When the command team crafted their plan to take the CyberCenter, they hadn't taken into account Trench's willingness to blow up his own facility.

"Cody, we have a problem."

I hate getting calls that start with that line.

Despite a pooling sense of dread, he channeled his inner Kenobi when he answered his comm. "Go ahead, Ponds."

I think I pulled it off. I sounded very calm there.

"My men finished clearing the first three levels, but on the ground level they found a chamber filled with ryhdonium-"

"How much time do we have?"

Ponds provided all the details in a crisp fashion, maybe this came from working alongside Windu. "Timer reads 15:00. Droids are fleeing. We're trying to delay them. Their last unit out will likely trigger the bomb."

"Or, trigger it remotely..." Cody muttered, even as his hands were flying over his wristcomm tapping out orders to Waxer. Cody's calculations of when and how the ryhdonium bomb would detonate was based on his understanding of droids.

Droids were more sentient than most species gave them credit for and Seppie droids were no exception. They had an innate sense of self-preservation. Trapper loved to start arguments on the topic of sentience, as most of the troopers (with the notable exception of the techs and engineers) refused to believe tinnies had the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. Cody preferred not to think about it since it was his job to blast tinnies into scrap. But, it did make sense for him to understand the sometimes complex motivations of the tinnies.

Commander droids, rollies and SBDs would keep blasting away until there were no bits of them left. But, B-1s? Their droid brains were almost a bit scrambled. (The techs thought this was because they were redesigned from simple drones attached to a central computer to individual units capable of acting on their own.) This individuality left them with a sense of self-preservation, meaning B-1s could be quite cowardly when pressed into certain battle situations. If a B-1 was holding the remote detonator, they were in luck. The droid would make sure it was safely outside the perimeter before hitting the switch. If it was a tactical droid or any other type of unit, the blast could come at any time and they were seriously fekked.

"Get as many of your men out of there as possible," Cody ordered. "I'm sending some reinforcements your way to delay the droids until we get our forces out, but keep working your way back toward the exit."

Since he'd mainly only seen B-1s protecting the facility, they (hopefully) had as much time to evacuate as it took to get the tinnies out. As long as there were still tinnies in the building, they had time to evacuate the men. Unless there were complications.

Unfortunately, there were always complications. "Rex's ARCs are not responding to hails."

Fek. If Fives and Echo weren't responding, it meant they'd either gotten into something they shouldn't, or they were in trouble. Or both.

Rex was inordinately proud of Fives and Echo, but often told him they'd become "twice the trouble" since they'd received their advanced training.

"I'm on my way," Cody took off at a run, pulling up a map of the facility on his HUD.

"You're half a klik away," Ponds advised, sending him a suggested route. "Leave yourself time to get out of there."

Cody huffed in response and sent Ponds a link to his locator chip. Just in case.

"I better not end up needing this," Ponds grumbled, as he received this link.

"I'll find them. Cody out." Half a klik wouldn't be a problem as long as he didn't run into any complications, (and Fives and Echo were still mobile, and still where they were supposed to be.) Cody had been offered the opportunity to promote two of his troopers into the ARC program. He didn't have any ARC troopers, other than Oddball, who'd been an exemplary trooper. Oddball had already been an ARC when he'd come to the 212th. The two troopers he was thinking of promoting were pains in the shebs, but perfect ARC material. He was trying to decide if they'd also be "twice the trouble" if he sent them for more training under Alpha-17.

If he got his shebs out of here in one piece, he'd figure it out later.

He forced his mind to review their strategic plans. If nothing else, it kept him from focusing on the gnawing sense of dread pooling in his gut.

On the positive side, they were making good headway in their efforts to retake Anaxes.

It probably would be going even faster if they hadn't lost their two top Jedi Generals.

According to their painstakingly well-drawn plans, Generals Kenobi and Skywalker were supposed to lead the air battle and key the skies open over Anaxes. On the second day of the engagement, just as they were making headway in clearing out some of the Separatist cruisers, Kenobi had been called away by the Jedi Council. He explained to Cody in a hasty comm there was some "urgent business on Mandalore."

Everything about that statement sent up red flags for Cody. There was no way Cody could go with him, as he was organizing the ground forces who were to land as soon as it was (somewhat) safe enough to get the gunships though.

"You're not going alone, Obi-Wan," Cody knew he sounded (a little) desperate in his comm with the General, but he was trying to get through to him. Everything he knew from his Mandalorian trainers, and the research he'd done on the planet since then, convinced him the planet was a ticking time bomb. The planet was always at war with itself. And, they hated Jedi. "I'm diverting A Squad, Foxtrot and 212 Recon to go with-" But, the General had insisted on going alone. Alone.

Skywalker was called away the same day on a "special assignment" for the Chancellor. Unbelievable. More red flags there. Wolffe agreed with him on that one, but Rex insisted it must be important or his General wouldn't have been pulled away. Cody and Wolffe were so convinced Skywalker had just been pulled away for some political bullshit that they'd placed bets with Rex on it. "He probably just wants his Jedi poster boy by his side for some stupid holo pic op," Wolffe grumbled.

Right in the middle of a crucial engagement that could turn the tide of the war. It was like the Chancellor wanted them to lose.

Or, at least continue to drag out this war.

Cody, Wolffe and Ponds voiced their concerns to their two remaining Generals, Windu and Plo Koon. To their credit, they took their concerns seriously. But, they handled it in a very Jedi-like fashion.

They called the Council.

And, the Council, in their hard-to-fathom wisdom decided the solution was to send another Jedi to help out.

Cody only knew General Krell by reputation, but their command chat was full of stories about him. His casualty numbers were the worst in the GAR. He stopped at nothing to win engagements. Tactics like his were one of the reasons some clones had a distrustful view of the Jedi. Rex, in his usual style, was unconcerned and said maybe the stories were "exaggerated." Cody didn't think so.

Deep down, he didn't think Rex believed that, either. But, he was trying to keep Cody and Wolffe from worrying.

Too late. Cody was worried. He'd heard an earful about Krell from his current (now former?) commander, Fil. Fil had barely survived an attack by a massive creature (a 'Gor') on the third moon of Vassek and then had been reassigned to Krell. "Cody, this guy is worse than fighting that Gor."

And, there was a bright spot. General Krell had been delayed. He'd had "unexplained engine trouble" and had to set down on an asteroid somewhere to make repairs. Fil had sent them a couple of updates saying Krell always insisted on doing in-flight repairs himself. He couldn't imagine why he was having trouble as his men had been sure the General's ship had been in 'perfect condition' when it had left the ship.

Krell was still driving Rex mad with constant comms to check up on the battle and send him orders, some of which made no strategic sense. After Rex lost an entire company's worth of Spaarti shinies on the first day alone, Rex defiantly opted to develop "unexplained" comms trouble and stopped taking Krell's calls.

Skywalker's padawan had taken over command of the air defense around the planet, assisted by Oddball, Cody's top-ranked wing commander. They were receiving backup from a hefty number of fighters from the 187th, the 41st, and the 7th Sky Corps, and at last check-in, were doing a hell of a job engaging Trench's forces.

Rex was engaged in a furious battle to retake Fort Anaxes. If they could reclaim this key facility, it would act as their ground base for the rest of the battle.

Infiltrating the CyberCenter had made sound strategic sense. It was the brains of the entire Separatist campaign on Anaxes. Take out the CyberCenter and they'd have a huge tactical when Wolffe and his forces attacked the shipyards. The Seppies (hopefully) would be in disarray without the Cyber Center providing tactical guidance to the droids, most of whom they believed were mustered around the critically important shipyards.

Such a well-laid plan. If he'd learned anything throughout this war, it was well-laid plans never went according to plan.

As he ran, he tried to reach Fives and Echo. His wristlink flashed red.

Comms were jammed in this part of the facility.

Hopefully, that explained why the ARCs hadn't responded. They were fine, just didn't get the message.

Unfortunately, there was a whole group of Ghost Company that hadn't received the message either. He shouted at troopers as he ran, telling them to retreat.

The droids weren't much of an issue anymore. As Cody suspected, they were more interested in saving their own skins. The more time went on, the less effort they made to engage with the Republic forces.

Now, with only ten minutes left, the B-1s were only trying to find safest passage to flee. Cody ducked in a doorway and allowed a whole squad of them to pass by before tossing a droid popper. He wanted to take all of them down. A clean shot to their processing unit, or better yet, a swift kick to the head. But, there was no time. A shame. A commander could dream.

# # #

He reached the door of the Comms room and the door was sealed shut. Good thinking on the part of Fives and Echo. They'd been instructed to try and extract data from the core. Sealing the door prevented unwanted interruptions.

It also used up precious time while he tried to evac their shebs out of there.

He pulled out the multitool from his belt pouch and set to work. He hadn't become a marshall commander on his good looks alone. Cody prided himself on being a clone of many skills. The door slid open and it was only instinct that had him dodging a blaster bolt before it took off his head. "Hold!"

"Sorry, Commander, we didn't know it was you." Fives extended a hand to help him up.

Cody waved off his apologies. "You need to clear out now. Trench has this place wired to blow."

Fives cocked his head at him. "Can't the Jedi do their thing and stop it?" He hooked a thumb back at Echo who hadn't even looked up from where he was deeply engaged in accessing a data terminal. "We found something very interesting here."

"No, the Jedi cannot do their thing." He considered that statement. Wait. That was an option. Wasn't it? He tried to call Ponds. Nothing. Fek. The communications jam. "Skywalker isn't here and that leaves only General Windu."

"And, General Plo," Echo chimed in, not looking up from what he was doing. "Is the Wolfpack nearby? Maybe he can wizard something and stop the bomb."

Cody closed his eyes, trying for patience. "I don't think General Plo and the Wolfpack are on this side of the planet. We are spread very thin for Jedi. Both of you need to evac. Now." Fives at least lifted up an eyebrow to acknowledge him. Echo didn't even turn, still completely focused on what he was doing.

Cody pushed out a breath, struggling to keep his calm.

Rex was unusually attached to his ARCs. His very disobedient ARCs. He'd be upset if they were left behind.

"This data is not going to do us any good if we're not alive to share it," Cody let his voice convey both the urgency of their departure and his displeasure at the delay.

Fives turned to him fully and put his hands up in a placating gesture. "We understand, Commander." He gestured Cody over to show him what they working on. "They did a data purge when we first invaded. Standard procedure. But, you can't completely erase everything."

Cody's curiosity was peaked, but so was his nagging sense something very bad was about to happen. "Get to the point while I'm still alive to hear it."

"While they did a decent job with the data wipe, I was able to recover their signature keys," Echo was still typing at a furious pace, but his voice conveyed his excitement.

"And, how does that help us?" Cody asked, not following.

Fives filled Cody in so Echo could continue working. "The Separatists use a series of signature keys to protect their databases throughout the galaxy."

Cody's eyes widened with understanding. "With these keys, we could open up Seppie databases anywhere?"

"Until they figure out we have the keys, yes," Echo answered, his hands still flying over the keys, "Almost got it-"

That terrible foreboding sense in Cody's gut was screaming at him. No. The Jedi were not going to be able to disarm this one.

"We have to go- now!" Cody insisted, grabbing at Echo to yank him away from the terminal.

Fives reached over beside Echo to both grab a datastick from next to him and also toss his blaster back to him.

"I was just about done anyway, Commander," Echo muttered, sounding affronted as he shoved on his bucket. They took off at a run toward the EV point. "And, I unjammed the comms. We were wondering why it had been so radio quiet."

"Oh, eh, well done. Thank you, Echo."

"Cody," Ponds voice cut through on the comms, a note of tension in it that hadn't been there before. "I read your location as sector 44600. Confirm."

Cody checked his position on the map. "Copy that, Ponds. I have Fives and Echo. We're on our way out."

Ponds sent a map to his HUD with a section outlined in red. "I have a fallen trooper in need of help at corridor 42632. Can you get to him?"

Cody motioned for Fives and Echo to go on ahead without him and quickly changed directions. "Copy that."

He checked the ID/designation of the trooper he was running to rescue and wasn't quite able to hold back a hiss of surprise under his breath.

"Cody-" Ponds started, his voice placating and somewhat apologetic.

"Make it up to me later. I'm on my way. Sending you my ETA."

Figures. I'm going to die saving the one trooper in the GAR I absolutely can't stand.

"Bomb squad troopers are en route," Ponds advised. "But, we haven't been able to do anything to slow the countdown sequence."

Ponds sent a chrono countdown to Cody's HUD. 03:45. Cody did the mental math. It would still take him 01:32 to get to the fallen trooper from his current location. If the trooper wasn't too deeply trapped, and he could still run, maybe they could make it. But, that was a lot of maybes.

He continued on, a deep, clawing feeling of dread in his gut.

So, this is how I go out.

I don't mind dying trying to save a brother. I just wish it hadn't been this particular brother. Three million brothers in the GAR and in the end, it's this di'kut that kills me…

He picked up his pace and reached the fallen trooper in slightly under 90 seconds. Maybe the extra few seconds would make a difference…

Or not.

The Lightning squadron captain was struggling to free himself from underneath the bulky frame of an SBD. From the looks of it, he'd taken down a number of them before being pinned.

"Ponds said you were coming but I didn't believe it." Nash's voice was breathless and tight with pain. "I ordered my men to go on without me. I can't believe Ponds sent somebody. This is suicide!"

"We agree on that, at least," Cody grumbled under his breath, holstering his blaster. He planted his legs for maximum strength and braced a shoulder against the SBD pinning Nash.

He'd never tried to lift one before. The fekkers were heavy.

Nash cried out as it started to move. "You… should… go… Ahhhhh!... Leave me…"

"Will you shut the fek up?" Cody redoubled his efforts to move the SBD, muscles in his back straining. He was going to feel that later. Maybe he could try to break into smaller pieces with his blaster. No, there was no way. He'd kill Nash with the shrapnel. He cried out as he pushed even harder, feeling something twinge very painfully in his back. It was moving, but much too slowly. They weren't going to-

The weight of the SBD lifted up so suddenly Cody crashed forward onto the polished tile next to Nash.

I didn't do that…

"Are you alright, troopers?" The dusty form of Mace Windu appeared next to them. His dark, assessing gaze took in Cody and then Nash. Cody suspected he was also doing some force osik to check them for his injuries as a buzzy feeling swept over him. He reached out a hand and tugged Cody to his feet, obviously judging he was fine, and they both turned their attention to the fallen 91st Battalion trooper.

Cody glanced down at Nash's leg and winced in sympathy. Bloodstained his leg armor and the limb was bent at an awkward angle. "I'll carry him, General." Windu nodded, his gaze distant and distracted.

I don't blame him. I have a terrible feeling myself. This is not going to end well.

But, Alpha didn't train us to give up. I'll do everything I can to get this trooper out of here.

"Nash, this is going to hurt," Cody warned as he hastily hoisted the injured trooper up into a wounded man carry. He didn't take any satisfaction in hearing Nash cry out in pain.

He gestured to the General to lead the way. Windu took off at such a fast clip that Cody struggled to even keep him in sight. He prided himself on being a lot more fit than the average trooper, even considering his recent injuries. He was an ARC and part of Alpha's training had involved carrying other brothers through all manner of terrain. But, this Jedi Master was even faster than Kenobi, a feat Cody would not have thought possible. Maybe it was his long legs. But, he had to be about the fastest Jedi Cody had ever encountered. And, krek, if it wasn't difficult to try to keep up with him.

"The bomb squad is still not on scene," Ponds warned over comms, "I'm tracking your position. General, we need to start cutting wires, even if we're just guessing, or else-"

"Negative," Windu said firmly, "you get the men out of there. Now."

"But, sir-" Ponds counterargued, his tone making it clear he'd also done the mental math. Cody and Windu were too far from the exit to make it out.

"Now, Commander," Windu's tone made it clear he was not going to tolerate any counterarguing from Ponds. "Commander Cody, I can augment your speed."

With some Force osik.

Cody felt more than heard a hint of amusement before Windu ordered: "Open your mind."

How exactly do I 'open my mind?' Cody wondered in confusion.

–Believe.

OK, that was not his thought, but he definitely heard it clearly in his head.

–Believe, Commander. Open yourself up to the Force.

Open up to the Force? He'd spent two months with Jedi Healer Barriss. He knew something about opening up to Jedi, but her presence was completely different from-

Focus, Commander.

Cody was startled at the overbearing presence of Mace Windu in his head. This was very different from when Barriss had healed him. They'd connected then and she was able to send him calming energy and read his moods. But, it was nothing like the pure raw power coming off of Windu.

Still, if it was the only chance they had to get out of here, he'd open himself up to it. He drew on all of the techniques he'd learned from Barriss, and a few he'd picked up on his own, and dropped all of his mental shields. He reached for the presence of Mace Windu in his mind.

It was like being caught in the center of a powerful typhoon. Powerful energy surged all around Cody. Even as he continued to run forward as fast as he was able, he was sucked into that vortex of energy. The corridors were passing by in a blur. He was hyperaware of the movements of his body. Everything was happening much too quickly and much too slowly all at the same time.

His gaze locked on the countdown chrono on his HUD and overlaid it on top of the map... 0:09. They only had two corridors to go.

Unbelievable. They were going to make it.

Now, he did believe.

"The bomb squad is on-site, General," Ponds' voice cut through on the comms. "I sent them in. They're cutting the first wire now-"

"No!" Even as the General shouted an emphatic denial, Cody knew they weren't going to make it out. The General continued to shout instructions at Ponds, but Cody knew it would not do any good. "Wait until we're-"

"Too late!" Ponds' warned. His voice faded as he shouted frantic evac orders to the men around him.

Cody's heard no more as he was propelled by the blast. It was the same strange feeling of weightlessness as with the minefield explosion. And, just as before, everything was simultaneously happening much too quickly and much too slowly. He could see the debris coming at him, but could not dodge out of the way fast enough. He was headed directly for a wall, but could not get his limbs to protectively tuck in. He would not survive this one.

He could not see and he could not hear, but he felt debris pummeling his armor and finding all of the tiny gaps in-between. Instinctively, he braced himself to hit the wall, but it never happened as the building came down on top of him.

# # #

Cody awoke slowly, annoyed by the erratic flashing of his HUD.

How am I alive?

He stared at the incessant flashing in front of his eyes, pleased he could see again, but pulsing lights were making him nauseous. He blinked several times to quickly reset it and heaved out a careful sigh of relief, knowing better than to breathe too deeply in the event of broken ribs. The nausea was steadily growing worse, but he wasn't sure he could move.

I will not hurl in my bucket.

There was nothing worse for the electronics and the smell never went away. He did a quick check of his limbs to see if they were all attached and was both shocked and pleased to see he had both arms and legs. His legs shot back waves of agony that spoke of fractured bones, but he was so grateful to still have legs, the pain seemed a small price to pay. His back still ached from trying to lift an SBD, but his arms were functional. They were likely cut-up and bruised from the debris, but they were in much better shape than his legs.

Knowing he needed to do something about the nausea sooner rather than later, he slowly pushed himself up. He was covered in dust and chunks of debris, but nothing that prevented him from moving. His head was foggy and the movements were pained and difficult, but he was able to rise up to his elbows and tug off his bucket.

The air was considerably worse outside of his bucket. It smelled of hazardous waste burning and the dust was so thick he could taste it. But, sometimes just being free of his bucket for a few moments was enough to settle his gut. He focused his eyes on a point in the distance, (or as far as he could see in the poor lighting), and waited for his body to re-establish equilibrium. He'd been concussed enough times to know he'd likely either hit his head or been hit in the head. But, one of his past combat medics had taught him this visual technique to help with some of the symptoms. It didn't do much for the pounding headache, but at least he could confidently put his bucket back on. He took several breaths of filtered air and tried to gain stock of his surroundings, only then dimly aware there was someone pinned underneath him. He switched on his headlamps, every movement compounding the aches in his body.

But, the jolt of pain helped clear his head and focus on the task at hand. "Nash, it's Cody. Can you hear me?" The Lightning squadron captain was unresponsive. He tugged his medkit from his belt and did a sweep with the mini-scanner. It couldn't provide anywhere as near a detailed readout as a medic's medscanner, but the tiny, compact version could provide some basic info that transmitted directly into his HUD. Nash was alive, but his vitals were weak and declining.

He injected Nash with a stim and took readings of his pulse again. It improved slightly, but then almost immediately dropped.

Alright, time for a visual assessment.

Even in the poor lighting and layers of ash and dirt from the explosion, he could clearly see the large pool of blood under Nash's leg. Having lived through many battles, Cody knew how much blood a trooper could lose before it was too much. And, this amount was…no... maybe help would find them quickly. Medics could work miracles. Ponds had sent him to retrieve his Captain and Cody was responsible for him. He reached down to run the scanner over his legs, the stretching movement causing another sharp jolt of pain. He definitely had some broken ribs, but there was no time to worry about it now. The trooper medkit, now upgraded with the Phase II armor, was a lot more sophisticated than their kit. To the credit of Rothana Engineering, they'd actually taken the feedback of the clones into account in this redesign. After the scan, his HUD automatically assessed the supplies in his kit and recommended a steri-torniquet, (along with a mini-vid reminder of how this task was accomplished.)

Ok, that is helpful.

When he'd first sat through the briefing on the Stage 2 kit, he'd rolled his eyes (along with Wolffe) at the mini-vids. They'd all been through training (and re-training) in field medicine. While not at medic level, they were all well versed in the basics to keep a brother alive.

But, his assessment hadn't taken into account that his mental state might be impaired when he was offering the aid. Like now. With his thoughts slow and muddled from both the concussion and an undercurrent of distracting pain, he was not at his best. Shab- he was only functioning at about 25% capacity if he were to do an honest assessment. The mini-vid reminding him of a basic combat aid skill clearly reminded him of the steps so he didn't have to think too hard.

He carefully tied the tourniquet. The task would be simpler if his hand weren't shaking, but he got the task done. He took a deep breath after it was done, wishing there was a place he could lean back, for just a second, and rest. He resisted the urge to close his eyes and forced himself to focus on what else he needed to do for Nash. The scanner revealed a ruptured spleen, but there was little Cody could do to help. If help didn't arrive soon, there was only one outcome for Nash. He focused on making Nash comfortable and injected him with the painkiller. He considered propping up Nash's leg using some of the nearby debris.

It could slow the bleeding, but it could also cause him terrible pain.

Cody decided against it. "It's going to be okay," he said quietly, not sure if Nash was even conscious.

But, he wanted him to know he wasn't alone. He had the scanner resting on Nash's chest, sending him constant readings. They were all plummeting and his HUD was flashing him a warning. Nash was living out his final moment. He didn't know why he was reassuring the Captain was going to be okay. Obviously, Nash was anything but okay, (and they were trapped under a fekkin' building.) But, if he were trapped under a building, and dying, he'd want someone to tell him some reassuring shab as he passed on, (rather than a bunch of depressing shit.)

"Cody," Nash's eyelids fluttered open as he coughed at the dust and debris in the air.

"Oh, hey," Cody said, soothingly, kneeling by Nash's head and dimming his headlamps so they didn't shine brightly directly into his eyes, "you want your bucket back on? The air in here isn't very-"

"No." Nash gave him a piercing look and held his gaze for several moments.

Yeah. He knows he's dying. We don't need to discuss it.

"How can I make you more comfortable?" Cody reached for his belt pouch. "I still have my canteen. I could also give you a second painkiller-"

Another painkiller would likely knock him out. There was also the risk it could stop his heart. He'd seen medics do it on the field. Repeatedly. And, he'd done it himself for troopers that were in such a bad way it was better to let them go with dignity. He didn't know how the medics did this day in and day out. He wondered if he told his medics enough how much he appreciated all they did for the men.

"Yes... sec... ond... shot," Nash's eyes made it clear he knew exactly what he was asking for, and that he'd done the same for his men, "but not … I need to tell you… " Nash coughed, and this time blood came up. Cody shifted so he could pull elevate Nash and pull his head and shoulders into his lap. The coughing eased, as did the flow of blood streaming from his mouth. Nash nodded and shot Cody a grateful look. "I wanted to.. apologize. I treated you… badly. You didn't need… to come… for me. But…you did."

Cody met his gaze and held it. "In the end, we're all brothers, Nash."

Nash's breath was coming in heavy gasps now.

Cody gave him the second painkiller and the tension eased from Nash's body. He sighed and gave Cody a small smile. "Yes, we are…thank you… brother…"

His eyes slid shut and Cody stood guard while Nash's chest rose and fell slower and slower.

Until it stopped.

# # #

Cody sat there for a long moment, his eyes blearily unfocused, and Nash's head still on his lap. He and Nash hadn't gotten along. Far from it. But, his death still bothered him. Maybe Nash represented all the brothers lost so far in this war. So many men lost. And, for what? They were told to win the war, but never told what will happen to the clones when they do "win." They were created for a specific purpose, so when they fulfilled their purpose, what then?

So, is the end of the war, the end of the clones?

Cody gently eased Nash's head off his lap. "Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la," he said quietly to his fallen brother.

He took a deep breath. He'd delayed long enough. He needed to find General Windu. He did a scan with his bucket, but the results were useless. He also couldn't get a comm signal out. He had no idea if help was coming.

I may be here for a while. I best find the General and see what I can do to help him.

Borrowing a cue from Rex, ("trust your gut,") he headed off in the most likely direction. In this case, he chose the one least blocked by debris and the one that looked like anyone could possibly still be alive there.

It was slow going. He couldn't stand upright, obviously since his legs weren't much use at the moment. He was reduced to dragging himself along by his hands and there were chunks of painful debris everywhere. His gloves saved his skin from the worst of it, but every inch he moved was hard-won.

He had no way of knowing how far the blast had thrown him from General Windu. He didn't even know how he'd even survived.

After what seemed like an eternity of crawling, he sat back against a wall to take a break. There had been something... an unusual feeling...

Cody closed his eyes and tried to narrow in on the sensation and the memory. It was vague and slipping away from him. He pushed out a long breath, frustrated and exhausted. He took a long dreg of water from his canteen and slowly chewed down half of a rations bar. Slightly refreshed, his mind was clearer.

I haven't even treated my own injuries.

There probably wasn't much he could do for his fractured bones, but he'd function better with a painkiller and stim. He injected himself and sighed in relief almost as soon as the needle hit his neck. Maybe it was psychosomatic. The injection couldn't work that quickly. But, it was a relief to actually do something for the pain. He sighed and leaned back another moment to think. So much had happened at once when the building exploded. Ponds had shouted. The General had shouted at Ponds. Cody was suddenly weightless. But, there was something else, too... yes, a feeling of warmth and safety... almost a bubble... he'd instinctively reached for it and held onto it and then pushed it outwards. It had happened so quickly and he'd responded without thinking.

Where had that feeling come from? Was it just an odd side effect of his concussion?

Believe.

General Windu had said those words to him when he'd augmented his speed with the Force.

Believe in what? The power of the Jedi to help out a bit when their Jedi commanders were in over their heads? Yes, Cody was already a believer there.

That bubble, though, it was so curious.

Despite the painkiller and stim, or maybe because of it, Cody didn't have the energy yet to move. He focused instead on the memories of that feeling. It had been pleasant. And safe. And, powerful?

It had been almost like a wild vortex of energy and somehow- improbably- Cody knew it had something to do with the reason why the building hadn't killed him and Nash outright. Did that mean the General was still alive, too?

Focusing only on the memory of that connection, Cody set off again.

# # #

A/N: Hello All! I'm excited to bring you a new chapter. Cody is great fun to write. This chapter took on a life of its' own and kept growing longer and longer. There are five more chapters after this one, already written. I spent a lot of time writing this winter and I'm finally now posting some of it. Taking a suggestion from both N7Huntsman and CrazyMan, I am adding in some S4 and S5 canon events by off-screen reference only. Obi-Wan heads to Mandalore. Rex is saddled with Krell, (except in this A/U, his previous commander and the flight crew give the General a "farewell" present. "Engine trouble, General? That's terrible. You're going to try to fix it yourself? Are you sure we can't send someone to help you... yes, General. Understood. Alright. Good luck, then."