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This Is Not A Story - Time Travel and Non-Jango Clones

Summary:

So, I'm sure someone's read Blue_Sunshine's Desert Storm series. This is riffing off that a little. This is not a criticism in any way of that super-awesome series of fics, by the way, this is just a thought I had. It is also not a story, but just a summary of an idea.

Obi-Wan goes back in time, tries to fix all the things and then misses some of the side-effects of his changes.

Cody (and maybe some other clones) have also come back in time. They do not miss those changes.

Notes:

  • Inspired by [Restricted Work] by (Log in to access.)

So, like I said in the summary, I was reading Desert Storm, more particularly Sa Sarad, and I had this idea. It's very handwavy, mostly because this is an idea, not a story, but the question of the long term fallout of Ben Kenobi's efforts is an idea that fascinates me.

As ever, I own nothing that you recognise from anywhere else, and if someone wants to run with this, please go right ahead.

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

So, I was reading Sa Sarad and there are a couple points that I just had a flash of what if thoughts. They kind of spilled out in this idea.

Let's set the stage.

For those who haven't read Desert Storm (and you should because it's all kinds of awesome), the basic summary is that Obi-Wan goes back in time and a) takes over training his younger self so as to avoid the mess that his (Legends) padawan years were, and b) actively works to undercut the Sith efforts to destroy the Jedi with a long game. In the course of events, however, he causes the Sith to shift their focus and do things differently from how they went in the original timeline, which causes a variety of side-effects that take him by surprise, but effectively change a whole bunch of things so that whatever Palpatine and Damask's plans are, they're not going to go the way they went in the original timeline.

Sa Sarad, which is very much the specific story that spawned this idea, posits that with Jango back and running the Ha'at mando'ade, taking on his role as Mand'alor properly, the Mandalorian civil war turns into a proper head-on war of the kind that Obi-Wan fought during the Clone Wars.

So, what I was imagining was a set-up not unlike Desert Storm, in that Obi-Wan has gone back in time and in his efforts to fix things has changes everything so much that the Sith plans are now on a different track. More than that, he's embroiled in a land war on Mandalore with Jango. I'm frankly not so interested in the Obi-Wan teaching his younger self thing, mainly because lots of people are doing variants on that, and this is not supposed to be a retread of Desert Storm. But, y'know, preventing General Grievous from ever happening, saving Ventress, preventing Dooku from becoming a Sith, trying to peel the Jedi out from under the Senate's thumb etc. etc. He's figuring if he keeps all the bad things from happening that later caused trouble in the Clone Wars then he can stop things from going kablooie. He is wrong, of course, because it's not like Palpatine wouldn't have back-up plans, but he's so caught up in fixing things he isn't looking for that.

What Obi-Wan does not know is that Cody and some battalion-sized number of clones has also appeared back in time too. The difference is that they've been keeping their heads down because unlike Obi-Wan, they have a doppelganger who they don't want to mess around with. However, they find out that the land war on Mandalore is going on and Cody and the rest of them finally say screw it and joint their general on the front lines.

And there Obi-Wan is, on the front lines when suddenly he's surrounded by the highly familiar clones and Cody's very familiar disapproving censure when he drops his 'sabre again.

Actually, I was just rechecking and there's a bit where after he shoots a drone down Jango says, "He what?” Fett snaps, incredulous and angry at the same time. “That fucker can shoot?”

Obi-Wan complains that Cody never swore at him and the Mando beside him says that while they have no idea who Cody was, they can pretty much guarantee Cody was swearing at Obi-Wan in his head.

Having Cody swan in right then all, "I was absolutely swearing at you General. I was just also very good at turning off outgoing comms when I was so you wouldn't hear it." And then while Obi-Wan is thinking that he's having a hallucinatory episode Cody does something super-awesome and all the clones show up and are super-awesome.

Or something. It's just that that would be a really good cue.

They win the battle and the clones all trek in after the Ha'at'ade and then after a tearful reunion tell the Mandalorians their cover story.

While Jango was a slave we know he was working with spice, so at some point when he was drugged out of his mind, thus unable to keep track of time or anything else going on, someone stole samples from him and built a clone army and then told them that he'd agreed and abandoned them. This is done because that way any resentment the clones feel towards a Jango who's never done anything to them has an explanation. Then they go on to explain that Obi-Wan had generalled for them in some war in the Unknown Regions or something.

(For the record, I know that this excuse backstory also has a story in it, I just don't have any more on that idea than this one paragraph)

Cody and his vod'e are welcomed to the Ha'at'ade.

The second idea comes out of the fact that near the end of Sa Sarad there's this moment where Obi-Wan (Ben) is told that something is coming and they need to be ready. Anyhow, I just found myself thinking what if that's an army of Viszla clones?

So, when it's all over Cody pulls Jango aside and tells him that there is an army of clones being built on Kamino. Not of Jango - Obi-Wan's interference has made sure of that - but of someone from Death Watch. Pre Vizsla or someone. Death Watch doesn't exist anymore after the end of this little war, but unlike Obi-Wan, Cody et al want to keep some of Palpatine's plans on track because at least then they can predict with some certainty what he'll be doing. The request is made for Jango to take over the program, but at a distance. They don't want him to be the uncaring progenitor, but instead a meathead moron of a Mand'alor (the alliteration was not planned, but I'm leaving it now) who is fulfilling Viszla's obligations because of honour, but isn't looking into them to know what they are because he's playing dumb. Cody and the others basically request a revised Cuy'val dar who can raise these new clones up to be an army, but without the fear, loathing, decommissioning etc.

With Jango informed of this, he contacts some of his people and explaining that they need to raise these million clones of Viszla to be good mando'ade but in the Kamino surroundings to make sure that Palpatine thinks his plans are going ahead as planned. Cody basically travels between Coruscant and Kamino to spend time with Obi-Wan, but also runs the training program. No one tells Obi-Wan, because they don't want him marching in there to fix things. Fixing things is what has caused Palpatine to create x, y, and z crises instead of the ones that happened the first time.

When Palpatine/Damask manage to force a Geonisis-type crisis Obi-Wan is totally taken by surprise by the new clones, who are shockingly like the old ones, but for being of Viszla instead of Jango. (Like, I'm imaging a Viszla clone CT-7567 who's a natural blond named Rex and Obi-Wan starts frothing at the mouth).

Anyhow, the crisis goes way better because Cody has been behind the scenes, masterminding and making sure the baby clones understand how Jedi actually work.

Also, he cheerfully takes the fall pretending that he was impersonating Jango the whole time to get stuff done, which allows Jango to instantly shed the moron patina.

So . . . uh . . . yeah. That's my idea. A little shorter than usual, but I just had this spinoff idea that won't go away. I also don't know how this ends, though having the Jedi watch Obi-Wan and Cody just slide into their prior professional and personal relationship without the slightest hitch would be kind of amusing. Like, Obi-Wan just takes command of his portion of the army without anyone's permission or anything and rolls right into the war while the rest of the Jedi are still just figuring out who's assigned where. But yeah, I have no ending in mind.

Man, I should get around to reading the follow-up series, Rise and Fall, shouldn't I?