Chapter Text
The news arrived just before Cody reached his breaking point. Cody finally got the okay to tell his men that their General was… gone. The memo hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary. Just a tiny afterthought of information containing the words Cody had been aching to hear. As his eyes traced the sentence, Cody felt a broken gasp of air punch out his lungs.
His relief was short-lived because it was only moments later that Cody realized he would have to tell the men that their General was gone . The truth was almost worse than the alternative. His brothers had been spinning worst-case scenarios around their heads. But the worst-case scenario was the reality. How was Cody going to tell them that the man who treated them all as people wasn’t ever coming back?
Cody’s head tipped down to rest against the datapad as he forced inhale after exhale through his lungs. How was he going to do this?
***
He ended up calling a meeting. Cody could have sent the information out through a digital memo, but his men deserved better. It was his duty to give them the respect they so rarely got. They’d want to hear it from him, not some impersonal standardized message.
The men all gathered in front of a makeshift platform; Cody heard their murmurs carry through the air.
“What’s going on?”
“Are we getting resigned?”
“Where’s the General?”
Cody closed his eyes behind his bucket. Swallowing down his nerves and ignoring the rolling in his stomach, he stepped forward onto the stadium. The murmuring dropped away as he took his place. Cody had never been so reluctant to speak to his men before. He took several deep breaths, and the tension in his jaw wound up tightly.
However, a shout rang out before Cody could start his preprepared speech.
“Why won't the General come to talk to us?”
That broke the dam; hundreds of voices were suddenly calling out questions, getting louder and louder.
“The hell happened?!”
“What happened, Commander?”
“They’re not telling us anything!”
“Did something happen to the General?”
Did something happen to the General? That question echoed in Cody’s ears, over and over again. The commotion was still growing in intensity, but all Cody saw was the mission report detailing his General’s death. Shot through the chest. Fell multiple stories. No chance of survival.
Cody made a snap decision at that moment, and he slowly pulled his helmet off his head. The racket fell away as everyone watched him, intently focused on what he was going to say.
“General Kenobi…” Cody started before cutting himself off with a cough. He cleared his throat in an attempt to dislodge the lump in his throat. Instead of going into his clinically preprepared speech, Cody opened his mouth with no idea what he would say.
“ “Cuun alor, cuun jetii, kaysh kyrayc.” ”
The words seemed to stumble out of his mouth without his control. They felt easier to say in Mando’a, less tangible almost. There was absolute silence in the room. But the feeling of hundreds of hearts breaking was present. Cody felt the pressure of tears in his eyes, but he willed them away.
One of the clones stepped forward; tears were present in his eyes. He looked up at Cody like he was the messiah.
“How did he die?” Cody swallowed harshly.
“Sniper. Bounty hunter.” He replied thickly. Another trooper stood forward, eyes wet with tears but full of anger.
“You’ve known for days!” He snarled. “Why didn’t you tell us! We could have been mourning! Instead, we were walking around like nothing was wrong!” Other voices were raised in protest as well. Cody opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, he was interrupted by Boil stepping forward.
“Don’t talk to the Commander like that!” He snapped, eyes blazing.
The clone, whom Cody now recognized as Checkmate, swirled on Boil.
“Oh, and I suppose you knew as well?” Checkmate stepped into Boil’s space.
“Doesn’t matter if I did or not, doesn’t give you an excuse to talk to him like that,” Boil growled in his face, standing his ground.
“And why is that?” Checkmate challenged.
“Because he’s your CO.” Boil snapped back, then hesitated before continuing more quietly. “And it’s also not what he would have wanted.”
That quieted the men more than anything Cody could have said in his own defense. Still, he felt like he had to say something .
“They told me I couldn’t tell anyone.” Cody softly spoke. “I had my orders.” Tearing his gaze from where it had been stuck to the floor, Cody looked out into the crowd of men. Most of the men looked sympathetic, but some still looked resentful. “I didn’t-” He started and then cut himself off, feeling a lump in his throat. “I didn’t-” Cody repeated, but his voice was even hoarser than before.
“Excuse me.” Cody wrapped his arms around his stomach, feeling ill. He turned around and stumbled off the platform, needing some space. All the eyes of the men on him were too much to bear. People parted before him as he staggered towards the exit, his breath coming in short pants. He had to be in control. He couldn’t let the men see him like that. He had a responsibility, and he couldn’t-
Cody’s desperate train of thought was cut off by a pair of arms wrapping around his shoulders. Cody looked up to lock eyes with Boil; the man had a sympathetic look on his face. Boil pulled him in close before raising his voice to address the rest of the room.
“You’re all dismissed.” He ordered. Quieting his voice, he murmured in Cody’s ear. “Come on, Commander. Let’s get you out of here.”