𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙀𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙔𝘽𝙍𝙄𝘿, clone wars ² ✔

Chapter Seven: Act Two; Shadows of Betrayal

Blood pounded in her ears, a relentless drumbeat that drowned out all thought. Nyx hated it—hated the rage that clawed at her mind, consuming her every instinct. She couldn't stop it, couldn't control it. It burned through her veins like wildfire, and all she could do was let it out.

She tore through the droids first, their metal shells crumpling under her claws, their circuitry sparking as she ripped them apart with savage efficiency. But the droids weren't enough. The clones came next—soldiers who once fought by her side, who once called her an ally. Now they were nothing more than shapes in her haze of fury, shadows she shredded without hesitation.

Their cries echoed faintly, muffled by the roar of blood in her ears. She hated it. Hated them. Hated herself. But the rage wouldn't let her stop. It dragged her forward, guiding her claws and fangs, her body moving as if possessed by the raw force of her fury. She was no longer Nyx. She was something else. Something monstrous. Something unstoppable.

That's when she saw it—the shuttle rising into the air, its engines roaring as it climbed higher and higher. Her glowing red eyes tracked it, narrowing as a low, guttural growl escaped her throat. The rage inside her surged, wild and unrelenting, but for once, she didn't lunge.

Instead, she turned sharply, her claws digging into the cracked durasteel beneath her. Without another sound, she vanished into the shadows, her massive frame melting into the barren wasteland beyond the Citadel. The storm above crackled, lightning streaking across the blood-red sky as her silhouette disappeared into the desolation, leaving only silence and the faint echo of her growl behind.

-

In the shuttle, Rex sat with his head in his hands, his shoulders hunched under the weight of silent despair. Cody sat beside him, his expression just as grim, though his hand rested on his blaster as if gripping it gave him some measure of control over the chaos they'd just escaped. The two soldiers didn't speak, the heavy silence between them saying more than words ever could.

Nearby, Obi-Wan and Anakin stood at the edge of the cramped cabin, locked in a tense argument that barely managed to stay quiet. Obi-Wan's tone was firm but edged with exhaustion. "We can't go back for her now, Anakin. Think," he hissed, his words deliberate. "We'll lose a lot more men if we try. She's gone—there's nothing we can do."

Anakin's fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight as he glared at his former master. "You don't know that," he shot back in a low growl. "She's still in there. Nyx is still in there—we just didn't fight hard enough."

"We didn't leave her, Anakin. She left us," Obi-Wan countered, his voice hardening. "If we'd stayed, she would've killed us all. You saw what she did—what she's become."

"That wasn't her!" Anakin snapped, his voice rising slightly before he caught himself, glancing at the clones to avoid drawing their attention. He leaned in closer to Obi-Wan, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "We don't abandon our own, not like this. She trusted us."

Obi-Wan exhaled, his shoulders slumping slightly. "And I trust you to make the right decision. But this isn't it." He turned away, his gaze drifting to the viewport where the barren wasteland of the Citadel shrank into the distance. "Sometimes, the hardest choices are the ones we don't want to make."

Cody glanced up, his voice quiet but heavy. "Is it really a choice if it's the only one we've got?"

Rex didn't answer, his face buried in his hands, but the silence that followed was answer enough.

Then Ahsoka's voice cut through the tense silence. "Guys..." she said, her tone trembling between hard resolve and quiet dread. It was enough to draw everyone's attention. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the clones all turned toward her, their weariness momentarily forgotten.

Ahsoka stood near the holoprojector, her lekku twitching with unease. Her sabers rested at her side, unlit, but her fingers twitched like she was ready to grab them at any second. The flickering blue image of a droid's severed head hovered above the projector, its photoreceptors dimmed but faintly glowing with residual power.

"What is that?" Cody asked, stepping closer.

Ahsoka didn't answer immediately, her hand raising as if to silence him. They all grew still as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed faintly through the projection, like something large and menacing pacing just out of sight.

And then it came. A voice, sharp and cold, hissed through the static-laced silence of the transmission.

"The Republic will fall," it said, each word dripping with malice, "and she will be the key to it."

The droid's head flickered again, its mechanical jaw moving slightly, as if it were repeating the same message on a loop.

Anakin's face darkened, his fists clenching at his sides. "Who's behind this?" he demanded, his voice barely contained.

Obi-Wan stepped forward, his eyes narrowing as he studied the hologram. "It's a warning," he muttered, though his tone betrayed unease. "Or a promise."

Rex straightened, his exhaustion giving way to sharp focus. "What do they mean, 'she'? Are they talking about Nyx?"

Ahsoka swallowed hard, glancing back at Anakin. Her voice was softer now, tinged with doubt. "It has to be," she whispered. "Who else would they mean?"

The room fell into a heavy silence, the hum of the shuttle's engines the only sound. The words echoed in each of their minds, dark and foreboding, as the reality of their situation began to sink in.

"She's still alive," Anakin said, his voice cutting through the quiet. His eyes were fierce as they locked with Obi-Wan's. "And now we know what they're planning. We have to go back for her."

But Obi-Wan's expression didn't soften. If anything, it grew harder, his gaze heavy with the weight of grim understanding. "If Nyx is the key to this..." he said carefully, "...then she's not the same person we knew anymore."

"She's not lost," Anakin snapped, his voice breaking with emotion. "Not yet."

Obi-Wan didn't reply, but the look in his eyes said everything. The hope Anakin clung to was becoming harder to hold onto, and the shadow of what Nyx had become loomed over them all.