Crack

The two fighting groups looked at each other before looking down at the ground.

The ground was cracking and breaking.

"RETREAT TO THE ROCK!" The commanding officers of the two battalions shouted.

The ice and snow beneath their feet started to crack more and more as they all ran. The two senior commanding officers were lagging, already at the rear from their fight, wounds scattered across their bodies.

The clones and droids turned to face their officers. There were piles of men and metal, all vying for space on the slippery rock. Looking, they saw that the droids commanding officer had started to pull ahead, the man's natural speed gaining on the clones.

"No!"

The ice and snow collapsed beneath the clones feet, the man falling backwards.

The other droids officer head turned, their hand grabbing the flailing hand of the other, they grunted as they continued to try and run while dragging the person up. The sinking began to slow before the ice beneath the struggling officer went.

Both officers went tumbling.

-----

"CODY!" Waxer screamed, trying to get off the rock, Boil holding the struggling clone.

"Waxer, we need to think it through, that ice is unstable still," Boil stated, calming the struggling clone. Glancing around, he saw the commanding droid, "you, Commander?"

"Roger?" The droid asked, the droids around them; raising their blasters at the equally armed clones.

"How about truce until we get out commanding officers back?" Boil offered, "we'd be more likely to get them back alive if we work together."

"Yes," the commanding droid nodded, "temporary seize fire until they are back.

"Alright! I want a scan of that ice!" Boil shouted.

"It goes stable? You tell me!" Waxer shouted, "it starts to shift? I want to be told yesterday!"

"I want a depth scan," the commander droid stated, "I want to know if our spares will reach down!"

"Roger, roger."

-----

Cody's eyes flung open with a gasp, stale air flooding his lungs. He stared, white flooding his vision. If it weren't for the crackling of his HUD in his perception, then he would have been confident he was blind - that or dead, but the pain in his arm and chest said otherwise.

"I believe our battalions are in reconciliation; I recommend we do the same," crackled over Cody's speakers.

Cody's body forgot to breathe as he tensed. He knew that voice. He knew it like the insides of his blaster.

It was General Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"As much as I'd love to talk about your blaster and myself, we have more pressing matters."

That was most certainly the General.

"I've never been on the receiving end, but I am glad to hear your voice, sir," Cody sighed.

"I would not be too sure, dear Commander," Obi-Wan's slight smiled-smirk came over the line as clear as his words, "you might just never had noticed."

"Where are we?"

"Buried Alive," Obi-Wan chuckled before growing severe, "we have about twenty metres of snow and ice caved in on top of us."

"Sir, how are we not dead?"

"The top layer of ice went directly with us and has created a cave for us, charming of them," Obi-Wan coughed, "but we lack fresh oxygen."

"How long?"

"Hard to tell, no longer than six hours," Obi-Wan mused.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you-?" 'Leave us? And fight us?'

"I don't know; I suppose it was a long time coming," Obi-Wan sighed, "my Grandmaster could almost be blamed for part of it."

"General Yoda?"

"Yes, but no," Obi-Wan chuckled, "he might be the order's Grandmaster, but he's my Great Grandmaster."

"Then who, sir?"

"Count Dooku."

Cody's body froze as he processed the information.

-----

"We have their location," the Droid Commander stated, "twenty down."

"We have ten for supplies," Waxer stated.

"We have fifteen."

"We'll pool together," Waxer nodded, "the ice is stable, and we can dig, just no explosions or blaster fire."

"Droids! Prepare the lines!"

"Men! I want everyone available for digging ready, those not, medical or lines!"

-----

"They've begun digging," Obi-Wan stated.

"Alright, how did you fall?"

"I was always told I was an angry child, I learned to hide it, but it was there. I was sent away, never to become a Jedi and got sold into slavery," Obi-Wan growled, "I only became a Padawan because I freely chose to give my life to save the others."

"You became a Padawan because you chose to kill yourself?!"

"Explains a lot, doesn't it?"

"What happened?"

"Less than a year of being a Padawan and I left the order," Obi-Wan sighed before growling, "I became a General of child soldiers at the age of thirteen. We won, and I went back to the order begging for forgiveness."

"This is not your first war," Cody realised.

"My whole Padawan-ship was rocky," Obi-Wan stated, "we found Skywalker, and my master denounced me in front of the council when he'd told me before I had much to learn and would not be able to be a Jedi Knight."

"Why?"

"Masters can only have one Padawan at a time, so when Qui-Gon Jinn said he'd take on Skywalker, he'd said he was not my master anymore," Obi-Wan explained.

"He abandoned you," Cody realised.

"That was just one time of many," Obi-Wan sighed, "his last words after I 'killed' Maul was for me to train Skywalker."

"He dies but doesn't speak for you but someone else?" Cody said, "that- that would have made anyone angry, sir."

"You see why I went? Why I snapped after being exposed to the Dark Side for so long?" Obi-Wan muttered, "I didn't want to hurt you, any of you. But I was put into a situation where me disobeying would have caused you to be captured and tortured."

"You fight us to save us?"

"The droids are ordered to avoid killing if possible by my orders," Obi-Wan explained, "by giving in, I gave myself the power to save you, all of you."

"Thank- Thank you, sir," Cody muttered, ducking his head.

"Don't thank me, Cody, I don't deserve it," Obi-Wan growled before coughing. Pulling his hand away, he felt the sticky substance sprayed across his hand, "oh, that isn't good," he muttered before collapsing down onto his side, realising what state his body is in.

-----

Waxer jumped as Cody's frequency burst into fuzzy life, he'd just gotten down to one of the lowest levels. There was a lot of swearing, but it proved Cody was alive. Eventually, it calmed down to words.

"Blaster... Lung... Shot... Hide... Idiot... Unconscious... No..!"

"The Commander is alive!" Waxer shouted, "the other is, but is unconscious as far as I know!"

"Double time!" The Droid Commander shouted.

-----

"Cody!"

"I'm here, Waxer!"

"How are you doing down there?" Waxer shouted through the steadily increasing hole.

"I'm alright, but he's not!" Cody shouted, "he's got a blaster wound through the lung, unconscious for about ten minutes!"

"Don't worry; we got the medics on standby!" Waxer stated, "the line about to be passed down, strap both of you to it and we'll lift you out!"

"Got it!" Cody stated.

The world was quiet as the line was passed down through the hole, no servers twisting, no lungs moving.

The line started to move, a gloved hand appearing. Soon two bodies appeared.

They all burst into cheers as Cody was gripping onto both the line and the unconscious commanding officer of the droid. Both were caked in snow, Cody left blind from the amount around his bucket, but they were free.

"Cheer later, he needs urgent medical attention," Cody barked.

-----

"We're losing him!"

"He's flatlining!"

"Not responding!"

"..."

"We've- we've lost him-"

1293

.

-----

"General Kenobi?"

"Cody? What happened? I thought I died?"

"You did, but we resuscitated you, but lied to everyone else. Only Wrap and I know you're alive."

"Why?"

"You needed a way out, your death gave one," Cody grinned before providing a mirror for him.

Obi-Wan grabbed the mirror as he saw his reflection. His face was scarred, but his eyes were blue. Glassy as tears filled them, but as blue as the sky.

1368