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

Chapter Thirty-Seven

It wasn't long after the queen and her entourage departed from the palace that she was addressing the entire population of Twar City, high up in her personal viewing box that overlooked the arena. It was a magnificent platform constructed of marble, surrounded by a railing of flawless white stone that shone like mirrors against the early morning sky. A balcony more than worthy of belonging to a queen as the thousands upon thousands of citizens that had decided to attend the event stared wide-eyed and ready for the sacrificing of their planet's traitors to begin.

"Are we sure she isn't just late?" Asemdi questioned her sister under her breath as she stood before her people. She knew it was pointless to ask; Aveline was never the kind of person to miss a public sacrificial ceremony. The girl had practically lived for the honorable bloodshed as she grew up at her mother's side. At this point, there was only one reason why her oldest daughter hadn't shown up yet. Agnacia gave her a sympathetic look, but nothing more. There was nothing else to say.

So, with her triplets at her side looking even more anxious than herself, Asemdi cleared her throat, then spoke out to her loyal subjects.

"Morning glory to you all!" She announced with a spectacular wave of her hands. The crowd screamed and shouted joyously in reply. "The gods smile down on us in favor today, for not only have they unveiled a plot against our home! They've brought forth the traitors to be punished in their name!" The thunder of countless shrieks of happiness and blood-lust seemed to shake the ancient building to its very core. "My people, open your hearts with gratitude! Because today, you will bare witness to the justice our faithful superiors deserve!"

Despite attempting to keep the crowd occupied in hopes of stalling, the mother's mind told her it was a fruitless act. But her heart continued to push in an opposite direction. Oh why, Lin? She thought to herself. Out of all the glorious mornings you could've been rebellious, you chose the most inconvenient.

With a wave of Agnacia's hand, the doors of the arena's battlegrounds were opened and the treacherous beings guilty were led into its center. Four young men no older than twenty, along with an elderly woman, were shackled in metal chains, forced into the middle of the chaotic show by five escort guards who would be the ones with the honor of spilling blood. She could feel their misery flowing through her veins, a sensation she received every time a sacrifice would take place. It was the queen's connection to the gods that gave her the ability to feel the souls of the damned minutes before the blades ever cut their skin; it was a blessing and a curse when she knew their blood would not be shed today.

The people's reactions were mixed; screams filled with ecstasy at the thought of sacrifice mingled with grief boos at the sound of treasonous actions. But one thing was certain-

No one would be satisfied til the sandy ground was stained red.

Asemdi took a deep, weighted breath before speaking once more in hopes that the reaction she'd receive would be one of complete and utter silence.

"Before the matriarchy presents offerings of their own servants, shall anyone of noble birth volunteer their skill, their magic, and their very lives as a greater show of loyalty in order of bringing the utmost honor to the deities we worship?"

The population of spectators grew soundless. So quiet, the sound of a scarab beetle's wings could be heard from kilometers beneath the ground. It was then that the doors to the arena battlegrounds opened once more, producing a grating noise like a dying animal's screams against the sudden quiet, and three individuals stepped forth.

***

"Holy shit," Axel muttered under his breath as he and his commanders walked onto the arena's battleground. The number of people watching them, staring at them with eyes of shock, sent an angry bull loose in his stomach. It grew angrier with each step they took; their boots crunched against the sand and it echoed throughout the massive establishment.

A few yards away, they saw the standing forms of the five guards and the five prisoners who stared at them in awe. It had been decades since the last royal volunteered to make a show for their deities; the Twaran traitors had assumed their deaths had been written in stone. Watching the queen's bastard step out onto the playing field, ready to take matters into her own hands...it was a miracle they never would've hoped for. Not in a million years.

"Hang in there, soldier," Molindi nudged him slightly with her elbow, whispering even quieter than he had. "We're not their targets, we're their entertainment."

"I don't know which is worse."

Slides, Dodo, Breaks, Tyson, and Rocket nodded in acknowledgment once the three had reached the prisoners and guards, showing that their part of the plan to secure the traitors had gone off without a hitch, and Molindi turned to the queen's balcony.

"I, Lady Aveline of the Twaran Matriarchy, first daughter of Queen Asemdi and loyal servant of Twar's noblety," the woman began in a voice much stronger than she felt. All eyes were glued on her, the eyes of her men even more so, as she continued the lines she'd rehearsed only minutes before hand. "Volunteer for the privilege of honoring our gods in the sacred combat rituals our nation was built on."

A moment of silence passed and Molindi started to worry that maybe she'd said something wrong, or that the queen and her court had caught on to the Republic spies' little charade. But then, with a solemn expression, Asemdi closed her eyes and raised her hands to the sky; it was an action that the audience followed suit, silently and respectfully. The unnerving sight of it caused the hair on Molindi's arms to stand up and Axel to physically shiver, while Rex remained silent and still at their sides.

"Nora ki, potitha."

None of them knew what the old words meant, but they knew it couldn't have been anything good.

Another gesture from Agnacia and the five disguised clones began to herd the four boys and older woman back into the way they'd entered. Breaks and Tyson both exchanged worried glances with their commander as they walked by, but Molindi showed no fear. She was just happy that if something happened, at least a few of her guys and the people they'd rescued would get out of this predicament alive. And maybe, if they managed to buy enough time, General Skywalker might succeed in his endeavor as well and recover the information they'd been told to receive in the first place.

Once they were safely inside, the doors to the arena shut and locked behind them. Agnacia stepped forward to stand next to her queen and said her command with a voice of iron.

"Release the beast!"

As if the three had been standing in the middle of an active minefield, the crowd erupted in a deafening chorus of blood-curdling cries that sent the three stumbling backward. A massive gate as tall as the palace itself on the opposite end of the arena screeched in protest and a monster stumbled out into the light of day. At first glance, it didn't seem very impressive. Yes, it was the size of two gunships stacked on top of each other, but that was the usual growth of a rancor. Especially one as young as the creature being forced onto the battlefield. The thing couldn't have been more than a year old and the gaping hole the gate left behind made the animal look even smaller. Molindi scoffed.

"Really? That's the best they've got?"

She would learn to bite her tongue after that.

As if by cue, the ground shook with massive tremors that rocked the entire arena. Screams of blood-lust turned to screams of fear as a massive hand reached out from the shadows, clamped down on the squealing rancor infant, and dragged it back into the darkness where it was killed and presumably devoured by a gargantuan creature the clones had yet to have heard of. Unfortunately for Molindi, she knew a hell of a lot more about the mystery beast than she would've liked.

"What the hell is that?" Rex questioned with wide eyes and he suddenly became aware of the fact that all they had to battle with were long knives. This absurd beast could use the blades as toothpicks to scrape their internal organs from its teeth, if it wasn't going to swallow them whole.

The creature pulled itself out into the open, revealing a massive mucus-colored head with four long tusks jutting from its lower jaw. Its black eyes glared down at the three individuals, then let out a guttural howl that made the terrified crowd seem like a whisper in comparison. Molindi took a deep breath and struggled to keep her composure. 

"That, troopers, is a gorog."