Oh boy, this has been too long. Here's that update that should have been forever ago.
Cody was annoyed with his General. Actually, that was an understatement- Cody was furious with his General.
The Battle of Christophsis had not gone to plan. At all. First, one of their own had been caught as a traitor. Then, the newly arrived Commander Tano and General Skywalker went off to deactivate the Separatists shield while Rex, Cody, and General Kenobi were to hold off the incoming clackers. To top it all off, his General decided to get 'captured' in order to buy more time.
And Cody couldn't be there to keep the General out of trouble. 'Of all the stubborn, stiff-necked Jedi-'
He could only imagine his General sitting in chains in a cell, and the very thought made him cringe with disbelief and horror. He had failed his task- his one simple task- keep his General safe. Or at least it had sounded simple when the Kaminos had drilled it into him, but apparently keeping a Jedi out of trouble was a lot harder than previously thought.
Cody glanced up as the ship carrying his brothers and him landed in the loading bay of The Negotiator. He quickly jumped off, scanning the crowd for any sign of his general. The clone saw a ginger flash out of the corner of his eye and thanked the heavens that his general had hair such a color to make him easily distinguishable in a crowd.
Cody made his way through his brothers, until he finally caught up with Obi-wan. "General! Are you alright?"
Obi-Wan glanced over at the clone, and gave him a small smile, something Cody was quickly discovering was an usual expression for the calm, composed Jedi. "I'm fine, Commander. And you?" His eyes quickly skimmed over the clone, searching for any injury or discomfort. The way the general was still so calm after the whole harrowing experience of being captured and held behind enemy lines made Cody's anger reappear.
He pursed his lips and set his jaw, not really caring that what he said next would be bordering insubordination. "General, never do that again."
Obi-Wan blinked mildly at the clone, but the commander could see that he was somewhat surprised at the sudden tone change. "Do what again, Cody?" The Jedi asked seemingly unruffled, but Cody could see the man knew exactly what he meant and what was coming.
Stubborn sneak…
"You need to tell me when you plan to be captured! You could have been killed!" Cody vaguely was aware of several clones stopping what they were doing and watching their general and commander with curious eyes, but he didn't take notice. He was beyond caring now.
The Jedi's eyes sparked with something akin to determination. He crossed his arms tightly in front of his chest and coolly stared into his commander's furious hazel eyes. "Cody, time was of the essence. I would have told you the plan, but we were working on an extremely constrained schedule."
Cody resisted the urge to throw his arms into the air and yell in frustration. He could not believe this man was so stubborn enough not to admit defeat, but do the exact opposite and stand his ground. "General, I don't care if there wasn't any time! You could have been severely injured! I wouldn't know where to find you and how to help you in time!"
The Jedi straightened so he was standing nearly eye to eye with the commander. Cody could tell he was getting slightly frustrated, but was still refusing to back down. "I'm fine, and although that battle wasn't exactly textbook, everything worked out in the end."
Cody yanked his helmet off and tucked it under his arm, not caring about the many protocols that he was breaking in the process. "General Kenobi, it is my job, every clone's job, to make sure you come out alive from a battle, every battle. I cannot do my job if you willingly put yourself in danger."
Obi-Wan's expression went from determined to slightly shocked, but Cody didn't care about protocol or rules at the moment. "In order for me to properly do my job, I need you to stay near me and the troops, not run off and be captured!"
All around, troopers watched the argument, amused that their stubborn older brother was arguing with someone at least, if not more, stubborn than him. Two in particular, Waxer and Boil, were having a most interesting conversation about the wonderful weather they were having, all the while attempting to keep unmanly giggles from bursting out.
Obi-Wan's expression shifted back to determined, "I don't need a babysitter, Commander."
Cody took a step forward and narrowed his eyes, "And I don't need a Jedi's death on my hands. It makes for a lot of messy paperwork that I really do not want to do."
"I can handle myself."
"Famous last words said by every clone ever!"
"I. Am not. A clone."
"Clearly. You don't follow orders or take cover in on a firefight or know that you're not invincible!"
"I don't think I'm invincible. I just know that I can handle myself in a battle!"
"Sir. With all due respect, you weren't trained for these type of battles."
"What do you mean, these type of battles?"
At this point, Wooley thought it would be beneficial to Cody's as well as the general's health, to interfere. Cody looked only one comment away from exploding and the General looked a little angry (and since Jedi were trained to hide their emotions, it was rather terrifying).
It was not an experience he ever wanted to repeat. As soon as he tried to push himself into the argument, he simultaneously received two very unnerving glares, both angry, but one with a large amount of suppressed anger. The general's was honestly more terrifying than the glare with anger at full force…
He swallowed nervously, hoping that he wouldn't be murdered on the spot by the wound up Jedi and angry clone. "Sir, maybe you should let it go…" Wooley said, addressing Cody with a meaningful look. "This isn't beneficial to anyone, and it's certainly not helping you." The older clone simply glared harder at Wooley, narrowing his eyes to show his displeasure of being interrupted.
"Well, try explaining to the general that he's got to stop thinking he's invincible and that my job- our job- is to keep him safe!"
Obi-Wan made a quiet noise of protest and was about to open his mouth again to argue, but Wooley decided to take Cody's side, and, turning to the Jedi, said, "He's right, sir."
Obi-Wan's lips pursed, and his now shockingly blue eyes narrowed. "Explain."
Wooley took a breath. "Sir, our purpose is to serve under the Jedi to fight against the Separatists. But our job is to protect the Republic and the Jedi. If any Jedi is injured or killed while we are still fighting, we've failed."
The ginger blinked, obviously thinking this over in his mind before gathering himself up again for battle. "How is this relevant to my not being trained for 'these type of battles'?" Wooley resisted the urge to sigh. He understood why Cody was really frustrated with the man. Honestly, were all Jedi this impossible?
"General, the Separatists are not like the threats during times of peace in other systems. They have millions of droids who won't hesitate to shoot anyone and anything in their path down. They aren't sentimental beings that the Jedi have battled occasionally with in the past. This is a time of full blown war, not little conflicts within systems."
Obi-Wan was starting to look like he understood. Good, thought Wooley. He sees now… "Sir, I'm sure you've battled many opponents in the past, but the droids aren't those opponents. You haven't had experience or training for these types of battles during times of war." The man was silent for a bit, and Wooley could practically see the Jedi's mind working out what the clone had said. He had been around Obi-Wan enough to know that the man was exceptionally good at working through puzzles and tactical approaches.
Cody spoke up then, before the Jedi had another chance to argue. "Sir, that is why I've been so adamant about you being protected. You don't have the training the clones do for these battles, and although I know you can handle yourself, I must insist you stay close to me during the fights. You are too valuable to the Republic to die."
The Jedi spoke after Cody finished, eyes back to a mix of grey and blue with a tint of green shimmering beneath the surface. "Am I to understand that a soldier's purpose is to protect me at all costs?"
Both clones responded back in unison. "Yes sir."
"Hmm. I will address that at a later date, Commander." He gave a pointed look at Cody that dared him to argue back.
The clone merely stared back at his general, not knowing exactly what the Jedi meant.
Obi-Wan continued to talk, saying, "Am I also to understand that I must stay at your side at all times during a battle, Cody?" The commander nodded. The Jedi went quiet again, obviously thinking of a way out of the less than satisfactory situation. "There is one problem, Commander."
Cody wasn't sure exactly where this was going now, but he had a feeling he wouldn't like it.
"I am a Jedi and while I don't doubt you have had excellent training for battles and such, you won't be able to keep up with me in battle. Even if you do manage to, you might be hit by a bullet that I couldn't block."
Cody was getting angry again, frustrated that the Jedi had found a way out of the terms of the situation.
"What's more," continued Obi-Wan. "You must be by your men's sides, helping them fight and protecting instead of protecting me and helping me fight. I can handle myself on the frontlines."
Cody didn't doubt it; he had seen how the Jedi deflecting bolt after bolt with his glowing lightsaber and use the mysterious Force to fight off droids. No clone could do that. But he was still concerned for his general. No matter how many tricks he could do with the Force, no matter how good he was wielding a lightsaber, the Jedi was still mortal. That was what frightened the clone the most. All it would take was a stray bullet and General Kenobi could easily die or be severely injured.
Well, persuading General Kenobi didn't work too well, nor did arguing with him. The commander thought, trying to figure out a way around this new problem presented by the stubborn Jedi. Nothing came to his mind. Cody made one final attempt at winning to argument. "Sir, if you believe you can't be by me during the whole battle for the reasons you listed, could you consider telling me where you are regularly or at least stay within my sight?"
Obi-Wan absently stroked his beard, looking down slightly, again thinking through what the clone had said. Finding reasonable enough, he glanced back up again, released any harboring feelings into the Force, and let his serene mask slip back over him. "That sounds agreeable, Cody." He said with a small, calming smile.
The commander could have sighed with relief, but he simply nodded and said, "Of course, sir."