After so long being out of the field due to recovery, or running smaller missions far from the main crux of the current war, Zelina was finally sent back to the front lines. There was no easing back into things when she was sent to Ringo Vinda, as there was an intense struggle happening there between the Republic and the Separatists, most of the fighting centered on a massive space station that circled the planet of Ringo Vinda like an artificial planetary ring.

And, Anakin was one of the Jedi leading the charge against the Separatists here.

She wouldn't have her return to the middle of the battlefield any other way.

Currently, they were in progress for a final push, one that, if successful, would cripple the Separatist grasp on the planet and lead to the Republic taking control once more. Zelina, Anakin, and two Jedi twins named Tiplee and Tiplar were the ones making the push, as well as the 501st, the 105th, and Commander Doom's men, of course.

Zelina didn't think anyone had bothered to tell her what unit he was leading—

She had to physically dodge a blaster bolt when she was too distracted to deflect it with her lightsaber.

Now was not the time to try and think of what Doom's unit was called. She had more immediate matters that demanded attention.

Like the onslaught of droids her and her men were currently cutting through.

"Don't you have enough scars for your war story collection, General," Dash teased after he'd shot the droid that had almost hit her.

Zelina scoffed. "You can never have too many stories, Dash. My scars just say I've seen a lot of exciting things."

As she spoke she dashed forward, cutting through two basic B1 droids while the third, a droid commando dodging the attack. She still took him out with her second lightsaber, unhooking the weapon from her belt just long enough to impale the droid through the chest before returning it to it's spot at her side. She continued forward with just her violet blade, her men laying down cover fire as she pushed into the ranks of the droids coming at them. She felt much more useful attacking instead of simply standing back and deflecting blaster bolts all the time.

Spotting some droidekas preparing to roll to the front of the attacking force, Zelina barked out some quick commands.

"Keen-eye, rollers! Nex, Gambit, Hardball!"

A few seconds later, shots fired over the heads of the advancing droids towards the dreaded droids. Meanwhile, Nex, Gambit, and Hardball all dashed forward with thermal detonators, throwing them into the throng into the paths of the oncoming droidekas.

"Sentry, Zedge, Darius!"

The members of her men who had been given shields for this campaign jumped to the front before she even finished calling them, covering Nex, Gabit, and Hardball from the oncoming fire they'd been momentarily exposed to. Zelina retreated from the ranks of the droids before the detonators could go off, standing in front of the shields since she could deflect with her lightsaber.

A small explosion rocked the hallway as the detonators went off, taking out the droidekas before they even reached the front lines of the droid force coming their way. Once the explosions were over, the shields dropped away, and by then the arc troopers were prepared with heavier guns, unleashing an unrelenting fire on the droids advancing their way. Zelina darted forward once again, weaving between the fire of her men to cut down any droids that managed to dodge the onslaught. Other soldiers, like Cruiser, Dash, and of course Keen-eye, kept her covered, shooting down any droid they thought came too close to their General.

The end of the hallway came in view, where there stood a door that they needed to reach, as their rendezvous point was on the other side.

"Almost there, boys!" Zelina shouted.

"We'll get there before the others, General, just watch!" Gambit shouted over the noise of the blasterfire.

"I don't know, there's still the 501st and Anakin to beat..." Zelina said leadingly.

Someone behind her scoffed. The owner of that voice soon became clear. "We can beat them any day," Hardball boasted.

"Time to prove it—there's the door!" Zelina called. The blasterfire of the men seemed to pick up in intensity, the droids getting mowed down by the combination of Zelina and her men. In fact, she was pretty sure they reached that door in record time, Commy rushing forward from near the back of the group to undo the lock so everyone could file into the room.

Much to Zelina's pride, they really were the first to arrive, Anakin and his men arriving a few seconds after her.

"Well, well, Ani, you're getting slow. This rusty Jedi beat you here," she teased with a grin once he walked through the door.

Anakin rolled his eyes, his smile faint. "Focus, Zee—we're almost done here."

Zelina sighed, grumbling under her breath. "You're no fun," she muttered, signaling for Cruiser.

At the same time, she wasn't that surprised at his lack of lighthearted fun—he'd been different for...some time, now. Everyone knew it, too, and why.

When Cruiser reached her, Zelina turned her full attention to him. "We're only going to be here for a few minutes, Captain—make sure all the men are ready, and if anyone needs to, they should go to Nick."

"Yes, General. And, ah...it's Commander, now," Cruiser reminded her. Zelina grinned.

"I know—Congrats was the first thing I gave you when I came out here. Commander Cruiser just doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as Captain Cruiser."

She was pretty sure he rolled his eyes beneath that helmet—he knew her too well.

Cruiser had been promoted in the time she'd been away from the front lines, and she was still rather upset that she hadn't been there for it. Still, at least he'd finally been promoted—he'd earned it a long time ago in her eyes.

Thankfully, he was also still under her command.

"Don't get too comfortable—this battle hasn't been won yet," Anakin warned his men as some of them started taking off their helmets. Zelina pulled away to join the other Jedi as Tiplee and Tiplar arrived, the four Jedi meeting in the middle.

"Master Skywalker—we must get to the command post. Admiral Trench has sent for reinforcements. We must take this post before they arrive," Tiplar informed Anakin as Tiplee pulled up a map of the section of the battle station that was ahead of them.

Zelina shuddered at the mention of Admiral Trench.

Uhg...Spiders.

All four Jedi kneeled around the map, as well as Captain Rex, Commander Doom, and Cruiser after he finished giving Zelina's previous orders. The rest of the men gathered around where they could to see what was being said.

"It's time for phase two. We're at this position. Tiplar, you'll take your men down this passageway. Tiplee, you'll move along here," Anakin ordered, pointing to one of the three passageways ahead of them for both Tiplee and Tiplar. "They'll have to divide their forces to counter us, and when they do, Zelina and I will press through the middle. If we time it right, we'll all converge on this spot at the same time, and the droids won't know what hit them."

Commander Doom folded his arms across his chest. "If we're making a run, we'll need backup. My men are severely depleted."

Zelina played idly with one of her bangs, studying the hall and considering Doom's words. "I can take a few of my men and provide support for Tiplee and Doom—Cruiser and the rest of my men can stay with you," she suggested, watching Anakin. It would short him a Jedi and a couple men, but he would still have the support of the rest of Zelina's men, and Tiplee would get the boost she needed. On top of that, once they were all making the final push, if Anakin really needed Zelina's support, she could simply shift her position.

"All right, take a small group to support Tiplee," Anakin agreed before he made an alteration of his own. "Fives, Tup, take five of your best men to help support them as well, so Zelina doesn't have to spread her forces as much."

Fives and Tup both snapped to attention. "We're on it, sir!" Fives answered. The map was shut off, and everyone straightened up to get ready for their push. Zelina moved over to Cruiser, clasping him on the shoulder.

"Have fun with Anakin, Cruiser. I'll see you when we finally take this station."

"Don't cause too much trouble, General."

Zelina snorted, starting to back away. "Please, Cruiser—the only reason that I'm here is to wreak havoc."

"Right, General," Cruiser chuckled.

Zelina went over to where her men had been taking a breather, clasping Nex and Keen-eye on the shoulder. "You two are with me. Also Sentry, Dash, and Bruiser. We're going to be supporting Tiplee—the rest of you will be supporting Anakin and Rex."

"Just the six of us for back up, General?" Dash asked doubtfully.

"Fives, Tup, and a couple men from the 501st will also be supporting Tiplee—it won't just be us," Zelina reassured him. "Get ready—Anakin wants to head out pretty soon."

"Yes, ma'am," they echoed. Zelina started heading over to Tiplee and her men, passing Anakin along the way.

"So, Ani...there's gonna be a lot of droids..." Zelina said leadingly. Anakin eyed her.

"Where are you going with this?" Anakin asked.

"Bet I'll get more than you." She nudged him, hoping to get something of a positive reaction out of him.

"Zee..." Anakin sighed, and Zelina cut him off before he could go any further.

"Anakin...please. Just humor me. I've missed these sort of things," Zelina said quietly.

Anakin hadn't been the same since Ahsoka left. It was harder to make him smile and laugh, he was frustrated easier, his temper shorter—especially with the Order. The entire ordeal had left a mark on Anakin, understandably—it had left a mark on her as well. Still, it hurt to see him like this, and to feel like there wasn't much she could do to make it better. She couldn't bring Ahsoka back, she didn't have that power. She couldn't make it so that everything that had happened with the bombing at the Jedi Temple had never happened, either. It didn't help that as the war intensified, they spent more and more time apart. All she could do was be there for him when she could and try to lift his spirits, try to help him recover from the loss.

Right now, she was doing that by trying to get him back into their happier habits to lighten his load. These droid count competitions always helped keep the pressure of the battle at bay.

Asking Anakin to do it for her seemed to be the right thing to say, as he sighed, looking at the door they were going to head through. "All right...all right. But we both know that I'm going to win."

Zelina grinned, feeling a small surge of victory. "You're on."

Hopefully, once he started counting, it wouldn't be a reluctant thing. Hopefully, he'd get in the spirit of the competition.

Now that she had Anakin's promise to try and have a little fun, she moved on to where she was supposed to be, giving Nex a wink as she took up a position beside Tiplee.

"Follow me!" Tiplee announced as the men gathered around to prepare for the charge. Zelina's men naturally flocked towards her, Nex sticking by her side, Keen-eye standing at the back of the group to provide cover fire.

"Want me up there with you, General?" Sentry asked, hefting his shield. Bruiser punched him on the shoulder.

"Come on, Sentry—you know the General doesn't need a shield. She's got that lightsaber."

Zelina rolled her eyes. "Sentry, shadow Nex, keep him covered. Bruiser...keep in mind Anakin and I are gonna be comparing droid counts, so please don't blow all the droids up before I can get there. Dash—watch Keen-eye's back."

"Yes, General," they all echoed, Bruiser with a cheeky grin before he put his helmet back on. Zelina cast her gaze back to her men that were gathering with Anakin, spotting Nick quickly.

She'd figured since they were at the front lines on such a huge battle station, on a campaign that would take weeks at a minimum, she'd requested Nick stay with the main group since they would probably need a medic. Usually he would hang back and stayed out of the action, but this mission was a special occasion.

"Nick—hang back, take care of anyone that needs it," Zelina told him as the doors opened.

"Yes, General," Nick responded before Anakin gave the signal, and they all started on their final push to stop Admiral Trench's forces.

The halls all ran parallel with each other, with intervals spaced throughout that allowed the split forces to see each other, or in Anakin's case, allowed them to cross into the other halls briefly as they made their push. So it was that Zelina could see that Anakin seemed to be taking their little competition rather seriously, slicing through droid after droid like a man possessed, moving fluidly and effortlessly through the blaster bolts that flew from opposite ends of the hall. His count had to be rather impressive by now, especially since he was weaving between halls as well.

Zelina, however, wasn't about to fall behind, and ever since the doors for her hall had opened, she had been at the front of her group, both lightsabers activated for maximum effect as she cut through the B1 droids first, eyeing the advancing super battle droids that were laying down most of the heavy fire headed their way. She ducked under a flailing B1 arm, came up to impale a B1 droid in the chest, spun to cut off the head of another with her second lightsaber, rolling to the left and cutting through two droids before she kicked off the wall into another two, disengaging fast enough to deflect the blaster fire of the B1 droids that had finally reacted to a Jedi cutting down their group. Well aimed blaster bolts soared over Zelina's head curtesy of Keen-eye most likely, cutting down a few super battle droids ahead of her that had taken aim at her after she'd done so much damage to the B1 droids. She took a step back to run her lightsaber through a B1 droid that had ended up behind her, other lightsaber going out to the right to get another in the head. The rest of the droids in her immediate vicinity were cut down by her men, so Zelina held her ground and deflected the super battle droid fire until the rest of the group had caught up, just so she had some decent cover fire to help her when she reached the tougher droids.

Once she'd planted her feet firmly in the ground, Zelina switched to one lightsaber for all of the deflecting she was about to do—she found it easier to deflect an onslaught of blaster bolts when she was only using one lightsaber, strangely enough.

Then again, she'd trained with one lightsaber most of her life, and had only acquired the second after the war started, after she'd reclaimed her first master's lightsaber from Grievous.

Zelina's violet blade moved in a blur, forming an almost constant purple circle in the air with how quickly the blade moved to deflect the incoming bolts. Soon, the rest of the group had come even with her, and Nex opened fire on the incoming super battle droids with laugh laced with the high of an adrenaline filled battle while Zelina launched forward to engage them up close once more.

So far, it seemed their push would be successful, as droid parts already littered the hall and she had only felt a few deaths in the Force from their own people—but not many, thankfully.

Against the super battle droids, Zelina was a little more grateful for the backup of her men, as she had to target where she cut into the super battle droids a little more carefully to put them out of commission. Her men knew her well enough that when she focused on one or two droids, her men took out the droids that could cause problems—like the ones on either side of her targets.

Zelina shoved her lightsaber through another super battle droid, a well-placed headshot from Keen-eye taking out a super battle droid on her right as she leapt onto the droid she'd just impaled so it would fall backwards, propelling her into the droid behind it, which allowed her to shove her other lightsaber into its head with effortless force.

"Doors up ahead!" Zelina called back as another shot took care of a droid on her left, more felling two droids on her right before she pulled her lightsabers out of the two droids she'd just downed so she could finish cutting through this rank. She'd smash through the last line in this little group and race ahead to activate the door for her group while they took out what remained of the super battle droids.

They still had Tiplee in their group, so they could handle a few super battle droids just fine.

Zelina leapt into the last line with her lightsabers spread on either side of her, crossing them to opposite sides as she jumped into the two droids, which slashed clean through the droids' upper chests and sent them crashing to the floor, leaving Zelina to rush ahead to the door. Behind her, the mix of Commander Doom's men, the 105th and the 501st obliterated what remained of the super battle droids, rushing ahead to meet her at the door.

She had it open before they even reached her, opening the way to the next room, the one that Admiral Trench was supposed to be just on the other side of. They were going to meet heavy resistance on this side, but if they could keep pushing, they could overcome the defenses at least long enough to capture Admiral Trench and gain a surrender.

They were so close, the end to this seemingly never-ending conflict literally within view.

The doors opened, and their forced came flooding in from different halls, Anakin down the middle, Zelina and Tiplee from the left, and Tiplar from the right. There was, in fact, an onslaught of droids in this spacious chamber, and for a moment Zelina allowed herself to wonder if Admiral Trench had been hoarding the droids in here for the moment that the Jedi managed to break through the ranks. At least it seemed like it, with a wave of B1 droids lined up waiting for them and more on their way from the halls on the other side of the chamber.

"Shields ready!" echoed around the room from the various people of command, Zelina included, as they were immediately hit with an onslaught of blaster fire. Everyone rushed to cover, the Jedi pushing to the front of the conflict to start carving a path for the men, or at least draw some of the fire off of them.

"I've got you covered!" Zelina yelled to Tiplee over the noise, the two of them rushing forward. Zelina growled low in her throat to see the dwarf spider droids spaced out throughout the B1 droids, but knew that it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. In fact, Zelina and Tiplee were faced with two at the same time.

"I've got the right!" Tiplee called, already gracefully climbing up a stack of supply crates to attack her claimed droid from above. Zelina, however, ran at the spider droid on the left and dropped into a slide, gutting the thing from underneath and coming out on the other side as the droid crashed underneath her. Of course, she came up face to face with the mass of droids, but she was able to cut down the three in front of her before deactivating her lightsaber briefly as she backflipped onto the spider droid, her hands connecting with its domed head just long enough for her to coil and push off, landing on her feet back among their men. In fact, she was at Tiplee's side when she straightened, Tiplee dropping from her destroyed spider droid and joining her in deflecting the oncoming fire as the two of them searched for an exploitable weakness in the army coming at them.

"On your right!" Tiplee called to one of the men on her side of the field.

Maybe Zelina could get Bruiser to thrown some surprises into the oncoming masses, thin them out enough to get a better foothold in the—

Zelina's spine tingled, and on pure instinct alone she turned her upper body to face her men, her eyes not even sweeping behind her fully before she started to lean, tilting her head and dropping her left shoulder just slightly.

A blaster—

—A searing pain suddenly ripped through her shoulder and burned her neck and lower chin—

—that had been aimed at her head. Zelina was knocked down by the shot, enough of it hitting her to put her down, but her slight movement being the difference that saved her life from a headshot—though she was currently in a lot of pain, the breath knocked out of her as she hit the ground and slid. As she went down, Zelina sensed a life brutally snuffed out directly by her, and for a split second, she was afraid of who it was that had just died. The abruptness of it all threw her, the sudden feeling of someone being ripped from the universe so unexpectedly hard to bounce back from.

Tiplee.

However, her mind still registered that it was not a battle droid that came up on her while she was down, but a Republic Soldier, a member of the 501st, Tup, of all people, an emotionless expression on his face.

And he had his blaster aimed right for her head.

For a moment, a flash of eerie calm overtook her as she stared down the barrel. Calm and sorrow.

So this is how I go...gunned down by one of Anakin's men for no clear reason...

His finger flexed on the trigger, but before he could release the bolt to end her life, he was tacked to the ground in a blur of blue, white, and violet, the bolt going wild and missing her by a long shot. The world seemed to resume after that, having hung still in a split second that had lasted an eternity as Zelina waited for death. Now the pain slammed into her once more, and she saw an impressive slew of Republic blaster fire soar over her head towards whatever was behind her.

The next face she saw was Nex, his helmet with the Nexu paw print on the right side swimming into view a few seconds before Bruiser's lit fuse art job on his helmet registered. She didn't much care about the world around her in the next five seconds, as they had hoisted her up and the pain intensified, causing her to momentarily black out. As her vision focused briefly, she saw Keen-eye propped up at a good vantage point and firing just beyond her like his life depended on it. It fuzzed for a second, but Zelina registered shield bearing troops of the 501st coming out of nowhere—no, from Anakin's group, most likely—and joining Sentry and a few other 105th members who were supposed to be with Anakin in shielding Zelina, Nex, and Bruiser from any oncoming fire. There was a mesh of white and blue soldiers and white and violet soldiers congregating around her as the tunnel they had made their way through came shakily closer, the noise of the battle suddenly confusing.

Zelina tasted fear on her tongue. A crippling fear, suffocating—is she dead, not Zelina, not her, already lost so much, let her be okay—confusion all around, panic, what happened, pain.

There were so many voices jumbling together, Zelina couldn't make sense of what was happening. All she knew was that she was in pain, and her vision was swimming, and she was being partially dragged, partially carried somewhere.

The sound gradually lessened, and soon the motion stopped, Zelina being lowered gently onto the ground, where she was able to start to regather her bearings.

Now, as the helmets came off, she no longer saw blurs of color. Now faces were coming into focus. Nex and Bruiser, of course, but she could see Keen-eye running up behind them as he ripped his helmet off, and Cruiser had appeared, leaning over his General with clear worry and—Force, was that fear in his eyes?

A new face came into view, some of the men pushing each other to give him room. Ah, Nick. Hopefully he didn't nick any bones while checking on her.

If only she had enough of her bearings to make the joke...

"Wh..." she started to say, but cut off when the effort caused the burned part of her face to scream protest.

"Take it easy, General, let me get a good look at you," Nick said sharply, his tone clearly telling her now was not the time to speak.

But she needed to speak. She wanted to know what was happened—what had happened.

Where was—

Well, she didn't need to ask that question.

As worried and in some cases fearful for her all her men were, as strongly as she could sense those feelings coming from them in the Force, all of them got out of Anakin's way as he pushed through to see her, the raw fear clear in his eyes as he dropped to Zelina's side, one hand on her knee, the other quickly seizing her own.

"Zelina," he breathed, seeming slightly reassured as she gave his hand a firm squeeze. The world was coming back to her, and while that meant she was regaining a sense of herself, she was also feeling the pain a lot stronger now.

Maybe she'd prefer to be out of it right now...

Zelina's attention was drawn to the hand that was clasping Anakin's, as he seemed to be crushing it right now he was squeezing her hand so hard.

"For a few seconds there, I thought it was you who'd..." Anakin started to say, a slight shake to his voice. Zelina gave his hand a good, hard return squeeze to reassure him that she was all right and he didn't have to say it.

"Sir, I'm only going to be able to stabilize this—she's going to need more than what I can provide out in the field," Nick informed Anakin. Zelina's eyes narrowed slightly at her man.

She'd only just been brought back to the front lines for this mission. If she was about to be sent back to the Jedi Temple for more healing, there was going to be hell to pay.

Nick seemed to be able to tell what his General was worried about, because he was quick to assuage those fears. "She's just going to need some time in the medbay—she won't need sent back to Coruscant or anything."

That's better.

Zelina cast her gaze back to Anakin, who hadn't stopped looking at her. Once their gazes met again, he squeezed her hand firmly.

"I'm going to find out why he did this. I swear it," he told her fiercely.

She didn't doubt him.

Zelina gave Anakin's hand one last good squeeze before Anakin pulled away, most likely to go talk to Tiplar and then go see Tup—if they had managed to restrain him without putting a hole through him.

Zelina would like answers, too. She'd fought beside Tup before—Tup had been one of the soldiers on Umbara when that entire mess with Krell happened. Why would he turn on them, why would he try to kill her?

She was pretty sure that was the question on everyone's mind.

Once Anakin was gone, Zelina was once more surrounded by the worried faces of her men. To outsiders, they all looked the same, but even in her pained state she could tell each and every one of them apart and name them all. She trusted these men with her life day in and day out, and she would never think any of them possible of turning on her. They'd forged a bond through countless battles fighting side by side.

So why...why had this happened?

**************************************

Most of their forces stayed at the line to hold the ground that they had managed to cover despite the unexpected setback, but the rest returned to the medbay with Zelina and Tup. Zelina didn't know what had been happening with Tup, as she had been mostly out of it after getting her burn and no one had given her any updates since. The healers were insistent that Zelina stay in bed and get some rest, but Zelina had had enough of rest a long time ago, and technically, she was still at the front lines.

Kriff rest, she had work to do, and she wanted to know what had happened to Tup.

So it was that, despite how pissed off the healers would undoubtedly be when they found out, Zelina managed to slip away when they weren't paying attention, and since then had been wandering the halls trying to find where Tup was being kept. It would take a while, and the healers would probably start looking for her before she managed to find Tup, but she just needed to find him long enough to be told what the healers thought was happening with him. Then she would be pacified enough to go back to the medical bay—but only long enough to recover. As soon as she felt well enough to get back in the fight, she was going to be right back in the middle of it.

Zelina weaved in and out of the halls in her search, somewhat startled when she turned a corner and nearly bumped into Captain Rex and Fives.

"General! Aren't you supposed to be resting?" Rex asked as Zelina backed up.

"Think of me as Anakin to get the answer to that question," Zelina said with a quirk of his lips. Rex chuckled at that one.

"Right...I'm guessing you're looking for Tup?" Zelina tapped her nose, and Rex nodded, walking past her with Fives close at his side. "Follow us, then."

When the three of them reached the room Tup was being kept in, they were met by Anakin and Tiplar. Both Jedi seemed surprised to see Zelina accompanying the two 501st men, though once Anakin recovered from the initial shock, he didn't seem particularly surprised.

"Zee—I should have known you'd find a way down here," Anakin stated as the three came to a stop in front of him and Tiplar.

"You know me, Anakin, I'm going to want to know what's going on. And since no one will tell me, I'm finding out for myself. Then I can go back to the bedrest they insist so much on."

"Right..." Anakin said, taking the lead as the group entered the medical room.

When they entered the three Jedi hung back, just in case Tup had another episode, while Rex and Fives stepped up to Tup. Tup was awake and looking disoriented, focusing on Fives first as his friend walked through the door.

"Fives, what's happening to me?" Tup asked, breathing heavy as he struggled with the straps holding him down.

"You don't remember?" Fives asked cautiously.

"No."

"Tup...you murdered General Tiplar. You nearly murdered General Du'ahn."

Tup's shock and raw devastation rolled through the room like a powerful shockwave, slamming into Zelina through the force once the soldier had registered what Fives said.

"What? No. That's not possible. I would never...I could never!"

Tup was struggling desperately against his bonds, so Fives stepped up, clasping Tup's arm, which Tup latched onto like a lifeline. "Tup...you did."

"I don't—I don't understand. How could this happen? What's happening to me, Fives?" Tup asked desperately. The medical droid came over as Tup's distress rapidly increased, giving him a sedative. "Ah! Ah—no, no!"

He was out in seconds.

"What do you think happened?" Rex asked quietly as Anakin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Did you check all of his scans?" Anakin asked, turning to Kix, one of the medics in the 501st.

"Well, all of his scans are clear. As far as I can tell, this is a combat related stress. It seems he's had some sort of breakdown," Kix guessed.

"Kix, you should know better," Rex chided him. "We were designed to withstand any stress."

"I agree," Fives piped up, turning from where he'd been standing staring at Tup's unconscious form. "We've been through a lot together. He doesn't seem to remember what happened. It's like he's sick or drugged."

"I'd have to agree with Fives," Zelina spoke up, her voice quiet. "When I looked in Tup's eyes...I didn't see Tup looking back at me. When everything happened, he wasn't Tup. It was like something else had taken control, and he couldn't stop himself."

She had to repress a shudder at the memory, keeping her eyes trained on the ground and allowing a small frown to slip across her face as she contemplated the situation with what little they knew about what was going on.

Kix took their words into consideration. "Well, it could be a virus, a...a toxin. I can't be certain."

Anakin glanced over at Tup. "Let's talk outside..." he said quietly, and their group filed back out into the hall. There were two soldiers standing guard outside Tup's room, and though they didn't stray far from the door, they still kept their voices low, quiet, trying not to attract any attention.

"You mean the enemy could've made him do this?" Anakin asked Kix quietly, his expression understandably troubled. It was a terrifying thought, their own men turning on them against their will.

"It's a possibility," Tiplar finally spoke up. "There have been rumors that Separatists have been trying to develop an anti-clone virus—biological warfare."

The soldiers guarding the door looked at them when Tiplar said that, clearly taking note of the conversation. Zelina was already shaking her head.

"They may be trying to do that, who knows, but that doesn't...feel right. This is something else. And if this was biological warfare, I hate to say it, but we'd probably have more than one soldier turning," Zelina said quietly.

"Whatever it is, we aren't equipped for this type of situation," Kix cut in. "He'll have to be taken back to Kamino. Only then will you have your answer."

There was a little bit of a ruckus down the hall, and they all looked to see a medical droid and a healer making their way towards them. Zelina cursed.

"Kriff," she muttered as the droids scolding tone reached their ears.

"General Du'ahn, you should be resting," the droid stressed as it approached. Zelina held her hands up in surrender.

"I know, I know, strict bedrest," she grumbled, turning to look the others in the eyes. "I want updates," she said pointedly before letting the medical droid usher her away.

She was pretty confident they'd understand the implied, 'Or I'll hunt you down and make your lives miserable the best that I can,' in her statement.

*********************************************

Unfortunately, the next piece of news that she got regarding Tup was that the Separatists had attacked the ship that was taking Tup to Kamino, killing everyone aboard but stealing Tup for themselves. That only increased the other's concerns that whatever was going on was a Separatist plot, but Zelina felt...differently about it.

Doubtless, Admiral Trench had seen what happened with Tup, and if the Separatists weren't somehow involved, then they would want to apprehend Tup to figure out for themselves what had happened so they could use it. If the Separatists were behind Tup's actions, then they'd want to study him to see what went wrong or right.

But she wasn't going to jump to that conclusion, yet. There were too many unknowns right now for her to start making assumptions. She needed more information, or to at least be nudged in the right direction.

Considering they were keeping her on bedrest, and she was not included in Anakin's mission to rescue Tup because of her bedrest sentence, she had plenty of time to take part in some meditation on the matter. Perhaps that would lead her somewhere.

One of Luke's last pieces of advice for her had been to rely on the Force and herself more often. Her gut was telling her that there was more to this, a lot more that they weren't seeing, perhaps that they couldn't see. She was going to follow that gut feeling.

The medical bay, despite the fact she wasn't doing anything and was away from battle, was a hard place to focus, at least for Zelina. There was still a bustle of activity in the med bay, with men in pain as they were treated for injuries for the most part, not many for sickness. As she settled down to meditate, Zelina had to muscle her way past all the sensations, the pain and suffering or worry, from the men in the med bay so that she could direct where her focus in the Force went.

Of course, first she had to drift into the eddies of the Force, which wasn't exactly going to be easy. She'd always been better at meditating than Anakin, but she hadn't meditated in a while, not purposely and so deeply, at least.

Zelina sat on her medical cot, slowly working herself into a relaxed state, focusing on her breathing until she'd decided she was calm enough to focus on the Force. She'd given strict orders not to be disturbed until she was finished, and Anakin was off on the rescue mission, so she was rather sure she was going to have the time she needed to get some answers.

After focusing on the steady, smooth in and out of her breathing, Zelina no longer felt the tension in her muscles, feeling lighter in her soul at the same time. Now she was ready to shift her full attention to the Force.

As she'd told Satine, when she looked at the state of the galaxy through the Force, she was met with the sight of alarming quantities of darkness. Such was the case now, as feeling the state of the Force as a whole around her, space no longer felt like such a wondurous thing. The darkness seemed to glare at her, coating many planets, snuffing out the stars, turning the air thick and making it difficult to breathe. The darkness in the galaxy was cloying, suffocating...

...but it was not obsolete.

The Jedi, for one, stood out as bright flames in the darkness, spots where the air wasn't so thick, where space didn't seem so cold. Anakin was one such spot, though his presence was laced with strands of darkness. That didn't surprise Zelina, though—she'd always known there was a darkness in him, and so far Anakin's like had been the dominant, driving force.

Anakin was not her focus right now, either.

Turning away from studying the galaxy as a whole, Zelina first looked inward, letting her feelings and memories on the matter of Tup come to the forefront of her mind, keeping enough distance from those feelings that she could properly analyze what had happened.

Tup's reaction had been out of the blue, not to mention was extremely out of character for him, so she knew without even having to consult the Force that what had happened, had not happened of Tup's free will. Tup was not the source of this tragedy, only the victim turned into a tool, it would seem. Something else was the cause.

The Separatists had displayed a clear interest in Tup, since they'd stolen him from the ship headed to Kamino, so Zelina looked there, next, looking for some link in the Force between Tup's attack and the Separatists. Just turning over the memories while immersed in the Force, she could feel no such link. But she had to be sure it was not the Separatists before she moved on, and considering how large of a chance there was that it was them, she focused on falling deeper into the flow of the Force to try and get a deeper perspective on what was happening, perhaps try to find a barely there, subtle trail in the Force to follow, something that would lead her the right way.

She paused in her reflection to spend time focusing on the Force again, feeling the push and pull, its flow in and around the objects and beings all around her, all the way across the galaxy. She took the time to attune herself to its currents, its energy levels, falling so deep into the Force that, for the time being, she lost sense of her physical body, feeling only her spirit within the Force.

Now she was ready to look closer.

Again, Zelina turned her attention to Tup's attack, feeling for some subtle hint, some thread in the force that would connect Tup, or at least that moment in time, to the Separatists. She went over that very moment she turned and found Tup aiming the blaster at her and Tiplee over and over in her head, studying every inch of that memory, but could not find a thread that would lead her towards the Separatists.

She needed to look at the bigger picture. She was too focused, looking for specific people and causes. She needed to expand her search so that she could find the right person.

Stepping back, Zelina thought about what had happened. Tup had attacked two Jedi, his leaders, one of which he knew well. The Jedi had been told the men would be obedient, loyal—it was in their programming. Something had to have caused Tup to inexplicably turn on the Jedi, and she needed to know what it was.

Something caused this...something she wasn't seeing...

Zelina looked back over that moment one more time, keeping open to any possible threads in the Force, no matter where they may lead. The only way she could compare her examination was like brushing her hand across a surface of sand, so lightly none of the grains moved. That's how she looked for the subtlety, her missing thread.

And this time, she found it. She didn't know what it was, but something was connected to this incident with Tup. She could feel that thread in the Force—just barely, but it was there. Keeping down any premature elation at finding something, Zelina carefully followed the strand, letting it guide her through the Force, leading her deeper and deeper, far away in the galaxy, far away from the battle of Ringo Vinda.

This had nothing to do with the battle happening here.

So far into following this strand, it disappeared. It did not simply end, it did not come to a stop at whatever was connected to Tup's attack—it disappeared into the darkness that had settled over the galaxy, thickening with every day the Clone Wars went on.

This thread disappeared into the darkness. Almost unbidden, something Luke had said in Zelina's last vision floated to the front of her mind.

...a web of deceit no one can see yet...but you'll start to see it.

This strand, this thread...could this be what Luke had been talking about? Or at least, a single piece of the web Luke had warned her of? Could what had happened with Tup somehow be connected to something Luke mentioned?

It disappeared into the darkness, so she could not follow the thread to its source...but she could follow Tup's case and see if she could uncover a little more of this web Luke had mentioned.

If the web was indeed what she'd found.

Carefully, so she didn't give herself some strange Force-related whiplash, Zelina brought herself back to reality, deeply troubled that the answer to what was happening with Tup was shrouded in the darkness of the galaxy and tied to an unknown source. She needed answers.

And hopefully Anakin had reopened the possibility for answers by retrieving Tup by now. Who knew how long she'd been floating in the Force.

Once she was firmly in reality again, Zelina reached over to grab her personal com unit, turning on the device and hailing Cruiser.

It didn't take long for her Captain—Commander—to respond.

"General," Cruiser's voice said promptly. Zelina didn't waste time with any formalities—Cruiser knew her well enough she didn't need to go through formalities.

"Has Anakin recovered Tup yet?"

"I believe so, General. They're on their way back."

Zelina nodded, even though Cruiser couldn't see her. "When they get back...I want Nex to go with them to Kamino."

"Ma'am?" Cruiser asked, sounding a little concerned, but mostly confused.

"Whatever is happening with Tup, we need to know. I have a feeling this is far bigger than we're aware, and I want updates, I want my own eyes on the scene. I'd send you, but I'm going to need you here. Tell Nex he's to go with Kamino and report directly to me and me alone about what is happening there with Tup. I'll provide a secure line for him to contact me with," Zelina said, mulling over her orders as she gave them.

Nex was up there with Cruiser with how much she trusted him, so of course he was a logical choice to send. She wanted someone she could trust giving her a direct report of what was happening on Kamino without any filters, political or otherwise. Nex would be honest and tell her exactly what it was, and if she gave him an order to act, she could trust him to carry out that order. He was the best one to send. The fact he was an ARC Trooper was just a bonus.

"Of course, Ma'am," Cruiser's voice eventually came, pulling Zelina from her thought process.

"Until Nex leaves with Tup, keep me updated on anything that changes, Cruiser. This is important."

"I know it is, General."

********************************************

"General! Nex is trying to reach you!"

Cruiser was the one to speak, standing just behind Zelina and laying down cover fire. Her bedrest in the medical bay hadn't been a lengthy sentence, so of course as soon as she was well enough to fight, she was back in the middle of the fighting on Ringo Vinda. At this very moment, they were in the middle of another battle.

But what Nex was doing was just as important as what was happening here.

"Cover me," Zelina ordered, deactivating one of her lightsabers to free her hand so she could reach for her belt. Four seconds later, she'd pulled an earpiece out so she could talk to Nex and still keep focused on the battle they were in. "Talk to me, Nex," she said, bringing her other lightsaber back into play, deflecting some of the incoming blaster bolts back into the incoming wave of droids.

"Ma'am, the doctors here on Kaino have been conducting tests on Tup without any results, and he's getting worse. They also have been conducting tests on Fives—who seems to be perfectly fine—just to be safe. I'm here with Fives now, actually."

"You wouldn't have contacted me if something wasn't happening, Nex. What is it?" Zelina asked with a frown. It was true—that sounded more like an end of the day report on what was going on, not a 'call in the middle of a battle' thing.

"The doctors apparently want to kill Tup to better examine him," Nex said with clear distaste.

"What?" Zelina asked sharply, turning her head instinctively into the sound of Nex's voice despite the fact she was only hearing him through an ear piece. Cruiser gave her a worried look, but didn't interrupt, shooting down some more droids as droidekas started rolling their way.

"Bruiser, rollers!" Zelina shouted over the noise, a few explosions ahead following quickly after her announcement.

"Are you in the middle of a battle right now, General?" Nex asked incredulously, probably surprised she answered him when she was in the middle of a fight.

"Yes, I am. Now continue—Shaak Ti is there, right? Do you know if she's doing anything about this? I don't imagine the Jedi will stand idly by while that happens."

At least, they shouldn't.

"We don't know, General. But the way Nala Se is acting, they're not going to wait to hear the opinion of the Jedi."

"Because whatever decision Shaak Ti makes is going to have to be approved by the council first, considering the seriousness of any choice they make," Zelina muttered, frustrated. "Gambit, there's some super droids coming—have at them!" she shouted, gesturing Gambit forward as she stepped back for a moment.

"General, Fives might have another option."

Zelina was about to respond when she heard some scuffling, and Fives' voice came in her ear.

That's right—there was a difference. They might have been clones, but if enough attention was paid to them, you could tell them apart by the way they spoke, tones or pronunciation or even what words they used.

"General, the medical droid that's working with Tup and me suggested an atomic brain scan to reveal what's going on. Nala Se won't listen to the suggestion. It's risky, but it beats killing him," Fives said pointedly. Zelina bit her lip.

"Do you know what Shaak Ti is doing?"

"No, I don't, General, and Nala Se is doing everything she can to undermine General Ti at every turn. We can't risk waiting for the General to make a move, we need to act before Nala Se does."

"Fives, I'm not there. I'd need to see everything happening for myself to give you a good answer. I can't give you clearance to go ahead, either. Whatever you decide to do, it's your choice alone. I can't help or protect you like I could on Umbara. It's your decision, Fives."

Fives was quiet for a moment. "I understand, General."

"Be careful, Fives. Let me speak to Nex again."

Fives didn't say anything more, and a few seconds later, Zelina was hearing Nex again. "General."

Zelina glanced around at the fight happening a few paces ahead of her. They were going to need her in the middle of the fray again, soon, so this would have to be brief.

"Nex, what's going on is a delicate matter. I won't leave Fives and Tup to fend for themselves in this, but we can't risk angering the right people. Your mission has changed. Help him the best you can without drawing attention to yourself. No one can know you're involved with this, least of all that you're acting on my orders. If he decides to do this, maybe you can distract Nala Se by telling her I want a full report of what's going on and you need more information, and get into an argument with her when she refuses. Hold that argument as long as you need to, and once you're done with that, I leave it to you to decide how to help Tup." Zelina ran a hand down her face, thinking long and hard for a few seconds. "Fives is a good man, loyal and honest. Trust him. No matter what anyone says, no matter who they are, trust Fives."

She knew how political Jedi could get, and Obi-Wan had told Zelina how protocol oriented the Kamino people could be. There were going to be other agendas involved on Kamino, agendas that could put a filter on what was happening, and could distort the truth. She trusted Fives to give what was happening to her plainly, like she did Nex. They weren't going to have political influences holding any sway over their opinions, like the Kaminoans and, unfortunately, the Jedi would.

"Yes, General. I'll contact you once it's over."

"I'll be waiting," Zelina said with a nod, reaching up and clicking off the comm unit. She tucked it away in her utility belt before leaping back to the front lines of the battle.

"All right, scooch, I'm back in," she shouted, her men easily falling back into their positions around her as they continued their push down the hallway.

***************************************************

It took far longer for Nex to contact her again than Zelina would have liked. She expected a report in a few hours, but it was at least half a day before she finally got that call from Nex. This time she wasn't in the middle of a battle, and it was just her in their temporary war room back at base when she answered.

"Nex—what happened? I was expecting to hear from you sooner."

"Nothing good, General," Nex said grimly. "Tup's dead."

Zelina closed her eyes, bowing her head as she processed that news. Another good man...and most of the galaxy would just see the loss as wasted merchandise.

"Was it the scan?" she asked quietly.

"We think so, but it wasn't entirely meaningless."

Zelina straightened up. "What do you mean?"

"Nala Se was about to terminate Tup when Fives managed to create a diversion that got her and the medical staff away from Tup long enough for a medical droid to preform a surgery—"

"Surgery? Back up, Nex, I'm not there, I don't know what's going on—when did a surgery come into play?"

"Sorry, ma'am. When Fives and a medical droid conducted the brain scan, they discovered Tup had a tumor, a discovery Nala Se tried to cover up. She was still going to terminate Tup, and wasn't going to tell anyone about the Tumor, so Fives orchestrated a distraction long enough for the medical droid to extract the tumor. Nala Se tried to confiscate the evidence, but Shaak Ti arrived before she could. Tup died shortly after the surgery."

Zelina took a seat, massaging her temples as she listened to his explanation. "I wish I was down there with you right now...so this tumor might be the cause of what happened with Tup?"

"It's the only explanation."

"What's happening now?"

"Fives was arrested, and they're trying to figure out what to do with the tumor. Apparently the Jedi Council wants to examine the tumor at the temple, but Nala Se and the Chancellor want the tumor to go directly to the Republic."

Zelina groaned. "Nothing will ever get done if that tumor goes to the Republic—if it even gets there in the first place. I don't like that Nala Se seems to be doing a lot to keep what was wrong with Tup from coming to light."

"Nor do I, General."

Zelina ran a hand down her face, letting silence reign while she tried to figure out what she wanted to say. Eventually, she spoke again, Nex having waited patiently for her to speak. "My orders still stand. Trust Fives, trust what he says. Help him however you can without getting yourself slapped with treason. He's going to need it."

"Of course, General. I'm sure he'll be glad to know you still believe him."

"Of course I do, Nex. Contact me if anything happens. This is far from over."

"Understood."

Zelina clicked off her com unit, burying her face in her hands and trying to process what was happening on Kamino.

Damn politics. Damn secret-keepers. Damn protocol...

The door to the room hissed open, and Zelina peeked up through her fingers to see Anakin walking into the room. He seemed surprised to find Zelina hiding in here, his step faltering for a second.

"Zee? What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, I just needed a moment away from everything," she said with a sigh, sitting up. "Did you hear about Tup?"

"Yeah, I did..." Anakin said quietly, coming over to stand in front of her. "I don't know what Fives was thinking—"

"He was thinking that Nala Se wanted to just kill Tup and figure out what was wrong with him after death, and it was much better to give Tup a chance with the brain scan than to just outright kill him."

Anakin seemed startled. "I...didn't hear about that."

Zelina stood. "That's why I sent Nex—I didn't trust I'd get all the details if I didn't. He's been giving me the updates without any politics or censoring. Amazing what you can learn if you take that away."

Zelina started to walk away, but Anakin stopped her, a frown on his face and a hand on her arm. "Zelina, wait...what's going on with you?"

Zelina turned to look at her friend, partially surprised. "What do you mean?"

"You're...different. I can't quite place how, but...you are."

She sighed, facing Anakin fully. "Everyone's changing, Anakin. I'm just...tired of this war, I guess. Tired of all the politics and shifting morals and lies. I'm tired, and I took Luke's advice and shifted my trust to the Light, to the Force...and to myself," she finished quietly.

A spark of hope flickered to life in Anakin's eyes. "Have you heard anything else from him?"

"No, not recently. And I won't hear from him, either. It's up to us, now."

Anakin's expression was crestfallen, and Zelina wanted desperately to cheer him up. Right now, she just didn't know how to do that. Instead, Zelina clasped his shoulder. "Let's just focus on finishing up here, all right?"

Anakin sighed, shaking his head. "It doesn't look like this is going to be one of our wins."

"So be it. We can't win every battle."

********************************************

Nex's next several reports were brief, rushed, and always privately taken on her earpiece out of earshot of anyone else, never around anyone else. Things were happening on Kamino too quickly for Nex to give her one big report, but the events were far too important for Zelina not to get regular updates with whatever Nex learned from whoever he learned. This time, Nex couldn't directly help. He could only listen and report back to Zelina, right now.

First Fives was apparently going to have his mind wiped and reassigned to sanitation before he found out and rebelled, making a run for it. Then, apparently, Fives faked an escape from the cloning facility to distract everyone while he and the same medical droid that had been helping him this entire time did some investigating of their own. Nex told Zelina he didn't know what was going on—he hadn't been in any position to ask without drawing attention, and he hadn't been privileged with being a part of the group trying to track Fives down, either—so she had no idea what Fives had been doing poking around the facility on Kamino. She wouldn't know what was happening unless she spoke to Fives herself, and considering all the secrecy that was involved in what was happening with Fives and what had happened to Tup, she wasn't going to get the truth from anyone but the direct source.

She might be able to make that happen, though, now that Fives was on his way to Coruscant, as well as Anakin, Zelina, the 501st, and the 105th. The battle at Ringo Vinda had been lost—they'd tried to hold their position, to regain their lost momentum, but once Admiral Trench's reinforcements arrived, the battle was lost. Master Tiplar stayed behind with her men to keep what the Republic had managed to preserve of their hold on the planet, but there would not be another push to seize control again for a while. There were other battles that needed their attention.

Zelina's and Anakin's return to Coruscant, however, was not met with good news.

"I...can't believe Fives would try to assassinate the Chancellor."

Anakin was the one who had spoken, the only people who were present in the room being Anakin, Shaak Ti, and Zelina in person, Yoda, Windu, and Plo Koon via hologram. The only reason Zelina was even allowed inside was because she and Tiplee had been the first victims of this mess, and she gave them all hell when they tried to exclude her from the meeting.

They could shove their secrets where no sun would shine for all she cared—she was going to find out what was going on.

Thankfully, her being allowed into this meeting had resulted in a briefing that gave her a little more information. Of course, she was aware she was being given this information through the filter of the Jedi, and still wanted the raw information from Fives himself, but it was a start.

This business about supposed inhibitor chips that were placed in the clones in their infant stage of development, chips that were supposedly supposed to keep them from being too aggressive, made her sick to her stomach. Right now, the theory was that Tup's chip, which had malfunctioned, caused him to suddenly turn murderous, and removing it may have killed him.

Zelina stared at the holopic of Fives blown up on the table before them with a skeptical eye, a foul look on her face.

Nothing had felt right about this entire mess since Tup pulled that trigger, but she doubted she was going to be heard here.

"The Kaminoans feel a virus corrupted the clone's inhibitor chip, which has led to this behavior—"

"I don't buy it," Zelina said bluntly, drawing everyone's attention.

"A strong opinion on this, hold you, Du'ahn?" Yoda asked.

"Forgive me for sounding paranoid, Master, but from the information I was given, it sounds like Nala Se has been trying to cover up this chip's existence and its purpose since the beginning. I don't trust something with so much dirty secrecy attached to it. If the chip was truly harmless, she wouldn't have gone to such lengths to keep it and its nature secret. And even if it's a chip meant to prevent aggressive behavior, it clearly doesn't work and can be compromised in such a way our men could turn on us. Fives had a good point in suggesting it be removed."

"We cannot remove the chips if its removal truly does lead to this sort of behavior, or to the death of the clones," Shaak Ti said patiently.

"Then stop putting the chips in the men in the first place, and we won't have to worry about that. It's basic caution," Zelina returned.

"Be that as it may, Knight Du'ahn," Windu cut her off sharply, "we can't be sure what course of action to take until we have all the facts, and have had a chance to examine the evidence ourselves. Our focus right now is not speculation: it's capturing ARC Trooper Fives before he hurts anyone else, or himself. All security and clone forces on Coruscant have been ordered to join the manhunt. The Chancellor has been moved to his Senate quarters, and the perimeter has been secured. However, Jedi involvement has not been requested."

"That's a little...odd, isn't it?" Anakin asked, gaze flickering to Zelina before he looked to Windu.

In Zelina's eyes, it was just more proof there was something going on here that far too many people didn't want the Jedi finding out about. She didn't like it at all, and she was starting to get a better sense of this apparent web Luke had warned her about.

At this point, she was convinced whatever this was, it was part of that web.

"Hmm..." Yoda hummed. "Discover the truth, we must."

"If there is a plot involving the clones, we must get to the bottom of it," Windu added, turning back to Anakin. "We will investigate quietly, undercover. We must make sure this clone is not killed."

"I'll handle this investigation. Fives was part of the 501st. If Rex and I find him, he'll trust us," Anakin piped up.

"Be wary. Since he removed his inhibitor chip, Fives may no longer be the man you once knew," Shaak Ti warned him.

"If it's all right, Masters, I would like to be involved in the investigation as well. I've fought beside Fives before, and I was shot by Tup on Ringo Vinda—I would like to know what's going on," Zelina cut in.

"I don't think it's wise for you to be involved in this matter. For you, it's personal. Skywalker will be able to handle the investigation for his man on his own," Windu said. Zelina's immediate instinct was to fight back, but she bit back her retort, bowing her head.

"Yes, Master Windu," she replied flatly, remaining silent for what remained of the mission before she bowed out, her pace quick.

"Zelina, hold up," Anakin called once she was several steps down the hall, bringing her prowl to a halt. "You're not actually going to hang back on this one, are you?" he asked, eyes searching hers to see if he could see that spark of defiance that told him she was bound and determined, and no one was going to change her mind.

"You heard them, Anakin—you've got this one covered. And I've got somewhere to be. Get Fives home safely, all right?" she said briefly before she turned and walked away.

Anakin needed to go and do his part.

She would do hers, her own way.

Fishing out her com unit, Zelina hailed Cruiser once she was in a deserted hall where no one would overhear her.

"Cruiser, round up Nex and some of the men. I need you guys to take me on a tour of the Republic Army's favorite downtime haunts..."

**************************************************

Zelina's group was a small one—it was her, Cruiser, Nex, Bruiser, Gambit, and Keen-eye that made the rounds, visiting quite a few of the army's favorite haunts. It was definitely a new way to mingle with the men, though she wanted to keep as low as a profile as she could.

Which was hard to do when she was a Jedi in clone haunts, not to mention most of those haunts were bars, and she didn't drink. Her men came up with a system to help with that, though, as she would get a drink and pawn it off on one of her men to have when no one was looking.

Still, if Fives wanted to blend in, or reach out for help, one of these haunts was the best place to go. It was the advantage to being a clone—it made blending into a sea of faces so much easier.

Hopefully, if he saw her, he would know she was looking to help, not to drag him to the sarlacc pit.

They jumped from place to place, her men slowly growing drunker and drunker as they passed through multiple bars. They could still do their jobs, but the effect the alcohol was having on them was starting to be a bit more obvious.

At one point, she decided to tell Cruiser that when she did find Fives, the rest of them could stay behind and just take some time to enjoy themselves—she'd handle the rest. He hadn't liked the idea of leaving her alone with Fives, but considering the increasing drunkenness of her men, it seemed to be the best option.

So it was that most of their party was drunk when they reached the clone bar called 79's, the only sober ones being Zelina and Cruiser. Keen-Eye didn't normally drink, but even he was a little tipsy right now.

"Now this—this one's a favorite, General!" Bruiser announced, swinging an arm around her shoulders as he led her into the bar. More than a few eyes turned their way once it registered there was a Jedi in the bar, but Zelina ignored it—she might have been working, but she was having fun at the same time. "This is the place to go!"

It was definitely noisy, the place crowded with soldiers from all sorts of battalions. A quick sweep, and she was able to spot a few members of the 212th, as well as some of the 501st. The 212th, Obi-Wan's men, looked particularly drunk, which Zelina found incredibly amusing.

Zelina leaned over Bruiser to look at Gambit. "Why don't you go get rounds for everyone, I'll find us a seat," Zelina told him with a lazy smile. Gambit rolled his eyes, but made his way to the bar, stumbling slightly.

They really needed to find Fives soon, because she wasn't sure her group of men were going to have their senses much longer.

Kix and Jesse from the 501st weren't far from them, sitting at the bar sharing a drink. The two easily picked Zelina and her men out from the crowd, giving her a smile and a wave, though they looked a little confused to see her there.

She returned the smile, giving them a small nod before she turned back to her men. She leaned over to Cruiser.

"I don't think they're going to last much longer. Keen-eye, maybe, but the rest of them are out of it," she murmured.

"I agree. I don't think they're going to be able to continue this search much longer," Cruiser mumbled. Gambit returned with their drinks, and most of them started in on the round, Zelina and Cruiser passing their drinks off. They hadn't even finished round one when Zelina saw Coruscant security walk through the door.

"Blast it," Zelina muttered, looking away as Cruiser looked towards the door.

"Looks like their catching up, General," Cruiser muttered, but Zelina was drawn by a different sight.

Kix was making his way over to their table, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Zelina sat up a little straighter as Kix came straight to her, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"He's waiting outside. If you're here to listen to him."

That was all she needed to hear.

Zelina stood up, clasping Cruiser on the shoulder. "Get these drunkards home safe. I'll see you later."

"Be careful," Cruiser warned, looking for all the galaxy like he wanted to follow her, but staying put to take care of the men like she'd asked.

Zelina easily walked past the Coruscant Security, since they were looking for a clone, and since she was a Jedi, they expected her to take Fives in if she saw him. In that moment, her identity helped. If she was seen leaving the area with Fives, however...that could prove troublesome.

Waiting for her outside the door by a bunch of speeder bikes, Zelina spotted someone who was just enough out of place for her to know it was Fives. Most other people would just brush him off as another drunk clone, but she'd been looking for him.

As Fives tipped his swiped admiral cap low over his head, Zelina walked right by him, gesturing for him to follow but saying nothing, yet. She took the front of one of the bikes, Fives sliding on behind her as she started up the speeder.

"Where are we headed?" she asked quietly, angling the speeder towards traffic on their right.

"I asked Kix to get Rex and General Skywalker to meet me so I can talk to them, tell them what's happening."

"What is happening, Fives?"

"I'm being framed—we're all in danger, and it's not me!" Fives said adamantly.

"I know this isn't your fault, Fives, I know a cover-up when I see one. Nex kept me updated as much as he could while you two were on Kamino." Zelina glanced behind them, noticing a security probe was tailing them. "I can't stay for the whole story, we've got a tail—I'll shake him off so you can get to Anakin and Rex. But first, tell me the important part. What did you find out about the chips?"

"They're not to keep us from being aggressive—they make us do things we don't want to, follow orders we know aren't right, even kill the Jedi. And I'm not sick because I took it out, I haven't died because I took it out—I'm fine."

Good soldiers follow orders.

"So the chip is what made Tup try to kill me and Tiplee—when it malfunctioned..."

"He executed her," Fives finished.

Zelina fell silent, staring straight ahead as she mulled over his words. It would make sense for the Kaminoans to put chips that forced the clones to follow any and all orders in them, just in case their product proved to be resistant or turned rebellious, but Zelina balked at the thought of her men being robbed of her free will, and if these chips could potentially be used to turn the men against the Republic, if they Separatists found some way to exploit these chips to do that...they were far too dangerous to remain.

"There's more, General—a lot more. And I know it—that's why I'm being framed," Fives continued.

"I believe you, Fives. I really do. Tell Anakin and Rex when they arrive. I'll get this probe off your tail so you won't have any surprise guests."

Zelina felt a hand on her arm, and glanced back to see Fives looking at her with so much relief and trust it practically hurt. "Thank you, General...for believing me."

"Of course, Fives. Now, get ready. I'm going to pretend to park this somewhere out of sight and walk away, see if I can get the probe droid to follow me. While it's distracted by me, you take off, all right?"

"Understood."

Zelina nodded, eyes scanning ahead for a good alleyway or giant pile of crates she could park in long enough to dismount the speeder bike. She eventually found one that was to her liking, angling the speeder bike towards a darkened alleyway that had a dumpster so full of crates whoever was throwing them away had started stacking them around the dumpster. Zelina pulled into the alleyway, sharply turning and angling the speeder bike to quickly back into a clear space out of the probe droid's view whenever it turned the corner. She quickly got off and started forward, making her way down the alleyway and making a right turn once she was a healthy distance away from the speeder bike, trying to give the impression Fives was walking ahead of her.

She was halfway down the second alley when she saw the probe droid round the corner and come into the alley before realizing she was alone. She heard the faint sound of a speeder peeling away, and let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.

"Good luck, Fives," she murmured as the probe droid took off to try and catch up to or re-find Fives so it could pursue him.

Hopefully, Fives would be able to get the rest of his message safely to Anakin...

****************************************************

They came one by one to an empty warehouse deep in Coruscant's industrial district. Zelina was waiting for them there with a deactivated medical droid, gurney, and a very particular stash of medical supplies.

Predictably, Cruiser was the first to arrive, finding Zelina sitting on an empty crate, head down as she absentmindedly rolled her lightsaber over in her hands. Zelina didn't say anything when Cruiser arrived, or Keen-eye, Dash...

She waited until they were all there, and even then, she let the silence hang for a while before she eventually spoke out loud.

"I'm sure you have all heard the official story. How Fives and Tup of the 501st contracted a parasite from Ringo Vinda that caused chips designed to repress excessive aggression to rapidly decay and malfunction, causing Tup's attack and Fives' assassination attempt, and ultimately leading to Fives being gunned down when he cornered General Skywalker and Captain Rex, drawing a gun on Coruscant security."

There was a slight shuffle among the men, but otherwise, no one said a word, waiting for her to continue.

"It's all a bunch of lies—a cover-up." Zelina looked up at that point, catching the shocked or surprised looks that fell across the faces of her men. "I cannot tell you everything they were trying to hide, as Fives died before he could divulge that information. What he was able to tell me, is that the chips the Kaminoans put in you and your brothers are not to repress aggression, but to force soldiers to follow given orders, no matter what they may be or how much the soldier doesn't want to carry it out. Removing these chips does not cause insanity or death, either. There is no change."

Zelina rose to her feet. "When we moved against Krell on Umbara, we had evidence and the word of every soldier on that base, as well as my own word. This time, the only word we have is that of a deceased brother painted as a traitor, and no evidence. What I'm going to say next will most likely be considered treason, end of story, and what I ask of you will involve risk to your life if you choose to do what I' suggesting, so if you don't want to be involved, I suggest you leave now."

A couple of the men glanced at each other, but no one left. Zelina nodded slowly.

"If these chips decay, you're at risk on turning on your own brothers and leaders," Zelina started, doing her best to ignore the fact she'd just stated they could turn on her. "If they're left, and Force forbid the Separatists or some other enemy of the Republic finds a way to manipulate these chips, you're at risk of turning on your own brothers and leaders. Not only that, but I hate the idea of my men being robbed of their free will."

Zelina waved her hand, and the medical droid powered up. "There is a procedure to remove these chips, but it is risky—the part that would put your life at risk. I would like these chips removed, but only if you consent. I can give you no more evidence than what I've told you, and that ever since Ringo Vinda, I've had the feeling something was wrong. I don't trust these chips—too much effort went into hiding their existence, and when that failed, their purpose. But their removal is your choice."

Zelina waited while the men present considered all that she'd mentioned. Not all of her men were here, just the most trusted, men they knew would not speak of anything she said down here, or even that they were brought to this place in the first place. Even if they didn't agree to remove the chip, she knew they wouldn't rat her out to anyone.

Suddenly, Nex stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention.

"General, I trust you with my life. If you say these chips are bad, then I'll have it taken out here and now."

After Nex spoke, the men met each other's gazes before stepping forward as well, one by one, in silent agreement. Zelina took the time to look each and every one of them in the eyes, swelling with pride and even love for this battle-forged family.

"I could not have asked for better men," she said quietly. "If you would allow me, I consider you brothers of my own."

Cruiser stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't even have to ask, Sister."

****************************************

So ends In The Thick of Battle

Fates will be decided...

When Darkness Falls.