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No matter how many times Cody has been inside of the Temple he still cannot help but think there is nothing in the universe like it.
The whole place is alive in a way that is attributed to more than the activity that happened inside it. While it teemed with jedi, yes, both little ones and older ones, both generals and those who had never seen a blaster outside of what the clones carried with them in the Temple, it was a place filled with life.
General Kenobi had explained, once
That it had been more so, before the war
Before they had lost so many
There was more to the place than that, more than filled with the presence of so many of the Jedi and their soft noise and ways of living. The Temple itself seemed to breathe, pulsing with a life of its own. Which would have been worrying, or even horrifying, if it wasn’t so light. Everything was bathed in a soft glow that seemed to emanate from the structure of the building itself. The people in the Temple weren’t the only living things there, the Temple lived with them.
It soothed in a way even being on The Negotiator, his home, does not. That, he thought, could possibly be attributed to the Jedi more so than the Temple. Or maybe the F orce , living in the walls and in the inhabitants.
Even now, as Cody searched for his General, he was greeted by several of the occupants as he passed, quiet as he can in his armor, through the expansive network of halls. They wave or exchange well wishes with him. It’s a pleasant shock to his system every time one of them so much as nodded their head in his direction, acknowledging him. A few even greet him by name.
That inclusion doesn’t change that he was certain he’d passed through this hall at least twice before. If there's one thing he is not fond of in the Temple, it is the seemingly random , confusing way it’s been mapped out. Despite being an Order, there is no order to be found inside the behemoth of a building and if one did not know their way around, it was easy to get hopelessly lost.
“Ah, Commander…” a small voice behind him spoke. Cody pivoted on heel, at attention, to find a C hagrian Jedi commander, a padawan, looking up at him. She must have been young, as she had yet to reach his shoulders. She clasped her hands together and bowed.
“Can I help you?” Cody ventured, unsure what to do. The only Jedi commander he had interacted with was Commander Tano. She was younger than Tano, and nervous in a way Commander Tano had lost after her first battle and was no longer shiny.
“I think I can help you,” she said, straightening. She cast a glance to the side, where two other Jedi Commanders stood, watching with wide eyes, “Are you looking for something? The Temple can be… overwhelming to newcomers and, well, I noticed you had passed by this way before. I might be able to help you find where you’re trying to go.”
There are many things on the list of things that should not happen to the Commander of the 212th, one of the most elite battalions in the Grand Army of the Republic, who served second to General Kenobi, one of their most prestigious generals. A shiny Jedi pointing out that he’s lost in his General’s own home has to be on that list, and Cody was grateful for all the practice he’s had with his own men that allowed him to keep a straight face.
“That would be appreciated,” he admitted, because despite the embarrassment, he’s not foolish and he would like to find General Kenobi before he died, “I’m searching for General Kenobi, I have information I need to discuss with him. I’m not sure where he is, and he isn’t answering his comm.”
“General Kenobi?” She repeated, then brightened, “Oh! Master Obi-Wan! I saw him only a few minutes ago, he was sparring with Master Plo Koon. I can take you there, if you’d like?”
“I wouldn’t mind the assistance, Commander…?” Cody trailed off, unsure of her name.
“It’s Valissi , Padawan Valissi is fine, um, Commander Cody, right? You’re Master Obi-Wan’s commander, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, surprised that she knew his name. “Thank you, Padawan Vali ssi.”
Padawan Valissi smiled up at him, her grin wide and filled with little sharp teeth, “Of course! You can follow me this way, Commander Cody.”
She waved her friends along, calling out to them that she would meet them later in the fountain room, then began to lead him down the halls. They began the way he had been headed but made a sharp turn at a bend that seemed to blend into the wall surrounding it.
“People from outside the Temple get lost all the time,” Padawan Valissi assured him as they trekked up a flight of stairs that curved out of sight into the floor above. “Most of the time they’re being accompanied by one of the masters, so it’s not something that we really worry about. But since the troopers have been staying here , and they don’t need to be escorted, we’ve started realizing how confusing it can be. You can get lost pretty easily.”
“It hasn’t been easy navigating,” Cody agreed, “I can get from the hangers to the council chambers just fine. Everything else…”
“Like it’s designed to turn you around,” she finished. “I wouldn’t be concerned by it, I’m sure Master Obi-Wan would show you around sometime, so you could get a better layout? Although you might be too busy for tours.”
“That would be useful, but I'm afraid you're right."
Padawan Valissi chattered as they walked through the light soaked halls of the Temple. She explained to him about where, how it connected to other places, waving to other Jedi as they passed only to whisper who they were and what they did once they were out of earshot. It warmed him as much as the Temple itself did, the ease that she spoke and gestured.
The corridor they were in widened, evening sky visible through the glass of the ceiling. His stride faltered as he took it in, just a moment. Valissi paused beside him, looking up as well. Coruscant was lit up too much to see the stars beginning to appear, but the color transition was a beautiful in a rare chance to admire.
When he started walking again, Valissi fell into step beside him.
A little over halfway down the hall, she stopped him in front of an open archway. He could see figures moving distantly in the room. The way they were moving suggested sparring and Cody would recognize General Kenobi regardless of the distance.
"This is it," Padawan Valissi, moving to stand in front of him instead of at his side. She brought her hands up to her chest, bowing once more. "It's been a pleasure walking with you Commander Cody."
Clone troopers didn't bow. Even in most diplomatic situations where the Jedi bowed, him and his brothers didn't. Most planets they visited didn't view them as sentient enough to warrant needing to bow. Though he had seen Jedis bow to one another countless times, didn't doubt he could replicate the motion if he wanted, it wasn't theirs.
Instead, he saluted, then, unsure, offered his hand to her.
Her gaze went from his hand to his face, then back, her mouth stretching in a grin. Reaching out to take his hand.
"Like this," Cody said, grasping her arm above the wrist. His grip completely circled her forearm, an unexpected realization as his fingers overlapped. She was so small. Chagrian were a tall, muscular race as they reached adulthood, all Cody could think was how young she must be, then. How delicate the bones under his hand was. She returned the gesture, her grip strong despite not being able to make it around his arm.
"Thank you, Padawan Valissi," he told her, keeping his grip firm. "It was a pleasure to meet you as well."
"You're welcome." She smiled as they released their grips, stepping back from one another, "Maybe I'll be able to help you again. Stay safe, Commander Cody."
"You as well."
He watched as she double backed the way they had come, waving to him before she disappeared out of sight. Sighing, he ran a hand over his hair before turning to the room once more, entering.
The area was reminiscent of the sparring areas on The Negotiator. An open room with space enough for several pairs to focus. The room was made of the same light stone the rest of the Temple was, though the floor was covered by a softer material to keep any too hard falls. The ceiling was open the same way the hall had been.
As Cody came closer, toward the corner of the room General Kenobi and the other figure were tucked into, he was surprised to note that Padawan Valissi was right, and General Koon was who was sparring with General Kenobi.
It was rare that Cody saw General Koon fight with his lightsaber. Wolffe and the 104th were primarily an air support battalion, mostly pilots. General Koon himself an experienced and talented flyer. Seeing him spar with his General was surprising enough to stop him short. But it's how they’re sparring that made Cody freeze.
General Kenobi was blindfolded, standing and swaying as General Koon circles slowly. Every so often, without any visible warning Cody could see, General Koon would lunge forward with a quick, sure motion that would have had Cody reeling back. And without fail, General Kenobi met him at the blow, blocking him with a frightening ease. Then General Koon would back away, resuming his circling until another invisible opening made itself known to him.
Cody watched, transfixed, as they repeated the pattern. Regardless of what direction General Koon attacked from, Kenobi was there, as if waiting for that particular move. They do this four more times, each repeat with less time in between, until General Koon leapt forward once more, delivering a series of blows, attacking with a ferocity that Cody wouldn’t have anticipated of him, especially during a sparring match. General Koon seemed to be making a genuine attempt to hurt Kenobi.
Cody’s instincts screamed to jump in, to provide cover fire and draw General Koon's attention away from Kenobi, if only for a moment, to give him an opening to finish the fight or escape. He hadn’t noticed his hand had gone to his blaster until Wolffe had grabbed his wrist. He pulled Cody toward him, the grip on his arm firm but not enough that he couldn’t break out of it.
“Easy, Kote,” Wolffe said, his voice low, “They’re just practicing. You get used to it after a bit.”
His face burned as he let Wolffe pull him to the wall he’d been standing against. Wolffe didn’t say anything else about it. Instead turning back to their generals as Kenobi met General Koon blow for blow, gaining speed as he did. Then, an almost imperceptible change as Kenobi twirls around General Koon and what had been purely defense moments before became offense.
It was so different from Kenobi’s typical way of fighting. The air tight defense was there, yes, as were the more conservative, economical movements. But so was something else.
The way Kenobi moved felt near planned. It was as if this were a fight him and General Koon had done countless times before. A familiar duet between the two of them. It’s a fearsome and beautiful display. Kenobi was beautiful, as he glided across the floor, putting General Koon on a fierce defense. The two of them moving together in give and take.
As Cody thought that, Kenobi faltered in his step. He hesitated, off balance with the brief pause. General Koon seized the advantage, pressing back on the attack once again.
They stopped when General Koon’s saber hovered over Obi-Wan's throat.
Cody’s heart lurches in his chest and it’s only the grip Wolffe has kept on his arm that kept him still. Wolffe squeezed his arm, but it wasn’t until General Koon lowered his saber away from Kenobi’s throat that Cody relaxed, exhaling in a rush as Kenobi sighed, pulling the blindfold down around his neck.
Kenobi looked uncharacteristically put out, huffing as he flicked his saber off and giving General Koon a baleful look.
“I almost had it,” he said, pushing a hand through his hair, “It always seems to slip away.”
“I would say you did have it,” General Koon tipped his head in the manner that made it appear that, if he could smile he would be. He reached out and put a hand on Kenobi’s shoulder. “You lost it at the end, but you held on longer than you have in the past. You’ve been making great progress, Obi-Wan. Soon it will come as naturally as breathing.”
“Yes, yes,” Kenobi sighed, crossing his arms, “It doesn’t help that all of this makes me feel as though I’m a padawan again, trying to learn forms for the first time.”
“You are developing your own style, wholly unique to yourself,” General Koon laughed. “there is bound to be a learning curve. Be easy on yourself, Obi-Wan, I’m sure that when you need it you will have it. It has come a long way, even with what you’ve done. I cannot wait to see it in full glory.”
“Full glory is a long way off,” Kenobi muttered, but his shoulders had loosened and he seemed to have accepted General Koon’s praise. Both the generals turned in unison to look at Cody and Wolffe.
“What did you think, Wolffe?” General Koon strode forward, pressing his hands together, just under his mask. General Kenobi followed behind him, smiling at them. “Obi-Wan’s fighting is coming along, yes?”
“I don’t know anything about saber fighting, General,” Wolffe answered, deadpan. “It looked fine to me.”
“It’s different,” Cody said, looking from one Jedi to the other, “It’s not how you usually fight, General Kenobi. Similar but not the same.”
“The forms are rooted in Soresu,” General Kenobi said, “but it’s, shall we say, an experimental version.”
“Obi-Wan has been perfecting using his giftings in the F orce to enhance his fighting style,” General Koon elaborated. “This is typically done as a padawan, but Master Jinn…”
“Master Jinn had very specific beliefs about how the F orce should be used,” General Kenobi cut in. “He knew how he wanted me to fight, so I learned that way.”
There is more to that story, Cody is sure. In the displeased buzzing General Koon makes and the sharp, bitter edge of his voice that General Kenobi does not explain. It does enough to explain why General Kenobi would be developing a different style, in the middle of a war.
“Will you be using it on the battlefield?” Cody asked, drawing the subject away from any sore issues.
“Not for a long while yet. I’m not comfortable in it, and, as you saw, cannot sustain it for long.” General Kenobi answered, “If I do use it, then you’ll know we’re under dire circumstances, indeed.”
~ * ~
“We’re pinned,” Crossfire grunted, ducking behind the outcropping serving as defense, “What are we going to do, sir?”
Cody tied to think of something encouraging or at least steady or rallying. Nothing came to mind. The whole situation was going down as one that Cody would be drinking to forget.
Assuming he lived to have that chance.
He is saved and the men distracted by General Kenobi. He is staring off into the distance, a slight frown to his features. The kind he gets when there is a situation he is finding a solution to but isn’t sure he likes the outcome or the plan. What’s strange though, is that the general is humming. It’s a soft, barely audible noise through the din of blaster fire and march of droids but there. General Kenobi had never done that before.
“General,” Cody said, placing a hand on his shoulder. General Kenobi looks up at him with a startled shake , “What do you want us to do?”
General Kenobi’s mouth presses into a thin line before his expression is set in the manner that it always did before he did something that Cody hated. Cody has to hold back a sigh at the sight. Whatever the plan has become, Cody is not going to like it.
“Stay in cover,” General Kenobi orders as he drops his robe. Cody’s fingers twitch as he refrains from pinching his brow. Kenobi isn’t focused on him however as he rolls his shoulders and takes a deep breath, “Fall back as needed, do not charge, do not make a forward assault. Number one priority is survival until reinforcements arrive. We hold them off as long as possible here. When we get overwhelmed, we’ll retreat into the forests. I t will be easy to lose them there, but hard for anyone to find and aid us. So, we will hold our position while we can.”
“Right,” Cody said, suspicious still, “and what will you be doing?”
There is something in the air. Like the energy aboard the Resolute when Fives and Echo are up to something. Something is there, with an almost physicality to it. Excited, double-time energy that makes him breathless for a moment. It distracts him enough that General Kenobi is able to unclasp and drop his chest armor before Cody realizes what he’s done.
“I’m the distraction,” he says, smiling, then breaks from cover toward the sea of droids.
Cody yells over the comms, the rest of the men shouting in equal alarm around him. He goes to follow Kenobi but is caught by Crossfire who looks upset as well, but still refuses to let go.
General Kenobi, his jetii , approaches the mass of droids alone. He is a wisp of pale robes and light skin and red hair, standing singularly against the dark ocean of gunmetal and machinery. Cody can see him twirling the hilt of his lightsaber in his fingers, but has yet to ignite the blade. Cody wants to scream, wants to run after him, to shake him by the shoulders and demand to know what the hell is he thinking?
But something is in the air still, something is curling around his shoulders, a weight looking over behind him and watching with him. When he glances over his shoulder nothing is there but a sensation. There is no sound, no smell, no thing, and yet a presence catches him and whispers ‘wait .’
He does. Afraid to break the tension and whatever is holding the droids into this momentary lull in blaster fire . Afraid to draw more attention to Kenobi, though he couldn’t possibly since it seemed every droid who had previously been focused on the 212th was now focused solely on General Kenobi.
“General!” Cody doesn’t like the touch of desperation he can hear in his own voice, but there’s nothing that can be done for that, really.
“Yes?” General Kenobi’s voice is faraway, as if speaking to a different conversation, a different world.
“What are you doing!”
The lightsaber in General Kenobi’s hand activates. It swings in wide, slow arcs around him as he settles into his opening stance, slow and easy.
“Trust.” General Kenobi whispers back.
The atmosphere Shifts .
The feeling from before, of anticipation but not quite his own, pulses, excited. There is nothing over his shoulder, but it feels like someone is there, watching, hanging off of him, squeezing their arms around him in excitement.
‘Watch .’ it says, soft and there but not.
So he does.
Kenobi breathes and burns bright and then moves.
It is nothing like Skywalker’s near frenzied, chaotic fight s . Nothing like Tano’s energetic if simple style, emulating Skywalker to the best of her ability. There are no excess movements, no fancy flips, nothing wasted as General Kenobi begins to move faster and faster until he is in the center of the battle, a swirl of light, a beacon in the sea of droids.
It takes everything in Cody to turn away.
“Take out the ones at the edge!” Cody barks over the comms, feeling the men who are beside him snap to attention at his voice, “Keep out of the General’s way. Hold your positions as long as you can, keep distance between you and the droids, retreat if necessary. We survive until the 501st arrives, go!”
Despite the return of blaster fire, from the 212th and some of the droids who are further away from the calamity that is General Kenobi, Cody cannot be helped but return his gaze to General Kenobi. Something is nudging at his ribs, like hands pushing him forward on his back, toward the metal debris that they have their backs to.
“Cover me,” he orders Crossfire, climbing atop the twisted embankment and lying flat, slinging his long-distance blaster from over his shoulder as he does.
It takes moments to adjust. Checking on their scattered troops and directing some to best regroup, before focusing, pulled toward the center of the battle like gravity, on General Kenobi again.
It is frightening.
General Kenobi move s with an unparalleled grace, every step and move ble e d ing into the next, his energy building and building as each step seemed as though he’d done it a thousand times before. There was rhythm to his fighting, to the way he doesn’t run through forms but dances. Kenobi spins away and where he was just one moment ago there is blaster fire as his saber cuts through a droid that had been approaching, that Cody had not seen about to move. It seems like luck, that Kenobi’s lightsaber would find the droid that happened to be there.
Except it happens again. Kenobi sways and stepstepstep s , to the side, and as he does three more droids fall to the energy that hums in his hand, another four are shot by their own blaster bolts from the saber that never stops in its arcs, and the one Kenobi stands toe-to-toe with at the end of that sequence has its head crushed by the Force as Kenobi pivots on heel and waltzes back the way he came.
He fights in circles, orbiting the center of the battle, sometimes with a variance out, until he is once again led back in by his own measure. He pulls droids both apart and into the path of his saber, hovering the pieces around him like a metal rain until he sends them back into the surge, where more droids fall as they are pierced by the shards of their fellows.
Cody has never seen anything like it. Not from Kenobi. Not from any General or other lifeform he has come across, jetii , Sith , or otherwise. He has seen beautiful fighting, yes. Would argue the General always fought with a certain saunter that was entertaining to watch.
This was something different. It was enchanting. It’s a display of power and control the likes of which they have never encountered. Cody can see Obi-Wan’s eyes are closed and, while it makes Cody’s stomach drop, there is no hesitation in Obi- Wan's fighting or in his steps. Obi-Wan’s lightsaber, that Cody has seen dozens of times, that is always blue, has changed. It seems to fluctuate, caught between blue and green, occasionally flashing gold.
It makes his breath catch in his chest as he could swear that, for a moment, he can hear music.
The feeling from before is there again. The sensation of hands smoothing down his face, despite his helmet, following his neck and clutching his heart tight in his chest.
‘Yes ,’ it pushes against him, thrumming, ‘s ee?’
Yes , Cody thinks, hypnotized as he watches Kenobi. I do.
The hands are back, cradling his jaw. He follows the suggestion without thinking, looking away from Kenobi. When it stops, he finds himself staring down a long-range droid that is beginning to take aim for Kenobi. Waiting for a break in Kenobi’s airtight defense to take a shot.
‘Here,’ the word is accompanied by an unpleasant buzzing and the faintest strains of a melody, ‘ he needs you, we need you, you are here.’
Cody takes aim and fires.
~ * ~
The battle drifts into a blur.
The 212th was a smaller, more elite battalion. While they could have enough resources and troops to hold out a long defense if necessary, those circumstances were not ‘ambushed’ and ‘forced to retreat’. They had their limits. And ten thousand sep droids they hadn’t been prepared for were certainly among them.
The 501st had been hours away when they’d sent the request for aid. Five hours and forty-two minutes exactly, should they not encounter trouble. Cody had started a timer on his HUD.
By the time Cody realizes, as if he was surfacing from underwater, there were no more droids and the battle is over, the timer reads sixteen minutes.
He shakes his head, moving slow to stretch his limbs then to stand and survey the wreckage. Some of their men had moved back, into more defensible positions. Many of them also look confused or dazed, like they’re not sure what has happened.
The last dregs of gravity catch his attention and his head snaps to where Kenobi was, where he is still in motion, surrounded by the carnage droids in a circle as he flows from one form to the next, circling in Soresu .
Urgency presses into chest and Cody has to get to him. Now.
Feeling was back in his legs and he leaps from his perch, slinging the rifle over his back. He could direct the men in a minute. Most of them were experienced enough to know what to do, at least for long enough for him to get to his general. Already he could hear Helix snapping orders through the comms as Cody ran for Kenobi.
It takes longer to get to him than Cody would’ve liked. The fallen droids making the journey treacherous and slowing him. He pulls his helmet off as he runs, tripping over parts in his haste to get to Kenobi as he dances in every slowing and exaggerated movements.
But he did, getting to Kenobi just as he twirled, spinning his lightsaber above his head before sinking into his familiar opening stance. It’s warm around him , a hea t that permeat ing the air like humidity though it hadn’t been there moments ago.
Now that he’s here, Cody can’t find the words to say. There is so much in his head, so many questions and reprimands he wants to give but nothing is good, nothing feels right on his tongue as he goes to say ‘general ’, to say ‘ Kenobi ’.
“Obi-Wan,” he says, voice cracked and raw, without the shield his helmet provides.
Kenobi opens his eyes as his lightsaber flick er s off and he straightens, meeting Cody’s gaze with a smile. Cody grabs his shoulders, taking him in to check for injuries. Nothing seems to be wrong but Kenobi rocks in his grasp, like there is still movement in him that he has to get out.
“Obi-Wan,” Cody repeats, because he can’t think of anything else to say, or anything else to say after. The bone deep relief that General Kenobi is okay, the absolute adoration and care he has for this man, who has demolished an army worth of droids on his own, just to protect him and his brothers. He doesn’t know if he should laugh or cry, either way it takes everything in him not to pull Kenobi forward to embrace him.
“Cody,” Obi-Wan says, and Cody inhales with a sharp breath. Kenobi’s voice echoed over itself, as if multitudes of him had spoken rather than one. Warm as the desert sun and rich all the way through, “darling, I think I’m going to need you to carry me.”
“What?” Is all Cody manages to ask, stuck on the word ‘darling’ before the rest of the sentence catches up to him. Not a moment too soon, as Kenobi tilts too far forward and begins to fall, nearly smashing into his armor. Cody grabs him on instinct, supporting him standing before shifting to pick him up, one arm beneath Kenobi’s knees, the other under his shoulders. Kenobi’s head is resting against the chest plate of his armor, but he hasn’t gone limp, so he must still be awake.
“Helix!” Cody shouts over the comms, thinking his heart might have stopped, “General’s down! We need a medic, Now!”
Obi-Wan is dead weight in his arms, resting and watching with half-lidded eyes between long blinks.
“I have a place set up,” Helix replies, level as ever, “bring him to me, we’re right on the forest’s edge.”
“Copy,” he says, then switches the channel to address everyone. “The 501st’s ETA is ten minutes out. Scout and secure a location in the forest, we’re not being taken off guard like this again. Boil, set up watch schedules for the next twelve hours. Everyone , stay on alert.”
He’s met with a chorus of affirmation as he trudge s back across the field, slower than he came, not risking tripping or, god s forbid, dropping Kenobi. Obi-Wan is still humming when Cody carries him past their men, through the flurry of troops to where he can see Helix waving him down. His eyes have closed, but Cody knows he’s still awake.
That something from before faded at the end of the battle, as if now that the high of it were over, there was nothing more of it to be seen. As Kenobi hums, nearly singing voiceless to himself, he feels it swell for a moment once more.
‘Love him, love you,’ it seeps into him, like the overheated warmth from Kenobi that seems to bleed under his armor, ‘stay, with us, stay with you. please.’
“Everything is going to be okay,” he says, because he can’t not say anything when there is so much love he has for his jetii . When Obi-Wan is willing to do anything for him, for his brothers, when Cody knows he is loved by this man, and cannot help but to love him so deeply in return. “We have you, Obi-Wan.”
Obi-Wan, a heavy weight in his arms that he never minds bearing, laughs. Soft, warm, and like he can’t help but laughing, though he doesn’t open his eyes.
“Yes,” he answers, smiling around the laughter, “Yes, you do.”