"Execute Order 66."

"Yes, Lord Sidious." Rex agreed with a sturdy nod.

"Rex. It's Anakin. I feel like something terrible has happened." Ahsoka started, rushing over as the doors opened to show Rex again. He hand shook, dropping his helmet to the ground.

"Rex?" I questioned carefully, moving in front of Ahsoka while the troopers around us aimed their blasters towards us both.

"No! I'll do it." Rex stated to his men, turning around darkly.

"Rex, what's happening?" I worried more, seeing tears on his face as he stared at me, the vision from my past haunting me. I took a step closer with caution trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"Stay back!" He shouted, pulling his blasters at us. I slightly raised my hands, tears pooling in my own eyes.

"Rex, this isn't you" I tried to get through to him. Looking into his deep golden eyes, they seemed to have been darkened.

"Find him. Find him. Fives. Find him! Fives!" He shook more violently while giving us orders. My eyes widened at the realization that this was all true, but before we could act on anything he started shooting at us.

"Lyra!" Ahsoka snapped me out of it, both of us dodging the attacks and running towards the clone. I kicked his head back onto the table, knocking him out temporarily while Ahsoka gave us cover by deflecting the bolts. I used the force to close the set of doors in front of us to stop the clones from shooting just as Rex got back up.

"Rex!" I tried again, but he aimed his blaster again and the back door opened with more blaster fire going off. I started to help deflect the blasts with Ahsoka. Taking a hit to the arm from Rex, we both knew we were outnumbered and needed to escape. In a flurry of dust Ashoka had cut a hole above us and we both jumped into the vents.

"She's down. She's down."

"Hold your fire! We got her!" They shouted, moving to see that we had escaped in the vents.

"Sir, are you all right?" One trooper asked Rex.

"Fine, just tired is all." Rex claimed as he touched the side of his head gently. "I want you to go to the detention level. Execute Maul."  Rex put his helmet back on, taking away all that made him unique.

"Yes, sir. All right, men." A few men ran out.

"All right. We know Lyra Jayko and Ahsoka Tano are on board. They've  been marked for termination by Order 66. Under this directive, any and all Jedi leadership must be executed for treason against the Republic. Any soldier that does not comply with the order will also be executed for treason. Understood?" Rex gave his men their orders.

"Yes, sir!"

"There are only so many places to hide on this ship. Gather up search parties. We'll fan out and move section by section. Come on. Let's get moving." Everyone ran out at Rex's final orders.

"Lyra, look at me. I need you at your full attention or we won't make it out of here" Ahsoka sternly reminded me as we sat in the vents hiding. I was curled up into myself, lost in my thoughts as tears spilled from my eyes suddenly. "Hey, hey, Ly" she pulled me in for a hug. "I know this is hard for you, it's hard for me too, but I have an idea" I began wiping the tears from my cheeks sadly, agreeing to listen to her plan with all hope lost.

"What's the plan?" I managed to choke out the words.

"I'm going to release Maul as a distraction before we both go for you to find what Rex was talking about because you seemed to know more about that than I do" she explained to me. I nodded silently in a promise to help her.

"Look out!" A clone called as we reached the prison cell just as they were about to kill Maul. Ahsoka pushed him back with the force. Before cutting the blaster of the other one and throwing him into the ceiling. The box had already been opened while I stood guard at the door, making sure nobody else would find us.

"Don't make me regret this." Ahsoka held her blade to his throat in warning before releasing him from the chain's that held him back.

"You... You survived." Maul gasped for air in shock at seeing us both.

"Is this your doing? Choose your words carefully." Ahsoka threatened placing her saber close to his neck again.

"No, no. It was not my doing. I do not know what has occurred, but, surely, you have felt it. The voices crying out. The death." Maul said to us, I shook my head to attempt to clear it from the overwhelming pain through the force.

"The clones turned against me. Even Rex." I said to him as Ahsoka pulled back. "I don't know why, they just suddenly weren't themselves."

"Brilliant. Brilliant. I was not privy to my master's plan, but now, now I see it." Maul laughed. I gave him a look of hurt at his laughter. "He turned the Jedi's own army against them. Well, you've done the right thing by coming to me. Only together can we survive this. Now, if you will follow my lead—"

"You don't understand. I'm not here to team up with you." Ahsoka cut him off putting her lightsaber close to him again to remind him of who was in charge. "We need a diversion, and you're it. Now go cause some chaos. It's what you're good at."

"Uh, care to give me a fighting chance?" He questioned as we carefully moved into the hall once again.

"I'm not rooting for you. Now get going." Ahsoka snarled, prompting him to walk the opposite way.

~~~

"Sir, we finished our sweep of the detention level." A trooper reported to Rex in the hallway. "The prisoner has escaped. There's no sign of Jayko, Tano or Maul."

"Destroy the escape pods and increase security on the hangar decks." Rex ordered.

"Right away, sir." Troopers ran through the hallways while Ahsoka and I snuck past and went into a small storage room with a few droids.

"Shh. R7, I need your help." Ahsoka told the droids as she turned it on and it beeped back. "I know. I know. Shh. Quiet." Ahsoka warned as the droids beeped crazily with panic. I flicked the lights on along with the other two droids.

"I don't know. I don't know why the clones are doing this. But we might be able to do something about it. Are you sure you wanna help?" I questioned, kneeling in front of them. "It could be dangerous. Okay, let's get started. R7, patch into the central computer."

"You work on that, I'll make sure the door is secured." Ahsoka nodded to me as I got to work, determination to help them filling my blood.

"Bring up every secure file on Clone Trooper CT-5555. Okay, Rex. What am I looking for?" A file was brought up with information on Tup shooting me and killing the twin Jedi as well as information of Fives and the inhibitor chip reports given by me, Master Ti and Nala Se.

"An independent investigation confirmed that the Clone Trooper CT-5555 experienced a malfunction with his inhibitor chip. Both the Senate committee and the Jedi Council have accepted these findings. However, a grievance report was filed by CT-7567." Nala Se spoke through holo video as I glared at the woman.

"That's Rex" I noted the CT number. "R7, bring up that report." The droid beeped back at me. "It's sealed?" I questioned.

"Try Anakin's pass code. 8-1-0-8." Ahsoka stepped in again. The code worked, bringing up a video of Rex giving his own report on Fives.

"I already know this report is gonna fall on deaf ears, but I owe it to Fives to record what I saw. I'm not sure I believe it myself, but there's a possibility that the inhibitor chips the Kaminoans put inside of us have a purpose that we don't yet fully understand." Rex spoke.

Ahsoka looked at me as something clicked in my head, everything coming together, the visions, Fives, order 66.

"What is it?" She questioned my thoughts.

"We need to get to Rex" I started, scrambling to get ready. I pulled the wrap off my tattooed bicep and covered my blaster wound from Rex shooting at us tightly.

"Lyra, we can't just go out there and ask Rex to help us. Something is wrong with him and he is trying to kill us, okay?" Ahsoka sadly reminded me, watching my heartbreak. "I know you like him, but it's all over now, we can't do this."

"That's the thing Ahsoka, I love him" I admitted in my moment of being vulnerable. "And I can't live if he doesn't survive with us. We can help him, trust me. I just need to get to him alone" I pleaded.

"Okay, what's your plan?" She agreed upon realizing just how important this was to me.

"Get the droids to cut him off in the hallway, blocking him off. While they have him captured and distracted we will go in and get him. Then we will take him to the Med bay where we can hopefully remove his inhibitor chip" I explained with faltering confidence in the plan which Ahsoka had caught onto.

"It'll work" she promised with a similar yet faded hope to when she was a Padawan. I gave her a small sad smile before we moved out with the droids.

"Hey, hey. Out of the way!" Rex scolded R7, the droid crashing in front of Rex while the other troopers ran ahead. The next droid had cut off the doors, cornering the clone in a hallway. "Are you cross-wired?" Rex snapped, a message from me was pulled up in hologram form.

"Rex. I think I know what's happening. I saw your report on Fives. It isn't your fault. You were programmed. Your mind was altered to do this when you were very young. I can help you." I promised him.

"Lyra?" He softly looked at the hologram, breaking out of his trance for a second before aiming the blaster at the droid. "Where is she?" He demanded answers sternly.

"I'm right here." I spoke carefully from behind him before he turned to face me. The droid quickly zapped him, falling to me as I caught him. "Careful. We're trying not to hurt him." I scolded them, holding Rex carefully in my arms.

"They've got the commander. Bring the charges." A clone shouted.

"We need to get out of here," I noted.

"Cheep, are all the doors sealed, so the way is clear?" Ahsoka asked the droid. "Okay. Let's get him to the medical bay." She helped me set Rex on top of the droids to take him to the Med bay.

"R7, run a scan." I ordered, setting Rex's helmet aside upon entering the med bay. The droids had set him on the operating table and I got to work pressing buttons to turn it on. quickly "See if you can find the inhibitor chip the report talked about." I told the droid who started to scan.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ahsoka questioned.

"Yes" I started matter of factly. "But the chip has to be there. Check again." I thought when the droid reported there was nothing, worry and doubt filling me once again.

"How close are they?" Ahsoka questioned one droid when clones started cutting through the door.

"I need more time"

"G-G, if they override the door controls, you have to reseal it fast." She told him sternly.

"R7, anything?" I asked with worry for all of us as time was running out. He shook his head at me slightly.

"Lyra" Ahsoka started, silently telling me we had to leave.

"I have to do this," I said, moving to place my hands on either side of the sleeping clones head. Closing my eyes I reached out with the force, remembering that not everything can be seen at a quick glance, but with deeper focus I will be able to find anything.

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." I started to mumble

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." Rex began to mumble with me.

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

..........................................

Question of the day: What was your reaction to Order 66 in the clone wars?

Only two more chapters left! I will probably post them both tomorrow for you to enjoy the end of this book.