'ello, peoples of the earth!
Did I trick you by not updating yesterday? Heehee, no worries, peoples. Like last time, I have a plan for updating regularly. Hopefully that makes y'all happy.
To Lux's Sister: I don't know. Would you like them to have a thing going on? ;)
Anyway, I now present Chapter 2 of Bad Blood! Hope y'all enjoy!
Kira awoke to someone gently shaking her shoulder. "Kira, wake up," she heard Obi-Wan say.
At that, Kira's eyes popped open. She was always awake before Obi-Wan unless she was sick, and she didn't feel sick at all. Then she remembered once when the Council had commed Obi-Wan in the middle of the night about an urgent situation on the moon of Ruusan. He'd had to wake her up at midnight.
Kira stretched under her blankets, relieved to see that it was still dark outside. "What time is it, Master?" she mumbled out of curiosity.
"0100," Obi-Wan replied. He looked apologetic for having to wake Kira up so early. "The Council has called us upstairs. It seems there's been a problem on Kamino with the clone factories."
"With the clone factories?" Kira repeated, blinking to clear the sleepiness from her eyes and sitting up.
"Master Windu didn't share all the details," Obi-Wan said as Kira went to grab some clothes from the drawer. "He only said there's a situation with the clone factories and that we must report to the Council chambers immediately."
Kira nodded to acknowledge Obi-Wan's explanation and ducked into the refresher to change. Quickly she discarded her sleepwear and tugged on her tunic and leggings. When she emerged, she grabbed her utility belt from where it hung near the dresser and began prepping it, mentally checking off the items she might need in her head. Lightsaber, underwater breather, protein cubes...
Kira finished and was ready to go in minutes. Obi-Wan looked pleased with her efficency.
The Master and Padawan grabbed their cloaks and hurried through the darkened Temple corridors to the turbolift. The ride upstairs was silent, but tension filled the air between them.
Finally they arrived at the Council chambers. Obi-Wan entered first, Kira following close behind. She focused on keeping her mental shields up, hoping to mask her trepidation at this untold mission.
"Waiting on your former apprentice and his Padawan, we are," Yoda said to Obi-Wan. "Brief you, we will, when they arrive."
Surprisingly, the Council (and Kira) did not have to wait long - a miracle, considering Anakin's reputation for tardiness. He entered the Council chambers a moment after Yoda made his statement, bleary-eyed with sleep. Cadena didn't look much better than her Master.
Kira really hoped she didn't have dark circles under her eyes like Anakin did. She bounced a little on the balls of her feet, waiting for the briefing to begin.
Mace was the first to speak. He was direct and quick to get to the point. "Ths cloners on Kamino have reported explosions in key areas of their cloning facilities," he said gravely. "They have taken precautions to take care of overheating and other such problems, but to no avail. Explosions continue to plague the facilities. They have come to the Council requesting an investigation."
Now this was serious. The Kaminoans controlled the facilities that bred the clones for the Grand Army of the Republic. If certain areas of these facilities were taken out, it would take much time to repair them, and so would take time to clone fresh troops for the Army. The Republic would be dealt a critical blow if someone - namely the Separatists - were to render the Kaminoan cloning factories unable to produce clones.
"Separatist involvement, perhaps?" Anakin asked. He seemed more alert now that he'd heard what they were dealing with.
"We believe so." Mace shifted in his chair. "However, an investigation must be conducted to find out exactly what is causing the problem. So we are sending the four of you to take care of this investigation - and deal with the cause of these explosions."
"Fail, you must not," Yoda added seriously. "In a precarious position, the Republic will find itself, if you do."
"That's why we won't fail," Cadena spoke up, radiating confidence and the slightest hint of cockiness.
"Make sure you don't," said Mace, concluding the meeting as he looked at the four Jedi in front of him. "May the Force be with you all."
"You know, I'm actually looking forward to this mission. It was starting to get a little boring around here," Cadena commented. She looked over at Anakin, who was discussing probable strategies with Obi-Wan in the event that they did find that Separatists were involved in these explosions. "Don't they look tense?"
"They're planning for a mission. Of course they look tense," Kira replied. She fidgeted with her belt. "It shouldn't be too hard. It's not a standard op, true, but it sounds pretty simple."
"Then you've never been on a mission with Anakin. Things are never simple with him involved," Cadena said, grinning.
Kira looked over at the Masters again. "Let's hope this time's different."
Cadena shrugged.
Obi-Wan and Anakin finished their discussion and made their way to where the Padawans were standing. "We're going to take the Resolute to Kamino," Anakin told them. "Then we're going to take two teams to the surface - Cody's troops with Obi-Wan and Kira and Rex's troops with me and Cadena. We shouldn't have too much trouble, but there will be a few squadrons standing by on the Resolute just in case. Any questions?"
Kira and Cadena shook their heads.
"Good. Then let's get going." Anakin turned on his heel and started walking toward the shuttle that would take them to the Resolute. "Come on, Cadena."
Cadena smiled at Kira before she took off after Anakin.
Obi-Wan shook his head and gestured for Kira to follow. She obeyed, hurrying to catch up with her Master and match his stride.
Obi-Wan and Kira boarded the shuttle after Anakin and Cadena and grabbed the straps above their heads. A few clones were already inside and ready to go. They didn't say a word, but Kira could sense their concern for their homeworld and their brothers that still remained in Tipoca City, the location of the cloning facilities.
Soon, the shuttle closed the blast doors and lifted up, slightly jolting all of the occupants. Kira held on a little tighter to her strap. She couldn't see outside, but she knew the shuttle was flying out of the hangar and lifting into the dark Couruscant sky. She looked over at Obi-Wan, who seemed to be deep in thought, and elected not to disturb him.
Once the shuttle arrived on the Resolute, Anakin immediately headed out of the hangar to the bridge with Cadena in tow. Obi-Wan and Kira headed to the war room, for they had promised the 212th that they would be there to brief the troops when they arrived.
Clone Commander Cody of the 212th entered the war room and saluted Obi-Wan and Kira. "Reporting for duty, General," he said.
"At ease, Cody," Obi-Wan said. "Where are the others?"
"On their way, sir. There was a problem with one of the shuttles and the troopers had to transfer."
Obi-Wan nodded in acknowledgement and returned to the hologram he'd set up, making a few adjustments.
Cody turned to face Kira. "Commander," he greeted her with a smile.
Kira had to smile back. "It's Kira, Cody."
"Sorry."
"It's fine. Did you sleep well?"
"Until Trapper woke me and told me our brothers need our help, yes, I did. You?"
"I did, thanks." Kira could sense Cody's concern, although one didn't need the Force to see how tightly the commander gripped his helmet under his arm and hear the trepidation in his voice. Kira put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Kamino will be fine, I promise. Especially with loyal, brave men like those in the 212th to protect it."
Cody offered a weak smile. "Thanks, Kira."
The door opened, and the rest of the troopers of the 212th filed in the room, greeting their commanders and their general as they came. After the pleasantries had been exchanged, Obi-Wan signaled to Kira to begin the briefing.
"As you all know, the cloning facilities on Kamino have suffered from explosions in various areas," Kira explained. "All we need to do is search for the cause. There could be something wrong with the facility itself. There could be Separatist involvement. We don't know, and we're going to find out. For safety's sake, be on guard at all times and stay out of the way as much as possible. We can't afford to warn the Separatists of our arrival if they are involved." She looked over to Obi-Wan, who nodded. "That is all. Are there any questions?"
Negative murmurs came from the troopers.
"All right then. We have about seven hours until we reach Kamino. Get some rest, men," said Obi-Wan. His request was met with no resistance - quite the opposite, in fact.
Obi-Wan and Kira were last to exit the war room and watched as troopers headed off in the direction of the bunks or the mess. Kira suddenly felt a yawn coming on and pressed a hand to her mouth.
Kira liked missions, but she didn't like it too much when she had to get up at midnight to start one.
"You look tired," Obi-Wan commented, eyeing Kira with concern.
Kira shook her head. "I'll manage," she said.
Obi-Wan didn't look convinced but instead rather skeptical. "Kira, it would be best if you got some rest, too. The clones aren't the only ones that need it."
"I'll manage, Master," Kira repeated. She fought off the wave of sleepiness that overcame her. "I'm going to go look over those data cards again. I'll be finished soon."
"Get some rest," Obi-Wan called after the Padawan.
Once she knew she was out of sight, Kira shook her head and turned down the corridor toward her quarters on the ship. She didn't like it when Obi-Wan worried about her like that. True, it was nice to have someone to worry about her, but sometimes all the worrying could make Kira feel...restricted.
It wasn't good to feel restricted on a mission.
Kira approached the door to her bunk and pressed the button to open the door. Inside, she picked up her datapad from the small cot and sat down, looking over the info on Kamino she'd downloaded. She read about the furious storms that could drench a life form within seconds and wind gusts that could knock a life form off one of the platforms of Tipoca City if they were not careful.
All the while as she read, Kira wasn't really digesting anything. She'd read all this before, and she kept on yawning. It wasn't the information that bored her - no, Kira liked learning about planets she'd never seen before.
Force, she was tired.
Kira lay her entire body down on the cot and propped herself up on one elbow to continue reading the datapad. Her eyelids drooped, and she shook her head to get rid of the fog in her brain. Her efforts were to no avail, for she continued to get sleepier.
Maybe a little nap wouldn't be so bad, Kira thought as she finally closed her eyes and drifted off, dropping the datapad onto the pillow.
Kira woke a little while later. Blinking, she sat up and looked around. Then she remembered where she was and how she'd gotten there, and an surge of anticipation ran through her. She smoothed her hair and raced out into the corridor, wondering how long it would be until the ship reached Kamino.
Clones going about their business nodded to Kira as she made her way through the hall to the bridge of the ship, where she was certain her Master would be. Sure enough, he was there, speaking to Anakin and Admiral Yularen, commander of the Resolute. Cadena was nowhere to be seen.
The men finished just as Kira approached, and the admiral turned back to the men in the bridge while Obi-Wan looked up to see Kira. "There you are," he greeted her. "I was just about to send Cody to find you. We've almost arrived."
Anakin kept looking over his shoulder. "Speaking of which, I might have to go drag Cadena up here," he scowled. "Excuse me."
Kira watched the older man storm off. Obi-Wan chuckled. "Sooner or later she was going to start being late, too."
Kira changed the subject. "How far away are we, Master?"
Before Obi-Wan could answer, the ship dropped out of hyperspace, and a gorgeous dark blue orb came into view. Flashes of light, the lightning storms Kira had read about, peeked through the blue every so often.
"I suppose there's your answer," Obi-Wan said. He turned to Admiral Yularen. "Prep the shuttles. We're going in."
"As you wish, sir."
At that, Kira reluctantly turned away from the blue marble and followed Obi-Wan off the bridge. Excited butterflies fluttered around her stomach as she and Obi-Wan headed to the hangar to board the shuttle that would take them to the planet below.
Kira, why do you look annoyed again?
Kira: Because you're back on that video editor.
Me: Forgive me if I'm a little obsessive over this-
Kira: A little?
Me: Don't interrupt me. Do you realize how long I've wanted to try making a Clone Wars video?
Obi-Wan: While you have a point, Amy, those do not look like Clone Wars characters.
Me: STOP LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER! -_-
Kira: *sigh* Are you almost done that video?
Me: Yes. Then I promise I'll try it with the Clone Wars. Okay?
Kira: Okay.
Me: Okay. Obi-Wan, do the review notice.
Obi-Wan: I know better than to argue. Please review if you liked it, hated it, or wanted to light it up and watch it burn.
Me: Very good. Thanks for clicking in, peoples! May the Force be with you!
