The Varactyl Squadron Commander (A Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

After kindly parting ways with the witch for the night, the entourage stepped inside the suite before closing the door behind them. The group was surprised to see that their sleeping chambers were much larger than what they were expecting.

The front door opened up to reveal a  perfectly circular foyer with walls draped in greenery, though the vines and leaves were much thinner, smaller and more delicate than the rough, intimidating brutish plants that lined the halls. Glowing yellow lanterns hung from parts of the ceiling and seemed to pulsate slowly, consistently, like hearts pumping luminescent blood.

Once standing in the middle of the room, they looked up and saw that the ceiling was three stories high, decorated with a red, wooden chandelier lit by something that was too tame to be fire. Three floors of rooms were able to look over a balcony at the main floor below.

On the first two levels were four rooms, each room containing a bunk for two guards that the clones would be sharing. The top floor was the master bedroom where Rex, Molindi, and JC would be setting up camp.

Of course, before settling in there were the necessary precautions they needed to take: checking for any wired-bugs, mics, or cameras that threatened to jeopardize their mission; they were all clear.

Although the soldiers were all trained to never let their guards down under any circumstance, what they'd seen in the last hour was a thing of nightmares; anyone would want a break after seeing and hearing the things they had. Especially Molindi.

The clones attempted not to make it obvious after everything calmed down, but they couldn't help it- all eyes were on the cannibal-terrorized lady who was completely silent and wide-eyed. They didn't blame her at all for the way she was reacting, if anything they were proud of her for it.

She kept her cool even when the talking-pin cushion of a witch laid out the next day's cannibalistic plans. The fact that Commander Rino wasn't completely losing her sanity was...well...insane. In a good way. For another odd moment, Axel found himself admiring Molindi for exceeding his expectations.

"Good work today, guys," the woman acknowledged the men in uniform around her. Her eyes were clouded, as if she were looking right through her troops at the wall behind them, and her voice was low, but at least she was talking. "You did great staying in character."

"Commander Rino is right," Rex stated as well after noticing the stares of concern trough their metal helmets. "It's been a stressful day and now we know that tomorrow is going to be an even bigger mess to face. This should go without saying, but you all earned some time to rest."

"Sir, but we just got here. Shouldn't we...I don't know...look around for what we came here for?" One of Rex's men questioned, Champ was his name she thought. She tried to hide it, but Axel and Commander Rex still caught the slight tension in her shoulders at the mention of leaving the suite. "General Skywalker said we'd be in and out within an hour-"

"General Skywalker doesn't know what we've seen and learned in the last hour," Rex folded his arms. "Being in and out was the best case-scenario. Now the witches are expecting our presence tomorrow and we have a week anyway before the plans are scheduled to be showcased."

"You don't believe it'll take that long, do you?" Another asked, removing his helmet and revealing his mismatched colored eyes. This one was...Slides? Molindi was having trouble remembering the names of Rex's men, which should have absolutely infuriated herself. But with her current stress levels rising and her mind reeling, she decided she'd give herself a break. Just this once.

"It doesn't matter how long we think a mission should be. We do what needs to be done in as much time allotted. Anymore questions?" A moment of slightly awkward passed. "Good. Go pick your bunks; we all meet back down here in five to discuss watch shifts."

*****

As soon as the group dispersed, JC didn't hesitate to start squealing about "needing her circuits cleaned" and dragged Molindi by the wrist up three flights of stairs. Though she acted like she was the one who needed help, Molindi knew exactly what her droid was doing- she was rescuing her.

"Goo-o-od gravy!" JC had exclaimed and began to swing her right metal arm to and fro. "I believe I'm in n-n-need of some re-calibrations! Commander Rino, would you c-care to help me?" There was no waiting for a response, just a swipe of a metal limb and poof, Molindi found herself sitting on a ripe-green colored bed with a robot up in her face.

"A-are you okay? Can you t-tell me your name? How many fingers am I holding up? W-what's my favorite show?"

Question after question after question poured from the droid's vocal box, like an automatic blaster-rifle aimed at her nose, firing shots unable to do physical harm but burst her eardrums with each exploding shot nonetheless.

"Are you hot- should I turn the air conditioner on? Or should I grab some blankets?"

The woman could feel the blood rushing to her face like lava through her veins despite the wave of chills climbing up her back with clawed paws. She was going to explode, it was only a matter of time. Her hands were clenched into fists and she could feel her fingernails drawing blood. The liquid ran down her palms like tears. Something was going to happen and Molindi wouldn't be able to stop it, wouldn't be able to hold herself back. But the trauma from the day and her memories from before and this sudden avalanche of pointless words just-

"Do y-you need a drink? I'll find some water, o-or juice or s-s-something drinkable that i-i-isn't blood and doesn't contain anything those w-w-w-witches were consuming-"

"Holy kriffing shit, JC!" Molindi hissed under her breath through clenched teeth and shoved the droid away from herself much harder than she anticipated, sending the stuttering robot flying through the air and slamming against the bulky tree-like wall with a terrifying CRACK!

Like the sound of bones breaking.

The sound of bones breaking.

Bones breaking.

Bones breaking.

CRACK!

The monsters descended upon him like a pack of wolves, their hands ripping and tearing flesh from his body as he screamed in horrified agony. The wet cacophony of bloody tissue and muscle splitting echoed through the air, like elastic bands being snapped. Everything was red. Teeth were grinding on fingers as if they were carrots. His eyes. Through the rabid frenzy she could still see his wide eyes, darting everywhere as the man let out a chorus from Hell. 'Til they saw her own.

'Til Bren's gaze fell to her own, tears in his eyes, and he finally fell still.

Bren.

What have I done?

WHAT HAVE I DONE?

*********

Hey guys, sorry this chapter took forever. I mainly wrote it on my phone, which isn't the most convenient way to write a 1200-word chapter. But it needed to be done. This chapter towards the end was a little more disturbing than I intended (and first time for a swear-word, but swearing-wise that's as vulgar as it'll get so don't worry about that), but in all honesty the gore gets worse from her on out. Just a little warning. I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far. Thanks for reading!

~Madness