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

Chapter Nine

The commander was standing at one of the metal examination tables in the center of the lab where a newly-opened med-kit sat on the tabletop, exposing all of its contents. Her helmet was off and sitting beside the med-kit, an enormous scorched slit stretching from beneath the nose-area to just in front of the ear-area. If they squinted, they could see through the slit to the inside of her helmet. The commander's face hadn't been that injured except for a burned line on her the upper part of her cheek. 

Her chest plate and shoulder pads were off as well due to the new hole on her upper torso, just above her heart. The woman flinched in pain and she continued to wrap the wound on her chest. Blood dripped from the hole, down her black under-shirt, and onto the floor, and they knew that the injury hadn't been caused by a blaster. 

Hanging from the ceiling a few yards away was Darius Unim. The trandoshian didn't stand a chance against Rino as he hung from his wrists, which were chained. His white lab coat was covered in splattered red spots, no doubt blood. Either his own or Commander Rino's, but they couldn't see any real cuts or stab-wounds on him. Rino's blood, definitely Rino's.

"What the hell happened here?" Risk took his helmet off and set it down on the table next to her own. "Where did that come from?" He took a small syringe and a vial of green liquid from the med-kit. At first, Molindi was hesitant. She hated needles more than knives or any other kind of weapon in all of creation. But, with a sigh, she let him play 'doctor' on her wounds. The other clones took their helmets off, too, and waited patiently for their commander to answer their questions.

"Unim knew I was coming for him and shot at the door before I'd even entered the room. I tried to back up as quickly as possible, but I wasn't fast enough." She pointed to her helmet. "I still got hit, but this obviously won't be fatal." The commander gestured to the burn mark on her cheek. "After I barely dodged his shots, his One-eyes kept me occupied for a bit." The four glanced over at a pile of dead droids in the corner of the room. Each one, just like many of the others they'd seen in the hallways, had a scorch mark in the center of their faces or blades shoved deep in their metal skulls. "I was too busy fighting off the last of them to notice Unim sneaking up on me. Bastard had a knife behind his back. He got me pretty good before I knocked him out and...well...I think you can imagine what happened next."

"What happened to the knife he used?" Risk asked her as he gingerly pressed the tip of the syringe, now loaded with the green liquid from the vial, into the skin nearest to the stab wound. Her eyes squeezed shut at the slight sting of pain, but it was nothing compared to when she actually got stabbed. 

"It's over there." She waved her hand to the right. Axel followed her gaze. On the floor was a trail of blood leading to a something that looked more like a machete than a little knife like the commander was leading them to believe. He slowly made his way over to the crimson trail and lifted the weapon up by its handle.

"You mean this thing?"Axel questioned. The commander smirked and nodded while the three other troopers just stood there, their minds completely boggled by the idea of such a large blade being stabbed into her shoulder.

"I know, it's super small. More of a toothpick than an actual weapon, really." 

* * * * * * * * * *

"Commander Rino, you're injured." Commander Dexton noticed. The remaining eleven healthy troopers, along with three injured, quickly made their way inside the laboratory after surviving the attack in the cold outside and met up with Varactyl Squadron. None of her soldiers seemed to be harmed, only her, which was impressive in his book since he knew what they'd been up against.

After letting Risk fix her up for the most part, and with a little help from her other troops, she'd put her chest-plate and shoulder pads back on (which were still blood-stained, making her look like an even awesomer bad-ass), but held her helmet on her hip. No point in wearing it since they'd be able to see through the crack anyway. At the sound of Commander Dexton's concern, she just shrugged it off.

"Nothing my guys couldn't patch up." She stated. A swell of pride rose through Risk, Tyson, and Breaks at the sound of their commander giving them praise. Even Axel couldn't deny feeling a little bashful at the subtle mention. "How about you guys? Casualties?"

"Too many." Dexton sighed. "We lost two whole squadrons before the cannons even came into play."

"I sent our gunship to the front of the building to help you guys out."

"Blown out of the sky before it could work in a single shot." Molindi cursed under her breath at the sound of that and Axel recalled her thanking the pilot before he dropped them off. She knew him, appreciated him for a few precious moments before his death, and Axel couldn't even remember his name. If he thought about it, he knew that not any of his brothers got thanked for their service before they were killed. The pilot got lucky, he'd be remembered by one of- if not the most- impressive commanders in the Republic army.

"Poor guy." She muttered, then inhaled deeply. "Unim's chained up in his lab. He shouldn't be a threat anymore. All the droids have been taken care of, so you don't need to worry about them, either."

"Impressive work, Varactyl Squadron." Dexton saluted them. All five saluted back respectfully. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

"Just doing our job, sir. Now what we should be focused on is getting the injured back to Kamino and Unim to a prison cell." Commander Dexton nodded in agreement, then left the squad to help his own men go remove the unconscious scientist from his bindings to the ceiling. As soon as he was gone, the woman spun on her heal to face her guys and smiled. "I'd say that was a successful first mission. Well done, men."

"We wouldn't have made it out without your help." Tyson gave her credit. Breaks nodded his head in agreement with his brother.

"He's right, Commander." Risk spoke up. "We would've been goners if you didn't help us with the droids at the cannons. You could've just ran for the scientist and left us as droid-bait. But you didn't. And we're grateful for that." The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Now why the hell would I leave you guys as droid-bait? Did you not hear my rant on the way here about how I don't just see you all as clones?" She questioned with a small smirk, then flinched and put her hand on her injured shoulder. "Damn, this thing's just hating me right now." 

"You probably shouldn't have let Risk inject random liquids into you with a needle." Breaks chuckled. They all laughed while Risk just rolled his eyes with a small smile on his lips.

"For you information, Breaks, I was partially trained in the art of medics."

"Reading labels, thinking 'What the hell?', and jabbing a needle into someone isn't exactly considered training." Tyson pointed out, causing everyone to burst out into laughter again. The commander patted Risk's shoulder in a supportive, yet slightly teasing, manner.

"Don't worry, Risk. I trust ya." Suddenly the sound of approaching gunships filled the air and the laughing mood was set aside. "We should help get the injured on the ship."

"With all due respect, sir, you're considered 'injured'." Tyson pointed out. "You go get on one of those gunships and we'll meet you back on Kamino."

"But-" She began.

"No 'but's. Just go, we can handle Unim and the wounded ourselves." Before she could argue any further, Tyson kindly directed her towards the ships while Breaks, Risk, and Axel started aiding the other injured soldiers.