Chapter 27: Finally, A DiscussionNotes:The Bad Batch is back. And as a celebration, I decided to post a chapter! Because I do not trust Filoni not to kill off my favorite characters. If Cody dies, I will die. And because AnotherInternetUser watches the episodes before me, I will be asking her "did anyone die" each week just so that I can be mentally prepared for the pain. But don't worry. This will have a happy ending ;) For most characters ;) Don't worry about it too much ;)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text"Alright, we got five orders of nerf nuggets, sides of buttermilk house sauce, barbecue dipping sauce, honey mustard, sweet and sour – that's a new one everyone's been raving about—buffalo sauce, teriyaki sauce, creamy avocado lime sauce, and bacon mayo. Ten double nerf burgers. Hold the cheese and pickles for little Soka. Extra onions for Fives. Well done for Fox. No bun extra lettuce for Cody. And extra cheese for Bly. Eighteen orders of regular fries. Fifteen orders of curly-seasoned fries. Ten orders of chili cheese fries. Five orders of onion rings. And a meiloorun shake for each of you. Extra large, of course," Dex said as he and FLO put the massive amounts of food in front of the group.
He laughed heartily and patted Cody on the back. Cody was still doing his level best to glare Rex into submission. Rex did look sheepish, but Cody didn't feel better about the whole situation. Instead, he felt worse. Clearly, things had escalated since they last talked and Rex's plan was going to hell. He should be trying to support his brother, not light him on fire with his mind. But Cody couldn't find it in himself to care about that. He was pissed off and woozy from the drugs. He had to take out his frustrations on someone. Rex was that someone.
"You boys sure have massive appetites." Dex continued. "I would ask if you'd eat all of that, but honestly, Monnk's boys pack away twice that amount with half the people. Enjoy your food and your treason. Room's clean. Checked it earlier this evening." He patted Cody on the back once more before shuffling out of the back room.
"Oh, and Fives," he turned back.
Fives perked up.
"Next time, you come to me for roofies. I can get you the good stuff. Frankie down there, it's all bad. Unforeseen side effects all the way and he overcharges."
"We noticed," Echo said numbly as Wolffe held a steak knife to his throat.
"I'll let you boys get back to your treason. Good to see you again, little Soka. Cody, you tell Obi-Wan next time he's here to come visit. It's been too long."
"Will do," Cody all but growled.
Dex didn't seem to notice or care about their murderous intent and shuffled out of the room, humming a little song as he went. The door closed.
The silence in the room roared in Cody's ears. It was like he could hear everything. Every heartbeat. Every breath. Even the shuffle of insects that hid in the dark crevices. It drove him mad.
He wanted to start shouting.
He wanted to demand answers and explanations.
He wanted to have Rex and the others arrested and thrown in jail for what they did. If only because of how stupid the whole plan was.
But that would not get him the answers he needed. He was rational enough to recognize that his anger was clouding his judgment. All of their judgments. If they were going to solve any of the issues in this Force-forsaken galaxy, he needed to calm down. He needed them all to calm down.
"Wolffe, for fuck's sake drop the knife and start eating." Cody forced himself to grab a handful of chili cheese fries and shoved them into his mouth. The warm cheese and chili soaked into his glove and the explosion of salt and spices on his tongue made him shudder. It had been a while since he had real food and not ration bars. He was almost overstimulated by the flavors assaulting his tongue. But he should be used to this. It wasn't the first time he had had Dex's food. But something was going on with his body.
All his senses were heightened and sharpened. Maybe it was the drugs. Dex did say something about unforeseen side effects. Anger was definitely one, but perhaps this hyper-vigilance and hyper-sensory abilities were others. Or maybe it was the fact that there was no longer a chip in his head. He didn't care at the moment. What he cared about was getting everyone to stop fighting.
Wolffe did not drop the knife.
"Wolffe. Now." Cody commanded.
Wolffe let out another growl but dropped the knife and sat next to Ahsoka to eat his burger.
Ahsoka said nothing and picked at her burger. Occasionally, she brought small pieces to her mouth to nibble on.
For a while, no one said anything. The only sounds were chewing and slurping. However, the atmosphere was still very tense. One wrong move. One wrong breath. An ill-timed cough and everyone would explode again. But, with each bite of food, Cody did feel better. More in control of himself, at the very least. Given the way Fox, Bly, Gree, and Wolffe's shoulders relaxed, they were experiencing the same thing. So long as no one said or did anything stupid, they might be able to get through this and have a civil conversation.
"Anyone else think it's weird we ordered food first?" Dammit, Hardcase! Read the room!
Everyone tensed.
Kix cleared his throat. "I'm hoping the food will help counteract some of the negative emotional side effects." He warily looked at Gree, who had somehow fashioned a noose out of extra napkins without breaking eye contact with him.
Shit, Cody was starting to lose control of the situation. "Everyone keep eating," he commanded.
"I don't think this is a side effect," Fox growled, ignoring Cody's command. "I think this is just a consequence of you lot drugging us and performing surgery on us without our fucking consent!" He shouted, slamming his hands on the table and standing up.
Ahsoka jumped and pressed herself into Cody's side.
"Fox!" He tried.
"You're not the only ones who didn't get to consent to surgery," Rex said. "Only Tup and Kix did. The rest of us got stunned and woke up the same as you."
"Rex—"
Fox whirled around to him; eyes sharp and narrowed. "You think this is funny? You think this is a fucking joke?"
"I'm just saying that you're overreacting!"
"Overreacting! How about I drug you and dig around in your head so you can see what it feels like?"
"I already went through that!" Rex was standing up now, his voice rising to meet Fox's level.
Cody cursed under his breath. The back room in Dex's was soundproofed, but he also didn't want to test that out now when they were discussing something so sensitive.
"Everyone, sit down and shut up!" Cody shouted, doing his best to channel Seventeen and reassert his authority over everyone.
Rex almost immediately sat back in his seat, eyes lowered and posture submissive. Cody hated it when he looked like that. It reminded him of Kamino. Of having to be perfect or else they'd get decommissioned. Rex especially, with his blond hair. He was divergent. He was wrong. He should have never been allowed out of the tubes.
Fox did not move.
"Now, Fox."
He made sure his tone of voice left no room for further arguments. For a beat, he wondered if it would work. He didn't know what he would do if it didn't.
Thankfully, Fox sat down; still glaring at Rex. Though he did shovel some nerf nuggets in his mouth.
"Everyone do not talk until I say you can talk," Cody said. "No snide comments. No questions. Nothing until I say you can. Is that understood?"
"Cody—" Bly started.
"Is. That. Understood?" He glared at Bly; setting his jaw and his shoulders to show that he was not in the mood to entertain arguments. He needed everyone to stop arguing for ten minutes while the remainder of the drugs worked their way out of their systems. He needed to try and piece together what he knew and what he needed to know. He needed to figure out what to do about Ahsoka because now that she was involved, that changed how they were going to have to move forward. He needed to do a lot of things. And he couldn't do that if his brothers kept trying to murder each other.
"Yes, sir," Bly said, his shoulders slumping forward.
Ahsoka unpeeled herself from his side and started picking at her food once more.
It seemed everyone was listening this time and no more arguments were going to be had. At least, not now. Which meant Cody could focus on himself for a minute.
He shoveled some more food into his mouth. Now that it was settling in his stomach he did feel less… murder-y. Granted, he had a feeling what this was about. The chips. He knew about the chips. He gave Rex a timeline. And now Rex had acted. So, maybe that was the reason he, unlike the others, wasn't currently having Rex and his boys killed and their bodies dumped where they'd never be found. He could probably get Dex to do it. That man knew some shady, shady people.
He let his mind pick through the pieces of information that he knew. Rex and his men were sent on a top-secret mission where they were supposed to be killed if Palpatine's quick KIA declaration was anything to go by. But they survived and, while healing, found chips in all of their heads, plus Robin's. They removed Tup's chip and sent it to Tech to decode it and figure out what it did and if it was something they needed to look into further. Cody had given them a month.
Then Rex, instead of debriefing him like he had assumed, decided the best course of action was to buy drugs off a random dealer, roofie them all, and perform brain surgery on them in the basement of 79s.
That worried him. That meant that these chips were dangerous and that taking them out was necessary. At least, Rex thought so. And while Rex did occasionally do stupid shit (case in point, roofie them with random drugs instead of going to Dex for help) he was smart.
Cody made sure he was smart.
Cody did everything in his power to make Rex the best of the best so that the Kaminoans would have no choice but to keep him around. If Rex thought performing surgery without their consent was necessary, then it was necessary. Even if Cody didn't want to admit it.
And he wouldn't admit it. Not just yet. Not when he was the only one who knew what was going on. Besides, he could sort of see where Fox was coming from. If the Corries were regularly blacking out and waking up to discover they had done some horrific crimes like what happened with Robin, Fox might have thought that was what this was. Or he was afraid of having done something to them without his knowledge. Hopefully, they could get Fox to open up once the true nature of the chips was revealed. Man, Cody longed for the days when keeping track of Skywalker was the biggest headache he had to endure.
After about ten minutes, a sizeable dent was made in the food. His brothers seemed calmer. Gree stopped fashioning nooses out of napkins at the very least. Ahsoka was still squished between Wolffe and Cody; occasionally throwing glances at Rex. It was evident that she was having a hard time figuring out what she should do. If she should say anything. If she should do anything.
If it were up to Cody, no Jedi would have been allowed to deal with this. Not until he had the full picture so he could determine how best to bring this to their attention so they could deal with it properly. But, she was a part of this now. There was nothing he could do to stop her.
Sending her out of the room would likely send her straight to the Jedi. They already got Vos investigating the Corries. He didn't need that kind of heat on him when he was actively planning on murdering Palpatine. Ahsoka was not going to leave this alone, especially stumbling upon what she stumbled upon.
Accept and adapt.
That's all he could do.
She was here. He'd have to figure out a way to keep her from getting into more trouble. He could do that. He wasn't sure how, but he'd figure that out. But first, he needed to fill in the gaps. The missing pieces. He needed to hear what Rex found and why emergency surgery was necessary. It was time to get his answers.
"Rex. Explain. Now," he said. "And no one interrupt him or so help me I will make you wish Seventeen was the one dealing with this instead of me."
The others nodded.
Rex took a deep breath. "Right. So, you guys know how we went MIA, presumed KIA, a few weeks back?"
Ahsoka flinched next to him. Cody wrapped an arm around her shoulders, hoping it helped soothe and ground her at least a little.
"We found something," Rex continued.
"Mission related?" Bly asked.
Cody decided to let that slide. For now.
Rex shook his head. "No. Something we weren't supposed to find." He glanced towards Ahsoka. He was torn between letting her hear the truth and keeping her in the dark.
"All of it, Rex. In the open. Now," Cody said. He hoped it sounded equal parts authoritative and supportive. He understood Rex's trepidation. He did. But they couldn't keep Ahsoka in the dark now. She'd start investigating on her own again. And, well, that was part of the reason they were in this mess in the first place.
Rex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He went on to describe much of what Cody already knew. The level five scan. The finding of the chips. Tup's surgery. Contacting the Bad Batch to see if Tech could figure out what they did. The whole nine yards. Each word he spoke, the other commanders grew paler. They stopped eating. Sitting rigid in their seats. Hands gripping the table. A subtle trembling of their bodies as they realized the implications.
"You're telling me there are chips in our heads?" Gree said when Rex paused to take a breath. The pads of his fingertips just barely brushed against the white bandage on the side of his head. Now that Cody thought about it, he could see a faint scar on Rex's head. A scar that wasn't there before.
"In all of us, it's looking like," Kix said. "At first I was willing to write it off as a faulty scanner. But we have now dechipped almost two dozen brothers and it's all the same story. A biochip in our heads. And they all appear to be similar in structure. However, I am sending yours to Tech to look into further. To see if there are any differences between Command Class and regular troopers. He said the Bad Batch's were all defective in some way. It doesn't appear the Nulls have them at all. The Alphas may have them but there's evidence to suggest they don't work. Or don't work like ours work."
Fox seemed to go white at Rex and Kix's debrief. So white that Cody was afraid he'd pass out.
"What do the chips do?" he asked. His voice was strangled and tense. He already knew what they did. He knew what they did the second Rex mentioned they were in their heads. He had to have put the pieces together. Just like Rex and Cody put the pieces together.
It was time to say it out loud. To confirm his suspicions. To put everything out into the open. And deal with the consequences thereafter.
Rex glanced at Ahsoka again before sighing heavily. "In short, they erase our free will."
It was like the air had gotten sucked out of Cody's lungs. The entire room when silent. No one dared breathe. That one sentence was like dominos. Each one knocked over revealed more and more implications until the full, horrifying picture emerged.
"They come pre-loaded with orders," Rex said. "Someone with access activates the orders and then we're forced to comply. According to Tech, there is no fighting it. If they're activated, you must comply. Though, depending on the order, it's looking like they might have some room for compliance. But it depends on the code. The more precise the code, the harder it is to fight."
"Robin was ordered to kill Bane," Fox gasped. "That's why… Grav and Drillbit… the chips. It's been the chips. All the Corries… it's the chips. That's why…"
Cody stood to try and help Fox through his panic attack.
Wolffe had other ideas, though. "Wait. What's that supposed to mean?" He stood to face him, his voice sharp.
"The Corries have been receiving orders from these things. Haven't they?" Rex asked.
Fox flinched and took another shuddery gasp that didn't seem to fill his lungs with air.
"The Blackout Missions?" Ahsoka asked quietly.
Wait, how did she know about that? She wasn't supposed to know anything!
"Hold the fuck up!" Wolffe snapped. "What is all of this about 'Blackout Missions'?"
"How do you know about them?" Fox asked, turning to Ahsoka.
"I overheard some Corries talking about them. I told Master Vos. I'm sorry," She said softly.
Great, so that's what Vos was investigating. Just what Cody wanted to hear.
"You told him?" Fox cried.
"I'm sorry. But you guys felt so scared. I just wanted to help."
"You're the reason he's been sneaking around for the past few months?"
"No, don't go interrogating her," Wolffe said, blocking Ahsoka from his view. "What the fuck, Fox? What have you been hiding from us?"
Alright, alright. So Vos knowing about the blackout missions wasn't ideal but he could still handle this. If only his idiot brothers would quit arguing and give him time to think and keep track of who knew what.
"Wolffe, sit down. Fox, quit yelling at Ahsoka, she was just trying to help."
"Cody, you can't seriously be letting him off the hook for keeping shit from us?" Wolffe shouted.
"I am not letting anyone off the hook," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I'm trying to figure out who knows what and what is going on. I need a second to think. I can't think with all you arguing and shouting at each other so sit down and shut up."
Wolffe snapped his mouth shut and sat down. Fox did as well.
Cody closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Now that that thing was out of his head, his mind seemed to be moving faster. It was almost as if before, all his thoughts had to filter through something else before he could claim them. Before he could think them. But now there was no barrier there. No filter. Everything came to him instantly and intact. It was a bit disorienting.
Exhilarating.
How much faster could he make decisions on the battlefield when he didn't have to filter his thoughts through a chip?
He took another deep breath and felt his mind clear. "Rex, hold on the explanations for now. Ahsoka knows about the blackout missions. Vos knows about the blackout missions and has been investigating them. Fox, tell us now, without holding anything back. What are they?"
Rex looked like he would rather just spill everything but dutifully snapped his mouth shut so Cody could glare at his other stupid, idiotic brother.
Fox shook his head and buried his head in his hands. "Look. Sometimes, the Corries, they… they blackout."
Bly patted his back, trying to give him some comfort and support.
"You don't know who's going to blackout until it happens. Sometimes, you don't even know until you try and talk to them. They act like robots. They're dark. They don't respond to their names, only their numbers. Sometimes they just leave without explanation and show back up at the base or barracks hours later not knowing how they got there or what time it is. And most of the time, they repeat one phrase."
"Good soldiers follow orders?" Gree said quietly.
Fox looked sick. "How did you—"
"It echoes, in my head sometimes. In my sleep. I don't…" Gree put his head in his hands. "I don't think it. It's just there. You know? Like how you don't think about breathing or blinking, you just do it. But sometimes, if you focus just right, you become aware of it."
Cody sucked in a breath. Now that Gree mentioned it, yeah. That phrase haunted him. Every move he made. Every decision he made. Every time he thought about breaking the rules even if it saved more lives or completed the mission faster. It was like someone was whispering in his head.
Good soldiers follow orders.
When a natborn officer made a stupid call and Cody wanted to argue with him.
Good soldiers follow orders.
When he wanted to just abandon the entire Republic and let them fend for themselves.
Good soldiers follow orders.
In his sleep. In his dreams. In the background of his day as he did menial tasks that required little to no thinking.
Good soldiers follow orders.
It was his own voice too. He knew that much. It was him. Whispering to himself about orders. Not Prime. Not Seventeen. Not Nala Se. Not even Obi-Wan. It was him. It was always him.
And the less he listened to that voice, the more his head hurt.
He never even realized it. He never even knew.
And now that voice was gone.
Try as he might to focus on it like Gree said, he couldn't hear it.
"Dammit, Fox," Wolffe growled, bringing Cody back to the problem at hand. "Why the hell didn't you tell us that you and your troopers were blacking out?"
"I didn't know. I mean, I knew. But I thought everyone did that. And by the time I figured out that it wasn't normal, I was in too deep. I didn't know what to do or who to turn to. Or who to trust. You have your Jedi that you trust. I don't have that. And I didn't know where these missions were coming from Who was ordering them. Half the time, I don't even know what they are. I can guess. I can look to see if anyone's been assassinated or murdered during the timeframe my troops blackout. But it's not always that easy. Why is a slicer and droid mechanic leaving my base all the time?"
"Fuck," Bly said, shaking his head.
"I don't know. I keep track of them, though. All the ones that I know about. The energy drink cans. I track the date, time trooper, and what I think they were assigned to do. I was hoping if I tracked enough, I could figure out some sort of pattern. Maybe even who was behind it all. But nothing. I got a lot of data but no leads."
"I'm sorry," Ahsoka said softly. "I was trying to help. Everyone seemed so scared."
Fox grimaced. "I understand. I suppose there are worse people you can assign than Vos. He doesn't… he doesn't think we're doing anything bad, right?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not allowed to be in on his investigation. I'm 'too close'." She rolled her eyes. "But Master Obi-Wan doesn't think that you're bad. Just that you might be forced to do bad things because of whoever is making these orders. The council wants to help."
"Thank you," Fox said softly.
Okay, so at least now they were all on the same page about several things. Fox's troopers were blacking out and assassinating people regularly. Vos was, in fact, investigating the Corries. Though not to arrest them all, but rather to figure out who was hurting them. The Council knew about that but may not have the full picture. And there were control chips in all of them. Great. Okay. That was a start. They could move forward now.
"Right," Cody said. "We know now that there are control chips in our heads. And that's what's doing these blackout missions. Is there anything else we need to know, Rex?"
He had enough information to go on now. To start making moves now. There were control chips in their heads. Someone was using them to assassinate people via the Corries. And they needed to get them out. He could work with that. He could plan with that. But something about Rex's demeanor and his panic at getting the commanders dechipped as quickly as possible before telling them what was going on worried him. That meant there was something else going on here.
Rex glanced at Ahsoka. In fact, all his men glanced at Ahsoka. It was instinctual. It was frightening.
On each of their faces, from Fives to Tup, was fear. Written plain as day.
No. Not fear.
Terror.
They were terrified of something.
Something to do with Ahsoka.
Something that made them panic.
Something that made them prioritize getting the chips out before telling Cody what was going on.
Rex did not start speaking for several seconds.
Cody thought he was going to have to order him to speak once more. To focus his emotions so he could get the full picture.
He didn't.
Rex took a deep breath. "There's one order on them that is the reason we had to sneak around. Cody, we cannot risk these chips activating. If they do…" He choked on his words and went pale.
"Genocide," Echo finished softly.
Bly sucked in a breath. "What was that?"
"It's one of the orders," Rex said, looking at him. "Order 66. Execute all Jedi. Including the cadets and tubies. And it's the one order that has been designed so that we cannot ignore it. There is no room for interpretation. If that order goes live, we'll be forced to…" He choked on his words once more.
Cody wasn't sure how this night kept getting worse. He was expecting the chips to link to something bad. He was expecting to have another headache to deal with. What he was not expecting was his entire worldview to shatter in just a few short sentences.
Execute all Jedi. Including the cadets and tubies.
"Oh, god," Wolffe pressed his hand to his mouth and wrenched himself away from Ahsoka's side. She reached out to him but he avoided her. All but ramming himself in the corner of the room. Putting as much distance between them as he could manage.
Fox had gone rigid in his seat.
Gree looked like he was about to be sick.
Bly too.
Cody didn't feel like he was in this room anymore. Instead, he was watching a reel of all the times Obi-Wan had been around him. Guard completely down. And all it would have taken was one order for Cody to…
When they passed out in the same tent at the end of a long campaign. How easy would it have been for Cody to slit his throat before he even realized?
On the battlefield while fighting. How easy would it be for Cody to turn his blaster to Obi-Wan's back and shoot him?
Right before he left, Cody had Obi-Wan's lightsaber for thirty minutes while he was in meetings with the Council. Obi-Wan didn't carry a blaster on him. If the order had come through, he would have been defenseless. He was an amazing man and an amazing warrior. But even he would struggle to fight without a weapon.
And would he even know?
If Waxer and Boil had gone dark like Fox had described, if Crys had marched into the meeting room like a zombie, if Longshot had passed him in the hall weapon in hand, would he be able to tell something was wrong? Would he know that the men were a danger to him? Would he have time to react? Or would he only realize when it was too late?
"We surround them," Bly gasped. "Every day they're surrounded by us. They're outnumbered by us. If this order ever went live, there's no way to—" He looked at Ahsoka and stumbled away from the table.
"I…" Ahsoka looked around at all of them. Her eyes were wide and they settled on Cody. "That's not… you wouldn't," she said. Her voice had a note of finality in it. Like she truly believed that they'd be able to fight off the order if given the chance.
He wanted to reassure her that she was right and that they would fight the chips. But the Kaminoans were nothing if not perfectionists. They'd leave no room for error. They'd do whatever it took to make these chips so there was no way to fight against them.
"Barriss," Gree gasped. "She's around us all the fucking time. Her and Unduli. They'd have us..." He couldn't even bring himself to say it.
Cody swallowed down bile.
He was leading this mission. He was leading this operation. He needed to get control of himself and figure out their next moves. He could not protect Obi-Wan and Ahsoka if he sat there panicking like a cadet who had never gone through Seventeen's hell training.
They were all dechipped now.
They knew about the chips now.
They could plan. They could dechip the rest of their brothers. The Jedi would not be in any danger from the troopers.
Of course, things were complicated even further when Gree finally gasped, "Why the hell would that even be an order? We were made for the Jedi. We were supposed to protect them. Why would we be forced to kill them?"
"I don't know," Rex said. "Tech's working on decoding everything."
"No," Cody said.
"No?" Rex looked at him, incredulous. "What do you mean, no? We need to figure out exactly what else these things do and who has access to them."
Cody shook his head. "That's not what I meant. Gree's question. He's right. And we have all the pieces we need to figure it out. We can figure it out. A Jedi ordered us. We were told from the moment we decanted that we were made for the Jedi. So why do we have chips in our karking heads to kill them?"
"Maybe Prime?" Wolffe suggested. "He hated the Jedi. It never made any sense why he agreed to help build them an army. But if he could convince the Kaminoans to add a little line of code to them, he could get his revenge."
Cody's brow furrowed as he thought through Wolffe's suggestion. It made sense, but not enough sense. "That explains why Prime would do this. But the Kaminoans are weapons dealers first and foremost. They provide products to the highest bidder. Sifo-Dyas was their client. Fett was paid a chunk of change to be the template and provide the training."
"Plus Boba," Bly said.
"Right. Plus Boba. There's no way he had the funds necessary to outbid Sifo-Dyas and get the Kaminoans to change the plan."
"Besides, why would they continue with this charade if the ownership of us was transferred over to Fett?" Fox asked. "If he wanted to use us to kill the Jedi, he would have done so before Kenobi set foot on Kamino. He wouldn't have told us we were made for the Jedi."
Right. That made sense. So Prime wouldn't have been the one to add the line of code. But that may have been the reason he agreed to be the template in the first place.
"What about Sifo-Dyas?" Wolffe suggested pacing. "I mean, by all accounts, he doesn't sound like the most stable person in the world. What if he ordered us and then changed the programming? He's the client. So the Kaminoans would do what he asked so long as he provided the necessary funds."
That made more sense than Fett being the one to order this, but something still didn't sit right with Cody about that. "We run into the same problem with that. Why include a kill order but tell us we're meant to protect the Jedi? If he did change his mind and want us to kill them, why not just have us kill them?"
Although, he supposed he could have changed his mind. According to Obi-Wan, no one had seen Sifo-Dyas for over a decade. It wasn't like they could ask the man directly. And Cody had never met him so he couldn't speak to his state of mind the same way he could speak to Prime's.
"What about the Kaminoans? What if this is their doing?" Fives asked. "The code was buried so deep in the records that it's possible Sifo-Dyas didn't even know it existed. It took Tech forever to figure it out. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't have known to go looking for it."
"But what purpose would they have to kill the Jedi?" Gree asked. "They're out in the middle of nowhere. There's no indication that the Jedi have ever done anything to them worth this level of genocide. And again, why go through all the trouble of telling us we're made for the Jedi if we're just meant to kill them? The second Kenobi set foot on Kamino those chips could have been activated and the Jedi Council would have been none the wiser. They wanted the Jedi to take us. Why? Why if we're just meant to kill them."
"And does Palpatine know?" Wolffe asked. "He has to."
"Does he?" Bly said. "There are a lot of people who could know about these chips. Who knows who else Sifo-Dyas told? Who knows who else stumbled on us before Kenobi."
"Palpatine could have done it," Wolffe said."
"Or he may not have and for all we know, we're pointing the finger at an innocent man."
"Innocent!" Fox cried. "That man abuses my men every single day. Sometimes, I'm glad so many of us black out because at least then we won't have to live knowing what he does to us."
"Wait, there's more to this?" Wolffe said. "What the fuck else are you keeping from us?"
"How was I supposed to know that any of you would want to help?" Fox said.
"Because you're our brother. We watch out for each other." Wolffe shouted.
"This isn't Kamino. You all have your Jedi. I don't."
"Fuck off. You can't accuse us of not caring when we don't know because you don't tell us anything!"
Cody closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. There was too much noise. In the room. In his head. There were too many factors. There were too many things to consider. He knew the answers were all there, but they were slipping through his fingers. All the threads of whatever was going on were tangled around his fingers. Knotting together until it was a giant ball of problems. He couldn't keep track of the arguments. Of what was hard evidence versus what was circumstantial versus what was just speculation. And the longer this went on, the more those threads would tangle until it became impossible to untangle them.
He let out a loud whistle.
This got Wolffe and Fox's attention and they stopped arguing.
"Everyone shut up and let me think."
"Cody—" Rex started.
"No. No talking. Give me a minute," Cody growled. He closed his eyes, much like Obi-Wan had taught him to do for meditation. That's what the Jedi did, right? They meditated on their problems.
He had several issues in front of him. There was Ahsoka's attempted assassination. The blackout missions. The chips in their heads. The order to kill all Jedi. Palpatine's confirmed abuse of the Corries. Palpatine pulling the strings to put Ahsoka in the middle of nowhere alone. Palpatine being the one to sign off on Rex's mission without telling anyone.
Palpatine. Palpatine. Palpatine.
It all seemed to come back to Palpatine.
Except for one: Order 66.
Cody did not believe in coincidences. Palpatine had come up too many times for him to just conveniently not be a part of Order 66. The issue was that he didn't know how he connected.
No.
Take a step back.
Coincidences, even if he didn't believe in them, still happened.
Palpatine could be abusing the Corries and sending Ahsoka out alone and signing off on missions to get Rex killed but not actually be the one at the center of it all.
The chips.
The order.
That was the center.
Start from there and work it out.
"What we know for certain," he started, "is that a little over ten years ago, a Jedi by the name of Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans to build an army for the Jedi."
He pulled out a pen and marked it on a napkin. "We know that Prime was hired not long after to be the genetic template."
"Because the chips had the Order," Gree added.
"No. We're not speculating right now. We're just writing down what we know," Cody said.
Gree snapped his mouth shut.
"Prime was hired by the Kaminoans or Sifo-Dyas. That doesn't matter as much. What does matter is that he was hired. During our training, we were told we were meant for the Jedi. We were made to serve them. We know that the Kaminoans put chips in our heads pre-loaded with orders. One of which is to kill the Jedi. We know that someone is currently using them, primarily with the Corries. Fox, do the Corries ever remember their missions?"
Fox shook his head. "No. Not that I can tell. It's almost like you blink and then you're in a completely different place. Time has passed. Sometimes you're injured. Sometimes the blood covering you is… not your own," he said softly.
Wolffe cursed again.
Cody did not. Cody compartmentalized. Because Cody needed to compartmentalize if he was going to figure this out.
"So, whoever is using the chips doesn't want the troopers to know. They might be afraid they'll let someone know what's going on. Or that what is being asked of them is so heinous, they'll refuse even if that means decommissioning."
Because even without the chips, troopers followed orders. Almost to a fault, they followed orders. Even if they knew it would get them or their men killed. There would be no reason to use the chips for run-of-the-mill missions. Even if it was easier, why only have the Corries blackout for some missions and not others? Why not just keep the chips activated full-time?
"We know that Robin killed Cad Bane because his chip was activated. Cad Bane tried to assassinate Ahsoka. So, somebody did not want him being questioned about that."
"So, someone inside the Republic tried to kill her?" Wolffe said.
Ahsoka let out a small gasp and pressed herself into Cody's side. Wolffe still hadn't come to sit back down next to her. Even if the chip was out of his head, he was likely still reeling from the knowledge of what he could have done.
That was fine. Cody could panic later. Right now, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.
"And we're sure it wasn't a Seppie that got ahold of these codes?" Bly asked.
Hardcase seemed to straighten up at the suggestion but said nothing.
"Not likely," Cody said. "If they knew they had the power to turn the entire army against the Jedi, why wouldn't they do it?"
"That makes sense," Bly said.
"Corries were likely the ones that sabotaged our ship," Rex added. "They were blacked out. Just like Fox described. Only responded to numbers and seemed to move like they were zombies. I think one of them even said 'Good soldiers follow orders'."
"Confirmed," Fox said. "All those men reported a blackout mission to me not long after you left."
Cody nodded. "Based on what we've been able to dig up, there were only two people who know the details of Rex's mission. Only two people even knew it was happening. Palpatine and Tarkin."
There. That was the thread. That was the connection he had been looking for.
"Which means one or both of them knows about the chips and has access to control them," Bly finished.
Cody nodded. "Tarkin is unlikely. It feels too random for him to stumble upon the Kaminoans and have the funds necessary to add the code. It's not impossible though."
"Palpatine does have a lot of money. He could have paid the Kaminoans to program us after he found out about us," Fives said.
"Possibly." But that didn't sit right with Cody. "Most of us didn't get a chance to go back to Kamino after the first battle of Geonosis, though. We were immediately shipped out."
"And, based on what Tech found, these were in us since the beginning. Or near enough," Rex said."
"So, someone else found out about this and had enough money or power to ask the Kamioans to either implant us with chips or update the chips to include the kill order," Cody said, scribbling it down on the napkin. Now that the threads had been untangled, he could start speculating and try and see if anything else fell into place. "Gree is probably right. Prime was likely influenced to be the template because of the kill order. We all know how much he hated the Jedi."
"He killed like six of them with his bare hands," Rex said. "And he'd go on and on about how he couldn't want to get his revenge. We all thought he was just crazy."
"And we're sure it wasn't Sifo-Dyas who changed the order?" Wolffe asked.
"Technically, we can't be sure because we can't ask the man," Cody said. "But I do know if the point was to eliminate the Jedi order, then why would he wait? Why would Prime wait? Why would anyone wait? There's something we're missing. Something else."
"You know, the Senate has a lot of sway over the Jedi," Echo said. "I mean, they did force them to become generals."
"Force might be a strong word," Bly said. "But yeah, it doesn't sound like they had a lot of choice. What's your point?"
"It's possible that Sifo-Dyas left records. And because Palpatine was on the Senate around this time, maybe he found the records during an audit or something," Echo said. "Maybe that's how he found out about us."
"Or maybe it was someone else," Tup said. "We can't be sure when he found out or who else knows about us and the chips."
"And that still doesn't explain why we're fighting with the Jedi instead of killing them," Fox said.
"Okay," Rex said. "Okay, what about this? So, Sifo-Dyas hires the Kaminoans to build the Jedi an army. Someone, maybe him, maybe Palpatine, maybe a completely different person we don't know about, finds out about this and uses their money or power or whatever to implant kill orders in all of us. This is what convinces Prime to become the template. Dooku starts a war because the Separatists want out of the Republic but the Republic doesn't want them to leave."
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Fox grumbled.
"I don't care. I'm just trying to get the broad strokes down and float a theory. Either way, a war breaks out. And we're called to the front lines with these kill orders in our heads. Maybe that's what we're missing? Maybe whoever else is involved in this didn't have enough time to bring us up to snuff and send us out to kill the Jedi?"
It was an explanation, but it still left a lot of questions unanswered.
"No," Cody said. "No because why tell us we were made for the Jedi? Why hold up this charade that we're going to serve under them? No one could have predicted the war so there'd be no point in the lie."
Hardcase's eyes narrowed. He still said nothing.
"Why use us at all?" Wolffe asked. "Face it, droids would be much easier to use if your goal was to march on the temple and murder everyone. But with us, I mean, we've gotten this far. We're taking steps to remove the chips so that they can't be activated. Droids are easier to maintain and easier to control. The cost of keeping us alive alone has to outweigh the cost of just using the droids."
"And there's still a question of if anyone else is involved," Echo said.
"Someone else has to be involved," Rex said. "There's too many moving pieces for one man to keep track of. They may not know everything, but they have to know something."
"Agreed," Wolffe added. "Someone else is involved. Lots of someone elses. The question is why? Why is Palpatine trying to kill Rex and Soka? Why is someone trying to kill the Jedi order?"
"Maybe he just doesn't like them," Bly said. "I mean, it's not a great reason but that is a reason."
"But why go through all this effort to put chips into our heads?" Gree asked. "Why have the whole charade of us being made for the Jedi? Why not use droids like Wolffe suggested? It'd be easier and more cost-efficient."
"Maybe to trick them?" Fives suggested. "Lure them into a false sense of security."
"Still doesn't solve the problem as to why he's going through all this in the first place," Echo said. "If the war is mucking up his plans to kill all Jedi, then why would he be so opposed to Ahsoka's series speeding up a Republic victory? Why wouldn't he just put General Kenobi in charge of everything and let him figure it out? Why go out of his way to try and kill us?"
"Maybe he's senile. I don't know!" Fives said, throwing his hands in the air.
Cody shook his head. They were getting nowhere with this. The threads were starting to get tangled again. There were too many unanswered questions and not enough evidence to answer all of them. He didn't even know where to begin to find the answers. He didn't know if they had the time.
Hardcase's hand shot up.
Cody rolled his eyes. "Yes, Hardcase?" Surprisingly, the man hadn't said a word since they started talking. Cody didn't really care. Honestly, the fewer voices yammering on in his ear, the less confused he was. He would have ignored the man but the fact that he raised it hand, clearly wanting Cody's attention, told him that he should probably listen and at least entertain whatever dumb idea he had rattling around in his head.
"Is Palpatine a Separatist?" Hardcase asked.
Everyone froze.
Cody's mind went blank.
For a brief second, it was as if the universe had stopped.
Then, all at once, it started to move again.
Cody's mind opened up.
The threads were completely untangled.
"Why would you say that?" Fives asked carefully.
Hardcase shrugged. "Dunno. But a lot of things start making sense if he's a Seppie."
"No, not a separatist," Cody gasped. "But someone who's playing both sides of the war."
Everyone seemed to realize what he was implying. He could see the pieces slotting into place for each of them.
"That's the answer, isn't it?" Wolffe asked.
"It's those emergency powers acts," Fox said.
"Yes! You're right!" Fives jumped up. "War requires quick decision making but with a system as over bloated as the Republic, decision making takes forever. There are arguments and debates and voting and then voting on the voting. In war, you'd never get anything done that way."
"Each emergency powers act gives him more and more power," Fox added.
"The decision making gets taken out of the hands of the Senator and put solely into his hands under the guise of necessary quick decision making because of the war."
"If he gets enough of these acts—"
"He can erode democracy until eventually all power is transferred over to him!" Fives exclaimed.
"That's his end game, isn't it?" Fox said.
"The war was always meant to happen," Wolffe added. "It was never a surprise. That's why we were still told we were made for the Jedi despite there being something that would force us to kill them. That's why we still serve them. Palpatine sets up for there to be two sides of the war. He uses knowledge from both sides to put the pieces in place to get what he wants."
"If civilian morale is low and threatening to strip him of his powers, he can give us a win," Echo said. "And if he needs to get more power, he can have a loss and blame it on the slow decision-making process of democracy."
"That's one hell of a balance to maintain," Rex said. "But that would explain why our intel is so shitty half the time."
"Or why the Separatists seem to know what we know even when there are no discernable leaks," Gree added.
"When Bane took those senators hostage in exchange for Zero the Hutt," Fox said, "everyone involved was voting against giving him more power. Had General Skywalker not been there, there would have been several deaths."
"He could have used those open positions to fill with someone more favorable to his emergency powers," Fives said.
"And Mandalore makes sense now," Cody said. "Kryze is the figurehead for the neutral systems. Her hold on Mandalore is what's keeping them all in line. Sure, a few join one side or the other, but she's good at convincing people to stay. If Obi-Wan hadn't found the unaltered speech, we would have occupied Mandalor."
"Under suspicion of them colluding with the Separatists," Bly said. "And then we would have effectively removed Kryze from her position as leader of the Neutral Systems. Even if she were kept in place, she'd be a puppet ruler and everyone would see that."
"That would have caused a fracture," Fives said. "Some would have joined the Republic to avoid forceful occupation. Some would have joined the Separatists in protest of the forceful occupation. A few may have remained neutral, but ultimately if that plan had succeeded, ninety percent of the galaxy would have been on one side or the other of the conflict."
"And then once that happens, he can get total control over the Senate and end the conflict," Echo said. "Do you think Dooku knows?"
"He has to. There's no way he's that high up in Seppie command to not know who's actually calling the shots," Tup said.
"And Palaptine's been in politics for decades at this point," Fox said. "If he's patient enough, he could have absolutely laid the groundwork for this sort of power creep long before we even entered the picture."
"I bet you if we look back at the no-contest vote Amidala called, we could find more evidence that he orchestrated the whole thing to give him more power. To put more pieces in place."
"Still doesn't explain why he'd want to kill the Jedi," Bly said.
"Because they're probably not going to be super happy to be part of a dictatorship," Rex said. "Once Palpatine has ninety percent of the galaxy under his control, getting control over that last ten percent will be easy."
"He'd be able to quash any rebellion with the resources he has," Gree said.
"And, if he found out that Sifo-Dyas was building the Jedi an army, he would want to get control of that army to make sure we were on his side," Wolffe added. "Imagine if he hadn't found out about us but Kenobi still did. Now you have a whole army that can be used to disrupt your plans. A force to fight against you."
"We may not have been part of the plan in the beginning, but when he found out about us, he pivoted to utilize us." Cody was almost impressed at how the man managed to keep everything straight. Something like this took a lot of patience and control.
"He may have been planning on using droids before us because Wolffe's right, it would have been easier, cheaper, and quicker to march on the temple. But when he found out about us—"
"He had to pivot and we can do something no droid can," Fox said.
"The Jedi wouldn't have gotten attached to them." Cody realized. "They wouldn't have let their guards down around them."
"They probably would have dug around in the heads of droids too," Bly said. "To make sure that there weren't any hidden orders. But because we're sentient and alive—"
"They didn't think that sort of control was possible. And they would have been able to sense our loyalty," Cody said. "We're a trap. The Jedi get comfortable around us and when Palpatine gets total control, before anyone realizes what that means for the galaxy, he has us kill the only people who could possibly stop him."
He felt sick to his stomach. The plan was convoluted, almost too much. And it relied on a lot of things happening precisely without any deviation. But it was also brilliant. Palpatine controlled both sides of the conflict which meant he could drag this out for as long as he liked. Except—
"Ahsoka's series is influencing the war outside of his control," Rex said, voicing what Cody had realized.
"Me?" Ahsoka asked, eyes wide as she no doubt struggled to come to terms with all this.
"Yes, you," Rex said. "He didn't predict your series would come about or that it'd be as popular as it was. That's why his first instinct was to shut it down, not control it. He didn't have time to try and rework the plan to account for it."
"No," she shook her head. "It's just a dumb little series. There's no way it could influence the war enough for it to be a threat."
"You influenced several neutral systems to join the war," Rex pointed out.
"I was voted into office because of you," Fox added. "And all those amendments. I'm not supposed to be up there. What's good for the vode isn't necessarily good for Palpatine's plan. We're not supposed to be seen as sentient by anyone except for the Jedi."
"That's why he needs you to stop. That's why he needs you gone." Rex finished.
"And he's going to keep trying things until it sticks," Cody said.
Ahsoka paled at the admission. He'd love to keep her in the dark; to keep her from knowing the extent of danger that surrounded her, but that wouldn't protect her. The more she knew, the more she could prepare. She could watch her back.
"We need to tell the council," she said.
"They would help," Bly added. "Especially since, you know, if they don't the chips will just make us kill them all."
As tempting as that was, Cody shook his head. "No. We still don't know how Palpatine found out about us. Sifo-Dyas was a Jedi. Who knows who he told about us. There could be another traitor in the Jedi Temple. Maybe even multiple."
"But—" Ahsoka started to argue.
"Think about it, vod'ika, " Cody said. "A plan like this takes a lot of people to run. Dooku may be the Separatist liaison Palpatine's working with, but we don't who on the Republic side knows.
"Tarkin!" she cried.
"We can't be sure if he knows, or if he does, if he's the only one."
"But we can't just keep them in the dark. Every minute this war goes on is another minute someone dies. And for what? So some old guy can have more power?" Ahsoka said.
"I know it's hard, but if we move too fast, we risk collapsing the entire scheme. Palpatine's wrapped the galaxy up too tightly in his plan for us to just move without thinking," Cody explained. "As much as I hate to admit it, he still holds most of the power. There are too many brothers with chips in their heads. We don't know how much the Seppies know. We don't know who in the Republic knows. We don't even know if Palpatine was the one to include the Order or if it was someone else."
"Tech is working on getting us a list of everyone who has access to the codes," Rex said. "That should help us narrow down the list. Once we've confirmed that Kenobi isn't on that list, then maybe we can bring it to him."
Cody nodded. That sounded like a good plan. It wasn't that he thought Obi-Wan was secretly a traitor, but with a mission as dangerous as this, one wrong move; one ounce of trust misplaced, and they could all die. As soon as he got some sort of confirmation that Obi-Wan wasn't the traitor, then they'd bring it to him.
"Tech's got a lot on his plate, though," Fox said. "Between the datapads and now this, on top of all his regular missions."
"Datapads?" Ahsoka asked.
Cody winced. Right. Just because she now knew about the chips didn't mean she knew everything. He'd have to debrief her later.
"I can help out," Echo said. "I know how he works so it should be no problem."
"We can put prioritize slicers as well as medics and commanders," Wolffe said, "for the de-chipping efforts so they can help."
"What about the Corries, though?" Bly said. "If Fox's men are being used right now and we don't know all the orders, we won't be able to dechip any of them."
"Or the vode on Kamino," Cody added. "Too close to the source. Too many eyes on them."
"We can get a few of them dechipped," Wolffe said. "We can see if Blitz can meet up with Fox to talk about politics or whatever so he's at least in the loop. Fox, you said you were keeping track of the vode sent on missions?"
Fox nodded.
"Send your code to me," Bly said. "I can make a list and look for patterns. If there's a specific specialty or trooper that keeps getting sent out, we can avoid those. And I can work to create a priority list per battalion so that we have some organization and direction."
"I can see what I have. Thorn, Thire, and Stone should be pretty safe to dechip. The commanders aren't sent out nearly as much, especially now that Vos is hanging around. Should we debrief them, though? Tell them what we know or just keep them in the dark?"
"Bly, send me your priority list, and then let me decide who gets a debrief and who doesn't," Cody said. "The medics will need one regardless since they're the ones doing the surgeries. We can't just rely on Dice drugging everyone and dragging them to the basement. That would take too long. But the more people that know about this, the more that has the potential to slip."
"Got it," Bly said.
"Yes, but what are we going to do about Palpatine?" Gree asked. "Even if we dechip every single brother, he's still setting all of this up. When do we tell the Jedi?"
"Aren't we just going to assassinate him?" Wolffe asked.
"Yeah, right," Gree scoffed. "Since when has Cody ever decided to plan out something so against the rules?"
Cody winced. He never did get around to telling Bly and Gree about his plan.
"Seriously!" Gree said, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm not allowed to hang Palpatine by his intestines, but you get to plan an assassination?"
"You said the intestines wouldn't work because they were too weak," Cody argued back. "And I'm trying to do this in a way that wouldn't destabilize the entire galaxy!"
"Since when was killing the chancellor an option, though?" Bly asked.
"Cody had a breakdown a few weeks ago. Fox and I are looking into how best to do it," Wolffe said casually.
Everyone glanced at Cody.
He groaned and ran a hand down his face. "I did not handle Rex's supposed death well, okay?"
"That's fair," Bly said. "So, are we going to kill the chancellor?"
"That might be the only way," Cody said. "Men like him don't go quietly, especially if he's got a whole other system of planets that he's in charge of. He can run there if we try to corner him. But, if we assassinate him and make it look like a health problem—"
"Then no one's the wiser," Gree said. "And the Seppies will probably collapse in on themselves because Palpatine's not pulling the strings."
"If we play our cards right," Fives said, "we might even be able to influence who gets put into power next. But we'll need to put some things in place."
"Think Kenobi would go for it?" Echo asked.
Now this, Cody wasn't sure. The man did like to keep the moral high ground as much as possible. But, he also understood that sometimes in war, you couldn't be moral.
"If we present the evidence and point out that Palpatine's not going to go quietly, he might be willing to let us handle it," Cody said. "But that's why we need to be careful who we bring into this."
"I don't think we should kill him, though," Ahsoka said. "Yes, he's done a lot of bad things, but killing isn't the only option here."
Cody winced. They probably should have saved the assassination talk to when she wasn't in the room. She still held the ideals of a child, despite everything she had been through. She still believed that they could do the right thing, even if that wasn't an option.
"Once we have the evidence we need, we can talk to Obi-Wan about it and see if there's another way," he promised her. He felt bad about doing so because he had already made up his mind. Palpatine was going to die. There was no other way. He was too powerful to simply arrest. Revealing that he was playing both sides of the war might throw the galaxy into chaos if they weren't careful.
Ahsoka didn't seem convinced by his words.
" Vod'ika, please, promise me that you won't tell anyone until we figure this out. I'm serious, one wrong move and we all die and Palpatine gets the power and control he so desperately craves," Cody said.
Ahsoka studied him for a second and then sighed. Her shoulders slumped. "Fine. But you have to promise me that you and Master Obi-Wan will do everything you can to take him alive."
"Promise." He lied.
"Now, onto the bigger issue," Fox said. "How in the hell are we going to dechip millions of troopers? Dex will give us drugs, but we only have one med droid in 79s. It will look suspicious if we keep taking troopers down here and shore leave doesn't always go to plan."
"We can use GAR stuff," Bly said.
"No," Rex shook his head. "Tech estimates that we can only get away with about one in a thousand surgeries. Anything more will trigger something that will let Palpatine know that we're digging chips out of people's heads. And if we're going to keep some dechipped troopers in the dark, they'll have to undergo surgery when they're already injured. It'll be impossible to guarantee that the troopers we need dechipped will get dechipped that way. It'll move too slowly. It could take us years to dechip everyone."
"We don't have much choice," Gree said. "There are only so many droids we can dig out of Kamino's trash and troopers will start to get suspicious if they wake up with bandages in their heads in one of the blind spots of their ships."
Ahsoka gasped and leaped to her feet. "Creche to Command!"
"What?" Cody asked.
"We can use Creche to Command!"
"No offense, kid, but I don't think we can," Wolffe said gently.
"No. I mean, the food donation bill originally came about because of the mess hall episode. And then it was amended later because of the episode I did with Denal and Dogma. The medics have been complaining in almost every episode about the lack of medical equipment. Fox has been bringing it up in almost every debate. The people know about it."
"We can use Creche to Command to drum up support for another amendment that would include medical equipment," Fox said, putting into words what Ahsoka was trying to say. "That… that might actually work."
"We can ask to use civilian hospitals and equipment," Kix said. "And, because of the OPSEC risk of sensitive information being stored in the droids and equipment, that would give us reason to wipe them after every surgery. We could even get away with doing surgeries on troopers who have minor injuries, stating that because the equipment isn't GAR-issued, it requires sedation. Most troopers don't know enough about medicine to know that's a lie."
"And that would increase the amount of surgeries we can do on top of whatever droids we can dig out of the trash," Cody said. "The only people we'd have to inform are the medics, and select Commanders and slicers but we could still get large chunks of troopers dechipped and no one would know."
"Plus," Rex said. "Palpatine would have a hard time arguing against the measure without it looking suspicious. The program would be voluntary, like the food and clothes. So no one would be forced to donate equipment or time. It would look like a win-win for the GAR. The Senate doesn't have to spend more money, and the troopers get the medical supplies we're lacking."
"It'd still take some time," Echo said. "But if Commander Fox can get that amendment pushed through and if Ahsoka can drum up enough support, we could probably get a good chunk of the GAR dechipped in a few months. Of course, the Corries and those stationed on Kamino are still an issue."
"But it's better than nothing," Cody finished.
"We just have one problem," Bly said.
"We have lots of problems. You're going to have to be more specific," Cody grumbled. Just when he thought he had figured everything out, Bly came in with yet another problem he would have to solve.
"How are we going to keep this a secret from the Jedi?" he said. "We couldn't even keep Creche to Command a secret for more than a few episodes. And Ahsoka's only here because she realized something was wrong. But this is a bit more high risk than a holoseries."
"We can come up with something super uncomfortable that they won't want to ask any follow-up questions about," Gree said.
"Like what?" Cody asked.
"Like…" Gree thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Like Wolffe and I fucked the same woman and now everyone's taking sides."
"Language!" Rex cried, covering the sides of Ahsoka's head with his hands.
"You know this does nothing to block out the sounds, right?"
"Like you could land the same people I could land," Wolffe scoffed.
"I totally could, you bastard."
Cody sighed and pinched his brow. "How did you even come up with something like that?"
"Our Book Club. "A Tale of Two Generals". I thought it was going to be about the generals falling in love. It wasn't. It was about one woman falling in love with two separate generals."
"Did she choose which one she wanted to be with?" Bly asked.
"Not really. All three just kind of decide to be in a relationship together."
Wolffe growled at him. "Not on your life."
"Like I would want to be in a three-way with you, slut."
"Guys!" Rex cried, gesturing frantically to Ahsoka.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Rex, I've been on the holonet before. Trust me, I've read it all."
"That is not making me feel better!"
Cody ignored their childish arguing. "Fine, that's what we'll do. That's the excuse we'll use. Hopefully, that will be enough to keep them from prying anymore until we've got something else to give them." He hoped they'd have something to give them before he had to start spreading rumors about his brothers' sex lives.
They finished up their food and everyone gave confirmation that no one else was hiding anything (they may have interrogated Fox a bit harder than the rest given most of the secrets seemed to be his). Once it was determined that no one had any other secrets that could possibly change the fate of the galaxy, Cody stuffed his napkin into a glass of water to hide any evidence that he had figured it out and then divvied up how they were going to get home to ignite the least amount of suspicion. Fox stumbled his way back to the Corrie base (once he got confirmation from Thorn that Vos had chased Orn Free Taa and Binks off the property earlier) and Wolffe took the most direct route back, given that he needed to be up in a few hours anyways for the training exercise.
Bly and Gree looped back to 79s to meet up with some of the other commanders on Coruscant. Fives, Echo, Tup, and Hardcase took off to meet Waxer and Boil at the get'shuk game. Which just left Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka taking their time getting back, meandering through some of Coruscant's nicer parts. Though, Cody still kept his eye out for any would-be muggers. He wanted Ahsoka to get some sleep as soon as possible. It couldn't be good for her to stay up so late, even if she didn't have anything to do tomorrow and could sleep in.
Ahsoka tucked herself against his side.
Cody sighed and put an arm around bout Rex's and Ahsoka's shoulders, pulling them close. After everything he had been through these past couple of weeks, it was nice to feel that they were alive. Warm and breathing against his body. It soothed some of his nerves and grounded him.
Rex was strangely quiet and subdued. Cody would like to think it was just exhaustion seeping in after everything that had happened, but he knew his brother. He was thinking about something.
"What's going on, Rex'ika. Talk to me."
Rex looked down at Ahsoka, who looked up at him.
She smiled softly. "It's okay. You can talk I won't say anything. I promise."
He hesitated, then, haltingly stated, "Just thinking about Slick."
Cody tensed. He felt Ahsoka tense as well. He was glad she never met him. That would have been one hell of a welcome to the war. And he shuddered to think what would have happened if that sleemo had had access to her.
"What about him?"
Rex shrugged. "I mean, was he right? At the end of the, we're just pawns. We can turn into flesh droids with one command and do whatever someone else tells us to without a second thought. And Fox's men are going through hell regularly. I just… was he right to not want to be part of the Republic? If Palpatine's really playing both sides, was he right to not care whose orders he was taking and to get something else out of it?"
Cody winced. He hated philosophical debates like that. Right and wrong had no place in war. At the end of the day, it was all about completing the mission. Preferably with as few casualties as possible. If that meant you had to do some morally questionable things, then that was that.
Along that line of thinking, Slick was in the wrong. They had a mission. He did not complete that mission. He chose himself over the mission.
But, now that Cody knew what he knew, wasn't he doing the same thing? If he truly was a good soldier, then it shouldn't matter if Palpatine was playing both sides or not. His mission was to do whatever was asked of him. Kill the Jedi. Win the war. Smash some droids. None of it should matter.
But here he was. Plotting an assassination. Helping Wolffe bribe politicians to get what he wanted. Working against his orders to do what he wanted. Working to ensure that he'd never be forced to comply with orders he didn't want to comply with.
Was he like Slick?
Was he a hypocrite because he sent a man to death for doing what he was now doing?
"I think," he said slowly. "I think it's possible to be both right and wrong." He wasn't sure if that was the case. He kept speaking anyway. "I think he was right to want more. To want to choose his own side. To question orders and his place in the galaxy and decide that he didn't want to be a part of it. But killing his brothers for credits, I don't think…" his words caught in his throat.
"I don't think he cared about ending the war with as few casualties as possible. I think he only cared about himself. And that's what makes him wrong."
"But if he had known about the chips. If he had known that the Seppies and the Republic were both pawns. If we had the chance to dechip him and give him his freedom—"
"We don't know what he would have chosen," Cody said softly. "He made his choice. And we're making ours."
Rex didn't respond. Neither did Ahsoka.
The rest of the walk back was quiet.
When they got to the barracks, Cody expected Rex and Ahsoka to turn and head towards where the 501st was put up. They both could use a vod pile. Cody could use one too. But, as commander it was a little hard to ask without fearing his men would feel unable to say no. Besides, he didn't want to appear weak in front of his men. No matter how many times Obi-Wan assured him that showing weakness only strengthened their respect for him.
But, Rex and Ahsoka did not turn to head toward the 501st. Instead, they followed him to his bunks.
Cody felt his chest warm. Though, he was still an ori'vod and there were rules about this sort of thing.
"Seriously?" he asked, glaring at the both of them. The most important rule: make sure your younger siblings know how much of an annoyance they are no matter what.
Ahsoka had the decency to look sheepish.
Rex, the little shit, just started stripping off his armor. "Shut up. You know you love it."
"I tolerate it. I don't love it," Cody said. He didn't argue or kick them out, though, and took off his own armor. It'd need to be cleaned later. For now, it could rest. It was nice to be out of it. It made him feel less like a machine designed for death and more like a person.
"I don't even know if my bunk is big enough to fit three people."
"You'll make a good mattress, Cody," Ahsoka said, patting his arm. She kicked off her boots. Rex handed her some sleep clothes and she bounded into the fresher to change.
"Disarm yourself," Cody called. "I don't want any of Wolffe's knives stabbing me in my sleep. Or one of those thermal detonators going off in the middle of the night."
" Lek, lek. I know. I know," Ahsoka said, coming back in and placing her pile of weapons on the table. Seriously, where did Wolffe manage to hide them all? Her lightsaber was placed on top.
Cody picked it up. Obi-Wan was right, it didn't feel as warm in his hands. But it still felt pleasant. Like it trusted Cody not to lose it. He tied one of his extra wrist straps around the handle.
"Seriously?" Ahsoka made a face. "A wrist strap?"
"Wolffe has his padawan knife program. I have my 'I'm tired of chasing after the shit Jedi lose' program." He placed the lightsaber down gently on the pile of weapons, checked to make sure the droid poppers and detonators were inactive, and then collapsed onto the bed.
Ahsoka crawled over him; elbowing his gut and kicking his shins as she tried to get comfortable. She ended up wedged against the wall and lying on Cody's right arm.
Cody had just started to relax with the heavy weight on top of him when Rex decided he was ready for bed and just collapsed on Cody's left side.
The air was forced from Cody's lungs and he jerked up.
"If you don't watch it, I'm kicking you out," Cody said.
"For a mattress, you sure are talkative," Rex grumbled as he slung an arm over Cody's torso and Ahsoka's shoulders.
"He's not very comfortable either," Ahsoka said.
"Complain and I will kick both of you out."
"You wouldn't," Ahsoka said, doing her best tooka eyes impression.
"Nice try, kid. I grew up with Bly. And I work with Wooley. I'm immune." Kind of sort of. They were very good tooka eyes and if she caught him in the right mood, they'd probably work.
"But Cody, don't you know togrutas are a pack species? We need to sleep in giant cuddle piles for healthy development," Ahsoka said.
"Yeah, but you're not the one who will wake up with two arms that will need to be cut off due to lack of circulation."
"Shut up. You love us," Rex said.
"Not at the moment."
"Shhh." Ahsoka put a finger to his lips. "Sleep. Then in the morning, you can make us pancakes."
"Since when?"
"Agreed. Pancakes," Rex mumbled, his body getting heavier as sleep finally took him.
"Can't wait for Cody Cakes," Ahsoka mumbled, her own body going soft and pliant as she fell asleep.
Cody would have thought with all the revelations from the evening that he'd take forever to fall asleep. But, knowing that Rex and Ahsoka were safe for now and that Seventeen was watching Obi-Wan's back, his mind felt calm.
Maybe with the chip now gone he had less noise in his head.
Or maybe now that he had put the pieces together he felt more in control.
Either way, it didn't take him long to fall asleep either.
And when he did, it was blissfully dreamless and any nightmares were soothed away by the sounds of soft breathing and the feeling of his younger siblings safe for the moment.
******
Waxer: General, I know you're super stressed with hunting down the Seppies with Seventeen and the cadets, but I thought this might cheer you up.
General Kenobi: Oh?
Waxer has sent a photo: Commander Cody on his bunk. Commander Tano and Captain Rex curled up, asleep on top of him.
General Kenobi Liked the Picture
General Kenobi: Well, I'm glad at least one of us is getting some sleep.
General Kenobi: Send my love.
Waxer: Sure thing! Send Seventeen my love.
Waxer: Actually, don't do that. I don't want him to remember I exist.
Alpha-17 has joined the chat.
Alpha-17: Did you finish all your rounds of Spiral Fracture?
Waxer: How did you join right as I mentioned you?!?!?!?!
Alpha-17: I have my ways. Now answer the question.
Waxer: Yes, sir.
Alpha-17: I don't believe you.
Alpha-17: Add two more on.
Waxer: Now? It's like three in the morning?
Alpha-17: Did I fucking stutter? Better hop to it before I add two more rounds.
Waxer: Yes sir
Notes:Did I write this chapter like the meme from It's Always Sunny? Yes. Yes I did. Trying to figure out how each move Palpatine makes plays into his plans is exhausting. But, I hope it makes sense. But now everything (or almost everything) is out in the open. We can start moving forward with dechipping efforts and an assassination attempt! Hopefully nothing bad happens between now and then. Ignore the chapter count. The last 17 chapters or so are just cuddles. I promise ;)
Aayla and Anakin: Can't even figure out how the GAR is structured
Cody and Rex: Manage to unravel Palpatine's whole complex plan in the span of an hour and figure out 90% of what's going on.