Aftermath
Prologue: Aftermath
Rex looked as Ahsoka paid tribute to his brothers one last time. They were all gone. Not just gone; dead. It seemed so… unreal. They had survived so many battles only to die in a crash, giving their lives to execute an order they didn’t even understand. Rex felt so regretful. He should have listened to Fives; he should have told his brothers about the chips. All of them. Now it was too late. "Sometimes in war, it’s hard to be the one that survives" had said Cody. He thought about his friend. Cody… He wondered what had happened to him and to general Kenobi. In a way, he preferred not to know. The hate he had seen in his brothers’ eyes had scared him more than he would have thought possible. Even on his deathbed, Jesse had repeated the words. "Good soldiers follow orders, good soldiers follow order…" He had tried to fight in Rex’s arms until the last second. It was Ahsoka who had came to take him so they could bury him with the others. If it had not been for her, Rex didn’t know how long he would have stayed there, holding the corpse of his last brother.
“Are you ready?”
Ahsoka was standing in front of him. Bundled up in her large grey cloak, she seemed so old and so young at the same time. Just like him, she had been forced to grow up too fast in order to fight, but the sadness and pain he could now read in her eyes reminded him that she was still just a child.
“I am.”
“Are you sure?”
He was not but he nodded. He knew that staying there longer would only hurt him more.
“We can’t stay here for too long.”
She turned around to look at the helmets on the pikes for the last time.
“I know,” she whispered
They silently climbed into the ship.
“What now?” he asked once he was sitting in his seat.
“I thought maybe we could contact Bo-Katan. Mandalore is not part of the Republic and I think she would help us.”
“It’s not a bad idea, but we let a garrison of troopers to help the Mandalorians. Don’t you think it will be a problem?”
“I know, but at least we know what to expect. Plus, they won’t stay there for long. We could hide until their departure and then… Then we’ll see.”
He had no better idea and he trusted her judgment.
“Mandalore it is, then.”
He tried not to look back as they took off, but he couldn’t hold back his tears.
**********
Ahsoka waited until they had left the planet’s atmosphere before activating her comlink to join Bo-Katan.
“Don’t show them your face,” suggested Rex. “We never know.”
She nodded and disactivated the visual feature of her device before bringing her wrist to her mouth.
“Mandalore? This is starfighter BTLR-4690, come in.”
A male voice with a mandalorian accent answered.
“Starfighter BTLR-4690, this is Mandalore, what do you want?”
“We would like to speak to lady Bo-Katan Kryze, is she available?”
“Who is this from? Please identify yourself, starfighter BTLR-4690.”
Rex and Ahsoka exchanged a glance. They didn’t need to talk to understand what the other was thinking. No name.
“Tell her this is from Fulcrum.”
The Mandalorian didn’t seem convinced.
“Sorry, but lady Kryze is busy, if this is not an urgent matter…”
“It is,” quickly added Ahsoka. “It’s about… the prisoner Maul.”
Her interlocutor remained silent for a moment. He seemed to speak with someone out of sight.
“Alright, stay put starfighter BTLR-4690. She’ll be with you in a moment.”
Ahsoka sighed and leaned against her seat. A few minutes later, Bo-Katan’s voice echoed in the shuttle’s cabin.
“Ahsoka, is that you? Come in.”
“Bo!” Ahsoka would’ve almost cried with relief. “Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
She reactivated the visual feature of her comlink and Bo-Katan’s hologram appeared on her wrist. Her helmet was stuck under her arm, revealing her face. She seemed genuinely concerned.
“Are you okay? We’re beginning to hear all kind of stories. They say the Jedi have been killed by clones.”
Ahsoka sighed again.
“Those are not stories. We barely escaped our own men.”
“We?”
“Rex is with me.”
“But you said the clones…”
“That’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything, I promise. But right now… We’re starting to get tired, if we could just land somewhere…”
“Yes, of course. You can come on Mandalore.”
“Thanks.”
“No prob…”
“Oh! One last thing: nobody has to see us.”
“Copy that. You can land outside of Sundari. There is an old Death Watch outpost where we could meet. I’ll send you the coordinates.”
“Thank you, Bo.”
“You don’t have to thank me, kid. I owe you one.”
The hologram disappeared and Ahsoka turned to Rex.
“It’s over now. We’ll be safe there.”
“I hope you’re right.”