I love just about everything you draw, but especially the art featuring the little padawan cadet with Cody and Obi-Wan đđ„°. Do you think you will draw them again and explore some new angle of their life?
For eight hundred years, a ghost in red followed a man dressed in white.
Xie Lian never asked for devotion, yet Hua Cheng offered it freely. He never sought love, yet it found him in the quiet momentsâbetween laughter and blood, between longing and eternity.
There are stories of gods who fall from grace, but this is the tale of one who fellâand was caught in hands that never let go.
Nightfall on Utapau - Chapter 2 - Return from Desix
Okay, so this original story was supposed to be a stand alone until I decided to continue it. So, the title makes no sense now. Still, Commander Cody is going through it, poor guy!
âWe make our own decisions. Our own choices. AndâŠwe have to live with them too.â
Codyâs own words reverberated around in his skull as he walked back to the small, stark quarters he had been assigned since returning to Coruscant. It wasnât lost of him that he was living in the shadow of his old life. He would sometimes catch his breath at the site of the Jedi temple, cloaked in red banners, no longer a beacon of light. Â
He sighed as he crossed the threshold to his room. He set his helmet down on his footlocker and sat on his bunk. The room was dim, but the harsh white lighting was still capable of hurting his eyes, a faint hum of background noise setting his nerves on edge.
He closed his eyes and saw the dead body of the Governor of Desix, her dark, defiant eyes staring up at him as blood seeped out of his mouth. He shook his head and opened his eyes again.
âMy dearest friendâŠâ
âKriff it, Obi Wan. Not Nowâ Cody thought, as his head fell into his hands. This wasnât the same. He didnât do it this time. He tried to stop it.
He had spent most of the trip back in silence, avoiding Crosshairâs pointed gaze. The sniper was different than before. Without his brothers he was sharper, in every sense of the word. His scowl, his tone, his cheekbones. The other ninety-nines rounded his jagged edges, cushioned others from his forked tongue. Now he was just a shard, a broken piece of a larger shattered pot. Cody supposed all the clones were. Even himself.
âMy dearest friendâŠâ the warm voice said again in his head and Cody had to choke down a sob. How had it all gone so wrong? How had he become so complicit?
He reached into the pouch on his belt with a shaking hand and pulled out the holocomm. It looked worse for wear these days, had taken a couple of shots that, by all means, should have made it nothing more than a useless hunk of metal. And yet, as he had turned it on with trembling fingers, Obi Wan Kenobi had appeared, as always.
Cody had tried to turn the message in so many times. A couple of days after Utapau when the general consensus was that the Jediâs body was not at the bottom of the stale water he had fallen in to. Then again, a few months later, Cody had helped catch a Jedi traitor and transferred custody to the inquisitors. The final time he had almost succeeded, pulling the comm out and showing the officer before making an excuse and leaving the room.
He wasnât sure when it happened, but the desire to be rid of the device faded. He found himself desperate for time alone so he could listen to the message in its entirety. He studied the Jediâs face, his movements, his words. Cody could recite it now, often did in his head as though Obi Wan were speaking to him in real time. He knew that wasnât possible, but in those moments, he felt warmth take over his body and chase some of the darkness away.
He had been numb for so long; his life was like wading through mud. Everything was in slow motion, every muscle tense. He wasnât sure how or why but eventually the veil seemed to lift. It didnât bring him joy or happiness, that wasnât something a clone serving in the Empire was entitled to, but he felt a small piece of himself return. As though his soul had come back to him.
Cody lay down on the bed and rolled onto his side, holding the holocomm up to his face. Obi Wan appeared at the press of a button, the blue holo a little more staticy as the recording degraded with every viewing. He wasnât sure how many times he had watched it since he first received the trilling notification, but a number in the thousands sounded right.
Cody reached out his finger and gently touched the blue holographic face of his former General. The image flickered as he did. He recalled the Jediâs laugh, his sarcastic tone and the fierce look that appeared on his face when he was protecting his men. The men who failed to protect him.
ââŠYou see, my dear Commander, I have loved you since the moment we first met, all those years ago on the bridge of a shiny new venator. I fell deeper with everyâŠâ
Cody smiled to himself and rewound the recording. He had struggled to understand what Obi Wanâs words had meant at first. He had studied the holo for clues into the inner workings of the Jedi. Until one day he realized that he had watched the recording through for the first time without wondering where Kenobi was so that he could be brought to justice. He understood that he had turned the holo on because he wanted to see the Jediâs handsome face and hear his soothing voice. To hear the overt profession of love.
Cody pressed play again ââŠYou see, my dear Commander, I have loved you since the moment we first metâŠâ
Cody grinned again, noticing Obi Wanâs hands clutching at his heart as he spoke those words. His eyes were sincere, his smile pure.
Cody felt his eyes flutter as the exhaustion of the last few days took hold. The Jediâs face swam before his eyes briefly before he dropped the comm, the blue light faded as the commander fell into sleep.
âThe empire seeks to establish peace and order throughout the galaxyâ Cody heard himself say.
He was back on Desix, in the high tower, his blaster raised at the hostile in front of him.
âPeace. There was a time I believed in that.â A warm, soothing voice said.
Obi Wan Kenobi stood opposite him, the hum of his blue lightsaber the only thing to be heard over the imperial officerâs whimpers. The blue sabers light cast an eerie pallor over the room.
The Jediâs heavy robes were blood stained and shredded. Cody felt himself wince at the site. Had that been his doing? Was he injured? Did he need help?
Cody looked to his left. Crosshair stood there, his rifle pointed at the Jedi, but he wore the red and black armor of the ninety-nines. The white skull emblem seemed to glow in the light of the saber and an intense feeling of foreboding took over the Commanderâs body.
He had already lived this.
ââŠpeace was never an optionâŠâ Obi Wan said sadly, bringing the saber closer to the throat of the imperial.
Cody lowered his weapon and removed his helmet slowly. Placing both on the floor. âIt is possible now, Obi Wan.â He said calmly. Codyâs chest felt tight. He was struggling to get enough air.
âWhy should I trust you, Cody? You tried to kill me once before.â
âListen, weâve both lived through one war. Letâs not start another. Too many people have died already.â Cody said solemnly, his hands raised in surrender.
âYes.â Obi Wan mused, âI was one of them.â
Cody felt his voice catch in his throat as he tried to counter the statement but whatever he was going to say was lost in the snap of the sniper rifle.
The shot echoed through the tower. Obi Wan crumpled to the ground, the imperial officer wrenching himself out of the dead manâs grip. The Jediâs saber fell to the floor with a thud, deactivating as soon as its ownerâs fingers left the hilt.
Cody watched as Crosshair and the office left the tower without looking back. He took a tentative step forward, his hand reaching for the manâs face, his bright blue eyes staring up at his as they started to fade to a cool grey, the light, his light leaving the galaxy. Cody gently brushed the sandy hair out of Obi Wanâs face and choked on a sob as he watched blood trickle out of his mouth.
âI love you too.â Cody said, picking up Obi Wanâs saber for the last time and wrapping the Jediâs fingers around it.
Cody sat bolt upright in bed, sweat dripping down into his blacks. His chest heaved as he tried to recover, blinking in the hopes of clearing his vision.
He had fallen asleep in his armor off, a rookie mistake.
He wiped at his face, suddenly aware that he was actively crying. He closed his eyes but saw the image of Obi Wanâs dead body swimming before his vision. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he reached into his pouch for the holocomm, only to panic that it wasnât there.
He stood up, his eyes blurring with tears only to hear a metallic crunch beneath his boot.
The commander sank to his knees as he picked up the shattered pieces of his holocomm. He held them in his hand like an injured creature, tentatively prodding them with his finger in the hopes they would come to life once more.
Hit thumb hit the on button. A blue static figure rose and vibrated, the words slurring into one long scrambled syllable of dialogue Cody couldnât decipher.
Cody started to rock as he clutched the holocomm to his chest. His only link to Obi Wan, his final message to him, was lost. Â He was unprepared for the wave of grief that enveloped him.
He had never felt so adrift, so untethered from reality. He pressed the button again, hoping maybe this time it would work, his Jedi would come back to him, to keep him company, to keep him sane.
The blue beam of light rose and shuddered, the static making it impossible to see who it was. Cody put his head to the top of the holo, listening to the garbled sound of the comm. He pulled the figure away, his deep brown eyes finding the entrancing blue ones through the vibrating image, when Obi Wanâs voice came through clearly, ââŠmy dear Commander, I have loved you since the moment we first metâŠâ
Cody recited the rest of the message in his head, word for word. He remembered the inflection in Obi Wanâs voice, the movements of his hands, his posture, and when in the short clip he removed the hood of his cloak so he could be seen clearly.
And suddenly, he understood.
âAnd one day, if the fog clears and you see with your own eyes once more, I invite you to find me, my love.â Obi Wanâs voice said in his head.
It was time.
Cody felt heat rush throughout his body. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his gloved hand. Standing up, he looked around the room. There was nothing in this place that was him, the real him. He didnât even have color on his armor anymore. The Empire had taken everything from him.
He pulled out a regulation pack and opened his footlocker, removing some civilian clothes, rations, and a holophoto from his first days with the 212th. He placed the remnants of the holo in its pouch, secured his blaster in its holster and looked around one final time.
One small pack wasnât much to sum up a life. But perhaps where he was going, he would have the opportunity for a second chance at one.
Ever the soldier, Cody made his bed with military precision, turned off the lights and left the barracks and the Empire, for good.
