Archive of Our Own

Ever since he'd found out about them, Thrawn had found clone troopers fascinating. Or, at least, he found the Republic's clone troopers fascinating. Imperial troopers were presented as a faceless, uniform horde, but Republic troopers had managed to have individuality, despite the fact that they were all created as copies of the same man. The art style they used to decorate their armor had aspects of some traditional Mandalorian art, but with an intriguing blend of other styles mixed in. And the tattoos that some of them chose to adorn themselves with were another type of art, sometimes similar to the art on their helmets and sometimes entirely dissimilar. To be honest, the way they all managed to differentiate themselves from the others was its own art form, one that Thrawn wished he'd had more of a chance to study. Unfortunately, the Empire didn't encourage that sort of art, and so Thrawn had never truly seen it in the flesh. It was almost a shame that the Empire had insisted on such uniformity for the clone troopers.

It was something that was too late to be changed, though, because there were barely any clone troopers left.

Still, Thrawn had studied them, and he knew their capabilities, and so he knew that the Lothal rebels had to be working with a clone who'd defected from the Empire. Their tactics were too similar, and their knowledge of old Imperial codes was too complete. And, of course, Brom Titus had even temporarily caught an old clone trooper alongside members of the Lothal cell, only for the trooper to be rescued by Kanan Jarrus himself. It was obvious that they had to be working together, and Thrawn suspected they had been for a while. It added some extra difficulty, but luckily for Thrawn, the rebel clone wasn't the only clone trooper left, and there were still a few who remained in active service with the Empire.

Thrawn sat down at his desk and pulled up a list of the remaining clone troopers. It seemed like he would need to put in a personnel request.

"Okay," Kanan said, throwing himself into the copilot's seat, "we have a serious problem."

"You can say that again," Hera groaned as she finally released her white-knuckled grip on the Ghost's controls. The mission had started to fall apart almost as soon as it started, and escaping hadn't been easy. Even now that they were in hyperspace, she still felt tense.

She hoped Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper's mission had gone better, but given their current luck, she wasn't feeling too optimistic. In the past two weeks, almost every single mission they'd run had gone wrong, despite the tireless efforts of their best strategists. Whatever the Empire was doing, it was putting a serious crimp in their style.

"I don't get it," Ezra piped in as he climbed up from the nose gun and sat down behind Kanan. "It's like the Empire knows what we're going to do before we do it, but even more than Thrawn usually does. Do you think they've got a new Inquisitor or something?"

"I sure hope not," Kanan said dryly. "But I don't think this is the work of an Inquisitor. You've had visions through the Force before, Ezra. They're not clear-cut or obvious. No vision I've ever had would let me know as many details as the Empire knows about what we're going to do."

"Do you think we have a spy?" Hera asked, frowning. "There aren't that many people who know the details of our missions, and I thought we could trust them all, but maybe someone is leaking information to the Empire."

"No, I don't think so," Kanan said, shaking his head. "They don't know enough for it to be a spy. If we had a real spy problem on our hands, then the Empire would have attacked Chopper Base by now. There's no one who knows what we're doing who doesn't also know where it is. Why would a spy tell the Empire about our missions but not about our base?"

"So then what's happening?" Ezra protested. "Someone has to be telling the Empire something. They know all of our plans."

"No," a new voice said in the doorway, and everyone turned to face Rex as he sat heavily in the seat behind Hera's. "They know all of mine."

"What are you saying, Rex?" Kanan asked with a frown.

"Something like this happened before, during the Clone Wars," Rex said. He looked drawn and tired, and underneath that, he looked sad. "During the Outer Rim sieges, when we were on Anaxes, we realized the Separatists knew our strategies too well. It turned out that was because they'd taken one of ours captive, and they were using him to get information on how to beat all our plans."

"So you think the Empire captured someone and is using them for information on us?" Ezra asked.

Rex shook his head. "They just know my plans, kid. I think they brought in another clone."

"Are there any clones left in the Empire?" Hera asked, trying her best to be delicate about it. "I thought they'd all retired."

"Most did, but there are still a few left," Rex replied. "I don't know for sure who they've brought in, but I think it must be someone I fought with in the Clone Wars. Whoever it is knows my strategies in particular."

"Is there any way we could get our hands on records that would show which clone troopers are still working with the Empire?" Kanan asked. "That might help you narrow it down."

"It doesn't matter who they have," Rex said, shaking his head. "Whichever one of my brothers the Empire is still enslaving, I'm going to free them."

And then Rex's shoulders slumped, and he added, "Which is exactly what they'll be expecting me to do."

"Then someone else can plan it," Ezra offered. "Maybe they'll know you'll try something, but they don't need to know what you're going to try."

Hera looked over at Kanan, a bit concerned. She knew he'd managed to work through some of his distrust towards the clones, thanks to the time he'd spent with Rex, but she wasn't sure how he would react to the prospect of rescuing a clone trooper from the Empire. Even with the knowledge of the chips that had forced the clones to go against the Jedi - a chip this Imperial trooper probably still had - she couldn't blame Kanan if the thought of rescuing a clone trooper who was working with the Empire was a bit too much for him.

But instead, Kanan surprised her, as he still so often managed to do.

"Ezra's right," he told Rex without hesitation. "We'll come up with the plan this time. Whoever it is with the Empire, we'll free them."

"They'll be waiting for us," Rex cautioned, although Hera could see in his eyes that he wanted to agree with them. "It'll be dangerous."

"Everything we do is dangerous," Hera replied. "We've gone up against the Empire for less. We can do it again to save one of your brothers."

Rex let out a long breath. "Thank you."

"You do so much for us, Rex," Ezra said. "We can do this for you."

"We can put together a plan when we get back to Chopper Base," Kanan declared. "We'll bring in Sabine and Zeb too. Between all of us, we'll come up with something."

"It was probably Thrawn who decided to bring in a clone trooper," Hera said. "That sounds like something he would do. And we know he's currently in the Felucia system, so that's probably where the trooper is too."

"So we just need to sneak onto Thrawn's ship somehow and find the clone trooper, and then we'll rescue them and bring them back to Chopper Base," Ezra declared. "We can do that."

"Whatever trooper we find, we can't bring them directly to Chopper Base," Rex countered. "Their chip will probably still be active. I don't know exactly what they're like now, but I know we need to get it out as quickly as possible, and we need to do it before we bring them back to Chopper Base."

"I thought you said the chip was in your brain," Ezra countered. "Where are we supposed to do brain surgery other than our base?"

"Back in the early days of the Empire, I helped some of my brothers remove their chips on a Venator-class Jedi cruiser that crashed on Bracca," Rex said. "The medical bay was still intact enough that it could work. I don't think that ship is probably still there, but I bet we could find something."

"We can look around," Kanan agreed. "There was a lot of fighting in the Felucia system, back during the Clone Wars. I don't know if any of the ships that crashed there still have functional medical bays, but we might be able to find one."

"We could also see if there are other types of ships that have the same medical facilities we'd need," Hera added. "It might be hard to find a Venator-class Jedi cruiser, but if we could use a more modern Star Destroyer, that would be easier to find."

"Okay," Ezra said, nodding. "Okay, so we can look that up first, and then maybe someone can take the Phantom out to scout for ships that could work. Then we can sneak onto Thrawn's ship, kidnap the clone trooper there, get their chip out, and then everything is good, right?"

"Rex," Hera said cautiously, "I hate to even ask this, but if this trooper has been under the control of the inhibitor chip for about seventeen years…"

"What is he going to be like when we get it out?" Rex finished. "I don't know. I got mine removed pretty quickly after it was activated, so it didn't affect me too much, but Wolffe's was in for longer, and I'm not sure he ever fully recovered. I don't know how much of that was really the chip, though." He shrugged. "I only know a few clones who were able to remove their chip at all, and none of them removed it after this long. I don't know what'll happen if we remove the chip now. But I have to try. Whoever this is, he's my brother."

"Of course we'll try," Hera agreed. "We're not leaving anyone to be enslaved by the Empire."

"So we've got a plan, then," Ezra declared. "We'll rescue Rex's brother from Thrawn, and we'll get the chip out of his head."

"I think calling this a plan is a bit generous," Rex said dubiously.

"This is how we make plans when we don't have a veteran strategist working with us," Kanan said. "And since you're the one whose plans are compromised, we're going to have to do this our way."

"You remind me of General Skywalker sometimes," Rex groaned.

Kanan grinned. "I remember General Skywalker. I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"If it makes you feel any better, our plans normally work, even if they don't always work the way we meant for them to," Hera comforted.

"That doesn't really make it better," Rex said. "But I've followed crazy Jedi before, and I can do it again, especially for a brother."

"Alright," Ezra said eagerly, "then let's rescue Rex's brother!"

Hera knew it would be dangerous, and she knew there was a not insignificant chance that they'd fail, but Ezra's enthusiasm was contagious. "You're right," she agreed, unable to help a small grin from spreading across her face. "Let's do it."

It took almost a week to research and plan and get everything in place, but as Rex pulled on the awful stormtrooper armor, he couldn't help but feel cautiously optimistic that things were all going to work out. He'd purposefully refrained from helping with the plan almost entirely, but it hadn't turned out as insane as he'd feared. It was a crazy plan, of course, but based on his experience with Jedi, he didn't think it was crazier than they could handle. And given that he hadn't helped much at all, he hoped whichever brother was being forced to help Thrawn wouldn't be able to figure it out. He had to think that they'd be expecting something, but at least they wouldn't know what he was going to do.

Anyone who knew his record would know he would be likely to do something, after all. His actions on Skako Minor were enough to prove that. Any possibility of rescuing a brother, no matter how slim, was one he'd follow up on.

Rex only hoped this mission would be at least as successful as the one to Skako Minor had been.

"Are you ready?" Kanan called from the cockpit of the small Imperial shuttle they'd stolen. He was also dressed in Imperial armor, and along with him were Ezra and Sabine, both dressed as cadets. Hera and Zeb were too distinctive to come along, but they had the Ghost nearby, waiting to spirit them away from Thrawn's cruiser and to the downed Imperial ship they'd found to remove the chip on. If all went well, their services as the getaway ship would hardly even be necessary. Rex doubted that would be the case, but if they were needed, he had faith in their ability to help.

"I'm ready," Rex said as he pulled the last bit of armor into place. He hated stormtrooper armor, and the thought of wearing it to rescue a brother who'd been forced to be a stormtrooper himself made him feel a bit ill, but he couldn't exactly go in wearing his own armor, as much as he'd like to. They needed to blend in if they wanted their plan to work.

"Should we go through the plan one last time?" Sabine asked from the pilot's seat.

"Not a bad idea," Kanan agreed. "You're sticking with Rex, and Ezra is sticking with me. You two are going to the command center, and Ezra and I are going to Thrawn's office. Our best guess is that the clone trooper will be in one of those places. Whoever finds them needs to get them as close to our shuttle as possible and then stun them and bring them onboard. From what we know, the chip reduces a clone trooper's capacity for independent thought, so as long as they don't figure out that we're imposters, they should hopefully come with us without a problem. If there is a problem, then we stun them and figure things out from there."

"A typical Kanan plan," Sabine sighed. "I can't wait until we can go back to your plans, Rex. Kanan's plans suck."

"I'm literally right here, Sabine."

"Oh, trust me, I know."

"It's not the worst plan I've ever followed," Rex said. "And some of the worse ones even worked. Sort of."

"From what I remember during the war, most of Master Skywalker's plans 'sort of' worked," Kanan said.

"Oh, it wasn't just him. All of you Jedi would come up with the craziest plans. General Kenobi could give General Skywalker a run for his money sometimes. It used to drive Cody crazy."

"Cody?" Ezra repeated curiously.

"He was General Kenobi's commander," Rex explained. "He and I fought together a lot. We fought together on Felucia a few times, actually."

"We can swap war stories later," Sabine said. "Right now, we're coming up on Thrawn's ship. Dropping out of hyperspace… now."

On cue, the ship shuddered out of hyperspace. Almost immediately, they were hailed by the Chimera.

"Unidentified shuttle, please state your business."

"We're here for a scheduled supply drop off," Kanan replied, affecting a voice that Rex was pretty sure was supposed to sound like Zeb. It absolutely didn't, but it also didn't sound like Kanan, so it succeeded in that respect.

"You're on our schedule," the officer from the Chimera replied. That meant they hadn't found out yet about how they'd boarded and took over the ship from the crew that was really supposed to drop off the supplies. "Transmit your clearance codes."

"Transmitting now," Kanan replied as Sabine pressed the button.

"Your codes check out," the officer told them after a moment. "You can land in docking bay three."

"Docking bay three, understood," Kanan agreed. "We'll be there in a minute."

"Chimera out," the officer replied, and the transmission ended.

"Well, at least things are going well so far," Ezra said.

"Ugh," Sabine groaned, "don't jinx us like that. If something goes wrong, it'll be your fault."

"Hey! I didn't do anything!"

"Stop fighting, you two," Kanan cut in. "Let's go get the supplies ready."

"I wish we could steal all the supplies for the Rebellion," Ezra grumbled.

"We needed to keep something in the ship so we'd have a reason to land," Rex explained. "With the altered manifest AP-5 made, we can pass off the missing supplies as an administrative error, but we wouldn't be able to pass off having no supplies."

"Plus, we only left the stuff we don't need as badly," Sabine called from the cockpit. "And we're stealing a tactician from the Empire now. I think that's more important than a few crates full of paint and spare parts."

"I'm surprised you didn't want the paint," Ezra retorted.

"It's not the type I use, and Imperial paint is low quality anyway," Sabine dismissed. "It doesn't mix well with dyes. Now shut up, we're landing."

Rex stepped up to one of the crates as the ship came in for a landing. He knew he looked like a stormtrooper, and he knew Sabine could mimic the posture as well, but Kanan and Ezra… They weren't entirely off, but they weren't perfect either. Rex reassured himself with the reminder that they had the Force to help them. He and Sabine could be convincing naturally, and Kanan and Ezra could convince people if they had to. Hopefully, that would mean they could get in and at least partway out before anyone noticed something was wrong.

The ramp on the ship lowered, and a deck officer strode onboard. "I understand you're here for a supply run. Where are the rest of the supplies?"

"The rest, sir?" Rex asked. "This is all we've got."

The deck officer frowned. "Only three crates? There should be at least seven. Where's your manifest?"

"Here, sir," Ezra said, grabbing the altered manifest and holding it out.

"Is there a problem?" Kanan asked, still affecting the awful accent.

"Your ship has less than half the supplies it's supposed to," the officer said, scowling at the manifest. "Who approved this? I'll have them demoted."

"I thought our shipment seemed small," Kanan mused. "It's what they gave us, though, and it matched the manifest."

"Alright, well, just get everything off the ship. We'll figure this out later." The deck officer was still glaring at the manifest. "Honestly, the sheer incompetence. This is absurd. Who would look at this manifest and think it was acceptable?"

Ezra shifted like he was going to say something, and Rex gave him the sharpest glare he could manage. It wouldn't really be visible, not with his helmet on, but Rex hoped he could feel it anyway. Maybe he could, because thankfully, Ezra kept his mouth shut.

Sabine joined them from the cockpit as they pushed all the crates off the ship, and then, while the deck officer was still grumbling over the manifest and the ineptitude of some people, the four of them slipped out of the docking bay and into the hall. "Stay in contact," Kanan whispered. "Don't get caught. Good luck."

"You too," Sabine whispered, and they split off into their two groups.

"Seal your helmet," Rex told Sabine as they walked down the hallway. "It'll make you just another faceless cadet, and we'll be able to talk through the comms without anyone else hearing."

Sabine did as she was told. "We shouldn't take a direct route to the command center, just in case."

"I wasn't planning on it," Rex replied. "Although maybe that means we should take the direct route, if we don't want to do things the way I'd plan them."

"I think you're overthinking it," Sabine said. "It's one thing not to have you plan things, but it's another to do something stupid because you wouldn't."

"Alright, but you pick the route," Rex said. "Just in case."

In response, Sabine took a right. Rex quickly followed.

They weren't stopped on their way to the command center, and they were able to slip inside without any hassle. Rex tried to convince himself that it wasn't suspicious that things were going well. They were due a win, after all their recent failures. Unfortunately, the universe normally didn't work like that, and Rex knew it.

Sabine went over to the closest computer terminal and did her best to look natural as she began fiddling with it. Rex stood next to her, using an old clone trick to keep watch from behind his helmet without ever moving his head. No one seemed to be paying them too much attention, but that didn't mean they should get complacent.

"-don't think we have to worry about those rebels anymore," a voice said as the door to the command center opened. Rex noted the word rebels, but didn't pay much attention. It didn't sound important, after all, just like the musings of some Imperial officer.

"With all due respect, sir, I disagree," said another voice, and Rex's heart stopped. "The rebels are not going to stop until we stop them. Our efforts until now have kept them from succeeding, but they'll keep trying. Especially CT-7567."

"Rex," Sabine hissed. "Rex. Are you listening to me?"

"Sabine," Rex whispered, hardly remembering to keep his head steady as his gaze flew to the newcomers. The officer didn't capture his interest for a moment, but the other… His hair was still in the same regulation cut, even if it was white now. The same scar curled around his eye. He walked with the same posture, stood in the same way, looked so similar to how he once had that Rex's heart clenched-

"I found records of the clone trooper Thrawn called in," Sabine said. "His number is CC-2224. The records list his name as-"

"Cody," Rex breathed. "It's Cody."

Sabine looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"He's here," Rex said. "He just walked in."

"And we're going out," Sabine said, starting towards the door.

"Wait- Sabine!"

"Just follow me," Sabine instructed, and Rex did, although he hated it. He was walking away from his brother, from Cody, when he should be rescuing him. He would rescue him eventually, of course, but he wanted to do it now, itched to do it as quickly as possible.

The Empire had had Cody for seventeen years already, and that was seventeen too many.

"Where are we going?" Rex demanded as they walked down the hall.

Sabine didn't answer, just ducked into a little alcove and yanked Rex into it too. Only then did she speak, opening up her helmet to Rex could see the look of concern on her face.

"Are you good to do this mission?"

"What?" Rex demanded. "Of course I am. We need to rescue Cody. We need to get him out of there."

"You froze in there," Sabine countered. "I saw you. I get it, but if that means you're not up for this-"

"We need to get him out."

"I can do that with Ezra and Kanan. Are you going to freeze like that again?"

Rex took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was a fair question, if he looked past his automatic defensiveness. He had frozen up, and if he'd done that in the middle of a fight, it could have gotten someone killed. He'd known that he would see a brother here, but having it be Cody hit him harder than he'd anticipated.

But he could keep it together. He was a soldier. He'd be alright.

"I won't," he told Sabine. "Let's get Cody out of here."

"What's the plan to do that?" Sabine asked. "We need to get him out of the command center without making anyone suspicious. It would be best if we could get him to come with us to the ship, but I don't know if that's going to happen." She frowned slightly. "You know Cody pretty well, right? Tell me about him. What can we expect?"

"I don't know what he's like with the chip, but without it, Cody was a great commander and a brilliant tactician," Rex said. "He always liked to have a plan, but he could go without one if he had to. He was smart. He won't just follow us mindlessly, not unless the chip has taken all that from him."

"So we should expect-"

"Trooper," a familiar voice said, and Rex's heart sank. "Cadet. Step out into the hall."

Sabine looked at Rex with wide eyes, then stepped into the hall. Rex followed her, glad that he was still wearing his helmet. It hid the anguish that had to be on his face as he looked into Cody's eyes, colder and blanker than he'd ever seen them before.

"You two left the command center in a hurry," Cody declared. "The records don't show any cadets who should be assigned to this area of the ship. Your armor doesn't fit you properly. And your face matches that of the known rebel Sabine Wren."

Sabine's hand flew up to her open helmet, but it was too late to close it. Cody reached for his blaster, and Rex knew he had to move fast.

"Sabine, run!" he yelled, and he threw himself at Cody in a tackle.

Sabine hesitated for an instant before turning and sprinting down the hallway. Rex was grateful it was empty other than them as he tried to pin Cody to the ground, doing his best to keep Cody's hands away from his blaster.

Unfortunately, Cody had always won in hand-to-hand training between them, and only one of the two had ever taken down a whole group of battle droids with his bare hands.

"She won't get away," Cody told Rex fiercely as he flipped them so he was pinning Rex down instead. Rex had heard that sort of anger in his voice before, but always pointed towards their enemies, never towards him. "You're not going to win."

Rex drove his knee into Cody's side, and when Cody's grip momentarily loosened, he twisted and broke free. He jumped to his feet, but instead of fighting, he grabbed his helmet and yanked it off.

"Cody, it's me. It's Rex. It's your brother."

For an instant, Cody froze. Rex could see it, the slight stutter in his movements. Then he was on his feet as well, blaster at the ready.

"You're a traitor."

"You know I'm not," Rex said. "I'm your brother, Cody. I'm here for you. I know the Empire has been forcing you to work for them, but-"

"The Empire hasn't forced me to do anything," Cody interrupted. "I'm loyal to the Empire. Good soldiers follow orders."

It had been a long time since Rex had heard that phrase. It still made his stomach flip just as much as it always had.

"Cody, listen to me. There's a chip in your head. It's making you do this. But you can fight it. You know I'm not a traitor. I'm your brother. You're not going to hurt me."

Cody's hand began to tremble. His eyes weren't blank anymore; they were pained. Rex could see the tension in his jaw.

"Cody," he whispered, "come back to me. I know you're in there, brother. You can fight it."

"G-Good-"

"Cody, please."

Cody's mouth spasmed, like he wasn't sure whether he was going to speak or not. "G-good soldiers- Rex-"

"That's me," Rex agreed, relief washing over him. Maybe Cody had been brainwashed for seventeen years, maybe he was pointing a blaster at him, maybe he was going to shoot, but at least he was still there. "You know me, Cody. You're not going to hurt me."

"Rex," Cody gasped out. His hand was shaking madly now, so much so that Rex almost thought he might drop his blaster. "Rex, you- you need- Good soldiers-" He shook his head fiercely, his face tight with pain. Something dark started to trickle from his nose. "Rex, you need to run."

"I'm not going anywhere," Rex said, keeping his voice even as he took a step towards Cody. "Not without you."

"R-Rex- I-"

"You're not going to shoot me," Rex said. "You're my brother, Cody. I trust you."

"Run, Rex, that's an order."

"I don't follow those anymore," Rex said with a sad smile.

Cody looked at Rex, then at his raised blaster. Slowly, looking like the effort was costing him dearly, he raised his other hand and put it on top of his outstretched arm, pushing it down. The blaster point slowly lowered.

"I can't fight it much longer," Cody said through gritted teeth. The flow of blood from his nose was increasing with every moment. "Go, Rex. Get out of here."

Rex shook his head. "Not without you," he said, and then he moved.

After all, Cody was better at hand-to-hand combat, but Rex had always been quicker on the draw.

Cody dropped as the stun bolt hit him, crumpling in a heap on the floor. A moment later, Sabine and Ezra skidded into the hallway, Kanan behind them.

"Rex, we're- Oh. You're okay." Sabine looked a little embarrassed. "I got Ezra and Kanan."

"Cody fought the chip," Rex said, looking down at his brother on the ground. "I could use a hand carrying him back to the ship."

"Do you know if anyone else heard you two?" Ezra asked as he quickly came forward to help.

"I can hear stormtroopers heading this way," Kanan said, his head tipped slightly to the side. "We need to hurry."

"I might be able to distract them," Sabine offered, pulling out a remote detonator.

"When did you have time to plant a bomb?" Rex demanded as he and Ezra heaved Cody up between them.

"It's in the command center, under the terminal where I was working," Sabine replied. "I always plant bombs on terminals like that. They end up being helpful at least half the time."

"Blow it up," Kanan said. "And let's hope it's enough of a distraction for us to get out of here."

Sabine grinned wickedly and pressed the button.

They were close enough to the command center that the explosion rocked them a little, but it wasn't enough to knock anyone over. Rex and Ezra started carrying Cody back to the ship, Sabine guarding them from the front and Kanan guarding from the back. They ran into a few stormtroopers, but Kanan and Sabine were able to take them down quickly enough. Rex started to think they might actually make it.

And then they reached the docking bay where they'd left the ship, and it was only Kanan's quick, "Duck!" that stopped them from getting shot to pieces by the squad of stormtroopers inside.

"They must have figured out about the ship," Sabine called, and she added an absolutely vile curse in Mando'a that Rex had only heard a handful of times before. "What are we going to do?"

"Plan B," Kanan said, pulling out his comlink. "Spectre One to Ghost! We could use a pickup from docking bay three."

"On our way, Spectre One," Hera replied immediately.

"There's a bunch of troopers in here," Kanan added. "We might need some help getting through."

"Oh, don't worry," Zeb said, "we can deal with the troopers."

A moment later, the Ghost swooped into the docking bay, firing into the squad of stormtroopers. The ones who survived scattered, and the Ghost lowered itself down to the ground. The ramp opened, and Chopper waved at them from the top of it.

"We need to make a run for it," Ezra said, looking uncertainly at Cody's unconscious body between him and Rex. "What are we going to do with him?"

"I'll take care of it, kid," Rex said. He looked down at Cody, then he slung him over his shoulder and stood. Cody was heavy, and Rex wouldn't be able to keep this up for long, but he had enough adrenaline coursing through his system to get him over to the Ghost.

"Go!" Kanan yelled, and the four of them sprinted over to the Ghost. Kanan and Ezra deflected blaster bolts with their lightsabers while Sabine fired at the remaining stormtroopers. Rex focused on avoiding getting shot and keeping Cody from falling. He'd never forgive himself if he dropped his brother now, after everything.

They reached the Ghost without anyone getting hit by a blaster bolt or falling, which Rex was going to take as a win. Kanan and Ezra jumped onboard, still deflecting incoming shots, then Sabine jumped up and grabbed Cody, helping Rex heave him onboard.

It was a successful mission until that moment.

"Rex!" Ezra yelled, and Rex turned just enough that the shot that hit his shoulder was a glancing one, mostly just knocking him off-balance. It was the same shoulder where Cody had been a moment earlier, and Rex took a moment to be intensely grateful that he'd already passed Cody up to Sabine. That was about the only thing to be grateful about with the situation, however, because before Rex could get his balance back, the stormtroopers swarmed around him. He pulled out his blaster, but he knew he could only do so much.

"Rex!" Sabine cried, taking a desperate step towards him.

"Go!" Rex yelled as he fired at the closest stormtrooper. "Get out of here! Help Cody!"

"We're not leaving you!" Ezra protested, even as the ship rose and started drifting out of the hangar. Rex couldn't blame Hera for leaving; he knew they had to get out as fast as possible. If they stayed, they'd all be captured. If they left, the Empire would only get their hands on him. It was an easy calculation to make.

"We'll come back for you," Kanan yelled, his expression resolute.

"Help Cody," Rex repeated, and then a stun bolt hit him point blank in the chest, and the world went dark.

When Cody woke, he didn't know where he was or how he'd gotten there. He only had a moment to panic about that before he realized that his memory of everything was fuzzy, going back years. The last thing he remembered clearly was giving General Kenobi his lightsaber back after he killed General Grievous on Utapau, and then-

And then-

Cody jerked upright as seventeen years of memories hit him like a crashing wave, seventeen years of awful memories he wished he didn't have. They were still fuzzy, but they were clear enough that he knew what he'd done.

He'd enslaved planets. He'd killed innocents. He'd murdered his own general. He could remember that excruciatingly clearly, the moment that General Kenobi fell. He'd done it without question, without thought, and-

"Are you with us?" a voice asked, and Cody whipped his head around towards its source. There was a man standing in the corner of the room, wearing a mask with painted jaig eyes. His arms were crossed over his chest, and hanging from his belt was a lightsaber.

For an instant, there was a ghost of a compulsion in Cody's head, a faint whisper of good soldiers follow orders, but he shoved it down ruthlessly. He'd never wanted to hurt the Jedi. He never would again.

"How did you free me?" Cody asked, his voice raspy. "I haven't been in control like this since…"

"Since the Jedi Purge," the man finished. "There was a chip in your head. It forced you to fire on the Jedi. You fought alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, didn't you?"

The name caused a stab of pain, but Cody knew he deserved it. "I did."

"I remember him. He was a good person." The man pushed away from the wall and stepped closer to Cody. "I was Depa Billaba's Padawan. We fought with Commander Grey."

Cody ran through the list of Jedi in his mind, which was as clear as ever. Each name caused a prickle of pain as he realized they were most likely all dead. "Commander Dume," he finally said, landing on the name of General Billaba's Padawan.

"Once," the man agreed. "Now my name is Kanan Jarrus. Thrawn may have mentioned me."

The reference to Thrawn made a sharp pain spike through Cody's head, but it also brought back more memories. He'd been working with Thrawn, working to stop a group of rebels, a group that included a clone trooper. That was why Thrawn had brought him in. He'd needed Cody to come up with ways to beat the clone trooper's plans, and Cody had done it easily, because the trooper coming up with those plans was someone he knew well.

It was also the someone who'd rescued him.

"Rex," he whispered. "Where's Rex?"

"He was captured during the escape," Jarrus said. "We believe he's probably being held prisoner on the Chimera."

"We have to rescue him," Cody said, struggling to his feet. His legs weren't quite steady, and his head still hurt, but that didn't matter, not when Rex was being held captive. "We need to get him back."

"That's the plan," Jarrus said, keeping his voice even in the same way that General Kenobi always would, even when he was worried. "We've been brainstorming ideas. Are you up to joining us?"

"My memories are a bit fuzzy, but I can tell what I remember about Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Chimera," Cody reported. "We need to get Rex out of there quickly. There aren't many clone troopers left, and most of them were decommissioned by the Empire."

"I think Thrawn will keep Rex alive for now," Jarrus countered. "He wants to beat us pretty badly. He'll try to get information out of him, and when that fails, he'll try to use Rex as bait."

That idea rang a faint bell. Part of it, Cody thought, was because Rex had been in a similar situation during the war years ago, but part of it…

"We expected someone would come after me," Cody said, not quite certain of the words until they were already out of his mouth. "The Grand Admiral expected someone would figure out that he'd called in a clone trooper, and we both knew Rex wouldn't leave a brother behind. The Grand Admiral was using me as bait so he could catch one of you. He wanted…" Cody closed his eyes tight, trying to concentrate. The memory was fuzzy, but it was important. He had to remember it. "He wanted…"

"Forcing the memories won't help," Jarrus said gently. "You're only going to hurt yourself. We've dealt with Thrawn ourselves enough times to have an idea of how he works. If you tell us anything else you remember, that'll give us a boost, but we can come up with a plan without it."

"I can make a plan," Cody said. "I can-"

There was something unpleasantly warm and wet trickling out from his nose. Cody reached up a hand and found that it was blood.

"You just had brain surgery," Jarrus said, handing Cody a scrap of cloth to wipe the blood away with. "And I don't think the Kaminoan cloners expected you to live this long, because that chip was partially degraded from age. The surgery went surprisingly well, all things considered, but we don't know what all the side effects are going to be yet. I know you want to help Rex, and you can, but you're not going to help anyone if you give yourself an aneurysm."

"Fine," Cody relented. "But I can still help."

"I know you can," Jarrus agreed. "Let's get you upright and into the common room. The others are brainstorming in there."

Cody let Jarrus help him to his feet and then help him slowly shuffle into the common room. His entire body seemed to be responding to his commands, if slowly, so Cody hoped that meant he wouldn't have physical side effects from removing the chip. He didn't know if he'd ever get all the memories back, but he wasn't sure he wanted them anyway.

"Hey guys," Jarrus called as they entered the common room, "Cody's up."

"Commander." A green Twi'lek woman stood. "It's good to see you awake. I'm Hera Syndulla. This is my ship, the Ghost, and this is my crew. Zeb Orrelios-" she gestured at the Lasat, "-Ezra Bridger-" she gestured at a teenage boy, "-Sabine Wren-" she gestured to a girl in brightly-painted Mandalorian armor, "-and Chopper." She gestured to a C1 astromech.

"Syndulla?" Cody repeated. He'd heard Thrawn say the name, although he mispronounced it, but he recognized it from somewhere else as well. "Any relation to Cham Syndulla?"

Syndulla nodded. "He's my father."

"I met him during the fighting on Ryloth," Cody said, remembering back. Ryloth felt like it was only a few years ago, but also simultaneously felt like it was a lifetime ago. "He's a good man."

"He talked about fighting with the 212th," Syndulla replied. "And the 187th."

"General Windu's troops fought more directly with him," Cody agreed.

"This is cool, and I want to hear more later, but can we focus on Rex right now?" Bridger asked. "It doesn't feel right, leaving him behind."

"You know we had to," Syndulla said gently. "And Rex knew that too. But we're going back for him now, and we're going to rescue him."

"Do you remember anything about working with Thrawn?" Wren asked Cody. Her face sparked a dull memory of a cadet in a hallway, and after a moment, Cody realized that had happened earlier that day. The memory was faded enough that it felt like it had been years ago.

"I remember some things," Cody said. "Enough to help you make a plan."

"Look, not to be rude," Orrelios began.

"Oh, you're definitely going to be," Wren muttered.

"But how do we know you're really on our side?" Orrelios asked Cody. "Rex didn't know what would happen after the chip came out, but he said you'd had it for seventeen years and it might still mess with your head after."

"My head's not entirely on straight," Cody admitted. "A lot of my memories are fuzzy. But I know that Rex is my brother, and I'm not leaving him behind. Clones don't abandon our brothers."

"I trust him," Jarrus said quietly.

Cody hadn't expected that. If Jarrus had been a Jedi Padawan during the Purge, then he knew just how dangerous clone troopers could be. Cody wouldn't hurt him, but he didn't expect Jarrus to believe that. And yet, it seemed that he did.

"If Cody can help us rescue Rex, I say we let him," Bridger declared. "We need all the help we can get."

"I'm with Ezra," Wren agreed. "I'm not leaving Rex behind. I think Cody can help us, and if he knows what Thrawn is planning, then that's even better."

Syndulla looked over at Orrelios. "What do you say, Zeb? We won't do this unless everyone agrees."

"I think I trust him," Orrelios said. "What about you?"

"I trust Kanan's judgment," Syndulla replied. "If he says we can trust Cody, then I think we can trust Cody."

"We're all agreed, then," Jarrus said. He looked over at Cody. "Are you sure you're up for this?"

Cody's head still hurt, and he still felt a bit scattered, but Rex was in danger, so he'd push through. He wasn't going to leave a brother behind.

"Let's go rescue Rex."

Thrawn wasn't the sort to show his irritation easily. Rex had experienced some of that in person, but he also knew because he'd met many people like Thrawn before, and he knew how they operated. They kept complete control of themselves, and they didn't let that control slip if they could help it.

That was why Rex was very proud of himself for irritating Thrawn enough that he showed it visibly. There was a not insignificant chance that the more Rex irritated Thrawn, the closer Thrawn would come to just executing him, but that wouldn't be the worst thing in the galaxy. As it was, Rex expected to be kept alive for interrogation for as long as Thrawn held out any hope of getting information from him. Rex wouldn't break, so that meant there would be no respite from the interrogations. The faster Thrawn gave in and executed him, the less pain Rex would have to endure.

There was the chance that the Ghost crew would try to rescue him. Honestly, it was more likely than not that they would. Rex just wasn't sure they'd manage to succeed. If they didn't think they'd be able to do it without casualties, Rex hoped they wouldn't try at all. He'd lived longer than he ever expected, and he'd mostly had a fairly good life, all things considered. If he died now, that would be alright.

After all, he would have died saving one of his brothers, and that was a pretty good way to go.

The door to Rex's cell opened, and Rex straightened up slightly. Thrawn stepped in, two stormtroopers behind him. He looked utterly unruffled, but Rex had seen him before, and he knew that he was getting to him. Thrawn would try to hide it, but he had slipped up already, and Rex wouldn't forget it.

"You've shown more strength than I expected," Thrawn said as he gestured to the stormtroopers. They both went up to Rex, grabbing him by the arms and heaving him to his feet. "That was my mistake. The clone troopers were bred for their strength. I underestimated you."

"You're not the first to do that, and you won't be the last," Rex replied.

"Oh, I think I might be the last," Thrawn drawled. "Once you tell me what I want to know, I don't think you'll be exceeding anyone's expectations again."

"So you're going to kill me," Rex scoffed. "People have been threatening to kill me my whole life. No one's managed it yet."

"Perhaps, Captain, but none of those people were me," Thrawn said in his eerily smooth voice. It felt almost slick, and it sent a shiver down Rex's spine. He'd never met anyone who sounded quite like Thrawn before, and although he knew the voice was meant to make people uncomfortable, he couldn't help but succumb to it. Internally, at least. He wasn't going to give Thrawn the satisfaction of seeing his fear.

"I've had Sith try to kill me," Rex said, keeping his voice steady. "I've had droids and cyborgs and bounty hunters and assassins try to kill me. You're not the scariest thing I've seen, and you're not going to manage it either."

"The clone troopers were also bred for their bravery," Thrawn said. "It didn't save them during the war or after it, and it won't save you now. You-"

"Sir," an officer called, running down the hall, "sir, there's an urgent message for you!"

Thrawn glared at the officer, but he accepted the comm that he was handed. A tiny holographic Cody appeared above it. Rex's heart almost stopped.

"Sir," Cody said, saluting. "CC-2224, reporting in."

"CC-2224," Thrawn drawled. "What is your current status?"

"I have successfully convinced the Ghost crew that I have revoked my loyalty to the Empire," Cody reported. "They are planning a rescue for CT-7567. I am aiding in their plans."

"And they do not suspect you?"

"Negative. They believed me, even the Jedi." Cody's mouth twisted slightly in disgust, and Rex's stomach flipped. "Traitor," he added, and Rex thought he was going to be sick all over the sleek metal floors.

"Keep me updated on the rebels' plans," Thrawn said. "And remember where your loyalties lie."

"Of course, sir," Cody agreed. "Good soldiers follow orders."

"What have the rebels said so far about their plan?" Thrawn asked.

"They mentioned repeating a tactic from the Rishi moon," Cody said, and Rex felt a shock jolt his system. "They have not yet elaborated. Do you know what tactic they may mean?"

"I'll check my records for rebel activity on the Rishi moon," Thrawn said, nodding. "Good work, CC-2224."

Cody saluted, but Rex's mind was whirring at top speed. Thrawn wouldn't find any record of the Ghost crew working on the Rishi moon, because they'd never been there. Rex knew that for a fact, because he'd once mentioned his own misadventure there and the entire crew confirmed that they'd never been there themselves.

But Rex had been there, and so had Cody, and when they had to get back into the occupied listening post, Rex had pretended to be the enemy.

Relief washed over Rex, enough to make him slump slightly between the two stormtroopers holding him up. Cody was faking. Cody wasn't on the Empire's side after all. He was on Rex's side, he was him again, and he was helping the Ghost crew. Rex's older brother was going to make sure everything was okay.

Perhaps Rex wasn't going to die after all.

"Do you know when the rebels intend to attack?" Thrawn asked. He glanced in Rex's direction, and Rex realized with a sudden burning fury that Thrawn was enjoying the thought of Rex having to listen to this. Thrawn was a sadistic monster, and Rex was going to thoroughly enjoy tricking him.

"Negative, sir," Cody replied. "Their ship is currently near Teth, so I believe it will take some time to mount an attack."

"Near Teth?" Thrawn repeated. "Interesting. Do you know why they chose Teth?"

"Apparently, the crew finds it easier to hide from the Empire in Wild Space," Cody said, which Rex knew was a blatant lie. He was also pretty sure he knew what the reference to Teth meant. Cody and the 212th had rescued Rex and the 501st on Teth early in the Clone Wars. It was a confirmation that Cody was on his way.

Cody had always been good at coming up with codes, and Rex had always been good at deciphering them.

"Very interesting," Thrawn repeated. "You have been very helpful, CC-2224. Continue ingratiating yourself with the Ghost crew, and report to me again when you have more information."

Cody snapped a picture-perfect salute. "Immediately, sir," he replied. "CC-2224 out."

The hologram fizzled out, and Thrawn handed the comm back to the officer who'd brought it to him. Then he turned to Rex, a hateful sort of glee in his eyes.

"Your attempt at rescuing your fellow clone trooper failed," he told Rex. "He understands loyalty, even if you do not. He will not betray the Empire."

He's tricked you, you bastard, Rex thought viciously, but externally, all he did was give Thrawn the angriest glare he could manage.

"If your fellow rebels are on their way, I won't need you for much longer," Thrawn mused. "And I don't need you now. Troopers, bring him back to his cell."

Rex let the stormtroopers drag him back to his cell, not bothering to fight. Thrawn, he was sure, would take it as a sign of despondency. Really, it was just that Rex knew there was no point. He was going to be rescued soon.

Cody had said immediately, after all.

Sure enough, it was only a few minutes after Rex was thrown back in his cell that he felt the whole ship shake. Alarms blared, footsteps echoed outside his cell, and Rex waited for the doors to open. It would happen soon enough, he was sure.

About a minute after the first blasts shook the ship, the door did open, and Chopper dragged the body of a stormtrooper inside.

"Hey, Chop," Rex said, grinning at him. "Thanks for the rescue."

Chopper beeped at him, then projected a little hologram of a head and torso. Before it even wavered fully into existence, Rex knew who it was.

"It's good to see you, Cody."

"Good to see you too, Rex," Cody agreed. "You alright?"

"Fine enough," Rex replied. "You sure got here quick from Teth."

Most people wouldn't be able to read Cody as a tiny hologram, but Rex knew his brothers as well as he knew himself, and he could read the relief in his shoulders. "I thought the Grand Admiral might have you with him. Figured it was worth dropping a few clues for you while I threw him off the scent."

"You always liked your codes," Rex said, and he didn't even need to finish the joke before Cody groaned.

Stars, but he'd missed his brother.

"What's the plan?" Rex asked, going back to business. He was sure Cody had a plan, probably a fairly in-depth one, and he assumed he had a part to play. Whatever it was, he would do it.

"First thing you need to do is put on that trooper's armor," Cody said. "Leave him in the cell, lock it, and head towards the hangar. It should be busy enough that you can blend in with the crowd."

"Are you picking me up, or am I stealing a ship?" Rex asked, starting to pull the stormtrooper's armor off.

"Depends on how things go," Cody replied. "I think you'll probably steal a ship, though."

"So Chopper and I will meet up with you in the Ghost?"

"Probably best to steal something with a hyperdrive, if you can. Our best option is probably to all get out of here, then you and Chopper can board the Ghost."

Rex looked over at Chopper. "Do you know which ships in the hangar have hyperdrives?"

Chopper made it quite clear that he was offended Rex even had to ask.

"Sounds like a plan, then," Rex told Cody as he finished pulling off the last of the stormtrooper's armor. The trooper was a little taller than him, so he didn't think it would fit him perfectly, but it would be good enough. During an attack, people wouldn't be looking too closely.

The ship shuddered again, and the hologram of Cody fizzled a bit. "I've got to go," he told Rex. "Chopper, signal once you've gotten to the hangar."

Chopper beeped an affirmative, and the hologram winked out. Rex started pulling on the armor, saving the awful helmet for last. He grabbed the fallen stormtrooper's blaster, then left the cell and locked it behind him.

"You know which way it is to the hangar?" he asked Chopper.

In lieu of an answer, Chopper started hurtling down the hallway. Rex sprinted after him.

It wasn't quite as chaotic in the hallways as Rex would have hoped, but it was busy enough that no one noticed one more stormtrooper running around. The hangar had more pilots than regular stormtroopers, but there were enough suits of white armor that Rex didn't stand out too much. He waited for Chopper to signal the Ghost, scanning the available ships. There were quite a few TIE fighters, but those wouldn't have hyperdrives. There were a few shuttles, though, and Rex was pretty sure those would have hyperdrives. The closest one still wasn't too close, but Rex thought they could probably make it.

Chopper beeped at him to pay attention, and Rex refocused to find that Chopper was already heading towards the closest shuttle. Rex followed him, trying to look casual. He must have done a fairly good job, because it wasn't until they were nearly on the shuttle that someone yelled, "Hey, what are you doing over there?"

Rex shot him and broke into a run.

Chopper reached the shuttle before Rex did and started prepping the engines. Rex stood at the top of the ramp and fired at anyone coming too close until the ship was ready to go. Chopper only gave him a moment's notice that it was, of course, starting to take off before Rex even had a chance to close the ramp. Grumbling to himself, Rex staggered up to the pilot's seat and sat down. Chopper seemed completely capable of taking care of things himself, but he thought he should be up there, just in case.

There was a firefight going on outside the Chimera between the Ghost and all the fighters the Chimera could spit out. Rex wasn't sure the Ghost was technically winning, but it was holding its own, and the distraction had fulfilled its purpose, so Rex thought that counted as a win in his book.

"Did you tell them we're in this ship?" he asked Chopper. "I don't really want to get shot out of the sky."

Chopper beeped a derisive of course in response. Rex should have expected that. Chopper was really the rudest droid he'd ever met, and he'd spent a lot of time with R2-D2.

"Ghost to Rex and Chopper," Hera's voice suddenly said over the comm. "Your ship has a functional hyperdrive, right?"

Chopper's of course sounded mildly less derisive this time.

"Then jump to the coordinates I'm sending you," Hera said. "We'll meet you there."

"See you there," Rex agreed. "Chop, you wanna do the honors?"

Chopper beeped, and a moment later, the ship shot off into hyperspace. Rex checked the route and found that it was a fairly quick one. They weren't going too far. That made sense; the Empire could probably track the ship he and Chopper had stolen, which meant they either needed to disable that tracking or get off the ship as soon as possible. Rex didn't think they planned on keeping the ship, so that meant they needed to move over to the Ghost.

Even if that weren't the case, he would still want to meet up with the Ghost as soon as possible, given its newest passenger.

After a few minutes, the ship came out of hyperspace in a quiet spot on the edge of the Outer Rim. Rex was pretty sure it was actually on the way to Teth. He wasn't sure how long Thrawn would believe that, but it didn't hurt to do one more thing to throw him off the scent.

"Any word from the Ghost?" Rex asked.

Chopper warbled a negative.

"Guess we wait, then," Rex said, although he wasn't a huge fan of the idea. He didn't think the Empire would be able to come after them this quickly, but he didn't like to even take the risk.

Luckily, it was only another minute or two before the Ghost burst out of hyperspace. "Hope we didn't keep you waiting too long," Hera said. "You two ready to board?"

"We are," Rex agreed. He was more than ready.

Chopper and Hera angled the ships so the docking ports met up, and then they linked the ships. Rex didn't run to the airlock, but it was a near thing.

And on the other side of the door, there was Cody.

"Rex," he breathed. "By the Force, it's good to see you."

Rex laughed a bit, unable to help it. "I'd almost forgotten how you picked up on Jedi phrases like that."

"The Jedi rubbed off on all of us," Cody agreed, as he always did. Then he took a step forward and pulled Rex into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into his ear.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Rex whispered back.

"Could you guys not have this reunion in the airlock?" Sabine asked from behind Cody. "Not to be rude or anything, but we have to disconnect the ships, and we can't do that until you're out of here."

"Sorry, Sabine," Rex said as Cody let him go. "Let's go find a quiet space to talk, Cody."

"The Phantom should be free," Sabine called as they left.

"Thanks," Rex called back, leading Cody towards the Phantom's docking bay.

The Phantom was indeed empty, and Rex sat down in one of the seats. Cody sat down across form him. The shuttle was so small that their knees touched. Rex relished the physical contact; otherwise, he could almost convince himself that he'd just dreamed this up. He'd pretty much given up hope of getting any more of his brothers back at this point, and for the brother to be Cody… Well, he'd never even let himself imagine it. He knew that, if he had, it would have paled in comparison to the real thing.

"It's been a while, I suppose," Cody remarked. "My memories are fuzzy. Do you know if they'll come back?"

"I don't," Rex admitted. "I haven't actually been able to remove the chip from that many of our brothers. I've definitely never done it on anyone who had it activated for as long as you."

"We'll figure it out as we go, then," Cody said, sounding much more at ease with that idea than Rex would have expected.

"I thought you'd want to have a plan," Rex mused. "With contingencies, and contingencies for the contingencies, and contingencies-"

"That joke stopped being funny about two weeks into the war," Cody deadpanned. "Actually, all your jokes stopped being funny about two weeks into the war."

"It's been seventeen years. Maybe I have new material."

"I doubt it."

Rex tried to laugh, but he couldn't quite manage it. His words were only meant as a joke, but even the playful reminder of how long it had been hit him hard. Seventeen years, it had been seventeen years. Cody had been enslaved for so long. It had been so long since Rex's life fell apart.

"Hey," Cody said, resting a hand on Rex's knee. "We're alright. It may have taken a while, but we're back together again. The past is the past. We need to focus on the future."

Rex did manage a laugh this time, even if it was only a small one. "There you go, sounding like a Jedi again."

"There are worse things to sound like," Cody said, a sad look in his eyes.

"I missed you," Rex admitted. "I missed you so much."

Cody smiled. "I'm here now."

He was, and it was more than Rex could have ever hoped for. He had another brother back. He was still broken inside and he knew it, but getting Cody back felt like putting a piece back into place.

"You are," Rex agreed, and it was more than enough.