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

Chapter Nineteen

The Twaran ship they'd be using for this mission was considerably odd in appearance, but somewhat similar to the holographic images of Naboo ships Molindi had seen before during her studies as a child. It was made of the same silver metal and had the same shine to its surface, so clean and pristine that you could see your reflection in it. The big difference between the Twaran ships and the Naboo ships, though, were the decorative markings painted on the nose and engines of the machine.

The Twaran people were dedicated to their beliefs, saying that the markings helped their ships when flying and provided safety during its travels. Molindi didn't believe any of it, but during the few hours of free time she had between this mission and her last, she decided to research this strange planet of Twar and its people more to get a proper understanding of who she would be acting as and the culture around that person.

What she'd learned was quite concerning. Like the Nightsisters on Dathomir, the Twaran people were known for using magic and dark forces in their daily lives. And just as General Skywalker had mentioned earlier, women were placed at a higher honor than men, giving the females of their society certain strengths and political positions men weren't allowed to have. Though they were generally considered a docile group, hardly ever participating in any sort of violence within their long history as Naboo's neighbor, Molindi was still on edge about these people and their customs.

Once the two squads were prepared for the journey to the Separatist gathering, General Skywalker took the pilot's seat, while Commander Rex and Commander Rino sat as co-pilots in seats at either side of the general. She'd tried not to stare when entering the ship and her eyes fell to Rex, who was now clad in male Twaran attire. It wasn't that he was extremely attractive by any means (although his awkward shyness towards her was kind of adorable), it was his clothes. He seemed completely out of place when he wasn't fully suited in his armor.

In his white and blue defensive gear, he seemed much taller, more intimidating. Not just physically, but his change of outfit seemed to effect him mentally as well. He, as a person, seemed smaller. Maybe it was just her own imagination, but he almost looked like he'd shrunk. He could've been feeling vulnerable, and that was why he wasn't quite as threatening as he'd been before. Whatever was behind the change of aura, it threw her off ever so slightly in a confused kind of way.

"Alright, if everyone's inside, then we're ready for-"

"Uh, Commander?" General Skywalker was interrupted by the sound of one of the disguised troopers peaking his head into the ship's bridge. Due to the masks that covered their soldiers' faces, neither one could tell which clone it was who was asking for their leader, so both Commanders ended up answering at the same time:

"Yes, trooper?"

"What's up, bud?"

Rex's head immediately turned towards Molindi, who was already looking back at him with a small, embarrassed smile on her face. Rex cleared his throat and scratched the back of his recently shaved head, his eyes trailing awkwardly down to the floor of the ship, while General Skywalker smiled cheekily from behind his chair, relishing in this moment of realizing that this Twaran ship wouldn't be the only one he'd be piloting for this mission.

"Uh, I meant Commander Rino." The trooper said, slightly bashful at the discomfort he'd caused, and made eye-contact with the woman. "There's a droid down at the loading ramp trying to board the ship. I could be wrong, but I assume its the one we met earlier who called you crazy?"

"JC?" Before either man could question what the woman was talking about, Commander Rino got to her feet, her tied skirt spinning with an unintentionally magnificent whoosh from the movement of her body, and followed the soldier out of the bridge with the doors sliding closed behind her.

There would've been a dead silence in the room between Rex and General Skywalker. A complete, breathless silence, which would've inevitably ended up being broken by one of General Skywalker's comments that he seemed to spout at every right moment. But the General didn't speak. No cocky remark or humorous statement. Instead, he chuckled in his seat; Rex could see the quick rise and fall of his shoulders and hear the subtle sound of laughter under his breath.

"Care to elaborate on the joke I'm missing here, General?" Rex asked. Anakin just closed his eyes and shook his head, the small grin never leaving his lips.

"I just admire how different you two are." The General pressed a few glowing buttons on the control panel before him, setting the proper coordinates for the mission.

"I hope you don't actually mean what I think you mean, General. You wouldn't stoop that low."

"No, Rex, I'm leaving gender out of it. I don't admire your difference in sex, I enjoy the fact that she's so lighthearted with her soldiers. Not saying that you're mean to your guys or anything, it just cracks me up to hear her say 'What's up, bud?' to someone at least half a foot taller than her." He couldn't help but snicker with content once more. "You'd think she was talking to a little brother or something."

**********

"JC, what are you doing here?" Molindi quickly asked with disguised Breaks and Tyson standing at her sides, when she'd walked down the boarding ramp to meet her droid companion. JC was in a fit of mixed emotions, waving her metal hands in the air for emphasis, half excited and half furious as the stuttering robot replied to her master's question.

"I n-need to come on this m-mission with you!" Her strained, stressed circuits caused her body to jolt with her words. "I was doing some research earlier about the Twaran people, like you asked me to, a-a-and I found some information that you need to know." Molindi didn't have time for this. The mission was already incredibly behind schedule, and arguing with her droid was only going to delay them even more time.

"Come on, then." Molindi hardly even waited for JC to finish her sentence before giving her the 'okay' for coming aboard. "We don't have all day. You can tell me about this info on our way to Twar." The droid let out one of her usual over-excited squeals of joy, jumped up and down in the air a few times, then followed her slightly embarrassed master up into the bowels of the ship with the two clones in tow. 

Although she was sure JC had done her research like Molindi had asked, the commander knew the droid's real intentions behind her wanting to join her master on this mission. If JC had read the same things she had, downloaded the same files and learned the same customs of the Twaran people's culture, then she was fully aware of just how uncivilized the Twarans were, just how similar they were to the horrors Molindi had witnessed before during her time on Ganta-Nego.

Rumor had it that the only thing keeping Twar in league with the Separatist alliance was that Dooku and his superiors agreed to sending "gifts" in order to "please Twar's deities". Molindi chose not to believe it and pushed it from her mind as pure speculation, but JC was more cautious than her when it came to these kinds of things. JC wasn't coming because she had information Molindi didn't, she was coming because she was aware of how easy it was for Molindi's mind to shatter when stuck in situations too much like the ones she encountered with her old squad.

She was coming because she'd witnessed Molindi's post-traumatic stress disorder first-hand, and if the woman ended up having an attack during this mission, JC was the only one capable of helping her.