Dorn: A Star Wars Story

26. Contempt

"At least it wasn't one of ours," Thesh muttered as my squad and I all gathered in the briefing room.

Apparently, our cold war with the Republic had heated up thanks to one of Phasma's Stormtroopers deciding that going rogue with a member of the Resistance was a preferable solution to his problems. If what I heard about Phasma was true, I couldn't really blame him, but I still couldn't stomach traitors. Running off on your own was one thing. Running off and killing your brothers and sisters on the way out was another level of disgusting that I could never get behind.

"Congratulations, General," Horran chuckled rather darkly as he took a seat. "I do believe we have just been demonstrated the effectiveness of your command techniques versus those used by Phasma and Hux. I'd say that makes you the winner."

"It's a hollow victory," Thesh chimed back in as the last members of the group took up their places. "We lost nearly a hangar full of TIEs and dozens of troopers - one being extremely costly to replace and another being both costly and tragic."

The Resistance had been a nuisance ever since Senator Organa had gotten involved in it all again. I admired her tenacity, to be sure, and she had more than a few reasons to want to knock the First Order back onto its haunches. I understood, but I didn't have to agree. She had started really organizing them. The Republic disavowed them for a long time, but I wasn't foolish enough to genuinely believe that they weren't receiving some form of tacit support from the Republic's allied worlds, be it in resources or credits if not manpower. According to all sources, Venn had formally joined up and brought his Wraiths with him. Whether Talen was involved or not, I couldn't say.

"We need to stay vigilant from now on," I crossed my legs and sat back in my chair. "Venn will have real backing now, and that means that we need to be even more prepared than we were before. I'm coordinating with Drellik and our Sith Ghost to find the next major artifact. With luck, we'll be on to something big. What's the status on our mission readiness?"

"All of your ships are ready to fly, General," Peavey and Balos nodded. "We're ready to launch the second that you need us to."

"All of our weapons systems and encryption systems are updated and ready to go, sir. We even gave Peek a software update," Randd giggled as Peek gonked excitedly beside her and wobbled back and forth.

"The Summa is in top shape, sir," Farthen and Hipshot nodded as I saw Farthen get the biggest, smuggest smile I have ever seen on a human being on his face. "You won't find a single thing out of place."

"Except for her fossil of a captain," Jag asked as he rotated to look at Farthen, whose smile fell into a frown.

"Shut your mouth or I will have you flying the Bracca for the rest of your tenure here," Farthen hissed as Tarkona snorted behind him.

I tried my best to keep the smile off of my face before I cleared my throat, "Alright. Dokaas? How is that project I asked you to look into going?"

Dokaas raised his brow and looked around the table, and I saw the other squad members looking at me curiously. I had asked Dokaas to look into a little matter on the side for me without them knowing, and according to a rather emphatic  message he had sent me over the holoterminals, he had made progress.

"Ah, of course," he nodded and folded his hands on the table. "General Ruana asked me to look into possible genetic stabilization for our two Clone troopers. I come bearing good news." I saw Robin and Hipshot's eyes widen as they turned to look at me, surprise scrawled across their faces. "As you know, we have been doing rudimentary gene therapy on both of our Clones here for a while to slow the aging process, but without a new solution, within I would say five or so years, they would be dead. The General tasked me with finding a way to resolve this issue. Firstly, Kaminoans are artists. The genetic code of the Clones was artwork in motion, truly. It was an honor to work with their craft. Secondly, I owe an old associate some favors for connecting me to one of the original cloners who developed the DNA, so if I could have a small stipend to send to his research facility as a gift, General, I would be most grateful. Thirdly, it will require a stint in a bacta tank for several days a week, but in time, the serum I concocted should slow the aging process down exponentially. Meaning that Hipshot and Robin here should have another twenty years or so left in them once the treatment process is complete."