Star Wars 2.0

Episode 5: Rise of the Clones

Chapter 10

"I don't know what you want me to tell you," Obi-Wan said impatiently. He didn't know how long he had been held aloft in the energy prism, but the questioning by General Graves had seemed to go on for ages. The droid leader was asking him for the secrets of the Jedi, as though there was some basic answer to it all Obi-Wan could give him. "The Force is something that is around all of us. In everything and everyone," he explained. "But only a select few of us are able to wield it. You have to be born with it. As a living, breathing being."

"Everything can be programmed into a droid," General Graves said. "You will give me the secrets, and I will include it into my programming."

"You learned how to use a lightsaber," Obi-Wan said. "Four of them, in fact. That's impressive. Why don't you learn the Force from the same person?"

"My inventors could program the ability to wield these weapons using martial arts teaching programs. They had no knowledge of how to use the Force in other ways. The cloaked figure would know, but he will no longer respond."

"Cloaked figure. Who is that?" Obi-Wan asked.

"One of your kind, no doubt. He spoke with my inventors until I eliminated them."

"General Graves, that may be a member of the Sith. They are a powerful and sly enemy to everyone, including you. Whatever grievances might exist between you and I, understand, it is petty compared to the danger they pose to all of us."

"You are afraid, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Yes, and you should be, too. The strength you've amassed is insignificant compared to the power they can unleash. We should be united together against them."

"Or I should consolidate your power into me so I can conquer this Sith on my own."

"That's not how the Force works, General Graves. You must understand..."

"I understand perfectly. My programming is to conquer the galaxy from all beings, and that is precisely what I intend to do. I do not require your help, Kenobi. I require your abilities." As General Graves spoke, two identical droids entered the room. These were floating balls with mechanical accessories all over them; the most prominent of which was a large, dull needle that protruded from one end. They moved to each end of Obi-Wan's head, stopping an inch away from both temples. Suddenly they began scanning. The pain for Obi-Wan was excruciating, like needles had entered his skull and were pressing his eyes from the inside. He screamed in horror and pain.

Senator Palpatine was at the spaceport to meet Queen Amidala and her surviving company. When he learned that her Jedi bodyguard Anakin was the only survivor, he was fascinated. "You must be a very skillful Jedi Master," he said.

"Padawan," Anakin explained. "Obi-Wan Kenobi is my master."

"Well that is an oversight of the Jedi Council which must be corrected, Master Skywalker. You have kept my queen safe against all odds, and you are to be commended for it."

"Thank you, Senator."

"Come, all of you. I wish to show you something."

As they walked into the government building, Padme observed, "You seem jubilant, despite our ill news."

"I apologize if my mood does not match the times, my lady," Palpatine said. "But we have had good fortune of late. The Clone Army Initiative has passed, and we're building up our forces."

"Congratulations, Senator. You're deploying them now?"

"Yes. I had the presentation set up so I can show you as soon as possible. I thought you'd like to see it, especially after your own ordeal with the Separitists."

"We never saw any of the Separatist races, not even as commanders," Padme said.

"That's because their droids have betrayed them. The Neimoidians have been attacked by their own inventions, and they seem to have been wiped out by them. The droids are in the process of killing their allies as well. Since they had relied on the droid armies to fight their battles for them, they had built no military of their own, so they're defenseless. A few of them have come back to the Republic for help."

"I say let them be destroyed by their own inventions," Anakin said.

Palpatine stopped and looked at Anakin. His face held a stern look of admonishment, but there was a familiar feel of agreement within his bearing. "Sorry," Anakin said, and the five of them continued into the chamber.

A large, round table stood in the center with controls on it and the walls around them. Palpatine dimmed the lights and brought up a large, holographic map of most of the galaxy. Baroo and Owen were dazzled by it, and they tried to take it all in. Palpatine explained the situation. "Transports will move the clones who are ready onto the battlefields where they're most needed and we believe we can win." Lines and colored dots illustrated where on the holographic map Palpatine was describing. "The clones that need to finish training or are ready for training will move to Coruscant where they will be prepared and then deployed. The rest will continue to be raised through the expedited growing process on Naboo until they are ready for training."

Baroo interrupted. "I'm sorry, did you say you're talking about clones?"

"Yes," Palpatine said proudly. "We are producing and raising clones to fight for the protection of the galaxy. Your family and your home will be defended by the clones."

"I don't have a home or a family. I come from a slave commune," Baroo said. "And frankly, that's what these people sound like; slaves. You create them and raise them to fight?"

"That's correct," Palpatine said.

"Do they have a say in this?"

"They are bred with the desire to fight, so becoming a warrior comes naturally to them."

"Does dying come naturally to them? Because that's what you're asking a lot of them to do. Do they know anything about this Republic you're asking them to defend? If one of them sees a painting and decides, hmm, I want to do that. Will you let them? Or must they pick up a gun and go fight?"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Palpatine asked the others, "Who is this woman?"

"This is my brother Owen and his girlfriend..." Anakin couldn't remember her name.

"Baroo," she said, her head raised high.

Palpatine turned his attention to Anakin and said, "Master Obi-Wan has been captured by the droid army. Typically it seems they're not taking prisoners, but for some reason they decided to keep him alive. They sent this to prove it."

The map of the galaxy was replaced by a holographic message from General Graves. Obi-Wan was held in place floating above the ground with two torture devices placed at each temple. He was screaming in agonizing pain. General Graves' face was at the forefront. It looked out at the viewer and said, "Give us the secret of the Jedi." Palpatine froze the image.

Anakin had only one question. "Where?"

The surgery table was cold; so were the metal latches that were holding Obi-Wan's arms and legs down. He had heard the sound of a buzz saw and he knew it wasn't good. It took all his disciplinary strength to not panic. If this was to be his death, he refused to let them see him whimper. General Graves stepped back into the room. "You've come to surrender at last, General Graves? After all, I've got you just where I want you," Obi-Wan said.

Graves stared at him baffled. The statement had genuinely confused him, and he looked around to make sure he wasn't mistaken. "No, Kenobi. It is I who..."

"I know, I know," Kenobi said laying his head back down. He would try the Jedi mind trick, but the target would need a mind to trick.

Another droid walked toward Obi-Wan carrying a helmet with a droid head on top that dropped down over the eyes. Inside the helmet were hundreds of needles. "This helmet is for you, Kenobi," General Graves said.

"I'm afraid that isn't my style," Obi-Wan said.

Graves was confused again, and paused for a moment before continuing. "I do not care about style, Jedi. We have tried to get your secrets from you, but you refuse to give it. So if we cannot turn ourselves into Jedi, we shall turn a Jedi into one of us."

"Again, that's not how the Force works, General. You're going to be terribly disappointed." Despite his protests, the droids brought the helmet closer and closer, and began to fit it over his head. "You must listen to me, that shadowy figure you were seeing, it's going to destroy us all, you included! We should join together and fight it as one entity. General, it's your..."

Obi-Wan's words were interrupted by an alarm. The droids all stopped what they were doing and General Graves called the command center to ask what was happening. "Large scale Republic attack," the droid reported. Then an explosion cut off communication.

General Graves hurried outside to see for itself, and to take command of its army. By the time it understood what was happening, there wasn't much to take control of. Graves had not brought Kenobi all the way back to Jalol yet. It had stopped at a location closer to the front where the army was working. It had hoped to extract the Jedi secrets and then rapidly get out on the attack again. The result was that they were not under the protection of a strong defense network. They had a large droid army and navy, but now the Republic had something else.

Their ships seemed upgraded, and their landing forces; they had rows of soldiers in bright white armor with colored lines along the trim to denote units. They worked in cohesion, supporting one another's attacks. They also had large, armored vehicles that fired missiles into their ranks and buildings. If that wasn't enough, the glowing beams of Jedi lightsabers revealed that several of them were flying in on transports. Graves zoomed in on one of them and spotted a small green creature who was unarmed, but a single wave of its hand tossed aside a couple dozen of his battle droids. This battle had been lost before it had begun. It was time for General Graves to escape.

Graves ordered all of his units to make a suicidal charge at the Republic forces; one last push to give their commander a chance to escape. As it passed the chamber that held Obi-Wan, Graves stopped and said to him, "Next time we meet, Kenobi, I shall have a new hat that fits your style."

"What?" Obi-Wan said.

"The hat. You said it does not match your style."

"Next time I see you, maybe you'll have learned what a sense of humor is, how about that?" Obi-Wan said.

Graves did not try to speak with him anymore. It was out of time, and needed to get away.

A couple weeks later, they were back on Coruscant. Owen and Baroo were leaning over the railing of a balcony overlooking the military space port. Crowds had gathered around anywhere they could get a look to witness the spectacle. Enormous ships were lined up along the tarmac, and the clones were boarding in neat rows. It was a military parade laced into a sendoff celebration. The new couple had gotten this prime spot because of Owen's association with his brother.

Owen recognized the bothered look on Baroo's face, so he distracted her by saying, "I came up with a name for my ship."

"Yeah? What?"

"Guess."

"Mmm. Lightning Butt. Or maybe We're All Gonna Die Cause We Still Can't Stop!"

"Turlis. Turlis's Vengeance."

That quieted Baroo. Remembering her father, she held back her tears.

Obi-Wan and Anakin joined them. They had just come from the Jedi Council chambers where Anakin had been promoted to full Jedi Knight status. It had happened in part due to requests by Senator Palpatine, who said he would need great warriors like Skywalker supporting his clone army. Some on the Jedi Council were still reticent, but they decided to avoid the public embarrassment by granting him the promotion. They looked out over the military parade and boarding.

"Are any of them going after General Graves?" Anakin asked.

"They're all going after Graves's forces. It's in charge of all droid armies now," Obi-Wan answered.

"Yeah, but are any of them going directly after Graves?" Anakin pressed.

"If I was to put a wager on it, I'd bet their lead general is on their home planet," Owen interjected.

"You'd be right," Obi-Wan said. "And that won't be easy. That's why most of the forces are going after easier targets where the droids are oppressing planets that might join the Republic."

"Senator Palpatine was telling me about a plan they have for the home planet where they're building the droids," Anakin said. He cut himself off before finishing. His eyes had found Queen Amidala. She was dressed in her royal gowns and covered in ceremonial makeup. Her regal bearing showed an outward, haughty appearance, but Anakin had seen past it. He stared at her until he caught her eye and she looked back at him from her royal booth. She shot him a quick smirk, then returned to her formalities with the other dignitaries around her.

"What plan?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Hmm?" Anakin asked. He had forgotten what he was telling his friend.

"What is the plan they have for the droid homeworld?"

"Well, since it's probably going to be too powerful to attack by conventional means, he's developing something with the Geonosins that could destroy the whole thing in a single shot."

"A planet killer," Baroo scoffed. "What could possibly go wrong with that?"

No one challenged her logic. It seemed a far-fetched idea; but so had the idea of an entire clone army not too long before. Yet here it was before their eyes. Thousands of soldiers gathered into units boarding ships that would take them to far flung reaches of the galaxy. Baroo watched them with pity, despite the cheering crowds. An enormous army consisting of hundreds of thousands of soldiers trained from birth to kill with no choices in life, expected to give their lives to a republic of which they had no say. What could possibly go wrong?

The end