Chapter 13

All he could do was stare. In that moment everything seemed to fall away. The flames were so bright he thought he might go blind, but he couldn't take his eyes off of it. Every sound was drowned out by the sheer terror in his mind. He couldn't hear Alikai screaming in fright or his panicked wife rushing to prepare him to leave. He couldn't hear the speeders flying this way and that; all the people rushing to find safety. He was completely lost to the world, watching a crashed warship as it burned the city he loved.

Slowly he started to come back to his senses. He heard Amee calling in the background, "Arakai! Arakai! Come on! We have to go!"

Still silent he turned around and picked up his son, intending to bring him to the speeder outside. Amee grabbed a bag of all the supplies she could carry and followed him outside.

"We have to get to the speeder!" Amee shouted.

Arakai could barely hear her over the sound of starfighters and laser cannons everywhere. Their speeder was parked in a garage about twenty yards away. Arakai looked up but could barely see anything through the thick, black smoke that blocked out the sky. Occasionally, a vulture droid or a clone fighter would dart here or there spraying lasers as it went. Now they were almost at the garage. They could see some of their friends pulling out in their speeder just before the missile hit. The whole structure erupted in a ball of flames that consumed the speeder and its passengers. Arakai covered his son's eyes as he watched a burning humanoid figure screaming while attempting to escape the wrecked transport.

"Quick," he yelled to Amee, "Follow me!" It was only after having said that that he realized he didn't know where to lead her. He turned to go behind the house towards the less populated sector thinking the fighting wouldn't be as intense over there. He was wrong. Ahead he saw three Separatist Invasion Transports landing in the field behind the city.

They must be planning to enter from that side, he thought, either that or the Republic is trying to coral them over there to prevent civilian casualties. That means the best bet is to go through the city and try to make it past the river.

"Where are we going?" Amee was shaking, "Arakai! Where are we going?"

"This way!" Arakai ran into the once beautiful city. People everywhere were running and screaming. Children were alone and crying. Looters were robbing shops of anything of value. Overhead, three Separatist Frigates were engaged in an intense firefight with four Republic Cruisers; debris from the damaged ships rained down on the buildings below. Ahead Arakai saw a crashed Republic Gunship.

"Quick!" he called, "Over there!"

"Arakai, I can't keep up!"

I'll have to steal a speeder. He brought his family to the gunship for some cover and rest while he picked up a fallen clone's blaster rifle. Heaver than I thought it would be. He scanned the area for any speeder, transport, anything that could fly. But there was nothing. All they could do was keep moving.

"Come on! We've gotta get past the river!" Arakai ordered, "It will be safe there!"

Tears were in Amee's eyes. "We're not gonna make it!" she cried.

"Yes we are!" Arakai reassured her, "All we gotta do is get past the river!"

"Arakai, I'm scared! I don't think I can run that far!"

"I know you're scared but you have to be strong," Arakai was trying to be as calm as he could, "Alikai needs you. I need you. You can do this, Amee. We all can. We're gonna be just fine."

Just then the gunship started being peppered with blaster fire. A squadron of battle droids had seen them and mistaken them for republic troops.

"Find cover now! Get Alikai to safety! I'll hold them off!"

Arakai lifted his rifle and squeezed the trigger. A stream of blue light emerged from the front, knocking down droid after droid with every other bolt. After finishing them off, he ran back to find his family. Man, he thought, how did those droids miss us? We should be dead right now.

"Arakai, over here!" Amee called.

Arakai followed the voice until he found his family hiding behind a damaged wall.

"Come on, we're already halfway through. Just a few more miles and we'll be home free."

Amee nodded and stood up, picked up her son, and resumed following her husband through the streets. Bodies of men, women, and children alike were strewn about everywhere. A republic troop transport could be seen at an intersection ahead. The clone commander was hollering orders when a laser came from nowhere to take his head off. Arakai looked to find its source and discovered a separatist tank several yards away. The transport never stood a chance. One blast from the tank's main cannon sent pieces of clones everywhere.

"Don't let them see you!" he yelled to Amee, "You can't dodge a baster bolt and they won't hesitate to shoot!"

They continued running through the maze of roads 'till they came to a relatively clear alleyway.

"Quick, through here!" Arakai directed. The alley would take them out of the city and into the forest if they could just make it through. Just one more street to cross, he thought to himself, then we'll be safe. You, Amee, Alikai, and your new child, all safe at last.

They approached the street at a good pace. They could see the trees at the end of the alley on the other side. Come on! You're almost the-

A blinding flash of light followed by a deafening explosion stopped his thought. He opened his eyes and found himself on the ground. All he could hear was a terrible ringing in his ears. He looked around to see what had happened. He was just on the edge of the street. A battalion of droids encroached from his right, a division of clones fired at them from the left. He had led his family right to the front lines!

He looked ahead and saw that somehow Amee had managed to make it across with Alikai. He couldn't hear them but he could see his son reaching out towards him. Amee was in deep distress as she tried to hold him back from running out to get his father. Stay there Alikai, I'm coming. Don't worry, I'm coming. He started trying to crawl across the street, keeping his head low as he did so. Slowly his hearing started to come back. He could almost feel the heat from each bolt that whizzed past him. He could hear quiet echoes of both Amee's and Alikai's cries. Stay there buddy, Dadda's coming! Now he was halfway across. He couldn't quite make out the yells of republic troops, but he could hear them.

Then, to his horror, Alikai broke free of his mother's arms and ran back into the street. NO, ALIKAI, STAY THERE! Amee ran out after him and tried to bring him back. Arakai finally regained his hearing just in time to hear the bolt that hit her. She dropped to her knees, a desperate and scared look still on her face, then, still reaching for her son, slumped over and landed on the cold pavement.

Arakai was stiff. He couldn't make sense of what had just happened. As soon as Alikai reached him he pulled the boy down to the ground and held him down with every ounce of strength he still had left. He stared at Amee's unmoving figure, trying to think of a way to get her back to safety. After a while the realization set in that all he could do was wait and pray whichever army reached them first would be merciful.

After fifteen minutes of fighting, the clones finally drove the droids back and a chance came to move. He stood up and ran to Amee. She's just unconscious, he thought as he dragged her back into the other alley, she'll be just fine. Alikai followed with tears streaming down his face.

"Come on Amee, wake up, we have to go," Arakai shook her softly, "Amee, please wake up. You have to help me raise our son. You have to deliver our second child."

There was no response. Her eyes remained closed.

"Amee, please," Arakai pleaded, "Get up. If you get up then we can find a new place to live. We can be happy again."

"Momma," Alikai sobbed as he hugged her. Still she didn't move.

"Amee, don't leave me! You can't leave me! Please!" At this point Arakai was beginning to cry, "Our kids need you! I need you! Don't do this!"

Nothing.

"No, please! I protected you, remember? I saved you! I didn't let them hurt you! You can't d… You can't…"

He couldn't bring himself to say the word. It would be real if he said the word. It couldn't be real. Not to him. They would make it through this. All of them. He looked at his son. It was as though every drop of water in the boy's body was in his eyes.

"Amee…" his voice was much softer, "please don't die."

But he could see now that she had. It was over. She was dead. And he was responsible. He had led her straight into the fight and she paid the price. He took his son into his arms and together they wept over her lifeless body.