Work Text:
Cody wished he could say he had known something was wrong when the chip activated.
But he hadn’t. Shooting down his commanding officer had felt routine and unremarkable. Sometimes it haunted him that he could have just as easily been made to fire on his brothers or innocent civilians and found it equally unremarkable, and his actual deeds haunted him enough.
He fiercely cherished his freedom now that the chip was gone, but he had to admit it had been easier not to have to think about these things.
But it was his responsibility to think about it. To remember what the Empire was built upon. To remember General Kenobi and the other Jedi. To remember the violation of his brothers. And to undo it, where he could. And someday, repay the Empire the way it deserved.
To that end, Cody had not left with Rex and the others, but instead returned alone to his position in the Empire. Back to officers who bothered to learn neither his name nor even his designation, preferring simply “You! Clone!” if they felt they had any use for him. Back to brothers who didn’t even know that their minds had been programmed, who couldn’t remember to care that no one called them by name anymore. There was no one Cody could trust or rely on, an untenable position for any soldier.
But Cody was a spy now. And that was the reality of that role.
The nameless invisibility of the clones was a twisted boon. As long as Cody didn’t draw attention to himself, he was above suspicion, either assumed to possess unassailable engineered loyalty, or, more likely, not thought much about at all. Officers and the new nat-born soldiers would speak freely in his presence without a thought to make sure he was cleared to hear it, and Cody’s role did give him access to some pertinent information.
Communicating that information back to Rex was more challenging. But Cody learned. He learned the patterns and habit, learned where and when he could push his luck and when he needed to hang back and stay out of the way.
One day, this would all come to fruition. Or perhaps he would be caught, tortured, and executed.
But he would never be a tool of the Empire again.