So Many Troopers Gone
Part X: So Many Troopers Gone
Rex was yelling as loud as he could.
“Out of the way, please, out of the way!”
At this time of the day, the market square of Sayan was at its busiest. People were walking everywhere regardless of the direction of the streets; merchants were shouting their prices in all kind of alien languages and Rex even got a glimpse of children were running between the colorful stands, their hands full of stolen fruits. Really, Rex pitied the troopers who had been tasked with ensuring security in the market today.
“Hey you!” He said to a large Ithorian who was standing in the middle of the street. “Move along!”
Recognizing his armor, the Ithorian complied — not without muttering a couple of insults in Ithorese — and, with a few nudges in the crowd, Bo-Katan and Rex managed to make their way past him.
“I hope we can make it to the base before dusk,” Bo-Katan said, half-jokingly.
She was walking alongside Rex, cloaked in a dark poncho used to dissimulate the two blasters she was carrying at her side. It was the only parts of her armor she had brought with her in order to ensure she would go unnoticed.
“Yeah, well… The crossing of the market square certainly took longer than anticipated but we shouldn’t be too far, by now.”
They had purposely chosen to infiltrate the imperial base in the morning, hoping the place wouldn’t be as guarded if the clones were patrolling the streets.
“Here,” Bo suddenly said, pointing at the turret installation of a big squared building that was sticking out behind the market’s roofs. “I think this is it.”
“It certainly looks like it. Alright,” he said putting back his helmet. “Ready for this?”
“Always,” she grinned.
***********
“Halt!”
One of the clones stationed at the entrance of the base extended a hand to signal them to stop.
“What have you got there, trooper?”
Rex was gripping Bo-Katan’s arm with one hand and holding his helmet with the other.
“A prisoner,” Rex answered. “Sir.”
“I can see that,” the clone carefully said. “But I have no trace of an incoming prisoner in my records.”
“Yes, err… I just caught her.”
“What for?”
Bo could almost see the guard frowning under his helmet.
“We caught her sabotaging one of our speeders.”
The way Rex had said it, it almost sounded like a question. “What a terrible liar,” Bo thought.
“I wasn’t informed of that, either.”
“That’s… because my partner is still trying to repair the speeder to bring it back. He’ll be there in no time to fill a report.”
“This is never going to work,” Bo told herself, her gaze shifting from Rex to the other clone. The guard seemed to study Rex with attention. Sure, his story was a little odd, but he couldn’t deny the man was one of his brothers. What kind of threat could he represent?
“Alright, then,” he finally said. “Go ahead. But fill your report as soon as you’re in the base. Don’t wait for your partner.”
“Yes, sir.”
Rex gave Bo-Katan a little shove with his shoulder.
“Move, you, huh… you thug!”
She raised a brow at the poor attempt to insult her, but moved forward nonetheless. They were about five meters past the guards when one of them called them back.
“Oh and, trooper!” He shouted. “About your armor…”
Rex froze. He had hoped they wouldn’t notice the phase I armor he had borrowed from Cut; his own being too distinctive to be worn in public.
“I know this one is more efficient, but the rules are stricter, now. You’ll have to wear your phase II.”
Rex relaxed.
“Copy that, sir.”
They hurried to pass through the gates before the guard could change his mind.
“I must admit I’m impressed,” Bo-Katan said once they were out of the guards’ reach. “It actually worked.”
“Believe me,” he replied, “I’ve seen worst plans succeed.”
They got inside the building without attracting too much attention. The base looked like a giant grey trapezoid with four turrets on the roof, one for each cardinal point. On the eastern side of the building was a large hangar and next to it, a long runway. Rex noticed how quickly the construction had progressed. Apart from a few scaffolds around one of the turrets, the building was virtually completed. Such a massive building couldn’t have been constructed during the few weeks that had passed since the birth of the Empire. The construction had necessarily begun before. It made Rex wonder for how long had the Emperor been preparing to take over the galaxy.
They finally stopped in front of an elevator. The doors opened and two clones came out, giving a small nod towards Rex. It was a cold salute, as if nothing close to camaraderie could ever exist between them. Rex nodded back and turned around to look as they were walking past them. “Is this what I would’ve become if I had executed the order?” he asked himself as Bo-Katan and him were stepping inside the now empty elevator. He shook his head as if it could make the thoughts go away. Now wasn’t the time to think about that; he needed to focus on the mission.
“So,” Bo-Katan said as soon as the doors closed behind them. “Where do I go, now?”
He answered while unlocking her handcuffs.
“If this base is built like the Republic ones, you should find the computer room in the north wing. From there, you should be able to find the intel about your friends and send them a message. But you’ll have to take down the staff, first. Computer rooms are rarely empty.”
“Got it,” she said, rubbing her aching wrists. “What about you?”
“I’ll go to the officers’ quarters. Only their computers have access to personal files. Call me as soon as you’re done so I can come and pick you up. It’s best if you don’t wander alone in the base too much.”
“Alright.”
The elevator stopped again and Bo made a step forward to get out.
“Wait,” Rex said, grabbing her by the arm.
“What is it?”
“Please… Set for stun.”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry. I’ll try not to hurt anyone.”
**********
Rex could feel his heart beating in his chest. On the screen in front of him was the long list of all the clone commanders who had ever served in the Grand Army of the Republic. “It’s the Imperial Army, now,” he reminded himself. He had already checked his own name to verify if someone had found the crash site, but no. For now, both Ahsoka and him were considered missing; no one would be actively looking for them. At least not with the intent to kill them for treason. And now that this verification was done, he could proceed with what he had come to do in the first place. He would only need to click on one of the numbers on the list to learn what had happened to the clone behind it. But now that he was so close to find the answers he had sought for weeks, he asked himself if he really wanted to know the truth. After all, some questions were best left unanswered. But just like when Bo-Katan had tried to convince him to come along, his need to know got the best of him. He cared too much to willingly ignore what had become of his fellow comrades-in-arms. So, with a deep breath, he clicked on the first number.
He found no evidence that any of his brothers had removed his chip. Every file he checked told the same story. Order 66 had been an unquestionable success. For the Empire, of course. For his brothers, the picture was more… nuanced. Although every clone whose file Rex had checked seemed to have executed the order, not all of them had dealt with the aftermath the same way. Gree was dead, and so was Fox. Others like Bly had fallen into a deep depression. But the vast majority of his brothers seemed to have complied with the order without too many questions. The best example was perhaps the case of Cody. His file indicated he had executed order 66 with such loyalty that he had been sent on Kamino to train new recruits, in the hope that he would serve as an example to them. A wave of guilt and sadness swept over Rex as he read Cody’s record. He knew how much his brother had held general Kenobi in high esteem, how much he had liked and respected the man. At the end of the war, they had become friends, not unlike Rex himself with Anakin and Ahsoka. The thought of Cody killing Kenobi crushed Rex, but he knew his own feelings would be nothing compared to Cody’s, should his brother ever come to understand what he had done.
Rex almost hesitated to open the last file of the list. Wolffe’s file. He wasn’t sure he could bear to learn how another of his brothers had lost his free-will in order to become a puppet of Darth Sidious. But he opened it nonetheless. If there was only the slightest chance that one of them had fought the order, he needed to know it. And what he learned in Wolffe’s record rewarded his faith. At the end of the file was a report filed by one of Wolffe’s men. According to him, even though Wolffe had received the order, he had not been the one who had killed Plo Koon. That may be why, in the days following the birth of the Empire, the leader of the Wolfpack had begun to question the events that had made Palpatine’s rise to power possible. The author of the report assessed that Wolffe represented a risk for internal security and had to be kept under surveillance. And at the end of the document, a footnote had been added, indicating that the commander of the 104th Battalion had been transferred on Coruscant and assigned to administrative work. If the situation had not been so tragic, Rex would have laughed at the image of Wolffe behind a desk.
His mind began to wander. Coruscant was too big of a planet to be properly protected. Rex was fairly certain he could easily clear customs and circulate freely in the capital without being noticed. Just like the sentinel at the entrance of the base, nobody within the Coruscant security service would be wary of a clone. After that, he would only need to find Wolffe and convince him to remove his chip. He wouldn’t tell him the truth right away, of course. His brother wouldn’t believe him. But Rex was confident that it wouldn’t be hard to convince an already disillusioned Wolffe to leave his desk job.
The loud noise of an explosion suddenly interrupted his reflection. His heart gave a little jump and he immediately rushed to his comlink.
“Kryze! Come in!”
Bo-Katan’s voice replied almost immediately.
“I’m on my way!”
He heard a blaster shot through the comlink.
“Bo-Katan?”
There was a little pause and then…
“I’m fine!”
“What the hell was that?!” Rex asked as he frantically shut down the computer and grabbed his helmet.
“I’m trying to get out of here.”
“What happened?”
He took a quick peek into the corridor to make sure it was empty and put his helmet on before leaving the room.
“I think I found Korkie! I managed to send him a message, but…” She grunted at the other end of the line. “But I’m pretty sure someone from the base was beginning to suspect my presence.”
Another blaster shot.
“So, I blew up the whole thing. That way, they won’t be able to intercept the transmission.”
It took Rex a few seconds to fully assimilate what she had just said.
“You WHAT?!”