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

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"I call top bunk," Tyson said as soon as he and Axel found their room on the first floor of the suite.

Axel didn't argue with Tyson; there was no point in it, it wasn't like he cared anyway. If anything, having the bottom bunk would play out to his advantage if the shit hit the fan and they needed to get out fast. Tyson would risk breaking a bone if he jumped down at an odd angle and landed on something he shouldn't have.

Plus, it was much easier to hide a blaster on the floor under the bed instead of wedging it between the supports of the bunk and the mattress, like Tyson had had to do. It was kind of amusing to watch happen; the poor guy didn't think to get off the mattress before attempting to place his weapon in its hiding spot, which left Tyson laying on his stomach, his torso bent back like he was doing the Cobra yoga pose, his fingers gripping the slab of fabric with the handle of his gun in his mouth. Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Yep, Axel was a-okay with being closest to the floor.

After an...interesting day? Harrowing day? What words could you use to describe the sensation of walking into a living building, see a room of masked royals feasting on a raw pig carcass, then find out that the reason said-royals always wear veils and masks was because of a shall we say "sharp" dental problem?

Regardless, after everything that had occurred, Axel was grateful for a couple minutes of silence to just sit down and relax.

Was it bad that he felt more worn out from a few hours of this charade than twenty four of them being shot at by droids? At least when you're in a fight, you can shoot whatever is causing you problems and pissing you off. Here, him and his brothers weren't even allowed to speak. What he wouldn't have given to blow up a couple tinnines right then.

"Yeh knoll,"

At first, Axel had no idea what that sound was as he lay there on his back with his eyes closed. But as the noise continued, he realized Tyson was trying to have a conversation with a loaded weapon between his teeth. "Collanler Lilo ith hynla uh mallass."

"What the hell are you saying?" The mattress above Axel fell back into place a second later with a WHUMP sound and his brother's upside-down head loomed over the edge of their bunk. His Mohawk looked fuzzy in the pulsing lantern light of the room.

"I said Commander Rino is kind of a bad-ass. For keeping it together though it all so far." Axel rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Keywords being 'so far'." Axel stated up at the bed above him. Tyson smirked at his pessimistic tone, slowly starting to get used to the new guy's dynamic but also remembering that the new team as a whole already had one mission under their belts. One mission that undoubtedly began building foundations for their future friendships.

"Y'know you can quit playing the tough-guy card all the time, right?" His words weren't angry or annoyed, they were sympathetic in a way only a brother in arms could make them.

"Y'know you could fall and break your neck right now, right?" Tyson opened his mouth to reply-

CRACK!

The bed quaked for a split second and Axel immediately rolled off for fear of the top bunk caving in on himself. It wasn't stupid to think that the sound came from the bed. What was stupid was that he didn't roll farther across the floor before Tyson could fall on top of him. The upside-down clone let out a surprised yelp before losing his grip on the bunk and plummeting from six feet in the air, straight on Axel.

The clone being used as a cushion made an oomph sound on impact and a bolt of pressurized pain shot through his body, his eyes seeing stars in the corners of his vision.

"What the hell was that?" Tyson questioned, his pupils wide and alert. His brother didn't reply, his gaze finding the support beams of the bunk still intact. He could've sworn the noise came from somewhere above himself. But if the sound hadn't come from the bed...

An annoyed "Ugh" left Axel's mouth and he shoved his brother off of himself, stuck his hand beneath the bunk and grabbed his blaster, then jumped to his feet and bolted straight out of the room.

Once in the foyer, he craned his head up to see that all the other soldiers in the suite were just as confused and concerned, weapons in hand and squawking out stupid questions like parrots.

"What the hell was that?"

"Where'd it come from?"

"Is everyone alright?"

"Are we under attack?"

"It came from upstairs!" Slides exclaimed, who had been having a conversation with Commander Rex on the stairs between the first and second floor. Almost as soon as the notion left his lips, a scream burst through the air and the large pair of double doors on the third floor were slammed shut.

They didn't need anymore information after that.

*****

"Commander!" Risk and Breaks got to the deluxe suite first since their room was the closest, while everyone else followed quickly after. The two clones tried to kick the doors in, break them down, pull them open, but nothing worked. The wooden doors didn't even crack. "Commander Rino!"

From the scream of fear, it was obvious that the woman hadn't just locked herself and her droid inside on their own wishes. Had someone snuck in? That couldn't be it, they'd swept every room on every floor to make sure they wouldn't be taken off guard.

It would've been lying if none of them said the palace didn't give them a bad vibe when they first arrived. But now they weren't just weirded out, they were on the bridge between suspicious and scared, though none of them would ever admit it.

"We've gotta get this thing down!" Slides and Rocket had been the second duo to arrive, and they had their blasters ready to fire on the old slabs of wood. But before either one could get a shot out, the doors creaked open. They didn't swing open like they'd slammed shut; just barely an inch of space between the wood appeared. Just enough to slide their fingers between and fully expose the doorway.

"Commander Ri-"

She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her damaged droid face-down in her lap while Molindi's bloody fingers worked quickly along JC's chipped neck and cracked spinal column. A few feet away sat a gaping hole in the center of the wall, and it was shrinking in size as the seconds went by, the thin vines growing rapidly to cover the wound. Her eyes were wide with panic, though her movements were fluent and certain as her fingers worked their magic on the circuits and wires protruding from the droid's damages.

"What happened?" The clones standing in the doorway were shoved aside by Rex and Axel, who were also stopped in their tracks at the sight of the damaged woman before them. The only difference was that Axel was the first to gather his bearings and come to Molindi's aid.

"Commander-"

"Shh," She shushed him as if he were a child pestering her while she was working. He raised an eyebrow at that and glanced over his shoulder at the others, who appeared just as perplexed.

"Commander Rino-"

"Shhh," Her fingers continued to fiddle with JC's damaged parts, staining them red but repairing what had been broken. Another questioning look from the people around them.

Slowly, he stepped towards the sitting woman just as the final vine fully repaired the wall. He needed to get through to her, he needed to bring her back out of the dark. She was right before when she said they were more alike in ways his brothers would never understand, which meant Axel was the only person here who could help. Gradually, he sat down, daring to be within a yard's distance of the lady, and reached out a hand to place on her shoulder....

...when something green wrapped around his wrist and dragged him across the room.