Chapter Seventeen: Retrieving the Holocron

The ship dropped out of hyperspace into an asteroid field, Windu deftly avoiding them as I entered the cockpit. No one said anything. I assumed Obi-wan kept our discussion a secret, considering Bane and Cody were present. Still, he was sure to tell the Jedi Council when he was alone.

I moved to stand behind the clone commander again, seeing a small space station appear between some of the asteroids. Windu turned the ship quickly, guiding her to dock at the main port. It locked together with a hydraulic hiss.

"Let's not waste time, shall we?" Bane said, standing immediately and leading the way out. The dock held a small set of stairs that led to a circular door.

"It's locked," Windu accused suspiciously.

"Because it requires a passcode," Bane responded mockingly, his teeth showing as he grinned. I stood beside Cody as the bounty hunter quickly typed in a code, the door opening with a high-pitched grinding.

"We'll be fine, Cody," Obi-wan spoke, glancing at his commander. "Stay here and watch the ship."

Windu followed Bane inside as Cody nodded his head. "Yes, sir." He glanced at me as I followed the jedi. "I'll...keep the ship running."

The door closed behind us, surrounding our group in darkness. We followed Bane through another door, the floor shifting as it began to lift us, circles of light flashing past the elevator.

"I do not sense any children nearby," Kenobi voiced, glancing at his fellow jedi. My gaze was on Bane, who cast a look at me over his shoulder.

"Neither do I," Windu responded calmly.

"Where are you keeping the children?" Obi-wan asked forcefully as the elevator stopped, revealing a dimly lit room. It was circular, massive cylinders sitting in rather strategic corners. I hummed lowly. They were likely hidden turrets. I'd see the kind before. Therefore, there was a trigger.

"The children are safe," Bane reassured, giving Obi-wan a look. "But first, there is your precious holocron." He turned, gesturing with his eyes to behind us, where a glowing square rested on a desk. "Let me get it for you."

Bane moved to walk towards it, but Windu's hand stopped him easily. "No more of your tricks," the jedi growled before stepping past the bounty hunter. I examined his face, seeing a smirk curl his lips.

"Windu!" I yelled, trying to get the jedi to stop, but I was too late, watching helplessly as the man stepped off the platform, directly into the motion trigger.

The alarm sounded, the lights turning a dark red.

"Blast!" Windu exclaimed, looking around the room.

"You've certainly stepping in it this time," Obi-wan scolded, never one to miss a clever response.

Turrets dropped from the ceiling, opening fire on Windu, who immediately flipped out of their way, drawing his saber. I ducked below Obi-wan's arms as he drew his own lightsaber, deflecting the lasers of more booby traps. Confident the jedi would protect me, I cast my eyes around, identifying the threats and reading their patterns. There clearly was one, considering Bane was navigating rather easily off the platform and through the danger.

"Bane!" I yelled, drawing my blaster and firing at the bounty hunter. I managed to catch his leg, but he fell hard into the wall, casting a growl back at me.

"So long, jedi," he yelled mockingly as Obi-wan raced to my side. I fired again as the wall began to turn, but my shot to his head deflected off his metal breathing tubes.

"Kriff," I cursed, watching the damned bounty hunter escape me yet again.

"Move," Obi-wan insisted, shoving me sideways as a turret erupted from one of the cylinders I'd seen earlier, firing at us. I rolled, avoiding more lasers as Obi-wan leapt backwards to stand back to back with his fellow jedi.

Wonderful. On my own then. I looked towards the desk, dashing through the patterned lasers and diving behind its metal frame. Bolts erupted over it, rattling its surface.

"Now what do we do?" I heard Windu grunt, the both of them deflecting the fire of the turrets.

I risked a look around the corner, barely avoiding blaster shots, but seeing a weakness in the turrets. "Jedi," I yelled to get their attention. "I've got a way to buy us some time, but it'll only be a little and could kill us!"

"What kind of plan is that?" Obi-wan exclaimed.

"Do you have a better one?" I yelled back from behind the desk, but heard nothing as they continued avoiding fire. "I'm gonna do it!" I drew my blasters and lifted myself up, immediately firing at the weak spots of the turrets I had vantage points on. They lit up instantly, fire erupting in the room. The lasers still worked, but we could dodge those. "I've got the holocron, let's go!"

I swept up the glowing cube as I hurdled the desk, racing past the jedi and through the closing door. They followed quickly, Windu only barely making it. The space station began to explode as the turrets short-circuited, rattling the metal below our feet. Hurrying aboard the shuttle, I saw Cody in the pilot's chair, looking back at us with shock.

"Anytime, Cody," Obi-wan yelled up to the cockpit as he and Windu boarded. The clone reacted immediately, detaching from the port and speeding the shuttle away to avoid the blast. Smoke and debris drifted by us as we barely exiting the blast zone, speeding through the asteroid field.

At a safe distance, I turned to the jedi, offering them their holocron. "As ordered," I smiled grimly. "The safe return of your holocron."

"Thank you," Obi-wan smiled, taking it from me. I could feel the loss of energy as it left my hand. It was just an object, but somehow imbued with the force. "Though we still haven't found the children."

"Silver lining," I offered with a shrug. "It was good they weren't on that station. There'd be no saving them, then."

"True," Windu sighed. "We can only hope Skywalker managed to get something from Bane's ship."

I breathed slowly. "I'm sorry Bane got away."

"He got away from all of us," Kenobi admitted. "At least the holocron is in safe hands now. I want to be sure it wasn't copied, though."

"That will have to wait until we return to the temple," Windu added. "Patience."

They moved to sit in the piloting chairs, but I held up my hand. "You two are tired. Cody and I can handle flying if you want to rest."

"I'm sure you're both tired, as well," Windu replied, his eyebrows raised.

"If I may, sir," Cody joined. "I'm far more rested than either of you."

I smiled gently. "Rest," I pushed, gesturing to the beds built into the hallway walls. Kenobi spiked with suspicion, probably per our last conversation. I rolled my eyes. "Relax, Obi-wan. Whatever you may think of me," I looked between both jedi now. "I'm not your enemy." I allowed myself a mischievous grin. "Yet, anyways."

Thankfully, they recognized the joke. They warily nodded before heading towards the bunks, the door to the hall closing behind them to give them some quiet. I watched them both lay down before sitting in the copilot seat. I leaned forward, tapping in the coordinates for Coruscant, earning a chuckle from Cody.

"What?" I asked as I finished, giving him a questioning look.

He shrugged. "Not many civies know coordinates by heart."

I raised my eyebrow at him, crossing my arms. "Do I look like a civy to you?"

The clone chuckled again, pulling the lever to launch us into hyperspace. "No," he admitted with a gentle laugh. "You don't."

I leaned back in my chair after checking over all of the ship's diagnostics and deeming them acceptable. "I can't wait to hunt Bane," I admitted darkly, staring out the viewport. "I won't even need to get paid for it. I'd just do it because he pisses me off."

Cody chuckled, slowly lifting his helmet from his head and setting it aside. I watched him as he settled in, finally relaxing as the jedi slept.

"How'd you get it?" I asked suddenly, watching him. He gave me a confused glance, so I gestured to my own facial scars around my left eye. "We match," I teased.

He shook his head, smiling before sighing lowly through his nose. "Trandoshan."

I blanched. "I beg your pardon?"

"Trandoshan," he responded easily with a small grin.

I looked sideways, thinking, my mouth hanging open. "That would mean you had to fight one in hand to hand combat," I mused. "Why didn't you just shoot him?"

He shrugged. "Didn't have time."

"But you had time for a little round of fistacuffs?" The clone grinned in response, making me huff out a breath in disbelief. "Well…" I said after a moment. "Did you win?"

Cody actually laughed now, making me smile. I could tell it was a rare occasion. Cody was a refined soldier. Pristine. Formal. To the point. He reflected Kenobi's tactics well, minus the sass. Though, I supposed they shared a lust for danger.

"I did, actually."

I lifted an eyebrow, pursing my lips. "If you weren't using a blaster, you must have has something like-" I stopped mid-sentence, seeing Cody draw out a blade from his belt. "Stars," I breathed, leaning across the gap to look at it. "You have a vibroknife." I scowled. "A damned nice one, too. What the hell?"

Cody twirled it a few times before offering it to me, hilt first. I took it happily, bubbling with excitement like a child. Sure, I'd seen vibroknives before. A lot of people had them, especially in the lower levels. I even had a few, but preferred other methods. Besides, my scuffs often led to misplaced weaponry, so why would I purchase really nice knives?

I'd never seen a military grade vibroknife that was so refined...not to mention, well-maintained. Very soldier-like, of course.

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "I thought only commandos were given these." I rolled the blade over my hand deftly, feeling it vibrate slightly when I engaged it.

"They are," he admitted. "But I insisted on having one."

"I didn't think the Kaminoans were a very negotiable species."

"They're not," the man chuckled, taking back the blade as I finally offered it back. He examined it a moment, holding it up for us both to admire. "But they let it happen because of my particular inclination for one on one combat."

I hummed, regarding the clone in a new light. Sure, he was a stiff sometimes, but he was a human after all. "So," I smiled. "Let's hear the story."

"It's not that exciting." He was trying to deter me.

"There's not much else to do on the way to Coruscant."

His eyebrows lifted as his mouth contorted in thought. Finally, he nodded in agreement. "Fine," he groaned, putting the knife away and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Generals Skywalker and Kenobi were sent to Kashyyyk to help stop the civil unrest between the Trandoshians and the Wookies…"

"This is going to go well," Rex sighed through the modulators in his helmet as he regarded the rowdy room. The peace settlement between the Trandoshians and the Wookies wasn't making much progress.

"We'll get this figured out," Kenobi reassured, brushing between Rex and Cody to join the planet representatives on the floor. Anakin rolled his eyes, but followed nonetheless.

Hours went by as the two species fruitlessly cast insults and jibes, neither giving in on their hatred towards the other. Still, Kenobi was a master negotiator, knowing that neither worlds would function well in the Republic if they couldn't at least tolerate the neighboring planets in their system.

Finally...slowly...the Trandoshans and Wookies were at least willing to talk.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Rex groaned, the man clearly tired. He leaned slightly against the wall behind them, earning the slightest of nudges from Cody to stand up straight again. Regulation, after all.

Cody's head snapped sideways, hearing the low guttural growl of a Trandoshan. "What was that?" he whispered, getting Rex's attention. The captain perked up, but shook his head.

"A Trandoshan...they're everywhere here," he tried to reason, but Cody persisted.

"No. Something's lurking out there." He gestured subtly, the captain turning to scan the thick treelines of Kashyyyk. They watched in silence for a few moments before seeing a large form skulk forward, his clawed hands clearly gripping a sniper.

"Kriff," Rex cussed, drawing his blasters slowly. They couldn't make a scene. If they revealed that a Trandoshan had brought a weapon-with no good intentions, obviously-to the peace negotiations, it would ruin everything. All efforts made up until that moment would have been for nothing. And the clones weren't about to have stood silently while listening to the screeches of Trandoshans and the howls of Wookies for hours just to have it fail.

A quick glance brought them to the same page, having known each other for so long. The brothers snuck from the room, sneaking through the foliage towards the crouching giant. Their pistols rose, but Cody thought better of it, stopping them both.

"If we shoot, we alert everyone to what's going on," he whispered.

"So what?" Rex pushed. "You want to fight a Trandoshan hand-to-hand?" Cody shrugged as he put away his blaster, drawing his vibroknife. Rex sighed. "Of course you do. Fine. I'll disarm him and distract him...then you take him down."

They nodded to each other before splitting up, Cody moving to best position himself behind the Trandoshan. Rex popped out of the foliage like a sarlacc from sand, ripping the sniper from the creature's hands and sending it flying somewhere into the trees. The Trandoshan's mouth growled and clicked as it rose to full height, sending Rex soaring somewhere after the sniper.

Cody leapt forward, his vibroknife engaging as he charged the Trandoshan. The attacker whirled, catching Cody by the helmet and lifting him into the air.

"Clone," the Trandoshan growled, his tongue flicking out as he spoke. Cody struggled, plunging the vibroknife into the creature's scaly arm. It cried out, dropping Cody. His helmet fell off as he struggled to breathe, the visor cracked and scraped under the pressure of the Trandoshan's claws.

He tossed it aside, curling his fists as the creature pulled the blade from his arm and tossed it away. It growled lowly, charging him. The clone rolled, sliding beneath the sweeping claws and aiming a hard kick at the back of the knee. The creature fell hard to his knees, Cody swinging up behind him and linking his arm around the thick neck, pushing hard on the windpipe. The Trandoshan struggled for a moment, his tongue sticking out as he tried to breath. Finally, his gangly arms reached back, gripping Cody's face, his talons ripping into the left side of his face.

Cody screamed in agony, letting go and falling backwards, gloved hands filling with blood as they held his face. The Trandoshan stood, whirling on Cody and prowling forward. Rex yelled loudly and he threw himself into the male, both of them falling sideways. Breathing heavily as Rex did his best against the far stronger creature, Cody spied his vibroblade with the eye not blinded by blood. He dragged himself to it, the blade buzzing in his hand as he swiped at the back of the Trandoshan.

Together, Rex and Cody kept him occupied, ducking his attacks, Cody swiping periodically with the vibroblade, earning screeches of pain from the Trandoshan. Two lightsabers ignited behind the attacker, Kenobi and Skywalker having felt the disturbance through the force. They raced forward, desperate to save the leaders of their battalions.

The Trandoshan dove for Cody's dropped blaster, ignoring the jedi and aiming for the hut they'd left...to disrupt the peace talks. Rex lunged, trying to wrestle the blaster away, but Cody went for the kill. He leapt forward, wrapping his arm around the Trandoshan's neck and stabbing deep with the vibroknife.

Everything was still for a moment as the Trandoshan's body recognized it was dying. Finally, it collapsed, both Cody and Rex breathing heavily over it. Kenobi and Skywalker raced forward, sheathing their weapons.

"What happened?" Kenobi asked, kneeling down to look at Cody's bleeding face.

"Sabotage, sir," Rex answered for them, Cody finally realizing how much pain he was in.

"Well done," Skywalker commented. "The peace talks succeeded because of you two."

"But will be for nothing if word of this gets out," Kenobi added, looking around at the group. "We mustn't speak of this."

Skywalker hummed as the group nodded. "We need to hide the body before anyone finds out. And get you two out of here."

"Rex, get Cody to a medical bay immediately," Kenobi ordered, the captain nodding quickly. "Well done, you two," the jedi called after them as Rex helped Cody stand and collect his weapons. "You've prevented a war today."

I smiled at Cody, watching his face reminisce. "Look at you. Big war hero."

Cody chuckled. "Not that I could ever tell anyone, of course. It's still a secret."

"Well with that knowledge," I teased. "I'm going straight to the Wookies." The commander rolled his eyes at me, his gaze sweeping over my face. "What?" I asked.

"What about yours?"

I hummed at him, casting my eyes out the viewport. Was that a memory I wanted to revisit? "These are from an explosion that warped my first mask," I admitted, gesturing to the spider web of scars along my temple and around my left brow.

"And that one?" he asked, gesturing to the long line that was drawn along my left cheekbone.

I thought for a moment, recalling the memory vividly. The snickers through modulated masks. The fatigue in my under-nourished muscles. The rage. The flash of glowing black. The burn of its touch.

"I got it in a duel," I finally said vaguely, shaking myself from the disturbing memories.

"Did you win?" he asked, mimicking the question I'd given him.

I chuckled darkly. "No." Our comms chimed, interrupting our conversation. Rex appeared in the hologram, greeting us both formally.

"Are the generals there?"

"They're resting, Rex," I responded easily. "What's up?"

He seemed flustered by my casual attitude, but straightened his back and nodded. "General Skywalker and Commander Tano have located and retrieved both of the missing children."

I sighed in relief, leaning back in my chair.

"Good," Cody responded for us both. "The Generals and Kida retrieved the holocron as well."

"And Bane?"

I groaned. "In the wind," I admitted with anger. "But next time I see him, I'm shooting before asking questions."

Cody chuckled beside me before looking back at Rex. "Thanks for the update, brother. We'll see you back on Coruscant."

"Ret'." Rex's hologram disappeared. Cody glanced at me for a moment, seeing my gaze focused out at the stars again.

"So…" he started, breathing slowly. I could feel his tension. His disapproval. But also his hope. "What's with you and Rex?"

"Cody," I sighed. "What are you going on about?"

He shrugged, looking away under my dark gaze. "I just...a lot of us seemed to think you two had a bit of a connection."

"We work well together."

"He's a good man," Cody tried gently. I was surprised. I could feel his disapproval for any relationship-against protocol, of course-but I also felt the deep love he had for his brothers. He wanted them to be happy...even if it meant something he deemed wrong.

I breathed slowly through my nose. "Yes. He is a good man." I turned and met his gaze. "But I am not a good woman."

"Now I disagree," Cody started. "Why would Jango give you-"

"Cody," I bit, sensing the jedi rising from their rest and approaching the door to the cockpit. "I'm not having this conversation. Ever."

The door slid open with a hiss as Cody looked straight through the viewport again. "Yes miss," he responded formally, clearly peeved by my response. I didn't care, standing abruptly and brushing past the jedi.

"I'm going to sit in the back," I said openly to the room, before heading back to hide in the engine room again.

I needed to get back to work...no more of this war bullshit.

MANDO'A

Ret' - bye!

Author's Note:

As always, thank you for reviews/likes/reposts!

For Cody's back-story-no, this isn't technically canon. Technically, there is no canon version of his scar, so I got to have fun with it. The Trandoshan and vibroknife fight is one of the most popular theories, and personally, one of my favorites, so I went with that!

Question answering time for a lovely reviewer!

"Wondering about the storyline, because canonically the Ryloth arc comes after Vindi and his virus. Would Kida not be aware of it?. Also when Kida meets the Sith contact Sugi mentions she's got a job against Hondo (Obviously the 'Bounty Hunters' ep) but that's after the Holocron arc. are you going to be skipping bits or re-write canon?"

MY ANSWER:

I use this link for my chronological stuff: /news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-chronological-episodeorder

Star wars certified and such. So Canonically, yes, Ryloth is after Blue Shadow Virus. This is why she muses about hearing they were on Ryloth. It's my way of establishing time change. A campaign on a planet doesn't take a few days. It takes more like weeks or months. So while trying to figure out her contact, they were out and about liberating Ryloth. And then moved on. So the last she heard was that they were on Ryloth.

As per the Bounty Hunter episode, yes, that is where Sugi is going. I did this to, again, establish time, but also to keep people rooted in the show, should they recognize the hints. So Sugi and such were already protecting the village by the time the jedi get there. Thus, one can bend the rules to have them present on Felucia anytime prior to the episode.

I hope that clears stuff up? I'm sorry if it wasn't clear from the chapters.

I won't be rewriting canon (at least for now. Maybe some little tweaks for Kida to participate and influence stuff, as well as some extra adventures thrown in for my own enjoyment). But there will be adventures I skip. Some she may not even be on (such as when she wasn't on Ryloth because she wasn't working for the Republic), while others will be ones she's on, but not situational enough for strong character moments between my OC and the canon characters to really include. I don't want to just write the episode from Kida's perspective. I want her story to develop. So if the episode or adventure doesn't do it for her, we're rolling over it.