Hope Reborn - Chapter 22

Luke sprang up atop a stack of crates. He ignited his lightsaber and cut a circular hole in the ceiling. Another quick hop brought him outside. The scene below was admittedly impressive. Disguised Stormtroopers had donned their armor and a few dozen hidden had emerged from wherever they had been previously.

He flipped his lightsaber off as he sprinted across the roof. The warehouse was the tallest building in the settlement. It was surrounded by a grid of squat prefabs that were two levels at most. He leapt from the edge of the warehouse to the building nearby. His blade sparked into life as he landed.

The light instantly drew their attention.

"There!"
"Fire!"
"Concentrated bursts!"

Their voices overlapped. Luke inverted his saber and sliced a circle into the roof. He hopped down inside the building. The prefabs weren't pretty, but they were sturdy and compact. Their numbers wouldn't mean much in such a tight space. He looked around at the interior. It was a dusty shell of what had once been a bunkhouse. The old furniture was still in place. A group of troopers burst through the door on the level below.

Luke reached out in the Force and tossed a bunk at the door. It knocked the first few troopers off their feet, but they quickly were back at the ready.

"Thermal out!" One of the troopers yelled.

A shinny orb with a flashing red light arced into the room as the troopers retreated. Luke caught the detonator with the Force and launched it back out the door. The sound of screams preceded an explosion.

Luke hopped back out onto the roof. The street below was chaos. He flipped off his lightsaber to stay unnoticed. None of the troopers paid attention to him for a couple of minutes. Blaster fire in the distance told him that Ventress was working on her own version of chaos. There were still a lot of troopers on the street. At some point they had brought out a mounted heavy-rifle. The explosion looked to have delayed the progress of hooking up the power block. They would be able to blast through the prefabs once they got it powered up.

The power block was a sensitive thing. It was separate from the main unit to prevent it from getting too hot. They had the bad habit of exploding when they hit critical heat and had to be shielded from incoming fire.

A wicked smile crossed his face. Once more, he reached out with the Force. The power block rose a fingers-width from the ground then floated into the middle of the gathered troopers. It moved smoothly and quietly. He set it down behind the largest cluster of troopers.

He didn't have a blaster and he didn't have enough experience with one of the trooper's weapons to hit it. However, there was a small cutting torch on his tool-belt. The short metal tube hopped into his hand. He ignited the torch, cocked his arm back, and threw it down at the power block. A single trooper looked up to investigate the sudden spark of light. The Force sped the torch into a blur and guided it directly into the center of the power block. A high-pitched whine was the only warning before it erupted.

The explosion knocked Luke off his feet. His vision spun and his ears rang as he slowly got back to his feet. The front half of the prefab had been turned into scrap. An acrid scent of burning metal stung his nose. His legs wobbled as he edged forward to get a look below.

Luke wasn't sure how many troopers had initially arrived. The Inquisitor said there had been two hundred, but he doubted they had split equally. He could count a grand total of four troopers that were still moving. Of those, only one appeared to be unharmed.

He popped his ears a couple of times then dropped down onto the street below. The trooper that appeared unharmed slowly turned to face him. They were sitting with their back against the prefab that had been farthest from the explosion.

"Trooper." Luke gave a two-finger salute. "How's your night going?"

The trooper didn't respond as they tried to look at Luke.

"That really rang your bell, huh?" Luke shook his head. "Are you going to live?"

"What do you care?" The trooper's voice came out garbled with static.

"I need you to send a message to your friends." Luke motioned to the distance where the blaster fire had come from before the explosion.

The trooper raised a hand and made a rude gesture. Luke sighed.

"Activate your comms." Luke waved a hand.

The trooper did.

"Tell them your squad is down." Luke ordered.

"This is trooper TN-506, squad is down." The trooper repeated.

There seemed to be some sort of reply.

"What did they say?" Luke asked.

The trooper stared back at him silently.

"Tell me what they said." Luke glared at the trooper as he waved his hand.

"Squad B report twenty casualties. They are sending reinforcements to my position." The trooper answered.

"Take off your helmet." Luke ordered.

The trooper did. A man a little older than him stared back at him with a dazed expression on his face. Blood trailed from lower lip and his nose appeared to be broken.

"Sleep." Luke waved his hand.

The trooper's head dropped back against the wall. Luke turned his attention to the troopers that still lived. A quick bit of triage later left the injured unconscious until the reinforcements could arrive and put the critical out of their misery. A quick death was better than suffering. He doubted a Jedi or Force User would have been given such a mercy.

Luke jumped onto the roof of the intact prefab. He jogged down a few of the buildings before he slipped inside and waited for the others to arrive. The short break would give him time to prepare.

[-x-]

Lord Revan returned to Kamino. He held out a flesh and blood hand to feel the rain as he strolled to the entry.

"Lord Vader." The tall alien inclined their head. "Is there an issue with your restoration."

They hid it well, but he could feel the fear emanating from the alien.

"No." He shook his head. "Your work was impressive and appreciated."

"Thank you, Lord Vader." Their relief was visible. "May I ask why you have returned?"

"I need an army." He gave them a feral smile.

"We have waited for the Empire to recognize the higher quality of our Clone Troopers." The alien preened.

"This isn't for the Empire." His smile turned feral. "This is for me."

The alien only paused for a brief moment. They inclined their head in understanding. That was the good thing about Kamino. They didn't care as long as the money was good.

"Do you have enough material to start production?" He asked.

"Regrettably, no." The alien shook their head. "The few remaining material we have would not be able to provide more than a dozen clones."

Lord Revan paused.

"Can to use a clone to provide more material?" He asked.

"No." The alien showed blatant distaste at the question. "The quality of the product would be greatly reduced."

"Make as many as you can with the material available." He ordered. "Covert and Special Operations Training. I will find another source for your material."

"And your payment?" The alien asked with a slight tremble in their voice.

"You should still have access to the Republic Account." Lord Revan smirked at the alien.

The alien gave a smile in reply.

"We do indeed, Lord Vader." They replied in agreement. "How large of an order do you want?"

"Five thousand." He held up a hand before any more questions. "Full training. A thousand for operations, information, and administration each. Five hundred special training against Force Users."

The alien made a note of a pad that they pulled from a nearby wall unit.

"How long will it take?" He asked.

"One year once the new source is secured." The alien answered with a hint of pride in their voice.

"How?" Lord Revan asked.

"Do you recall the process used to grow your new limbs?" The alien led him deeper into the complex.

"Yes." He replied.

"We have perfected the process using blank genetic material." The alien waved a hand to draw his attention to row after row of fluid filled tubes.

Inside of each was a humanoid figure. The skin was transparent, and they were currently nothing more than a nervous system.

"The musculature, organs, and skin will be grown once the source material is added." The alien explained. "With this process we are able to drastically reduce the time required to construct a clone. If you wish, we can produce a clone as soon as six months, but it would be a juvenile and would require altering to accelerate the aging process. The process of training and growth to maturity would extend the timeline to three years."

Lord Revan let the information settle. After a moment, he thought of another question.

"Galactic Standard Years?" He asked.

"Kamino Native Years." The alien replied.

"What does that translate to in Galactic Standard?" He asked.

The tall, thin alien thought for a moment.

"Roughly eight months." The alien answered after some mental math.

"Will the accelerated aging lower their life expectancy?" This was a question that had plagued him many times when he had a squad of clones at his side.

"The acceleration runs its course once the clone reached maturity." The alien explained. "This would lower the life expectancy by twenty Galactic Standard Years subtracted as the growth period. Do you wish them sterilized?"

"No." Lord Revan growled in response.

Lord Revan took a calming breath. He had spent enough time around clones to know they each had a personality of their own. Sterilizing them would treat them no better than an animal. The casual way the alien asked the question made his anger roar to life.

"Apologies." The alien said quickly. "It is a standard question. Once the clones reach maturity they are able to pass on their genetic material. This includes the accelerated aging. Any offspring would experience growth rapidly, though not to such an extent as the first generation."

He paused once more.

"Does the source need to be male?" Lord Revan asked.

"Gender does not impact the process." The alien replied with a gentle wave. "The Templates will grow the organs as designated by the source material."

Lord Revan let his thoughts wander. He stared out into the vast rows of Templates. The clones and droid armies had proven in the past to be formidable. Their combined might would be another weapon in his fight against Palpatine. He had realized something in the time since his return, he didn't want to rule the galaxy. First he would dispose of Palpatine, then he would eradicate the Hutts, and in the process hunt down every last slaver. After that, he was content with ruling a system or two with his son.

Maybe, eventually, he would earn the right to call himself Anakin once more.

"What about multiple sources?" Lord Revan asked as he pulled himself back to the present.

"That may cause an issue with training." The alien replied with a slight hesitance in their voice. "We have found that multiple sources create tensions between the clones. Especially ones of different genders. The possibility of unwanted breeding is also a danger."

"They will be working in tandem with battle droids." Lord Revan continued.

"We will an equivalent number supplied to train them properly." Their voice had returned to the smooth tones of before.

"I will return when I have found a new donor." He stalked away without another word.

Lord Revan tried to picture a face on the Templates. He had already began to build a loyal number of followers across a varied skillset. They were too few in number to sacrifice for the cloning process. The clones would bolster his numbers once they were active. An outside source would be the best option.

A mercenary, bounty hunter, or assassin would serve the purpose. Mandalorians were the first to come to mind. It was a good place to start his search.