Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.16.6

They decided to start off on a more positive note. "Before we dive in, I ought to let you all know that Grievous is dead," Obi-Wan announced, crossing his arms. "What was left of his organs ought to be a pile of ash now."

The news was met with a good amount of celebrating and a bit of whooping. The younger clones who had never met Grievous had heard the stories, and the older clones as well as Ahsoka and Anakin had their fill of the cyborg. At least something good had come out of all of this.

"I can't speak for the rest of the mission, though," he went on. "Quite frankly, I snuck off the planet as soon as the chaos started. I don't know what's become of Utapau."

"They'll be alright," Anakin assured him, "and probably better off than us. At least you weren't sitting on Coruscant, doing nothing."

A few of the clones who had served under Anakin chuckled. He turned to Ahsoka, remembering, "I saw your report on Mandalore, it looked like it went okay."

She nodded, shrugging. "In all honesty, the Siege itself went well. Barriss was missing, but we captured Maul, arrested his soldiers, and Bo-Katan had everything under control by the time we left." Ahsoka neglected to mention her Sith spirit problem, but she refused to allow the clones to worry about that. The Rule of Two was a conversation for later. "It was the way back to Coruscant that went sideways."

"So what happened?" Obi-Wan asked, looking around the group. "I'm still not quite sure what, or who, started all of this."

"It was a 'who'," Ahsoka answered, delving back into her memory. "When Palpatine ordered for the creation of the clone army, he instructed the Kaminoins to implant chips into their heads during the early development stages of their growth. These chips are programmed with orders that only the chancellor of the Republic or the Senate could activate, which at the time, was Palpatine himself."

"Fives," Anakin realized, looking to Rex. The commander nodded, remembering the night.

Glancing at Jesse, Rex explained, "I don't know how, but he must have figured it out during the investigation on Tup. When Palpatine caught wind of it, he had him executed for treason."

Obi-Wan looked at the two men. "When was this?"

Anakin looked down, shrugging a bit. "A little over a year ago. I didn't realize..."

"None of us did," Rex reminded him, and Ahsoka kept talking to keep Anakin focused.

"One of the orders Palpatine created was Order 66. Under this directive, any and all Jedi leadership must be executed for treason against the Republic, past or present, apparently." 

"And future," Obi-Wan added, stroking his beard. It took Ahsoka a moment, but she understood the subtext of his statement. 

Horror crossed her face as she realized. "No..."

Unfortunately, Anakin nodded, looking at her. "I managed to get a few of your friends out, but most of them were killed yesterday. Younglings, Padawans, Knights, and Masters, all of them were targeted."

The fact only made Ahsoka want to strangle Tyrannus more, but she didn't react physically. Those children had been the future of the Jedi Order. Whether she was a part of it or not, she didn't want it to end, and certainly not like this. 

Rex picked up the conversation. "Chancellor Kanai activated the order, sending a message to every clone battallion in the army. I managed to get a recording of the one she sent me."

Taking the cue, Ahsoka reached into her pocket and pulled out the recording Rex had given her on the shuttle, connecting it to the holotable so everyone could see.