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

Chapter Twenty-Six

"You have no idea how wonderful it is that you've returned, dear niece," Aveline's aunt continued to drone as she led the entourage through the halls of the dark palace. Though the mud-stained tiled floors were flat and sandy, the walls and ceilings were layered in multi-colored vegetation not unlike the dining room they'd just exited, along with flaming torches placed every few yards or so within the hallways. It didn't take long to notice the movement of the plants, the way the vines coiled around the lit pieces of wood and held them in place, how the walls felt as if they were shifting nervously, just as unsure of the spies as the spies were unsure of it. "The girls have been more than intolerable within the past few months of your absence."

"Oh, have they?" Molindi let a small, amused chuckle slip from her lips. Ever since the witch escorted Molindi, JC, Rex, and their clone bodyguards from the murderously foul scene behind them, it wasn't difficult for the Varactyl squadron commander to gain her edge back and return to her false attitudes of Aveline. With a bat of her eyelashes, the woman was back on her toes and ready for anything.

"Oh, don't do that to me, darling. I know they're your pride and joy, but honestly, I have no clue what we would have done if you hadn't returned home when you did," The witch turned a corner of slithering bruise-colored leaves. "Palo has reported countless incidents of theft from the kitchens, libraries, the three even managed to sneak into your mother's wardrobe and play dress-up with the prized jewels."

Molindi let out a false, haughty laugh, one that reeked of aristocracy and self-absorption, before shielding her already hidden mouth with her hand as a little string of giggles. A somewhat mocking gesture in the face of the troopers, but a reaction as natural as breathing in the eyes of the witch before them.

As much as the woman hated the role she played in this situation, the spies couldn't help but notice how well Molindi fit in with the crowd. Maybe it was the witch in question or the general aura of this God-forsaken planet, but Molindi was beginning to notice it as well. And she hated herself for it.

"My goodness, poor Palo must be worn and torn from his efforts..."

**********

It wasn't hard for the clones to zone out the conversation taking place in front of them. After all, it wasn't their job to eavesdrop on the pointless babbling; they were to protect their commanders at all costs. Protecting Rex and Molindi included keeping all eyes on their surroundings, looking out for any signs of trouble and figuring out the swiftest ways of avoiding conflict. Axel personally was a professional at memorizing all routes of possible escape, deciding which passageways would classify as convenient means of travel with the least chance of being caught or cornered.

But with the vines as thick as his arm in constant motion, writhing and intertwining themselves into braids and knots of varying sizes all along the corridors, sometimes even closing together to erase entire hallways, it was nearly impossible to remember which way to turn if the shit hit the fan.

"Ah, here we are," Aveline's aunt beamed with a gleeful hiss, as the party came to a halt before a pair of old-fashioned wooden doors. Just as the rest of the palace was made, the doors were constructed of wood with their hinges and handles created with twirling and twining vines. Like snakes suffocating their prey, the tendrils of dark greens and browns seemed to cling to every inch of the two intricately carved pieces of wood, making the entry way to Aveline's room nearly unnoticeable. As if the living palace wanted searching for this room to be near impossible.

"Safe and sound, dear niece. Right where this adventure began. Told you Auntie Agnacia could lead the way." The witch's yellow eyes seemed to glow.

"I never doubted you in the first place," Aveline's eyes smiled. That was probably what Axel hated the most out of this entire fiasco- not the danger or the animalistic way the royals ate their food. It was the condescending way everyone spoke, the hidden meanings behind every phrase and gesture that were impossible to figure out. Axel thought he could tell on everyone's behalf that the Republic fighters would've given anything to be on a mission like their last, where all they needed to do was infiltrate a building under constant blaster fire. "Thank you for your time, dear aunt, but I don't want to keep you from your meal any longer than necessary."

"Of course," The witch, Agnacia, bowed her head respectfully as Aveline reached for the revolting knob of a door handle. "Rest well, you're going to need it. I trust you've been informed of tomorrow's schedule?" Molindi's fingers skimmed the living barrier's knob and her arm delicately fell to her side. Her eyebrow arched with curiosity.

"I'm afraid I've been kept out of the loop, what exactly has been planned?"

What happened next almost sent Molindi back into the world of nightmares, back to Ganta-Nego and its monsters of blood and death and torture. Axel felt his lungs halt and a wave of nausea washed over him like a bucket of freezing water.

Agnacia's grey cloth of a mask fell from her face, revealing two rows of shining silver, needle-thin, razor-sharp teeth pulled into a malicious grin.

"The executions, dear, along with the feast. Tavett will be providing us with the heads and hearts of five traitorous slaves caught attempting to flee the planet with the intentions of giving secret information to the Republic."

Their blood turned to ice in their veins, one horrible revelation after the other can do that to a person.

"Y-y-you don't s-say, your majesty..." JC stuttered curiously at the sight of Molindi suddenly going silent. Agnacia's grin faltered a bit when attention was placed on the droid; just as men were a lesser form of their species, the royals felt the same about droids. That much was obvious, but the witch answered JC nonetheless.

"Yes, four young brats and an old hag..." She trailed off and clasped her hands behind her back. How she could speak properly with those needles in her mouth, no one would know. "Rumor had it that they were planning on meeting a Jedi on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately for them, we knew where they were headed long before they decided to make a move." Agnacia giggled. Her thin, glittering teeth clicked when her mouth moved, making sounds like metal scraping against metal. Axel gritted his teeth as an uncomfortable spike of annoyance and displeasure shot through his spine.

"Yes," Molindi cleared her throat, her mask still safely secured over her face. "You're quite right."

"Oh, darling," A bloody ribbon of red wiggled in the cracks between her teeth. It wasn't hard to realize the sliver of crimson was a tongue, a forked tongue found in the mouths of serpents. "I'm always right."