So, this one was a kinda-but-not-really request to see Obi-Wan's side and I- just couldn't resist. So here it is. Hopefully it came out alright, give how little we actually see of him in the whole damn arc.
Apples who dance with Oranges: Thanks a lot! I'm glad you like it!
Powergirl1: I've actually been thinking about that bit, and it'll be the next one coming up. Thanks for reviewing!
The Jedi Order was everything to him. He trusted it and believed it. Allow it to guide him. And yet, when he heard about what happened on Umbara, he could feel the faith shaking.
Kenobi knew he could count on Anakin and his men to do their part in this battle. They always did. That's also why he allowed himself to fully focus on his own task. The 501st was one, if not the best Battalion. It was the only one he didn't have to worry about or very few times. But at times like this, with battles as important as this? He trusted in them to do everything in their power to accomplish their task. But that was before he knew of the switch between Generals…
General Pong Krell was not on Kenobi's list of respected people. He admitted that, yes, he got the job done, yet the means do not justify the end. And Krell was renowned for his casualty rates.
Obi-Wan would be lying if he said he didn't worry a bit. He had faith in the 501st that they would still do as they were tasked, yet this Battalion was… exceptional, especially because of the way they and Anakin worked. With Pong taking over, it would probably a change for the men. He just wasn't sure if it'd be good or bad. But he didn't get to dwell on that for long, as his own forces were being pushed back.
He worked as well as he could with what he had, yet the enemy was too well fortified. The space battle was overwhelming – the Umbarans had advance technology and weapons that they had no way of countering.
"Boil, I want you to take a squad down on the planet! Secure the north base, while General Krell's team takes the airbase," he had ordered, seeing they got reinforcements from there.
"Understood sir! We'll wait for the 501st to join us there!" Boil had his usual smile as he saluted.
"Don't go off and be a hero," Waxer warned, a small smile on the corner of his lips.
"Aw, but I like being the hero."
Their friendly banter took his mind off the feelings he was receiving in the force. It was shaking, quivering almost, filled with sorrow and sadness at the loss of life. Kenobi had sensed such death before, but never in this amount. Flickers in the Force – flickers he knew were clones – seemed to vanish in great amounts in seconds. He suppressed a shiver up his spine, focusing on inner peace as he was taught.
This was war. This happens. Life is lost. Soldiers die.
And yet… he couldn't ignore the pleas, the screams as life was lost. And he knew where it was coming from…
"General?" he blinked at the call, looking at the worried expression of Cody.
"Pardon?" he hadn't realized he was lost in thought.
"…You sense something, don't you?" Cody knew of the change in command, and had voiced his worry about it. And now, Obi-Wan knew he must also be feeling something.
"We mustn't dwell on it, Cody. We must press on, focus on our task. Otherwise, everything has been for nothing," he couldn't tell the Commander of what he felt. He didn't even want to word it. So much death… and it kept pilling. He just hoped that, by the end of this battle, there was a 501st to lead.
Cody was a bit anxious, he admitted. Knowing that Pong Krell was leading his brothers in battle sent shivers up his spine. How he wished they had picked anyone else, or maybe just let Rex handle it. Anything would be better than that horror of a General.
He had told General Kenobi what he thought, but the Jedi couldn't do anything about it. He didn't even know what to expect, but maybe just saying it made him feel batter. Still, it would be a load off his chest if he could even contact the 501st but with all the interference coming from the Umbarans it was near impossible. But he'll just have to trust his brothers and know that they can handle it.
Things were getting worse for them and Kenobi really needed some help. He had no way of attacking the Capital from where he was and as much as he hated doing it, he had to call in the 501st. They were, at the moment, the best chance he got.
Krell had told him they would march on the Capital – or so he thought the other Jedi did. The interference was getting worse and worse. But either way, Obi-Wan wanted to say that was a bad idea. Very bad. The men would get blown to bits before they made any progress.
Yet, when three new Umbaran ships suddenly joined the battle, he… felt something. Something familiar. It didn't take much searching with the Force to recognize the clone signature in the Force – and for the first time in a while, he allowed himself a smile. Ordering the ships to avoid firing at those three, he was curios what they would do. And seeing what they did do, made him realize – this wasn't Krell's plan. It had too much of an 'Anakin Plan' feel to it to be from Pong. That only meant that the soldiers must have gone on their own or something of the like.
It was minutes later that the trio of clones proved themselves – the supply ship exploded in the brightest color many of them had seen in days. But Kenobi sensed only two of the three escape and return to base. Knowing them, he figured one of them had stayed behind to make sure the supply ship went down. It was also why, as soon as he could, he contacted Krell. Perhaps if he was quick to tell him these men saved lives and turned the tide of the battle, he would not be angry at them.
Everything seemed to be going well for once as Kenobi and his men proceeded to the Capital. He was only a bit worried about the last transmission from Boil – something about a situation, but they could handle it just fine.
And as their luck usually goes, something did happen. The Force suddenly surged. Pain, suffering, death, hurt, fear, death, death, death! It made him dizzy at first, needing to lean on a wall to keep himself steady. And the feeling just grew and grew, until it seemed to reach its peak. Horror, shame, death, guilt, rage, sorrow, anger, death, pain, hatred, disbelief, death, death, death. It made him sick, twisting around him, through him and he collapsed on his hands and knees, coughing before heaving empty.
Cody and a few others were by his side in seconds, asking him questions, gently touching his shoulders, shouting for medics. We need a medic! He wasn't even sure if it was Cody or someone from the 501st he heard shout that. The Force was overwhelming him; making his head hurt and he had to focus so hard to put up a wall to block all of those feelings. But he was too late. They were burned into his core. His breath hitched as he felt a sadistic and pleased pulse in the Force not far from all the death. It was dark, twisted and evil.
He tried to speak, but couldn't even form proper words. He might have blocked out anything else coming, but what he already absorbed was biting into him, threatening to dissolve the shield he placed around himself. The men around him were worried and concerned, even when they helped drag him into the infirmary. It was only there that he managed to calm all the voices, all the screams, long enough to calm himself as well.
Blackout gave him some medication, and he accepted it, before entering meditation. He had to process this before he went anywhere – make sure his barrier would hold up against another assault like that. It still made him sick, trying to remove it all from his mind.
There is no emotion, only peace. There is no ignorance, only knowledge. There is no passion, only serenity. There is no chaos, only harmony. There is no death, only the Force.
He repeated the Code over and over again, until he was sure he had removed all of those horrible feelings, before even daring to move.
Obi-Wan was one of the first to know what had happened in the airbase. He sent down as many transport and gunships as he could, but didn't have the heart to go there himself. If he sensed their pain at such a long distance, he feared coming near them might actually suffocate him. But he knew Anakin, and he knew he would rush to the scene as soon as he could. He'd feel the weight of all that happened, knowing next to nothing. Kenobi only slightly envied him – he could only wish to forget what he felt.
When the full report finally came in, he received it as well. Jewels had been on the ground team when it happened, but he hardly knew the whole story. So Rex's report filled in most of the blanks and made his blood run cold. Reading all of it, all of what Krell did to them… it was horrific. To think such a man was not only a General, but a Jedi as well? How could they have been so blind?! And there was no way the Council would take the blame for this. It would likely land on the Captain and Obi-Wan wasn't just going to sit by and let it happen. The Council wasn't getting away with this. Not if he had anything to say about it.
Kenobi was one of the Generals, along with Skywalker, Shaak Ti and Unduli who suggested the 112th be integrated into their own Battalions. No one really wanted to deal with the paper work between the argument, so it passed rather quickly.
Cody took it on as a personal mission to see to every new member to the 212th making sure the men knew they were safe. But Obi-Wan could feel the fear and terror oozing off of the men as they came aboard. And it spiked tenfold when he came within their sights.
It made him so sad, seeing so many good soldiers so broken. Krell really did his damage on them. And his mind carried him to the thought of – what if. If Pong had done the same to his and Anakin's men? He quickly banished that thought as he welcomed the new members.
Within a few days, he saw they were hardly adjusting and no one would even come near him. The one time he tried to approach them, they tensed up and he could feel their rapid heartbeats in the Force. He noticed their eyes kept going to his hands and his lightsaber and he recalled what Rex had said in his report. Pong must have used both the Force and his weapon to break these men, and now they expected the same here.
Talking with Anakin showed a similar situation in the 501st only that Ahsoka had found out something – none of these men had names. They used their birth numbers, even among each other. They were working on getting them named, but it was taking time, especially when they didn't trust the Jedi.
So, Kenobi gave a proposition to his Padawan – if ever going near them, leave the lightsaber behind, or away from the men, and hands where they could easily see them. Skywalker was more than willing to follow in that.
When asking Cody about progress, the Commander told him that a few of the 112th have remembered their names, and a few more were named by their brothers. They were still scared and skittish, but were slowly coming out of their shell. And Obi-Wan couldn't miss the almost relived and happy tone in the clone's voice as he said that. These men might be broken, but with the proper help and support, they can be fixed. The crack will be visible, but they can be whole again.
Cut! This one was kinda... hard to write? There's only so much you can do when a character appears for about 5 minutes in four episodes but I tried my best (mind, I did this late into Friday and early into Saturday so I think I did good)
There'll be more coming soon, I'm sure (Assuming I don't get buried by my tests...)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! If you did, I'd love you if you reviewed what you thought!
Next up will be the 112th (Krell's men) point of view on things, so be ready for that