Chapter 34 - ch28

Chapter 28: Episode 12: How YOU Can Help with the War EffortNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter TextBANG!

Anakin jolted up at the loud sound. Aayla let out a cry and rolled off the couch, desperately calling for her lightsaber.

Anakin did as well. Only to discover that no lightsaber came to him.

"As if I would be dumb enough to jump-scare you while your lightsabers were within reach," Master Vos said, dropping the two pans he had banged together to wake them up.

"Master Quin?" Aayla asked, squinting at him. "Why are you in my apartment?"

Anakin squinted as well. Now that he wasn't panicking at the thought of getting attacked, the light was very bright. It was not making his headache feel any better and he wanted nothing more than to burrow himself into his bed and not see the light of day for a very long time.

"Oh, my dear, sweet padawan," Master Vos laughed, plopping down on the couch and pulling out what looked to be one of Dex's loaded breakfast sandwiches.

Anakin's stomach rumbled at the thought of sourdough bread, a fried egg, topped with fries, sausages, and a generous helping of cheese. He could see the grease dripping off the sandwich. He really wanted that sandwich.

And whatever hangover cure Kix managed to cook up.

"I am not in your apartment. You are in my apartment," he said, grinning at them.

Anakin looked around.

"Oh, shit," he groaned, flopping back down onto the floor where he had passed out. And where were all his clothes? He could have sworn he had gone to the club in full Jedi robes.

"Oh, shit indeed. It looks like you two had quite a night last night." His grin widened even more. Sharp like a predator, and he kicked his feet up to rest on the coffee table. "Imagine my surprise when I come home after a long day of fighting for trooper rights against dastardly senators and charming my way into the hearts of the Corries only to discover my innocent, sweet little padawan passed out drunk with several messages from various members of the council worried for yours and Skywalker's health."

Anakin and Aayla paled.

"The council?" she squeaked.

Master Vos nodded. "Indeed. Master Yoda would like to remind you that it doesn't matter how squishy an initiate's cheeks are, if they're not old enough to be a padawan, you can't claim them. I did try to argue with him, but you know how the old troll gets sometimes."

Anakin felt like he was about to vomit.

"And Obi was very insistent that I check on both of you to make sure you don't drown in your vomit."

"Oh, Force, we called him, didn't we?" Anakin gasped.

"You did indeed. He also said, and I quote 'Tell Anakin he's to do fifteen rounds of Shii-Cho kata 4 as punishment for not clearing his system. I told that boy a thousand times that it's important you rid his body of toxins!" Master Vos said in a poor imitation of Obi-Wan's accent.

"Oh, but I hate that kata," Anakin whined.

"You're lucky. Seventeen was on the call with him and threatened to make you do a workout called Fives? I don't know what that was all about. But one of the cadets with them started crying. So it can't be good." He took another bite of the sandwich.

"Master, how much trouble are we in?" Aayla asked. Anakin wished she didn't. Maybe if they didn't ask, they could get away with  not getting into trouble.

Master Vos shrugged. "Other than Skywalker's katas, none."

"Wait, really?" Anakin straightened up. He would have thought that the council would have been pissed at them for going out and getting shit-faced. Surely, that was not the Jedi way. Surely, that was a poor reflection on the Council and its teachings.

"Yeah," Vos shrugged. "You two went out, got drunk, and then tried to convince Master Yoda to let Aayla claim a three-year-old as her padawan. No one got hurt. No one lost their lightsabers—" He threw Anakin his lightsaber. His reflexes were a little slow so it bounced off his forehead and into his lap. "And, by all accounts, you two made it back to the temple in one piece and didn't destabilize the government." He laughed. "I remember one time Obi, Siri, Garen and I all went out and we accidentally overthrew a government. Poor Bant had to help us clean up the mess. To be fair, the king was a creep. Ah, but I probably should not be telling you about that." He winced. "Anyways, no harm done and most people agreed that the nasty hangovers you guys have to endure is more than enough punishment. Obi's right. Next time, purge your system before you get too drunk."

Aayla and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Master," she said.

"No problem." He pulled out two more sandwiches. Anakin felt grateful for Master Vos' consideration and reached for one, only to have his hand smacked.

"Uh-uh. These sandwiches are not for padawans who go out and get drunk and give their poor masters' grey hair."

"Then who—"

"I invited Stone and Thorn over. They seem stressed. I tried to get Fox and Thire, but Fox is working on some bill and Thire is off planet for a special assignment." He said. His smile dropped. "Now get out."

Anakin and Aayla found themselves being unceremoniously shoved out the door.

"Um… well…" Anakin said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Maybe next time we just go to a movie or something," Aayla said. "Or dance classes. Bly says he and some of the other commanders take them when they're on Coruscant for fun."

The image of stoic and serious Commander Cody trying to do a fox trot bubbled up to his brain and before he could stop himself, he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Aayla asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"I'm picturing Cody in a dance class. Could you imagine? Or Fox?"

She pressed a hand to her mouth and started laughing as well. "Those poor instructors. I feel bad for them."

"Maybe we should go next time. Just to see what they're like when they're dancing."

"Agreed. I had fun. See you around, Skywalker." She punched his shoulder and then headed towards her apartment. Her actual apartments. Not Master Vos's.

Anakin decided he should do the same. After all, his mouth tasted disgusting and he felt half-naked standing out in the middle of the hallway with nothing but an undershirt and pants on. Besides, he wanted to keep his humiliation to a minimum. It was bad enough that he apparently sent a drunk email to the entire Jedi council trying to convince them to set aside an initiate to be Aayla's padawan, and then drunk texted Obi-Wan (and maybe Cody. He remembered something about Cody somewhere in there), and then ended up passing out in Master Vos' apartments. He did not need to be caught looking like shit in the middle of the temple.

"Skywalker."

Anakin didn't even try to suppress a groan. Why did the Force hate him so much?

"Master Windu,' he said, turning to face the man. Oh, he was in for it now. Obi-Wan and Vos may have been willing to just write this off as shenanigans. But there was no way someone as strict and hard as Master Windu would let him off the hook.

He came to stop in front of him, smirking slightly. "I just wanted to inform you that no matter how capable your captain is, we cannot promote him to General. Or any trooper to general."

Anakin winced. "I understand, master."

"Of course, we all agree the men would be much better at running the war than we would. But, the Senate still doesn't see them as sentient. But not to worry, it is on our list of things to fight for and we've been working with Representative Commander Fox on perhaps making that a reality." He winced and rubbed his temples.

"Of course, master. I am so sorry to bother you about that."

He waved him off. "Not to worry. Now, there are two other things that I would like to talk to you about."

Anakin barely managed to suppress a whine, but he did manage it. Whatever other humiliations that came his way, he would endure.

"First and foremost, you are incorrect."

"Master?"

"Caleb has the squishiest cheeks and I am offended you failed to recognize that."

Anakin felt himself relax at the clear joke that was being directed his way. "I don't know. Have you seen Ahsoka's?"

"I have. Plo and Obi-Wan both show us pictures at every council meeting."

"I don't remember Obi-Wan ever showing people my picture," he grumbled.

"You weren't that cute of a child," Windu said. "And the second thing?" His face dropped into a deep scowl.

Anakin leaned back to avoid his steely gaze.

"I can smile. But you and Knight Secura have not given me a reason to smile. Instead, you give me headaches. And no amount of knock-knock jokes will get me to smile."

Anakin winced. "Yes, master. I understand."

"Good." Master Windu straightened up and rubbed his temples again.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yes. Something happened last night, though. I'm trying to work through what it means. It doesn't feel bad. But it does feel…" he drifted off.

Anakin reached out into the Force and was surprised with what he found. "It feels anticipatory," he said quietly. "Not good, but not bad either."

"It appears we're at a crossroads. Depending on the choices we make these next few weeks, that might determine the fate of the Galaxy. Tread lightly, Knight Skywalker. The Force is not clear. Until we can figure it out, be careful."

"Of course, master."

"Good, not go take a shower and brush your teeth. You smell like a bar."

"Right. Thank you. Nice talking with you." Anakin hurried to his room before he could run into anyone else from the council that he drunkenly texted last night.

"Soka, you in here?" he called. There was a chance she had stayed with the men last night, but he still liked to check.

He pulled out his datapad and winced when he saw the drunk texts. He got to the part where he apparently accused his master of being a blushing virgin and then Obi-Wan was quite clear that he wasn't before deciding he did not want to read the rest.

There was a message from Waxer though. Opening up, he saw an attached photo of Ahsoka and Rex sleeping on top of Commander Cody. It looked like both of them were drooling on him and Cody, even in his sleep, looked like he wanted to punch something. His opinion stayed consistent. This was not a man that Anakin could picture ever so much as attempting to dance. So they had stayed the night after all. That was fine. He felt better knowing that she was surrounded by men who would rather die than hurt her or let her get hurt.

He did a quick shower and brushed his teeth before digging into some of the food they had lying around the apartments. That helped his hangover a lot, but he still felt restless. Like the Force was telling him to get moving.

He decided to listen to it and left the apartment, feeling much more human than he had before.

"Knight Skywalker," another voice called.

He winced once more and turned around to see Master Plo walking towards him.

"Hello, Master Plo." He bowed to him.

"I see you took my advice. Maybe a bit too seriously," Master Plo said It was hard to tell with his mask on, but Anakin swore the man was smirking at him.

"Yeah, well, Aayla and I had fun. Thank you for suggesting it."

"Any time. And there was no harm done. Except maybe to your heads. Might I suggest next time purging your system?"

"Yes, Obi-Wan and Master Vos said as much."

"Good. Walk with me, Knight Skywalker. Unless you need to be somewhere else."

"Oh, no. I don't." The Force settled around him. Still anticipatory, but content for now.

"Good. I am heading to meditate with Kit. Won't you join us?"

"Oh, I'm—"

"Come along," Master Plo linked their arms and all but pulled Anakin in the direction he assumed Master Fisto was sitting. "Mustn't keep Kit waiting. He's only ever on time when it comes to meditations. Everything else, he cares little for the clock. But if I come even a minute late to meditation, he spends fifteen minutes complaining about it." He chuckled.

"Right," Anakin said, not knowing what else to say.

"Did you enjoy your night out with Little Aayla yesterday?"

"Yes, I did. It was a lot of fun." Even if he could only remember bits and pieces.

"I remember when Quinlan showed up with her. To be honest, we never thought he'd take a padawan. He always was a maverick. Seemed to be under the impression that a padawan would slow him down. Obi-Wan, now he was always destined to teach. I know he loves it greatly and is looking to take on another padawan as soon as the war is over. But Quinlan, not so much. But then he shows up with this little twi'lek and says-- oh, I'm going to paraphrase here but you'll get the gist—"This is my padawan. Y'all can suck it." However, I believe he used much stronger language. Poor Tholme nearly had a heart attack. But it was good for him. I'm glad you and Aayla are growing closer. Friends are an invaluable resource."

Anakin's shoulders relaxed. "Yeah. She's fun. We had a good talk about padawans." He remembered that pretty clearly. He remembered admitting to her that he didn't know what the fuck he was doing with Ahsoka. And instead of scolding him or looking down on him. She supported him. He tried to think of how the Chancellor would have reacted to such an admission. Probably by insulting the Council for even giving him a padawan in the first place. Which, yeah. That probably wasn't their best move. But he also loved Ahsoka dearly. He couldn't imagine his life without her even though she had only been with him for less than a year.

"Speaking of friends, how is your friendship with the chancellor going?" Master Plo asked, almost a bit too casually.

"Oh. It's… I mean, I haven't gone to see him yet this leave," Anakin admitted. "He hasn't sent for me either."

However, he did hear from Rex who heard from Gree that he was asking for Barriss Offee more often. Anakin couldn't help the flash of jealousy that coursed through him at the thought. He tried to tamp down on it. From what Obi-Wan said, he was specifically speaking to Offee because he wanted to get a padawan perspective of the war, which Anakin couldn't help with. But there was something about the interaction that had his skin crawling. Like he was just being used by Palpatine for something. And now that he was no longer useful, he was thrown away for a newer, shinier kid.

Again, he tried to release these feelings into the force. He wasn't sure if they worked. Maybe he could ask his mind healer about it later. They had an appointment tomorrow.

"Should I go over there?" Anakin asked.

"If you would like. As I stated in our previous conversation, he has done nothing to warrant being cut off from you. If you feel happy catching up with an old friend, then see if he's free. But no need to force it if you do not feel it. Especially with everyone so busy lately. There are friends of mine I haven't seen in months." He paused. "Maybe even years. I do regret it though. There are many friends I have lost in this war. And when I think about the last time I saw them in person, I find myself struggling to remember." He shook himself out of his melancholy. "But do not force it out of fear of the future. Remember, Knight Skywalker, the present is the only reality we have."

"Right. Thank you." Maybe tomorrow after his mind healer appointment he'd reach out to Palpatine and see if he was available. If he wasn't, he wouldn't press the issue.

"And have you given more thought to our other point of discussion?" Master Plo asked.

Anakin felt his heart skip a beat. "Leaving the order?"

He nodded.

"No… I…" He sighed and massaged his brow. "I don't know. I haven't wanted to think about it. I mean, I have Ahsoka to think about. And my men. It doesn't feel like the right time, to be honest."

"Of course. I completely understand."

"And I haven't told Obi-Wan yet either," he said, shame creeping up his face. "I feel like he would support me. But I also know how much he had fought to train me. And then there's Master Qui-Gon. I mean, he went against the council's wishes. I just… I feel like I would be letting him down if I left after everything he went through to bring me here."

"Ah, the dead," Master Plo said. "They occupy a strange place in our lives. They are frozen in our minds. Where we change and grow and learn, they are unable to. They cannot grow with us. And we cannot speak to them. They cannot know how the future will play out. So they can only be as they were. And their advice, similarly, is stuck at the time they died."

"So I should not consider what Master Qui-Gon would have wanted?"

Master Plo did not answer right away. "Do you know why a great deal of Padawan studies are about learning from the old masters?" he said. Not what Anakin expected but he had learned a long time ago that sometimes it was just better to go along with whatever crazy logic the masters had.

"Because we can learn from their mistakes?" Anakin said slowly.

"We can build on their wisdom," Master Plo corrected. "The dead are a wealth of knowledge and resources. They lived and fought and loved and survived. And ultimately died. Some violently in battle. Others from natural causes. But in each success and failure, we can learn from them. They speak to us. And we use that knowledge to grow our own understanding of the Force, the Galaxy, and our place in it all. Master Qui-Gon had a wealth of knowledge at his fingertips. He continues to be one of the leading experts on the Living Force, even if he is no longer with us. To throw out his ideals and opinions because he is dead would be, in my opinion, not the right path. But," they came to a stop outside of one of the smaller meditation rooms. Master Plo turned to him, his face grave. "You are not Master Qui-Gon. And he is not you. And, no matter how adept he was at wielding the Living Force, even he could not see the future. And even if he could, he could not possibly understand the ramifications our decisions and experiences have on our paths. Consider his advice. But do not treat it as law. He is one voice in a sea of many that has his own ideas about what your correct path is. In the end, however, only you can make that decision."

"Of course, Master Plo, thank you."

"Good. Come. Let's meditate together," he opened the door to reveal Master Fisto already there.

"You're late," he said.

"I was gathering up a wayward knight," he gestured to Anakin.

"Master Fisto," He bowed to him.

"Ah, Knight Skywalker. I heard about you and Knight Secura's messages to the Council. Something about Padawans and squishy cheeks?"

"And promotions for our clone commanders," Master Plo said, coming to sit down next to him.

"Monnk would make a good general. And we all know that there is only one true rule in the galaxy."

"What's that rule?" Anakin asked, sitting down as well.

"Padawans always have the squishiest cheeks." Master Fisto smiled.

Anakin laughed. "I agree."

He eased into his meditation. It felt nice being able to meditate with other Jedi. He meditated with Ahsoka often, but as her master, it was more about teaching and less about simply being. It was nice. And he felt the final remnants of his hangover finally release into the Force. 

*****

When Cody opened his eyes, he was not in his temporary bunk at the barracks being smothered to death by Ahsoka and Rex his two (least) favorite vod'e. Instead, he was in the Jedi temple. And he only knew he was in the Jedi temple because he had been there before. Several times before, in fact. Usually when Obi-Wan wanted to talk about something late into the night.

Even though they were on leave, the work never really stopped. Cody would come over with two greasy bags from Dex's, or some cartons of noodles from that cart by the barracks that gave discounts to troopers, and then they'd strategize, fill out paperwork, and work and work and work. Eventually, it'd get so late that Cody would begin to leave to go home. But then Obi-Wan would insist he stay the night. They'd argue for a bit before Cody would eventually acquiesce and head towards the couch. Then they'd argue again over who gets the bed and who gets the couch. And eventually, Obi-Wan would all but force Cody onto the bed. He suspected Jedi mind tricks. Obi-Wan vehemently denied it.

They could both fit on the bed. And they had slept shoulder to shoulder before, passed out in mud and blood in the middle of a battle. It was different when there was no one shooting at them and no  vod dying right next to him. It was a line Cody would not cross. At least, not yet.

He may have had a plan for the end of the war, though. They'd go back to Obi-Wan's apartment to celebrate more privately, perhaps with the excuse of wanting to get away from Cody's rowdy (and very drunk) brothers. And then they'd talk late into the night about plans and such. Then Cody would get up to leave and Obi-Wan would argue for him to stay. Then he'd go to the couch and Obi-Wan would argue for him to take the bed. And then, and only then, would Cody say,  "You know, the bed's big enough for two. How about we both save our backs?" And he'd take Obi-Wan's hand and pull him to the room and then…. Well, depending on how tired he was while he was fantasizing he'd either picture them falling straight to sleep, or if he was less tired then they'd have sex. It all depended.

Nothing more celebratory than getting a full five hours of sleep.

He thought that sounded very romantic.

Wolffe was confused about how talking about back pain was romantic.

Fox never seemed to realize Cody was talking about anything, to begin with.

Bly was too busy trying to convince Cody to wait until he made a move on Secura.

And Gree was more or less confused about the whole sex thing, to begin with.  "It just seems unnecessarily messy," he'd say.

So yes, Cody had been to the Jedi temple before and he had been to the living quarters of the Jedi before. But this was not Obi-Wan's apartment. Nor were they Ahsoka and Skywalker's apartments.

They were missing the warm tones of Obi-Wan's, mixed with the various spices from the teas he liked to drink. His apartments were facing the East so soft sunlight filtered in through the windows every morning. There were little trinkets scattered about, one from every planet he had visited. And more books on cultures were also scattered about.

Skywalker's apartments smelled of machine oil and had droid and machine parts scattered about in piles of half-finished projects. This all combined with Ahsoka's love of glittery nail polishes, make-up, and various books on weapons and combat from other cultures. There was one particular splotch of pink glitter nail polish on the floor that no one seemed in a hurry to get rid of.

As Cody pushed himself up to sit, none of that was present. The rooms were cooler in tone, with muted greys and greens seemingly swirling in the fabric of the curtains and pillows. And there were many plants scattered around. One particularly nasty one with teeth had the audacity to hiss at him.

Obi-Wan didn't have any plants. He couldn't have any plants. He killed them all within a week, claiming a black thumb.

"It's a good thing I never went to the Agricorps. I would have caused more famines than I solved." 

"The living Force never was his strong suit," a voice said.

Cody turned. The floor, he was lying on the floor. On a meditation mat, more specifically.

Sitting at a low table was a Jedi. Bearded. With very long hair. He seemed to… to shimmer. Almost as if he wasn't there. And he had a blue tinge to him. Like a hologram. Only, there was more color to him so he wasn't being projected. At least, not by anything Cody was familiar with.

He looked very familiar. It took a second for Cody to place him.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," he said. "That's who you are?"

The Jedi smiled and poured some tea. "Come. Sit."

This felt like some level of Force  osik Cody was not qualified to deal with. "Is this a dream? Or is this real?"

"Who's to say what is or isn't real? What's real to you might not be real to me, and vice versa."

Ah, there it was. The annoying traits all Jedi seemed to have. Cody had gotten really good at speaking Jedi though and could translate it just as well as Obi-Wan could translate any number of languages.

"I know fuck all about what's happening right now and I'm hoping you don't ask too many questions." 

"You are Qui-Gon Jinn, though. Right?" Cody asked, deciding he had more pressing questions to attend to than whether or not this was a dream. He was pretty sure it was a dream. Mostly on account of:

Qui-Gon Jinn had been dead for over a decade at this point. AndLast he remembered he had fallen asleep in his bunk pinned in place by Ahsoka and Rex. He would have woken up if someone tried to transport him.Unless Rex drugged him again. The little shit still wasn't off the hook for that.

"I was," the Jedi said. "Come. Have some tea. This is a particularly sweet blend. I never understood why Obi-Wan liked the spicier flavors so much. I was more inclined towards the subtler flavors. I'm assuming he's kept up as an adult and has only introduced you to the stronger ones."

"Yes, sir," Cody said. He took a sip of the tea. It was much subtler than what Obi-Wan would serve him. More floral too. He wasn't a huge fan of it either. He liked caf. That was it.

And the shakes from Dex's.

That was it.

And hot chocolate.

That was it.

And pretty much all forms of alcohol though one could argue that he didn't like the flavors so much as he liked getting drunk.

He was getting off-topic.

Back to the tea drinking-with a very dead Jedi.

"Why are you here? No offense, but I have never met you. Why are you in my dreams?"

"We are where the Force says we need to be," Jinn replied sagely.

Yeah, Cody could see why Obi-Wan wanted to punch this man more often than not.

Jinn chuckled. "Yes, our start was rougher than most. I know now we were ill-matched. I should have pushed back on Master Yoda's insistence that he become my padawan. If I remember correctly, Madam Nu had asked about him. But Master Yoda can be persistent, especially when it comes to his lineage."

"Right," Cody said, taking another sip of tea. He still didn't know what this all had to do with anything. Why would Jinn of all people be in his dreams? He'd be more likely to talk to one of his fallen brothers.

"That is a very good question, Commander. The Force does work in mysterious ways. Sometimes, it is not until later that we understand why it has placed us in certain situations."

"Can you read my mind? Because I'm not saying much but you seem to be responding to me anyway," Cody asked.

Jinn tilted his head to the side. "Possibly."

That seemed like the most concrete, straightforward answer he was going to get. He breathed in and out like Obi-Wan had taught him.

Breathe in calm.

Breathe out frustration.

Qui-Gon Jinn was here. And he was going to be purposefully obtuse. There was nothing he could do about it.

"I'm not being purposefully obtuse," he stated.

Cody just stared at him.

"Ah, well," Jinn rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose you aren't a Padawan I need to guide towards the correct answer. I can be more straightforward with you. Or as straightforward as possible. I have become one with the Force. One of the only Force-users to do so. As such my abilities and presence are… challenging to define. I don't know the limits or even what I can do. It has been an interesting learning curve, to say the least. But, well, we are never truly finished learning. And I am excited to see where this new path takes me."

"It's taken you to me, for some reason," Cody said.

"So it has," Jinn smiled and sipped his tea. "Tell me about what's happening, Commander. Perhaps starting there will give us some direction."

Should he tell Jinn about this? They had decided not to tell any Jedi about the chips. But Jinn was dead. And might not even be real.

Cody's head was starting to hurt.

"You need not worry about me impacting the living, Commander. I do know there is only so much interference I can do."

"Interference?"

Jinn nodded. "I knew the Jedi were in danger of extinction long before the war started. I stumbled upon that revelation rather accidentally. I've been trying to break through to the Council to warn them. But, alas, it seems that is a limit to my ability."

"But you can talk to me? That doesn't make sense. If you're The Force, then you should be able to talk to the Council and not some force-null clone."

Jinn stared at him and sipped his tea.

His silence spoke volumes. "Fuck no. That's not possible."

He shrugged. "You're not strong enough to be a Jedi, but the work Obi-Wan's been putting you through has strengthened your grasp on it. Did you not notice while you were meditating last night?"

"I… that's not using the force. That's using my brain," Cody argued.

"Some would say they're one and the same."

"Great, that means that most of my brothers aren't going to spontaneously develop Force powers."

"You do not 'spontaneously develop Force powers', Commander. It is in you all along."

Cody stared at him again.

Qui-Gon Jinn once more, ducked his head. It was satisfying to make the Jedi uncomfortable. If he didn't have to worry about decommissioning, then he might as well have a little fun with whatever osik he was now dealing with. 

"I also suspect the chip may have been inhibiting your hold on it," Jinn continued. "I'd keep working on it. You never know when heightened intuition and agility will come in handy. And who knows, one day you might even be able to wield the Force in more complex ways."

Cody groaned and put his head in his hands. "Any other revelations you want to drop on me?"

"Sifo-Dyas is dead."

"Nice to have that confirmed."

"Dooku killed him."

"Yeah, that checks out," Cody sighed. "So you can talk to me because?"

"If I were to hypothesize, it's because you've more or less opened your mind up to the possibility. Now that the chip is out of your head, you're curious to know just how much it was limiting your abilities before. Whether it was limiting your ability to call on the Force or not is difficult to say. But now that it's out, you're open to the possibilities."

"Great," Cody sighed. "Alright. Is that all? Is that why you're here? To tell me I can move shit with my mind?"

"You might never be able to…" he chuckled, "Move shit with your mind as you so eloquently put it. But, no. That's not why I'm here."

"Then why—"

"Because you're afraid. Nervous about what's to come."

Cody scoffed. "Of course, I'm nervous about what's to come. What the fuck should I be feeling? Elated that the man in charge of everything is literally in charge of everything but no one knows it?"

"I wouldn't be nervous," Jinn said.

Cody stood up and started to pace. "Of course, you're not nervous. You're dead. None of this affects you. But me? The fate of the entire galaxy rests on my shoulders. If I make one wrong move, everyone either dies or gets enslaved by Palpatine. My brothers. The Jedi. The people. Hell, even the Seppies are at risk. He's not going to just let them go because he's playing both sides. I don't know if I can do this. I'm just a fucking clone commander. I'm cannon fodder. If I die tomorrow, there will be a shiny new commander shipped off from Kamino within ten minutes to take my place. But somehow, I've managed to wrestle my way to be in charge of everything and I can't do it." He said, letting everything out that he had been holding in since the start of this investigation.

Back when he thought the biggest problem was a bit of embezzling and a few corrupt senators.

Back when he thought if they could just get enough information, they could hand it off to the Jedi and let  them deal with the bastard.

"Was the fate of the galaxy not on your shoulders before?" Jinn said casually. 

Cody froze. "What?"

"Well, before if you failed to defeat Dooku and the separatists, your brothers would have died. The Jedi would have died. And the people of the Republic would have been enslaved. Not to mention the people who joined the Separatists. My master has… fallen quite far since he  was  my master. Even his own people suffer under his rule. But that hardly matters. What does matter is the goal is still the same. And failure will still yield the same outcome."

"But—"

Jinn waved a hand at him. "But nothing, commander. The fate of the Galaxy always rested on your shoulders. That is why Sifo-Dyas created you in the first place. He saw what would happen if he did not. Your purpose has not changed. It has simply been focused. Now, you have unraveled the truth. Now you will not waste time on battles designed to fail."

That was… strangely helpful.

"I don't know if I'm strong enough to win, though." He whispered.

"Of course you are. Obi-Wan would not be so fond of you if you were weak or incompetent. He would not be training you if he felt it was a waste of time. He has faith in you. As do your brothers and Ahsoka. Have faith in yourself. You've made it this far, commander. Now, just go a little farther."

Cody took a deep breath and centered himself. When he opened his eyes. Jinn was gone. The Jedi temple was gone. He was staring up at the gray ceiling of his bunk with two numb arms and Ahsoka and Rex draped over him.

Well, that was weird. He didn't know if he should tell Rex and Ahsoka that he had just had a conversation with a very dead Jedi. Though, if he did, Ahsoka might be able to contact him and get more answers out of him. She was more Force Sensitive than Cody (Force! He was Force-sensitive, apparently. That was something else he'd need to be unpacking). And Jinn did say something about needing an open mind to contact him. Or something. It wasn't quite clear how this all worked. And he had a feeling that Jinn wasn't too certain either.

"What time is it?" Rex muttered.

"Time for you to get out of my bed," Cody snarked. In the end, it didn't really matter if he should tell Ahsoka or not. He couldn't here. There were listening devices that picked up on everything he said. And if Palpatine was listening in (or having someone else listening in) and heard that Cody was having conversations with dead Jedi, that could spell trouble.

"You promised pancakes, though," Ahsoka mumbled.

"I promised you nothing."

"Ah, hell yeah. Commander's making pancakes." Came another sleepy mumble from the floor.

Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka all froze.

Ahsoka pushed herself up and then her face broke into a broad grin. "Hey, Wooley! How are you guys doing?"

"Wooly?" Cody sat up. In the process, he knocked Rex off him and onto the floor.

Well. Not the floor.

He knocked Rex onto Waxer, who was smushed in between Boil and Crys. Crys was using Longshot's thighs as a pillow. While Gregor, Fives, and Echo cuddled up next to him. He gave Cody a cheeky grin. Tup and Hardcase were also in the room.

"What… what are you all doing in here?" Cody cried.

"It's not fair. We don't get commander cuddles," Boil yawned, turning to burrow himself deeper into Waxer's side.

"Commander…" He sputtered.

"You must have really needed the sleep, commander," Gregor grinned. "You normally wake up when someone enters the room."

He probably didn't wake up because Rex drugged him, dug a chip out of his head, and then Qui-Gon Fucking Jinn showed up to serve him magic metaphysical force tea! It was a miracle he was currently awake at all.

"Get out!"

"So that's a no to the pancakes?" Tup asked.

"Come on, Cody, please?" Ahsoka begged, doing her best tooka eyes impression.

Don't look at Wooley. Don't look at Wooley. Don't look at Wooley.

Goddammit, he looked at Wooley.

The combination of Wooley's Tooka Eyes and Ahsoka's Tooka Eyes (and Tup's Tooka Eyes, what the fuck?) was too much for him to ignore. 

Cody groaned and pinched his brow. "Fine. I will make pancakes this one time."

Everyone cheered.

"Oh, by the way, General Skywalker contacted you last night," Waxer said, handing over Cody's comm.

"Skywalker called me?" That couldn't be good. His mind immediately went through the list of probable emergencies that would cause Anakin Skywalker of all people to call him last night at like… three in the morning? "Has anyone heard from General Kenobi?"

"Messaged him a few hours ago. He's doing fine last I checked." Waxer said.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Rex said. "If it was an emergency with the general, they wouldn't have let us sleep. He may have been asking if Ahsoka was with us, since she, Tup, and Hardcase left the barracks."

"Yeah, maybe."

He turned the comm on to listen to the message.

"Cody, man," Skywalker slurred.

"Is that—" Fives started to say.

"I just wanted to let you know how much I love you."

Cody's cheeks burned. He scrambled to turn the comm off but Ahsoka (the traitor) yanked it out of his hands with the Force.

"You and Rex both. You guys are just…" It sounded like Skywalker had started to cry. "You guys are just so fucking great. Really. You deserve the world and I'm going to work on giving it to you!"

"Aw, we wanted General Kenobi to propose to him, not General Skywalker," Longshot said.

"Ahsoka, turn it off. Please!" Cody begged.

Ahsoka was too busy cackling. "I am totally going to use this to blackmail him."

"Yes! Tell him!" Secura shouted into the comm.

"Force, kill me now. Please," Cody begged.

The Force was not kind enough to do it. And everyone was laughing at him.

"You're the best," Skywalker continued. "Don't let anyone else tell you that you're not."

"Yeah, commander! Remember, you're the best," Hardcase said.

"I love you, man."

Thankfully, it was much shorter than Fives' love confession. And less stupid too. Eyes like cerulean diamonds. He had brown eyes! They all had brown eyes.

"That was so sweet of him to admit it," Rex said. "You gonna go give him a hug?"

"I'm going to go make him run drills," Cody growled.

"Ah, don't be like that," Waxer said, pulling Cody off the bed. "Come on. You promised Cody Cakes. Let's go. I'm starving!"

"Keep pushing it and you'll be cleaning the latrines with your toothbrush," Cody growled.

Ahsoka jumped on his back. "Cody Cakes! Cody Cakes! Cody Cakes!"

He sighed and let his annoying siblings pull him to the kitchens. Maybe he'd drop some off at Fox's office later. Force knows they could use the calories if they were going to defeat Palpatine.

*****

There was a knock at Dormé's door late in the afternoon. She put down the book she was reading, fixed her hair, and walked gracefully yet purposefully towards the door. There was an art to the walk of a handmaiden. Since she needed to be able to fill in for Padme at the drop of a hat, she had to hold herself like Padme. And, well, after training for so long to be able to do just that, at a certain point, it was easier to just keep the walk on full time. Besides, she liked how it made her appear almost as if she were floating. And, if she were wearing the right shoes and walking on the right floor, the  click, click, click of her heels was very satisfying.

She opened the door to her last meeting of the evening.

"Commander Wolffe, I'm so glad you could make it," she said with a soft smile.

"Wouldn't miss this for the galaxy," Wolffe grinned back at her. "I got you some flowers. I couldn't find any as beautiful as you, mind you. But I did my best." He handed them to her and then kissed her cheek.

"Flatterer," she said, blushing slightly. It was only slightly faked. As much as she would have liked to run around pretending she was some run-of-the-mill girl who had caught Wolffe's eye, they ultimately decided it wasn't practical. She couldn't always leave the Senate District to go meet him at smaller restaurants and parks and the like. Besides, the Senate was filled with a bunch of gossips. Eventually, an aide or a secretary or whatever would stumble upon them and then Padme's Pro-Clone bills would be scrutinized as a conflict of interest even though she wasn't the one dating a trooper (and they weren't really dating but that was another can of worms.) (Though, sometimes Dormé got the distinct impression that Wolffe was more taken with her than he'd like to admit.) (She wasn't, by design, someone who thought of herself highly in the sense that she assumed every man that smiled at her was into her) (But still, there was something about the way Wolffe interacted with her that gave her that feeling). So, for the sake of keeping Padme out of this mess, Wolffe and Dormé decided to go 'public' with their relationship. They went through all the proper channels and everything! Bail Organa said congrats to her in the hallway and Chuchi giggled whenever she saw her.

"Well, I have to do something to catch your attention," Wolffe said, stepping into her apartment. He was still wearing his armor, having come straight from a training exercise his men were having with Commander Ponds and General Windu. He was dirty and a little sweaty and smelly, but charming nonetheless.

"Spider lilies is definitely a way to catch it. Why those and not roses? Roses are the more romantic option."

"They're also the safe option." He grinned at her. "Something tells me that you're not into 'safe'."

She rolled her eyes. "A bit early in the relationship to talk about what we like in the bedroom, isn't it?"

His grin widened. "I don't think it's ever too early. It helps make sure we're compatible."

She put the flowers in a vase. "I suppose that's true. Sit. I'm almost done making dinner."

"Dinner and company with a beautiful woman? This might be my best leave yet," he said.

"Don't push your luck. I do have standards."

His eyes flicked over her form. "I am well aware."

"What happened to your head?" She asked as she dished up some traditional Naboo rice dish.

Wolffe's hand brushed the bandage on the side of his head. "Nothing bad. Just a small cut."

"And they decided to waste a bandage on it? I thought the medics were having trouble keeping up with the demand?"

"Not so much on Coruscant," Wolffe said. "Besides, there was a shiny… er, I mean padawan. Padawan medic? Healer? I'm not sure of the right term. Anyways, there was a baby Jedi training to be a Jedi medic and they wanted to practice on me. Koon said they weren't liable to kill me so I let them have a go. I'm not sure if it did anything, to be honest. But they seemed proud so that's something."

She paused. There was something in his story that seemed just a bit off, but she couldn't place her finger on what it was.

She decided not to push the issue for now. She had her work and Wolffe had his. So long as he wasn't doing anything to put Padme's life or the safety of the Republic in danger, she understood that she wasn't going to know everything he knew.

"I see." She sat across from him and lowered the curtains. "Paparazzi can be so annoying," she said.

"They care about you? No offense, but I'd think they'd be more intrigued with Amidala."

"Oh, they are. But when they can't get her, they come to us. And some of the non-humanoid species have a hard time telling us apart so they think we are Padme. Granted, that's part of the job, but still. It's annoying."

"And this has nothing to do with your other work?" Wolffe asked, quirking a brow."

"Of course it does. I don't want anyone to see us," she said. "Mind you, it's not like I'm handing over blasters or anything." She slid over the real reason for their meeting. Not flirting and dates, but data. Shame. It had been a while since she found someone to keep her on her toes. "Three data sticks with three potential suspects that might be of interest to you and Fox."

"Any of them Tarkin adjacent?" Wolffe asked, he reached out and put his hand on hers. Just for a beat, before sliding the sticks under his palm and into his pocket.

"No. But Miko got an in."

"Oh?"

"Oh yes, she's going places."

"To residency next year after she finishes up with med school, I know."

Dormé rolled her eyes and swatted him playfully. "I tried to convince her to take up espionage full-time, but she is committed to being a neurosurgeon. Anyways, Tarkin's secretary is quite taken with her."

"And the secretary has high enough clearance to get us the information we need?"

"Technically, no. But we all know how men like Tarkin are. He's probably given him the go-ahead to forge his signature if it's one less piece of paperwork he's got to deal with. And, given the data Miko's already given me, I'm inclined to believe that's exactly what's going on here. Mind you, it's a longer con. She's his 'girlfriend' and working on building up trust. But it's been going well so far. I think we'll have something soon."

"Good," Wolffe's face darkened for a moment before he shook it off. "And the sticks you just gave me?"

"Personnel files on three men who seem a bit too chummy with the chancellor or others related to him and who don't seem to have the greatest ethics." She paused. "You ever notice just how many men surround the chancellor?" She rolled her eyes.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. There do seem to be a lot of men around him. Sexism isn't fun."

"No, it's not. Anyways, the first one, you probably already know about, is Rampart."

"Rampart? Yeah, I know him. Annoying prick who could be knocked down a few pegs."

Dormé hummed at his assessment. "That sounds about right. Normally, he's so low in the chain of command that I wouldn't look twice at him. But he's got some… troublesome ideas that seem to be piquing Palpatine's interest."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, one that I managed to get ahold of is the idea of a chain code. Basically, everyone in the galaxy, or under Republic citizenship, gets a number. You'll need to use this number to apply for jobs. Leave your planet. Claim benefits. Send your kids to school. All sorts of things."

Wolffe seemed ill at the thought. "Numbers instead of names. Well, as someone who has to deal with that regularly, I can tell you, it's not all fun and games." He paused. "That whole program seems like a really good way to keep track of people."

She nodded. "He'd know where everyone was. What they're doing. Who they're working for."

"Which would make it easy to arrest or make certain dissenters, 'disappear'," Wolffe translated.

"Exactly. As I said, Rampart seems to be one of Palpatine's pet projects. And he seems to be really interested particularly in making it easier to track people and squash dissent. There was also another program And this one was really disgusting. Basically, the argument is because of your advanced aging, soon none of you are going to be healthy enough to serve as soldiers."

Wolffe growled but said nothing.

"So he's suggesting that the Republic start recruiting troopers and having you guys train them. Phase out the troopers as it were."

"Oh, because that's easier than having the karking Kaminoans figure out a way to stop the advanced aging." Wolffe's eyes burned with anger. "And what happens to the troopers that aren't trainers? Unless Rampart is suggesting one-on-one training, there are going to be brothers who don't qualify. What happens to us then? I suppose Rampart's not campaigning for back pay and job training." 

 "I'm sorry," Dormé said. And truly, she was. She liked the idea of having recruits who chose to be soldiers instead of slaves be a part of the army, but she was not naïve enough to think the troopers wouldn't suffer because of it. Wolffe was right. There were only so many trainers needed. And once those trainers were chosen, what would happen to the troopers themselves?

"Of course, he's billing this all as ways to help the Republic," she continued. "The chain codes will make it easier for people to travel and get jobs on other planets. The TK troopers, as they're referred to, will allow the clones more freedom." She rolled her eyes. "Anyone who falls for that is an idiot and shouldn't be in office. It's about control. Plain and simple. And something tells me Palpatine is entertaining the TK trooper idea because he doesn't like that the clone troopers are more loyal to the Jedi than they are to him and the Republic."

"Damn straight," Wolffe growled. "What about the other two?"

"Gideon is another person of interest," she said.

He clicked his tongue. "I don't know much about Gideon. He doesn't really work with us."

"He works mostly with the security bureau," Dormé said.

"Fox?"

She shook her head. "As far as I can tell, he doesn't really work with any troopers. He's a bit of a black box, to be honest. But he spends a lot of time with Palpatine. And that's what has me worried. He's spending a lot of time with him, but not much comes out of their meetings. Not like him and Rampart."

"Which suggests they might be hiding something," Wolffe translated. "Or Palpatine doesn't want the Republic to know what he's up to. He doesn't think he can sell it like he can with Rampart's measures."

"Exactly. Honestly, Wolffe, I'm not sure if I can get anything from him. He doesn't seem to use any of the sex workers' services. He keeps to himself. But I'll keep digging. People can't hide their skeletons forever. There's got to be an ex-girlfriend, a disgruntled underling, someone to give me the inside scoop. I'll find it."

He grinned at her. "I know you will. And the last man?"

"Oh, this one is the most worrisome. Royce Hemlock," she said.

Wolffe furrowed his brows. "Hemlock. Hemlock. He's not an admiral. Why is that name familiar?"

"Maybe because Coruscant Guard arrested him at the start of the war for crimes against sentients."

Realization dawned in his eyes. "That's right! Fox told me about that. The man's a  demagolka. He was apparently experimenting on children. And making these fucked up creations with no regard to ethics. Even the Neutral Systems got involved in his prosecution because of some of the havoc he wreaked on their planets. Something about man-eating plants or something. It's a mess. If he ever finishes serving his sentence in the Republic, he's supposed to be extradited to Mandalore to serve out his sentence there."

More realization dawned on him. "Hang on, if he's in prison, how is Palpatine talking to him? Why is Palpatine talking to him?"

"That's the interesting thing. I didn't even realize what was going on. Until I saw Gideon heading into the prison. I thought he was maybe questioning a prisoner or something but when I went to pull records, because all those records are public knowledge, there was nothing there. No record that he visited anyone at all. It took me a lot of digging but eventually, I found a message from him to Palpatine saying he was heading to talk to Hemlock. So I checked again, just to make sure I didn't miss anything. Nothing. No evidence that he was ever in the prison. No visitor sign-in sheets. No camera footage. No audio recording. A prisoner as high-risk as Hemlock would be recorded twenty-four seven and every interaction he has with people would be monitored. Especially with government officials. But I can find nothing."

Wolffe seemed to pale at this. "Palpatine knows that Gideon is visiting Hemlock and it's being wiped."

She nodded. "I'm thinking then that at least some of the Corries are in on it."

"No," Wolffe growled.

She looked up at him, surprised by the anger leaking into his voice. "What do you mean no? They have to be. Why else would they not have the visits logged."

Wolffe looked uncertain for a minute. "It's not possible."

"Wolffe, not every trooper is as loyal as you. If Gideon were visiting Hemlock and telling them to wipe the logs, then they'd report it to Fox. He's their direct supervisor and he outranks Gideon."

Wolffe actually seemed to relax at her words. She was expecting more of a fight. She knew that when she accused his brothers of potentially being traitors that he'd push back. So to see him seem glad that she mentioned this was… unnerving to say the least. Almost as if he had found an out.

"You natborns think that your title gives you power. Power that can't be argued against. Power that protects you." He shook his head. "Did you know that Cody still has to salute any natborn officer and call them sir? That he still has to listen to their orders when they come through? Even though he outranks everyone in this goddamn military except for Palpatine, Kenobi, and the other high generals?"

Dormé opened her mouth. "I… what? But how's that possible."

"Because at the end of the day, you're sentient and we are not. You're alive. We are products. No matter how much power our titles give us, we will never be on the same level as a natborn officer. You say that all those troopers would have to do is go to Fox and tell him? No. If Palpatine's pulling the strings and trying to hide something, then every single trooper in the galaxy knows that all it takes is one bad review from a natborn and we're sent back to Kamino to be, at best, decommissioned. And at worst, reconditioned. Cody and Fox aren't even safe from this. Next time you have the pleasure of watching a meeting with natborns and Cody, watch how he interacts with them. He doesn't. He lets Kenobi interact with them, especially if he doesn't know or trust them well enough, and then fades into the background. It's safer that way."

"So you think that the troopers wiping the data are just too scared to come forward."

He shrugged. "Probably. Especially the Corries. Yeah, they have Vos now to look out for them, but they didn't always. I trust Koon to not decom me if I step out of line. They don't have that."

"I see." She didn't know how to salvage this conversation. She hadn't considered the fact that the men might not feel safe enough to tell Fox what was going on. Or that Fox might not feel safe enough to do anything about it even if he did know what was going on.

"Ah, hell, don't look so sad," Wolffe said. "Most people forget that we're products and not people. It's the charming sense of humor. Throws them off," He grinned.

"You are people though. And hopefully, that's recognized by the Galaxy soon."

He shrugged. "Can't control what you can't control. I'll look over these and see if there's anything else we need to do. Or anyone else we need to bribe. I'll talk to Dex about Hemlock and Gideon, and see if he knows anything."

She relaxed. "Good. And I'll keep an eye on Miko. She's so close. I know we're about to get something good."

They finished up their meal and once more Dormé felt her heart pounding. She might be stepping over a line with this, but figured she might as well try anyway.

"I made something for you," she said, pulling out a small wooden box.

"Yeah. Dinner. It was great by the way."

"No, something else. Here." She slid it over to him.

He furrowed his brows. "Why'd you make something for me?"

"Because when I get stressed I need something to do with my hands. And this whole thing has been stressing me out to no end. I'm going to go grey in a month if this keeps up."

"You'd look good with grey hair. But, if you're looking for things to do, I can think of a few things you can do with your hands, then," Wolffe winked at her.

"In your dreams, trooper."

"Well as long as you've given permission…" He opened the box and held up a small wooden wolf that she had carved attached to a thick leather strap. "You made this?"

"My grandfather taught me. Us handmaidens aren't just copies of Padme, you know. We do have hobbies outside our work."

"No, it's just… it's really well done. It's a necklace?"

She nodded.

He put it over his neck and rolled the small wolf in between his fingers. "I'll try not to lose it in the middle of the battlefield."

"Good," she smiled at him softly.

He looked up at her. "There's a tracker in this, isn't there?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She turned her nose up to look as offended as possible.

 "You know Fox already put a tracker on me?"

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Except the bastard didn't have the decency to tell us the necklaces had trackers in them. We thought they were just nice gifts. Until Bly gets his ass kidnapped. No one can find him. And then we get a message from Fox with his exact coordinates."

"Your brother cares about you."

"He's paranoid, that's what he is." He tucked the necklace into his armor. "Thank you, really." He stood and made his way to the door, Dormé following him.

"Now I feel bad that all I got you were flowers that'll just die in a few days."

"The flowers were lovely," Dormé said. She decided to push her luck just a bit more. "But, you could give me one more thing. It's free, I promise."

"Oh?" Wolffe looked down at her and grinned. "And what would that be?"

"Since this is a date, it would be rude of you to leave without a kiss."

"Liked our first one that much, did you?"

"A solid six out of ten."

"Six out of ten?" Wolffe cried. "Maybe it would have been better if I had some warning."

"Well, I'm giving it to you now. So, come on, Commander, impress me. See if you can do better."

"Oh, I can," he said.

Before she could make another quip, he pulled her flush against his chest and kissed her softly. Much softer than the make-out session in the spaceport. It was the kind of kiss that made her knees weak and her heart race.

He pulled back. "Better?"

"Seven out of ten."

He laughed. "I guess I'll just have to keep coming back until it's a ten out of ten."

"I will hold you to that." 

*****

"Here you go, Obi-Wan. Delivered your commander back safe and sound," Anakin said proudly as he steered a disgruntled-looking Cody toward him. 

"Yes, and I also heard how you confessed your love to him," Obi-Wan said as he finished signing off the last bit of paperwork.

Anakin choked while several of the other troopers around them snickered.

"I can't believe I was an afterthought," Captain Rex grumbled.

"Yeah, what gives, Skyguy? Do you not love me?" Ahsoka chirped.

"My dear, not to worry. Anakin valiantly defended your honor against the council as having the squishiest cheeks of all the padawans."

Ahsoka squawked and the troopers started laughing even louder. Obi-Wan turned to hand Seventeen the datapad that would release him from his duties and give him leave to take the cadets back to Kamino to finish out their training. They were truly wonderful men. Bright and quick on their feet. Obi-Wan and Seventeen had talked about it on the way back to the Negotiator. They agreed the squad would do well with Commander Bly and Aayla. Hopefully, they'd get their placements in the next few weeks.

"I do not have squishy cheeks!" Ahsoka cried.

"I…. look, we were just talking and it came up!" Anakin tried to defend himself.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Take care, Seventeen."

"Get your fucking ass kidnapped again and I'm deserting," Seventeen grumbled before storming back on his shuttle.

"Wait, you got kidnapped?" Cody cried.

Obi-Wan scoffed. "Only for half a day. And I hardly got a scratch on me. It was downright relaxing." He finally turned to look at Cody for the first time since he had left to go on his mission.

He stopped, eyes widening as he took in Cody. He looked… bright. So bright in the Force. It was like a cloud of darkness that had settled over him was gone. Or like a dirty window that had been washed so that the full rays of the sun could penetrate the room. He hadn't even realized that Cody had such a shadow hanging over him. It nearly knocked him off his feet. He yearned to reach up and rest his hand on Cody's cheek. To rest their foreheads together. To bask in his presence until Obi-Wan's own darkness was washed away in his light.

"You okay, sir?" Cody asked, narrowing his eyes.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat and tucked his hands into his sleeves. "You look well-rested, commander."

Rex barely managed to suppress a snicker from behind him. Obi-Wan was pretty sure that their relationship (or lack thereof) had been a topic of conversation amongst Cody's batch mates. If the gossip about Fox and Chuchi, and Bly and Aayla were anything to go by. Though he did hope Aayla took his words to heart and had a conversation with Bly. He should still model it for her, even if she wasn't here.

Cody was his subordinate. He was not considered sentient by the Galaxy as a whole. While Obi-Wan was fairly certain Cody would tell him if he were uncomfortable with anything, he could never be one hundred percent sure. And he would rather die than do anything to make his commander needlessly uncomfortable. Perhaps after the war, they could talk. But for now, they had to remain professional.

Of course, that was hard to do when Cody's cheeks darkened and his Force signature flared warmly.

"Yeah. I was forced to by Rex." He rubbed the back of his head. Hand on, was there a new scar at his hairline? Obi-Wan didn't remember that. Of course, Cody's hair had gotten so long with all the missions that maybe he had missed it.

"You needed it," Rex said, rolling his eyes.

"I see," Obi-Wan said. "Well, I'm glad you men had a good shore leave. Anakin, next time you go out for drinks, please purge your system  before you contact the council. Or me."

"Or me," Cody grumbled.

"Come on, Commander. You could do with a few more love confessions," Waxer grinned. "The one Fives gave you was so long ago."

"I gave that to him under duress!" Fives shouted.

Cody glared at him and Fives hurried to get out of his line of fire.

"Shall we go over our next mission? Hopefully, it'll be a fairly straightforward one," Obi-Wan said, gesturing for them to follow. "There's a droid factory on Xylox Prime that needs to be taken down."

"Xylox is a small facility," Rex said. "Why would we need to be the ones to take care of it? Shouldn't that be Unduli's men?"

"The chancellor is insistent that we take it out. He fears there might be more there than meets the eye. Which is possible considering initial reports declare it to be largely unguarded."

Was it just him or did Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody all exchange glances?

Something happened while on Shore Leave. He had gotten messages from both Luminara and Plo that their commanders were behaving strangely. And that they felt different in the Force.

Obi-Wan was willing to let Cody handle things. He trusted him to handle things. But if Ahsoka was now involved, then he should be involved as well.

"Hopefully it's not a trap," Anakin groaned. He seemed to be the only one that wasn't acting differently. Even stranger still. "I know I just had a week off but I am not ready for another long-term muddy campaign."

"Good thing Xylox Prime is a desert planet, then. No mud shall enter your boots," Obi-Wan said.

Anakin looked even more distressed. "Can't we just blast it from the sky? Please. I hate sand. You know how much I hate sand."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "No, Anakin. We cannot simply blast it from the sky. I want Rex's ARCs to team up with Ghost and scrape as much data from the facility as they can. If we can find where they're sourcing the raw materials, we can focus our attacks on the mines."

"We'll need to be careful with that," Cody said. "A lot of those mines are staffed by slaves."

"I am well aware, commander. Luckily for you, I've had more than my fair share of instigating slave uprisings. It'll be a win-win. We take out the Separatist's raw materials, and slaves get freed."

"And the Chancellor is okay with you doing this?" Ahsoka asked. Okay, that was a weird question. Something was definitely going on. He was pulling Cody aside afterward and demanding answers.

"Whether he's okay with it or not is irrelevant. He wants the facility on Xylox Prime destroyed. I'm going to do that. I want to free some slaves and shut down some mines, so I'm going to do that as well. It's all about compromise when it comes to politics."

They talked for a bit more about the best group of men to go down to the planet's surface for a stealth mission. It was decided that Anakin would be the decoy. His loud nature and general inability to stealth would come in handy and pull droid forces to the western ridge. Not only that but if they were going to have a ground invasion, that would be where the Republic forces would come from. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan, Rex, Fives, Echo, Waxer, Boil, and Jesse would come from the East. They'd need to drop down about three days prior to Anakin's assault and they'd be unable to contact the Negotiator for help if something happened. The mountains would be treacherous but would hide their energy signatures so they could slip into the base and get the data. Meanwhile, Cody and Ahsoka would be handling the air assault. Xylox Prime had three moons each with bases to serve as protection for the droid facility below. They were in charge of taking those facilities out and keeping the fighters there distracted so that Anakin's men would be in less danger. All in all, a very smooth plan of attack in Obi-Wan's opinion.

Or it would be if Rex and Cody didn't seem so worried about him being out of range of communications for three days.

"Did you tell anyone about this?" Cody asked towards the end of the planning session.

"Alpha-Seventeen and I discussed it, why?"

They both glanced up at a random wall.

Another listening device or camera that Obi-Wan didn't know about. Great.

And they were worried that someone was listening in and would use this information to impact their success. Great. Just great.

"We have some time before we get to Xylox Prime. We can discuss other options later. Feel free to brainstorm, gentlemen," he said.

"Yes, sir," Cody replied.

"Good man. Cody, with me. I need to discuss some other issues with you," he said, pulling Cody away.

Cody followed him dutifully until they made it to the one blind spot Obi-Wan knew about. He really needed a map of this place if he was going to start sneaking around more. Gods, he felt like a padawan trying to get in a good snog without his master finding out. Except, he didn't even get the fun of snogging. Instead, they were just… worried.

"Now then, do you want to tell me what actually happened on Shore Leave?" Obi-Wan asked once they were well and truly within the blind spot. He crossed his arms and quirked a brow at Cody.

Cody, surprisingly, straightened up and set his jaw. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

This… this surprised him. He wasn't used to Cody being so closed off from him.  Hiding things from him. Yes, he sometimes didn't tell him what was going on, but he never hid things from him.

"Cody, something happened. And Ahsoka knows about it. I was content to let you work it out yourself. I trust you. I still do. I trust you with my life and I trust you with Ahsoka's life, but if she is involved then I have to push. She is a padawan. A child. I will not have you endangering her without telling me what's going on."

"To be fair, we did try to keep it from her," Cody grumbled. "She managed to get involved anyway."

"Cody, talk to me. Whatever it is, I can help." 

 Cody's force signature did something Obi-Wan wasn't expecting. It flared from suspicion to straight-up panic.

Something was causing Cody to panic.

Of course, one would never know looking at him. His face was as stoic and impassive as ever. But Obi-Wan knew him. Cody was terrified.

But not of him.

No, he was terrified  for him.

There was some great danger to Obi-Wan himself that Cody was trying to stop from getting to him. And that made him all the more determined to figure out what was going on. Because it wasn't just Obi-Wan who was in danger. It was Ahsoka. Anakin.

Gods, now that he was feeling it, it was everyone.

Just as quickly as the panic had appeared, Cody threw up his shields and cut Obi-Wan off completely.

He gasped and staggered. Cody was quick to catch his elbow so he didn't fall.

"I want to tell you. I really do. I need to tell you."

"Then tell me," Obi-Wan said.

Cody took a deep breath.

He didn't say anything at first.

Obi-Wan thought he was steadying his emotions. Preparing to spill what he, Fox, and Wolffe had been investigating.

"Do you trust me?" is what he asked instead.

"You know I do."

He shook his head. "No. Do you  trust me? Not just to have your back. Not just to follow your orders or keep you safe. Do you trust me? With everything. Your life. The lives of your padawans. The lives of your people? Everything? Do you trust me to keep them safe?"

He didn't know what to say to that. He wanted to answer yes, of course. He told Cody he trusted him with his life. What more could he trust him with?

But that wasn't what Cody was asking.

He was asking for more than that.

He wasn't just asking for trust. He was asking for Faith. Nearly blind faith. The Faith that comes from accepting that you might never get all the answers but trusting anyways that it will not hurt you.

The type of trust he put in the Force.

Sometimes, the Force was not clear. Or it was clear but it seemed to lead him down a path different than what he thought he would need to follow. As a Jedi, Obi-Wan trusted the Force above all else. Above himself. Above the senate. Hell, even above the council. It was his duty. The Force guided. Of course, one had to use common sense, especially since the Force could easily be misread. But it was a balancing act. It was something that took Jedi years, decades even, to learn to do correctly. Some never did learn how to balance common sense with trusting some magical universal force that didn't speak so much as a nudge in one direction or the other.

But Obi-Wan still trusted it. He still let it guide him even when he wasn't clear on the direction he was headed.

He trusted the Force more than the Council.

And he trusted Cody more than the Force.

That was a realization he didn't expect to come to at the moment. And probably something he'd have to meditate on later.

But the answer to Cody's question was, yes. He did trust him.

He nodded.

Cody grasped his shoulders tightly and leaned forward. Almost to the point where their foreheads were touching. But not quite. Staying just out of reach.

"Then please, let me handle this. I will bring you in as soon as I can. And I will not let anything happen to Ahsoka. I promise. I will do everything in my power to protect her. But you have to trust me on this."

He pressed something into Obi-Wan's hand.

A blaster. Small enough to easily be hidden by the folds of his robes. Not really powerful enough to take down a droid, but certainly powerful enough to take down a person.

"You know I don't like blasters," Obi-Wan said softly.

"I don't care," Cody whispered. He dropped his hands and stepped out from the alcove, leaving Obi-Wan alone with his thoughts.

He looked down at the small blaster and then tucked it into his belt, next to his lightsaber. Something in this galaxy was very,  very wrong. And he had to trust that Cody, Rex, Wolffe, and Fox could deal with it.

*****

Episode 12: How YOU Can Help the War Effort 

The audience was excited. While the last few special episodes had been fun and all, they wanted to get back to the actual meat of the Series. Ahsoka Tano and the clone troopers, talking about the war and their lives. Only this time, there was something else there. How THEY could help the war effort?

How intriguing.

After the series had started to take off, people were interested in how they could take more of an active role in the war. Something tangible. Something that they could point at and say they did. Most people in the core worlds never had to worry about fighting droids, so Jesse's episode on how to do it didn't really help. And while Senators were getting more calls than ever, sometimes it didn't feel like the calls and messages amounted to much. A lot of people were still donating food, clothes, and toiletries to the troopers and they wondered if this was an extension of that.

It looked like it would be as the video started with Ahsoka sitting next to Representative Fox (who seemed to be less tired than normal) and Kix. In the background, doing paperwork was Commander Cody (would he finally be in a video talking and not just crushing droids with his thighs?) and Captain Rex (how horrible for the Chancellor to not follow protocol and declare him KIA so soon).

Ahsoka seemed to be beaming with energy, practically bouncing off the walls while Representative Fox cracked open another energy drink, downed it in one go, crushed it against the side of his head, and tossed it to the side.

"Let's do this," he grunted.

Kix looked more than mildly worried by the display. "Are you—"

"Don't have time for chit-chat. I got eight bills I got to argue about and another meeting with the technology subcommittee in an hour. Let's. Do. This."

"Right!" Ahsoka jumped in. "So, we're doing something a little special for this video. You see, you, the audience, have been doing a great job of supporting the war. You've donated your time, your money, and your energy to help us. And we're so thankful," she said. "But there's one piece of the war that has been neglected by the Senate for so long. And it's a big one."

"Medicine," Kix said. "You've all heard us talk about it. It was a big debate with Representative Fox during the budget restructuring of the last fiscal year. Now I'm going to be completely transparent, we do not have the medical supplies needed to treat our injured. And when I say we do not have the supplies to treat our injured, that is not an exaggeration."

Commander Cody stood up and walked towards the camera with a datapad in hand. "According to our records, we only get about half to a third of what we need each rotation. And we're not asking for more supplies than we need. On my last campaign with the 212th, ten thousand men were in need of spot bacta treatment for wounds related to blasters, cuts, and general injuries that come about when running around and shooting things. We only had enough to treat five thousand."

"Sparingly," Kix said. "If Helix's reports were anything to go by."

"And that's just spot bacta. Anything more complex that requires more expensive equipment and that percentage drops to about twenty-five percent."

Kix nodded. "On our last campaign, I needed a bone mender for a trooper that crushed his femur. The limb was going septic and had severed an artery. I didn't have a bone mender so I made the decision to save the trooper's life by cutting off his leg completely. It was not a decision I made lightly, but it was a decision I had to make. In each battle, we estimate that the casualties are approximately ten percent higher than they need to be. The reason? We don't have the medicine to treat troopers effectively. We have to ration antiseptics, bandages, bacta, and pain medication. Everything. And each time we halve antibiotic treatment so we can spread it out to more men, we risk more lives in the process."

"I know the Senate doesn't consider us sentient and therefore thinks we're replaceable. But producing a new clone that is ready to enter battle takes more time than producing a new droid that's ready to fight. In short, the Senate is bleeding money and resources by not providing us with necessary medical care," Captain Rex said.

"Which is where you guys come in!" Ahsoka said brightly, though less brightly than normal considering the situation. "Fox has been working on another amendment to the Food Donation Bill. One that would allow for civilians, specifically civilian doctors and med centers, to donate materials, med centers, and maybe even doctors and nurses, to help us out with the war effort. But we need your help to pass it."

Representative Fox opened up another energy drink. Kix tried to take it away but he hissed at him before chugging it down. He threw it in the corner. "There is more pushback to this bill than the last amendments. Senators are arguing that there's no way we can trust the safety and efficacy of the equipment."

"But," Kix cut in, "I'm working with the other medics to come up with a training to look at the equipment and determine if it's safe to use or not. There are several medics who are too injured to continue fighting that we can use for this job. So it wouldn't even take away from the current medics in rotation."

"And that's where we need your help," Fox said. "I'm arguing for this amendment in three days. I need everyone to call their Senators or message them in support. I know it's fast, but there are a lot of medics on leave right now in Coruscant and I want them to say their piece in front of the Senate in person."

"There's a form down below with a script you can say in case you're worried about that," Rex added.

"But you don't have to just say the script," Ahsoka said. "You can talk about how the troopers have helped you or how you're personally impacted by the war."

"The more of us who survive," Rex said, "The faster we can end this war. So if you've been negatively impacted by it, upping our survival rate once we hit the Med Bay is the best way to go about it."

"A ten percent increase in survival would save the Senate money in the long run as they wouldn't have to train new cadets" Cody added. "And by my calculations, a ten percent increase in troopers at each engagement would actually increase our chances of winning by fifty percent. And the more battles we win, the faster this war is over."

Fox nodded. "It would also be helpful if doctors, nurses, and med centers willing to donate time and equipment would reach out as well so that the Senate knows people are in support of it. Also, by having people donate equipment, this doesn't mess with the senate budget, which means they can allocate other funds to social programs like schools and infrastructure repair."

"So please, reach out! We're counting on you," Ahsoka said.

"And hey," Rex said grinning. "If you really hate your senator, imagine how much it'll piss them off to receive millions of messages telling them they're doing a shitty job?"

And reach out the audience did. The senators were inundated with calls and messages. Some were scathing, shaming them for letting so many men die and wasting taxpayer dollars on new clones when it would be cheaper and easier to just give them more bacta and a bone mender.

Several hospitals messaged in a list of medical personnel willing to help out along with an itemized inventory of all equipment and medicine they could donate. It was in the karking millions.

Still, several more medical equipment and medicine companies were pressured by the general population into donating inventory to the war effort.

In the end, there was so much support for the bill that it crashed the Senate mailing and message system. But people didn't let that stop them.

For the first time in probably a thousand years, physical paper copies of letters came flooding into the Senate building.

By the time Representative Fox took to the Senate Floor to argue for his next amendment to the Food Donation bill, half of the Senate was practically in tears (of frustration) because of how many people had reached out to them.

And it wasn't just him. The head of the Coruscant Medical Society also argued in favor of it. The University of Naboo's Medical School argued in favor of it. The Alderaan Medical Relief Corps argued in favor of it. As did the number one manufacturer of bone menders. Any clone medic on Coruscant was also invited to give their testimony to how the lack of medical supplies had impacted them. Kix recounted how much of a struggle it had been to save Ahsoka's life because they didn't have togruta blood for a transfusion and how close she was to dying. Helix had described a heartbreaking scenario where he and his medics had to choose who lived and who died based on the probability of survival with the equipment he had, even though most of those men would have made a full recovery had they had the equipment and medicine available.

Spine talked about a bacterial infection that wiped out half a platoon because they didn't have enough antibiotics to treat everyone.

Tener told a disturbing story in which he had to perform several surgeries on troopers without any anesthetics or numbing agents. The troopers who had those surgeries performed went into detail about how during the surgery they wanted to die, and how they still had issues to this day.

In total, people were talking for twelve and a half hours nonstop and so many people had gathered outside of the Senate, demonstrating in support of the bill.

In the end, the Senate had no choice but to vote the amendment into law. If only because they were worried about the riots that would take place if they didn't.

*****

Dormé: How's it going? Are you being safe? 

Miko: Yes! It's going… 

Dormé: That makes me worried

Miko: Oh, nothing like that. He doesn't suspect a thing. But… He just so….

Dormé: Still not instilling much confidence

Miko: A fucking baby-ass bitch-boy

Dormé: Ah. There it is

Miko: I mean, my god, if I have to hear one more rant about how women belong in the kitchen, I'm going to murder this bitch

Dormé: Please don't murder him. It's the first lead we've gotten in months. 

Miko: I know. 

Miko: Goooooooooooddddddddddssssssss

Miko: He's talking about Senator Amidala again. 

Miko: He's saying she's ruining her 'prime child-bearing years' by 'playing senator'

Miko: He's not even great in bed. Sub-par. He's got nothing going for him. Not even a great head of hair!

Miko: Is Commander Gree still on planet? 

Miko: I hear he's great with a sledgehammer

Dormé: Even if he was, I would suggest we not kneecap Tarkin's secretary until we get the codes from him

Miko: I know. I know. 

Miko: It is tempting though. 

Miko: He's telling me how much he appreciates me being a 'real woman' who 'knows her place'. 

Miko: Oh goody. He's going to 'take care of me' and make sure I 'never have to work a day in my life'. 

Miko: He wants ten kids. But he says it's my job to take care of them, the house, and make sure dinner is on the table the second he gets home from work. 

Miko: Are you sure I can't ask Commander Gree to do one little curb stomp? 

Dormé: I'm sure. 

Miko: UGH. Fine. I can't believe med school is easier than this. 

Dormé: Stay strong. 

Miko: Wolffe is taking me out to dinner after this. And not just Dex's. A fancy, expensive place. 

Dormé: They don't get paid

Miko: As if he won't just steal a senator's credits and use that for funds. He's done it before. 

Dormé: Good to know. 

Miko: You're not going to tell anyone, right?

Dormé: I'm helping him and his brothers spy on senators and military personnel, using sex workers to steal their codes and gather information they're not cleared to have. Trust me, him taking credits from corrupt senators is the least of my worries. 

Dormé: Besides, I want him to take me out to dinner too after this is all over. 

Miko: Get it girl! We're all rooting for you. 

Notes:Plo Koon: Sees Anakin Skywalker in need of a Dad

Plo Koon: I'm going to father this boy so hard he'll have no choice but to remain in the light.

Qui-Gon: It is done

Yaddle: You managed to speak with Cody? That is wonderful. How did he take it?

Qui-Gon: Quite well, all things considering.

Tholme: I imagine it was a shock to learn the Chancellor is the sith lord

Qui-Gon:….

Tholme: You… you did tell him that, didn't you?

Qui-Gon: God dammit. I knew there was something I was forgetting.

So, originally, I did not plan to have the clones be Force sensitive at all. But, well, I changed my mind. Suck it. Cody can use the Force. Originally, that conversation was supposed to take place between him and Obi-Wan for the ~Romance~ but then I thought, Hey, wouldn't it be funny if it were between him and Qui-Gon? Because lord knows Qui-Gon would frustrate the hell out of Cody. Lovingly, of course. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Next chapter. Things ~happen~ :)