Mittens Chronicles

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: The Former Republic Military Garrison, Contruum

Live subjects for his experiments were something that was hard to come by but the aftermath of a vicious war provided him a rare opportunity. It was not unusual for soldiers to be wrongly listed as killed in action that he can rescue and use. Republic or Sith, Konrad didn’t care - he took what he could. Armed with a DataPad, Konrad strolled around what remained of the Republic garrison as he carefully listened to any signs of life.

Konrad entered the garrison and climbed the stairs to get a view of the area from a higher location. Konrad heard a faint sound as he reached to second floor, curious as to the origin of the sound; he lifted up some of the debris. “Me…oow.” A ginger with a white belly, and socks lay immobilized on the wood, his front paw pawing weakly.

Konrad was by no means a soft person - he was a soldier hardened by the loss of his beloved fiancée, Aveline Delacroix, and exacerbated by his time in the military. However, there was something about this cat - collateral damage to a war that did not involve him, an innocent bystander. Perhaps it was because the cat had similar colourings as Mittens, Aveline’s beloved companion. Konrad did not understand his desire to save this poor cat, but he knew it was something he must do.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: The clinic of a handsomely paid vet

“The cat’s life is no longer in danger, but I am sad to inform you that his back legs and tail are paralysed. However, there is a way for him to regain his mobility. For the right amount of credits, we can amputate his back legs and tail and replace them with prosthetic parts.” The vet smiled not to comfort his client but in anticipation for what he was about to earn.

“Fine, I will pay upon completion.” Konrad bluntly replied in response as he started to leave the clinic.

“Wait sir, before you leave, I need to know the name of this cat for my records,” the vet called after Konrad.

“Mittens,” Konrad simply replied, and proceeded to leave the clinic without another look at the man.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: Aboard a One Sith ship under Konrad's command

It was unbecoming of a man like Konrad to own a cat however; it would be different if he was able to make the cat an asset, and if the Mittens was to become an asset, why not make him available to all members of the One Sith? Mittens was but one cat yet he can become many through the process of cloning.

Cats are small and therefore, able visit places where people cannot. By replacing an eye with a camera, and a hiding a wiretap under his fur, a cat could stealthily infiltrate places where people cannot. In addition to this, animals are known for being able to sense upcoming disasters and their keen sense of hearing and sense of smell so one can tell if a situation was off by observing the cat. This combined with the camera and wiretap would make the clones an ideal scout in combat.

Once Konrad had considered the usefulness in the potential creation of Mittens clones for the One Sith, Konrad opened up HoloNet on a DataPad and contacted the most skilled scientist he knew within the One Sith.

“Doctor Gutermuth, this is Konrad von Grimmelshausen. I need you to come at your earliest convenience to careful extract DNA from a subject. This subject must not be harmed during the extraction if you wish to receive your usual bonus.” Konrad turned off the DataPad once he finished what he had to say. No was not an answer.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: Doctor Gutermuth’s Labatory

After he received the DNA needed for the cloning process, Doctor Gutherman poured the sample out of the vial into a perti dish and added several types of fluids into it before he placed the dish into a machine.

The machine was cylindrical about 2 meters in height and a meter in diameter with many wires coming out of it.

“This machine first analyses and scans the DNA and then clones it and stores the data in the system so that it will not require any more additional samples for future clones,” the doctor explained. “The machine will then create a new sample from one it already has and analyse the information from it then create the clone cell from cell. While this machine makes cloning convenient, it will take about an hour or at most an hour and a half for the cloning process to be completed.”​

​

***

Konrad watched as the machine opened to reveal a cloned cat. To his annoyance, the cat was missing his hind legs and tail. Konrad expected a complete cat not one that was lacking.

Perhaps it wasn’t completely bad. Thrusters could be installed to the prosthetic back legs of the cat should a need for them ever arise. Konrad made a mental note to contact the manufactures in the One Sith to organize the mass production of prosthetic cat hind legs and tail.

“Doctor, do we have the resources to mass clone the cat?” Konrad queried.

“Absolutely, and as you saw, cloning was a completely automated process, all done by machines so there would be no inconvenience at all.”​

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Development Journal - Entry #8

I have spent the last few days designing components needed to make the clones an asset in the field. It was quite an arduous task.

Those parts are:

*A set of hind legs, and tail with thrusters in the feet. These are to be covered with synthetic fur to make him appear as if he was a normal cat

* A camera that looks like a cat’s eyes (the feed can only be watched only on a member of the One Sith’s DataPad)

* A wiretap that can be implanted beneath a cat’s fur (the audio can be listened to and recorded only on a member of the One Sith’s DataPad)

In addition to this, I have also designed a cat combat vest for the clones to wear on the battlefield. The vests have the One Sith insignia embroidered and filled with basic medical supplies.

My next step is to have these aforementioned items made, and find a team of vets to fit the cats with these items, and prepare the combat cat units to be distributed to the members of the One Sith.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: A One Sith Factory

“I have already sent the plans for the items I need made here. I know this factory produces both textile goods and technological items so there is no reason at all why it would be difficult. Production must start tomorrow at the latest.” Konrad stared down at the manager of the factory, and gave him a glare that sent chills down the spine of all who he used it on.
“B-b-but…” the man stuttered.

“This is not a request, it is an order,” Konrad cut the man off, and maintained eye contact with the man.

“B-but w-w-we really a-are o-o-overwhelmed, s-sir.” The man sweated profusely.

“I’ll give you one more chance, see to that production begins tomorrow or… you should tell your family to beware of fires. You will never know when one might start.” Konrad smirked, and patted the man on the shoulder then proceeded to exit the factory.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Androids were more reliable than any living creature. They did not have feelings, or opinions. They only did as they were ordered to, and they did they need to be paid, take breaks, or sleep. Mistake made by androids were rare, usually the result of a numbskull who deserved to be cut down on the spot. In short, androids were the perfect workers. They would be able to efficiently complete the Mittens Clones than people are.

With the assistance of funds from the One Sith, Konrad had purchased 25 androids and rented a small medical facility. In this facility there were 13 androids whose jobs were to perform the surgery where the limbs were attached to the clones, the cameras were installed, the wiretap implanted under their coats, and finally have their front claws in durasteel.

Once the surgery was completed, 8 androids would care for the clones during the recovery process and dress them when they were ready to leave a while 2 worked at the reception. Finally, the last 2 would lead members of the One Sith who desired a unit to the cat holding area to collect their unit(s) and then provide them with advice to on how to train and care for their unit.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Development Journal - Entry #13

The surgery was successful and the first batch of the clones have been recovering well. After 2 weeks, the clones were all fully recovered and eager for action. After bringing a unit back with me, I must note the importance of training these felines. Although they are clones, they are still cats and not machines therefore they have a tendency to be disobedient and the effectiveness of untrained units is questionable. However with time and patience, I believe they can become quite a versatile unit.

After I brought the back with me, I had one attempt to infiltrate my ship from the outside. The video and audio were clear however, I am very disappointed at my men. A few who I believe were well discipline was distracted by the appearance of a cat, seems like it is not only the new feline unit I have to discipline… Luckily for my men, this clone’s sorry attempt at infiltrating my ship was a failure.

The second clone I had attempt to infiltrate the ship was smuggled in by one of my men under my orders. It was what I would consider a successful infiltration, I was able to witness several exchanges between my men before the cat was discovered and removed from the ship.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Location: Office of an animal trainer, seeking advice

“Cats are trained through positive reinforcement, when training a cat you should never punish it as it would make training more difficult if the cat fears you. Also when teaching your cat a trick, you should say the name of the trick either as the cat is doing it or just before the cat does it then feed him a treat upon completion. You do not want to force a cat too much during training or he may form negative association with the action. Finally, practise until the cat has mastered the trick and gradually decrease the use of treats until none is necessary.” The trainer explained.

Positive reinforcement. Never punish. Those were words Konrad loathed to hear but it couldn’t be helped, cats and humans needed different methods of training. Once he thanked the man for the advice, Konrad left, ready to begin training with his feline unit.

 

[cheshire_kitty]

Development Journal – Final Entry

After nearly a month of training the feline combat unit are finally ready for action. Training cats were no easy task; it involved a lot of frustration on my end but it is finally done.

The previous month was one of the longest months I have ever lived through. Although I wanted to train the feline unit for at least 5 hours a day, they would simply not allow it. At first, my attempts at training have gone ignored by these felines however, once I withheld their food during feeding time they started to obey. Withholding their food until the training session is over increases their desire for food as their appetite grows making them more willing to obey.

Another frustrating situation I have come across during the process is related to my men. I have found and punished a few for feeding these cats treats behind my back undermining the progress of my training. As punishment, I ordered that they were not to receive any food during meal times until they have fully eaten their bags of cat treats. Those men should be thankful I did not execute them on the spot for their disobedience. All my men understand very well how much I despise disobedience from my subordinates, perhaps the time I spent with the cats have made me soft.