Balmorra - The Factory City of Balmorran Arms
Mina Bonteri and her son Lux slipped quietly through the streets of the factory city. Even during the night, the streets were bright and there were many people out and about - workers who were most likely coming home from the recent shift or possibly hurrying to it. None of them were paying attention to Mina or Lux. The former Senator from Onderon and former member of the Separatist Parliament was on the run. She and a dozen and a half other former-Separatists and their families had fled their homes. Count Dooku had suddenly turned on them and revealed that his loyalty was to Darth Sidious, not to the people of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Dooku introduced his master and said that he was their ruler now. Of course, considering the news from Republic space, numerous Separatist representatives objected and, immediately, BX Commando droids came in and executed them. That was when the decision was made. Mina, Lux and numerous other others had made as if to go to their homes but had almost immediately fled. Getting out of Separatist space would have been near impossible without help - if a Jedi Knight and his padawan had not slipped in behind enemy lines and gathered the fugitive senators up and instructed them to go to Balmorra. The Jedi would have a ride off for them there, though how they planned to was a mystery to the fugitive senators.
When the Bonteri's reached the shelter and closed the door behind them, a Leyakian male named By Bluss sighed with relief. "Thank goodness you made it. What word from the Republic?"
"They told us to head to the Crysion Hotel and Casino at local midnight. Our pick up will meet us there."
Another senator, a Amita Fonti, a Gossam, looked nervously and distrustfully at the closed door behind them. "What if this is a trap?"
"Would you prefer a trap laid by the Republic or by a Dark Lord of the Sith?" asked Mina.
No one answered. No one needed to. History was very clear about the evils of the Sith Empires and the treachery of Sith Lords. All they could do was wait.
It wasn't easy to blend in when you all looked the same. Hell, even facial hair, dyed hair, colored optical lenses and mild voice modifiers would only do so much. But it would be enough. They would wait in the mercenary enclave for General Skywalker's orders and move from there. In his earpiece, Alpha-17, one of the first of the Clone Alpha-Class Advanced Recon Commandos, heard one of his younger brothers, Grimmer he guessed it was, murmur, "Any word from the general yet, Alpha."
After another sip of his drink, the Clone Captain cleared his throat and said quietly, "Nope, not yet. Stow the chatter, Grimmer. We can't afford to give anything away."
A snort came from another of his ARC Troopers, Spar he thought it was. "What are we going to give away? All but three of the ten of us are wearing masked helmets of one kind or another and the three that aren't are across the room from one another."
"Well if you keep gabbing, Spar, it won't matter now, will it?" retorted Alpha, with more amusement than venom in his voice.
Even so, he was getting anxious as well. Soon enough, they would start making their way, one or two at a time at random intervals towards the pick up point. He certainly hoped that Skywalker would be in place with his padawan in time. Alpha would hate to run into Asajj Ventress if the Jedi weren't their to give back up. "Hey Boss, what do we know about this smuggler who's taking us outta here?"
Alpha swallowed another mouthful of his drink before replying, "What's to know? He's some Corellian smuggler with a crew of three and a custom built freighter based off a four thousand year old CEC model. What other intel are you expecting, Muzzle?"
"More than that; I don't like it, Alpha."
"Me neither. What can I say? General Skywalker found this guy and said he was the contact and the ride out. We're deep in Sep space, now stow the gab. If they catch us on a routine or random scan, we're done."
They were silent after that, not wanting to push their luck. A few minutes later, Alpha's chrono alarmed and he dropped a credstick on the table before standing and stretching. "Alright lads, get to your spots. We're a go."
They hurried out in their order, ending with Alpha himself. As he exited, he took one more glance around the mercenary enclave's canteena room and his eyes caught something in the shadows, way in the back of the room, a shadowy figure sat and even though the face was invisible behind a black hood, Alpha could tell that he was being watched. What's more, he could tell that he was being hunted. Stepping out into the street, he used the comlink on his belt to key an emergency frequency to General Anakin Skywalker, hoping fervently that the Jedi would get it and arrive on time to save them all from the Separatists' favorite pet assassins.
All the ARC Troopers knew their positions. Four would take over-watch/sniper positions while another four would be following on the flanks and off to the sides. Alpha and one of his sergeants would meet them and lead them to safety. All the while, the other eight ARC Troopers would be circling around and in front of and behind and above them, making sure that everything was clear.
They were all at the meeting place now, right outside and down a side street from the main entrance. "Captain, I have a large group of hooded and cloaked figures all clustered together;" came the voice of Scope, one of their snipers. He was almost sneering and it took only a moment for Alpha to realize why.
The Sep defectors were too easy to pick out - three dozen senators and senators' families of various species all clustered tightly together. Quickly, he moved to intercept with his partner Redoubt. Picking out the two who appeared to be the leaders, Alpha moved in and gave the challenge words. A middle-aged Human woman, with a boy next to her, looked relieved and gave the passwords. "Right this way, Senator;" said Alpha, motioning her to follow.
"It's good to see you here, Lieutenant. We were worried that this was all a Separatist trap."
Alpha's awareness was a constant three-sixty as he answered, "It still very well could be, Madam Senator. Are any of your people here armed?"
"We have a few hold-out blasters but nothing more. Most of our honor-guardsmen and women stayed on our home planets to attempt to keep up the appearance of us still being there. Where are you taking us?"
"We chartered a smuggler ship to get you out. Don't worry - we paid them enough to ensure their trust and believe me, we didn't like it anymore than you most likely do."
Senator Bonteri gave a light snort. "If they're here to get us out of here, I don't care if it's a crew of Hutts, I'll be happy to kiss each and every one of them."
"Ewww..." muttered the boy next to her, most likely her son Lux.
Alpha chuckled. "You won't need to worry about that, Madam Senator. No Hutts."
"Sir;" said one of the over-watch troopers, "I have movement to the rear."
Alpha nodded and motioned Sergeant Rogun forward with the Senator and quickly moved to the rear. As he did, another over-watcher called, "I have three contacts to your left about a block away, moving the same direction as you."
"I have two more to your right, same distance, Boss."
"Any identifying them, gents?" he asked but he didn't need to know too much. Less than sixty meters behind them, he saw the hooded and cloaked figure. Even though her figure was mostly hidden, Alpha knew exactly who she was. Again, he keyed in the emergency signal to Skywalker and cursed under his breath. Where the farefeck was that boy?
The following shadow didn't seem in any hurry to catch up to them - which of course just meant that she was backing them into a nice little trap. "Snipers, pick your targets and get ready. I want a hole for these senators to get through when I give the word."
Seven confirmations came through but one of them, Ticker is probably was, said just a little excitedly. "No worries, Boss. I just saw a rather short, skinny shadow with a green lightsaber clear our right flank."
"Woah! Sir, General Skywalker and his padawan are here. I just saw him clear or left flank. They're moving parallel to us."
Alpha pulled his comlink and said, "General, this is Captain Alpha. We have Asajj Ventress trailing us. Send a confirmation."
The comms beeped three times - an acknowledgement. Immediately, Alpha felt just a little better. "ARC Troopers, keep an eye. I've a feeling that those weren't the only surprises those Sep muck-dogs had planned for us."
Just then, a tall figure and a shorter one fell into place beside him from different directions. "We're doing good, Alpha;" said Anakin Skywalker. "We're almost there."
"Master, we have one hairless harpy on our six. When should we get her?"
"Take is easy, Snips;" chuckled Skywalker. "Why rush to an encounter when it will easily just drop into our lap? She's letting us get closer to our escape anyway."
But the young Togruta shook her head. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Alpha grunted. "I agree with Commander Tano, Sir. We should strike while we have the upper hand."
"No;" said Skywalker firmly. "I know how Ventress thinks. She want's us to turn and face her while the senators are led into a trap. Ahsoka, go up agreed with Sergeant Rogun. Keep your senses alert."
Still unhappy about it, Ahsoka nodded and hurried to the front. "How the hell did you get stuck with a padawan anyway, General?" asked Alpha in amusement.
Anakin snorted. "You should ask Captain Rex about it some time. He think's it's absolutely hilarious. She's pretty good though - she has a lot of potential, though she needs a great deal of patience, discipline and instruction."
Alpha gave a poodoo-eater grin. "So she's basically, a younger, feminine, Togruta version of you, huh Sir?"
Anakin gave him a look. "Funny, Alpha. Very funny; when we get back, you can-"
"Contact front! We have BX Commando droids blocking our bath!"
"Blast!" said Alpha, pulling his compact DC-15 Blaster Carbine out and leveling it at the trailing shadow.
She was gone!
"General;" he murmured.
"Yup, I see it, Alpha. Alright, let's get to the front. We'll keep our ears and eyes open."
They could already hear the blaster fire coming from the front. Alpha blasted two of the droids before he even reached cover. There were at least twenty droids between them and the hanger bay. Ahsoka was partially behind cover, deflecting a trying to swat the blaster bolts back at the droids. "Any idea's, Master?"
"Give me a minute;" he said.
Just then, Alpha yelled, "Sir!"
They both turned and saw a figure plummeting towards them with twin red lightsabers ignited. "Ahsoka!" said Skywalker and they both turned to engage.
The sound of lightsabers clashing and humming joined the numerous sounds of blaster fire.
Alpha knew better than to fire blaster bolts into a lightsaber duel. Instead, he focused on the droids. It seemed that they had reinforcements - squads of B2 Superbattle droids were beginning to arrive as well, pouring more laser fire at the clones. The snipers on the rooftops were as pinned down as those on the ground were. "Any idea's, Boss?" called Muzzle.
"Working on it;" replied Alpha testily.
He didn't have any of his gear with him - no grenades, no emp discs, no nothing and neither did his boys. The snipers were armed with DC-17m weapons systems in sniper configuration and their spotters had Westar-5 Blaster Rifles. The others had DC-15 carbines like he had, and DC-17 compact commando hold-out blasters. They hadn't been prepared for a full-scale battle like this.
With a click, his blaster power pack ran dry and he cursed before sliding another into place with a click and started firing again. Suddenly, behind the blockade of droids, the hanger doors opened. Behind the droids were four shadowy figures. "Clones, hit the deck!" came a loud voice over a magnifier.
They obeyed, as did the senators. Skywalker and his apprentice were fighting Ventress on the roof tops not far away. Alpha could still hear the crack-sizzle of the laser swords. Then, there was a sound that was all too familiar to Alpha - a LS-150 Heavy Accelerated Charged Particle Repeater Gun. The rapid blasting of it was heard and the mechanical voices of the panicked droids could be heard as well. When the firing stopped, the ARC Troopers popped up and picked their targets. A massive hole, filled with nothing but the wrecked bodies of clankers, had be ripped in the droid blockade. "Senators, we'll cover you! GO, GO, GO!"
As the senators broke cover and ran for it, the four shadowy figures ran to meet them - three humans, or near humans at least, a a large Wookiee, wearing the dress of a Wookiee warrior and holding the massive particle repeater gun. One of them, a kid no older than seventeen or eighteen and holding a DC-15 Longblaster, motioned the senator forward as he and an extremely pail-skinned man aimed to their right, Alpha and the clones' left and began blazing away at the droids there. The Wookiee took a wide stance and, with a battle cry as deep as a sarlacc pit, opened back up with his repeater gun. The fourth, a young woman in her early twenties and dressed in leather that looked to be made of some scaly lizard of some kind, wielded no weapon but was murmuring and chanting as she made intricate and patterned gestures with her hands. With one final command and gesture, a massive blast swept outward, taking all the droids with it and even causing the others to scatter. Immediately, she gasped and nearly fell before the Wookiee grabbed her. "Let's go! Let's go!" called the kid.
Alpha recognized then that he was wearing metallic gray and black armor of a Mandalorian warrior. Many of the instructors and trainers on Kamino were Mandalorian and wore the Mandalorian armor. Quickly, the senators ran into the hanger and towards the ship inside. The clones weren't far behind. "Captain, I'm Jakelo Harolem. That's my crew and that's my ship. What's your brothers are here, go ahead and get aboard."
"What about the Jedi?" called senator Bonteri.
"We came with them in another ship. They'll get off and meet us back on Coruscant, sure as shooting. Come on. Our mission is to get you outta here;" said Alpha as he gently but urgently ushered her to the ship. As they backed towards the ramp, their weapons up and ready, Alpha murmured out of the corner of his mouth, "Thanks for the assist, Captain Harolem. We thought we were in trouble."
The kid gave a cocky, lopsided grin that Alpha immediately hated and liked at the same time. "You were in trouble, Captain. When we see him again, General Skywalker is going to owe me extra for this. We weren't expecting a fight."
"We're at war, kid;" chuckled Alpha. "Always expect a fight - especially whenever you hear the name 'Skywalker'."
"Eh, if you say so;" said Harolem.
Just then, through the gates jogged Skywalker and Tano. "So our ship was destroyed. Mind if we hitch a ride."
"Where's the harpy?" asked Alpha, lifting his weapon again.
"She ran;" said Ahsoka just a little smugly. "Turned tale and headed for the hills as soon as she realized her assault force was destroyed."
Skywalker chuckled and said, "Let's get outta here."
Minutes later, the ship was in the air and heading for space. Minutes after that, they were in hyperspace, headed back the way they had come.
Anakin and Alpha were talking quietly in the main lounge area when Jakelo Harolem came back in, his blaster slung across his back and his helmet beneath his arm. "So, General Skywalker, you and I need to talk about how much you owe me."
Ahsoka watched from one of the lounge seats with interest as her master rolled his eyes ever so slightly before saying, "Alright, on top of the ten thousand we're already paying you, we'll tack on another two, just because we're generous."
"I don't think so;" said Harolem, "You see, if you count the risk my crew took, plus the munitions we expended and the fact that we'll now be on every Separatist watch list, therefore eliminating around half our business opportunities, I'm thinking double is just about right."
Anakin snorted. "Double? You mean as in twenty-thousand credits? Not going to happen captain. You can drop us off and we'll get a Republic pick up before that happens."
The other crew members came into the lounge. Skywalker looked at the young woman with a thoughtful frown. "You're strong in the force - very strong. What's your name?"
The woman, an auburn haired beauty with sparkling green eyes, smiled and said, "I'm Roanni of the Frenzied River Clan of Dathomir. It is an honor to meet you, Master Jedi."
Ahsoka stifled an amused laugh at how Anakin straightened slightly and bowed. It most likely didn't take a Jedi to sense his ego swelling just slightly. "My pleasure, Roanni of the Frenzied River Clan of Dathomir. That is my apprentice Ahsoka Tano and this is Captain Alpha. Are all of your crew uninjured?"
"Yes, they are, thank you;" said Harolem irritably, "now if you two are done making nice, we have business to discuss."
"Alright, fine;" said Anakin, crossing his arms over his light Jedi battle armor. "We'll call it at fourteen thousand. There is no way we're paying double when none of you were injured or even exerted yourselves that much."
The young captain considered, stroking his clean shaven chin before grinning broadly. "I like you, Jedi. I'll compromise because of that and because my crew made it out okay. Sixteen thousand. I do need to divide it evenly, after all."
Anakin scratched his chin before shrugging. "Agreed - in the hope of future business opportunities."
They shook hands. "Alright, let me introduce you to the rest of our merry band here. The bid harry fellow is Tazzeran;" he said, indication the Wookiee, whom Aksoka and Anakin just noticed, had completely black hair and silver-looking eyes. "Don't make him mad."
"No kidding;" said Anakin. "It's a pleasure, Tazzeran."
"That over there is Zavren;" said Jakelo as he indicated a very tall, very pale individual. His hair was sivler and shimmery and his eyes were a blue that's so light they were almost white as well. He bowed and Anakin nodded knowingly. "An Echani warrior - it's an honor."
Zavren smiled and bowed, one hand on his chest. "The pleasure is mine;" he said courteously in a richly accented voice.
Ahsoka crossed her arms, feeling slightly left out by everyone. Just then, Senator Bonteri approached them. "We thank you, Jedi and Captains for the assistance. It is such a relief to be safely away."
Before Anakin could reply, Ahsoka said, "It was the least we could do for those who were brave enough to take such a risk."
The ARC troopers, who were all cleaning and checking their weapons. Anakin stretched slightly and said, "I'd hate to impose, but do you have any food on this tub?"
"Tub?" said Jakelo, looking highly offended. "Do you know what it took to get this baby? Do you understand the pain and hardship I had to go through to obtain this wonderful, beautiful ship?"
Roanni took both Anakin and Ahsoka by the arms and said, "It's best to vacate the area when he starts on one of his rants. Come on. I'll take you to the galley and we'll whip something up."
Aboard the Providence-Class Dreadnought Huntress
Asajj Ventress knelt as the image of her master appeared. "I am disappointed in you, my Apprentice;" said Lord Tyranus. "I was certain that you could handle a mere handful of senators."
"Skywalker, his little brat and ten of his pet clone troopers were there - plus a crew of smugglers. One of the smugglers was a Dathomir witch - from the Frenzied River Clan if her markings and mode of dress were anything to go by;" said the Assassin, her voice laced with scorn.
"Is that so?" said the Dark Lord, his voice contemplative. "I think it's time that we increased the number of our Dark Jedi Order."
Asajj smiled tightly. She couldn't agree more. "Our master Darth Sidious will be leading an assault on the planet of Dathomir himself. We will capture the Nightbrothers and the Nightsister and slaughter any who attempt to resist us."
Ventress went completely still. She herself had come from Dathomir many years before, having been bought by a Rattataki at a very young age. She didn't even have memories of the place. "And what of the clans that are not Nightsisters? There are many of them and it will take tens if not hundreds of thousand of droids to defeat them if they band together."
"We are not as concerned about them as we are Mother Talzin and her ilk. In the mean time, you will join Skorr and Sora Bulq over Felucia and wait upon my call. Another Jedi Master has fallen to the Dark Side and joined us. You will assist in his training in the dark side."
"Of course, my master;" hissed Asajj before the line was cut. After a long moment, she turned to the Super Tactical droid. "General, have my fighter prepared."
"Yes, Supreme Leader;" answered the droid.
In truth, Asajj didn't feel any true loyalty to the Nightsisters. They weren't her people anymore, hadn't been for years. But if she would ever be betrayed, it would have been a place to retreat and regroup to. Now, if another came and usurped her place at Tyranus's side, she would have no choice but to win or to die.
Aboard the Lucrehulk - Class Battleship Caliphate
Darth Sidious watched from his throne in the observation tower as his fleet made ready to jump to hyperspace. It galled him slightly that he had an army made up primarily of droids but there was no use sulking about it. They would serve his purpose regardless. Behind him, the lift door hissed open. With a smile, he said, "We have done well, Lord Tyranus. You apprentice is out of the way on Felucia and we will go to Dathomir. I want you to lead our forces to the Nightbrother's villages. Any that are strong in the force, I want you to capture for training. Any that are not, kill."
"Yes, my master;" said Darth Tyranus.
"I will deal with Clan Mother Talzin myself, and her Nightsisters. We will have an army of warriors, a Dark Jedi Order to command against the Jedi Order of the light side of the force."
"Of course Master."
Suddenly, they both felt it, a strong disturbance in the force. "Did you sense that, my Apprentice?" asked Lord Sidious.
"I did my Lord."
"It felt familiar;" murmured Sidious, drumming the fingers of one hand on the arms of his throne. "a presence I have not felt in over a decade."
"What presence, my lord?" asked Tyranus.
The silence that followed lasted for nearly five minutes before Sidious said, "Prepare the fleet for lightspeed, my apprentice. When we finish with the Nightsisters, we will find the source of this disturbance."
"Yes, my Master."
As they gazed out the forward viewport, the stars turned to lines and those lines, to the blue tunnel of hyperspace.
Codex Entry #4 - Jackelo Harolem
Born sixteen years before the Clone Wars to a male Corellian smuggler and a female Mandalorian Supercommando from Clan Rau, Jackelo Harolem proved himself as a warrior and freighter pilot at a very young age. As he grew up, he went back and forth between them, either working with his father as a smuggler or, more often, as a warrior with his mother. He had many adventures and earned the right to wear the beskar'gam, Mandalorian armor, at the age of fifteen.
During one of the early battles of the Clone Wars, his mother and father were caught up in a fight between the Republic's Clone Troopers and the Confederacy of Independent System's battle droids and died. Jackelo took their loss hard and resolved to leave Clan Rau and strike out on his own. To that end, he took all the money he had from his mother and father and commissioned a custom ship from the Kuat Drive Yards. Growing up, he had heard stories of a ship from the Jedi Civil War known as the Ebon Hawk and become fascinated with it. Records stated that it was a Dynamic-class light freighter created by Core Galaxy Systems, a manufacturer who no longer existed. When he commissioned the ship, it cost him almost every credit he had and the designers informed him that many of the systems had to be substituted with those of newer ships, such as the from the Corellian Engineering Corporation YT line, in order to be up to code. When it was finally finished, Jackelo named it the Legacy Hawk and struck out for the Outer Rim.
In just a short period of time, Jackelo earned a reputation with organizations such as the Hutt Cartel, the Black Sun Syndicate, the Pikes, the Exchange and even the Corporate Sector Authority as a reliable and timely option for any illicit cargo. Even the Separatist systems and worlds began contacting.
During one of his first jobs, Jack was sent to the little-known world of Dathomir to pick up a captured baby rancor for one of the Hutts. During that job, he also ran into a young Dathomir Witch named Roanni who had been thrown out of her clan. She assisted him in capturing the creature and, when the time came to leave, he took Roanni with him as she wished to see the galaxy and they had made a solid team.
When he went to collect payment for the rancor, Jack noticed that one of the Hutt's cages had a Wookiee inside with completely black fur and startling silver-colored eyes. Rather than take credits for the job, he instead took the Wookiee and learned his name was Tazzeran. When he tried to take the Wookiee home, Tazzeran refused, stating instead that he would stay with Jackelo and Roanni.
During a job that had gone terribly wrong in the mid-rim, Jackelo was forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat with an Echani warrior named Zavren. After a vicious fight and the two had beaten one another bloody, Jackelo offered to take Zavren with him. Tired of working for crime lords who only wanted him for intimidating and abusing whomever they pointed out, Zavren agreed.
The four grew close as the Clone Wars intensified and made work much more abundant though also much more dangerous. Many times, they contemplated not working with the Separatists considering the methods they used on the battlefield. When the holo-net news came out declaring that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was deposed and secretly the Sith Lord called Darth Sidious and the secret backer of the Separatists, Jackelo decided that it was time to take them off their client list. In fact, he jumped at any and all opportunities to work with the Republic and the Republic military, going on many rescue missions of fleeing political prisoners who no longer wished to work with the Sith Lords.
Codex Entry #5 - The Legacy Hawk
Four thousand years before the beginning of the Clone Wars, one of the most popular light freighters to flight the hyperspace lanes was the Core Galaxy Systems Dynamic-class light freighter. Fast, easy to maintain and very easy to modify, it was not only the vessel of choice for private ships captains but also for criminals. The most famous example of the Dynamic was the ship the Ebon Hawk. Originally owned by the Exchange crimelord Davik Kang to travel to and from his homebase on Taris, it feel into the hands of the Jedi Knight Revan and, after he disappeared into parts unknown, the Jedi Exile Meetra Surik.
Growing up in the years leading up to the Clone Wars, the Mandalorian smuggler Jackelo Harolem heard tales about the famous ship and dreamed of having a Dynamic-class freighter of his own. After the death of his parents, he commissioned it and his dream came true.
The Legacy Hawk is twenty-four meters in length and twenty-two-point-five meters in width. It cost three hundred and fifty thousand credits to purchase since many of its systems had to be custom built. Aside from the cockpit, security center, med bay and cargo hold, the ship also had a port and a starboard set of crew quarters, each with three fairly comfortable bunks. Its armament included a pair of link-fired dual laser cannons mounted to the port and starboard of the ship and controlled by either the pilot or copilot in the cockpit. In addition, rotating turret laser cannons were installed on top and on bottom of the ship, making it illegally and heavily armed. On the port side was also a large garage area where swoop bikes or even a land or air speeder could be stored though Jackelo mostly used it as a secondary lounge or cargo hold. The primary hyperdrive is a class 1.5 and the backup is a class 4.5, which is abnormal considering most backups are a much higher class and, therefore, much slower than the primary hyperdrive.
On the underside of the ship, Jack had magnetic clamps installed so that larger cargo containers could be hauled. In addition, the cargo hold had a secret compartment that was lined with dampeners so that, when they were activated, the secret compartment wouldn't register on scans or would register as empty. In fact, most of Harolem's success was do to the speed at which he could travel and his ability to maneuver through tricky or dangerous situations.
After the revelation that the Supreme Chancellor was a Sith Lord and that he was entirely behind the war, the Legacy Hawk became a clandestine and highly effective rescue ship, used to get former-Separatist Senators out of Separatist space to safety on Coruscant or into hiding.
Codex Entry #6 - The Reformed Galactic Senate
In the years leading up to the Clone Wars, the Galactic Senate of the Republic had continually dropped into a deeper and deeper state of corruption. Senators took bribes from criminals and often neglected those who elected them for representation. This caused many to threaten and even carry out cessation from the Republic. After several attempts on the life of Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo and a Jedi investigation, it was found that these Separatist Senators were forming a large Confederacy lead by none other than a former Jedi Master named Dooku, the Count of the planet Serenno. The Clone Wars began at the First Battle of Geonosis and spread across thousands of systems and worlds. Clone soldiers lead by Jedi generals battle the droids armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and billions of beings were effected.
A year and a half into the war, a mysterious Human male suddenly arrived and gave critical information to the Jedi Council. Immediately, the most trusted senators were notified - Garm Bel-Iblis of Corellia, Bail Organa of Alderaan, Padme Amidala of Naboo, Mon Mothma and numerous others were informed and put forth the vote to remove the Supreme Chancellor. It was successful and Darth Sidious was confronted. Unfortunately, he escaped into parts unknown but his hold over the Republic and indeed over the whole of the war was shaken. Bail Organa was quickly voted in to take his place and the Jedi Order launched investigations into tens of thousands of senators and planetary governments, seeking out corruption and treachery. It lead to a massive purge and many thought that the whole of the Republic would fall apart. It remained and the new representatives quickly filled in their rolls.
As the new Supreme Chancellor, Bail Organa began to roll back many of the emergency powers that Darth Sidious had manipulated into place. Furthermore, he and the senators loyal to him put forth motions to outlaw the creation of more clones for the purposes of a military force while simultaneously putting forth a motion that would require sectors, systems and worlds to provide the defense of their own peoples. While the clones that were already born were still in combat, no more would be created.