"𝙄𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚'𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨."

It had been hard getting a hold of Anakin or Rex now that Ahsoka would be arriving on the cruiser soon. I was delighted by the news. I hadn't seen her in a year and I worried about her from time to time. I knew she used to be a Jedi, but Ahsoka was still a young girl as far as I was concerned.

Anakin had been holed up in his quarters the whole day. He told me he was fixing up a surprise for Ahsoka. He was going to give her the lightsabers she had left behind. Similarly, Rex and the guys had been busy painting their helmets. All the preparation for Ahsoka's arrival was heartwarming. Regardless of her decision, the dedication her friends had never wavered. There was something endearing in that.

Despite everyone's good mood, I was full of dread. I had yet to approach anyone about about Kix's discovery on the chips. My own knowledge was limited, but I had to get what I knew to someone. Otherwise, all his efforts would be wasted.

Trip and I spotted Rex sitting with Jesse in the mess. It seemed that the guys had finished prepping their helmets. I shared a determined look with Trip and we approached the table.

"Hey, Rex?" I asked. "Can we talk to you?"

He sat up a little and nodded. He excused himself from the others and moved to sit at an empty table. Trip and I followed and sat across him.

"What is it?" Rex asked looking between us.

I looked down at my hands for a moment before speaking. I knew what I was about to bring up was a sensitive topic.

"You know why Kix was kidnapped?" I asked in the quietest voice possible.

Rex's eyebrows drew together in suspicion. "We think he might've been doing research on the chips Fives was talking about," he explained in a hushed tone. "We couldn't think of any other reason why the Seppies would kidnap Kix."

"Right," I said avoiding Rex's piercing gaze. "Well, Trip and I may have been around while he was doing that research."

I waited for Rex to respond but he was silent. Trip and I faced each other nervously. It was hard enough on Rex that his medic was gone, but our involvement could possibly draw a bad reaction out of him.

"Sir?" Trip asked tentatively.

Rex released a heavy sigh. "Tell me about Kix's research."

I felt the tension leave my body and I relaxed. I summed up how it all started. I told him how I came across Kix's notes on the chips. I explained how Trip got involved and what Kix told us he found out.

Rex looked at Trip with new interest. He pointed at him. "So you don't have your chip?" Rex asked a bit shocked.

Trip shook his head.

"How long?" Rex asked.

"It's been a few weeks now, Rex," I answered seriously. "Not one thing about Trip has changed. He's perfectly fine and there are no signs of aggression."

Rex's mouth slightly parted and he rubbed his own temple, staring down at the table in disbelief. "So it's not an inhibitor," he said to himself.

"No it isn't," Trip affirmed.

Rex suddenly lifted his head to look at us. "And these chips can do what? They make us follow orders?"

I nodded glumly. "Yeah, Kix said there's 150 protocols in them."

Rex's eyes widened in shock. He whispered the number to himself. "What are these orders?"

"We don't know." I averted my eyes in shame. "They got Kix before he could tell us."

Rex inhaled sharply and held his head for a moment. He didn't speak which left the three of us completely in silence. I knew Rex was feeling guilty about the whole situation, but we needed to take action.

"Rex, we need to tell the Generals," I said firmly.

"No," he immediately answered.

Trip and I turned to each other in shock before facing Rex again. "What?!"

There was a strong conviction in Rex's eyes as he stared at us. "You two are lucky that the Seppies aren't aware of your involvement. You both could've been kidnapped too."

"But we weren't," Trip brought up. "It's our duty to impart what information we have." He brought his fist down on the table.

"Yeah? With what evidence?" Rex deadpanned.

His question silenced me. We had no evidence. The chip Kix had been working on was lost with him. Even if they scanned Trip's head, it would simply be assumed he wasn't an aggressive trooper.

"We still have to make a stand, Rex," I tried to reason with him. "If this conspiracy gets me into a fight with Skywalker, I'm willing to let it happen! It's important to me that we get to the bottom of this."

"Well I'm not willing to risk the lives of more troopers!" Rex fired back. "Tup, Fives, and now Kix. They're all gone. All because of this chip. I don't want either of you, or any trooper, or any General getting mixed into this mess. It's brought nothing but trouble!"

My face fell hearing his words. I was hoping Rex was going to be the most agreeable person about the chips, but I was wrong. At the same time, I couldn't blame him for feeling the way he did. Men under his command, his brothers, had died to uncover this secret. He couldn't bear to lose anymore.

"Fine," I said softly. "But I'm still going to talk to Anakin about this. I have to."

Rex looked at me tiredly. "Sil, why is this so important to you?"

"I joined the war for one reason, Rex," I said meeting his eyes. "It was to fight slavery. I've done what I can on the frontlines, but I have found something even darker within our own ranks. These chips... they will control you. And there won't be anything you can do about it. No matter how hard you try."

I stood up from the table and left before I became a mess of tears. I had been a slave once. The last thing I wanted to see was these soldiers who already had no choice but to fight in this war have their minds taken over by someone else entirely.

***

"Sil!" Anakin's voice screamed out of my comlink.

"Yes?" I asked slowly.

He quickly told me his location in the hangar, telling me to meet him there.

"W-why?"

"Don't you want to meet Ahsoka?"

My mouth fell open. In all of my worry about the chips, it had slipped my mind that Ahsoka was going to board the cruiser.

"You should've told me that first!" I yelled back at Anakin. I hurried over to where he said he was and slid to a stop when I saw Ahsoka standing in the hall. I remembered her as confident and headstrong, but there was a maturity to her now. I could see it in the way she carried herself. She was not the same girl who left the Temple.

"Ahsoka," I said and then paused. What do you even say to someone who's been gone for so long? "It's nice to see you," I finally said and smiled at her.

She returned my smile. "It's nice to see you too, Sil."

I looked to see Anakin standing proudly at Ahsoka's side. She was a joy in his life, and her being here had brought back a spark that had long been missing in Anakin. But as I looked at Ahsoka, I could tell she had done a lot of growing up in the past year.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" I asked softly.

She looked to the side and shrugged lightly. "I guess you could say that," Ahsoka answered. She met my eyes again and sent me a reassuring smile. "I've learned a lot about the galaxy we live in."

I smiled seeing how mature Ahsoka had become from being on her own. It was in this moment I realized another thing the Jedi failed in. Jedi needed to be exposed to the outside world, much more than they already did, living and experiencing places besides the upper levels of Coruscant. It's a big galaxy out there. The Jedi can't empathize with it if they are constantly being blinded by the light of their glowing buildings and beautiful surroundings. But Ahsoka gained so much. I felt a lot of respect for her. It was also why I liked Anakin. He came from one of the most terrible places and was brought up under the worst circumstances. Anakin had a compassion and understanding the Jedi lacked. And now Ahsoka had it too.

I looked at Anakin who seemed to be growing slightly impatient. I knew about the surprise he had for her.

"It was great to see you again, Ahsoka," I said smiling. "Can't wait to catch up."

"Neither can I," she answered and I nodded at the pair before walking away.

***

I was speaking with Obi-Wan when we received an urgent transmission from Master Windu. The situation was critical.

"Get us on course for Coruscant!" I told one of the command crew who had listened to the transmission. "And sound the alarm!"

Obi-Wan gestured for me to follow him. "Come!"

We ran down the halls of the cruiser and stopped when we found Anakin and Rex with Ahsoka. My face fell seeing we were about to end a precious moment.

Out of breath, Obi-Wan addressed them. "Anakin, Rex, prepare all forces. We're jumping to hyperspace immediately."

"Yes, sir," Rex answered. He called for his men and dashed away. I looked after him feeling heavy in my chest. I felt bad about the argument I had earlier with him. In war, you learned pretty quickly to never leave on bad terms with anybody. You never knew which battle would be your last.

Obi-Wan quickly told Anakin about Grievous' attack on Coruscant and the unknown status of the Chancellor. Ahsoka, who had come here asking for help with Maul on Mandalore, grew frustrated with the situation. Tensions were rising between Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. I shared a nervous glance with Anakin.

"Right now, people on Coruscant need us," Obi-Wan said defending his decision.

"No," Ahsoka disagreed. "The Chancellor needs you."

I broke into a scoff and quickly silenced myself. Anakin gave me a look and I tried to fight my smile. At this point, it was no secret that I had my own unique opinions about Palpatine.

Anakin came up with a solution that put both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan in agreement. Ahsoka and Rex would take half of the 501st and dispatch for Mandalore. The rest of us would continue on our way to Coruscant.

Obi-Wan and I stepped towards the hangar's door and he gave Ahsoka one last piece of advice for capturing Maul. I smiled seeing they were on good terms. I waved goodbye to Ahsoka and followed Obi-Wan to prepare the troops for what was coming.

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