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All the CCs the Empire has managed to capture have been turned into Purge Troopers.
When he found out, he prayed to the Force that Cody, Wolffe, Ponds, Bly and all the other CC's that he was close to managed to escape.
Rex wanted to think that his older brothers had found a way to escape and that they were okay, that they were looking for him, that they were trying to find him.
That was what he convinced himself to believe.
He stopped believing that lie when he found them.
A couple of months ago he was on a mission for the Rebellion in an abandoned Republic base. He was trying to find a datapad with strategies, attacks, and other important information that would help the Rebellion in their fight against the Empire. Just as he was about to enter the last room of the building, the alarms started going off (in the Republic era the kriffing alarms didn't work, but now they do?) so he wasted no time and started running for the exit.
And then he stopped, looking horrified in front of him.
They were there.
His older brothers were there.
He should be glad they were there, glad he had found his brothers.
But he wasn't. Because in front of him were his older brothers, leaning against the wall or sitting at a couple of old desks, wearing armour and more accessories that indicated their rank in the Empire.
Luckily, he managed to hold back the tears.
"Hello, Rex'ika" Cody crooned "Did you miss us?"
"Cody" Rex managed to speak after a few minutes of silence "Ponds... Bly, Wolffe" he nodded at them.
"Always so polite, Rex'ika" Ponds said, satisfaction in his voice, "we did a good job raising him" Ponds chuckled, looking at the others.
"Apparently we didn't teach him to follow orders" Bly spoke next, shaking his head in disappointment and ignoring the way Rex flinched "if we had, he'd be with us right now, and we would have avoided a lot of trouble" Bly's eyes met his.
"Aren't you going to say anything, Rex'ika?" Wolffe asked, smiling, showing all his teeth.
"What do you want me to say?" Rex asked sharply, and realizing what he had done, he looked at the ground.
"There's our little menace!" Wolffe exclaimed.
He had to get out of there.
"Good thing we found you" Bly spoke "we've been looking for you".
Rex stopped breathing for a second.
They were looking for him.
"What is it?" Cody asked quietly, stroking his hair.
...
How long did he spend staring at the ground?
When did Cody get close to him?
Why was he letting this happen?
Why wasn't he stopping it?
"You didn't think we were going to leave you, did you?" Cody asked as he left a kiss on his forehead.
"No!" Rex exclaimed immediately.
He hated the looks of affection they gave him.
"I don't... I just..." Rex tried to speak.
Why couldn't he speak, what was stopping him?
"Shh, Rex'ika, calm down" Bly said, in a gentle tone "It's okay now, we found you, now we just have to go back home and everything will be just like old times."
Go back?
Go back to where?
There wasn't a Republic anymore and...
...
Oh...
...
The Empire.
...
They considered the Empire their home.
"Home?" Rex whispered, still looking at the ground.
"Yeah, home" Cody said "it's going to be a bit difficult because of how the nat-borns are, but... it'll be fine, we just have to call in a few favours and no one will question you."
"You want to go back to the Empire?" Rex asked.
"It's our home, Rex" Ponds replied in a firm tone, but then looked at him gently as Rex flinched "and it's going to be yours soon, it's going to be all right, vod'ika. Come on, it's time to go."
The others took a few steps before stopping when they realized Rex wasn't walking with them.
"Rex" Bly said.
But Rex knew his brother.
The tone in his voice, it was the same one he used when he answered their old trainer, when Bly spoke like that it was a warning that something that wasn't good was going to happen if he didn't stop with that attitude.
He could never stop himself.
"After what the Empire did, after what they did to us, you want to go back there?!" Rex asked "Are you crazy?!"
"Rex" Wolffe growled "Start walking. Now!"
Rex looked at them with his eyes watering.
He loves his brothers.
He really does.
He would die for them for fucks sake! But...
But he couldn't go with them.
Not when they're all like… this.
He also knows they weren't going to let him go.
"Rex, you better stop this nonsense, now" Cody warned "come on, we'll talk about this on the ship."
"Cody" Rex whispered, letting a few tears fall "I..."
"I'm not going with you... I can't... I won't"
The others looked at him in silence.
Then Ponds let out a chuckle, shaking his head, as the others looked at him amused and tenderly.
"I don't think you understand, Rex'ika," Wolffe said with a fond smile.
"You're coming with us!" Bly continued, "one way... or another."
Rex looked at them in surprise.
He knows the chip makes clones do... horrible things, but...
He didn't think it made them possessive and sadistic.
"I refuse" Rex managed to say.
"Oh.... Our poor sweet Rex'ika... Vod'ika, you have no say in this" Ponds smiled "we're doing it for your own good Rex, now, stop making this so difficult and come with us."
"No" Rex said again.
Ponds looked at the others, then sighed as the others looked at him unimpressed and disappointed.
"All right then" Ponds sighed again "I didn't want to do this, Rex, but you gave me no choice"
"What..."
"Bring him" Ponds looked at the others as he shook his head in Rex's direction.
Rex looked at the others, giving them a frightened and hurt look....
And he ran.
When he was a cadet, he laughed when Shebse hunted the other CC's and laughed at their screams when they managed to capture them or managed to scare them off.
It was a game hunt, for fun and to pass the time.
But now?
This hunt was not a playful one.
Well... For them it was.
Especially for Wolffe.
But for him?
It was a matter of life and death.
As Rex ran through the corridors, he tried to ignore Wolffe's howls and Shebse's laughter and shouts of encouragement.
After Wolffe began to chase him, he could hear the others joining him.
They were hunting him.
They were fucking hunting him.
He dodged their attempts to grab him as he ran towards a corridor that he knew would lead to an exit.
He could see it.
It was so close...
Just getting out and running towards his ship...
So fucking close...
He opened the door as he heard the others running towards him, and he didn't even give them a glance as he started to run outside....
Only to run into someone.
Rex looked up and felt what little hope he had disappeared when he saw Bacara looking down at him with a smirk.
"Hey Rex'ika" Bacara greeted him as he hugged him.
Behind Bacara, were Neyo, Doom and Fox, who greeted him with small smiles and loving looks.
Rex closed his eyes.
He couldn't get away.
"He sure runs fast," Neyo muttered as he looked at Shebse.
"Our Rex'ika was always a good runner, AND he's gotten faster!" Cody exclaimed with happiness as he greeted Edee and kissed Rex's forehead.
Fox chuckled as he approached Rex.
"They planned it well didn't they?" Fox asked as he pulled something out of his backpack, "they were afraid you wouldn't come back with them and asked for our help to keep you from running away. Of course when we knew it was to find you we couldn't refuse" Fox smiled and then sighed as he saw the blank stare on Rex's face "they're doing it for your own good Rex, you don't understand, but you will. Trust us."
Rex let out a sound as he felt something sharp in his neck, then looked at Shebse and Edee with a pained look on his face as the realization dawned on him.
They drugged him.
"Shh, Rex'ika" Rex heard someone whisper "you'll understand when you wake up."
Oh, he understands.
He understands that he's been kidnapped.
He understands that they are going to take him to a place where they will surely torture him and put a fucking chip in him.
He understands that he can't save his brothers anymore.
He understands that he can never see Echo again.
He understands that he can never see Ahsoka again.
He understands that he's not going to be free anymore.
Rex let out a sob and a few tears as he let the darkness consume him.
And then… black.