Tipoca City was beautiful. It was clean and streamlined, like a state-of-the-art cruiser. It was white, bright, and shiny. The sleek hallways were filled with clones and Kaminoans alike. There were young cadets, troopers in training, and the toughest clone commanders Shan had ever met overseeing training.
Despite its beauty however, the cloning facility still held the scars of the failed Separatist invasion a while back.
There were holes in the in the ceilings. Some were patched up quickly to keep the rain out. Others had been fully repaired, the damage unnoticeable. The hallways were pockmarked with charred blaster holes. Some only had one or two. Others were half white, half black from the damage. There were still some charred floors and twisted plasteel from grenades. These were all superficial reminders.
The deepest scar ran in the morale of the inhabitants. There was a heaviness here, mourning and grief. There was also fear and anger, like a cornered animal. That was what happened when someone attacked your home. She still carried those very same traits in her heart.
She was shown the cloning chambers and training wings, the dorms and mess halls. She met more Kaminoans than she could count. She met X. X was cloning mistake turned advantage.
The clone was the sixth to be born as a female. The other five come to term before the war had begun. X, however, was young enough to be trained. So she became a Republic spy that most of the Jedi generals didn't even know about. Shan had only met her in passing, because she had a mission to complete, but she was kind. The other clone women were somewhere throughout the city.
The outside of the facility was eternally dark and stormy, a never ending torrent of wall-like rain, crashing waves, and swirling clouds. There was a constant roar in the background. The waves below them were constantly in motion, giving the planet a restless edge that kept Shan on her toes.
All this being said, it got very boring, very quickly.
Shan figured if she had been here permanently, it would be more interesting. There would be clone training to oversee, squadrons to pass or fail, combat regiments to create. She would be given duties, things to do on the daily. But, since she was simply the interim overseer, her job was basically to make sure no one blew up the facility until Shaak Ti returned. Fun.
"I win!" Ice shouted, smacking a hand excitedly on the holochess table. She didn't know why he was so happy about winning; he had won five of their eight matches, which also meant this was his third win in a row. She had always been terrible at Dejarik.
Ice brushed a hand over the top of his mop of white hair, grinning like a madman, as Shan leaned her head against the back of the chair. Her feet were propped up on an abandoned seat.
The trooper had healed completely since his encounter with Tal Rhona. He also ended up with a wicked scar over his upper rib cage that he loved to show off. Rhona missed his heart by an inch.
Shan picked up one of her crackers and tossed it at him. He slid down in his seat and caught it easily in his mouth. He gave a chuckle as he chewed. This is what they and the rest of their squad had done since they landed.
Gheo, ever curious, was studying up on a few new worlds. Shan had suggested he read up on Arazadel. It was a very unique planet. Lots of interesting flora and fauna as well as history.
Varo was napping on the couch on the opposite side of the room. Serak was cleaning his blaster for the seventh time. They all had been fighting in battle after battle for so long now, they even longer than her. It was hard to adjust to the quiet. Her wrist beeped.
"Consult Shan, we have received a transmission from General Windu." the Kaminoan named Taun We said on the opposite end of her comm. Shan stretched before responding. "Thanks, I'll come up now."
---
When she stepped into the darkened room, the first thing Shan saw was a grim looking Mace Windu staring holographically at her. He was sitting a councilman's chair, elbows on his knees. Her heart hit the floor. Did something happen to Obi-Wan on Utapau? She took a deep breath which helped calm her heart a bit, but didn't stop her hands from shaking.
"Hello Master Windu. You summoned me?" she greeted pleasantly. She tucked her hands behind her back to hide their trembling. Windu was so still, she thought that perhaps the signal had gotten interrupted and the image was actually frozen, but then he sat up straight.
"Yes. I have news from Utapau." he said, his voice even. His demeanor was seriously freaking her out. She squeezed her hands together to release some of her stress. Please don't be Obi-Wan, please don't be Obi-Wan... Mace took a breath.
"Grievous is dead. Killed by Master Kenobi." he said. Her jaw dropped. Grievous was dead? If he was killed, why did Windu look so stern? He looked like he was giving her bad news instead of good. That was extreme even for him.
"That being said," the Jedi Master continued. She was getting more stressed by the minute, rather than less. Shan kept expecting him to drop a big bomb on her.
"Master Shaak Ti is going to be needed on Coruscant a little longer than expected. When she returns to Kamino, you will head to Kashyyyk to help drive the remaining Separatist forces off the planet." Sahrea finally found her voice.
"Yes sir." she wavered a moment, going back and forth on whether or not she should ask Windu about his troubled demeanor. She landed on yes.
"Is everything alright? This is supposed to be good news." she joked. Mace sighed. "It is good news. Things should be looking up, but yet things feel darker than they ever have." he said. So Windu felt it too. Shan gave him a sympathetic look.
"I have noticed it as well." There was something he wasn't telling her. The Jedi Master nodded.
"Take heed consult. Things are not as they appear." She did not like the sound of that. "We will speak again soon." She nodded as Windu dissipated into nothing. Grievous was dead. She had to tell Lano.
---
Shan had tried to reach her brother multiple times without answer, so in the meantime, she, Ice, and the rest of the squad went to get a bite to eat in the mess hall. The second she stepped in, Sahrea felt every eye turn to her and flick away quickly. It must be weird to see a new face when everyone shared the same one.
She grabbed some food from the line before sitting down. It was some kind of Kaminoan squid-like meat. It was rubbery, but good. Ice slammed his tray down happily in front of her, making his squid jump. The clone was grinning ear to ear.
"The head clanker is scrap metal!" he shouted as he sat down. He shoved a forkful of the rubbery food in his mouth.
Shan took a small bite. That was the only news from Utapau she had received so far. She knew that Obi-Wan, Cody, and the rest of Ghost Company were still purging the remaining droids, but that's all she was told.
And to make things worse, Windu was acting more serious than usual and had disappeared on some mission she was not informed about. A pit formed in her stomach. Something was seriously amiss and it was starting to get to her. She couldn't eat. She pushed herself up.
"I'll be back." she muttered as she stepped away from the table. "I'm gonna try contacting my brother again." This was half true. She did want to tell Lano about Grievous. She also wanted to walk off her anxiety and Lano would be the only person who could make her feel better right now. Ice mumbled in acknowledgement as he shoveled in the rest of his food.
The Gray left the mess and headed towards the nearest communication station. Her body was numb with anxiety.
It was like everything she had been taught about attachments had gone out the window. She had witnessed the death of her family and order. She should be able to handle this. Why couldn't she handle this? She needed to get away, needed to burn off some of this energy, to sprint until she collapsed. She didn't though. She just kept walking like everything was fine when it felt like her whole world was about to come apart.
Sahrea stopped subconsciously in the middle of the hallway, surprising herself. She turned to the door on her left.
There was nothing particular about this door. It was made of the same white plasteel as the rest of the facility. There was no name, no number, no markings. It had nothing to make it stand out, yet Sahrea found herself walking forward and pressing her fingertips to it. She tapped the panel. It opened.
The lights flickered on inside to reveal a barren room. Everything was covered in dust. The navy blankets of the bunk beds were neatly made. A closet sat on her right, the doors hanging open. Nothing was inside. Sahrea made a pensive face.
"Looking for something?" a female Kaminoan said behind her. Shan turned around. The Kaminoan looked to be young, perhaps a teenager, but Shan wasn't familiar enough with their species to say for sure. Plus every Kaminoan she had met from child to elder all had the same slow, graceful movements that made them seem older than they truly were.
"Umm, not exactly." she replied vaguely, finally answering the female's question. Her brow pulled together.
"Who's room is this?" she asked before stepping out of the dorm. The female blinked her great, dark eyes at her.
"Not is, was." she answered simply. "It was the quarters of Jango Fett." Jango Fett. The clone donor. The Gray stepped out as the door shut behind her. She thought it odd that out of all the rooms in the facility, this was the one she was drawn to. What did that mean? Shan gave the female a smile to hide the whirring of her mind.
"Thank you. I was just curious." the Kaminoan tilted her head. "You're the Gray Jedi, aren't you?" she mused. Sahrea nodded.
"Yes. I am. You can call me Sahrea Shan." The female dipped her long neck. "I am Pahna Qi." she introduced. Shan gave her a smile.
"It is nice to meet you. I have to go now though. I have a transmission to send." Qi smiled. "Good luck, Gray Jedi." she said.
Shan left Qi and made her way down the hallway, putting all thoughts of Jango Fett aside. She made a right into the nearby comm room. Inside, there were six clones at a terminal, all seated in a row. She stepped in.
Sahrea gasped as her entire body was overcome with freezing sensation in a single breath. It encompassed her whole being, even her mind.
Everything was lagging, her thoughts, her heart, even her vision looked like it was in slow motion. She couldn't breathe. It was like when she met the Neris on Canarath, only ten times stronger. Everything seemed to be slipping away. Then it got dark.