And onto you I giveth my children

[Miss Blonde]

Cartao two years ago.

Spaarti headquarters on the jungle planet of Cartao was going through a bit of a rainy season, thunder cracked and wind ripped in every which way forcing trees to bend and topple to the ground. It was dead of night when the call was made, it was time for change. The Clone Army produced by Spaarti Creations was still in its infancy, the clones had been born into healthy bodies of ten year old children over the course of a year, their memories being flash trained with the basics. Eating, speaking, breathing, they wouldn't be taught how to be soldiers through crummy flash memories. They would be trained through some of the most experienced warriors in the galaxy. But that was all in time, for now they were to be cared for by their droids and learn the basics of shooting and marching.

"I'll see you in twenty. Yes. Of course, discretion is key. I understand, ok. Bye." Hanging up her communicator Patricia sat back in her chair and sighed knowing full well what was about to go down.

She was waiting, waiting for one of the most powerful people in the galaxy to arrive at her doorstep to do what must be done. Sometimes you couldn't always make the right choice to win a fight, sometimes you had to play dirty, and sometimes you had do what was best. So Patricia was going to do what was best. Taking a turbo lift down to the main floor she slipped on a hooded robe and walked outside into the wind and rain of the world to wait on the landing pad.

A loud crack of thunder whipped the air and lighting flashed against the blonde's face lighting up her eyes as she waited.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Per usual protocol, Lasedri had done a switchover between her official CR90 corvette, Republic One, and her less official Antilles-class corvette, Intangible. Misdirection was key for this mission, even beyond what most missions may require. She was visiting Cartao, and that was not in the least bit suspicious to some.

The winds had changed for the Republic--though not in terms of victory versus retreat. No, it was more along the lines of change in mindset and tenacity. The Republic Defense Forces were weary, and the people of the Galactic Republic were losing hope. Close calls were not enough. The Republic needed results. And Geneviève needed to prove she had the results to give. Six years as Prime Minister and two prior as the Chief of Senate had shown little territorial gain for the nation. They needed a surge of some sort. But how could she deliver?

Gen knew one option. And it was one she would rather not commit to, with both personally and politically ethical constraints. This might be a move praised or bemoaned for ages to come. It was not what she wanted. But she believe that, at this point, it was what she needed; they needed.

It would not be the happiest of reunions with her unpredictable blonde friend. But at least it was a friend. Gen had too few of those and unlimited opponents. So, upon the touchdown of her starship, the Prime Minister tried her best to produce a worthy smile for the occasion. She needed practice in that. But it was the thought that counted. "I suppose I couldn't stay away too long from my bunny buddy," she said as she stepped down the boarding ramp in her black coat from yesteryear. "I'm going to have to kill you now. You've seen too much--like, my tits."

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"And your smile." Patricia said with a slight humorous scoff at the end.

"It's good to see you again Gen, I'm sorry it couldn't be under better conditions." Patrica approached the woman and placed a hand over her shoulder and smiled a more soft and natural smile.

Lightning cracked like the whip of a slave driver and thunder boomed as rain and wind continued to dominate the ground soaking the landing pad and everyone on it. Taking note of that the woman looked back to Gen and spoke in a firm but friendly tone.

"Let's go inside, and of course surveillance videos have been shut down for the time being." Patricia said knowing that discretion was key to this meeting.

Sliding her hand down Gen's back reaching the small of it she began to walk with her friend towards the massive facility that was the Spaarti cloning labs of Cartao. Another pang of thunder boomed and Patricia and Gen made it into the lobby of the massive place.

"I know this is important for you, so we can skip the small talk and come back to it at dinner." Patricia said as she had an assistant take her coat and Gen's.

"I'm from Zeltros, I fought for the republic multiple times. On Manaan against the Sith Empire, and again against the One Sith. I know that if they have their way my home will be destroyed again from them. I lost my parents on that day." Patricia heaved a soft sigh then began to escort Gen towards a turbo lift.

"That's why I'm not asking for profit, if this is successful and what is necessary is done, in return I need the ability to build more facilities for the coming storm." Patricia said as she pushed a button on the lift and watched the doors open, waiting for gen to go inside.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

She felt like they were both miraculously more open and not uptight for how things had gone in the past. Sure, they had been friends, but sometimes there were things that got between them--like bunny outfits. Gen might never forgive her for that, even if they could look back on it and laugh at this point. There were some things that Lasedri simply did not want to be considered intrinsic to her history. It needed to stay between the two of them. And Solan. At that thought, the Prime Minister sighed.

It was of utmost comfort to Geneviève to know that recording devices were deactivated. Even after years serving in public office, she just could not get over that itch in the back of her mind whenever she was on camera. She had managed to suppress her fears by this time, obviously, but that did not mean they had completely vanished.

Gen was not used to being ushered and served like she was now. Sure, she had the privilege of it being at the head of the Republic and all, but it was not in her personality to allow people to do that. She was her own person, and she had too much pride to let people do something so simple as to take her coat for her. But today was different. There was nothing worth fighting over when it came to hospitality. They had to worry about fighting the Sith instead.

She listened to Patricia's story--one she had not heard before. To be fair, Gen had never shared much about her earlier life with the blonde, so set in her private and independent ways. But she sympathized. She was fighting for Chandrila herself. They were both fighting for home. "Zeltros--that explains a lot..." Gen commented as she followed her friend into the elevator. "Show me what you got. And we'll damn the Sith to the suns."

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"Heh, yeah." Patricia said responding to her friend on the little Zeltros comment.

In truth she was quite proud of where she hailed from. Booze, sex, partying, and other fun activities was something she grew up with as a teenager and young adult, and part of that really helped her as a business woman now of days. It taught her to have fun with what you do, make the most of it. But there was more to do right now than reminiscing about her home, there was business at hand.

"Gladly" Patricia said with a slight wolffish grin as she stepped into the lift.

The doors closed and the lift began to move up into the higher parts of the corporate headquarters. After a few moments the express lift stopped and the doors opened to a long open hallway that looked out to a very interesting sight.

"This is incubation tunnel A zero zero zero fifty three." Patricia said as she stepped out into the hallway with gen.

In a circular shaft around them that went down into the earth almost as far as the eye could see, well over a million Spaarti cloning cylinders filled with children huddled in fetal positions within their tanks. Flying droids passed them provided by LOOM checking on the children, monitoring them, and ensuring their health and survival. The entire sight was rather awe inspiring.

"This is one of the many cloning tunnels we have here, you wanna spit over the side?!" Patricia said with almost a child like enthusiasm.

"I did it all the time when I took over. Anyways this is bravo wave, they are reaching their birth day in a few months. Numbering at about two hundred and fifty million. Alpha wave which is right up here in klick or so are reaching the end of their training matrix." Patricia said as she continued to walk through the bridge.

"Currently it takes about five years to have a wave finished. Alpha will be finished within a year or two and we'll be ready for launch. Any questions so far? Or would you like to move on." Patricia asked kindly.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen leaned just enough to peer over the railing of the catwalks but not actually enough to tilt her torso outside the bounds. It was a massive facility judging solely by what she could see. Who knew what was further down those depths? "I'll leave the spitting to you."

Cloning brought so many questions to Gen's mind, and would prompt so much criticism from the Republic for sure. Did they need this? Maybe. Likely. They needed something that would work. But was it right? Was it right to conscript and literally breed sentient beings to do nothing but fight until they died? They were grown to kill and grown to suffer. Or did they know suffering? What made a clone different from anyone else? Five years of life was all they had before they would be marched off to the cruelest war the galaxy had seen in centuries. "Do they know?" she asked. "Are they aware of their mission? Are they treated well?"

Were they slaves?

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"When I first got into this business it was morally grey to me and I had a hard time grasping it. But there's one thing that I always told myself when I started creating the army." Patricia said calmly as she stood side by side with Gen.

"I'd never have them do anything I haven't done before. This was my choice of course, but in a way this is theirs as well. When they are grown they are grown wanting to fight, wanting to seek glory and war. The soldiers would also simply naturally want it. Our template that was used for the male was the type of person who genetically was predisposed to war." Patricia gave Gen a pat on the back and would quickly answer her questions.

"Yes, yes, and yes. What clone of preliat mantis wouldn't want to fight sith?" Patricia said with a slight chuckle.

Stepping away from Gen she quickly began to walk past the bridge and towards the door that lead to the other side. Patricia pressed a few buttons and the door slid open to reveal another hallway that lead down for about a thousand meters or so. Around the bridge as well were more tunnels growing clones. Millions of them simply waiting to be brought into life to achieve glory and kill sith.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Gen could appreciate Patricia's honesty in respect to the moral concerns. Not that it made Gen feel any more justified with resorting to this sort of thing. Patricia may have technically given the men her company was raising a choice, but they had already been hardwired and programmed for war before they would even be able to regard themselves as accountable for their own actions. How was this different from brainwashing?

The Republic's leader stopped in her tracks as the blonde spy-turned-businesswoman patted her on the back. "Mantis?" she repeated, unsure if she was matching the name to the right person. "When you say Mantis... do you mean the Mantis? The man who killed Dredge?" It was a big galaxy. There could be trillions of people named Mantis, and perhaps a few thousand of them named Preliat. But there was only one Dredge, and only one Mantis who had killed the Dredge.

If they were clones of that man... "How the frakking heck did you get Preliat Mantis?" Gen muttered as she followed along the suspended pathway and into the next chamber with her shorter comrade. Morals aside, these clones might be great after all.

But there were those morals...

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"The one and only." Patricia said as she walked with her friend down the hall past more Spaarti cloning chambers.

"He volunteered, we set up an ad and he answered. The problem we had with him was his lone wolf persona, but teaching the clones to work as a team from birth has really negated that rebellious side that Preliat has." Patricia said as they began to reach the end.

"So we simply had to have him, and now we have armies worth of one of the finest warriors in the galaxy." Reaching the last door Patricia swung past Gen and stood in front of her.

"I can sense you still feel uneasy about this, hopefully this will sway you completely." She said stepping out of her way and pressing a few buttons on a keypad.

The twin doors slid open and revealed a balcony that lead out into the rain which had calmed itself into a light sprinkle. The sound of a mandolorian war drum beating a marching cadence was the first thing to be heard, taking place of the thunder that was now absent. As gen were to move closer she would be able to see rows upon rows of Preliat troopers dressed in full battle armor and weapons marching then moving into parade rest facing to her right.

"Aaatteen-tion!" A strong voice said over a speaker system.

With the order given the unifying sound of metal and boots shifting all in unison came together in a roar as the troopers shifted into attention.

"Riiiiiight Face!" The man said over the speakers once more.

The sound of boots once more shifted as heels hit the ground like thunder in one perfect movement. The armies faced Gen and Patricia spoke quietly.

"This is Legion One and Two. Part of wave one. Total numbers reaching upwards in the hundreds of millions. All of which will be ready within a year." Patricia said to gen with a smile.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

There was probably epic music playing in the background right about the time of this turn in the scene. In fact, Geneviève could even imagine the sound of a powerful, ominous march tune that portrayed what she beheld before her. This massive army of clones signified an untapped power that no one should ever consider lightly. A bottled military of one man. The were literally born for this.

"I'm afraid my feelings don't matter much at this point. They never did, otherwise I would not have come today at all." She purese her lips and continued to observe the maneuvers and exercises carried out by the troopers-in-waiting, their uniformity almost uncanny. Every trooper wore either the faceless mask of their signature helmets, or wore the face of the man the galaxy knew as Preliat Frakking Mantis.These were men of a sort that had no variance, yet one might never be able to quite define with regards to ethics. They were men in every sense, yet they were no ordinary men; difficult to classify. And they could all be hers for the low-low price of free. "I swore to do what I must to defend the Republic."

Damn.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"I'm happy to facilitate what is necessary. I have multiple corporations providing funding for these clones, including my own. Now with that in mind I'm not asking the republic to give me profit, I can do that by selling other products and Ysalamir to the galaxy as a whole. I just need additional funding for the program, say thirty percent, my company and the corporate alliance will handle the rest." Patricia gave her terms and looked over to a few security guards standing guard by the doors they had walked out of.

"Pooort-Arms!" the voice on the speaker system said loudly.

The clones shifted, their rifles moving in unison as they pushed up their bodies until they all stood as a singular solid wall of metal and men.

"You will of course have access to our other projects, appearance changing kits for your agents, genetic hardening injections for workers and soldiers, cloning technologies for whatever purposes. This will ensure that the republic is getting what they need out of Spaarti. If this is all agreeable I will have Waldo bring up the contract." Patricia grabbed her communicator and gave gen a nod to simply let her know if she was ready to sign.

"Would you like to meet them?" Patricia asked off hand.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"What do you expect me to say at this point, Garter?" she asked, hands slipping into her pockets as she watched the parade. Her eyes were distant and each collective footfall of a thousand men failed to faze her as she sought the depths of her own mind. "Damned if I do; damned if I don't. But I'd rather be damned standing up.

She broke her glassy musing and turned to face her friend, a reluctant smirk sneaking up the corner of her lips. There was no correct answer to this situation. This deed was done in her book. Was the Republic worth saving enough to compromise ethics like this? To accept a breed of men made for nothing but war? Sure, they had a choice, technically. Patricia was honest if she was nothing else. But did they know they had the ability to say no; to see a different sort of life? And, again, was the Republic worth this? Yes.

"Yes, I'd like to meet them." She withdrew one of her hands from her coat pockets and gestured with open palm towards the floor and the soldiers below. "Lead the way."

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"Excellent, I'll send for Waldo." Patricia said with a smile on her face.

Turning around the doors behind them opened and Patricia and Gen made their way off the balcony to head to a nearby turbolift. Patricia in all honesty had told the clones a day like this would come, where they would be told to fight a war that in a way was theirs. Spaarti would never be able to flourish underneath the rule of the One Sith, a totalitarian government such as their own would instantly pull any notion of a clone army that could stack up to their own. So better to throw in with the under dog to help even the odds and make sure business could go on as normal rather than sitting back and waiting for the Sith to knock on your front door.

"You'll get to meet the Beta Clones, they've fully matured and are ready to be shipped out. The clones you saw are still in training, however you will of course get to meet them if you wish." Patricia said as they stood in front of the turbolift.

The doors on the lift opened and a small nerdy looking man with blonde hair and thick glasses stood there holding a data pad skimming through everything to ensure it was in tip top shape. The man visibly jumped when the doors opened and sighed in relief when he saw it was his boss.

"You must be Genevieve, Patricia has told me so much about you" He said as he handed the woman the contract ready for E signature.

"Everything is there, plain and simple. We'll send more paperwork for clone release forms and living conditions within the next few days. But what you're looking at right now is the bare bones of everything." Waldo said while making room for the two women.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Beta clones, eh? Geneviève wondered who the poor Alpha saps were that must have been not as good--or perhaps even faulty--in one way or another. She pressed her lips together and tried to eradicate the thoughts from her mind, though it seemed like it was becoming more difficult with each step they took closer to the men. It was becoming harder to simply write this off as a carefully implemented project and ignore the fact that this was something of an experiment.

Where was Waldo? Who was this Waldo? Gen could have done with a little more explaining about this person, but it was Patricia and she hardly ever allowed time for explaining things. The Prime Minister recalled how much choice she had in the matter of getting dressed in some wacky bunny outfit in order to nab some psycho slaver kingpin. The plan had worked, sure--problem solved. But Gen felt a lot less dignified that day, and she wondered if she would regret this deal as well. But she took the pad with the contract outlined anyway, nodding slightly at this Waldo guy in confirmation that yes, she was Geneviève. The Geneviève.

"Plain and simple..." she repeated, eyeing the notes and guidelines to the contract. "So how is it that we can be assured that they'll be loyal to the Republic and not Spaarti foremost? I appreciate you a lot, Patricia, but what do they really feel for a Republic they have never really known outside these walls?" And what if they all ran away the moment they were commissioned? This clone scheme sounded like it could be unwieldy.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"Biochips." She stated the single word.

"We have two biochips in the head of each clone, one is a pre programmed chip that upon activation of a code word you tell the clone what you want them to be loyal to, and then utter the code word again and it's locked for good. The clone will be loyal like no other to their commanding officers, generals, republic..." She lead off for a bit.

"You." She said with almost a smooth oily snake skin voice.

"The second chip is an inhibitor that prevents a clone from firing on unarmed civilians that don't pose a threat. However this can be deactivated with another code word, I only say this now and it's the biggest secret Spaarti has. So once you sign away I'll let you know what that is." She skimmed through the datapad a bit and looked up at the taller woman.

"I'm not some hack Gen, you can trust me. Besides, I only have the republic's best interest at heart." She said placing a hand on the small of her friends back.

Now Patricia wasn't the evil, but there was some saying about making a deal with a devil in a red dress. She was a business woman now and her time in the Ravens and corporate world had changed her deeply, she was calculating and her agent training taught her how to play on emotions. What was about to happen between these three people, in this tiny elevator would alter the fate of the Galaxy as people knew it.

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

Biochips. Did they not completely contradict the entire premise of an independent-thinking group of men? Was this not destroying any case for free will that had thus far been advertised to her? The power one could acquire through use of these implants and a single word of command--it would effectively make the clones all slaves, no matter how lightly one put it.

But it could also make one all but invincible. These were some of the most superior humans alive, perhaps not in individual strength, but in the unity of their minds and their stellar training. They were the elite soldiers. And now they were about to be handed to her, wrapped up in paper and bow. Geneviève would soon be their ultimate master. And the thought of that weighed heavily on her mind.

I am righteous.

She was responsible. She was saving the Republic. She was Saint Geneviève, the Rescuer of the Republic, the Potent Prime Minister, the Judge and the Jury of the Sith and the forces of evil at large. Only she could control power and distribute it correctly. This was what she had been bred for.

The Republic's best interests at heart, eh? "Sure you do... Sure you do..." Gen grimaced, not actually certain whether Patricia was lying or not. But she needed something. The Republic could not sustain itself forever against the wall.

She signed her name. And possibly her soul.

[member="Patricia Susan Garter"]

 

[Miss Blonde]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]

"I was born on a republic world, and as you know I still contribute arms and funds to the alliance. I'm your friend Gen, I wouldn't try to hurt you." Patricia said as the shorter woman put her head on the woman's shoulder.

"I'll get those chips activated, the code phrase is Echo Oscar Greater Good sixty six." She said with a comforting hand rubbing on gen's back.

Gently grabbing the data pad gently Patricia smiled at gen and sent the contract up and away. The bio inhibitor chips in the clones would be programmed to hold loyalty to Patricia of course, and Genevieve. To them her word would be to a loving mother giving orders to faithful children. They would never betray her, lie to her, or hurt her. They still retained their will to question her orders, but at the end of the day the chip would subtly influence their minds chemistry to see that her way was the right way. But Gen didn't need to know that, these clones after all were bred for fighting and when their enlistment was over gen had the option to temporally disable the chips to let them make their own choices.

"I'll make sure everything is taken care of. You just go do your job and within two years, you'll have your army." Patricia said with a smile and handed the pad to her assistant Waldo.