Chapter Text
Kitster Banai glanced between the message on his com and the feed into the holding cell on his ship several times before sighing heavily.
Change of plans, the message read. My padawan is on the mission, do not engage.
Ar’Amu bless him, but Kitster was going to kill his brother for this. As it was, he now had four clones and a togruta Jedi padawan unconscious in his brig, throwing a spanner into his carefully laid plans, and his whole crew was looking at him for guidance. Where had this message been just a few hours ago?
Over the last year or so since the Clone Wars began, Kitster and his crew had perfected the art of abduction. Normally, when they smuggled slaves to freedom, the slaves came willingly, perfectly aware of their chains and what freedom would bring them. The Vode, as they called themselves, were not like most slaves that Kitster brought to freedom. For one, they were not raised in stories of quiet defiance and whispered secrets. For another, they did not want to leave their siblings behind. Kitster and his crew gave each of them a choice; freedom to walk away, or freedom to go back into the fire and give their siblings chances to choose for themselves. About ninety percent of all the Vode Kitster had crossed paths with went back, sans the behavioral modification chip installed in their heads.
It was Quinlan who discovered the chip, the mention of it buried deep in the legal documents the Kaminoans had given the Jedi, and never one to sit comfortably by when he could be acting, he’d passed the information along to Shmi, who’d made sure Kitster got it. A slave chip was a slave chip, no matter what name it went by. So now here they were, routinely playing catch and release with the GAR Clone Army. They’d decided to keep it from Anakin, initially, because he was busy being stupid (in love with a Senator) and making a name for himself as the Hero with No Fear. They made it a whole year into the war before Anakin sent Kitster a message via their encrypted channels and demanded to know how he could help.
He could help by freeing his men, Kitster decided, so Anakin had set up a reason to send away four of his closest clone officers – his Captain, two ARCs, and his CMO – on a mission so they could be ambushed by Kitster, read in on the mission, de-chipped, and given their choices to return to the mission or go to freedom. Anakin was prepared for all four of them to choose freedom, even as he’d told Kitster he was sure all four of them would come back.
Anakin had also been adamant that his padawan, Ahsoka Tano, not be involved in any of this. She wasn’t supposed to be on the ship. It had been a surprise for Kitster’s crew when they’d boarded the small craft and come face to face with a lightsaber. Thankfully, Kitster knew a few tricks for dealing with Force Users (especially ones that played dirty like Quinlan did) and nobody had been killed. Although two of his people were laid up in the med bay with lightsaber related injuries. Anakin has never mentioned his little sister was vicious.
And, of course, it was only as Kitster’s crew was finishing debrief and preparing for their temporary captives to wake up that he saw the message Anakin had sent him. Kitster sighed and snapped a still of the feed to send back, along with a message. You have horrible timing. How would you like me to proceed?
After the message was sent, Kitster closed his terminal and retreated to his room. He wanted to nap before he had to deal with this new cluster headache of his.
*~*~*
Ahsoka came to slowly. Around her, the Force felt calm and peaceful, a feeling that was becoming more and more foreign every day. Through it, she knew that the four clones in the cell with her were unharmed beyond a few bruises and coming awake from whatever had been in the hypo they’d been injected with when their ship was attacked.
Right. The attack. The pirates that had snuck up on them and drugged them and now they were apparently on their ship. She blinked and glanced around. Array shield separated the small but not overly cramped cell from the rest of the hold, interspersed with other cells, almost all of which seemed to be serving as extra storage. At least that sort of explained why they were all in the same cell. Furthermore, they weren’t even cuffed or anything. Ahsoka glanced over at Rex who glanced back at her.
“Any idea what happened?” She asked Rex, as Echo and Fives also pushed themselves up. Kix was still lying prone on the ground, but he had his eyes open and rolled his face towards Ahsoka when she spoke.
“None, commander.” Rex replied. “The one with the mechanical leg got you and next thing I knew I was waking up here.”
“Great.” Ahsoka groaned. “I don’t suppose there’s an easy way to disable the ray shield and launch a sneak attack to get our ship back?” She asked, only somewhat joking.
“There is.” A foreign voice interrupted, and as one the five of them turned to stare at the newcomer. A human, the man who had taken out Ahsoka, short with long black braids capped in red beads framing a borwn face. His garb was typical of a spacer, a long brown jacket over dark pants that were torn enough to reveal the cybernetics of his mechanical right leg. On his left pauldron, an embroidered red bird with black tipped wings was taking flight over a yellow sun. “But you won’t be in the cell, or even on this ship, long enough to find it.”
Ahsoka snarled, barring her sharp teeth at him, and instinctively pushing her way to the front of the cell, putting herself between this new threat and her men. “What do you want with us?”
The man didn’t seem the least bit phased by Ahsoka’s aggression, amusement wafting off him in the Force. He also, Ahsoka could tell, didn’t intend them harm. At least not immediately, and it was for that reason that Ahsoka was willing to stay herself. For the time being. The man took a seat on the floor outside the cell, gesturing for Ahsoka to do the same. She stayed standing and he smiled at her, a white grin that, for some reason, reminded Ahsoka of Anakin.
“You may call me Ekkreth, Padawan Tano. I know your men are Rex, Kix, Echo, and Fives, but I’m afraid I will have to put names and faces together at a later point. The answer to your question is very simple. I want to free the clones.”
“We’re not slaves.” Rex snapped immediately, bristling with a worn anger. For her part, Ahsoka blinked in shock at the easy admission. “And we won’t betray our brothers.”
“I’m not asking you to betray anyone.” Ekkreth replied. “As for the not slaves part, did you choose to join the GAR? Did you volunteer freely of your own will to fight for the Republic? And do you receive any compensation for the work you do?”
Beside her, Ahsoka felt Echo stiffen at the phrase. (Echo who Ahsoka knew felt more anxiety and fear around warfare than his brothers, although she and Anakin were always polite to never mention that they could feel it.)
Fives said, “That doesn’t matter. We were born for this. It’s what we are made for.”
Ekkreth nodded simply, expression calm as he replied. “And I was born to be a pit fighter, a gladiator for the entertainment of smugglers and drifters and pirates. But I ran away and blew my leg off in the process. Now I am Unfettered, and I help other slaves to freedom.”
“It’s not the same.” Rex replied, but his voice was weaker, tone less sharp.
“Isn’t it?” Ekkreth asked. Rex started to answer but paused when Ekkreth held up one gloved hand. “I’m not going to keep you from going back. I’ve never stopped any other clone. What I am giving you is a choice. There’s a behavioral modification chip in your brain that inhibits expression of free will. My medics are going to take it out. Then, you have three days until we reach our rendezvous point. We’ll drop Padawan Tano off there, and you can go with her if you want. You don’t have to decide right away.”
Ekkreth stood and brushed invisible dust off his pant legs. “If it’s any consolation, most of the Vode go back. I may not agree with that decision, but I am no depur. If you are willing to cooperate with my crew, you will have free reign of the ship, except for the bridge, after your surgery.”
“How intense is the surgery?” Kix asked. The first time he’d spoken.
“Extremely minor.” Ekkreth replied. “You will be awake the whole time, and able to get up and move around freely within an hour. A medic will be here in the next hour for you.”
“And if we refuse?” Kix asked.
Ekkreth hesitated. “The nature of the chips is such that we cannot allow you to move freely around the ship while the chip is still in your head. However, I will not force you to have it removed, but neither can I allow you to go back to the GAR with knowledge that you could be compelled, unwillingly, to reveal.”
“So you’ll keep us prisoner indefinitely then?” Kix surmised.
“Yes.” Ekkreth answered. “So far, none of you have refused for more than a few days. If you want, I can get in contact with a Vode who has had their chip removed and chosen to remain with us. That may assuage any concerns you have.”
Kix didn’t respond, but Ahsoka knew he was mulling over the words in his head, the choices he’d been given.
(Chips in their heads? Why had Ahsoka never heard of this? Why did some random ex-slave freedom runner on the edge of the galaxy know more about this than she, a Commander in the GAR, did?)
(What did that say about the army they’d been given if their loyalty was compelled? Did Rex and Kix and Echo and Fives even want to be here? Would they come back with her?)
(Could she live with herself if they did?)