Death's Choice

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: I'm still alive…

AN: So, I'm gonna apologize for the long wait on this chapter. It's been a bitch to write, and I'm cutting it in three, at least. This part is gonna be an arc, that sadly, has little to do with everyone's favorite wizard. Anyway, let's move on.

Chapter 22: Getting to Know You

Obi-Wan shivered as he made his way across the landing pad from his small crew ship to the facilities of Tipoca City. The rain was just as cold and relentless as it had been on his last visit to this… charming planet. This time, though, it didn't look like he would be receiving quite the warm welcome as before.

As he entered the facility, he was greeted, not by a Kaminoan like last time, but by a small group of clo—the Vod'e. There were three of them, all in armor, sans helmets, which were held against their sides. He didn't recognize any of them. Not that that surprised him, aside from Cody and Rex, he had only interacted with the medic who had seen to his treatment aboard ship.

"Uh, hello there," he flashed them a brief smile as he removed the water-resistant cloak he had had the foresight to bring.

The three men just continued to stare blankly at him. Though, the one in the lead's eyes did twitch slightly into a glare before going back.

"Sorry to intrude," he continued, undaunted. "I am here on an urgent matter from the Jedi Council. They should have sent word of my arrival."

"We'll see about that," the leader practically growled out as he turned on his heel and began marching away.

The redhead easily fell into step with him as the other two brought up the rear. A tense silence fell upon them as they walked and the Jedi was loathe to let it continue.

"Apologies," he said quietly, "we seem to have foregone introductions. I am Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you are?"

The amber gaze turned to regard him rather contemptuously, "CC-3636."

"I see," he sighed, so it was going to be like that. "That would make you a commander, correct? That is what the CC designation stands for, right? Though, I do admit I am not overly familiar with the Vod'e infrastructure as I probably should be."

The three escorts stopped in their tracks as the words registered. It took a moment for Obi-Wan to realize he had lost them. He turned around, bewildered by their actions.

"Apologies," the redhead frowned. "I was just making conversation, I did not mean to misstep."

"What did you call us?" one of the others interjected.

"Vod'e?" his expression morphed into one of confusion. "I thought that is what you called yourselves. That is what Harry told me after all. If there is something else you would prefer, I will gladly do so."

"It's fine," the CC ground out. "Let's go."

They continued walking and Obi-Wan felt it was in his best interest to keep his mouth shut. They finally arrived at their destination and the Jedi was left alone with his thoughts.

The room he was shown to appeared to be some sort of conference room. It was small, and sparsely decorated, not that that actually surprised him after his previous tour of the facilities. After a cursory sweep, he settled into one of the chairs situated around the long table.

He wasn't sure how long he would be left on his own, but he had a feeling this was going to take a while. With that in mind, he decided to take the time to mediate. There were several things he needed to sort through that he hadn't been able to since he had left the Temple.

The first and foremost being the reason he was here in the first place. The mission he had been assigned by the Council was to find an artifact that purportedly would be able to help them locate and identify the elusive Sith Lord. He wasn't sure he trusted the rumors, especially since they had conveniently started circulating very recently, namely after the battle of Geonosis. However, he wasn't willing to fight the Council in this particular instance. He knew how to pick his battles, after all. And if a quick trip to the Outer Rim eased their minds and gave them hope, who was he to nay say them.

Though, even though he didn't want to voice it, he had a bad feeling about the whole thing. But as his former Master used to say, he needed to keep his focus on the here and now. So he managed to push the feeling aside, not to forget but to prioritize.

The next thing he needed to address was the new bond that had flared to life on his journey. It had happened so suddenly and been so intense, he had been glad he had been in hyperspace and wasn't actively flying or he would've risked crashing his ship. He had managed, at the time, to force it aside and maintain his focus. Now, though, he could actually take the time to examine it and possibly figure out where it had come from.

With that in mind, he very carefully nudged it to the forefront of his mind. It was very bright and strong within the Force. He had honestly never encountered anything like it. Not even the bonds he had shared with his Master and Padawan had felt anything like it.

He prodded it gently and a sense of curiosity drifted across it, followed almost immediately by overwhelming excitement. He barely managed to send a surge of soothing calm back down it before he passed out from the intensity. He took several deep breaths as the person on the other end allowed his intervention to temper his emotions. After a few moments, and they had both calmed down, he felt a pulse of warm affection seep down the bond almost enveloping his Force presence like a hug.

His eyes snapped open as sudden realization hit him. Little Harry was on the other end of that bond. Oh, dear god, Anakin was going to be insufferable now. Bonds like that normally only formed between Force destined Masters and Padawans. Though, if that truly was the case, he would have a few years before he actually took the boy on.

He was brought from his musings, and barely managed to throw up a light mental shield over the bond, as the door slid open. He got to his feet and fell automatically into a bow as the Kaminoan, Taun We, glided into the room.

"Master Kenobi," she greeted with a respectful incline of her head. "You honor us with your visit."

"It is good to see you again, Taun We," he forced a polite smile. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid there is no time for pleasantries. I am on assignment and time is of the essence."

"Of course," she nodded and motioned for him to follow. "We did receive the request from the Jedi Council for a small squad to accompany you. Normally, the units are divided into groups of five for training purposes. However, due to the request for a smaller number we decided to pull from various batches. Each product was chosen for their various skill sets."

They came to a stop in front of the door that would take him back to his ship. They were greeted by three troopers standing in a line. They were not the same ones from earlier, and he could tell from their armor they weren't standard troopers either. Only the one on the far left was dressed in the standard armor he had had become familiar with on Geonosis. The one next to him was close, but the pauldrons and demi-gauntlets were painted in orange, as were three stripes on the chest plate that looked reminiscent of a starburst. The final one, though, was as far from standard as it was possible to get. His armor was almost entirely painted black, with red accents.

"These are the units that will be accompanying you on your mission, Master Kenobi," Taun We's quiet voice cut into his thoughts. "N-6 will be in charge of intelligence gathering."

"It's Kom'rk," the one in black ground out quietly between clenched teeth.

"Alpha-01 will be your pilot," she indicated the gold accented one. "And CT-2742 will be there for back up, should you require it."

"Thank you, Taun We," he bowed to the Kaminoan.

She inclined her head and made her way back the way they had come. He watched her leave before turning his attention back to the trio. He was met with three very intent stares.

"Well, gentlemen," he pasted on his most congenial smile to hide how much they were unnerving him, "shall we?"

888888

The redhead sat alone in the small galley of his ship, lost in thought. They had been in hyperspace for almost two days now and he had barely spent any of that time with the troopers who had been assigned to him. Not for lack of trying on his part, mind. They just seemed to want nothing to do with him.

The only company he'd had was the ever-growing bond in his head with young Harry. He couldn't deny it any longer, the increasing strength and intensity of it wouldn't allow it. He would be taking the boy on as his apprentice, apparently the Force itself ordained it. Though, the first thing he would be teaching the boy, as soon as he returned to the Temple, future apprentice or not, was how to not project so loudly. Or, perhaps, if he was going to project so loudly, he could provide him with something useful. Like how to endear himself to his traveling companions.

A contemplative silence fell over the bond, as if the boy had picked up on his train of thought. And maybe he had. This was, after all, the strongest Force bond he'd ever had with another being.

After a few moments, a spark of excitement shot down the connection. This was almost immediately followed by the youngling's presence drawing close and seeming to snuggle up against his own with the impression of a hug. A wry chuckle escaped his lips as he sent back a wave of skeptical amusement. He didn't think the troopers he was currently with would appreciate, much less accept, a hug from him like they would the boy.

A wash of disappointment covered Harry's signature for just a moment, and Obi-Wan could tell he was pouting, before being replaced with a dawning epiphany. A barrage of sensations and even scattered images assaulted the redhead's mind so fast he couldn't even begin to comprehend them. His hand raised instinctively to rub at his temples, and he had to exercise great restraint not to slam shields over the bond to stop the onslaught, but would potentially injure the child in the process. Instead, he sent back a sense of calm and slow down back to the excitable youngling.

It took a bit, but finally the boy settled enough to get his point across. Impressions of eating and food slowly and deliberately began filtering into his mind. Ah, that actually wasn't a bad idea. It was said that an army marched on its stomach, after all. He could make something for the troopers and hopefully break the tension between them.

With a pulse of gratitude, he slowly began detangling their signatures so he could return to the physical world. When the bond had settled into a contented hum in the back of his mind, the Jedi released a deep breath and returned to his body. His eyes fluttered open as his mind began going over the possibilities.

Obi-Wan pushed to his feet and made his way to the small kitchen area the ship sported. It wasn't a large space, but it did have a suitable cooking range and a conservator, as well as various pots and pans for times such as these. And, since it was a Jedi provided ship, and the mission was of an indeterminable amount of time, he knew it was stocked with more than just prepackaged rations.

He did a cursory glance over what was on hand before beginning to pull out ingredients for a simple meal. He allowed the familiar motions to soothe him, and almost slipped back into meditation.

"What are you doing?" one of the troopers asked from behind him.

He turned and saw the CT standing off to the side, his expression open and curious, not hostile. The redhead hated that he didn't know his name, but only the Null, Kom'rk, had given one.

"Well," he shook his head, bringing himself back to the matter at hand, "as it is almost time for late-meal, and I, personally, am tired of rations, I decided to make something for us to eat."

"Oh," the other's head tilted curiously to the side. "Is it hard? Could you teach me? I mean, if you want to, sir."

"I assure you, I do not mind," the Jedi flashed him a small, encouraging smile. "As for difficulty, I would not say that cooking is inherently hard. Though, the skill does tend to elude some individuals, my Padawan being one of them. Why don't you come over here and I'll walk you through what I'm making?"

The trooper nodded and joined him in the kitchen. He explained what he was making and the steps in the process. He then set the other to helping with some of the more basic tasks.

"My apologies," Obi-Wan said after several minutes of them working together in silence, "but I don't believe I got a name for you."

"Oh, I don't have one," the other shrugged nonchalantly. "You can call me 42, if you want."

"Forgive me," he frowned, shooting a glance at the trooper, "but what do you mean by that?"

"You need to stop apologizing," a snort sounded from across the room. "It makes you look weak or ignorant. If you've got a question, just ask. You're not likely to offend us, we're not thin-skinned politicians. And if you do, well, we'll probably just deck you."

"Do you always have to be such an ass, Kom'rk?" the CT rolled his eyes. "Tell me, is it just you, or are all the Nulls like that?"

"Oh, I'm the nice one out of my brothers," Kom'rk scoffed. "It's in our genetic code. The longnecks didn't like it, so they removed it from the other batches."

"I think they failed," the other shook his head. "Have you met Alpha-17?"

"Oh no," the Null smirked, "Alpha learned to be a jackass from Prime. And he in turn likes to pass it on to the Commanders."

"Anyway," gold eyes rolled in annoyance, "to answer your question, names among us clones are different. It's one of the only things we can truly call our own, so they are either earned or we choose them. Neither has happened for me, so for now I'm 2742, or 42, either works."

"I see," Obi-Wan took a subtle, steadying breath. "Thank you for sharing that."

If what 42 said was true, then names were also more than likely very personal. It would explain much about his previous interactions with the Vod'e, and their reluctance to share their names with a complete stranger. Especially one who was supposedly a buyer for them. The thought almost made him sick.

"So, Kom'rk," he said to distract himself, "you are quite proud of your name. Did you earn it or choose it? Either would be a great source of pride, I'm sure."

"Neither," the Null leveled him with an assessing stare, "it was given to me by my buir."

"So you have family structures within the Vod'e?" his brows furrowed slightly. "Forgive me, that was quite rude of me. Of course there are, otherwise Cody and Rex would not have adopted Harry."

"Again with the apologies," Kom'rk quirked a brow. "This time, however, it was warranted. Though, in the future, you may want to watch who you mention the littlest vod'ika around. Some would not take too kindly to it. They might try to kill you for it."

"Don't I know it," he snorted, remembering the pain from his encounter after the battle of Geonosis. "Though, you mentioned you were among the first batch, does that mean that Jango was your parent?"

"That bastard, no," the Null practically sneered. "One of the other trainers convinced the longnecks we could still be useful and didn't need to be decommissioned. He took the remaining six members of my batch, trained us, and adopted us."

"Ah, I see," the redhead's brow furrowed into a frown. "Now, when you say decommissioned…?"

"Terminated as faulty products," Kom'rk said coldly.

"That is horrible," the Jedi paled, recalling Harry using the term when he first met Anakin. "And this is a common practice?"

"Yeah," the CT answered. "And it's never had a defined set of parameters. Six of the twelve Nulls were decommed before any of the other batches were decanted. And it could be for anything, from deviations in hair or eye color, to low test scores. Hell, even winning or losing a fight would get you decommed, depending on how they perceived the outcome."

"Wait," the older trooper cut in. "I haven't heard of anyone being decommed for winning a fight."

"We called him Ravage," 42 shook his head. "He was brutal, ruthless. He wasn't on my squad, but we would train together sometimes. His last fight he nearly killed my squad mate. If it hadn't been for Trainers Vau, Tervo, and Davin holding him down while Trainer Gilamar sedated him, he would have. We were so scared we were gonna be decommed for it. We're pretty sure the trainers stepped in for us because a few days later we were back in training and Ravage was just gone. Though, the longnecks kept a really close eye on us after that, so we couldn't mess up ever again."

"Oh, dear god," Obi-Wan rubbed his eyes to keep himself from openly weeping. "I am truly sorry that you and the other Vod'e had to live in that constant state of fear. I know I cannot change the past, but I give you my word, once this mission is over, I will personally speak to the Kaminoans and ensure that something like that never happens again."

"You actually mean that, don't you?" Alpha-01 scoffed from where he leaned against the wall nearest the cockpit.

Blue-grey eyes shifted to the final member of their company. He could not get a good read on this trooper. The other two had decent shielding, but things still tended to leak through. The Alpha's mind and emotions were locked down tighter than the vaults on Scipio. However, that was a puzzle for another day. Right now, there were more immediate concerns to deal with.

"Yes," he nodded. "And I will do whatever is necessary to see it done."

"Hmph," the other snorted. "I always heard Jedi were stoic, unfeeling bastards, but you're a fucking bleeding heart, aren't you? By the way, something's burning."

Obi-Wan turned to the stove and quickly removed the pan from the heat. Luckily, it wasn't completely ruined, and he would be able to salvage the meal. As he finished, he thought that while things hadn't gone exactly as he planned, he felt he had made a breakthrough with these men, and, hopefully, in the near future he'd be able to earn their friendship.

888888

CT-2742 lay on his bunk in the room he was sharing with the other two troopers on the Jedi's ship. In the bunk across from him, Kom'rk was snoring softly as he slept. The final bunk was empty, as it had been since they had left Kamino, as the pilot had opted to sleep in the cockpit.

They were an eclectic group to be sure, and he wasn't quite sure why they were each chosen and put together as a squad, especially since they had never worked together before. Though, the 'Alpha's' presence among their number was the most confusing. Someone of their rank and position wasn't usually assigned to a mission of this caliber, unless there was something he was missing. That was likely, though. He was just a grunt, after all, and his job wasn't to question, just follow orders.

He shook his head, deciding to move away from those useless thoughts. His mind circled around for several minutes, sleep eluding him, before coming to land on the Jedi.

The lessons they had on the beings they would be serving under had painted them as elite, unfeeling warriors that would lead them expertly into battle, but wouldn't deign to care about the troops beyond their capabilities on the field. Geonosis had simultaneously proven this right and wrong. The Jedi were elite warriors, scarily good in fact, and they didn't care about those under their command. But they were not leaders. The Commanders had been in charge.

He actually preferred the Commanders' approach to leadership. When they had run battle sims during training with various squads, the Commanders had actually taken the time to get to know the men serving under them as individuals instead of just soldiers. They took the time to learn their strengths and weaknesses and planned accordingly.

His personal favorite was actually Commander Fox. The man may be a hardass and utterly sadistic, but he was fair. And he knew most of the attitude came down to the fact that he cared and wouldn't let ineptitude or lack of cohesiveness cause the needless death of any of their brothers. And that was even before the uprising.

But this particular Jedi, Kenobi, was undermining everything he had been told, and subsequently learned, about the mysterious space wizards. He had been shocked and no small amount of surprised when he had found the redhead cooking for them. He, personally, had never eaten anything besides the mess provided rations, which while filling and nutritionally dense, lacked any sort of real flavor. This hadn't even occurred to him as something to miss, but the meal had proved otherwise.

And on top of sharing that, the man had been truly interested in learning about the Vod'e. He had been respectful, even if Kom'rk had been right that he apologized too much, and even kind and thoughtful with his questions. And the man's distress about how they had been treated over the years had at least appeared genuine, which was something else entirely.

All that was proving to do though was make him question his place in the galaxy. He knew he had been created and trained to be a soldier, but after Geonosis, he wasn't sure if he wanted to fight for a Republic that saw them as nothing more than tools to be used and thrown away. He knew he could not follow those who didn't care about those that served under them. But where did that leave him? Prime had said their fight for freedom wasn't over, and he believed him, but he didn't think he could continue that fight. Maybe he could talk to Prime about it? If he could find the time. Or maybe the Council could help him figure something out. It was something to think about at least.

888888

Obi-Wan groaned quietly as he slowly regained consciousness. His head was throbbing and it felt like he had gone three rounds with a gundark. He kept his eyes closed, even though it was now pointless to continue to feign unconsciousness. He could still take stock of his surroundings before he actually faced them.

He quickly took stock of himself, and aside from the aches and pains he'd already catalogued, he seemed well enough. His connection to the Force was still intact and unimpeded, if the faint anxious buzzing in the back of his head was anything to go by. That was a pretty good indication he had not been captured, or if he had, they hadn't recognized him as a Jedi.

That just left where he was and how he had gotten there. The faint stale quality of recycled air and the characteristic thrum of engines let him know he was on a ship in hyperspace. The real question there was what ship and with who.

Okay, last thing he remembered. He and the troopers he was with had set down planetside to refuel and resupply. They had stopped at a cantina for a meal and to unwind a bit before heading back into space. After that, things got a bit hazy. He knew he hadn't been drunk because, while he had ordered alcohol, it wasn't as strong as he normally imbibed, nor as much.

A fight had broken out, that much he remembered. But whether it had been a simple bar fight or a Separatist uprising, he couldn't be sure. All he knew is that blasters had been drawn and CT-2742 had gone down. He had been about to draw his lightsaber and go to the aid of the downed trooper when someone had grabbed him from behind. After that there was nothing.

Blue-grey eyes flew open and he attempted to sit up. However, a firm hand on his chest kept him from succeeding.

"Easy, General," a vaguely familiar voice said from beside him. "Don't try and move, you'll only make things worse. But don't worry, you're safe now."

"42?" he asked desperately. "I saw him go down. Where is he?"

"He didn't make it," the other replied evenly, without emotion or inflection.

"Dear god," tears began to fall unbidden down his cheeks. "He didn't even have a name."

"Cut."

"Beg pardon?" he turned a confused gaze on his companion.

"His name," the trooper elaborated, "it's Cut."

"I… see," the redhead took a shaky breath. "That's… something at least. What about Kom'rk? Where is he?"

"He stayed behind so I could get you out," the Alpha shrugged. "He will rendezvous with us if and when he can."

"That's good, I suppose," he rubbed his head to try and alleviate the pressure. "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

"There was a fight," the brunet shrugged. "Bunch of locals got uppity, decided to take offense at our presence. Cut tried to soothe ruffled feathers, got gunned down for his efforts. You got clipped on the side of the head by a stray blaster bolt, went down hard. I was tasked with getting you out."

"My hero," Obi-Wan deadpanned. "Why didn't you try and get the others out as well?"

"The mission comes first, they knew and understood that," the other leveled him with an unimpressed look. "You were out for one full rotation, and it will be about another before we reach our destination. Get some rest while you can. We'll be there before you know it."

"Yes, of course," he conceded with a sigh.

The trooper was right, of course. The mission always took precedence. But just because he knew that fact didn't mean he had to like it.

The Alpha nodded and took his leave. He slid back on the cot and tried to follow the other's instructions. It was proving rather difficult though. His grief was raw and too near the surface. He needed to work through it before he would be able to find any rest. He also needed to send some form of reassurance to the anxious youngling in the back of his head. Looked like meditation was his first order of business.

Ammie: OMG, this thing took on a life of it's own. I'm still not finished writing it, but I figured I could at least get this first part out. Hopefully, I will have the next part up in the next few days or a week or so. I have quite a bit written (20 pages in fact) so maybe not too long. Anyway, please let me know what you think.