Ratnena walked into the mess hall spotting her shy roommate almost immediately, she was right where Ratnena figured she would be, sitting at the far end of the room and alone. She also saw about six other, obviously rookies, sitting in a small group near the entrance of the mess hall. There were four humans, three males and one female, one Bothan male and one Mon Calamari male. The Bothan male head was on a swivel since he seemed to be trying to see everything in the room at the same time. From what Ratnena had heard about the Bothans and from her limited dealing with them, she was sure that the pilot was just being a typical Bothan. The small group was talking in low hushed voices, the kind that people used when they were not sure how to act in a new situation.

The next group of officers she came to was definably not rookies. Not only where they much older then the rest of the personal in the hall but they were louder, talkative and not caring who heard them. It also did not hurt that she noticed the commander and major sitting with that group almost right away. The commander and the major sat there with an older male, two females that had very similar looks about them. Not their body types, one was dark skin and a few years older and very in much better shape then the light skin one. No, it was the way they carried themselves, she had seen similar body languages from other males and females in bars and other such places. The kind of 'go ahead mess with me please, I would love to kill you.' look. It was the kind of look that she hoped to acquire and use after she finishes training to be a Wraith. She did enjoy cutting men who cannot take no for answer but she was tired of going to jail. If she could develop that look, it may cut back the number of people she had to fight off. The next two at the table was a big surprise. One was a Devonian male that she had met earlier since he was the medic for the group, and he had all kinds of things, hanging around his neck was about the best that she could describe them. However, the biggest surprise of them all was the huge Gamorrean at the far end. She had heard about that species, they are hired more for their muscles not for their extensive vocabulary or dinner manners. She could hear a mechanical overlay to his voice and assumed that he had a translator build in his throat somehow, and he seemed to be carrying on an intelligent conversation. Wraiths are as strange as I've heard back at the jail, she though as she walked up to the counter to order her dinner. Behind the serving area was a two-tone, gold and silver, protocol droid.

"Good evening I'm Squeaky, the quartermaster, cook and sometime medic for the Wraith squadron. May I ask for your name please so I can access your personal file to insure you receive the proper meal?" The droid said in the normal prissy voice common to protocol droids.

"Yea sure, I'm Flight Officer Bora."

The droid was silent while it was looking up her file; Ratnena looked over at her roommate who had her nose buried in a data pad. Is that all that girl does with her time is study?

"I'm terribly sorry but I have yet to receive your file. Before I can serve you today, you must first check in with the commanding officer. That would be Commander Loran, who is …"

"Wait I did that already."

"You did check in already, when was this?" Ratnena was not sure but the droid seemed to go stiffer and his voice huffier.

"Earlier today I saw Major Tainer and him just after the noon meal hour."

"Oh I see," the droid said cheerfully even though Ratnena had the distinct impression it was anything but happy since as he talked he got louder and louder. "Well no problem then, I am sure it was a simple oversight by the commanding officer. He gets so busy doing his duties that he forgets that there are others on this base trying to do their jobs properly!"

Ratnena looked over at the table where Loran and Tainer were sitting at; both men exchanged looks with each other. They started talking in hushed but heated exchange.

"Sorry Squeaky, I'll send her file over right after dinner." Major Tainer said looking properly abashed.

"Thank you Major Tainer, I do appreciate being kept inform of the doings of the squadron as it pertains to supplies and such, especially now that we have so many new recruits coming and going through the base every day."

"Sorry Squeaky, I'll make sure you have all the updated files right after I finish the delicious dinner." He made a show out of smelling his plate of food. "Mm … mm the best food in all of the military and we have our Squeaky to thank for that."

"Flattery will get you no where Mr. Tainer." The droid said sarcastically, he then turned back to Ratnena and was pleasant again. "Well there is no reason for you to starve just because of another's mistake. Now we have 3 choices of meat, two different kinds of fowl and …"

"Sorry but I don't eat meat. I can only eat vegetarian meals."

"Oh dear, I'm sorry but we can't prepare such specialty food for each and every recruit that comes through this base. But if you feel it is necessary to have such special meals you must first consult our medical doctor …"

"I already saw … the … doctor." She said suddenly feeling eight years old again and getting caught tattling on her older brothers by mistake.

"I see and you would have seen him right after seeing Commander Lorna and Major Tainer, correct?"

"Yes sir, err yes droid … I mean um …" Ratnena trailed off figuring the less she said the better off she would be. "Tell you what I'm not all that hungry …"

"Nonsense Flight Officer Bora, you should eat three healthy meals a day, not doing so would put your health at risk. And we can't have sick Wraiths around here since the good doctor is obviously far to busy with other projects to ensure that his patience's are properly fed by making sure the cook has the proper dietary requirements!"

Again, Ratnena wished that she could shrink down to a couple centimeters and run out the door. The table full of veterans stopped all conversation as they all looked back at the droid and Ratnena, after a couple seconds they all turn to each other and started another low hushed but heated exchange. Then they all looked at the doctor, the Devonian who got up and walked over to Squeaky.

"A thousand pardons Mr. Squeaky, I was sure I sent you that file earlier today. Are you sure you didn't receive it?" The Devonian asked looking all-innocent.

"Yes, unlike most of you rejects from the psycho ward I have the best filing system on this base, in fact this whole planet. It wouldn't surprise me if my files were the most organized in the entire galaxy!" While the droid was talking, it was flapping its arms around like a sick bird. Ratnena was trying hard to keep straight face, a straight sympatric face, as the droid made a spectacle of itself. The doctor just kept a smile on his face and nodded. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see one of the two women hold up a data pad discreetly and aim it towards the droid. The woman was frowning down at the pad, tried again but judging by her face was not getting the results she wanted. The droid turned in her direction and Ratnena was sure if it had a face, it would be glaring at the table of veterans. "Oh no you don't, I am wise to that trick Ms. Dryons. I have turned off my upload receptor while I was looking for her file!"

"You're getting to smart for us Squeaky." She said not at all looking abashed at being caught red handed. The rest of the table let lose with a round of laughter.

"Of course I am I have been dealing with you rejects for 17 years now. After all these years, you think you would learn to respect my superior intellect."

"We have the highest respect for your work Squeaky." Commander Loran said through his laughter.

"You are truly prince among droids." The doctor said while snatching another plate of food.

"We love you Squeaky you know that," Major Tainer said absolutely deadpan, "come by my lab tomorrow and I love you to pieces." That comment brought on another round of laughter. The good doctor made good his escape while the droid went on a new rant. Ratnena stood there wondering if she should just go sit down or wait until he was done. Just as she made up her mind to disappear into the mess hall, Squeaky turn back to her.

"Now Ms. Bora what would you like to eat tonight?"

She pointed out several different vegetables, a bowl of noodles and asked for a salad; she added please to the end of her order hoping it would calm the droid down. She has some experience with protocol droids in the past, she stole them after all for resale on the black market, and never had encounter one that was as odd as this one was. She wondered if the Wraiths had a malfunction droid that they couldn't figure out how to fix. The droid however seemed to brighten up when she spoke to it.

"I will be happy to fix you a salad, Flight Officer Bora. If you wish, you may go sit down and I will bring your dinner out to you. And may I say that I hope that you are successful at completing training for the Wraiths, it would be nice to have some one around here that has some manners." The droid then turned his head and seem to glare at the veterans again. "Maybe all your good manners will rub off on some other people around here!"

A volley of good-natured 'boos' and 'hisses 'from the veterans accompanied that comment from Squeaky, Ratnena wondered why they were willing to put up with such a droid. Ratnena made good on her escape as the droid was loudly reminding them that his contract was due for renewal. When Ratnena passed the rookie table they were laughing also, but they had a nervous quality to their laugh. As if they were either unsure of the joke or didn't feel comfortable enough here to laugh fully. Her shy roommate, on the other hand, had a very amused smile on her face. She was sitting there, with her left hand holding her chin, clearly enjoying the whole little drama between the older Wraiths.

"Hello, would you mind some company for dinner?" Ratnena said in a hopeful voice, she really did want to apologies for what she did to the kid earlier.

Sara lost her smile and scrunched up her face as if seriously considering the request. After a couple seconds she gave her a dubious look and asked if she did keep her clothes on to eat.

"Yes, I don't, believe it or not, go walking around in public naked or anything like that." Ratnena said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "I also have to say 'sorry' about what I did earlier." She gave Sara a sheepish grin and told her that she should covered up some when she noticed how uncomfortable Sara was but didn't because she wanted to play a little joke. "I couldn't help myself; you looked so adorable turning purple and stammering and all that I just had to keep the joke up. I hope that I didn't offend you too much."

"Well, there was no real harm done I guess and well I guess it was kind of funny from a certain point of view." Sara said with a serious look on her face. "I guess I can accept you apology." She held her left hand out to shake.

"Thanks Sara and by the way my name is Ratnena Bora."

"Oh that should be easy to remember, you have 'rat' in your name." Sara said with a bright smile on her face. "And just to give you fair notice I am honor bound now to get back at you for your little joke." She gave Ratnena a look that she though was supposed to come out evil but instead made her want to laugh.

"Oh you a great practical joker back home?" Ratnena said, some how this innocent farm girl didn't strike her as much of a joker.

"Oh yea my friends back on Tatooine never knew when I would strike or how. It could be anything." She said with an innocent smile on her face and pride in her voice.

Ratnena noticed that when Sara smiled she was very pretty. However, she felt bad for the kid; she was just way too innocent to survive out in the big bad galaxy. She would make it her mission to watch out for the kid, to toughen her up.

"Just before I left for boot camp I snuck a sand lizard in little Bobbie T-65 Sky hopper. Oh we all laugh about it for weeks."

Ratnena gave her a dutiful smile and laugh while thinking kids like this shouldn't leave their homes without their mommies and daddies. It took a tough mean person to survive in the world, it was a rancor eat rancor galaxy out there. Kids like Sara wouldn't even be an interesting snack to many of the male human monsters out there. Her thoughts were interrupted by Squeaky walking up carrying two trays of food. Sara's tray had a plate with a huge slab of blacken meat on it and a bowl of noodles. Ratnena felt her stomach give a slight lurch as the smell of the dead animal reached her nose. Ratnena hasn't consumed any animal flesh since she was 10 years old after her school trip to a meat processing plant. Normally she could handle the smell of cooked meat but there was something about this meat that was affecting her.

"Flight Officer Sandblaster your steak is cook exactly as you instructed, however this is your fourth helping. I hope that is enough for tonight."

"Yes thank you Squeaky." Sara said with a smile.

"Have all your steaks been that big?" Ratnena asked as Squeaky set down her tray. As he walked away, Sara nodded her head.

"Yes, I have a very high metabolism, which is probable why I'm so small for my age." She said, as she cut off the first piece, although it was black on the out side it was almost raw in the inside. Ratnena felt her stomach lurch again. "I have to eat a lot to just maintain my weight. Lucky I was able to have my bantha shipped in from home."

"Oh that is bantha meat?" Ratnena said trying to control her rebellions stomach so she could eat her food too. She dug her fork into her bowl of pasta.

"Yep, homegrown bantha. When I was a little girl I had a bantha I called Lily." She said with a voice that was full of remembrance as she sliced off another piece. Ratnena looked away hoping that by not watching she could settle her stomach down. "I used to ride her all over the farm, I taught her how to do some tricks. I used to put pretty bows in her hair after I brushed her down. Sometimes at night, I would sneak out of the house, go curl up next to her, and watch the skies while I talked to her. I loved her so much and she was my best friend. Then just before I left, my family had a big feast and neighbors from hundreds of kilometers came to our farm. They all loved Lily as much as I do."

"Sounds like you really miss her?" Ratnena said looking around trying to avoid looking at her or Sara's food. She was eating by feel alone, she hoped she wasn't being insulting to Sara but for some reason her; stomach was just rolling too much.

"Oh I do, but in a way I will always have a part of her with me." Ratnena looked her roommate and saw her staring at her food with a far away look in her green eyes and a smile that suggested her visiting her childhood memories. Ratnena felt her heart break as she watch the girl, oh you poor sweet naive child. Ratnena wondered how this girl ever expected to survive this kind of training let alone do the kind of missions commandos are often called on to do with that kind of mindset. "I am doing her a great honor this way and making sure she will always be with me."

"Plus I can't help myself, she just taste so darn good!"

"Uh excuse me but … did you … I mean …" Ratnena was hoping she heard wrong. Right now, her stomach was no longer rebellion but it has declared all out war! "You're eating Lilly, your pet!"

"I know what you're thinking and it is ok. At first I though it was weird too." Sara said with very sympathetic eyes and reached across the table with her left hand to squeeze her right hand. "But it is only natural; I mean I had spent a lot of time riding her around the farm. Nevertheless, it's true, she not tough and gamy like you would think but she very tender and juicy. I'm talking mouth-watering juicy."

Ratnena jerked her hand back and stared down at her food trying to block out the sound of Sara's voice. That is when she noticed that something was moving in her bowl of noodles.

"Rat? Are you ok there Rat, you look a little green?" Sara hands block the view of her bowl as she switched it with hers. "Opps sorry that one is mine, a great source of protein you know."

Ratnena looked up in horror at Sara as she picked up one of the white maggots and pop it into her mouth like it was a piece of candy.

"Rat?"

Ratnena didn't bother answering her as she covered her mouth. Her stomach was about to fire the finial shot in the war and she wanted to get into a refresher before she got sick all over everyone. However, as she turned to run out the door, she ran right into Major Tainer.

Tahiri was tired but still felt somewhat good. Her practical joke, for the most part, went off very well. Even Face and Kell had told her that they were impressed with her. They must have told her a hundred times how they would have never expected her, of all people, to pull a stunt like that, as they supervised her cleaning the mess hall with a toothbrush Squeaky retrieved from storage.

"That was a good joke Tahiri; inventive, original, and executed flawlessly, exactly what we would expect from a Wraith. Oh by the way you missed a spot."

The look on Ratnena's face after she got sick on Major Tainer was priceless; she wished she had a holo-photo of it. However, she did feel guilty about the whole joke for a couple reasons. First, it was kind of mean, Ratnena did try to make up for her earlier joke and she should let it drop. Nevertheless, she would have never allowed Anakin to get away with a practical joke without getting even so she was honor bound to get Ratnena. The second reason was she did misuse the Force to help tweak her stomach a bit and to make her believe that the candy worm she put in the bowl was moving on its own power. She felt guilty for using the Force even that much and Master Jade-Skywalker had once told her 'If you do something and later feel bad about it, then you did the wrong thing.'

Therefore, Tahiri would have to make it up to Ratnena and apologies to her without getting into too much details.

When she walked into the room the desk light was on, allowing her enough light to see by, and saw Ratnena facing her wall with the covers wrapped tightly around her. Tahiri tried to walk over to her bunk quietly.

"They finally let you go?" Ratnena asked not moving.

"Yea," Tahiri said as she sat down to remove her footwear. "Sorry I though I quiet enough to not wake you up."

"I wasn't asleep really." She said, "I been laying here thinking about what you did to me."

"Listen," Tahiri said wincing feeling her guilt come flooding back, "I just wanted …"

"I mean that was so mean of you, I can' believe you would ever do a dirty trick like that" She twisted around so she could look at Tahiri over her shoulder; Tahiri could see a huge bright smile on her face. "You really got me good!"

"You're not mad at me or anything?"

"Naw, I was at first but then I had time to think about it and I had to laugh myself." She twisted her body around so she faced her, still covered by her bed sheets. "I had you pegged for this naïve farm kid who was too sweet and innocent to pull such a mean and disgusting trick. I definably underestimated you."

"I'm full of surprises." Tahiri said giving her a smile back, "I was worried that you would be mad and hate me."

"Nope, but I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you from on now."

"Astro, I do want to be your friend."

"Friends, shall we shake on it?"

"You decent?" Tahiri asked looking at her dubiously.

"Of course."

"Ok let's shake." Tahiri said getting up and walking over to Ratnena. When Ratnena pulled back the covers to get up Tahiri felt her face flush red and covered her eyes. "Rat! I thought you said you were decent."

"I'm decent ask anyone who knows me. Everyone always tells me I'm a decent caring person." She said, sounding slightly confused, as if she didn't understand Tahiri.

"I meant are you dressed!" She said trying hard not to laugh, "Could you cover your self."

"Oh is that what you meant? Hold on." After a couple seconds, she told Tahiri she could open her eyes. When Tahiri did open her eyes, she saw Ratnena standing in front of her, still naked. "It is the latest thing, a personal clocking device." She said spinning around as if she was in a fashion show. "Do you think it makes me look fat?"

Tahiri couldn't help herself, she fell back on her bunk, holding her gut and laughing as hard as she had in years. It is going to be an interesting six months!"