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

Chapter Thirty

It took a minute for the soldiers to fully comprehend what had happened as the men stood there, staring in confusion and shock at the wall that had tried to eat them, then the droid with a flamethrower as she popped her arm back into its socket, and then the woman with blood dripping from her fingers while she attempted to calm herself down with deep breaths. Out of all the battles they'd been in, every single fight they'd gotten through against the clanker armies, this mission had become the most bizarre and disturbing of them all.

"What... the hell... was that?"

Molindi spun on her heel at the sound of someone's voice, as if remembering the men behind her were still present, and her eyes grew wide with concern at the sight of them.

"Is everyone okay?" The woman questioned and stepped towards the clones. From the pale shade of her cheeks, the troubled expression on her lips and the crimson blood gathered on her hands, Commander Rino looked almost ghostly, like a lost spirit who wanted nothing more than to help the people who encountered her. "Is anyone hurt? Oh my god, please tell me everyone's-"

"We're fine," An angry voice snarled from within the group of doppelgangers. At first, all eyes glanced around from one clone to another til the culprit took a step forward; Axel. "No thanks to you." He hissed with his arms folded over his chest and a look of pure disgust in his eyes. How could she do that? How could she just shut down when they needed her most? It made Axel's blood boil like magma and he clenched his shaking hands into fists as they fell to his sides.

This was unacceptable. In every meaning of the word, this entire mess was-

Un. Kriffing. Acceptable.

"Hey, back off," Tyson clamped a hand on Axel's shoulder in an attempt to calm the soldier down. "We're all alive and in one piece, that's what matters." With a burst of fury, Axel grabbed Tyson's wrist and shoved it away before pointing his finger at his brother.

"That's what matters?" Axel repeated with a furious, almost animalistic, glint in his eye. "That's what matters? Not the fact we all could've died because she-" He pointed his finger from Tyson to Molindi accusingly. His seething stare found her eyes and he held her gaze with every word he said. "-couldn't pull her shit together? Not the fact that we practically begged her for help and she just sat there like a-"

"Soldier!" Rex barked in disbelief at the sight of such dishonor. Without another word, he stood between the two defensively with his back to the woman, and smacked Axel's hand away as if the angry clone was a child throwing a tantrum. "She is your superior! And you will show her the respect she-"

"I can handle this, Commander Rex."

Her voice was calm despite everyone's yelling, and it brought a freezing cold tone to the situation at hand. The inflection of her sentence cut through the heated barrage of arguing like a knife of ice and brought on a sensation of fear like none of them had ever felt before. Her concerned expression was long gone, as if it had never been there in the first place, and her searing scowl could've burnt a hole in the wall that could never be fixed by regrowth. Rex stepped to the side with lead feet and the surrounding clones stopped breathing.

"I don't say this to my men often," The woman glowered up at her squadron member. Yes, she was much shorter than the men around her. But so were Nexus.

  "O-o-oh no..." JC whimpered off to the side with her metal hands over her eyes and the temperature in the room seemed to drop completely to zero. There was no use in trying to stop this fight now; Axel was screwed and everyone knew it. In an instant, her thin fingers wrapped around the edge of his metal armor and yanked the man to his knees with one mighty pull, almost knocking him completely on his ass in the process.

She hated doing this, being...well...a scary bitch, as JC liked to call her on these occasions. Molindi could remember having to go full bitch-mode only a few times while working with her last squadron and, in all honesty, she was surprised she hadn't had to use it before this. For a little while, she dared to hope that she wouldn't have to make any threats at all. But Axel gave her no choice; this was the only way. She tried being nice, tried talking to him and relating with him on a personal level, and now there was no other way.

As if she were a predator playing with its prey, the commander slowly lowered her lips to his ear. Despite using only a whisper, what she said next echoed through the deluxe suite.

"Use that tone with me again, and I'll turn you into a woman too."

**********

It was then that everyone collectively agreed that only two clones per room was a stupid idea; all the soldiers would bring their pillows and blankets out to the foyer where they'd all sleep beneath the giant wooden chandelier together. No one was jumping up and down for the plan, but the relief from the tough men was apparent enough by how quickly they all gathered their things and tossed them downstairs.

No one commented when Rocket and Slides claimed the very center of the room for themselves, their eyes glancing around at the walls with an uneasy feeling. If this had been Axel's first run-in with an abnormal threat, he might've been just as disturbed as them. Too bad for him, he'd witnessed enough alarming shit that the soldier was practically immune to it now. He grabbed his pillow and blaster from his bed and lay down close enough to the group to be somewhat safe, but far enough from them to be left alone. No one said anything about that either. He pressed his head against the fluffy green rectangle of comfort before closing his eyes for the night.

Along with the new sleeping arrangements, the vote was unanimous when Rex suggested that two people be put on night watch instead of just one. It made more sense, considering one trooper alone didn't seem to stand a chance against whatever the palace walls had in store if the entourage was ambushed. There was power in numbers and this situation was asking for as much power as the Republic spies could offer.

"I'll take first shift," Rex volunteered and got to his feet, blaster in hand. Before anyone else could get in a word edgewise, the commander walked over to Axel's motionless body and kicked at his boot. "You're with me, soldier."

Axel's eyes opened and he looked up at the man staring down at him. It was obvious what this would be about. But there was something in the commander's gaze, something Axel couldn't quite figure out. And it caused a small pit of anger to burn in his chest. Usually, Axel thought himself to be good at reading people. It wasn't hard to pick up after spending time with three whole different squadrons; mannerisms became natural for him to decipher. All he knew, based on the slight furrow of Rex's eyebrows, was that whatever Rex had in mind for them, he probably wouldn't like it.

With no other option present, Axel picked up his blaster and joined his brother.

**********

Sorry this was short, but I needed to update SOMETHING and this was what I had the most inspiration for. Kind of crappy, but I did what I could with the energy I have. Next time will be better, I promise. Thanks for reading!

Edit: OH MY GOD THEY'RE BRINGING THE CLONE WARS BACK FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW I JUST FOUND OUT TODAY AND NOW MY OLD SOUL HAS A REASON TO LIVE AGAIN OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD