Kamino – Shadows and Surveillance
The storm-lashed oceans of Kamino writhed under constant rainfall, waves hammering against the base of Tipoca City like the war beating at the gates of the galaxy itself.
Inside the sterile facility, Jedi Master Shaak Ti stood silently on an upper platform, observing the operations below through a panoramic transparisteel viewport. Her posture was composed, but her mind churned.
Dr. Shepard the Republic's crown jewel of clone engineering had returned to his post after the Separatist incident. Since then, he'd worked with an intensity that bordered on obsession. No breaks. No meditation. Barely sleep.
She had observed his output skyrocket.Efficiency was up.Clone productivity up.Humanity… down.
"He moves like he's already decided what the galaxy should look like," she said quietly to herself.
Deep in the Facility – Shepard's Routine
Shepard sat in his lab, surrounded by holographic projections of clone genomes, growth charts, and nanite filtration matrices.
A display flickered with real-time feed of multiple clone barracks some testing firearms, others performing zero-G maneuver drills.
He tapped through a screen showing the next batch's development stages. The Republic had approved shortened growth spans; he was testing 14-month viability thresholds now.
Every system was running at peak.The machinery did not ask questions.The clones did not complain.Only people did.
Across the Stars – A Garden Burns
Meanwhile, on Naboo, horror bloomed.
A bioengineered virus had swept across the lakes and cities of the peaceful world. It began in the swamp colonies spreading with waterborne efficiency. Citizens suffocated in their beds. Children collapsed in the schools.
The Republic had deployed med droids, scientists, and emergency quarantine teams.
But nothing worked. The virus mutated with every cure. Standard vaccines only made it stronger. They were losing control. The death toll was nearing two million.
Senate Appeal – Amidala's Plea
Senator Padmé Amidala stood once more before the Senate's Emergency Health Council, her voice strong but desperate.
"We've exhausted every resource. The Republic has sent brave scientists but none have succeeded. We need something more advanced. Someone more advanced. We need Dr. Shepard."
The council murmured.Some nodded.Others sneered.
"He's essential to the war effort," said the senator from Corellia.
"And is Naboo not part of this Republic?" Padmé shot back. "Do we only count systems worth defending when they produce weapons?"
The debate dragged on but one solution emerged.
The Jedi would intervene.
The Jedi Mandate – The Holocall
Inside Kamino's High Council Room, a large holotable flickered to life. On its surface, the Jedi High Council appeared in blue-tinted hologram. Master Windu, Master Yoda, and others sat in contemplative silence.
Shepard stood before them, Shaak Ti at his side.
"Doctor," Mace Windu said, his voice level, "you are being formally requested to assist the medical efforts on Naboo."
Shepard didn't respond immediately.He crossed his arms. His expression unreadable.
"My schedule is full. Kaminoan cloning production is now at maximum capacity. If I divert even a fraction of "
"Lives, at risk, there are," Yoda interrupted gently, yet firmly. "The Force calls us to help."
"The Force doesn't run the Republic's production lines," Shepard replied.
There was a moment of stillness. Even the holoprojectors seemed to hum with tension.
"You will help, Doctor," Windu said. "This is not a request."
Shepard's lip curled faintly half disdain, half resignation.
"Understood."
Tipoca City Hangar – Arrival of a Senator
Hours later, Padmé Amidala's Nubian diplomatic cruiser descended through the rain. Drenched, determined, she walked through the white halls of the facility without hesitation, ignoring Kaminoan protocol officers and clone guards.
She barged into Shepard's research chamber, red-eyed and exhausted.
"We're running out of time," she said.
He didn't look up from his interface.
"I've already been ordered to assist. You don't need to plead."
"I'm not pleading. I'm appealing to your humanity."
He stopped.
And finally looked at her.
Shepard's Fury
"Humanity?"
He stepped away from the console and walked toward her, eyes burning with cold purpose.
"Do you think I have time for humanity? Do you think this is about your world? Naboo is suffering, yes. But so is Kiros, where they bombed entire cities with gas. So is Felucia, where children grow up breathing toxic spores. So is Saleucami, where death comes faster than relief."
"We're all suffering, Senator. You just noticed because it's finally on your doorstep."
She stiffened.
"I didn't come here to be scolded."
"Then don't pretend moral superiority," he snapped. "You stood in the Senate and gave speeches while I was building the only defense your Republic had. You think words matter now? Words are wind, Senator. The galaxy is on fire."
Padmé's Cracked Idealism
The words hit harder than she expected.
She had always believed in diplomacy. Believed that peace was possible through debate, treaties, compromise. But standing here in the cold light of Tipoca City, surrounded by war-born children grown in tanks she began to doubt.
"Is this what the galaxy has become?" she asked quietly. "Function and firepower?"
"It's what it always was," Shepard said, turning back to his monitors. "You just never saw it."
And yet he helped.
Because of Jedi pressure. Because he had to. Because somewhere, under all the ice and steel, he still responded to necessity.
He dispatched a nanite filtration system within hours encoded with bio-adaptive algorithms that analyzed and rewrote viral behavior.He didn't go to Naboo.He didn't need to.
His creations went for him.
Return to Theed – A Changed World
On Naboo, the relief was immediate.
Within 36 hours of deployment, symptoms began to subside. Deaths stopped. By the fifth day, the virus was gone neutralized at the cellular level.
The people praised the miracle cure. But Padmé said nothing.
She returned to her balcony in Theed, watching the sunset over the water. But this time, it didn't bring peace.
The war had broken something inside her.
Not her compassion but her innocence.
"I thought we could reason with the fire," she whispered."But fire doesn't listen."