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Cody had a grin underneath his helmet as he watched his General, his kar'taylir darasuum ride off to end one of the final battles of the Clone Wars. His heart had nearly stopped when he heard the last report of Kenobi being in pursuit of Grevious. Right before he had found his lightsaber after it fell out of the sky. He knew that his love was strong and had survived everything that this war had thrown at him, but he still worried. But with the war seemingly in its final hours, maybe he wouldn’t have to worry any further.
And then his holopad began to go off, it was a high priority alert from the Supreme Chancellor's office. He wanted to wait, but he knew what the penalty would be for failing to respond in a timely manner.
As he pulled out the device and activated it, it took all of his restraint to not wince at the Chancellor’s visage. No longer did he appear to be the kind, elderly man who he had seen a few times during the war, who his brothers on Courscant gave their entire being into protecting each and every day. Every clone had thought that the capital of the Republic was safe after the Sepratist’s invasion was thwarted, but clearly that had been a mistake.
“Commander Cody, the time has come…” His voice sounded so raspy as well, it was like he had been poisoned or worse. From his appearance and now his voice, the Chancellor seemed lucky to be alive. Or maybe it was the will of the Force like his kar'taylir darasuum always liked to say.
And then his whole world shattered with what came next. “Execute Order 66.”
Cody’s eyes went wide as the order rang in his ears, all other sounds and thoughts going quiet in his mind. It was an order he had prayed each and every day would never be issued, that it had been paranoia and nothing more that caused this vile thing to be created.
The elimination of all Jedi for treason against the Republic. Things began to make a horrible sense, Lord Palpatine’s condition must have been a result of a Jedi attack. The thought that these men, these good men, who had been leading him and his brothers for years were capable of this made him sick to his stomach. But the proof was before him, clear as day. The Jedi had committed treason.
The need to kill the Jedi was becoming stronger and stronger, overriding every other thought that tried to go through his mind. But even if the Jedi were traitors now, even if his orders were now to execute his General for being part of this plot. He couldn’t. The feelings that he had for his kar'taylir darasuum were strong.
For months he had been considering what would happen once the war came to an end, especially in the quiet days after the 212th had been on leave after they had returned to Courscant. He had promised to himself that he would keep things professional until this war was over. Kenobi had always warned about becoming too close, especially during wartime. And after what happened to Satine, Cody couldn’t bear to put him through another pain like that.
The conflicting thoughts went at each other, a part of him was whispering coldly in CC-2224’s ear that good soldiers follow orders. That the Jedi needed to be executed for treason. That General Kenobi had to die. But Cody wanted to believe that Obi Wan had nothing to do with this plot, that he was one of the last Jedi who were loyal to the Republic. Until he knew the truth, he couldn’t forgive himself if he was responsible for his kar’taylir darasuum’s death.
He took a deep breath as he steeled himself for what he knew he would have to do next. His orders were clear, but so were his feelings. And the latter was proving to be stronger than the former, but if he didn’t carry out the order, one of his brothers would. And they wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
“Yes my lord.” Cody’s reply was curt, hard to put any emotion in his voice as he braced himself for what had to be done. He wouldn’t be able to show any signs of weakness or his brothers would be upon him like hounds. Not until he was alone and sure that no one else could hear his cries.
The holopad flickered off as he looked at Obi Wan who was currently making his way up the cliffside to engage the enemy. The Jedi had always talked about how the Force were with them all, looking out for them. He hoped with his entire being that it was true now.
He looked back at his brother manning the cannon on an AT-TE. His heart was pounding against his ears as the order left his lips. “Blast him!”
His heart raced faster and faster as he watched the shot go towards Obi Wan, thanking the stars that the blast had hit right in front of him instead of a direct shot. He watched as he and his mount were falling rapidly towards the bottom of the massive sinkhole that they were currently in, unable to tell if he had lost consciousness or not. If he was alive or not. The thought had terrified him, but he knew that there was a chance that he could have survived. He just hoped that they could assume he was dead. He didn’t think he could control himself if he saw his kar’taylir darasuum’s corpse.
The rest of the battle, he felt like he was on autopilot. He felt more like CT-2224 before he had met his General, before he had become someone beyond what he was intended for. It felt so cold now, so unlike him. It was only the clinging hope that his Jedi had survived that kept him from slipping completely into that mindset.
As the last of the droids were being cleaned up and they were securing the planet to ensure there were no further Sepratist elements here, he approached three of his best trackers in his battalion; they had been sent to confirm the death of the Jedi. He hoped for the best, but expected the worst.
“Did you find Kenobi?” It was a miracle that he was able to keep his voice straight and emotionless as he asked the question. In fact, he was a bit concerned at how detached he had managed to make himself sound when he had asked the question he was both eager and dreading to hear the answer to.
“Sir, no one could have survived that fall.” He nearly breathed a sigh of relief at the news, there was no corpse found and if there was, they didn’t have the means to go and retrieve it. That meant there was a chance that Obi Wan was still alive, that he had survived like always. He knew that this hope was the best he could have, anything more would make him a traitor.
His brothers would need him more than ever right now, in this new era where there would be no Jedi leading them, no one to encourage their own thoughts and feelings. And he would have to set his own aside to ensure his brothers were taken care of.
“Start loading your men onto the ships. Move it!” His voice was cold, but only because that was what everyone would expect of him from now on. To the galaxy, clones were not supposed to have their own feelings, their own thoughts, their own desires. But Cody would cling onto his until the day he died, even if he could never show them.
After all, he would never see Obi Wan again and that was for the best. If they did, it would mean that they’d have to fight and one of them would die. And he couldn’t bear the idea of a galaxy without Obi Wan in it to make things seem a bit brighter. One final thought crossed his mind as he moved to start getting his men together.
‘Goodbye love, my kar'taylir darasuum. If you are alive, I hope you know that I will always be loyal to you.’
He had said goodbye to so many of his brothers during this war. He only wished he didn’t have to say it for Obi Wan too.