Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.15.1

Ahsoka didn't get a chance to send Anakin a report until later when Maul's containment module was being escorted down to the detention level. It would have been nice to call him, but if he was guarding the Chancellor he probably ought to not be taking calls he didn't have to. Besides, the two of them could probably chat for hours without noticing. She settled for a recording of herself. 

As much as it was troubling her, Ahsoka didn't talk about what Maul had told her about Sideous and the Rule of Two. Now that she had heard about the Council's losses, she didn't want to add anything to his plate, or that of any other Jedi. There would be time to process later, once Maul was secure on Coruscant and Ahsoka was back at her house. No one here needed to know what was happening. Besides, Ahsoka had fought the spirits down, and she hadn't turned into a power-hungry totalitarian yet. 

In the command center, she began the recording. "The siege on Mandalore has been successful. Maul is in custody and is currently being taken to Coruscant. We're about to jump to hyperspace and will be there within the next few hours. Unfortunately, Barriss Offee was not found in the city of Sundari, and Lady Kryze's sources report that she had not been seen on Mandalore for as many as two weeks. Maul claims that Miss Offee is being held hostage by Count Dooku, although no proof for her location was provided. I advise that, if possible, this claim should be investigated. 

"As for Mandalore, Lady Bo-Katan Kryze has taken over leadership of the city and is working to unify her people. Prime Minister Almec has been assassinated by the warrior Gar Saxon, who was loyal to Maul and is currently being held by Lady Kryze and her allies in Sundari. The rest of Maul's leadership either has or will be detained. Lady Kryze has expressed her intent to inform the Republic of any updates of the situation in Sundari as they happen."

Turning off the recorder, she uploaded the message and sent a copy of it to the Senate Building, to the Jedi Temple, and to Anakin privately. If she didn't there was no telling when he would get the message. 

Rex walked in to join her, and together they went to the front of the bridge and watched their cruiser jump to hyperspace. Only then did Rex finally ask Ahsoka, "Something on your mind?"

She hesitated. Ahsoka didn't want to say it, because saying it out loud meant that there was no denying it anymore. It was Rex, though. She owed it to him after everything he had gone through with her. "Before our duel, Maul...realized that I had trained with Sideous. He was talking about his old master, and my guard slipped."

"How did he take it?" he asked, making sure not to speak too loudly.

"He told me about something that he was certain would happen to me, because of what I did," she said, being intentionally vague. "It hasn't happened yet, but I-I can't get his words out of my head."

Her eyes hardened the same way they had earlier and Rex saw her spacing off, staring at nothing outside the window. Trying to ground her, he rested a hand on her shoulder. It startled her out of her train of thought and she looked at Rex. "You made a sacrifice, one that stopped horrible things from happening. You tried to end a war that shouldn't have happened in the first place. No matter what he said, you can't forget that."

Somewhere in her, Ahsoka found a smile. "Is that the soldier talking?" she asked, and Rex nodded.

"Well, I've known no other way. We're born to do this." He paused, then decided to be vulnerable. "Gives us clones mixed feelings about the war. Many people wish it never happened, but without it, we clones wouldn't exist."

Ahsoka knew this was true, and she wished that the reason for their creation wasn't so cruel and inhumane as she knew it was. Still, it was the reality they lived with. "Well, then perhaps some good has come from all of it. The Republic couldn't have asked for better soldiers, nor I a better brother, a better family."