The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

The Abominations

Kenobi scanned the hall of troopers.

It was a blinding area of white. White armor. White walls. White tables. White lights inlaid in the ceiling. It was all accented by the deep murmuring of voices that hung over the mess like a cloud.

Kenobi blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the wide area. His eyes skimmed over a sea of Jango Fett's face before they landed Cordelia and the two clones that escorted her, tucked away in the far corner of the mess. The Gray stuck out instantly among all the same face.

Even hiding in the corner, Cordelia constantly drew looks from every trooper at least once. They would all flick their eyes or turn their heads just quick enough to get a glimpse before straightening their gaze out again. So he wasn't the only one captivated by her. She seemed to have that effect on almost everyone around her.

He and Cody meandered their way through the maze of troopers, trying to get to the table in the corner. They sidestepped around clones with full trays of food. Kenobi hopped over a frantic MSE, the little mouse droid fervently attempting to clean the messy floor left behind by the ravenous soldiers.

"Why hello there General Kenobi." Cordelia said as they approached, motioning to him with the fork in her hand. There was an empty tray in front of her. She smiled at him, her face and hair uncovered. Kenobi was not disappointed with what he saw.

Her hair was a silvery-gold color and pulled up into an ornate bun on the back of her head. Wisps of loose hair fell by the sides of her face. She had high cheekbones that were complimented by a soft jaw. In the mess hall lighting, shadows had formed on her cheeks. Her nose was long and straight, with a beautiful smile that sat beneath. Her eyebrows were darker than her fair hair. Her features were overall exquisite, but her eyes were what captivated him. Those large, grey green eyes. It took him a split second to remember that he should speak.

"Hello Cordelia. We shall be departing soon for Nar Shaddaa." he spit out awkwardly. He hated when he sounded like that. Cordelia stood up and grabbed her tray. If she noticed anything off, she gave nothing away.

"Thanks for talking with me." she told the clones as she went to return her tray.

"Dismissed." Cody commanded to Ice and Dallas. They saluted before moving off. Kenobi heard one mention about the Grey being "quite the looker" before getting lost in the crowd of their brothers. Cordelia returned, once again channeling that undercurrent of nervous energy through her aura. As she pulled the cloth over her mouth, he could see it in her eyes as well.

"You seem to be ill at ease." Kenobi noted as they left the mess for the hangar. Once the door shut behind them, the sounds of talking were immediately snuffed out, leaving them in silence. Cordelia pulled the hood over her hair. She rested her left hand on her opposite elbow as she responded.

"I am. It's just... normally when I go out on a mission, I'm on my own." she confessed. "But this time, I have you and the clones to worry about. If anything should go wrong, if any of you get hurt or die, it's on me." The Gray gave a stressed sigh as she pulled the cloth over her nose.

"I'm not trained as a general. I'm not a leader. The Elders taught me to fight alone or maybe with one other person. I'm not trained for war." she finished, not meeting his eyes. Kenobi thought for a second. Her words described many of his feelings when they were thrown into the Clone Wars. Many responses popped into his head, but he decided to start with the most logical place: the beginning.

"I understand how you feel." he told her. "I fought at the First Battle of Geonosis. It had been the first battle in thousands of years. I watched as my fellow Jedi died all around me. Frankly, I wasn't sure what to do." he recanted as the three turned a corner.