Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Void Troopers

Prologue

Tipoca City, 32 BBY

"Minister Su, you should see this."

Rarely ever do Hatchmasters come to me personally for anomalies in the units. But they know not to disturb me for lesser reasons; it must be important.

"What is it, Tolo Za?" I ask, arising from my seat.

Tolo bows, and looks at me with urgency. "It is the Null units. Something has emerged in the gene pool of six of the units. Something...irregular."

Irregular.

I despise the irregular.

"Show me," I tell Tolo.

He brings escorts me to the intensive development hatchery, where twelve embryos are floating in embryonic fluids, several months into growth.

"Which ones are the deficients?" I inquire.

Tolo clicks a button on his datapad, and the lights for six embryos go out.

"The six that are illuminated began displaying odd behaviors about an hour ago. This one (Tolo fluctuates a light under one embryo) clenched its fist, and a maintenance droid was crushed, as though it had been crushed physically in someone's fist. This one swung its arm and a rack of vials fell over."

"Fascinating," I say, looking at them in turn.

"What if..." Tolo trails off.

"Speak your mind, Hatchmaster."

"What if it's the Force?"

I pause. Ah, the Force; the one constant variable in all things. When Sifo-Dyas placed the order for the clone army, we had asked if an army of Force-users would suffice, but Dooku had said the bounty hunter's DNA would work just as well.

"If it is the Force, Tolo, I want them taken to another city on the other side of the planet. Force-sensitive clones were not part of the order for the Republic army, so we will keep them for ourselves. Put it on the record that their development ceased around this time, and get them moved to another city.

"Any particular city, Minister?"

"Just get them somewhere secret."

Tolo bows and summons two carrier droids with a containment unit. They remove the...deviants and place the embryo carriers in the containment unit. Once all six are loaded, Tolo and I exit the room, and I seal it. I follow Tolo up to a shuttle pod and wait at the foot of the ramp.

"Tolo," I state plainly, "you realize you will not be able to return in order to keep this secret secret?"

He pauses, but replies, "The possibility had occurred to me."

We are both quiet as the containment unit is fixed in a secure position. I reach into my pocket and take out a personal frequency receiver.

"This will transmit directly to me and me alone. Contact me once you have reached a city. Don't tell me which city, just confirm when you've landed."

Tolo Za takes a breath, and replies, "Yes, Minister."

He boards the shuttle and seals the hatch behind him. The pod rises and flies away, its ion trail the only indicator of its direction.

I will never see Tolo Za in flesh for the rest of my life, I realize.

But it is of no consequence; what I stand to gain is far more than what I've lost in a loyal companion in Za. Force-sensitive clone troopers could prove a valuable asset...

...if they could be controlled. Goodness knows what their Force-sensitivity could have done to the brain chips.

I stride through the city as the day begins; I do not say "dawn" because there is none on Kamino, really. It's often so cloudy one cannot tell if the sun is there at all. I ponder these thoughts as I pass Nala Se and Orun Wa, members of my council, and go to my office.

It's a quiet day; no orders come that much anymore, and a good thing too. With side-orders we'd have to distribute resources from the clone army, and that could slow down production. And everything must go as scheduled.

I sit down and patiently await the transmission from Tolo Za, while also dealing with the other hatchmasters and ministers from other cities; cloning requests from celebrities and crime lords alike, all of which will be reviewed case-for-case in my own time.

In the late hours of the day, when most of the workers are returning to their sleeping pods, I remain alert, awaiting an update from Za. My comlink has not shown anyone trying to contact me since dawn, when Za left. A small sensation of doubt grabs me; could Za have gone off-world and sold the embryos for a fortune? Betrayed our people?

The "calling" alert on my comm dispels those fears. I press the receiving button.

"Are the embryos secure?" I ask, straight to business.

"Yes, Minister," he answers. "But I have come to a distressing realization; who will train the clones? None of Fett's trainers have use of the Force, and neither do we. Who can we go to to train them?"

I paused. I hadn't taken this into account, not at the current moment.

"I will reach out to find a suitable trainer. In the meantime, proceed as you would with other batches. We will have a trainer soon enough."

I end the transmission and assure myself that we will have that trainer, whoever they may be.