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Three days, 8 hours, and 26 minutes before Order 66, Ahsoka strode from Bo-Katan’s ship, outwardly confident but inwardly uncertain. She had no idea what to expect from her masters with whom she’d had no contact, the Jedi council whom she rejected, or the men whom she had missed so terribly. Anakin and the men seemed glad to see her but when they called the council to discuss Maul, things didn’t go well. Something seemed to have broken in Obi-Wan, and he couldn’t find the strength to convince them to help Mandalor. Anakin offered Ahsoka a company–a single company–to help and they loaded into the ship tight with tension and regret. Ahsoka wished for more time to visit with Rex and try to connect with Anakin, who seemed to carry so much pain these days–but it wasn’t in the cards. At least she and Rex had been able to catch up for a moment, brief though it was.
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One day, 3 hours, and 9 minutes before Order 66, Ahsoka’s feet finally touched Mandalor. The attack was stealthy with such numbers, as Bo-Katan’s forces had to be extremely cautious in their approach. As they established control and sent out scouts to find wherever Maul had holed up, Ahsoka fretted and tried to contact Rex several times, wondering how the battle on Coruscant progressed. She worried for her friends, but received no word.
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Twelve hours and 54 minutes before Order 66, Ahsoka gripped her sabers tighter, breathed deeply to center herself in the Force, and attacked. Maul parried and leaned in, his greater height and weight adding to the strain on Ahsoka’s already tired muscles. For a moment, Ahsoka had considered his proposal to join forces. But what was all that osik about Anakin being groomed for the dark side?! He would never— but the suppressed suspicion that Maul was right drove Ahsoka to attack with even more fervor.
By 10 hours and 37 minutes before Order 66, Maul was encased in a relic force-suppression chamber, ready for transport to Coruscant. Ahsoka and what remained of her company loaded a heavy freighter, bid Bo-Katan goodbye, and headed toward home.
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Three hours before Order 66, Rex waited outside the council chamber in the Jedi temple. It seemed all he did after the initial battle on reaching Coruscant was wait. That initial battle—skirmish, really—was over almost as soon as it began. He enjoyed fighting alongside his brothers in the Corrie Guard more than expected. They were vod’e, of course, but his last interaction with them had not been positive. However, it was clear these men were passionate, dedicated, and elite soldiers. The CIS forces were dispatched almost too quickly—something seemed off to Rex—but he was glad for minimal clone losses. Since then he seemed to do nothing but follow Anakin around and wait. Anakin seemed barely able to contain his emotions, and had asked Rex to stick with him all day. So Rex waited outside the Chancellor’s office and then waited incredibly awkwardly in the living room of Padme’s apartment, and now waited in the temple outside the council chambers. He wanted nothing more than to just go back to the barracks, hide in his office, and comm Ahsoka to check in before dropping into the deepest sleep. While he contemplated this, the council doors burst open and a whole slew of angry looking Jedi stormed out. Anakin’s face was as dark and thunderous as Rex had ever seen as he motioned the captain to follow him.
“We’re going to arrest the chancellor. Come on.” Arrest the chancellor?! Rex started internally but outwardly remained calm.
“Should I call a squad for backup, sir?” Rex asked.
Anakin shook his head. “No. This is Jedi business.”
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Two minutes, 30 seconds before O66, Ahsoka meditated in her bunk on the freighter. She was having a hard time finding a restful rhythm—the force itself seemed tense, pulled taut and pulsing with possibility in a way she had never experienced. Once more she tried to still her mind and focus on her breathing and had nearly settled in when PAIN FEAR ANGER DEATH DARKNESS flooded her senses. Her training bond with Anakin burned and then collapsed into a dull silence, engulfed in the sense of loss and betrayal the Force carried.
Suddenly she surfaced, gasping, to the sound of blaster bolts flying and clones shouting. Had Maul escaped? She rushed from her bunk but no sooner had she emerged than she heard a voice, familiar yet hollow, shout “there’s the Jedi traitor! Get her!” And the bolts were directed her way. She deflected a few and ran. Eluding her attackers— why were the men attacking her?! —she found Maul’s cell. He remained contained.
“Is this you?!” She shouted, slamming her hand onto the release and holding her sabers at the ready. “Did you turn the clones against me somehow?” Maul’s eyebrow markings rose impossibly high and a knowing look stole over his face.
“Ah, so that’s it. That was the plan. No, Lady Tano. I cannot take credit. This is my master’s doing. And they’ve not turned on you, but the whole Jedi order.” He shook his head and chuckled evilly. “I should have known it would be something like this. Those chips. Have you released me to help you, Lady Tano? Might I have a weapon?”
“Absolutely not,” she replied. But at that moment, the clones who had spent the last few moments attempting to breach the door did. Ahsoka flung them aside with the Force and bolted. Behind her, Maul laughed maniacally and waded into the clones.
Just down the hall, Ahsoka found the one and only escape pod and dove in, launching without hesitation. She would have to hope Maul’s chaotic presence meant no one would be able to turn the ship’s guns on her before she flew clear.
Evidently the Force was, in this one moment, with her. She escaped the ship’s reach quickly and turned to watch—watch it drift slowly away—until FLASH it illuminated, a silent explosion in space. Ahsoka watched in horror. Moments later debris whizzed by, pinging off her shields. Ahsoka collapsed to the floor of the pod.
Later, she would send a distress beacon to Mandalor. Later she would adjust her course. For now, she could do nothing but weep.
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Twenty-seven minutes and 48 seconds after Order 66, Palpatine fumed in his office. Years of planning. Years. Years of political maneuvering, manipulating the clone army into existence and forced servitude, twisting the Jedi order to his will, directing two sides of a war. Years of grooming the Skywalker boy into his apprentice. Everything had gone as planned—everything except one massively significant part. He brought Skywalker to the brink, watched him turn, felt his allegiance in the roiling dark of the Force, and then in triumph initiated the Order. And felt Skywalker’s massive presence in the Force just wink out. Dead. Kriffing clone! He had managed their force-enhanced programming perfectly so they would recognize a fallen Jedi so what went wrong?! He immediately had Commander Fox send him security footage and it was definitely a clone, looking right at his apprentice, Darth Vader, hand steady as he pulled the trigger. It was as if he didn’t even register any difference between Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader. Vader didn’t have even a split second to react; by the time his body collapsed to the ground the clone had already holstered his twin blasters. Palpatine couldn’t see the front of his helmet but was sure he could ask Fox to identify him. He had commed Fox twice now—why wouldn’t he answer?!
Palpatine scowled and regained focus. Everything else had worked out. By this time tomorrow news of the Jedi’s betrayal and his new title of emperor would have spread to the furthest reaches of the outer rim. He could find a new apprentice— Perhaps Maul or Ventress could be brought back into the fold? Or that Offee girl was still around somewhere rotting in a cell. Or Tano. She was powerful and rash. He chuckled to himself. Yes, if Tano survived and could be turned, she would do nicely.
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Twenty-seven hours and 32 minutes after Order 66, Ahsoka paced in her room on Mandalor. Once she could breathe enough to send a distress beacon to Bo-Katan, she put herself into a force-induced sleep and awoke as her pod was being hauled into Bo-Katan’s ship. As no clones remained on Mandalor and as it was a neutral system full of angry warriors, Ahsoka had so far been able to hide out there. After the initial wave of shock and grief, she had settled into a cavernous grimness. One thought now consumed her: what did Maul mean by “those chips”? She had attempted to slice her way into the GAR system to search the records for anything relevant but to no avail. Finally she risked Anakin’s passcode and searched again. This time with a result. She clicked to open the recording.
Fives.
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Three days, 4 hours, and 14 minutes after Order 66 Ahsoka lay in the dark of her room on Mandalor. The recording of Fives’s report had left her both devastated and hopeful. For an hour, she fought to contain her rage and despair. But slowly she began to realize that if a chip controlled the clones, perhaps it could be removed. As she lay awake this night, unable to sleep, she felt the pieces of herself pulling back together, retracting into focus and purpose. She shot out of her rumpled cot with one thought: I have to find Rex. I have to free him and help him free as many clones as possible. I cannot let Rex remain like this.
It had taken Ahsoka very little time once she returned to ask for help to find that her old crush on her handsome friend had become so much stronger. She had missed Rex terribly when she left the order, and coming back had felt a magnetic draw toward him. She had filed it away as a concern for later, but now it haunted her.
She returned to the GAR database and began to comb through the records, using every single slicing and spycraft skill she possessed. And finally she found what she sought:
CT-7567, captain of 501st Legion.
Current assignment: Stationed on C, reporting through CG to establish order in Temple district.
Deploying in 14 days to patrol the outer rim.
Ahsoka gasped. She immediately considered intercepting him away from Coruscant, as he patrolled. But the mandos were focused on establishing a new government and barely managed to keep her up to date on the developing Empire. She seriously doubted they would be able and willing to help, and she feared catastrophe if she went alone.
So she needed to consider other options, something she could accomplish alone on Coruscant. She forced herself to sleep a few hours to refresh her mind.
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Three days and 6 hours after Order 66 Ahsoka opened her eyes to dusty sunlight. A groggy idea took shape: Perhaps she could rescue Rex using some kind of sham seduction. Rolling to her back she imagined ingratiating herself at 79s, heavily veiled, as a new togruta escort. She pictured Rex going with his squad, still sitting off to the side and looking at no one in particular, as usual, until she started showing up. She imagined she would catch his eye because of her resemblance to, well, herself. She pictured him watching solemnly as she finally walked over one night. She hesitates over the short conversation that would follow as she waited for the heavy sedative she would sneak into his drink to take effect. Would he act like himself? Would he speak with the cadence so specific to him? Or would his individuality be erased? Would he have anything to say at all? She ran her hands down her face and pictured the way she would follow him away from the crowd. He would melt into her arms and she would have a speeder waiting in the alley and a med bay ready. In the morning he would gradually wake, wondering what had happened: Did I press her against some dark wall, kissing her and imagining another, some lost love I couldn’t quite picture—was it a memory or only a dream? Did I say goodnight and leave? The old Rex would have left but I must have gone home with her because this is an unfamiliar bed, so sparse and surrounded by medical equip —he would realize he was in a med bay and that he remembered his name was Rex. Ahsoka would approach cautiously and after the initial conversations he would finally steel himself and ask—“did I kiss you, before?” And she would say “no, but I wish you would now.”
Ahsoka stopped that train of thinking with a grimace. Foolish. You’re being foolish, she scolded herself. And not just about the kissing. Opening her eyes brought her back to reality. She sat up, swung her feet over the edge of her cot, and studied the pattern of sunlight on the stone floor of her room. Of course she sees the massive flaws and real dangers of a plan like that—venturing on Coruscant at all would be insanely foolish. So she abandoned it.
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Eleven days, 9 hours, and 43 minutes after Order 66 Ahsoka sat up straight, eyes wide. That’s it. She almost had despaired of finding a way to make contact with Rex. For days she had fallen into a routine of training, watching the holonet for news, pacing her room, and sitting with an elderly Mandalorian woman who asked to be called Buir Riga. Ahsoka suspected Buir Riga considered her a foundling in need of adoption but she understood loss and had been a great comfort. But Ahsoka had no idea how to free Rex, any more than she had a week ago.
Until one presented itself in a holo news story. The story described Senator Amidala’s plan to return to Naboo for a time of mourning for her over her sudden pregnancy loss before returning to senatorial duties in the new Galactic Empire. Ahsoka felt a stirring of the Force. That was it . She ran to Bo-Katan immediately to ask for a ship and supplies.
That’s how 12 days, 4 hours, and 5 minutes after Order 66 Ahsoka came to board a sleek Nabooian ship in the actual middle of nowhere to find Padme as she expected—both distraught and defiant. Ahsoka had snuck up on the Nabooian transport in an insanely fast star fighter that Anakin would have loved. She established a lock and boarded before identifying herself so she knew Padme would be on edge. But as soon as the Senator caught sight of Ahsoka, she dropped her blaster. The two women held each other.
“You’re alive!” Padme breathed. “Anakin—Anakin is—“
“I know. I felt it.”
“I’m on my way to Naboo to hide out.”
“I know that too. Padme, I’m so sorry about your baby and I’m so sorry to interrupt your time of mourning but I need to get to Rex and I need help.”
Padme simply responded with a mischievous grin, which Ahsoka found strange and out of place.
“Padme, what—?” Ahsoka didn’t know what to say.
“Just wait,” Padme said and spun out of the room toward the cockpit.
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Twelve days, 9 hours, and 48 minutes after Order 66, Obi-Wan Kenobi listened to the approach of a ship and the footsteps up the short wooded path to the cabin where he waited. Two sets. It’s too many but not enough to panic. Obi-Wan had mostly shut himself off from the Force but allowed just the tiniest tendril free. He sensed a shielded presence, almost familiar. He placed himself in front of the most important occupants of the room and braced for a fight. But when the door opened, he nearly collapsed. Ahsoka was alive. Somehow she had survived. In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, OBi-Wan rushed to the former Padawan and threw his arms around her. Padme stepped around the reunion to greet her children, alive and well and hidden safely away with OBi-Wan to watch over them.
OBi-Wan, aware of Padme’s movements, pulled back from Ahsoka.
“Soka, Anakin was—“
“Killed. Yes. I felt it.” Ahsoka didn’t think she could listen to Obi-Wan’s voice as he told her of her master’s death.
“I was going to say married. A father.” OBi-Wan turned toward the crib behind him. Ahsoka raised her eyebrow markings. OBi-Wan assessed her reaction and determined she didn’t know but wasn’t particularly surprised.
“He also—“ here, Obi-Wan faltered.
“He turned to the dark side, Ahsoka,” Padme interjected. “OBi-Wan felt it and I saw it, and his death. It was Rex that killed him. Your Rex.” Ahsoka furrowed her brow but didn’t speak and Padme continued. “I was in shock and it brought on labor. I ran away—and ran into Obi-Wan. He helped me find a facility to deliver the babies in secret. Both babies were born healthy.”
“Both?” Ahsoka asked, and Padme nodded.
“Leia and Luke.”
Obi-Wan picked up the story.
“We don’t know how but we believe Palpatine has taken control of the clones. We believe he is the Sith. So we thought it best to hide Anakin’s children and spread a story of their loss.” It was surely a lot for Ahsoka to take in. Obi-Wan expected her to remain silent but she nodded and began to speak quickly.
“Palpatine is definitely the sith and he’s controlling the clones with a chip in their brains. Do you have holonet access here? I can show you.”
And so, 12 days and 10 hours after Order 66, Ahsoka told her story, showing Obi-Wan and Padme the video of Fives and explaining her intent to rescue Rex from the chip’s influence.
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Twelve days, 10 hours, and 14 minutes after Order 66 Ahsoka held Leia while Obi-Wan and Padme wept and cursed Sheeve Palpatine to all 9 Corellian hells.
And then 12 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes after Order 66 they sat down to make a plan to reclaim the galaxy.
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Nine days, 3 hours, and 42 minutes before Ahsoka got Rex back, she boarded a ship for Coruscant.