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Post by Phoenix on Nov 23, 2005 16:45:33 GMT -5
(The Kamino Capital and home to the Republic's cloning factories)
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Post by SushiKnight on Nov 23, 2005 18:49:46 GMT -5
Jawha Su, the Prime Minister of Kamino watched as the new generation of Jango Fett's clones prepared for battle. Endless training in the killing arts. The arts of stealth, infilitration, five hundred and sixteen different ways to kill a sentient being, ranging from hand-to-hand in the Echani martial arts to planetary bombardment from high-orbit.
The young men trained in zero-g combat, long-range sniping and artillery maneuvers.
Underwater combats, covert insertions and air drops.
If he had been human, Su might have felt some sympathy for the men. Bred only to fight and die in combat. What kind of a life was that?
But being Kaminoan, and a clone himself, he saw them as perfection itself. Never having to guess or struggle to find their place in life. They were trained to be the best soldiers in the galaxy.
And they were.
The small mouth of the graceful amphibion curved into a small smile.
"Ka'rta tor, indeed."
He then turned around and went back to his office. He had no idea where the credits were coming from to build this army, but they were making his planet rich once more.
On the killing floor the clone designated X-01 looked around at his peers. He was 12 years old. They were six. Yet they looked the same, barring the minor physical scars that they had accumulated in their lifespans.
He did not know the reason why the Kaminoans had not gifted him with the advanced growth of the others. He was, at this point in his life, however, much smarter than them, having been the recipient of the accelerated learning modification that all GAR clones recieved.
Where they were just learning the intermediate forms of the Echani arts, he had already mastered them, including the etiquette rituals. He was also a student of Teras Kasi and K'tara.
He could break down a DC-17m blaster into its comonent parts in thirty seconds and reassemble them in fourty-five.
He was also these Echani students' sensei.
At the moment he was teaching them to work together, in groups of four to take down a superior oppenent.
This batch of clones, designated RC-33xx were destined for the elite commando training.
He'd killed five of them so far.
"You're doing it wrong. You strike here, here and here simultaniously. Then you sweep here and grapple here. Finally you execute a strike here at the base of the neck to incapacitate or kill.
"Finally, confirm the kill with a vibroblade. Make sure they're dead.
"Training's over for the day. Report to your commanders for further orders. Dismissed."
He watched the young clones walk away. Droids came to remove the bodies.
Clone training was rough. Deadly. But then so was war. So was life.
After sending the RCs on their way he went over to the pod where the ARCs - Advanced Recon Commandos trained.
They were the ones he was most like. Still aged in accelleration, they, like him, had no loyalty programming, no docility tampering. Safe for their decreased lifespans and genetically modified capacity for learning, they were what he was - almost pure Jango.
He watched the men train. They'd been decanted around the time that he was, but they already looked in their mid-twenties.
One of them, Hash, had learned the deadly arts along side him. He smiled as he watched his "older" brother fight.
A Kaminoan Overseer flew overhead in a hoverpod. The young man wondered why the ARCs hadn't been activated yet. Their lesser brothers were out there right now, gaining valuable combat experience while all the ARCs were still stuck here on Tipoca city, training.
It wasn't fair.
But such was the life of a clone.
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Post by SushiKnight on Dec 21, 2005 21:07:59 GMT -5
The Mandalore burst from the starlines of hyperspace like it was being ejected from the cavernous gut of a space slug. When the reversion to realspace was complete the Nautolan captain of the Executor-class Star Destroyer turned to the two men standing behind him.
One was nearly two metres tall, with close-cropped black hair, brown eyes and dark skin. He wore faded grey armour fletched with green. The armour was chipped, nicked and gouged from the seemingly endless close encounters he had had. The green paint was chipped and faded, no longer the rich forest colour it once was. There was a jagged scar that ran down the left side of his face, still swollen and red. A wound that had never yet had a chance to heal - a souvenir from his latest trip to Coruscant, where it seemed like he'd had to fight his way through the entirety of the opposing Sith army.
This man's callsign was Dix. He was a clone commando.
The other's name was Kalo. He was a Jedi Knight and a General in the reconstituted Grand Army of the Republic.
The commando, a Lieutenant and nominal Clone commander of the mission to Kamino spoke to the Captain.
[glow=green,2,300]Captain Jasto, please inform Prime Minister Jahwa Su's office that the General and I are here to preform an inspection of the troops. Indicate also we wish to evaluate the combat readiness of the Advance Recon Commando Troopers.[/glow]
The Captain nodded and turned to his communications officer. "Do it, Ms. Grady."
"Aye, aye, Captain."
"RSD Mandalore to Kaminoan athorities, please be informed we are entering high orbit and will be sending a shuttle down..."
Dix tuned out the rest of what the young officer was saying, instead turning to the General.
[glow=green,2,300]Have you ever seen an ARC trooper fight before, General? I have only once, outside of training on Kamino. His name was Alpha, during the first Clone Wars... a friend to General Kenobi, so I was told.
He was training with General Skywalker on the Outer Rim world of Besshyk, during the Outer Rim sieges. My original squad and I were there to suppliment Alpha and the regular CTs. Anyway, Alpha and the General were sparring... even without the Force, Alpha managed to nearly best General Skywalker... But, of course, as the histories show, nothing could beat Skywalker.[/glow]
The clone commando shook his head in disbelief.
[glow=green,2,300]It was definately a fight to see, Sir.[/glow]
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Post by Halcyon on Dec 27, 2005 13:45:29 GMT -5
Clone Trooper TO-D311 sat with his brothers checking over their gear. He had already disassembled his DC-15 and was now in the process of putting his it's intricate parts back together. It had never taken him or his brothers long to check their gear, but this time though exactly the same was still different.
"Sarge, how long do you think until we're activated."
Tod, as he was known among his brothers looked at himself, only it wasn't him. He stood slightly different, talked different and even smelled subtly different, but to an outsider would have looked exactly the same. But their was one great similarity they were all ARC Troopers, bred to be the best warriors. This batch was an experimental group in genetic engineering. To the best of their knowledge they were the only ones in existence.
"I don't know, couldn't tell you."
Tod placed his armor on his rack and used the sensor embedded in his glove to scan his suit before putting it back on. 2 minutes and 52 seconds longer than usual, but still swift enough.
He spoke one last time, "I just hope it's soon."
His brother replied, "Yeah, me too."
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Post by SushiKnight on Dec 27, 2005 19:19:23 GMT -5
The shuttle trip from the Mandalore to Tipoca city was a short one. Dix and his squad made the trip in silence, breaking it only to adjust the straps and clips on their katarn armour.
The shuttle landed and the squad put their helmets on to protect themselves from the pounding rain.
Dix stepped out, leading the way.
Inside the city everything was pristine and white. A Kaminoan female nodded in greeting.
[glow=green,2,300]Republic inspection team, Lieutenant RC-Three-three-seven-eight in command. We wish to inspect the ARC troopers first.[/glow]
"Of course, Lieutenant. This way please. Is your Jedi General accompaning you?"
[glow=green,2,300]He'll come when he comes. My instructions are to prepare the ARCs for his arrival.[/glow]
The Kaminoan lead the Roughnecks to where the ARCs were training. One group of them, obviously a squad from the way they talked and joked with each other was just putting the last of their armour in place.
ARC trooper armour was subtly different from both the commando armour that Dix and his team wore, and the armour that the regular forces wore. Though it was still white, it bore more of a resemblance to the armour worn by the Mandalorian supercommandos of ages past.
Dix walked over to the one identified with Sergeant's markings.
[glow=green,2,300]Good afternoon, Sergeant. I am Lieutenant RC-Three-three-seven-eight, officer in charge of Republic SO BDE. We have a Jedi General arriving shortly who wishes to see your men in action. I'm here to make sure they're ready when he gets here.[/glow]
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Post by Halcyon on Dec 28, 2005 9:32:18 GMT -5
The ARC saluted to the Lieutenant.
"I am Sergeant TO-D311 I lead Zeta and Kappa Squad, though in squad breakdowns the Corporal over there leads Kappa while I have Zeta. We'd be much obliged to show you what we're capable of."
He signaled off to the squads to form up by ranks.
"Would you like to meet the boys?"
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Post by SushiKnight on Dec 29, 2005 22:35:22 GMT -5
[glow=green,2,300]I'd love to meet your squad, Sergeant. Allow me to briefly introduce mine: Corporal Tama Zend, Lance Corporal Zerk Ma'atoa, and Privates Anna Jance and Drake Handon.[/glow]
The four members of Dix's squad took off their helmets and nodded to the Sergeant when their names were called.
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 4, 2006 16:02:32 GMT -5
The Sergeant saluted to each of the Lieutenant's squadmates, he seemed surprise that they weren't clones like he and the Lieutenant, but he quickly recovered.
"Good to meet you."
He started at the first of his troopers pausing briefly between the troopers to allow the Lieutenant time to greet and inspect his soldiers, "This is my second in command sometime leader of Kappa, Corporal TO-D312."
Quickly moving on he went on to his next 2 troopers, "These 2 are Lance Corporals TO-D313 and TO-D314 our snipers for Zeta and Kappa respectively. The next 2 are Lance Corporal TO-D315 and Private TO-D316 both are our demolitions expert and Private TO-D316 is also one of our pilots and Lance Corporal TO-D315 being are leading field medic."
He moved onto the last 2 of his squad, "These are Privates TO-D317 and TO-D317b are techies with TO-D317 being our second pilot and TO-D317b being our backup field medic."
He paused for a second then quickly resumed speaking in order to explain the numbers, "There was a slight error, a rare one I'm told, where one of the cloning tanks created 2 clones at the same time. In the squads they are known as Twin and Fluke respectively."
Fluke quickly opened his mouth, "It's because I wasn't expected to survive. The Kaminoans created us as an experimental group and made a slight mistake in the process. I actually have a scar that shows where they operated on me and Twin to seperate us. Want to see it?"
The Sergeant sighed, he was always the first to talk, "I'm sure the Lieutenant doesn't want to see your scar." He turned back to the Lieutenant, "As you can see he's also the clown of the group."
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 6, 2006 1:08:11 GMT -5
[glow=green,2,300]Good to meet you all. Sergeant. Lets see what your men can do.[/glow]
Dix and his squad stepped back off of the killing floor to watch the Advanced Recon Commandos show what they were capable of.
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 6, 2006 16:34:50 GMT -5
Tod nodded and began to gesture but stopped suddenly and turned back around.
"Sounds good but I got a better idea. How would you like to engage in a oh....friendly competition against Zeta?"
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 7, 2006 1:41:07 GMT -5
Dix grinned ferally.
[glow=green,2,300]A group of untested Advanced Recon Commandos against an aging RC and his non-clone squad, all battle-hardened and rightly regarded as the toughest hombres in the Grand Army today?[/glow]
Dix chuckled and leaned back to look at the soldiers under his command, they all grinned back.
[glow=green,2,300]Alright, Sergeant. You got yourselves a competition. One thing though... I'm wondering, should we fight with one arm tied behind our backs? You know, to make it fair and all?[/glow]
Dix's eyes glimmered with an animalistic playfullness as he put just the slightest stress on the word "fair".
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 9, 2006 15:52:00 GMT -5
Tod smiled viciously underneath his helmet at the RC Lieutenant, "While we're at it would you like us each cut of our right leg to make a bit easier for you. I mean at your age you could keel over at any minute."
He signaled off his Zeta squad to form up while Kappa backed off the field, "We're ready when you are old man," spoke Tod tauntingly, "How does the old Killing House sound?"
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 10, 2006 3:09:17 GMT -5
Private Jance stepped between the two clones, placing a hand on each of their chestplates, but with a small wink at Dix.
"Boys, boys, boys. Cool down the testosterone, hey? Sargent, we'll get a friendly little competition going, and then Dix, we'll kick their shiney little asses. Okay?"
Dix just shook his head at Jance.
[glow=green,2,300]No, Sargent, I think maybe Jance is right. It'll probably be just about even. But watch carefully - you might learn a thing or two.
Since we're both needed for the war effort though, we'll keep it to non-lethal means. Stun blasters and grenades only.[/glow]
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 11, 2006 15:13:18 GMT -5
Tod nodded in agreement. The Lieutenant had a point, killing each other would probaly be a waste of time and result in 2 dead squads, one of a valuable battle hardened squad and the other of a potentially valuable ARC squad.
"Alright, sounds like a plan. Zeta is ready as soon as you are, Lieutenant" responded Tod with a salute.
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 11, 2006 16:56:43 GMT -5
Dix returned the salute, then started to sweep his had towards the Killing Floor as he put his helmet back on his head.
Just then, however, his comlink went off with the tone reserved for true emergencies.
He listened to the report coming in. When it was over, he looked over at the ARC Sargent.
[glow=green,2,300]Well, Sargent, we're going to have to call off our little competition. Seems Senior Jedi General Kalo Darken is in need of our assistance. We're shipping out immediately.
Squads! Form up! Prepare to embark for Nar Shadaa![/glow]
The Lieutenant turned around and started to quick march back to the shuttle that had taken him and his squad to the surface of Kamino. The Kaminoan who had led them there jogged alongside him and his squad.
[glow=green,2,300]We're calling the inspection tour short. Give the Republic's respects to your Prime Minister. We've got a job to do. I'm taking the ARCs with me. They've been activated.[/glow]
---
The clone known as X-01 watched the commandos and ARCs leave Tipoca city and felt jealous of them. But such was his fate. Too small yet to fight, his time was coming. But it was not now.
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 11, 2006 17:08:24 GMT -5
OOC: Sweet. Finally good old fashion gun tooting action.
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 11, 2006 17:17:21 GMT -5
OOC: You coming?
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Post by SushiKnight on Jan 14, 2006 0:53:34 GMT -5
OOC: I'm gonna assume you're coming, okay Hal?
Dix and company hustled quickly into the shuttle, strapping in with practice prescion. Dix nodded to the empty spots for Tod and his two squads to sit down. When they were seated, the Lieutenant pounded on the hatch of the cockpit.
[glow=green,2,300]Take us up, pilot! I want us onboard the Mandalore yesterday![/glow]
Dix settled back as the repulsorlifts kicked it, then shook a bit within the combat restraints as the powerful ion drives kicked into full gear to send the shuttle rocketing through the atmosphere.
[glow=green,2,300]We're on our way to Nar Shaddaa. Apparently General Darken is in a bit of trouble. We've got a lock on his Jedi locator beacon. Hopefully it's still on his person.
We'll hit hard around its location and hopefully be able to exfiltrate him immediately. If, however, he's not at the site of his LB, we'll start hard, fast perimiter sweeps, spirialling outwards until we find him.
We have to be careful though - Nar Shaddaa is technically Hutt space, though, of course, the Hutts pretty much ignore what goes on on the smuggler's moon anyway, as long as they get their cut.
Any questions? Roughnecks? Sargent?[/glow]
The shuttle hit the floor of the landing bay of the Mandalore hard.
The super star destroyer was already moving into a hyperspace escape vector when the doors of the shuttle bay closed and the two teams of elite warriors were exiting the shuttle.
[glow=green,2,300]I'll anwser questions on the way to your quarters, Sargent. It's a fourty-eight hour journey to Nar Shaddaa. It'll give us plenty of time to discuss tactics.[/glow]
*move Dix, Roughnecks and ARC troopers to Nar Shadaa*
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Post by Halcyon on Jan 16, 2006 10:10:28 GMT -5
OOC: Sorry, had a crappy week and couldn't get online.
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Post by SushiKnight on Feb 14, 2006 15:36:34 GMT -5
The infiltrator slipped through the patrol orbits of the two star destroyers.
The pilot's hands danced over the control screens of the piloting interface with practiced ease and confidence.
Without even leaving a subspace ripple that could be detected by the Republic vessels' sensors, the cloaked transport slipped below onto a docking ramp at Tipoca city.
Once landed, a young man, apparently in his early thirties stepped out. He was wearing black armour and robes, a lightsaber hung at his belt.
His face was unmasked and covered in a neatly trimmed, sandy-coloured beard.
A Kaminoan technician met him at the door, and smiled.
"Welcome back to Kamino, Master Toth. I trust our clones are doing well?"
[shadow=red,left,300]They're doing perfectly, Technician Vao. I have no complaints so far - the genome is perfect for my needs. But its time to begin preperations for the next phase.[/shadow]
There was no need for Jacen to say any more. Technician Vao knew exactly what he meant and the computer codes that would put such orders into effect.
"I trust that the Council is aware of this order?"
[shadow=red,left,300]They asked me to tell you themselves, Technician.[/shadow]
"Very well, I will begin the count-down as soon as you've left orbit.
"May the Force be with you."
Jacen smiled at the traditional Jedi fare-thee-well.
[shadow=red,left,300]And with you, Technician.[/shadow]
It was a shame that Jacen couldn't reveal his true intentions to the Kaminoans - productivity would be increased if he didn't have to lead them through a series of blinds.
Unfortunately, there was the chance that a Jedi might actually question what was going on, so even those doing the training had to remain ignorant of its purpose.
[shadow=red,left,300]Now... to find Valador...[/shadow]
With the same stealth that had gotten him to Kamino's surface, Jacen Toth left and entered hyperspace.
[shadow=red,left,300]The Jedi will be destroyed.[/shadow]
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