Star Wars Oneshots

Goodbye, my love (TCW)

TW: character death, disfigurement, suicide (sort of)

Vader's Point of View

Vader stood at the window of his ship, stoically surveying the planet below. Even in the red tint of his helmet's lenses could not mistake the sandy surface of Tatooine, now crawling with his own death troopers. They were the drafted iteration of what was surely going to become a long-standing program, producing troopers who would help restore order to the galaxy.

The phase zero troopers were looking for something, a disturbance in the Force. Vader had felt it strongly, and though the presence wasn't familiar, like his old Master's, it was unmistakably similar to his own. 

Unsure and afraid of what that meant, Vader had flown to the planet where Anakin grew up and released his formidable soldiers to look for the disturbance, which was fluctuating in a playful way that suggested a child's movements, but Vader highly doubted that was what it was.

He turned away from the windows and walked to the bacta tank in his quarters, wanting a warm healing session. Though he hadn't been on the planet's surface for long, the desert air had dried out his skin to an extent that it was becoming painfully tight.

After taking off his armor in an extensive process, he sunk into the warm liquid with a sigh, blocking out the orange Force signature brushing against his own.

• • • • •

Obi-Wan's Point of View

With the arrival of a new type of stormtrooper on Tatooine, Obi-Wan was heading out to check on Luke, riding a bantha past the city limits and passing Tosche Station, his lightsaber a reassuring weight under his heavy robes.

He passed a trooper by the front steps of Tosche Station and noticed that their armor was different than that of the typical troopers they got around there sometimes. Obi-Wan ducked his head further into his hood and continued on, trying not to be noticed.

Alas, the trooper ran over to him, a whirring in their gait that suggested heavy cybernetic use. "Halt and prepare for inspection!" an oddly familiar voice yelled, and Obi-Wan sighed, knowing he would have to comply. The lightsaber jammed into his leg, reminding him of his backup. 

He halted his bantha and dismounted, lightsaber whacking against his hip as he stood on the rough ground. "What seems to be the problem, trooper?" he asked as politely as he could.

"Nothing yet," the trooper replied, approaching the bantha and inspecting the bags. "Do you have any weapons on you?"

"Just my trusty blaster," Obi-Wan replied cheerfully, pulling it out of his pocket. The trooper pulled away from the bags and inspected the blaster, finding nothing of consequence and placing it in one of Obi-Wan's bags.

They continued searching Obi-Wan's bags, with him hiding the nervous tapping of his fingers beneath his robes. The trooper turned their back to him, and he noticed an identification number printed on the backplate. DT-0-2224, it read, in large bold letters.

Obi-Wan's blood ran cold.

Barely allowing himself to breathe, he whispered, "Cody?"

The trooper whirled around. "What did you call me?"

"Cody. It is you." Obi-Wan's eyes widened, suddenly overwhelmed with so many different emotions.

The trooper removed his helmet, revealing Cody, Obi-Wan's long lost love from the Clone Wars. His face had new cybernetic implants, neural connectors, and vision enhancements, disfiguring his aging face and twisting him more machine than man.

"No." Cody's face hardened. "It's not. I'm not Cody. I'm just a number and prosthetics. I'm not flesh enough to be human, so don't call me that."

Obi-Wan stepped closer. "I still see you, Codes. I see your eyes. I hear your voice. You are still you."

Cody turned away, having completely forgotten the mission assigned to him. "The sun has aged you, Obi-Wan. You have the privilege of controlling your thoughts and loving your body. For me..." Cody trailed off, laughing in an off-putting sort of way. "For me, there's not much body left to love."

When Obi-Wan met Cody's eyes again, they were filled with so much pain that Obi-Wan's heart broke all over again.

"Stay with me, on Tatooine," Obi-Wan said, taking Cody's hands in his. "We can make a quiet life together, away from the Empire."

"Don't you see?" Cody bit out, taking his hands out of Obi-Wan's to tear them through his hair. "I will never be away from the Empire. I am part of it now. The only way to escape..." He took a shuddering breath. "If I died, I would be free."

Obi-Wan looked up at him in shock. 

Cody responded with a sad smile. "I don't control my thoughts, Obi-Wan. I just carry them out." 

A single tear leaked out of Cody's eye and trailed down his dark skin, and Obi-Wan thought reflexively, Crying is a waste of water. But he shoved it back down as Cody continued, "Please, Obi-Wan. Make me happy for the last time in my life and kill me."

"No," Obi-Wan said immediately, without thinking.

"There's no one else's arms I'd rather die in," Cody said quietly. "And if you don't do it, then I will."

"Please, no," Obi-Wan begged. "Grow old. See the galaxy. Die peacefully."

"There is no peace. Not when I am not myself. Not when I cannot live my own way." His voice broke as he finished, "Please, at least let me choose my death."

Obi-Wan cracked.

The lovers embraced, and a blue blade ignited, laser-hot, through the broken one's chest.