V.2-C.34│Clones and Synths IV│

Anakin and the Empyrean were snowballing their borders and it didn't affect anyone else because the systems that have come under his control weren't 'owned' or controlled by anyone. So it was free real estate.

When it came to those planets close to him that were under the control of some minor power, he wouldn't take them over. At least not at this point as he will await for the C.I.S. and the Republic to go further into their own conflicts.

There was also the possibility of just straight up buying some planets but that wasn't really the best course of action. He first had to consider the distribution of resources and the population before trying to expand.

He had to wait for the conditions to be just right before doing anything that would be spending the accumulated resources he had built up. Whether those be his own personal funds that just continued to grow and grow or the funds the empire had at its disposal.

If he did want to expedite the process however, he could always use his own wealth if he really wanted or needed to. He had done so at the start and through some rough patches as the Empyrean was developing a few years back so it is still an option now. Obviously this isn't the best option as the best would be to make sure the Empyrean could run just fine all by itself without his interference.

It would require him setting up a system that wouldn't fall behind the times, to adapt, to evolve and above all else keep the core concepts of what had started. Culture, heritage, religion, all of that is important to a developing society as it will dictate the norms of the society and as it is changed or influenced in some ways, the system would also have to reflect this.

The only thing is that, Anakin, may not be able to automate the entirety of this process no matter what he does and it would forever need a real person in charge. A leader that could stand for eternity or at least be replaced and even though he could do that, it wouldn't exactly be best if he had to continuously do all the work.

He wanted to do other things as well, and he did notice that his mother was getting tired of doing it. He wasn't as patient as her, meaning that he may bore of this much faster.

Either that or he could develop a desire to take over the rest of the universe to keep him busy with other things. After the Galactic Empire, the Hutts and the Yuuzhan Vong are dealt with, there would be no other enemies.

At least there really shouldn't be, but it is entirely possible that conflict would still happen over time. Rebellions, people that are ambitious or greedy enough to try and crave themselves out of the empire. All kinds of situations like wanting independence, another example of what could happen once the Empyrean reaches that level.

There is never an end to life, until the end of course and even then...

"So what are we supposed to do then?" CT-7567 questioned Anakin.

Anakin had gotten rid of the implanted chips and now they were clueless on what happens next. Soldiers without orders, especially those that had just into the conflict were the most conflicted on what they are supposed to do.

"What do you mean what are you guys supposed to do? That is up to you guys to decide, you aren't slaves just as you have said and are now you all are free to choose your next course of action." Anakin stated.

"Sir, if I may add, but wouldn't it be better if you helped out the Republic for real?" CT-7567 asked after hearing what Anakin said.

"Get involved in the war between two other foreign nations? I thought I had gone over why this is probably the wrong decision..." Anakin said as he looked over all of the other clones gathered within the medical or research center of Tatooine.

"I understand that sir, but it would end the war soon-" CT-7567 was interrupted as Anakin said.

"That is where you are wrong again. Think about it, if the Separatists are the excuse used by the person controlling everything behind the scenes to become more powerful, do you think he would allow it to end so soon?" Anakin questioned.

"Sound logic, sir. Then that means we would have to wait and laze around while everything is going on? What about the rest of my brothers and-" CT-7567 was getting quite passionate but Anakin put his worries to ease.

"You dont have to worry." Of course it wasn't as simple as saying this. "I have a plan." Of course Anakin has a plan because he fully intended to become the God of droid-kind, now becoming the God of the entirety of the empire.

Of course it was all within his plan... Not.

Sometimes, happy little accidents happen and Anakin cant help but think that maybe he never did have a plan in the first place and just followed his desires.

Whether they be for money, power, land, fame or... women.

It still happened in a way that helped progress himself and elevate those around him into a great deal of prosperity.

There are some things that had seemed totally out of his grasp, like the Jedi Order and the Republic and whatever else is within the galaxy at large. He cant control everything but he could stack the cards in his favor and when the time comes for it he would be able to do an Uno reverse card if need be.

"You saying that, sir, isn't really that reassuring..." CT-7567 said.

"Nonsense, my friend. We are friends right?" Anakin says as he slings his arm around CT-7567 before saying. "I do believe that as good friends I should give you a proper name."

"But, sir. I already have an identity. CT-7567 is my code and-" CT-7567 started to say before being cut off.

"Nonsense. You cant be going around with a name like that, because it isn't a proper name at all." Anakin stated before continuing. "How about Rex? I like that name and it seems to suit you just fine."

"Rex, sir?" CT-7567 was hesitant in accepting this as his new name as it really wasn't supposed to be allowed. 'But there aren't exactly rules against having a name...'

"Sir. Rex. Yes." Anakin replied separating himself from the newly named Rex's shoulder.

"I think that it sounds good, but how about my men? They get to have names as well, right?" CT-7567, now to be called as Rex said.

"That is not for me to decide. If your men want it they can have as many names as they would like. You see out here in the Outer Rim, or more specifically with the much more safe and ordered Empyrean, people are free to choose stuff like that." Anakin said. "Why be restricted to the one you were given at birth? Or in your case creation."

"That sounds just fine actually." Rex started to change his way of thinking and was slowly starting to accept becoming a part of the Empyrean. It is nice, even when they had been confined for a little bit within this facility, it was quite nice.

There was no war to fight in and no orders to take and they didn't exactly need to listen to Anakin, even when he is the leader here. No, they could leave at any point.

The proof was in the pudding, because Anakin had given them access to all of the codes that would allow them to leave and even fly straight back to the Republic. Not one of them did that though as they had gotten comfortable within this place.

Soon enough, they would be ready to move out into the world at large, maybe even start families of their own. A strange concept to them, as not one of them believed they would have the time to think on such topics, or even be able to do so considering they might die out on the battlefield.

If it wasn't for Anakin creating a solution to their rapid aging problem they may have not lived long enough to do so even if they did survive the war. Either way they would have been in a bad spot to not consider themselves as living people with their own traits and desires despite them being near exact complete copies of each other.

"Then it is settled then. We can gather everyone around and if they want a name, I could grant them their names to the best of my ability." Anakin said as Rex was now sold of the idea of at least gaining names.

Something to truly make them people of their own as names are considered important to the process of being a person. They may have been created instead of born like most other races do, but that didn't mean anything to Anakin.

Or to anyone else out here within the Empyrean as well. No one cared.

Every now and then, they would go out into the seat of power of the Empyrean, known as Tatooine and be greeted to the culture here. It was a life they could get used to, of course they would need to do the whole therapy thing because Anakin didn't want unstable elements bringing potential harm to the people that already live here.

No matter what, no matter how much compassion it is always best to air on the side of caution.

Another thing to think about was a clones capability to reproduce, because while Anakin didn't mind too much if they could, it would have been a problem if he didn't have the super serum or the medical technology to overcome inbreeding.

One may ask why would this be a problem?

Simple, they are clones and because they are clones and there alot of them, imagine releasing them into the population with no restrictions and they start having families like crazy. Sooner or later the problem of inbreeding would happen, so there needed to either be a solution or there had to be a way to 'eliminate' the problem.

He didn't feel particularly good about chemically sterilizing these men just because they are clones. Thankfully the galaxy is diverse enough and not every clone would have children or even be able to have them simply because they dont want to.

Not everyone person wants to pass on a legacy and its understandable.

The super serum would fix all of those genetic deficiencies if it got to that point and if he was to truly crunch some numbers, then it would be fine either way. The amount of clone made at this point in time should only be within the hundred thousands range, while his population at this point ranges in the trillions fast approaching the quadrillion range.

That may seem like alot but one has to consider that he probably only started out with a couple thousand before the great expansion into other planets. This came with an increase to the populace as people started having families of their own or people immigrated into the Empyrean and other factors.

Slaves wanting to escape their fate from the slave trade, that had successfully survived and now even those running away from the war going on between the Separatists and Republic.

Anakin would proceed to help the newly dubbed Rex name all of those within the 501st legion of the Republic, or are they still of the Republic anymore? They had been given ample evidence of something going on that was beyond their understanding and if had happened just as planned...

It would have been devastating.

What would happen to the Republic? What would happen to the rest of the clones? The Jedi? What about everyone within the Republic, the citizens that are innocent but mislead by some falsehood of a leader. Someone that didn't want to do what is best for the people but for themselves.

It is truly insanity the world had come to and they, the clones had been born into it with the sole purpose to be controlled and eventually thrown away. They are disposable through and through but here, they felt valued at the very least.

The leader, Anakin, his people and the society was tolerant of their presence. Of course as long as it didn't cause any harm or detriment to the people, they were fine to stay here.

They all had their decision to make but Rex knew that everyone here would stay, if not to become a part of the Empyrean but to become a part of some form of plan that was made by Anakin to overcome this momentous threat.

[]

Grievous had this little tingly feeling at the back of his head.

It was the process of returning to a body that was his but not his at the same time. Once his transfer of consciousness is complete he would finally be able to breath again and Anakin had made sure to that he would keep his ability to use the Force.

It was something he had been gifted and he doesn't know what he would do without it. It had gotten him out of alot of predicaments and he would finally be able to take up some proper lightsaber training.

Anakin would train him fully instead of just some simple stuff here and there in combination with his mechanical armor.

He would be able to truly appreciate and love the woman he had come to love. He had thought he would never love again when his previous lover died all those years ago but it would seem that he was wrong.

His name that he attributed to her would still be kept in tribute to her and a show of his devotion but that didn't mean he would not learn to love again. He had already and would be truly silly if he decided to not give it a chance.

"How does it feel then?" Anakin asked him as he stepped out but Anakin wasn't looking at him because he didn't want to stare at another mans body. Understandable, because Grievous doesn't want his master staring either.

"It feels great." He was finally able to move again freely without those bogged down mechanical parts, not that they are useless. In fact his body had been made by the same strange material Anakin has used for the Synths.

He didn't get the upgrades of the Sky-Seed but he got his own super serum that was for his species in particular along with a cybernetic body. That is right, as while it is fully cellular based, it also has machine merged into him.

Grievous can entirely recreate his arms from his previous self but they appeared similar to how Anakin's Nanosuit worked. It manifested itself and was made of Nanites that are attached to him and his consciousness, fully becoming apart of him.

If he were to die and have a spiritual form, it would include these bits and pieces just as Anakin would have his very own included in his own spiritual form.

"By the way..."

"Yes?" Anakin had a distinct feeling that what was said next will be surprising.

"It is about Talzin." Grievous said. "She wants to arrange a political alliance based on a marriage between yourself and someone from her tribe."

"That is interesting..."