Afterglow | The Clone Wars

45 | Sea of White and Blue

"I should've sensed the shift within him" she spit-fired, her eyes darting around, signaling that her mind was in a slight craze "I should've known that he had turned-"

"This wasn't you" he repeated, taking her by the shoulders. Her lips parted at his sudden contact, as a small part of her instinctively wanted to pull away. Having someone hold her for once was quite the foreign concept in her life "We all know who you are" Rex said sternly "I know. I know your compassion, I know your heart for us clones. The blood that was spilled here tonight is not on your hands"

"But I killed him" her eyes squinted, pain escaping from the depths of her heart.

"No, you didn't..." he tightened his fingers around her arms. She listened to him. In that moment, the fact that they were Jedi and Clone was forgotten "but we will avenge him, and we will avenge all of the soldiers who were lost under his command"

"That's-..." she looked away, sighing quietly "That's not the Jedi way" she said rather unconvincingly.

"It's my way" he nodded "Many of my brothers fell tonight because of General Krell's betrayal. I refuse to let him get away with this. With your permission, I'd like to put an end to him, and to all of the hell that he has brought upon our battalion"

She looked between his brown eyes while taking in his request. Without a doubt, he was right. It wasn't even a question at this point. There's no possible way to avoid the impending retaliation against General Krell. For all the ones who lost their lives, they deserve to have that monster dealt with.

Dakota closed her eyes and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around him in an embrace. He froze, not knowing how to react for a brief second before hesitantly hugging her back "You won't be alone" she promised into his ear "We'll do this together"

~

Rex stared at the ground for a long time before speaking with his regiment. All of the events were happening faster than he could interpret them. Krell set them up for a disastrous failure, and Dakota was in shambles because of something that wasn't her fault. He was furious because his brothers were killed but he was also angry because of the hurt that Krell had inflicted on the green eyed Jedi. Seeing her in that state was almost too much to bare.

"We all know who's responsible for what happened out there" Rex started, walking towards the clones who lined up before him "What we don't know... is why. Something has to be done, and what I am proposing is highly treasonous" he warned them "If any man chooses to opt out, do it now" none of the squad back away, instead, they took a determined march forward. They were prepared to do what they must "From this point forward-" Rex continued
"-we are entering into uncharted territory, my orders are we arrest General Krell for treason against the Republic"

He glanced over to Dakota who was listening to him off to the side. She parted her lips to speak "We'll take a small team up the tower to make the arrest, but knowing Krell, he'll fight back" she crossed her arms "Men need to be stationed at the bottom of the tower and at the perimeters. If it ends up being fight... then that's what it will be" she looked at all of them "I can outmaneuver Krell, but his size and brute strength will prove to be a challenge. In other words, I can't take him by myself. That's why I'm counting on all of you"

"What do we do after we capture him?" Fives asked "Lock him up in one of the cells? He could escape!"

"Yeah, he's a Jedi!" Jesse added, but caught himself "uh- I mean, he's a bad Jedi, not like you... General" he finished awkwardly.