and he knew what happened when those two things coincided.
Just as he thought he was about to go under, a bright light appeared above him. A ship, he realized.
He screamed, trying to get their attention, but they already spotted him. Their search light honed in on him, and a double door in the belly of the ship opened, revealing a large claw just as he went under.
As he sank he felt the metal fingers close around him. He wanted to grab on to them to hold on as best as he could, but his muscles were too weak to obey him, so he just laid in the claw limply as he was pulled into the ship.
The lights were blinding but he didn’t want to close his eyes, he had to see what was going on.
The bay doors closed behind him with an ominous clang, and he felt the slight comfort of a ratty blanket underneath him, and the outline of two strong arms holding him as the claw released him.
“Welcome to the real world, Rex.“ the familiar voice of his general said.
After his head sagged to the side, he couldn’t see his General, who was most likely the one holding him, but he could see his Commander, looking at him warmly as she wrapped the blankets around him, covering his slimy, naked body.
She cupped his face in her hand, and all he could notice was how warm her fingers felt against his skin.
Then, everything went black again.
The next few days were a blur, but he was vaguely aware that he had several surgeries and was slipping in and out of consciousness.
But at least the plugs seemed to be disappearing. The places where they used to be seemed to be healing well. His skin started forming pale scars in their place and the rest of his skin was getting a little darker. He had been a sickly pale shade when he had arrived on the ship, but he was starting to look like his old self again. Especially now that his hair had grown back to his desired 1 cm length. His muscles, which had been thin and weak, were starting to bulk up again just a little, but they still ached all the time, and it was even worse when he tried to move.
So he spent most of his time just lying in the small bunk they had given him, wondering what was going on with the limited amount of consciousness he had.
Then one day, about three days after he woke up if he had to guess, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” he said, and the door opened to reveal Ahsoka.
She looked different here. Her lekku were thinner, as were her arms, which had the same plug scars that he had on his own, though hers were faded. She was also not wearing her usual outfit, but a plain, beige, sleeveless shirt and oil stained, dark pants, and she wasn’t wearing her headband. He realized he had never seen her without it in… whatever his previous life was.
He looked at the tray she was carrying. There was some gross, tasteless slob on it that didn't look too different from what the GAR gave him and his brothers.
His eyes traveled up her arms to her scars. “You have scars too, Sir?” He asked, looking up at her with knitted brows.
“Yes,” she said. “Only natural borns don’t have them.”
“But you’re a-“ he swallowed his words, as he wasn’t even sure that he was a clone and she was a nat anymore. Nothing he had previously believed made sense anymore.
“I'm actually not,” she said apologetically, “We need to talk. I owe you an explanation now that you’re in the real world.”
“Alright,” he agreed, “I would like some answers. It’s… been a lot.”
“Right,” she said, sitting down next to him and handing him the tray. He accepted it, and started eating the tasteless protein mix.
She sat next to him, avoiding his eyes as she seemed to be thinking it over.
“I suppose I should start at the beginning.” she decided “Around 200 years ago, we created Artificial Intelligence.”
“Droids?” He asked between bites.
“More or less,” she said, “but a droid is still different. It will act in accordance with its programming, to fulfill the task it was built for. AI is different. It can and will think for itself, and it’s a lot smarter than a droid. AI will act in its own best interest. And sadly for us, living alongside us was not in its best interest.“
“So the clankers started a war with you in the real world as well?” He asked
“We don’t know who started the war,“ she said “But I do know that it was us who darkened the skies“
Rex shot her a confused look. “Why would you do that?”
“They were solar powered,” she explained “We thought it would stop them, but now they use us as batteries instead.”
Rex looked at the scars on his arms and remembered the plugs and cables. “Is that why I’m so weak?”
“You also literally never used your muscles before,” she said “That’s a big factor too.”
“Will it get better?“ He asked nervously.
“Yeah,“ she assured him, “it might take a while though.“
“So the droids use us as batteries?” He asked, trying to understand it “but that doesn’t explain what the matrix is”
“The matrix is a large computer simulation that’s supposed to keep us distracted and under their control,” she explained “it’s the world as you knew it before we woke you up.”
“But… you were there. And now you’re here” he said, trying to make sense of it all.
“I know,“ she said softly “we can essentially travel between the matrix and the real world“
“How?” He asked, and in response she turned around, lifted her back lek, and revealed a complicated looking plug just at the base of her skull, just like the one he had felt on the back of his head.
“We can plug into the matrix via a hijacked signal” she explained. “It allows us to interact with what’s going on in the matrix without taking everyone out.”
Rex was silent for a moment, taking in the info that she had given him.
“Why did you take me out?” He asked “I mean, why me?”
“Two reasons.” she said “ We were considering taking the clone troopers out of the matrix, but we aren’t sure how well you guys would adapt. Most people don’t react well to finding out their entire life was a lie, but we felt like we had to at least try taking a trooper out. We picked you specifically because I-“ she swallowed thickly. “Because I felt bad about hiding it from you. Anakin said it’d be a bad idea, but…”
“But?” He asked carefully, his eyes glued to her face and his mouth open just a little.
“The whole temple bombing debacle happened, and Anakin told me he’d let me try to free you if I stayed.”
“But why did you choose me for this?” He asked “why not any of the other- wait, were my brothers even real?”
“They’re as real as you are,” she assured him “and you guys are genetically identical in the real world as well. Though you’re not the only clones around here.”
“We’re not?” He asked in surprise.
“Humanoids can’t be made naturally when we’re all used as batteries,” she explained “So the new ones are created in a lab. Usually, IVF is used, but they sometimes resort to cloning too if the birthrate in the matrix is too low.”
“So, are you a clone too?” he asked in surprise.
“Yes,” she admitted “It was in my file when they took me out at three. That was when I joined the Jedi order in the Matrix. Before that, I was an orphan. Clones are usually inserted into the matrix with one or more unknown parents. But unless we get that file, there is no way to tell.”
“Wait, so General Skywalker-”
“Yes, he’s a clone too” she told him. “Most Jedi are.”
Rex’s head was swimming. Everything he knew about how the galaxy worked was falling apart, but he couldn’t bring himself to doubt her..
“Then why haven’t I seen more people… like you?” He knew that wasn’t the best way to ask this, but he couldn’t think of a better way.
“Usually, they clone dead people and only once. So my template died before I was created.” she explained “There was only one instance of a template being used a lot, and I think you already know there those clones are in the matrix”
He nodded solemnly. His brothers. “Do you know why they created all of us in the real world?” he asked.
“The machines are building something. We don’t know what, but they needed an extra power plant. They put you guys in a type of bacta that makes you give more energy at the expense of a shorter lifespan.” She explained “After that, all they still needed was a way to put millions of identical looking humans into the matrix, but that wouldn’t make sense so-”
“So they created the GAR, as an explanation for those in the matrix” Rex realized.
“Yes, and they put one of their agents somewhere in the inner workings of the Republic, and he started the clone wars to justify the production of the clones, and to do some… population control.”
“What do you mean?”
“We think they only needed ten or so years of extra energy, and they started the clone wars partially to phase you guys out.” Ahsoka said grimly.
“Phase us out?” Rex asked nervously “Does that mean what I think it does?”
“They don’t need the additional energy anymore, and keeping you guys alive for another 25 years wouldn’t have been beneficial.” she said grimly ”They had to get rid of the clones, and what better way to get rid of a soldier than to start a war to kill them off?”
“So… even with my accelerated aging, my life still wasn’t short enough?” He asked in disgust.
“Yes,” she said softly “and speaking of which, your accelerated aging isn’t genetic like the Kaminoans said it was. They use an expensive aging serum to put in the bacta for that. You’ll age normally now that you’re out of their bacta” she explained “It’s one of the reasons I wanted to pull you out.”
“What was the main one?” he asked again. “And why me and not… I don’t know. Cody. Or Echo. Of Fives. Force knows he’d wanna get to the bottom of this… Real world conspiracy.”
“That’s personal,” she said hastily “Do you wanna meet the rest of the crew?”
“Yes, I’d love to.” Rex said.
She got up and he followed her to what appeared to be the mess hall. “You actually already know most of them.”
As soon as he entered, he spotted a few familiar faces sitting around a simple table. General Skywalker was there, dressed in a simple sweater. Next to him was general Kenobi, who was also wearing a simple outfit like anyone else. Generals Ti and Koon were also there, and there was a twi'lek man and woman, both green although she was darker, who he had never seen before.
“Generals” Rex greeted them, giving them a polite nod.
“I’m not a General here, Rex” Skywalker said right away “Just call me Anakin”
Rex shot him an uncomfortable look, but he really didn’t know what to say. “Then… What rank are you, sir?”
“Technically, I’m the Captain of this ship.” He said, gesturing at the room around him “but we don’t use any ranks on board this ship, to avoid slipping up in the Matrix”
“They won’t mind if you slip up though,” Ahsoka said “I know how hard it is for you to get used to calling people by their name”
At that, she punched his arm affectionately, and he winced at the feeling. His arm was noticeably thinner than it was in what he now knew was the matrix, and the punch hurt him a lot more than he expected.
“Sorry,” she said.
“I’ve had worse,” Rex said “at least, I think.”
“You haven’t,” Anakin said “that was literally the worst thing another being has ever done to you in the real world”
“Hey!” Ahsoka protested.
“And here I thought getting plugs inside of me and being used as a battery was worse.” Rex said, a little too casually.
His General, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti and Ahsoka all chuckled at that
“You troopers have such a good sense of humor,” General Ti said, a lot more warm-hearted than he was used to from the usually sagacious Jedi.
General Plo leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. “How have you been adapting to the real world so far, Rex?” he asked, his voice laced with concern “I know it must be hard for you, but I want you to know that the crew is here for you to help you adapt.
He was a little taken aback by that. He knew that General Plo was a lot more affectionate with his men, but Rex had never spoken to the Kel Dor before and wasn’t used to his friendliness yet. Even less so in a situation where they were technically equals.
“It’s a lot to take in.” he admitted, holding back the sir he still wanted to add
“Do you think it would help to learn more about the matrix?” Shaak Ti asked kindly.
“Maybe it would.” Rex admitted “I’m not sure.”
“Neither are we,” Ahsoka said “We were taken out of the matrix at a very young age.”
“Little ‘Soka was three when I took her out.” General Plo said
“We were all taken out before we were old enough to remember” General Kenobi added “Except Anakin, but that’s a story for another time.”
“I was nine,” Anakin elaborated “I was just that special.”
“Yeah, sure Skyguy” Ahsoka said, rolling her eyes. She grabbed Rex by the elbow and dragged him along to another room in the ship “Eres, can you come along? I wanna show Rex our loading program”
The green twilek hastily shoved the last bite of her “food” into her mouth and got up to greet Rex.
“Hey, I’m Eres,” she said, holding out her hand. Rex took it without hesitation. As he looked at her bare arm, he noticed she lacked the pale scars everyone else seemed to have.
“You don’t have any scars.” he noted
“No, I’m a naturalborn.” she said “me and my brother Levo were born here, in the real world”
“Okay.” Rex said, even though he didn’t fully understand this whole situation.
“She can’t go into the matrix herself, but she’s our operator.” Ahsoka explained
“What’s an operator?” Rex asked “and what’s a loading program?”
“We’ll show you.” Eres said, holding up two large, complicated looking cables.
Ahsoka laid down on one of the large chairs that reminded him of the ones they had at dental maintenance back on Kamino, her back lek hanging freely. Eres plugged the cable in underneath her lek.
She gestured for Rex to sit on the other chair, and he did so willingly. Then, there was a loud click behind his head at the nape of his neck and everything went white.