Star Wars: Clones (Joev14 series)/Book 1: Tales of A Shiny

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Chapter 1: Birth
Commander Trauma watched the small round object floated around in a containment tube, “So this is what I looked like twelve years ago.” He was amazed at how small the object was, and how rapidly it seemed to grow. In a few months it would be as large as a normal 5-year old human. It was amazing how the process of cloning worked. He handed the tube back to the Kaminoan who stood in front of him, and she placed it back in a large cylinder filled with several more of the tubes. Trauma smiled, and took one last quick look at the tube, it read 29-5590, he would remember this number, and return here in a year to see how this clone was coming.

A year and a half later…

“CT-29-5590, attention!” Lieutenant Keeli shouted as he looked into the eyes of the seventh and final clone in the team that stood before him, “Shinnies.” He thought to himself. “Shiny” was the term applied to a young clone, whose armor was metallic white from the lack of battle. It was also somewhat an insult, implying that the clone had almost no training. Keeli pressed a button on his wrist armor, and he yelled, “Show me what you got!” the room instantly went black, except for the dim glow of the seven young clone’s DC-15A Blaster Rifle Scopes. The young clones moved slowly, and the leader of the team, CT-29-5597 said, “5596 (pronounce the serial numbers like this, fifty-five ninety-six, rather than saying each number separately), how many droids we got?” The clone a few feet to his left pulled out a pair of night-vision binoculars from his satchel, and he stared through them ahead. “I see two Supers up on that ledge there, but they haven’t spotted us yet.” He turned to the right and stared upwards, “And at least four Commandos up there, two have sniper rifles, and a third has a stationary Z-6 modified rotary blaster cannon.” The leader of the team said, “Alright, 5596, 5592, and 5595, you’re with me, 5593 and 5594, sniper positions, I want you to get rid of that Z-6, and 5590, I want you to stay back and give me cover fire.” The clone sighed and looked slightly disappointed, but he nodded and crouched down on the ground, aiming his rifle towards the Super Battle droids. His leader and the other three clones he had commanded rushed forward, crouching behind small ledges and firing upon the Commando Droids to the right. CT-29-5590 aimed his rifle upwards towards the super battle droids, and firing several rounds at it. The droid fell to the ground, and the other turned towards where the shots had come from, opening fire on CT-29-5590. The young clone ducked behind a ledge, yanking out his clip and shoving in another one. He whirled back around the corner, firing several rounds at the super battle droid, until it fell to the ground. He turned to see that his leader had already lost two of his troops, who were lying on the ground, wounded from enemy fire and removed from the battle. Now only his commander and 5596 remained. CT-29-5590 looked through his scope, aiming it towards the commando droids he had seen earlier, two of them had been downed, one of which was a sniper, but several more had emerged from an opening in the wall, and now there were at least ten of them on the ledge. He looked back towards his two brothers who had been told to get into sniper positions, one of them had already been taken out as well, the other had gone for cover to reload. CT-29-5590 turned again, aiming his rifle towards the Commando droids, he looked hard at the sniper, then pulled the trigger. BAM, downed in two shots, he turned again, aiming for the one with the Z-6 rotary blaster cannon, BAM, downed in one shot, and the Z-6 was shot off its tripod with another two shots. He held his hand to his helmet and said, “Commander, requesting to move in closer so I can get a better shot.” There was static, then an answer came, “Negative, I can’t lose my cover fire, if you get hit, I’ll be shot down moments later.” CT-29-5590 held his hand to his helmet again, “With all due respect sir, if I don’t get a better shot, we’ll both be taken down anyway.” His leader replied, “I said, that’s a negative.” CT-29-5590 held his hand to his helmet a final time, “I can’t hear you over all the static and laser fire sir, moving in!” Shouts were heard over his comlink, but he ignored them as he rushed forward, diving for cover behind another ledge, then peeking out to pick off two more of the commando droids, now there were only six of them. Four of the commando droids jumped down from the ledge, landing with perfect balance on the ground below. They rushed forward, using their E-5 blasters to shoot down CT-29-5596. CT-29-5590 aimed, then held his breath and pulled the trigger, BAM, two of the droids went down, a third was shot down by his leader. The Fourth jumps into the air, putting its hand behind its back and attaching it to a vibro-blade, and unsheathing it. The Commando Droid Captain lands on the ground again, slashing several times with the deadly blade, CT-29-5590 rushes forward, just missing getting shot by the two remaining droids on the ledge, he jumps forwards, kicking his feet forward and knocking the commando droid captain to the ground, and pins him to the floor with his foot, then he holds his rifle to its neck and fires several fatal shots. He and his leader dive for cover, and reload, “I’ve only got one clip left, that’s 500 shots at those things, then I’m toast.” His leader says, “I’m on my last clip as well, let’s make those shots count.” The two of them peek out from behind their cover, looking up towards the two remaining commando droids, His commander fires several rounds, downing the first one, the second jumps backwards, aiming its rifle down at them, and firing a shot that wounds CT-29-5597 in the arm. CT-29-5590 peeks out again, firing his last ten shots at the droid, and misses. His leader pushes his own rifle towards the clone, saying, “Make those shots count.” CT-29-5590 grabs the rifle, aiming carefully, “I’ve only got fifteen rounds left.” He dives out from behind the cover, firing five shots at the droid, knocking it off balance, he aims carefully once again, then finishes the droid off with another five shots, leaving five rounds left in the clip. “That was too close for comfort.” The lights turned back on, and he looked around the room, the four downed clones walked out from the elevator, and dusted off their armor, they looked exhausted and humiliated. CT-29-5590 and his leader, as well as the third surviving clone who had stepped out now from behind the ledge walked forward. Lieutenant Keeli looked at them, then said, “You still need some work as a team, but you still managed to take down those droids. Your number of casualties was far too high though, at best you shouldn’t lose a single trooper, you may only lose up to two to pass the test. You may try again in a week, dismissed.” The seven clones walk down the hall to the mess hall, and they sit down at a table and begin to eat their meals, they talk amongst other clone teams, and compare their scores with each other, all of them trying to prove they are the best. CT-29-5590 finishes his food quickly, and gets up to return to the small room that he shared with another three clones. When he got there, he was surprised to see there was another clone already there. The clone was clad in thick camouflage armor and an ARF helmet, he had a green and light gray pauldron over his shoulder, and a modified DC-15S blaster carbine with an extended clip and night-vision scope attached to it. The clone turned to look at CT-29-5590, and removed his helmet, a smile on his face. He said, “You wouldn’t happen to be 29-5590, would you?” The younger clone nodded, and said, “And you are?” The clone smiled and said, “Commander Trauma, I was here when you were…born. I vowed to return here in a year to meet you, and see how your training was coming, I was unable to return due to a large battle on Geonosis, I was stuck in a prison with my team and General for almost four months.” CT-29-5590 said, “Well, I can assure you that my training is coming along well, Lieutenant Keeli says I am very good at sniping, and may eventually become an ARC Sniper Specialist someday.” Trauma said, “Do you have a name yet? Many clones find their names based off their training and personality.” CT-29-5590 said, “No, I don’t, Jedi Master Krell says that clones don’t need a name, our lives are too short, and it’s pointless to become attached by a name to other clones.” Trauma frowns and then says, “I don’t doubt how wise Master Krell is, but I find a name makes it easier to become acquainted, and easier to make body counts when in battle, it’s less likely to lose men if you know each team mate and their names. I find you a very good sniper as well, and though you disobey orders from your leaders at some points, it shows quick thinking and planning, for this reason, I would like to give you the nickname, ‘Ace’.” CT-29-5590 said, “Thank you commander, but I think I’ll stick to my number, I have to get back to my training now.” Trauma looked disappointed, but nodded and replaced his helmet and left the room. He would never return to Kamino, for two months later he would be slaughtered mercilessly by Savage Oppress on the planet of Devaron. CT-29-5590 walked down the hallway back to the training room, where he met up with two of his fellow troopers, CT-29-5593 and CT-29-5595, the three of them spent some time training in the room they had tested in a few hours ago. Suddenly, there was a loud sound, and the room’s lights went out, a few moments later, the dim red glow of the auxiliary lights came to life, and suddenly an alarm sounded. A voice shouted over the intercom, “Droids have entered the base, alert! Everyone to their stations, we’re under attack!”…

Chapter 2: Defensive Positions
CT-29-5590 rushed down the corridor with his two fellow troopers, they soon met up with their leader and the other three troopers, CT-29-5596 and CT-29-5592, the team aimed their DC-15A Blaster Rifles down the hall, and suddenly the door at the end exploded and twelve Super Battle droids began walking through the opening. CT-29-5592 and CT-29-5593 opened fire and began picking off the droids, a shot from one of them hit CT-29-5593 in the arm, and he fell to the ground, yelling in pain, CT-29-5592 grabbed him by the legs and dragged him backwards, and CT-29-5590 and CT-29-5594 opened fire, picking off the rest of the super battle droids, CT-29-5596 rushed down the hall with a small electronic screwdriver, and opened up the panel at the end, he turned a bolt and clipped a wire, and the emergency doors slammed shut, but several shots from the other side caused large dents, the seven young clones knew the door wouldn’t hold for long. CT-29-5592 dragged his wounded comrade back towards their chamber, and the remaining five clones set up in sniper positions, waiting for the emergency door to be destroyed. It felt like hours, even though it was only a matter of minutes, every dent was noticed, examined. CT-29-5590 thought, “That one’s from a Super, that one’s from a Droideka.” Finally, the door gave way, and the room was filled again with the red and blue laser fire, CT-29-5590 looked through his scope, and aimed carefully, knocking off two Super Battle Droids, he stared at the Droideka at the back of the room, waiting for it to come within range. BAM! The laser shot fires straight and true, but it’s pointless, the Droideka is laser shielded, CT-29-5597 shouts, “Fall back!” and the five of them rush back around the corner, a shot from the Droideka takes out CT-29-5595, downing him with a laser in the back. The remaining four troops turn back around, and CT-29-5597 says, “That thing is too strong for us, but it’s slow, for it to move faster it has to remove its shields, CT-29-5596 and I will open fire at it from the front, and when it transforms, I want CT-29-5594 and CT-29-5590 to open fire from behind, take that thing down.” The three of them nod their heads, and take up positions. The Droideka rolls down the hall, turning towards CT-29-5597 and CT-29-5596, opening up and preparing to activate its shield. BAM! Only one shot is needed, right in the back of its optical sensor, causing it to jump around and trying to get a lock on the clones it had seen moments before, CT-29-5597 opens fire, making sure it’s dead with several more shots in the face. The team regroups at their room, reloading their weapons and grabbing more equipment, CT-29-5593 is placed on his bed, and CT-29-5592 tends to his wound, the remaining four troopers open the door that leads to the hallway, CT-29-5597 peeks out and looks around, and yanks his head back, just barely missing getting shot in the head by a Commando Droid, the droid rushes forward, killing two clone troopers from another room that weren’t lucky enough to have their armor on yet, the commando droid turns back towards CT-29-5597 and raises its blaster, but before it can fire CT-29-5590 shoots it in the arm, a second shot knocks its head from its shoulders. The four clones rush down the hall, peeking around the other end. They watch in horror as three of their fellow clones are stabbed repeatedly by a Commando Droid Captain wielding a Vibrosword. The Droid turns towards them, aiming with its E-5 Blaster using its free hand. The four clones duck back around the corner, and CT-29-5597 throws a grenade round the corner. The four clones duck as the grenade explodes. They look up, and are surprised by the Droid Commando Captain, undamaged, preparing to fire its Blaster at the four clones. CT-29-5590 dives towards the droid, quickly grabbing it by the arm and twisting it around, causing the droid to let go of its Vibrosword. CT-29-5590 grabs it from the droid’s open fingers, twists around so that he is now holding the droid by the neck, and stabs the Vibrosword through its chest armor. CT-29-5590 turns around, still holding the droid commando, which ends up saving his life as two more droid commandos rush down the hall and open fire on him. The dead droid commando takes most of the bullet shots and acts as a momentary shield, long enough for the other three clones to pick off the two droids. The dim red glow of the auxiliary lights goes out, and moments later the main lights come on, filling the room with light, the clones blink their eyes as they adjust to the bright room, they stare around, the dead bodies of clones and droids are all over the place, and the new silence seems strange, moments before there had been shouting, screams of death, blaster shots, explosives, now, just the low hum of the lights on the ceiling. The four of them rush back to where the form of their brother, CT-29-5595 lay dead, killed by the Droideka they had killed only minutes ago. The four of them take a moment to give him a last goodbye, before he is taken away by two medics. They return to their room where their comrade CT-29-5593 is lying down on his bed, receiving medical care from another clone. The medic wraps a bandage around his arm, and says, “That should do it, thankfully it didn’t hit one of your vital organs, that would have been a serious problem, it should be completely healed up in a month or so.” CT-29-5593 says, “Oh joy, I get to sit and watch you guys fail miserably at training, that’ll be a blast!” The medic says, “Though your arm is hurt, since it’s not your dominant arm you should still be able to handle a weapon fine.” CT-29-5593 says, “Nonono, I’m fine with watching.” The medic gives him a look as if to say, “Don’t be lazy.” And then leaves with his supplies. The six clones removed their helmets and began walking around the facility, staring at the damage that had been done, after questioning several of the clones who had been involved in the main fight, they managed to piece together what happened. Four clone snipers had spotted a Trident Drill Assualtcraft moving towards the base, they opened fire, but were soon shot down by the TDA. The TDA had flown out of the water and rammed itself into one of the primary cloning chambers, and apparently a Sith known as Asajj Ventress had been onboard. She had been sent to steal the original copy of clone DNA and destroy it, thus ending the creation of cloning based of Jango Fett’s Template. But Jedi General Anakin Skywalker stopped her before she could leave, and returned the DNA to its proper location. The Sith had left, and it was unknown as to where she went, or if she would return. Several well-known clones had been killed in the fight, namely Commander Colt, a special ops ARC trooper, who had been slain by Ventress when he had tried to stop her. A deformed clone known as “99” had also been killed while trying to help Commander Cody get grenades to fight off attacking droids. After the battle, two clone troopers, CT-27-5555, nicknamed “Fives”, and CT-21-0408, nicknamed “Echo” had been promoted to ARC troopers for extraordinary effort and quick thinking in battle. “Big deal” CT-29-5590 thought, “We killed a Droideka and at least ten Commando Droids with only one casualty.” As if on cue, Lieutenant Keeli walked in and said, “You boys did outstanding work today, better than most of the veteran clones did, you killed a Droideka, that’s usually a feat only able to be accomplished by a Jedi or a very well-aimed grenade. I’m proud of you. CT-29-5597 spoke, “Thank you sir!” Keeli turned and was about to leave, but he stopped and said one last thing before leaving, “Take out those separatists, I want to hear stories about each and every one of you, make me proud.” CT-29-5597 said, “Thank you sir, we will make you proud.” CT-29-5590 spoke, “Guys? Do you think it’s necessary to have a name other than your serial code?” CT-29-5596 spoke up, “Yes, I think it is, it builds character and shows uniqueness.” CT-29-5593 chimed in, “Then I guess your nickname would be Womp Rat.” They all laughed, but then CT-29-5594 said, “Why? Do you have a nickname in mind?” CT-29-5590 hesitated, then said, “Actually, yes, ‘Ace’.” CT-29-5597 nodded and said, “I like the sound of that, it suits you well.”…

Chapter 3: Battlefront
The six clones stared around, they were in a LAAT/i Gunship flying near to the ground of the planet Muunilinst, CT-29-5590, now known as Ace, loaded his clip into his DC-15S Blaster, he had been forced to switch to this due to his DC-15A Blaster Rifle malfunctioning, exploding, and nearly killing him. Though the DC-15S was virtually the same weapon, only smaller, it lacked several important features, namely a scope, making it only useful for close range battles, unless you were a well-trained sniper. Also, the gun didn’t feature the ability to hold it easily with both hands and lie down while using it, making it uncomfortable for advanced battle tactics. Though the weapon did have one feature that the DC-15A didn’t have, rapid fire, it could fire around ten shots in a single second, making it useful for hitting a moving target. Unfortunately, he still felt at a disadvantage, as all the other five clones in his team still had DC-15A Blaster Rifles. Ace looked down at his arms, they were painted Dark Blue to match the 501st legion, and their leader, Captain Rex. Ace turned to look at the captain, he was bleach-blond haired, with two DC-17 Hand Blasters, and a DC-15A modified Blaster Rifle strapped to his back. He had a calm and determined look on his face. The Captain put his helmet on, and spoke, “Alright boys, we’re going to move in from the east bridge here, then enter the smaller building here, that’s the power center, we take control of this, and we can black out the whole facility. Any questions.” He said this as if it were a statement, and not a question, he already knew the answer. “Good. Then let’s move.” The fifteen clones inside the gunship ready their weapons, and the blast doors slowly open. Instantly the quiet sounds of laser fire from the outside muffled by the soundproof blast doors fill the area. Several shots just barely miss the clones inside the ship, and they all rush out onto the battlefield, crouching low and picking off droids that are coming from the building. A second gunship, this one an LAAT/c carrying an AT-TE lands and the clones rush towards it. Two of the veteran clones are picked off as they enter the AT-TE, and the thirteen remaining clones reload their weapons. The clones watch as the LAAT/c is literally blown to bits while still attached to the AT-TE, and the remains of it fall off the AT-TE. The massive armored vehicle slowly moves forward, and the clones watch as several other AT-TEs are blown to bits by an anti-armor turret mounted atop a wall on the building, Rex holds his hand to his helmet and says, “Shoot down that turret!” The turret turns its long barrel towards them, and Rex yells, “BAIL!” the clones inside the AT-TE rush for the exit hatch above, and jump off just as a shot from the turret zooms down and hits the AT-TE’s mounted cannon, leaving it in a heap of flaming metal on the ground. Rex holds his hand to his comm and says, “Status report!” a clone behind Ace says, “We lost four more plus the pilot in the explosion, and CT-43-7791 is wounded badly in the arm.” Rex says, “Get him to safety.” Rex turns towards CT-29-5597, “Looks like it’s just me and your team now.” Ace’s leader nods and Rex shouts, “Let’s move! We’re sitting Weequay bait here!” The team runs down the bridge, surprisingly empty compared to the other bridges nearby, almost no droids are on it. Ace aims and tries to pick off a droid, but he misses, he curses under his breath at his DC-15S that doesn’t have a scope, and reloads, nearly getting shot while doing so. He rushes up at the droid, firing several shots at its head. The blasts easily down it, but Ace still finds the DC-15S far inferior to the DC-15A. The small team of seven enters the building from a side door, downing two Droid Commandos who are stationed inside the door. The team rounds the corner and Rex straps his DC-15A blaster rifle, now out of ammo to his back, and draws his DC-17 Hand Blasters that are strapped to the sides of his Kama. Suddenly Rex looks up and says, “Take cover, Clankers!” The team scurries in random directions, diving behind ledges and boxes. Ace looks up at the ceiling, watching as six Droid Commandos drop down. They had been using magnetic energy to keep themselves attached to the ceiling. They drop down and begin firing at the clones scattered around the room. Ace watches as Rex rushes up to one of the droids and grabs it around the neck, whirling around and around using the droid as a shield and picking off the other droids in the room, after several shots Rex holds one of his blasters to the droids head, firing a fatal shot through its head and throwing its body towards another one of the droids. CT-29-5592 and CT-29-5593 rush forward towards the hall at the opposite end of the room. CT-29-5593 rips the panel off the code pad near the door, and begins hotwiring the inside. CT-29-5592 turns and begins firing at the oncoming droids in an effort to defend his comrade. Suddenly a Droid Commando Captain jumps forward, drawing his Vibrosword and slicing through CT-29-5592’s rifle, causing it to explode. The trooper is hurled back in the explosion, and he lies motionless on the floor next to CT-29-5593. The Droid commando captain walks forward, preparing to kill the CT-29-5593 as well, Ace sees what is about to happen and holds his DC-15S up to his head, he stares at the measly little crosshair at the end of the blaster that can’t even begin to compare to a full-sized long range scope. He closes his eyes, and fires several shots towards the droid. He opens one eye, then the other, and lets out a breath of air as he sees the dead form of the droid commando captain on the floor. Without another moment to celebrate his outstanding shot, he rushes forward towards the door which was now slowly creaking open. The two of them rush through the door, soon followed by the other four shinnies. Rex turns to shoot down another commando droid, then picks up the Vibroblade that had been held by the droid commando captain, he stabs it into the code pad wiring, then rushes through the door as it closes. The group turns back around and stare at the massive city in front of them that lies at the end of the hallway. Ace lets out a gasp as he stares at the massive structures, awe-inspiringly tall, with intricate patterns and carvings throughout the pillars and walls that support the buildings. But the moment only lasts for a few seconds, and Rex yells, “Get down!” as a droid dropship zooms over the top of their heads, raining down blaster fire on the clones below. Rex yells, “Take Cover!” and the team scatters around the ground, diving behind pillars and plantlife that surround the massive buildings. Ace rushes behind a pillar on the left side of the street and turns to see one of his comrades, CT-29-5594 next to him. He spots CT-29-5593 and CT-29-5596 crouching across the street behind a nearby pillar, and CT-29-5597 and Rex in a patch of bushes nearby. He looks up at the sky, squinting to see if the dropship was gone. His eyes widen as the dropship zooms right above his head, raining down more blaster fire and several grenades down on his head. He and CT-29-5594 throw themselves backwards, and roll with the explosion, landing in a crouch next to the wall that used to be covered by the building’s roof. Now half the building’s roof is caved in and the beautiful pillars that supported it are in shambles on the ground, destroyed in a matter of seconds. Rex yells over the comm, “Get inside the nearest building, then they’ll have to come fight us on the ground!” Rex and the three other clones rush into the building nearest to them, and Ace and CT-29-5594 rush into the building with the half-destroyed roof. Ace takes a moment to take of his helmet and reaches into his pack, pulling out a pair of heat-sensitive/nightvision /infrared binoculars attachment and clips them onto his helmet. He folds them down over his eyes and looks towards the sky, staring up at the droid dropship. The vehicle slowly lands on top of the building Rex and the other three clones are in, and several standard battle droids, atleast twenty, plus a team of five droid commandos rush out, aiming their guns around. Ace says, “Let’s get on that balcony, we can snipe them down from there!” the two of them rush up the huge platinum stairs in the middle of the room, probably worth several million credits in just raw material, and the designs on them were so intricate and small that it was probably considered priceless by the Muuns (the planet’s most intelligent inhabitants). Ace reaches his hand out towards his fellow trooper saying, “I can maybe take down one or two of those droids with my DC-15S, but I can take out five times as many with your DC-15A.” CT-29-5594 hesitates, then he hands the rifle to Ace who gives him a nod of approval. Ace turns around and looks through the scope of the rifle, looking closely at the droids as they begin to blast their way through the ceiling of the building, trying to get to the clones below. Ace aims carefully and then fires, picking off 4 of the normal droids and a commando droid. Twelve of the normal droids and the four remaining commando droids jump through the opening in the ceiling, and the other four normal droids begin firing at Ace and CT-29-5594. Ace rolls to the side, and fires a spray of bullets at the droids, downing two more of them. CT-29-5594 fires several shots from Ace’s DC-15S Blaster, downing another droid. The remaining droid turns and is about to flee, but a shot from inside the building blows off its head, and it falls to the ground, its legs and arms twitching as it malfunctions. Ace lowers the rifle and watches as the four clones emerge from the hole in the roof. The droid pilot stumbles out of the dropship, reaching for the E-5 blaster that a droid commando had been holding. Rex lifts his arm, and pulls the trigger, blasting the pilot fatally in the chest. Rex lets his arm fall limp, and he doesn’t even bother to use the comm as he yells to Ace, “Let’s keep moving, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover before the mission is over!”…