The heir and the snake

Hestia looked wistfully at the three Tookas that sat with Joker as he stared at the ceiling. They had already left for Kamino to discuss the creation of the Clone Council. On the way they had picked up what was left of the 77th Legion.

"I am sorry for your loss, Joker." Hestia intoned sadly, Joker did not outwardly react and just continued to stare while stroking the Tooka on his lap.

"Their spirits were eased with the death of the Jedi Pong Krell." He said with a wry smile. Hestia knew from what he had told her that the ineptitude of the Jedi had caused the deaths of many brothers.

"I understand, though, about the future of your legion. We can keep your legion but you will be in reserve for months until there are enough brothers ready to join your legion. On the other hand I could disband your legion and assign you and your brothers to another legion." 

Hestia held a special appreciation for Joker, after the loss of her legs  Weiss and Joker were the ones that brought a smile back to her face. That's why she gave him the opportunity to choose the fate of his legion.

"I think it would be better to split up my legion, it's not the same since... that campaign. Those of us who are still alive can barely live with those memories, so I think it would be best if we were scattered throughout the Galaxy. However, if I could ask one favour of you, I would like to be assigned to the 501st Legion."

Hestia was surprised by such a request, the last thing she expected was for Joker to request to join a legion assigned to a Jedi. It was very common for survivors of dead legions to ask to move to planetary garrisons that had no assigned Jedi.

"Are you sure?" she asked, wanting to confirm Joker's wishes.

"Yes, please, I think it would be best for me and all my brothers if you separated us."

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin wandered the corridors of the Maelstrom as he pondered how to obtain these twelve secrets. What kind of secrets were they supposed to be anyway? How did one measure a secret exactly? Did they have to be important or would any secret do?

So many questions, not enough answers.

However, time was wasting and one of the sisters was within his reach.

Quickly Anakin called Ahsoka, who soon answered and greeted her master.

"Ahsoka, I need you to do something for me, confirm that Hestia is in the coordination centre.

"You got it, Skyguy" Ahsoka said before cutting the call. Anakin sighed at Ahsoka's insistence on using that nickname. 'I'll just have to find a nickname to annoy her back,' he decided.

"I have to keep up with her training now that I think about it, being at war doesn't give much time for that..."

Changing his route, Anakin began to walk to Hestia's quarters. 

"General" greeted a pair of 501st clones to Anakin, he raised his hand with a sympathetic smile when he noticed the smell of paint on their suits.

"Freshly painted?" he asked, the two clones shared a look before removing their helmets. Anakin noticed a tattoo on one clone's cheek, it was the helmet of a clone with a sinister grin.

"We are survivors of the 77th Legion and have been reassigned to your legion." Said the tattooed clone stoically. Showing no feelings and with perfect discipline.

Anakin smiled sympathetically and put his hand on both of their shoulders.

"It's a shame what happened to you, welcome to the Legion, you'll fit right in."

The clone with the tattoo put a smile on his face and nodded.

"The plan is to blend in, believe me," He agreed.

Quickly Anakin's communicator began to beep, he looked at it for a second before slowly walking away.

"I'm sorry, it's urgent, I have to go." he exclaimed, walking away from the pair. As he disappeared from their sight the clones wiped their shoulders, precisely the spot where Anakin had touched..

"Damn scum." The tattooed one spat, before continuing on his way. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin stood before Hestia's room. Ahsoka had confirmed that for the next four hours Hestia would be working, with  confirmation Anakin checked that the coast was clear and activated the device, disabling the cameras in the area and replacing the recordings with the last five minutes.

'I'll have to show Ahsoka who the real tinker is soon, can't let her head get too big at this rate.' He thought to himself as he entered tHestia's quarters. He looked around and saw that the room was painted with numerous pictures of animals, Tookas chief among them, it looked... almost childish.

Looking around he quickly found Hestia's computer, and slid a small device into a slot, unlocking the device.

"The hours spent making you were worth it." He mumbled to himself as he looked through Hestia's files.

"Year four journal, year five journal, year six journal, year seven journal, year eight journal, year nine journal, year ten journal."

Anakin quickly copied the journals and stored them onto a datastick. A diary must have secrets, and seven of them were likely a gold mine.

Short of time he quickly returned Hestia's personal effects to their original spots and left, heading to his quarters.

Sitting on his bed, Anakin began to read the latest journal. It was mostly mundane stuff, day to day life and her relationship with CC-0001 whom she called Big Sister. However he started to read some strange things when he got to the date the war started.

-This superiority complex that Nemesis has is ridiculous, she thinks she is better than all of the younger sisters, and whenever she can she reminds us that she is the most qualified sister to be Big Sister's heir. She always says this despite knowing that I am second in command not her. I hate her! I hate her! 

The last sentence contained two angry Tookas faces.

-Mania is growing more and more isolated, the sisters don't talk to her any more, just like they don't talk to Medusa. Even though our ideals are totally opposite, I try to keep a good relationship with Mania. She is always alone or with Medusa and it's just so depressing. Big Sister is an amazing leader and sister, but between the sisters we have a tacit pact not to involve her in our fights. She represents the unity of us clones, we can't dirty her with our infighting.

At the end there was a drawing of a table with many Tookas stabbing each other while a big Tooka with a crown was sleeping peacefully.

-THAT BITCH NEMESIS! SHE HAS CREATED A CLONE COUNCIL TO UNDERMINE MY POWER AS REGENT OF BIG SISTER! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! I understand the need to create it after my momentary disappearance but to maintain it after I explicitly requested its dissolution... I swear that I will destroy that council! Nemesis has taken her thirst for authority too far to try to undermine my power. 

Why haven't the rest of the sisters intervened against her? What happened while Big Sister and I were away?!

Is Nemesis manipulating them? Is Nyx helping her? Why did Nyx change her vote?

Are they all traitors to Big Sister?

Legions 44, 203 and 501 must prepare... Kamino is no longer safe and not because of the Kaminoans...

Bringing Big Sister with me to Kamino may have been a mistake, but the only one with real authority is her and bringing her body will bring stability with it.

Or so I hope.

Anakin stood up, realising he had somehow discovered something he shouldn't know. Aside from the secrets, he saw how the clones had organised themselves into a sort of a government.

And it was terrifying.

Anakin then continued to read, it would be many hours before he would be finished…

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahsoka knocked on Anakin's door, and was met by a particularly grim-faced Anakin.

"Master, what about today's training?" She questioned. Again, Anakin had forgotten their plans to train.

"Yes, yes. Let's go." He said, locking the door behind him. Ahsoka thought that was odd, he normally didn't bother with such things. 

"Are you done Skyguy?"

Anakin nodded and headed off, pulling out his holocommunicator he called out to Rex, a small hologram of the clone appearing above the device.

"Do you need anything, General?"

"Bring ten clones to hangar one for training." Ordered Anakin.

"I'll have them read shortly." Agreed Rex, cutting the holo-call short.

Soon Ahsoka and Anakin were met but eleven clones of the 501st legion.

"What sort of training will we be doing?" Rex asked Anakin, who was leaning against a LAAT.

"Nothing much…" He said with a faked nonchalance.  "Surround Ahsoka and set the weapons to stun." He said, face splitting in a wry grin

Rex and Ahsoka exchanged a look then began to get in position.

"Come on, Joker to your left, Appo space your men out a little more." Rex instructed, beginning to organise the exercise.

Anakin watched as the clones organised themselves with Joker's squad taking one half of the circle and Appo's the other.

"Fire." Came the order. The clones began to fire from all sides, Ahsoka shielded herself with her lightsaber but was quickly knocked out by the sustained fire.

She slowly got up as best she could, out of breath and shaking "This is impossible."

Anakin walked to the centre, grabbing Ahsoka and pulling her out of the circle, sitting her on the floor by the LAAT.

"Watch and learn." Anakin said, getting into position

"Fire." He commanded once more He was immediately beset by a deluge of fire, in response he began to dodge, his movements almost like a dance as he contorted and spun.

He remained in that position for minutes under the onslaught of fire.

The display was cut short however, when a sudden blaster bolt was fired from the ring of clones, Anakin reacted quickly sending the live round into the durasteel floor.

"What was that?" barked Anakin. A clone from Joker's squad was examining his weapon curiously, discovering that the stun setting had been adjusted somehow.

"The weapon had a malfunction, here take a look." Spoke the clone in question, gesturing towards the malfunctioning part. 

Anakin took the weapon from the clone and began to quickly strip the weapon until he found the cause of the malfunction.

"Looks like you're right, it appears to be a factory error." 

Joker approached Anakin looking at the weapon deep in thought.

"Damn, we almost had an accident. In the future I will personally check any weapons we will be using prior to any exercises." He promised with an embarrassed look on his face, Anakin turned and gave him a genuine smile.

"Thanks, Joker."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Commanders Weiss, Lion and Rex met Hestia residing on her hover-chair in a barren room.

"You requested us, Sister?" Weiss asked curiously, it wasn't often that they were summoned so suddenly like this. Lion and Rex said nothing and waited for Hestia to speak.

"Nemesis has acted against the established order and the will of Big Sister with her refusal to disband the Clone Council. I'm going to try to talk to her one last time but I need someone to be my guard."

Rex and Weiss looked at each other and quickly stepped back. Rex spoke first.

"Neither I nor my brothers want to get involved in sisterly matters, please understand." He said, his voice pained.

Weiss shook his head.

"You are the future of the clones, the only thing that holds us together, please talk things out without weapons, and if it's weapons that will be used, it's not going to be mine."

Hestia looked at Lion and he drew his blasters in response.

"I'll be there for you."

Lion still remembered when Hestia lost her legs, it was a tragedy and he would do anything in his power to prevent seeing her hurt like that ever again.

"Thank you, Lion... Rex and Weiss I understand your views but I don't want to impose myself. I want to restore what was there before, which was the system that Big Sister created."

Rex and Weiss looked at each other. Rex had always distanced himself from the sisters for the most part, gaining some notoriety, while for Weiss the sisters were Goddesses so to even think of raising their weapons against them was... heresy.

"Well, I understand your feelings on this." Hestia said. "You may go."

Weiss and Rex left as Lion stood.

"Thank you, Lion" Hestia said to Lion as they left, receiving a small wave in return as the door sealed behind him.

Leaving her alone with her thoughts once more.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin watched the slowly growing form of Kamino. He had been training Ahsoka for some time, and now they simply waited for the autopilot to land them on Kamino.

"Ahsoka, have you noticed anything strange recently?"

Ahsoka, who stood behind Anakin, nodded.

"Yeah, for some reason the 44th Legion is readying their gear like they're going into battle."

Anakin narrowed his eyes. The journals were a great help in understanding the clones, however he had also learned a great deal of dangerous knowledge.

'A clone revolution,' Anakin thought to himself with a stoic look on his face. He read several of 0001's speeches in the journal and could not deny that he understood the clones' position. They were even worse off than he was when he was a slave.

For a second he thought of sharing this knowledge, Palpatine or even the Jedi Council. However, the Jedi Council was never there for him and Palpatine was the chancellor. Telling him about the clones could make a bad situation worse for them and Anakin did not want that.

"The Jedi Council has sent me on a secret mission, but I will tell you." Anakin revealed. She looked at him curiously but kept quiet. Her training had taught her some discipline or at least some discretion.

"It is believed that the Kaminoans are sabotaging the clones, that is why I have been sent to investigate. We are not here for a holiday, we have to infiltrate and look for any relevant information."

Ahsoka seemed to get excited however Anakin stamped that down quickly.

"We have to keep a low profile." He said, his voice leaving no room for argument..

"Okay, we'll lay low, Skyguy." She acquiesced.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three LAATs landed in the hangar of a Kaminoan platform. This platform would be hosting all of the Sisters of the grand Army of the Republic.

Hestia and Lion along with a considerable force of thirty clones walked towards the entrance of the dome of the platform. As they entered they were met by a group of eight each individual was flanked by a pair of clone bodyguards each.

Aphrodite, with a large heart drawn on the front of her armour, she was accompanied by her troops who each had a different variation of the heart drawn on their arms.

Artemis, who was leaning on a clone of her legion. Her armour was a simple white with a blaster drawn on the chest, barrel end up. Her soldiers, unlike the rest of the clones, kept their armour pure white.

Hera, the markings on her armour were reminiscent of constellations, brought to life in a variety of colours, making it more akin to an art piece than battle gear it was. Next to her was a pair of clones bearing similar armour.

Nyx, who wore the equipment of a commando, was covered in a dark camouflage pattern. She was accompanied by a pair of clone commanders. Who's armour was covered a deep crimson. 

Elpis, who had a large red cross painted on her chest armour. She was accompanied by a pair of combat medics.

Medusa, who was a cyborg who unfortunately had most body replaced with machine alternatives. Her android body was made to look as similar to her original as possible, her armour was covered in a silver metallic coating.

Next to her was Mania, the eyes of her helm bore a baleful green glow. Her armour was pure purple and she was accompanied by a total of four guards two of which she shared with Medusa. The bodyguards shared the same eerie green glow of their leader.

And in the middle of it all Nemesis, who had a sickle green snake painted on her armour, its tail coiled up her left leg around her torso until it rested its head upon the top of her helm.

She was accompanied by two clones of the Coruscant Guard, one of them being Commander Fox.

The tension in the air was palpable, all the guards and soldiers of the 44th legion had their weapons ready to kill. Lion thought back over the last few months, the constant war against the separatists had left him in a trance, destroy, kill, advance. And when he saw his brothers in front of him he knew that something was wrong, and he knew clones on the other side felt it too. But the sisters held the power here, as is their right, and they were prepared to fight. In the end in a world without Big Sister guiding, the little sisters had to guide it..

Breaking the silence, Nemesis stepped forward towards Hestia, looking down at her. As the one behind the implementation of the Clone Council, it was her duty to stand up for it. She learned much of politics at the feet of Big Sister. She was also Big Sister's favourite sister... If she wasn't the heir to the clones then no one could be... The only reason for the existence of the Clone Council was to ensure that. To remove Hestia from power and as Big Sister's second and heir.

"Hello, sister," Spoke Nemesis, her tone contained a note of humour in it, all it did was infuriate Hestia even more.

Hestia looked at her with a contempt she had never shown before. The happy, almost childlike Hestia was not here, she felt naught but rage. Nemesis had betrayed not only Big Sister but Hestia herself. Her self-centeredness, her intent to push the limits of what was acceptable between the sisters to achieve her goals. She was the worst kind of scum.

"Hello, traitor," Ground out Hestia.