"You're going to miss dinner, Commander."

"I already got it," Cody looked up at Alpha from where he was standing over the older clone. The boys were now into their first year of being a squad, four standard years old and starting officer training at the end of this training module. Cody had already received his orders and knew that his entire squad was being advanced into officer training. It had taken some time for all of them to sync up into a cohesive battle unit, but once they had clicked…they scared even some of the more battle hardened Mandos with their ferocity and cunning plans. And if one of them went down, there was no going back for them. If you couldn't keep up, then you provided an exit or died trying. The mission always came first on the battlefield. Off it, however, was entirely different story.

Cody had had a hard time assimilating to the group, used to only counting on himself and 99 most of the time. Having someone there to watch his back was a new experience. The nulls didn't count because, well, they were the nulls. They weren't brothers in the normal sense but they still functioned as brothers on a certain level. They functioned well together and apart and that was what Cody was used to. The nulls would watch his back but he was also expected to be able to take care of himself if needed. They never fully relaxed unless they were in Skirata's quarters.

Having Aliit squad always around was trying the first month they were together and Alpha noticed quickly. Wolffe was close behind and if he had picked up on it first he would have used Cody's jumpiness to his advantage. Alpha just started finding reasons for the rest of the squad to shift away from Cody during downtime so he was alone but not completely. The first time it happened, it felt like something had eased in Cody's chest. He was good at keeping them safe but he didn't quite know how to let them do the same for him.

The thing that probably helped the most was the guys pulling 99 into their little family. Cody learned that Aliit squad had always been nice to his brother and usually went out of their way to help him. Him being the brother of their newest squad member was just another point in 99's favor. They all understood what it was like to lose batch mates, seeing as the space Cody was filling was from a batch brother that hadn't made it out of his cylinder. They couldn't imagine losing three, didn't want to.

"Ration bars don't count as meals," Alpha sounded exasperated. Going from the look on his face, he was more than a little annoyed as well, "We haven't seen you all day cuz of your fancy training. Wolffe is actually looking a little worried and Appo has been trailing 99 everywhere. I saw him take a swing at old Appo with a severed droid arm not an hour ago."

"I'm not hungry, though," Cody frowned back down at his data pad, going back over the files he was supposed to be studying. They had only one more year of training before they started using the batch squads in full unit training. That meant he only had a year to be as good as possibly can be. He was one of a few clones selected to be a Marshall Commander, which meant they'd be in charge of whole fleets. He would be going from being responsible for his squad to being responsible for thousands of men.

"I know for a fact that you haven't eaten since we dragged you to breakfast this morning," Alpha crossed his arms, frowning. "I know that its scary, thinking about all those boys down there and knowing you'll be sending them to their deaths in a few years."

"Its not that," Cody snapped, looking back up at Alpha. "I've gotten over that bit. That's what the training was for today. Compartmentalizing and all that. I can't go in there and know that they willingly let me do it. They won't fight my orders or yours. We've all come to accept that we're going to die someday for a cause that isn't even ours and why?"

"Keeps me up at night, sometimes," Alpha sat down on the bench next to him, knocking a shoulder against Cody's. "Like we should feel something more."

"Like something is missing up here," Cody tapped the side of his head, sighing. "I've been studying other races, other cultures, on the side. Skirata assigned it, said that it'd be good to know who we might be fighting someday."

"He's got us four reading up on Mandos," Alpha nodded. "You got that with the nulls?"

"Yeah, having that in my head, having all of this culture and lifestyle and family units in my head. Gives me headaches sometimes," Cody rubbed at his forehead, finally setting the datapad aside. "Mentioned it to Skirata. Told me not to tell the medics. They'd terminate me in a heartbeat. He says I get them because I wasn't made to understand and my brain is trying to anyway."

"Too much information in the system?" Alpha looked down at his hands, confused.

"Yeah, says I have to work on compartmentalizing more and it'll get better. You guys might get the same but probably not. You don't have to know as much. The flash training helps, but I like reading some of the files as well. Feels more real to me," Cody shrugged.

"We're all going to be commanders, aren't we," Alpha glanced at Cody, eyes sad.

Cody nodded, nudging his knee against Alpha's gently, "Just cuz we'll be separated doesn't mean we're not brothers."

"The Litany Skirata talks about, the nulls do it?" Alpha wrapped a hand around Cody's wrist, fingers resting on his pulse point. Cody forced himself to remain relaxed, knowing Alpha was seeking comfort in feeling his blood moving in his body. So that's what they had been learning about while he'd been in his lectures.

"99 and I do it, too," Cody flexed his fingers a little. "65, 37, and 12. We didn't know them well enough to think up names for them, so we stuck with numbers. We add names as we learn them, brothers who haven't lasted as long as we have. 99 added a scientist a while back, one that died when there was an accident in her lab. She'd been helping him with some pt in her free time."

"Will you add others, once we start fighting?" Alpha kept his focus on his hand on Cody's wrist.

"Ever brother," Cody nodded, pulling his arm back so he was gripping Alpha's hand. "They're keeping us together till the end. Till they assign posts and all that. We've got another few years together."

"It was just a lot today. Skirata wanted us to know everything, the Litany, the Mando Wars, everything," Alpha squeezed Cody's hand back before letting his hand fall away. "Realizing that we had been made to be nothing more than the clankers they're training us to fight…it was hard."

"That's why Skirata was teaching you how to be Mandos," Cody stood, stretching his back out, hearing a few pops. "So you weren't just fleshy clankers. Come on, I'm sure the others are wondering where we are."

"Thought you weren't hungry," Alpha stood, smiling a little now but the haunted look was still there. Cody didn't think it was ever going to go away.

"I'm not, but you are. Come on, we're going to be late," Cody headed for the door, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. 99 was in another section, sweeping the floor. He met Cody's eye for a second, eyes just as sad as Cody figured his were and got back to work.

"If anything happens to me," Alpha caught up to Cody at that point, falling into step with him. "Keep an eye on the others for me?"

"You do the same," Cody nodded, knowing the next few years were going to be hard on all of them.