The citadel lights went out, and dark red lights replaced the harsh white ones in an instant. Sirens blared, and citadel personnel sprinted in different directions in the corridors.
The clone prisoners could only watch as their lunch break was cut short; guards and the inquisitors dragging them out in cuffs. They escorted them to their cells, not even bothering to take off their cuffs as they ran back out again to assist wherever they could.
The clones were in cells with some of their old battalions, and they guessed it was some cruel 'courtesy'.
"What's going on?" Fives whispered to Echo, who was attempting to jimmy his cuffs off. Of course, as the guards had taken the keys and had not stupidly left them in the cells, there was no possible way to get them off.
"I don't know. The sirens are either a drill or we're actually getting attacked." Echo whispered back. The lights in the cells were a blood red, casting haunted shadows on the cellmates. In the cell with Echo and Fives were Kix, Coric, Jesse, Ross, and four other not-so-shinies who had been assigned to the 501st right before Order 66 occurred.
"I would find it very unlikely that this is an attack, but with the way the guards were acting, this may not be a drill either." Kix said, slumping down onto his bunk.
"Well, either way, they'll probably forget about us and abandon the citadel with us still inside." Ross shrugged his shoulders. Every since his closest vod in the prison, a loyal man named Zig, had died from a 'mysterious illness' a while back, Ross seemed that he would be fine with death at every turn.
Suddenly, the alarms turned off and the usual harsh white lights replaced the red, which caused Echo and Fives to be on guard. They wished they could speak with Cody, who was presumably trapped in the next cell over. Cody had been somewhat the leader of the clones, though for the last few years he refused to actually accept the non-official position. His brothers suspected that it was because of their MIA and presumed dead brother, Rex. Rex and Cody were almost as close as Rex was to Ahsoka Tano, who was also presumed dead by the clones. Rex had always wanted Cody to rise to a position that was fit for him, and Cody rising to the leader of all surviving clones in the citadel seemed like a position Rex would either hate or love.
"Uhh... If it was a drill, that was quick." A not-so-shiny shiny named Doug said. Another shiny, Judy, agreed. The two were huddled up in the corner furthest away from the door. Doug had a lightsaber wound down his leg bordering on infection and Judy was on Death's doorstep, having contracted a virus from one of the former Inquisitors.
Lightsabers clashing sounded outside, and the veterans inside the cell flinched. Why would the Inquisitors be fighting each other? Unless... No. They couldn't get their hopes up. Echo and Fives shared a look, flinching back and away from the door when a red lightsaber embedded itself in the door. The holder deactivated it before pulling it away. The clashing rushed past them, as if the fight was on the move.
"What if they were-" Kix was interrupted when the door slid open, revealing a blue haired, human teenage boy holding a blue lightsaber. He looked around the silent cell.
"You're clones, right?" He asked, unsure. Ross gave him a deadpanned look. Was that the smarted thing to ask when you find yourself looking into a room with ten identical men? No. Not really.
"What do you think, kid?" Doug groaned from the corner.
"Oh, well um. We're here to rescue you guys then." The boy awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as a older human man, again with a lightsaber, rushed past them, engaged in a duel with an Inquisitor. The boy rushed forward, his lightsaber out. He cut through their bonds, and with a smile rushed out to, what Jesse assumed, help out the other man.
"Well. Seems like we're getting rescued by... Jedi?" Judy hesitated. Kix helped him up from his spot on the floor, and Jesse rushed to help Doug.
As they climbed the steps out of the cell, they could see that the boy was freeing all the clones from their cells, and the men in question were exiting their cells, dazed. Nobody thought that they would live to survive the Citadel. It was created for rogue Jedi after all, and as none of them were as powerful as Jedi, they all thought that they would eventually perish in the prison."
They could hear lightsabers clashing, and surprisingly enough, blaster fire. It sounded like two sides shooting at each other, not just the stormtroopers firing at the supposed Jedi.
A young woman in creative and bright Mandalorian armor rounded one of the corners, shooting with her blaster pistols at something beyond, and upon seeing that the boy had freed everyone there, she motioned for them to follow her. "This way!"
Not wanting to be here the Inquisitors came back, they dutifully followed the woman.
Echo and Fives could almost imagine themselves coming to the Citadel to rescue General Even Piell. That mission had gone wrong in so many ways; Echo's supposed death, General Piell's actual death, and the fact that they had saved one of the biggest pain the shebs, Captain Tarkin. They sometimes wished Ahsoka had let him be killed by the commander of the citadel back then. The thought of Ahsoka bought back the usual sadness.
As the clones ran through the hallways, some being carried by their brothers, they couldn't help the hope that flooded their hearts. They didn't know who they were, or why they were there, but maybe they were good people looking to save them. They couldn't let them think about the two Jedi in the corridor earlier for too long, otherwise their minds wouldn't shut down.
"Who are you?" Cody panted. After being stuck in a cell and not being allowed to exercise, he and the others were quite out of shape, although they would be able to persevere.
"I'm part of the rebellion, and that's all you need to know for now." The woman said. Her voice sounded young, even through the filter of the helmet, and by her stature and her build, Cody couldn't help but think about how old she must be. She was a child forced to grow up faster than she should have because of their failure in protecting the Republic. But he couldn't dwell on these thoughts for long. "We're going to be picked up in a few minutes, and if we aren't blasted out of the sky, then we'll be safe for a while."
Jesse rushed to the front, by Cody and the rebel woman, looking to Cody with desperation in his eyes. If we're pushed into another war, then I don't know what we would do, his eyes seemed to say.
"Why are you here?" Cody was hesitant in asking, but knew he needed to know the answer.
"Because Fulcrum ordered us to." The finality in her voice made it clear the woman didn't want to answer any more questions, so Cody and Jesse kept their mouths shut. Well, figuratively, because their mouths were open to help get more air into their lungs faster.
Who was Fulcrum, and what did they want with them? News was scarce in the prison, so they hadn't even known there was a rebellion. Would there be more Jedi in it? How many had survived Order 66? The ones all the clones had acted on.
They finally reached a door, and the Mandalorian opened it with ease, fiddling with the control pad for a couple moments. Cody and Jesse stood on either side of the door as it opened, counting their brothers to make sure none of them were left behind, while the Mandalorian woman lead them through the doors, into the hot outside air.
As Jesse and Cody followed the last of their brothers, they could see three figures with lightsaber battling against the dark and red blades of the Inquisitors. Two of the figures were the same human boy and man they had seen earlier, but now they had a Togruta with two white lightsabers battling with them as well. But they couldn't focus on the newcomer, as a large ship had landed just a few meters away. The Mandalorian woman led them towards it, while the boy broke off from the fight to follow the clones from the behind, protecting them from the stormtroopers that Cody hadn't noticed were coming after them.
The boy was surprisingly good at protecting them, and only a few shots got past his defense, but with the stormtroopers' terrible aim, none of them hit the clones, and as soon as they had all boarded the ship, the veterans hung back, to make sure their younger brothers were further inside the ship. More rebels rushed out to help them, gesturing them to follow them further inside.
What was left of Torrent Company plus Cody still decided to bring up the rear, to make sure that nobody was left behind.
When everybody was comfortably on board, the boy jumped in as well, yelling into his wrist comm for them to get airborne.
"What about the other Jedi?" Cody asked. Fives and Echo nudged each other, hiding laughter behind their hands.
"Our Jedi always did reckless stunts. These Jedi will come to us when we get airborne." The boy blinked at them, tilting his head a little.
"I'm Ezra, by the way. Ezra Bridger."
"Well Ezra Bridger, thanks for the rescue." Cody said with a small smile on his lips. They may still be on this Force forsaken planet, but that didn't mean that they couldn't hope to live to see another day.
"Well, the rescue isn't over yet. Plus, you have Fulcrum to thank for the rescue." That name again. The clones thought over the name in their heads. It was, to be quite frank, a horrible name, therefore it could only be a codename. They didn't know why this person would want to hide their identities, but then again, they didn't know much about what was happening in the galaxy at the moment.
"Whose this Fulcrum you rebels keep on mentioning?" Doug asked. He had somehow come up behind the veterans without them noticing, even with his injury. One of their brothers was supporting him.
The boy- Ezra - hesitated before pointing to the clashing lightsabers. "See the Togruta with the white lightsabers? That's Fulcrum." The clones turned to look at the figure as the ship shuddered. The ship began rising, rebels ushering the clones in further and further. The veterans decided not to be difficult, even if the thought of not meeting the Jedi killed them inside. They followed their brothers, Fives helping the unnamed brother carry Doug.
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The clones were led to separate rooms, all for different usages as they didn't have enough cabins, but once they docked with another, bigger ship, they were led into the mess hall of that ship, the room being the only one big enough for all of the brothers.
There was a strict looking man standing before the wall opposite of the door, with Ezra beside him. The young boy didn't look as serious, but he seemed to be trying to professional.
Torrent Company plus Cody sat on the benches at the front, right in front of the man and Ezra. They still didn't know who or what this rebellion was, and if they were truly fighting the Empire. They wanted to be able to at least fight the two off if this 'meeting' went south.
"I am Commander Jun Sato of the Rebellion's Phoenix Squadron. I am the one who authorized your rescue, although, as Specter 5 and Specter 6 informed you earlier, the mission was planned and brought up by Fulcrum, our top agent. With their prior knowledge regarding yourselves and the Citadel prison, they were able to plan out your rescue." The man paused, letting the information sink in. Fulcrum knew them and the citadel? Who could know that? The man continued. "As you all saw, we have three Jedi on our side, with two of them having been trained and brought up in the Coruscant Jedi Temple. They fought on the frontlines with you. Most of you will recognize them, others might not." The commander seemed to be teasing them in a cruel way, waiting for one of them to crack and to guess who they were. But two Jedi, trained by the Jedi Order, and fighting on the frontlines with them? This sounded too good to be true.
"We also have three clone commanders from the Clone Wars on our side as well, to show you that we are the good guys in this fight." The boy said. That made the clones burst out in conversation. They were guessing who they were, and why they were with the rebellion. Why would they not be in the rescue? Wouldn't they want to see how many of their brothers had survived the torture that was life?
"Please calm down. They will be meeting you soon, along with the Jedi. This meeting was just to make sure that you wouldn't be hostile against them or the former commanders. Do any of you know of the inhibitor chips?" Fives froze. He had been arrested after he had uncovered the conspiracy, and his death had been faked by the Chancellor. He hesitantly raised his hand. "Good. Unless we take out your inhibitor chips, those of you who remember what happened during Order 66 will happen again once you see the Jedi. We will be removing them before you can see them."
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Coming out of surgery, Fives wondered why he and his brothers had blindly trusted the man. There had been a so-called Jedi right in front of them, and none of them wanted to harm him. Perhaps the man was lying, and just wanted an army to control through blind loyalty. He shuddered, the memories of what happened on Umbara rising to his mind's eye, clear as day. Fives hoped that nothing like it would ever happen again.
After everyone had woken up after a successful surgery, they were lead back into the mess hall, now with Commander Sato standing alone in front of them.
Fives met former Commander Grey's eyes from the other side of the room. The other man seemed to be nervous, and Fives understood why. These Jedi could hold grudges against all of them. Fives would understand if they did. He just wanted to know who survived the Purge.
"Now, I assume you are all eager to meet the Jedi, but first things first; they have codenames which you will use outside of Rebellion ships and bases. One of them have changed their name since the time of the Republic, and unless he specifies, please respect his decision." Fives admitted that that was smart; with a fake name and codename, the Jedi could stay off Empire radars. "The Jedi are known as Fulcrum, Specter-1, and Ezra Bridger is also known as Specter-6. They are a part of the Ghost crew, also known in the Rebellion as the Specters. Fulcrum is out intelligence master, and one of the founders of the Rebellion. Most of you will recognize Fulcrum, and many of you would have served with them in the past." So a well known Jedi had survived. Fives couldn't help but deflate in his seat, names of well known Jedi circling in his mind. Were they a Jedi Master? Knight? Hell, even a former padawan would be a great help for the Rebellion, and Fulcrum sounded very successful and reliable in the Rebellion. "Some of you will recognize Specter-1, while none of you will have recognized Ezra Bridger. Now, they will be meeting you soon, so please refrain from overwhelming them." Then the door behind them hissed open, and Fives turned in his seat. His eyes widened, staring intently at the grown Togruta woman, who stood in between the grown human man and Ezra.
The markings were so familiar, and her montrals and lekku were so different yet the same. She was finally wearing armor, with two slender lightsabers hanging on her hips.
"Ahsoka!" Her name sounded strange on his tongue, the feeling coming from the lack of use of her name. He looked to Echo at his side, who seemed paler than he should be.
"Commander Dume?" Grey said. Commander Dume? As in Grey's padawan commander, Caleb Dume?
The man winced, taking a small step back to partially hide behind the Togruta, which didn't help hide him, as even though Ahsoka Tano had grown, the man was still taller than her.
Ahsoka looked behind her to gesture for somebody to come closer, than more miracles appeared. In the form of former Captain Rex, Commander Wolffe, and another identical brother, who Fives couldn't recognize. He heard a sob from Cody as he saw his batchmates, and Fives's cheeks felt wet.
Three members of their incomplete family, standing in front of them, looking oh so well.
Fives wasn't sure who had stood up first, but suddenly he was rushing to his commander and captain. He couldn't believe that they were alive.
"I'm glad you're alive, commander." Fives said, tears freely running down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around his sister. He pulled his captain towards him as well, and suddenly there were brothers all around him. It was a giant bear hug.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Grey and the remaining members of his battalion nervously standing in front of Caleb Dume, whatever his name was now. The former Jedi had his hand near his lightsaber on his belt, but didn't seem like he was going to skewer his brothers, so Fives turned back to the woman and man in his arms.
"It's good to see you too, Fives." Ahsoka Tano said. Fives grinned wetly at her, and Rex patted Fives on the shoulder.
No matter what happened to him, he would cherish the memory of this reunion.
A/N Sorry this took so long to post... This fic is over 3000 words, so it took a while.
Happy Reading! ☪