A few days later, Omega was standing in the labs of Mt. Tantiss in her new lab assistant outfit. It was skin-tight, and she didn't like it. It was a hot summer's day, and the heat from the star beat down on the facility, making everything that much worse and causing her to sweat. The sounds of the various machines echoed through the facility, combined with the scents of numerous chemicals used in the lab, assaulted her senses.
"There you are, Omega. Are you ready?" Emerie asked in what Omega assumed was a nice tone but, in Omega's opinion, made her sound creepy.
"So what are you going to do to me?" Omega asked.
"Hold out your hand," Emerie replied, and when Omega did, Emerie stamped her hand with a metal cylinder she was holding.
"Lama Su informed us about your tendency to wander. This tracking maker will ensure your location is known to us," Emerie explained.
"So Lama Su's the one who told Hemlock about me?" Omega asked as they walked down the eerie, dark blue, steel corridors.
"Yes, with some coercion from Dr Hemlock," Emerie replied.
"Great. It's only a matter of time before I meet the Alpha to my Omega," Omega groaned.
"Come on, cheer up. It's just a checkup," Emerie replied in that creepy, false, cheery tone.
"How can I when everyone I care about is either dead, missing or here enduring torture?" Omega snapped back as tears threatened to sting her eyes.
"I recommend putting that aside for now," Emerie replied as they reached one of the research labs. The laboratory room contained a half dozen screens around the larger room, and about twenty beds lay on each side. Crosshair was lying unconscious in one of the gurneys. Omega ran up and shielded him from Emerie.
"Why Crosshair?" Emerie asked.
"He's my brother," Omega replied.
"Come on, we've got tests to do," Emerie went to grab Omega, but she clung to Crosshair.
"I'm staying until he wakes up," Omega glared at Emerie.
"Fine," Emerie snapped, "I was hoping that we could get this over and done with quickly. But I guess we'll have to wait until he awakens. I don't know how long that will be,"
Omega glared back, "I need to tell him what's happened to one of his teammates and how I got here. Alright?"
"Fine," Emerie replied as she worked on the other Clones.
After about ten minutes, Crosshair groaned as he awoke.
"Crosshair, are you OK?" Omega concerningly asked.
"What are you doing here? How did you wind up here? I told the others to implement Plan 88 because the Empire was after you," Crosshair spat.
Omega's face dropped, "Plan 99,"
Crosshair froze. Plan 99 meant Sacrifice. He didn't want to know, but he knew a squad member was dead.
"Who? And How?" Crosshair asked, dreading the response.
Tears started leaking from Omega's eyes as she spoke, "We travelled to Eriadu, intending to attach a tracking beacon to Dr Hemlock's ship to find out where he was holding you. But some rebels called the Partisans, led by Saw Gerrera, had planted bombs to try and kill the high-ranking officials meeting there. We tried to escape, but the gondola we were on got stuck. Tech went to get it fixed, then got stuck on one of the damaged Gondolas, and he fell to his death," at that moment, Omega collapsed onto her hands and knees and sobbed uncontrollably.
"No, No! Tech, you di'kut," Crosshair buried his head in his arms as he struggled to contain his emotions, one dramatic tear dropping from his eye as his right hand twitched awkwardly.
After several minutes, Omega regained her composure, and Crosshair asked, "That doesn't explain how you got here,"
"I almost died when the gondola smashed into the mountain. The others took us back to Ord Mantell so AZ could fix me, but Cid, the information broker we were working for, was working for the Empire and sold us out. That's how I wound up here," Omega sighed.
"That's rough," Emerie admitted.
"Stay out of this," Crosshair snarled as he carefully pulled himself off the bed and kneeled to Omega's level, his legs wobbling as he did.
"Now you're here, I have some advice for you. And you must follow it, no matter what. Alright?" Crosshair stated.
"What is it?" Omega asked.
"Whatever happens, don't show any weakness around Emerie, Dr Hemlock, or Nala Se. Don't let them get to you, alright?" Crosshair stated.
"I'll try," Omega replied.
"You'll do more than try, alright? Or you'll have to answer to me," Crosshair replied.
"OK, I will," Omega replied.
"Sure, you won't let us get to you," Emerie replied sardonically, "Now come on, Dr Hemlock wants to see your genetics, and the sooner we get that to him, the better,"
"Fine," Omega growled before she got up and followed Emerie down the room. Crosshair attempted to pull himself back onto his gurney, but his wobbling body wouldn't cooperate, so he sat on the floor and waited, holding himself to prevent his body from shaking. After a few minutes, Emerie returned and assisted Crosshair onto his gurney.
A week after Omega arrived, Nala Se was working in her lab. Omega was unconscious in a Bacta Pod after being tested to exhaustion by her. It was late afternoon on Mt. Tantiss, and the weather was mild for an Autumn day. Several lights in the ceiling lit the lab, and the hum of the Bacta Pod dominated the sounds. The scents of lab metal and bacta dominated the environment as Nala Se stood on the hard metal floor.
Nala Se hears steps and turns, seeing Dr Hemlock entering her lab with a data card.
"What brings you here?" Nala Se asked.
"I've been studying something for the past day. I want to confirm something with you," Dr Hemlock showed the data card.
Nala Se took it and stuck it into her holo computer. After a moment, Omega's karyotype came up.
"So you obtained Omega's karyotype," Nala Se said.
"Yes, and I've noticed some issues with it. And as you're the one who created Omega, you can explain these discrepancies for me," Dr Hemlock replied.
"Ask away," Nala Se replied.
Dr Hemlock grabbed his datapad and guided the computer to Omega's X chromosome.
"This is the first discrepancy, I think," Dr Hemlock said as he zoomed into a particular section of Omega's X-Chromosome, which seemed normal initially until Hemlock zoomed into a specific section. There was a bend in the X-chromosome, right where the Androgen Receptor Gene was.
"Yes. The Androgen Receptor Gene is mutated," Nala Se replied.
"Which means Omega is Androgen Insensitive. Right?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"Of course," Nala Se replied, "Specifically, Omega's totally Androgen Insensitive,"
"Why is Omega totally Androgen Insensitive?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"I have my reasons," Nala Se replied, "Reasons that I don't think you'll understand,"
"Is it a Kaminoan thing?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"Yes," Nala Se replied.
"What does that mean for her gender identity?" Dr Hemlock asked, "Is she, Trans?"
"Intersex," Nala Se replied, "It means that Omega was born with reproductive anatomy that doesn't fit the binary notions of male and female,"
Omega's karyotype returned to full screen as Dr Hemlock replied, "I'll keep that in mind for the future,"
Dr Hemlock then grabbed a laser pointer and noted a few unusual spots across Omega's genome.
"Notice the localised mutations. What are they for?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"Where do you think the bond between Omega and Clone Force 99 comes from?" Nala Se asked.
"That reminds me, who knew that Clones could be so parental?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"I knew," Nala Se replied, "Remember that the donor, Jango Fett, had asked for the creation of an identical clone son, the Alpha of the Clones, now known as Boba,"
"The parental instinct originated from the donor, fascinating," Dr Hemlock held his hand to his chin, deep in thought, "It explains a lot about them,"
After a moment, Dr Hemlock turned back to Nala Se, "How does this play into the bond?"
"Shared mutations. Omega is the proof of concept for mutant Clones. Omega might only have slight mutations from the other members of Clone Force 99, but she has all of them," Nala Se replied.
"It would explain why Omega is sometimes listed at CT 99-00," Dr Hemlock replied.
"She's labelled that?" Nala Se asked.
"Yes, according to Imperial records," Dr Hemlock replied.
"OK then," Nala Se replied as she turned off the projection and returned the data card containing Omega's karyotype.
It was then that Dr Hemlock noticed Omega in the Bacta Pod.
"So you're experimenting on Omega, too. Why?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"Because it's been nearly eighteen months since I last saw her, so I need to find out how much has changed in her body in that time," Nala Se replied.
"Was this normal on Kamino?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"It was," Nala Se replied, "If we wanted to get the best out of Clone Force 99, we needed to know what tests we needed to put them through. With Omega, we were able to do that,"
"A word of advice," Dr Hemlock stated, getting uncomfortably close to Nala Se, "If you damage my pet project, you will pay,"
Nala Se stood firm, unintimidated, "I could return that to you, Hemlock. You permanently damage my lab assistant, and I will ensure you pay like hell,"
"I'll keep that in mind," Dr Hemlock replied. The two stood there momentarily before Dr Hemlock turned and departed.
"I'm going to have to keep an eye on Emerie while she gets her experiments done," Dr Hemlock thought as he departed.
As Nala Se watched Dr Hemlock depart, she then noticed Crosshair enter. He was struggling to keep himself upright as he moved. The experimentation was taking a toll on him.
And when Crosshair laid eyes on Omega in the Bacta Pod, he turned to Nala Se and spat, "What did you do to her?"
"Omega is resting after a long series of tests to realign where her development is now to where it was when she left Kamino," Nala Se replied.
Crosshair's eyes narrowed, "You mean this was common on Kamino?"
"You question my authority in my lab, CT 99-04?" Nala Se replied.
"Not at all, Nala Se," Crosshair spat, "Merely why you're hurting Omega like Hemlock and Emerie were hurting me,"
Nala Se turned to face Crosshair, "I thought you didn't care about her,"
Crosshair turned away momentarily, then glared back, "You're making her more vulnerable to Emerie and Dr Hemlock. Whatever they have planned, you're enabling them by experimenting on her,"
Nala Se glared at Crosshair, his use of the term Vulnerable triggering her due to the context of the previous time someone had claimed Nala Se's actions regarding Omega made her more vulnerable to others. Her voice turned disturbing as she glared at Crosshair and said, "How dare you say that to me, CT 99-04. Assuming I'm doing this for someone else's desires. I'll kill you where you stand if you make that allegation again,"
Crosshair and Nala Se stared at each other before the timer on the Bacta Pod dinged, disturbing their argument. Nala Se went over to the Bacta Pod and slowly opened it, allowing Omega to awaken and pull herself into a sitting position.
"How are you feeling?" Nala Se asked.
"OK," Omega stifled a yawn, "What were you two arguing about?"
"Nala Se is hurting you, and considering what you've already endured here in the week since you arrived here, I would've thought that Nala Se would've kept her hands to herself," Crosshair replied resentfully.
Omega sighed, "It's OK, I've endured this and worse on Kamino,"
"WHAT?" Crosshair shouted, making Omega and Nala Se recoil as Crosshair turned on the latter.
"Crosshair, calm down, please. Nala Se is important. We need her," Omega begged, grabbing Crosshair's arm, though her hand slid off Crosshair's arm due to being covered in Bacta.
Crosshair turned to Omega, took a deep breath, then continued, "Remember what I said about not letting them get to you?"
"Nala Se isn't getting to me. Trust me, I've endured what she has for long enough that it doesn't affect me anymore," Omega replied.
Crosshair looked to Omega momentarily.
"It's your turn in the Bacta Pod, Crosshair. Please," Omega begged.
"And why would I do that?" Crosshair asked.
"Because we need you if we're going to stand a chance of eventually escaping," Nala Se replied.
"Forget it. I've already tried once. Hemlock's got the entire lab able to spray us with some horrible chemical that he is immune to," Crosshair stated as he unsteadily took a seat where Omega had just vacated.
"I insist, even if it's just for Omega," Nala Se said.
"Fine," Crosshair spat as he entered the Bacta Pod and allowed Omega and Nala Se to put the mask on his face. Omega then closed the lid on the Bacta Pod, and Crosshair was soon unconscious as the Bacta filled the Pod.
Nala Se sighed, "I was hoping that CT 99-04 would be more understanding,"
"I didn't expect that kind of outburst from him," Omega replied before she turned to Nala Se, annoyed, "Also, his name is Crosshair. Show him respect,"
Nala Se faced Omega momentarily, then nodded, "Alright. I'll refer to your brothers by their names from now on. Alright?"
"Alright," Omega replied, "I need to sleep, I'm still tired from everything you did earlier,"
"Rest well," Nala Se replied as Omega departed for the nook at the back of the lab that was her room. Nala Se waited until Omega vanished behind the curtain before she returned to work.
The following morning on Mt. Tantiss, Emerie had gone to collect Lama Su and bring him to Dr Hemlock's office for a meeting.
"What does he want to discuss with me?" Lama Su asked.
"I don't know. But it's important, so I recommend you pay attention, Prime Minister," Emerie replied, putting contempt into the last two words.
"Where did the contempt come from?" Lama Su wondered as they reached the door to Dr Hemlock's office. Emerie opened the wooden door and let Lama Su inside.
"Dr Hemlock will be with you momentarily," Emerie said before she closed the door. Lama Su took a seat. It was warm for a late-morning fall day on Mt. Tantiss. As Lama Su sat on the rough and unsupportive seat,
he looked at the office, the wooden table and chairs, the transperisteel windows, the brown vinyl floor and the steel walls and ceiling. He could see a lamp in the room, and he heard the hum of the communicator in the middle of the table. The scent of the remains of Dr Hemlock's breakfast wafted through the room. Everyone could see someone had painted the steel, though Lama Su could tell that the paint was ultraviolet, as he could see the paint.
After a minute, Dr Hemlock entered the room and sat opposite Lama Su.
"Why have you called me into your office?" Lama Su asked.
"It appears that something has come up in the jail that you were in, and Grand Moff Tarkin wants to talk to you about it," Dr Hemlock replied. Lama Su looked puzzled at Dr Hemlock as he operated the communicator, and after a moment, Grand Moff Tarkin materialised.
"Grand Moff Tarkin, it's good to see you again," Dr Hemlock said.
"I hope you're well," Grand Moff Tarkin replied before turning to Lama Su, "And how have you been going?"
"Fine," Lama Su replied, "Dr Hemlock mentioned that you wanted to talk to me about something. What is it?"
Grand Moff Tarkin looked to Dr Hemlock, "Did you tell him that?"
"Of course," Dr Hemlock replied, "I didn't want to spring something like this on him now, didn't I?"
"Understood," Grand Moff Tarkin replied before he turned to Lama Su.
"Lama Su, the Kaminoan Scientist Cora Sol, has been found dead in her cell recently," Grand Moff Tarkin said.
Lama Su felt a jolt shoot through him upon hearing this, but he kept himself composed enough that nobody would notice his unease.
"Who is Cora Sol?" Dr Hemlock asked, confused at the revelation.
"You know who Cora Sol is, Lama Su. How about you tell him?" Grand Moff Tarkin suggested, his tone changing subtly.
"Why?" Lama Su stated.
"Lama Su, I can make your life miserable if you don't cooperate," Grand Moff Tarkin sneered.
"Do you know who she is?" Lama Su asked.
"There are only three things I know. The Kaminoan's name is Cora Sol. She got herself banished by the Kaminoans, and the Republic held a private trial that led to her getting a lifetime jail sentence. I want to know what she did to get herself banished," Grand Moff Tarkin replied, glaring at Lama Su.
"I thought you were in some of what happened around her," Lama Su replied before he turned to Dr Hemlock, "Cora Sol was a Scientist who worked on the Clone program. However, she did things that threatened the Clone program, and as a result, we had no choice but to banish her and hand her over to the Republic for prosecution,"
"That bad, huh?" Dr Hemlock wondered, "I was compared to your species when The Republic banished me for my unauthorised and unorthodox experiments. That made me wonder what Cora did that was considered too far even for you,"
"Trust me, it was. I wish I had found out earlier," Lama Su replied bitterly.
"Back to the topic at hand," Grand Moff Tarkin continued, and Lama Su and Dr Hemlock turned to face Grand Moff Tarkin, "It is suspicious, Lama Su, that less than a year after you arrived at the same jail cell as Cora Sol, that she dies,"
"And you think I had a role in her death?" Lama Su asked. While Lama Su externally was keeping it cool, it was a different story internally.
Shortly after his arrest for treason, Lama Su discovered that Cora Sol, the banished Kaminoan, was in the same jail as he was. The Republic had jailed Cora Sol for life for the horrific abuses she had inflicted on Clone Cadets and Kaminoans, plus the horrifying plans she had concocted in the Zabika City secret laboratory.
Upon discovering what Cora Sol had done, the Kaminoans held a trial to decide her fate. Cora Sol was banished, and in an unusual move, we handed Cora Sol over to the Republic for trial. Cora Sol was convicted by the Republic and jailed for life.
Lama Su had stayed well away from Cora Sol during his imprisonment until he learned that the Galactic Empire had assigned the man sitting opposite him the Chief Scientist of the Advanced Science Division.
Fearing a revival of the horrific plans Cora Sol had concocted, Lama Su secretly leaked that Cora Sol was still alive and which jail she was residing in. Lama Su didn't know how far the information had spread until Dr Hemlock had brought him to Mt. Tantiss, where he had just learned that someone had assassinated Cora Sol, which slightly eased his conscience.
"You were the one who banished Cora Sol, correct?" Grand Moff Tarkin asked.
"Yes, I banished Cora Sol," Lama Su replied, "But once we handed over Cora Sol to the Republic, I shut her out of thoughts,"
Grand Moff Tarkin faced Dr Hemlock, "Do you know anything about what happened after that?"
"I'm afraid not," Dr Hemlock replied, "I didn't even know what happened on Kamino. The Republic also kept everything surrounding what happened involving Cora Sol under wraps. Everything from the moment Lama Su handed Cora Sol over to the Republic to her eventual jailing for life, secrecy was paramount. I'm surprised you know anything about it,"
"A few rumours were swirling around why she was there, and it's suspicious that Lama Su, the one who Banished her, arrives in the jail, and before long, Cora Sol is dead. I want to investigate Lama Su's role in this assassination," Grand Moff Tarkin explained.
"I can assure you, I had no role. As Dr Hemlock here is my witness, I was on Mt. Tantiss when news of her assassination reached our ears. There wouldn't have been enough time to travel to Coruscant to kill her and return without Hemlock noticing my absence," Lama Su explained.
When Grand Moff Tarkin turned to Dr Hemlock, he replied, "I can't rule out that Lama Su got the ball rolling towards Cora's assassination, but I doubt he laid a finger on her,"
"Besides that, Cora Sol has many enemies across the galaxy. Cora Sol's many enemies include Nala Se, Clones, who knew about what was in the secret laboratory, and the people involved in her case. Her actions have caused great harm, and any of them could've paid someone off," Lama Su explained, staring unblinkingly at Grand Moff Tarkin.
Dr Hemlock felt his eyebrows rise at hearing Nala Se, and when he spoke, he noticed the surprise in his voice, "Nala Se? What is her relationship with Cora Sol? And why would she be involved if she's been here the whole time?"
Grand Moff Tarkin stepped in, "Stop deflecting from my question. Both of you,"
"We're not deflecting," Dr Hemlock replied, frustration at Grand Moff Tarkin's interference threatening to boil over.
"Need I remind you that I can cause problems for both of you?" Grand Moff Tarkin reminded them.
"Oh, I'm aware," Dr Hemlock replied, glaring at Grand Moff Tarkin momentarily before returning to Lama Su.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave momentarily. I need to talk to Grand Moff Tarkin about something," Dr Hemlock said.
"Fine," Lama Su replied before he got up and departed.
"Has your research and plans around Omega been progressing?" Grand Moff Tarkin asked.
"Not well," Dr Hemlock admitted, "Nala Se has made alterations to her DNA, and not just making her Androgen Insensitive. It appears that she has a degree of mutations from the other members of Clone Force 99. Without Tech, I need all other members of the squad to untangle her genetic code. If we want the best from the Dark Trooper Program, I need to know which mutations of hers are from which brothers,"
"I see," Grand Moff Tarkin replied, "What about your other plans? How are they going?"
"We haven't made much progress. Omega isn't force-sensitive, from what I can tell. We need another candidate," Dr Hemlock admitted, "And Emerie would be ideal for the other plans, But I don't have enough information to even start on that,"
"A shame," Grand Moff Tarkin replied, "I'll have to report this to the emperor,"
"The emperor already knows," Dr Hemlock sighed, rubbing his neck slightly, "Surely Boba Fett is somewhere out there,"
"Boba Fett, eh?" Grand Moff Tarkin asked.
"Yes. Boba has unaltered genetics, according to Nala Se. I can use him to screen out enough of Omega's genetics to get the mutations, which would greatly help the Dark Trooper Program," Dr Hemlock explained.
"Agreed. I have a suggestion to make," Grand Moff Tarkin replied.
"What is it?" Dr Hemlock leaned forward in his seat.
"You investigate Lama Su and Nala Se, and I'll supply you with information about the location of Boba Fett. Maybe you can turn his syndicate against him with enough of a bribe," Grand Moff Tarkin suggested.
"That is a tempting offer," Dr Hemlock replied, furrowing his brow in concentration.
"I'll leave you to consider it. I'll want a response within three rotations," Grand Moff Tarkin replied menacingly.
"Acknowledged," Dr Hemlock replied.
"One final thing," Grand Moff Tarkin said.
"What is it?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"Don't cross Nala Se," Grand Moff Tarkin replied. When Dr Hemlock's eyebrows raise in surprise, Grand Moff Tarkin continued, "From what I've gathered about her, Nala Se has something else going on and has no qualms about eliminating anyone who crosses her or does something to her Lab Assistant. Ensure that you don't give Nala Se a reason to slit your throat in the middle of the night,"
Dr Hemlock felt a shiver run up his spine hearing this, "How do you know this?"
"Nala Se almost did that to her sister before she was transported off Kamino to be tried by the Republic. Nala Se was also the head of the Cloning program. So she had the job of eliminating any Clones that weren't considered worthy,"
"I'll be mindful of that," Dr Hemlock replied before cutting the communication. After momentary contemplation, Dr Hemlock gets up and goes to the door. When Dr Hemlock opens the door, he finds Lama Su waiting outside his office.
"What have you been offered for cooperation with Tarkin?" Lama Su asked.
"Why do you want to know?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"I have a counteroffer if you don't launch any investigations into me," Lama Su replied.
"What might that be?" Dr Hemlock asked.
"You mentioned to Grand Moff Tarkin that you were having trouble obtaining Force Sensitive beings to study," Lama Su replied.
Dr Hemlock looked at Lama Su, puzzled, "What are you insinuating?"
"Nala Se was only referring to humans and clones when she said that what the Emperor wants is impossible. If the Emperor is OK with spending time as a Kaminoan, it's a different story," Lama Su replied.
Dr Hemlock's eyes widened at this, "You mean, your species cloned Force Sensitives?"
Lama Su nodded, "It showed up randomly in one of our Kaminoans. He went on to work with another to create a son, who also turned out to be Force Sensitive,"
"Fascinating," Dr Hemlock replied, "I'm going to have to consult with others before I decide whose offer I take up. Do you know where the individuals involved are?"
"The two Force Sensitives, I'm afraid I don't know exactly. They operate a mobile base. That means they could be anywhere in the galaxy. However, where the father is, the son is usually there too," Lama Su replied.
"Fascinating," Dr Hemlock replied, "I'll have to send a few scout droids out then, see if I can narrow down where they might be. You're dismissed for now,"
Lama Su nodded and departed, leaving Dr Hemlock to contemplate his options.d