Sparks of Hope (A Star-Wars Advent Calendar)
By Meysun
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13. Odds And Numbers (Commander Cody)
22 BBY
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Commander Cody did not believe in chance or fate. Those were for the dreamers, those General Kenobi called enthusiasts – people who believed there was a greater purpose in everything.
Cody had been taught that safety resided in numbers. In calculating the outcomes, studying the battlefield, placing the troopers carefully, according to their abilities.
And of course, his training on Kamino had also taught him that strength was achieved in brotherhood. Adhering to values like honour, loyalty and duty. Taking care of one's vode, making sure they stayed focused, strong and reliable.
Cody did not believe in chance or fate – but General Kenobi believed in what the Jetii called the Force, and over those first months at his side, Cody had tempered some of his views with what the General called nuances.
His Jetii General believed in the Force, was able to feel it all around them and use it when he fought, spinning so fast the eye could not follow, deflecting blaster bolts almost before they were shot and leaping like he had wings. He was able to will the pain away, to heal light injuries and to stay without eating and drinking for days. But mostly, General Kenobi, like every other Jetii, was able to sense feelings and thoughts in the Force, to absorb or reflect them, and to read what he called signatures.
The first time they had met, Cody had stood to attention, back rigid and gaze straight, studying the Jetii who was to become his General – face seemingly blank while his mind assessed him.
Jetii General Obi-Wan Kenobi was slightly shorter than him, but not small. He was lean, but not frail, grave but not intimidating, yet Cody quickly calculated that with those linen tunics and thin trousers and layers of plain fabric, the Jetii wouldn't stand a chance on the battlefield.
That was before he saw him in action, fighting and spinning before him like nothing Cody had ever witnessed before. General Kenobi was not one to linger behind, not one to leave wounded on the field either – and after that first battle together, where the Jetii's tunic had soiled with dust and blood that was partly his own, both had struck what the General called a compromise.
Jetii General Obi-Wan Kenobi would be wearing a chest plate, pauldrons and vambraces, as well as blacks and boots, like a vode. But he would keep a Jetii tabard, and his Jetii belt, and stay without helmet or blaster – because he had his lightsaber.
Cody did not believe in chance, or wonder, but after a year at General Kenobi's side, he had come to the conclusion that this Force the Jetii worshipped did not work randomly. It was something like tipping the odds, changing them to fate, then to facts once more. Or rather, making the odds clearer around them, allowing some trust to sip below Cody's carefully kept armour.
He had come to trust General Kenobi. And not because he was a Jetii. But because the Jetii he was did not only rely upon the Force. General Kenobi did not just jump into battle carelessly – he always made sure to know everything he could about the field and the people they were dealing with. He had not just one plan, he often conceived at least another, if not two – and he worked. Tirelessly. Always improve his knowledge in battle and strategics, always seeking for the peaceful solution whenever they were on a mission, training whenever he could to perfect his combat skills – and teaching, of course.
That impulsive former hibir of his who was defying odds all the times, driving the General nearly insane – yet Cody knew just how much he cared for General Skywalker, whom he had raised like a child of his, until he became a friend.
And that nehutyc little Commander, who had not learned yet that some odds could not be defeated, but was so endearing in that childish belief.
"She will learn. She is young still", General Kenobi had told him, after they had evacuated her and her remaining troops on Felucia in a last-minute rescue – but Cody read his eye-language now and had seen sadness and worry and care there.
Just like that day General Kenobi had learned about the way the Kaminoan made the vode age faster, so that they could be battle-ready at ten. That day, the Jetii had paled, body getting very still at Cody's side, who had not, ever, spared a second thought about it.
Seeing his Jetii-General so upset had made something in him stir, though. And so, being assigned to a Jetii who loved words and kept weighing them with such care, Cody had begun to think about them as well.
Words completed numbers, sometimes – they defined things better, like looking through electrobinoculars.
Enthusiasts. Nuances. Signatures. Compromise.
Cody had lost count of those words opening his inner world like small crevices. Some made him think. Some made him reconsider. And some left him in a state of silent wonder, because it felt like finally putting a name, an explanation to some patterns he had studied silently.
"Serendipity", General Kenobi told him, one night, as they were sitting together on the Negociator's bridge, going through medical supply-lists.
"It means: found by chance, by accident or coincidence – not by reasoning."
Cody raised an eyebrow, face carefully lowered, but General Kenobi smiled at him, because he could read him through the Force.
"Not something you like, my dear Commander. Yet that is how the precursor of Nysillin was discovered. A researcher one forgot a box containing a colony of germs into a cupboard, and it became mouldy. When she finally remembered that box, she realised the germs had not grown. Rather, the mould seemed to have prevented them from colonising the box – so she tried to isolate it and to study it better. And that's how we are able to use Nysillin now."
"So… if she hadn't forgotten that box…", Cody said, slowly, frowning down at his data-pad and at the carefully drawn lists.
"Well, yes, Commander. Perhaps we would stand very differently now…"
Cody stayed silent a while more, then he raised his face and met General Kenobi's calm, shrewd grey eyes.
"Is it something you like, sir? That… serendipity you just spoke of."
The Jetii's eyes turned soft, something very intimate sweeping briefly through his features.
"It is a word that is very dear to me, yes. You see, Commander, I do not think there are such things as immutable fates. I think every little act, and word, and thought probably plays a part into shaping the world around us. But I also think we will all remind blind, either wholly or partially, until we join the Force. So, serendipity… I like to think it is the Force's way to give us a nudge."
He smiled at him, wrapping his hand around his mug of tea.
"Yet it is but that: a nudge. We still have to deepen the course it shows us, and steer ourselves in the right direction."
Cody nodded, slowly, assessing and processing the General's words. And somehow, that night, working very late along his Jetii's General side, another crevice opened in him, allowing few, precious words to pour out as well.
That night, he told the General that every vode had, in fact, something more than a number. Something they kept secret, only known by batch-brothers, because numbers were long and dull and hard to remember when one was just a kid.
"It is not a name. It's… something that happened that made us laugh, or a special event involving a vode. It's… I think it's like the nudge you spoke about before, sir."
The General's eyes were still bright and alert, despite the late hour. His hair was tousled, though, because he had run his fingers several times through his hair, trying to rouse himself as they completed report after report. The Kaminoans would have brought him a comb, wordlessly radiating disapproval for everything that was not neat or symmetrical. But Cody just thought it made one want to speak to him, knowing one would not be judged.
"A nickname?", the General questioned, softly, and Cody's heart soared, for a brief second, leaving him almost helpless in the feeling's wake.
"A nickname", he repeated, tasting the word like some unknown flavour.
General Kenobi nodded, face growing thoughtful, eyes gentle as so often.
"Your signatures are so different, Commander. You may look alike – but I can assure you are not, in the Force. You all have a very unique way to be. And to become, as we all do."
"They call me Cody. And it's not Mando'a, even though Kote… Kote is another name they call me now. Because…"
"Because you are a fine leader, Commander. One that gave much glory to his troops – along with pride and strength."
His General had a unique way of praising, too. It never looked like flattery. It just looked like facts, spoken with something warm Cody was finally identifying as care. And respect.
"Cody didn't come from Kote, though, sir. It came from me… well… always telling my vode that safety was in numbers. Not just odds. And so they called me Codes, first, but quickly switched to Cody. I think only Rex remembers Codes, now, sir."
General Kenobi smiled at him, and Cody almost smiled back, keeping his face straight just in time.
"I like all of these names, Commander. And I think… it is a wonderful thing to encourage, is it not? As much as I trust numbers and plans, as you so well know, I do prefer addressing people by names or titles."
That night, General Kenobi called him Cody for the very first time. Sometimes he would use his title, sometimes he would combine both. Cody himself did not call him Obi-Wan – that was a name kept for Jetii and non-battle-friends. Instead, he called him sir, General, or General Kenobi – it was enough.
Or perhaps, it was because, sometimes, there was no real word for the fissures and light shaping people.
Sometimes, words and names were simply not enough – but infinite.
And deep inside, it made Cody smile.
A/N: Truly, this is the most holey Advent-Calendar I have ever seen (smiles sheepishly)... I am sorry dear ones! Work is really taking so much time right now, and I just don't keep up with the rythm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays... However, I still have all the calendar-windows planned and I promise you will get them before December is out :).
Mando'a translations are : hibir (student), nehutyc (feisty), Kote (glory). The story of Nysillin is based on the real story of Fleming's discovery of Penicillin - but I decided that in Star Wars, the scientist was a *she* because kriff. A lot of women were also responsible for amazing discoveries, with or without serendipity, and sometimes never got the recognition they deserved.
I do hope you liked what Cody wanted me to write - I didn't plan the chapter that way at all, especially not the explanation for Cody's name, but our dear Commander insisted that he was a wary character who needed time and trust to let himself unfold, and... I let him speak :). Writing has those magic moments - I hope you will still enjoy this :). Much love, take care, Meysun.