Te Kar'ta: The Heart - Book 1 - A Star Wars The Clone Wars Fanfiction

Chapter 5 - Lost at Sea

Melony's quarters - Tipoca City, Kamino - 3 months since arrival - 27:45 hours, standard Kaminoan rotation.

Melony and her BD unit walked down deserted halls, the lights that were usually a blinding white had become a hazy gray. The hall seemed deserted, nothing other than the unusual constant drone of marching rang in her ears.

As they traveled further down the hallway, the lights faded into an ominous red, it was as if the emergency system had been activated but there was no alarm, only dull marching.

She shook along with her surroundings as the roar of thunder penetrated once soundproof walls, lightning crashing through the supposedly impenetrable ceiling and scorching the floor.

Flames shot past Melony's legs, climbing and consuming the space.

She screamed but made no sound.

flames engulfed the walkway, her path now blocked completely by a blazing partition.

The disembodied boot-steps were brought to life by squads of clone troopers who pushed past the girl, unfazed and seemingly untouched by the angry fire.

The sounds around her faded out, ears refocusing on the marching as it merged into a different row. The stomping of boots laden with heavy armor formed into course syllables, each separated for a moment following the rhythm.

"Taung sa rang broka, Mando'ade ka'rta." The chant shook the floor as much as the march and thunder had moments prior.

Mel began to shiver, skin bumpy, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She was freezing despite the hungry flames. She knew the ballad.

"Dha Werda Verda a'den tratu,"

The walls began to turn black, scorched and charred by the fire only growing brighter and stronger.

"Manda'yaim kandosii adu."

The lightning returned with vengeance, only to morph into explosions fed by a different source.

Melony fell to her knees, shielding her droid companion from a slurry of debris and plasma bolts that rained overhead.

"Duum motir ca'tra nau tracinya."

Her eardrums felt as if they had ruptured with the blasts, her vision blurred, she could only focus on the battle cry and the gut-wrenching screams of soldiers wounded.

One of the clones lay in front of her, blocking her increasingly narrow path, his lungs heaving with sobs. His cries carried not only the weight of his wounds, but of countless other unknown tragedies.

"Gra'tua cuun hett su dralshy'a."

Horror was slowly sinking into paralysis, the process only intensified as the sobbing faded into the cries of an infant.

The images of falling troopers mixed with the view of the towers holding all the cloned fetuses.

Melony's core felt twisted like the melting bulkheads around her that once supported walls, however her bones were thoroughly chilled, not molten.

As the floor shook relentlessly, so too did the towers casing the precious bodies.

The cries of the inhabitants rose along with the chant, only to be drowned out moments later.

Melony fell for a second time, palms and knees singing upon contact with the scorched floor. Fire consumed everything, sucking the oxygen from the air and inevitably her lungs.