Crimson Shadow

Part 2

Author's Note: Enjoy the bonding in this chapter! :D

~ Amina Gila

Echo locks himself in the cockpit as soon as they're safely away from Eriadu. For one, he can't exactly trust Vader, and for two, for the sake of Rex and the network they're building, it's best if he keeps it all under wraps. Even if Vader is the General, he's still an Imperial, and Echo can't trust him, not yet, and he owes it to Rex to let him make the call on whether they can let Vader know what they're doing. Besides he might not be the General, no matter how unlikely that is. Maybe this is all just a string of uncanny coincidences. Doubtful, but maybe.

It takes a short while before Rex answers, probably getting away from whatever he was doing and going somewhere private where they could talk. "Did something happen?" he asks immediately, knowing that Echo would never call him so abruptly unless something had.

"The last base we went to was a trap," Echo answers, "And we ran into a Sith there named Vader. He... was strange." Strange, doesn't even begin to cover it. "He did not try to harm us once he realized who we were, and he asked after Tech and Crosshair. When we told him what happened to them, and what is happening to the clones, he was... outraged, and he asked to come with us to find Omega and see the truth for himself."

He pauses, and Rex huffs out a breath. "You know how crazy that sounds, right?" But his voice is strained, uncertain, and Echo knows that there's something weighing on him.

"Yeah," he replies dryly, "I know. I can't quite believe it myself yet. We... went back to Eriadu, and he got the sector location of the base, Tantiss from Tarkin – who is now dead, by the way." He doesn't know how to say this, but Rex needs to know. "He's so – familiar, Rex, like I know him, and he knows me, and I – I think he might be..."

Echo trails off, unable to voice that final thought. The General. Their General, who is said to be dead, who they've mourned for so long. Their General, who might actually be alive and working with the Empire, even if he's been seriously injured somehow.

Rex is quiet for so long that Echo almost fears the connection was interrupted, and finally, he sighs. "I never told you what happened when we went after Maul."

He frowns, confused. "What does Maul have to do with anything?"

"Maul told Ahsoka that Palpatine was grooming the General to be his next apprentice," Rex replies, a little bitterly. "I – I always thought something was a bit... off, but the General trusted him, and I trusted the General. I never dreamed... But when Maul said it, I knew it was true, and I had a suspicion about who Sidious was. Never told anyone. Never got the chance. Didn't think anyone would believe me, and I wanted to tell the General in person."

"You think it's really him?" Echo queries, his voice wavering ever so slightly. Rex doesn't point it out, because he feels that grief, too. Anakin Skywalker was not a clone, but he was still one of them in every way that mattered. He was a friend, a brother, and he was... everything to them. Losing him, fearing him dead, it had changed Rex. He's borne that grief in the same stubborn way he's carried his grief for Fives, but it was still there, marking him, weighing him down.

Rex offers him a half-smile, before it falls away again, an aching pain in his eyes that Echo can see even over the hologram. "Yeah, it's the most logical conclusion, given what Maul said and your own experiences. Just – be careful with him, Echo. He's not going to be the same man we knew. Palpatine is well... he's Sidious. Insidious. Be careful."

"Always, Rex," he promises. "I'll be in touch."

"And I'll see what I can find out about Tantiss," he replies before they end the transmission.