Work Text:
"So, Cody, I uh…saw your video," Rex murmured quietly, stepping up beside Cody where he stood on the bridge. Cody glanced at him, shadows dark under his eyes as Rex offered him a weak smile and placed his hand on his older brother's shoulder in a show of support. "It, uh, seemed more personal than I was expecting you all to get."
Cody swallowed thickly, recalling the video. His hands clenched at the reminder that the Supreme Chancellor had ordered them to put out videos for each battalion to 'boost public morale' by getting the chance to see how the troops fighting felt about the situation. What with war looking like it was going to drag on for another year. It was already two years of nonstop battle and the Chancellor thought putting out a video would make the public feel better about things?
Sure, there were some like the 501st, who with Skywalker as their general, had put out this grand, dramatic video filled with explosions and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat over and over. Then there were others who were sanitizing things to make it more palatable for the public eye. Showing the planets they'd been to, or even some of the clone's first reactions to things. Simple things like food or karking hot baths.
Certainly put into perspective the kinds of things the clones were used to experiencing, that was for sure.
"The general thought it might…help. To make us feel more like real people rather than just artificial people," Cody replied. His battalion video was far more…depressing in terms of content. Remembrances, spoken by the clones for the clones. Already Cody had seen some pushback from the Mandalorian online community, with Duchess Satine outright posting on her official account that no clones were considered Mandalorians and they technically had no right to follow traditional Mandalorian mourning traditions.
To Cody's surprise, her post actually earned a bit of support for the clones from the traditional Mandalorian who felt a thin connection to the clones seeing how honest and genuine they were following the Remembrances for their dead brothers.
Certainly didn't earn the traditionalists much favor in his book, if they needed to see the clones mourning their dead before they start accepting that the clones do follow a few traditional Mandalorian cultural practices.
"Well, it's definitely been making the rounds. Some people are using it as evidence as to why we should end the war entirely," Rex murmured.
"And others are claiming it doesn't count because we're not real people and 'the whole thing was probably staged' since General Kenobi is known for favoring Mandalorian culture," Cody clipped back. Rex flinched and his hand dropped from Cody's shoulder. The older clone sighed, turning to face his younger brother properly. "I'm sorry, I don't- I shouldn't take this out on you, Rex. I'm just…"
"...it took a lot to share that with the world and now millions are ripping at the wound," Rex murmured. "The 501st thought about doing something similar. Skywalker said he would leave the decision up to us and…we didn't want to give our brothers dead or alive to the festering snakepit or poison pot that is the holonet community. We were all incredibly shocked when you posted your video."
"I just- I just want them to understand what it's like for us," Cody whispered, shoulders slumping. "To realize that these are good men who are dying and they act like we're nothing."
"Nothing but credits and food cost, that is," Rex sighed. Cody huffed in agreement, turning his attention back to the bridge. It was clear that his men were listening in, and Cody was almost certain his men had specifically reached out to Rex to ask him to help Cody since he wouldn't let any of his own men get close while he was hurting, but his troopers were at least pretending to give them a private moment.
It was moments like this that reminded Cody what he loved about his men.
"Rex! There you are!"
"Generals on deck!"
Rex and Cody turned, catching sight of Anakin and Obi-wan approaching, with Ahsoka trailing after them. Anakin grinned at them. "I thought we might find you here!"
"Oh please, master, you checked all over the ship before Obi-wan found you and told you they'd be here," Ahsoka denied, shamelessly ratting out her master. He huffed at her as she grinned, the trio coming to a stop in front of them.
"Generals, Commander," Cody greeted, saluting them.
"At ease, men," Obi-wan dismissed. His blue eyes were soft as he shot Cody a worried look but the marshal commander pretended not to see it. He had no doubt that Obi-wan was blaming himself for the video going viral and the harsh things being said about his men, but it wasn't his fault. Cody had given the choice to his men and they'd wanted to get the names of their brothers out there, even if it meant the vultures that lurked on the holonet would find them too.
"Was there something you needed, sir?" Rex asked, turning his attention to Skywalker. The general tapped the datapad in his hands before passing it to Rex.
"Got a message from Coruscant, apparently the Guard has announced when they're going to put out their video. Thought you might want to know, since you seem to keep track of the Guard a fair amount," Anakin said with a grin. Rex's eyes widened in surprise, flicking a glance towards Cody before nodding his head slightly to Skywalker.
"Yes sir, I…one of my ori'vod is a commander of the Guard troops, so I try to keep an ear on what's happening there," Rex replied slowly. Skywalker's face slackened in surprise and he pulled back to study Rex.
"You never mentioned that before. I just thought you were keeping an eye on it in case we needed to transfer any of our men to them," the general said with a shrug. "Who's your older brother?"
Cody and Rex glanced at each other before Cody sighed. "Rex is referring to my batchmate Fox. Also known as CC-1010, Marshal Commander of the Coruscant Guard."
"You're connected to the Marshal Commander of the Guard, Cody? That means what, all but one of your batchmates are Marshal Commanders then?" Obi-wan questioned curiously. Cody nodded in response.
"Wait, really? Who are your batchmates??" Ahsoka asked eagerly. Cody sighed.
"Ponds is the oldest of us, he's assigned under General Windu. Then there's Bly, who as you know is assigned to Ayla Secura. I'm actually the middle child of my batch, believe it or not. Fox is obviously assigned to the Coruscant Guard, and Wolffe is the only one of us who isn't a Marshal Commander," Cody listed off easily.
"Back on Kamino before the Jedi arrived Cody took me under his wing and the rest of the batch pseudo adopted me as their vod'ika," Rex stated. "Since then I've done what I can to keep an eye on my ori'vod, even if it's just to check that they're alive."
"Surprised you never reached out to him or visited when we were on leave," Anakin hummed thoughtfully. Rex sighed.
"It's not for lack of trying, it's just that Fox's schedule is kriffing insane. First off, it's marked as classified, meaning that if you don't have authorization or a high enough rank you can't even glance at it, and second off, if I'm not managing my men during leave I'm escorting you through your time on leave, general," Rex grumbled, shooting a petulant glare at Skywalker. The general winced and glanced away guiltily while Cody frowned.
"Fox's schedule is classified?" he asked. Rex nodded.
"I tried getting access to it so that I could see when would be best for me to drop in, but I'm not authorized to look at his schedule. I've put myself on his waiting list a few times, but with how random leave time is, there's almost no way I'll be able to get a meeting with him while I have leave. Frankly, it's starting to piss me off," Rex huffed in annoyance. He glanced at Cody. "Haven't you tried reaching out to him on leave?"
Obi-wan huffed and shook his head. "Cody refuses to use his leave. He spends hours working even when he's not supposed to be on schedule to make sure that everything will be fine when we next take off."
"...I have a lot of work to do," Cody excused himself. "Anyway, when's the Guard video supposed to be released?"
Rex rolled his eyes at the obvious deflection but lifted the datapad to take a look. "...huh. Looks like we're just in time. The video's supposed to be released in two minutes. There's a live holostream waiting for it."
"Might as well join!" Ahsoka cheered, snatching the datapad and plugging it into the holotable so they could all see it at once. A few other clones glanced at it before turning back to their work.
"What do you think it'll be like?" Rex asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" Cody questioned.
"Well the whole point of this is to try and see things from the clones' perspective, so I suppose it would be interesting to see how things have been for the Guard when they don't see a whole lot of active combat," Obi-wan said thoughtfully, stroking his beard. "Aside from the gangs and would-be assassins, I suppose."
"Think they'll show any galas? I really hope not, those things would just make the public more upset," Skywalker commented with a shudder.
"Fox isn't nearly unsubtle enough for that," Cody replied.
"He might show refugees or the changes between the start of the war Coruscant and now," Ahsoka pointed out.
“Historically speaking, times of war often result in drastic changes in art, fashion, or popular trends if they want to cover that, though I don’t know how motivating that would be for anyone watching,” Obi-wan suggested. Cody pursed his lips, glaring at the floating 000.
“Cody?”
Rex studied his brother, shifting uncomfortably as Cody continued staring at the screen.
“Something wrong, commander?” Obi-wan asked.
“Not really…I just…have a bad feeling.” The others blinked in surprise, studying Cody curiously.
“You’re not typically the one to make such declarations, my dear,” Obi-wan stated, studying Cody carefully. The clone commander shook his head with a sigh.
“Things just…never seem to go right with Fox. Wherever he goes he finds trouble and either destroys it or becomes the biggest threat to keep the trouble away from his brothers,” Cody explained. Rex snorted.
“Remember when he broke the systems for Priest’s helmet seals during one of his underwater drills because he’d been threatening to make the younger cadets do the drill without their helmets since it ‘wasn’t hard’ and ‘if they were real soldiers they could do without the helmet’?” Ahsoka and Skywalker gaped at Rex while Obi-wan raised an eyebrow.
“Really?” He hummed. Cody shook his head.
“It was never proven that Fox was the one responsible for the helmet seals failing…but he’d definitely been seen carrying Priest’s helmet before the drill. But there were two other drills that successfully took place before the helmet seal failed, so no one could pin anything on Fox specifically.”
“That’s…” Ahsoka hesitated, trailing off uncertainly as she glanced at Anakin and Obi-wan to judge their reactions.
“Kriffing awesome is what it is,” Rex said with a grin. “Priest was one of the trainers that took pleasure in killing clones with the excuse of training. He was also the one with the most decommissionings and reconditioning under his name.”
”Really?” Obi-wan asked worriedly. “That’s awful.”
”What’s that?” Ahsoka asked in confusion.
“You…don’t need to know right now,” Skywalker said awkwardly, throwing a panicked glance at Obi-wan. The older master sighed.
“Later, Ahsoka, right now it looks like the video is about to start,” Obi-wan commented, gesturing at the holotable. The glowing triple zero had turned a blood red that glowed eerily on the display.
“…okay, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m with Cody on this one. I have a bad feeling about this,” Ahsoka admitted.
“It’s probably just the colors, Snips,” Skywalker dismissed, though it didn’t escape Cody’s notice that Skywalker had begun tapping the fingers on his robotic arm, a nervous tic the Jedi had developed after his arm froze up on him a few too many times in battle. Better to check the mobility when he was nervous but not in danger than for the fingers and arm to jerk to a stop or barely work in combat, after all.
“I’m with Ahsoka on this one, Anakin, the Force is…almost anticipatory about this,” Obi-wan murmured as a few notes echoed from the screen. It sounded like they belonged to some kind of string instrument, though Cody wouldn’t claim he knew which one.
"I heard that there's a carnival!" Cody stiffened to hear what he easily recognized as Fox’s voice singing as a eagle eye view of Coruscant appeared on the screen.
The music was moderately paced as the drums began to set a steady beat, but the tone of the song was…
Unsettling.
"The music there is loud, the lights are wonderful!"
Suddenly they were shown beautiful shots of Coruscants’ cityscape, the first panning across the horizon as dusk fell, throwing the buildings in sharp shadows, and then a nighttime view looking up along a major path, the street lit up in blue, pink, and gold as the person recording leaned back to show not only the nightlife of Coruscant but also the speeders and ships flying above in great glowing trails.
It was stunning at night, with dozens of different species wandering the streets practically glowing in the bright blue and neon of the lights lining the streets.
"No one makes it out, they welcome you with grins," Fox sang as the scene changed, showing clone troopers marching onto the streets as citizens and senators watched them with smiles.
Despite the front rows having hesitant smiles on their faces, Cody could see several figures hidden in the alleys they passed with glares on their faces or senators who turned and whispered to each other with cruel smirks growing on their lips.
"But once you're in? You will never be the same again."
Fox stepped forward, standing next to the Chancellor as he extended his arms out to the people, likely giving one of his many speeches. Palpatine didn’t even glance at his new clone escort as Fox waited.
The screen focused on Palpatine’s upper half, allowing the viewer to see him extend his arms as though reaching out to embrace the Republic itself, smile wide on his face.
But there was something wrong with his eyes.
Just a tiny bit too narrowed, making the expression look slightly…cruel.
Or perhaps mocking was the better term.
"Let the games begin!"
The scene shifted again, showing two troopers as they marched through the Coruscant streets.
“Wait, their armor!” Rex’s jaw dropped in shock, taking in the unique paint jobs on them.
The first had overlapping geometric lines and shading that almost seemed to mimic the shape of the skyline, with large rectangles. The second had stripes running up his armor, streaking down from the back around to the torso. Together they walked through the street, heads moving to take in the surroundings as a small bubble formed around them, the citizens refusing to get close to them.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
A flicker of fast movement to the side caused one of the troopers to glance over there, but there was nothing immediately obvious, the crowd smoothly settling around the flashing motion.
A glint of durasteel dragged their eyes to the other side, but it turned out to just be a tool a mechanic on the side of the street was working with. The crowd slowly began to close tighter around them, and soon they found themselves being mildly jostled by the strangers around them.
In an alley just ahead, someone with several scars peered out before darting into the crowd and beginning to circle around the troops from the front.
"Mm, mm-mm-mm."
Suddenly someone jumped out of a dark alley, grabbing the first trooper by the arm and yanking him back while the scar covered man from earlier who disappeared into the crowd shoved into him, destabilizing the trooper and sending him staggering into the dark.
With a shout the second trooper followed after, gun lifting, but he soon found himself being attack from behind as well, his head smashing into the alley wall just as he entered. The screen visuals fractured for a moment, glitching out as the helmet took damage.
Cody sucked in a sharp breath as he watched the men wrestle the first trooper to the ground, one of them pressing a vibroblade to the second troopers’ throat while the scarred man began yanking at the armor on the clone trooper’s lower half.
“Ahsoka head down to your room,” Anakin snapped. A glance at him revealed that the famed Hero With No Fear had gone pale and looked nauseous. Ahsoka glanced at him before nodding and hurrying out of the room as Cody and Rex kept watching in silent horror.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
The second trooper, ignoring the blade to his throat, moved when the man grabbed his brothers’ lower blacks, as though about to tear them off. With a quick flick of his hand a hidden vibroblade buried itself in the scarred man’s temple while the trooper dropped back and rolled, kicking up to strike out at the Devaronian who’d been holding his helmet to try and keep him in place.
Seeing that he’d lost control of the situation, the Devaronian whipped out a blaster and turned, shooting the first trooper three times before the second trooper managed to grab his blaster and empty the clip into the Devaronian’s head. The third member who’d been holding the first trooper in place moved to run, only for the clone to pull out another vibroblade and send it soaring through the air, landing swiftly in the back of the humans’ neck and severing the brain stem.
But his attention wasn’t on the attacker as the clone fell to his knees beside his brother, hands shakily reaching up to pull the others’ helmet off.
Empty brown eyes stared at the screen, the trooper clearly dead. It wasn’t surprising, considering two of the shots had gone through the chest plate and the third had taken out a good chunk of his neck.
The clone trooper leaned forward, the view switching to the discarded helmet as they saw the second trooper press his forehead against the dead clones’ forehead. And just as he released a silent scream, the scene changed again.
"Let the games begin."
Suddenly they were in the Senate, walking the halls and nodding to the few lone clone troopers they saw.
“Why are there so few of them? I’ve never seen Corries patrol in less than groups of three,” Skywalker murmured.
“This must’ve been during the early days on Coruscant. Look, they’ve all got unique paint,” Cody whispered back, studying the designs. Clone paint was always unusual and personal, no armor alike.
And yet despite that all the Coruscant Guard members Cody was familiar with now had identical armor unless they were a ranking officer.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
A senator shouted silently at one of the troopers even as he tried to back away, holding his hands up peaceably to try and diffuse the situation.
“That is some well painted armor,” Obi-wan murmured thoughtfully, studying the delicate red petals that seemed to be scattered on the armor. They almost looked real, like they were actually sticking to the armor rather than just painted on. The trooper took a step back, making sure to keep his hands away from his gun or weapons to prove he wasn’t hostile or about to attack as the senator continued shouting.
Despite that, the Houk stepped forward and smacked the trooper, backhanding him into the wall. Obi-wan let out a hiss of sympathy as the trooper tried to push himself back to his feet only to waver and slump against the wall.
“That’s a concussion if I’ve ever seen one,” Rex whispered in horror.
Despite the clone clearly being down, the Houk reached down, grabbing the clone and yanking him to his feet, turning around and dragging the unsteady trooper behind him.
“Where are they going?!?” Skywalker asked in confused anger.
"Mm, mm-mm-mm."
The Houk threw the clone to the floor in front of an officer, identifiable by his shoulder pauldron, who paused in his conversation with Mothma. The Houk shouted something at the officer, pointing furiously at the clone on the ground.
The clone captain glanced between the Houk senator and the trooper on the ground, before bowing his head and reaching down to pick up his troop, carefully stepping back with a bowed head and cautious gesture.
But the senator wasn’t done it seemed, turning to one of the aides in the room and extending a meaty hand towards him. The aide grinned and stepped forward, pulling what looked like a decorative braid of cords off his body, revealing that it was actually a whip.
The Houk accepted the handle and turned to the captain, clearly giving him orders.
“Is that piece of poodoo going to whip him?!?” Skywalker hissed, his temper making the loose items on the bridge rattle ominously.
“Easy, Anakin, I don’t believe that will be the case here,” Obi-wan stated, gesturing to where Mon Mothma stepped forward with a furious, stern expression on her face.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
She stepped between the Houk and the clones, clearly defending them and arguing the furious senator down. With a disappointed look the Houk passed the whip back to the aide, who casually rewrapped the whip around his uniform and disappeared down the halls.
Yet despite the apparent victory, the scene shifted and soon they saw the Houk again, this time holding a datapad reading Decommissioning Order.
”Oh that bastard!” Rex snarled.
”There’s no number or name listed, Rex. He can’t file it without identifying the trooper,” Cody soothed.
Then the scene showed about four squads of troopers being lined up in a hangar bay. Immediately the Houk grinned viciously and stepped forward, hand wrapping painfully tight around the arm of the petal painted trooper and pulling him out of the lineup.
The officer, this time distinctly a human Navy officer, took out a scanner and the senator yanked the clone forward, forcibly extending his wrist so the Navy officer could-
“He’s scanning his ident chip,” Rex whispered, face pale. The scanner flashed and the officer turned it around to show the Houk, who grinned and immediately entered the number on his datapad, completing the flimsiwork for the decommissioning order.
“That’s not allowed!” Obi-wan protested. “The Jedi stopped decommissioning from the start of the war! It’s the whole reason why Master Shaak Ti was assigned to Kamino!”
One of the clones stepped forward, clearly protesting whatever was happening, only for the officer to snap something at him that had him falling back in line. The Houk grinned and yanked the trooper away from the crowd, getting a bit of distance.
Then he set his hands on the clone, one keeping his torso in place while the other rested on his head.
“Don’t you dare,” Skywalker hissed furiously, as though his words could alter what was clearly about to happen.
The Houk twisted and the clone in his grip went limp as his neck was snapped in front of his brothers, body falling to the ground as the Houk sneered at the gathered crowd of troopers and stalked away. The Navy officer sniffed and turned to walk away, kicking the fallen troopers’ body as he passed.
Finally, blissfully, the scene changed again.
"You can see the show anytime you like," Fox’s voice crooned as a new trooper appeared on the screen. His armor was almost entirely unpainted, with just a few lines around the visor and a single thin stripe trailing down his chest plate.
Strangely enough the footage they were watching appeared to be security footage from the senate, showing the trooper patrolling the halls alone, making sure to salute each senator he passed no matter how long it took. Glancing around, the trooper reached up and pulled off his helmet, shaking out his curls and taking a breath.
“A mutie?” Rex asked in surprise.
“What?” Obi-wan and Anakin chorused.
“His face is different,” Cody explained. “Look at his jawline. He’s too…delicate. Bone structure looks a little less square compared to the rest of us. He’s a mutant. A mutie.”
The clone trooper ran a hand through his hair just as a group of senators turned the corner. He stiffened, eyes going wide as he raised his helmet up to cover his face but it was too late. The others had already seen his face and were nudging each other.
"When you feel alone that's when they arrive!"
The group of five approached the trooper as he saluted to them, helmet still slightly off center from how quickly he’d had to put it on.
The group circled around him, like a snake carefully curling around the prey it intended on strangling to death.
"Knocking on your door, calling in the night."
The first nudged the trooper, pushing him back a step and pressing a hand against his chest. The trooper tried to back up, only to knock into one of the other senators, who grinned and placed his hands on the troopers hips.
“Stop karking touching him,” Anakin hissed, fury making the surroundings shake a little again. This time, Obi-wan didn’t try to soothe his padawan, more focused on glaring at the men in the video.
The leader reached forward, tipping the troopers’ helmet back and exposing his lips so the man could reach forward and hold the clones’ chin, thumb stroking over his lips as the other tried to recoil away without pressing against the man who was almost grinding against his ass.
"How could you ignore such a lovely time?"
Despite the trooper trying to pull himself free the senators began herding him away, the footage shifting only enough to follow them through the halls as the senators guided the lone trooper into one of their speeders.
Then the footage shifted again, now showing what the helmcam had picked up. Cody clenched his fists as he realized that the senators had dragged the lone trooper to a luxury club.
"Lights and prizes, everywhere you look."
Scantily clad twi’leks swung themselves around tall poles, flashing their legs open or grinding on the laps of other guests. Over at the club there was a group doing lines of spice and others injecting themselves with unrecognizable drugs.
The trooper tried to pull away, fearful of fully entering the establishment only for his helmet to be jostled as he was shoved into a hidden booth. The helmet fell off, resting on its side as the senators fell on the trooper like ravenous wolves.
"Anything to keep you hooked."
Two of them held his arms while another inserted himself between the young clones’ legs and leaned forward, kissing him messily, making the boys’ eyes widen in fear as he turned his head to the side to try and break the kiss.
When the senator tried to follow his movement, the troopers’ expression flashed with anger for a moment and he headbutted the other, making him reel back in shock. The clones’ eyes went wide with shock and terror as he realized what he did, the senator feeling where his lip had cut before smirking cruelty.
He turned to a passing worker, calling something out and they pulled out a hypo from their pocket, passing it to the senators’ open hand. The man turned back towards the clone who had gone pale with fear as the other lifted the hypo.
He thrashed in place, nearly managing to throw his attackers off, but he wasn’t fast enough to avoid the man injecting it into his neck.
Then they let him go.
"Empty smiles everywhere you turn," Fox’s voice was almost taunting as the senators backed up, wide grins on their faces. The clone tried to push himself to his feet only to shudder and fall back, limbs shaking and twitching as his pupils blew wide, whatever drug he’d been kicking in far faster than it should’ve.
”What the hell did they give him?” Rex asked, horrified. The trooper tried to lift his arm, seemingly trying to curl it closer to himself, only for the limb to not move. The boy stared at it in horror as the senators laughed.
"Not a single lesson learned."
Immediately they moved forward, yanking at his armor and dropping it to the floor as he weakly turned his head to the side, thrashing as best he could to fight them. Tears gleamed in his eyes under the light as a possessive mouth covered his own in a messy, forceful kiss.
"I heard that there's a carnival!"
His blacks didn’t rip, holding steady even as the senators tried to rip it apart. One of them grinned and reached down to the clones’ discarded armor, grabbing one of his discarded vibroblade and turning it on, using it to cut the blacks off.
Immediately hands fell on the clones’ exposed skin, grabbing and bruising the flesh.
"The music there is loud, the lights are wonderful!"
The lights flashed, that steady pulsing neon light that was so familiar in the clubs they’d been to before for missions. But now it lit up the terror and disgust on the troopers’ face as he was used without regard.
A senator leaned down, blowing a cloud of smoke in his face and making him choke so another could shove their groin in his face. They grabbed hold of his face and began rubbing themself against it, mostly blocking his expression from the helmcam.
"No one makes it out, they welcome you with grins," Fox’s voice was an ever present constant during the scene of one of his troopers being violated in such a way, treated like nothing as a toy as his legs were shoved up. A shudder ran through the clone and his legs twitched, as though he were fighting to close them and keep the senator from getting what he wanted between them.
“That bastard!” Skywalker snarled, slamming his fist against the holotable and making the image flicker for a moment before the scene continued. The senator that had been rubbing against the clones’ face pulled back, leaving a pale liquid splattered in his curls and dripping down his cheeks.
"But once you're in? You will never be the same again."
They knew exactly the moment where the senator managed to thrust himself inside the poor clone because the boy went stiff, back arching sharply as an expression of pained terror twisted his face.
Tears began to stream down his cheeks as the senator practically began bouncing the clone in his lap while thrusting. Thankfully it was hidden by the table, so they didn’t have to see the act explicitly, though there was no doubt as to what exactly was happening.
A second senator stepped forward, licking the tears off the clones’ cheeks before dragging him into a kiss and hiding his face from the viewer.
Cody took the chance to glance at the others, taking in their reactions. Obi-wan had a hand over his mouth and he’d gone ashen pale, looking more like a ghost than a person. Skywalker was actively bending the metal framing of the holotable with his metal hand, furious expression locked on the senators passing what had to be barely more than a shiny around like a sex doll.
And Rex…
Rex looked like he did when Cody had first seen him, having just gotten told that he would likely be decommissioned for his mutation if he couldn’t prove that it didn’t inhibit his abilities.
As if karking hair color affected how one did as a soldier.
He’d retreated into himself, leaving his eyes glassy and body on autopilot in a way Cody hated to see.
The scene changed and Cody’s eyes were drawn back to the screen, where a clone leaned forward towards the clone, now finally alone and left curled in the booth covered in bite marks and hickeys.
The new clone clenched his fist furiously and turned his head, the video only getting a glimpse of his furious eyes narrowing dangerously before the scene changed again.
"Let the games begin!"
”Cody!”
”I know Rex,” Cody replied, watching as the scene changed. Patrols began happening with a minimum of three troopers, though often traveling in packs of six or more rather than risk going out with few members.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
“What is it?” Obi-wan asked.
“The trooper who glanced at the helmet was Fox,” Cody absently explained, watching as the video showed the troopers scraping beautiful and unique paints off their armor before redoing it in the standard Coruscant Guard pattern.
"Mm, mm-mm-mm."
”They’re systematically solving the main problems that lead to the other scenes,” Skywalker murmured, eyes sad and furious as he watched the individuality of the Guard troopers disappear for their own protection.
“How could you tell?” Obi-wan asked, turning his attention to Cody. “His armor wasn’t the same as it is now, what gave him away?”
”He’s a mutie,” Rex answered.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
A list appeared, with at first only a few names on it, before rapidly expanding. Obi-wan sucked in a breath as big names like Mas Amedda and Admiral Tarkin appeared at the top of the list. There was only one person who was listed higher than them who remained there, no matter who else was added, names blurring and overlapping with how quickly they were being added.
"The Chancellor?" Rex whispered, horrified.
"What is this list supposed to be??" Anakin asked, confused.
"I think it's the list of who they're not supposed to interact or be alone with," Cody whispered, feeling like his voice was coming from about three feet to his left. His head felt light and fuzzy while his chest was tight and it was difficult for him to force himself to take a breath.
"Let the games begin."
Slowly they began to see how the Guard they were familiar with came to be. Got attacked when travelling in small groups? Adjust and increase the number of troopers patrolling. Senator upset over nothing and wanting to punish someone? Make them identify the individual when the so called 'troublemaker' had no identifiers.
Senators and citizens attack and harass the clones sexually after seeing their faces? Helmets stay on unless they're in the barracks. Armor doesn't come off unless it's for emergency medical treatment or would otherwise get the trooper killed.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
Someone throws food at the troopers and screams at them when riots begin? Show no reaction. Become the meat droids they like to claim the clones are so the troopers don't get punished or hurt worse.
Senators try to touch the clones? Remind them that they are military property so they can't touch them without authorization. If they get upset, call over an officer, who can take the heat without risking being decommed or reconned.
"I feel sick," Rex admitted. "We- we got annoyed with this. We thought they were just acting like they were better than the rest of the GAR, but it's-"
"A defense mechanism," Obi-wan finished.
"Mm, mm-mm-mm."
Despite that, things still weren't easy as senators began to appear with documents claiming they were authorized to 'engage in physical conduct' with the clones, signed by the Chancellor. Shifts were lengthened as though in an effort to force them to reduce the number of clones travelling in groups, decided by the Chancellor.
Rations and funds? Cut by the Chancellor so they could be dedicated to some of Amidala's refugee programs, starving the men.
Supplies? Late and poor quality because the Chancellor didn't think they needed them as often as they did or that their gear would be as hard worked as it was.
"Why? Why is the Chancellor doing this?" Anakin asked incredulously.
The scene showed Palpatine smiling at Fox, as though it were a normal afternoon and he was giving him a letter from a close relative saying hello rather than a datapad confirming several reconditionings and decommissionings.
"This isn't what he's like," Anakin whispered helplessly.
"Hm-mm-mm, mm."
Despite what the Chancellor put them through, they watched as Fox revealed dozens of crimes, getting senators dragged from their seats all with authorization to do so since they were revealed to be war profiteers who were selling out their own people or selling Republic secrets to the Separatists and were therefore traitors and Seppie sympathizers.
Fox moved quickly, directing his troops and adjusting to each one of Palpatine's attempts to back them into submission. Food was grown rather than ordered, with a large portion of the new diet being made of mushrooms and moss that could be found growing on the lower levels of Coruscant.
"Are those actually edible?" Rex asked, disgusted. Obi-wan winced.
"It's…not very tasty, but they are edible. Raw, cooked…easy to grow and decently nutritious." Anakin shot his master a confused glance.
"How the hell would you know?" Obi-wan winced.
"I…spent some time growing and eating them in my youth," he deflected, returning his attention to the screen. They watched as Fox harvested gear off fallen assassins or gang members, collecting their shipments to fuel his own men.
"That's…" Rex winced when he saw Fox take down another gang and strip them of their gear.
"I must say, the Marshal Commander is a pretty good gang lord," Obi-wan admitted.
"They welcome you with grins," Fox sang as he turned, the scene shifting behind him and showing dozens of people. First his men, proud to be on Coruscant, proud to be the best, then the citizens who hesitantly welcomed their new protectors. Then the Senators, boasting about how the clone troopers were chosen specifically to protect them.
Then Palpatine, smiling down at Fox where the other sat across a dejarik table from him.
Fox's face was perfectly blank as he reached forward to move his piece and the scene dissolved around him.
"But once you're in?"
The screen flickered with dozens of different recordings, showing the troopers being beaten in Senate offices, raped in back alleys with guns to their heads, ripped apart by Trandoshan gangsters. Horrific scene after horrific scene, not a single trooper identical once their shell was off, for all that they painted themselves the same.
And then?
Each scene was replaced with those same people vanishing. Senators stripped of office, civilians stunned and restrained, and gangsters falling to the ground. Slowly the scenes changed as the troopers turned and began to walk away from the scene, slowly funneling into a darkened doorway.
"That's the doorway to the Guard HQ, isn't it?" Rex murmured.
"I think so," Cody answered.
"You will never be the same," Fox sang as he stood next to the door, helmet off, surprisingly. He smiled at his men, welcoming them back to the den before turning his eyes slowly to where the camera was watching.
Taung gold eyes gleamed dangerously as the image zoomed in on Fox's face, taking in the branching electrical scars creeping up his face as he stared back at them. He grinned, lips still pressed thinly together before waving and turning away.
"No, you will never be the same again!"
Fox slipped into the doorway and the video ended. There was silence for a moment as they all tried to process what they'd just seen.
"Master?"
"Yes, Anakin?"
"Did you see those too or did I hallucinate the Marshal Commander of the Coruscant Guard having karking Sith lightning scars on his face?" Anakin asked, eyes wide with panic.
Obi-wan didn't seem to be much better off as he pressed his lips together in a thin line. "I suspect we should head to one of the conference halls, Anakin. The council will need to discuss what we've seen."
Cody watched the Jedi go, still feeling like everything was too bright and too, well, everything. He was hot beneath his armor yet he could feel himself shivering. He wasn't getting enough air but he didn't feel like he needed to breathe.
"Rex…"
"Cody?"
"What…did we abandon Fox to?"
His voice sounded distant and faint. Was he whispering? Cody couldn't tell.
"Cody?"
Rex's voice was faint too. Maybe he was having a hard time breathing too. The lights seemed to stretch in his vision, almost sickeningly as Cody blinked, trying to make the shadows and lights return to proper shapes and not just blurs in his vision.
"I don't-"
"Cody!!"
Darkness swallowed Cody, making his last thought; I wonder if Fox felt like this when he went through that doorway?
And that was the last he knew for a few hours.