Cyare (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

74

Rex, Ahsoka, and Anakin walked through the smoldering, burned out husk of the jedi temple hanger. Two jedi initiates had died in the explosion, as well as fifteen clones and other personnel. Several more were injured. Ahsoka shuddered.

"Do we know who was behind it?" She asked. Her and Anakin and Rex were the only ones the council felt were qualified to search the area, being the only jedi with a 'non critical' mission and being off world when it happened. Her master's face was grim, her training bond giving her a dull sense of the horror he felt.

Half a planet's population. Gone. Duros had been a massacre. Ahsoka shook herself. She had to focus on the task at hand. Grieve with the rest of the citizens later. She turned back to the carnage before her.

"What caused the explosion?" She asked, glancing around in an attempt to cover her inattention. Rex handed her a datapad he had been studying.

"Nanodroids, of a highly volatile nature. We found a fine coating of them on several of the remaining pieces of equipment." He reported. Ahsoka frowned.

"Are there any suspects?" She asked. Rex shook his head.

"None so far. It could have been any one of the workers, or even a clone, if they're defective or had gone through him." He said. Anakin spoke up now.

"Or it could have been a jedi." He said quietly. Ahsoka turned to face him.

"Come again, master?" She asked. Anakin turned his gaze on her.

"A jedi. They would have access to the weapons, being military commanders, they know the temple inside and out, including how to sneak an explosive in. We've had more jedi defect than clones. Dooku, Ventress, Krell, Obi... Ken... Caedus." He stumbled over the last name, trying several times to refer to his old master. Ahsoka felt a dim spike of pain from him. She placed a gentle hand on her master's arm. Anakin flinched, looking down at his padawan.

"Master, the odds of it being a jedi are slim compared to that of it being the civvie personnel." She said. Anakin gritted his teeth.

"Alright. Ahsoka?" He asked, lowering his voice as Rex moved to inspect a gory looking spot on the ground. Anakin looked at Ahsoka, his face solemn. "I promise to never, never put you through the pain of seeing me fall." He met her eyes. Ahsoka gave a bitter smile.

"I hope I never even have to worry." She said.

"General, Commander, over here." Rex called. Ahsoka cautiously moved over to see what he was looking at and curl her nose. He was looking at a bloody and scorched smear in the shape of a vaguely humanoid body. He picked up a scalpel and containment square of plastiglass and scraped up some of the blood. He sealed it and handed it to Ahsoka.

"See if we could test that for DNA identification. It's the only body that was actually caught in the blast it looks like." He said. Ahsoka grimaced and ran off to take the blood to the infirmary, which also had begun doubling as a forensics lab. Anakin looked at the imprint in the floor as Rex stood and dusted himself off.

"Well, Rex? What's the verdict?" He asked. Rex's mouth twisted.

"I think that whoever this was is now our first suspect." He said. Anakin relaxed slightly.

"A lead. That's a good thing." He sighed. Rex nodded in agreement.

"If he had the audacity to blow up the jedi temple and become a martyr, then people mast know what he did. I got rumor that there was an anti-war protest happening on the steps of the jedi temple later this week." Rex reasoned. Anakin caught on.