Disclaimer: I don't own SW or Dai Bendu or Mando.

Darth Vidia: Asajj Ventress

Dooku is good in this, and Ventress is Sidious' apprentice instead of him. She's also older than canon, being a few years older than Obi-Wan, and the clones were ordered 13 years pre-AotC, not 10.

Posted 5-11-2023

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Chapter Three

Kamino

It took two days to reach Kamino in a Jedi starfighter. It turned out to be a stormy, ocean planet with cities set on stilts. The architecture was rather pretty, Leia supposed, with interconnected buildings, but something about the planet sent shudders down her spine. Pain, sorrow and suffering radiated from the biggest dome. It reminded Leia of the Senate, the way it was full of the psychic echoes of the pain and suffering felt by hundreds of thousands of Jedi who had been tormented in the building.

That similarity was what made her decide to land in the largest area, just outside the door to the building. She paused there to do a quick meditation, fortifying her shields and bracing herself against the onslaught of anguish and pain. Then she pulled up her hood, ordered Arfour to stay with the starfighter and entered the abyss, shielding herself from the lashing rain with the Force so she could avoid catching pneumonia.

It was a very clinical area, Leia noted analytically as she studied the foyer. All white, with sharp angles on the hard furniture that looked as if it were made of light.

A serene looking being with white skin, blue eyes and a long neck entered, her calm aura a stark contrast to the suffering embedded in the walls. It instantly made Leia wary about the female(?) Kaminoan.

"Hello," Leia said politely, clinging to her even, aloof Jedi aura. "I am Jedi Padawan Leia Skywalker, and I have been sent here by the High Council."

"Welcome, Padawan," the Kaminoan said gently. "I am Taun We. The Prime Minister is expecting you. We are glad you have come at last. It's been so long, we wondered if you would ever arrive."

Leia showed none of her confusion and unease. She was expected? Or rather, a Jedi was expected. She had a bad feeling about this. "The Council felt it best to wait," she said calmly, letting the Force choose her words for her. "I am here to do a preliminary assessment on their behalf. Then they will send a Master to do a more in-depth analysis."

"Of course," Taun We said in her gentle voice. "I understand. Please, follow me. The Prime Minister is eager to speak with you."

"As I am with him," Leia murmured, following the other being at an even pace that hid the anxious twisting in her stomach.

She had a bad feeling about this.

Lama Su looked very similar to Taun We, but with slightly sharper features and a deeper voice, though he maintained a similar serene aura as Taun We. He rose to his feet from behind his desk when Leia and Taun We entered.

"May I present Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino," Taun We stated, gesturing at her planetary leader. "Minister, this is Jedi Padawan Leia Skywalker."

Lama Su indicated a chair. Leia sat to be polite, despite wanting to stand and be prepared to run away from this pit of icy despair.

"I trust you are going to enjoy your stay," Lama Su smiled. "We are most happy you have arrived at the best part of the season."

"Your people are making me feel most welcome," Leia said with a small smile. "Your planet is as beautiful as I have heard tell."

Lama Su's smile widened and he inclined his head. "Thank you. And now to business. You will be delighted to hear that we are right on schedule. Two hundred thousand units are ready, with another million well on the way."

'Cloners', Dex had said the Kaminoans were. Leia swallowed back the dread she felt and forced herself to look pleased. She had a really bad feeling about this.

"That is excellent news," she stated. "The High Council will be most pleased."

"Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that we have every confidence his order will be met on time and in full," Lama Su requested. "He is well, I hope."

"I am sorry to say that Master Sifo-Dyas did a little over thirteen years ago," Leia said gravely. He'd been long dead by the time she arrived at the Anohrah, after having lost the ability to tell the difference between reality and visions.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," Lama Su said indifferently. "But I'm sure he
would have been proud of the army we've built for him."

"I'm sure," Leia agreed, doing her level best to cling to her training and keep an aloof expression that hid her horror.

"I must say, this clone army is one of the finest we've ever created," Lama Su boasted.

"I have no doubt your, products, will have surpassed our expectations," Leia said smoothly. "Tell me, Prime Minister, when Master Sifo-Dyas first contacted you about the army, did he say who it was for?"

"Of course he did," Lama Su inclined his long neck. "This army is to serve the Republic, under the command of the Jedi. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself."

Leia nodded, hiding her clenched fists in her long sleeves. "That's why I'm here," she lied. "Please, Minister, lead the way."

They both rose and Leia followed the two Kaminoans out the door, her expression calm and implacable.

She had a really, really bad feeling about this.


The two Kaminoans led Leia out onto a balcony, gesturing out at a huge parade. On it, hundreds of soldiers were performing drills in expert formation.

The sight of their armoured forms sent a surge of visceral fear and horror through Leia's body. It was purely her years of training that let her stay calm and stop any of her revulsion from touching her features.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" Lama Su stated proudly.

"It's, awe-inspiring," Leia forced out.

The proud Kaminoans continued showing her room after room of clones, in various stages of development, doing simulations against droids, eating, sparring...

"We take great pride in our combat education and training programs," Lama Su said as he showed a group of what looked like ten-year-olds in a classroom. "This group was created about five years ago."

"You mentioned growth acceleration..." Leia said leadingly.

"Oh yes, it's essential," Lama Su bobbed his head. "Otherwise, a mature clone would take a lifetime to grow. Now, we can do it in half the time. Those items you saw on the parade ground were started fifteen years ago, when Sifo-Dyas first placed the order, and they're already mature."

Here was something Leia could fix, and she latched on with all the desperation of a drowning woman to a life raft. "I assume once they've hit maturity the acceleration is ended," she said casually.

Lama Su tilted his head. "No. Would ending it be your preference, Padawan Skywalker?"

"It's the High Council's preference," she answered smoothly. "Unfortunately, Master Sifo-Dyas' sudden death left certain things in a state of confusion, which is why it took us so long to check on the, progress of the products. Clearly he didn't have time to inform you of this either. We want to, make full use of the, units, for as long as possible. If they keep aging at double the natural rate, it's a bit of a waste of a perfectly viable soldier, isn't it?"

"I understand," Lama Su stated. "We will have the counteragent given to all those above the physical age of twenty. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Perfect," Leia agreed steadily. It wasn't, but at least it was something.

Lama Su looked pleased, and continued the tour. "You'll find they are totally obedient, taking any order without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host."

Considering the brightness of the clones' Presences in the Force, Leia seriously doubted that claims. But it wasn't her focus right now. "Who was the original host?" She asked.

"A bounty hunter called Jango Fett," Lama Su replied. Leia's expression stayed even, but a Jedi would've felt her having a practical fit in the Force at the mention of the lost Mand'alor. "We felt a Jedi would be the perfect choice, but Sifo-Dyas hand-picked Jango Fett himself."

The only thing worse than an army of clone soldiers, Leia mused darkly to herself, was an army of Force-sensitive clone soldiers. Thank the Force Sifo-Dyas hadn't gone mad enough to go through with that suggestion.

"Where is Fett now?" She asked.

"Oh, we keep him here."

"May I meet him?" She requested.

Lama Su bobbed his head again. "Of course."


Taun We took Leia to meet Fett, Lama Su going off to do whatever it was the Prime Minister of Kamino did when not boasting about slave armies.

"Other than his fee, Fett only asked for one thing as payment," Taun We informed Leia. "An unaltered clone, all for himself."

"No alterations at all?" Leia asked thoughtfully.

"None," Taun We confirmed as she reached out to knock on a closed door. "He calls the clone his son."

The door slid open to reveal a young boy with olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes. Leia smiled politely at him, on edge from the way he eyed her suspiciously.

"Boba, is your father here?" Taun We asked in a friendly manner, but Leia could sense her contempt for the clone boy.

"Yep," Boba confirmed after a moment.

"May we see him?" The Kaminoan pressed.

"Fine." Boba stood aside and Taun We led the way into the rooms.

"Dad!" Boba yelled. "Taun We's here!"

The infamous Jango Fett came in from the other room. He was dressed in a jumpsuit,
his face unshaven and littered with the scars of old wounds. Several tattoos decorated his muscular forearms. His gaze was suspicious as he met Leia's own. She discreetly rested a hand on her lightsabre hilt in response to the sheer hostility radiating from the Mandalorian, grateful that her large cloak hid the action.

"Jango, welcome back," Taun We greeted him, apparently ignorant of the tension in the room. "Was your trip productive?"

"Fairly," Jango responded gruffly.

"This is Jedi Padawan Leia Skywalker," Taun We explained, gesturing at the human woman. "She's come to check on our progress.

"That right?" Jango remarked softly, eyeing Leia coldly. She met his gaze with the even, aloof expression that the Jedi were famous for.

"The men are very impressive," Leia stated, channelling her Jaieh. "You must be very proud of them."

Fett shrugged. "I'm just a simple man, trying to make my way in the universe, Padawan," he claimed. Leia suppressed a snort. A simple man? He was the Mand'alor. There was nothing simple about that title.

"Have you ever been to Coruscant?" Leia asked, spotting several pieces of armour through the door to the bedroom. She couldn't see them very well from the angle she was at, but they were the right colour to be the armour used by Wesell's killer, and there was a jetpack.

Fett shrugged, shifting to block her view. "Once or twice," he answered, crossing his arms in what Leia recognized as a classic intimidation tactic. Too bad for him that Jedi were taught to never give in to fear.

"So, Master Sifo-Dyas," Leia said, switching topics in the hopes of keeping Fett off-kilter. "Is he the Jedi who hired you?"

Fett shrugged. "Never heard of him," he replied.

He had good shields for a Force-Null. She couldn't get through subtly, and trying to force her way in would be too obvious. But that was what body language was for. It looked like he was telling the truth.

"So who hired you, then?" Leia pressed.

"I was recruited by a woman calling herself Darth Vidia on one of the moons of Bogden," he elaborated. Leia felt a shiver of dread crawl down her spine.

'Darth', the title of the Sii. The creation of this army was orchestrated by the Jedi's ancient enemy. It was a trap, it had to be. But what was it about these clones that made them a trap? And why, after a decade of silence, were the Sii acting now?

"Sifo-Dyas told us to expect him," Taun We explained, breaking Leia from her grim thoughts. "And he showed up, just when your Jedi Master said he would. We have kept the
Jedi's involvement a secret until your arrival, just as your Master requested."

"You've been very helpful," Leia assured the cloner, wondering if Taun We knew what the trap was.

"Do you like your army?" Fett smirked.

"They're a very impressive sight to see," Leia answered honestly.

Fett grinned proudly. "They'll do their job well, I'll guarantee that," he said.

And what is their true job? Leia wondered. Jango Fett was known to hate the Republic after his father's death at Galidraan, and, although it was Kyr'tsad that killed Jaster Mereel, he was not one of those who understood that the Jedi had done their best in an impossible position. He wouldn't take part in creating something to help them. But creating something that would destroy the Order? That seemed much more his speed.

"Thank you, Jango," Leia murmured, turning away with her mind racing. "You've been very helpful."

"Always a pleasure to meet a Jedi," Fett said, an undercurrent of laughter in his voice that had the hair on the back of Leia's neck standing on end.

She used the Force to increase her hearing as Taun We led her away, hearing the bounty hunter tell his son that they'd be leaving.

"Well, this has all been very informative," Leia said pleasantly to Taun We. "But I must send my report to the High Council. I expect one of them will be here soon to follow up."

"Of course," Taun We replied in her musical voice. "Thank you, Padawan. Let me escort you to your ship."


She sent an urgent report to the High Council, telling them everything she could. Then she chased Fett to Geonosis, which was only half-an-hour away by hyperspace, trying to capture him as per Yoda's orders. She lost his trail shortly after leaving hyperspace, and hid somewhere on the planet in time to spy her Jaieh being marched into a fortress by a bunch of droids, bleeding from the side of his head. Senator Amidala was unconscious, being carried by another droid.

Leia sent a message to the High Council, warning them what happened. She was just after warning them that the Senator had been captured when a bunch of Geonosians surrounded her and demanded her surrender.

Geonosis was a Separatist world. Them kidnapping a Republican Senator and two Jedi, servants of the Republic, was an act of war.

She had a very bad feeling about all of this.


Dai Bendu:

Sii: Sith

Mando:

Kyr'tsad: Death Watch