Afterglow | The Clone Wars

25 | The Unspoken

~

Artoo plugged into the bases' computer transmission system located back in the control room. She leaned up against the table, waiting patiently as the droid checked through the system for a potential interference. If the spy was able to send a message out to the Separatists, it would be spotted by an interference in communication "What's Artoo doing?" Cody asked.

"Whoever we're looking for got his messages out there somehow, and Artoo is scanning the frequency for a weak spot, an irregular occurrence in transmission. Anything that we can use that'll tell us what in the hell is going on" Dakota replied, patting the droids head "I wish I had a droid that's as cool as you" she whispered, smirking at how Artoo beeped happily.

"I just can't believe it's one of our own" Rex shook his head in disappointment "I can't imagine what the reasoning would be for him to want to betray his brothers"

Dakota didn't respond to that, she wasn't all that sure as to how to respond. The relationship that the clones have with each other is far different compared to the relationship that she has with them. She studied his profile as he stood motionless with his eyebrows furrowed together. Artoo alerted the trio once his internal search was complete "R2's found something"

"What is it? Is it the traitor?" Cody asked hastily.

"It could be" she passed the handheld screen over to Cody who took a look at it.

"Look here, the frequency" he pointed to the distorted wavelength on the screen "See, how it shows up every few days then disappears? Day to day, you wouldn't notice it. It's the pattern. The band's only coming off one terminal in the whole base. Slick's barracks... Only Slick's men would have access to that terminal"

Dakota nodded her head as she listened.

"Slick's not gonna like that" Rex said in a low tone to Cody.

"No, he's not"

"But if one of his men is giving away our intel, we have to find him and sort this out" Rex turned to his Jedi leader "General, how should we approach this?"

Her hand rested on the dome of Artoo's head "I beg your pardon, Rex. But I'm afraid I'm not the one to ask" she started "You all know your soldiers better then I ever could" she said to Rex and Cody "And I feel confident that you will be able to handle this situation in the most efficient way possible. I will be by your side, of course, giving an occasional mean glare if one deserves it, but I intend to leave you in charge of this"

"Y-yes, sir" he replied hesitantly.

"Come on" she shook his shoulder reassuringly "Let's go figure this out"

~

"No way!" Slick denied harshly, swiping his hand in the air. He was a polished clone sergeant, with the sides of his black hair freshly shaved, leaving the standard military cut. Dakota remained silent in the back of the grey room as Rex and Cody questioned Slick in the barracks that same night. His reaction had been strongly negative against the suspicion. The clone trooper had become quite stressed at the thought of one of his men being traders "My guys are the best. No way they're capable of something like this!"

"Something like what?" Another voice asked, and that's when several of the men in Slick's clone squadron strolled into the room through the sliding mechanical doors. Their eyes immediately gravitated to the Jedi who stood present off to the side. They gulped in slight apprehension.