Illusions

Chapter 2 - Undone

Author's Note: And... things start changing. ;)

~ Amina Gila

Rex... doesn't really know what to think about this. A machine, that, for all they know, could be the size of the entire planet, capable of... repopulating the galaxy? He has no idea how much of this planet is the machine, assuming the entire thing isn't. It's not as though he would know. But clearly, the galaxy was far more advanced than anything that Rex has ever been told.

The knowledge that clones are, apparently, popular, is...

Many natborns don't like the clones. Rex has always been used to that, and for all it bothered him, he accepted it years ago. But all humans were destroyed?

And the Jedi and Sith have been at war for... far longer than they've even been recorded to exist. The machine undid that, but in the end, it doesn't seem like it really mattered, because they came back with the same result, anyway.

Thousands of years later, they're still fighting the same war.

"I can't imagine the Jedi causing the destruction Arty mentioned," Rex says finally.

"He may have been misinformed," General Kenobi replies.

"I don't think so," Anakin interjects, "He was saying what he believed, and... it was thousands of years ago. And there's Yasha, of course."

Rex doesn't find the prospect of a non-Sith nearly as disturbing as the three Jedi do, but then again, he didn't fully realize what Sith were until a bit over a year ago. Anakin explained it to him after Christophsis specifically, after they encountered Ventress, to drill in exactly how dangerous they can be, and that they needed to stay as far from them as possible.

Rex, of course, couldn't promise him that, because the mission always comes first, but they tried. Tried as much as they could, as long as they were able to carry out their mission and protect the Commander.

The kid. Their kid.

She's older, far more skilled than she used to be, but Rex was there when she came, and a part of him will always be back when Ahsoka was young, when she was first seeing the reality of the world beyond the Temple, back when she was small and childish and just learning what it meant to be a Commander.

"That's what really doesn't make sense," Ahsoka agrees, "Sith don't use the Light. That's not how it works."

"There's one more to go," Anakin replies, "You ready?"

"Couldn't be worse than what we've already seen," Rex points out.

Anakin glances at him, a look of appreciation on his face. Rex just nods to him, because that's expected – Anakin is his General, but he doesn't demand their support or loyalty. They give it to him because he deserves it, because he's fighting for them as much as the Republic, and that is more than anyone has ever done for them.

"Go on," General Kenobi concedes.

"This one's recent," Anakin warns, and turns it on.

It's from about a thousand years ago, when the last Jedi and Sith war ended.

"My name is Caleb, and I am a Jedi," the human man who appears in the hologram introduces himself, regret and sorrow evident on his face, "This war between the Jedi and Sith may finally be over, with the Sith now destroyed but I still question if it was truly worth the cost. So many species were lost, and many of the Jedi I've worked with and spoken to seem to have no regrets for the destruction. They believe it was a "worthy cause", and even though the Republic itself and much of the populace now fear the Jedi, they insist those opposing them are being influenced by the Dark Side."