"𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙."

The ship headed for the slave system where Obi-Wan and Rex were supposed to be. I really hoped those slavers weren't lying. I tried coming up with a plan that wouldn't end up with me in chains. I sent a transmission to Master Plo's cruiser as he wasn't too far from Kadavo. I informed him of the current situation of the three enslaved Jedi, Rex, and the missing people of Kiros.

"See if you can infiltrate their base and get them out of there," Plo suggested. "I will be ready to engage with the Wolfpack."

"Sounds good. Thanks, Master Plo."

He nodded and cut the transmission. I sighed deeply as the planet came into view and I prayed I had the right information. I landed the ship on a platform and observed the buildings. Towers loomed overhead with canons ready to fire at a moment's notice. My eyes fell on a particularly bigger structure that seemed to act as a central hub. The slavers most likely would be keeping a Jedi in there.

"Alright, here we go," I mumbled to myself and stepped out of the ship. I headed for the door of the building and to my surprise, it slid open. I guess the guards hadn't noticed anything strange yet.

Alarms blared and the door I just came through sealed shut. Never mind then. Guards appeared from the end of the hall and I pulled out my blasters. I learned from lessons before and shot their hands first so they couldn't reach for their whips. The slavers grasped their wrists in pain and I finally shot to kill. After they crumpled to the floor, I bounded down the halls looking for where they could be keeping Obi-Wan and Rex. More guards passed and I disappeared into a closet. My comlink pinged and my heart jumped seeing it was Anakin's frequency. Hopefully he made it out of the the Queen's palace.

"Sil, come in," his voice filled the room.

"Anakin! Did you make it out?" I asked frantically. "Is Ahsoka with you?"

"Yeah she's with me and we're on our way to Kadavo," he said and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in the building where they're keeping Obi-Wan, Rex, and probably the rest of the slaves," I whispered. "But the Zygerrians know I'm here."

"Just hold out for a little longer and we'll get them all out together, I don't want them capturing you too," Anakin said.

"Okay, but hurry, I'm ready for this mission to be over," I groaned lightly.

He sighed over the comms. "Me too, Sil."

It wasn't long before guards were running past the room I was hiding in and alarms blared again. An explosion rocked the floor and I knew Anakin and Ahsoka were here. I burst out of the room and chased after the guards, blasting them down as I made for the building's entrance. The end of a lightsaber stuck through the door and was just about done making a molten circle. The piece of the door thumped onto the ground with Anakin and Ahsoka appearing with their lightsabers drawn.

"You guys made it," I smiled.

"Yeah," Anakin responded. "And so did Master Plo's cruiser and his fighter squad."

The ground rumbled from the bombardment Plo's pilots were giving the slave facility. I stepped outside and watched the air battle ensue. Over the comms, Plo said that the enemy canons needed to be destroyed. Otherwise the cruiser wouldn't be able to arrive and rescue the slaves who were in danger of being dropped into a chasm.

"We'll take care of those canons," Anakin replied. "Just make sure that cruiser gets down here. We are running out of time!" Anakin rushed outside to meet me. "Come on!"

I followed as we ran towards the enormously tall towers where canons released heavy fire onto our fighters. I craned my neck to gaze up at them and wondered how the hell I was going to get there.

"I'm going to push you up there on a count of three," Anakin said quickly.

I snapped my head towards him in surprise as he started counting.

"Wait!" I screamed with my eyes wide. "I'm not ready!"

Anakin chuckled. "Are you ever?" With that, he threw up his hand and I was flung high into the air. I screamed as I landed on the roof of the tower and rolled from the impact. I let out a groan.

On the other tower, Anakin already landed and started throwing off the Zygerrians manning the canons. I shook the dizziness out of my head and pulled open the tower's hatch and blasted the slavers inside. I hopped in and took control of the canons, firing on the other ones so they were all destroyed. I climbed out of the room and stood waiting on the top of the tower. I looked over to the other one and saw Anakin standing with a smile on his face.

"Oh, here we go," I mumbled before he used the Force to push me off the tower. The air escaped my lungs in the descent. My fall was stopped and I hovered over the ground with my heart hammering against my chest. I slowly got back on my feet and shuddered.

"You okay?" Anakin asked placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I think I have a fear of heights now."

"Why? I'll always be there to catch you."

"Yeah but-"

"Come on!" Obi-Wan shouted over the noise of the battle and gestured for us to get in the gunship.

We dropped the conversation and ran over. A sigh of relief escaped me as I saw Obi-Wan and Rex standing side by side, looking fine for the most part. I watched as the cruiser idled under the facility. Ahsoka and the Wolfpack helped the people of Kiros get safely on board. Once the rescue was complete, the order was given to destroy the slave facility. A smile graced my features watching the buildings tear apart and fall into the dark chasm below, disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. Soon, we were on boarded the cruiser.

"Sil," Obi-Wan called me over. "You did a great job today. If you hadn't stepped in to help us and the slaves, the mission may not have been as successful."

A wave of shame washed over me and I looked down. I had strongly considered leaving all of them and fending for myself. What kind of person would think of leaving their friends behind? I didn't feel deserving of Obi-Wan's praise at all.

"Obi-Wan," I began but he cut me off.

"It doesn't matter what you thought about doing, Sil. What matters is what you decided to do," he placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I looked into his eyes and saw the understanding behind them. I smiled and bowed my head slightly, thankful to be with a Jedi Master as kind as Obi-Wan.

As we headed back to Coruscant, I watched the clones with more focus. The previous mission gave me clarity on something I found difficult to confront. I watched all of them, the combat clones and soft shells. I smiled weakly thinking about how the combat clones called the maintenance and other non-combatants soft shells. What they all had in common though was that they more or less followed every order. They had no way out of the war life. Dark thoughts ran rampant in my mind and I didn't push them away. It dawned on me that clones were really just slaves of the Republic.

"Something on your mind?" a voice pulled me out of my trance.

It was Rex. There most definitely was something on my mind, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Yeah, just, kinda startled from Anakin throwing me off a really.. really tall building," I said. It wasn't a lie. The experience was traumatizing.

Rex shuddered. "Ah, I hate it when he does that."

"He does that to you too?" I let out a laugh.

He nodded and rubbed his temple thinking about the times his General pushed him off of high places. "So does Commander Tano," Rex added.

"Well, at least we know they'll be there to catch us when we fall."

"Yeah, it's nice knowing that they care about us clones and you as well," Rex said.

I frowned as my thoughts drifted back to what was on my mind before Rex came. I wondered if he was beginning to think the same thing.

"Rex," I began in a quiet voice. "Do you ever feel like you're being taken advantage of?"

He looked startled by my question, his eyes darting in different directions. Rex was a very careful man and always made sure to say the right thing, but I didn't want him to be like that right now.

"You can be honest," I reassured him. "I'm just.. curious. I mean, you have no choice, right? You have to be a soldier and there's no question about it."

"Well, it is our duty to obey those who created us and gave us life in the first place-"

"But that's what they told you to think," I cut him off. "You don't believe in that anymore, do you? Not since Umbara.."

He was silent for a moment. "Yeah, I don't."

I smiled. Something about hearing Rex admit that out loud gave me peace. If Rex believed the lack of free will he and his brothers had was unjust, I was willing to bet a lot of other clones felt that way too.

"I just wish there was something I could do," I sighed. I came to the Republic to fight slavery, and here I was indirectly supporting it.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not your fault the clones are in this position," he placed a hand on my shoulder, but my mind wandered.

"But is there anything you wish you could change, something that would at least make your lives a little bit better," I slumped on a crate and rested my chin on my hands, staring emptily at the floor.

"Well," Rex rubbed the back of his neck as if he were about to say something illegal. "It wouldn't hurt if we had clothes other than blacks to wear, nicer barracks, and maybe some good food to eat in the mess."

"Oh yeah," I remembered glumly. "The meals you guys get really sucks. I should know, I got to make galaxy class food back on Tatooine."

Rex smiled lightly. "It'd be nice to try something like that."

"Yeah, wouldn't that be something," I agreed and the gears in my head started turning. Why not let the clones try something other than the crappy mess food they got? I dropped my hands into my lap and stared at them. There were basically two things I knew how to do. Fighting and cooking. I hadn't made that food in almost a year and a half. It would definitely bring back slave life memories, but it would be worth it to see the boys smile and sink their teeth into a burger made of love instead factory processed mulch. I came up with a plan and grinned widely.

"What're you smiling about?" Rex crossed his arms.

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing."

I laughed and decided to keep the idea to myself. "You'll see when we get back to Coruscant. It'll be great."

"If you say so."