Hey everyone, just wanted to say that this is a little experiment of mine. I've always wanted to write a Star Wars fic, but it's quite the tall order, and one I hope I can live up to.

I hope you guys enjoy this first chapter. and depending on its reception I'll gladly keep bringing out more. For now I plan to put out a handful of Chapters and see how they are received. So, tell me what you guys think. Love it? Hate it? I'd love to know either way!

Fortunate Son, out!

"You've gone too far Fives! The Chancellor is incapable of what you claim" Anakin Skywalker barked from behind the ray shield he was trapped in with his Captain, Rex. This wild bantha chase had gone on for long enough. They had to get Fives under control to help him… he was sick from something. Mentally ill.

"He is!" Fives shouted as he waved his arms, dark brown eyes staring them both down, full of fear and determination as he looked at them through the ray shield. "I swear to you General… You have no idea.."

"Stand down, Soldier! Stand down!" They all heard. Anakin looked up to see Commander Fox approaching with his squad of clones, rifles and pistols trained on Fives. "Get on your knee's!"

"No! No no! Stay back!" He heard Fives shout as he motioned at the troopers to stay away. He then saw the rogue clone turn to Rex's blasters.

"Don't do it. Don't do it soldier!" Fox yelled as they continued to advance.

"Get away from me!" Fives practically screamed as he reached for one of the blasters. Anakin had no time to react, not even to try and reach out to the force to stop this from happening.

"Fives! No!" He registered Rex behind him trying one last thing to stop the clone. But it was too late, a lone blaster shot rang out, and the dark factory room flashed blue for a moment as Fives groaned in pain and hunched.

The pistol clattered to the floor, and they could see smoke leaking up from Fives armor. The clone grabbed at his chest, choking and gasping for breath before falling to the floor. Anakin could see the look of horror on Rex's face as the Captain pushed past him.

"Fives!... Fives…" He heard his Captain say in a broken voice as he pressed against the ray shield.

"Get this ray shield off!" Anakin barked. One of the shock troopers aimed their blaster up, and the ray shields projector was destroyed, freeing them.

"Fives…Brother." He heard Rex breath out as the clone walked over to his brother and knelt, rolling fives onto his back, revealing the near perfect hole in the clone's armor chest plate. It was clear to Anakin that the clone was in extreme pain as he gasped for breath, head hanging limp.

"Call for help! We need a medic!" Rex shouted as Anakin stood there. He wasn't sure what to do. Fives was an excellent trooper until this had happened… until he'd tried to kill Palpatine.

Five's coughed again, spewing some blood from his mouth as he gasped for another breath. "Rex..." He managed to get out.

"Fives?" Rex asked, showing he was listening. Doing his best to comfort his friend and brother.

"This… is… bigger than any of us… Than anything… I could've imagined." The clone said between breaths… Anakin could feel Five's life force seeping away… he could feel that the clone didn't have much longer before he would become one with the Force.

Fives reached out to Rex, weak. "I never… meant… to.." Rex leaned down, so he could better hear the man's last words. "I only wanted to do my duty…" The clone sounded so pained… so heart broken… like he'd failed his brothers. It was a punch to the gut for Anakin. Fives breathing got more labored, his head lolled back some as he went pale.

"Fives!?... Stay with me Fives! Fives!" Rex pleaded. Anakin had never felt so much pain come from the Captain, he'd never seen the strong soldier like this.

"The mission…" The man began softly. "The nightmares…they're…finally… over." Fives said with his last breaths. A small peaceful smile appeared on his face as his body went limp. Anakin felt him pass into the Force.

"Fives. No Fives… hold on. Don't go. Stay with me. Stay with me! Fives. Fives! Don't go!" Rex… Captain Rex, the man who'd led men in dozens of battles, was now pleading. It pained Anakin, who looked away as he watched Commander Fox remove his helmet. "No…oh no…" He heard Rex breath out as he looked down.

Anakin moved over as the Shock Troopers all removed their helmets, forming a circle around them as they payed respect. He knelt next to his longtime friend, placing a hand on Rex's shoulder as he saw a few tears fall onto Five's armor, clearing away the dirt and blood.

Anakin felt a pain grip him as a few ripples went through the force. He tried to free this into the Force as well… but he just couldn't seem to. It was that way a lot now days… ever since Ahsoka had left… since so many people had died in this war that didn't need to… it pained him.

It was a few moments later that he heard boots running on metal floor as two clone medics came in with a stretcher. He looked up to see them slow to a stop, seeing the fallen body on the floor. The two gently moved forward as the Shock Troopers gave them room. The hover stretcher was set down, as was a folded blanket. They transferred Fives body onto the stretcher, and covered it with the blanket.

Rex hadn't moved from his position in all this, still kneeling on the floor. Even as they lifted Five's body up and moved him away. Anakin ordered the other troopers to disperse and begin their search of the area while he stayed with Rex.

"Rex… we need to go. They'll be wondering what happened…" Anakin said calmly as tried to get the clone trooper upright. Rex did comply, but Anakin could see how stiff he was in his movements. "I… I'm sorry Rex." He said as he watched his friend stand.

"General… Can you promise me something?" He asked. Anakin was caught off guard for a moment, but nodded none the less.

"What is it Rex?"

"Don't let Fives die in vain… consider these chips… if Fives was right… I've got one in me. As do all my brothers. I. Want. It. Out." He said as he looked to Anakin. "Fives death shouldn't be for nothing… if he's telling the truth… we need to know."

Anakin paused for a moment, looking on as he considered it for a time. He sighed, and then nodded. "Okay. We will Rex… come with me. We'll go to the Halls of Healing and see what they can do." He said, causing Rex to nod.

"Thank you, General."

For Captain Rex, the last two hours had been a blur. After the loss of his friend, Fives, he'd convinced General Skywalker to continue the investigation into what Fives had been talking about. The General had quickly brought him to the Jedi Temple, and while he would've like to admire the massive building, they'd moved quickly into the 'Halls of Healing'. One big med bay if you asked him. Bacta Tanks, medical bays with recovery rooms. Operating droids and surgeons. Sure, the room was fancier, but other than that it was no different.

He was currently laying in one of those very same recovery rooms. The side of his head covered with a bacta patch as the cool gel did its work on the cutting the med droid and Jedi Healers had performed. They'd only recently woken him back up, and while his head hurt, he'd live. He was waiting for General Skywalker or someone to show up and tell him what had been found out.

Even though he tried not to think about it, his mind constantly drifted back to Fives. He'd known him since he'd met Fives on Rishi, when the Seps had tried to take it over to hit Kamino. It wasn't long after that when he inducted Five's and Echo into Torrent Company… and now both were dead. Just like so many others.

Rex reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he exhaled deeply. Why had Fives gone off like that, why hadn't he just listened? They were going to help him. Kriff… they weren't gonna turn him over. He sighed some… it was too late now… and as far as most of the Republic was concerned, Fives was just another statistic now. He closed his eyes, feeling that same burning feeling in his gut whenever he thought about it.

Fives had to have been telling the truth… or at least Fives had believed he was telling the truth. He was too good a trooper to turn. He loved his brother's and had the utmost respect for the Jedi Generals and the Republic. But… accusing the Chancellor himself of being a part of this plot against the Jedi. That was a big accusation.

And yet… Fives had been a good trooper. Even to the end. Cause good troopers don't just follow orders.

Good troopers follow their guts too.

His internal thought process was interrupted by the door to his room hissing open. He looked up to see three people there waiting. The Chief Healer here at the temple, a blue Twi'lek whose name he hadn't caught, entered, flanked by General Skywalker and General Kenobi. Rex sat up and looked to them, wondering what the final verdict was.

"Ah, Commander, good to see that you're doing well after the surgery. Thankfully it was a short one and minimally invasive." The Healer said as she looked to him. "We did find this supposed biological chip that we were looking for… but Master's Yoda and Windu were recently informed by Chancellor Palpetine that these were simple inhibitor chips implanted in all clones. He has stated that in fact what is affecting your fellow clones is a parasite." She explained.

Rex shook his head, "No… with all due respect ma'am. I don't believe that right now… Fives… Fives wouldn't have snapped like this because of that. Tup wouldn't have murdered a commanding officer because of it either." He said calmly. "Both were good men… both were good troopers." He said.

"We know Rex. Don't worry. Despite this, upon the request of Anakin and myself, Master Yoda has allowed us to begin analyzing the one we removed from you. To see if we can decode it and find out what is within these biochips." General Kenobi told him, which put Rex at some ease. He nodded.

"Thank you Generals." He said. "I… I don't know how much truth there is to what Fives was saying… but I... I just know that there is at least some truth. Enough for him to believe what he said." He told them as he looked to them all.

"Don't worry Rex… we're going to get to the bottom of this." General Skywalker told him.

"Thank you General…" He said. "And… if these Chips are an issue… we need to start removing them from the rest of Torrent Company… from as many clones as possible."

"And we will Captain." General Kenobi told him. "I've already a mind to contact Commander Cody and consider discussing this with him and the rest of the Two Twelve's commanders."

Rex nodded as he ran a hand over his scalp, momentarily feeling the cool feeling of his own armor. "Good to know General. This entire mess has me more wound up than a shiny on inspection day." He said.

"It shouldn't take very long to decrypt the biochip from you Captain. For now, I would advise that you go with Master Kenobi and Knight Skywalker. The High Council wishes to speak on this matter." The Twi'lek healer said again.

Rex nodded, grabbing his helmet as he stood up. While he'd met plenty of the members who were on the Jedi Council, he'd never seen them clustered together, nor had he ever seen the Jedi Temple. This was gonna be interesting. "Lead the way Generals." He said.

Rex could slowly feel his amazement grow as he was led through the temple. Not just at the sheer number of people, but the size of it all, the grandeur. He'd seen many a place that held beauty during his time on the front lines, but none so much as this. The grand sweeping archways, the tile… and just the… overall feeling of peace he got from the entire building. The sun swept through, casting a warm and peaceful orange glow over everything. He wasn't sure if he believed in this entire force business as much as the Jedi did… but if it was true, then it was certainly here in this building.

"Obi Wan, do you have any idea on what the High Council thinks?" General Skywalker asked his long-time master.

"To a point… It's been a topic of debate regarding the war and our position in it, along with the Order. If there is any merit to there being a Sith somewhere in the Republic government… it's troubling that we cannot find them." Obi-Wan said as they approached a turbo lift. "We'll learn more when we arrive."

"I hope so Master…" He heard General Skywalker murmur under his breath. Rex had always sensed some friction between the General and this Jedi Council. He wasn't sure what about, but he knew it nagged at General Skywalker a plenty.

Obi-Wan called for a lift, looking to them. "Well, let's see if we can find some answers." He said. Rex nodded, a serious look on his face. He was determined to get some, for Fives, for Tup. For all his brothers.