Son of a Clone Trooper - I < Mandalorians

No wonder Jedi start their training at conception.  This using The Force stuff is challenging.  Some things seem to come pretty naturally.  Moving stuff, pushing stuff, pulling stuff, other general concepts from the telekinetic gambit are all fairly easy.  However, some of the things I had managed in the past like lightning and mind tricks, well, those are quite challenging.  I tried to mind trick a small animal into chasing its own tail and the little bugger bit me on the leg.  The lightning was another monster altogether, but I think I figured it out.  When that critter bit me I instinctively cooked him with that most wonderful fingertip lightning.  He was tasty too, I might add.  It seems that when I am acting on impulse with raw emotion, that I am able to conjure it up.  I am still having a hard time controlling it, but I can now get lesser versions of my accidental lightning on a fairly consistent basis by channeling my emotions.  It’s not the face melting power of the inadvertent stuff, but man is it fun.  Starting a camp fire is quite easy now, and hunting for food becomes cooking food at the same time.

On another note, Mandalorians are some seriously tough people.  I was off practicing with my lightsaber near a lake.  I thought I was fairly secluded when all of a sudden I got a feeling and swung my lightsaber just in time to deflect a blaster bolt.  It seems that the local mercenaries aren’t too fond of Jedi.  It also seems that they are Mandalorians.  I wasn’t about to sit around and let that guy take pot shots at me, so I charged at him.  I figured closing the gap and tearing him up with a lightsaber would be the best thing.  I was so very wrong.  He pulled out a Cortosis weave vibroblade which promptly disrupted the plasma flow of my lightsaber and rendered it all but useless on first strike.  He then punched me...... HARD!  Man did that hurt!  Sitting in the dirt I used The Force to chuck a rock at his head.  It hit pretty hard but barely seemed to faze him.  I did it again, and, and again and the guy just kept coming.  So I used my power to push him directly.  Handily that did work and he went flying into a tree.  Then he got up again, and drew his blaster, taking a shot.  I ducked and rolled behind a bolder right about the time my lightsaber sparked back to life.  I jumped up and went to throw him back into a tree again.  I extended my hand and pow!  Lightning arced out and made contact with him.

Now at that point I figured the altercation was over.  Again, I was mistaken.  He got up, still smoldering and charged me.  If it weren’t for the fact that I was in imminent danger, I would have probably stood in awe at his intensity and sheer durability.  But since it seemed he had my worst intentions in mind, I decide to beat a hasty retreat.  It was clear to me that my skills were not sufficient to deal with him.  I hit him with another force push and ran.  I had no idea he was a Mandalorian until I heard something about Mandalore being shouted from behind me.  Oh, and apparently The Force allows me to run very quickly as well.  That will come in handy if I run into those guys again.  Though, they are likely to be hunting me at this point.  Perhaps I can seek refuge in that cave if they find me here.

In the meantime, I will just keep practicing on my skills.  I really don’t feel like heading to a new planet.  I rather like it here, and it’s quite isolated.  Still, I will have to count on leaving if I can’t deal with the mercenaries, or if the Empire escalates their presence here.  I will figure an escape route and decide which system to go to next if I have to flee this one.  There are many to choose from.  Lower population would be good, but perhaps hiding in plain sight might be smarter.  Someplace like Nar Shadaa might work.  It doesn’t matter much though.  I just need to make sure I have a good escape plan in place so I had better stop diddling around on here and get to planning.

Son of a Clone Trooper - My Lightsaber Makes the Coolest Noises

Lightsaber here I come.  You know that cave I was talking about a couple weeks ago?  Yeah, it seems I felt it calling because the thing was filled with crystals many of which were imbued with Force energy.  It was amazing.  It was like they knew I was here and were calling out to me.  I fear that if someone not Force Sensitive were to walk into that cave that they wouldn’t see the sights that I saw.  Instead I will try to describe them the best I can.  It was truly an amazing sight to behold.

I entered that cave with some trepidation having no idea what I would encounter.  I had seen some pretty dangerous looking animals in my exploration of the moon and who knows; perhaps it was some type of lure trying to draw me into a nest of something that wanted to have me for dinner… literally.  That was not to be the case.  I had gone a few hundred meters in heading down a very steep incline.  I distinctly remember looking back towards the cave entrance and seeing the smallest pin prick of light.  If the compulsion to go forward was not so strong I would have turned back at that moment. 

There was no natural light and my data pad really didn’t help much.  It seemed that the darkness simply absorbed its light.  My shins and toes paid the price for my lack of vision but it was a price well worth being paid.  I followed what could only be described as a feeling.  It led deeper and deeper into the cave.  I was beginning to worry that my data pad battery wouldn’t hold out for the return trip.  As it turned out, it didn’t matter.  I rounded a corner and there I beheld the most spectacular of light shows.

The room was filled with dancing light.  Light was everywhere and in all the colors of the spectrum.  Tendrils of light, like smoke, swirled up into the air then diffused against the damp cave walls.  The heat was nearly stifling.  The crystals themselves pulsated with Force energy which released as the colored tendrils.  They appeared nearly ethereal, but I could sense their physical presence as well.  The Force granted me vision to see these crystals in a way that no ordinary eyes could see.  They seemed to interact with each other and their combined energy was beyond anything I had ever experienced.  I wanted to take them all.  The Force had another idea though.

As I walked into the room, the tendrils of light intertwined and formed what looked like a corridor leading to a pair of crystals.  One, a clear crystal pulsed with white light so bright that I couldn’t look directly at it.  The other, whose colored light would spiral around the clear crystal, was the deepest, darkest blue one could possibly imagine.  These were the crystals, the ones that chose me.  I had no doubt about it.  Their energy pulses were synchronized with the beating of my heart.  I reached to pluck them from their rocky roots and the heat emanating from them was searing.  I couldn’t actually grab the crystals directly.  I needed some other means to collect them.

It was then that it dawned on me.  The old desert hermit had taught me about levitating items with the power of The Force.  It was the perfect idea.  The crystals responded with such amazing fluidity.  I suspended them in the air in front of me and used their light to navigate my way out of the cave.  As I moved further and further from the room, the light from the crystals began to dissipate, until I finally reached the entrance of the cave, where they appeared as just normal crystals.  I reached out and found that their temperature had also dropped significantly.  I could still feel the power in them though.  The energy was concentrated but in no way lacked from the power I felt in the cave. 

Something had changed in me while I was in that cave.  I could feel the life around me in a way I had never felt it before.  I could feel every creature and plant around me.  With concentration I could actually focus on specific ones and feel their impulses.  It was all around me.  I could close my eyes and map out the entirety of the moon with two exceptions.  There were two black spots in my visions.  These spots seemed to be devoid of any type of energy.  It was like my Force vision was blind to those spots.  I knew them too.  One was the Imperial bunker I had discovered, and the other was what I had thought to be some sort of mercenary encampment.

I must have stood just outside the entrance of that cave for hours just feeling the world around me.  I had even forgotten about my desire for a lightsaber.  I may have stood there for days were it not for the sound of approaching speeder bikes.  I took cover in some nearby bushes and watched as a couple of scout troopers when screaming past me.  I am guessing they were on patrol.  I don’t know what they expected to find at such high speeds, but it worked out for me.  I headed back to my camp.  It was time to put these crystals to good use.

I spent a week in the shuttle using the workspace and the secret cache of blasters I found on board.  There was lots of trial and error and I went through a number of blasters, stripping them for parts to build my lightsaber.  It takes serious concentration to perform precise movements with The Force.  Without conventional tools, I had to use The Force to bend and shape metal, hold objects, and wire controls.  Admittedly the wiring was my fault.  I didn’t connect the wires internally before I closed up the lightsaber.  Yeah, real smart, I know.  I finally got them to connect.  It’s not pretty, that’s for sure, but at least it works, and quite well I might add.

While the lightsaber works well; I am flawed.  I really need training with this thing, and preferably in a place without objects to accidentally cut apart.  I wonder how many Jedi died during lightsaber training from self-inflicted wounds.  Don’t worry I didn’t do any serious damage to myself, only a couple small scars.  I did crush my shelter with a tree though.  The saber went through the trunk of that tree like it wasn’t even there.  With some training, I could probably take out the entire Imperial bunker with that thing.  Those mercenaries wouldn’t stand a chance either.  I must continue teaching myself once I heal a little.  Oh and did I mention that it makes the coolest noises?  I just hope its humming doesn't attract any large, carnivorous bugs. 

The next things I will work on are my skills with lightning, or more to the point, figure out how I can do it again.  My theory is that it will only work when it’s necessary, or at least that’s the only time I can get it to work.  I must test that theory. 

Son of a Clone Trooper - The Forest Moon

Hell has a special place for dirty rats like Stanko the Toydarian and I am going to make a point of sending him there a little earlier than he had hoped.  That is if I ever go back to that dirt bucket planet.  My last entry was cut abruptly short by the white clad Imperial henchmen known as Storm Troopers.  As I suspected the subject of the entry was the culprit behind my revealed identity.  As I said, he was a revolting creature.  If it weren’t for the fact that I want to do it myself I would wish that Jabba the Hutt would wring his wretched little neck for bringing the Empire to his little corner of the galaxy.  Anyway, survival first, vindication later and then maybe some rest will come afterwards.

Rather than finishing out my previous entry in detail, I will summarize.  Stanko’s rudeness didn’t abate throughout the course of our conversation.  He did offer to purchase my Lambda Shuttle.  Naturally he lowballed me.  I wouldn’t expect anything less, but the price he offered was just plain insulting.  I mean, my father risked life and limb to save me by stealing it and to be offered a paltry eight thousand credits, ugh.  He must’ve thought me a fool, until of course he revealed his diabolical plan to get me to take the price.  Here he was trying to get his hands on a shuttle, which had to have belonged to a Grand Admiral given the level of luxury, for a song to resell it for a mint.  Yeah and he was going to use my history and desire to remain unfound as a bargaining chip.  Now you know how that went.  I gave him a verbal what-for and sent him on his way after managing to resist the urge to vaporize him on the spot.  A real sense of power comes to me when I get angry like that.  It can be quite tough to subdue.

Come to find out, after putting my ear to the ground to help escape the Imperial agents, he had already done the deed and was hoping to make a little cash as well.  Turns out he had a vendetta against Clone Troopers and decided to take it out on me.  It’s a good thing I didn’t sell the ship otherwise I would be stuck on that hole of a planet as some sort of hermit living out in the vast desert.  I am glad it didn’t come to that.

No, I made it off that rock and found my way to the most stunning moon.  I am not sure what it’s called but it’s pretty much covered by forest.  There are some skittish little furry critters that hide in the bushes and jabber a lot.  I don’t always see them, but I can feel them around me all the time.  It feels as if they are constantly watching me.  Regardless, it really is pretty here.  When I got here it appeared that I was the only form of life on this planet with advanced technology.  A little exploring laid that idea to rest.  The Empire is here too.  I see them moving throughout the forest.  They have a big dish being constructed, a reinforced bunker and a fairly large detachment of troops.  They clearly aren’t here for me though so I’m not too worried.

While I was working my way back to my ship on Tatooine I met up with another Force user out in the desert.  He seemed very familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it.  Still, he was amazingly helpful.  He taught me something he called the Jedi Mind Trick and oh my do I love it.  If I ever make it back to Rori I am so going to mess with people.  I already got a Storm Trooper to turn his helmet around backwards and take off running as fast as he could.  And they call what they wear, armor, HA!  He got flat cold cocked when he ran into that wall.  The longer I think about the things I want to do with my new found powers, the bigger my smile gets.  Perhaps being Force Sensitive really isn’t that bad.  Other than being hunted by Emperor Palpatine’s forces, it’s pretty cool.  The old guy even gave me a “schematic” for making my own lightsaber and oh how I want one.   I use the term schematic loosely as it is really just a sketched technical drawing on the back of a cantina napkin.  Hey, I didn’t have anything else to write on at the time.

My father told me about lightsabers though I have never actually seen one in person.  He described them as a laser sword that could deflect blaster bolts and cut through nearly any know material in the galaxy.  How handy would that be when running for your life?  Of course I am looking at this schematic and while most of this stuff is fairly easy to come across, like durasteel, I have no idea where I am going to get other things.  For instance, where does one find a crystal imbued with the power of The Force?  And then I have to somehow tune it with my own resonance?  You have got to be kidding me.  I think it might be awhile before I can actually make one.  I did find other advanced people on the planet too.  They appeared very sophisticated and extremely dangerous.  But perhaps if I could find my way into their supplies I could find some of the things I need.  Admittedly I have become more brazen after my Krayt Dragon incident.

The strangest thing also happened the other day.  I was walking through the forest and got snagged up in some snare trap that the little furry guys set to catch dinner.  It snapped around my ankle with ferocity and whipped me up into the air after dragging my head fifteen feet across the forest floor like some kind of terrestrial broom.  Boy was I pissed.  Remember how I said I could feel power rising in me when I got mad?  Yeah that happened as I dangled, inverted, a few feet above the ground.  As I wallowed in my anger and self-pity I could feel my hands actually getting hot.  I was looking at them and sneezed and wouldn’t you know it, lightning shot out of my finger tips and crashed into the tree branch supporting the snare line.  It was shocking (pun most definitely intended).

The fall wasn’t so bad, nor was the landing; it was only a few feet.  It was the tree branch landing on me that really smarted.  The lightning severed the branch from the tree, which, in accordance with the laws of gravity, managed to find its way across my mid-section.  Don’t worry; I’m not peeing blood anymore. 

I have been trying to figure out how to make the lightning work again, but to no avail.  I will keep practicing as it’s way cooler than just moving stuff around with The Force.  Of course that’s not to say that moving stuff around with The Force is bad.  It keeps me fed without having to make traps.  I just walk up to the river and with a flick of the wrist, I have fish for dinner.  I even had a pig roast the other night.  There are boars in the woods that are as tasty as can be.  Still, that lightning, that stuff was something else.  Now if I could only choke someone with my mind.  Yeah, then my powers would be complete.  Wow, I sounded eerily like Emperor Palpatine there.  I better reel that in.  After all I don’t want to be one his to command like my father was before me.

The last interesting thing about this place is something I found just this morning.  I was, as usual, walking through the forest (not much else to do here) and got a compulsion to head over towards the mountains.  I can’t explain it.  It was almost like something was calling me.  I started following it and it led me along like the smell of fresh meat does a Wookiee.  It took the bulk of the day but here I sit at the mouth of what appears to be a ginormous cave.  I must go in.  The feeling is too intense not to.  I figured that before I wandered in, I should at least complete this entry.  Perhaps if I get stuck in some crevasse that someone reading this might find me before I croak.  That being said, in I go.  If I make it back out alive, I will be sure and post my findings and what was so compelling about the cave.

Son of a Clone Trooper - I > Toydarians

I didn’t think there was anything in the galaxy that I liked less than this planet.  It’s desolate, dry, hot, and the sand infests everything you own.  The location alone has been enough to make me crazy.  That was until the other day when I ran into my first Toydarian and what a vile creature he was.  Jabba’s Gammorean guards have more charisma than that little flying parasite.  His sickly sweet odor and habit of hacking up phlegm every minute or so were enough to make me want to wretch.  I had no idea that simply being near such a being could evoke such a response in me.  You may be asking what could have been that bad.  I’ll tell you.

There I was, walking through the streets of Mos Espa enjoying a chilled Lokian Wheat Tea when I saw that flapping cockroach coming towards me hacking like a 40 year death stick smoker; spitting some of the nastiest lung butter I have seen onto the sand.  If I didn’t know better I would have said the sand actually fled the slimy concoction.  I moved my hand toward a concealed blaster I picked up at one of the local shops.  He looked far too unsavory for my taste and I wasn’t about to take any chances.  It’s a shame he never gave me an excuse.

“Aren’t you a little young for a clone trooper?” he asked me as he approached.  The comment was certainly forgivable.  I am, after all, the spitting image of my father.

I relaxed the grip on my blaster.  He clearly wasn’t there to do me harm.  At least not conventionally that is.  His body odor on the other hand was wreaking havoc on my olfactory senses.  I tried to hide the repulsion from my expression.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”  I asked him. 

“No, but I’ve heard a few things about you.”  He said with disdain.  “People tell me you’re looking to sell a ship.”

He hacked again and spit right on my shoe.  It took all of my self-control to stop from ripping his stumpy wings out of his back and jamming them up his gelatinous snout.  He started off badly, and was getting worse.

“Do you make a habit out of spitting on people?”  I asked while pointing at my foot.  “That’s a bit rude don’t you think?”

“You should have moved your foot.  You’ve got shoddy reflexes for a clone trooper.”  He spat again at which point I used The Force to deflect it back into his face.

He wiped his face with his sleeve.  “Poodoo! That desert wind!”  He shouted!

I chuckled.  “That’s what you get.”   Then I turned to walk away when I felt his stubby three-fingered hand pawing my shoulder. 

…

OH NO!  Storm Troopers!  That little scumbag must’ve ratted me out.  I have to go.  To Be Continued…

Son of a Clone Trooper - The Last Few Weeks

It’s amazing to me how time seems to evaporate into thin air.    Where did the last three weeks go?  I blame it on the length of a day on Tatooine with those twin suns.  I mean the sun never seems to go away on this desolate hole of a planet.  It’s no wonder the whole thing is made of sand.  What I don’t understand is how some of the most significant events in the galaxy seem to occur here.  I mean all it has are moisture farmers, Jawa scavengers and the primitive head hunting Tusken Raiders.  Well that is unless you are off trying to hunt down a Krayt Dragon to harvest Krayt Pearls from its gullet, which is in and of itself, a veritable suicide mission.  Trust me, I would know.  The only thing it has going for it is as a place to hide. 

Two and a half weeks ago dad and I were relaxing in front of the holo-tube watching some low gravity gymnastics.  Hey, when’s the last time you got to see a hot Twi’lek in vacuform clothing do twenty-seven front flips into a pike spinning back somersault?  Well, until you see it, don’t poke fun at me for watching it.  Anyway, a public service announcement came on featuring Lord Vader himself.  Yeah, as if we don’t have enough issues without Mr. Asthmatic in our living rooms.  Seriously, with our level of medical technology couldn’t they have given that guy a muffler?  I hope stealth isn’t a skill he put too much time into developing before his run in with a lava river.  In any case, I digress.  We were watching the announcement, my father mumbling under his intoxicated breath.  Vader proceeded to tell everyone that there was a Galactic Rebellion being led by Force Sensitive individuals, perhaps even Jedi.  He went on to explain how these rebels destroyed the planet of Alderaan and then vaporized some monolithic Imperial space station designed to revitalize dead planets that was orbiting Yavin IV.  Because of the severity of their transgressions it was to be deemed that anyone possessing Force Sensitivity (as if we have a choice) should be treated as part of the rebellion and would be sought out and detained for questioning.

Dad jumped up out of his seat moving faster than I had ever seen him move.  He had Jawa beer dribbling down his chin while he flailed about.  “What in The Furce are youuu tawkin bout?” he said in a drunken slur. “As if Yavin IV neds revite… revite… oh that wurd.  The whole planit is a jungle!”

It tried to calm him down telling him perhaps that’s where they were developing it.  “Oh youuuu know better ‘n dat Chester.”  He says back.  “That emprer is always up to no gud. Ole rusty lung is just lyin’ to us.”  Did I mention that dad isn’t too fond of Lord Vader?  Well he’s not.  Not even a little bit.

About that time he stumbled back into his recliner turning slightly green.  He promptly took a drink and let out a belch before continuing.  “They shuld blow up Dathomir and send them witches to hell.” 

I thought about it and realized that most of the Narmle locals know I am Force Sensitive.  That could definitely spell trouble for me.  Most people wouldn’t say anything but there are certainly quite a few that would love to cash in on any reward the Empire might be offering.  It was time to beat a hasty retreat and find myself on some outer rim hideaway.  I gathered up my gear, while dad muttered something about “awful sandy hellhole.”  I should have paid attention as I think he was trying to tell me to stay away from Tatooine.

Now here I sit in some rancid cantina with all manner of alien species eyeballing me. I don’t know if it’s because I am a stranger or because I look like a clone trooper.  In any case it makes me nervous.  I definitely need to make sure I stay out of any dark alleys when I leave this place and head back to the hotel.   In the meantime another one of those Tatooine Sunburn drinks sounds good.

So there I was, all packed up in the house trying to figure out the most inconspicuous way out of Narmle and to the first out of the way planet I could find.  Dad was still prattling on, this time about lightsabers and something “pearls.”  Again, I really should have been paying attention.  “Listen pop,” I said.  “I would really love to stay and chat, but chances are there’s a bounty hunter with my name on his to-do list, so I need to get out of here and quietly.”

“I know and if you would shut yer trap fer once an listen I could finish!” he yelled back!  “How do you think I got to this planit?  In a ship that’s how!”

“Yeah dad I know, but that was 20 years ago, fat load of good it does me.” I said back.

“AHA!” he exclaimed while flailing his arm around. “I still have it.  I hid it in the swamp.  Take it and go.”  He sounded remarkably lucid.  Perhaps it was still there.

He grabbed my data pad and drew me a map to the supposed hiding place of his mystery ship.  Even drunk, his map was spectacular, detailed and remarkably close to scale.  That Kaminoan tactical training had definitely embedded in his brain.  I loaded my gear into the speeder, grabbed my data pad and headed off to the ship. 

When I arrived I discovered that not only was the ship intact, but it was a really nice Imperial Lambda Class shuttle.  It must have belonged to a high ranking officer too because it was posh.  I couldn’t imagine what dad had to do to get his hands on that ship.  I can say I am pleased that he kept it.  I jumped into the pilot’s seat pulled up the navi-computer and set a course for Tatooine.  I don’t know why I picked it, but I did.

When I arrived in Tatooine space I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to just plop down in one of the spaceports.  I got a strange feeling through the force when I thought to myself that I should land on the outskirts of one of the cities just to be safe.  I still don’t know why I got that feeling.  I also figured I would steer clear of landing near a large city.  I was, after all, in a stolen Imperial Shuttle.  I picked the aptly named town of Wayfar to land near.  Yeah, you heard me, Wayfar, and yes it is way far from everything except Jabba the Hutt’s palace and he was the least of my worries.

I landed, opened the ramp and was greeted by an overwhelming wave of dry heat.  It was like running into a brick wall.  I had no idea a planet could get this hot and still be able to sustain life.  I stepped out onto the soft sand and turned in the direction of Wayfar.  I figured I would buy a speeder, come get my gear then sell the shuttle to some local criminal element.  It would likely be worth a pretty penny to a smuggler.

I got about ten paces towards my destination when it crested the top of the dune in front of me.  By it, I mean the biggest lizard I have ever seen or heard of.  They are apparently called Krayt Dragons.  The only thing I knew was that I was forming a puddle of liquid on the sand at my feet.  It looked right at me like some sort of bipedal snack.  I would have jumped back into the ship, but I think the lizard was bigger than the ship.  So I did what any sane person would in my position.  I screamed like a 10 year old Gungan girl and ran in the opposite direction. 

Had I not been Force Sensitive, I would surely have been an appetizer to the giant beast.  Instead, I channeled The Force and ran like the wind.  Despite my insane speed, the monster closed the distance.  It must have covered a quarter mile with a single stride.  It was hot on my heels when I heard the sound of blaster fire. I looked back to see a mob of sand skiffs pelting the giant with blaster bolts.  It broke off its pursuit and turned its attention to the skiffs.  I was mere yards from town so I stopped to watch as the dragon took the skiffs apart one by one, chomping the occupants as it went.  Moments later it was out of sight having destroyed at least 4 skiffs full of people.

…

Well now isn’t this interesting?  I am sitting here writing up this little diatribe about my exploits over the last two weeks when in walks this guy missing an arm.  He’s bitching up a storm about how, the last time he was here, some guy sliced his arm off with a lightsaber.  He says he’s going to sue the cantina for allowing people to carry weapons in a building where alcohol is allowed.

HA! The bartender told him to get bent, reminding him that attached to his severed arm was a blaster he was meaning to use on the guy who cut off his arm.  He then told him to be thankful it was just his arm as not a half an hour later some Rodian got greased by a smuggler in one of the booths.  He then told the guy that if he didn’t leave right that moment, he was going to get fed to something called Carkoon.  I wonder if that’s what the locals call that Krayt that took exception to me a couple weeks ago.

With all that said, I am done with my drink and think I am going to head back to the hotel and turn in.  I still need to get myself back out to the shuttle and get my gear (no I am not that brave), then sell the shuttle and try to get myself better settled in.  I am probably going to be here for a while.  I am a little concerned about posting this entry.  I don’t really want to be discovered but who of any consequence is going to read my journal and compromise my location?

Son of a Clone Trooper - The Beginning

My name is Chester and I am the son of a former Republic Clone Trooper.  I know what you are thinking, “Clone Troopers don’t have kids.”  Yeah, that’s the general rule, but as with most things, there are exceptions.  Now how about I drop the real bomb?  I am Force Sensitive to boot.  As if the first wasn’t hard enough to believe, the second surely can’t be true can it?  Well, whether you choose to believe it or not, I assure you it is true.  Rest assured I will explain it all to you and the strange culmination of events may give you some faith in what I am saying.  If not, so be it.  Without further ado I take you to the proverbial beginning.

My father was grown, not born.  His life was one that was to be predetermined.  Not by some mystical being, but by Kaminoans at the behest of a Sith Lord for a goodly amount of coin.  He had no choice in life as most of us do.  His purpose was simple.  Be a soldier, follow orders to the letter and be prepared to sacrifice everything to win the day.  It turns out, that even amongst large numbers of exact replicas of him, my father, Cody, stood out from his peers.  He had a talent for leadership, strategy and an uncanny will to live.  In basic training he advanced more quickly than his brethren and earned accolades as a leader.  By the time he stepped foot on the dusty soil of Geonosis, he had been promoted to squad leader.  Under the direction of the Jedi Generals, my father’s squad earned glory on the battlefield, crushing the Separatist droids under his boot heel. 

As the Clone Wars drew to a close, my father had been promoted to the level of Commander working as the right-hand of Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.  They were a formidable force.  General Kenobi had an uncanny ability to survive even the most overwhelming odds and my father could strategize a battle plan that would inevitably lead to the fall of the Republic’s enemies.  Together they claimed many victories against seemingly insurmountable odds.  He was even there when General Grievous was killed by General Kenobi as they mounted what would prove to be the last and most significant battle of the Clone Wars.  It was also there on Utupau that my father’s lone failure would destroy him as Commander Cody and make him the man he is today. 

It was Order 66 that sealed his fate.  He knew it was there, always looming in his mind that he could, at any moment, be ordered to slay General Kenobi.  He had pondered the moment for a long time knowing how difficult it would be to kill the venerable Jedi Master.  Aside from the fact that Jedi are notoriously hard to kill because of their command of The Force and their training, General Kenobi had a penchant for making it out of scenarios that no other could.  His plan was to let the Jedi Master get far enough ahead of the unit to be able to use the large laser cannons to finish him off.  Surely no lightsaber was going to block a laser that powerful.  What seemed to be a flawless plan turned out to be one that was ill-fated.  When Order 66 arrived, he enacted his plan and it appeared to work.  When his men couldn’t find a body though, he feared that he had failed, and he was correct.  It was that mistake that defined the rest of his life.

Despite the fact that he failed to kill the Jedi Master, one would think there wouldn’t be much in the way of repercussions.  I mean General Kenobi and his partner took on an entire Separatist Capital ship.  He killed General Grievous single handedly.  He defeated the feared Darth Maul when he was just a Padawan.  He diced up Darth Vader like a roast Bantha at holiday dinner after having survived a near miss from a piece of small artillery.  The guy, as I have already noted, was nigh impossible to kill.  Unfortunately for my father, his failing to kill General Kenobi made it possible for Kenobi to track down Darth Vader and turn him into the iron-lunged black knight he is today.  Rumor has it Vader’s charred stump of a body was found next to a river of lava on Mustafar shrieking “I’ll bite your legs off.”  But, because Darth Vader was Emperor Palpatine’s pet project, my dad became the whipping boy for the whole debacle and was sent to the insidious Imperial Prison on Dathomir.  It was on that planet that I was conceived.

I mentioned that my father had an uncanny will to live; well that same will was put to the test on Dathomir.  It’s not a planet frequented by travelers.  The fact of the matter is, it’s far too dangerous a planet for ordinary folk and actually has a tendency to claim the lives of hardened veteran soldiers and hunters.  Famed for its Rancor population and clans of man hating Force wielding witches, it’s not a place for the faint of heart.  To add to it, the prison there isn’t exactly under close scrutiny, so the prisoners are treated more harshly than a normal prisoner of the Empire.

As my father tells it; he was on the verge of death when he was saved.  One of the clans of Dathomirian Witches, the Nightsisters apparently had a run in with some Imperial Scouts and many of their male slaves were killed in the ensuing battle.  Their Queen, Axkva Min, a brazen woman by any standards, decided that they needed to replenish their ranks of slaves so she organized an assault on the Imperial Prison.  She and a veritable army of Nightsisters and their tamed Rancors attacked the prison and kidnapped most of the prisoners.  As slaves the prisoners were not any good in an emaciated and physically broken state, so they were nursed back to health.  The slaves that showed the best physical and mental strength and fortitude were given special treatment and were tasked for “clan procreation.”  In other words they were the concubines of the upper echelon of the Nightsister clan.  My father was chosen by Axkva Min herself.  Needless to say, she would bear his fruit, and that fruit would be me.

Bear in mind that the Nightsisters are all women only using men for slavery and their carnal pleasures.  The fact that I was a boy was quite displeasing to my mother (I use the term loosely).  It was so disappointing in fact that my father was relegated to one of the lesser clan sisters and I was slated to be sacrificed to the Sarlacc (not to dissimilar from the one on Tatooine).  Fortunately it was not to happen that way.  My father managed to slip past the guards one night and get me out.  He had apparently seen an Imperial shuttle fly overhead towards the prison.  In a desperate act, he escaped with me, stole the shuttle and fled into the core worlds. We eventually made it to a small, swampy moon of Naboo called Rori and settled in there.  The events have taken their toll though.  The once great Commander Cody is now quite possibly the most famous drunk in the city of Narmle and possibly the whole of Rori.  I am not sure when he crawled into his bottle of Corellian Whisky as I was far too young to remember.  What I do know is that life has been interesting to this point and I can’t imagine what the future holds.  Rest assured it won’t be easy for the Force Sensitive bastard son of a fugitive clone trooper and Nightsister Queen, especially under the rule of the Galactic Empire.

There you have it.  That’s the beginning.  The explanation of how a former Republic Clone Trooper had a Force Sensitive son.  It seems that the Force has something in store for my father and I, or at the very least, me.  What possible reason could there be for such a strange series of events other than some predetermined destiny?  Whatever it is, I intend to keep a record of it.