Really, if he was going to be captured, Obi-wan would not have chosen this group to be locked up with. Kanen was a good man and could be a good Jedi, but he let his emotions cloud his judgment too often. So when Obi-wan had first let them all know he was going to go get captured by some Imperialists, the man had been the first to argue against it. Yes, Obi-wan was one of the last living Jedi in the galaxy. Yes, it was a big risk that he was probably going to be shot on sight, but the Force was telling Obi-wan he was going to be fine. For some reason, these younger Jedi seemed to be wary of trusting the Force completely. Such an odd for a Force user in Obi-wan's mind. Ahsoka at least had shown improvement in that aspect. She just couldn't let him go alone, was all. So she had said she was going.
Of course, when Rex had heard what was going to happen, he'd immediately thrown a fuss. So they had to take Rex along, but were leaving Wolffe and Gregor behind. Not really behind, per say, just a plan b incase plan a didn't work. Kanen wasn't going to leave the safety of the Rebels' two most powerful Jedi to a retired clone, so he had to come with. And wherever Kanen went, so did Ezra. Hera, Zeb and Sabine tried to hitch a ride as well, but Obi-wan drew the line at them. They could wait with Wolfe and Gregor and maybe learn something about following orders from them. Obi-wan already had a headache growing from dealing with Ahsoka, Rex, Kanen and Ezra.
At least Ahsoka and Rex trusted him, even if he was leaning more towards crazed hermit now a days than almighty Jedi Master. He liked having the ability to be a little freer flowing now and understood some of his own Master's habits a little bit better. Being so connected to the Force seemed to almost remove a weight from his shoulders. Of course, even the Force couldn't prepare him for the stupidity of a half trained Jedi and his padiwan learner.
Sitting chained to the wall of the hanger of a crashed Star Destroyer had so far been the most pleasant part of the whole trip. At least they were finally out of the rain. Kanen wasn't badgering Obi-wan or Ahsoka as to why they were getting captured by Imperials or why Rex had to come with or why it had to be them. Ezra wasn't nearly taking his head off because his teacher was so focused on himself to properly teach the boy. Ahsoka thankfully had snuck off with Ezra and did some training with him and possibly talked to him about the mission. Probably why the boy had just dropped his weapon at Obi-wan's order when the Stormtroopers had surrounded them. Ahsoka and Rex weren't making eyes at each other when they thought no one was looking. Obi-wan knew they were sharing a bunk and he really didn't want to know what all they'd been up to since the War. It wasn't his place, really, because at least they'd gotten their act together.
Obi-wan was sitting the furthest from the wall at the moment, legs crossed and his eyes closed as he focused on the beings around them. The medical bay was full past capacity a couple floors up and there was a heated debate being held on the heavily damaged bridge, possibly about them. Ahsoka and Rex were leaning against the wall, Rex the one chained to the wall with one wrist while the other was chained to Ahsoka. Ezra was chained between Ahsoka and Kanen with Kanen being the nearest to Obi-wan. Ezra was trying to mimic Obi-wan but was struggling. Obi-wan sighed before giving the boy a gentle nudge in the Force, focusing him on the hanger around him. Kanen was scanning their surroundings, eyeing a nearby shuttle.
There were about twelve troopers in the hanger with them, scattered around them in a semi circle. A group of five was playing sabacc close to the lifts, the Rebels' weapons laid out nearby. Four of the troopers had taken up positions around the group, blasters held loosely but still pointed at the captives. The other three were sitting on some crates near the shuttle, cleaning bits and pieces of their equipment while talking softly with each other. From what he'd overheard so far, Obi-wan had gathered that one of the officers of the ship was out scouting and so they were waiting for him to get back to decide what to do with the Rebels.
"Master Kenobi, not to sound ungrateful and all but…we could easily escape," Kanen leaned in close, whispering into Obi-wan's ear.
"I know that, young one," Obi-wan kept his face impassive. "Not all the pieces are in places just yet."
"How do you know that?" Kanen asked, the all too familiar tone of annoyance back once more.
"I listen to what the Force tells me and in return I trust it to guide me forward into the unknown," Obi-wan sat up straighter as he picked up on a new presence entering into his field of awareness. "And right now it's telling me to tell you to trust me."
"But, Master," Kanen sounded like he wanted to argue but Rex leaned forward, looking annoyed.
"Just shut your trap and you'll be fine," Rex drawled easily, his tone not lessening the glare he was shooting the younger man. "Kenobi hasn't led me wrong yet."
"Obi-wan…do you feel that?" Ahsoka tensed, looking towards the door, slight horror on her face.
"He feels like Rex," Ezra whispered as Obi-wan also focused on the door as the whine of speeder bike reached their ears.
"Another clone? And he's working for the Imps. Just great," Kanen grumbled.
"He's not just any clone," Obi-wan couldn't stop the small smile that cracked his face. After all these years, he had finally found the stupid man.
Cutting a path through the curtain of rain that marked the hanger entrance was a speeder bike, it's rider encased in the familiar white armor of a stormtrooper. The bike skidded to a stop near the troops playing sabacc and the trooper easily dismounted, blaster strapped to his back as he towered over the men. Just looking at his stance, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at the other troopers, told you he was not happy at all. With a voice that cracked like a whip, he growled at the men, "What the hell is this?"
"Sir!" One man moved to get up, but the officer shoved him back down. The trooper visibly swallowed before continuing as the others stayed silent, "We're watching the prisoners, sir."
"What? Those prisoners over there? The ones chained to the wall instead of down in the brig?" The officer snapped. The men by the shuttle continued to clean their equipment absentmindedly as they watched the others, almost looking smug.
"Yes, sir!" another of the troopers answered. "General Martin ordered us to stay down here with them, said he didn't want them dirtying his brig."
"The brig that he doesn't oversee? The bastard," the officer growled. "What I really want to know, though, is why your lazy gits are sitting here, twirling your thumbs while your prisoners are planning their escape."
"Please, sir," one bolder than the others laughed, actually laughed while the others cringed as the officer crossed to him. "The Jedi have suppressant cuffs on. The old guy is crazy anyways. And the clone can't even walk straight. They're really not worth our time."
"No one said anything about Jedi or a clone," the officer pulled the trooper up by his neck, one hand wrapped easily around it like it was nothing to him.
"Four Jedi and a clone, sir!" one of the men actually guarding them called out. "Gear is on the crate over there."
The officer threw the man he was holding aside, ignoring as the trooper gasped for air. The man crossed to the crate, snatching up a lightsaber and looking it over. Obi-wan recognized his lightsaber easily and felt his stomach twist. The way the officer was acting didn't remind him anything of the man he used to know. If anything, he was a much colder, much harsher version.
"They were easily captured, sir," Another man spoke up. "Didn't even put up a fight."
"And no one wondered why?" the officer asked softly, turning the hilt over thoughtfully in his hand.
"Why would we, sir? They're rebels, they tend to be stupid," the man shrugged.
"Because more often than not, a Jedi has another plan in mind," the officer snapped.
"Well, that's why you're here, sir. Being a Jedi killer and all," the trooper said carefully, glancing at the others nervously.
"That is what I am. Wanna know why?" the officer flicked a finger and the blue blade hissed to life. "I know how to fight like 'em, trained with a few back during the war. I know how they think, how they move, how they will react. I also know who they are and boys, you just brought the wrong Jedi on board."
"What….what do you mean, sir?" the troopers started to stand slowly as the nearest one to the officer leaned away as the blade ideally flicked to him.
"The Jedi you brought on board, the crazy one. Just so happens we have a history," the officer thrust forward, driving the blade through the trooper's left eye. The man screamed as the blade drove home and then up through his skull as he slumped forward. The sizzle of the blade echoed through out the hanger as the stench of burned brain hit Obi-wan's nose. The officer turned to the others, the troopers glancing uneasily at each other. The officer twirled the blade in his hand almost casually, "A history, boys, that means only I am allowed to kill him."
With that, the officer lunged forward, blade hissing at his side as he rushed the nearest group of troopers. The first one didn't stand a chance against him, cut down with two quick slashes through his torso. The officer had already had moved onto the next as the body fell to the ground in three pieces.
"Someone get us back up! Fett's lost it!" one of the troopers near Obi-wan yelled as he ran forward, his blaster spitting red. The officer, Fett, easily decapitated the next trooper before he twirled the blade behind him, catching the blaster bolts and sending them spinning off into the walls. Behind him, Obi-wan sensed Kanen forcing Ezra down and covering the boy with his body but Obi-wan couldn't turn away from the scene.
Fett easily dodged the now steady stream of blaster fire, using the body of a trooper as shield as he stabbed another through the stomach and sliced upwards, the body separating up the middle as it hit the ground. He threw the body aside and flipped over a crate and coming up with his blaster in his free hand, spitting blue bolts back at the troopers. He caught another trooper with his blaster fire before another trooper got a lucky shot in, catching Fett in the leg. Fett turned his fall into a roll, coming right next to another trooper. The trooper started screaming but Fett cut him off with a blaster bolt under the chin.
At this point, the hanger smelled of fear, filling every inch of the space as the troopers realized that the battle at this point was useless. One trooper was screaming into his comm as he knelt by the lift, trying to override the lockdown the hanger had been slammed into once Fett had killed his first man, "Let us out! Please, let us out, he's going to kill us all! He's gone mad!"
Another trooper, the one that had fired those first shots, had taken cover behind a pile of crates and was yelling at someone on the other end of his comm nearby, "I don't care what they say, get us a whole squad down here! Fett has finally snapped and he's butchering us down here! I don't know if it was one of the Jedi or not, but its about time someone put this man down! Get us some help down here! He's going to."
What Fett was going to do, the man never was able to finish. The blue lightsaber easily sliced through the crates and the top of the man's helmet, silencing him in less than a second. Fett kicked the crates over as well, firing a few shots into the man's body, "I never did like you, Sarge."
"Holy shit! Holy shit, we're dead!" One of the troopers screamed from nearby where Fett had left him after filling his chest with blaster bolts. Fett turned back to him and caught a blaster bolt in the shoulder as one of the remaining troopers ducked out from behind his pile of crates. Fett stabbed the lightsaber through the injured trooper's head as he passed, striding towards the trooper who had hit him. The man backed away, his helmet laying abandoned by the sabacc cards. His face twisted in horror as the blue blade crackled as Fett tapped it against the floor.
"Please…please, sir! You don't want to do this!" the man pleaded, blaster shaking in his grip.
"Oh," Fett slashed the lightsaber through the man's wrists, the blaster crashing to the floor as the man screamed in horror and pain before Fett stabbed the blade into the man's stomach. "But I really kinda want to."
He pulled the blade free and fired two shots through the man's skull before turning away, the expressionless helmet now with droplets of blood crossing the visor as it searched for the remaining two troopers. Obi-wan easily spotted the one huddled by the door, crying into his comm still, begging for someone to save him. Fett spotted him, too, and fired off a single shot, a hole now burned through the trooper's head as he slumped against the door.
The last trooper was a rookie and terrified of the situation he was in. Obi-wan could catch a whiff of urine as the shaking arm of the young man wrapped around his neck and jerked him upwards, the cold barrel of his blaster pressed to the Jedi's head, "Sir, put the weapons down."
The man was foolish but smart. Using Obi-wan as a hostage easily drew Fett's attention, the head snapping to them like a predator who had just found his next meal. Fett strode a few steps towards them before stopping as the trooper pressed the gun harder to Obi-wan's head, "Put the weapons down now, sir."
"You gonna shoot him, boy?" Fett snarled, blaster up and pointed right down Obi-wan's nose.
"If I have to, sir. Put the weapons down," the troopers hand was still shaking, but it still didn't change the fact that there was a weapon pressed to Obi-wan's head. Out of the corner of his eye, Obi-wan saw Rex keeping Ahsoka down, eyes hard as he watched the men before him.
"You've made a really stupid move," Fett growled as he turned off the lightsaber and dropped the weapons. Metal on metal echoed throughout the hanger, "Wanna know why?"
"Please, sir. Just stay there," the trooper sounded close to crying. Possibly also close to shitting himself.
"Cuz I was going to make it really quick and painless for you. Now, "Fett took another straightened up. "Now I'm going to make you scream."
Obi-wan wasn't sure what happened after that, only that the next second he was being thrown aside as what felt like a train raced by him. He rolled over in time to see Fett slam the trooper into the wall hard enough to for a dent. The trooper was screaming, just like the others as Fett pulled a knife off his belt and slammed it through the gap in the side of the man's armor and into his ribs with one hand while the other held the man in place, "Is there any back up coming?"
"No! Oh sith spawn it hurts!" the trooper screamed. "No, they're not coming! Please!"
"Well, since you asked so nicely," Fett pulled the knife free before slamming it into the wall and jerking the man forward. He wrapped his hands around the man's head and twisted, the snap of the troopers neck cracking like a gunshot.
Fett stood there, chest heaving, letting the body fall to the ground as his hands fell back to his sides. He suddenly jerked like a puppet on strings, ripping the helmet off his head and throwing it aside with a great roar. The helmet shattered as it connected with the wall in the same moment Fett slammed his hand into the wall. Like a switch being flipped, all the fight left the man and he slumped against the wall. Obi-wan glanced at the others before reaching out with his free hand for the lightsaber that now lay within reach.
He flicked it on and easily cut his bonds, feeling a rush of relief as the Force broke the damn the suppressants had created. As he turned to Kanen, hollow laughter filtered over to them. They all turned to the trooper, who was now sitting against the wall, head thrown back as he stared up at the ceiling, face in shadows.
"When I saw this day happening, it was that blade through my heart, not through someone else's," the man chuckled humorlessly. Obi-wan forced himself to relax and cut Kanen's bonds before pulling their weapons to them, shoving Kanen's lightsaber into his hands before making his way across the destroyed hanger, blade still lite. He heard the tell tale snap hiss of a lightsaber behind him, signaling that Kanen was going to free the others at least. The trooper didn't move as Obi-wan drew level with him, the blue light of the lightsaber accenting his face with a cold light.
"They finally broke me, broke me real good," the trooper said absently, fingers twitching against his knee. Obi-wan remained silent, studying the man he hadn't seen in years. Unlike Rex and the others, this clone looked to have aged like a normal human, a few more lines on his face and a few hints of grey in his hair. Other than that, he looked very much like the young commander Obi-wan had fought side by side with all that time ago.
"I can see that," Ob-wan knelt down next to the man, deactivating his lightsaber and attaching it to his hip. His hand came up and traced the line of white hair on the right side of his head, "Figured it out?"
"Too little, too late," the man flinched at the touch, eyes finally meeting Obi-wan's. Brown eyes met blue for the first time in years and Cody heaved out sigh, his lower lip trembling slightly, "I'm so sorry."
"I can see that as well," Obi-wan shifted his hand to Cody's neck, feeling the clone's racing pace under his fingers. "Let's get out of here."
"I don't…I shouldn't," Cody pulled away as he stood, shifting away from Obi-wan. "I can't…I'm not safe."
"You took the chip out," Obi-wan stood, facing Cody and catching the others in the corner of his eye again. Rex had a firm grip on Kanen's arm, face thunderous as Ahsoka hovered nearby. Ezra had disappeared but Obi-wan could sense him aboard the shuttle, prepping her for a speedy get away. Obi-wan focused back on Cody, "We need you."
"Chip might be out, but the thoughts are still there. You've probably seen it with them," Cody glanced over at Rex. "We aren't all there anymore. Imps broke us, broke us when no one thought we could be."
"You aren't broken, Cody," Obi-wan huffed. "And you are coming with me. I did not let myself get captured so easily and come so far to see you disappear again."
Cody never got the chance to answer, but Obi-wan saw it on his face. Cody didn't have anywhere to go, didn't believe he had anywhere to go but up that lift to his death. Obi-wan never got the chance to tell him that he always would have a home with the Jedi. Before either of the men could say anything, there was a rumble click overhead. Both looked up to see a turret slid out of its hold and angle down at the Jedi. Another came free above the shuttle and pointed at the others. Kanen and Ahsoka reacted on instant, lightsabers out to deflect the first shots. Obi-wan started to pull his blade free but knew he didn't have time. Shouldn't have had time. Shouldn't still be thinking.
The train that had bypassed him earlier slammed into him this time, its target sure as the whirr of the automated system filled the air with blaster fire. A grunt of pain as Obi-wan was slammed into the ground, a wet wheeze as a body hit him and rolled away. The familiar recoil of his lightsaber deflecting blaster fire as Obi-wan stood. These were all sensations Obi-wan sensed from a distance as the Force filled with pain and fire and hopelessness. As the screams in the Force became one with the wheezing at his feet, Obi-wan felt like the world had dropped out from beneath him.
The familiar crack of a blaster shot ripped by Obi-wan's ear and the blaster fire from above ceased. Shortly after, the blaster fire from the other side of the hanger stopped as well, silence descending upon them in a rush, the world breathing out before it all came rushing back, crashing over Obi-wan as the moment fractured as one single wet gasp reverberated throughout the hanger.
"Sir."
Fingers, slick with blood, weakly gripped Obi-wan's ankle, grounding him. Obi-wan immediately knelt, lightsaber falling from his hands as they gripped the shoulders before him, forcing the body on to its back as he took in the now blackened armor before him.
"Sir. Please."
There was so much blood, it covered everything, leaking out of the holes in his chest and from Cody's mouth as he gasped for air, a hand coming up to weakly grasp Obi-wan's wrist.
"Run."
And the world shattered.