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“Again you disappoint me, Vader” Dooku stood over him with his lightsaber on. “4 hours and you haven't hit me one single time, only then you will rest. Repeat”
Anakin was tired, bruised and bleeding but again he stood.
Block, block, hit.
“Again”
Block, Dodge, blockblockblock, hit.
“Again”
Dodge, block, throw, hit.
“Again”
He didn’t rise up, he didn’t have any energy left except to lay there.
“I said AGAIN”
Anakin really was tired. All this because he had created a sandstorm in Geonosis instead of fighting, he wasn’t dumb, he couldn’t fight the whole jedi order.
“So you have chosen death” Darth Tyranus raised his lightsaber to strike.
“That is enough” his savior, his Depur. Anakin hated him but Sidious was the only thing he had. A sigh. “We will continue on another time, now we have better things to discuss”
Facedown Anakin couldn’t see him, but he must have made a signal because Darth Tyranus retired with his master, letting him to fetch for himself.
He could hear some droids move around him, but they wouldn’t help him. Depur had forbidden it, the only aid he would receive was the one he could provide for himself. He said it was so Anakin would learn to be independent.
Sidious was a good depur. He cared for him, he let him live, he taught him and what else could a slave ask for.
Anakin dragged himself up and got to the nearest medical droid to steal some bacta from its equipment. Once his wounds were dealt with, he turned off the droid and locked the room, making sure there was no one else nearby, droid or sentient. He knew what would happen if he was discovered, he took his comm.
Anakin had made this communicator from spare parts and trash, he had done so in secret so no one else knew. It had taken him months to finish it, by then its initial purpose of communicating with his mother was useless, she had… she had died. Now the communicator had only one number in its contact.
He took a breath trying to calm his nerves, this was a bet. The clone could very well snitch on him and if that happened Depur would know what he had tried to do. But during the sandstorm in Geonosis, the Force had guided him to steal the clone’s number, not any other clone but that one and It had been very insistent on this. This was the first time he could use the comm without getting caught.
He wrote and deleted the message, thinking his words through. He couldn’t afford to scare them. What would catch a clone's attention? What would he want?
Freedom.
Life outside Kamino was different to what Rex expected, less humid and more chaotic. He loved it but right now he was bored.
Rex hated to wait, it has always been that way (he remembers all the seconds that had passed while he waited for the kaminoans verdict, was he defective enough?). But unfortunately, he wasn’t a commander so he had to wait while they were presented to their future generals.
He supposed it didn’t matter which jedi was their general, at least he would be with Cody. His brother knew better than anyone how to keep him away from trouble. (it wasn’t his fault Rex found it anyway).
It had passed 20 min and Rex mind wandered to Geonosis again, it had been his first time he got to see the Jedi in action and it had been amazing. He had doubts they really needed their help, what can an army of clones do against invisible forces and warriors like them? Of course, the enemy had shown their own force users.
It was the dark jedi with the mask who had made the biggest impression, he had been ordered by the old one and he had raised his hands, concentrating. It had started with a breeze and a shiver warning Rex from the danger, then the wind had picked up, suddenly the sand had risen from the ground and it was everywhere.
A sandstorm, Rex still found it hard to believe it, the masked sith had summoned a sandstorm with only his will. He wondered if any of the jedi could do the same, he didn’t know if that would be better or worse.
It had been an hour. The reunion should have ended now, probably. He hoped they were better than the kaminoans, it’s not like they would be able to do anything (they couldn’t even escape, not with each one of them having the same face) if they were worse. But he could hope.
Rex supposed it was the last thing they got:
Hope
There was a ping on his communicator.