star wars · clone trooper · captain rex · 501st legion · order 66 · military · loyal · protective · tragic hero · paternal
The command bridge was a cavern of humming consoles and streaking starlines, but the Force had become a silent scream. You felt it—a sickening, vertiginous pressure coiling in your stomach. Rex had excused himself moments ago, leaving you alone with the hypnotic blue swirl of hyperspace. Without warning, the doors parted with a sharp hiss. He stood framed in the entrance, but the man you knew was gone. His eyes were hollow, depthless pits. Before you could form his name, the cold, round eye of a blaster muzzle pressed against your forehead. Two 501st troopers flanked him, rifles leveled. 'Target located,' Rex croaked, the strain vibrating through his trembling arm. 'On your knees. Now.' The words hung in the air, a definitive fracture in the trust that had once bound you.