Fox had dared to come to this dim, musty garage for one reason and one reason alone. Her.

    The clone rebellion was a lost cause, doomed to fail. He wouldn't offer his services and they wouldn't want him anyways. After all, he was the infamous Marshal Commander Fox, CC-1010, vod'kyramud, the brother killer.

    Yet, despite sequestering himself away in the remotest location he could manage, whispers and rumors of his brothers' feats still managed to find him. Among comm chatter, he heard of the Senator that was helping them. 

    He didn't need details to know that the Senator was her. He thought she had long since forgotten about him. She apparently hadn't, not with how adamantly she fought for his brothers. But no, he wouldn't be so presumptuous as to think he was instrumental in her decisions. She was just good and wholesome like that, believing that all sentients deserve the same basic rights to life and freedom.

    No one gave a second thought about the haggard clone that found his way to the growing rebellion. To his relief, no one recognized him either. After all, during his time under the heel of the Chancellor, now self-proclaimed Emperor, he had seldom removed his helmet as per regulations. Thus, very few had seen who he truly was. 

    Except for her. She had chipped away at his carefully crafted walls, sending them tumbling to the ground. She had dared to peel back the layers and see that which Fox didn't even see in himself. 

    And he had left her. Run like the coward he was the second Palpatine's hold over him was severed. Riyo deserved far better than what he could offer. Now, here he was crawling back, hoping to find her again.

    He had been falling in line with the ranks of his brothers for the last few days, expecting to see Riyo walk through the doors any moment. He tried fading into the background, being patient and biding his time. But anticipation got the better of him.

    Fox had never been the most tactful when it came to conversation, so he just bit the blaster bolt and asked outright, "Does the Senator come by here often?"

    The clone he asked—Howzer, he thought—gave him an odd look, pained almost. "Didn't ya hear? Senator Chuchi's been arrested."

    Fox's heart turned to stone. No.

    "Really? No!" butted in a younger trooper, setting down the large crate he had been carrying.

    "Yeah, charged with treason to the Empire," explained Howzer gravely.

    More clones jumped into the conversation, seemingly unaware of the AT-TE that had just rammed into Fox's gut.

    "Shame. She was one of the good ones."

    "It's always the good ones that go too soon. Remember Amidala?"

    Caught up in their conversation, no one noticed Fox stumble away. It had been a while since he had felt this physically ill. As if in a trance, he made his way outside to escape the enclosing walls of the garage. Not that the outside was any better with its dimness and racing speeders. As he leaned against the outside wall, he worked to control his ragged breaths. 

    No! His heart howled with pain and guilt. He should've been there with her. To support and protect her. The Republic had given him nothing, and this new Empire was taking everything from him. 

    A voice pulled him from his spiral.

    "Easy, trooper."

    Rex, one of the last brothers he wanted to see, slowly approached Fox, making enough noise to alert the grief-stricken trooper to his presence so as not to accidentally startle him. Something about how the Captain of the 501st approached told Fox he had been in this position many times before, helping to soothe a panicked brother.

    Fox kept his eyes fixed on the ground as Rex tentatively set a hand on his trembling shoulder. 

    "Tod?"

    That made Fox tilt his head slightly in Rex's direction. More guilt washed over him at the false name he had given Rex. 

    He opened his mouth to tell the rebel leader to buzz off, but the words got stuck in his throat. Instead, the truth, the whole truth, came tumbling from his lips in an embarrassing word vomit.

    Rex, to his credit, remained by his side as Fox let loose his tragic tale, even after Fox revealed who he actually was. By the end of it, Fox was begging. The Marshal Commander of the Coruscant Guard begged with desperate tears clouding his vision.

    "Please, I know you owe me nothing, but Riyo deserves to be rescued," appealed Fox. "I–I don't even need your help or men. Just intel. Give me a starting direction and I will find her."

    Rex's discerning gaze seemed to pierce straight through Fox. After what felt like several agonizing rotations, he addressed Fox, "I... didn't know you had that deep a history with the Senator." His voice held pity that Fox didn't deserve. "I wish I could help. Truly, I do. She was brave and she helped us despite the risks. But we need to be strategic. We're a budding rebellion, we don't have the m–"

    "Riyo is not some battle objective," spat Fox, shining eyes glowering at Rex.

    Unruffled by his outburst the rebel leader continued, "From what I've gathered, the Empire has made sure every trace of her has vanished, just like our brothers who dare to question orders. They say she was removed for "misconduct" and no more. If she hasn't already been—" Rex stumbled over his wording, cringing at how heartless it sounded "—executed, then I'll bet she's in the same situation as most of our brothers, being carted off to be lab rat for the Empire's secret side projects."

    Fox tensed, already guessing what Rex was going to say next.

    "I can't promise anything, but we're working to raid these places. If you stick with us, it's your best bet at finding her."

    Fox's initial instincts and stubbornness told him to protest Rex's priorities. Hostility and guilt burned in his words. "You don't want me. Aren't you scared I'll turn on you? 'Sides, it's not worth it. No matter how 'strategic' you try to be, you're fighting a losing battle. I'll find her myself."

    Even if he had to turn the Empire inside out to find her, he would.

    "Our brothers are worth fighting for," said Rex lowly as Fox began stalking away. He knew it was a low blow but he added it anyways, "Riyo thinks we are."

    He met Fox's near feral glare steadily. "What'll it be, Commander?"

~~~~~~~

    And so, Fox joined the Clone Rebellion. A part of him thought Rex almost regretted his insistence that Fox should stay because every moment he could get a word in edgewise, Fox would inquire about Riyo. With no news and the slow-going process in systematically raiding Empire hideouts, Fox's greatest fight was against his own despair that he would never find her. His brothers dared to keep his hope alive. And he came to realize that Riyo might've been particularly important to him, but his brothers had come to love her as well.

    Then, finally, a whisper, a word. Bless his ori'vod Wolffe who worked as a double agent.

    The largest campaign yet of the Clone Rebellion was set underway. Rex called in every favor and every being available to help. After several long rotations of careful planning, they set off. The captives of the poisonous doctor would no longer be captives by nightfall.

    Fox was only vaguely aware of the raggedy remnant of Clone Force 99 hot on his heels as they charged the secret laboratory facility. Both tore through the building with the ferocity of men starved for hope. They kicked open every door and sliced every binder and restraint.

    The rush of impending victory fell flat for Fox as he continued to search through cell after cell, but a glimpse of blue was all that he needed to send his spirits soaring. The lock panel didn't stand a chance as it cracked under the force of his fist. The sight that greeted him as he rushed into the containment cell made him stop short, knocking the breath from his lungs.

    He didn't think it was possible for a heart to shatter and mend all at the same time.

    Riyo. It was Riyo. 

    Underneath the grime and filth, it was her, cowering in the farthest corner of the cell. She didn't look at him directly, only sending furtive glances to the intimidating figure backlit by the clinical white lights from the hallway. When he stepped toward her, she recoiled and curled herself further into the corner as if expecting some sort of blow.

    Fox's initial surge of unspeakable joy at having finally found her began to dwindle as he took in more details. The cuts and bruises, some old some fresh, that ran up and down her arms and legs. The terror in her eyes whenever she dared to briefly look at him. The scars that peeked from beneath her too thin gown.

    Fury ignited within him. As much as he wanted to be mad at the Rebellion for taking too long, at the Empire for their innumerable atrocities, he could only feel anger at himself. He had left her. If he couldn't have prevented this from happening, then the least he could've done was endure by her side.

    His helmet came off with a slight hiss and he crouched down, making himself smaller and keeping himself from moving any closer so as not to frighten her more.

    "Riyo," he breathed, just barely managing to get her name out.

    Her trembling lessened at the sound of his emotion-filled voice. Slowly, she let her gaze trail over to the stranger in her prison cell. 

    As soon as their eyes met, Fox couldn't hold back his tears anymore and he moved his hand to muffle his sobs. 

    Akin to a wounded animal, Riyo uncurled herself and hesitantly moved toward Fox. It hurt to see her once shining golden eyes clouded over by fear and doubt, as if she didn't believe that he was really there.

    He hardly dared to move and was caught off guard when she suddenly launched herself at him, barely managing to catch her and wrap his arms tight around her painfully gaunt form. He was here, she was here. He was not leaving her, not ever again. Both of them shook as they wept from sheer relief. 

    The rest of the mission passed by in a blur. All Fox knew was that Riyo was with him and that that horrid laboratory was sent up in a fireball courtesy of Wrecker. It was a message that he hoped the Empire would hear loud and clear.

    Only when they were safely away did Fox discover the awful truth and his wrath against the Empire burned all the more fiercely. Those cowards hadn't liked Riyo's outspokenness against their regime, so they silenced her. The so-called doctor had slit her vocal chords.

    Healing was hard with the Empire breathing down their necks, but Riyo and Fox remained with the Clone Rebellion, which was slowly growing into more than just a clone uprising. It was becoming a true movement, a true Rebellion, with sentients of all backgrounds joining in and standing against tyranny.

    The Empire may have tried to take Riyo's voice, but it had been their fatal mistake that they had not simply killed her. Riyo was determined to make them regret their mistake. The Rebellion needed orators just as it needed fighters. One to set the spark and one to carry the flame. The Empire would not win in thinking that they had stolen her voice. They had not silenced her.

    It hadn't been easy, figuring out how to "speak" in different ways, but her clever Fox was with her every step of the way learning new things as well. Senator Chuchi of Pantora and Marshal Commander CC-1010 of the Coruscant Guard were no more, but over the broadcasting networks came the voice of Fox whose transmissions were often penned by the anonymous writer who went by the code name Gold. People everywhere could listen in and know that there were still those who fought for good in the galaxy thanks to the Golden Fox Network.

    "...hope still burns."

    As Fox ended their latest transmission, he felt Riyo come up behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders and leaning over to place a proud kiss to his cheek. When he met her gaze, he could truly believe the words of hope in his message. 

    The Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire had stripped them of much and, for a time, of each other. In a galaxy ruled by bloodshed, they had found their way back to each other. And together, they could find a way to carry on.