And nature must obey necessity
(William Shakespeare).
***
In the central dogma of the vast city stood a mobile headquarters that complemented the existing system for managing the complex of buildings and factories. Dozens of Kaminoans and clones were stationed at their control and communications consoles, or in front of a massive display screen that now showed the positions of clone troops, fires, and destruction. Yet the number of alarms was no longer growing — on the contrary, they were steadily disappearing.
After a while, Shaak Ti exhaled in relief. The last outpost inside Tipoca City reported the destruction of the final combat droids. The remaining CIS ships had left the Kamino system several hours earlier, and now the battle could finally be considered over.
"We've won this battle, Minister."
Lama Su bowed.
"Oh yes. Without your help, we would have been annihilated. However, I must leave you now — I need to attend to the wounded and beginrepairing the damaged equipment immediately."
"How many have we lost?"
"Several groups of students were not evacuated in time, and some of the children died — others had to take up arms before they were ready. Unfortunately, several incubators were partially damaged, and one of them was completely destroyed. By the most conservative estimates, we lost about two hundred thousand clones from the second generation and two million from the third." The Kaminoan crossed his long arms, his entire demeanor radiating sorrow.
The Jedi Master sighed heavily. If the third generation was still developing in their tanks, the second generation were children — eight to ten years old, rarely twelve to fourteen. Theyreminded Shaak Ti of the younglings from the Jedi Temple. Even these children had been forced to fight. Hundreds of small bodies in blue robes littered the city's corridors, and not all of them belonged to mature clones…
The Jedi had prepared well for this battle. A massive fleet had been dispatched to Kamino, including eighty-five Acclamator-class ships and more than a hundred frigates and corvettes. Nearly seven thousand starfighters had been deployed to defend the skies of the water world. Two corps had been stationed on the surface, and three regiments of combat swimmers guarded the city beneath the waves. Many Jedi who arrived with these reinforcements took their places in the cockpits of their starfighters. Adi Gallia, who joined at the last moment, assumed command of the fleet. The plan was to halt the Separatist offensive in orbit and prevent the landing of ground — or rather, surface and underwater — droids.
But things did not unfold as the Jedi had expected, even though the Separatist fleet emerged from hyperspace exactly where predicted. Some ship captains opened fire a few seconds before the scheduled arrival time, and the CIS ships were immediately caught in a deadly crossfire. Yet with each passing moment, more and more of them appeared. Sixteen Trade FederationLucrehulks alone arrived, followed by forty-one Recusants and one hundred and twenty Munificent-class frigates forming the core of the assault force.
A fierce battle erupted in Kamino's orbit. The ships exchanged fire at the limits of their range as tens of thousands of Vultures, Belbullabs, and Hyenas clashed with thousands of Torrents and a dozen Delta-7 Jedi interceptors. The Jedi of Red Squadron, led by Obi-Wan Kenobi, performed miracles in their Aethersprites — and the young Skywalker stood out in particular. He was a natural pilot, and few Jedi could match his daring maneuvers. Blue Squadron, under Aayla Secura's command, shielded the Republic vessels from the waves of incoming bombers. The clone pilots flying the Torrents gave their all — they weredefending their home.
Even so, Merai, a talented Mon Calamari commander leading the invasion forces, managed to break through the Republic defenses throughsheer determination. A battered fist of thirty Recusants, supported by fifty frigates, punched through the defensive line and opened a corridorfor the Lucrehulks. Several Acclamators were destroyed outright, and dozens of other ships sustained heavy damage. Kit Fisto's Green Squadron attempted to intercept the transports but failed. Fighter droids, obeying commands from their control stations, launched suicide attacks. Many Jedi were shot down or forced to withdraw from orbit, including Fisto himself. The battle descended into the planet's atmosphere. During this phase, Jedi Master Kossex of the Weequay species was killed — she had saved Skywalker by drawing several Vultures off his tail but couldn't evade the missiles fired by theBelbullabs.
Soon, the Lucrehulks, covered by the remaining warships, began deploying their troops. Hundreds of C-9979 transports and landing capsules reached Tipoca City, unloading tens of thousandsof combat droids, including the brand-new aqua droids, from their bottomless holds. Hundreds of amphibious fighters joined the assault, piloted by Mon Calamari who had defected to theSeparatists along with their commander. Kit Fisto and what remained of his squadron tried to stop them, but his fighter was shot down and crashed into the sea. The Nautolan Master survived — the water was his element — but he could no longer rejoin the fight.
The battle on the surface began in earnest. The Kamino Self-Defense Forces fought beneath the waves, aided by combat swimmers. Hundreds of skirmishes broke out across the city and near the factories. The clones fought fiercely against the advancing enemy. Had they faced only standard battle droids, they might have held — a hundredthousand infantrymen were a formidable force. But the presence of aqua droids with their heavy blaster cannons, droidekas, and saboteur units made the defense far more difficult. The use of walkers or artillery within the city was nearly impossible. The clones held their ground, dying one after another, paying a bloody price for every minute, while the droids advanced relentlessly, leaving their metal corpses strewn across every meter they gained. And yet, despite staggering losses, the droids pushed on — until the battle spilled into the corridors of Tipoca City itself.
It was then that Shaak Ti became convinced of the combat readiness of the Alpha-class ARC clones. She had to leave headquarters and rush to one of the training halls where the second-generation clone children were gathered. About two hundred droids, including several droidekas, had breached the room. The guards had been killed, and the droids were about to open fire on the younglings. The Master sprinted forward, using telekinesis to hurl the nearest droids aside and draw their attention, giving the Kaminoans time to evacuatethe children. Shaak Ti frantically cut down the attackers one after another until five clones instandard armor — but with additional armor elements, different coloring, predominantly blue, and non-standard weaponry — dropped through a ceiling hatch. It took them only seconds to eliminate the remaining droids without a singlecasualty.
However, these clones were unusually aggressive, did not value the command abilities of the Jedi, and far more independent than regular troopers. They showed excessive initiative, voiced theiropinions openly, and were unafraid to challenge orders. Their only true authority was Jango Fett. Upon learning of their donor's death, the clones were deeply affected — Shaak Ti could sense their grief.
Soon, Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan joined the battle for Tipoca City. Their starfighters had crashed into the ocean near the city, but Kaminoans recovered them aboard their aiwhas and brought them to a solid surface. Together with them, Shaak Ti descended to the underwater sections of the city to protect the third-generation clones from a possible droid incursion. One of the elite ARC troopers, Alpha-17, accompanied them.
Remembering one moment in particular — when the droids had nearly reached the incubators — Shaak Ti involuntarily shuddered. At that time, Alpha clone had entered a self-destruct code into a special device installed at Jango Fett's request, justifying it with the words: "Jango's orders. We can't let the Clone Army fall into the wrong hands. They grow up loyal to the Republic — or they don't grow up at all."
However, through tremendous effort, they managed to halt the assault by destroying the underwater corridor, and the clone deactivated the self-destruct mechanism. The Togruta thankedhim for saving the children, but he merelyshrugged.
"Pff, you're welcome. But I didn't do it for you. I was following orders."
Meanwhile, Adi Gallia reorganized her battle groups and struck at the Separatist warships. A successful attack damaged the CIS flagship, and Merai fled in one of the amphibious fighters. Yet, contrary to Jedi expectations, he did not flee the system; instead, he continued directing his forces. However, after a while, seeing his shipsbegan to vanish one by one in plasma flashes or break apart under fire, he finally gave the order to retreat. He personally led a final attack, diving beneath the ocean's surface to evade Aayla Secura's pursuit — and rammed one of theunderwater incubators. This reckless act allowedthe remaining Mon Calamari to escape to their ships—the Republicans were stunned and bewildered by Meray's actions.
However, not all the Separatists managed to flee — more than three-quarters of their fleet was destroyed. The Republic lost over fifty ships, including half of the Acclamators, but victory was theirs. Kamino was saved, and the Republic couldcontinue its fight.
Shaak Ti turned to one of the Kaminoans.
"Call the Jedi — have them gather in the main hall. We must report the outcome of the battle to the Council."