The clones figure out the plan to take advantage of them, brain chips, etc. several years before the war hits. IDK how, maybe Jango decided to take a closer look with Mij and went Oh Shit. Doesn't matter. Point is, they caught on and decided that they needed to uhhhhh get Out.
There are millions of clones, yes, but there are tens of thousands of planets.
Once the chips are out and someone's jabbed them with anti-aging serum... they're not that different from standard humans.
And it's not exactly hard to tie up the Kaminoans long enough to get off planet.
So what happens is that a while, let's say a year and a half, before the war kicks off, you have a mass exodus from Kamino, and a wide dispersal of clones. They are generally staying together in groups of about half a dozen, claiming to be brothers, so that there's a 16-18-ish looking clone to take lead, with progressively younger cadets to look after. Each one has a commander they can 'report' to in case of emergency, and if something goes real bad, they can call in an Alpha (and Alphas can call in Jango in a worst case scenario).
It's still sort of a military structure, but... it's a phone tree.
And you have one of these groups of half a dozen clones in every major city. There are thousands of planets, and most of those planets have more than one city. Denon and Coruscant are nothing but city, so they can get counted as dozens of cities on their own. It's easy to disappear in places like that.
It's so easy for the clones, before anyone knows them, to just... disappear. Go into hiding in plain sight.
It's not like more than a handful of people know what to look for.
(It's not like they have a centralized record of who went where.)
(It's just the phone tree.)
They still get real excited-happy-eager when they run into a Jedi.
They want to work with Jedi. They're the good guys! And they're cool!
But your army did a mass desertion before the war started and finding/recruiting all of them is going to take a stupid amount of money. You cannot hire a bounty hunter for each and every clone.
And as @bytebun put it:
Somebody two years later: you look …familiar. Have we met? Clone: haha I get that a lot just one of those faces
AND THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT BECAUSE THE GALAXY IS HECKING MASSIVE
I think the Republic has to like… negotiate with Jango and the Alphas and set up paid contracts if they want these Ultra Skilled Warriors to fight for them.
The clones can fight. Some of them even want to fight. They are good at this and they recognize that many of the things that are occurring under Separatist invasion are Mega Bad.
But like. Pay them and treat them as citizens, first.
The Jedi are even more confused about this identical army that really loves them than they are in canon Where the heck did you guys come from Who trained you Why do you like us What the heck is going on
"Someone wanted us to be a trap for you but we took the trap out. Here we have a sample if you want. Anyway. We like you guys and want to fight with you because honestly civilian life is way understimulating. Let me punch a droid."
I think a few of the clones do 'scouting' where they voluntarily help a Jedi in the field to gather information on their validity as Friends. Cody keeps a number of spreadsheets that are just Various Jedi Encounters.
Rex does a scouting mission with Kenobi&Skywalker and just goes to Cody like "Listen. I know he's insane. But. I want that one."
Rex just "I call dibs" "Cody. Cody did you hear me. Dibs, I call dibs."
@catboydogma: stats for pong krell are all zeroes
Absolute shit tier Jedi They play rock paper scissors to decide who has to deal with him
A solid half of the clones don't get recruited because the lack of advanced aging (past a certain point) means they're physically still minors and My Dad (Alphas and CCs) Said No. They stay behind on their various planets to look after The Real Babies.
"Let me ask my dad" "Wait--" "He said no."
Just want these boys to have Civilian Lives they can return to or at least experience before war gets them all fucked up.
I think some of them try to Make Connections with influential people (whether politicians or like... Space Influencers) so they have people vouching for them once the war kicks off. And there can be at least some public pushback on functionally enslaving them.
"I can't believe you manipulated people into liking you! That's so mean!" "Well you see. I wanted to survive past the age of eleven. So."
no offense, but this looks like a domestic scene where the three of them are in a relationship and have a daughter and Kara and Sam just got home to find their wife after a horrible day at work.
Hey hey hey! Once again, it’s me. Was wondering if you’d write the young on Melida/daan + eldritch obi-wan? Please and thank you. This universe gives me life :)
War is not meant for children.
That doesn’t mean it isn't fought by them. When they are the only ones willing to stand against the senseless slaughter and argue for peace. When the children are the only ones that answer the call to end the war that’s silenced them for centuries.
They can’t call for aid, can’t pay for hired guns or supplies or even shelter.
But the Jedi come and there is hope, and then the Jedi leave again and they are left with a thin boy without the weapon he has learned to use all his life and nothing but a vibroblade to substitute it.
Neild thinks they’ve lost then. Cerasi argues that so long as they breath they can’t be lost. Obi-wan Kenobi smiles with oddly sharp teeth and tells them that sometimes all there is left is hope. And the determination for change.
Runil, the little medic tells them that they can’t lose him with wide eyed wonder and three living breathing children that should be long dead in the ditch they found them in. She tells them that he is the miracle worker they’ve needed with that desperate hope they’ve barely kept alive.
(The oldest is 10, probably older than Runil herself, Obi-wan won’t explain what he did to save her though she watched him lay a hand on her chest as she choked on blood and quite sobs. Runil is the daughter of two doctors long lost to the war and even she isn’t certain it’s something she could even understand.)
None of them know what to make of the figure he cut’s on the battlefield. Half as tall as any of their enemies and yet the blaster weighs heavy in thin hands and never misses a shot. Neild sees the way he moves, sees the way the world moves with him. Dust and stones hanging in the air around him as he darts for his target with an efficiency Neild can’t begin to understand.
He see’s the way Obi-wan’s head snaps to the side and his hand rises, pulling thin air and jerking Locc off his feet from half the field away as the ground beneath him explodes. The younger boy should be dead, not shaking and bleeding from a dozen cuts. Obi-wan seems to disagree, a snarl on his face as he pulls the boy to him and raises a hand. A dozen mines explode across the field and Neild thinks maybe he was wrong.
Maybe the war isn’t lost just yet.
Ava:
Beatrice:
Camila: hey guys (: maybe you should go into another room together (: alone (: and read this story about a lesbian (:
‘tomboy’ literally was just parent code for ‘awwww this child is gay, now lets never address it and hope it goes away before it stops being cute’ like if you were a tomboy child im sorry
Just want to remind everyone of this
Tessa said BI VALKYRIE RIGHTS!!!!
bonus:
The story of a generation comes to an end. Watch the #D23Expo Special Look for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. See the film in theaters on December 20. (via @starwars on twitter)