Sabine and Ezra were out on the deck when Rex came out with an announcement: "I've assembled a list of potential bases and clearance codes and a few protocols the Separatists used to use. Should be of some use," he explained.

"Thanks, Rex," Ezra told him.

"They're on our main computer. You're gonna need-"

"Data tapes?" asked Sabine, brushing past the commander. "I got this." She was inside without another word.

Rex just shook his head, instead choosing to get the conversation with Ezra that he wanted earlier. "I never told you earlier, thank you for being willing to trust us. Your friends might not have warmed up by now if you hadn't."

Ezra shrugged, mimicking Rex as he leaned his elbows on the railing. "I haven't known Master Skywalker long, but from what I've seen, I think I should trust him. He wouldn't send us here without a reason."

Nodding, the solider looked out to the horizon. "That sounds like him. He wouldn't send anyone anywhere unless he thought it was worth it." Rex's mind wandered off to the last times he saw the Jedi. The image had faded over the years, but there were a few features nobody could forget about Skywalker. He wondered how much he had changed. Maybe by now, Rex wouldn't recognize his face, but he was certain that if he could pick him out from a crowd. Even after fifteen years, Skywalker would still be standing tall and act as if he had control over the room.

"Sorry about Kanan," Ezra went on, startling Rex out of his train of thought. "He just doesn't-"

"Don't worry about that," he told the kid, waving it off. He noticed Kanan off to the side, probably listening but not watching. "Not your fault. Can't say I blame him either. The war left its scars on all of us."

"Won't you reconsider joining us?" he asked, figuring it couldn't hurt to ask again.

Rex let his gaze drop. "The fall of the Republic hurt, but the one thing it did do was give us a way out of the war. By that time, I had questioned the point of the whole thing. All those men died and for what?"

"I guess what they thought was right," suggested the Padawan, making his master breathe deeply.

It was getting harder to stay mad at the clones. Every time they spoke, they said something that reminded Kanan why he had once befriended them. They had lived through the same chaos and nightmares that he had, and probably more of it. When he had been brought onto the battlefield, the clone troopers in his master's battalion were the ones to come up alongside him and help him through the trauma. Sure, his master had helped him heal and other Padawans in the order came together to navigate the burden of command, but the clones were the ones who dug their boots in the mud and marched next to him until the mission was over.

Maybe that was why it was so hard to trust them again. All that time Kanan had spent with his troopers hadn't been enough to protect him during the Jedi Purge...or Order 66. He never would have turned on them like that, but they had. In his mind he knew there wasn't a choice for them, but...

...but it was so hard to realize that maybe his friends hadn't wanted to kill him. It hurt to think that he had lost them for no good reason, no good reason at all. It was easier to believe he had been betrayed because that was what Kanan had been told for fifteen years. He didn't want to come to terms with Order 66 because that meant facing the truth he had been confronted by ever since Master Skywalker told him what had happened: not the betrayal of the clones, but the loss of everyone in his life with no one to blame. At least, no one Kanan whom could make pay for it.

Blaster fire came from the direction of the Phantom. "Kanan!" Sabine shouted, and he ran toward the sound of distress. When he got up there, he was confronted with an Imperial probe droid. After dodging a shot or two, he chased it down, but the droid was quick.

It shot into the Phantom. The explosion knocked Kanan off his feet, and the droid was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. As Kanan pressed himself up to his feet, he wondered why a probe would be all the way out here. The clones said they were the only ones out here!

Jumping down, he pulled his blaster out and began firing. It wasn't really fair, the droid could fly faster than Kanan could run. It was getting out of range and it had doubtlessly already sent a signal, and he began to worry what more damage the probe would do if it escaped, until a signature blue blaster bolt tore through the heart of the droid. A clone blaster.

Kanan slowed to a stop, breathing a little easier. After a moment, he looked up where the shot had come from and saw Rex holding a rifle in hand. The two made eye contact, and Kanan held it long enough to give a small nod. Not much, just a little acknowledgement of the shot. Then he turned and made for the downed probe droid. The others would catch up soon enough.

It gave him time to think, anyway. To think about these clones, about what was going through his head. That was, if he could make sense of it.

By now, it was clear that Rex was the one Master Skywalker had sent for. Figuring it was time to finally listen to Ezra, he took a breath. Skywalker did trust him, that much was certain. In the back of his mind, Kanan knew that the Jedi wouldn't trust him if he thought for a second the clone would betray him. Despite whatever happened between Rex and Master Skywalker during Order 66, they still trusted each other. Kanan claimed to trust Master Skywalker. Did he have the courage to turn his words into actions and prove it by trusting Rex, however minimally?

~

"How long has this thing been watching us?" Ezra asked, looking at the smoking pile of scrap that used to be the probe droid.

With his arms crossed, Kanan offered his guess. "Long enough. How's the Phantom?" he asked Sabine, who had just joined them, Zeb, and the clones in examining the downed probe. Only Kix had stayed behind with the walker.

She didn't sound too optimistic in her report. "Well, engine took a direct hit. We're not going anywhere until I can fix it."

"Wait. You mean we're stranded?"

"Yep," Rex told Zeb, "and the Empire's on its way."

"Why was the probe even out here?" Kanan asked, crossing his arms. "I thought you said you were alone out here?"

Rex didn't look much happier about it than Kanan did. "It's not supposed to be. There's no reason for the Empire to be here. No natural resources, no bases, nothing. That's why we chose this system."

Beside him, Wolffe furrowed his brow. "So something drew them out here. I'd say a Jedi would attract their attention."

"Hey, we didn't call them here!" Zeb objected, but Rex raised a hand before it could escalate further.

"No one here would. We're all wanted by the Empire, betraying anyone's location would be suicide," he reminded them. "We've got bigger things to worry about than why it came here."

Jesse kicked over one of the probe's arms with his foot. "It definitely had enough time to get a signal out. We've got hours at most. Our best bet to avoid a fight is to get away from these coordinates and hope we can get your ship repaired in time."

"Ahhh! We could take 'em!" Gregor insisted, pounding his fists together. "It's been a while since we've had a good fight anyway!"

"I like the energy, but we can't let rebels fall into the Empire's hands," Rex insisted, looking back at Kanan. "Not if we can help it."

Rather than acknowledging the gesture, Kanan responded. "Last I heard, they don't take too kindly to clones either. We might have hesitated to fire, but they won't."

"Then let's move," suggested Sabine, already walking back. "I'm not going to be able to fix the Phantom from here, anyway, and we don't want to be sitting ducks when they show up."