Chapter Text
Cody growled as the two guards entered his holding cell. Well, it was more like a gurgle with the amount of blood that had been pooling in his mouth.
But the injuries he had sustained over the previous 48 hours really couldn’t compare to the last 5 years of his miserable existence.
The red guards grabbed him by his arms and all but dragged him out of the dingy cell that had been his home for the last 24 hours after transport. The torture wasn’t going to get anything out of him, that much his captors knew. After all, Cody didn’t survive this long without a mental fortitude that could take whatever torture was being dished out. No, if the Empire wanted something more than CC-2224, Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps, they would have to tear his mind apart to find it.
And if there was one thing that the Sith lacked in, it was patience.
Cody knew he had at least half his ribs broken, maybe even a collapsed lung. It would explain why it was so hard to breathe. His shoulder had been dislocated at some point and set with a swift shoulder slam into a wall. He probably had a litany of hairline fractures everywhere, not to mention the bruising and swelling which decorated his body like that of an Ink Artist. Blood was caked on his face from the forehead laceration and the severely split lip. An eye was swollen shut and his left knee wasn’t bending right.
He had lived through worse though.
Cody knew the fate that awaited him. It was the same fate that awaited anyone found aiding the resistance. A mental torture that couldn’t compare.
But Cody wasn’t worried about that. No, he accepted the consequences the moment he saw the little update on his data pad. He set in motion the plan which was years in the making because he wasn’t going to get a second chance.
And if he thought about it too hard he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from breaking down.
He didn’t kill his general. Obi-Wan Kenobi, even after a decade of Imperial rule, was still alive. And in some ways, it was inevitable that he would find trouble once again.
But that was his general. His general who he loved more than a clone trooper probably should. His general who loved all the men he commanded unconditionally. His general who seemed too kind-hearted to be on the battlefield. Who seemed to age just as fast as the vode as the war dragged on. Who made tea in horrifying quantities when there was more paperwork to be done. Who deserved so much more than what life gave him.
Cody was going to ask him after the war. If he wanted to just get away. Maybe have a small house at the edge of a lake on some backwater planet where they could live out the rest of their lives. They hadn’t dared broach the subject while the war was still raging. That would have been unprofessional and there was work to be done. Neither of them said anything. Even when the nights were long and the paperwork even longer.
They didn’t say anything about the lingering touches. Taking solace in what little silent ways they could.
Cody wished now that he wasn’t so silent.
Because now he would never get the chance.
The Sith Master that was hiding right under their noses all along made his final move. And there was no way to counter it. Cody still shivers when he remembers that comm. How everything was fine, they were winning. The war was almost over. And then Cody was a spectator in his own body. Screaming and crying out as he watched himself give the command to shoot his beloved general off the side of a cliff.
The screaming continued for five years.
That’s how long it took for the chip's hold to finally loosen and for Cody to finally break free. But by that point, he was so entrenched in the Imperial command structure that he couldn’t get out. Not without some help.
He knew there was a resistance out there, a resistance who would jump at the chance to get the data he had access to. Because even under the control of the chip, CC-2224 was terrifyingly competent and good at his job. The job description just changed.
It was three years of collecting data, mapping out bases, and slicing into files that he had no right to be in before he was able to contact anyone in the alliance. And in many ways, Cody shouldn’t have made it as far as he did.
He almost didn’t.
A few months in he couldn’t take it anymore and found a small quiet corner in a storage area. He planned to place the blaster under his chin and pull the trigger. Swift, painless, and easy. And then like most of his plans, it went out the next airlock.
There were two clones there huddled together, terrified as they recognized CC-2224. And Cody couldn’t blame them. Clearly, they weren’t under the influence of the chips anymore and Cody’s heart broke as he recognized how young they were compared to the few clones that were still left in the imperial ranks. They couldn’t have been older than cadets when the chip was activated.
They calmed down significantly when Cody explained he wasn’t under the control of the chip either and introduced themselves as Hope and Spark. They weren’t batch mates, but had been assigned together and caught in the same blast while on a mission that set them free of control. They probably wouldn’t have made it out if it was just one of them who was.
Cody envied how they had each other to lean on.
But now they had each other and Cody promised that he would get them off of this god-forsaken imperial base. And it was in some ways easier now knowing that he had other vode that depended on him. He showed Hope and Spark the best ways to remain undetected, how to act ‘normal’ when faced with others. And it worked. They got better at hiding and acting, Cody sometimes had to double check that the chip didn’t somehow reactivate. Together, they made it until the plan was in motion.
Cody never thought of turning a blaster on himself again.
The alliance was understandably upset that Cody was going to extract himself from the imperial base, but conceded that they needed the information Cody had and that there would probably never be a better time than right now to get him out. Lest they never be able to.
That was how that plan was supposed to go. Get in, extract three clones and the data chips, and run as fast as they could.
What actually happened was that Rex --because of course it had to be Rex leading the mission-- got his ship docked and some alarm was triggered despite his efforts. Cody wasn’t at all surprised as he all but grabbed Hope, Spark, and the data and ran. The chips were given to Hope when they met up with Rex who gave him and Spark directions to the ship.
Then it was just Cody and Rex fighting off a hoard of Stormtroopers. Not the reunion that Cody had intended but it felt strangely fitting for how karked up both his and Rex’s lives tended to be.
Cody didn’t think about the faces that could be under those pristine white helmets.
They were almost to the ship when the red blades appeared. Most of the Stormtroopers were dead but Inquisitors were much harder to put down. And between Rex and Cody, well, there was only one who could buy the other enough time to get off the planet.
He told Rex to tell Obi-Wan if he ever found him.
“Tell him I love him, I always loved him, and I’m so sorry.”
Then he had shut the blast doors in his dear vod’ika’s face and ran.
Gods he hoped Rex and the others were alright.
But he had no time to check. Between killing the last two Inquisitors on the base and blowing the entire base itself sky high, he had his work cut out for him.
Cody smiled as he remembered the shocked faces on the first Inquisitor when he had stabbed him with his own blade. It had been a long time, but Cody remembered his spars with Obi-Wan. He knew how force sensitives moved and the Inquisitors were certainly no Obi-Wan. They were sloppy and overconfident and when the first was dead, the second was even worse. But at that point, Cody had a lightsaber and his lack of experience with one didn’t matter.
Then it was just stealing a shuttle and exploding the new shipment of liquid tibanna left unprotected in the hanger during all the commotion.
Cody never felt as much glee in his life as he saw the black smoking crater he made.
Of course, that was around the time his ship got caught and he himself captured.
Now he was being dragged through the dark but sleek hallways, presumably to whatever cell he was going to be essentially mind-raped in.
He was surprised when instead he was brought into a throne room and that Lord Vader was at the other end.
“Leave us,” his modulated voice commanded.
The guards unceremoniously dropped Cody on his knees and swiftly left.
Cody groaned and he tried to sit up. Standing was out of the question no matter how much he didn’t want to show weakness in front of Vader. His knee throbbed painfully as he sat back on his heels.
“I should have suspected you broke free of your programming,” Vader growled as he stalked closer to Cody, his cape fluttering about like a caged bird. “You were always too smart for your own good.”
Cody grinned, letting some blood drip down his face. He knew it wasn’t a nice smile even if it lacked the bloody element. Vader didn’t comment on it.
“Well? Any last words?” Vader stopped just a few feet in front of Cody who looked the Sith Lord up and down.
To a younger Cody, he would have been scary if not downright horrific. But this Cody had lived through hell. Walked through its gates and blood-filled fields, right up to the castle of eternal torment where he might as well of kicked the doors in and faced the devil himself. And, here he was, still standing.
There was little more than Lord Vader could do to him that would actually hurt. And Cody was not going to let that happen.
“Thought you’d be taller.”
The harsh kick to the face was not unexpected. Cody grunted as he was sent sprawling backward. If his nose wasn’t already broken, it certainly was now.
Vader growled through his voice modulator, picking Cody up by his ripped blacks. “What have you given the alliance?”
“Say please and I might give you an answer.”
Cody bit his lip to keep from making any sound as he was thrown into the wall. Antagonizing a Sith Lord was usually not a smart thing to do if one wanted to keep their head. Lucky Cody was aiming to do just that. The Sith couldn’t get anything out of him if he was dead.
“When did you break free from your conditioning?”
Cody’s head was swimming. Not good. He needed to escalate this if he wanted to die before passing out.
“Long enough to figure out what happened to you, Skywalker,” Cody hissed.
The Sith Lord froze. Yeah, Cody was pretty sure he wasn’t expecting that one. But anyone who knew Skywalker and had some basic common sense could put two and two together. Cody found it laughably easy once he looked at the reports with a clear head. The chances of someone like Skywalker dying were already slim, but to suddenly have this all-powerful Sith Lord just appear seemingly out of thin air? Even more unlikely. So it wasn’t difficult to figure out, especially with how much darker Skywalker seemed to be getting as the war dragged on. Rex had brought it up a few times as even he was starting to notice and worry.
The air crackled around him, a feeling that Cody had long learned to associate with the presence of a pissed-off force-user. Good. Now he just needed to tip Vader over the edge.
“I thought you of all people would understand what it is like to be a slave,” Cody accused, going right for the jugular. “Instead you let that same fate happen to me and all my brothers. You are no better than a-“
Cody choked as he tried gasping for air. Vader's arm was outreached toward him.
Under normal circumstances, Cody never would have brought something that sensitive up. It had been by accident that he found out. Rex had told him after the mission briefing for Zygerria when the original plan was scrapped and Ahsoka was put in Anakin’s place. Cody hadn’t questioned it at the time, but Rex explained Skywalker’s backstory later in private. That didn’t make Cody feel any better about Ahsoka playing the role of the slave though.
“YOU HAVEN’T THE RIGHT TO COMPARE ME TO ONE!” Vader screamed and the pressure around Cody’s neck tightened before loosening.
Cody braced himself on the floor as he coughed violently. He glared at the Sith Lord before firing back, “YOU AND YOUR NEW MASTER TURNED US INTO SLAVES! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO!”
“YOU HAVE TO BE A PERSON TO BE A SLAVE!”
And oh that one hurt. Not nearly as much as it would have a decade ago though. Cody spent five years as a mindless meat sac and then had an additional five to build upon his personality in private. One that was unfortunately built on mountains of spite and determination. He wasn’t the same person as when the war ended. But if his time alone taught him anything, it was that he was more human, more alive, than anyone could hope to understand. After all, you can’t go through all the emotions he did and not be.
“Oh I am alive,” Cody started softly as the Sith marched toward him. “I am alive and I am loved which is more than you can ever say.”
How many brothers would recount him in their remembrances each night? Rex, Hope, Spark, and probably dozens more. They all love him. Obi-Wan too. That for Cody is enough. When this is over he will wait for them on the other side.
A black hand wrapped around his throat and dragged him up the wall. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO I HAVE LOVED AND LOST LITTLE CLONE!”
Cody’s hand instinctively reached up to try and pull Vader’s hand away from his throat. “AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I HAVE LOST! BUT I AM STILL LOVED AND I FIGHT FOR THEM! YOU’RE JUST PISSED THAT OBI-WAN LOVED ME MORE THAN HE COULD EVER LOVE YOU!”
And for the second time that day, Cody was thrown across the room. His body was screaming at him to stop. But he couldn’t. Not just yet.
Cody wiped the fresh blood off his face, bloody teeth grinning. “Lady Amidala would hate you for what you’ve done.”
Vader roared with hate and the air around him turned electric. His lightsaber was lit and the Sith Lord was charging at him with it raised high.
Cody refused to close his eyes and look away as the angry red blade came down on his neck.
'Like Father, like son,' some hysterical part of his mind laughed.
Cody couldn’t feel his body but could feel it as his head hit the floor. The world was rapidly growing dark but he still had a manic grin on his face. He did it. The alliance would be safe and the empire would get nothing out of him.
A toxic black sludge seemed to permeate the room. It was a slick oil that couldn’t be removed and Cody felt like it was layering up upon his very mind, lapping at the mental shields he had so meticulously maintained over the last five years. He didn’t like it but supposed this is what he got for dying around a Sith Lord so consumed by hate.
‘Nu kyr’adyc, shi taab’echaaj’la’
The world when dark.
~-~
Cody didn’t know what the afterlife would be like. If there even was one. But after the hundredth time Obi-Wan said that all the dead return to the force, Cody believed it.
This wasn’t exactly what he was expecting though.
He was floating. Suspended but at the same time, it felt like he was moving. There was nothing around him and Cody couldn’t get a good grasp on his body. If he even had one. Maybe it was just his consciousness floating along in the abyss. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
‘This is not the end of your journey for I have chosen you to be my champion.’
And Cody had to resist the urge to groan in annoyance as he was swallowed by nothing.
~-~
Coming to the second time was a lot more painful. Nothing like the floating and ethereal yet damning voice.
‘Your journey is not over’ what kind of banthacrap was that? He died. He was dead. Did he not get the chance at some peaceful final rest? Was that too much to ask of the universe?
Groaning, Cody was successful in opening his eyes only to slam them back shut as intense sunlight nearly blinded him. He raised his arm to shield his eyes and try again.
The fact that he was able to move his arm was a blessing. It would be quite terrible if he had to navigate the afterlife as a detached head.
Though now that he was looking, it didn’t seem very afterlife-ish.
He pushed himself to sit up despite his muscles many protests. His neck felt like it was on fire.
The land was tan, sandy, and flat. Well mostly flat. There were tall spires of orange rock jutting out of the surface. A light breeze was blowing and Cody inevitably got some of the dry dust in his mouth. It tasted like coarse death. Like Geonosis.
“No,” Cody said softly. He twisted until he could see the tall colosseum behind him. That terrible place that was the tomb of the first of so many vode and Jedi.
Looking back to the sky he could see ships, both Republic and Separatist, littering it. There were flashes of explosions and gunfire. And as much as Cody loved rushing into battle he was not going to tempt it in only ripped blacks. This may be the afterlife, but he didn’t exactly fancy dying a second time. At least not within 24 hours of the first.
One of the launching Separatist ships stopped rising and fell back down, exploding when it hit the dusty ground.
The universe must have a really funny sense of humor if it thought Cody’s afterlife should be on Geonosis.
Deciding that literally anything was better than sitting and waiting for trouble to find him, Cody stood up and started walking to the Colosseum. It took a little bit before he could find the entrance but once he did, it was nothing but bodies and the stench of death. Geonosians littered the hallways. It was only when he got further in that he started to see clone bodies too.
Cody made his way further and further down before he finally made it to an opening with light.
As he turned the corner he stopped dead in his tracks. A small child --‘Boba’ his mind helpfully supplied-- crouching down and holding a silver blue helmet in a Keldabe. The was a faint blue figure standing close to the child.
Cautiously, Cody made his way forward, making sure to make noise as he approached. The last thing he wanted was for Boba to pull a gun on him and shoot. But like hell was he going to leave a child with the remains of his dead father.
Or well should be dead father. Because the blue figure that was standing next to Boba trying to put an arm around him was the unmistakable figure of the Prime himself.
Cody had many questions like one, this was his afterlife. Why the hell was Prime here? And two, why the hell would his afterlife be at the First Battle of Geonosis? A battle that he had never been a part of?
Boba snapped his head around staring at Cody with afraid eyes. His grip on the helmet noticeably tightened. Cody really hoped Prime’s head wasn’t still in there.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” Cody calmed holding his hands out in a non-threatening manner. Poor kid. He was shaking and clearly in shock. Cody’s heart broke at the sight.
Some part of Cody always felt bad for Boba. The war made it difficult to find him right after Prime had died and then he went and was the cause of so many other vode deaths, including Ponds, that Cody really didn’t want to find him. Still grieving the death of his batch mate. But Boba never had the chance to be with them. He was always the black sheep of the vode. The little brother who aged normally. Who got all the love and attention from Prime that so many other vode wanted so badly but never got. And here he was before he made all those choices, just a small scared child.
Cody walked closer to Boba, taking note of any weapons that the kid might have. Slowly he kneeled in front of him. “Hey Boba, it’s...” Cody paused. He couldn’t say it’s okay. The kid just lost the only parent he had. “I’m so sorry.”
Fresh tears sprung in the kid's eyes and he started fully sobbing. Not the quiet tears he had before. And Cody didn’t know what to do. It’s been so long since he consoled a child. But hesitantly he opened his arms and to his shock and relief, Boba basically threw himself against Cody, sobbing even harder. Quickly Cody wrapped his arms around him. Boba was still holding onto the helmet but it was in fact empty.
Cody spotted Prime’s head not too far away next to his very lifeless body. Which made the figure watching Cody with true despair in his eyes so much worse.
It was clearly Prime in full beskar’gam minus his helmet.
His eyes narrowed as they made contact with Cody’s. “Cody? Can you hear me?”
Cody paused waiting for Boba to turn and acknowledge his father who was standing right there if a little blue and transparent. When Boba said nothing, Cody had to assume that Boba couldn’t hear him. Which left Cody with a whole slew of different feelings. It had been so long since he saw or even thought about Prime, never mind hearing his name come out of his mouth. Cody wasn't actually sure if he ever heard Prime use his chosen name.
After too many seconds Cody finally replied. “Yeah Prime, I can.”
“Why are you here and where is your armor?”
Cody flinched at the tone. It was almost caring. Prime didn’t care. He was a strict trainer. He got them ready for a war. Pushed them as far as they could go and then some because it was his job. Not because he cared about some copies of himself.
Cody decided that this rendition of the afterlife sucked.
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to be dead. A Sith Lord, er... also removed my head.”
The burning in his neck had subsided mostly as well as the aches in the rest of his body.
“There’s a Sith Lord on Kamino?” Prime asked alarmed.
“Uh, no. Not exactly... it was Mustafar I think.”
Prime frowned like this was not the answer he wanted. It was very painfully accurate. “I’ve never heard of that planet, and there’s no way you were there. Cody, how did you get here?”
Boba’s sniffling started to quiet down and he asked in a sad scratchy voice. “Who are you talking to?”
“Uh, you wouldn’t happen to be able to see your father, would you? Kinda blue and translucent?”
Boba whirled around looking desperately but still firmly in Cody’s grasp. He snapped his head back and leveled Cody with a menacing glare, trying to wiggle free of his hold. “No, I don’t. He’s dead. Stop saying that like he’s alive.”
Cody refused to let Cody go even as he continued to struggle, looking desperately to Prime for some help.
“Verd’ika ni su-cuyi, urmankalar kaysh, gedet’ye. Say it to him,” Prime demanded, looking frighteningly human.
So Cody repeated it to the best of his ability, cringing at his clear accent. The trainers didn’t pass on much when it came to the actual Mandalorian language. Certainly not enough to be fluent.
As a result, much of the Mando’a spoken between vode varied and changed as they were separated into different battalions. The 212th new probably the most Mando’a from Obi-Wan who would teach them other small phrases or words. But other battalions didn’t and tended to incorporate their general's own language into theirs. The 501st for example knew a fair bit of Huttese, even though most of it was swear words. Fives was always very proud of that fact.
But Cody seemed to have gotten his point across as Boba just stopped moving. Then in a meek voice asked, “Is he really there? Can you really see him?”
“Yeah, Boba. I don’t know why but I can see him. He can see and hear you too.”
Boba curled closer against his chest. And Cody was at a loss for what to do next.
He couldn’t just leave Boba here. He had to get him somewhere safe. Or well safer.
“Can you lead me to your ship?”
Prime just nodded and started walking. It was clear he was hurting. It was so clearly etched into his face. Cody was not used to seeing just emotion there. It was always either blank beskar or an emotionless face.
Gently, Cody scooped up Boba and followed Prime. The helmet hit his back with every step.
After more turns than Cody would have liked, they made it to a landing pad and Prime gave Cody the combination to open the ship. Then he led Cody to Boba’s small makeshift room. Cody set Boba down on the bed and tucked him under the covers. “I’ll be back soon, just please stay here.”
Like hell was Cody going to leave Prime’s body just there in an arena. He would probably have a few words to say about that anyway.
So after several more turns and twists and following Prime. Cody was able to collect the body and bring it back to the ship where it was now in storage covered by a spare tarp that Cody found lying around.
He sighed as he sat down at the small table rubbing his face with his hands. This was a nightmare. And Cody had no objective. What was he supposed to do? Fight a war again? Forgive him if that wasn’t the most appealing option. Not to mention he had Boba to figure out.
This was the afterlife. Things were supposed to be easier.
“Now do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Cody looked up to see the mildly pissed expression of Prime. He had disappeared as soon as they got back to the ship, presumably to look after Boba.
“What do you want me to say? I’m dead and this is some really karked up afterlife. Like the universe decided that my life wasn’t enough of a joke,” Cody snapped.
Prime narrowed his eyes. “First off you’re not dead. I don’t know why you would think-“
“This is why!” Cody interrupted grabbing the edge of the blacks he was wearing and pulling it down.
Prime for a second looked horrified before settling back to neutral very quickly. Cody took that to mean that a scar from getting decapitated did in fact carry over.
“How are you alive?”
“I’m not! I’m dead!”
Prime just shook his head. “Listen, son-“
“I am not your son.”
Prime paused looking uncomfortably pained as he looked at the now thunderous expression on Cody’s face.
“Look, I don’t know what you think has happened but this is the Battle of Geonosis. I am the only one here who has died. And you, despite the universe's best intentions, clearly are not. This isn’t some karked up afterlife of yours.”
Cody clenched his jaw. It had to be. Because the alternate option was so much more foreboding. But then again, Obi-Wan loved saying ‘anything is possible through the Force’.
But even then... time travel after one's death is hardly a believable story.
“Then the only other option is going to sound crazier,” Cody stated dryly.
Prime just raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “I’m currently a caporal ghost, try me.”
“I, well when I died. It was about 13 years from now. I should be dead. But instead, here I am 13 years in the past.”
Prime just looked at him for a very long time. “Are you actually Cody?’
“Yeah, I’m Cody.” It was still in a way unnerving that Prime was using his name and not calling him ’24 like he used to. Cody was surprised Prime even knew his name since names were something the vode never used in front of the trainers or where the Kaminoans could hear them.
“It’s strange. You’re too old to be a clone, but not big enough to be an alpha.”
“Yeah, I’m about 23 I guess.”
The Kaminoans knew what they were doing with their biology as much as Cody hated to admit it. They engineered the clones to age twice as fast while growing up but once they finished growing, their aging dropped to an almost grueling pace. All that time that each clone lost while growing up was shoved into their 20s and 30s, 'extending the period of maximum proficiency’ as the Kaminoans explained it. While Cody didn’t mind having more time at peak performance, it didn’t make him feel better about the childhood he was robbed of.
“You have a recognition chip in you?” Prime asked.
Cody nodded.
“Scan it for me. There should a scanner in the top right cabinet.”
Cody did so. Not that he had to if he didn’t want to, but it would be a better idea to check it. See if anything else changed with his apparent time jump.
He scanned for the small chip in his wrist and quickly found it.
CC-2224
Clone Marshal Commander of the 7th Sky Corps
Battles Participated in:
- Battle on Caliban
- Siege of Hissed
- Battle of Christophsis
- Battle of Teth
- Skirmish on Rishi Moon
- Battle of Felucia
- (...)
Prime let out a small whistle as he saw the long list of battles that Cody had been a part of. “So you weren’t joking about that time travel stuff. There’s no way you could’ve faked all this.”
Cody sat back down in a chair. “Yeah, I wasn’t. Which means I was sent here to do something.”
“You get any direction for that?”
“All I got was a message from some voice, ‘This is not the end of your journey for I have chosen you to be my champion.’ Real descriptive.”
“Well I mean it does kind of imply that you’re not dead.”
“Really, because I don’t know about you but a lightsaber to the neck was pretty convincing for me,” Cody snarked. He needed a plan. If he really was sent back in time, then the only thing he could think of is that some overarching power or being was not happy with the way the war turned out and wanted it changed. And for some reason, Cody of all people was picked, only able to be sent back after he died.
“How did the war end?” Prime asked and Cody was very tempted to not tell him. But if he was going to be stuck here, he was, unfortunately, going to need Prime’s help, and pissing him off was not going to be ideal.
“The Sith won.”
“The CIS?”
“No, it’s complicated,” and then a thought popped into Cody’s head. Something must have shown on his face because Prime was looking at him intensely. If Prime knew about the chips Cody was going to find a way to bring him back to life and kill him himself. “Do you know what an Inhibitor chip is?”
Prime made a face. “No, why?”
“If you are lying about this I will bring you back and kill you in a much slower and much more agonizing way.”
Prime clenched his jaw, clearly not too happy about Cody threatening him or speaking to him the way he was. “I don’t, now spit it out. What is it.”
“A chip implanted in the brains of every clone which, with a few words, can turn every single one of us into a mindless flesh droid. Something with no personality or life or capacity to question orders. Just things that carry out whatever order they are given.”
Prime had a small glint of horror in his eyes and was looking paler than normal, even for a ghost. “They turned you into obedient slaves. What did you do.”
Cody’s lip curled into a sneer. “Something you probably would have been proud of. We killed every single Jedi we came across. The Masters, the Knights, and the ad’ika.” Prime flinched at the use of ad’ika. “We slaughtered them without question, our friends that we served with for years. Who protected and defend us, all wiped out in the span of a few minutes. There was even a battalion that stormed the Temple. Everyone there was killed too, the old, the young, the injured. There was nothing we could do but obey. Thousands of Jedi dead on the order of a madman.”
“I- I’m so sorry Cody,” Prime apologized. Worst of all he looked sincere. And all the hate that Cody had hidden away, festering for years --because what use is hate for a dead man-- came bubbling back to the surface.
Cody snarled. “Sorry? Oh, you’re sorry? Well great, you kirffing should be. Because even if you finally got what you wanted, revenge on the Jedi, by basically your hand no less, it was at the cost of the genocide of an entire people. Which then left the entire galaxy defenseless to a Sith Lord who ruled the galaxy for at least the next decade. Sorry doesn’t even begin to cover how you should feel!”
“I wanted revenge on the Jedi sure. But do you really think I wanted the ad’ika killed?” Prime growled. Finally, an emotion Cody was at least somewhat used to seeing.
“I don’t know! You sure as hell didn’t care about us! You had Boba and promptly forgot about the other four million. Then you went and died so I guess it didn’t matter in the end anyway” Cody hissed.
“That was before-“
“Before what? You saw us as humans, individuals, something that was more than just a fancy product? In fact, how do you see us Prime? What are we, your own flesh and blood, to you.”
It seemed that all at once Prime deflated. Never had Cody seen the man so dejected looking. It only pissed Cody off further. He doesn’t get to act like the victim here. Not when he made the same choice four million times over.
“I don’t know how to explain this without sounding crazy,” Prime started.
“You sounding crazy?! I’m arguing with my very dead genetic templet that apparently only I can see.”
Prime shot him a look but didn’t say anything before continuing. “It started like that okay. I’m not proud of it. I was angry and selfish and just wanted something to call my own. That I could love and care for. That’s why I asked for Boba. And I stupidly trusted the Kaminoans. I thought you were going to be just products made for a war. But then you weren’t, as you grew and trained I realized how wrong I was and I couldn’t just ignore you. You were all just children being made for a war that hadn’t even started yet.”
“So why didn’t you do anything about it?” Cody growled out.
“... At first it was because I was scared. I didn’t want to do something that would null the contract and make me lose Boba. And then I couldn’t bare it any longer, I swear I tried, but something was blocking me, mentally from ever saying anything about you all as something more than nonsentient. Whenever I wanted to argue the point with the Kaminoans or a trainer I just couldn’t. It was like my body wasn’t my own. I would think one thing and something completely different would come out of my mouth. But it only happened when I interacted with the clones. Never with Boba and never with the other trainers. At least at first. It, it got worse over time and more of my words didn’t match up with my thoughts. But there was nothing I could do. And then when I died, it was like this black sludge lifted-“
“What,” Cody interrupted sharply. Black sludge was not a good sign, not at all. “Describe it, in as much detail as you can.”
“It was like a thick oil. Sticky, drowning, suffocating, it was suddenly all gone and I was like this.”
Cody pinched the bridge of his nose. “That sound like Sith work.”
Prime let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I figured. Tyrannus had the markings of one but I was too blind to see it in time.”
“No shit. Tyrannus is Dooku right?”
“Yeah.”
Cody felt the beginnings of a really painful headache coming on. “Dooku was at the Battle of Galidraan, led it even, why the hell would you side with the slaughterer of your people?”
“I was angry okay? Piss off, furious, hateful, hurt, a decade younger and stupider, and a whole bunch of other stuff. He made a convincing argument. He wasn’t with the Jedi anymore and offered the revenge I wanted, a son, and a kark ton of credits. I took it without thinking twice. And I know that’s not an excuse but I had my reasons, no matter how wrong they were.”
“You’re a fucking idiot. Who did you think we were being made for?”
“I don’t know!” Prime yelled clearly frustrated. “I didn’t think about it and by the time I could, it was too late. All Dooku said was I would get my revenge. He never said anything more and then you were being trained to work with the Jedi and I thought he lied to me. But by then I realized what was going on in my head, I honestly thought that you being sent to serve under the Jedi would be the better option. I didn’t know the plan was to turn you into slaves and kill them.”
They both lapsed into silence. Having a heart-to-heart with Prime of all people was so unexpected. It also emotionally tore him to shreds. Cody wasn’t sure if all he was saying was true but it would make sense. And there’s no way Prime would be able to identify what a Sith felt like without being exposed to one. All the records Cody ever read of Prime point to Dooku being the only one.
Cody wanted to just go to sleep. Maybe he would wake up and find that this was all some messed-up dream. The thought of ending his life just made his stomach churn and images of Hope and Spark come to mind.
He was not going to attempt that again.
If the Force or whatever being, sent him back in time, he had a chance to fix everything. To kill the Sith Lord, stop the chips, and save so many lives, vode and civilians alike. But he needed a plan to take on such a massive task. And he was going to need help. Lots of it.
“Cody-“
“Don’t,” Cody groaned, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead on curled fists. And he also needed to figure out what to do with Prime and Boba. But he didn’t want to think about that just yet. Regardless, the conversation with Prime hurt. Too many memories came with it. No matter the reasoning behind what happened, Prime still did awful stuff and Cody wasn’t ready to forgive that just yet. He looked up wearily at Prime. “Right now it’s ’24 or Commander. You don’t get to use my name.”
Not yet at least.
Prime just nodded, eyes filled with hurt but also understanding.
Cody rubbed at his eyes. He was too tired for this. “We need a plan.”
“We head for Concord Dawn first,” Jango stated with a finality that made Cody’s inner commander squirm.
“Why.”
“Because you shouldn’t be carrying around a body.”
Cody winced at that looking apologetic only for a moment. Right, the body that was in two pieces and in storage. That wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
“Then...”
Prime trailed off and Cody narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling whatever was going to come out of his mouth was not something he was going to like.
“You need connections. And you’re gonna need them quick if a galactic war is going to start...”
“And I clearly don’t have time to be running around making them, so spit it out Prime. I’ve heard worse plans.”
A great and heavy sigh left Prime's lips. “You need to become Jango Fett.”
On second thought, maybe Cody hasn’t. Kark.