Chapter 103: V.2-C.4│Attack of the Clones IV│
"Stupid, stupid, Ani." Aayla was muttering under her breath and seemed to be a little upset at her beloved.
Anakin had gone off and accepted the mission to protect the woman he had been betrothed to, while she had been left at the temple with nothing much to do. She was jealous and also disappointed, not in Anakin but in herself.
Disappointed in herself because while they had been in a romantic relationship for a few years now, she had been afraid to take the next step. It was a bit of an insecurity because of the way her people, her species was displayed in a sexual manner and she didn't want Anakin to think of her in the same way.
Not that he would but it was just herself that believed this way and while he had wanted to consummate their love, she had said she wasn't ready.
'The next time I have a chance, I will initiate that next step,' Aayla firmly resolved to herself about her future actions while simultaneously blushing heavily.
"Aayla?" Barriss called out to her as she was daydreaming about the special time she would share with Anakin getting over her jealousy quite easily, forgotten so fast. "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Yes, yes. I am fine." Aayla replied coming out of her daydream.
There were reasons as to why Anakin had not gotten into a initiate relationship with either Barriss or Shaak at this point.
Shaak was still clinging onto the Jedi code, even though she has slowly been coming out from her shell and her isolationist attitude didn't help anything. Aayla was fine with Anakin getting more girlfriends as long as they were connected to him the same way he was connected to them, through a Dyad.
She knew what it meant and she knew how it happened as without this, it meant he had no spiritual compatibility with another woman, and if he did and they were Force-sensitive it should automatically happen. Of course those weren't the only factors as Barriss and Shaak wasn't immediately connected to him, so there were other things to take into account.
At this she didn't mind sharing him, per say but she wouldn't accept him getting into a relationship with any woman not connected to him through this way.
With Barriss, she hadn't gotten into a special relationship with Anakin because she was still young but now she has come to a certain age, she was becoming bolder. But she wouldn't take the next step because Barriss believed she needed to reach a certain level first comparable to Anakin to be worthy.
This was just silly thinking, but she wouldn't advance their relationship because of this.
Aayla wasn't going to help either of the two however because this would take away from her time to spend with him, not that he didn't have time. The Council by this point was especially in favor of Anakin being able to do whatever he wanted at this point and while there was some mission they would get him to do because it was mandatory, they saw the benefit in him staying with the temple.
Specifically when it came to teaching younglings, as he was a very good teacher capable of elevating the abilities of the younglings in a short amount of time.
"Well? What are you waiting for, lets go get some practice in." Barriss spoke to her.
"Ok, ok. They were both within the training room.
[]
Obi-Wan within his own ship, had finally discovered the planet that was taken off of the Jedi archives.
He landed and entered through an entrance on this water filled planet, in the middle of the night with his hood up covering himself from the rainy, thundering weather.
"Master Jedi. The Prime Minister is expecting you." A female Kaminoan walked up to him as he entered and lowered his hood with a surprised look on his face.
"I am expected?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"Of course." The woman replied. "He is anxious to meet you. After all these years, we were beginning to think you weren't coming. Now, please. This way."
The facilities and architecture was shaped in an oval shape while being painted a bright white with lights that only increased the glaring look of purity.
"May I present Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino." The female Kaminoan had brought him to the leader of her people. "And this is Master Jedi..."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." He finished for her.
"I trust you are going to enjoy your stay." Lama said to Obi-Wan. "Please." He gestured for Obi-Wan to take a seat as a seat slowly came down from the ceiling. "And now to business. You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule. 200,000 units are ready with a million more well on the way."
"That's good news." Obi-Wan replied with some confusion but decided to go along with what the minister said.
"Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that his order will be met on time." Lama said.
"I'm sorry, Master..." Obi-Wan said with a questioning tone.
"Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?" Lama questioned.
"Master Sifo-Dyas was killed almost ten years ago." Obi-Wan replied.
"Oh, I am so sorry to hear that." Lama gave his condolences. "But I am sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him."
"The army?"
"Yes, a clone army, and I must say one of the finest we've ever created."
"Tell me, Prime Minister, when my master first contacted you about the army d-did he say who it was for?" Obi-Wan questioned near stumbling on his words.
"Of course he did. This army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself."
"That's why I'm here."
[]
Anakin and Padme had gone to the retreat Padme had wanted to go to.
"We used to come here for school retreat. We would swim to that island everyday. I love the water." Padme said as Anakin was following her lead side by side takin them to a terrace of sorts overlooking the ocean.
"We used to lie out on the sand and let the sun dry us and try to guess the names of the birds singing." She continued.
"That is quite nice, it is fortunate that you and your people get to afford such luxuries as there are those who suffer much more in the galaxy." Anakin replied.
"I know of this, and wish to somehow help those in need." Padme said with some conviction.
"It is admirable and a trait I like within you to help those in need but you cannot believe you are able to help absolutely everyone. You would exhaust yourself if you even tried."
"You can say, I have heard from some sources of your exploits throughout the galaxy even starting from your time as a child."
"So you have been stalking me?" Anakin lifted an eyebrow in response.
"W-What, why I would never. What do you take me for?" Padme pouts a little here and looks away to hide her embarrassment.
"Well, even if you didn't stalk me I am sure it was easy enough to find out things about me because I have been a public figure for quite some time now." Anakin continued giving her an out.
"Y-Yes. That was what I meant to say."
Anakin just smiled at her as she turned around and gazed into his eyes. "I am sure." She was drawn in and Padme decided, with no hesitation to grab him down to her level to kiss him before stopping herself.
"I am sorry, I shouldn't have done that." Padme turned away, embarrassed again at her actions rather than her words.
"Milady, I dont think I could ignore such an action. This could be misinterpreted as you having some kind of interest in me, and it makes me wonder when such thoughts had started to float into your head." Anakin said bringing her attention back to him.
"No, this was my fault, I shouldn't have done that because you have your vows, and I have my own duties..."
"Don't apologize for something like this, are you saying you regret your actions?" Anakin questioned her.
"No! I mean, I wanted to do so but I dont think a relationship between the two of us would work."
"Then you shouldn't have done something like this on impulse, milady. You have opened the gates and now you must accept the consequences to your actions." Anakin goes in and kisses her again but only does so for a few passionate seconds as she clings to him.
He shouldn't do this behind Aayla or even any of the other girls backs and should at least inform Aayla of what was happening.
"I think for now, that is enough." Anakin said as he looked into her eyes and she looked into his before lowering her head with a blush on her checks and the two would continue to ignore what had just happened.
[]
Back on Kamino, Obi-Wan was getting a grand tour of the facilities housing thousand upon thousands of clones.
"Very impressive." Obi-Wan said looking at his surroundings while trying to gain more information.
"I'd hoped you would be pleased." Lama said as he was a step behind Obi-Wan. "Clones can think creatively. You will find that they are immensely superior to droids. We take great pride in our combat education and training programs."
Looking over to some children of whom all looked the same Lama continued. "This group was created about five years ago."
"You mentioned growth acceleration." Obi-Wan said, curious about this subject.
"Oh, yes. It is essential. Otherwise a mature clone would take a lifetime to grow. Now we can do it in half the time."
"I see..."
"You also shouldn't have to worry about their lifespan, as it would of been a problem a few years ago, but due to some external factors and recent discovers as of the current situation, we were able to introduce a virus specifically made to make sure these clones are able to live longer." Lama Su said.
"Someone was kind enough and generous enough to make a donation so as to make sure these clones dont die young if they managed to survive being killed within a battlefield. Which would be highly unlikely because of our combat education and training." Lama continued.
"They are totally obedient taking an order without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent then their original host." Lama continued.
"And who was the original host?" Obi-Wan questioned.
"A bounty hunter named Jango Fett." Lama answered.
"And where is this bounty hinter now?"
"Oh? We keep him here. Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing: An unaltered clone of himself." Lama replied.
"Unaltered?"
"Curious, isn't it. Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it more docile and no growth acceleration."
"I should very much like to meet this Jango Fett." Obi-Wan said towards Lama but the woman behind him, answered instead.
"I would be very happy to arrange it for you."
After coming to the end of their journey they stop at a balcony that overlooks the fully grown and matured clone army. They seemed to be highly trained and were marching with perfect unity creating an impressive feat and display of their militaristic order.
"Magnificent, aren't they." Lama said as he gazed at the creation he had helped build.
"Wait a minute, you said something about a benefactor that donated a generous sum to just make sure the clones are able to live through their proper lifespans, did you not?" Obi-Wan questioned, curious about who this person was.
"I am afraid that if you wish to know of this person, you are unable to find out. It was an anonymous benefactor." Lama replied.
"I am sure that you would be able to tell me." Obi-Wan did a Jedi mind trick on both the female Kaminoan and on Lama Su himself.
"I am not able to tell you. We do not know who donated the money, but I am able to tell you of another person we have been working on a sperate project with." Lama said.
"Tell me." Obi-Wan continued to use the Jedi Mind trick.
"It was the military general from the Empyrean name Vader."
"Why would the Empyrean want to work with you guys?" Obi-Wan was interested as this may connect to the matter of the bounty hunter and this clone army.
"We assume that the Empyrean wants an army of its own and have been working on creating synthetic humans through genetic modification." Lama said before continuing. "We needed someone else we could make deals with but the clone army and the synthetics being made for the Empyrean are sperate matter all together."
"Thank you, that is all I needed to know." While it was strange for the Empyrean to want more people, that didn't mean it was connected to any other matter because the Empyrean so far has not broken their agreement with the Republic.
They also hadn't joined the CIS, so this piece of information doesn't matter.
What Obi-Wan failed to miss however was that the Empyrean were creating life as well, just like the clones and they were only starting to be made very recently which coincides with the development of how clones would be able to live their natural lifespans even with the use of the growth accelerant.
[]
Padme had invited Anakin out to a picnic that would have them in a romantic setting. Obviously she knew what she was doing but was somewhat hesitant to take whatever next step there was.
"I dont know."
"You do." Anakin stated simply.
"Well, yes but I believe that it would be unfair to compare them to you." Padmé was referring to the only other person she had developed a crush on. "I have only had eyes on you for the past few years, ever since I had laid my eyes on you, I-" She stopped becoming shy.
Moving on to another subject, Padme begins. "How do you feel about politicians?"
"Well, considering that I have to be like a politician myself. I guess that I like myself and that is it." Anakin answered.
"Is there no one else?" Padme asks a bit hopeful.
"Perhaps..." Anakin looks at Padme in a meaningful way, before moving the conversation along. "Do you think the system works? I am of course referring to the democracy of the Republic."
"Is there something wrong with it? Is there some way you would have it work instead?" She questioned him, curious because he does have a background that would put him in many situations that could get political.
"Well, from my experience, or at least from what I have gathered is that the system works best when the people in positions of power figure out the root cause of a problem and come up with a solution to fix it. Then they should complete what they have said." Anakin answers.
He continued. "I have seen it work best, in fact within the Empyrean."
"Of course there is no bias." Padme rolls her eyes here.
"There is, I admit but at least things are resolved, fixed or completed in some shape of form that benefits the people." Anakin replies thinking about all the hard work he has put into building up his empire.
"The Republic does exactly what you had described." Padme starts. "The trouble is that people dont always agree."
"Luckily enough, my mother is there to have the final say." Anakin says.
"Yes, she is very wise, a very good and capable leader." Padme smiles thinking about Shmi.
"Yeah, I have heard some thing about how you and my mother are quite the good friends. The best of friends in fact." Anakin smiles teasing her.
"Well... We sort have a long standing communication between the two of us."
"It would seem that you have meet my parent, then is it my turn to met yours." Anakin looks at her with a smirk.
"Stop!" She cutely smiles and turns away now shy.
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