Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Kidnapped

Chapter 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi swiftly crossed the chaotic mess hall. Clad in his beige robes, he casually sat at at one of the few empty tables. His copper hair flopped as he turned his head to watch out for his comrades. On the table sat a bowl of muesli with a regular tea and some fruit. Surfing through the crowd of bustling clone troopers, he easily spotted a gang of troopers enter the hectic Hall. Wearing their customised armour, they flocked to the breakfast line. 

"Mind if we join you, General ?" asked a voice from the otherwise of the table. Obi-Wan turned his head to see two of his own men clad in their orange-gold armour. It was Waxer and Boil. 

"Of course," smiled Obi-Wan, gesturing for them to sit. He picked up a spoon and dunked it in the musli. His nose instantly picked up on a delightful scent. His eyes carefully traced it to two identical plates piled high with space waffles, delicately drizzled with syrup. Unlike at the very start of the war, none of them were forced to live off appalling freeze dried rations. They now had access to a variety of food, freshly made in the kitchens when possible. "How are you both this morning?"

"We haven't been trampled by Echo," grinned Waxer, making eye contact with Boil, who instantly smiled back. 

"What do you mean?" asked Obi-Wan,confused, with a mouth of muesli.

"Nothing, sir." smirked Boil, almost erupting into laughter, messing around with his waffles. 

"Was it Fives and Echo?" quizzed Obi-Wan, raising an eyebrow, knowing that the boys in blue were famous, not only for their low casualty rate, but for their boisterous banta (which was happily encouraged by an equally boisterous Skywalker). He just rolled his eyes as they nodded, not needing to say more.

"They owe me five hours sleep..." Sighed Commander Cody, dumping his tray beside Obi-Wan's half empty bowl. His tired eyes examined his food; a large mug of caff, a mixture of fruit with yogurt topped with....bacon. "That explain why the server was giving me an odd look...." He grabbed the mug and began to down its piping hot contents. He turned his head to meet the face to a highly concerned Obi-Wan. "How does Rex cope with them?!" His mind drifted off into the panicked thought of having Fives and Echo join the 212th perminatly...alongside the increased amount of paperwork they would cause. "Better still," he asked Waxer and Boil, "How did you manage to look after that little girl and still succeed with that mission?" 

"Are you feeling alright?" asked Obi-Wan, relieved that his Commander wasn't about to self-destruct.

"Yes sir." replied Cody, calming down. Slightly embarrassed by his melt down, he began to pick at the fruit that the bacon hadn't touched. "Sorry, that wasn't really professional of me."

"Don't apologise, Cody." reassured Obi-Wan, placing a hand on his shoulder," We all have our meltdowns." 

"Clones are forbidden to show any emotion..." Cody replied, thinking of the horror the Kaminoians forced them though as Cadets. "Those of us who broke either got terminated or threw themselves off the platforms, before they got to them. A few luckier ones were reconditioned... We never saw them again." Cody watched as his younger vod shudder at the memories of a few batchmates facing the sane fate as most of the earlier batches of clones faced. 

"I swear the Jedi won't rest until inhumane practices on you and your Vod are stopped, Cody." reassured Obi-Wan, trying to stop his Commander from trembling with fear. His soft grey eyes met Cody's. "None of you should have to go through that." Through the Force, he could sense the clones' uneasiness at the mention of the torturous training everyone had to endure. He watched as Waxer stood up from his seat and walk around to his side of the table, taking a seat next to Cody. Waxer pulled his Ori'vod close, feeling him shudder with fear and anxiety.