The Dark Clone

Chapter III: Planning

Admiral Carth Onasi groaned loudly as he began to stir in his sleep. Once he became aware of himself, he became keenly aware of the dull ache that had spread through his entire body. The ache increased when he sat up and began to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Admiral?"

"Yeah," he replied slowly as he put his hand to his forehead to stop the spinning.

He felt someone's hands on his shoulder. He looked up to see who it was. The woman before him was pleasant enough to look and had a sweet freckled face and red hair, but he was fairly certain he didn't know her. She only laughed as he tried to call up a memory of her. "You can stop, Admiral. You don't know me," she assured him. "I'm Tanya Koy. I've been taking care of you since you came to this hospital."

"Hospital?" he repeated. "But… I don't remember."

"That's unfortunate," she told him. "You've been here for nearly a week. No body knows what happened to you."

"The last thing I remember…" he trailed off when he realized he couldn't remember anything. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened in months. Everyday was the same, working at his desk.

"The day you were found, you visited the Jedi Temple. Do you remember why?"

He shook his head. "I haven't been to the Jedi Temple in years," he replied.

"Their surveillance videos placed you there only twenty minutes before a Jedi Master was killed."

"A Jedi Master was killed?" he repeated amazed.

"Master Cede," she confirmed. "The surveillance vids made it look like a suicide, but no one believes it."

"Suicide? Why?"

"It wasn't," she replied. "The vids show that he walked into the archives, trashed the room, and then pulled an exposed electric conduit out of the wall for his heart."

"Wow," was all the admiral could say.

"Alright, now I'm going to go get your doctor. Wait here," she ordered.

Carth looked at himself and smiled. He was dressed only in a hospital gown and had IVs sticking out of both his hands and forearms. "I wouldn't worry," he told her.

The nurse flashed a girly smile back at him as she left the room.

--

The clone of the former Sith Lord, Revan, had arrived on Nar Shaddaa two days after the original. She had not known this at the time, however. She had come for one reason. There was power to be had on the smuggler's moon. Men were willing to sell their souls on Nar Shaddaa for the cheapest of prices. Some wanted credits. Others wanted material goods. There was one thing that men wanted above all else though: women.

Now, Revan held herself above the law. She had power and that made her better than it. As far as she was concerned, if the law couldn't stop her, she had no reason to respect it or abide by it. She did have a sense of honor though. Her body was the product of a demented scientist and not the passion of a mother and a father, but that was irrelevant. The source of her body meant nothing. She had it and she had no intention of polluting it with the foul spices and other drugs that were so abundant on the small moon, nor did she intend to sacrifice it to the wants and desires of men. She saw herself as a leader. A leader didn't give herself to her servants as a bribe or bonus to their pay. A leader held herself above her men. They could look upon her with all the desire in space, but they would never know her touch.

This philosophy had caused a problem at first. The Delta Sector of Nar Shaddaa housed an establishment where mercenaries went to find work. Bounties always made their way to the Hunter's Lounge, as it was called. The best work to be found on the smuggler's moon could be found there. Upon hearing this, Revan had gone down to investigate. She had posed as another bounty hunter initially. She had stormed into the building, dressed in a specially crafted Echani battle suit that she had stolen. Her specially designed vibrosword had hung at her hip, while a repeating blaster rifle had hung in a harness on her back. The sight of a woman in the hunter's office was not rare, but few women were as demanding as her.

There had been a Hutt running the establishment. It was dead now. She had gutted the beast in front of every single bounty hunter in the room. Most had been impressed by her display, while others were angered by the displacement of work her actions would cause. One unlucky hunter had joined the slug-like creature in death for criticizing her actions. The other hunters quickly fell into place once she made her proposition. Her promise was a good one. They would become legends for killing the infamous Sith Lord that had betrayed the Republic and began the Jedi Civil War. Once he was dead, they would return to Nar Shaddaa and take over. The Exchange would be theirs, along with the infinite supplies and credits at its disposal.

While the offer was tempting, Revan quickly learned that her men needed constant assurance of her skill and brutality as a leader. After being on Nar Shaddaa for only a week, they began to question her. They claimed she was not moving fast enough. Rebellion began. One bounty hunter approached her and tried to force her to move faster. In order to prove that he was more powerful than her, he had tried to force himself on her. What she had done to him could be considered no less than a bloodbath. The news spread quickly amongst her new servants. They were working for a Dark Jedi.

Another week passed before there was another insurrection. This is where the problems had really begun. The Twi'lek had attempted to pursue a sexual relationship with her, which she had been less than pleased with. This is when she first turned her attention to her female bounty hunters. Few of them seemed to have any moral standards and provided a great deal of entertainment to the males. The Twi'lek had commented about other female leaders from the past. They had all been willing to "properly reward" their men.

Why the female hunters weren't good enough for the males was beyond her comprehension. She had more important matters to attend to. Her original was somewhere in the Beta sector. He and his mate had been hiding out there for over three weeks now. The two former Jedi had worked hard to mask their presence in the Force, but occasionally they had slipped. It had only been for a moment each time, but a moment had been long enough. The clone of the former Jedi and Sith had narrowed down their location to a six block radius. Soon she would fine them and the game would be over.

Today was one of those days when her nerves had taken just about all the punishment they could. Her private quarters in the building that she and her followers were using were nice, but not sound proof. Unfortunately, the bounty hunters were not a quiet group. Each night was a party. They stole barrels of ales and juma juice each day and used it all at night. Each night had a similar routine. The party would begin. Loud music would blare through the walls for several hours while the hunters drank and feasted. Later on, the music would fade. The hunters would gather around the barrels and tell stories of past victories and bounties. Soon, interest in talk faded. Sexual tension broke and the rooms surrounding hers would be filled with screams and groans of passion.

This was bad enough on a normal day, but today was worse. A sect of the hunters had raided a local brothel and kidnapped close to thirty male and female prostitutes. The problem was that they had no place to store their prisoners when they were not being used. There were no force cages or ray shields to trap them in. As the night faded and the hunters fell asleep, their prisoners would be able to walk right out the door, which would mean the authorities would be on them quickly. A shootout with what passed for the law on Nar Shaddaa was not what she wanted. She was already sure that her enemy knew that she was on the smuggler's moon. She had made no attempt to hide her Force signature, but she didn't want to flaunt herself. The two of them would meet soon, but it would be when and where she wanted. She didn't want him rushing in as a hero to end some petty street fight.

"I've made up my mind," she stated as she folded her arms.

"Boss, come on!" a male human pleaded.

"Really, are you going to question my orders?" she asked languidly, which carried a deadly threat between the lines.

The mercenary was silent, but his features were twisted into an aggravated scowl. Revan ignored this and turned to the group of prostitutes who were grouped together at blaster point. With a single nod, the hunters lowered the weapons they had trained on the hostages.

"I really must offer you my sincerest apologies," she said to them. "These aren't the brightest hired guns in the galaxy. You may leave. However, if a single officer makes his way to this building, we will hunt you all down. If one of you squeals, the rest will die. Don't make that mistake."

She jerked her head towards the door and the captives quickly scampered away. She turned to her servants and sighed. "I implore you all to have patience," she snarled at each of them. "We will make our move soon, but if my work is constantly hampered by your actions, you will never see a single credit that you could have had. Now go away and don't disturb me again.

There was a great deal of muttering as the mercenaries walked away. Each grumbled his or her dissatisfaction, but refused to speak up. Revan heard these comments, but ignored them. She had something more important back in her room. She proceeded back into it, magnetically sealing the door behind her. None of her servants had ever entered her room. It would have stirred them to anger. She kept them all on a very short leash, as a master must if she is to gain obedience from her kath hound. The men and women were not allowed to sleep outside of the base. Despite the fact that they had stolen enough credits to put rent a room inside a luxury hotel, they were forced to sleep in the large open room in the center of the building. They didn't sleep on beds. They were forced to rest on dull colored mats, which were not at all comfortable. The blankets they used were thing and their pillows were rough. This had been a source of numerous complaints, as one might imagine.

She, on the other hand, slept on a soft new mattress, with several soft pillows, and nice warm quilts at night. They were forced to store their possessions in small footlockers. She had an entire closet and trunk for that. Aside from that, having men inside her quarters would only cause more problems. They had trouble controlling their passions as it was. She could only imagine how they would act in the room where she ate, slept, and changed. Despite the power she held over their heads, killing her servants only slowed her progress.

Progress would be irrelevant soon though. There were nearly seventy men and women working for her now. She had enough numbers to initiate her plan. She needed two things and two things only. She needed to ascertain the exact location of her DNA's source and she needed to complete the weapon that was on her desk.

A small cylindrical shaped device sat on a stand on the surface of her desk. A small panel had been pulled away, exposing the circuitry inside. All that was left was a small receptacle for a diamond shaped object. A shiny green rock was seated on the desk, along with a small cutting laser. She picked up the laser with her right hand and the rock with her left and began to shape it. Small slivers of green rock fell away as she cut the crystal in her hand. It was a delicate process that required both patience and precision. She had already ruined two other crystals while attempting to shape them.

This crystal was perfect though. There were no mistakes made while carving it. She set down the small laser and smiled. Examining it in her hand, she saw no flaws whatsoever. A smile creased her lips and she set the crystal into the diamond receptacle. She continued by connecting a few more circuits and sliding a glass disk over the crystal. It was impossible to be sure with a naked eye, but the cloned warrior saw nothing wrong with the interior of her nearly finished weapon. The energy emitter was pointed directly at the crystal, which was positioned to reflect the light through the glass disk, which served as her lens. With a satisfied nod, she slid the cover over the panel and held tested the small cylinder's weight.

An emerald hued blade sprang forth with a hiss as she thumbed the switch of her new weapon. The hum of the lightsaber drowned out the noise that came from outside. She twirled it experimentally, logging all of the new information instantly. A lightsaber's weight came entirely from its hilt. The blade added nothing. Therefore, it was much lighter to carry than a regular sword that had been wrought of metal. At first she found the difference to be unpleasant. She had used a sword for nearly an entire month now. She had gained a mastery of the weapon that she didn't yet possess for this new one. It didn't take her long to cast off such feelings. She fell into a crouched stance, swinging the blade in a wide strike. With Force assisted speed, she moved to deflect numerous imaginary blaster bolts that were rushing towards her. Each stroke of the weapon taught her more about it. Soon the weight difference didn't matter and she felt that she was just as suited to use the Jedi weapon as she was the vibro-weapons.

The blade retracted into the hilt as she deactivated the weapon. With a proud air, she clipped it to her belt, making her feel more worthy somehow. It was like she had crossed some ceremonial bridge. She was no longer a woman with a mission. She really was a Jedi now, which meant she was ready to face her opponent. After all, it would take a Jedi to kill a Jedi.

Now she just needed to find him.

--

Bastila Shan walked cautiously through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, still not completely comfortable with her surroundings. Despite the time she had spent on the smuggler's moon, the former Jedi padawan had not become accustomed to the endless sounds and vibrations the over populated world emitted into the Force. She had lived on small worlds her entire life. Her visits to most industrial worlds were short, allowing her to shield her mind for the entirety of her stay. This was a different case, however. The small moon of the planet Nal Hutta screamed day and night. Her mental shielding would not last long before she needed to rest.

Revan hadn't been bothered by this though. She supposed she understood why though. He had been living on or near major worlds since the Mandalorian Wars broke out. Still, the constant noise seemed impossible to adjust to.

As she walked back from the local cantina, she saw a group of people standing near an old warehouse. They were all huddled around one man, who was on his knees. It looked as if he was holding a slicing spike and was attempting to bypass the door's security measures. She raised an eyebrow at the ill-concealed break in attempt and sighed. Criminals were not very intelligent anymore. Calo Nord may have been evil, but at least he had some gray matter between his ears.

"You there!" she called to them. "Stop!"

She took the time to count how many there were. Eight. She had to contend with eight men. Each looked to be well armed and wearing fairly advanced armor. Their street tactics assured her that they were no threat though. Two of them broke off and rounded on her. She backed away, reaching for her lightsaber as she did.

"Take her!" one of them shouted. "Boss won't care if we take one!"

"Yeah!" another one agreed.

Bastila whirled about and drove her boot into an oncoming thug's cheek, causing him to strike the ground with force. He spat out blood before turning back to her. "You little schutta," he snarled as he stood up and jumped at her. She side-stepped the attack and struck the back of his neck with the side of her hand. He collapsed down to the ground, dead or unconscious. Another approached her, this one with a small knife in his hand. He swung at her, but she simply bent her waist forward, as if bowing, to avoid the attack that was aimed at her abdomen.

Igniting one end of her lightsaber, Bastila used the Force to hurl one of her attackers into a cluster of metal barrels that stood outside the warehouse. She turned back to the other thugs, who were now advancing on her. The locked door had been forgotten. They were worried only with the Jedi who had taken out two of them.

They all moved to attack, using a wide array of melee weapons. One with an axe was easily disarmed and thrown over the edge of the street, down into the city below. Another, wielding both a vibroblade and a Gamorrean cleaver, attempted to strike at her lightsaber hand. It had been a mistake. She easily saw the attack coming and ignited the other end of her weapon. The newly extended blade cut through the wood of the Gamorrean style axe, causing the blade to drop to the ground.

She swung her blade in a wide arc, knocking her attacker's blade aside. As another approached to aid his companion, she extended her hand and sent them all sprawling backwards with a wave of Force energy. A smile creased across her lips. She could sense that help was on the way, not that she needed it to finish these men off. She would probably be done by the time Revan arrived. With confidence, she retracted one of the blades from her lightsaber.

She quickly moved to dispatched two of the thugs with her weapon before moving towards a third. The blade was about to come down on him in a killing blow. Just before the blade landed, another saber intercepted her own. She could feel Revan standing beside her and looked up at him with a scowl.

"What are you-," she trailed off as she looked into the eyes of the woman who had attacked her in the hotel. "You," she hissed.

"Hello," the woman said haughtily.

Before the former padawan could respond, her body froze in place. She was suddenly unable to move at all. She had been put into a strong stasis hold, which she could not break. This woman that Bastila assumed to be one of Revan's family member's turned away, deactivating her emerald blade.

"Get her back to the base," she ordered the surviving thugs. "Use these." With that, the chocolate haired warrior tossed two small ring shaped devices at one of the men. The former Jedi recognized both. One was a neural disruptor, such as the one that the Black Vulkars had fixed her with on Taris and the other was a Force inhibitor. If it had been possible, her eyes would have widened. If it had just been the thought suppressor, there wouldn't have been a problem. Anyone with a strong mind could resist it. The Force inhibitor was another story though. Together, they would make her into little more than a puppet or a slave. She regained control of her body only after both rings were attached. By then it was too late. Her mind was gone and her powers would not save her.