The Varactyl Squadron Commander (A Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twelve

Axel had just about had it with Quadrant B's advantages.

Not only did its inhabitants have comfy clothing that he'd never admit to being jealous of, the rec room his squad leader mentioned was absolutely insane. With its multiple different gaming consoles, exquisite furniture, and magnificent view of Kamino's vast oceans taking up an entire wall, all Varactyl squadron could do was gawk at all the fun things surrounding them.

"Woah..." Risk's jaw dropped when his eyes caught the never-ending supply of video games along the farthest wall. "This is..." He could hardly speak as he walked over to the nearest device, knelt down, and grabbed one of the controllers, examining it with an awestruck look on his face. "Woah..."

"You think that's insane? Look at this!" Breaks ran over to the nearest couch and sank into the red cushions. "Oh yeah," He sighed with content and propped his feet up on a nearby foot-rest, made of the exact same material and just as soft. With a grin on his lips spreading from ear to ear, Breaks put his hands behind his bald head and closed his eyes. "I could get used to this."

"Is that the latest model?" Tyson questioned and joined Risk next to one of the newer video game consoles that appeared to have been recently installed. "Hey, Commander," Tyson looked over his shoulder at the woman still standing next to Axel in the doorway, arms folded and an amused look in her eye. "You don't mind if we... I mean, would it be alright if..." Molindi nodded her head.

"Go right ahead, boys. Do whatever you'd like. Enjoy yourselves for a while; you guys earned it."

"I think I might have..." Breaks yawned from the couch and fell silent a moment later, the steady sound of his breathing and the slow rise and fall of his chest indicating he'd fallen asleep. After a fluent string of 'thank you's and 'you're awesome's, Tyson and Risk started up one of the games and indulged themselves in a different reality, leaving Axel and Molindi standing in an awkward silence at the exit of the room.

"How much did this cost?" Axel couldn't help but question and felt a sour taste crawling around in his mouth. How much money had the Republic wasted on the higher ranked soldiers' entertainment, when they could've spent it on much less petty things? Like medical supplies? Or food? Or better equipment for missions? It made him angry to think that men, his brothers, were sacrificing themselves on battlefields lightyears away while people like his newest commander were sitting in the lap of luxury. Molindi caught the slight hostility in his voice and shook her head.

"The army didn't pay for this, if that's what you want to know." She started.

"Then who did?"

"Me."

"You had a boat-load of credits and decided to spend it all on a lounge for commanders?" He scoffed, his eyes watching his fellow troopers across the room as they competed in a game he'd never seen before. "Don't you think there are other things you could've done with it?"

"It's not just for commanders with free time." The woman defended herself. "It's for whoever gets bored or tired in between missions, or clones who are healing from injuries in battle." Axel raised an eyebrow and glanced from the two men to his commander. "This isn't the only room, either. There's hundreds of them scattered around the facilities. You just need to look in the right places to find them." Axel didn't say anything in response after that, leaving them in another uncomfortable silence.

"Do you want to play a game?" Molindi offered.

"A game?" He guffawed. Trying not to take his bitterness personally (though it was probably very personal), Molindi nodded.

"Yes, a game. If you'd rather not play on any of the consoles, there's some pazaak cards in that cabinet over there we could use, or maybe you'd prefer something a little more aggressive?" By this point, she was trying a lot harder than she'd originally thought to be friends with this new team member. Not because she wanted his approval or because she was trying to prove something to herself, but because she knew that if they didn't start to get along more, it would ultimately affect their skills on the front lines.

If he couldn't tolerate her, or, god forbid, even trust her, then his hostility could put other lives in danger besides their own. Molindi was growing desperate. For the sake of her new men, she was going to win this guy over whether she liked it or not.

"What do you possibly have in here that could be considered aggressive?" Axel asked. She smiled.

"Follow me and I'll show you."

**********

Ping-pong was its name, and simultaneously destroying and building friendship at the same time was its game.

Hidden in the corner of the room behind a mountain of bean bags ("Good god, are you serious? Bean bags? Commander, this is just ridiculous now.") was the rectangular table that would start a civil war between the five individuals. Wielding paddles as weapons and hitting small white spheres back and forth as projectiles across the flat surface, no one was safe.

At first, Axel was hesitant. He saw it and thought that this woman had completely lost her mind. A game so ancient, so trivial, was expected to be amusing to him? The dull-minded task of hitting a ball back and forth was supposed to bring him some sort of joy? How absurd.

But then the blonde served, and Axel would be damned if he let her win. Ultimately, she butchered him the first few games they played. But as the minutes turned into hours and Axel's persistence grew, so did his skills. The games grew more intense, more strenuous as the scores slowly got closer each time. It was two hours gone when Tyson and Risk paused their game and Breaks woke from his nap to see what all the shouting and grunting was about.

"All tied up..." Breaks commentated when the points had gotten to their highest yet- 49 to 49. "Game-point." Sweat was dripping down each face in stressed beads. Tension was reaching an indescribable level. It was so thick, you could've scooped it out of the air with a spoon. This was it.

"And she serves-!" Risk shouted as her paddle smacked against the ping-pong ball, shooting it across the table at her opponent. Axel was ready for it and sent the projectile straight back with a loud THWACK! But he'd learned her tactics by then, viewed her weakest spots and taken note of what difficulties he could use to his advantage. The angled shots were what tripped her up the most, the kind that sent the ball in different directions than just straight ahead. Axel aimed for her left, since she was right-handed.

Molindi lined up for her retaliation, making similar calculations in her mind and ready to fire back, but was stopped short when her comm-link began to blink.