This storyline is based on one of the best dreams I have ever had the night before this first chapter was written.
It will span from 19 BBY (Revenge of the Sith) to 4 ABY (after Return of the Jedi).
A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away...
- - - - - 19 BBY - - - - -
- - - - - Coruscant - - - - -
The blue-silver medical droid with bright cerulean eyes floated over to two men. One had medium skin with hair dark as night, with the dress of a diplomat. The other was a modestly dressed, slightly more aged man with dirty blonde hair. The latter was a Jedi, proven by the lightsaber in his belt. Both expressions were solemn.
"Medically, she's completely healthy," the droid explained to them. "For reasons we can't explain, we are losing her." The black-haired diplomat frowned, rolling his head in thought.
"She's dying?" the Jedi said, finding the words hard to believe.
"We don't know why," the droid continued. "She has lost the will to live. We need to operate quickly if we are going to save the babies."
"Hidden—safe—the children must be kept," decided a small green alien creature who clearly had some moral high ground compared to the diplomat and the Jedi from before.
"We must take them somewhere where the Sith will not sense their presence," the Jedi added.
"Mmm…split up, the children should be," the creature decided.
"My wife and I will take the girl," the diplomat offered, a slight smile on his face as if a long-awaited dream had come true. "We've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us."
Both the green creature—whose robes resembled the Jedi's, so it was safe to assume he was a follower of the Force as well—and the human Jedi nodded.
"And what of the boy?" the human Jedi asked.
"To Tatooine," said the green Jedi. "To his family, send him." The other Jedi took a moment of thought.
"I will take the child and watch over him," he said after the pause.
At that, the diplomat and the human Jedi rose to their feet. The green creature of the Force had a last note to give Obi-Wan.
"Until the time is right—disappear, we will."
The dark-haired diplomat returned to the medical center and took one last look at the now deceased woman who he was speaking to the medical droid about before. The same medical droid approached the man.
"Senator Organa, is there anything else you would like to know?" the same medical droid asked. Senator Organa shifted his weight and stroked his beard unsurely.
"What is the extent of your scientific abilities when it comes to harvesting a woman's eggs?" the diplomat asked. The droid paused a moment.
"Extensive. What exactly do you wish us to do, sir?"
"Is it possible to harvest this woman's eggs and create a female child? The children she had would be in grave danger if their identities were ever discovered—I will be taking the girl, and in order to make sure she is protected, I need a decoy. A child carried by a surrogate who is clearly the child of this woman."
"Sir," the droid said. "May I suggest an artificial womb? If you are planning on using this child as a decoy as you say, the artificial wombs available are based on the cloning system developed for Jango Fett. In these artificial wombs, it is now possible to speed up or slow down the growth process."
Senator Organa grimaced, disgusted that he would have to resort to this—making a dead woman's baby—but knowing above anything that he had to protect his newly adopted daughter.
- - - - - Four weeks later - - - - -
"Senator Organa," greeted a medical droid. "You've returned."
"Yes," said the diplomat. "I trust the decoy child has been born by now?"
The droid hesitated, then consulted another droid before returning to the Senator.
"There has been an error, sir."
"Is the child alright?" Organa asked urgently. The thought that something could have gone wrong with this life he himself had ordered the creation of clearly pained him.
"The child is perfectly healthy," assured the droid. "There was simply an error in our operations. Rather than speeding the conception to more closely meet the age of Miss Padme's other daughter, we have slowed it down." The droid lead the senator to a small contraption similar to a bacta tank, showing a tiny creature inside with a cord attached. It was the artificial womb the droid had spoke of at their last meeting. "In an attempt to alter the process so that the rapid aging would stop as soon as the child was removed from the womb at term, the subject did not respond as expected and instead will take up to eight years to come to term."
"And after those eight years, how will the child age?" the senator asked.
"Normally. That, sir, is certain," the droid promised. Organa bit his lip.
"Is there a father, or do you make that artificial, too?" he asked.
"The child was produced with the mother's egg and the sperm of an anonymous donor," the droid explained. "The father is unknown to us."
Organa nodded slowly.
"As explained before," the Senator began. "When the child comes to term and is born, she will be sent to Alderaan. Though she may not be the decoy I anticipated I have now seen an error in my ways and do not approve of how I created this child just to protect my own. I will ensure this child is safe no matter what. She is my responsibility."
"Of course, sir," the droid responded. At that, he floated out of the room. Senator Organa took one last look at the artificial womb and the tiny bud of a child inside. The label on the tank read 'Female Child Naberrie'. Organa frowned and rubbed the 'Female Child' part of the name away. He took a nearby writing utensil and replaced it with a real name. The label now read 'Tess Naberrie'.