Hello everyone!

THOSE BAD BATCH EPISODES HOLY CRAP. I uh...might have predicted a thing or two.

OneLittleSpark18: And 'Nature' will continue to heal! I'm always so glad to see you're enjoying!

Bvadams: I uh actually have intended that his armor was destroyed (I might have to have a scene about that)... I'm glad you're enjoying the story though!

4thwallbreak: You might be on to something there...

Venomizer: Thank you! And hmmm interesting theory...

SWNerd4Life: Don't worry, I can see all of your reviews! I love your anaylsis, it's so fun to read and compare to what I have planned! And you've got a point about Tarkin. And we will see with Dooku! Just not this chapter. You think Crosshair has the ability to calm down? Pfffft. And I know they established that the Senate Guards aren't all clones, but clearly they sucked (ahem that one guy with the stupid hair that got murdered by Ventress) so I have decided that Padme wanted clones cause they super loyal to her.

Jess Marylin: Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy!

This chapter is a lot of set up, but it does have some good moments, at least in my opinion.

Mando'a translations at the end!

Cody leaned back in his chair, listening to the hyperdrive. Serenno was deep in Confederate space. He'd never been that far into Separatist territory before.

CIS. He reminded himself. Now that they were official, Cody supposed it'd be polite to refer to them by their proper name.

Regardless, a part of him kept expecting to be attacked, even though they hadn't even reached the once hostile space. He was uncomfortable with this mission. He had spent the entire war trying to defeat Dooku. It felt odd to meet with him at all, regardless if they were accusing him of a crime. He didn't like it. It felt wrong.

That wasn't the only reason he was uncomfortable. Cody shifted in his seat to eye his companions. Both General Kenobi and Kor sat in their own seats, quiet. There was still a feeling of awkwardness in the air. It had only been a few days since General Kenobi had left the Order, even though he had visited the kid every day since then. Cody would know. The General had asked Cody to let the kid stay at his apartment while Obi Wan found his own place to live. It'd been awkward. This whole kriffing situation was just awkward.

Cody sighed and got up to go to the cockpit. Oddball was there, probably avoiding the situation too.

"How much longer, Odd?" Cody asked.

Oddball snorted.

"It's been an hour, sir." He said. "We're not using Venators anymore. We're lucky to have a class 4 hyperdrive. It'll be a good rotation before we get there."

Cody grimaced.

"Great." He said. "You could at least come to the back and be sociable."

"Ah, but who would make sure we're on course?" Oddball said with a twinkle in his eye.

So the little di'kut knew what he was doing.

"You don't get to be up here the whole time." Cody said. "I'll be relieving you at some point. For both our sakes."

"Sure, sure." Oddball said cheerfully. "Have fun, sir."

Cody returned to the main bay of the Dynamic-class freighter borrowed from General Skywalker. He had called it the Dawnbreak. At least the General was collecting better quality ships. In fact, this ship was fairly cozy by clone standards. The seats had cushioning, at least, and there was a table. Cody sat there and found a deck of Sabacc cards under one of the seats.

"Hey kid." Cody called, instinctively shuffling the deck. "You wanna play?"

Kor looked up and his brow furrowed.

"I'm not sure I know how." He said.

"I can teach you." Cody said. "I helped nearly every new shiny that came to the 212th learn. Though it helped that I knew exactly how they picked things up."

Kor glanced at General Kenobi, who shrugged.

"They tried to teach me." The General said. "They banned me from playing soon after. They believed that it was somewhat unfair due to my abilities."

"That's what we told you." Cody said. "You were really bad at it."

General Kenobi raised an eyebrow.

"You say that." He said. "But I really could sense your intentions."

"You still lost." Cody said. "And your Sabacc face is terrible."

"Perhaps it was on purpose." General Kenobi shot back.

Kor was looking between them, looking amused.

"Sir, we could tell." Cody said as he flicked the cards together again. "You knew what we had, you just didn't know what to do with that knowledge."

"I'm beginning to doubt that I will be any good at this game either." Kor said.

"We don't know until we try." Cody said. "How was your mum at bluffing?"

Kor smiled.

"She was a politician, so she had to be able to keep a straight face." He said.

"Then there's hope for you." Cody said. "Come on."

Kor picked up the rules quickly enough. It turned out his bluff was infinitely better than General Kenobi's.

"Sorry, General." Cody said after Kor won his first round. "He's got you beat at Sabacc."

"I've had to pretend my entire life that my mother was my aunt." Kor said dryly. "I would think I would have learned something about a straight face."

A mildly awkward silence followed.

Cody coughed.

"Do you want me to deal again?" He asked.

"Yes, of course." Kor said, breaking eye contact with his father.

"So," Cody said as he shuffled the deck. If General Kenobi was going to make him come along on the mission, he might as well have some fun with it. "You ever hear about the Genosian brain worm?"

"No." Kor said. "It sounds- interesting."

Cody shot a grin at General Kenobi, who frowned.

"Cody, he doesn't need to hear-" He started.

"We were in some Geonsian catacombs during the second battle of Geonosis. They had General Unduli there, hanging from restraints, about to get mind controlled by a worm," Cody said. "And the General asks General Skywalker if he thinks it'll go through her nose or ear."

Cody smirked at General Kenobi as Kor snorted.

"That seems- insensitive of the General who had to go through it." Kor said.

"Completely." Cody said.

"I was confident we could rescue her." General Kenobi said, though he looked a little red to Cody. "Please, Cody. Try not to exaggerate."

"I would never, sir." Cody said.

He was beginning to enjoy this.

After Cody's story, both the General and Kor seemed to open up and actually began talking to each other. Cody enjoyed telling stories about his General to someone who hadn't heard it twenty times, like Rex. Kor seemed to enjoy them quite a bit.

Even still, Cody was relieved when Oddball called for him to tag in as pilot.

"Your turn." Cody told his brother as he sat in the pilot's seat.

"Nah." Oddball said. "I'm gonna hit the rack. I slept through laserfire; I can sleep through awkwardness."

"Coward." Cody muttered "They need help, Oddball."

Oddball chuckled.

"It is not my responsibility to fix their relationship." He said. "It shouldn't be yours either."

Cody enjoyed the peace and quiet of the cockpit for almost an hour before a scream split the air. Cody knew that scream. He was out of the cockpit and across the ship in a matter of seconds.

Oddball was thrashing in the rack, crying out as he clawed the air.

"Oddball!" Cody called as he snatched his brother's wrists. They were slick with sweat. "Odd, it's me! It's Cody!"

Oddball opened his eyes and Cody could see that it took a moment for him to realize who it was.

"Sir-" Oddball whispered. "Sir-"

He broke down. He screwed up his tear laden eyes and his shoulders shook with sobs.

Cody pulled his brother close, cursing softly. He knew what Oddball had been dreaming of. The war wasn't over in their nightmares.

"The war's over, Odd." Cody said. "You're safe. It's all over."

"They keep dying." Oddball said, barely audible. "I could save them! I could save them but it won't let me!"

"I know, Odd." Cody said. He did know. Their nightmares never let them save the brothers they could have. "You're with me. We're safe."

Cody heard footsteps behind him. Oddball buried his face in Cody's chest, as if trying to hide from the new presence.

"Oh-" Cody heard Kor say. "I- oh."

Cody did not turn around. The boy shouldn't be here. General Kenobi hadn't come because he understood.

"Do you-"

"No." Cody said shortly, all the while soothing his shaking brother. "It would be best if you left."

It took far too long for Cody to hear Kor's footsteps depart, leaving Cody to bring his brother back out of the darkness of his own memories.

Cody was exhausted when he entered the ship's main hold. General Kenobi waited there. He stood as Cody entered.

"Is he all right?" He asked. "Does he require more help?"

Cody shook his head.

"I got him calmed down." He said. "Thank you though, sir."

"Of course." General Kenobi said.

He settled back down and watched Cody.

"Are you all right, Cody?" He asked. "It can't be easy."

"I manage, sir." Cody said. "You know I do."

"Even the hardest stone can be worn away." General Kenobi said. "Please, let me know if you need help."

"I will, sir." Cody said, though he knew he never would.

It was one thing to ask the General for help for his brothers, but admitting weakness in himself was a whole other matter.

"Is the kid flying us?" Cody asked.

"Yes, as you were indisposed." General Kenobi said.

"I'll take over." Cody said.

The quiet of the cockpit would sooth his frazzled nerves. He made his way there. Kor was in the pilot's seat. Cody thought he looked a little uncomfortable in the position.

"I haven't flown much." Kor said. "I took classes, of course, but I've only actually piloted a ship once or twice."

"It's not so bad." Cody said. "Especially in hyperspace. Not much to do here but make sure we don't go off course. But I can take over if you want."

To Cody's annoyance, Kor shook his head.

"I need the practice." He said.

Cody was about to insist when Kor looked at him with a serious expression.

"What was wrong?" He asked. "Was it an injury? Is that what made your brother- act like that?"

Cody blinked at the sudden questions.

"What?" He asked.

"Your brother." Kor said. "I served with clones for a few months. I've- never seen them go through something like that."

The initial shock burned away in wake of Cody's sudden anger. He glared at the kid.

"Don't." He said. "Don't pretend that just because you spent a few months with us that you understand anything."

To Cody's eternal surprise, Kor did not flinch, backpedal his words, or get angry. He merely met Cody's gaze.

"Help me understand." He said.

Cody stared at him. For the first time, Cody saw his General in more than looks and superficial ways in the boy.

"It's- hard to explain." He finally said. "Hard to put into words."

Kor nodded and did not press him. Cody carefully considered how to explain something that his brothers knew from near birth.

"The reason there weren't many clones having nightmares and the like," Cody finally said. "Was because they were still in battle on Mandalore. We were designed to withstand the stress of war."

Kor glanced at him, but said nothing.

"What the Kaminoans didn't figure, or didn't care about, was after the fighting stops." Cody went on. "We- don't handle peacetime that well."

"I'm sorry." Kor said. "I know my mother was badly affected by the Mandalorian Civil War. I get the sense that she never truly recovered from it."

"Yeah." Cody said. "It's the kind of thing you don't recover from."

"Do you all suffer from night terrors?" Kor asked.

Cody shrugged.

"For the most part. Kind of a holdover from the war. They're just worse now." He said. "We know how to take care of our own."

Cody paused.

"Sorry for snapping at you in there." He said. "We're a tight knit group. We don't have much experience with nat borns, besides the Jedi. Brothers tend to be the best at calming us down."

"I'm sorry for intruding." Kor said.

Cody let the conversation lapse. He watched Kor for a little while longer. Yes, this boy was certainly General Kenobi's son. And perhaps someone Cody could trust with his brothers.

"You know, Kal'buir owns like five apartments on the upper levels."

Boba didn't look back at Mereel as he walked through the undercity. He was glad that Skirata had sent him to help with Boba's cybernetics surgery, but he didn't know why the Null was still here. Boba had recovered. He was fine.

"He'd let you stay in one." Mereel went on. "Probably way more pleasant than down here."

"I don't want to." Boba said shortly.

Mereel shrugged.

"All right." He said. "Just don't blame me when you get mugged."

Boba snorted.

"Mugged." He said. "Right."

He doubted any being with even a modicum of Jango's DNA would be overcome by an undercity mugger. Boba was just as safe in the undercity as he was on the surface. Probably more so in some ways.

"Why're we down here anyway?" Mereel asked.

"I didn't ask you to come with me." Boba grumbled.

He wove in between the crowd of people with ease. To his annoyance, Mereel followed without a problem.

"I promised Kal'buir that I'd keep an eye on you." Mereel said.

Boba didn't like the implication of that. He had no desire to be part of Skirata's little clan.

A small part of him whispered that that wasn't true. Boba pointedly ignored that part.

"I was fine without Skirata's influence for five years." Boba said.

"Is that what you call getting thrown into prison?" Mereel asked.

The Null slowed his step, glancing at the night clubs they passed. They were the kind that offered particular services. Each had an example of those services, lusciously adorned beings with more skin than cloth showing, leaning in the doorways. A few of the women noticed Mereel's attention and smiled.

"He's fifteen, ladies!" Boba called.

The ladies' expressions shifted and most avoided Mereel's eye now.

Mereel glanced down at Boba to shoot him an extremely dirty look.

"Don't start using that osik excuse." Mereel said with venom. "You know I'm older than that."

"Stop acting like a horny teenager then." Boba said. "I don't think your buir would be pleased if you abandoned me to bed some oya'dalyc."

"Noticed they only had eyes for me, huh?" Mereel said with a grin. "Jealousy isn't a good look on you, Bob'ika."

Anger burst alight in Boba's chest at the nickname. He tolerated it from Skirata, but the only one who truly had any right to call Boba that was dead. Boba felt the urge to grab Mereel and grind his nose into the pavement. Instead he merely gave Mereel a glare.

"Don't call me that." He said. "Don't pretend I'm one of your brothers."

Mereel gave a short laugh.

"Not a problem." He said.

Boba was momentarily surprised by the bitterness in Mereel's voice. Boba wondered, for the first time in a long while, how much resentment the clones felt towards him for being Jango's son.

The quiet part of him balked at the idea that he was hated by anyone with his father's face.

Boba shook himself, focusing on the task at hand. They were almost there anyway, coming into the district known for its bounty hunters.

"Put your helmet on." Boba said. He wasn't sure if he was glad or not that Mereel had worn his Mandalorian armor today. Now Boba didn't have an excuse to leave him behind. "The ones we're meeting don't take well to clones."

"What about you?" Mereel asked, but thankfully obeyed.

"They already know what I am." Boba said. "But unlike Kryze, they accept my adoption."

Mereel glanced at Boba.

"And what crazy faction are we meeting today?" He asked. "And you know I've been adopted too."

"I'd rather not risk it. They're not that crazy, though." Boba said. "In fact, your buir would probably join them if he wasn't so attached to the clones. The Old Mandalorians."

"Ah." Mereel said. "Are you sure they haven't aligned with Kryze yet? With her 'returning Mandalore to greatness' and all that osik."

Boba hesitated.

"No." He confessed. "But they haven't returned to Mandalore, so there's a chance they don't like her."

"I supposed she is Death Watch." Mereel said.

"That's what I'm hoping they see her as." Boba said. "And not the liberator of Mandalore from the jetii."

"Kenobi's not even that bad."

"Bad enough for most." Boba replied. "Especially any Mandalorian who just heard that a jetii was Mandalor and little else. Here we are."

Boba nodded at one of the tall buildings that stood out because it wasn't draped with neon lighting. Boba noticed a pair of Mandalorians at a food stall nearby. Their postures were relaxed, but Boba knew they'd be watching him and Mereel as they approached the building.

They entered into a clean, but austere lobby. A few Mandalorians sat at tables with clients and all eyes and visors turned to Boba and Mereel.

"Fett." One said, and stood.

Boba watched them, wary. The gold armored woman seemed just as apprehensive as she came a few steps closer. Boba knew this woman. Renaar Ordo.

"One group of Mando'ade rejects you, and then you come crawling to us." She said. "I'm surprised you even tried to get the throne. I never thought you cared."

"I didn't." Boba said. "And I wasn't rejected. I-"

"So you're a coward." Renaar said. "Couldn't even die properly in the duel."

"Is that what Kryze is spouting?" Boba asked, trying to keep himself calm. They would respect an outburst, but not yet. "That I challenged her and surrendered before she could give me a proper death?"

"Something like that." Renaar said.

"And if I told you it was a lie?"

"I'd have no reason to believe you."

"You have a reason to believe a member of Death Watch?"

That made Renaar pause.

"Kryze is a traitor and a liar." Boba said. "Ask anyone who saw the duel. She was beaten. I surrendered to keep her from starting another Civil War."

"It wouldn't be her fault if you were weak enough to let that happen."

"No." Boba said. "She told me herself. Her followers had orders to reject anyone else on the throne and to start the war again regardless of who took it."

Murmurs rose from the other Mandalorians. Boba let some of his anger come to the forefront.

"She claims to follow the old ways, but would tear our people apart if anyone but her took the throne, no matter how rightfully." He hissed.

Renaar stared at him, her visor infuriatingly blank. But when she spoke, her voice was tight with repressed rage.

"If what you say is true, then she deserves no one's pledge of loyalty." She said. "What do you need of me?"

Rex stepped from his room, adjusting the strange uniform Cody had sent. It seemed to be a modified naval officer's uniform without the hat, the tunic dyed a burnt orange, and the trousers dyed a dark blue. There was no rank insignia and no gloves.

Fives, who Tech was lecturing, wore the same uniform. He caught Rex's eye and grimaced. Rex wasn't fond of the uniform either. He supposed a mere junior administrator in the Education department wouldn't wear armor, but he missed it all the same. Not that he'd be able to wear his armor, but any would be better than nothing. He felt another strange stab of grief for the armor that had been melted down by the Kaminoans.

Wrecker and Crosshair were prepping the gear while Omega flitted around them in the purple poncho Senator Chuchi had given her. She was far more pleased with her new outfit than Rex and Fives were. Hunter sat in one of the armchairs, his bandages still visible under the loose shirt he had to wear. He looked utterly miserable, but didn't interfere with their preparations.

"Hey." Ahsoka's hand alighted on his shoulder. "You look good."

Rex blinked at her and managed a slight smile. She beamed back.

"Go eat something." She said. "We don't want you to be late on your first day."

Rex nodded and moved to the table, where Echo was absently eating a ration bar as he scrolled through a datapad. Rex found himself his own ration bar, which was a far easier choice than the overwhelming options usually presented to him. Echo glanced up as Rex sat down.

"Makes you miss planning strategies, huh?" He said.

Rex smirked.

"Yeah."

"Mandalore's sending a representative today." Echo said. "For some reason now they want to be part of the Republic. I'm not looking forward to dealing with them."

Rex gave a sympathetic grunt and took another dry bite of ration bar.

"You think he's gonna be okay?" Echo asked, nodding at Fives.

Tech was still going on about something to Fives, likely what exactly he needed to do and avoid. Fives, to his credit, looked like he was listening, even if he seemed annoyed.

"I hope so." Rex said. "I hope we're both okay."

All of a sudden it was difficult to keep eating. Rex wanted this badly, but he was also terrified. He forced himself to choke down the rest of the ration bar.

"Time to go." Crosshair announced.

Rex glanced at Hunter, who radiated concern as Omega gave him a hug. He was under orders to rest for at least another week. Rex shivered. It was bad enough that Hunter had been injured. If any of them had been killed, if Ahsoka had been killed-

Rex forced the thoughts away, feeling sick again. He followed Echo to the door. Ahsoka stopped him with a hand.

"I'm taking my speeder bike." She said. "So I'll see you at home, okay?"

Rex nodded and she kissed his cheek. She always kissed him there, or on his head, ever since she first kissed him on Kamino. His lips seemed to tingle at the thought of the hazy memory. He wanted that again. As with many things in their relationship, he felt he couldn't quite voice it yet. Soon, perhaps. So he accepted her kiss and leaned his head against hers for a moment.

"I love you." She said.

Rex nodded and closed his eyes. His mission, the one he had assigned to himself and accepted a few days prior. Framing it that way made it easier on his still healing mind. His mission was to love her back.

"Me too." He muttered, the best he could right now.

Her hand found his and squeezed tightly.

Thank you. She said in his mind. Behind those words was a blinding happiness he had not expected.

Next time. He promised himself as they left the apartment.

If just implying his love inspired such joy, he could only imagine what saying the words would do.

Mando'a:

di'kut: idiot, jerk

Kal'buir: Papa Kal

osik: crap

oya'dalyc: Prostitute, a term a made up based off of the term 'good time girl.' Oya is an exclamation of joy or excitement, and dalyc is girl.

Bob'ika: little Boba. Supposed to be used affectionately.

jetii: Jedi

Mando'ade: Mandalorians, lit. children of Mandalore

From the top! Kor and Obi Wan are awkward! Who is surprised by this turn of events? Oddball knows better than to get involved. I like the idea of Anakin using Padme's or the Jedi's money to buy random ships and giving them themed names with the Twilight. I love the idea that Obi Wan is somehow really bad at Sabacc. Or is he? Is he just pretending to get out of playing with the men? Hmmmm...(no he's actually terrible)

And surprise angst! Must be hard when literally everyone in your circle of acquaintance has major PTSD. It makes sense to me that the clones will try everything to get help for their brothers but refuse to ask for help for themselves. Kor is very much Obi Wan's son and gives a crap about the clones. Cody is understandable hesitant about letting nat borns get close. But Kor is probably a good one.

Oh hey Boba! His interactions with Mereel were really fun to write this chapter. I get the idea that Mereel is a little jealous of Boba. (Not to mention the Nulls canonically gave Boba a swirly in the RC books) Honestly I feel like a majority of clones are either indifferent to Boba or dislike him. Which would suck. Imagine your father dying, and then the millions of men that share his face always look at you without the love he felt for you. Boba needs therapy. Everyone needs therapy. Okay, I mention that Jango's clones wouldn't get mugged. And then I remembered that Echo and Fives kinda got mugged in earlier chapters. Oops. Oh well, it wasn't their fault. And yes, Mereel canonically is a horndog.

The Old Mandalorians are a canon(?) group that looked at their choices after the Civil War, which were Satine's pacifism or Death Watch's terrorism and just went 'nah screw that we're just gonna go be bounty hunters and be Mandos like we're supposed to.' So I came up with the idea that they kind of made a Bounty Hunter's Guild but just for the Old Mandalorians. I made up Renaar Ordo, because I wanted someone cool that was related to Canderous. Canderous is my favorite. I will reject Bastila or Carth everytime because Revan and Canderous are murder spouses.

Rex! And no, he can't go straight into teaching kids, but he's got a job. And he'll have a little thing on the side that'll be good for him. I HAD to give Omega the poncho she wore in the latest Bad Batch episode. Holy CRAP IT WAS SO CUTE. (ALSO HOW DID I CALL THAT OMEGA AND ECHO WOULD WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN SENATE THINGS. HOW.)

Rex wants to just make out with Ahsoka, but he's not ready for that yet. Also, some of you got it! Rex chooses to see love as his mission and it helps. I like how I managed to make someone responding 'me too' to someone telling them they loved them a sweet moment.

Okay, that should be all!

Stay safe, remember to review, and have a great week!