131 V.2-C.32│Clones and Synths II│

Obi-Wan was not too surprised by Anakin leaving.

Well... What Obi-Wan was surprised about was that he would leave so soon at a time of war to less. He had thought the boy he had seen grow up from someone that liked to help others to what he is now would have wanted to do something for the people.

Not that this war had escalated all too much, but it did. It had escalated so quickly with the introduction of Dooku now being somewhat connected to the dark side of the Force and slaughtering all of those Jedi.

Not that they were in the right either but they at least had their hearts in the right place. Which is something Obi-Wan couldn't say the other side had the rights and well being of the innocent on the top of their priorities.

Obi-Wan disliked politicians. Not that he hated them and saw that their jobs are important but alot of the time, politicians are usually in it for their own gain and he was confronted by this all too often.

Spending time around with Anakin, he had actually become much better as a person than he was previous, just as everyone else did. He saw things differently from the way he did before and could say that the Jedi did have their flaws.

He is still a supporter of the Jedi though and would stay within the Order, probably for the rest of his life.

"General Kenobi, sir." A man within a clone trooper outfit made his appearance before Obi-Wan.

"Captain CT-7567." Obi-Wan nodded as he thought inwardly. 'This was supposed to be Anakin's job...' He sighed to within himself before looking at the clone.

The clones had been created from Jango Fett's template and slightly altered, modified to be much more capable in combat and have less independence. At least that was what the Kaminoans had said but Obi-Wan was starting to see that the clones weren't some disposable soldier like droids for example.

Despite their excellence in combat, they were living beings and Obi-Wan knew better, especially when taking advice from his little brother figure, Anakin. He was always for some reason much wiser than even he was, and he was supposed to be the older one.

A battle was going on and Obi-Wan had been tasked as the current leader and general for the elite 501st clone trooper unit, that was originally to be assigned to Anakin. Now that he was gone they had given it to him as some form of replacement, not that Obi-Wan would complain.

He may have at one point been a little jealous over the boys considerable gifts but had soon gotten over it because he knew that he wasn't the strongest. He wouldn't even compare himself to his own master, let alone anyone else, despite him having more potential than Qui-Gon himself.

His master was still better than him, through and through, and that came with the territory of being aged and experienced within the Force.

"General Kenobi, I do believe that we are ready to go out into battle." CT-7567 said to Obi-Wan as he was within his own thoughts over the matter of the war.

"Ok. We will take you men and take on a slow approach. Going in when we barely have information is not a great idea." Obi-Wan.

"Yes, sir!" CT-7567 at this point in time was quite strict when it came to following orders, he had earned himself enough merits on the battlefield of Geonosis. He had heard that he was supposed to have someone else as their general but he had left.

Even more absurd was that this person was also the prince of the Empyrean out in the Outer Rim that had taken over the planet Geonosis after the Republics occupation. Everyone was chaos and CT-7567 had no idea what was going on, but he just had to follow orders.

'Good soldiers follow orders, after all...'

That is right, the Jedi and alot of others within the Republic that had some form of vested interest in Anakin was also subsequently interested in the Empyrean because of the connection between the two. Even more so that an entire new Order is rumored to have started up there but no one was sent out to investigate.

Not in these times of war against the C.I.S., and even if they were sent to investigate, they wouldn't be able to because the Republic and the Empyrean had their own treaty set in place. This would bar the Jedi from being able to take any legal action into the Empyrean.

The Jedi and the Senate had become so close together, that while the Jedi Order is supposed to be considered a none-entity within the Republic, they were still pulled into its messes. It was bound to happen, either right now or further on into the future because of the way this system was made.

Made to be exploited.

"Lets go then captain." Obi-Wan spoke to CT-7567, who had yet to have a proper name. Along with all of the other clones that were currently unappreciated for within the Republic, not that the people were evil.

No. Generally people are a heard, social creatures that will follow the leader and whatever the leader says, goes.

"Yes, sir." CT-7567 then spoke over his comlink connected to all of the troopers within the elite 501st unit. "This is CT-7567 speaking to all units. Our mission is a go and for now we will be taking this by the book just as our general has said."

Multiple replies were heard over the comlink confirming to CT-7567, the current second in command that everyone is ready to engage their enemy, the Separatists.

The battle that is taking place is going to be referred to as the Battle of Arantara. A battle over some insignificant astronomical object floating within space that both the Republic and the C.I.S. would fight over.

What people didn't know was that this astronomical object known as Arantara was on no use to anyone, at all and this skirmish was only meant to further the conflict and tension between both the Republic and C.I.S..

This battle was still taking place during the early-period of the conflicts to happen during the course of the Clone Wars and would later set up the stage for the coming conflicts in the future. Little battles like this happened all the time and now the Jedi were forced to be a part of a conflict that even though is theirs, wasn't the way they would fight.

They are not warriors or people meant to be a part of a militaristic force. They are supposed to be space monks with the ability to use magic to spread peace and prosperity throughout the galaxy.

They are not meant to be generals within a war, but in times of supposed great need they had answered the call to arms quite readily. Most probably because of their ever binding connection to the senate through the Republic as a whole and that it was one of their own involved.

They had pride of their own and this also probably increased their desire to participate, not even taking into account the thirst for vengeance against Dooku, who had killed them. Massacred a great part of the Jedi Order in the battle of Geonosis, despite the many more people that Anakin had inadvertently saved either through his actions directly or indirectly through increasing the Jedi's capabilities.

Specifically the girls that had decided to leave with him from the Order. Specifically the ones that had also participated in the battle of Geonosis alongside all of the other Jedi. By being connected to them or by even just teaching, learning and practicing with each other did it have an effect at better preserving life.

The mission and tactics used during this battle would be vastly different from how it originally went but CT-7567 would still find that was in over his head. He and his team hand gone in without the aid or leadership from Obi-Wan because he believed that it was best to go in.

This gave someone else the chance to infiltrate and exploit the situation for himself. Anakin wouldn't be letting these clones die because Obi-Wan made a few mistakes, even if they had originally been done by the original Anakin as well.

Anakin knew that Kenobi was not him and would not be able to fix the same mistakes despite being in the exact same situation.

[]

On the battlefield it was chaos.

'War, war never changes.' Anakin liked to think about this quote often as it was true and will probably stay true until the very ends of time itself. In fact it would probably even stay after the end of time as well.

The Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems was going at it and Anakin had taken this as his chance to steal away the infamous clone trooper squad known as the elite 501st. To compensate the Republic he would think up of something that would cripple the C.I.S. as well just to make sure that both sides are still equal.

He wouldn't want the scales tipping in anyone's favor other than his own.

While the Republic is good and all, they are always meant to fall to the throes of the dying democracy of the senate while the C.I.S. is actually a part of the grand scheme of allowing Palpatine to come into power.

If the C.I.S. manages to get an advantage in the war, then it would speed up the process in which Palpatine is able to create his own empire. Anakin still needed more time to ensure his own safety along with the rest of his budding empire.

There is always ways to become much more powerful and he wanted all the time he would get, which was only about three years if everything still goes similar to the timeline he knew of. He could also rely on shatterpoints at various points to make sure that everything is going a certain but at the same time without the major loss of life.

Preferably he wouldn't even want minor loss to life but he cant save anyone.

Despite him trying to not turn people into number, they were obsolete when it came to the grand scheme of things. The certainty and safety of numbers was unchangeable no matter what he could do, so that only meant he would try and work harder for himself, others and the galaxy at large.

He would still have to deal with future inter-galactic wars.

Given just how much he has invested into technology he doubts he would be able to reach the same peaceful resolution the others in the future would be able to with the Yuuzhan Vong. They would absolutely hate the fact he was mechanized himself.

Then there was that one Force-sensitive within their group pulling the strings from behind the scenes as well.

It is an entire ordeal, but for now he has to for now worry about other things. Rome wasn't built in a day after all.

During the battle, CT-7567, fought with merit and led his troops to the frontline without Kenobi, but he was wounded and knocked unconscious. By the time CT-7567, regained consciousness, his armor was damaged. Hidden behind cover in a rocky terrain, the trooper had done his best to try and win the battle.

It was unfortunate that he had gotten himself into this situation and he was starting to regret his decisions leading upto this point. Think about it, clones had only practically been alive for ten years, that is half the time then what their actual physicality would suggest.

This means they haven't actually had the time to actually develop the normal way like normal Humans or other species did. Because they are Humans we will compare the clones to humans and their natural life cycle.

Ten years is way too young. Way too young for most of anything these clones would be going into but their mentality was at least of the level of adults. The special growth serum made to increase their growth also had simultaneously speed up the developments of their brains as well.

'I dont wanna die here.' CT-7567 thought to himself as he had awoken from unconsciousness. 'Wait, what is that?' He was confused as what he saw before him was especially strange.

A man he had never seen before but had most definitely heard enough about to know that this person shouldn't be here, which lead him to believe that he may be hallucinating on his deathbed. "You... You are-"

"Yes, I am me, myself and I." It was Anakin who was here. Here just for these elite clones for many reasons, the first is because he liked their potential, second because he didn't want them to die just because he decided to leave the Order and third.

"I am here to bring you back with me. I got to collect on my investment." Anakin continued to CT-7567.

"In-Investment, sir?" CT-7567 is confused.

"Yes, investment. Haven't you heard about some mysterious person concerned about the health of the clones and their longevity." Anakin said in a questioning tone.

CT-7567 was perplexed at the line of their conversation because they were currently out on a battlefield. "Yes?" He did.

"That person is me and I have come to collect on my investment. I will be doing this through taking you and the rest of the 501st legion back with me to the Empyrean." Anakin stated as he started to use the Force to heal the wounded trooper.

"B-But!" CT-7567 exclaimed.

"No buts. My decision is final and as your benefactor, I would suggest that you come with me now. I have already evacuated the rest of the 501st with me and you are the only one left to take. It would seem the rest of your men are waiting for you and put up a little bit of a fight." Anakin said before continuing.

"Don't worry they aren't hurt or anything, I managed to peacefully convince that coming with me is for the best for the safety of themselves and for the fate of the galaxy." Anakin stated. "I do believe it would be best for you to come with me to better explain the situation."

"What about-"

"General Kenobi? Good old Obi-Wan will be just fine. There is no need to worry as I have taken care of the droids here on Arantara. The Republic have won the skirmish and it is about time that you come with me." Anakin said as he lifted CT-7567 up. "There all better. Don't you just feel great."

Anakin had a smirk on his face which somehow irritated CT-7567 but was strangely familiar. "You better be explaining the situation wherever you are taking me."

"Don't worry, the Republic wont come looking for you. You have died a heroic but tragic death as the catastrophe here will be covered up by me." Anakin said as he got the clone onboard Jabitha, who had matured just enough to allow others onboard other than Anakin and his 'loved ones.'

"Off we go!" Anakin exclaimed as Jabitha started up and took off, probably never to return and for Anakin's grand plans to start coming together.