Chapter Text
“Get down!”
“We lost all systems! Take cover!”
The cruiser was crashing, nose-diving towards the surface. Jesse was thrown off his feet, colliding with a toppling storage rack shattering across the ruined hangar. His blasters slipped from his gloved hands and swept behind him.
“Sir, Commander Rex and Tano are escaping. I repeat–”
The entire world came to end as the darkness swallowed him.
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Pain. That was the first thing Rex recognized when he came to.
What the hell happened?
He blinked, sitting up slowly as he groaned. The side of his head throbbed. He didn’t know how hard he had hit it during the crash.
He was lying in the debris of the wreckage, smoke surrounding him as he tried to make sense of where he was. Jesse… the men.. Ahsoka. Where were they? Was he the only survivor?
The next thing he recognized was the sound of lightsabers. Lightsabers he knew only to belong to his little sister. The 501st Vod’ika. The kid he helped raise, and just aimed to kill at.
She was alive.
With a dawning horror he jumped up and looked at the ruins he was surrounded by. He watched Ahsoka spin around, the absolute picture of panic and a need for survival.
How had she gotten his chip out? He couldn’t help but wonder. Who else did she save and who is still alive to thank her for it?
“Ahsoka!” Rex cried, scrambling towards her through the falling ash and debris. He hauled himself over what used to be a panel control for the main hangar. “What happened? How did you fight us off to get my chip out? How did–”
She cut him off with a curt glance, telling him to stay silent without words as she scanned her surroundings. The cruiser was ruined, that they both knew. What mattered now was looking for any remaining survivors.
Ahsoka pulled apart a large piece of busted durasteel off of one of her unconscious brothers. After checking to make sure he was alive, she hauled his limp body over her shoulder. “We can talk more later, for now we need to get everyone chips out and get them to safety,” she said, looking exhausted but determined. “Check everywhere. Make sure we get everyone accounted for. Hurry, I don’t know how much time we have until they wake.”
Rex nodded, letting her drag the soldier out of the wreckage.
And with that, they set off to work. One by one, the surviving members of the 501st were evacuated out of the cruiser. Ahsoka had lined them up carefully on the ground in a clearing a few meters away. Rex had scavenged through the remains of the cruiser and had luckily found the tools they needed to deactivate the remaining inhibitor chips.
“That’s all I could find, kid,” he said, handing her the little parcel of bacta patches and emergency field surgical supplies.
“We work with what we’ve got,” she frowned, knelt over Jesse. She looked over at the setting sun along the horizon.
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Hours later their brothers were all de-chipped and slowly waking.
Jesse stirred first.
His eyes snapped open and he sucked in a sharp breath, instinctively reaching for blasters that weren’t there. His hand met only dust and scattered tools. He pushed himself upright, gaze darting wildly—until it landed on Ahsoka.
He froze.
For a second there was relief. Pure, unfiltered relief. She was standing. She was breathing. She was alive.
Then memory hit him.
The hangar. The orders. The way his finger had tightened on the trigger. The way her voice sounded when she called his name.
His face was drained of color. “Soka…” His voice cracked. He scrambled to his knees instead of standing, helmet clattering from his lap to the floor. “I– I didn’t– We–”
Ahsoka stepped forward quickly. “Jesse, it’s okay.”
“We tried to kill you.” The words came out hoarse, like they scraped his throat on the way up. His hands shook as he looked at Rex, then back at her. “I aimed at you.”
Around them, more troopers were waking. Groans of confusion turned into horror as the same realization crashed onto them.
Helmets came off. Eyes widened. Some looked sick. Others looked like they’d been punched in the chest.
Kix pressed a hand to the side of his head. “The chip… it’s gone.” He looked at Ahsoka with a dawning understanding—and guilt followed so fast it was almost visible. “You removed them.”
Fives’ name hung unspoken in the air between them all.
Hardcase sat up abruptly and then stopped dead when he saw her. “Commander…?” His voice was small, disbelieving. Then his shoulders slumped. And a choked down sob came out. “Oh no.”
They remembered everything. Not just flashes. Everything. The orders overriding their thoughts. The way it had felt right in the moment. The way it had felt like betrayal to hesitate.
The silence grew heavy. Grew thick. Grew distraught.
One by one, they shifted closer, not crowding her, but orbiting like they needed to be sure she was real. Like if they looked away she might vanish—or worse, fall because of something they’d done.
Jesse swallowed hard. “Did we hurt you?”
Ahsoka gave a small shake of her head. “No. You didn’t.” But she avoided eye contact. Avoided Kix’s too observant gaze.
“Ahsoka. Don’t lie to us. Not after this.” Jesse said sternly.
“I'm fine, it doesn’t matter.”
Yet her avoidance to answer the question only seemed to solidify the answer they already knew.
Several of them lowered their heads.
One trooper wiped at his eyes quickly, pretending it was dust. Another clenched his fists so tight his knuckles went white. They were soldiers. Trained for war, loss, impossible choices. But this was different. This had been her. The kid who’d painted their helmets, who’d teased them in briefings, who’d called them big brothers.
Their little sister.
Jesse finally found his voice again. “You still saved us.” He let out a shaky breath. “After… after what we did.”
Ahsoka’s expression softened. “You’re my family. My ori’vod”
That broke whatever fragile composure they’d been holding onto. They all quickly surrounded her and just held together. Letting themselves feel angry for how they were used. Letting themselves break. Just for a bit before they got back up and kept going.
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Ahsoka had lost track of how long she’d been awake.
The fight for Mandalore lasted for days. She fought and although she won against the ex-Sith, she sustained many injuries. After capturing Maul, she hid those injuries and began to head back to the Jedi council. However, things took a turn for the worst and Ahsoka had fully submerged herself into the Force to keep herself awake to protect her family.
As far as she can estimate, it’s been about 95 hours or so since she last slept. Normally that would be impossible, but Ahsoka had been so immersed in the force that she was able to push past her natural limits.
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The Force had stopped feeling like a guide.
It had become a crutch. No, worse. A lifeline she was strangling herself with.
At first, it was easy. A gentle current beneath her skin, keeping her upright when her legs wanted to give out. Keeping her focused when her vision blurred at the edges. It dulled the pain from Mandalore, from the crash, from everything.
But now—
Now it burned.
Not like fire. Not like something external.
It burned from the inside out. Like her veins were filled with lightning instead of blood.
Ahsoka stood at the edge of the clearing, watching her brothers regroup, take inventory, check weapons that barely functioned anymore. She kept her posture straight, arms crossed, chin lifted—every inch the commander they needed.
Even if it was held together by threads.
Her montrals twitched sharply.
Too many heartbeats. Not hers. Too loud. Too—
She swayed. Just slightly.
Barely noticeable.
Except Rex noticed everything.
“Ahsoka.”
Her name was quieter this time. Careful.
She didn’t turn. “We need to start mapping the area. We don’t know what’s on this moon yet. Predators, terrain hazards—”
“Ahsoka.”
Closer now.
She clenched her jaw. “Rex, I said I’m fine.”
A pause. Then, softer—
“You didn’t answer me.”
That made her turn. Big mistake.
The world tilted—hard. For a split second, the clearing wasn’t there anymore. Just blinding white, like hyperspace tearing through her skull. The Force surged violently, slipping from her control—
Her knees nearly buckled.
She caught herself.
Too fast. Too sharp. Too unnatural.
Rex’s expression changed instantly.
Not confusion. Recognition.
“Kid…”
“I’m fine.” The words came out clipped. Too quick. “Just tired.”
“You don’t look tired.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice. “You look like you’re about to drop.”
“I said I’m—” Her breath hitched.
Not visibly. Not to most.
But Kix froze from across the clearing. That wasn’t exhaustion. That was instability.
He started moving before he even realized it.
Ahsoka straightened, forcing her shoulders back. “We don’t have time for this. We need to establish a perimeter and—”
The Force slipped again. This time, it wasn’t subtle. The air around her warped.
Dust lifted from the ground in a slow, unnatural spiral. Loose metal pieces rattled. One of the discarded tools jerked violently across the dirt like something had yanked it.
Every clone in the clearing went still. They all felt it. Even without the Force, they felt it.
Something was wrong.
“Ahsoka,” Rex said again, sharper now.
Her breathing was uneven. Her control was collapsing.
“I just… need a second—”
Her voice broke.
Kix reached her first.
“Yeah, no, that’s it.” His tone snapped into medic mode instantly. “You’re done pretending you’re fine.”
“Kix, I'm not pretending—”
“I know you’re doing some kind of work.”
That shut her up.
“…I’m controlling it.”
“No,” Kix said flatly. “You’re not.”
Rex stepped in, eyes locked on her. “Talk to us.”
She shook her head immediately. “It’s nothing. I just used the Force a little too much, that’s all—”
“A little?” Kix repeated, incredulous.
“Ahsoka,” Rex said, slower now, more dangerous, “how long has it been since you slept?”
Silence.
He refused to look away.
“Ahsoka… How long?”
She looked helplessly at her surrendered sabers. “…I don’t know.”
“Ahsoka.”
“…A few days.”
“How many is a few?”
Her gaze dropped. The memories of the past few days had been a catastrophe. One moment, she was on Mandalore. The next, they were en route home to Coruscant. Anakin was waiting for her. He would’ve been the first to greet her–
Anakin…
She felt her chest go tight. She didn’t know what happened to her older brother.
“…four. Maybe.”
The entire clearing went dead quiet. Kix actually looked like he might strangle her.
“Four days?” he echoed, voice rising. “Four days with no sleep after combat injuries, a crash landing, and performing multiple field surgeries—are you out of your kriffing mind?!”
“I didn’t have a choice!” she snapped, the words tearing out of her. “You were all going to die—”
“And now you might!” Kix shot back.
The Force flared violently again.
This time it hurt.
Ahsoka gasped, stumbling back—and then everything collapsed.
Not the world.
Her.
Her connection snapped.
The overwhelming current she’d been clinging to vanished all at once, like letting go of something that had been holding her upright.
Her legs gave out. Thankfully, Rex caught her before she hit the ground.
“Ahsoka!”
Her head lolled against his shoulder, breaths shallow, uneven.
For a second—one horrible second—she didn’t respond.
Kix dropped to his knees beside them instantly, hands already moving. “Put her down—gently—easy—”
Rex lowered her carefully, panic clawing up his throat. “What’s happening to her?”
Kix pressed two fingers to her neck, checking her pulse. His expression darkened.
“She’s crashing.”
“From what?!”
“Force overexertion,” he snapped. “Severe. I’ve never seen it this bad.”
Ahsoka stirred weakly, a soft, broken sound escaping her.
“Kix…” Rex’s voice dropped. “Fix it.”
“I’m trying,” he shot back, already tearing open the limited medical kit. “But this isn’t just physical. She pushed herself past the point where her body and the Force could stay balanced.”
“What does that mean?” Jesse asked, hovering close, fear written all over his face.
Kix didn’t sugarcoat it.
“It means if she doesn’t stabilize,” he said, working quickly, “her body could start shutting down.”
That hit all of them like a blaster shot.
Rex’s grip tightened around her hand.
“Hey,” he said quietly, leaning closer. “Hey, kid. Stay with me.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
“…Rex…?”
“I’ve got you.” His voice softened, but there was steel under it now. “You’re not going anywhere, you hear me?”
A faint, almost guilty whisper—
“…sorry…”
That was it.
That was the last straw.
Rex looked up, something fierce and protective flashing in his eyes as he glanced at the others.
“New plan,” he said.
No hesitation. No debate.
“We keep her alive.”