Vode An: The Complete History of the Clone Army

by Dr. Byrec Solari

For four years the bloody Clone Wars raged across the galaxy. In its wake would rise the most evil empire ever known. Now, in this fascinating account, Doctor Byrec Solari explores the fighting men who gave their lives in the most pivotal conflict in history and explains who they were, what they did, and the legacy they left behind.

3. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING

The story of the Grand Army of the Republic is a long one. It was a creation of years of planning, backstabbing, deceit, and billions upon billions of credits. The making of this elite fighting force required the work of the finest cloners in the galaxy, the acquisition of the perfect template, and the assembling of trainers to mold them into soldiers. To understand how this army came to be we have to go to the beginning.

A Brief History on Cloning

The cloning of beings was not an uncommon practice by the time the Grand Army of the Republic was created. Organs, skin, and blood were cloned for medical usage while the copying of thoroughbred racing stock had been a favorite, if occasionally frowned upon, enterprise. But before we delve into the history of cloning it is important to understand what exactly cloning is.

Cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals. It is not strictly an industrial process. Various forms of flora and fauna produce clones of themselves without the intervention of a probing biologist. It is an asexual method of reproduction which lacks all the difficulty that comes with fertilization and inter-gamete contact. Industrial cloning works in a similar way. You take the nucleus of a cell and inject it into an egg lacking one. When cell division begins you place it in an artificial gestation pod and in however long a time you desire, an new being is formed identical to the donor. It is a very complicated process and as such the creation of entirely new beings is left to a select few civilizations.

Some civilizations, after the success of the clone army, are now practically household names. Arkania, Polis Massa, and of course, Kamino. But many other worlds have a cloning industry. Khomm, Lur, Ithor, Columus and the Verpine living in the Roche asteroid field have all mastered the art. These worlds and their cloning masters control the cloning market, each offering their own unique product. Arkania is large numbers in a short time frame, Kamino is quality over quantity, so on and so forth. For our purposes we are going to focus on Kaminoian cloning and how it developed into the industry that created one of the finest armies to have ever existed.

From Bane to Boon: Kamino's Cloning Industry

You may already know that the Kaminoans are renowned cloners and the people who created the Grand Army of the Republic. You may also know that to save their species after their planet flooded that they began systematic genocide in order to prevent their extinction. The ethics of their decision will not be debated here but the result was a society dedicated to achieving perfection in the fields of genetics and cloning. The Great Flood, 19,000 BBY, caused the Kaminoans to focus internally and once their survival was insured they began a pursuit of perfection in all aspects of their society. And so began a long process of self improvement that created a culture of what some have called pure ego. They are still striving, endlessly striving, to reach that unobtainable goal.

This self centered culture naturally made the Kaminoans very isolationist, making their world one of the best kept secrets of the galaxy until the Clone Wars. So it was with great hesitation that the Kaminoans opened up their world and services to the rest of the known universe in order to obtain the necessary supplies that one would tend to lose during a global deluge. With few natural resources and few industries the Kaminoans could only provide one export, clones. Not just any clones, but clones of the utmost quality, perhaps the finest ever. Their perfectionism had spread to all facets of Kaminoan culture, so when a customer asked for a product, it would have been a great sin to deliver anything less than the best. They fulfilled a number of contracts, creating armies for mercenary groups and a mining force for the colonies of Subterrel. Word of their expertise spread, but Kamino was still uncommon knowledge, and rarely appeared on any star charts of the period. But in the tight knit and cutthroat market of cloning, it was mutely agreed that if you wanted an army and had the monetary means, you sought out Kamino. And sought them out one man did. A Jedi Master named Sifo-Dyas, unknowingly acting on the whim of Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.

The Foundation of an Army

In 32 BBY the Trade Federation blockaded and then invaded the planet of Naboo after being manipulated by Plagueis and his apprentice, Sidious. Using its power in the Senate to stall any reaction by the Republic, the Federation was free to land its droid army and occupy the planet as a show of force. If not for the actions of Jedi Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Naboo would have most certainly become a puppet to the powerful organization. As the Jedi mourned the loss of Qui-Gon and celebrated the planet's liberation, a horrifying fact was brought to light. The Sith had returned. Memories of the Sith Wars still rooted in place, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas sought out a solution to combat the looming darkness he felt was coming. Following the advice of Plagueis, masked as the wealthy businessman Hego Damask, Sifo-Dyas approached the Kaminoans with an order for an army, to be held in reserve until the Jedi so called upon them. Paid for by the Trade Federation and Plagueis, the Kaminoans began the process of creating an army. Sidious found a new apprentice, a fallen Jedi name Dooku. Sifo-Dyas was killed by Dooku to tie up loose ends. Before the Kaminoans could begin the growing of an army they would need a template, a donor to give the cloners the genetic blueprint to craft soldiers. Newly christened Count Dooku was ordered to supervise the project and told to find the best out of the galaxies deadliest mercenaries and eliminate the rouge Jedi Komari Vosa. Dooku decided to solve both issues simultaneously.

With a bounty of five million credits on her head and a lack of preference on whether or not she was delivered alive, Komari Vosa was a target for many bounty hunters. Of all the hunters sent after her only one succeeded, a Mandalorian named Jango Fett. Already a legendary hunter, Jango boosted his fame and lined his pockets upon the hunts violent conclusion. It was then that Count Dooku approached him with an even bigger offer to become the genetic template of an army and oversee its training. Such an job came with a steep price, a fortune in fact, and Jango happily took the offer but added a term of his own, that a clone be set aside for him to raise as a son. Dooku agreed and Jango flew to Kamino, assembling a team of mercenaries to train his clones. Many answered the call and took the credits. In exchange, they had to vanish from the face of the galaxy. They had to become the Cuy'val Dar.

Those Who do not Exist

The Cuy'val Dar were, as stated above, a team of mercenaries, assassins, and bounty hunters assembled by Jango Fett for the purpose of training clone soldiers. Due to the secrecy of the project, they had to sever all ties with the rest of the galaxy to the point they were considered dead. The duty of these professionals was the training of the elite Republic Commando squads as well as future cross training of clone troopers. These trainers, now sergeants in the yet to be named Grand Army, were primarily Mandalorian and their culture was picked up by the men they trained. Now with the genes to create them and means to train them, the clone army would begin its formation. This process would take ten years and these men would then be thrust into the galaxy at large to fight in hundreds of campaigns. Until then however, they would have to survive their training.