Chapter 3: Casualties.
Months have passed, and SKYNET now controlled at least five eighths of the galaxy.
Many more people have died, soldiers and civilians alike. Some to the HK drones, but the majority to the ASDs.
Or as the galaxy had come to name them.. The Terminators.
These bipedal drones were heavily armored, heavily armed and were practically everything Miles Dyson had promised them to be. Except for two differing features.
They did not in fact put the public at ease, but rather terrified them. No longer did these drones have the plain face of a combat drone, but the mocking grin of a human skull.
Another feature was the fact that these drones were not helping the galaxy, but in fact destroying it. Hunting down man, woman and child like they were animals.
Because of this new threat, the separatists went into negotiations with the remaining worlds of the Republic. Therefore creating the UGF.
United, Galaxy, Front.
It was a military composed of Jedi, Clones, Battle droids and even sith acolytes.
No longer was this a war of ideals, but of survival. Skynet had shown the fleshly mortals that their beliefs were nothing against an entity that felt no fear, no remorse and no empathy.
Count Dooku had of course willingly let his own home world be of use as a refugee camp, especially for the Jedi Order.
After all, with the death of Palpatine. He was the sith master now. And he wanted there to be peace between the Jedi and Sith, they both had made mistakes. It was time to put this all behind them.
For the greater good of the force, the greater good of the galaxy.
Because if they did not work together, there would be no galaxy left for either order.
(Kamino, 02:00 hours.)
Kix, one of the best medics in the 501st, had recently been sent to collect DNA samples for the UGF.
Even though the cloning facilities had been destroyed, the DNA storage facility remained intact.
And thankfully, another planet had been selected to hold the facilities in order to be able to continue production of Clone troopers.
Because of how high a priority this was, a task force made up of multiple Legions of Clones had been tasked with protecting and escorting all surviving Kaminoan's to this new high tech classified facility .
Unfortunately, this plan had come a little too late.
For SKYNET had already created a new Terminator Model, the T-850.
These lethal drones not only had reinforced armour that could survive a few dozen proton bombs, but also upgraded motor functions, Anti-Slicing cyberware subsystems and even nanite-infused artificial muscles.
They were literal walking one men armies.
A small explosion ripped through one of the labs, sending debris everywhere.
A few Kaminoan scientists hit the floor, no longer breathing, their large eyes wide open, but with nobody home.
Clone guards got to their feet, checking everybody else for injury.
Suddenly, Purple bolts erupted from the broken wall. Sending the guards to the floor.
A lone Figure walked through the debris, crimson eyes scanning over the whole room until it landed on Kix.
The clone swallowed the lump in his throat, it was definitely a terminator he was seeing.
The 501st Clone Medic crawled away from the machine, trying desperately to get to some kind of cover as his ears continued to ring.
Mechanical footsteps filled the room, causing the Medic to double his efforts-
A mettalic hand wrapped around the Republic soldier's throat, pulling him up into the air.
"Designation: Kix. Serial Number: CT-6116. You have been marked for termination." Spoke a deep mechanical voice.
The hand turned the clone around, revealing the Skeleton like design of the T-850 Terminator he had been trying to escape from.
"What-"
A crunch was heard as the Autonomous soldier crushed the armour around the Clones neck, dropping the Medic to the floor like he was garbage.
"Side Mission: Complete." The terminator stated, walking over the debris and bodies.
The machine took a firm hold of his rifle, the grills on the weapon glowing a soft purple as it did so.
"Mission parameters updated, terminate all surviving Kaminoan and clone personnel."
The machine walked forwards, firing a few dozen blasts of plasma into the opposite wall, taking out a small platoon of Clones who were hoping to take it by surprise.
(Main Command Centre)
"General Aayla, fifteen HK aerials have just entered the atmosphere. They are approaching at high speed." Reported a clone officer, typing away on his console.
"Deploy a fighter squadron, take them down." The Jedi ordered, eyes on the table before her.
However, before the officer could do so, he was shot in the back by a clone commando.
The rest of the Clones in the room were then also disposed of by the commando, who moved exceptionally fast.
Aayla ignited her blue blade, eyes narrowed. "Drop your weapon Soldier." She growled.
The commando turned to her before doing so, he then took off his helmet to reveal a human head. But half of his face was cut open, revealing the skull of a T-825 unit.
Aayla's eyes widened. The shock of the situation momentarily distracting her, allowing the terminator to pull out a hidden blaster and shoot her in the chest.
The Jedi froze, feeling the intense heat of the bolt. Before she had a chance to defend herself, the terminator fired a few more bolts directly into her chest.
Effectively ending her life.
The Jedi fell to the floor, her body disappearing. Leaving only her blade and clothes behind.
The T-825 picked up her now unlit saber and attached it to its belt, it then walked over to the console and pressed down on the Communications terminal.
Using Aayla's voice, the terminator Said: "Will all Kaminoan and cloning Personnel please make their way to the escape pods, this is a code blue."
The machine then downloaded all the data from the base before wiping it from the main drives, effectively ridding the Republic of all cloning knowledge.
Just to make sure though, the terminator then fired directly into the terminals from above. Completely destroying them, effectively wiping the backup systems.
"Unit 756135 has successfully obtained vital information, Requesting Retrieval." The T-800 pinged the incoming HK units.
The lead Aerial confirmed the request, changing it's flight plan to intercept with the Terminator.
(Escape Pods)
"Sir, I'm only picking up slowly cooling bodies around the corner on my thermal scope." A clone commando reported, confusion in his voice.
"The security subsystems are telling me that not one pod has been launched, it could be a trap." Another commando added, having sliced into a nearby computer terminal.
"This makes no sense, the general told us to come here. Why would she lead us to our death?" The clone leader muttered, confusion in his voice.
"It is quite simple, General Aayla Secura has been terminated." A deep, mettalic voice said from behind them.
"Oh-" One commando muttered.
"Crud." Another finished.
This time, Kamino had truly fallen… And soon, the galaxy would follow.
(End of chapter 3)