Shadows of our Past

XXV

2 weeks later

Cody's POV

The Republic managed to track us down and save us from Hoth 2 weeks ago, we haven't had any missions since then and the Generals and the Commander were recovering. Rex and I are travelling to Kamino to get new recruits since we lost over half of our troops, we informed General Shaak Ti that we needed new recruits and she said she was rounding together the best troops to trial. The 212th and 501st were the top two battalions and I know that almost all the clones want to be in the 501st and if they don't get into the 501st then they'll take the 212th since we usually worked together. General Skywalker went on a lot of missions and he's killed a lot of sith lords so it was common sense that his battalion was well known, his risky plans and ideas usually made the front page in the holo news as well and the 501st executed his plans perfectly. The 212th's General, General Kenobi, was General Skywalker's former Master and since they always work together the 212th and 501st were close. 

Rex walked next to me through our ship as we came up to Kamino. Commander Tano of the 501st always said that Rex and I take after our Generals and I could certainly see it within Rex but not so much myself. General Kenobi always thought out his plans and took things slowly and I sometimes tended to rush a bit whereas General Skywalker came up with a plan on the spot and 'wings' it. Rex was kind of like that as well, when he has a plan he'll usually dive straight in and it almost always worked even though it was reckless.

"We're landing on Kamino now," the pilot stated.

Rex and I took our seats and strapped in as we began landing, rain lashed against the ship and thunder echoed overhead. I could hear the waves crashing against the strong support beams of the base below us and we softly touched down. 

We left the ship and went into the base, soldiers walked through the hallways and straightened up when they saw us to make a good impression. We found General Shaak Ti who smiled in greeting when she saw us, we both removed our helmets and nodded our heads slightly in greeting.

"I've put together 600 troops for you to trial, they are the best we have and I assure you that they will perform to meet General Kenobi and General Skywalker's standards," she said as we walked towards one of the large rooms.

"Thank you General," Rex replied as the door opened.

"I'll leave you two to it, the training program is ready in the other room," 

We went into the room and the door shut behind us, 600 hundred troops were waiting and standing to attention. 

"At ease soldiers," I commanded.

The soldiers all relaxed slightly and Rex gestured for me to speak first. I stepped forward and paced in front of the large group as Rex stood near the door.

"I am Commander Cody of the 212th. As most of you know the 212th is one of the best battalions out there, most of the time we're on the front lines with the 501st and trust me when I say it can be brutal. General Obi-wan Kenobi likes to think out his plans and sticks to the rule book which allows things to be done quickly and professionally. With the war coming closer to an end we're out there almost all the time so we need the best troopers out there," I explained, "We'll be splitting you all in half and trialling you to determine if you fit the high standards and which battalion you belong in. You'll be running the trials in your squadrons that you trained in and we'll be going from there,"

Rex walked forward and I stood next to the door as he began speaking.

"Now, despite the 501st and 212th always working together, General Anakin Skywalker likes to do things different from General Kenobi. Most people call General Skywalker reckless and his plans do seem risky and made up on the spot but he would never put his troops' lives in danger. He doesn't see us as clones but as people and won't accept your number only a name. To many, he may seem too young to lead one of the battalions in the front lines but I've been serving under him since he was 19 and if you underestimate him then it will most likely be the last thing you do. General Skywalker has a Padawan Apprentice Ahsoka Tano, and like the General, you shouldn't underestimate her. She's smart and takes after General Skywalker quite a bit the 501st listens to her as well," Rex shouted, "We'll be beginning training now so get into your squadrons and meet us in the program room in 5,"

"Yes sir!" they all chorused before beginning to move.

I exchanged looks with Rex and we walked towards the training room up onto the balcony that overlooked the program training room. It was the same one that allowed every clone squadron to 'graduate' and become troopers, it seemed like ages ago when I did the citadel training program with my squadron. It was Rex, Wolffe, Colt, Gregor and I, we all went on to be clone commanders with the exception of Rex and Gregor. Rex was offered, clone commander multiple times but he refused, if he accepted the rank of commander then he'd have to leave the 501st since Commander Tano was the Commander of the 501st and Rex was fond of his brothers in his battalion and had established a sense of trust with his General and Commander. Colt was the Commander of the 576th but was murdered by Ventress near the start of the war when she attacked Kamino. Gregor went missing a while ago and was presumed dead, he was the Captain of the 212th while Cody was Commander. Wolffe was still alive but we didn't see much of him, he was the Commander of the 104th which was led by General Plo Koon and since their General was rarely on the front lines we didn't see much of Wolffe. 

The first squadron stepped into the arena and we pressed the button to start the hardest course, this was going to be a long day.