#Operation Knightfall | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

twinterrors29 · 5 months

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while Palpatine had ordered the Jedi to take extreme action in order to defend him from the supposed assassination attack planned on Naboo, the Council never actually told him their plan to send Obi-Wan undercover as Rako Hardeen

so when he saw Anakin teetering as he failed to cope with his Master's murder, he gave the final push to bring him firmly to his own side, then sent the newly-minted Vader to carry out Operation Knightfall at the Jedi Temple while he transmitted Order 66 across the rest of the galaxy

but first, Vader sneakily ordered Ahsoka and Rex away from the Temple, telling them to guard Padme with a small squad of troopers to keep them out of the way of his slaughter

however, Sidious expected him to try something like that, and made sure to comm Captain Rex directly to ensure that neither he nor Ahsoka escaped the massacre unscathed

once Padme and her handmaidens subdued them and used their med droids to remove the chips, they all saw that no matter Anakin's intentions Palpatine wasn't going to leave them alive and fled Coruscant to found the Rebellion together

back at the Temple, while Mace is making his final stand chopping and maiming Vader upstairs, a single Temple Guard in a secret sublevel watched the security footage in horror, hearing the cries of all their brethren across the galaxy

they saw a chance to protect one of their brothers, and they decided to take it: before the troopers could find this cell block, they triggered the deadman's switch, collapsing the entire level and killing themselves and their single prisoner, destroying any remaining evidence that the man out in the galaxy wasn't the true Rako Hardeen

across the galaxy, Obi-Wan woke from his deep sleep after surviving the ordeal of the Box on Serenno to the horror of feeling all his kin dying at once

only for Dooku to walk into the room

Dooku had figured out who 'Hardeen' was, and had elected not to share that information with his Master in the hopes of turning Obi-Wan and taking on Sidious with him at his side

but now he could see that Sidious had accelerated his own plot, and Dooku was left to scramble to make something of this opportunity himself before he sent Vader to remove the now unnecessary apprentice

so he showed Obi-Wan the news footage of Anakin proudly marching on the Temple with the troopers, and the newly-crowned Emperor decrying their collusion with Dooku to assassinate him at the upcoming Festival on Naboo

Obi-Wan was utterly heartbroken by these betrayals, but accepted Dooku's proposal to flee together in order to mount resistance against Palpatine's new rule

before too long, they catch up to the fledgling Rebellion that Padme, Rex, and Ahsoka have been putting together in exile and revealed their identities

Ahsoka and Rex were very relieved to hear of Obi-Wan's survival, even with the unspoken tension of knowing that his faked death was the trigger Palpatine used to kick off his ultimate power grab

as the new regime on Coruscant settled in, Padme and Dooku worked together to set themselves up as political figure heads of Rebellion, delivering speeches across the galaxy to weaken Palpatine's public image while secretly running black ops missions on the side

(they would both grudgingly admit that they made a good team, even if they still hated each others' guts)

Rex and Ahsoka ran further black ops missions, keeping the Empire busy and distracted and rescuing troopers wherever they could, and setting up new Rebel cells and recruiting any sympathetic politicians and operatives they can find

Obi-Wan, on the other hand, still had the wrong face, and had no access to the necessary technology to change that; he chose to act as a lone field operative, but knew that most friends and allies would be put off by the fact that he was wearing his murder's face

(and they all agreed, it was better to keep Obi-Wan Kenobi's survival a secret from the Empire)

but then, a few years in, they learn that the Empire is looking for Hardeen specifically

at first they fear that the secret has been found out

but then they hear further rumors, that they're gathering up any and all known Jedi Killers, supposedly building a program to hunt the surviving Jedi

despite their misgivings, Obi-Wan resolved to use this chance to infiltrate the Empire

Sidious of course immediately welcomed Hardeen into his proto-Inquisitorius program

"Hardeen" is immediately assigned to a single masked Force user (seemingly a young humanoid adult who seemed...oddly familiar, but they were clouded in the Force) and a squad of Purge Troopers

the Purge Troopers, on the other hand, he immediately recognized: this was the remains of Ghost Company, including his former Commander, who had been sent on a comms-dark mission on the Outer Rim during his undercover assignment

as it turned out, because they'd never been forced to actually turn on their Jedi during the Purge, they lacked the same cognitive dissonance that many of their peers in other battalions struggled with, forcing them to try to justify their choices that day; in fact, they very much wanted out of the Empire, and were searching for an opportunity

and now they were assigned to train with their beloved General's murderer

the tense stalemate among them lasted until they captured a young girl in the Lower Levels of Coruscant on their first mission and realized they couldn't afford to wait any longer

the troopers' tentative plan of kill-Hardeen-and-maybe-the-Inquisitor-and-steal-the-ships-and-disappear-with-the-kid, however, was derailed by "Hardeen's" quick-talking offer as they corned him to enact the first step:

after all, they wanted Vader's head for what he'd done to their brothers and the Order, and Obi-Wan was willing to give them the opening they wanted, even if he knew he would never be able to strike the killing blow himself

and he was already planning to offer them a way out of the Empire

the troopers accepted this offer

they moved quickly, luring Vader into a trap, but he had suspected treachery and managed to turn the tables on his attackers

to try to turn the tide back in their favor, Obi-Wan revealed himself, but was unprepared for the immediate onslaught of hatred and fury that triggered in his direction

which allowed the concealed Inquisitor to make her move, Barriss stopping the monster that killed her family and betrayed her best friend

with Obi-Wan's identity revealed, they all celebrated their victory and his return from the dead as they fled Coruscant to join the Rebellion, getting them all to safety

#star wars #the clone wars #rako hardeen arc #order 66 #obi wan kenobi #chancellor palpatine #darth sidious #anakin skywalker #darth vader #count dooku #padme amidala #captain rex #ahsoka tano #barriss offee #commander cody

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fanfic-obsessed · 1 year

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Kaminoans Save

I was thinking this morning about the Kamioans. Specifically the Kaminoans as businessbeings and that their business is cloning. Also on their isolation and the implications that they do not have the knowledge base to understand sentients that are not Kaminoan. Two parts of that, of course, the likelihood that their business is built on cloning non sentients (so they are used to providing for the physical requirements of different species but are not used to the increased psychological needs of so called sentient species) and the sheer timeframe of the GAR cloning project (most projects have their clones sent to their clients in their infancy, thus the psychological needs fall on the clients). From these musings an AU was born.

We do have to start with the understanding that the Kaminoans in this do not know about Operation Knightfall or Order 66. This project was sold to them as a straight contract (even the chips were provided as an addendum in the contract. The Kaminoans believe that it serves as a way to tell who is a Force User-which technically it does) by the Jedi. They believe that special dispensation has been granted by the Republic to clone sentients with the aim of potentially changing the law (provided that the Kaminoans can prove that there is an ethical way to clone sentients), which would serve to triple or quadruple their business.

From that perspective not only do the Kaminoans want the clones to be seen as sentient, they want them to be as individual as possible within the contract (They have still been contracted to grow an army, which does come with restrictions on both individuality and agency). They want the clones to be different from Jango Fett, to prove that what they do is more than a copy. They are still assigned numbers at birth, but the clones are taught from a young age by the Kaminoans that it is so the clones themselves can find their own names. There is still the double aging through childhood but it is in he best interest of the Kaminoans for it to slow down to regular, or even slower, once the Clones reach peak physical and mental maturity (roughly mid to late 20’s)

Now it is not all sunshine and roses in this universe for the Clones. As the Kaminoans know little about human psychology and the needs of growing humans, Jango Fett (as the genetic progenitor) is contracted to find trainers for the clone army. Jango Fett is very much on board with Operation knightfall and Order 66. He and most of his trainers see the clones as the meat droids they plan for them to be. There is still decommissioning even if not as frequent(there is no reconditioning, though as that required tech from the Kaminoans, who want to encourage uniqueness for business reasons). The Kaminoans do not realize that the training program and the way that the Clones are treated by the trainers are unusual or abusive for humans for years.

They are primarily scientists, however, and many begin to notice that Boba Fett was treated significantly differently than the other clones, even taking into account that he does not age as fast (When he is five, he is not being treated like the physically five year olds for instance). At first there are attempts to get answers from the trainers and Jango Fett, who shut all inquiries down. Like all scientists who are presented with a puzzle (the difference in treatment between Boba and the other clones, and -once they noticed it- how some trainers seem to be treating the clones differently), as a people they start to research human psychology and child rearing. The more business minded of the species like the idea that the next time they get a project like this they will not have to outsource these parts, as it would be cheaper.

The results horrify them, from the research it is clear that the trainers are going to ruin the clones. This was the Kaminoans' livelihood, their reputation. The clones were their finest creations; each one unique, adaptable, and self aware enough to find solutions for their own shortcomings. The Kaminoans were damned proud of the clones, and did not want to be held responsible for the, clearly, substandard training they were receiving.

They did not even try to correct Jango Fett or the Trainers. Instead Lama Su reached out to the Jedi, not the Jedi that contracted them of the ‘Jedi’ that they had been dealing with, but the High Council in 977 ARR (23BBY, or a year the clone wars would have started. I need it to be specifically then for Codywan reasons. If Cody is aging double than in 977 ARR, he would be physically and mentally 18, though to me the CodyWan would still not happen for a few years, I personally would be a bit uncomfortable with them meeting much earlier than that; but that is a personal preference). He sends an official complaint that the methods of the trainers ‘hired by the Jedi’ were going to ruin their order. The High Council, confused but feeling like they should not admit it, arranges for a small group to travel to Kamino to ‘discuss the matter and take appropriate action’. They ask that the Kaminoan not speak of their arrival to the trainers, just in case.

This group includes Mace Windu, Ki Adi Mundi, Obi Wan Kenobi (as it is generally accepted that his missions go weird and he is one of the best equipped to deal with weird), Anakin Skywalker (as Obi Wan’s Padawan), and Healer Stass Allie.

The Jedi meet with Lama Su. They ask for him to tell them what is happening ‘as if they did not know about the contract’ to make sure they are not missing any information. Lama Su does, going over the entire contract, producing the signed waivers (including several that appeared to be signed by the chancellor himself), the contract, who they had made the contract with (Master Sifo-Dyas, in the last days of his tenure on the High Council-where he did have the authority to put in the order for he Clones without telling anyone), who they had been dealing with for the last few year (‘Master’ Tyranus- the Fallen Yan Dooku), and what the payment was to be (as they were to be paid on delivery). Then what the trainers are doing to the clones and how they(the Kaminoans) had just discovered the damage to their work (As they not only prided themselves on their work but also hoped that this would open up a new industry for them, they take that seriously).

At the end, Mace Windu is quiet for a really long moment before going “It’s clear the contract you signed was made in good faith on your end. However, Master Sifo-Dyas did not make this contract in good faith, and we have no record of Master Tyranus. We will honor the deal you made, you will get paid for the entire amount you were promised. There are going to be some changes, though, because we did not know about this project. I have no doubt about your process, but it is clear that someone wants to sabotage your efforts”

Anakin pipes up before they can go any further, his eyes distant. “They should be paid now, so that no one else can claim the clones belong to them.”

Lama Su is assuaged that they will get paid at least (the cost will drain the Jedi’s discretionary fund and mean that Mace will be sending a dozen Jedi to gamble to refill it again) and willing to make the changes the client suggests.

Windu asks about the not yet decanted, can the process be paused while the Jedi evaluate. Once the growth process has started, it cannot be stopped without harming the children in the tubes. Windu nods, and says to finish the growth process for any Tubes that have already been started but to not start any more and that the healer Allie Stass will be remaining to learn their process for decanting (When the chips are mentioned, along with their purported purpose Windu makes it clear that the chips should not be implanted in any more clones, and they would like a sample of the chip to study to see if they needed to remove it from already decanted clones). Military training was to cease immediately, as the Jedi are not legally allowed to have an army. Instead the Council would be giving some aptitude and interest tests so they can start figuring out how to best assist the clone in finding what they want to do. The Jedi Order would be taking custody of all of the clones, decanted and not, and bringing them to the temple on Coruscant but it would take time to arrange. In the meantime Windu and Obi Wan would be going to bond with the current set of trainers. Obi Wan and Anakin would be staying as part of an oversight process and starting to prepare the clones to move off of Kamino.

Just before leaving Mundi asks permission to get the Kaminoan in touch with his people. They have no way of knowing if the sentient cloning could continue (Frankly they have no idea how many of those waivers were legitimate, though they did believe Kaminoans believed them to be legitimate). But by nature the Kaminoans were superb geneticists and there had been too few males born to his people for generations.

So the Kaminoans did end up getting more business after all.

#kamino #the clones deserved better #star wars the clone wars #obi wan kenobi #codywan #lama su #mace windu #Allie Stass #anakin skywalker #star wars au #fanfiction prompt #star wars

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lightasthesun · 4 months

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I feel like something terrible has happened, she'd said, running up to her Captain to seek out comfort and reassurance; a friend to soothe her worries. But all she had found were tears, rage and trembling hands; a blaster aimed at her head and a voice screaming at her to stay back.

Ahsoka had watched, frozen, as her men—brothers, who had chosen to wear her face as a sign of loyalty—transformed into cold-blooded killers. In a matter of seconds, their force-signatures skinned of all individuality and any sense of free will. When they opened fire upon her she'd defended herself without a second thought. The bodies had fallen whilst she dodged another bolt.

She still doesn't think about their names.

Months had passed since then. Operation Knightfall had ripped the Galaxy of thousands of its brightest souls in one night. The darkness that followed it hardly conceals the blood oozing from various planets and tainting surrounding star systems. The force is a gaping black hole. Nothing left of its radiant embrace to calm her pounding heart. It had left her with stains of darkness—sticking to her like Nubian honey— after the first time, she had tried to submerge herself in meditation. She hasn't touched it since.

Ahsoka sighs.

Breathing in the salty air, she lets her eyes wander across the endless widths of the ocean and clutches the lightsaber shoto to her chest. The Kyber crystal inside whimpers and she shivers.

The screams and whispers of the dying follow her every waking moment. And the corpses—broken on the floor like puppets with their strings cut—haunt her dreams. She's not able to shake the guilt weighing down on her shoulders and she knows she never will be.

The shoto feels hot pressed against her chest. It's painful to hold on to it and if she didn't know any better she would let it fall into the yawning abyss. But she does. She recognizes the stinging sensation of the blisters on her palms for what it is: Phantom Pain.

The crystal carries her memories.

#i updated my three year old sw fic #check it out if you want #ahsoka tano #star wars fic #tcw fanfic #userlumi #post order 66 #fanart courtesy of the incredible @ahhrenata #love you Lauren #victory and death #likes are okay but reblogs are slay

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smhalltheurlsaretaken · 1 year

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It's so puzzling that Cody got so little development in TCW allegedly because the writers thought the audience wouldn't connect too well with him anyway since we already knew he was going to betray Obi-Wan, but the 501st still got all of the spotlight when we already knew they were going to kill everyone in the Temple.

Of course the writers chickened out and made sure that none of the 501st darlings - or basically any 501st trooper with a name and more than 5 mins of screentime - were around for Operation Knightfall: not Rex, not Fives, not Jesse, not Kix, not Echo, not Hardcase and not Tup. But the logic behind it remains baffling.

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renegade0897 · 10 months

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Ths inner Sith lord is coming out. Get Mick in the Merc and his father's anger genes will be unleashed. You can sense it.

Sorry for using Anakin as a template, hooded Operation Knightfall Anakin marching is so badass.

#f1 #mercedes amg f1 #mick schumacher #michael schumacher

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morganas-pendragons · 1 year

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There Is Quiet | Commander Cody and Phantom

tag: @generic-geek-girl @erishimoon @social-mockingbird

part one - fox

***

b e f o r e

He married you. He married you, his quiet Phantom, under the flickering lights of Seventy-Nines with his closest brothers as his witnesses.

You'd made a sacred vow to the Marshal Commander of the 212th. A commandment. A promise.

He married you.

And now he was trying to kill you.

It doesn't make any sense. The last thing you had talked about was this quaint little apartment on the Upper Levels of Coruscant that he wanted to buy after the war was over. It always came back to that.

After the war is over.

Nothing was ever over.

The last thing you had talked about was the home you'd have after the war, and now you were falling falling falling down the enormous pit that composed the center of Utapau's main colony and into the water's below.

You were too busy trying to comprehend the fact that the clones had shot you and Obi-Wan off of Boga to realize that the water was coming closer.

Everything hurt the minute you both made impact.

The Force is writhing as you emerge from the water in search of Obi-Wan. His Force Signature is dark, damaged, like he's in physical and emotional pain and can't quite make out why the Force is permeated by such anguish.

You can echo that sentiment.

"Where's the Knight?"

You weren’t even supposed to be here. You were supposed to be on Coruscant, but Obi-Wan had said you would be invaluable for this mission and would be able to oversee the 212th if anything happened to him. You worked as well together as he and Anakin did.

You weren’t supposed to be here, and now you’re going to die here.

Every molecule in your body freezes at the sound of the clone's voice. You don't have any recognizable factors to use in order to ascertain who it is. The armor is the same 212th gold as the rest of your boys. There's no special markings to help you recognize him.

What you do recognize is the man who emerges from behind him. You're quick to lower yourself deeper into the water, keeping your breathing quiet as you watch from around the edges of a large rock.

It's Cody. The armor matches, the voice matches, the Force Signature matches.

"I gave the order to shoot her down, soldier," Cody's voice is sharp, calculated. It doesn't sound anything like the man you left only mere days ago with the whispered promise of a future that seems further and further away. "We're under order from Lord Sidious to ensure the bodies of the Jedi are found. Get looking."

Lord Sidious? Who the Kriff is Lord Sidious?

All you're left with are more questions then answers as your survival training kicks in and you're forced to flee the scene in search of your Master. You need to get back to your ship. Get back to the ship, find Obi-Wan, and get the kriff off of this god-forsaken planet.

Padawan-mine. Listen to me.

Your arms are aching by the time you finally drag yourself onto land. Your lightsaber is, thankfully, still attached to your hip. It might be your only saving grace in this situation.

The Vode are not themselves. Cody is not himself. Whatever this is, we will fix it. I swear it. Meet me at the upper east-side landing platform. It's time to flee.

You don't have the heart to grace him with a reply. With a heavy heart, you slowly begin creeping through the lower levels until you're graced with an elevator that leads you to the top.

The moment the doors shut, you break. You can't help it. It feels ridiculous to have once been that Padawan who believed in spoken promises of forever inside of a bar on Coruscant where you'd committed your life to the man you love.

It feels ridiculous to have hoped for something better.

***

This is how it feels to be CC-2224, former Marshal Commander of the GAR and the 7th Sky Corp. Former Marshal Commander of the 212th and husband to Obi-Wan Kenobi's second Padawan, Phantom.

You're plagued by memories of things that become more difficult to recall as time passes following Operation Knightfall. A mission to a droid foundry on Felucia. Fear. Panic. Safely being wrapped in Phantom's arms after finding out your Jedi General is dead. Stolen kisses in quarters on the Negotiator.

All of it seems so far away. Such a long time ago.

It doesn't matter though because it's not something you're ever going to get back. You are one of the highest ranking clones with a singular purpose: To glorify The Emperor and the name of the newly established Empire.

It doesn't matter what you used to call yourself. Cody, husband, friend, brother... None of that matters now.

You are a soldier even if the rest are marching far away. Your twin is dead. The clones are dead. So many clones are dead.

You're a soldier.

And you're meant to press on even if you no longer have the strength to do so.

This is how it feels to be formerly Cody, Commander of the 212th.

Numb.

***

One Year Later, Set During The Bad Batch 2x03

Obi-Wan did the one thing he promised never to do to you: He left you on your own. He left you on your own because Maker forbid he actually tell you that you mattered to him, Maker forbid he dare to love something again after the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

You don't blame him. You don't want to love anything again either. It's not worth it. Hurting because of that is not worth it.

When you, Yoda and Obi-Wan are forced to go your separate ways, he suggests giving up everything you've ever loved and stood for to become someone you aren't. To be rid of Phantom. To be rid of Cody.

Because getting rid of Phantom meant you were no longer the person Cody fell in love with, and that may as well have been the proverbial nail in your nearly finished coffin.

Obi-Wan went to Tatooine. Yoda went to Dagobah.

You went back to Coruscant and found your life on the lower levels until you found something else. It was fun, for a while. Being someone else. Leading a life to forget, even for a moment, about who you were.

The unfortunate truth is that you can never be rid of the core of who you are. And who you are is a Jedi. A Jedi with strict moral values and a compassionate heart that aches to free the clones under the servitude of the Empire.

Most of them don't know about the chips. It had taken a while for you to learn, but through the Rebellion network - and Dove, who you had cried upon reuniting with even briefly - you'd learned the truth about Knightfall and why the clones had turned on you.

Why Cody had shot you both down.

You changed enough of who you were to become who you are now. A shadow. A Spectral. It's not much different from your skills as a Jedi, but it's made you a phenomenal spy.

And that's what's led you right here. Senior officer of the Empire assigned as oversight of the clone squadron now assigned to the mission on Dessix. You've gotten good with a blaster. You've always been good at negotiations, but Rampart has told you that you were tag-teaming this mission with another expert negotiator.

"You will meet him at the battlefield memorial."

There's about twelve hours left until you really have to depart, but you're drawn to go to the memorial anyway. Most of the active patrols are skeleton crews at that point, so nobody will actively be seeking you out.

That's what prompts you to arrive near midnight with the hood of what once was Jedi robes drawn over your head.

It's the make of the helmet that catches your attention. Your eyes are instantly drawn to the antenna on the side. It's the only indication that it's Cody's helmet because none of the vibrant 212th gold is present anymore. Everything he's wearing is a muted grey.

As he approaches - bathed in starlight and under the cover of darkness - the memorial, your Force Signature writhes as it reaches, reaches, reaches in search of his own. There is not a part of your very soul that will not recognize Cody when he is around.

You ache for him. You have always ached for him.

Cody's eyes are scanning the Aurebesh letters for the names of fallen brothers when he hears it. It's a low sound, soft and mournful, a whistling tone that Obi-Wan had taught Phantom during a campaign that could be used to signal troopers from far distances.

Only select people knew it. Obi-Wan, Cody, and you.

He already knew Kenobi was dead. That meant...

Peering into the dark, Cody whispered, "Ner kar'ta?"

Everything came to a screeching halt. That was his voice. Not the monotone, flat voice you’d heard after the impact in the waters of Utapau. It was your husband. Your Cody.

You whistled again, long and low, daring to peek out from behind the barrier to meet his eyes briefly before you took off in the direction of the dormitories. There had been whispers that the clones were being eradicated and replaced in favor of the ones they’d taken to calling Stormtroopers.

One of the commanders had remained though. He was their renowned. Their best of what used to be.

It made sense that it would be Cody.

You took off toward the dormitories in the direction of the higher ranking officers quarters. It was easy to cloak yourself. You’d spent the last year of being in the Empire doing so without any suspicions of being a Jedi.

You didn’t realize what Cody’s room was until you saw it. The barest mark of a rising sun painted in the upper right corner of the door. It was faded. Just another reminder of what the war had taken from you both.

Your fingers move of their own accord across the keypad. There’s only one code it could be.

The day of your wedding flashes on the keypad in front of you before the door slides open and you’re allowed inside. It’s sparsely decorated, as expected, because clones were not allowed to own anything now just like they had not been able to own anything during The Clone Wars.

Your Jedi had aimed to do things differently then. It’s a shame they’re all gone now. At the bare minimum, Cody should be allowed to own himself. To own the wedding ring he’d gone out of his way to find.

He doesn’t. He owns nothing. Not his mind, not his heart.

Nothing.

You’re left to your own devices as you survey the room, choosing to remain hidden by the window as you absently chew on your thumbnail and wait for the door to open. Anyone in the vicinity that dared to be close enough to you would know how nervous you were by the frantic pounding of your heart.

You were absolutely terrified. What if he didn’t love you anymore? What if he recognized you weren’t the same? What if he wasn’t the same?

Was loving Spectral any different than loving Phantom?

“Phantom.”

“That’s not my name anymore.”

He’s standing in the doorway by the time you’ve finally roused yourself enough to pay attention. He looks tired. So tired. There’s a perpetual heaviness that has never seemed to leave him in his gait as he walks into his quarters and locks the door before turning back to face you.

“The only person I’ve ever known to whistle that sound was Obi-Wan Kenobi’s former Padawan and himself. Considering he’s-” Cody swallows the knot in his throat as the image resurfaces, again and again, because it hasn’t left him once since it happened. “He’s gone. He’s gone, and you’re still here, and I don’t understand why. Not after what I did to you.”

You take the moment he chooses to talk to carefully nudge his Force Signature with your own. It’s a deep, mournful blue, closed off to anyone else who dare try to know him past the helmet he always wears. The armor is a means of protection, sure, but it’s also a way to keep himself safe from people who try to get inside.

You were the only one who had ever managed to claw your way into his heart.

“I know why you did what you did,” You say softly as you remove your hood to peer up at him. He’s close now. Close enough to touch. “And I will tell you this as many times as you need to hear it, Kote.” Daring to jump over the precipice that stands between you, you reach out to press your hand to his chest.

His heart leaps at your touch. When was the last time he’d been touched that way? In any way that wasn’t hostile?

“It doesn’t matter,” He admits quietly. “I still have to live with those choices. I still have to live with the after.”

“What came after?”

It’s a long time before Cody answers, “Quiet. It was quiet.”

There isn’t a sound for a long time. There doesn’t need to be. You and Cody had always been good at communicating without words, and it seems the same can be said now even after so much time apart.

Your touch is gentle and reverent as you methodically call into the old habit of removing each piece of his armor until he’s left vulnerable in front of you. Cody’s hands tremble at his sides, unsure of where to find purchase, and he’s left to do nothing except watch as the stack of armor floats to the open spot beside the door.

“Cody,” Your voice shakes as you nudge the back of his knees and force him to sit on the couch so you can remove his boots. “I spent this whole year thinking that you were dead. It... It tore me apart. It tore me apart falling from the cliff and being left behind and thinking you were dead for a year. We made a commitment to each other. A vow.”

“I stopped thinking of myself as a man when I made the choice to give the order that shot you off of Boga,” Cody admitted quietly. “I broke that vow to you. I tried so hard, Phantom-Phantom, I tried-”

And it’s only because of the tell tale signs of an impending panic attack that you firmly place Cody’s hands on your hips, slowly easing yourself into the natural part of his legs where he sits on the sofa.

“I believe you. I believe you tried, and it’s okay. I would’ve loved you the way I do now even from the grave. It was never your fault.”

Hm. The vow is till death do us part. Cody is inclined to believe you.

“You would’ve loved me even then?”

You nodded and scooted closer to press your foreheads together in a attempt of a keldabe kiss. He shudders at the contact - it’s like fire spreading through his veins, a fire that is a most welcome burn after being cold for over a year - and leans inward as if his body is naturally seeking more of it.

“Even then.” You whisper.

It’s only through sheer confidence and an aching familiarity long built between you two that coaxes Cody into easing you into his lap. “How are we supposed to do this?” He croaked, dragging his fingers up your sides to tangle in your hair.

Despite the tightness in your chest, you smile. It’s a question he asked you many times under the cover of darkness of his former quarter’s on the Negotiator. Obi-Wan had never known the depths of quite how much his Marshal Commander had struggled with the weight he carried.

“What do you hear?” You ask.

Cody frowns. “It’s quiet.” He replies. “Very quiet. Usually is in this part of the dorms.”

You grin and lean forward, just barely hovering a hairs breadth over his own mouth. “Exactly. So embrace the quiet.”

The full body shudder he gives as you tug on his hair and slant his mouth against yours does not go unnoticed by you. Everything in Cody’s brain short circuits the moment you meet because he’s dreamt about this for over a year. There’s been so many different scenarios that plague his dreams.

This was one of them. And this one was one of the few that were good.

Groaning quietly into your mouth, you grin against the curve of the Marshal Commander’s lips and use the opportunity to tease the seam of his own and slip your tongue inside. He still tastes the same. Everything about him is still so much the same.

You know that even more so when he dares to deepen it. You used to be timid, shy. You used to let him take control because he was already in control of so little anyway, so why not let him have control over one thing that was purely his?

Now though.. you’re not that timid little Padawan anymore. Where Cody is fire - and he kisses like one that burns rageful - you are the sun. Stand too close and people get burned.

When you do finally find it in you to pull away, Cody’s head rolls and falls into the crevice of your neck. “I’m afraid, Phantom.” He murmurs. “I’m afraid we’re not going to make it out of this alive.”

It’s a legitimate fear. You’ve had that own fear so many times.

“Hey,” Your fingers slide up to the clasps around your neck to remove the second chain that has been sitting on your neck since you went into hiding. “Believe me, I understand that fear. That’s been my life for the last year. But I’m here now.” You lightly tapped the gold ring sitting on the chain and leaned inward to clasp it around his neck. “You have me.”

You have me.

Your fingers gently travel up and down the length of his spine as his body gradually relaxes into your own, absorbing as much contact as possible. “I love you.” Cody said quietly. “That may be the one thing that hasn’t changed.”

Eyes flicker to the window where the moon is at its fullest peak, shards of moonlight breaking through the curtains to fracture against the sharp plains of Cody’s face. You didn’t think it was possible for him to be any more beautiful then he is.

And it just makes you want him more.

“Cody?”

“Yeah.”

His fingers are beginning to skim under your officer’s uniform. Daring, teasing, like they’re threatening to go higher but remain unsure if the situation allows for it.

With that same tenacious spark of fire that’s always lingered in your eyes, you lean backward and take one hand into his own to firmly place it on the bottom of your shirt.

Hm. Maybe you really haven’t changed all that much.

“We never did quite get to consummate our wedding night,” You tease. ‘’You know. With the war and all.”

You have twelve hours until you deploy. You don’t even know if you’ll see him again after that, and then the loud buzzing and the ever-constant screaming in the Force will be your only constant companion again once the quiet,

Cody seems to get what you’re saying because the next thing he’s doing is dragging your body down onto the couch and covering it with his own.

“I like your thinking, wife.”

***

a f t e r.

It’s him that makes the choice to go AWOL. The early hours of the morning greet you before you can fully fall into the kind of sleep your body is aching for - Dessix was hard, harder then you’ve had in years, and attempting to act as if you aren’t fearful for Cody’s life when it’s nearly taken is the most difficult thing you’ve done - and you naturally rise with the gentle click of the lock as the door to your quarters opens.

You are running hand in hand with Cody less than an hour later. Getting around the patrols is not difficult, neither is procuring a vehicle, but there’s something oddly warm that settles in your chest once you are out of Coruscanti airspace and away from there.

Warm. It feels so warm. It takes you a minute to realize that it’s Cody. Cody, who used to wear sunshine gold and had gotten a tattoo of a rising sun on his hipbone the day after you’d gotten married - Maker, the sounds he made when you kissed it - and who had spent so long being warm, wrapped in the love of his brothers, that he’d forgotten what it was like to be cold.

The blue had shifted into a brilliant gold and only seemed to get brighter the longer you were around.

“So, Phantom.” Your husbands drawl is smooth and confident as he spins in the pilot’s chair to face you. There is not an echo of the traumatized, anguished man you had held the night before. You know he’s just lurking underneath the surface. Regardless, it’s still nice to see Cody smile. “Where to?”

“I’ll go anywhere you want,” You reply with a wink. “Just not home. You pick.”

“How about everywhere?”

“Everywhere sounds wonderful, rid’uur.”

This is how it feels to be Phantom, former Jedi Knight, defected Imperial Officer and spy.

Safe.

#Commander Cody #Commander Cody x Reader #The Bad Batch #Star Wars imagines #Star Wars oneshots

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