A darkly cloaked figure stood in the middle of a dark room. A few feet away, a fire lit on a torch, and the figure kneeled. A cluster of smoke gathered, and a faded outline of a person appeared.

"The Master is disturbed. A rift in the Force has split his senses in two, and the Jedi are yet closer to discovering us. He wants you to investigate, and stop the Jedi."

"It shall be done."

"Be sure of it. Their power grows as we speak."

On the way to Kamino, Exar put the ship on auto-pilot. "What do you feel about destiny?" He asked. Exar was one who felt connected to the Force in one way or another, and personally believed in fate.

"Well, the force does have its plan for us. Every Jedi has his destiny."

"Mhm. What about you?" Exar asked, targeting Aang.

"I can't say. I'm old, and I've lived through two wars; but I don't feel like I've accomplished much."

'Still amazes me how he kept his looks.' Jo thought.

"Mhm" Exar hummed. "Do you believe the Force yet has a plan for you?"

"I wouldn't say 'no.' " Aang answered.

"Do you trust in the Force?"

"Always."

"What do you two think our purpose is?"

"We're hunting the Sith?" Jo suggested.

"We're hunting remnants of the dark side, but that's not what I mean."

"One can never know for certain his own destiny." Aang said.

"I suppose." Exar agreed partially.

"Do you think this mission will lead to our destiny?" Jo asked nervously. The thirteen year old wasn't as experienced as his fellow Jedi brothers were, and the thought of a destiny this early in his life kind of scared him.

"That chance will only bear fruit if we do find something." Exar answered after he gave it some thought. He sought destiny; he had been trained and been training his whole life, so he needed a purpose. He longed for one.

They exited hyperspace near the blue planet. Before they embraced the atmosphere, all their senses sounded off in their heads. Exar stepped to the front of the ship and peered at the planet. Everyone thought the mysterious sense was suspicious. "Aang, what are you taking us here to do?"

"We've known each other long enough, so I figured I can let you two in on a little secret." Aang replied without hesitation.

"Don't mess with me, Aang; I know you sense it too! What's down there?"

Aang knew it would happen sooner or later, regardless if he showed them or not. "It's, hard to explain. I'll show you when we're there."

Exar pulled the ship to a direct halt. "What kind of secret are you showing us?" Exar asked.

"I think you need to trust me. We've known each other long enough." Aang repeated.

"Hey! I'm the team leader here, for a reason."

"That's funny. An old friend of mine once said, 'experience outranks everything.' " Aang said back.

"And yet here we are. I still outrank you."

"Watch it, Exar!" Aang said, standing up from his seat. "You think you have experience, but you've never fought a war.

Unpleased, Jo listened to this argument unravel. Undistracted, he went up and moved the ship forward. Aang and Exar were jolted backwards; they looked up at Jo with frustrated faces, and Jo said, "You two can figure out your, leadership complexes, or whatever, after we're done. I'm tired of sitting here, wasting time and listening to this."

Aang and Exar looked at each other and silently agreed. They got up off the floor and sat back down in their seats.

The ship went down to one of the facilities and stopped on one of the landing pads. Aang and Exar put on some ponchos, and Jo put on a full-body rain coat to protect him from rust.

"Why are we at the cloning facilities? The Republic closed these down years ago!" Exar shouted over the loud rain.

"There's more to them than meets the eye!" Aang shouted back.

"Is it inside? Because that's where I'd like to go now!" Jo asked.

They made their way inside, but the hallways were dark. Aang gave the walls a powerful pound, jolting the electricity inside to activate the power. The lights flickered, but had trouble staying on.

"Jo." Aang called. "There's an outlet nearby; download a map."

Jo two-finger saluted and found the outlet. He stuck his finger forward, and it formed a spike. He stuck it in and downloaded the map.

"Let's see it." Exar said as Jo pulled the holographic map display on his hand. "Where are we headed?" Exar asked.

Aang was about to answer, but noticed something off. "Wait. The map's incomplete."

"You sure? Exar asked, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Yes. When I did business here, there was another section added to the facility here." He pointed to an empty spot on the map. "It should be right here. But it isn't."

"Hmmm." Exar hummed. "Master Aang has lost a room. How embarrassing!"

"Oh it's not lost. I'll show you guys what I need to show you, then we're heading there." Aang corrected.

"You're lucky I'm curious too." Exar said.

The team went down an elevator to a bottom-most level of the factory, which looked like an untouched basement. They turned a couple corners and faced a very secure door; there was also a small door -with a scanner on it- on the wall. Aang pulled out a credentials card and showed it to the scanner. 'I knew I had a feeling this would come in handy.' He slapped two hands on the door, and the scanner began functioning. It scanned his card, and the wall door opened. Inside the door, there were two keys hanging; he took one and gave Jo the other. On each side of the big door, there were two protected key holes; they both flipped up the plastic covers and put the keys in.

"Turn the keys left on three." Aang instructed. Exar crossed his arms, not expecting much. "One. Two. Three!" Aang and Jo turned the keys at the same time, and the door opened. Exar didn't expect much, but even what he saw surpassed his higher expectations.

It looked like a lot of high tech equipment. Front and center, there was a containment tube connected to many energy emitters and power boxes. Jo observed all the equipment and quickly put together what the device did. "Aang. To pull off what this is suggesting, you'd need an insane amount of power; enough to illuminate two planets."

"I was old." Aang explained. "I lived only a life of war, and I wanted a chance to live a normal life; but time was running short. I was partners with some of the smartest and most efficient scientists and archaeologists in the galaxy. I made this machine to give me my youth back; it worked, but it had consequences."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! So you are actually, really old?!"

"Yeah- wait! You didn't believe me?"

"I was playing along, because I didn't think it mattered too much. But, really, how come you're not with all the other Jedi? How come you're not, way higher up?"

"That I can't answer."

"More importantly," Jo piped up, "What did you use to power this machine?"

"I don't actually know." Aang said. "It wasn't my department. Someone else was in charge of it, and it ended up being rigged. It's not my fault the experiment had the consequences it did."

"This experiment was why Kamino was shut down?" Exar asked.

"Among other things, yeah."

As the conversation continued, Jo took notice of the humming sound he heard. He knew it was there, but never thought about it. "Wait! Guys! Hush!" He huddled around them. " Do you hear that?"

They all heard the humming. "Is it just the power?" Exar asked.

"No! The power for this area was specifically cut off. It needed to have been replaced for it to be functional." Aang said.

"What area, exactly, are you referring to?" Exar asked.

". . . the old cloning facility." Aang said, barely above a whisper.

"And. . . what area is missing from the map?" Exar asked.

"I don't know, and I'm afraid to find out." Aang said.

"So you didn't do business there, but you know it's missing from the map. Okay, we need to move." Exar said. "Jo, bring out the map."

"Right." Jo said. He activated the map. "Aang, point to the exact missing area." Aang put his finger on the area, and a red dot and a line marked the path to their destination.

The team raced and ran, following the red line on the hologram. They went up to the base level and found themselves at the old cloning facility, but it was inactive.

"So the new area was added next to this place." Aang said, the pit of his stomach feeling worse.

"Guys." Jo said, looking up from his hologram. "It's right over there." He pointed to a door on the far end.

They slowly went over and stepped through the door. It was a lab, fully operational, but no one was there.

"Look around for evidence, or something." Exar said, extremely unnerved. "Oy! I suddenly have a very bad feeling about what's to come." He said, rubbing his head.

"The lab is clean." Aang reported.

"Alright. Next room." Exar said; they went through the next door. It looked like an observation room; there were three rows of chairs, and a big window to a room down below. They looked down, and any positive feelings they had vanished completely. The sight they beheld was one of a soldier's nightmares.

"Stormtroopers." Aang quietly muttered. A squadron of stormtroopers in an advanced training course.

"Oh no!" Jo whimpered, putting a hand over his mouth.

Aang tumbled back and fell into the chairs. "No! This can't be happening! Not again! No!"

"Aang! Aang! Calm down! It's- it's fine. We. . . we can stop this! We can end it right here, right now!" Exar said, helping Aang back up.

"Uh, yeah!" Jo agreed. "We, just need to find the source and take it out from there. Then we can destroy the place from there."

Aang seemed to calm down a little. "Can. . . can you find the source?"

"It's in the next room over." Jo motioned his head over.

"I think I can safely deduce that trauma is a good reason why you're not leading the team." He joked with a light chuckle.

"Yeah. Maybe you're right." Aang agreed.

They opened the next door and saw another impressive piece of machinery. Another containment tube, glowing with energy. There was another tube next to it, also glowing. The glowing in the first tube died down, as it did in the second tube shortly after. The first tube revealed a person inside; and the second tube was empty, then showed the same glow -a type of magic- forming the shape of a person. And thus, a clone appeared, then the tube shot down into another room.

"A clone army. . . Of stormtroopers?" Jo exclaimed.

"Well," Aang said, igniting a green lightsaber, "Time to end this."

"Wait!" Exar said, putting his hand in front of Aang. Then he pointed at the person in the first tube. "Does he look familiar to any of you?"

Aang retracted his blade and took a look at the donor. He and Jo thought hard about it, then it hit them.

"Oh my!" Aang said.

"Contact them." Exar said.

"Already on it." Jo said, pulling out his portable communicator.

Meanwhile, back on the Kashyyyk base, Rye and Erickson were awaiting the arrival of their wives for a monthly report on New Republic workings. Rye was meditating, and Erickson was finishing tidying up. Rye heard his communicator beep, then answered it.

"You three on your way back from Kamino?" He asked.

Erickson was listening, but only heard Rye's side of the conversation.

"Really? What's going on?" He got up and walked around.

"Minimal? What's going on?" He asked again.

Erickson noticed a ship landing and whisper-shouted to Rye, "They're here!" Erickson said.

Rye put up a finger and went back to the call.

"What?!" He exclaimed seriously.

Erickson let the wives in. Nikki and Nicolette were their names. Twins, tall, and blonde.

"Are. . . are you sure?" Rye asked seriously.

"Hi Rye!" Nikki greeted quietly, but bubbly.

Rye gave a brief wave and grin, but instantly went back to the call. As Rye listened, he collapsed into a chair, a hand on his chest. That one motion let everyone in the room know something serious was going on.

"Yeah, I'm here." Rye said after a moment. "Just. . . bring him back here in one piece. Alright, I'll see you three back here." He then hung up, stood up, faced and leaned on the wall.

"Rye, dear, what's going on?" Nicolette asked.

He turned around with a look of gravity and relief. "They found Brett."

Everyone's jaw dropped.

"In one piece?" Exar exclaimed. "Well, I think we ought to take priority with him first. We take him out of this, the process stops and they have no donor."

"Agreed. Leave this to me." Jo took a stance and inhaled sharply. In robotic movements, Jo began punching the glass slowly. After each hit, the containment weakened. After the fourth hit, pressure started releasing from the tube.

"Get him out of there!" Aang shouted.

Jo grabbed each side of the containment canopy and started pulling. Pressure started releasing from little holes in his mechanical arms to give him more power. In a second, the canopy snapped off like a twig.

The emergency fail safe activated. The tubes and attachments detached, and Brett fell forward. Jo caught him and laid him gently on the ground.

"Jo, what's his condition?" Exar asked.

Jo scanned Brett and got a technical readout of his vitals. "He's not unconscious, but he's not awake."

"So, what? He's hibernating?" Exar asked.

"More like 'in an everlasting trance.' " Aang explained.

"Can we wake him?" Exar asked.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. You see the machine here?" Aang asked, gesturing to the machine. "I've never seen anything like this. I know some of the smartest people in the galaxy, and this is beyond -even- my knowledge." He explained. "If he's technically conscious, but not awake, interference could prove harmful. We ought to investigate this."

"I'd assume that's what our masters' plans are." Exar said. "Get him up and take him back to the ship. Aang and I are gonna put a stop to this production."

Jo was about to obey, but then an unknown voice spoke over the comm system. "None of you will be going anywhere." Then the floor opened up beneath them, and they found themselves sliding into the stormtrooper training room.

"Awfully convenient and bizarre for them to have a trap door in that room, directly where we were standing."

"Brett was just left up there." Exar said, looking back up.

"Uh, guys?" Jo called out, noticing a group of stormtroopers approaching them.

"Who are these guys?" "Is this normal protocol?" "Is this a part of training?"

Then the voice appeared on the systems again. "Now is time for an essential step of your training as stormtroopers: eliminating your enemy. Kill the Jedi."

"Who is that?" Aang asked quietly.

The stormtroopers followed without a second thought. They set their blasters to kill and aimed up.

Aang tilted his head towards Jo. "Hey, Jo." Jo just looked at him. "Feeling nostalgic?"

Jo grinned. "Let's do this."

The team ignited their lightsabers and took their proper stances. "Now guys, we're in a training course. Let's use that." Exar ordered.

As all the stormtroopers fired at once, the Jedi advanced forward; the stormtroopers took steps backwards. Aang slowly went behind a defense obstacle, and used the force to push it forward, knocking over a group of troopers.

Jo used that diversion to get in close proximity. He used jets in his legs to give him a boost to get inside the crowd. He ducked and swirled himself and his lightwhips around, severing several stormtroopers in the process. He and Aang took out nearly two dozen troopers in just a few seconds.

Exar used the force to pull some stormtroopers towards him and pierce them all in a row, then send them flying towards a wall.

Aang joined Jo in the crowd, and they both bullrushed in separate directions; they were too quick for the stormtroopers to keep up. Another dozen were knocked out. Aang kept his lightsabers pointing away, and at the ground; then he spun around, creating a perimeter and offing any stormtroopers within it.

Exar was left to take care of any "left overs" that were intimidated by Aang and Jo; some troopers standing by saw Exar and grouped up to take care of him. Exar retracted his blade and put his lightsaber back on his belt. Once a trooper got close enough, Exar grabbed his arm and put a trooper's hand and one on his stomach. Using enough strength and momentum, he quickly lifted him off the ground, spun him around and threw him at the other group. The few that were left standing stood in fear and started stepping back. "Oh, no no no. You're not going anywhere." He pulled a trooper forward and stabbed him with his horns. He took out his lightsaber again and threw it blade-first at the remaining trooper, and pulled it back.

"There doesn't seem to be a lot left." Exar announced.

"Either there are more of them elsewhere, or this is a recent project." Aang deduced.

"Then we ought to finish this quickly." Exar suggested, emphasizing a hidden meaning.

Aang grinned and tossed Exar one of his lightsabers. Aang and Jo ducked as Exar used the force to levitate the blades to turn into an expanding fan, effectively dropping the stormtroopers to the ground.

Then there were no more troopers left standing. Exar gave Aang his lightsaber back, then Aang whispered to himself, "And that's why he's the leader."

Exar used the force to open up the trap door from the bottom so they could get back up. When they did, they noticed Brett's body was gone.

"Did he wake up?" Exar asked.

Jo found a port to plug in to. This time, he accessed the cameras. "I got eyes!" He said.

"Where's he headed?" Aang asked.

"In the direction of our ship." Jo replied.

"Jo, send a drone to stop him. We can't be stranded here." Exar commanded.

Jo detached a segment of his arm and activated the probe. He sent it on its way, and the team followed it.

Jo followed loosely behind, then thought about something else. "Hey. Shouldn't we investigate who was talking over the comms?"

"Right now I think it's more important for us to secure a way off this planet. If we catch the guy, but Brett escapes, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know, call back up? We do have a good signal here."

. . .

"Jo," Exar responded. "You have any idea the importance of that ship? You know what's stored on it? We can't afford to lose this ship to a potential enemy."

Jo was notified that the drone stunned Brett. "Well, Brett's been caught."

"Let's secure the ship, then discuss what to do." Exar said.

The team put Brett in a holding cell on their ship, but they didn't leave. Jo was peeking outside, but didn't want to rust himself.

"Got something to say, Jo?"

"Who was it that was speaking to us?" Jo asked.

"Probably another clone." Exar thought.

"Nah. I heard the Brett stormtroopers speak; that was a very different voice on the comm system. I think there's someone else here; and if there is, then there's another ship too."

Exar took a moment to think about it, but didn't feel anything different. "I don't sense anyone."

"But we all heard his voice." Aang pointed out.

"I know, but that's what's wrong. Why can't I sense him? Can any of you sense him?

They took a moment to feel it, but they found Exar was right.

"Only one type of person could obtain such an ability." Aang said.

Jo's eyes widened. "Then we have to go after him. Now!"

"We must not move with haste. We could be walking into a trap." Aang said.

"What if there is no other ship here? We go to look for this guy, and he evades us. What if he takes our ship?

"We still have a good signal here." Jo pointed out.

"We still have important information on this ship. We were ordered to bring Brett back, and nothing else. We can't risk compromising the mission." Exar argued. "If there is no other ship here, then he's trapped and we can come back."

Jo saw his point, and they boarded the ship and left. "I understand your guys' feelings." Exar said, "But we can't let it cloud our vision." He said before taking off.