Again, nothing belongs to me except the idea.
The TARDIS landed right outside one of the Kaminoan facilities.
"Sir, may I ask what your plan is?" asked Strax as the Doctor stepped out of the box and closed the doors behind him.
"I don't know yet, depends on how far away they are."
"Why are they coming here, sir?" inquired the Sontaran as they hurried towards the shelter of the nearest building.
"Kamino has the greatest cloning facilities in a 200,000 lightyear radius," the Doctor explained, sweeping inside. Strax followed. Once inside, they were greeted by bright white light. The Doctor looked around in appreciation.
"Ooh, this is nice. I wonder where all the natives are?"
Just then, a door hissed open behind them, and both turned to see two tall, white-skinned, hairless aliens with long necks walk in. The Doctor subtly put his hand on Strax's arm, signifying that he would do the talking.
"Who are you?" asked the one in the lead.
"Hello!" said the Doctor cheerfully, springing forward. He grasped the hand of the leader with one of his own hands, and dug in his pocket for his psychic paper with the other.
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Strax. And you are…."
"I am Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino. This is my aide, Taun We. Are you here on behalf of the Supreme Chancellor?"
"Yes, yes we are." The Time Lord pulled out his psychic paper and held it up.
"Inspection from the Chancellor's office. Didn't they tell you?"
"I am afraid not, Doctor."
"Oh, that's bureaucracy for you, they probably don't even know I've left yet."
"I did not hear any spacecraft landing," said Lama Su.
"Oh, my ship's got pretty unique engines, you might not have recognized them. Anyway, I just wanted a look round at your facilities."
"I assume you are qualified for this?" asked Taun We.
"Oh, yeah. Strax here practically grew up in a cloning facility-actually, he did-and I'm an expert in….ooh, most things, really."
If the Kaminoans had had eyebrows, at least one would have been raised. Instead, the Doctor was met with a simple,
"Indeed. Please, come this way."
The two turned and walked out the way they had come, followed by the Doctor and Strax.
"Sir, what is happening?" asked the Sontaran quietly.
"This is the planet I told you about," the Doctor said quietly. "They're part of the Galactic Republic, but on the far edges, so they're pretty much left alone to do their own thing. Recently, they've been producing a clone army to fight a big war against a rebel faction that's trying to split away from the Republic."
Raising his voice, he asked,
"How long have you been breeding the clones?" he asked.
"Twelve years, Doctor," replied Lama Su.
"Twelve years! Ah, good, good, thank you," he said. Pulling out a clipboard from his voluminous pockets, the Doctor took a sparkly pen from another pocket, twisted the knob round to blue ink, and began to scribble notes as they passed through a glass tunnel. Below, they could see a battalion of clones marching in perfect step.
"Second year of the Clone Wars," he added to Strax in a whisper.
"Is there lots of fighting, bloodshed, and explosions?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Excellent!"
Just then, the door at the end of the hallway opened, and someone stepped out, clad in a tight-fitting Jedi tunic and leggings, with two lightsabers strapped to her waist.
"Ahsoka Tano!" the Doctor exclaimed, bounding forward. She looked at him, startled.
"Who are you?" she asked.
Next: Obi-Wan, Anakin, and the situation really heats up.