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

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Come on, Nata, hurry up!"

Three young girls sprinted down the dimly lit hallway, their bare feet slapping against the cold stone floor and pure excitement radiating from the trio with every step they took. They could feel the sand scattered through out the corridor stick between their toes, grind into their callused heels, get stuck beneath their toenails. Though the servants did everything they could to keep the dust out of the palace, sandstorms and high winds always blew through the windows and beneath the doors, making the act of keeping the place clean an impossible task. But the three little girls didn't mind.

Their newly assigned handmaiden and instructor would've been furious with them if they'd witnessed this scene, this frivolous act of impatience and disregard of rules . Running wasn't a proper thing for a royal individual to do, if anything, it was considered shameful and immature. But the sisters didn't care. Not today.

Because Aveline was back.

After weeks upon weeks of studying with Professor Unim on Abbakinto, their friend had finally returned home, the place where she belonged.

Though the youngsters called her their 'friend', the dark truth behind their relationship was that Aveline was actually their half-sister, brought into the world by the high and mighty Queen Asemdi and a man that wasn't her husband, but a lowly servant who had fallen under the queen's spell. The only thing that had kept Aveline from becoming a slave like all the other bastards that had been created out of wedlock, was the fact that she was a female. Not only a female, but a female bastard that belonged to Queen Asemdi herself.

As Aveline grew up in the palace, becoming her mother's pride and joy, it was discovered that the little girl had a special gift unlike any of the other witches she'd come to know- Aveline was a scientific genius. While other girls her age were learning to control fire from the torches that hung from the walls and water that trickled from the fountain in the throne room, Aveline was learning the quickest ways to extinguish the flames (because without the flame, their was nothing the fire-wielding children could do) and freeze or evaporate the water (because no water equals no threat). While everyone was trying to increase their magical skills, Aveline was strengthening her intellectual skills.

In a matter of months after beginning her studies, Aveline could dual any opponent regardless of their age or level of experience, and end up coming out on top without even breaking a sweat. Her mother and teachers were ecstatic to witness her progress, though their praise also came with a curse, and that curse was her fellow acquaintances. Their jealousy of Aveline's skills and the attention she was receiving caused the girl to end up with no friends, no one to talk to in her free time when her teachers were helping the weaker students and her mother was busy with meetings and running land.

Her misfortune changed the day Queen Asemdi announced that Aveline was going to be a big sister. Nine months later came the three girls: Nata, Cyndea, and Jordae. From then on, Aveline made it her personal mission to make sure the triplets would grow up strong, happy, knowing they were loved. It was a goal she worked hard to achieve, and in the end, she did much better than she thought she would. Her younger siblings adored their big sister, practically worshiped her.

Which made her departure hurt much more than she thought it would. On the triplets' seventh birthday, Aveline was given the task of becoming Twar's royal scientist. Seeing the title as an enormous upgrade from being a foot-soldier, Aveline accepted, but later realized that her first scientific mission would be away from home, on a far away planet near Abbakinto. For safety purposes, she was told not to land directly on the snowy planet, but on a nearby asteroid that rotated around the giant sphere.

The triplets were heartbroken at the idea of not getting to see their best friend anymore, but today was no day to be sad. Instead of moping around, doing their daily routines just to get back to bed and repeat the melancholy process all over again in the morning, the trio jumped from their beds, quickly threw on their clothes, and raced for the palace entrance. They didn't even bother putting their shoes on- it was something that they forgot, but didn't care enough about to double back. No, screw the shoes, they thought to themselves. No one needs shoes today.

The heavy, stone doors of the palace's front entrance were pushed open by two of their biggest guards, so big that the little girls only reached the men's knees, and sunlight flooded the dark hallway with light. The normal protocol would've been for them to wait patiently at the front door in a neat line and allow the queen to step out first to greet her guests. But they didn't care about the lectures they'd be receiving later. Nata, Cyndea, and Jordae were too excited to finally see their best friend and faithful companion after two years of being apart. Today was the day the three had been waiting for. Today was the day they'd finally be with their fourth sister.

It didn't take long before they saw the woman with her guards and a new droid they'd never seen before, walking down the Twaran ship's ramp, and realized that she wasn't their sister.

**********

Molindi's heart beat rapidly in her chest, so rapidly that she wondered if she was having a heart attack. Breathe, she tried to tell herself, just breathe. Stay calm. You'll be okay. She put those three words on repeat in the back of her mind as she stepped down from the belly of the ship and made her way down the ramp towards the landing platform at the palace's entrance. You'll be okay. You'll be okay. You'll be okay.

The disguised clones had boxed in around herself and Rex, but not so much that their protection looked unusual. Its normal, Molindi thought again. All royals have at least a hundred guards protecting them. This isn't out of the ordinary. This isn't out of the ordinary.

Though she kept her outward appearance as confident and relaxed as anyone could possibly be, she was screaming in panic, praying that this plan actually worked. It didn't help that she was unarmed. At first, she believed it wasn't going to be such a big deal. After all, she was surrounded by clones with the best weapons money could buy. There was nothing to worry about. It wasn't like she didn't trust her guys, she just felt exposed without her pistols at her sides.

"Incoming," One of the clones whispered softly over his shoulder. Molindi had to stand on the tips of her toes to look over the clones' obnoxiously designed armor and saw three little girls exiting the building, barreling as fast as they could straight for the entourage. Her heart dropped to her stomach.

"I didn't know Aveline had kids," Molindi whispered quickly to JC. The droid being to make a strange humming sound, it was a sound that occurred whenever she was researching something via the wireless chip Molindi had installed into JC's head.

"S-she doesn't," replied the droid. "Those are her little sisters. Jordae, Nata, and C-Cyndea."

"How should I react?" The girls were getting closer, although the excitement on their faces was beginning to evaporate. They could already tell that something was off about the guards and the people they were protecting. JC began to hum once more. "Come on, JC." The disguised woman urged her friend to work faster. Three were only a few yards away, and they were closing in fast.

"E-excited," The droid stammered. "Aveline has a really good connection with her sisters, they're best frien-" Before JC could finish her stutter, Molindi put a huge grin on her lips, though no one could see it under the mask she was wearing, and shoved between the two clones in front of her and knelt down on one knee. She was exposed now, but that was what she meant to do. The three girls- Molindi figured they were triplets, or at least very near the same age- began to smile once again and tackled Molindi to the ground.