Dark Force Rising/The Last Command Clones

Has there ever been any explanation for the discrepancies between the depiction of clones in AOTC and the Zahn books? I'm wondering where all the ysalamiri were on Kamino...

Also, why do the characters react with surprise to the news that Thrawn's stormtroopers are clones? Surely they must know that stormtroopers are clones anyway.

SG

 

My Essay on Cloning and the Imperial Stormtroopers...

The Stormtroopers originate with the Grand Army of the Republic. The Grand Army, was initially composed of 200,000 combat troops developed at the Kaminoan capital of Tipoca City. The Kaminoan clone forces were nationalised into the Grand Army as part of the provisions of the Military Creation Act, authorized by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine after granting of emergency powers by the Galactic Senate.

192,000 of those combat-ready infantry were deployed in combat against the nascent Confederacy of Independent Systems at the factory world of Geonosis. Shortly thereafter, another 1,000,000 clones were readied for battle and were quickly deployed in fire brigade/spec-ops style against several Confederate threats. Presumably, the other many millions of clones in production at Kamino became ready at varying times within the next three years of war.

Meanwhile, Republican engineers, scientists, and technicians, working from the base of the Kaminoan cloning vats, developed a new clone vat capable of growing a clone from zygote to full adult. It is also probable that the Republican designers also created the "flash-memory imprinting" system that custom-wired the growing brain to contain a given set of memories and skills. The Spaarti Creations company and the Cranscoc Twillers developed the Clone Cylinders which were buried under the mostly empty world of Wayland.

It is possible that this technology was leaked to the Seperatists, and some Confederate ships were crewed by clones that were grown too rapidly. These clones went insane. These frenzied and mad encounters with the Republican Navy would leave an impression on later-Imperial Remnant Grand Admiral Pelleaon before the clones were put down. Continued use may have eventually created stable crewers if grown for at least a year.

Presumably, when the war ended and the Galactic Empire was founded, the Grand Army was encorperated into the Imperial Marines, or the Stormtroopers, despite the fact that the Galactic Empire officially banned all full-body sentient cloning (ref: DESB). However, hidden enclaves, possibly in the Deep Core, were constructed for the continued production of cloned soldiers. *Initially, these facilities produced clones similarly to Kamino, where infant or toddler clones were raised at normal or accerated growth rate to young adulthood. This chronologically, logistically, and financially costly process became cost-prohibitive.

Using a refined varient of the Spaarti-brand cloning cylinder technology buried at Wayland, Emperor Palpatine established cloning facilities on Byss and Coruscant, for the production of clone bodies for his quest to immortality.

It is possible the "GeNode" facilities were derived from the Spaarti-brand cylinder technology as well. Regardless, the GeNode facilities produced adult clones which were fully matured and ready for deployment immediately upon leaving the vat. Clones were specialized for squad roles--lighter, slighter-build clones became biker scouts, for example. The clones were designed such that they invented personalities and memories once they "hatched." Each GeNode believed he was a recruit, with a life and past and family. Slight randomity in the clones' intrinsic appearance and hygenic/cosmetic habits, as well as the shuffling of multiple clone lines maintained the appearance of a more normal army. GeNodes are brainwashed, either physically or psychologically, to be nigh-incapable of betraying or deserting the Empire, or realizing that they are clones, even though, amazingly, they'll notice other GeNodes, even GeNodes of their line, are clones. They're programmed to be "too polite" to discuss cloning with GeNodes of their line.

However, the Marines always kept an eye out for exceptional volunteers from the Navy and Army to be trained at Carida and placed in the Marines. Even a few political prisioners as punishment were brainwashed and placed in a useless role such as garrison on Carida or some desolate customs checkpoint

 

Ah, cheers for that. It's always bugged me...

SG

 

Thrawn's clones were grown much much faster, whereas the Kamino clones were grown over a ten year period.

 

They still haven't told me what happened to all those GeNode cloning facilities. Blah.