this features a rather jaded Cody. For a more in character/extended version, skip to the next chapter (don't know if it needs it but warning for smoking. bc that's my Cody headcanon)
It's the heat of the battle. Cody's in the thick of things. At the head of it. Leading the charge. The Republic forces are being overwhelmed. Outnumbered, outgunned, same old same old. When it gets to this point, this grubby desperate haze, he doesn't care so much for the big picture anymore - the planetwide conflict shrinks to him and the droid in front of him, leveling a blaster at his chest. He's more intent on staying alive than concerned with pushing the forward objective. But that comes with the territory of being an officer, and a commander at that. Always have to keep that in mind. You can focus on staying alive, but only if you're also focused on achieving goals. That's how this works. That's the only way this works. So he shoots clankers and he dodges blaster fire and he stays alive and he orders/commands/leads his troops further into the fray. Right into the metal teeth of the Separatist meat grinder.
This is clearly a trap. Doesn't really make a difference to Cody. The enemy wants him and his brothers dead, trap or otherwise. That's just a fact. Sure, the odds are stacked against them here but they've made it out of worse. Hell, even if they lose this battle, lose this planet, it's not the end of the galaxy. There are other battles, other planets. Isn't that comforting? Live or die, it doesn't matter on the individual level. It's all about the grand scheme of things. Bird's eye view or some other perspective he doesn't have. Sounds more fit for politicians in fancy clothes up in their fancy senate building on Coruscant. Let them assign the victory or loss. Down here, Cody's just trying to make it through the day.
Clones at the northwest corner of the battlefield start dropping like sandflies, if sandflies were systematically hacked to bits by a bald bizit with dual lightsabers. Keeping an eye on the advancing horde of droids in front of him, Cody alternates shots between them and the Force-trained assassin mowing down his troops. See, focus on staying alive, reaching objectives, and fending off an adversary clearly out of his league. Then something rushes past him, beige and tan and a line of blue. Kenobi engages Ventress and Cody goes back to droids. Droids he can handle.
After another hour or two or less or a time interval of some length or another, the droids fall back. Not pushed back, not retreating, but bizarrely turn around and go back the way they came. They don't even react to being shot in the back when Cody has his men pursue. Look, in his book, if they aren't organic, it's not a crime. The droids get back on their ships and they fly away. The men cheer. Cody doesn't. This wasn't a win.
It's dark by the time he even notices. And honestly, if Skywalker hadn't contacted him, he probably would have continued on in ignorance. Kenobi isn't some cadet in the Youth Brigade that needs his hand held for the duration of the battle. If, at some point, he runs off after one of Dooku's minions, Cody doesn't worry about it. See, he understands a thing or two about earning your rank. They don't confer the rank of master on just anyone. And he's seen Kenobi in action enough to believe the man fully capable of taking care of himself.
Still, it is odd that he hasn't returned yet. Or at least attempted communication. That's when it sort of clicks. The trap, the assassin, the droids leaving. They got what they came for. That galls, just a bit. It happened under Cody's watch. Yes, the general outranks him but every clone knows it's their duty to protect their Jedi. And he's just failed that spectacularly. Kriff.
Skywalker arrives planetside the next day, late morning. Cody doesn't know he's coming, gets no advance warning. Just a phantom hand around his neck that lifts him into the air, cuts off his air, and leaves him dangling for nearly a moment too long. Tano manages to calm her master, or at least get him to let Cody go, which, hey, that's the most important thing at the moment. On Skywalker's right, Rex flinches - a false start - like he meant to come forward and help Cody to his feet but aborted the notion before completion. Skywalker paces and rants and Cody stands at attention and takes it. It's nothing he didn't already think to himself the night before. When the Jedi finally pauses for breath, Cody informs him of the search parties already sent out. Skywalker sneers at the idea, tells him it's too late. Kenobi's gone.
Makes Cody wonder why Skywalker bothered to stop by then. He watches the young man go, long strides swallowing up the ground in ravenous paces, Tano in a near sprint as she trails him. It's only now they've gone that Rex comes beside him. Gives his side of the story. Skywalker sensed something. A bad feeling as Kenobi would have called it, Cody thinks idly. Skywalker could tell something bad was going to happen and then he felt something bad happen and then he made bad things happen in his haste to get here. Arrived too late anyway. Now no one has any idea where to start. It's a wide galaxy and Dooku's too smart to make it easy. Cody braces himself for the long haul.
It's not all that surprising when the Chancellor's office contacts them. It's packaged up in fancy politician talk but Cody gets the gist: quit wasting our precious time and valuable resources on one worthless man. He's getting good at reading between the lines. Not to mention, he can understand the sentiment. Agree, hell no. But see the logic behind it, sure. Troops go missing all the time. Individuals vs big picture, remember? They've only allowed it to go on this long because of his status as Jedi. But at this point, even the Jedi are tired of this wild bantha chase. Now this communication, Cody wasn't supposed to be privy to. But is it really eavesdropping when Skywalker is shouting loud enough for the entire parsec to hear? Apparently the others can't sense Kenobi anymore, however their telepathy works. Skywalker claims he can still feel something but Cody gets a feeling of his own that tells him Skywalker's lying through his teeth.
After days of dead ends and twiddling his thumbs, it's sort of a relief to be back in combat. Back to fighting for his life every damn minute of the day. The men are a tad skittish without Kenobi but Cody talks 'em round. He's in charge now, though there's already rumors of reassignment swirling, speculations on where Ghost Company will end up, under whom they'll serve next. Rumors are better saved for mealtime chatter or bedtime whispers, not the battlefield. So Cody tells the troops to shut up and man the kark up. It's time to scrap some seppies.
Easily adapts to new circumstances. That was one of the Kaminoans favorite selling points on their clones. And they must have done a good job because if he took the time to think about it, Cody might find it scary how quickly he and his men have fallen into new routines. Sure, there's a background knowledge that something is missing, that they're still down by one, operating in a way no other battalion functions. If he had to wager a guess, he'd say Skywalker has something to do with their limbo. Skywalker refuses to allow another to take Kenobi's place, keeps it open for him, like some sort of shrine. No worries, Cody's got a good bunch of soldiers below him. Jedi or no, they'll do what they've always done.
Their scheduled rest period rolls around and the cruiser deposits them on Coruscant and damn if the entire company doesn't move like one body, heading straight for 79's. Cody goes with them but only as far as the door. It's a nice night. If cold, smog-choked, and noisy are the definition of nice. On Coruscant, it might be. He's never spent much time here. He rounds the corner of the building, leans back against the wall. A quick surreptitious glance around and he pulls a cigarra from his belt. Lights it and takes a drag.
"Not exactly regulation, is it, Commander?"
Cody exhales, smoke melting into the ambient haze of Coruscant's lower levels. "Not exactly on duty, am I, Captain?"
Rex accepts when Cody passes him the cigarette. After a few puffs, he hands it back and Cody starts in on it again. They watch traffic, watch a bridge officer stumble by with a Twi'lek on either arm.
"Do you want the latest?"
Cody takes the cig from his mouth, taps the ash off before replacing it between his lips.
"I could tell you, since, you know, you haven't bothered asking." Rex's voice is more impatient now, irritated in a way Cody doesn't get anymore. "Why is that, by the way? If I were you, and my Jedi went missing, right under my nose, I'd move mountains to get him back."
"'Case you hadn't noticed, there's a war going on. I can't just stop fighting. Not even for him."
Rex's eyes flash. Or maybe it's only the reflection of that police speeder going by. "Is that what you really believe? Or just what you've been told?"
The wall behind Cody vibrates with the club's music. It buzzes along his spine in frantic beats. He tilts his head back and closes his eyes. "Does it matter?"
"To me," Rex offers simply, sternly.
Cody drops his cig, crushes it under his boot heel. "What do you want me to say, Rex? That I made the biggest mistake of my career? That I feel responsible for Kenobi's disappearance?"
"That's a start."
"Alright, fine. I kriffed up. I didn't send him reinforcements, I didn't even notice he was missing until hours later. But what am I supposed to do now? I've got four hundred men in Ghost Company and no general. We get our orders and we ship out and we scrap droids and try not to die in the process. And the whole time the War Department is breathing down my neck for results - more victories, more planets under Republic control. What the kriff am I supposed to do, Rex? Abandon them for a fool's errand? Some growth-tube dream that Kenobi's still alive?"
"We don't know that he isn't-"
"Don't kid yourself. We both know if he is alive it's only for one reason. Dooku's going to torture him for information. Either he doesn't break and he kills him, or he does break and Dooku kills him anyway. All of this ends with Kenobi dead, one way or another."
"That's not what General Skywalker thinks."
"Then Skywalker's a bigger fool than he looks."
Maybe it's the atmosphere. Or maybe Cody did cross a line. But Rex's fist connects with his face and Cody trips sideways. Rex stands over him, shakes his head, and starts to walk away. Says over his shoulder, "General Skywalker thinks he's found a lead. That's the update you never asked for."