It took them seven hours to scan everyone who'd set foot on that hellish dirtball of a planet and returned to the Resolute but they were finally finished. Thank the Stars. They found twelve infected brothers but were able to subdue them quickly. With Liera's help they were able to find and neutralize the worms safely without too much fuss. Especially after she taught Waxer how to feel for the creepy bastards. Now Obi-wan had three of the disgusting things to work with, much to everyone's distaste. They found a couple of eggs the infected brothers had brought on board as well. The flame troopers were more than happy to set those things on fire.

Cody thought that would be the end of it. They were finally ready to leave and could put all of this behind them. But of course, that wasn't how his life went. There was always a problem somewhere. His comm chirped and he let out the barest hint of a sigh before answering.

"Al'verde. We have a situation in medical. You need to bring the Alor'ad with you as well." Staring down at his comm he let out a low curse. If they were asking for him and Rex specifically, without their jetii, then it meant this was something too big or too important to the vode to trust anyone with. It rankled a little, not telling Obi-wan, but he set aside his own feelings on the matter.

Heading into medical after calling Rex he was met with a slightly dazed younger brother coming from the hall that lead to the medical staff's quarters and raised an eyebrow at him in concern. "What happened vod'ika?" The blonde stiffened slightly and his presence in the force felt almost embarrassed.

"Uh… I might need an intervention when Kix, Jesse, Kicker, and the rest of Jaig Squad decide to band together and kick my shebs." Cody slowed for a moment, wondering what the hell Rex had done to earn the ire of not only his own Squad but Kicker as well.

"Alright, I'll bite; what happened?" Rex let out a small sigh and crossed his arms. Cody didn't even need to see his face to know his brother was glaring at the floor.

"After they finished scanning everyone I was finally able to catch some rack time. Woke up when I felt something in the force. It was Liera." Cody watched his brother from the corner of his eye. He could feel the confusion and mixed feelings even through the partially closed bond. Releasing the blocks they placed on their abilities was having a couple of unintended side effects, he would have to talk to buir later about it. "The moment she saw me she just… she looked so broken, ori'vod. I didn't know what to do so I just pulled her to me and hugged her." Rex shrugged.

"There's nothing wrong with comforting someone, Rex. It was her first ground engagement and we lost so many brothers. I'm actually surprised she held it together so long." It showed an incredible amount of inner strength and caring.

"Well see, here's the thing, she didn't exactly leave after that…" Cody's eyes went wide and he stopped to stare at his brother.

"You didn't-" Rex stopped and shook his head.

"She fell asleep crying!" He half hissed, looking around to make sure no one was nearby. Really, they should have been speaking over comms. "I was too exhausted to carry her back to her quarters and I didn't want to wake her up, she needed to sleep. But Kix and Jesse must have been looking for her cause Jesse burst into my quarters." Cody wanted to put his face in his hands at the slight pang of guilt coming from his brother. "Jesse saw her and was pretty torqued."

"So you want me to talk to them for you if you can't calm them down?" Rex shrugged.

"I'm not sure what I want to do ori'vod. If it was a brother I don't think they'd be freaking out as much." Small spikes of anger and indignation. Rex was not happy with the almost slight against his honor.

"You know how Kix and Jesse feel about each other, how they get when they think someone is threatening their riduur. I imagine they're just as protective over Liera. If she'd gone to anyone else they'd be just as likely to kick their shebs, and you'd have helped them." He nudged his brother with the force and they both started walking again.

"I know. But I'm me. They know I would never hurt her." The truth rang out between them and Cody held back his feeling of exasperation. His brother was brilliant at making plans on the fly and was an exceptional warrior. But when it came to things like this… he could be such an idiot.

Heading straight to the small meeting room where Helix and Vent were waiting. The door was quickly locked and the two Chief Medical Officers motioned for them to sit down. Cody did, Rex leaned against the wall behind him instead. "What's this all about? Something to do with he worms?" The two looked grim, dark circles around their eyes as if they hadn't slept.

"We need you to contact the Mand'alor." He could feel Rex stiffen behind him. Both at the request and the fact that Vent was speaking in Mando'a. They tried not to show how fluent they were in the language, it was an advantage, but if they were speaking Mando'a then things were serious. "We found something on the scans, something that isn't in any of the data files or medical courses." Cody shivered as the force rippled. Whatever they'd found it was important.

"What did you find?" Helix turned on a datapad and input an almost absurdly complex code before sliding it over to him. Picking it up he opened the file and recognized the cranial scans of his brothers. Flicking through the images he frowned. There was something odd that stuck out to him but he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He looked between Vent and Helix. "What is it I'm missing?" Vent took out a second datapad and handed it over. Cody flicked through the scans, looking between them and the scans from the first datapad. Rex came away from the wall and looked over his shoulder, his presence in the force sharpening suddenly.

"These spots on the scans, what is it?" Rex said from over his shoulder, amber eyes narrowed.

"It's a small biomass. Care to guess about the difference between the two pads?" Cody stiffened as he put two and two together.

"Bloody ashes!" His brother's eyebrow rose in surprise. Cody wasn't one to swear or curse but in this instance it was warranted. Vent and Helix just looked grimly back at him.

"The first datapad contains all the scans from our brothers. The second one is all jetii and nat-borns." Rex started mumbling long strings of curses under his breath. "We have no idea what this is and seeing how we are the most senior medical staff here…" Helix shook his head, eyes concerned.

Cody set the two pads down and ran a hand over his short hair. "You haven't told the jetii?" They shook their heads, the slight wariness in their eyes more than understandable. "I'll call buir. He needs to know about this." There was a familiar pang of awe-nervousness-jealousy from the two medical officers and he cursed himself internally. He should have been more careful. There were far too many vode for Jango or Haati to be the parents of and even then Jango was highly selective of who he called his sons. The Mand'alor treated them all fairly, they were Mando'ade after all, but he was not their father.

"I'll need copies of these scans."

[***]

Standing in the private comm room he looked over at Amp, who gave him an 'everything is go' sign. Nodding he stepped up to the comm and waited for it to connect. It didn't take long for a small yet familiar figure to answer.

"Big brother!" The excitement in Boba's voice made him chuckle.

"Hi Bob'ika, I'm sorry I can't talk right now but I need to speak with buir. It's urgent." The boy's eyes darkened and he nodded before disappearing. Almost immediately he reappeared.

"Say hi to Rex for me!" He smiled and nodded at his littlest brother before Jango stepped into view.

"Kote. It's good to hear from you." Unlike Kote, his father didn't put his foot in it by directly calling him son in front of the others.

"Mand'alor." He said respectfully. Jango's expression hardened and his stance changed from one of idleness to one of sharp attention.

"Report, Commander." Kote wasn't disappointed, this wasn't a social call.

"We were sent back to Geonosis, to take back the planet from the bugs." Jango glowered, he hated the fucking dustball as much as any of the vode. "Healer Liera figured out how we lost the planet in the first place. The larval stage of Geonosians are parasites, they can take over the body of a sentient. Alive or dead." The disgusted look on his father's face summed up all his feelings on the matter quite succinctly. "We had to scan everyone who set foot on the planet, caught a couple of the bugs trying to sneak on board to infect the rest of us."

"How are the men who were infected?" Cody smiled reassuringly.

"They're fine. Healer Liera took care of it and they're resting now." He could feel Amp's awe-joy-shyness behind him. Not every vod had the chance to meet the Mand'alor and to hear him asking after the health of the clones who were not his chosen sons made the slicer feel a little less expendable.

"You've mentioned that Healer twice now. Are they the one Haati was so interested in?" Like always his father was sharp as a beskad and twice as observant.

"She's a former jetii, can heal the accelerated aging, and is part of Rex's 501st. The men are very fond of her." Amp snorted in the background, amused by his understatement.

"Hmm. What's so urgent you had to break radio silence if the bugs have been dealt with?" This part he knew his father was not going to like.

"We found something in the scans. Something the Kaminii are keeping from us." His hand clenched into a fist at his side as he turned to Amp and motioned for him to send over the data. "It's in every brother, every single one. In the exact same place. We worried that it was some sort of defect from the cloning process but Liera hasn't noticed it. Whatever it is, it was designed to be there." As he spoke Jango's face turned thunderous. "We haven't told the jetii but I'd like to confide in Obi-wan and Liera." At Obi-wan's name his father's thunderous expression melted a little.

"Heard about your jetii, good man. Mandokarla." A small smirk played at the corner of the man's lips and Kote knew he wasn't going to like what his father said next. "A good choice. Have you gotten him a gift yet?" Kote's face burned as Amp tried, and failed, to hide his snickers behind him.

"Can we get back on topic? He groused. Jango just chuckled at him before all his amusement fell away and he was once again focused.

"I'll look into it. Whatever this is I don't like it. We already knew the Kaminii were Demagolka cowards but the more I learn…" He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I promise you when this is over we'll get our vengeance. A Mandalorian never forgets." The moment the words left Jango's lips he and Amp repeated the phrase, both feeling the burning hatred of the longnecks that was shared by all the vode.

"Do you think Uncle would know about this?" Jango made a considering noise, eyes seeming to look past him for a moment as the man thought.

"No, but I think Tyrannus would. I'll contact Haati and send him with Winter Squad to find out what he knows… you can tell your jetii and the healer. Just be careful." Kote nodded in understanding. "Stars watch over you, Kote." With that said his father cut the feed. Rubbing his fingers over his forehead for a moment he collected his thoughts.

"Wipe an hour and a half of calls and stall the comm for another half hour from this point onward. We don't want anyone finding out bout this." Amp gave him a quick salute and got to work. Kote put his helmet back on and pinged his brother on the internal comm. "Rex, find Liera. I'll get Obi-wan. Buir gave the okay for us to tell them." There was a small hint of hesitation through the bond.

"Ori'vod… I need to bring Anakin in on this." Kote blinked in surprise.

"Why?" He asked slowly. He knew that something had happened between his brother and the jetii but neither of them had spoken about it.

"I kind of… adopted him as one of the vode. I promised him that there'd be no more secrets." Kote sucked in a breath of alarm and tried to keep his temper in check. It was much easier when he was Cody, he could hide behind his impassive military training.

"Rex, you know how dangerous that could be." He felt the guilt-worry-fear from his brother but it was laced with hope.

"I know. But the more we shut him out the more paranoid he gets. I think… I think with Liera and buir's help we can keep him on an even keel. He trusts us, wants to trust us! Let me try." Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and let it out again. There was nothing in the force that said it was a bad idea. If anything it pushed him to listen to his brother. There was something important they didn't know and this could reveal that missing puzzle piece.

"Fine. But if buir has to fix this I'm never letting you live it down." There was a sense of relief from his brother and Kote made a note to remind the force sensitive brothers to reel themselves in when not in battle.

[Liera]

Waking from her long slumber she felt a life-force very close to her own and frowned in confusion. The shallow rise and fall of someone sleeping beneath her hand and the comforting sound of a heartbeat met her almost simultaneously. Opening her eyes she focused her senses and recognized the good captain immediately. As calmly as she could she slowly started to pull away from him, not wanting to wake him but knowing she couldn't stay idle now that she was aware. The arm around her waist tightened, the large warm hand on her hip pulling her closer.

Liera nibbled her bottom lip, unsure what to do. She could feel how tired he still was after the battle and didn't want to shove him away. It wasn't as if she felt uncomfortable or unsafe while being held like this. With her particular set of skills and abilities she could tell that Rex had no ill intent toward her whatsoever. If anything it was the exact opposite. Like the majority of the 501st he was quite fond of her and felt relaxed in her presence. She could see the respect he held for her as both a person and a healer. A respect she returned.

The man stirred as if sensing she was awake, which in hindsight he probably could. There wasn't much she could do as his eyes suddenly snapped open and he gazed at her blearily. After a moment of silent confusion his eyes widened and his face turned slightly red. She could feel his sudden embarrassment-apology as he realized his arm was wound around her waist and she couldn't actually get up. Clearing his throat he let her go and sat up stiffly. "Are… are you alright?" She smiled at the concern in his warm eyes.

"I'm fine… thank you." Letting her force presence brush against his she sent gratitude for the comfort he had given her. A wide smile of relief crossed his face and he sent reassurance back at her. Getting up he stretched and made his way to the small fresher attached to the officer's room. Climbing out of the bed she fixed the blanket and waited for the captain. When he came out of the fresher she slipped inside to quickly wash the sleep out of her eyes and try to get her hair to lay flat. Once she was presentable enough she came back out to see the man standing there in his armor, looking unsure of himself.

"Is something wrong? Have I done something that made you uncomfortable?" There was a mild spike of alarm and Rex shook his head. Stepping closer he reached out and placed a hand on her cheek, his thumb lightly brushing against her skin.

"I'm glad you came to me. I want you to know you can come to me again if you need to." Placing her hand on his she smiled, though she knew she was blushing faintly.

Before she could reply Rex's comm started beeping and he sighed, letting his hand fall away. As if realizing how close they were to one another Liera's blush darkened and she took a step back. The captain gave her a look that was difficult to decipher before he picked up the comm and started speaking with his brother in rapid Mando'a, too fast and complex for her to follow. When he was finished he sighed. "I have to head to medical for a meeting."

"You could walk with me. I have to return to my quarters anyway and I wouldn't mind your company." His eyes lit up and she couldn't help the slight fluttering in her abdomen.

"After you." He said teasingly, bowing as if he were some stuffy aristocrat. Snickering she lifted her chin high and gave him a fake haughty look.

"My, such a gentleman." They devolved into chuckles.

The two of them walked in companionable silence, enjoying each others presence without having to fill the space between them with words. Vode who passed by eyed the two of them curiously, though they didn't say anything besides the standard greetings. Coming into the medical bay they made their way to her quarters, only stopping to greet the medics who worked closely with her and assure them she was fine.

"I'll stop by Jaig Squad later. Kix was too busy when I got off shift so I never got to speak with him. I'm sure they're worried about me." There was a small feeling of guilt, embarrassment, and apprehension in the captain's spirit. She looked up at him and he shifted on his feet, the closest to fidgeting the older troopers ever got.

"Jesse stopped by while you were asleep, they'd been looking for you and were worried. Might want to reassure them you're okay." Thinking back on it she thought she'd felt Jesse some time while she's been resting in the captain's quarters. Rex's apprehension made her wonder if there might be a misunderstanding she'd have to correct. She knew how protective her brothers could be over her.

"I'll let them know." She huffed and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing slightly. "I might have to have a very adult conversation with them about boundaries, responsibility, and over protectiveness." Rex snorted in amusement, his apprehension fading.

"I'll see you later for squad practice, unless something comes up." Smiling she hit the keypad for her quarters, back turned to the captain.

"I'm looking forward to it. Have a good day, my Captain." Rex's breath hitched in surprise. Liera felt a flash of warmth and desire through the force but the sensation vanished so quickly she wondered if she wasn't mistaken. She looked back at him but his face had gone military blank. He gave her a tight smile, a salute, then turned on his heel and walked off in a hurry. Liera wondered what that had been all about but quickly put it out of her mind as she entered her quarters and headed toward the fresher. She really wanted a shower.

[***]

After getting cleaned up and putting on her medical uniform she checked in with Medical but found Wick had taken over for Vent. "He's in a meeting with the Commander at the moment." Liera felt a shiver of alarm and concern run through her.

"What happened? Is it something to do with the parasite victims?" Wick gave her a kind smile.

"No, no. Just going over the reports on the brothers who were infected and probably thinking of ways to make sure it doesn't happen again." Relaxing she smiled back at him.

"Good. Are there any advanced cases for me to look at?" Wick checked the files.

"No, you healed the last of them already." It was nice to know that there was no one in the intensive care for her to look after. Healer she might be but having no work was always a blessing.

"I'll be in my office then. Please let the vode know that I'm free if anyone needs to talk." Wick pulled out a datapad and handed it over, eyes sad.

"This is the list of brothers we think are having a hard time." Taking the pad she gave him a firm nod.

"I'll do rounds instead then. Make sure everyone is okay."

She spent an hour talking to the men who had lost someone important to them, reciting litanies and prayers. She was about to go speak with Pulse, who was being guarded around the clock so he didn't attempt to hurt himself, when her comm went off. Answering it promptly she saw Kote and immediately stopped.

"Yes, Commander?" The man looked on edge, even through the holo.

"I need you to come to the war room for an emergency meeting." She blinked, unable to respond. Not once had she ever set foot in the war room. It was not her place, since she was not a part of the command structure.

"Of course, Commander. I'll be there momentarily." Shutting off the comm she returned to Wick with an updated datapad and explained the situation.

"Good luck, Miss." He said with a light smile.

The war room was a good sized meeting room with a projector, multiple writing boards, a large viewing screen, a long table, and chairs. There was space at the front for whoever was talking to pace around as they spoke. Currently that place was occupied by the commander, who stood with his back straight and arms held loosely behind him. On the table in front of him were multiple datapads. She gave him a polite nod in greeting before taking a chair a little ways down the table.

"I think it would be best if you sat closer." She looked up at him and frowned but quickly took a seat closer to him instead. He watched her silently, head cocked slightly to the side and a sense of curiosity surrounding him. "You aren't going to ask why you're here?"

"I assume I'm here for my medical knowledge or my understanding of psychology. Since you asked me to appear in the War Room I assume that there will be others coming. I can wait for an explanation." A brush of amusement from the commander made her smile back at him.

"I can see why you fit in so well with Jaig Squad." A small flush of happiness colored her cheeks.

"Thank you Commander."

The rest of the party trickled in and she felt a sudden tension in the room. Rex took a seat across from her with Anakin next to him while Obi-wan chose to stand next to his commander until he was motioned to sit down as well. Once he was seated Kote input a code into the console and they could hear the doors lock, sealing them inside. "I asked Amp to ensure this room was completely secured. What I have to tell you is top secret and if it got out we'd all be kriffed." Obi-wan's mouth fell open slightly in surprise and Anakin's eyes went wide. The commander was normally far more tactful.

"General Skywalker. I want you to know that I objected to your presence but Rex asked for you to be included." Rex flinched and Anakin scowled in confusion.

"What? Why wouldn't I be included?" Kote looked at his brother for one long moment before turning back to Anakin.

"Because you are close to the Chancellor." The blonde recoiled slightly before glaring at the table. Liera reached over and put a hand on his, giving him a reassuring smile. He took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly, like she'd taught him to do during their sessions.

"Yeah, I… I understand." He looked over at Rex then at Kote. "Thank you for including me." The commander relaxed a little and nodded in acknowledgment.

"Helix and Vent found something during the scans." He put them up on the screen and Liera's eyes were immediately drawn to them. "The scans on the left are the vode, the ones on the right are the natural borns, including the jedi." Liera's trained eye went between the twelve scans used as examples. Standing abruptly she pushed her chair out and walked up to the screen.

"That can't be what I think it is…" She could feel their eyes on her back as she took a closer look. "Even if it was a benign tumor I'd be able to sense it as a foreign mass. The fact that I can't sense it is worrying." Looking back at the commander she saw bitter understanding and a hardness in his eyes that made her wilt slightly.

"I figured as much. Whatever this is, it was put there on purpose. The Kaminii designed us with it in mind." The very thought that each of them had something in their brains that none of them knew about made her feel sick to her stomach. Just looking at Obi-wan and Anakin she could see she wasn't alone in her feelings of disgust-fear-concern.

"Is there any way to get a sample of this?" Obi-wan looked pale at the thought and she could feel the waves of regret-apology he was giving off in the force.

"I can perform an autopsy on one of the deceased. We might get a better idea of what we're dealing with that way." There was a slight feeling of alarm coming from Anakin and Obi-wan, alarm that wasn't shared by the two clones. "I am a medical professional. I might not be a fully certified surgeon but I can perform an autopsy. Unless you want one of the Chief Medical Officers to do it. They have more experience than I do in this field."

"How can you just-" Anakin started to rise but Obi-wan put a hand on his shoulder and held him down.

"Anakin. Mandalorians, and the vode, believe that the spirits of their loved ones are freed after death. The body of the deceased has little importance to them as their loved one is no longer inhabiting it. Rather they have moved on and are watching over those left behind from the next world. Much like we Jedi believe we become one with the Force after death." Liera had to give it to him, Obi-wan was very good at explaining complicated matters in a very concise manner.

"But you're talking like-"

"Like a medical professional who has to set aside her emotions for the betterment of others? I might sound cold, even cruel. But I do care about them, Anakin. I care a lot about the vode. They are my family." Letting go of her own shields she let them feel her in the force. How much pain and grief she was feeling over the deaths of the vode. How guilty she felt being unable to help them more. How scared she was to lose them and her resignation that someday she would, regardless of what she tried to do. Everyone in the room flinched and she quickly reigned her emotions in, closing them behind her shields.

Rex got up and put his hand on her arm, radiating worry for her wellbeing. "I'm fine." She muttered.

When the silence dragged on too long Kote cleared his throat. "There's more."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" The commander gave Obi-wan an exasperated look for his sass.

"I spoke with the Mand'alor. He said he'd look into it on his end." Obi-wan stiffened. "Haat'buir is going to so some reconnaissance and see if he can't get any information out of Tyrannus."

"Why would Dooku give away any information to the Rid'alor? What information could he possibly have?" Obi-wan asked. Anakin just looked completely lost.

"Darth Tyrannus was the one who placed the original order for the clone army. If anyone would know about the design choices the Kaminii made; he would." You could hear a pin drop in the wake of that statement.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me the entire army was ordered by the Sith?" Neither Rex or Obi-wan looked surprised, only she and Anakin.

"You knew!" Liera swallowed and backed away. Anakin was leaking anger and frustration.

"I did. The council swore me to silence." That didn't seem to make Anakin feel any better.

"Vod. Remember that talk we had?" Kote looked to Rex for a moment before realizing that his brother was not speaking to him. Rather he was looking right at Anakin. The blonde seemed to deflate.

"Yeah, I-I remember. Sorry… I know there's stuff that's hard to talk about. But all these secrets aren't doing us any good. We're flying half blind." Kote looked taken aback for a moment before his eyes became contemplative.

"I'll tell you what I told Obi-wan." Kote began, eyes burning into Anakin's. "We were adopted and raised as Mandalorians. But to the Senate we're nothing more than meat droids. We have no power, no say in who we follow into battle, no control over our very lives. At the moment we are slaves." Anakin flinched, hands balling into fists. "We have enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that even if the war were to end now we would either be frozen, to be thawed out whenever the Republic needs an army, or killed. If they learn we're also force sensitive the chances of being killed are much higher, closer to eighty-three percent."

"Padme would never let that happen." A small sigh from Obi-wan caught everyone's attention.

"Your wife can only do so much, Anakin. She's only one Senator."

"I… what?"

"Really, Anakin, I am not dense." The redhead shot his former padawan a frustrated look. Anakin went to speak and was quickly shut down. "We will talk later. Right now we need to focus on the vode."

"Thank you, Obi-wan. To get back to the problem at hand. I think an autopsy would be useful. We'll have one of the CMOs do it. But I want you in on this as a consultant. We don't know what kind of osik could have been pulled on us. For all we know this is some kind of kill switch embedded in us by the Kaminii, it sounds like something they would do." The more she learned about these Kaminoans the more she disliked them. Not one trooper had anything good to say about them and the older generation of clones had an almost haunted look on their faces whenever they mentioned them.

"Nothing we talked about can leave this room. No one can know. Not even the Senator." Kote said, looking directly at Anakin. "If the wrong person finds out we will be killed."

"I won't tell anyone. I swear. I want you guys to trust me." Kote watched him quietly for a moment.

"Trust is earned. This is your first and only chance you'll get. Because if we fail- we die."

"I need time to meditate on this. The force might have some insights for us. You're welcome to join me, Cody." There was a look of surprise on the man's face and Liera had to hide a smile. "With your abilities we might be able to glean some information ahead of time that will help us narrow down our research." Kote coughed to clear his throat.

"That sounds like a good plan, Obi-wan. There's nothing that can really be said at the moment. The meeting is adjourned." Rex and Kote shared a look before the blonde was suddenly standing next to his general, talking to him quietly and motioning for them to leave. The doors unlocked and the two of them disappeared.

"I'll be doing rounds in the medical bay and around the ship. I need to see to the mental health of the vode. I'll leave my comm on but I won't answer if I'm with a patient." Looking between them she sent the commander an amused look before leaving the two of them alone together.

[Obi-wan]

Walking next to Cody he thought about what he'd learned in the meeting and felt his chest tighten with worry. There was something inside every single one of the vode and the very thought of it made him feel sick. Did Boba have whatever it was as well? Or did they think it would look too suspicious if Jango or Haati ever took their 'legitimate' son to a proper doctor for a medical scan. What about the cadets back on Kamino? The very idea that they might have place a kill switch inside the bodies of children made his stomach feel as if it were filled with electrified eels.

"Obi-wan, you need to breathe!" Looking up at Cody's concerned umber eyes he wondered when he'd fallen and why he hadn't noticed. He tried to stand but was held firm by one hand on his shoulder. Cody knelt and placed a hand on the back of his neck, pulling Obi-wan until their foreheads were touching. Waves of calm radiated from the commander as he urged Obi-wan to copy his breathing. Slowly the panic began to ebb, leaving him feeling tired.

"Are you okay cya- Obi-wan?" Cody's voice was quiet, gentle, his liquid eyes so full of emotion it made him want to hide.

"I'll be fine, Cody. Thank you." Since when had the two of them stopped calling each other by their military ranks? For that matter what was the word that Cody had meant to say before switching to using his name. He was certain if he asked the man would answer… but he wasn't sure he was ready to know yet.

Cody helped him to his feet and watched him carefully for a moment before he nodded, accepting him at his word. There was still a feeling of hovering protectiveness, a sense of safety while standing next to the man, but it wasn't imposing. An invitation rather than something forced upon him. For once he didn't let himself pull away. Cody was strong in the force, strong enough to lean on without being accidentally influenced. The small look of surprise and the flick of his eyes glancing down at him then away again made Obi-wan smile softly in gratitude.

These wonderful men who had been living and fighting next to him for over a year deserved to be free, they deserved the right to choose lives for themselves. Obi-wan swore he would do everything in his power to help them. If it meant tracking down Dooku himself to get the information he would. But for now he would try to learn more about these awe inspiring men. Especially the one walking beside him.

Mando'a and Terms:
Al'verde- Commander
Alor'ad- Captain
Vod'ika- Younger Sibling
Shebs- Ass
Ori'vod- Older sibling
Buir- Parent
Riduur- Spouse/Partner
Nat-born- Natural born, non-clones.
Mandokarla- Having the right stuff. Showing guts and spirit, the state of being the epitome of Mando virtue.
Demagolka- Someone who commits atrocties, a real-life monster, a war criminal. Taken from the notorious Mandalorian scientist of the Old Republic, Demagol, known for his experiments on children, and a figure of hate and dread in the Mando psyche.
Longnecks- Kaminoans
CMO- Chief Medical Officer