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The blast echoed in the hangar, hitting the rebels with a shower of debris. The stormtroopers, on the other hand, weren’t so lucky. They barely had time to scream when the detonators hit them. Before dust had time to settle down, Rex got on his feet. His ears were still ringing but he nonetheless took up his blaster and looked over the crate he was hiding behind. The large hangar was a total mess. Crates were ripped open and chunks of metal were scattered all around the blackened pit in the floor. Even so, the captain barely looked at the destruction caused. He was checking out any potential movement. Having found none, he signaled the others and they quietly set out for the exit.
Halfway to their goal, Kirtak signaled a stop and gestured towards a crate across from their position. Without the sound of their feet in movement, the group was now able to hear labored breathing coming from that direction. After sharing a look with each other, Rex and Kirtak set out towards the crate while Hyuatry and Ksandey covered them. The duo finally rounded the crate behind which they found a trooper, helmet off.
His face was an almost perfect reflection of Rex’s, except for one detail. The captain noticed the familiar scar curling around the clone’s eye and… time slowed to a stop. Rex felt his blaster fall from his hand. His body moved by itself to try and staunch the flow of blood coming from the once pristine white but now red armor. He could hear faraway sounds, people calling him. But his mind… his mind was not there. It was in another time. A time when the man on the ground was standing proud and tall in a sunny armor, when they clasped each other on the back, shared rough days, joked and laughed. A time when they were brothers, vod’e.
“Rex.” Cody croaked his name in a barely audible voice. Nonetheless, it was enough to immediately bring him back.
“Cody.” There was plenty more he wanted to say, but he couldn’t. One more word and his voice would break. One more word and he wouldn’t be able to stop the tears anymore. Cody was dying now and there was nothing Rex could do to save gim. He’d thought Cody had been dead already, hoped even, because else it meant that… it meant what was happening right now. And right now seemed like some sick joke of the galaxy that he’d found his vod just to see him die.
Cody slid with great difficulty a hand to one of his belt pouches and struggled to open it.
“Udesii, Cody. Stop moving.” Rex tried to keep him still but the dying man kept going for the pouch. And so, since his brother thought it was important enough to spend his last moments on, Rex opened the pouch.
With shaking hands, he reverently took out the contents of his brother’s pouch. It was a roll of rags. He unfolded them and, in the center, found a heavy cylinder made out of metal: the hilt of a lightsaber, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s lightsaber.
“Please…,” Rex leaned closer to his brother to distinguish his words, “find Kenobi… Give him… his… find… please.” Cody trailed the last syllable until he couldn’t make out any sound. Had they been in a medbay, they might have been able to save him. Had they been in a medbay, his electrocardiogram would show a flatline.
Rex wanted nothing more than to let himself fall on the ground and cry all of his sorrow out, until there were no more sounds, until he could see Cody again. Instead, he took a last look at his brother’s face, ruffled his short hair and closed his eyes.