Walking down the halls of the cloning facility, Corvus was somewhat awed by how vast this complex was. The area they were moving through was made of a clear type of material resembling plastic or glass, and he had a direct view of many different things.
In one sector, he saw tens of thousands of incubators carrying baby clones. Another had children learning on computers, and more still had gyms full of young men exercising hard at work.
Considering Kamino was 99% water, and largely cut off from the rest of the galaxy, it was almost impossible to believe that the kaminoans had pulled this off.
As impressed as he was, he would have to be as condescending and insulting as possible if he wanted to achieve one of his objectives. Thankfully, Persuade could be used in more than one way. Not only could he generate goodwill, but he could also draw hate upon himself!
"This facility is pristine, but much too small. The cloning facilities on Coruscant's moon, Centax-2 are much grander in scale. Remind me again, how long does it take for a Jango clone to mature?" Corvus asked, and halted at a view port, looking down at a mess hall.
"Our creations spend 10 galactic years undergoing constant genetic modifications, and training to become the perfect soldier. The amount of time spent learning, and imparting muscle memories creates a more effective specimen than some faulty implants, and a single years worth of training." Taun We dismissed.
"So you are aware of Arkanian Microtechnologies, this makes things easier. You see, madam administrator, this war is a numbers game. Over a third of your perfect clones have met their demise since the start of this conflict. Those losses are irreversible." Corvus tutted.
"I had noticed your trooper was rather short for a human." Taun We nodded towards Yon, and insulted him, yet spoke as if she were discussing a fact, like 'the sky is blue.'
Yon's posture screamed aggression, so Corvus was quick to diffuse the situation.
"Oh no, the Empire has started recruiting ordinary sentients. Like I said, there have been some issues regarding trust as of late, and this trooper is loyal beyond reproach." Corvus said, and felt Yon beam through the Force. "Besides, as you well know, the droids outnumber our forces by more than 3 to 1. Perhaps the margin is even wider." Corvus said in a speculative tone, knowing that Palpatine had purposely been holding the CIS back.
"Kamino introduces two million units of clones-a number totaling over 50,000,000 troopers-every quarter. We are simply producing what we were instructed to do. Should the Empire feel the need for more, it should put in a new order. I am certain the Prime Minister would be open to such talks." Taun We bit back in a passive-aggressive tone.
"The Grand Army of the Republic at its height neared 10 billion clones. This war has dragged on for three years, and yet Kamino has only contributed 600 million of that number. No, Miss We, this waterbound planet does not have the time or logistics to produce more clones. Do not presume to lecture the Empire." Corvus lightly chuckled, and placed his hands behind his back as he continued to look into the ness hall, completely ignoring Taun.
The female kaminoan didn't show it, but the Force sang murder when she glanced down at his back.
Corvus smiled to himself, and was going to continue to roast her, when he saw something down below that caught his attention. It was a food fight of all things.
It involved a little blonde girl, and a group of irregular clones dressed in black armor.
'Ah yes, the Bad Batch.' Corvus thought to himself in recognition, and entered Pause as he began to think deeply on the matter.
It would be a lie to say he watched the entire show, as he was on a bit of a Star Wars hiatus ever since he watched Force Awakens, but he was aware of their existence. Known as Clone Force 99, they were a group of genetic aberrations, and possessed unique quirks that made them an effective squad. Supposedly, they were the most impactful black ops unit within all of GAR.
The inhibitor chips did not work on them due to their mutations-with the exception of one members-and Corvus decided then and there he would attempt to recruit them.
Besides having a special forces unit at his beck and call, there was one other reason why he wanted to recruit them.
Omega.
The child clone had the potential to be Force Sensitive. She was the one successful experiment from thousands of failures. Should she fall into Palpatine's clutches, he would doubtlessly discover the secret behind cloning, and create a host of bodies for him to puppet around. The very idea of Palpatine sending his spirit around the galaxy into Force Sensitive clones of himself was terrifying. Since it was Legends Palpatine, the guy had a mega hardon for clones, and clone based immortality. Hell, even Disney had him go down this route!
Knowing all this, Corvus was determined to recruit the girl. Not necessarily because he wanted her on his side, but more so that he could deny Palpatine an opportunity at early immortality, and the creation of a Force Adept army. Recalling how Star Killer was cloned as well, Corvus was determined that not only would he be turning the kaminoans against the Empire during this visit, but he would also be erasing all research regarding this cloning process.
Un-Pausing, Corvus gestured at the chaos unfolding down below.
"These are your perfect soldiers?" Corvus taunted.
"They shall be disciplined." Taun We replied neutrally.
Corvus ignored her underlying simmering rage, and continued with his gaslighting.
"Why is it that those clones look different from the rest?" Corvus questioned, even though he knew the answer.
"Clone Force 99. Their peculiarities were deemed useful, and were pressed into service after they consistently defeated commandos in training simulations." Taun We blankly replied.
"Actually, this brings me to the purpose of my visit. The discipline, and effectiveness of the implants have come into question. There have been reports that Order 66 was not fully carried out. The Emperor is most displeased with this outcome."
"During testing, the implants had a failure rate of 0.01%. However, Agent 007, to satisfy our clients, Kamino is more than happy to comply with your investigation." Taun We placed a hand over her chest, and slightly lowered her head.
"0.01%, hm? From the 600 million clones you have deployed, that is a figure numbering at about 60,000 troopers, no? That is not an insignificant number considering each Legion is made up of a million men. Almost a full tenth of one Legion is not comforting whatsoever." Corvus admonished. "Based upon the reports from the field, one wonders if the statistics involved are even accurate." Corvus said, twirling around-and flourishing his cape-he looked up to stare Taun We in the eyes, and adopted a cocky gait.
Taun We didn't blink as she stared into his visor.
"You wish to view our internal figures? Very well, follow me." Taun We motioned towards him, then resumed their trek.
Corvus glanced down at the Bad Batch one last time, then shadowed the kaminoan.
During their journey, Corvus made note of several key installations. Notably, he eyed a mustering area where tens of thousands of troops were boarding transport ships, Venators, and Acclamators.
What really drew his attention, was that each of the clones were armed and armored. This by itself, was an innocuous observation, however, with his recent exploits at Galactic Bank, and his inner loot goblin, this sight got him thinking. There must be an armory somewhere on this planet, one equipped with such a massive stock that it can arm FIFTY MILLION CLONES every quarter. That was a lot of fucking guns, armor, ammo, grenades, and other miscellaneous support gear necessary for war.
And it was ripe for the picking.
Corvus practically salivated over the thought of robbing so many resources. The Imperial war effort would be severely handicapped should he seize these materials.
Initially, his mission was to antagonize the kaminoans, and mess with their computers. However, as he had told Jax & Yon, part of this excursion was meant to identify weak points, and boy did he find a weak point!
Turning the long necked, pale aliens against Palpatine would take time, as would the hacked implants. This would be a contingency against Palpatine in the event that the war dragged on. Corvus, afterall, couldn't anticipate how long the Clone Wars would last, and based upon the number of combatants, it had the potential to go on for years. Ideally, he would like to off the Sith Lord within a year, but this was Legends Palpatine. It would be childish to assume he could steam roll this brilliant, powerful man.
So he prepared for the future with long term plans. However, that didn't mean he would forsake the short term. Should he pull this heist off, the clones would have to wait another quarter before they could enter the field! That, or at the very least, would be limited to old, damaged, or cheaper equipment! This would affect their combat readiness, and serve as yet another blow to the economy as more government funding would be forced to go into the army instead of civil services.
Corvus smirked to himself as he passed by the mustering area. All it took was one clue, and he had already established an additional secondary mission for himself. He couldn't wait until he got his hands on Taun We's console. What juicy secrets would he discover?
Brimming with excitement, Corvus continued to needle the poor kaminoan administrator for the next half an hour, and acted like the most annoying corporate stooge he could imagine. He kept on asking about meaningless figures, reports, and constantly compared Kamino to its competitors until they eventually reached her office.
By this point, Taun We was ready to boil over, but her 'customer service' tone and posture had remained impeccable this entire time. Personally, Corvus felt kind of bad for her, as really, she was just doing her job. But if Obi-Wan, master of trolling, was anything to go by, what he was doing to her was within the Jedi Code. Truly, no other being could be as annoyingly pedantic as a Jedi. Really, Corvus should be getting points in his Path of the Jedi quest for the amount of roasts he was delivering.
"We have arrived. Please, take a seat, and I will show you the data you are interested in."
Corvus motioned towards Jax & Yon to post up outside the door to Taun's office, and then he sat down next to her.
"This is the data set you had enquired about. As you can see, faulty inhibitor chips account for less than 0.01%." Taun We said with some smug superiority creeping into her tone of voice.
"If you are so sure of yourself and your people, then you wouldn't mind granting me access to this terminal?" Corvus replied in a haughty tone.
"This is a highly irregular request, as my terminal contains highly sensitive information…"
Seeing that he couldn't talk his way through, he applied a [Mind Trick] to her mid sentence.
'This fool cannot bypass the security checks in place. Let him search, so that he can truly appreciate Kamino's perfection.
When you watch the screen over his shoulder, you will only see approved data.'
"...but since you represent the Emperor, I shall help you navigate through this system, Agent 007."
Recognizing that the [Mind Trick] had taken hold, Corvus cracked his knuckles, and placed his hand on the mouse/keyboard. He would be making critical edits to the facilities infrastructure, yet to her eyes, he would be viewing statistics.
Oh how he loved the versatility of [Mind Trick].
The next time Corvus fought someone who wasn't Force Sensitive, he'd have to give it a try. Even if they shook it off, it'd probably stun them for a second, or give them a piercing migraine.
Truly, it was a Jedi's best weapon.
Typing away at the keyboard, Corvus got to work.