Chapter 2: Kamino
"Kamino? Now? I take it you three finished your Mustafar trip already?" Rye asked Exar via hologram.
"Yeah. Aang wants to show us something, and I have a good feeling about it." Exar replied.
"Hate to break it to you, but we need you here for your report." Rye told him.
"Ah, right. I guess *ahem* AANG TOTALLY FORGOT THAT HE HAD TO GIVE A REPORT ON THE TRIP!" Exar exclaimed. He heard Aang facepalm.
"You don't have to yell, I am literally standing behind you." Aang said. Exar turned and saw Aang standing with all four of his arms crossed.
"Oh."
"So you heard me?" Rye asked.
"Yes, sir." Aang replied.
"Good. We'll hear from you shortly." Rye said, then the hologram turned off.
The Jedi got into their fighters, connected them and returned to Kashyyyk.
Aang immediately hopped out before Exar and Jo.
"Jo, the vial." Aang said. Jo pulled it out and handed it to him, and Aang headed inside.
"Come on, the shuttle needs repairing a little bit more." Exar told Jo, then they headed to the shuttle to finish the repairs.
"Do you actually think the sith are alive? Or do you think that encounter on Mustafar was a prank or was set up to strike fear?" Jo asked.
"I certainly hope they aren't. But if it was meant to strike fear, who plotted it out and brought this dude to life? The sith are the only ones capable of resurrecting people. 'Through strength, we get power' is what they used to say. I am not immune to the dark side. If the sith are alive, they might be able to tempt me." Exar explained.
"Know that as long as you're with all of us, that won't happen. Have more trust in your friends, and the force." Jo said. "You know, I could use some meditation after this, you know, get our minds off of this subject for a few moments. You?" Jo suggested.
"That'd be nice. But first, You need to remember we gotta go to Kamino. Second, I'm mentally shocked that you of all people want to do something like that, because you hardly ever do anything like that." Exar said.
"Ahhhh. You two are like brothers, I love it." Aang said, out of the blue, and making his teammates jump.
"Let us know you're there. You know I'm jumpy." Exar said, clearly annoyed.
"Then it wouldn't be called eavesdropping. Anyway, I analysed the blood sample I got and, you gotta hear this, it had force genes in it. But a moment into analyzing and they disappeared. Dissipated." Aang said.
"Like I said, 'only a sith could do something like that.' " Exar said.
"Well that deepens the mystery. We should hurry to Kamino." Aang suggested.
"Well if we know the sith are alive, do we actually have time for visits?" Exar asked.
"TEAM!" Rye called out.
"Yes?" Exar answered.
"We got a notification that some old technology has been reactivated." Rye said.
"What?" Exar exclaimed, unimpressed, but only shocked a little bit. Rye handed him the notification pad. "Where?" Exar asked, scrolling through.
"Kamino." Rye replied.
"That's convenient." Jo said.
"That's even more a reason to go there." Exar said. "We should get going."
"Agreed." Aang said.
A dark, hooded figure kneeled in front of a hologram right before it activated. The hologram revealed a hood, shadowing a face.
"The master has been troubled. He senses that three Jedi are looking for us, and he requests that you deal with them." The figure on the hologram said.
"As the master wishes. I will not fail." The kneeled one said.
"The Jedi will soon come to an end. All of their peacekeeping will be for nothing." The one on the hologram said. Then the hologram faded.
The three Jedi starfighters exited hyperspace and flew into the Kaminoan atmosphere and had trouble seeing through the rain. Aang and Exar saw Jo flying like a madman.
"Jo, what are you doing?" Exar asked him via comm system.
"Hey, there's a reason I haven't been here before. So I wouldn't know how to fly through all this." Jo replied.
They got close enough to the complex that they could see it.
"Things have barely changed." Aang whispered, somewhat confused.
The Jedi landed and exited their starfighters, then quickly entered the building.
"Is this the area you're familiar with?" Exar asked.
"It is. This way." Aang led them around a few floors and halls. Then as they passed a corner, Jo saw an outlet. "Wait a second." He said.
"What?" Exar asked, almost complaining.
Jo plugged one of his cybernetic fingers into the outlet.
"Oh my."
"What is it?" Aang asked, growing impatient.
"My blog is getting more popular!" Jo exclaimed happily.
"Excuse me?" Exar wondered confusedly.
"Oh, right." Jo said, and downloaded a map of the buildings into his brain.
"Yes!" Jo exclaimed quietly. Jo then took a turn to lead, with Aang's help.
Shortly after, the team arrived in a dimly lit room. The room had tubes, going all over the walls and ceiling; very advanced technology, mainly; and some aspect of a bacta tank. All tubes in the room connected to the tank.
"What's this?" Exar asked.
"It's the machine that 'de-aged' me. I have only used it once." Aang explained.
"This tech is so advanced, yet looks like it hasn't been used in a long time." Exar said.
Jo held a finger up, and continuously tapped his head, then gestured to Exar, "You're good." he said sarcastically, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."
Just then, they heard a small noise that sounded like a machine.
"What is that?" Exar asked.
"Sorry. I had more beans on my tacos than usual." Jo said, rubbing his half-metal stomach.
"No. The noise coming from over... what's a taco?" Exar asked.
"The facility is on." Aang interrupted.
They rushed out of the room and followed the noise they heard, and it lead them straight to the old cloning facility.
"Oh no." Aang exclaimed quietly.
They ran into a hallway with a window and they looked down upon, what they would call, a heart-crushing sight.
"Stormtroopers."