Chapter Text
“Commander Cody. Execute Order 66.”
Immediately Cody’s shoulders hunched, a small pinprick of pain flared up behind his right eye and he clenched his teeth, squinting at the small holo on his wrist.
His heart hammered in his throat, his mouth went dry.
Traitors must be executed. The Jedi are traitors. Execute them.
“Commander?”
Palpatine. Chancellor Palpatine. Only…not. More than the Chancellor. And he'd been given an order. The Jedi-
Cody’s hand flew to his head and his knees wobbled.
“Yes…” He managed through his teeth and the searing pain in his skull, “It will be done my Lord.” The words felt wrong, clumsy and metallic as they tore from his throat.
The Jedi are traitors. Traitors are executed.
Execute Order 66.
The order was there, whispering, crawling along the back of his mind like a spider, tickling the edge of this spine.
The Jedi.
He shivered. He was a good soldier he had to follow orders but that couldn’t be right…it couldn’t...
Cody had a terrible feeling about this.
The hologram winked out on his wrist and Cody called up his HUD as his heart pounded.
He had to think. He just needed one kriffing minute to think this through.
His head screamed.
Cody opened the channel.
*CC GAR Priority Channel Open*
*ALERT - You have opened a Priority One Secure Channel*
In the blink of one eye Cody had a direct line to every officer in the GAR, relayed to all ships and bases in the reaches of known space.
It shouldn’t have been possible normally, to reach everyone at once. It certainly wasn’t anything the Rear Oversight office had established, though the advantages were obvious. Fox had called him crazy (and a lot of other less polite things) when he put it in place during the first few months of the war.
All this time, and he'd never had a reason to use it.
But the Kaminoans were very good at what they did. And they trained Cody, designed him, to think of everything. To think about every attack, every vulnerability. And Cody was the best of the best, he thrived on his ability to out think, out maneuver and out match almost any enemy at nearly every turn.
So while he was still reeling from the order (good soldiers, good soldiers), still fighting to maintain control of his body that was suddenly bent on defying him, Cody opened the channel and bought himself some time.
CC-2224: Execute Directive 87. Repeat Directive 87 is in effect.
Cody kept his wits about him enough to ensure the message went out before he collapsed to the ground, holding his head, breathing harsh through nausea and pain and confusion.
The Jedi. Traitors. How could they? good soldiers-
“Commander!” a brother called out from somewhere far away, but growing closer.
-follow orders. CC-2224 - No no I can't. I wont. Not the Jedi. Not my Jedi but - good soldiers-
Crys hit his knees beside his commander, Cody had his head pressed to the ground, both hands fisted beside his bucket. Behind him a gunship after gunship swooped down to the surface and the slightly manic chaos of troopers flooding toward them kicked up dust all around them.
"Cody, Cody are you alright?" Crys pulled off his bucket, eyes wide and worried. He laid a hand on Cody's shoulder guard. “Directive 87, are you sure sir?”
Cody looked up, saw Crys' eyes flicker toward the cliffside, where their General was probably pulling another fool stunt in his hunt for grievous.
-good soldiers - CC 2224 kill the jedi - follow orders- he's not a traitor he can't be-
Cody’s head throbbed. It burned.
“Crys” Cody rasped, flinging a hand out and catching the man's arm. Crys bent closer, taking on his Commander’s unsteady weight.
“Cody?”
“Crys. Directive 114. Now.”
The man's face went slack with shock, but he was a good soldier. A good vod.
He didn't hesitate.
Crys reached for his sidearm and Cody closed his eyes.
Good soldiers follow orders.
Crys wouldn’t question the order. He would do follow it, even though Cody was the one giving it.
Maybe because he was.
Good soldiers-
Cody heard the sound of the blaster cartridge loading and held his breath and waited.
Good-
The blaster discharged. Finally, Cody felt nothing.