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Rex remembers his general. He remembers him better than the three letters of his own name. He can recall the exact placement of each and every line on his face before remembering to put one foot in front of the other.
How long has it been since the fall of the republic? Rex couldn’t tell you, the days have all started to blend together. Wake up, eat, paperwork, train, sleep. Every day seems to be the same in the empire.
It's alright, this is what he was trained for, born for. But the empire is not the republic. And his general is no longer his general.
Rex had almost resigned himself to never hearing his name again, but suddenly, there he was. Anakin.
Anakin Anakin Anakin.
He reads the name on his data pad over and over.
Anakin Skywalker was reported dead, body never recovered. But Rex knows the truth, he was there to find what remained of his general. He was there to watch his body carried off and locked in a dark coffin, void of anything that Rex had known Anakin to be.
Rex closes the report, he doesn't need to be reminded of Anakin Skywalker right now.
Rex grabs his new helmet, also dark and polished. He wonders if he has become a dead man walking as well. It isn't a question.
Like a ghost, Rex makes his way through the halls of the imperial complex, everything looking the same as before but now with a feeling of wrongness that brushes his nerves as he walks.
When he arrives at the correct door, Rex steels himself and pushes the access button. Before him is a large meeting room, a round table in the center, and chairs all around the sides. Every chair is empty but behind the one on the far end stands a looming figure.
Clad in shining black armor, with a cape falling down his back, and a helmet with soulless dark eyes stands Lord Vader.
Vader is a monster, a relentless force that stops at nothing to destroy his enemies. Rex has seen it, working alongside Vader on the battlefield and watching him tear apart anyone who opposes him.
Rex wills his legs to walk over and hand Vader the data pad. He looks directly at the ground while Vader takes the item and reads the report.
Rex clears his throat, “Another Jedi was reported dead, my lord.”
The heavy breathing from the mask sounded for a few seconds, then Vader spoke.
“Indeed captain.”
Every time he speaks it sends a shiver down Rex’s spine.
“Anakin Skywalker was a fool, the galaxy will do well without him.”
Everything about Vader repulses Rex, especially the utmost disrespect and hate that drips from his voice when talking about Rex’s general.
As officers start to file into the room, Vader sits down and gestures for Rex to do the same. At the dark lord’s right-hand side.
With the fall of the republic, Rex’s resolve to fight for what was good dissolved into nothing. He feels no hope, not after the one thing guiding him through the war, chaos, and death was taken from him.
Rex saw with his own eyes as Vader ripped apart the young Anakin Skywalker, leaving nothing behind of his general. Only cruelty remains.
Anakin Skywalker is dead, Darth Vader has killed him and nothing will bring him back. Yet Rex cannot bring himself to leave Vader’s side, and cannot stop forcing himself to look directly into that mask.
Rex did not scream, did not fight, or cry when he watched as Vader revealed project stardust to the table. It is almost complete.
Vader is his general’s killer, and he is all Rex has left of Anakin Skywalker.