AN: If this ch format is funky, it's cuz I'm posting from my phone.~~~~~~~
Mobilizing the troops, Corvus had each of them lie in wait. Within the cloning facility, and out of sight from the spaceships that were landing, the men under the influence of Order 86 were chomping at the bit, and eager to take the fight to the enemy.
Truthfully, Corvus was too. As a boy and young man, he had played tons of games fighting alongside the Republic troopers, and had fantasized scenes where he fought with a lightsaber against droids. Many a cardboard paper towel roll had been his weapon of choice back in those days.
However, the Admiral who was landing these ships did so under the suggestion of Agent 007. From his perspective, he was rescuing the researchers and army valuable to Emperor Palpatine. At the moment, Venators & Acclamators had docked at Tipoca City, and had their hangar bay doors open, welcoming refugees. Now of course, Corvus could go in guns blazing, but that would be a waste. As much fun as it would be to go in with his boys tear shit up, and take names, so long as he had the element of surprise, he saw that there was an opportunity to be had.
The clones serving aboard the ships were vets, ones who had received Order 66, and were loyal to Palpatine without question. Their experience would guarantee large casualties amongst the FNG's that had just finished their 'basic' training. Aware of that fact, Corvus had elected to once again go with the stealth option. As a Jedi Shadow, he was an elite specialist that excelled in black ops missions, and decapitation strikes.
And what better target was there to decapitate than the Admiral in charge of this fleet? By infiltrating the command carrier, he could eliminate the one man who could countermand him, and then he could order theremoval of the inhibitor chips.
Such a tantalizing idea was too tempting to ignore. Sure, some of those guys would still be loyal to the Empire after the fact, but the best victories in life were achieved through intelligence, not strength of arms. Corvus liked explosions as much as the next man, but he preferred controlled violence, and would only engage in all out warfare as a last resort.
As such, he had found himself aboard the command carrier whilst his troops waited for the opportunity to engage the enemy.
Assuming the identity of Agent 007, Corvus bypassed multiple security checkpoints, and busy soldiers with ease.
Eventually he made it to the bridge, where a few dozen clones were working on consoles, and Admiral Trace-a sweaty overweight officer-was constantly receiving reports from his men. To his side were a pair of clone officers, one a captain in the navy, and another an armored commander.
"Any word from the refugees?" Trace asked a yellow armored Commander.
"Not yet, sir. A report from the lower decks claims the Agent is on his way. Perhaps he'll offer some explanation regarding this outbreak." The Commander speculated.
Walking into the wide bridge, Corvus admired all the shiny screens, and soldiers at work for a moment, then strode up to the two men.
"Ah, Agent. You claimed a rescue effort requiring my entire fleet was necessary. Yet my hangars remain empty. Explain yourself." Trace said in a curt, no nonsense manner.
"Admiral Trace, under code 7JZ9088, you are here by placed under arrest for suspicion of treason. I am relieving you of command." Corvus replied in a tone that mimicked-and somewhat mocked-Trace's own words.
"Traitor? Preposterous. Not just anyone can command a sector fleet such as this, Agent. My connections on Coruscant shall see you buried. Men, arre-" Trace got out, but was silenced as Corvus drew a service pistol, and shot him with a stun-bolt.
The clone troopers in the room stared dumbfounded. Some raised from their seats, and looked like they wanted to draw a weapon, but looked conflicted. Eventually, all eyes landed on the Commander.
"I'll need to see some identification, Agent. I saw the codes you used the first time, but to arrest an Admiral during an OP like this is no simple matter." The Commander said in a soft, yet firm tone, one that brokered no disagreement.
"But of course, Commander. Please, allow me to verify myself at one of these terminals." Corvus replied in a calm, magnanimous voice, as if his act of shooting an Admiral was no big deal.
The tense atmosphere on the bridge lasted a couple of minutes until everything had been verified on a computer.
"Sir, orders sir?" The Commander saluted as soon as everything checked out.
"What's your name trooper?" Corvus asked, curiously.
"Sir, designated CC-1999!"
"I didn't ask that, what's your name, trooper? Surely as a veteran, you've been known by something else, a call sign perhaps?" Corvus pressed.
The Commander looked uncomfortable, and briefly looked down at the ground before eventually raising his chin to stare Corvus in the eyes. Of course they were both wearing helmets, but the gesture spoke for itself.
"Sir, they call me…Pots, sir." Pots said in a quiet voice.
The hitherto silent Captain snickered nearby, and Corvus sensed some amusement from the rank and file.
"Good man, Commander Pots. Issue this order to all ships. The refugee crisis can wait. Every clone trooper is to report to the medical facility for a check up." Corvus ordered.
"Is it the toxin? Are we at risk?" Commander Pots fretted, worry for the safety of his men entered his voice.
"Something like that. Now get to it trooper!"
After issuing his order, Corvus then went to a terminal, and using his computer skills, updated the medical facility of every ship in the unit. The new patch included the procedure that the Bad Batch underwent, and provided instructions on how to remove the inhibitor chip.
At the same time, he included orders that post operation, each man was to be given a loyalty test regarding his loyalty to the Republic vs the Empire. Any who showed overwhelming support for the Empire were then ordered to join the men purging the 'toxin carrying rioters' in Tipoca City. In reality, these Empire loyalists would be throwing themselves into the waiting jaws of Order 86 clones. Thus, any forces that might stab him in the back were preemptively purged.
Now, not only would he have the ten million men from Kamino, but he would also secure a Legion-one million men-of veterans to his cause. Even if only half of them were ambivalent/die hard Republic supporters, Corvus would consider that a win when compared to the complete annihilation that had initially been planned.
Smiling to himself once he had completed yet another successful infiltration, Corvus almost forgot about Trace until it was brought to his attention.
"Sir, about the traitor, what shall we do with him?"
"Lock him in the brig, restrain and gag him." Corvus nonchalantly ordered.
"Sir!" Pots saluted, then went about his task.
Corvus watched on as the poor SOB was carried away like a sack of potatoes. He could've killed Trace then and there, but that would be a shortsighted overreach. What he had said earlier wasn't bluster. To command such a large force required connections. The good Admiral likely knew plenty of important people, and was part of the upper crust of society. It would be quite the scandal should Palpatine refuse to exchange prisoners for this guy, and such an event would damage his credibility.
On the other hand, Trace was sure to be full of sensitive information regarding the military. As a Star Wars nerd, Corvus knew important planets like Utapau & Mygeeto, but there were thousands of others he hadn't even heard of, planets that could be critical to the war effort. By plying the chubby Admiral for info, he could learn a thing or two regarding the state of war within the galaxy.
Wryly smiling at the thought of a future interrogation, Corvus sent out a few messages to his forces, reassuring them of his plans' success, and to expect small groups of Imperial loyalists to deliver themselves piecemeal.
Leaving the bridge, Corvus went invisible, and made his way to the medical bay. It was going to be a hassle, but after each chip was removed, he was going to [Mind Trick] the clones to bring out their loyalty to the Republic & the Jedi. Any who resisted, or were adamantly pro-Imperial would get the axe.
After two days had passed, the operation had been completed, and every Order 66 clone trooper stationed in the fleet had had their chips removed. Once the Republicans had been sussed out from the Imperialists, Corvus found that about 70% of the men were either ambivalent or loyal to the Republic/Jedi. That meant about 700,000 of the 22nd Legion were now susceptible to changing loyalties.
Next, he had to organize the soldiers into ships so that they could leave this cold damp planet. The sector fleet had 50 Acclamators and 6 Venators. Acclamators acted as battleships, and in this Legends universe had a typical crew size of 3,000 and carried 20,000 ground troops. The Venators had a similar number that could be transported. Considering a Legion was a million men, this was the standard requirement of each fleet. Any less, and the Republic come Empire wouldn't be able to fight at full strength.
These numbers meant that Corvus only had enough ships to field one Legion. At least that was the case on the surface. In reality, the clones had to leave Kamino as reinforcements, and it was unrealistic to have FNG's staff Acclamators and Venators so late in the war. Meaning that they were shifted to new war fronts via transporters, specifically, the GR-75 transport, the same ship that the Rebels used to escape Hoth!
With a carrying capacity of 50,000 men, dozens of these bad boys had been arriving one after another into Kamino with the intent of taking the freshly trained clones to battlefields across the Empire. Corvus had considered using the Order 86 clones as a sort of sleeper cell force, but didn't trust that they could turn against him, so instead, he had the troopers capture the transports as they arrived, and had them idle in space once a full complement of 50,000 men had boarded.
Finally, Corvus had captured some kaminoan scientists, rescued the underaged clones, robbed the armory, collected tons of data and landed the Falcon inside the flagship.
Once the final ship had left the atmosphere, Corvus-standing on the flagship Venators bridge with his Padawans & the Bad Batch-turned on a fleetwide comms to address everyone.
"Men of the Republic, this is Jedi General Revan speaking. I am sure many of you are curious as to the strange events that had taken place these last couple of weeks.
The truth of the matter is, Emperor Palpatine has betrayed everything we believed in, in a bid to seize supreme power for himself. That operation each of you underwent wasn't to remove a toxin, but instead it was to remove an implant. One that forces you to become his slave, and kill all Jedi, all who would oppose him. Surely, you who had received Order 66 are familiar with Lord Sidious.
That name is so different from Palpatine, yet why did it appear in your minds? That is because much like Count Dooku or Asajj Ventress, he is a Sith Lord! Ancient enemies of the Republic & Jedi, you veterans have surely heard rumors of this in your debriefs.
Your entire lives, you had been bred for war, genetically predisposed for combat. What a damn fine job you men have done of it! No one kicks ass better than you. As a warrior, I am in awe of your loyalty, perseverance, skills, and sheer guts to get the job done. The courage you men display every time you are taken to task is noteworthy. Few across the entire timeline of the galaxy are as fearsome as you.
That being said, each and every one of you has the potential to be more than that. You FNG's may only know one another as a number, but to me, and all Jedi, you are each unique individuals. You are people.
People with names, hopes, dreams, and aspirations towards the future. People like Echo, Fives, Hunter, Crosshair, Omega, Wrecker, Tech, Pots, and a million more!
You may not know this, but it was the Jedi who commissioned your creation, and it is the Jedi who shall take responsibility for your lives. Henceforth, I promise each of you a paycheck, a piece of land to call your own once the war's over, a chance at retirement, and I shall force the captured kaminoans to research ways to halt the rapid aging process.
Warriors, one and all, your loyalty to the Republic is without question, it is high time the Republic showed some loyalty to you.
Under my leadership, I promise you these things and more.
If your heart bleeds for the Republic, raise your fist and shout. Shout for your brothers, shout for the men who gave their lives, shout for your new Legion.
Shout for the banner under which you march.
Together, we are something new, something the galaxy will learn to look at with hope and fear. We are the:
Starcrusher Corp!"
Corvus felt the ship practically vibrate as tens of thousands of men raised their fists, and shouted with all their worth. At the same time, he depressed a trigger, and the explosives in the room where Lama Su was tied up went off. As the Venator took off and ascended into the atmosphere, Tipoca City suffered a chain reaction, and began to slowly sink beneath the tumultuous waves of Kamino.
"Revan out."
~~~~~~~~AN: 25% Christmas sale good until Dec 26 at:
Read 100+ ch ahead (we're at 162 rn)
I'll be taking next week off, and returning the week of Dec 29. Cheers!