1 (Chapter one.)

Kanan Jarrus was right- no one could clone a Jedi.

Three years ago, aboard the Galactic Empires greatest weapon, the Death Star Vader declared to his Master the Emperor. He is dead.

The Emperor had quickly replied. Then he is now powerful than ever.

They had stood over the fallen body of Cale Lestin, Vader's secret apprentice.

Found as a boy by Vader, the Dark Lord had sensed incredible power in the youth and so trained him in the dark side of the Force, keeping him hidden from everyone and giving the boy the codename, Dark Apprentice.

As they had stood over the body of the boy who had become a powerful man, Darth Vader had no longer felt the presence of his former apprentice.

Cale had watched as his body was taken and put in stasis, not knowing why his former Master had declared him dead to the Dark Lord of the Sith. It was a strange feeling of awareness but not emanating from any familiar place. Shortly afterwards, his spirit left.

Cale's body, his physical shell was preserved while his spirit slumbered, drifting in the Force like dust in the Kuras Drift.

Months passed and new versions of himself were brought into being, though really never living, never the masters of their own fate. They were the experiments of the increasingly frustrated Darth Vader and they were often destroyed as quickly as they were created.

Back in the throne room of the original Death Star, as Darth Vader had stood over the Dark Apprentice's body, crippled by the attack he had endured by Cale, he had realised that the words his apprentice had spoken to him on the Corellian peak were true.

Without me, you'll never be free, Cale had told him.

Vader then watched aboard the Death Star, as Cale defeated the Emperor and then sacrificed himself so that his allies could escape. Both Cale and the Emperor had been at the centre of the Force explosion, but only Cale had suffered the full effects of the detonation. The Force explosion had injured his spirit, driving it to become one with the Force before Cale's true death. Though Cale Lestin lived, his spirit wandered in the essence of the Force, until he could awakened, reunited with his body.

Months that expanded to year's were spent in the laboratories as Darth Vader tried to create a perfect clone of his former apprentice from his still-living body. The body was easily copied but the first batch of clones were entirely barren of mediclorians, so had no ability with the Force at all.

Vader's science team soon developed an artificial substitute for the mediclorians, based on blood samples from the Jedi achieves combined with Cale's own blood. For some reason, the mediclorians within Cale's remained inert, making for poor samples by themselves, so what remained of the Jedi archives had been raided.

The batches of clones that were subsequently created were divided into various groups, which themselves centered around those that had a strong meld with the artificial mediclorians and those that were more suited to basic combat functions. A third, more focused group also existed that were assigned to the terror trooper program, but in all three cases none came close to matching the original in the measurement of shear power. The scientists soon realised that the life forms they had created to replace the mediclorians were driving the test subjects insane, interfering with neural functions to the point of insanity.

Exasperated, Vader began to motivate his cloning team with new threat's and punishments for failure. This prompted a science team leader to suggest a radical alternative to programming the clones. Instead of giving them rational thought why not make them mindless, simple and obedient slaves. But that was not what Vader wanted. He desired soldiers that could think and react on their own, not what would essentially be a cyborg army, flesh based blood users that needed a controller. However, the idea of mind control intrigued Vader and led him to a new path of thinking. With if the real Dark Apprentice could be convinced he was a clone? Perhaps he could then be turned once more to the dark side.

The Emperor had demanded results in the plan to expose and eliminate the Rebels. Even if the Dark Apprentice could not be turned, he could at least be used to lead Vader to the Rebels, the Dark Apprentice's only friends...

His memories were suppressed and when Vader's scientist's were willing to stake their lives on that, the Dark Apprentice was at last awoken. Like he had before, Vader lied to his returned apprentice and told him he was a clone, a mere copy like all the others and like them, furnished with memories of a dead man. Vader claimed that only six months had passed and in that small amount of time the cloning process had reached the point where he, the Dark Apprentice, had been Cale Lestin. The lie was in place and settled within Cale's mind, and yet... the Dark Apprentice knew. Somehow he had always known.

But Cale Lestin denied who he was, refused to believe he was the man he had been and so became someone else. His alter ego, the Dark Apprentice, the mantle of his guise as Vader's apprentice became his new identity. But his own feelings for Ja-ni became his focus, driving him back towards the truth of who he was and the simple fact that whatever else may have been copied, love could not be cloned.

Vader's progress with the Dark Apprentice's deception was going well, but was also being observed and as the Dark Apprentice made his escape from Kamino, the Emperor's spies watched. Nearly three years ago, Vader had declared the man dead in the very presence of the Emperor, though the Emperor's response had been only, Then he is more powerful than ever.

The spies had remained cloaked while they observed the Dark Apprentice. They had mused upon the limitless power of the Force, that their own Master had also been at the heart of the explosion that Vader had claimed killed his apprentice, and yet Palpatine had lived, unharmed. Had Vader successfully cloned his old apprentice as the Dark Lord claimed or was the original Dark Apprentice, Cale Lestin, tricked into believing Vader's lie?

The spies made their way to the world of Byss, where their Master, Emperor Palpatine, was currently conducting his own secret cloning experiments.

Ah, what have you to report, Palpatine enquired in a surprisingly jovial mood. What of Lord Vader?

A spy stepped forward and humbly bowed. He has betrayed you, Master.

Oh? Palpatine enquired, losing none of his good humor.

Yes Master, agreed the second spy, bowing as he too stepped forward. Lord Vader has failed to successfully clone his former apprentice, who we believe is still alive and has now escaped.

Of course he is still alive! Palpatine snapped.

Momentarily confused, the spies wanted their Master to explain, if he chose to. Palpatine stepped away from them and towards the large wall screen behind him, the source of illumination for the entire gloomy room. He looked up at the readouts upon the screen, his back to his subjects, as he monitored the progress bar of a data readout.

Lord Vader has always been a loyal apprentice, but he was also a man of intiative. I expected that one day he would attempt to rise up against me. It is the Sith way.

It was my plan to clone the body of the Dark Apprentice, and create an army, strong in the dark side of the Force. I chose to let Vader think he had a secret, but we both knew that only the Dark Apprentice's spirit had gone. His body had kept it's life. Said Emperor Palpatine.

The spies tilted their heads and glanced at one another, but remained silent.

As I suspected, the cloning process has not been able to create mediclorians and Vader's solution, an artificial substitute for the mediclorians added through a genetically engineered cocktail, though able to imitate a Force users abilities, had driven the clones mad. It seems that the Force cannot be cloned, that a body can be only artificially supplemented to create the illusion of a Force wielder, as Vader's Dark Apprentice's clones have demonstrated at the cost of their sanity. Perhaps there is even a link between the mediclorians and the spirit of the body they choose to inhabit, mused the Emperor. Such things must be considered and explored... Said Emperor Palpatine.

Yes, Master, agreed the spies.

As if Palpatine had momentarily been caught up in thoughts of immense consequence, plans that had taken him far from the lab in which they now stood, he turned reluctantly back to his spies. I had not doubted Lord Vader would admit defeat in his effort to clone his former apprentice. I foresaw it. The whole reason you were dispatched to watch the cloning process was so that you could inform me when Vader chose to awake his apprentice.

But I sense your confusion, so I will tell you. You were not informed of the Dark Apprentice's status so that should you be captured by Rebels, they would never know that their champion still lived. Said Emperor Palpatine.

The spies immediately submitted to the Master's wisdom, Yes, Master.

His escape was unforeseen, but could present an opportunity to continue with my original plan. Said Emperor Palpatine.

Palpatine left the lab the spies behind him and flanked by his guards. The corridors were dim and narrow as Palpatine led his entourage to the communication's centre. Seating himself upon the central chair he commanded the communications officer to contact Lord Vader and then instructed his staff to leave.

Vader's image appeared before the Emperor. Yes, my Master.

Lord Vader, an opportunity has arisen for you to redeem your failures with the Dark Apprentice to wipe out the Rebels at their source. I have been informed of your apprentice's escape. I want you to lure him back to you then allow him to capture you, taking you to the Rebels. Once among them, you will kill them all. Said Emperor Palpatine to Darth Vader.

The image of the submissive Vader knelt before his Master but made no response.

Lord Vader? Did you hear me? Asked Emperor Palpatine.

Yes Master. Once the Rebels have me, how am I to escape? Said Darth Vader.

The Emperor sneered. You are a Dark Lord of the Sith, escape should not present a problem for you.

Yes Master. Replied Darth Vader.

Palpatine ended the coded transmission and swivelled slightly in his chair. A wicked smile spread across his cracked lips as he began to wheeze out a croaking laugh.