Chapter Text
There was no denying it, he just wasn’t fit for combat. His lungs burned and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he laid across the cold floor of the training room. The Kaminoans wanted to put him to a physical test, really all they ever seemed to use him for was testing, and he had failed yet another one. He could faintly hear the snickering of the other cadets as they bore witness to his failure. It was a sound he had grown used to, although it still broke his heart a little each time he heard it.
Every trainer on Kamino resented him solely because he was impossible to train. Even now as a sixth year, he wasn’t able to keep up with any of the other cadets. The blasters he fired never were able to hit their targets, let alone the bullseye that so many other cadets hit with ease.
As a young cadet, he was almost daily separated from his brothers to be brought into testing. What the Kaminoans would do to him varied on the day, but one thing stayed the same: he was always alone when he did it. As far as he knew, nothing ever came out of it. It felt like a waste of his time, although so was all the trooper training that he was given.
When he had first experienced the brutal testing of the Kaminoans, he had screamed until his throat was practically raw. He couldn’t have been more than two standard years at the time, although he was sure that he’d been forced into testing since his creation. It was a poor life to live, but he was thankful to at least be alive. There were plenty of defective clones before him that hadn’t been given the chances he had. Yet there were days where it sometimes felt as if death were preferable to having to endure even another moment of testing.
A shadow looming over him pulls him from his thoughts just as a loud voice rings in his ears, “CC-9900, you’re finished for the day. You’ve been summoned to Nala Se’s office. You are to report there immediately.”
His trainer seemed to be relieved to be freed of his presence as he forced himself into a standing position. Every muscle of his body was aching and practically begging him to just lie down to rest. The strength he lacked in muscle mass he made up for in his determination and he was determined to not make himself look like any more of a failure than he already had.
“Yes, sir,” he said, managing to lift his right arm into a perfect salute. His trainer gave him a curt nod and resumed his attention to the cadets behind him, future heroes of the Republic. But not himself. Never himself.
He made his way out of the training room to Nala Se’s office. At this point in his life, he’s sure he could find her office blindfolded, despite the blinding white that coated the monotonous walls that were present throughout the entirety of Tipoca City. His legs burned with exhaustion as he shuffled through the empty hallways, every other cadet hard at work either training or taking lessons.
Soon enough, he reached Nala Se’s office inside the center of the medical wing. Her office was rather large and yet he somehow always managed to feel claustrophobic inside of it, as if there wasn’t enough air in the entire room to properly fill his lungs.
He pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts and his breath. That was another thing that the Kaminoans found imperfect about him; he could never walk very far without losing his breath. If his walking was bad, his running skills were completely out of the question.
Finally managing to feel calm enough, he knocks three times on the door. There was the distant sound of a chair being moved and chatter he hadn’t even heard initially coming to a halt. A moment later, the door flies open and the looming figure of Nala Se fills his vision. He practically has to tilt his head all the way back to be able to stare into her pitch-black eyes.
“Ah, CC-9900. I’ve been expecting you. You may come in now,” she says, moving out of the door frame to allow him to enter.
“Thank you, mistress,” he responds.
He enters the room to meet the gaze of the Prime Minister, Lama Su. His breath catches in his throat as the faint hiss of the door closing behind him echos in the completely silent room. Lama Su stares at him, a disappointed look in his eyes. A knot forms in his stomach and his heart begins to race. Something didn’t feel right.
Lama Su finally breaks the painful silence, “So, this is the clone I’ve heard you speak so frequently of.”
Nala Se steps forward to rest a three-fingered hand on his shoulder and it takes every ounce of strength in his body to not scream out, “Yes, Prime Minister. This is CC-9900. He is the only defective clone to have survived this long. All the others died in their first years.”
“Hmm. And you have confidence that it will not repeat itself?”
“I do. His failure will not be repeated, that much I can assure you. My latest experiment will be successful,” Nala Se responds, grip tightening on his shoulder.
They spoke to him as if he wasn’t even there and yet he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Defective. Failure. He had been hearing those words his entire life, this was nothing new to him.
“Very well then. Proceed with your plan,” Lama Su responds to something he hadn’t heard, his attention snapping back to the conversation.
“Thank you, Prime Minister. Follow me, CC-9900. I have something to show you,” Nala Se says.
“Yes, mistress,” he responds quickly.
She leads him out of her office, graceful limbs the exact opposite of his malformed ones. They walked in complete silence, as they always did, which only made the thundering of his heartbeat more apparent.
Despite the monotony of Tipoca City, he’s sure that he has never been this way before. Part of him is almost excited to be going into this new part although a much larger part of him is absolutely terrified. Many brothers have never returned from a trip with Nala Se and he does not want to be another missing brother. Not like there will be anyone to miss him.
After what feels like hours of walking, she finally turns into a large room at the end of an even larger hallway. There’s Aurburesh on the door, but he doesn’t have time to read it. She continues walking deeper into the room and leads him into a much smaller room where four impossibly small bassinets are held.
She moves to stand at the end of them, dark eyes never once leaving him.
“Come,” she gestures towards the bassinets, “Look at your new brothers.”
It practically sounds like an order and yet he can’t find it in himself to move forward at all. He has never been shown new brothers before and certainly never as young as this.
“New brothers?” he asks, confused as to what that meant. New brothers were decanted everyday, it wasn’t anything special.
“Ah, but these four are different. Just like you, all of these clones have genetic defects. Their’s, however, will make them strong soldiers.”
“It was part of an experiment I’ve been working on for quite some time now. I really do have you to thank, at least partially, for cooperating so well with all those tests I made you go through.” Not like he had much of a choice.
“Now come closer, I want you to look at them,” she calls to him in an even tone that she used for orders.
He is quick to move to her side and peers into the bassinet closest to her. Without even realizing it, a smile grows across his face as he sees the baby within. He already has a head of thick, dark hair that curls gently across his forehead. A part of him wanted to reach out to stroke his hair, to make sure he was real, but he figured it was best to let the little one rest. Small snores left the baby’s mouth as he hopefully had lovely dreams of a place anywhere but Kamino.
“This one here,” she gestures to the bassinet he’s looking into, “is CT-9901. He has been given enhanced senses to better his field performances.”
His eyes widen. Had these clones truly been given their designations after him?
Nala Se disregards any change in his body language and moves to the next bassinet, “This is CT-9902. He has the most brilliant mind of any clone trooper, and likely of anyone in the galaxy.”
Unlike with the previous baby, this one is completely awake. His eyes are the same shade of brown he has seen in every trooper and yet somehow his feel different. The baby turns to look at the both of them and a wide, warm smile grows across his little face. In that moment, 99 swears his heart almost stops. A wave of emotion flows over him as he returns the smile for the little one. Nala Se remained silent during their brief interaction, carefully watching his every move but he couldn’t find it in himself to care, all he cared about was the baby in front of him. The two brothers stare at each other for another moment before Nala Se moves on to the next bassinet and he is quick to follow, anxious to meet his next brother.
“This is CT-9903. He has been given exceptional strength.”
This baby is awake too, kicking his large legs around. Already full of energy, it seemed. He carefully reached a hand inside the bassinet, hoping that playing with the baby would help to entertain him and then tire him out some. To his surprise, the baby wraps a tiny hand around his pinky finger. His grip is tight and strong, just as someone of his supposed strength should be. He lets the baby hold onto him for a while, time not feeling real with the amount of joy he is experiencing. Hearing a sigh emit from the Kaminoan behind him, he gently pulls his hand out of the baby’s grasp. It’s a struggle, both physically and emotionally, but he’s able to do it.
They now stand in front of the final bassinet with his final brother cradled inside.
“And this last one is CT-9904. He has been given advanced eyesight, which will make him an excellent sharpshooter.”
Gray hair stands out across the head of this little one, a shade he’s never seen amongst any of the clones. Just another factor that will alienate him from all the others. A tiny fist reaches up and rubs at his eyes, most likely bothered by all the bright light in the room. He doubted anyone could sleep well in a room this well-lit, let alone a baby with enhanced vision.
“Now, if you’ll come stand over here with me, I must explain something to you,” she says, moving a fair distance away from the four bassinets that hold the most precious things in the entire galaxy.
He nods and follows her over, despite not wanting to leave the sides of the babies.
She turns to face him, “I am telling you all of this because I want you to act as their mentor. Be sure that they succeed where you failed.”
“Yes, mistress.”
She strides over to him in one quick motion and grips the back of his neck, as she often did to frighten him, “You may never be a good soldier, that much has become evident over the years,” she says, sighing, “But maybe, just maybe, you’ll make a good brother.”
“I will be a good brother. I promise you.”
She tightens her grip on the back of his neck and tilts his head to look up at her, “Do not disappoint me.”
His breath catches in his throat, “I will not. For them I will do well.”
As he stood there, eyes meeting hers, a deep truth he was never willing to admit to himself unearthed itself: he was terrified of the Kaminoans. They held the lives of every clone in their hands, everything he had ever loved, and all it took was the smallest mistake for them to deem a clone unfit for battle and therefore unfit for living. So if he had the chance to save his brothers, even just one, he would take it. Always. Even if it cost him his life.