"Wooley says thanks, but it is a shame he'll be missing fighting with the rest of Ghost," Cody said.

"It will be good for him to catch up with his surviving batchmates," Obi-Wan smiled.

-----

Even the thermal control of the body suit could not keep up, Cody's whole body covering in sweat. He hardly took a break in shooting, only stopping long enough to change the cell.

It was grim, his body was caked in mud, dried into place with the heat. The General was covered head to toe, almost no skin showing through the grey clay-mud, he was almost invisible — that is why he missed it. He missed it when Obi-Wan first got shot, only noticing when the man fell to the second shot.

He charged over, diving with his blaster first at the droids that tried to lay claim to the man's body. He was lucky they'd already been able to shoot most of the army down, otherwise he couldn't have reached the first droid before he got shot in the shoulder, causing him to drop his weapon. He kept fighting them, grabbing a weapon from one of the droids, slapping them with it before firing off-handed at the rest.

He dragged the Jedi's body to the shelter he'd found, thankful for his Ghosts shooting a path for him. He slapped on his emergency beacon, something Obi-Wan set up, wired directly into the bounty hunter news system. He claimed it could reach Coruscant in under five ticks, so hopefully the Jedi temple will receive the plea for help quicker than in two months time.

He hid his wince as he heard more of his men shouting out, but he caught the looks they were giving him, of making sure The General got to safety. He continued to drag the man, a glint of silver catching his eye. He grabbed Obi-Wan's lightsaber clipping it to the Jedi's belt before continuing towards the cave they had.

They'd hidden some of their kit in there, including medical kit, once they realised their numbers were drastically dropping. It contained everything they could drop to reduce the weight on the vode without making survival impossible. He tucked Obi-Wan behind some of the larger bags, before running back out onto the field.

It was a slaughter, at least half the vode left had died while he got Obi-Wan to safety and he noticed that Waxer was standing close to the prone form of Boil — Cody knew what the likelihood was of that, and he knew there was no hope for anything else.

All he could hope was that they could fortify the area before they were slaughtered. "Defensive positions!" Cody roared, hoping his Ghosts could hear him over the blasters.

They were slowly backed towards the cave, so thick with mud that Cody was unsure of which vode he had left, and which had joined their vode in the Manda. Ducking down, Cody shouted out as a bolt landed near his head, flicking mud up onto his visor. His hands flicked the cleaner on his wrist, even knowing the helmet had run out of the washer. Instead, he brought them up, trying to wipe it clean, but it only smudged it. The mud created a smear across his vision, making it impossible to see clearly.

Cody tried wiping it again, thankful that he was at least able to clear a small portion that time so he could still shoot with a degree of accuracy. Looking at the remaining vode, Cody was just able to spot the red on the shoulder of Wrap. "Check The General!" He shouted, watching the vod nod before ducking and disappearing behind them into the cave.

Peaking over his shelter, Cody continued to shoot, growling at how quickly the droid blaster kept heating up. The weather was getting worse, the sky darkening over their heads, and the fires were the only reason he was able to even see the droids approaching him.

The more he shot down, the more droids he could see approaching, their metal shining in reflection. Which they shouldn't, not in this mud; they were fresh. Biting back a growl, Cody doubled down, firing at them with renewed energy as he waited for an update on The General.

He must have shot through over a dozen when the comm buzzed to life, crackling in the way it had done the moment they landed. He was worried enough, that he nearly ducked into the cave himself for an update.

"Status?"

Cody could have cried, that was Obi-Wan's voice over the comm. He ducked behind the rock again. "Backed towards the cave, reduced numbers left. Beacon sent over the new channel."

"Then we'll keep fighting until our backup arrives."

Cody wished it would be as easy as Obi-Wan made it sound, but even as the man joined the battle, blue blade blazing, he could see their chance or survival had already hit single figures.

-----

They were all running on empty, fighting non-stop day and night. That was one thing the droids had on them, they didn't tire, didn't need to sleep or rest. The batteries the droids had could last months and months of heavy use on a single charge, the vode could last three days before something started to go wrong. They were already at four days, and nearly into their fifth.

Cody knew it was why they were so sloppy, getting pinned in further and further. They hardly had over four squads left, and the last time they had the numbers to shift rest was less than a day before the General got hit. They were all hands on deck, and suffering for it.

The General was trying his hardest, but Cody could see the sloppiness that had crept up on the Jedi. Bolts were getting past the arks of the blade, feet slipping in the mud against the rocks. The General's body moved differently, stiff and tired from the injuries and lack of rest.

It had rained hard at one point, Cody wasn't sure when, but it had cleared his vision and made the ground so much worse. If he was still for too long, he sank into the mud, causing it to creep into the gaps between his armour. He hoped it wouldn't rain again, it was dangerous enough without the risk of being beached.

He also hoped the reinforcements would be on their way, it was a four day hyperspace journey, so if they received it within the hour, it would likely take a further day of decisions to send out a ship. Any backup should be with them by tonight at the earliest, if they lasted that long.

Cody's ears rang with the screams of his vode, the wheezes of their dying breaths as he took their cells to use for himself. His shoulder ached, burning with infection. He could only shoot off-handed, hardly able to lift his dominant hand. At such close distance, he didn't have to worry about his aim being off, he just had to pull the trigger faster.

As daylight finally started to break through, their fifth day was well underway, he could see they were down to their last stragglers. Tooka squad had been taken down at some point in the dark and Waxer had joined Boil in the Manda in another. They were down to just under two squads, his command Ghosts, and the Phantom Ghosts he used for recon.

It was tiring, so tiring. Their feet slipped as they were pushed onto the wet stone of the cave entrance. They just had to keep fighting, keep it up enough that they could get The General free and safe.

A cry caught Cody's attention, a blue blade snapping out of view as a man tumbled to the ground. He scrambled to The General, turning the Jedi over so that he didn't drown face first in the mud. He tried scanning over him, but didn't see anything, the mud covering everything from view. He startled as a set of hands started to drag the man towards the cave, looking up he saw it was Wrap.

Nodding Cody turned back, shooting at the opposing droids. His eyes stung, a mixture of sweat and exhaustion like grit in his eyes. His whole body was shaking, adrenaline keeping it running as the stores within ran dry. He heard as Wrap came back out, saying he'd stabilised The General the best he could. Sighing, he continued to shoot, picking up the glint of silver he spotted out of the corner of his eye as he moved position to stop himself from sinking in place.

It was gruesome, his helmets filters unable to keep out the smell of rotten flesh as the suns baked them, sitting right above their heads. He wasn't sure if it was the spitting rain or the blood that was keeping the ground as mud, rather than drying around their flesh like another set of armour.

His breath echoed loudly in his ears as they were down to the final squad, the Phantom Ghosts falling without The General's protective blade. They had ten people, one was an unconscious Jedi, another a Commander who's fighting side was to injured to work.

Cody didn't like their odds as they were pushed through the mouth of the cave. They were blocked in, they'd already checked. It only had one entrance and exit, leading to a dead end they'd shoved The General deep against.

-----

Anakin's feet paced restlessly as they continued to push their hyperdrive. The Council had sat on the beacon for nearly two days before he was sent the command to pull back from their battle to aid the 212th. He dread to think what they'd be walking into. Their bond had gone awfully silent meer days after the 212th set foot on the plant, and that was two months ago.

Normally Rex would be able to help calm him down, but the Captain was a ball of restless energy like himself, driven into similar pacing through worry of his ori'vod. He was thankful that Ahsoka was at the temple, hopefully far away from anything that could announce what was happening to her. He didn't want her to worry — but they were, the 212th sent out a distress beacon, they never sent out a beacon, even when worst came to worst.

-----

It was a slaughter, they couldn't tell what was body and what was mud squelching beneath their feet. The 501st continued forwards, towards the sounds of blaster fire. There was a cave, coming up, the mouth glowing blue, with flashes of red coming through. There were droids in there, shooting.

They took of as quick as they could, scalling the distance and using the element of surprise to shoot down the droids that opposed them. They made quick work, overwhelming them with their numbers.

Anakin left a few squads outside to stand guard while himself and the Torrent command team headed within. He could see that Kix had brought the larger medic bag, but he hoped it wouldn't come down to that. Looking towards, Anakin could see that there was a blue glow coming from around the corner, he turned quickly, almost falling over in surprise.

Cody was standing there, one arm limp at his side, blood pooling at his feet from injuries that littered his body, and in his other hand, was Obi-Wan's lightsaber, held perfectly in position to bring down the next wave.

Anakin was sure Cody would have been able to finish the rest of the droids until he noticed how the man's whole body shook, and how large the pool of blood was.

Cody stared at Skywalker, licking his dry lips as his limbs shook. "Help him," he gasped out, before the world went black.

-----

Anakin felt it, the moment the world shattered around him, the words shown to him — shown to him — destroying all hope. Obi-Wan was dead. They didn't make it in time, there was only one survivor who was fighting for their life. Cody was the only survivor.

Anakin dread what would happen to Cody once the man woke up to realise that he lost Obi-Wan. He knew the dedication that the Commander put in to keeping Obi-Wan alive. The clone was loyal to a fault, always pushing harder and further then anyone should with one goal in mind. Anakin knew the Commander's main mission had changed to getting Obi-Wan through the war, away from the conditioning he was given. It was going to kill him to learn that he failed, if his wounds didn't do it before.

He'd seen the member of the 212th that didn't attend the battle, Wooley, Anakin thinks he was called. The soldier was distraught, thinking he might have been able to change something.

The temple was quiet, when they returned with Obi-Wan's body, a mourning covering all those within for the death of the Counciler and Sith Killer. He was moved to the deep freeze while they gave a few cycles for his crèche mates to attempt to come to the burial.

It was a long few days where he was unable to visit either man, the body of his master, nor Cody who was hooked up to a life support. He had enough the morning of the burial, breaking into the medical suit and into the ICU room the Commander was within.

He'd heard the prognoses talked between the healers, it was a miracle that the vod was alive, he should have bled out to death, let alone the massive infection that had spread into his chest — the same infection that was trying to stop his heart.

The strong Marshal Commander looked so weak on the cot, hundreds of wires and tubes all across him, a ventilator tube down his throat. He was so sick, that they couldn't risk a bacta tank. His skin was pale, almost the same white as the medical gown he was in. Glancing to the man's side, Anakin wince as he noticed they had taken his arm in an attempt to reduce the infection.

The wheezing of the ventilator and the beeping of the various other monitors were the only noise in the room. Reaching into The Force, Anakin felt a tear fall as he saw the sun of the Commander almost fully extinguished, there were so few rays reaching out anymore.

Anakin's hands shook as he reached forwards, laying a hand on the man's remaining shoulder. He leaned forwards, hoping that the vod would be able to be reassured by his presence. "Stand down, Commander, I've got watch," he said.

Leaning back, Anakin felt it as the sun within the body disappeared behind the clouds, the last ray shining brightly, just for a second before disappearing for the last time. As the montiors started to scream, Anakin smiled sadly, reaching for the emergency alarm.

As his fingers brushed against the button, Anakin felt The Force flare like a supernovae, blinding them all with their brightness. As he felt it clear, Anakin's face went wide as he evacuated the room like he was on fire.

-----

Deep within the burial preparation room, a body woke, shooting up. Eyes opened, one blue, one amber.

The burial officer screamed and feinted seeing one of the bodies climb of the table.

-----

Palatine was leaning back in his chair, a drink prepared to celebrate the death of that rotten Kenobi when a ghost walked through the door.

The room was quiet except for the hiss of three blades activating, two red, one blue.

Palpatine was not prepared to fight a ghost with The Force as silent as it was. And he was taken off guard as suddenly the dead man called a blaster to his hand and shot him point blank in the chest.

-----

Anakin ran into the room, only to watch the bolt enter through the Chancellor's chest, the red lightsabers dropping from the man's hands. He sprinted forwards, catching the other as they fell, sheltering them as the Sith's body exploded. Looking down, Anakin was started to see both Obi-Wan's blue and the Commander's amber eyes staring back at him from one body. "You did it," Anakin whispered, unable to understand if he was talking to Obi-Wan or the spirit of Cody.

"We did it." The voice was hardly a whisper, nearly unheard.

Anakin nodded, cradling the man closer as he heard others run into the room. He startled as a vod in orange dropped to his knees in front of him. He'd forgotten that Wooley had been sent to the Guards for his new squad.

"Sir?" Wooley whispered, staring at the ginger haired man in shock.

He smiled, reaching his hand out, cupping the man's cheek. "Wooley."

"Sir," Wooley sobbed out, seeing the look in the man's eyes. He looked up at General Skywalker, seeing that the other Jedi had already figured out what was going to happen. He turned back to his old General. "Sir, you've done your duty. We've got it now."

Anakin curled into the man closer as he felt the sun and sky disappear behind the clouds, disappearing finally from the body. He rocked himself, feeling Wooley curl into the other side of the man, both sharing their tears.

-----

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!

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