#doing paperwork is code for doing anakin

[funnypansexualanimorph]

Obi-Wan: I'm off. Got some Paperwork to do.

"Paperwork ":

[phoenixyfriend]

Anakin, Shmi, and the Jedi Babies

(Plus Jango)

A scene from the Anakin and the Jedi Babies

Warnings for: canon-typical discussion of slavery.

Shmi is eleven years old when the stranger comes.

He’s tall, and covered in the kind of dark clothes that are hell in the desert. He’s got some armor, too, but not as much as the Mandalorians she sees walking around sometimes. His expression is mean, even though he’s smiling, and she thinks the trader is scared of him.

He’s buying her.

“Now I just need a name for the ownership paperwork,” the trader says. She thinks he’s sweating.

“The sale is already completed, yes?” the stranger says. He tilts his head and purses his lips, still smirking. “No sudden fees coming my way?”

“Of course not, honored customer,” the trader simpers.

“Anakin Skywalker.”

Shmi’s heart stops. That’s her family name.

The trader gets a little paler, as he realizes why this man is here. Shmi watches the calculations fly, wondering if he can maybe squeeze out a few extra wupiupi on this sale. Former slaves freeing family, even family they don’t know, always fetches the highest price.

The stranger—Anakin—leans across the counter and looms over the trader, smiling in the most threatening way Shmi’s ever seen. “No sudden fees, right?”

“Well, there will be the code transfer f—”

“I’m the most dangerous person in this city,” the man says, smile dropping away like flies from a bantha. “Don’t make me prove it, friend.”

The sale is secured, the codes handed over, the detonator passing hands.

Shmi falls into step next to Anakin, hurrying to keep up with his longer strides. He takes her a few blocks away without a word, and then into a shallow spot in an alleyway, right where foot traffic won’t be a bother.

“Hey,” he says, dropping to one knee and placing himself where, even when she sets her gaze low, he’ll be there. He smiles at her, hesitant but far, far kinder than what she saw in the shop. “Do you want me to deactivate your chip now, or once we’re on my ship? I can’t remove it until we’re out of here; I’m no surgeon.”

“…now, please,” she whispers, and watches him punch in the numbers and codes to neutralize the bomb she’s carried inside herself since she was three. It’s done in less than two minutes.

“Do you want me to break this?” he asks, voice soft.

She nods, and watches in fascination as he crushes it in his fist with seemingly no effort.

He smiles at her, tosses the shards into the nearest compactor, and then offers her the hand that isn’t in a glove. She takes it, like she used to take her mom’s before they were separated, and follows him through Mos Pelgo. He’s family. He’s cleanly, clearly freed her. She should be able to trust him.

“Where are we going?” she manages to work up the courage to ask.

His stride stutters a bit, his hand squeezing hers, but his voice is even when he speaks. “Well, I would like you to stay with me, but if you have… have any family to return to, that you know how to find…”

“I don’t know where my mom is,” she says. “She got sold when I was four.”

He squeezes her hand again, and she dares to look at his face. His eyes are squinted, angry, and focused on the horizon. She’d call it stormy, if she’d ever been to a planet of water, but she was a child of the desert. She could feel his anger, and it wasn’t hot and sharp and blinding enough to be a storm of sand.

(She felt that it could be, in the intuition that had kept her alive these past years.)

“I see,” he says. “I’m… okay, then. I’d try to find her if I could, but I don’t know how to do that.”

Shmi shrugs. “She was sent to Jabba’s. I don’t think she’s… um. She’s probably dead, now.”

He’s silent in response to that.

“How did you find me?” she asks, because her intuition says to trust this man to keep her alive, even if she thinks she may not trust his temper.

He thinks about that for a second, and then lets go of her hand for a moment to brush aside a layer of his tunic.

A lightsaber.

Her eyes dart up to his, wide and maybe a little awed. He grins, a little more carefree than before.

“Jeedai?”

“A full Jedi knight, believe it or not,” he confirms. “The Force led me to find you. I don’t think I’d have been able to do locate you without it.”

“Wizard,” she whispers, and then he pulls her into his side and out of the way of a large, too-fast-for-these-streets speeder.

He swears under his breath in a language she doesn’t recognize.

“So, I’m going with you,” she says. “Um, where… where do Jedi live?”

“The Temple is on Coruscant,” he tells her. “But I’ve got business in Mandalorian space, so that’s where I’m based out of right now.”

“Okay,” she says. Mandalore… maybe that’s why he’s got armor like one of them. “I… I heard that Jedi are all called Master, so—”

“No,” Anakin snaps, turning around and getting to one knee in front of her again, hands on both her shoulders, stopping her in a fraction of a second with a look so intense that it scares her. “No, you are never to call me that. You are never going to bow your head to a master again, okay? You are free, and you are family.”

She stares at him for a long second, and then nods. She thinks her head jerks a bit too sharply, but he’s scary. He cares so much that it frightens her. He must be able to tell, because he closes his eyes and visibly forces himself to calm down.

“I was freed when I was nine,” he tells her. “By a Jedi Master. And I know… I know how uncomfortable it is to live like that, where the word means something different to you than it does to everyone else. I became a Jedi, so I learned to make it mean what it was supposed to, respect for teachers and—and elders. But you, you’re not a Jedi, you’re just a girl, and you matter, and—don’t make yourself say it. Please.”

“Okay,” she says. “Do I just… do I just call you Anakin, then?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine,” he says, and his hands twitch on her shoulders. She thinks he wants to pull her into a hug, but is forcing himself to stop. “Or Ani, if you want, my—my mom used to call me that. Seems like something to keep for family.”

“Okay,” she says again. She can do that.

“Or, um,” he hesitates, and then barrels on. “We’ll be in Mandalore. They say ori’vod to mean older sibling. So, er, you can call me that. If you want. You don’t have to.”

She’ll have to practice. It looks like it means a lot to him. “I’ll think about it.”

“Great,” he says, and dithers for a moment before he stands up and turns around, black robes flaring. “Come on, let’s get out of the sun.”

He leads her to just outside the city limits, where there’s a small ship waiting, enough for a half-dozen people on longer trips, maybe. She doesn’t know much about ships, but this one’s covered in scratches and pits, like it’s been in fights and come out the other side.

They open the door, and are met with wailing.

Anakin rushes past her, shouting, “Ben!”

Shmi doesn’t follow immediately, but he’s been pretty insistent that she’s family, not property. She’s allowed inside.

She finds Anakin in the main room, holding a baby and bouncing it in his arms as he hisses a demand to a boy only a few years older than Shmi herself.

“—my kids, Jango!”

“I’m here to babysit the ship, not the baby!” the teenager argues back.

Anakin scoffs and turns his attention to the baby in his arms. Shmi isn’t entirely sure, but she thinks the baby is definitely less than a year old. It quiets in his arms, tiny hands fisting in the fabric she knows is still too hot from the sun outside.

“Shmi, you can sit down,” he tells her, distracted. “I’d love to talk more but I think I need to make a bottle for Ben. I’ll be back in a few.”

She looks around, sees a bench, and sits down. She presses her hands together in her lap, keeps her eyes on the japor charm her mother left with her years ago, hanging around her wrist. She can wait. She’s patient. She’ll figure out how freedom works eventually.

“Mmmmmmbook!”

Shmi jolts in her seat as a very small body collides with her leg, blue and white and giggling. The head of that small body turns up to stare at her with massive eyes, and she sees the child’s face is orange. Togruta, she thinks, and very young.

The little one pushes a flimsi book onto Shmi’s lap and pats at it, grinning up at Shmi with tiny, pearly teeth.

“Ad’ika, she just got here,” the-teenager-that-is-probably-named-Jango sighs, dropping into the seat next to Shmi. “Let her rest.”

“Sto-wee!” the baby Togruta insists, patting at Shmi’s leg. The little one tries to climb up onto the bench, and Shmi reaches out to help after she realizes the toddler is about to slip. She receives, in thanks, a delighted grin and a montral to the ribs as the child hugs her.

“’m Soka!” the little one introduces.

“She’s one of Skywalker’s,” probably-Jango says. “He showed up with those two a few months ago in the middle of a chaak’la snowstorm.”

“No!” Soka insists, slapping her little hand on the book a few times. “No ‘ssip! Book!”

Jango lets his head fall against the metal wall behind them. “Fine. No gossip.”

Shmi looks at the little girl, and then back at the book. She’s… well, she can read. Mostly. She can read better than most slaves her age, but this is Basic, not Huttese.

She cracks it open to the first page, finds herself relieved that it really is a children’s story with small words and big letters, and starts reading it out loud. She goes slow. The story is about an eopie trying to find its way home after getting lost, asking other farm animals for help. There are plenty of pictures, and sometimes Soka pats at the book and shouts the name of an animal. It’s very cute, overall.

About two-thirds of the way through, she stumbles. It’s a word she hasn’t seen before, long and with repeating letters that she can’t quite figure out how to say. She pauses, long enough that she’s sure little Soka is confused about why she’s stopped.

“Happabore,” Jango mutters.

Shmi lifts her head, but he’s not looking at her. She looks down at the book again, mouths the letters to herself, and thinks that yes, that probably fits. She keeps reading aloud, letting little Soka tell her about her favorite animals, and when she finishes and looks up, it’s to find Anakin standing across from them.

He’s leaning against a doorframe, bottle-feeding the baby named Ben, and watching them with an expression Shmi thinks might be ‘wistful.’

“Skyguy!” Little Soka cheers, sliding off the bench so she can toddle over to the man as fast as her little legs can carry her. “Skyguy, gots a fweind!”

He smiles indulgently and lets her hug his leg. “I can see that, Snips. You guys have fun?”

“Uh-huh!” the little one tells him. She raises her hands at him. “Up!”

“Sorry, hun, no can do,” Anakin apologizes. “I’m feeding Ben, and I need both hands for that.”

She pouts, and he jerks his chin at Shmi and Jango. “Go back to the bench and you can help me feed him, okay?”

Soka races back.

“Fett, go get the ship powered up,” Anakin says as he ambles over, voice the kind of casually commanding that gives Shmi goosebumps. It’s not familiar, not the way an owner is, but it’s… it’s a voice that’s very used to having authority. “I want us out of here as soon as possible.”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

“I am the commanding officer according to Jaster,” Anakin says, and Shmi watches him raise an eyebrow. “I know it’s not much of a mission, but I am in charge until we’re back on Concord Dawn. You want me to tell him you’re playing at insubordination?”

Jango makes a face, sticking out his tongue. Anakin waits.

Jango goes to start the ship.

“Teenagers,” Anakin mutters, shaking his head. “I want to say I was never that bad, but I’d be lying.”

Soka giggles, bouncing in her seat as Anakin carefully lowers himself down next to her. “Okay, okay, settle down. He’s cranky, kiddo.”

“Wanna help,” Soka stresses, reaching for the bottle. Anakin shifts away from her, keeping it out of her reach. “Skyguy!”

“Slow down, Snips,” he chides. “Climb on my lap and we can hold him together, okay?”

Shmi fiddles with her japor snippet, but she can’t help her fascination with the dynamic presented. Anakin obviously isn’t related to Soka by blood, but he’s adopted her as his own. They haven’t said as much, but it’s obvious. He can’t stop smiling as he talks the girl through holding the bottle for her baby brother, even though it’s obvious from the outside that he’s the one actually holding it, and her, and the baby.

The ship hums to life around them. Anakin tilts his head, as if listening to something, and then goes back to the baby.

It’s another minute before Anakin says, “Okay, that’s enough. I need to burp him. Go on, scoot.”

Soka grimaces as well as a two-year-old can, and slides off of Anakin’s lap onto the bench. He stands and presses the baby up to his shoulder, patting it on the back. There’s a towel there already, something Shmi hadn’t noticed earlier.

“I’m going to go check on Jango,” he tells them. “Shmi, can you get Soka in her seat? I’ll tell you how to buckle her in, but I promised Jango he could fly us back and I want to sit up there to make sure he gets us into hyperspace without, say, exploding.”

It’s only a minute or two to get both of them sat down and buckled in, and Soka spends the entire time until lift-off telling Shmi about how much she likes eopies. This continues well until they end up in hyperspace, the jolt of it making the little one squeal in excitement, even if Shmi feels her stomach drop out. Shortly after, the boys wander back in.

“We’re good for a couple hours,” Anakin says. “Nav computer’s got it until we jump back out. Anyone want a snack?”

“Me!” Soka screeches, bouncing in her seat. “Jan-Jan, snacktime!”

Anakin’s eyebrows climb up towards his hairline. “Well, seems like you’ve got a fan, Fett.”

“Shut up,” Jango grumbles, but he does go over and pick Soka out of her child seat, setting her on his hip and going in the direction of what Shmi assumes is the galley.

“You doin’ okay?” Anakin asks, carefully taking the seat next to her. He sits Ben up on his lap, but the baby has trouble staying in that position. Anakin takes his hands, letting tiny fists curl around his thumbs, to help him stay up.

“It’s a lot,” she says. “But I am happy to be free.”

He grins at her. “Glad to hear it. It’s a lot to adjust to, I know, but… I’m happy to have you with us.”

She nods, eyes on the baby that’s swaying from side to side as Anakin moves his hands, like a very, very small speeder pilot.

“Is he, um, yours?” Shmi asks. “Or did you adopt, like Soka?”

Anakin’s smile, so full of love, drops off. He presses his lips into a thin line, and for a moment, Shmi wonders if she’s made a horrible misstep.

“What… what do you know about Jedi relationships?” Anakin asks, voice quiet.

“Nothing,” she admits, but she’s not ashamed of that. Nobody knows much about the Jedi.

“Okay,” he says, more to himself than to her. “Okay, so… okay. There are a couple ranks in the Order. Younglings go in the crèche, communally raised in groups, and then when they’re five or so, they get to become Initiates. A few years later, usually between ten and fourteen, they can enter an apprenticeship to a Jedi Knight or Master, and the apprentice rank is Padawan. When the apprenticeship is done, they become Knights, basically journeymen, and at some point after that, Masters. There are positions that technically rank higher, councils and heads of divisions, and there’s stuff outside the apprenticeship system, like the service corps, but that’s not super relevant. It’s complicated but we’re only focusing on the apprenticeship path for knights.”

He hesitates, and then continues. “One of the ways to become a Master in the Order is to successfully raise a Padawan to knighthood. I was never an Initiate, because I came to the Order so much later than most. I immediately became a Padawan, and my master was freshly knighted. The relationship between master and padawan is… it’s family. Some of the more orthodox of the Order don’t like to put it in those words, but it really is.

“If I ever talk about my Master, just know I’m not talking about any of the owners I had before I was freed. I’m talking about the man who raised me, the man I saw as a father. He may not have seen me as a son, more a brother, but he was only sixteen years older than me, and… anyway. Jedi lineages are family. Your Master is a parent, or an older sibling, and your Padawan is a child to bring up as your own,” he finishes this off with the kind of deep, heavy breath that she thinks precedes grief. She can’t tell.

“My master is… well, he’s not in a position to teach anyone anything anymore. Ben here is all I have left of him.”

Oh.

Oh.

Anakin doesn’t look at her, just stares down at the baby that’s gotten cranky again, and rearranges Ben to lie sideways in his arms. He smiles down as the baby burbles up at him, and tickles at the baby’s stomach. Ben grabs at Anakin’s fingers and kicks at the air, laughing in the manner of all children that small.

The man hums, and Shmi is more shocked than she should be to hear one of the lullabies she’s heard in slave quarters all her life.

“He’s your son now,” she says, more firmly than she feels. “He is yours to raise and care for, and I can tell you love him as much as any parent.”

Anakin lifts his head, staring at her like he can’t quite believe she’s there, and tears collect at the edges of his eyes.

“Thank you, Shmi Skywalker,” he says, and she feels like there’s more weight in those words than there should be. He licks his lips, eyes darting away for a second, and then asks, “do you want to hold him?”

She steels herself, and nods.

This is her family now.

Hers.

[archer973]

Because absolutely no one asked, a list of SWTCW ideas that I want to eventually write:

Maulsoka Spite Fic (that has accidentally grown kinda a plot) (in progress)

Rexsoka ~“What do you do with a drunken trooper?”~ space shanty AKA Rex’s brothers’ embarrass the shit out of him and Ahsoka thinks it’s adorable

Obikin Mortis AU, because when The Son said “He’s mine” I needed Obi-Wan to be like “Bitch he is mine” (in progress)

Rexsoka Big Brother(tm) Wolffe gives Rex the shovel talk after he “accidentally” catches Rex slipping out Ahsoka’s room. Rex is both scared and a little annoyed because Wolffe is his brother, dammit. (Semi-related to my ‘the-entire-wolfpack-treats-Ahsoka-like-their-little-sister’ post)

Rexsoka & Obikin ‘Well it looks like we both decided this storage closet is the best place to steamily break the Jedi Code, isn’t that terribly awkward’ feat. human disaster Anakin Skywalker who is trying valiantly to pretend he was not just three seconds away from being railed by Obi-Wan while he demands to know what Rex and Ahsoka are doing there.

Rexsoka ‘The Ori’vod Project’ Post War fic where Rex and Ahsoka end up in charge of the program where the Vod’e protect Force-sensitive children until they are actually old enough to decide whether or not to join the Order. Feat. Rexsoka getting together, Rex melting over Ahsoka with kids, So Much Paperwork, Ahsoka tearing the Council a new asshole, and Maul being a chaotic disaster (in progress)

Rexsoka | Obikin ‘There was only one escape pod’

Anakin getting (lovingly) fucked within an inch of his life, because he deserves it (Obikin main pairing, Anakin & Rex and Anakin & Fives friends with benefits brOTPs)

Rexsoka & Obikin 5+1 Times the Battalion Accidentally Acquired a Baby

Rexsoka Fives challenges Ahsoka to a “I can dekit a trooper faster than you can” competition and Rex has to will away a boner so fiercely he almost blacks out when Ahsoka pounces on him like a goddamn predator to strip him out of his armor (in progress)

Rexsoka Barracks Truth or Dare, feat. brotherly (AKA ruthless) love

Obikin | Rexsoka Huddling for Warmth

Rexsoka hanging out in the barracks after finally getting together and getting lovingly teased by all the vod while they snuggle and hold hands

‘Palps got eaten by the Zillo Beast’ Happy Ending AU, feat. Rexsoka and the boys babysitting the baby Skywalkers

Rex & Anakin brOTP Rex holding the Skywalker babies as Anakin tells them this is their Uncle Rex and Rex realizing that he’s Anakin’s brother and part of his family and maybe crying a little bit

Rexsoka Undercover in a Club AU, feat. protective Rex

Rexsoka Wedding, feat. Anakin crying like a baby and Plo giving Ahsoka away and Obi-Wan officiating and Ahsoka giving Rex some surprise news

[bwideau]

Anakin's Deranged Ideas

Note: I thought about this at 3am and it wouldn't leave me be. Please don't judge the shitty writing lmao. If anyone wants to add to this, feel free to reblog with a continuation! God knows I never finish anything anyway

---

"You want to do what." Obi-Wan says, deadpan. It's more of a statement than a question, as if he's heard perfectly well what Anakin said, but wants to give his former Padawan a chance to take it back.

"I want to— Look, I know it sounds a little out there, but I just know it would be kriffing awesome." Anakin gripped his former Master's shoulder in emphasis, a shoulder that soon shrugged him off so said former Master could massage his temples to fend off an impending headache.

"I don't think 'out there' quite covers it, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied, looking every bit as exhausted as Anakin's old crèchemaster when the time had finally come for the boy to move in with Obi-Wan. Although she had seemed a lot more gleeful at the time.

"How about 'kriffing awesome', does that cover it?" Anakin said, hopeful.

"I was thinking more along the lines of completely unhinged and potentially catastrophic, actually," Obi-Wan replied sardonically. "This is an accident waiting to happen and not only is it completely against safety measures, I'm fairly certain it's also against the Jedi Code," he scowled. "So no, Anakin, you are not using the Force to blow up fireworks."

"But think of the possibilities—"

"I am thinking of the possibilities," Obi-Wan sighed, exasperated. "The endless possibility for grave injury and irreparable damage to expensive military material."

"Not if you do it right!" Anakin exclaimed.

"I don't think there's a right way to do any of this! The Force isn't meant for—"

"Frivolous use of the Force, yadda yadda," Anakin waved him off. "I know. But the thing is," he said, manic glint returning to his eyes, "that I combed through the whole thing, and not once does the Code mention that stupid rule. So hah." He crossed his arms, triumphant.

"It doesn't say anything about trying a bladed somersault in a room with a low ceiling either," Obi-Wan pointed out, more for show than anything, "but just like 'blowing up fireworks with the Force', neither of these activities are very intelligent. And both will definitely land you in Healer Che's gentle care," he finished, pointing his finger to Anakin's chest.

Anakin groaned. "Come on Obi-Wan, you're making such a huge deal out of it!"

"It'll be an even bigger deal when I have to be the one to manage the paperwork for a catastrophic explosion within a GAR military training zone. It's a no, Anakin."

[siennahrobek]

Initially, Obi-Wan thought that sleep would assuredly allude him.

Perhaps he underestimated the trust and affect his troops had on him and how exhausted he really was because he slept fairly soundly through the night.

He was still surrounded by troopers by the time he woke up, although he was fairly certain that there significantly less numbers of them. Although it was a bit of a challenge with position, Obi-Wan tried to meditate a little before the next disaster would inevitably occur. It was only a tad successful as he kept going back to thinking about Anakin. And right now he just…couldn’t.

Afterwards, he got dressed, complete with his old armor pieces and left the barracks to get to work.

“Greetings, Master Kenobi,” Cin Drallig nodded at him as Obi-Wan walked onto the bridge. There wasn’t many present; it was mostly a skeleton crew, but they paid him little heed. Next to the battle master stood a clone trooper from the meeting before, one of Obi-Wan’s 212th boys, Menace.

“General,” Menace welcomed.

“Master Drallig, Menace,” Obi-Wan nodded at the both of them.

“The boys and I have encrypted and encoded a way for you to get a message to the other Jedi generals that are scattered across the galaxy,” Menace explained as he pulled up a map of the galaxy, planets already highlighted. Obi-Wan presumed that was where jedi and their troops had been positioned. “As long as we know where they are stationed, we can get it to them and encode it so only a Jedi would be able to access it. We made this option just in case there are any activated chipped troopers around or natborns who are loyal to the Empire.”

“That was rather fortuitous of you,” Cin glanced at the trooper, curiously but he projected gratitude, something a little odd from the battlemaster but it was no less appreciated.

“Just precautions sir.”

“Alright, we have to figure out exactly what information we need to send to the others,” Obi-Wan said as he followed Cin and Menace down the halls which ended up being to an office. Was it his? At this point, he wasn’t really paying attention and most of the office rooms looked virtually all the same. This one had been recently packed with communications equipment and a holotable for good measure.

“The basics will be key,” Cin replied with a hum as he closed the door behind them and tied back his longer hair. “We will have to divide it up between what to do when running from activated soldiers or what to do when communications have been shut down so they can’t receive the orders to active the chips.”

“Constrain natborn officers, no communications aside from jedi, which will come up in about three days,” Obi-Wan listed.

“That is a fair chunk of time,” Menace admitted as started to open up and turn on the machinery around the room, as well as the data blockers for outside communications, just incase someone would try to butt in on the networks. “Can they avoid the Empire for that long? We don’t know which forces that the emperor has now or how quickly they will go after those they cannot get a hold of.”

“If they come across conflict, leave immediately,” Cin suggested as made his spot off to the side. “Getting too close to activated chips will active any clones they are around. But we did warn many jedi. The Empire Forces have to be fairly diminished if they understood those warnings. I can’t imagine the new government is completely on it’s feet yet.”

That was true. Even though the Republic had been slowly shifting into something less democratic over the course of the war, it was still a fairly big change, and a lot of things would have to be restructured. There was also the issue, for the Empire, of those who would fight back against its creation or not agree with it. That may buy them some time, he mused.

“But we do need to plan quick, because I’m sure it won’t be long before they are organized and mobilized enough to chase us,” Obi-Wan added, sitting down in one of the chairs next to Menace. In front of him was a little desk area. “If they haven’t realized that Kamino specifically isn’t responding because of this, they will figure it out soon.”

“How about we make a list?” Menace suggested, his gaze flickering between the two masters.

Obi-Wan nodded and his hand shuffled around the desk to find a data pad. Putting it in front of him, he grabbed a utensil and created a list.

“Alright, so first and foremost, the clones are chipped, proximity to activated chips activates others. Activation can also be verbal but only from the Sith. Block all communications available to clones,” Cin started quickly as Obi-Wan immediately wrote down the thoughts on the datapad.

“We can send Healer Che’s information on where the chips are as well, if anyone has the equipment or skills to start taking them out,” Obi-Wan added, the pencil flipping around his fingers to momentarily point at the battlemaster. They both nodded in response.

“Two; the Republic is gone, an Empire has rose. We are being hunted and killed as we are claimed to be traitors. Confine any officers loyal to the Empire until further notice,” Cin continued

“If you have inactivated clones, keep them away from conflict with others, due to the proximity thing,” Menace included, flicking on a few more nozzles and switches.

“If you are around activated clones, get away as quickly as possible, stay low or get away from them if you can,” Cin added, eyeing Menace, carefully. The clone’s presence filled up with a moment of quiet grief and disappointment.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault sir,” Menace swallowed harshly but shook his head. “We can’t save anyone yet without a real plan.”

“Contact,” Cin started up again, a little hesitant to keep going as he looked between the two. “Contact will be reestablished within a couple of days, once we get to Kamino. If you have a long range holotable, use it, but keep your comm on you. There will be a coded message to indicate if communications come from us.”

They paused.

“I think…I think those are some good basics, hopefully they can survive until then,” Obi-Wan sighed, jotting down the last of the notes.

“Battle master Drallig and I can get these coded and sent out fairly quickly,” Menace said, gently taking the datapad from Obi-Wan’s hands.

“It’s a start,” he echoed.

***

“I believe it is about time we talk,” Padme said, her face flat with one hand rested on her stomach. Her greeting was desperate and although not exactly unkind, it wasn’t very patient either. Obi-Wan glanced around and let out a silent sigh. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. One that he didn’t particularly want to have.

He had been working with the other masters and clones to figure out where to go and what to do next for some time. He knew this conversation was coming. He was just dreading it.

Obi-Wan just swallowed and nodded in defeat as he turned to face the pregnant woman. “Alright. But I think it would be best if we would keep this conversation rather private. The 501st survivors and much of the 212thhave been following me like ghosts and they certainly don’t need to hear this.”

Padme’s expression was something of confusion, but she consented, and they found themselves in Obi-Wan’s former office. It was still technically his office, he supposed, but others had been using it since the evacuation. One could tell by all the paperwork and things that cluttered it more than it already was, the things that he knew were not his or Cody’s. He locked the door behind them and let Padme sit on the cot in the corner. He dragged a chair over to her to sit himself, although he could not find a position that was comfortable.

“I suppose we can start with what happened with Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, a bit quietly. He did not want to talk about this right now, not at all. He wasn’t ready for this; he was hardly wrapping his own head around what had happened. His heart clenched harshly in his chest, and he was sure his throat would close up. Taking a shaking deep breath, he tried to continue to speak. “What, exactly, do you already know?”

“Ahsoka called me, telling me there was an attack on the Jedi Temple,” Padme confessed, shaking her head in disbelief. “She told me that Anakin had turned to the Dark Side, that he was killing younglings and leading brainwashed clones to kill everyone.”

Her tone was incredulous and unconvinced, not that Obi-Wan could exactly blame her. He was not even sure if he believed it, and he was there. It seemed impossible. He knew Anakin struggled with some of the jedi tenants, especially that of attachment, which Obi-Wan had tried to talk to him about, to reach out. But Anakin had been closing off more and more as of late. That didn’t mean he could have ever have seen this coming.

Perhaps he should have. Was he so blind?

“That…that would be accurate,” Obi-Wan choked out but did his best to keep his voice constant and steady with as much as patience as he could lacing it.

Padme stood up suddenly but then wavered and leaned against the wall for support. He leaned forward, ready to catch her if she should fall. She steadied herself and straightened her back to stare down at him. “That is absolutely ridiculous,” she announced with such confidence even he almost believed it. “And you know it, Obi-Wan! He is your friend, and he would never do such a thing; the Jedi…”

“If you start blaming my people while we are fleeing for our lives, please refrain,” his own voice continued to be soft but there was a steel bone underlaying it, that made no room for challenge.

“Anakin would never do such a thing,” Padme repeated firmly and shook her head. He closed himself off to her in the Force, he didn’t want to know what she was feeling. He wasn’t sure if he could handle her feelings along with his own. “He has been worried and stressed but that is only because of…”

“Because of what?”

“He’s been having nightmares…” she started slowly, eyeing Obi-Wan as if that would give her some insight, some answers on what was happening. “About me, dying in childbirth.”

“Nightmares,” Obi-Wan repeated numbly. “That is what he was so worked up about? He didn’t come to me or anyone else about them. And he knows how dangerous pregnancies are in this sort of situation. He should have known to talk to the healers about it.”

He should have talked to the healers. At least doctors, someone. Generally speaking, people didn’t just die in childbirth, not on Coruscant, certainly not a prominent senator. No one would ever deny her prenatal care, no matter who the father was.

Even if the father was a jedi.

“He was probably afraid,” Padme glanced away.

It was as if Anakin didn’t know anything of the Jedi at all. The Jedi would have never turned Padme away for pregnancy care or information, Force around, the Jedi wouldn’t turn anyone away who came to their steps in need of help with pregnancy. Force sensitive or not.

“We are getting off track,” Obi-Wan shook his head with a small sigh. He ran a hand through his hair. He just wanted… honestly, he wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted. He supposed he wanted this to all be his own nightmare, one he could just wake up from. One where none of this was real. “Padme, I don’t know how to convince you of what Anakin has done,” he continued. “He led an attack to kill everyone in the Temple, he led an army of brainwashed clones. He murdered Temple Guards and younglings just trying to escape the battle. He fought mewith the intent to kill, rambling about the failings of the jedi,” Obi-Wan stressed, leaning forward. “Master Drallig said he called himself Darth Vader which let me tell you, is a Sith name. All I could feel in him was desperation and fury.”

“You’re wrong,” Padme insisted, her eyes blazing into something so passionate, it nearly hurt to look at. Her loyalty, although her perhaps commendable to an extent, was difficult to work with. Difficult when she wouldn’t believe the truth. He knew it was hard to swallow. He was still in that process. “He is good, there is good in him, of course there is. Something else must be at play.”

“Something else?” Obi-Wan asked, his own voice echoing confusion. He couldn’t imagine much else being at play, his former padawan, his brother, had intended on murdering everyone in the Temple, all those that thought he was their family. All those that thought he cared about them. He had nearly succeeded. If Cody’s chip hadn’t been activated when and where it was… Obi-Wan nearly shuddered at the prospect. He sighed and shook his head again. “I love Anakin. And even after all that he has done I still love him; I will always love him. But I am not blind to what he has become now. I was blind before, not seeing it; only seeing what I wanted to, the good person I thought he could be, the person I thought he was.”

“He is that good person,” she persisted with a sound not open for debate.

Obi-Wan was tired, even the several hours of last night’s sleep would not erase all of the time he had been awake, active, fighting for his life and the lives of those around him.

“Tell that to the younglings that he cut down in front of his former padawan,” Obi-Wan’s hand waved out in emphasis. He hated bringing Ahsoka into this but Padme cared about the young Togruta, probably nearly as much as Anakin used to as well. “Or the 501st troopers who were forced to lead an attack on the Temple, on the Jedi, against their own free will.”

The young woman just stared at him, and he knew that she didn’t believe him. He didn’t think she would ever actually believe him without seeing it for herself.

The fact that Anakin, of all people, would lead a forced brainwashed army to fight people they never would have in their right minds seemed ludicrous.

“Okay, we are at an impasse,” Obi-Wan slumped back a little in his chair. He took a commlink out of his pocket and let his fingers sweep over it, absentmindedly. “Perhaps a break from this line of conversation may be beneficial,” he said slowly, giving Padme the time to sit down on the cot once again. “I think…we need to also talk about your pregnancy,” Obi-Wan added slowly. Padme placed a hand on her belly, protectively.

“You mentioned…you mentioned I could die from this,” Padme replied slowly, her eyes meeting his in a massive flurry of concern and fear. The conversation was not over about Anakin but for now, for now what he had said would have to do. He didn’t know how much longer he could try to help her in that scenario. “So, Anakin was right, I’m going to die in childbirth.”

“It’s not that simple. There is a lot that is included,” Obi-Wan shook his head. How to explain something that he only knew the basics of? Perhaps a professional was best to be in order “Look. Let me call my friend Bant. She is a healer, and she will be able to answer most, if not all, of your questions.”

Without waiting for an answer, he sent his friend a message who near immediately contacted him back, relieved that he had found their wayward patient. Apparently, Padme was not supposed to be out of the medbay. Obi-Wan imagined they would want to monitor her, considering her pregnancy and situation. His comm beeped again.

“We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

Obi-Wan didn’t know who the other side of the we was but at this point, he would take all the help he could get.

Those few minutes were the most awkward ones Obi-Wan could remember.

The Mon Calamari walked in with another healer trailed in behind her and Obi-Wan could not even help the sigh of relief. At last. “Hello Obi-Wan, senator,” Bant greeted, giving them both a nod, her large dark eyes brimming with sympathy and kindness. Obi-Wan would forever be baffled and astounded at the amount of love and compassion his friend could hold. “Senator, my name is Bant. I am a healer. This is Healer Jayden; she specializes in pregnancies.”

“You have special doctors for pregnancies in the jedi?” Padme asked, a little taken back.

“Of course,” the doctor nodded as Obi-Wan got up to give them both seats. He ended up standing off a little to the side, often finding himself leaning against the wall for support. “Believe it or not, the jedi are not celibate,” she pointed out, even though Padme’s glance looked a bit skeptic. “And although it isn’t extremely common, jedi can and do get pregnant.”

“They do?” Padme echoed.

“Of course. Force Sensitivity isn’t always passed down, but it is more likely if one or more of the parents have it,” Jayden explained, her voice smooth and calm. It could not be said that Jedi didn’t know when they were supposed to be healers. He could only imagine how determined they must be in such an art. “Pregnancies involving force sensitivity in general can be quite difficult, but we should really talk about your case specifically.”

“Is it…different?”

“I have been briefed on a few things,” Healer Jayden said, giving Bant a quick glance as if for confirmation. Obi-Wan wondered how much she had been told about the situation, about the father. “The father of your children is former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, is it not?”

“Current Jedi Knight,” Padme corrected, her voice laced with bitter undertones and eyes narrowed. Something she had picked up from Anakin, he supposed. “Unless the Jedi have kicked him out for loving someone.”

“The Jedi do not typically, kick people out,” Bant continued, her voice just as relaxed and mellow. She was taking this very well. Obi-Wan nearly felt like shaking Anakin or someonewho should know better for all the things misinterpreted, deliberately or otherwise. “Not for loving anyone or getting people pregnant.”

“Yes,” Padme confirmed, her voice subdued. “He is the father.”

“Alright. So, the father has an incredibly high number of midiclorians in his body, which is how one can determine how force sensitive an individual is. He is a very high number, more than anyone else and is very, very strong in the Force,” Jayden explained, patiently. She spoke in chunks, probably to better allow Padme to follow what she was saying.

“What does that mean for the baby? That it will be force-sensitive?”

The healer nodded but her expression was a bit grave. “In your case, certainly. Because if they hadn’t, you would probably be dead already.”

And… Obi-Wan hadn’t expected her to be so blunt. Padme stared wide-eyed.

“Skywalker is so strong in the Force that it is killing you, not to mention the darkness that is practically permeating you,” the healer continued and although Obi-Wan could feel a tad of concern with it, she did not show it outright, rather keeping a cool presence of security. “The only reason that you are still alive and as strong as you are, currently, is because the two babies inside of you are also extremely force-sensitive and are keeping you alive. It is…very complex and seems a bit paradoxical, and difficult to explain when it comes to the specifics, as well as the ins and outs of what is happening in your body.”

“So, I will not survive this birth,” Padme realized.

“The odds are not fantastic,” Jayden replied truthfully with a small frown. “But the only way you can survive is with a Jedi Healer’s help. If you stayed on the planet, you would not have survived the birth and I doubt anyone would have understood why. But we can and we will help you, Padme,” she said, taking the woman’s hand gently, curling her partially translucent fingers around the younger senator’s. “You can trust us that we will do everything in our power to make sure that you survive to see your children grow up.”

“What are the odds?” Padme whispered, staring at her hands.

“It is difficult to say,” Jayden admitted, candidly. “We’ve never had a child from someone as powerful as Skywalker before. Best case scenario you will be out of commission, maybe even comatose, for some time while your body regenerates its strength.”

If it can, went unspoken.

With her free hand, Padme brought it up to cover her mouth, letting out a shaky breath, tears starting to slip down her cheeks.

“I think you could use some rest, senator,” Bant advised, speaking up for the first time. Although Healer Jayden did most of the talking, Obi-Wan was still grateful for his friend’s presence. “I think we have a small room near the medical bay that we can use for you,” she added and glanced at Obi-Wan. “Would you mind getting her there?”

He didn’t think, just nodded. With a second thought, he didn’t really want to, he didn’t want to talk with her right now. He was just so tired and there was much to do but he knew it was right. Walking over, he helped Padme up and walked her out of the door. He led her through the halls towards the medical bay, appreciative for the silence.

He didn’t need an argument right now.

As they got to the small room, he unlocked and opened the door. “I will have some of my handmaidens come and bring things from the ship,” she whispered.

He hadn’t realized that she had brought anyone. Oh, he hoped she hadn’t brought Jar Jar. He didn’t mind the Gungan, almost liked him really, but he had a tendency to get into trouble and that was the last thing they needed.

He was about to leave when she pulled him back to look at her. “There is good in Anakin, Obi-Wan,” she announced, although her voice stayed rather quiet, just firm. “You must see it. And I will prove it to you,” her tone reflected her eyes, something fiery and passionate.

This was always going to be a tragedy, he realized suddenly.

There was very little he could say to that. He didn’t believe her but then again, he was trying hard not to think of Anakin right now. His thoughts were dominated with the survival of his people, both jedi and clone.

He had to put them first.

“Okay,” he croaked.

And then whisked himself away as quickly as he could without making it seem like he was literally running from her.

He was entirely exhausted.

The talk with Padme had last longer than he had anticipated and honestly, all he wanted was to sleep. Could he though? How much was there left to do? Then again, at this point, he wasn’t sure if there was anything specifically, he could do, aside from perhaps trying to research? Maybe?

His brain just felt full. He wasn’t entirely sure if he would be of any help.

“There you are sir,” the familiar voice and tonal individuality of Boil registered to Obi-Wan’s ears nearly a beat too late. He turned to see the clone walking up to him, a small youngling on arm.

Waxer was the one who was outspoken about loving little ones but anyone who knew anything about Boil knew he loved being around them just as much.

The thought made Obi-Wan smile and his chest warm.

Presence of people that he cared about, that perhaps cared about him, ones that he didn’t constantly have to fight tooth and nail with, were something of a relief. Just a presence to fall into that wasn’t consistently looking for lies or secrets or to tear his head off.

“How are you, Boil?” he asked, trying for a smile.

It must not have worked very well because the clone gave him an odd glance but, in the end, he just shrugged. “I’m alright, just taking this young’in to the modified creche,” he explained, gesturing to the young jedi child on his hip. “He accidently got lost and I’m bringing him back before my allotted hours of sleep.”

“Allotted hours?”

How late was it?

“Sir, it’s quite late,” Boil pointed out, answering his unasked question for him, and gesturing lightly for the general to follow. He did so without pause or thought. It was interesting, he believed, how easily and unthinkingly he would follow them. Perhaps it was foolishness but perhaps it was just trust and faith. He was in a rather short supply of that these past few days. “The daytime officers and workers are getting ready for sleep. The Jedi are hunkering down in the creche places and barracks along with the children and troopers. I never realized how cuddly Jedi could be when they sleep together,” he added with a bit of a half laugh.

The child laughed alongside with him, although a bit louder and fuller.

“We slept in piles a lot,” Obi-Wan replied.

“We like to do that too,” Boil shrugged to keep a hold on the little one hanging from him. “It’s good that your sleeping arrangements are around the men, it’s good for morale, especially at a time like this. Everyone is a little freaked out, I think it helps there is someone they can trust around during those times.”

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes. Who taught Boil manipulation tactics?

He paused, nearly tripping at the realization.

Oh right. Hedid.

Accidently, of course. It wasn’t like Obi-Wan was giving lectures or classes on how to manipulate or negotiate yourself out of situations. But still, his behavior would be seeming to be biting him in the butt now, as his troopers were now using it against him.

Part of him almost felt impressed.

“Right,” Obi-Wan muttered.

The child hanging off of Boil, giggled knowingly. As the two of them dropped the child off at one of the places set aside for the children, Boil offered to escort him to the barracks for sleep. Obi-Wan tried to back out of it but Boil was rather adamant and then….

And then Rex showed up.

And Obi-Wan knew he was completely was doomed.

He couldn’t say no to Rex right now, not with what his troops had gone through.

“Hello, general,” Rex greeted with a bit of a wavering smile. He was trying hard. Obi-Wan suspected he had spent most of his day with the survivors of the 501st. He knew it wasn’t pretty and they were trying very hard to make sense of what had happened to them. “People have been wondering where you have been.”

“Is that so?” Obi-Wan hummed in response.

“Yes, the 501stsurvivors have been curious to know if you are coming back tonight,” he added in, thinking himself rather sly. Survivors; wasn’t that what they all were now. Survivors of a genocide, survivors of brainwashed slavery, survivors of being unmade into a vacant body.

“As a matter of fact, Boil was just escorting me to the barracks,” Obi-Wan shot back. He kept falling into this trap, he knew it. But at least this time he would not be caught floundering like the day before. “It has been quite the day, full of… colorful conversations.”

“Oh? Who did you talk to?”

“I had to have to talk about Senator Amidala and her pregnancy.”

Obi-Wan could practically just feel Rex’s stomach drop. “You…you know about that sir?”

“I probably knew about it before you did,” he muttered under his breath. As if Anakin could keep a secret like that from him, as if Padme could. Any Jedi that came across her would have known; would have sensed her pregnancy. He, of course, was the one who knew it was Anakin’s child because honestly, who’s else could it have been. But louder, instead he tried, “Yes. I’ve known about Anakin and Padme for quite some time. It is not difficult to sense her pregnancy. I do not know why Anakin thought he was being subtle or discreet. And you, captain, well, I think you could work on your acting skills a little.”

The captain just blushed hard. “My apologies sir.”

“No worries. It hardly matters,” Obi-Wan shrugged. “But talking with her, about what we had to, was rather exhausting and I will, quite frankly, be a bit glad to get some rest before the next day comes about. Because soon, we will be at Kamino and a whole new situation will arise.”

“We don’t know how much time it will be before the Empire comes after us,” Boil realized with a deep frown.

“So, we should get as much rest as we can until then,” Obi-Wan nodded at the two of them as they neared the barracks. “Because who knows how much real rest we will get once the new conflicts arise.”

***

It was the middle of the night when he had heard it.

Obi-Wan had been stuck in the near middle of a pile once again, surrounded on all sides by mostly clone troopers, the main force being the de-chipped 212th and the 501st survivors, with a few others they had rescued within the Temple before and during the siege. He could make out Inkspot somewhere, leaning against Trapper and Gearshift.

Many of the survivors, mostly those of the 501st specifically, had horrible nightmares, even so soon after the events. He couldn’t blame them; it was a horrible ordeal they had gone through. He tried to shield them the best he could, to help them sleep with less nightmares. He did his best. He didn’t dare take a look into what they contained, he feared they would just feed into his own.

For some reason or another, the scratching woke him up.

Shifting his body up carefully so he wouldn’t awake the troopers surrounding him, he glanced around at the barracks for the sound. No way he was just hearing it in his mind.

There. Some movement in the corner.

Carefully he cleared himself of snuggling troopers and got up.

Obi-Wan moved through the bodies, making his way to the edge of the pile of clone troopers until he found one of the 501st in the corner, frantically trying to scrub his armor. Not just his armor, the jedi realized, but the blue paint off of it. And there was quite a bit of it.

The trooper nearly jumped feet in the air when he realized Obi-Wan had sat next to him, his eyes wide in fear and panic.

“At ease,” he assured quietly but it did very little to ease the trooper’s anxiety. Obi-Wan reached out into the Force towards his presence.

Calmpeacesafe

It helped more than words had.

“Are you alright, Graffiti?”

The trooper looked at him, a little surprised. “You…know who I am? Y-You remember?”

Obi-Wan nodded. “Yes. Would you like to tell me what is going on?” he asked gently.

The trooper swallowed, staring down at his armor before tearing his eyes away. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes on it for more than a moment.

“Everyone has nightmares, it is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I do, sometimes,” Graffiti admitted, hesitant with his voice choked on tears. “It’s not even the fighting or the war or anything. I just see blank faces, marching blue, so much blue. People…people always think when terrible things happen, when blood is shed, everything is in a haze of red because blood is red. But for me…for me it was a haze of blue. Not just any blue. The 501st blue. It’s…its supposed to be something proud of, a color we should be proud of.”

Obi-Wan just waited patiently.

“I woke up shaking this morning,” he continued, his voice quivering with tears already accumulating in his eyes as he shoved the piece of armor that was in his arms away. “It was so bad I couldn’t even put my armor on. One of my brothers had to do it for me. But even then, I…. I felt so awful. I kept making excuses to go to the head and then my brothers kept making excuses for me, just in case.”

“You do not have to wear it if you do not wish to,” Obi-Wan replied gently. “Things, I imagine, are going to be different now.”

“It’s…it’s not the armor itself,” he confessed, staring down at the piece that he was holding. “I don’t think it is the armor. It’s…it’s the color,” he looked confused when he glanced at the jedi, as if he wasn’t entirely sure why he was saying this or even the reasoning behind it. “Every time I see it, I keep getting sick. I keep remembering when we were marching towards the Temple, all the blue of the amor, creating a sea of soldiers, all in time and not even…not even hesitating on what we were going to do.”

“You couldn’t move.”

“I couldn’t even think until afterwards,” Graffiti admitted the quiver in his voice growing. “I just wanted to scream. Even after we got into the Temple, I remember everything but…it’s all in this horrible blue haze that I choke on. Something I was once proud to bear, a color that I was proud of, was twisted into something horrible and evil. I know it doesn’t make any sense but…”

“Sometimes things like this don’t make sense to others or even ourselves,” Obi-Wan’s voice was quiet and calm as he looked over at the trooper. The latter had a difficult time meeting his gaze, but he finally had, tears welled up in his eyes, certainly obscuring his vision.

“I think I would rather have no paint, just be a blank set of armor like a no-name shiny again before I wear something that has been so twisted,” he whispered, running a hand along his helmet, half scrubbed of blue paint. “And isn’t that awful? I was brainwashed into being no one and now, I want to go back to being a no one again, just…slightly different type of no one.”

The jedi’s heart shuttered in his chest.

“Would you mind waiting here for a moment?” he asked, placing a hand gently on the soldier’s shoulder. “I will be right back. I think…I think I have something.”

Graffiti looked quite confused but nodded.

Obi-Wan stood up and made his way through the maze of people, towards the door. As he got to the halls, his pace quickened. There weren’t particularly many people around, but a few had caught him gliding through the halls quickly, often giving him looks that made him want to shrink back into the pile in the barracks.

Some did not seem happy to see him out and about.

He got to a storage room and opened the door. Upon finding what he was looking for, he grabbed it and hurried back. Obi-Wan came back, worked his way through the maze of sleeping men again, and set down a large can on the ground as quietly as he could. The trooper just stared at it, wide-eyed, a bit confused and certainly a lot speechless.

“It’s yours, if you want it.”

Graffiti took a moment to realize what it was. At first, he didn’t look entirely sure, like it might be a trap, but it took only a minute before he burst into a quiet sob, covering his face with his hands.

“It may not stop the nightmares,” Obi-Wan explained quietly. “But know that you will always have a place with us.”

Eventually, when he got a little more control of himself, Obi-Wan could make out a nod from him.

“I think I might need something new,” Graffiti rasped out, just barely.

“Perhaps you should make a visit to one of the creche groups,” Obi-Wan offered, shooting him a quick, warm, glance. “They are full of ideas. And they would love to see you.”

Graffiti met his gaze, his eyebrows scrunched together. He didn’t verbally reply but the jedi master had a feeling he would anyways.

Obi-Wan spent the rest of the night with him, quietly scrubbing off the blue paint and replacing it with shimmering gold.

[zoeology31]

30+ Ship/Character Headcanons for Pride: Star Wars Edition

Halfway through the month already, but I’m gonna do something this year! I have consumed so much Star Wars content in 2020, canon and fanfic both, and now I have Opinions.

Codywan

Cody is gay and demisexual, Obi-Wan is bi.

They become friends quickly, and develop one of the closest Jedi-Commander relationships in the GAR. They fall in love later on but agree not to commit to anything until after the war.

Obi-Wan realizes his feelings slowly over seasons 2 and 3, reflecting on their teamwork and how much he values and cares about Cody. Cody realizes his feelings when Obi-Wan comes back from Kadavo and he realizes how important Obi-Wan is to his life.

During the war, they like to spend time together, especially in the mornings or decompressing after a battle. They do paperwork, trade book recommendations, and just sit close and talk.

In AUs where ROTS didn’t happen, Obi-Wan steps down from the Jedi Council and he and Cody work out the details of their relationship so Obi-Wan can still be faithful to the Jedi Code.

Basically they get engaged and stay that way forever. They get an apartment with many houseplants and a cat that likes Cody better.

Cody is a little Force-sensitive, and Obi-Wan teaches him to meditate and use the Force to process emotions. Once Cody is free of the chip (in canon-compliant timelines), he uses this to find peace about Obi-Wan’s “death” and joins the Rebellion.

Rex

Rex is demiromantic asexual.

In AUs where ROTS didn’t happen, he ends up in a queerplatonic relationship with Anakin (who leaves the Order) and Padmé. He is Luke and Leia’s third parent.

He’s really good with kids, and adopts several orphans after the Empire is defeated. Luke and Leia and Ezra and Sabine are his honorary kids too.

Ahsoka

Ahsoka is a lesbian. She’s jealous of Lux during the Onderon arc, not Steela.

Barriss is her first kiss, right after the brain worms incident. They’re never actually in a relationship though, because Barriss thinks that would make it too hard to follow the Jedi Code.

She reconnects with Kaeden Larte during her Fulcrum years and they get married after the Battle of Yavin. Between Fulcrum work and the mission to find Ezra, she’s away a lot, so she carries a special holocomm with a secure line to Kaeden to keep in touch.

Skybridger

Ezra and Luke are both gay. Ezra is also nonbinary and uses both he/him and they/them.

They bond over comparing notes on Jedi training, and also going through the embarrassing “mistook admiration for a crush on now-sister” phase.

They go on lots of adventures together to gather bits of Jedi culture and find Force-sensitive kids to train. It’s Luke’s idea to start a school and Ezra’s idea to search for the old Jedi temples like the one on Lothal.

Eventually they just also start being romantically affectionate on these adventures. No one is surprised. Ahsoka officiates their wedding on Lothal a couple years later, which is attended by the entire rebellion.

They fix up an old U-wing to live and travel in because they’re both used to living on ships. Luke flies, Ezra shoots as needed and also cooks. Ezra always brings back stray animals and Luke sometimes agrees to keep them.

Ketbine

Ketsu and Sabine are both lesbians.

They meet at the Imperial Academy and are dating when they run away together. The stress of running from the Empire and bounty hunting strains their relationship and they break up before parting ways.

They start dating again after the liberation of Lothal and get married after the Battle of Endor. Hera officiates. Sabine is smug about getting married before Zeb.

After the war, they split their time between Krownest, where Sabine eventually inherits the title of Duchess Wren, Concord Dawn, where they help rebuild the Protectors, and Mandalore.

Kalluzeb

Kallus is pan, Zeb is gay.

They build up a friendship before and during season 4, and start dating after the Battle of Yavin. They have a lot of personal issues to work through and getting stuck on the ice moon together was only the beginning, but they both put in the effort and it pays off.

They get married after the Battle of Endor. Hera officiates. Zeb is kinda salty that Sabine beat him to the punch, but they have a great honeymoon on Lira San so it all evens out.

After the war, they help build up the refugee community on Lira San and travel around to locate other Lasat refugees. Zeb even serves a term as Senator for Lira San in the New Republic Senate.

Miscellaneous

Chirrut and Baze are both gay. They’ve been married for 30 years.

Rey is biromantic asexual, Finn is bi, and Poe is gay. Rey and Poe both date Finn but not each other.

Kanan, Hera, Leia, Han, Padmé, Cassian, Bodhi, and Rose are all bi. So are a plurality of the clones.

Lando is pan and genderfluid and their pronouns vary. They’re living their best life.

Echo is genderfluid and uses he/him. Fives is agender and uses they/them. None of Domino squad are cis.

[geodax]

Natural Disaster

“Come on, Skyguy!” Ahsoka yells from the water’s edge. She’s surrounded by dozens of members of the 212th and the 501st, all of them stripped down to their blacks as they splash through the warm water. There hadn’t been enough credits to buy everyone swimsuits, but there had been enough credits for some beach balls and umbrellas and there is more than enough beach for the two battalions to enjoy.

It’s been marvelous. Obi-wan had spent the entire day laid out on the sand under an umbrella the medics had set up for him after his skin had begun to pink. He’s halfway through his second book and sipping a glass of cool lemonade. Cody is napping in the sand beside him, partly buried by a sandcastle some of his brothers had started building on him before Obi-wan had waved them away. Cody had never been particularly fond of pranks.

Obi-wan lazily stretches out and sets his book down. There’s no paperwork to do, no battle plans that need his strategic advice. He’s fairly certain the Council is running interference between him and the GAR, but for once, he’ll let them do it and allow himself to enjoy the day.

“The water’s great!” Ahsoka yells again.

Obi-wan twists to glance up towards where Anakin is sitting in the shade of the tree line. He’s the only one that had refused to even step onto the sand, but he’s not the only one up there. Some of the troopers had joined him after deciding they weren’t interested in swimming.

“The shade is even better!” Anakin yells back.

Ahsoka shakes her head, then dives back into the waves. She’s a strong swimmer, confident enough to navigate the waves and aware enough of the danger to be safe about it.

Well, mostly. Padawans trained for ocean swims, but there was never anything quite like the real thing. The clones grew up on Kamino with its rough oceans, so Obi-wan isn’t too worried about them, even if some of the medics are. Several of them are stationed across the beach acting as lifeguards, complete with rescue buoys.

Obi-wan closes his eyes. It seems like Cody has the right idea. However, if he does fall asleep, he has no doubt he’ll wake buried under a sandcastle. At least it will probably get Anakin out onto the sand.

“Don’t fall asleep just yet, general,” Rex says. His footsteps still kick sand onto Obi-wan’s shirt despite his care. “We’ve got sandwiches.”

Obi-wan sits up and accepts the carefully wrapped sandwich from Rex. “Where’d you get these?” Obi-wan asks.

“As it turns out, enough bread and peanut butter for a battalion isn’t as expensive as we thought. A bunch of the gunners got together to make them. Apparently, it’s their new favorite bonding exercise,” Rex says.

That sounds suspicious, especially considering the gunners usual bonded over finding new ways to blow stuff up, but Obi-wan is certain Rex had handled it, otherwise Obi-wan would be smelling smoke and hearing something exploding.

“Hey, Codes,” Rex says, purposefully stomping over to Cody and kicking sand all over him in the process.

“Fuck off, Rex,” Cody says.

“You’re the one who’s always getting on my case for not eating often enough,” Obi-wan says.

“Same here. So, eat up,” Rex says.

Cody scowls, then pulls his legs out of the sand and takes the sandwich from Rex. He eyes the grains of sand that had made their way into the peanut butter.

“It won’t kill you,” Obi-wan says.

Cody shakes his head, then shifts to lean back against the sandcastle as he eats. Rex runs off to get the rest of the troops out of the water. It doesn’t take long before they hear him shouting orders over the sound of the crashing waves.

It’s perfect up until the moment a chill runs down Obi-wan’s spine. He reaches out into the Force, but none of the troops are projecting distress. There’s no one lurking nearby with malicious intent.

“I have a bad feeling,” Obi-wan says.

To Obi-wan’s surprise, Cody jerks upright and makes a dive for the bag he had brought with him. “Where’s my blaster?” Cody says.

“I don’t think—”

“Obi-wan,” Cody says, his voice suddenly small and unsteady.

Obi-wan follows Cody’s gaze to where the ocean should have been. “Fuck,” Obi-wan says. “Run. You need to fucking run, right now.”  

“MOVE!” Cody yells, his voice amplified by Obi-wan and a touch of the Force.

The troops snap out of their daze. They know what a receding ocean means once they get past the novelty of it.

A blue wall grows by the second on the horizon.

The troops will never make it.

“Anakin!” Obi-wan calls, but Anakin is already at his side. He’s seen it. He’s made the same calculations Obi-wan has. And he knows they have only one chance at saving everyone.

“Ready?” Anakin asks.

Obi-wan nods and stretches out his hands. The Force rushes through him and Anakin, building and building, as it rushes towards the oncoming wave.

A crack resounds when they impact.

Anakin is a supernova beside him as they push back against the wave, trying to contain it, to stop it, anything to save the men that are fleeing behind them.

But all they can do is slow it down.

Obi-wan digs deeper inside himself, drawing upon every moment of peace and harmony he has ever experienced, every moment of joy and love that he experienced as a Jedi. He is the solid wall built to hold back the battering of any enemy’s forces, the calm standing against a storm.

His hands shake. His knees bend as the ocean’s strength pushes steadily onwards.

Until a new light joins them, its wings unfurling to fill the gaps between Obi-wan’s steady presence and Anakin’s supernova.

Ahsoka, some distant part of him realizes, despite Anakin’s orders that she run too.

But even together, it isn’t enough.

The first drops of ocean spray hit his hands.

Obi-wan collapses into the sand, his strength depleted. Ahsoka falls soon after, her eyes bloodshot and terrified as she stares at the wave towering over them.

He tries to reach out to her, tries to say good-bye. It’s not how he imagined he would go, but he supposes it could have been worse.

His eyes, having drifted closed, jerk back open when hands grab his arms and yank him backwards. He blinks up at the metal ceiling of the gunship he hadn’t heard coming, its engines drowned out by the rumble of the ocean. Ahsoka and Anakin follow moments later, nearly landing on top of his as the gunship rockets away from the tsunami.

Obi-wan barely has the strength to lift his head when they’re finally clear of the wave. Anakin is completely passed out and has bloody tears trickling down his face. Ahsoka doesn’t look much better. Rex kneels at their sides, relief plain on his face.

“I got you,” Cody says as he sits down and pulls Obi-wan against his chest. “You’re safe.”

“You came back,” Obi-wan says.  

“No one gets left behind.”

[blackkatmagic]

Oooo, kix/agen and kix running himself ragged taking care of others and getting taken care of by agen?

Kix isn't asleep at his desk. Technically. He just has his head down despairing over Torrent’s most recent mission report, potentially with his eyes closed. Given the mission report, it’s a perfectly reasonable reaction that anyone with sense would have. And if he’s maybe not as alert as he should be, well, Anakin ended up in the medbay again, barely hanging on after getting bitten by something, and Kix was up late making sure he didn’t flatline again. There’s only so much caf can do for a body.

He doesn’t hear the door open. He doesn’t hear the quiet steps that cross the room, or see the shadow that falls over him. But he definitely feels the way he’s suddenly scooped up off his stool and hauled up into the air.

With a yelp, Kix comes awake, automatically grabbing for the closest solid object. His hands hit hard muscle, then something soft, and fist. There’s a hissed breath, but the arms holding him up don’t drop him, just wrap around him more tightly, and a low, careful voice says, “Peace. I was just moving you.”

Over the pounding of his heart, Kix registers the fact that he has one hand knotted in long black hair, his face mashed into a dark-skinned throat. He sucks in a breath, breathes out, and manages, “General Kolar?”

Agen tilts his head, that long hair tugging at Kix's fist. Hastily, he opens his hand, and Agen makes a sound of thanks, though he doesn’t put Kix down. Instead, he carries him right out of the medbay, and Kix squawks. He jerks in Agen's hold, reaching back towards the doors as they shut, but Agen's grip doesn’t even move.

This is probably a bad time to remember just how strong Zabraks are compared to Humans, and all the vague thoughts Kix may have entertained about how far that strength extends.

Shoving those images down, Kix makes a concerted effort to wiggle out of Agen's hold. “General Kolar, what are you doing? I'm on shift—”

“Your shift ended six hours ago,” Agen says calmly, and steps into the lift at the end of the hall. “Lieutenant Cub told me. He’s taking over the end of your shift, and he and the ship’s medical personnel will split the next one as well.”

“What?” Kix says, bewildered, and then, as he realizes he’s still being cradled in Agen's arms, “Put me down!”

“No,” Agen says, and that’s calm too. “Captain Rex warned me about your inability to rest after a mission, and with Knight Skywalker still unconscious, it falls to me to take care of his men.”

Kix is going to have a hypo full of rare and unnecessary vaccines ready the next time Rex so much as pokes his nose into the medbay, he decides. With a huff, he sinks into Agen's hold, making himself as heavy as possible, and refuses to admire the fact that Agen's hands don’t even shift. “I was just fine—”

“You were asleep at your desk,” Agen says, not un-gently, and as the lift comes to a halt he passes through the doors and down a darkened hallway. “As you’ve told me more than once, beds are far superior for sleeping.”

“You were asleep standing up, that doesn’t count—”

“Kix,” Agen interrupts, and shifts him into one arm to dial in a door code. “You need rest. Torrent’s mission and the aftermath were more than any one person should be expected to deal with.”

“There's still paperwork, though,” Kix says, even though he knows it’s futile. He twists a little to avoid banging his head on the doorway as they enter the room, and catches a hint of Agen's smile as Agen lowers him down onto a neatly-made bed.

“Yes,” Agen agrees gravely, like Kix can't see the flicker of humor in his dark eyes. “There's always more paperwork. It will still be there when you’ve rested, though, and most of the important parts are already filed.”

“I guess,” Kix says with bad grace, and then squawks when Agen drops to his knees and starts unbuckling his boots. “General!”

“Call me Agen. Master Kolar, if you insist on being formal.” Agen glances up at him, horns and dotted tattoos catching the light, and smiles faintly. “Let me take care of you, Kix.”

It occurs to Kix, suddenly, that he can't remember ever seeing Agen smile before. And he’s been looking.

It’s hard not to, with a man like Agen Kolar.

“Agen?” he asks, caught off guard, not sure how to do otherwise, and hears Agen's quiet hum of thanks as gentle hands pull his boots off, set them aside. Agen sits back, watching Kix for a moment, and then gracefully rises to his feet, stepping over to a tiny table with a small pot and two cups on top of it.

“This will help you sleep,” he says, pouring out enough for both of them and then turning to offer Kix one of the cups. When Kix eyes it warily, Agen snorts, settling beside him on the bed and crossing his legs beneath himself. “It’s only herbs. My Master taught me to make it, to help with bad missions.”

Carefully, Kix wraps both hands around the cup, then takes a breath of the steam. It doesn’t smell unpleasantly herbal, the way he feared; instead, all he can smell are flowers, and the scent alone is enough to unspool some of the tension that’s been coiled around his spine for days now.

“Thank you,” he says, quiet, almost ragged.

Agen inclines his head. “It’s my pleasure to help you relax in any way I can,” he says, and Kix has to close his eyes against far too many inappropriate images that rise. He’s…probably too tired to do any of them justice, anyway. Instead, he just takes a sip of the tea, then breathes out, and wonders why it feels like he hasn’t breathed at all since Torrent started taking fire three days ago.

“It’s good,” he says softly.

There's a touch on his shoulder, and then Agen slides back, bracing his back against the wall. He reaches out, and Kix stares at his pretty hand for a long moment, only seeing those long, clever, callused fingers for several seconds until the meaning behind the gesture strikes him. Then, startled, he jerks his head up, staring at Agen.

“Touch is a comfort among Zabraks, too,” Agen says, watching him. “I can take you back to your barracks if you’d prefer, but if touch would help right now, and you would like to keep your weariness private, I want to help you.”

Kix's throat closes, to the point that it’s hard to swallow. He’d—wanted. Wanted to go back to the bunkroom and curl up with Jesse or Fives or Echo, but—

If they’d known how scared he was, they would have known how precarious the general’s state was, and Kix can't do that to them. General Skywalker is what keeps them going. They can't know he was in so much danger that Kix was barely able to keep him stable.

With a low, rough sound that’s half relief and half gratitude, Kix grabs Agen's hand, lets himself be pulled close. He curls against Agen's chest, burying his face in that long black hair, and just…clings. Lets himself need, and lets himself take, and feels Agen gently wrap an arm around him, steadying is cup with a free hand.

“Peace,” Agen says again, and those long, strong fingers curl around the back of Kix's skull, cradling. “Everything will be all right.”

Kix closes his eyes, presses in tight, and lets himself believe it.

[On AO3]

[maulusque]

WHAT IF ANAKIN NEVER REMOVED REX FROM THE SYSTEM AFTER ORDER 66

Like, Anakin might not know that Rex defected. He promoted Appo but technically Appo’s still second in command of the 501st, under Rex (Rex is still listed as a Captain because Anakin is really really fucking awful at paperwork). And then when Rex doesn’t show up, the obvious conclusion is that he’s dead, but Anakin still doesn’t let him get listed as MIA or KIA because that’s HIS CAPTAIN, dammit, and he’s lost Ahsoka, Padme, Obi-Wan, and literally everything else he ever cared about, he doesn’t want to face having lost Rex, too. And he works better with Rex than with anyone else (mostly because Rex has become accustomed to his bullshit and is Very Good at taking Anakin’s spectacularly stupid nonsense and Making It Work), and really he can’t picture leading the 501st with anyone OTHER than Rex at his side.

And then Rex keeps not coming back. But Vader still doesn’t remove him from the system. For years and years. And eventually everyone stops mentioning it to him because they tend to get force-murdered if they do. 

So long story short, Rebels-era Rex is technically the commanding officer of Vader’s Fist, and the system still recognizes his codes and lets him in, and technically if he walked up to any stormtrooper while wearing his old helmet, the networks would recognize him and tell the stormtrooper that’s your CO. So if Rex realized this, he could just waltz in and take control of the most feared stormtrooper legion in the galaxy and as long as Vader wasn’t around, no one would stop him (they’d all be very confused, but they wouldn’t stop him). And maybe vader walks up at this point like “what the hell is going on here” and sees Rex and is just like “REX there you are where the FUCK have you been?” and Rex is like “uuuhhhh i had engine trouble on the way back from Mandalore” and it’s been 20 years but Vader knows how shitty Rex is at piloting and really anything involving flying and ships so he’s like “sounds legit”

[colehasapen]

(CHAPTER 7) there’s a river full of memory   STAR WARS

Previous // First

A03

The room still feels like him.

Hours out from Coruscant, Anakin is hidden away in the room that had been his master’s, curled up under his blanket and numbly signing off on the other man’s paperwork. His head and heart ache, a burning fury caught in his throat like rotten food, and yet he feels too  empty. Usually when he gets angry, it gives him more strength, strength that he would use to protect the people he loves from a fate like his mother’s. He’d never be too late again, he’d stop the from being hurt again - the Tuskens had just proven to him what Palpatine had been trying to show him for years, that the Galaxy needed stricter control, a heavier hand, all to bring about the peace that it deserved.

But now, after seeing Obi-Wan’s face, young and soft but with a look in his eyes that Anakin would have associated with the new slaves on Tatooine, the anger just makes him feel tired. Obi-Wan had looked at him with fear, had had the expression that Anakin had seen far too often on new slaves, those that hadn’t been born into the life, but had been captured and sold.

He remembers the Tuskens, remembers cutting them down for what they did to his mother. It hadn’t fixed anything, hadn’t made him feel better or brought her back, but he had avenged his mother. His beautiful, wonderful mother who didn’t deserve what had happened to her. Anakin would have made her a queen if he could, he would have killed those filthy Hutts and put her on a throne, but instead he had held her as she died.

At least he could comfort himself with the knowledge that justice had been swift and unforgiving. They had paid for what they had done to her.

He had done the right thing, he had made sure they couldn’t hurt anyone else. You had to put down animals like that, who had gotten a taste for human blood, or they’d do it again; Anakin had done his duty to make sure they wouldn’t. He’d done the right thing, Chancellor Palpatine had assured him of it. To be angry was to be human, Padmé had told him.

They wouldn’t have said those things if Anakin had been wrong. They understood him better than anyone, they were good, kind people who wouldn’t have loved him if he did something wrong.

And  yet - he thinks of the young face staring back at him with fear, holding his lightsaber in small hands, screaming through the Force to pay attention to him, to look at him instead of anyone else in the room. Obi-Wan had been trying to protect others from  him.

Obi-Wan could tell what he had done. Obi-Wan would tell people, and everything would be  ruined.

Maybe if he made him understand that the Tuskens weren’t  people -

The Order wouldn’t understand, they never do. They think he was too old and too angry to be one of them, but Anakin had proved them all  wrong, he had become the  best of them. He had lived up to the legacy Qui-Gon had laid for him, and he’s working to bring balance and justice back to the Galaxy. But if Obi-Wan told them about the Tuskens, they wouldn’t ask questions; they hate him, and if they knew, they wouldn’t hesitate to throw him out. The Chancellor had told him what they would do to him if they thought he had Fallen, had told him history that the Order hid from him. They’d lock him away from the rest of his life, would take away the freedom he had fought so hard for.

They’d punish Padmé for loving him.

He couldn’t let that happen. The Jedi would ruin Padmé, would take her away from him. They’d take Ahsoka from him, if they knew - her and Rex, and the rest of the 501st. They’d make the Senate punish Chancellor Palpatine for being his friend - they’d never liked the Chancellor, had never liked their friendship. They didn’t approve of any connections outside of the Order.

They’d lock him away, another pair of chains weighing him down, and-

The door buzzes, sliding open, and Anakin pulls himself from his head, bemusement shining through his spiraling thoughts. He could have sworn he had locked the room down.

“General.” Rex greets as he steps into the room. His Force signature is rolling with distress, with anger and a choking fury and drowning sadness, but his face shows none of this. He’s reserved, expression shuttered, and as he watches, the Captain reels everything back in behind the shields Anakin remembers Obi-Wan tutoring him how to make after Ventress had gotten into his head. It makes Anakin suddenly hyper aware that his Captain had left a Force imprint in his Master’s bedroom.

Well, it’s not too surprising. They work with the 212th so often, and Rex is nothing if not diligent with his paperwork, and Anakin knows how much Obi-Wan would prefer to avoid his office at any opportunity. It would be much easier for him to work with Obi-Wan, so that they could compare reports more comfortably. Obi-Wan even had those armour racks the clones liked to use for anyone who came in to do paperwork.

Honestly, they both work too much.

Anakin shakes himself from his thoughts, “Rex.” He says roughly, crawling out from under Obi-Wan’s sheets. He’s honestly glad to see his Captain; Rex is a good man, a stable rock in the storm of his head. Seeing him never fails to make Anakin feel more settled. Rex is a good friend, one of his best.

He hopes what Obi-Wan said hasn’t changed anything.

“How’re the -” he hesitates slightly, thinking of the two younglings on the biobed, curled around each other and watching him like spooked Tookas, “- kids?” It’s  weird; Obi-Wan and his Commander were two of the most adult-like adults that he knew. They’re serious and focused on their duty, enough that Anakin forgets that Obi-Wan is only in his thirties, and Cody is technically twelve.

To think of them as kids? It feels  wrong.

Rex flinches slightly - he’s close to Cody, Anakin remembers, to see him in such a state must be just as distressing as seeing Obi-Wan is for Anakin. “Commander Tano is showing them around.” The Captain says roughly, unhooking Anakin’s lightsaber from his belt and wordlessly handing it over. “It’s been a stressful day for them.”

Anakin laughs bitterly, “It’s been a stressful day for all of us.” He thinks back to how Obi-Wan had revealed his darkest secret. He’d always been afraid of it happening, that one day he’d share everything with his Master, and that the man would then turn around and betray him, that he’d chose the Code over Anakin.

But - well, hadn’t he already when he had disregarded Anakin’s visions of his mother’s death? The Chancellor sure thought so, and he was so much better with people than Anakin is. Anakin prefers droids to people, prefers mechanics to relationships, and Chancellor Palpatine just seems to know everything about how to talk to people.

Rex was a lot like him really - not good with people that is.

Rex dips his head in a silent nod, lowering himself to sit on the edge of Obi-Wan’s bed with a surprising amount of ease for his usually awkward Captain. “Kix is keeping an eye on them.” Anakin gets a flash of a memory from the clone, one Rex chose to share with him, of Ahsoka cheerfully leading the two small kids down the hall, Kix trotting along behind them as the Padawan and medic have an exaggeratedly playful conversation, trying to pull the boys out of their shells, and Anakin can’t help but smile fondly.

His Padawan would make an amazing Knight.

“General.” Rex hesitates, eyes conflicted and expression tense, and he’s quiet for a long moment, looking torn and physically floundering for words. Anakin waits patiently for the man to decide what to say. “What do you know about General Kenobi’s apprenticeship?”

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, the young Knight tilts his head, “His Padawanship?” He echoes in confusion. “Honestly, not much.” Anakin shrugs; Obi-Wan hadn’t spoken of it, so it must have been pretty boring.

It would have been nice though, having a Jedi like Qui-Gon as a Master.

“He was apprenticed to Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and was Knighted at twenty-five -” the pride of becoming a Knight younger than his perfect Master is a familiar thing, “- pretty normal stuff, really.”

Something  twists in Rex’s expression - in his entire being really. “Normal?” He repeats, and his tone, something Anakin can’t explain, unnerves him. “Sir, all due respect, but being sold into slavery  shouldn’t be normal.”

Anakin goes cold. “What?”

Rex stares at him, eyes burning, “Sir, this Obi-Wan Kenobi is twelve years old, and the last thing he remembers is a Fallen Jedi selling him into slavery.” Anakin feels sick. “He says he’s not a Jedi, that he was sent away -”

“No.” Anakin interrupts, his entire worldview turning on it’s head, into something that  doesn’t make sense. It can’t have happened - Obi-Wan was the perfect Jedi, they never would have sent him away. He couldn’t have been a slave, he would have told Anakin if he had. It would have helped him understand the pain Anakin was going through when he had first joined the Order. “No - no, that can’t be right.” Rex is watching him, brown eyes dark with anger, “He would have  told me!”

“I don’t think he told anyone, General.”

“He should have  told me!” Anakin barks furiously, flapping a hand, and he barely notices the clone’s recoil at the violent move.

Force, he’s so angry. He needs to talk to Padmé, or Chancellor Palpatine; they’d help him make sense of things.

“Get out.”

Rex falters, “Sir?”

“I need some time alone, Rex.” The Knight hisses out between clenched teeth, “Leave.”

Rex follows the order, like he always does, and he leaves Anakin behind to his thrashing thoughts. He fishes his comm out with shaking hands, plugging in a code he knows off by heart.

The Chancellor answers immediately, just like he always does.  “Anakin, my boy!” Already, Anakin finds his stress melting away as Chancellor Palpatine’s kind voice washes over him. The man always picks up. No matter how busy he is, he always puts time aside for Anakin, ready to lend an ear and his hard-earned wisdom.

Anakin used to wish Obi-Wan would be more like the Chancellor.

  “This is a pleasant surprise! What can I do for you?”

Anakin swallows, settling his nerves, and he talks. “I need some advice, Chancellor.”

Taglist: @a-mediocre-succulent @yellowisharo @spoofymcgee @roseofalderaan @everything-or-anything @bellablue42 @tumceteri-fratres @etainskirata @arkainea

[innocent-until-proven-geeky]

for the character thing; cody, obi wan, and ur oc pova (is that how you spell it?)

YEAHYEAHYEAH (also that is how you spell it) I see we’re doing the whole family and I LOVE it.

I was in the middle of answering this and then I went to find my favorite episodes and Tumblr ate whatever I was working on sooooo I start over.

Cody

Why I like them: Sass. Fandom’s interpretation as Ultimate Big Brother (behind Alpha-17, of course). Mysterious scar. And he’s pretty.

Why I don’t: Honestly? The fact that the clones are slave soldiers, and the fact that fandom tends to give racially biased interpretations of the clones (I’m guilty of this too). Nothing to do with Cody himself, honestly, which isn’t to say he’s perfect or anything, I find him to be rough around the edges but who wouldn’t be in his shoes?

Favorite episode: s1e16 The Hidden Enemy. This one is probably on my top 5 list even without Cody. But guys. GUYS. “Hey there, Slick. Gun’s empty.” WHAT COULD BE MORE ICONIC?

Favorite film: Okay technically these questions were “episode/scene if a movie” and “season/movie” but because he’s in both I’m gonna have to go with a film for this one. Revenge of the Sith. Listen, I can’t watch ROTS without crying but damn if I don’t love Cody in it anyway. The lightsaber scene will ALWAYS get me. (Season 1 gets an honorable mention.)

Favorite line: Uh. Well. Okay so. “Hey there, Slick. Gun’s empty.” *holds up mag* LISTEN GUYS I LOVE THAT ONE. Although he also gets points for “I’m putting you in charge of this one.” I don’t know if season 1 just has a lot of iconic Cody lines, or if it’s because I’ve been watching that season in Spanish lately.

Favorite outfit: ... his armor? No actually though, I love his Phase II armor. Phase I is cool but Phase II has the cool ventilators. And how can I not make fun of his antenna?

OTP: Codywan. Ideally in a post-war fix-it or semi-fix-it where there isn’t a huge power imbalance, but I’ve been known to read Codywan stuff that takes place during the war, especially before I was as cognizant of the power imbalance as I am now.

BroTP: Cody and Rex. I’m sure y’all saw that one coming. I mean it’s CODY and REX, I’m pretty sure that’s everyone’s BroTP!

Headcanon: So this might be a good time to mention that I headcanon everyone everywhere as autistic. Everyone is autistic. Cody is autistic. Okay actually though, I headcanon that Cody has a great deal of anxiety. He handles it well, and he has a support system, but given his entire life, and the fact that he’s a Marshal Commander, and further more the headcanon we collectively have that Obi-Wan insists on promoting Cody to get out of paperwork because Cody deserves it, he’s probably anxious. And man, same.

Unpopular opinion: Do I have one? Tbh I don’t know how to determine whether an opinion about a character is unpopular. How do we define unpopular? Do we mean just like, not commonly known or shared? Because if so, I once again raise for your consideration: everyone is autistic, therefore Cody is autistic.

A wish: For Disney to retcon Order 66. Barring that, for the Bad Batch show to give him a happy ending involving the removal of his chip and the opportunity to live happily ever after with Obi-Wan on Tatooine. (Is the Bad Batch show going to be live-action like Kenobi? Because PLEASE give me Temuera Morrison playing Cody in both.)

An oh-gosh-please-don’t-ever-happen: Don’t laugh. Order 66. Listen I KNOW it’s canon but that doesn’t mean I have to like it!

5 words to best describe them: Salty. Snarky. Protective. Competent. Thoughtful.

My nickname for them: honestly, just Codes or Kote. Not much to get out of Cody, really.

Obi-Wan:

Why I like them: HE’S PRETTY. And sassy. There’s a pattern here.

Why I don’t: I don’t think there’s ever a time in canon that he acknowledges all the issues with the clones’ existence. He does in fanon, which I can appreciate, but canonically he’s like, “ah yes, we bought 3.2 million humans. We’ll just stick them in this war I guess.” Also frankly he’s a bit oblivious, bordering on daft, especially considering he’s the Negotiator, I mean he KEPT HIS LAST NAME when he went into hiding. I still love him though.

Favorite scene: That deleted “good girl, Boga” scene, which just hits different when you’ve read Master & Apprentice and know how much he loves varactyls. I don’t care that it’s deleted. It’s my favorite. (Plus you’ll probably like this better than my favorite episode, which is the Kadavo episode.)

Favorite film: Attack of the Clones. Listen listen listen, he has a lot of good moments in TCW, but hands down it’s AOTC.

Favorite line: Eheheheheheh. Eheheheheheheh. Eheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh. “Hello there!”

Favorite outfit: Was gonna make a comment about Jedi robes but then I remembered his stolen Mandalorian armor in The Lawless and *swoons* that’s one pretty outfit.

OTP: ... also Codywan. Again, ideally in an AU with less of a power imbalance, I mean it doesn’t matter how much he promotes Cody, canonically he’s still a Jedi and Cody is still a slave and I just don’t love that but I live for Codywan. Domestic Codywan? *chef’s kiss*

BroTP: probably Obi-Wan and Anakin. Maybe Obi and Padmé? Idk I have Thoughts about Anakin, he’s a problem child, but not much can top the agony in “You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!” (I like whump, okay?) Also just. Can you imagine the Negotiator just being buds with Senator Amidala? Helping each other with domestic disputes and speeches? Working on a Clone Rights Bill? Yeah. Can it be a broT3? What if we just don’t have Anakin and Padmé dating? It’s such an unhealthy relationship. That’s it, broT3 is Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan.

Headcanon: ACE!OBI ACE!OBI ACE!OBI!!!!!! Also,,, autistic!Obi. I know I know, but actually genuinely @fromryloth-tocorellia has some pretty good autistic!Obi-Wan stuff, including Obi-Wan being semi-verbal, low-verbal, and non-verbal. Autistic characters is a hill I will die on, and Obi-Wan is a character I happen to enjoy projecting on (oops). Plus, if I headcanon Cody and Obi-Wan as autistic, then the entire Ibonek family is autistic, and I love that.

Unpopular opinion: The only reason Obi-Wan “left Anakin to die” was because there was nothing he could safely do to help. When I was taking first aid classes, one of the first things they told us was that, unless there is no danger to yourself, you do not help. You wait for actual first responders to show up. If Obi-Wan had tried to help Anakin, either Anakin would have killed him or Obi-Wan would also have been severely burned. And if he had stayed, he may have been caught by Palpatine. Is it sad that he left? Absolutely. Heartbreaking. I don’t think it was a GOOD decision. But he didn’t just leave him to die; there was no other safe option. There were no good decisions here. I have a lot of thoughts about this, I have half-written essays on Discord about it, feel free to ask further questions.

A wish: For Qui-Gon’s dying words to be retconned. I know I wrote that post about how his dying words were full of trust in Obi-Wan and I stand by that, but that doesn’t mean Obi-Wan realized that, or that they were a good choice.

An oh-gosh-please-don’t-ever-happen: For the Kenobi show to be sad. It’s not allowed. Obi-Wan can have one fight, and that’s it, he is happy as a clam on Tatooine because he DESERVES GOODNESS DAMNIT.

5 words to best describe them: Kind. Soft. Warm. Compassionate. Daft.

My nickname for them: Obi

Pova:

What I like about them: They’re my OC and I can do whatever I want with them!

What I don’t: They’re my OC and I’m in charge of them.

(Okay actually though:)

What I like about them: Nonverbal. Pink. Perpetually grumpy.

What I don’t: perpetually grumpy. Seriously how did that happen? Why did I do that? Why is the only time they AREN’T grumpy around Rex or when shopping with Obi-Wan?

Favorite scene: The adoption scene in “Observations on the Nature of Cody Ibonek”.

Favorite work: Probably “Observations”. It’s the first one that’s entirely from Pova’s point of view.

Favorite line: “He was making fun of my stimming. I was already having a bad day. I punched him. It’s whatever.” POVA NO. (Pova yes.)

Favorite outfit: Uh. Haven’t given it much thought yet? Haven’t done many character designs, although fromryloth-tocorellia did one for me and it’s my icon at @ver-writes-things if you want to check that out? Also my Halloween costume is gonna be a super basic cosplay of them and I’ll probably post that.

OTP: None. First of all, the oldest I’ve written them so far is 14. Second, I don’t have any other characters their age yet. Maybe the six kids from the Gathering episode survived? But even then I probably wouldn’t ship it. And I mean, not every character needs a romantic ship.

BroTP: Either Pova and Rex or Pova and Luke. Rex is like big brother/cool uncle, and Luke is like little brother. As of right now, though, definitely Rex, as I haven’t written much of anything with Luke.

Headcanon: I don’t have any because all my headcanons about this character are CANON! Man I love having OCs.

Unpopular opinion: to quote Paige Layle on TikTok: “Stop using the term low functioning autistics when you really mean that they’re just nonverbal. And nonverbal autistics still have a lot to say, they just have a hard time talking.” Basically, I’m certain that as this AU gains traction, Pova’s gonna start getting flak from readers for being nonverbal. It hasn’t happened yet, and maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but just in case someone needs the reminder: No. Stop now. Pova’s autistic. And nonverbal. And not a savant (man I fucking hate that trope). But they are a capable Jedi and, with Cody and Obi, developed a very functional sign language comprised of Jedi hand signals, trade sign language (like from episode 5 of the Mandalorian, that the Tuskens use?), and ARC signals. There will be NO functioning labels on this AU, and Pova has and will continue to have PLENTY to say. If you have a problem you know where the door is.

A wish: For everyone to love my kiddo as much as I do!

An oh-gosh-please-don’t-ever-happen: Listen Pova is gonna have a good and happy life. There is trauma and there is bullying and there is heartache but they are going to live a good life with two AMAZING dads. So there is no “don’t ever happen” because it won’t.

5 words to best describe them: Sneaky. Quiet. Excitable. Compassionate. Snarky.

My nickname for them: Kiddo or my kiddo.

[phoenixyfriend]

Re: the AU where Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex are stuck on Tattooine pre-TPM, how much of the truth does Shmi know? Is she aware that Local Weird Mechanic is her baby boy all grown up?

I addressed this in a previous ask but Shmi is the first person to know they’re time-travelers and, for three years, the only person to know.

Base Post

Anakin didn’t actually think to give a fake name at first, because he wasn’t aware that he was in the past, and assumed that between his Very Famous face and Rex’s Very Recognizable armor, people would just know who he was on sight, even on Tatooine. I imagine that Tatooine, despite mostly ignoring the war, had a lot of the lower classes being very eager for information on the Jedi General with a slave name. Like all else aside, That’s One Of Ours.

So Anakin doesn’t bother with a fake name, and by the time he realizes what’s up with time-travel, it’s too late. He’s already cemented himself in the memories of at least a handful of people that, for whatever reason, he needs or wants to stay on good terms with.

[more under the cut]

The next issue is that Anakin doesn’t want his mom to have her choices taken away. She has friends on Tatooine, despite everything. A husband, in the future, that he understands she genuinely loved. Anakin doesn’t know for sure that his mom would want to leave the planet. He wants to give her the choice, but if she wants to stay on Tatooine, then he needs to free her the “legal” way, by buying her (and little Ani’s) freedom, because otherwise she’ll have to be on the lookout for Hutt Law Enforcement who are looking to get Watto’s property back for him.

If she wants to leave the planet, then it’s easy enough to steal in, deactivate/remove the slave chip, and smuggle her out. They’ve done that before. It’s fine.

But it has to be Shmi’s choice, and Anakin is very adamant about that.

This means that he needs to, you know, talk to her. And ask her what she wants. And the thing is, if he just asks “Hey, can I talk to your slave for a bit,” Watto will have very specific assumptions about what Anakin wants, gross ones. Shmi is also likely to have those assumptions until Anakin clarifies what’s going on. If he just asks her the questions about slavery without a specification as to why he cares, then there’s a solid chance she might assume that he’s there to trap her in questions she can’t answer because he’s been hired to find runaway slaves, and that’s just a mess of its own.

What it really comes down to, for Anakin, is that he has to go to his and his mom’s hovel, where Watto can’t interfere OR make assumptions out loud that have Bad Connotations, and talk to Shmi one-on-one (probably he brings Ahsoka to distract little Ani). His options at that point are two versions of the truth: 1. Former slave who is looking to free her and other slaves, and is contacting her at this point because he wants to prioritize those with children 2. Just telling her that he’s her son from the future

But this is Anakin, who often puts his emotions before his logic, and also really misses his mom. He is a dramatic mess who shows up at her door with a hood to hide his face, says something dramatic but with like... whatever code makes it clear that he used to be a slave and is there for that business, and tells her “here, my teenage apprentice can distract your son while we talk.”

And they sit down, Anakin feeling very awkward, and then he just... takes her hands and lets her feel him in the Force because I imagine Shmi was at least a little Force-Sensitive, if only because it’s more convenient for me if she is. Anakin proves that he is the future version of her adorable six-year-old, and he explains the choices and his plans, and Shmi firmly tells him that if he’s a Jedi now, and doesn’t have an official obligation back on Coruscant, then he can help a LOT more people by staying on Tatooine and joining a freedom trail of some sort. People need help, there’s no war to fight, and Anakin can do as much good freelancing at home as he could going back to Official Jedi Work. She’ll stay to help since she’s got more contacts than he does.

Anakin’s like “yes, absolutely, I will do whatever you say” because he can’t say no to Mom.

They have to come up with a cover story for Anakin and Anakin having the same exact name, especially once Little Ani grows up enough to look like his older self, so Shmi and Anakin work out a plan to claim that she once had a younger brother named Anakin, whom she was separated from years ago, when the brother was a child and she was a teenager. She heard through the grapevine that he’d died, and a few years later had a child that she named after the little brother, as one does. Turns out the little brother isn’t dead, he was freed and joined an army of some sort, got married and picked up an apprentice, and is now back on Tatooine to Free His Sister (and also everyone else).

The “I am my own uncle” cover story will not hold up without Shmi’s full involvement, which is fine because Shmi is willing to play hardball in this situation. Big Anakin is a trained Jedi and war general, and Rex is very good at logistics, and Ahsoka’s a sneaky little shit. They are a great addition to the network of freedom trails on Tatooine, especially since the mix of skills they have is pretty much guaranteed to provide a solid cover for a lot of what they do. Anakin is an expert mechanic, Ahsoka is good enough to proudly claim to be his apprentice, and Rex’s logistic management of the paperwork is good enough to hide a lot of the more secret money that flows through once Hutt Tax People show up.

Running a space mechanic shop means it’s really easy to excuse basically any large ship that stops by. That freighter is just here to get a tune-up, sir! It’s definitely spice they’re hiding in the secret cargo holds, not three dozen escaped sentients.

We have all this medical equipment because of the number of burns we get welding things into place, or the incidents where someone slips and gets cut on a saw. Definitely not there for removing slave chips.

Those shipping manifests are definitely just here so we can project our possible income in the next few seasons by guessing who’s going to be coming through the city, and not us trying to figure out how many of Jabba’s goons we can sabotage without getting caught.

[youarejesting]

BTS365 Prompts

[Masterlist]

Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

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        April 30th - 6th

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Kim Seokjin: No pants

Jin was currently working on a large project. It was a delicate thing he was producing truly from the heart. He had been planning this for weeks gathering some tools for the job from various sources. He set up his live stream ready to show the Army what he was creating. So there he was slaving away sweat collecting across his brow. He was exhausted but he continued showing the Army how his ideas and processes formed together. And that’s how you found him, no pants with such precise hand motions,  he was really working up a sweat. 

“Why are you doing That on a live stream?”

“Shush, I'm almost there,” he panted now using both hands, for the grand finale.

“Can I help?” You said thinking it would definitely end this whole show a lot quicker.

“Yes!” His voice cried out, throwing his hands up in the air excited. “I did it.”

“Congratulations you made pancakes”

“These aren’t just pancakes, I got them the same size five or take a millimetre or two and stacked them perfectly” He grinned proud

“That’s a pretty neat skill Jin, you should take a photo” You reached for your camera but as you looked back up he was cutting into them and eating happily.

Min Yoongi: Space

“Hey Yoongi do you have a piece of paper?”

“Yeah rip one out from any of those books” He sighed and you walked over to the small pile when you found a children's notebook, this one had a rocket ship on it and you opened it up towards the middle to rip out a page cleanly, but there was some roughly scrawled words. 

I wish I could go to space camp. But Mum and Dad can’t afford it. It’s okay if I don’t go, we can have fun on our own. Love Min Yoongi

Your heart melted and you closed the book without paper and you googled the nearest space camp and you told the other boys that it was for Yoongi’s birthday, they seemed rather excited packing their things and you packed for Yoongi and yourself. You had hired out the facility to run a camp for the group and some camera men this was something that the Army couldn’t miss.

Jung Hoseok: Free  

Waking excited Hoseok went for a shower and brushed his hair. He dressed and shined his shoes. Today was the day and he was so excited.

“Jung Hoseok?”

“Yes sir” He smiled at the entry, the door slid open and he was escorted through the building and down to an office. There was a mountain of paperwork to sign and when he was done they handed him another change of clothes.

He was so happy his fingers caressing the fabric of his favorite shirt. He was quick to change and they smiled. He was nervous, walking out the front door and the gate opened slowly and there you were waiting for him on the other side.

His little pregnant wife. He held you in his arms and kissed your face all over dropping to his knees and whispering to your round belly.

“I am so glad to have you back”

“J-hope!” The boys shouted running in their shirts reading. ‘Enjoy your Freedom!’

“Did you get any cool prison tattoos?”

“No I didn’t it was only three months guys”

Kim Namjoon: May the 4th be with you  

You were at a convention dressed as Queen Padmé Amidala you felt self conscious about your stomach being on show and the tight outfit. That was until you walked into a very elaborate dark figure. 

“Oh sorry I wasn’t watching where I was going. I really like your outfit wow, this is honestly the best Darth Vader I have seen” You smiled admiring the work that had been put into it and they still didn’t speak. 

“Oh my gosh can I get a photo of you both” someone asked and you smiled and the two of you posed together and you had soon gathered a crowd people taking pictures and asking for you to act out scenes and soon a Yoda appeared painted green and grinning, alongside a gold shiny C-3PO a chewbacca and a tiny dog dressed as R2D2. Everyone was getting pictures when you heard. “Can we get a kiss?”

“Anakin takes off your mask, you put a lot of work into replicating the character” The Yoda whispered to the tall dark figure.

“But she is so pretty and I am a nerd”

“Dude she is a nerd too, she is dressed as a star wars character at a convention full of nerds”

The crowd was cheering as C-3PO was doing a very amazing Robot dance choreography. Along came a broad shouldered man dressed up as slave Princess leia, a very lethargic Han Solo and a smiling Luke skywalker.

“Take of the mask Anakin” the Yoda and the chewbacca lifted the mask and revealed a very handsome Anakin you heard some whispers about him being asain so he didn’t look like the character but you thought he was even more handsome.

“Kiss, Kiss, Kiss” The crowd chanted and he looked up at you with a blush across his cheeks and you pulled gently on the front of his costume until his lips met yours. His friends started cheering as did the crowd and you pulled out a small piece of paper from your pocket and wrote down your number and a quick message before you walked away.

“What does it say?”

“May the fourth be with you” He chuckled and you heard a laugh that reminded you of a weird clown or horse wiping down some windows.

Park Jimin: Herb  @anaiss97​ [Full story] Not much was known about the young Korean man who showed up to all the parties. All anyone knew was that he was the biggest flirt and he had the herbs everyone wanted. Honestly, it didn’t matter what you wanted he had it somehow. You were at one of these parties, it wasn’t really your scene. 

Usually, you had no problem but tonight you really just couldn’t. So you were trying to find a place to get a quick nap, you opened the first door to see the Host with his boyfriend chatting quietly.

“Sorry I was looking for a place to rest”

Seokjin smiled “You can have the room or perhaps if you want we can entertain you?” 

The two smirked and you blushed once more. “No I really am tired and want to sleep, I was working on a thesis all night last night and–”

“Say no more sweetheart, rest” you climbed into the blankets, Seokjin switched the light off and you were resting drifting off easily. ~ The light switch flicked on and even with your eyes closed you felt blinded. You couldn’t stop the harsh shriek that pierced the air. “What? What is it now!?” 

“I am sorry” the voice was soft and unrecognizable as its owner switched the lights back off, “Can I sit for a moment?”

“Sure” you mumbled laying back down, you could smell the stranger’s beautiful cologne and you got curious. “Turning your phone on and using the light of your lock screen to examine the stranger's face”

Ash-blonde hair painted on the side, he smiled wetting his thick lips with his tongue. 

“Ah it’s you” dropping your arm back to the bed no longer feeling uncomfortable, all the encounters you had with him were pleasant, he always used endearments because he never remembered names. 

“You know me, baby?” He took his phone and repeated your process to stream a soft light over your face. “Oh my, baby it is you, what are you doing in here sleeping your usually the brightest in the room”

“Thesis” you mumbled and he hummed taking your hand. 

“Hey listen how about I make you an offer tonight you can ask for anything you want and I will give it to you for half price if I don’t have it I will give you the next best thing for free” the lamp beside the bed was clicked on giving a soft orange glow throughout the room. 

“You got fried chicken?” You hummed looking over at him curiously you were craving it. He opened his jacket. 

“I got a warm meatball sub, a packet of lollipops a container of home-cooked spaghetti, I got spare underwear in all different sizes this is a set of slippers when your feet get sore in heels, juice, mixers spirits I got herbs for days this one will make you happy this one calms you down this one here has you seeing pretty colors this one has you asleep till morning, this is my house special it takes like a cinnamon donut” he looked over. You shook your head and he sighed lifting a gym bag onto the bed, “alright brace yourself, I got spare clothes, ramyeon packets, a scented candle, batteries pet food, I have painkillers, cold medicine, I have this thing which I think was an Easter egg, I got a 3DS, a switch and a variety of games, I got a can of tomato soup, yet no can opener weird, I got a heat pack, I got this adult diaper and I don’t know why, and a spiderman comic”

“No” you sighed

“Tell me what you want and if I know I don’t have it it’s free” he hummed 

“I want a cuddle?”

Kim Taehyung: Thirst

Owner of the club ‘Thirst’ was just a front business, you were actually a hacker. A good one, if you were feeling like bragging. You were kind of in hiding and couldn’t really trust anyone you didn’t know before the incident. Who knew your skills with a computer would lead to a government website which you breached enough for them to call it treason.

You were just snooping around the dark web when you stumbled upon documents of some truly disgusting things one of them actually made you physically ill. But your computer system began screaming at you that they were reverse tracking your baby. It wouldn’t be easy, you had a unique code and half of it was utter nonsense. Saying goodbye to your baby. You destroyed everything on it. Packed everything and left. Thank god you had done everything card less, you worked for cash you paid cash and you did some shady business with people so that you would never be traced.

You moved just in case and started a front business so that in the event anything happened you would have an alibi.

“Manager-nim the computer is doing something funny, can you call the technician?” Yoongi called quietly, the guy was a terrible ‘people’ person , an excellent DJ and an expert in mixing cocktails.

“I can have a look” You smiled

“No manager last time you almost broke the computers, you don’t understand them like we do” Hoseok pushed you away from the registers and subsequently the computers attached to them.

“Manager you just boss us around okay, that's your job and we will follow your orders as it is our job”

“Manager-nim, you have a young man in your office waiting for his job interview.” Jimin cleaned the tables dressed in a charming club aesthetic. His job was to clean tables and lead people into buying more drinks. A host.

The man in your office was handsome like your main host Seokjin and charming as Jimin. Your bouncer Namjoon stepped in briefly giving you a courtesy greeting alongside the new trainee Jungkook he had potential especially with all those muscles. All your workers doubled as bouncers; they all had their strengths.

“So Kim Taehyung is it, what makes you want to be a host at thirst?”

“I really want to make friends and I can’t flirt with girls. What I mean is I can if it is for work but I can’t just do it on my own so I would like to gain more confidence” You nodded, it was all lies you had searched him thoroughly, he worked for the government more specifically the Cyber coordinator and he was here to gather Intel.

This was going to be fun.

Jeon Jungkook: Nurse

Nurse Jeon. Yup that title gave him a lot of grief from his friends and he hated it, just cause he was a man didn’t mean he couldn’t be a nurse. Sure he aimed to be a doctor, but things didn’t work out and he wasn’t accepted into medical school, so he aimed a little lower and became a Nurse.

In his opinion he was a kick-ass nurse, he worked in the Pediatric ward and spent most of his time bringing smiles to the kid's faces, he made his rounds with ice creams and cups of pudding and jelly. He sang and danced for the kids and played superheroes and he was always Ironman. The highlight of his day was when the doctors would do their rounds, not only did he admire them and their job so much he admired you and how brilliant and beautiful you were.

“Oh Aera, look at this little tool, do you know what it does? It lets me listen to your heartbeat, would you like to listen to mine first?” The young girl nodded “Wow you are a pro at this you could be a doctor when you are older”

“Doctor Y/N, Do you have a boyfriend?”

“Uh... No, why do you have someone in mind?” You grinned

“Nurse Jeon” she smiled and you giggled 

“He is cute isn’t he, but I get nervous around boys and I can’t really talk to them and Nurse Jeon is really handsome, what if he doesn’t like me?”

“He does, he told us when he got drunk off chocolate puddings” a young teen in the corner nursing his swollen cheeks after dental surgery. Jungkook was making extreme hand gestures at the young boy smirking across the room. “This was before he announced he was Iron man and ran around the room pretending to shoot lasers from his hands and making all the shooting sounds”

“Well if he is Ironman than we must be destined to be together, Ironman is my favorite superhero”

[legobiwan]

Whumptober #1 (shaking hands)

TW: functional alcoholism

Fandom: Star Wars (Obi-wan Kenobi)

Notes: this is kind of experimental, guys

--------

His hands shake. 

Fatigue. Overused muscles. Drawing on an already-depleted reservoir of adrenaline, just one last time. 

A simple explanation, really.

Obi-wan brings the metal flask to his lips, drawing deep. Liquid fire burns a path down his throat, pooling at the base of his empty stomach. Sharp, ragged edges give way to a quiet, consistent thrum.

A crisis. Florrum had been a crisis. 

Obi-wan knows how to handle a crisis, how to stay steady as everything else falls apart, how to cleave the unnecessary fat of his emotions from the meaty, immediate task at hand.

He can handle a crisis. Perhaps even enjoys them. The cold logic of it, the way they leave no room for thinking, for emotion, for contemplation. Pure mechanics, even in the context of diplomacy. Press here, compliment there, a knowing nod and a well-placed chuckle and everything fell into place.

Obi-wan Kenobi was a master at crisis. 

But every storm eventually dies out, worn down by the elements, by time itself. 

He doesn’t have the luxury of falling apart. Not now.

Not ever.

His hands shake.

It’s a terrible manifestation, this loss of control, of his locus in the Force, a bright-lit sign, just like those ones in the Entertainment District. It shouts his failures at all who pass, showcasing his buried doubts, flashing in garish neon lights for each tourist, each drunk, each criminal, each passer-by - that he has never been enough.

Obi-wan takes another sip. The world warms from grey to sepia.

It's just something to take the edge off, he tells himself, his invisible critics. Something to round the sharp edges of the after.

A quick nip, hidden in a corner of the Temple, ashes of his dead Master still clinging to his robes. The first few months, a frantic blur, shuttling a small blond ball of energy from class to quartermaster to meetings to...

He hadn’t felt good about leaving Anakin with the Chancellor. But he had been desperate for the respite, unwilling to extend himself, to ask for support, lest he been seen as incapable.

Qui-gon had deemed him, if nothing else, capable. He would not fail his former Master in that. 

And so what else could he do but acquiesce, to allow the most powerful politician in the Republic to have his way?

(You could have done more. You could have accepted the invitations from the others. Instead you demurred, claiming a need to meditate, to catch up on paperwork, to perfect your Form III.)

Sometimes, it was the truth. Other times, he snuck down to the mid-levels, broad hood hiding his red-faced shame, long sleeves covering shaking hands, shaking hands, which, with enough help, would turn steady as he forgot, as his stubborn brain produced the chemicals necessary to remember what it was like to be...)

His hands were always steady as he stepped into the turbolift, racing back to the grand halls of the Senate, Anakin’s grin as wide as a desert canyon.  

Obi-wan needed that anchor, that control. 

(Meeting with the Chancellor always left his Padawan in a state. Recalcitrant and proud, unwilling to follow the simplest of Obi-wan’s dictates. He wasn’t capable of being a tyrant, didn’t have the unshakable confidence in his own moral code as Qui-gon had. All he could do was fall back on what he knew, on what others had provided for him, for the Order, over the years.)

The Code, did not waver, did not shake in the face of questions.

The Code remained steady when he couldn’t.

There was another way, of course. His hands had been steady in the red shadow of the reactor shaft. His hands had not wavered in the face of Dooku’s silky temptations. 

(If only his thoughts had been of equal fidelity.) 

Not a single tremor on Mortis. No tremble of an outstreched, pathetic arm on Zygerria, laid low on his knees, begging for the salvation of another. (Never his own.)

(Later, aboard the safety of the Star Destroyer, he would hole up in a forgotten cargo hold, his only company a ratty blanket, several generous bottles of Corellian whiskey, and the stern glare of a good friend. Cody, true to his word, had kept his disapproving silence, taking a place next to Obi-wan on the unforgiving durasteel floor, bottle dancing back and forth between their hands (Obi-wan’s steady hands) well into the night.)

Falling apart had not been a luxury during the Rako Hardeen debacle, and on Raydonia - 

Not once had his hand wavered on Raydonia. His thoughts had stumbled, his ribs had pulsed in an unrelenting ache, blood seeping from his right ear, the jagged tear in his lip screaming at nerves - 

But his hands had not shaken as they held Ventress’s lightsaber.

Then again, rage did much to focus one’s thoughts.

He remembered it from Naboo, the way the Force coalesced, a single point in his subconscious, a weapon of his will, his gathered ire, barely able to wait, yearning to be unleashed on its target.

Maul’s survival had served as odd comfort. For as much as he had been disgusted by his own descent into that well of hatred, it had been mere child’s play in comparison to Maul’s unrelenting rage, an anger so deep, so broken in the Force that it had allowed him to survive, bisected, stranded in a garbage heap, for years.

Maul’s hands, Obi-wan had noticed, never shook.

Cool metal meets his lips. Obi-wan takes another gulp, the cheap, barely diluted liquid razing what is left of his esophagus. 

Maul had razed Raydonia, too, burning it, fires towering, swallowing, suffocating what little life had been left as witness to his terror.

Pain gives focus. Focus, as Obi-wan knows all too well, is central to the life of a Jedi, to his relationship with the Force. He briefly wonders if this is how it is with the Sith, if they torture and maim and kill by means of a million small cuts as a way to focus.

It’s disgusting, a perversion of everything meant to be be good in the galaxy.

It’s also highly effective.

The battle on Florrum shouldn’t have him so distracted. Unlike Raydonia, unlike Naboo, unlike Geonosis, he knew what - who - awaited him on that dusty backwater.

And yet it still hadn’t been enough.

Not for Adi Gallia.

His hands had been steady. But his eyes had widened, unable tear themselves away from the gruesome image of Adi’s skewered, smoking corpse. His hands had not wavered as he leapt from the fallen speeder, vision filtered through the crimson blade at the side of the enemy, his body, his thoughts steel as he landed a single kick at Savage, his own blue weapon raised to cleave the bastard in two.

Hate, anger, fear - it wasn’t that a Jedi never felt these emotions. They were sentients, and even Yoda himself manifested moments of irritation, the closest to any negative emotion the old troll had likely come close to in many years.

It was part of their training, to familiarize themselves with these negative thoughts, to identify their triggers, to understand what was at the heart of that ball of anger, to be able to pull at the thread which would undo the dangerous tangle in a single motion.

Or, that’s what it should be. What he tried to teach Anakin, tried to communicate to Ahsoka. 

That’s what he should have done for himself years ago.

Instead, that knot of unpleasantness only grew, threads multiplying, sprouting, decaying, only to rise again, twice as terrible, twice as tangled. And each time Obi-wan shoved the whole ugly shape into his metaphorical closet, shaking hands the only indication anything had been at all wrong, slamming the door shut with a silent curse and a deft movement to his belt.

Enough alcohol locked the whole thing away, buried under layers of thick, woolen denial

Better quality than the blankets we receive from the Republic, he had mused once, fingering the standard-issue military fabric draped over his knees.

Obi-wan reached for the flask stationed on the floor. Nearly steady now.

His hands had not shaken as they brandished the dual weapons - his own and Adi’s. Backed against a wall, at impossible odds, the image of a fallen body playing on repeat -

He had been confident, steady as he jumped onto the back of Hondo’s speeder, even as his growing unease wrested against the heavy locked door. He had not shaken as he excused himself to one of Hondo’s last intact holding cells, stopping by the abandoned bar to swipe several bottles of alcohol likely made in some ‘fresher still.

A precautionary measure. He had felt fine, good even. Steady, focused in the Force.

Perhaps this time he had been able to banish that knot once and for all.

And then the closet burst open.

He nearly dropped the bottles - once, twice, three times. Only with the minor application of the Force had he been able to open the damned things, bringing the aperture to his lips, his swallows as desperate as those of a man stranded in the desert.

It had been an hour. Maybe two. He would need to report to the Council. Make arrangements for transport back to Republic space - for both himself and Adi’s body, he thought grimly.

Obi-wan lifted an arm.

Steady.

No tremor, no spasms. Not even a twitch.

Crimson threads gathered, contorting, a haphazard weave of guilt, anger, and sadness - no pattern, meaning, no reason why. 

(You know why, Kenobi).

Strong hands grabbed the traitorous little ball, shoving it to the back of the closet once again, the heavy door slamming shut with a dangerous finality.

Steady hands turned the lock as long, confident fingers cast the key far into the ether of his own mind.

Somehow, it always came back.

Hands. His hands. Which did not shake, did not waver - reached for the communicator buried in his utility belt.

Obi-wan sat straight. His vision remained fuzzy, his mind a delicate balance of temporary, blunted euphoria and rigid logic.

It would have to do for now.

With a sigh, he pressed the activator.

“This is General Kenobi…"

[fixaidea]

‘So… Senior Jiang*… you’re not a Jedi. But what are you?’

The man smiled and shrugged.

‘I’m me. For all the Jedi claim not to deal in absolutes, their world is awfully black and white.’

‘But you’re not a Sith, right?’ Anakin blurted out before his brain could even formulate the phrase ‘no one in their right mind would answer that honestly’.

Senior Jiang blinked, huffed and threw his head back, laughing.

‘No way, no! No one needs that sort of stress!’

‘What are those?’ Giza asked quietly ‘I’ve heard about the Jedi before, but not those?’

Senior Jiang pulled a face.

‘A cult. A literal cult, is what they are. They use what they call the Dark Side of the Force, so strong passion and negative energy which… well, that can work fine, but they are also bloody well convinced that they personally are the centre of the whole damn universe, which should by all rights worship them. But, see, the universe can only have so many centres, there’s a good reason why there’s only two of them at any given time.’

Giza sniggered.

‘What, really?’

‘You think I’m exaggerating, but it’s literally in their code. It wasn’t always like that, but they kept backstabbing each other, so in the end they decided to pretend it’s all on purpose.’

Anakin shook his head.

‘You still know an awful lot about them. Have you ever met one?’

Expression slightly more serious, Senior Jiang nodded.

‘Actually, yes. Bloke called Darth Maul, tried to recruit me. I hear he died, didn’t he?’ he shrugged again ‘Unnerving fellow. Also very boring. World domination this, world domination that, who would even want that? I have enough trouble managing a single garden, what would I do with the whole world? Just imagine the paperwork!’

*Wei, actually, using the first name that popped into his mind as a cover

[cienie-isengardu]

Anakin and Clone Troopers in Legends sources [2002-2005], part II

previous part: Anakin and Clone Troopers in Legends sources [2002 - 2005], part I

I talked before how Anakin’s POV presented in Legends books wasn’t often focused at situation of clone troopers, nor gave specific details about his personal relationship with them while narrative itself provided examples how Skywalker is usually the first (sometimes the only one) person to act to protect troopers during fight. In contrast to him, in Labyrinth of Evil or ROTS novel Obi-Wan’s POV is full of thoughts about clone troopers yet he rarely do anything to help them in need. What of course does not mean that one cares more than other and it’s more about limited space to show the readers the full extent of the relationship between Jedi and clones, especially in the face of more urgent events.

Jedi Trial is one of few sources that allows us to see Anakin without Kenobi for a longer period of time during war. This is very important story, mainly because Skywalker is still a padawan who wants to prove himself as a real Jedi and commander, even though Council is still against knighting him. Jedi Trial was written by David Sherman and Dan Cragg and was published in 2004. Both authors served in military, and I think they did good job with presenting Anakin’s first real steps as commander of GAR.

Before I focus at the details, I want to clarify one thing. The biggest problem with the novel is that, it was supposed to be set somewhere in second year of Clone Wars, what A) leaves little time for Anakin to became a respected commander on his own, not to mention gaining the title of Hero With No Fear and B) makes little sense overall, because Anakin fought the war since day one and by that alone he should have at least basic of military experiences by now. Also, after two years fighting alongside clone troopers, I think any person would made some connection with them. Frankly, I always thought that Jedi Trial was (should be) set in earlier period of time, because there is little informations that give the feeling of such gap in timeline. It’s why I see this story as study of Anakin’s military career and the beginning of his relationship with clones that should happened sooner than in second year of war.

Keeping that in mind, here is short summary: Kenobi was sent on special mission - Anakin, as padawan, stayed in Jedi Temple to train and study military strategies, where he very quickly befriended Jedi Master Nejaa Halcyon. Soon after that Jedi Council have chosen Halcyon to lead attack on Praesitlyn. When he was asked whom he wants as his second-in-command, he decided to take Anakin. Council wasn’t happy to hear that but Halcyon’s practical arguments changed their mind. To make sure the younger padawan will manage as a commander, Nejaa hired befriended Rodian mercenery, Grudo. From onward, the Rodian soldier (in the rank of sergeant major) accompanied and advised commander Skywalker through the course of story.

Due to length, I splitted the text into two parts. First is focused mainly at Jedi & GAR preparations for upcoming campaign (Anakin as freshly promoted commander) while second will focus on Skywalker during battles. Clone troopers unfortunately aren’t main heroes (the way captain Rex is in TCW, for example) but their presence is visible and has impact on Anakin. But to show it in fully, I’m gonna bring some other paragraphs too. Which is why the text grew in length so much.

So, let’s see how the story played:

 Anakin, Halcyon and Grudo were busy with preparation for upcoming battle:

The next days passed in a whirlwind of activity. The two Jedi and their Rodian comrade soon began to work as a well-oiled team. Grudo followed Anakin everywhere, interjecting advice whenever appropriate, but otherwise not saying much. The clone infantry had been divided among several transports, in order to minimize their losses if a ship was hit, so the trio were kept busy moving among the ships. At night they met in Halcyon's stateroom to go over the details of the day.

One evening, Halcyon asked Anakin, "Are you familiar with the capabilities of the specialized troopers?" He was referring to the fifty clone commandos aboard the battle cruiser Teyr.

Anakin nodded, clone commandos were trained to be used for only the most dangerous missions, and as such were bred to possess a larger degree of independent thought and action than ordinary troopers. Equipped with highly advanced armor and weapons, they were capable of fighting successfully on their own, but with a Jedi commander their potential as an attack force was virtually unlimited.

"They're yours, then," Halcyon told him. "Take Grudo, go over to the Teyr, and get to know them."

Surprised and pleased, Anakin wasted no time getting a shuttle to the cruiser.

Earlier, he had taken charge of his division, met with his brigade, battalion, and company commanders, introduced himself to the troopers, inspected them in ranks, and asked probing questions about their armor, equipment, and weapons. Grudo had had him bone up on these things and read the readiness reports the division's commanders had submitted.

"You're their leader," he had said. "Soldiers don't respect a commander who doesn't know their weapons, equipment, and tactics better than they do. But remember this: all the clones are like brothers-twin brothers-and all clones think they're the best. They work best under their own officers; they wouldn't fight under me. Under you, yes, of course-you're a Jedi. But although they respect you as a Jedi, now you must show them they can respect you as a soldier like them. You have to show them before we go into battle that you know what you're doing."

Anakin had done his best, and Grudo had been impressed with his handling of the troops. Now, as he headed for the Teyr, he was feeling more confident, eager to meet the clone commandos who were to be his to command.

First, I really like how the book, in contrast to some others, doesn’t point time after time that troopers in question are clones. Nejaa, Anakin and Grudo refer to them the same way they would address “normal born” people. Which is pretty nice details that also works nicely with TCW books (”My men”)

Anakin is freshly appointed commander but he already has some knowledge about structures of GAR. He knows basic differences between common trooper and clone commando, including more independent characters of specialized troopers.

Skywalker spent a lot time before the battle on meeting with troopers (”he had taken charge of his division, met with his brigade, battalion, and company commanders, introduced himself to the troopers, inspected them in ranks”) and getting to know as much as possible about their equipment and weaponary (”asked probing questions about their armor, equipment, and weapons.”) but also study paperwork (”Grudo had had him bone up on these things and read the readiness reports the division's commanders had submitted.”). The last part is interesting because how often we hear about Jedi reading readiness reports or other stuff? I mean, Council usually is listening to someone giving report from the battle or after, but reading itself? There is so little information about paperwork in GAR, that clone troopers are doing apparently.

The older Jedi decided to give command over Republic Commandos to Anakin. Since Council is all the time against knighting Skywalker, it’s no surprise that Nejaa’s trust is so pleasing to him. This and Grudo’s praise for handling the troopers made Anakin much more confident in his own skills.

Also, Grudo doesn’t just praise him, he also gives important advices to Anakin. Clones will do what he will order because he is Jedi, but that does not give him automatically their respect. He must prove them he is worth soldier respect, that he is commander who knows what he is doing. Which is something that Anakin took to heart.

The captain in charge of the commandos called them to attention when Anakin entered their bay.

Anakin traded salutes with the captain. "At ease!" he commanded. He spread his legs slightly and clasped his hands behind his back as he scanned the soldiers before him. There were two sergeants in the group, judging by the green markings on their armor.

"I am Commander Anakin Skywalker," he began. "You have been assigned to the Second Division, which I command. You will serve as part of my headquarters battalion, under my personal direction. Captain, you will not report to or receive orders from any other officer during this campaign. I will assign you missions as required by the tactical situation on Praesitlyn. I will not ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself. Is that clear?"

"Arrrrruuuhh!" the troopers shouted in unison, coming to attention with a loud slamming of boots on the deck. The compartment echoed with their shouts.

The captain permitted himself a slight smile. "My troopers are ready, sir!" he reported.

Anakin glanced at Grudo, whose face was pulled down in the Rodian smile. "Captain, have the troopers fall out and fall in by their assigned bunks. I wish to inspect their armor, weapons, and equipment."

Anakin spent the rest of the night inspecting the troopers. He found no dust, grease, or dirty weapons. Throughout the inspection, the captain followed Anakin with a datapad at the ready, but he was never told to enter anything.

On the way back to the Ranger, Grudo leaned over and told Anakin, "You did a good job with that inspection. You looked at everything you should, and weren't petty, like some might have been. The troopers appreciate that. They'll fight well for you, I can tell."

Feeling his chest swell with pride and excitement, Anakin swiftly ran through the Jedi Code in his mind: There is no emotion; there is peace... A Jedi does not act for personal power... He was here to do a job-and what was more, a job that would cost soldiers their lives. He would do well to remember his training, he told himself. He was a Jedi, and he would do the Order proud. Taking a deep breath, he reached out to the Force, seeking serenity...

The first meeting between Anakin and the clone commandos who are gonna serve under his command went well. Grudo praised Skywalker for that he “looked at everything you should, and weren't petty, like some might have been” during inspection.

Looking how “The captain permitted himself a slight smile”, I think the leader of commandos shared Grudo’s opinion as well.

What is also interesting, we see Anakin (Jedi commander) trading salutes with the captain. Frankly, I’m not sure if any movie or animated series showed something like that - beside one scene with Kanan and old captain Rex. Comics sources aren’t better in that matter. Usually clone troopers, if ever, are meet with Jedi-like bow of head. It’s nice detail, because Anakin (the Jedi) adapted into military regulation (custom) that clone troopers use on daily basis. Even the pose “at easy” he took after salute is very military-like (albeit he keep similar pose during AotC). I guess, those little details add authenticity to Rex’s words how Anakin,  despite being Jedi, feel like true soldier.

Grudo’s praise is a source of pride and excitement; what kind of 20 years old human wouldn’t feel so good in Anakin’s place? At the same time, Skywalker is keeping himself as calm as possible, because war is not a game, and soon many troopers may die because of his orders. Even though Council distrust him for years, he still wants make Jedi Order proud.

After that we have a scene in which old Quartermaster is telling commander Skywalker in great details about logistic.

I talked more about it here, but I feel it’s worth to mention that A) Anakin is trying to get hold of all aspects of how army is working and takes seriously duties of commander - not just the planning battles and leading people into fight. Which I think is much more than Jedi commanders / generals usually did. Or at least, we rarely see them worrying about logistics or anything beside the battle itself. Most likely the clone commanders are the one who take care of such matters. Anakin (as Jedi officer) may be one of few exceptions to rule, and most likely he continues doing so since preparation for Praesitlyn. What may brings him closer to clone troopers, as a Jedi who fullfill all commander duties, not only those battle-related. The final advice of Grudo is that:

"Don't be the kind of commander who leaves the details to others," Grudo had warned him. He wouldn't.

So, Skywalker’s preparation before battle is summed by this:

In fact, Anakin had been a phenomenally quick study in the art of command, throwing himself into the task every waking hour of each day the fleet was in transit. He had immersed himself enthusiastically in all aspects of military management, as well.

Now, let’s see how he (and clone troopers) were doing during getting to and settling on Praesitlyn.

Anakin paced the bridge of the Neelian, clenching and unclenching his fists as he observed the battle cruisers deploy into attack formation. "I should be out there with them," he muttered.

"No, you belong here," Grudo answered. "That's the plan; everyone agreed to it-you agreed. Commanders, too, must follow orders. Once the battle plan is approved, everyone must follow his or her orders. That way, everything works according to the plan. Please, sit. You're making the crew nervous."

At that moment Captain Luhar, the Neelian’s captain, glanced up at Anakin. He patted the gravity couch beside him. "Commander, have a seat."

Reluctantly, Anakin lowered himself onto the couch. "I hate just sitting here," he grumbled.

“You'll have action soon enough," Luhar replied. He was sure about Anakin, whom he felt might be too young and inexperienced--Jedi or not-to be second in command of a fleet. He hoped that nothing would happen to General Halcyon. "Increase magnification," he ordered his navigator. Immediately the Ranger came into sharp focus on the viewscreens. "She's a beautiful little ship," Luhar said.

One of the biggest difficulties for commander Skywalker was sitting and waiting, while others were fighting. Which most likely was mix of his natural impulsiveness & loyalty AND the fact that from the start of war he fought on first line of fire. The feeling he should be fighting alongside soldiers instead of sitting in relative safety may never have left him for good. But at the same time, Anakin was trying hard to adjust to new position, to prove his young age and inexperience will not handicapped him.

Anakin needed to prove himself to troopers and experienced military commander alike. Like we can see with Luhar, the captain did have valid reason to be worry about serving under such young second-in-command of fleet. It wasn’t anything personally, really, but the military (non cloned) officers had their objection to serve with Jedi commanders and generals. Frankly, the same can be said about admiral Yularen from The Clone Wars animated series. I’m really glad for such details.

Luhar nodded. "It's a strong defensive formation, sir. But we'll break it by lining up in a column three ships abreast and attacking at speed. Our ships will concentrate on one side of the square at the same time, in echelon, like a set of moving stairs, to bring the concentrated firepower of our entire battle fleet to bear against that one sector. That's when we go in. Once we're through, we'll disperse the remaining enemy vessels and destroy them individually. Have you ever been in a battle fleet engaged against an enemy, sir?" They'd been over this plan innumerable times, but he knew Anakin would be comforted discussing it again, only minutes before it was to be put into action.

Anakin nodded. "Yes," he said, "but not from the bridge, not watching everything unfold. I got this-" He tapped his prosthesis. "-in individual combat. Have you ever gone one-on-one against someone who was out to kill you, Captain? Have you ever killed anyone up close?"

"Can't say as I have. It's the commander's job to get others to do the killing, not to go in and do it himself."

Anakin shot him a look, suddenly annoyed with the captain - from his tone, it seemed to the young Jedi that he didn't consider individual combat much above the level of starship pilots brawling in a tavern.

The officer was trying his best to comfort / be nice for (too young in his opinion) commander Skywalker, yet Luhar’s comment (attitude) about individual combat (scars/injures) annoyed Anakin.

I think we may all agree that comment “It's the commander's job to get others to do the killing, not to go in and do it himself.” is an opposite of Skywalker’s style of leadership.

Anakin concentrated on controlling himself. Drawing on his Jedi training, he slowed his heartbeat and made himself relax. He knew he shouldn't have taken Captain Luhar's remark so personally. It was only natural for these older military professionals to question his ability to command them: they had minds of their own and a long list of campaigns to prove their coolness in combat. He would just have to prove he could do it. He deepened his breathing, forced the tension out of his muscles, and put all troubling thoughts out of his mind. Now he could more clearly observe the activity on the bridge. The crew were going about their duties quietly, with the confidence born of long experience. He switched his viewing console to cover the deployment formation of his transports. They stretched out in columns far behind the Neelian. Escort ships, alert for any approaching danger, cruised about the periphery of the transport columns in apparently aimless courses, but Anakin knew that the commanders of those ships were actually very carefully patrolling their assigned sectors, alert for any approaching danger. Even if they totally destroyed the enemy fleet-and that seemed inevitable now-if anything happened to the troop transports, the expedition would be a total failure.

Instead of arguing with captain Luhar, Anakin did his best to control himself. He accepted that older, more experiences commanders will question his ability to command them. This is a sign of maturity that some sources like to omit.

During space battle, general Halcyon was unable to oversee  Republic forces, so the responsibility for landing and securing area fell on Skywalker:

"The Ranger's been hit!" Anakin shouted. Everyone on the bridge started.

"I believe you're right." Captain Luhar leaned forward. Then he looked at Anakin. "Commander, that means-"

"Sir! Message from the Ranger. She reports her propulsion unit is damaged and they have been boarded. General Halcyon directs Commander Skywalker to assume command of the fleet and to commence deploying the landing force."

"Look there!" another crew member shouted. "She is being boarded." On the screens they could just make out a dim shape attached to the Ranger's stern. "There's another one."

"They're skirmisher ships," the captain announced. "The enemy commander's put them out in advance of his position to ambush us. Blasted things remained cloaked until they attacked. Comm, warn the rest of the fleet. Commander, shall I give the order to land the landing force?"

Anakin struggled to control his emotions. He was in charge now, and he would be every bit the commanding officer.

“Thank you, Captain. Please give the order to land the transports. Inform General Halcyon's deputy division commander that he is now in command of his division and, until further notice, I shall be field commander in place of General Halcyon." He turned to the Rodian. "Grudo, our troopers are ready for battle. Let us join them."

Anakin stood before the screen for a moment. Smoke, debris, pain, and fear-he could see it all. But Halcyon was alive and fighting. Anakin smiled. Too bad for you, boarders, he thought. He tried to send a thought to Halcyon: Good luck. As he and Grudo made their way back to the flight deck he realized how little he had used the Force since they'd set out from Coruscant.

Anakin works pretty good under pressure, or at least under pressure during battle. He believed in general Halcyon and wished him good luck via Force. Interestingly, since he set out from Coruscant he did use the Force little. So I guess, adjusting into his new role (military) was more absorbing than Jedi training.

He was planning - and did - join troopers as soon as it was possible.

Our troopers are ready for battle, commander Skywalker said to sergeant major Grudo.Once again, our troopers, the lack of “clone” is Anakin’s constant way to adress / think about clones.

Using ground-skimming navigation, Anakin expertly guided the troop landing craft, letting it roar along at a scant ten meters above the ground. Grudo sat strapped into the copilot's seat, gripping the armrests as Anakin delicately shifted the steering yoke just enough to clear the top of a hill that flashed beneath them. "Just missed that one, Grudo! Check our troopers, would you?" He was delighted to be flying the transport, and perversely amused that at last he'd found something that made the Rodian soldier nervous.

Glad to have an excuse to take his eyes off the terrain that was whipping past too close beneath them, Grudo slid the cabin door open and glanced back at the fifty clone troopers strapped into the troop compartment. They sat there calmly, silently, as if they were riding a bus to a picnic. The platoon commander glanced at Grudo and gave him the thumbs-up sign. Grudo turned back to Anakin.

"The troopers are doing well. Can you slow down a bit, or do you enjoy giving me heart failure?"

Anakin personally piloted the troop landing craft, to Grudo’s horror. To make it easy for Rodian soldier, Skywalker asked to check “our troopers”. The narration made it clear, all troopers were in fact clones. Like I said earlier, Anakin’s lack of emphasis on the world “clone” is interesting detail, especially compared to other characters like Obi-Wan.

Anakin’s task was done so it was time to meet Slayke:

The flag of the Republic wrapped around his neck, Zozridor Slayke leapt gracefully over the ramparts the labor droids were erecting and looked around. His heart raced. For almost as far as he could see the sky was full of landing craft; others, already landed in vast clouds of dust and sand, were disgorging squads of armored troopers. An older human male with brown mustaches and brilliant blue eyes looked up as Slayke approached and nodded to his companions, who appeared to be studying maps or plans. They turned as one and stared at the battle-scarred figure rapidly approaching, a huge grin on his face.

Slayke stopped before the older man, came to attention, and saluted him smartly. As his hand came up to his right brow at a rorry-five-degree angle a tiny cloud of dust puffed off his arm. “Captain Zozridor Slayke, commanding the force opposing the separatist invaders of Praesitlyn, sir. I hereby offer my full assistance in your campaign to liberate this world."

The older man, an embarrassed expression on his face, slowly returned Slayke's salute and said, "Well, I'm here to tell you!" He gestured at a Jedi standing next to a-a Rodian?

"Who is that?" Slayke asked, startled.

Anakin stepped into full view. "Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Captain Slayke. I'm in command of the landing force. This," he said, nodding at Grudo, "is my sergeant major. I am very pleased and honored to make your acquaintance. "

Slayke looked over at the older man he'd mistaken for the commander, but that gentleman shrugged.

"The Republic's so low on soldiers they're robbing the cradle now, eh? " Slayke slammed a fist into his thigh. A cloud of dust puffed up. "What was your name again, Jedi General?"

I kinda find it interesting that Anakin was accompanied just by quartermaster and sergeant major, not the higher ranked officers. Sadly, no clone commander either, but in time when the first clone wars books were written, clones rarely get much attention.

Of course, Skywalker’s young age become misleading and Slayke looked down on Republic, claiming it’s so low on soldiers to “robbing the cradle”. Side note, Ahsoka was much much younger than Anakin when she became commander. In a sense, Slayke was right, Republic sent much younger people in battles. Ahsoka most likely meet with a lot hostility for her (too) young age too. So this experience could give Anakin a better understanding of his future padawan.

"Anakin Skywalker, sir." Anakin bowed slightly at the waist. "And it's Commander, not General. Sir, I have heard a lot about you and am honored-"

"Look, Jedi Commander Anakin Skywalker, I have only about two thousand soldiers left of all those who landed here with me. We fought them hard and upset their plans. But you're honored? Don't talk to me of'honor,'Jedi. We're nothing but blood, guts, and sweat here and-" He shook his head as he looked over the landing force. "If there's anything more useless in this galaxy than a Jedi's brain, it's a clone trooper. They're one step above a droid-in fact, I'd prefer droids over these ugly clones anytime. You can't tell clones apart, and they all have the same personality."

Anakin tried to stay calm and polite, Slayke is not impressed. He insulted Jedi and had even lower opinion on clones. Called clone troopers useless, ugly, too-alike and a bit later in the same meeting, an army of test-tube soldiers.

Sadly, anti-clone sentiment is nothing new.

"Now, see here!" the older officer protested. "We've heard quite enough from you, Slayke. I'm here to tell you!"

"Who is this, since he's not the general?" Slayke asked Anakin.

"My quartermaster, Major Mess Boulanger."

Slayke roared with laughter and pointed a finger at Boulanger. "You mean I was dumb enough to try to report to a blasted box kicker? Oh, that's rich! Well, Major, rather you commanding this force than this beardless wonder here."

Anakin held up a hand. "Captain Slayke, right now I'm busy landing my troops. We're going to establish a defensive position. I suggest you remove your forces to this spot and consolidate with us. As soon as General Halcyon joins us--”

Slayke groaned and slapped his forehead. "Halcyon, did you say? Nejaa Halcyon? He's commanding this fleet?"

"Yessir. As soon as he joins us-"

Slayke laughed. He turned his eyes skyward and raised both arms over his head. "Why is this happening to me!"

"Captain, I know you and General Halcyon, er, had some, uh, differences once-"

"Oh, you do, do you, young beardless Jedi?" Slayke laughed louder. "I never met the man." He scowled. "I was too busy stealing his ship. So the best the vaunted Republic can do is send me a boy and a certifiable idiot with an army of-of - test-tube soldiers," he sneered.

"We'll do," Anakin said shortly, controlling his annoyance with effort.

"All right! All right!" Slayke held out both palms. "I'm going back to my troops. You see that slight rise over there? That's my command post. When General Halcyon gets here, you and him come on over and we'll talk I'm the one who's been fighting the droid army. You want to know what it's been like, you come on over and see me." With that, he spun on his heel and stomped off. Whew," one of the officers standing nearby sighed. "He's what we call a hard case where I come from."

"Well," Anakin answered slowly, "he has been through a lot. Did you hear what he said? He only has two thousand soldiers left of the army that landed here with him? That's a fantastically heavy casualty rate! No wonder he's bitter." He turned to his officers. "Let's land the rest of our force, and when General Halcyon gets here, we'll go on over and pay Zozridor Slayke a formal visit."

I must say I really like the maturity seen in Anakin through the story. He was annoyed by Slayke’s behaviour but did his best to not argue and kept focused at task, while at the same had empathy for the other man who lost so many men and most likely just lashed out at Jedi in anger/pain.

The meeting between Anakin, Neeja and Slayke was even more intense, since older Jedi and Slayke had their unfinished bussiness. I’m not going talk about the whole scene, but here are few compelling  moments:

"I see you've dragged him along, too," Slayke sneered, nodding at Grudo, who was trying to remain inconspicuous at the rear of the crowd.

"Grudo goes where I go-that's the way it's going to be," Anakin answered at once.

"My, my, this sprout certainly has a mind of his own." Slayke chuckled. "I like soldiers who have minds of their own-they're much harder to steal than, say, someone's starship." He laughed enormously.

“Grudo goes where I go - that’s the way it's going to be” - let’s remember Anakin is second-in-command of the whole GAR forces on the planet and Grudo is A) alien and B) much lower in rank. Yet Anakin really respected Rodian soldier’s teaching and advices and dragged him literally everywhere he went. Republic was not so racist like Empire, but GAR (especially those now under Neeja’s command) were mainly human beings so he stood out pretty much. This is something that always makes me think about captain Rex from TCW. I have the feeling Anakin dragged him too into meetings in which some people did not want a clone between them but Rex stayed because Anakin wouldn’t allow it other way. Skywalker already proved he does not care much for “etiquette” or if other officers will joke. If he respects (befriends) someone, be it a soldier with lower rank, then said person will be accompanying him and end of discussion.

"You can call me what you like, as long as you mean sir. I was sent here by the Senate to take command of this operation, and take command I will. You will place your remaining troops under me. While I value your opinion and look forward to hearing your advice, I'll make the final decisions on any plans for the employment of this army, is that clear?"

Anakin realized instantly that Halcyon had taken the wrong approach with Slayke, but held his tongue. There was more going on here than the mere execution of orders.

Slayke leaned back in his chair and puffed out his cheeks. Well, that's a mighty big speech from a guy"-he leaned forward across the table-"who can't even keep his pocket from being picked." He grinned evilly.

Halcyon still refused to be drawn in. "Captain, I have the authority of the Senate-"

Tell them to kiss my sweet toes," Slayke retorted. “- I have a fleet in orbit and I have an army of fresh troops-" 

"Blasted faceless clones," Slayke spat, "Look around you! This is an army-these are soldiers, battle-hardened veterans who've withstood the worst the enemy has thrown at them and still have fight in them! You think your clones can match spirit like that? Ha!" He placed his hands behind his head. A susurration of agreement swept through Slayke's assembled staff officers. "And, I might add, you took your sweet time getting here!"

Anakin may not like Halcyon approach, but he keep silent as good padawan should.

Slayke is still and asshole when it comes to clones. His staff officers to some degree agree with his opinion about that.

"My flagship was scuttled and most of her crew killed when we broke the cordon and restored communications, Captain," Halcyon answered, his voice flat and hard.

"Yes? And while you were taking your time getting here, we were fighting and I lost thousands of good troops! Do you think any of us care in the least about your flagship's crew?" Slayke's face had flushed with anger. "We didn't have the 'Force' to help us, either. I suppose you called on it to extricate yourself?" He sneered.

"Yes, and this." With one smooth motion made so fast nobody-not even Anakin-saw it coming, Halcyon drew his lightsaber and activated it. The onlookers gasped at the sight of the brilliant blade of pure energy.

Slayke's eyes narrowed and his body tensed, but he didnt move or even show any degree of surprise. "Any more tricks?" he asked in a normal voice.

Halcyon deactivated the lightsaber and hooked it back onto his belt. "I rather like these things," he said pleasantly, patting the weapon affectionately. "They come in handy when you're outnumbered a hundred to one. You were saying?" He smiled engagingly. Slayke laughed. "I have to admit, I'm coming to admire your style!"

At that point Anakin lost his patience with the verbal sparring. "We don't have much time to get organized," he interrupted. "Let's get on with our strategy session. What happened on Bpfassh was then; this is now. Let's put that behind us and concentrate on the job at hand." He paused, letting them see the dark fury in his eyes. Both Halcyon and Slayke stared at him.

"Well..." Slayke leaned back and regarded Anakin for a moment. "Yessir!" He gave a casual salute.

Halcyon cleared his throat. "He's right, Slayke," he said. "We've got to cooperate-" Halcyon's personal comlink interrupted him. "This must be something important. Excuse me, please."

There is something really ironic and hilarious at the same time, that when two older, more experienced battle-wise men argued and fight for, well, a dominance, +/-21 year old Anakin is a voice of reason in room full of veterans. And the only one brash to actually call both men on wasting time over something that happened in past instead of focusing at job at hand. The older Jedi and Slayke actually came to term with each other and the unexpected holo-transmittion related to captured personel of Intergalactic Communications Center on Praesitlyn only solided their alliance.

Soon later, the three men worked together on battle plan to take control over Praesitlyn:

Drawing up a battle plan is no easy task. It has to be both detailed and concise, but at the same time flexible enough to accommodate the instant changes required by a fluid battlefield situation. Halycon's operations officer was given the task, under Anakin's supervision, of writing the plan. Each staff specialist in Halcyon's army was given a portion of the plan, an "annex" to execute: the personnel chief, operations chief, chief surgeon, intelligence chief, ordnance chief, the artillery, infantry, armor, and air commanders, and last but hardly least, quartermaster and transportation-none other than old Mess Boulanger. Each portion of the plan would be integrated into the whole. Time was short, however, and nobody could quite agree on the best course of action.

After several hours it finally got down to two basic approaches.

"Frontal assaults are out of the question," Slayke roared. "You ought to know that an attacking force incurs casualties at a rate of at least three to one against a fortified position. That's what he's hoping for, so he can cut us down to size!"

"I know, I know," Halcyon replied. "I'm just advising a feint at his center while a strong force swings around one of his flanks. Grab him in the center of his line, hold him fast, make him think that's our main axis of attack, and hit him around the flank and come down on his rear."

"How about a vertical envelopment?" Anakin suggested. "We have the transports. We could land a force in his rear and attack from there, while our main force advances on the center of his line."

Slayke cocked an eyebrow "What do you think?" he asked Halcyon.

"I don't know," the Jedi Master replied cautiously. "What's his anti-aircraft capability?"

"We've made an assessment," his intelligence officer responded. "We sent remotely piloted vehicles over his lines an hour ago in anticipation of this question, sir. We sent several-none came back - But they transmitted enough information for us to determine that his anti-air defenses are particularly dense. We spotted quad laser cannons, as well as ion cannons that they must have off-loaded from their ships and installed as air defense weapons. We estimate at least thirty-five percent casualties just going in, Sy--and even higher casualties coming back out."

"Prohibitive," Slayke said softly. "I'm sorry, Anakin, vertical envelopment won't work. I think the only viable tactic is to swing around one of his flanks." Which had been Halcyon's opinion from the beginning.

"Don't forget, he can reinforce every part of his line on a very short axis, while we'll have a much longer way to go to move troops and supplies, especially if we're successful in getting around one of his flanks," Anakin pointed out.

Slayke nodded approvingly. "The young Jedi is becoming a strategist."

Halcyon smiled. "Anakin is a man of many surprising talents."

Slayke laughed. "Anakin, you just may have a future in this trade."

Anakin was trusted with difficult and very important tasks, both by older Jedi and Slayke. What is pretty nice, because I don’t think we see that often when he was around his master and other “important” Jedi.

At the same time, the lack of clone commanders is disturbing. Of course, narrative may simply not put emphasis on the world “clone” and those mentioned chiefs are in fact clones but I have feeling it may be not the case.

Of course, before any battle plan will be used, there is need for reconnaissance:

Then we'll follow the plan to attack the center simultaneously with a strong force swinging around his flank," Halcyon said. "But first we've got to know how strong his positions are."

“I have just the man," Slayke said. "Omin, front and center! Sergeant L'Loxx is one of the best recon men in the business. He'll probe their lines and find any weaknesses there might be."

The sergeant approached the officers and came to attention. Halcyon stood and shook his hand. "It's nearly midnight, Sergeant L'Loxx. Can you complete a reconnaissance of the enemy line by dawn?"

"I can't do the whole line in the same night, sir," the sergeant answered, "but yessir, I'll reconnoiter wherever you want and be back here well before dawn. I can be ready in fifteen minutes."

"Let's send three probes, then-center, left, and right. But I think we should send clone commandos," Anakin said.

"Begging your pardon, sir, but I'm the best there is for this job, only I can't do the whole line myself. Give me whatever sector you want and I'll get the information you need."

"Very well. Sergeant, you take the right flank." Aside, Halcyon told Anakin, "You select commandos to do the center and left flank," Then back to L'Loxx: "The former strongpoint Izable will be your jumping-off place, and that'll be where you'll come back through our lines. How many troopers will you need?"

"Just me, sir."

"Only yourself?" Halcyon looked at Slayke, who shrugged. "What if something happens, Sergeant? How will we get your report?"

"Nothing will happen to me."

"I'd like to go with him," Grudo said, stepping up beside where Anakin was sitting.

"Ridiculous!" Slayke snorted.

"A Rodian should be good on patrol, sir," Sergeant L'Loxx said. "They're experts at getting into places where they arent wanted-and getting back out again."

Anakin nodded. "Grudo's in, then."

"We want to go, too," someone said. It was one of the guards from the Neelian, Corporal Ram Raders.

Halcyon stood up quickly. "What is this? I send out one man on a recon, and half my army wants to go along. We may as well mount the assault right now without any idea what's out there. No, and that's final." He sat down.

"Please, sir," Raders pleaded. "That's the sort of thing we're good at. Besides, all we're doing here is standing around. We can be a great help to the sergeant."

"I'll take them," Sergeant L'Loxx said. "If I'm not satisfied with how they move, I'll leave them at Izable. But that's it. Four's maybe too many as it is."

"Very well," Halcyon said. "Anakin, coordinate all this with the clone commandos. All of you meet back here in fifteen minutes for a briefing."

Up until now there was little about Anakin and clone troopers. A disappointment, I know. But here comes the interesting details:

Understable, Slayke has L'Loxx’s skill in high regard. Anakin is the only one officer that actually thought about sending clone commandos. L'Loxx disagrees, saying he is the best person to do the job. Halcyon agrees to Anakin’s idea to sent more troopers to check three enemy positions. He also allowed Skywalker to chose clone commandos for the mission, since commandos are under his command. Anakin’s thought why clones should go is not explained. Maybe it is his faith in his men, maybe pragmatic thinking since those men are commandos and such missions should be their speciality. Whatever reason, Skywalker is like the only one officer between the main heroes who take into account clone commandos and we know for sure is interacting with them off-panel.

The next paragraphes of book are focused at L'Loxx’s team. Grudo’s presence actually was useful but during mission the troopers met two survives of the last battle and Odie (another protagonist) shot Grudo thinking he was the enemy.

"Grudo's shot real bad," Corporal Raders said. "She hit him in the side of his head. Blast you people! What the-" He stopped abruptly as he took in the pair.

"I-I-we-we were trapped in a bunker, sir. II thought you were the enemy. My buddy is badly hurt, too. I-I'm sorry about your soldier. I-"

L'Loxx turned and knelt beside Grudo. The side of the Rodian's head gave to his probing fingers, but he was still conscious. His one good eye blinked in the gunlight. He tried to say something, but it came out as only noise.

"Let's wait for the ARC troopers," Raders suggested. "They can help us carry him back to the aid station. There's nothing we can do for him here."

"If we don't get him back right now he won't make it, and after what he's done this night, we're not waiting. You two," L'Loxx said, indicating Odie and Erk, "give us a hand."

"Sir, my buddy is badly burned-he can't help carry anyone."

"Okay, you help him along; we'll handle Grudo ourselves. And stop calling me sir, I work for a living-hey! I know you two! You're from General Khamar's army. We came in together. I don't remember your names, but I found you two out in the desert-"

"Sergeant L'Loxx," Odie gasped.

"How're you doing?' Erk asked from where he lay.

"I remember now," L'Loxx said, "they sent you up to Izable after we came in together. Well, I'll be-"

"Sergeant, let's get moving? We can talk when we get back to our lines," Raders suggested.

In moments they had rigged a stretcher from a net Odie found in her equipment belt and two long durasteel rods they wrenched from the ruins of a bunker. Carrying Grudo over the rough ground was easier than they'd expected.

I feel like the book confuses ARC and Clone Commandos.

So, one of troopers actually suggested to wait for clones so they could help to carry an injured Grudo but L'Loxx disagreed, saying Rodian needs help ASAP; especially after how useful he was to mission, the man did not want to wait any longer.

We may only wonder would L'Loxx be so in hurry to left behind other troopers to save injured teammate if said troopers weren’t clones. On one hand, earlier paragraphs provided that Slayke and his men were biased against clones. On another, this is hard situation and soldiers sometimes must make diffucult decisions who save, for who wait and who leave.

Sergeant L'Loxx came to attention and saluted Halcyon.

"Make your report, Sergeant."

"We didn't wait for the other teams to come in, sir, because I had two wounded and had to get them to the aid station. Their right flank is vulnerable, sir." He moved to a three-dimensional display. "First, this hill on the far end of the line is only lightly defended. I think they're counting on the rocks at the foot of the hill to break up any assault. Second, I didn't see any crew-served weapons up there.They haven't brought in artillery. And finally, I have reason to believe lack of maintenance might be reducing the droid fighting force. We put them through some exercises, and they'll lose combat strength through breakdowns."

L'Loxx did report they did not wait for other teams to come in because they had two heavily wounded that needed help ASAP.

The commanders had thus only one raport to base on their plan attack.

"Who was wounded?" Anakin asked.

"I'm afraid the Rodian, sir."

"How badly?"

"Very badly, sir. But let me add this: we wouldn't have made it back with this information if it hadn't been for him. He stayed behind long enough to give the rest of us a chance to get some distance between us and the droid lines. I want to add also, sir," he said, turning to Halcyon, "that your two guards are solid soldiers. They held up their end."

"Well, who's the other wounded trooper, then?" Slayke asked. Briefly L'Loxx explained about Odie and Erk. "I remember them. She went to Izable with the lieutenant," Slayke said.

"She's the one who shot Grudo," L'Loxx told Anakin. "In the dark and the confusion she thought we were the enemy. It was just one of those situations nobody could have anticipated. It happens, sir. Friendly fire."

"Very well, then." Halcyon had made his decision, "It's zero four hundred hours now. Commander Skywalker, at zero six hundred I want you in position to attack that right flank. Use Sergeant L'Loxx as your guide. Take two brigades of your division. Leave the third in reserve under the command of Captain Slayke."

"Shouldn't we wait for the commandos to report, sir?" Halcyon's operations officer asked.

“I’ll be interested to hear what they've found out, but no. This-" He pointed to the display. "-is the pivotal point in our assault, and we'll attack there. I'll take my division and attack the center. I'll wait until you're in place before I commence my attack, Commander Skywalker. You wait ten minutes after I move forward before moving in. I believe during that time the enemy will bring in troops from his wings to reinforce his center. We've given him two artillery barrages so far tonight to soften him up, or I hope he thinks so, and when we hit him again while my division moves into position, he'll see that as the main attack, I'm sure of it. I think we might just carry this off." He turned to his operations officer. "Issue the order to all commanders."

Of course, Anakin is the one asking who was wounded. Though in this case, he could be simply worried about his close friend, Grudo. The narrative does not tell how the news affected Skywalker nor how he reacted to fact Grudo was shot by “friendly fire”. We aren’t told of any sign of anger or Dark Side-like emotions but his vocal participation in the BIG TALK about strategy & what to do now is limited. He does not talk much after hearing about Grudo and the silence contrast with previously mentioned offiicer meetings. He got his orders, did not question them or argue or, well, talk at all.

Surprising, Halcyon’s operations officer is the only one person to ask if they shouldn’t wait for commandos to report, to gain more knowledge about enemy. Yet general Halcyon decided to focus on what they gained already and attact as soon as possible.

No one argued with final order.

In a moment there will be more text about clone commandos and Skywalker, but I wish to mention that before the battle started, Anakin went to visit his dying friend. There he had short talk with doctor:

Anakin cut the doctor off. "There's nothing you can do, Doctor?"

The surgeon shook his head. "No, he's just too far gone."

"Can he hear us?"

"I don't think so, but his status is the same if he can hear us or not. With a head injury like that he won't last much longer. We can't even give him a sedative, unless, of course, you want me to end his misery-"

Anakin turned on him. "If I ever again hear you say something like that about one of my troopers, I swear..." He shook his head. "Now have the courtesy to leave me alone with my friend."

On doctor’s suggestion /ask that they could Grudo sedative to “end his misery” (aka kill him in faster way), Anakin reaction is sharp and angry. Interesting, the "If I ever again hear you say something like that about one of my troopers, I swear...” is not just about Grudo (as in: talking about his friend & mentor) but about all troopers under his command. This is very notable statement, because we know from other (later?) sources that clones were killed off, if they couldn’t fight anymore yet keeping them alive was too bothersome / expensive. I doubt Anakin had that kind of knowledge or meet with such practice and it may be just his instict to save (keep safe) people around him. But since Anakin’s men were mainly clones, I think it’s right to assume, he would react the same if doctor talked about clone trooper instead of Grudo.

Now is time to have some clone troopers’ insight on the matters:

Clone Commando CT-19/39, not Sergeant Omin L'Loxx, good as he might have been, was really the best reconnaissance man currently on Praesitlyn. His own nickname for himself was Green Wizard, because of his rank as a sergeant and his skill at patrol craft. As soon as he was given command of team one to cover the left flank of the enemy positions, he decided to split it up so each commando could conduct his own probe into the enemy lines and penetrate as far into them as he could, to bring back as much intelligence as possible.

Green Wizard made it all the way to the Intergalactic Communications Center buildings without being detected. Carefully, he committed the position of every gun he could find to memory, counted the droids staffing the positions, noted their armaments, noted where the enemy had dug in artillery. Of special interest to him was the fact that several guns were evidently being moved to the far left of the enemy line to strengthen the positions on the two small hills at that end of the defenses. In his opinion, however, the weak spot in Toniths line was on his right, not his left, because Green Wizard had come through there so easily-and especially now, since he could tell the general where every gun was on that flank. It was clear to Green Wizard that the attack should fall entirely on the left, the whole army thrown against that flank in echelon to slam into it with tremendous force and fold it back upon itself, breaking Tonith's hold and rolling up his entire defenses in one swift, irresistible blow.

The only trouble was that now Green Wizard had to get back to his own lines to report this information. He could call on his comlink, but General Halcyon had been very specific that no one was to break comm silence during the reconnaissance. Apparently his other two comrades had not had as much success as he at remaining undetected: there had been shooting all along the line, especially where they would have crossed - a lot of shooting-so Green Wizard was pretty sure they had been discovered and possibly had not made it back to their rally point just below the mesa. He wondered about the troopers who were supposed to probe the center. Would they have seen what he had? Had some of the shooting been directed at them? They were clone commandos so they were good, very good, but not as good as he, and everyone's luck ran out sometime. Green Wizard knew one day his would, too, and perhaps this night it had for his comrades. He had to assume he was the only one left now and it was up to him to get the intelligence he'd gathered back to headquarters.

The book give short but overall solid focus on clone commando, known as Green Wizard (a name he chose for himself!). The man not only made it all the way to the Intergalactic Communications Center buildings without being detected, but also memorized a lot important informations.

In contrast to  Sergeant Omin L'Loxx - who reported “Their right flank is vulnerable, sir.” - Green Wizard assumed different. To that I will come back soon.

Whatever commando thought, he couldn’t call on his comlink to pass his knowledge because general Halcyon gave a strict order that no one was to break comm silence during the reconnaissance. And well, clones were bred for obedience.

To pass the informations he needed first get back to his own lines and here comes the worst part:

The barrage came unexpectedly, catching Green Wizard still behind enemy lines. That didn't surprise him: such things happened often in battle. Someone had made a mistake, starting the barrage before all the teams had been accounted for, but that wasn't his worry-getting back was. Yet even as Green Wizard hugged the ground, he noted how accurate Halcyon's artillerists were. He respected accuracy and professionalism, and admired the artillery even as it came crashing and smashing down all around him, bouncing him up in the air, crushing the breath out of him, shaking his teeth loose.

When the three teams were sent on mission, they were told “When you've all reported you're ready to return, we'll lay down some more artillery to cover you, and that'll be your signal to come back in." When Clone Commando get catch by barrage he was still behing enemy lines and thought someone had made a mistake - Republic forces shouldn’t start the barrage before all the teams had been accounted for, and team of L'Loxx  decided to not wait for clone commanos and soon after that General Halcyon decided to base his plan only on L'Loxx’s raport (opinion). Thus clone commandos were left on their own.

That of course ended badly for abandoned commando:

At first Green Wizard felt no pain at all. He knew his leg had been severed, but he just tied off the artery with a length of cord and considered his options. He knew that soon there would be pain, followed by shock. He had to do something and quickly, because the intelligence he had was too important to die with him. If he stayed where he was, he would be found and executed. He could call in his findings now and his mission would be over, successfully completed; but his orders were not to use the comlink except to signal that he was ready to come back in. He gave the signal and for a moment, but only for an instant, he felt a flash of something like anger that someone back at the command post had not followed the plan for the night. The barrage continued unabated.

So his only option now was to try to get back to his own lines. With one leg gone, that would be difficult, but not impossible. Clone commandos were at their best when faced with obstacles that would be insuperable to any ordinary being.

Slowly, carefully, he began to crawl. At some point the tourniquet on his leg came loose and he started losing blood. He succeeded in making it as far as the dry riverbed, but that was where he finally realized he could go no farther. He had to make his report before he was too weak to do it, orders or no orders. He reached for his comlink, but somewhere along the way he had lost it. He chided himself for that. He had let pain and physical exhaustion distract him. It would be good if he did die here. He didn't want anyone to know how incompetent he'd become. But Green Wizard also felt a terrible sense of frustration, not because he was dying, but because he would die with information that was vital to the army he served. His last conscious thought was that he had done his best.

Despite pain, Green Wizard was angry mainly about two things: dying before he could pass the important for upcoming battle informations and that “someone back at the command post had not followed the plan for the night.” This is a problem of making decisions - some choices will be good, some not. Jedi aren’t omniscient, the same can be said about any commander, even the best of best.

From the POV of enemy:

Admiral Pors Tonith kicked the body gingerly with one foot and cast a wary eye at the armor that had been stripped from the corpse and piled off to the side. He was very nervous, being exposed like this in the open, but he'd been called out of his bunker to witness this grisly discovery and he realized it was important. It was still full dark and dawn was an hour away, but he was anxious to get back under cover again. "It's a clone commando," he said.

We've found one more complete body and parts of others, possibly as many as five altogether," the officer said. "Evidently they were killed by their own artillery last night."

Clone commandos - if didn’t die before - were killed by their own artillery.

We may only wonder if decision to not wait for clone commandos was somehow based on prejudice toward them. We may only wonder if general Halcyon’s desicion to rely solely on one raport while not waiting for two other teams would be the same if, for example, Anakin went on such mission and still not returned. Or if instead of clone commandos, the other teams were made of Slayke’s own people, would captain so easily agreed then to abandoned his missing/still on mission men? We can’t know for sure, but the lack of clone commanders during such critical moments is kinda disturbing because Jedi and non-cloned people are the one making decisions that directly affect clone troopers’ life.

Then again, the book itself gave small paragraph how success of military operation depends on small details, how it’s easy to make a mistake during stressful moment such as battlefield when decisions must be make quickly:

Often the success of a military operation depends on a mere chance event, such as someone coming to a place-a crossroads, a river, a bridge, a village-only a few minutes before or after someone else. That matter of moments can spell the difference between victory or defeat on a battlefield. Or sometimes disaster hangs on a decision by a commander who makes it without full knowledge of his enemy's intentions or dispositions; a good commander has to be able to make snap decisions, because delay can be fatal to a campaign. But so can the wrong decision, and even the very best commanders, pressed by the rapidly unfolding events of the modern battlefield to decide quickly on tactical matters, can make a mistake. Even with all the technology available to the warrior, the battlefield is still a confused and disorganized place where events move with ugntning speed under a cloak of impenetrable darkness called the fog of battle. And no one who is not right there can penetrate it.

Thus the importance of the reconnaissance Nejaa Halcyon ordered, and thus the importance of the decision he made based on the information garnered by only one of the teams sent on that reconnaissance.

For the final of this part, let’s look at meeting between commander Skywalker and ARC that happened just after battle briefing.

"Sir, may I speak with you for a moment?" It was the ARC captain.

"Make it quick, Captain."

"Yessir. We lost six troopers on the reconnaissance, so we know nothing about what the enemy intends to do in his main positions."

"Well, Captain, I'm sure you lost your troopers because that part of the enemy line was impenetrable. That must mean that General Halcyon's decision to take the hills is the correct one. You heard Sergeant L'Loxx's report."

"Yessir. Why did the second barrage open before we knew if the men had made it back?"

Anakin hadn't expected that question. Was this clone questioning his commander's orders? He knew ARC troopers were several cuts above the ordinary clone trooper, but this line of questioning was getting very close to insubordination. "General Halcyon had to make a decision, Captain: leave L'Loxx out there until your troopers reported in, take a chance on losing all the recon men, or bring at least some of them in to make a report. In the event, he made the correct decision."

"But one did give the signal. Too late."

"Yes, yes," Anakin answered quickly, "I'm sorry about that. Captain, you do realize that this entire attack depends on you and your troopers, don't you? What do you say we get moving now?"

The captain saluted, made an about-face, and left the command post. Anakin stood there thinking for a moment. He had not expected a clone trooper-even an ARC-to question orders. When Anakin had craved a command of his own, he had not really thought about the responsibility that entailed: responsibility for the lives of individual sentient beings who would die on his orders, regardless of whether their loyalty had been bought by the Republic, as was the case with the clone army, or whether, like Khamar's and Slayke's soldiers, they fought because they thought it was their duty to oppose tyranny.

Here. One of the most important scene between Anakin and clone troopers that happened in this book. Up until now, it was Anakin-Halcyon-Slayke team to argue and point out flaws during planning and to make final decisions. Clone commanders presence was minimal, to not say not existing during officer meetings. Anakin did not question Halcyon final decisions, the same as troopers did not question his. And then ARC captain comes to him not only to point out they have little informations about enemy, but also to ask “Why did the second barrage open before we knew if the men had made it back?” WHY NO ONE GIVE HIS MEN A CHANCE TO COME BACK. WHY THEY DIDN’T WAIT WITH ATTACK A BIT LONGER? Who knows, maybe if ARC captain was involved in officer meetings, he could convince GAR commander to wait with second barrage (that one that killed Green Wizard and most likely other commandos). Unfortunately, the commandship was mainly made of non-cloned officers.

And Anakin is surprised by being questioned by his trooper - more, by clone trooper! - because such thing falls close to insubordination. Oh, aren’t padawan-master relationship similar? Do not question your superior?

But also this short talk must be very uncomfortable, because what else Anakin could say? He is believing in Halcyon’s judgment, he is advocating the hard choice older Jedi had to make. Take what he could (one team) or wait longer and risk to lost all informations. And like the book already pointed out, sometimes even the best commander will make fatal mistakes that will cost people’s life. And Anakin can see it now clearly, being commander means not only giving orders but also taking responsibility for human beings. Being responsible for someone’s death.

I think it’s pretty clear to see how uneasy he is during that talk. There is pressure of upcoming fight and also awkwardness of the situation, of subtle accusation coming from ARC. This is not the best moment, as in: easy to get over. But the hard lesson will serve him right in future, I think. Anakin as general of GAR and even Dark Lord of the Sith was pretty open-minded and allowing subordinates (Ahsoka, Rex & 501st troopers) to question his plans and point out potential flaws. So maybe this unexpected talk actually affected him deeper that it seems on first look?

Skywalker in the book was around 21 years old. He had his moments of maturity but he was still really young man that tried hard to meet high expectations. Of Jedi. Of older officers & veterans. Of himself. But the book does not focus only on his achievements but also forces him to face his flaws & thoughtless. From all main heroes, Anakin is the one seen to interact with clones the most and learning to see them in new light. What will be even more visible during battle.

I must say I really enjoyed - and still enjoy - this story. The lack of clone commanders presence during officer meetings was always disturbing, but at the same time it shows how clone troopers were looked down by wide circle. Even if other (non-cloned) commanders and troopers did not treat them with open animosity, I can’t shake off the feeling that there may be something not right within GAR. Some bias toward clones is most likely there and such bias may affect commanders choices too. Commander Skywalker, for most of parts, treat them as any other troopers, yes, but his opinion of them is challenged on some occassion.

The one thing I’m upset is that to teach Anakin how to be good leader - and to present how war is traumatizing, cruel and stressful time - the story is killing mainly clone troopers (and Grudo, the main alien character). Also, for now Anakin does not show that much sorrow over killed, though it may be just that there is no time to grief and he is under heavy pressure to feel the lost. Grudo was his close friend/ally, clone commandos were his men and he was sincenery happy to be their commander. But the battle is closer with passing minutes - about what I’m gonna talk hopeful soon.