Though she didn't think it was possible, JC felt a volt of electricity shoot through her spinal column, as if the robot had actually felt a shiver of fear at the sound of the roar that echoed through the palace. But what was worse was the red lights flashing in her central computer as she began to identify the beast's species based on sound and calculate the statistics of Molindi's survival against it-

"We don't have all day! Open the damn door!" Anakin squealed in a high-pitched voice on the verge of a temper tantrum. Risk and Champ bolted to action after that and grabbed the door handles, pulling it open and making room for the jedi and the droid to enter. "You miscreants are fortunate that I needed a host, other wise I would've had you fed to my children on a platter..." He muttered under his breath before stepping into the darkness that waited within.

The room wasn't much different from the others they'd been in at the palace: The walls were covered in vines, a mossy carpet textured the floor beneath them and they could hardly see three feet in front of them thanks to the lack of light. But from the way their voices remained stagnant in the air, it didn't take long to figure out the place the plans were hidden was closer to the size of a broom closet than their suite.

Flipping a switch behind her metal scalp, JC's eyes flashed brightly and illuminated the small area.

Sitting in the center of the small room was an old computer. With nothing but a simple screen and a few buttons layered in dust, the droid scanned the device and couldn't calculate the exact age of it. To her dismay, she couldn't find anything even slightly similar to the prehistoric piece of tech. Despite the galaxy remaining at a steady, equal pace technology-wise, the droid was having trouble finding any sign of the blue prints for the CCDs.

The file on Lady Aveline Denitt stated that she'd sent the plans ahead of her capture, and if Not-Anakin was leading them correctly, there should've been more than just a run-down bucket of bolts excuse for a computer.

"W-w-with all due respect, your majesty," JC began hesitantly, not wanting to agitate the entity that had possessed the jedi any further. "I can't find any trace of the plans we've been searching for. M-m-my sensors aren't picking up an of the normal frequencies and-"

The droid was interrupted by a long, annoyed sigh and Anakin walked over to the computer lazily before blowing away at the lighter dust and rubbing the rest away with his hands. Miraculously, the device flickered to life when the jedi began pressing the different keys and an image popped up on the archaic red screen. He beckoned the three others over with a wave of his hand and Risk, Champ, and JC all did as he gestured.

Despite having to stand on the tips of her metallic feet to look over the mens' shoulders, she caught a vague glimpse of what appeared to be the battle droids they'd learned to fear. Satisfied, Anakin pressed one of the buttons once more and a data-chip popped out of the computer that Risk grabbed, examined, then slid into his pocket for safe keeping.

"I told you the thing you desire was here. Only the queens have been taught how to use the ancient archives." Anakin huffed and folded his arms over his chest in disgust. It was strange, but almost as soon as the words left his mouth, the air in the room seemed to shift and the general's demeanor switched once more; his haughty attitude dissipated and was replaced by one of malice, of a threatening, sinister intention. Whoever or whatever had taken hold of the jedi's body had realized something that the other three knew they wouldn't like.

The clones noticed it before JC did and were beginning to slowly step away from their leader. Champs subtly took the droid's hand and started pulling her backwards as well once Anakin turned his gaze over to the stuttering robot. Like a predator stalking its prey with a sadistic gleam in his eye, the Jedi general eyed JC up and down in a way that left her feeling terrified.

"Back in my day, we didn't rely on droids to get the things we need..." He let out a high, inflated giggle. "But now...now bodies get old...we whither and decay...like the vines that grow on the trees... But droids...droids are practically immortal..."

"General, stand down," Champs commanded and slid between the man and the droid protectively. It was an act her little robot heart would've been fluttering at if the circumstances were any different. 

"Do you honestly think he can hear you?" Another laugh escaped Anakin's lips, though this one was shrill and scratchy, like nails on a chalkboard, and it made the light from JC's eyes flicker unsteadily. "I'm in complete control, little vermin. And you are in no position to be ordering me around. Quite frankly..."

It was then that Anakin reached under his shirt and brandished his lightsaber, igniting it and admiring the blue glow with the eyes of someone about to kill.

"You're out of your league."

*****

Molindi could feel her heart stop in her chest as the gorog squeezed the air from her lungs with its massive hand. Her vision began to grow blurry and the weight of the sword in her hand disappeared, the weapon plummeting down, down, down to the sandy ground below. As the beast's grip grew tighter around her sternum, she could hear the pounding in her head and the crimson shade dawning her face as the flow of oxygen in her blood began to slow.

Her lungs... She couldn't...

Then a deafening roar filled the air and a ringing started vibrating in her ears. The stadium around her faded to black and she realized that this was it, this was the end. Just like her men before, she'd be devoured by a monster from nightmares. It was poetic in a sense, at least in her own opinion. If she was going to die, she wasn't too upset that this would be her way to go.

JC, I'm sorry, she thought. Hopefully the droid would get out of this situation alright. Molindi had left her companion to the medics at one of Kamino's smaller medical facilities; they used to visit a lot during the commander's recovery so JC would fit right in with the crowd. Molindi had also taken the time to renew JC's soap-opera subscriptions for the next sixty years. It wouldn't last JC's entire life if the droid exceeded the usual human life-time warranty, but at least she'd have it for a little while longer.

She'd be okay when Molindi was gone, the woman knew the clones would make sure of that. Her only big regret was that she hadn't told Axel she'd let him win at ping-pong.

It was taking a little while, but she could feel herself falling through the air, presumably into the gorog's monstrous maw. In a matter of seconds, her life would end and her soul would...it would what? Where would it go? Would it even go anywhere? Did she even have a soul? Would she see Bren again? And her other lost men?

She didn't get the chance to find out; the woman's vision was starting to return and her surroundings weren't that of an esophagus or stomach. It took a moment for her to comprehend but Molindi was still outside, still in the land of the living. The giant stadium was still packed with Twarans and she could see Rex and Axel on the ground from the corner of her eye, running straight for her and the gorog and staring in confusion.

The only thing out of the ordinary in this situation was the fact that she was floating in mid air, hovering as if she were one of those recon droids the Seppies liked to send behind enemy lines or like someone had just put the scene on pause like a holo-video. And just like herself, the gorog seemed to be stuck in the same sort of limbo- its mouth forced open and its hand suspended in space by a will that wasn't its own. Hawks and gags of protest spat from its throat and its eyes flitted back and forth in confused fear, but no matter how hard he tried, the gorog could not move.

Then she was being pulled upwards, her legs barely grazing the skin of the gorog's palm as her body was carried away from the fight and towards the queen's viewing platform. Molindi still couldn't hear anything besides the ringing in her head, but as she glanced around the crowd, she could see that everyone was in an absolute uproar. Expressions of fury and terror were the only forms of emotion coming from the audience and guards all along the borders of the stadium were rushing in the same direction she was floating- straight for the queen.

The scene before her was a complete kriff show.

Jordae had one hand extended upwards and a green glow had enveloped the entire platform, while her other hand was pushing back Queen Asemdi and her sister, who were trying their best to fight back but to no avail. Cyndea was focused on keeping the gorog at bay; her small hands were wrapped into fists as if she had a grip on the creature's wrist in her left hand and the fingers of her right digging into its jaw. Which left Nata looking directly at Molindi, her face scrunched up in both concentration and desperation.

Hold on!

Molindi saw the child's mouth move and read her lips, but still couldn't hear the sound of her words out loud. Regardless, she reached her arms towards the child as Nata brought her closer and closer, only a few meters away from the edge of the platform. Drops of sweat glistened on the girl's forehead and upper lip and her arms were beginning to shake, but she remained determined. Hope blossomed in the commander's chest. 

Almost there!

The other two girls were visibly struggling and once Cyndea was sure the woman was a safe distance from the gorog, she gave in to the ache of exhaustion and collapsed to her knees, her chest heaving for oxygen and her little shoulders shuttering with fatigue. The guards had finally reached the queen's platform and had taken over the attack on Jordae when the queen and Agnacia couldn't take it any longer. Though she seemed to be the strongest of the three, she too was starting to feel the heat of the situation now that an entire squadron of men had jumped into the fray. Tears shimmered in the girl's eyes and her lip quivered as she pressed on the defense against the people who used to protect her.

Almost...

Nata's eyes were frantic; she could feel the emotions of the people around her and it was nearly overwhelming. All she could do was focus her mind on Aveline and keeping her sister alive, any other train of thought or sliver of doubt would've been fatal to the woman she held in suspension. Her knees were beginning to buckle and her arms were stretching as far over the edge as she could reach.

Molindi had barely just met the triplets, and yet she couldn't hide the swell of pride filling her heart. These girls, these three wonderful, beautiful girls, weren't bad like the Separatists. They weren't vicious and cruel like all of Molindi's research had said. Jordae, Cyndea, and Nata had hearts of gold and the courage to do what their hearts told them was right. Even if it meant standing against the only people in their lives they'd ever truly known. Pride was a minuscule term when it came to just how happy she was to have met them. 

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter.

Their fingertips had barely brushed when a blaster shot zipped through the air and nailed Nata in the chest, sending her jolting backwards and falling to the stone ground in a motionless heap. Jordae's scream pierced the air, the first true sound Molindi could hear since the gorog's roar, and a flash of green light blasted from within the child, sending all the guards, the queen, and Agnacia flying backwards just as the clones had done the first time they'd witnessed that kind of attack.

The last thing Molindi saw was Cyndea running toward her sister's motionless body, then plummeted towards the arena floor.